Veg of the Week

...long overdue!

I've been eating a lot of the same things I have already blogged about on here before. Between that and just adjusting to my still somewhat new work schedule, Veg of the Week has been lacking.

I think I've posted about these chocolate cupcakes with almond buttercream icing before but...they are SO good I have to talk about them again. This is only the second time I've made them because the first time I made them I couldn't stop myself from eating 4 at once, which resulted in a big stomach ache :)

Messy cocoa powder and flour :)

These cupcakes and the icing are vegan. They are also made from scratch, which is fun to me because it feels like art!

The recipe is pretty easy. Like I said, I've posted it on here before, so I'll just give you the site to the original link on Ohsheglows.com. It's http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/08/vegan-chocolate-cupcakes-with-vanilla-almond-frosting-and-raspberry-glaze/

Naked cupcakes!

I bought a very cheap, very non-Kitchen Aide stand mixer. It works for now. But one day... I WILL have my own Kitchen Aide stand mixer, maybe even a custom one!

Icing, mixer, and my very beat-up print-out of the recipe.

Fluffy icing! It was slightly hard to spread smoothly so I think next time I'll add a little more almond milk. The recipe stated 1.5-2 tbsp, and I did about 1.5.

Cute little cupcake all dressed up <3

*burp*

Next I made these fancy little things I found at the store today:

Eggplant fries! I saw a dish with battered eggplant at Olive Garden once...I didn't get it, but have wondered what battered eggplant would taste like ever since.

you just follow the directions on the bag... preheat oven to 400 degrees... lay fries out on a pan...bake for about 18min, turning once.

And...EAT!

I love ketchup.

These were pretty good. I don't find myself feeling like I've been missing out by not trying this sooner, but they definitely weren't bad. Anything I can dip in ketchup is good by me. Plus, I like that it's a twist on the traditional french fry and you don't get just one starchy vegetable- instead you get a mixture of flavors. So it's a fun change-up from the regular french fry.

What new recipes have you tried lately??

Hoping your week if full of flava! ~Anna (&The Pooches)

Merry Christmas baking and forgetting to take C-mas Pictures

Hey all! I was looking at some pictures I took a few months ago in September of Kasey and Kyla (my parents' dogs who are often on the blog). The weather in the pictures looks very much like what you would expect in fall..a little crisp look to the air, leaves on the ground, not quite as sunny as the summer was..... the funny thing is, it still kind of looks like this in Ohio except for the presence of colorful leaves... there hasn't really been a snow so far in my area and there are still more fall-type temperatures than winter temps. I always love snow on Christmas, but we haven't really had snow at all yet! Here are some of Kasey and Kyla's photos. They took it very seriously, as you can see.

Umm, yea. Thees r arr fotos. dont mess wif us. dis is seerios biznis.



Note- I did not plan for them to pose this way. They came up with it on their own. I must say they have good taste. I did have a pocket of treats though...

(Kasey is the one sitting, Kyla laying down)

Did yoo git the leevs in the pictur lady? Git the leeves!!!

Also... Like I said, I've been doing a lot of baking! These are the most wonder-mazing vegan cupcakes I've ever shoved in my mouth!!!!!!! I randomly found the recipe at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegan-cupcakes/

I substitute zero calorie sweetener for the regular sugar and they are very yummy. Icing is plenty sweet enough in my opinion. I used strawberry icing(pink) and peppermint icing (white) ...just store bought Pillsbury brand. I didn't see any ingredients in the label that weren't vegan so I figured they went with the vegan theme. Seriously, I could live off these. Try the recipe!!!! Try them with cherry or strawberry icing. It makes them irresistible :)

We got Spuds and Shadow "gourmet" dog Christmas gingerbread man cookies and gave them to them tonight. They were super excited. I forgot to take pics because I was just enjoying watching them and their excitement. They warm my heart every day!

~I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season~

Wishes of holiday magic, -The Pooches (and Anna)