Not all experiments in the kitchen turn out like I planned, or hoped.
So I used my vegan brownie recipe and I was going to make brownie bites with a German chocolate marshmallow in the middle.
Popped them in the oven and…….
The marshmallow melted into a sticky goo. Apparently you are supposed to put the marshmallow on when there is about 1 minute of baking time left. Oh well, they still tasted yummy!
I used my “Bake Pop” to make vegan brownie/cake balls. Granted it took a few trial runs and failed attempts to finally get them right. I used my vegan brownie mix and added just a little rice milk to thin out the batter then poured the batter into the pan. *Make sure you follow the instructions that come with the Bake Pop. They are very specific.*
I melted a little semi-sweet chocolates and added a little bit of veg oil to make it runny. Dropped the ball in the bowl of chocolate and rolled it around till it was coated. Then I lightly stabbed the ball with a fork, dont stab too far in because it will split the ball in half. For the coconut ones I covered a large plate with coconut then rolled the ball around until it was completely coated. I lined a baking sheet with cupcake papers then placed the balls in the papers. Not bad for my first time!
A bit of dictionary background before I divulge, bare with me, it will all come together in the end!
Dictionary.com defines religious as the following:
1. of, pertaining to, or concerned with religion: a religious holiday.
2. imbued with or exhibiting religion; pious; devout; godly: a religious man.
3. scrupulously faithful; conscientious: religious care.
4. pertaining to or connected with a monastic or religious order.
5. appropriate to religion or to sacred rites or observances.
The site defines spiritual as the following:
1. of, pertaining to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
2. of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature: a spiritual approach to life.
3. closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.: the professor’s spiritual heir in linguistics.
4. of or pertaining to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.
5. characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit;ethereal or delicately refined:
After reading both definitions, I’m not sure which one I fall under. I guess I have always thought of myself as a more spiritual person than religious. I say that because, in terms of my own beliefs, I think I can define spiritual better than religious. I believe there is a higher power that is responsible for life and everything on earth and I believe our souls/spirits move on to another place when our bodies can no longer sustain life. I will admit, I cant understand much of what is written in the bible. I might understand 10% of it. Which is why I dont like talking about this kind of thing. I dont know enough about the bible and I dont know how I feel about the bible and the things that are written in it. Dont get me wrong, I have tried to sit and read the bible but without someone who really understands what is written helping me interpret it, I retain nothing, I understand nothing. Just like when I was in school. I was never good at studying and my grades where a direct reflection of that. But in school I didn’t really have the drive to retain anything. Hence why it took me almost 8 years to get my Associates degree. But when it comes to the bible I do want to learn, understand and interpret the writings.
A few weeks ago my husband, son and I started attending Sunday service at The Rock of KC. It has been 10+ years since I have been to church. Back then it was for different reasons; If I didn’t get up and go with the family, I was grounded. I didn’t understand why my parents made my brother and I go to church. It was a burden to us. I know my parents had good intentions in taking us to church. As an adult with my own child, I am starting to see those intentions reflected in my own decisions. Today I have other reasons for going. Since our son was born, my husband and I have talked a lot about religion, the church and what it means to us and what we want our son to believe in and be a part of. It makes me a little sad that our son has not been baptized yet. I want to know that if he is taken from us that his soul will go on to a better place. I believe in my heart that he will, but I feel like I need the church and God to confirm it. OK, so now that I am on the verge of hysterical crying from typing that…let me regain my composure… Since we have been going to church, it feels good to be a part of that kind of community again. It feels good to be a part of something bigger than myself. We have made some amazing friends and with Pastor O’Rielly teaching the word of God, I am starting to understand what my relationship with God is all about, which was the whole point all along.
And when our son is grown and old enough to make his own decisions on the matter, I hope that he has learned from us and sees how this choice has bettered our life, until then he’s going to church with us or hes grounded 
Its time for a make-over! Please bare with me as I make the site bigger, better and more tasty…oh wait…thinking of cupcakes again…
It has been a long time since I have blogged about being a parent and all the wonderful things that go along with it. Watching my son grow and blossom into a little boy is so rewarding. Every little milestone he reaches; rolling over, crawling, feeding himself, using a sippy cup, cruising along furniture and hopefully soon, walking. It all makes me so proud and fills me with joy to know I played a part in his development. I love that little guy to the moon and back!
But, as with all good things, there are the not so good things. Like no sleep…Lately Michael has been waking up insanely early. Like this morning, 4:00am!!I hear him whining so I opened my eyes and realized it was still dark and thought to myself, it must be midnight or something. Nope, it was 4:00am! So I rolled out of bed, changed his diaper and promptly put him back to bed. Only to hear him again 45 minutes later. Finally at 6:15 I gave up and got out of bed for the day. Wish I could figure out his sleep cycle. I think sometimes something wakes him up in between cycles or he has a hard time staying asleep in between cycles.
Needless to say, today we are working on a new nap/bedtime schedule. So far so good.
I searched all over the internet looking for a tutorial or a how-to for making a simple bow out of gum paste. I couldn’t find one so I fumbled my way through it and once I figured it out, I made my own tutorial. This is the 1st time I have done this so bear with me. Sorry for the poor picture quality, from my cell phone cam, my regular photographer (husband) wasn’t available. I hope it helps!
Before I start here are a few things I have learned when working with gum paste. I used Wilton Gum Paste. It dries out very fast so make sure you store un-used pieces in an air tight bag. I wrap mine up in plastic wrap then put it in a plastic bag. Dont mix partially dry gum paste with fresh gum paste. It will ruin the whole batch. Dry gum paste doesn’t stick to moist gum paste very well. Tray adding a little water. When the gum paste is completely dry, the color changes a bit. OK that’s it. Good luck!
Step 1 Roll out gum paste according to the package.
Step 2 Cut a 1in by 6in strip
Step 3 Cut that strip into three 2in strips. Put two of the strips in an air tight plastic bag to keep them from drying out.
Step 4 Cut the strip in half length wise. Take one strip and cut it length wise again, this will be the middle section for the bow.
Step 5 Take one strip and fold over one side to the center, then the other side.
Step 6 Pick the piece up and gently pinch the middle together.
Step 7 Take one of the smaller strips from step 4 and wrap it around the middle of the bow and gently press it on to the back. Then you have a bow!
Step 8 Cut gum paste into ribbons to make the rest of the bow, or just leave it the way it is.
My completed bows.
Around here we love spaghetti and meatballs. I mean who doesnt!? Spaghetti Wednesday is a weekly thing for us. My husband takes great pride in his meatballs. The man knows his meat Since embarking on the Vegan adventure, we have had to alter our recipes a little. Being unfamiliar with a lot of the alternatives to meat, and only trying one recipe, we opted to just have spaghetti…no meatballs for a while. Needless to say, spaghetti Wednesday just wasn’t the same anymore.
On a recent trip to the commissary we found a great substitute for our meatballs. Gimmie Lean Ground Beef Style turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to our spaghetti. Here is the recipe we used. We love it. My son, who is now 13 months, loves them too.
On the weekends we love to make pancakes. My son loves to devour the pillowy, fluffy delicousness and my husband loves to drown them in syrup. I like mine plain, sometimes with a little vegan butter.
I stumbled upon a vegan recipe that I altered to my tastes. They are quick easy and taste just as good as the originals, sorry Bisquick.
Ingredients
We cook ours on a griddle on medium heat. Use 1/4 to scoop batter onto warm griddle. They are ready to be flipped when bubbles start to pop on the top. Just to be sure, gently lift a little of the pancake to test for doneness. If they arent ready to be flipped, you will have a mess if you try, just ask my husband. Sorry love!
If you leave them on long enough, but not burned, they get a little crispy, which I like.
Top with your favorite additions and enjoy!
One of the many things I love about being so close to family is baking with my mom. All the skills I have learned in the kitchen, I acquired from her. Lately she has been on a muffin kick so last weekend we got our hands dirty and made some apple muffins. They turned out delicious! Since we are 95% Vegan 
, we used rice milk.
Here’s how you can make some delicious muffins too! I am trying something new, more pictures to help describe what I’m talking about when making something. I am a visual learner. I find mixing this by hand works best. A stand mixer might over work the batter resulting in bricks instead of muffins. Happy baking!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12 muffin pan with non stick spray.
Dice the apples into small cubes. This is how I got nice little cubes. Slice the apple into wedges, then slices the wedges lengthwise then dice. Sorry no picture for that one, I got a head of myself. Then in a bowl, mix the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg with the apples. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the flours, salt and baking powder. I use a whisk, it works great to combine everything.
In a separate bowl combine the sugar, oil, milk and egg just enough to break up the egg yolk. Again, a whisk works best.
Now, pour the sugar & egg mixture into the flour bowl. With a spoon, fold everything together until its just about combined, then add the apples.
Slowly fold everything up a little more. Its important not to over work the batter because doing so causes all the air bubbles to pop thus not allowing your muffins to rise. Yup, I had to Google that one because honestly I didn’t know what happens when you over work dough or batter. Its just what my mom said. Now I know
OK now you are ready to fill the muffin pan. I like to start out with adding just a little bit of batter to all the cups, then when all 12 are filled, going back and adding more as needed. That way I know that when a recipe calls for 12 muffins/cupcakes and I end up with 6, I probably overfilled the pan. This way I can go back and fill the ones that dont have much batter in them so they will all be relatively the same size.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes. Baking time will depend on your oven. Gas ovens, like my moms, tend to get a bit hotter than what you set the temperature to. So start with a low baking time and go from there. Just check to make sure they are done by using a toothpick. If it comes out clean, they are done!
[warning] I dont want to offend the many Vegans out there by using the word Vegan and posting a recipe that has an egg in it. My family and I are trying our best to eat animal free but sometimes we fall off the wagon, as with this recipe. [/warning]
I love Bisquick. You can make just about anything with it. I love to make the biscuit recipe that comes on the box, but instead of milk, I use beer. I grew up with my mom making them all the time. This time I made a double batch and froze the biscuits to have anytime. Here’s how you can do it.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine ingredients until a nice ball forms, you may nee do add more Bisquick if the dough is too sticky. Roll out the dough to the thickness you want. Cut out the biscuits them lay them on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30-45 minutes, or until the biscuits are frozen solid.
Once the biscuits are frozen, place them in a paper bag then in a plastic bag. The paper bag will keep the moisture out and prevent the biscuits from sticking together. Place the bag back in the freezer and you will have biscuits whenever you want!
To heat, set oven to 400 and bake until the biscuits are golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
