Two sets… first, take a look at these tomatoes from my Dad’s garden! It doesn’t get any better than this.

We had a playdate at the park today and Emma and I decided to take along some “cupcapes” to share with our friends. For the big “kids,” we made chocolate cupcakes with mocha kahlua buttercream. These were garnished with some super dark (vegan) chocolate with coffee in it. I ended up making two batches of the cupcakes because I first tried the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. It did not go well (probably something I did wrong), so I had to rely on my old friend The Joy of Vegan Baking. The chocolate cake recipe from there is great (delicious and super simple) and I will probably never deviate from it again. The mocha kahlua buttercream was a twist on the Chocolate Buttercream recipe from VCTOTW. Instead of using rice or soy milk to thin it out, I used very strong coffee and a little kahlua. Yum!

For the kiddos, I made some ice cream cone cupcakes– the same cake batter, but baked in a cone instead of a cup. Frosted with a simple chocolate buttercream (from VCTOTW) and topped with some sprinkles, they were a big hit! (Be sure to wrap the cone in foil before baking to avoid burning).

Emma’s friend, Lily, had her 2nd birthday today. We took along our own cupcakes, which Emma helped me make. Her most important job was licking the paddle after I made the frosting.

The Joy of Vegan Baking is one of my favorite vegan cookbooks. You wouldn’t believe the amount of recipes in it and I refer to it often. The chocolate cake recipe is also available online and is the best chocolate cake that I have ever had. It’s also so easy to make. When I made the recipe for the chocolate buttercream, I waited until the end to add the cocoa powder. Once the frosting was made, I scooped out about half so that I would have some white frosting to decorate with. Then I added in the cocoa powder (the full amount that the recipe calls for) and it was super chocolatey and delicious! Since it was a Hawaiian themed party, I went with a flower design on the top. Writing this post is making me want to eat another one… good thing we had a few leftovers!

Matt’s cousin, Amy, came over for dinner last night. She had been dying to try the lentil tacos (and a recent convert to a vegan diet), so that’s what we had. I also made some tofu ranchero so that we could have lots of leftovers to have another night this week. I also made my own refried beans, which turned out a little on the dry side, but still really tasty.

For the beans, I used 1 medium onion and 1 large jalapeño satueed in about 2 TB of olive oil until they were super soft. I then added about 3 cups of cooked pinto beans and I smashed them up with a potato masher. A little S&P and I was done! I topped them with a bit of chopped cilantro just to give them an extra bit of flavor. As I said, they were slightly dry and I think next time I will add in a bit of veg stock to fix that. Other than that, they were incredibly yummy, and not spicy at all.

When Matt and I lived in San Francisco, there was a taqueria around the corner from our apartment that offered tofu rachero as a burrito or taco filler. I was scared to try it at first, but I’m glad I eventually came to my senses because it’s AWESOME! I did a search on the internet for a ranchero sauce recipe and came up with this one that has served me well for the last few years. Since I don’t follow it exactly, here is my version of it:

Tofu Rachero

1 T olive oil

1 jalapeno, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 package of extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes

S&P

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil, jalapeno, celery, onion, bell peppers and garlic. Saute about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes and puree using a blender or hand blender. Save half of the sauce for another time. Add tofu to the remaining half and continue to simmer for as long as possible. (One batch of sauce makes too much sauce for one package of tofu, so I usually make a full batch and freeze half for another time). The longer you can let the tofu simmer in the sauce, the better. I will sometimes make the sauce on the stove and then transfer everything to my slow cooker to let it simmer all day. So delicious!

For dessert, I pulled out some cupcakes that I had in my freezer that were leftover from Emma’s birthday. As I was flipped through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I came across the photo of the cookies ‘n cream cupcake. It’s just a plain vanilla frosting with some Newman O’s crunched in… mmmmmm!!!

Sunday was Emma’s 2nd birthday, so I decided to make a meal of some of her favorite foods. We had corn on the cob, steamed artichokes, tofu triangles and an orzo salad. Aside from the orzo salad (which I made more for Matt and I), these truly are her favorite foods to eat. We ate the entire meal wearing our Elmo party hats and had some vegan cupcakes for dessert. It was a fun meal!

Orzo Salad

1 cup orzo pasta

1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1/2 cup artichoke heats, chopped

1/4 fresh basil, chopped

juice of 1 lemon (a couple of tablespoons)

1/4 cup olive oil

S&P to taste

Cook the orzo per package directions. While the pasta is cooking, chop the red peppers, olives, artichoke heats and basil and put them in a large bowl. In another small bowl, mix together your dressing (the lemon juice, olive oil and S&P). When the pasta is done cooking, strain it and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Spread out on a cookie sheet and allow it to cool. When it has cooled, add the pasta to the bowl of veggies and mix. Toss with the dressing and refrigerate for at least an hour. The pasta will absorb the dressing as it sits, so don’t worry if it looks like there is too much dressing initially. This recipe is so good, and only gets better the longer it sits.

For dessert, I decided to make vegan chocolate cupcakes from Joy of Vegan Baking. I’ve made these cupcakes a few times before and they never disappoint. I think they are better than regular cupcakes, to be honest. I normally make the chocolate frosting to go on top, but decided to leave out the cocoa this time. I added in an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla for a yummy vanilla frosting. I topped each with a raspberry (organic, of course). I’m a sucker for baked goods and to save myself from myself, I only frosted four cupcakes. I put the rest in the freezer along with the extra frosting, which I’ve never tried to freeze before and I’m not entirely sure it’s freeze-able. It’s worth a shot- the cakes should be fine, I’ll probably just have to whip up a new batch of frosting.