Tag: dessert

Guest Post: The Professional Vegan Bakes …

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… Apple Pecan Muffins!
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I’m super excited to be guest posting on Tales of Expansion; as my blog is geared towards dressing professionally as a vegan, writing about food is a fun diversion from the vegan clothing and accessories.  Since I’m a vegan on a budget (aka – law school grad with loans on a government salary), I make a batch of vegan muffins every weekend and then eat one or two for breakfast every morning (one if I make jumbo sized; two if I make regular size).  This week I made Apple Pecan Muffins based on a recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking.

The ingredients:

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And the necessary baking instruments:

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The batter had some trouble holding all of the chopped apples (perhaps I cut too many; oops), but I found a way to smush them all in!  Based on the batter issues, I decided to make regular sized muffins so I could better monitor their progress in the oven. The over-stuffing didn’t hurt the muffins at all. Here they are pre- and post-bake:

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Of course, I had to taste-test one of them:

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It was very yummy — so yummy that I intend to bring some to my co-workers on Tuesday (I have today off!).  I am on a quest to prove to my co-workers that vegan baked goods are just as tasty as, and possibly better than, baked goods that incorporate butter, eggs, and milk.  Based on co-workers’ previous comments, so far it’s working!  So, next time you are at Whole Foods or think about baking something from scratch, don’t forget to consider vegan options.  😉

– The Professional Vegan

Cultured grapes

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Before I ran out for errands this afternoon, I made myself a little snackie of 1/2 cup grapes and a cinnamon and pb-stuffed date:

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It was so yummy, I felt like I was eating a pint of ice cream all by myself … but better :-D. Dates are the ultimate wonder food.

I was on a mission to use coupons that have been taking up space in my wallet for MONTHS, so I set off in hopes that Target would come through for me on these items. I just missed the bus about four times, so I ended up walking the whole mile and a half to get there. And, of course, Target was overflowing with rude people, the check-out line was wrapped around the store three times, and I couldn’t find what I needed anyway. I went down to the Pathmark and had a litte more success (though it was not what I’d call an efficient trip, either!). Here’s what I got:

img_4021Yogurts and milk for yogurt-making, fat free ricotta for fun, 2 red bell peppers (only $1.99/lb!), grapes (only $.98/lb!), sea salt riceworks (free with coupon — I finally found them!), LiveActive chocolate raspberry granola bars ($1 off coupon). Total: $16, bringing the week’s tally up to $36, still $4 under budget, whaaaaaat!

Side note on yogurt-making: Every 3-4 batches, I use a completely fresh starter (aka pre-made yogurts) to make sure all the good bacteria is thriving. I usually like to mix two types of yogurt so I get maximum culture variety. Therefore, the batch that is incubating tonight includes: l. acidophilius, bifidus, l. casei, l. rhamnosus, s. thermophilus, and bifidobacterium lactis.

This is my first time using Rachel’s brand yogurt, so we’ll see how it turns out. It’d better be good because I had to wait 10 minutes for them to price-check it at the store, only to have the clerk refuse to sell it to me since it wasn’t in the system yet and had no assigned price. I begged and pleaded until he let me scan the cup of Stonyfield again instead.

Three hours after I left, I was back home.

For dinner, I had another slice of pumpkin kibbi (I’m telling you, this is SO good!) with steamed asparagus spears:

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I love asparagus plain, but I sprinkled it with a bit of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for visual variety.

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Dessert was a treat. I’m generally a plain yogurt kind of girl, but when I buy the little cups to make yogurt like I did today, I often get them in fancy flavors for fun since I only need half (or less) of each cup to use as the starter.  For my dessert, I mixed together the remaining chocolate underground yogurt with the remaining mango pineapple passion fruit yogurt, added about 1/4 cup fat free ricotta, and sprinkled the top with shredded coconut and leftover chocolate-covered pretzel from my blogger secret cupid package.

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And I surrounded the whole thing with grapes and chopped strawberries for dunking:

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I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’m going to do something completely wild and leave the apartment after 9pm (to walk three blocks and watch TV with Ting and her friend, haha). Have a good night, and good luck tomorrow if you’re going back to your regular routine!

Socialize for your health

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I love when I can combine a good workout with quality friend time, and I’ve been able to do it twice this weekend! Yesterday, Kate, Gina, and I did our 5-mile waffle + ice cream bRUNch, and today my friend Sarah (but I call her “Ting”) is in town and we did another 3.5 around Prospect Park. Our run was so pleasant because it wasn’t part of any sort of training or obligation; it was just a fun thing to do together. Ting’s a bit of a speed demon — I had to work hard to keep up with her, and the stats show it: 34 minutes, 331 calories, average heart rate 166, max 181.

Before the run, I had a quick mid-morning snack of 1/2 grapefruit and a tsp of peanut butter:

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Post-run, I made us a yummy brunch of leftovers and cleared five containers from the fridge in the process. Yay for streamlining!

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I sauteed the Dominican rice I brought home from Friday’s work party in a tsp canola with 1/2 green pepper, 1/4 onion, and the rest of my green beans. The little ramekin has the last of Belkis’ habichuelas (about 1/3 cup each) with a couple spoonfuls of brown basmati rice, and I also fried two eggs in a tsp of olive oil (one for each of us). Ting poured hot sauce all over her egg :-). Sooooo good.

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For dessert, we had the last crumbles of the Orange-Cranberrry Dark Chocolate Heart Tart, also left over from Friday’s work party:

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So sad this is all gone now. It was amazing!

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We also each had one of the dark chocolate Adora calcium disks that Tina sent in my Valentine’s package. These tasted just like straight delicious dark chocolate — hard to believe they pack such a calcium punch!

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Next up: more errands. The list never ever ends, but I am getting through it! It sounds like there are a lot of you who do NOT have tomorrow off. It’s the worst to have to drag yourself somewhere when you know that everyone else is relaxing. Hope you’re getting some quality weekend time in now!

Still expanded

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Well, the gluttony certainly knows no bounds.

Kate and I went out to spend the afternoon with Gina in her ‘hood. We started admirably with a five-mile run — six arduous and windy loops around Marine Park: 55 minutes, 454 calories, 151 average heart rate, 179 max. When we got back to Gina’s house, her husband Chris surprised her with a dozen roses and TWO boxes of JoMart chocolates which we ALL attacked immediately (thanks, Chris!).

Specialty chocolates:

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I think I had at least one of each kind. I remember a 2-layer hazelnut square, dark chocolate-covered oreo, marshmalow-filled coffee bean truffle, chocolate-filled dark chocolate truffle, peanut butter cup, and there were probably more.

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Oh, and this butterfingery peanut butter puff was the best one:

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Box #2 was full of broken chunks of dark and milk chocolate. The dark chocolate tasted just like cocoa, sooooooo good. I ate several (fyi, whenever I use the term “several,” I mean at least seven) pieces because I was on a roll.

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And then we began preparations for our actual Valentine meal (because the chocolate wasn’t it, in case you were wondering).

Gina worked on the waffles until she made a mess:

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Chris had to take over:

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Meanwhile, Gina’s ice cream maker had been sitting on her counter right where Kate and I left it last time we were there! The “ice cream” mix I prepared this morning and brought over included … well, what didn’t it include?

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There was nonfat cottage cheese, nonfat Greek yogurt, cranberries, apple, banana, apple butter, strawberries, valentine m&ms that Deborah gave me at work yesterday, crumbled bits of chocolate-covered pretzel from my blogger secret cupid, shredded coconut, vanilla, dates, and maybe more? Kate brilliantly brought along some mini red velvet cupcakes that she had frozen after her dinner party a while back, so we crumbled those into the mix, too. The end result was some amazingly delicious and rich “strawberry cheesecake ice cream”!

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Here’s my first plate, topped with banana, more chocolate chunks, and crumbled hazelnut thins that Gina brought home from her trip to the London Harrod’s last fall:

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Here’s my second plate:

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My camera didn’t make it to the third plate in time. Well, the food didn’t actually make it to the plate before I inhaled it, either. But it looked something like this:

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I wasn’t actually hungry for any of this, by the way. But it tasted good, and I couldn’t stop!

Then we broke into the giant chocolate heart brownie that Chris’ mom made:

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With our bites:

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I had seconds of the brownie, too .

When I got home, I did a serious reorganization of the contents of the fridge, freezer, cabinets, and pantry. It’s hard to keep track of stuff when you live with two other people! This was a very stressful process, and I have to admit that I continued to snack on too much of too many unhealthy things while I worked (the binge finally ended when I sat down with a piece of pumpkin kibbi and then brushed my teeth). I discovered that Brigitte actually had SEVEN boxes of white rice, three of which were open and the SAME brand. I did a lot of consolidating, and I am happy to say that everything is now accessible! We’ll see how long it stays this way …

So anyway, I feel ill from all of the junk I’ve been downing nonstop this week, and I’m so excited to feel better tomorrow and return to a life of balanced nutrition! I finally got around to dyeing my hair tonight, and everyone knows that fresh color is the ideal setting for a fresh start :-D. See you on the other side!

Ohhhh, the expansion!

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Just because I try to keep my belly expansion to a minimum doesn’t mean I always succeed!

The day started out innocently enough with Mildred, the office Cupid, coming around and handing out Hershey’s Kisses. (I responsibly dropped my kisses into the empty tissue box on my desk where I “hide” things like this from myself.) Here she is (on the right) with Belkis and Jennifer:

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When Vianni arrived in her gold boots, however, I knew things were about to get out of hand:

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img_3845The festivities for the day included a secret office valentine gift swap. Jennifer was my Cupid and got these adorable socks for me. I can’t wait to wear them tomorrow!

Our big Valen-dining lunch feast began at 12:30. We each had the option to contribute $5 to ordering food from Caridad or to make and bring something. Obviously I made something — I can’t afford $5 for lunch!

Here’s the pretty table decor, complete with festively wrapped apples as party favors:

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(I took two of those apples home :-)).

And here’s the food vanishing …

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… onto my BIG plate:

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This plate included maduros (my favorite!!!!) and tostones:

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Grilled steak, onions, and veggies:

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Chicken:

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And beans:

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I had more veggies and beans.

And I also had lots of dessert (duh). My first (small but full) plate included a slice of Orange Cranberry Dark Chocolate Heart Tart (all of which got eaten except for two crumbly pieces that I brought home!), a chocolate-covered strawberry, three Italian cookies, an extra piece of tart crust (the crust tasted like some sort of amazing dark dark chocolate butterscotch toffee), and a big scoop of Baskin-Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon ice cream:

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Plate #2:

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#3:

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And I decided I might as well finish the ice cream carton:

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And keep snacking on cookies for the rest of the afternoon:

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With peanut butter:

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And tea:

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It’s pretty safe to assume that I ate about four times as many cookies as pictured (and I also brought three more giant ones home for my freezer stash).

When I got home, I had even more sugar excitement waiting for me! My prize for winning BSI: Spinach had arrived from Brandi, wrapped like the treasure it was:

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That’s right, my truffles from The Chocolate Spike are here!

dark chocolate pomegranate

dark chocolate pomegranate

dark chocolate blended with mango, lemon peel, ginger, and lime oil then dipped in dark chocolate

sassy mango-lime: dark chocolate blended with mango, lemon peel, ginger, and lime oil then dipped in dark chocolate

bittersweet chocolate, chipotle chili, cinnamon, orange and lemon peel dipped in bittersweet chocolate

aztec gold: bittersweet chocolate, chipotle chili, cinnamon, orange and lemon peel dipped in bittersweet chocolate

dark chocolate-dipped orange

dark chocolate-dipped orange

I wanted to dive into this goldmine the second I opened it, but I decided to wait until I sober up from all the sugar I’ve already consumed today. The treats are currently resting/hiding safely in my freezer until I am able to appreciate them in the way they deserve!

In the meantime, however, I snacked on several things I did not need  — pita chips, cookie crumbs, other items that are hiding in the freezer, etc. — while I was puttering around in the kitchen. I also made a new centerpiece for my table. My coworker Nitza received this beautiful rose from a parent today:

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She’s going out of town, so she gave the rose to me for safe-keeping. I combined it with the conversation hearts I received yesterday from my blogger secret cupid:

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The full effect:

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I’m still stuffed to the gills, so I’m blogging in bed with a mug of gingerbread spice tea, my cupcake t-shirt (designed by a little girl from the nursery school where I worked last year), my cupcake tattoo (designed by the tattoo guy around the corner and pinkified by my cousin Rachel), and my flannel cupcake pajama pants (a gift from my sister Emily).

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I’m big on symbolism.

Anyway, I’ve got loads of plans for this long weekend, the most exciting of which (for me) is the prospect of a kitchen deep-clean and organizing-fest while the roommates are out of town! I’ve also got some single-girl Valentine’s fun lined up and plenty of homework to keep me busy.

What should we bet that Monday night I’ll still be whining, “Where did all the time go?”

Enjoy your Valentine’s day tomorrow!