How the vegan cupcakes will take over the world

Roadtrip snacks

I took a pretty long roadtrip today to a faraway state where there is a lot of corn and rural space. I always hate roadtrips because it is impossible to find vegetarian or vegan food at any of the usual places: gas stations, fast food restaurants, or the occassional sit-down place along the way. I, however, came prepared. We didn't have to stop (except to get gas) and got there an hour earlier than we expected.

Here's what I packed:

-Sunflower seed rye bread with hummus sandwiches
-Apples
-Flavored almonds (Blue Diamond brand Jalapeno-flavored. So addicting)
-Sunflower seed, soy nut, almond, cranberry, and apricot trail mix
-Parsnip chips from Trader Joe's
-Bottles of water

I was so full when we got here that I didn't even feel like lunch!

Diabetes-free Vanilla Cream Soda

I really like drinking soda but I'm deathly afraid of high fructose corn syrup and aspartame, which eliminates a lot of my options. Lately, I've been experimenting with Stevia baking, with fairly good results, so I've expanded to sodas. You can get flavored liquid Stevia in bottles with droppers at your local health food store. I get mine at my local farmer's market. There are all kinds of flavors: orange, root beer, vanilla, strawberry, cherry. These are great for flavoring desserts and anything that asks for these extracts plus the addition of sugar. They're also great in creating flavored sodas. You can add them to your cola if you so desire, or make your own.

Vanilla Cream Soda

1 c sparkling water (mineral water is fine but has a salty taste so sometimes just normal carbonated water is best)
3 drops of liquid vanilla stevia

Pour sparkling water into a glass. Add stevia drop by drop and gently stir. You don't want to stir too much because the soda will lose its fizz. Add ice and serve.

This is great with grilled veggie burgers and polenta fries. Mmmm.

Veg*n cooking shows

I love watching cooking shows. The Food Network is a huge staple in my TV diet (har har), but I don't enjoy watching all the prawns and kobe steaks being prepared and eaten. What I do like is people who are as excited about food and sharing the preparation of food as I am.

I've been a big fan of the Post-Punk Kitchen for awhile, but today I found another cooking show that maybe even tops it. Everyday Dish is a vegan cooking show hosting Julie Hasson, Bryana Grogan, and Dreena Burton. It's not nearly as punk rock as PPK (obviously), but it is a very normalized, Food Network-worthy cooking show with a nice kitchen, hosts who annunciate words like Giada, and lots of nice looking, not bloody or gross food. Mmm. Unfortunately, watching a vegan show makes a lot hungrier than watching the Food Network.

Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Scones

I try to eat things that are low glycemic index because I don't want to get diabetes. Sadly, I love baking and most of what I bake usually isn't too great for me. Luckily for me, however, there are a lot of great whole grain flours that you can bake yummy things with. Oat flour has been a favorite of mine forever, but it doesn't have gluten so you sometimes have to add something that does. Baking with oat flour often yields baked goods that are a bit on the crumbly side.

Do you know what else is a bit on the crumbly side? Scones! I love scones, and I especially love these scones. I adapted the recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance and added chocolate chips.

3 cups oat flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar (I used turbinado plus 2 dropperfulls of vanilla stevia)
Chickpea flour, as needed

1 1/4 cup soy or rice milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F and put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Spray with whatever you use for baking. I like Pam for baking (the kind with flour in it).

You know the drill. Sift together the dry ingredients (saving the chickpea flour for the end). Mix together the wet ingredients and the chocolate chips. Add wet and dry. At this point, check the consistency of your dough. VWAV says it should be "clumpy, not sticky." This is true. You don't want cookies. Too much moisture will kill the scone. Too little will dry it out. Start sifting in some chickpea flour until you get a thicker consistency.

Drop in giant spoonfuls on the cookie sheet and sprinkle the tops with some turbinado sugar. Bake for about 14 minutes. The scones should be fairly solid on top. The bottoms will be just browned. Cool on a wire rack.

I imagine that these would also be great with dried cranberries and almonds. I'll try that next time and add some almond extract instead of vanilla.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Coconut Banana cookies

I adapted this recipe from the one at Vegan Vice using ingredients I had. We had a big bunch of very ripe bananas, and last night I made a great vegan banana bread with 3 of them. I'll post the recipe for that later. Today, I made these cookies with the last two bananas.

Dry ingredients:
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1 c brown sugar
1 c steel cut oats
1/2 c coconut flakes

Wet ingredients:
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 c canola or vegetable oil
2 tbsp vanilla soy milk
1/4 c mashed ripe banana

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray with oil.

In one bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Add brown sugar, rolled oats, and coconut flakes. The brown sugar will be clumpy, so stir up the ingredients well.

In another bowl, combine wet ingredients. Make sure the bananas are well-mashed or you'll get big gooey chunks. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Spoon cookies onto cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes on the middle rack. Take them out and let them cool.

Enjoy!