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Lemony-Bloob Cuppycakes

"Give me natural flavorings or give me death"

Blueberries are whats up. When raw, they are a fancy snack, but the minute you heat them up.. MAGIC! They turn into a deliciously tart and fantastically dark purpley magenta-y sauce that is awesome for adding an edgy punch to many desserts. I'm not a huge fan of food coloring because of its occasionally carcinogenic properties, so blueberry sauce is a great sub for pink.

To make these lovlies, i started with the basic lemon cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World and altered the vegan fluffy buttercream from the same book. The only change that I made to the cupcakes was using the juice of half a lemon rather than the lemon exracts because that shtuff is way $$$.

Pseudo-Jam:

scant 1/2 c fresh blueberries
1/4 c natural sugar
1 t lemon juice
1 T cornstarch

Heat the first 3 ingredients up in a small saucepan over medium high heat until they begin to boil while smooshing the berries the the side of a spoon against the side of the pan. Lower the heat and stir for a few minutes while added the cornstarch. This addition might violate some sauce rules, but whatevs. If it is super runny, just add a little more starch--it should be comparable to a homemade jelly.

Once this has cooled down completely, you can add it to your buttercream! It's best to do after everything else has been mixed otherwise it will probably get all curdly and separated and NOT pretty. Pipe on as you please and enjoy the perfect combo of lemon and blueberry in heavenly cupcake form.

The Week Without a Macbook plus Kale Wraps ^_^

Blasphemy! How did I survive a week without my computer? Or a tv? Or any other form of electronic entertainment? Well, I will show you...here are some of the treats that resulted from my malfunctioning "Logic Board"

Guess the flavor?

V-con Bbread muffins. Pretty lovely texture, however I'll cut down on the molasses next time.

Quinoa Kale Wraps

Perfect for a quick lunch because they're packed with nutrients, easy, and way filling.

Wraps & filling:

• 4-5 big kale leafs
• 2 Hass avocados
• a handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 carrot, julienned

First, cook the quinoa according to the box directions. While it's simmering, start to prepare the other filling veg starting with the carrots. Cut the avocados last so that they don't start to oxidize before you eat 'em. Once the quinoa is finished, let it cool for about 15 minutes. During this time, you can make the dressing and get the kale leaves ready. If they're too tough to eat raw (they always are for me) you can run them under really hot water for a few seconds so that they begin to wilt. They will turn darker green and make them just a little easier to bite into.

Dressing

• 1 c olive oil (I used 1/2 c extra virg OO & 1/2 c flax oil blend)
• 1/2 c balsalmic vinegar
• 4-6 cloves garlic

Put all the ingredients into a blender, or .'-*'Magic Bullet *.'-*, and buzz them til smooth.

To assemble: place the kale leaf on a plate then put about 1/4 c of quinoa as the base. Follow with the other items, it's really your preference as to what order you want to put them on. Then top it all off with a few T's of the dressing. If you put too much filling in & it's un-wrappable, you can just eat as a salad :P

Tea-Poached Pears w/ Soy Dream Vanilla

Recipe from Vegan Italiano. Amazingly ~healthy. There is really nothing like poached pears after a terribly long week peppered with inclement weather and without a computer.