Dinner, Dessert, Drinks & Dancing

This weekend my friends Tessa, Greg, Kathryn, and Jesse came to visit us in the Fort! I love getting together with my friends, and I was so excited this time because we planned on going dancing! I am quite possibly the world’s worst dancer (Brent tells me I should hate dancing because I’m so bad at it), but I enjoy it so much! Before the boozin and groovin, I fed the troops. I made a batch of Teany’s Top-Secret Chili from this book. This is probably my favorite chili recipe. I love the seitan in it.

Everyone enjoyed dinner, as I knew they would (Tessa’s the one who gave me the recipe. She loves it). I also had a pitcher of pre-made POM margaritas, which were also a big hit. No meal, especially one for my friends, is complete without dessert! I made a batch of Mucho Margarita Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I once again used my tequila-lime buttercream frosting. So deliciously sweet and tart!

After some dinner, dessert and a few drinks, we were off the the bar. I made a fool of myself, had way too much fun, and stayed out way too late! Luckily, once we were at the bar, I managed to have equal amount of water and booze so I woke up feeling as close to normal as I could hope for.

I’m glad I got in a fun weekend with friends because I start back at school on Wednesday, so the rest of my summer may be a whole lot less fun. I’ll leave you with a photo of Kat, Tess, and I from the cab ride (love college roomies!).

Soup, Salad and Cupcakes

I promised myself I would cook more meals at home, and I’m definitely trying to keep my word. I’ve noticed my meals are getting a lot simpler now, but I’m actually appreciating them way more. My dinners for the past two nights have been quick, simple and super satisfying.

A few months ago I discovered that I love Greek salad, and have been making variations using the basic ingredients. I was craving a Greek salad when I was doing some grocery shopping this week so I added it to the menu for Monday night. It was delicious. I just used homemade red wine vinaigrette for the dressing, and I made a couple of artisan bread rolls for Brent and I because in my mind, a salad feels more like a “meal” if it has a piece of bread with it.

Tuesday night dinners are hard for me. I have clinical from 6:30-4:30, and when I finally arrive home I’m exhausted, kind of cranky, and STARVING. I was craving some comfort food (and red wine!) big time so I went with an old standby: tomato soup and grilled cheese.

For the soup I sautéed half a yellow onion, three cloves of garlic, salt, black pepper, thyme, marjoram, and red pepper flakes in a tablespoon of oil. When the onions were soft I added in a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes and half a cup of veggie broth, brought to a boil and simmered about 15 minutes. At this point I tasted and noticed it was a bit acidic for my taste so I added a teaspoon of sugar, and simmered another 5 minutes. I transferred the soup to a blender and blended until smooth. While the soup was simmering, I baked some flat artisan bread, sliced it in half, added some swiss cheese to each piece and broiled until melty.

This meal took half an hour to make and I cannot express how comforting it was to eat. I enjoyed every bite and then promptly passed out on the couch. Classy, I know.

One last thing I wanted to mention was that last night I made cupcakes to celebrate the birthday of one of my classmates. When I asked her what she wanted, all she requested was lots of chocolate. Always happy to comply, I made some basic chocolate cupcakes and chocolate buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. After working at clinical all day followed by a math/dosage competency, these were much appreciated at our post-conference today!

I’m off to work on a careplan! I can’t believe how quickly time is passing. I am in shock that Thanksgiving is pretty much two weeks away. Guess I better start planning that too!

Early Cinco de Mayo

Friday night we had some friends over for dinner and because I was in the mood for Mexican (and guacamole, obviously), I decided to make it an early Cinco de Mayo celebration. I made quite a bit of guac, which was all demolished, and for the main course I made some Green Chile-Chicken Enchiladas. I made two enchiladas with some shrimp for myself. This is a recipe I’ve made a few times before, probably well over a year ago and Brent really enjoys it. He had one of my enchiladas and informed me the recipe is way better with the chicken. To go with the enchiladas, I made some Mexican Rice, which I really enjoyed. There was also a big pitcher of fresh margaritas… I may have drank half of it.

Almost none of the above matters though, because dessert was the most amazing thing ever: Mucho Margarita Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (Page 133).

I did not have decorator’s sugar for the “salt rim” so instead I turned the margarita glaze icing into a tequila lime “buttercream.” For the frosting, I beat together:

• 1 tablespoon tequila
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon lime zest
• 1 drop green food coloring
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• a pinch of kosher salt

A-maze-ing! Everyone seemed to really enjoy them. I made minis again, because I think they’re much cuter. The recipe made 40 mini cupcakes. Too cute… and way too addictive! My co-worker tested them out for me Friday morning and was begging for more! The frosting was truly awe inspiring. This was definitely the best dessert I’ve made in recent memory. I think every one had a good time, and it was nice to hang out with people our own age. (We clearly need more friends in the Fort).

The rest of this weekend has been fairly low-key. We spent a lot of this weekend outside doing yardwork, running, and walking the dogs. The rest has been spent studying for my Microbiology final tomorrow. Can’t wait to be done with that class! I also managed to get Brent to go wander around the co-op with me and I found some new stuff to try. Reviews will come later I’m sure. I hope all of you had a great weekend too!

Mini Peanut Butter Frosted Cupcakes

I’ve created something very dangerous….

But let me back up. I’ve been inspired by those in the salad challenge to add more veggies on a daily basis, so for lunch I had a big salad with a glob of guacamole on it instead of dressing. Incidentally, my avocado obsession has been taken to a whole new level recently. Brent’s growing concerned.

Dinner was one of my favorite combinations: a black bean burger with sweet potato fries. The burgers are just cooked mashed black beans, and egg white and some ground oats, along with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and cayenne. It was while I was layering the copious amounts of guac onto the burger that Brent realized the extent of my problem. He claimed there was more avocado than burger, which is wrong, but even if it weren’t I’d be ok with it.

The bun is 100% whole wheat, made with the Artisan Bread master boule method. I used all whole wheat flour, but subbed about 1/2 cup of wheat gluten for the flour. It came out well I think.

But now back to the star of the evening. This afternoon was dreary and cold and kind of miserable, so I thought a fun baking project would brighten my day. It did indeed.

I made some dark chocolate mini cupcakes, using the recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but I subbed dark chocolate cocoa. For the frosting I made a Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting, which was super simple.

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ~2-3 tablespoons (soy)milk

Beat it all together until fluffy. This made exactly enough to frost 72 mini cupcakes. I had a lot of fun piping it onto the cupcakes. I realized today that although the tiny cupcakes are adorable, it’s very dangerous when you can eat each one in a single bite! I had way too many. I took some to my class tonight and I’m bringing the rest with me to work tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Sexy Birthday Cupcakes!

A co-worker of mine had a birthday this week, and as the designated office baker, I was in charge of making the treats! I was thinking cookies at first, but then I remembered that I hadn’t really used my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook much, so I turned to that.

My co-worker and I share a love of good, healthy food, and organics. I wanted something that reflected her personality a bit more than a traditional chocolate cake or something, so I decided on the Sexy Low-Fat Cupcakes with Fresh Berries from the cookbook.

The cupcakes were very moist and I went with fresh organic raspberries for the topping, which were so sweet and delicious!! These looked so cute, but were pretty messy. I guess I put a bit too much of the strawberry jam or something on because the jam and the royal icing defintiely slipped over the sides a bit, making them somewhat messy to eat.

The taste verdict: Delicious, although I think the berries really made the cupcakes! My batch only made 10, and I totally regret that because I wish I could have had 2 or 3! These were a definite make again and I’m so glad they didn’t make me feel full or sugar-rushed like some of the other more decadent desserts I’ve made.

More Bagels and Some Cupcakes Too

I wanted to make bagels for my friends and family, mostly because a lot of them seemed surprised that I made them to begin with. I heard a lot of “I’ve never heard of anyone making bagels.” So last night, I made up a few new flavors:

Pesto:

Sun-dried Tomato:

I also made Cinnamon-Raisin for my mom, but I lost my picture of that. The bagels were boiled of course, and then baked.

Here is what they looked like when they were done:

I made the Pesto flavor for my friend Tessa who loves pesto and the sun-dried tomato for myself, but I have to say the pesto was my favorite. Seriously Amazing.

I decided to make some German Chocolate Cupcakes as well. These were from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, since I was not feeling particularly creative. I think the frosting was really sweet and my coconut was definitely on the chunky side, but I think they turned out well.

Now off to work for a few hours and then we’re headed to Chicago!!! We have family parties, catching up with some friends and a Cubs game!