VEGAN MOUNDS! ALMOND JOY!

As you know, Erin McKenna, of Babycakes NYC, has a new book out called Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes from Donuts to Snickerdoodles. I was sold after watching this adorable promo video, and after Andrew made the recipe for Mounds. This is a melt in your mouth confection reminiscent of the non-vegan version. Obviously, these mounds are much healthier, and taste much better. I can't even tell you how good these are. It's outrageous!

Next time, we'll store them in a heart-shaped box.

Meeting Up

Andrew and I went to our first Vegan Chicago Meetup event last weekend. It was a bowling event at Timber Lanes. It was also a potluck and there was a Chocolate Inspirations tasting.

I made the old standby-vegan mac n cheese:

1 1/2 cups of plain soy milk
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of tamari or soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup of canola or vegetable oil
1 box of macaroni
1 dollop of mustard (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Boil water in a big pot for the pasta.

Blend all ingredients sans pasta in a blender (you can also mix by hand).

Once pasta is cooked, drain it, dump it in a big pan, and pour the cheesy sauce over it.

"Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy about 15 minutes but not too crispy because that is gross."

To give credit where it's due, I tweaked this from a vegweb.com recipe which I would link to, but I can't find it anymore :(

I've tried numerous vegan mac n cheese recipes at restaurants and such, and this is by far the tastiest, and it is a very popular potluck dish.

We also made some Zesty Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Sweet Lemon Glaze-a spectacular Sporkonline.com recipe for some seriously moist and lemony cakes. These were not as popular for some reason, so we had plenty to take home with us. Fine with me!

OK, so back to the event. Andrew didn't want to go. Neither of us are social people, so we were both a bit nervous but there was no pressure. When we walked in, we were basically told that the first four lanes were Vegan Meetup designated, and "it's a party." We loaded our plates, sat down to eat, and immediately met some people who became our bowling partners. I won the first game, and came in third in the second game-which might be Heineken's fault. I'm no good at bowling under the influence.

We took home some Chocolate Inspirations Cinnamon Toast Toffee and Peanut Butter Pillows (like a vegan Butterfinger candy bar in bark form). OMG.

All in all, it was a good time, and Andrew told me that he was glad I made him go.

PB & Pumpkin Vegan Dog Treats Recipe

We're fostering a pit bull puppy. Her name is Ginger and she is a handful! Chews everything, barks, pees on the couch (my beautiful couch!), plays too rough... We're trying to train her against these behaviors and instill in her some manners so's she can find a permanent home. Of course, dog treats are necessary for dog training. She loves these.


Ingredients
· 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
· 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
· 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
· 2 tablespoons peanut butter
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl, whisk flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water until frothy.
3. Mix together the flax mixture, flour, pumpkin, peanut butter, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff. Roll the dough to a 3/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut desired shapes.
3. Bake in preheated oven until hard and golden brown-about 40 minutes.

And here's Ginger enjoying a treat: