Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

What you need: pitted dates, water, Chocolate Silk, Silken tofu, flax seed, vanilla, baking soda, cocoa powder, brown sugar, all purpose flour.

You begin by putting one cup of dates in half a cup of water in a small sauce pan or pot and just bringing them to a boil. Remove it from the heat and let it cool just a bit. Preheat your oven to 425.

Then blend up the whole concoction. Make sure you get it really smooth.

Then put it through a strainer to get rid of anything that would cause lumps or skins or whatever. You need half a cup of puree after its all said and done.






Now grind up flax seed and put two tablespoons into a large mixing bowl. Leftover flax seed should be kept in the fridge.

 Add to the flax seed one and a half cups all purpose flour.

Then add half a cup of brown sugar (or sugar in the raw if you want something less processed).

Now add 3/4 cup of cocoa powder.

And then 2 teaspoons baking soda.

Now mix it all together really good. Make sure any chunks of baking soda are broken up well.

Now add half a cup of the silken tofu to one cup of Chocolate Silk in a separate bowl. It's going to be kinda chunky. Side note: I had never tasted Chocolate Silk before this and I have to say, it's AMAZING (and this is coming from a non-vegan, non-vegetarian). I'm sure that at some point tonight, my mother-in-law will come into the kitchen and find me drinking it out of the carton while trying to hide behind the refrigerator door.

Add in the date puree and one teaspoon of vanilla.

These wet ingredients need to be mixed really well. Either use an electric mixer or put the whole sh-bang back in the blender and get it nice and smooth.

Now add the wet ingredients to the dry and make sure that they are not over mixed but well incorporated. Best thing about this batter is that it's VEGAN so you can lick out the bowl without the fear of getting salmonella or something...

Now fill up muffin tins (either with liners or well oiled or Pam-ed) 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 425 for 12 minutes. Check to make sure they are baked all the way through by putting in a tooth pick. If it comes out clean, you are good to go! Sprinkle them with powdered sugar. (If you want to make this into a cake, bake it for 22-25 minutes. Be careful to let it sit for a while and cool without being disturbed to much because it will fall.)

Aren't they beautiful? And if you don't tell anyone they are vegan, I doubt they will guess it. Just serve them up (with a glass of the fabulous Chocolate Silk) and keep your healthy little secret to yourself until the plate is gone. Then come out and say, "Hey, you just ate vegan food and LIKED IT!"

Healthy Doesn't Have to Be Icky

My mother-in-law is here. She is a vegan. Needless to say, I'm not even a vegetarian but when she's here (especially when Mommy is preoccupied with the kiddos) she does alot of the cooking, cleaning and whatever. Now, whether she is doing the cooking or not, she has never made me feel like I have to be a vegan or cook vegan food for her but she is my guest and I feel a certain obligation to at least provide some of her normal foods so she doesn't waste away to nothing. I have discovered a few things about healthy/vegan living:
1. You don't know it's vegan if no one tells you. I make "vegan" fajitas and they are just that way. I didn't intend to make them that way. I just don't like to cook meat at home because I'm always worried about whether it's well done and I end up making chicken/beef/fish jerky all the time so I don't even bother. I don't really love vege-meat substitutes and they are dang expensive. I don't put cheese on fajitas because I can't taste it well and it brings up the Weight Watchers point value. The only non-vegan thing I may sometimes have on fajitas is sour cream.

2. When you fake it, people know. If you try to make vegan Mac and Cheese, you are going to fail. Mac and Cheese is a dairy based thing. You have to just make things that don't require dairy or that have very little dairy and you know you can hide the substitute. If you are making stew and it calls for chicken, just leave it out. If you are making a baked product and it calls for butter, use the sub and don't tell anyone. It's just easier not to try and make a tofurkey that is going to taste like sawdust and everyone knows you are faking it.

3. FRESH STUFF IS BEST! If you can get fresh avocado and make it into a spread and put it on your sandwich so it's not dry, you are really doing good. If you can get fruit and make a nice salad, no one is going to complain. Just know that it's going to be more expensive but you are going to live longer.

I am not going vegan. I'm not even going vegetarian but I know that when I am around people who are, it's not going to be a problem because I know how to cook stuff that will make us both happy. I just can't give up my twice a year steak. I am addicted but I do learn alot from those who are stronger than me.