Dr. Kathy's Cupcakes and J's Perfect Lunch

So this should come as no surprise but I hate the dentist. To a fault. You see, I have a tendency to avoid going to the dentist until the problem gets really bad, and I have no excuse (though I will try to come up with many). Case in point, about 6 months ago, I noticed that I was getting a cavity in one of my back teeth. Well, I decided I would just ignore it, pretty much. Let's just say, that over the past few months it has really started to bother me, so I finally decided to set up an appointment. Over the weekend, my tooth decided it was going to start really giving me trouble. The pain was off and on until Sunday, then it was pretty much on all the time. It was so bad that I couldn't sleep last night, so I ended up staying home from work in hopes of getting some sleep and maybe getting in to see the dentist sooner. I got some sleep, but the dentist situation isn't looking very good. What I can say though, is Brett (so sweetly) got up around 4 in the morning with me, when my pain was really intense, and put a cold pack in the freezer. Thanks to that, I am experiencing a reprieve from the pain, and I was able to sleep. I think I'm also going to get some Advil or something, I hate taking medicine, but I think I'll just deal with it at this point.

Anyways, woe is me, right? Well, don't feel too bad for me, I've known this was an issue for awhile, I have dental insurance, I've had the money to pay for it, I have sick time and an understanding employer, I just put it off because going to the dentist sucks and it's always painful.

You know what I don't understand either? It doesn't hurt when I eat, or anything like that, it's just an aching in my jaw. Argh! Dumb teeth!

Anywho, enough of my complaining. A positive aspect of this is that I can catch up on my blogging! I got a bit behind this weekend, as I was busy in the garden and such.

I'll start with the baked goods. A dear friend and co-worker of mine, Kathy, recently successfully defended her dissertation and is now officially Dr. Kathy! (Congrats again Kathy, I am so proud of you!) Well, of course I had to do what any good vegan does: bake for her! I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Who doesn't like chocolate on chocolate?

A couple of notes: these are not healthy. I generally use less or no oil in my recipes, but find that when I feed vegan goodies to omni's I like to make things really decadent, it makes us look better. :-) So this is an oil laden recipe, but I did use whole wheat pastry flour.

I also attempted to make my own chocolate frosting. It must be an art, it seemed like all was going well, and the next thing I know I have something resembling a marshmallow. So I took Bianca's tip and got store bought 'accidently vegan' (but really unhealthy) chocolate frosting. Thanks Bianca!

This picture is obviously sans frosting.

Dr. Kathy's Chocolate Cupcakes

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 cups organic raw sugar

6 heaping tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder (I used Green & Black's)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil (eeek!)

2 tbsp white distilled vinegar

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Slowly add in the oil, vinegar, vanilla and water and stir until smooth.

Fill muffin cups (or an oiled muffin tin) 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when cupcakes pierced in the middle.

They turned out really good, and I had to leave some at home for Brett, but apparently what I left him wasn't enough as I had to make another batch this weekend. Brett is weird with chocolate, I think he and Katie (the Chocolate Covered Vegan) would get along just fine.

Next we have what is a very common 'Jen Lunch' over the summer. Hummus, veggies, pita, etc. The type of hummus and veggies change but the general idea is the same. What is pictured below is my lunch packed into my Zojirushi lunch jar. I really like that thing.

It's classic hummus (with extra cayenne pepper on top), pitted organic kalamata olives, pickled hot peppers :-), organic 'baby' carrots, sliced organic red bell peppers and organic broccoli, and whole wheat organic pita bread (called 'Bible Bread'). This makes for an awesome lunch.

J&B's Classic Hummus

Makes about 4 cups of hummus.

4 cups of garbanzo beans cooked

1 clove garlic, minced

juice of one lemon

1-2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon olive oil

cumin to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

salt to taste

water for consistency (bean cooking water if possible)

In a food processor combine ingredients until desired flavor and consistency.

Well, I've got one more post and then I'll be caught up!