Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Pumpkin Time Again!

I guess it's pretty obvious by my lack of posts on either blog that school has started, and I am back to work. It's not like I work really hard while I'm there. It's just that it takes up so much of my time! This leaves so little time for anything fun, like blogging, trying new recipes, or even cooking a decent meal some nights. I am bogged down by meetings, finding time to write my articles, cooking supper, keeping up on laundry, helping both boys with homework, filling out forms and writing out checks for the school, packing lunches, doing dishes, and sometimes remembering to take a shower.

I also had a party this last weekend that I had to clean and prepare for. I DESPISE cleaning, so this was a challenge for me. My friend is now selling bags, purses, and accessories so I invited a whole bunch of people to come over. I decided to make three different kinds of mini muffins, so people could try different kinds. The kids asked for chocolate chip. I wanted to make them all homemade from scratch and vegan, but life got really freaking stressful (we're talking tears here), so I bought box mixes for the chocolate chip, and found a box of brownie mix for 88 cents.

I did, however, make one kind vegan and homemade. I L.O.V.E. The Best Pumpkin Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance, because they truly are the best.

I have recently learned to get everything ready before I begin. After all these years, I may become organized yet!



They were easily the best in the bunch (I'm sure) because they were homemade. But all the muffins were so cute and tiny! I bought a package of 100 mini liners and used all of them.



Three people showed up. Well, four, if you count my cousin's little girl who tagged along. Well, five if you count my mother-in-law who came early to look at the stuff, then took off. And one was my mom, who pretty much has to come.

I was thinking it would be fun for a change to host something, to make something for people, to have all these people that I like frolicking around my home, visiting with each other, laughing, having a great time, loving my muffins, saying things like, "These are vegan? Really?"

But it was not in the cards. I did have several outside orders which means I will get some good deals when I buy myself a new purse. And I am not mad at anyone who did not make it to the party. I understand there are a million legitimate reasons people couldn't be there. We had a good time anyway, and I had a LOT of muffins leftover! These four in the picture (three now, I just ate one) are the only ones left. This is a good thing because I am going to gain some weight if I keep eating these things!

There's nothing like pumpkin...with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, molasses, and all that....om nom nom nom...


Happy Autumn - full of pumpkins, squash, baking, Halloween, sweaters, beautiful leaves, soup, and scary movies. Hopefully I will be able to make something blog-worthy soon.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cupcake Fun


Yesterday was a crazy day. I had an article to finish, pictures to email in, blah, blah, blah. It doesn't sound like much, but when you have three children nagging at you all day long, it gets really hard to get stuff done.

Grace had been begging me all day to make cupcakes. She even found the right cookbook, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So I saved my work and made the basic chocolate cupcakes. I haven't even made cupcakes for many months now, since I am trying to get off all the fat and sugar. But these are the best chocolate cupcakes ever. I licked the spoon when I was done mixing. And I only ate one cupcake, and after that I didn't feel like having any more! Kudos to me!

I also made the vegan buttercream frosting, which turned out a bit too runny, but I was out of powdered sugar, so we lived with it. I made three different colors for the kids, and let them decorate their own. It was a mess, but it was fun.

Grace's masterpiece.





Then I went back to work, and I got it all done by 8:30 last night. Then I had a smoothie, and that was my supper. I ran out of my usual bag of frozen mixed berries, and I had to use some strawberries and blueberries that I bought locally this summer and froze myself. HOLY SHIT! The difference was unbelievable. The taste of the berries was heaven. It was the best kefir smoothie I had ever made. I am fantasizing about one right now.

The other day my mom made a comment that she doesn't really like smoothies. I just stared at her, not sure that I heard her right. Is that even possible? It's like not liking the Beatles. It's just not natural.

I think I will listen to the Beatles while I drink mine today.

What's your favorite thing to put in a smoothie?