The Volumptious Vegan (who am I kidding, the Fat Vegan)

“The BEST Cupcakes Ever!”

When you think of a person that is a Vegan, the mental image that comes to mind is either a skinny, young, pretty thing, i.e.: Alicia Silverstone, or a skinny, organic, earthy type, like the red-haired PTO mom who brings her broccoli granola squares to playgroup (I think I may like this mom)! "Fat" and "overweight" are not words usually associated with a vegan. But as some of us know, you can be vegan and uh…chunky. Welcome to my world, when I became vegetarian about 1 year ago, I lost 5 whopping lbs. That’s it, yup, 5 lbs! I have come to figure out the reason was overcompensation and lack of knowledge I guess. When I decided to go vegetarian, my buffalo wing lovin’ husband was not exactly thrilled. “What, no more T-bones, and Chicken Alfredo!” he whined. To keep everyone happy, I overcompensated with tons of vegan butter, oil, and of course vegan desserts!! Another way of proving that vegan food tastes good is to make lots of baked goods! S o all my vegetables were nicely lathered in oil, fried, and topped with butter. I used a lot of vegan sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, pasta, white rice and bread. It was all vegan but still fattening! I was too afraid of using tofu or anything else too different back then. A couple times a week I would make delicious vegan desserts, everything from chocolate chip cookies, to apple turnovers, to these delicious cupcakes. Usually made with sugar, flour, shortening, and of course the wonderful vegan friendly phyllo dough! Everything still vegan, but still fattening! My cabinets were always filled with Oreo cookies and potato chips. I thought, "well its vegan, so I can have it and why not have more of it." It won’t go to my arteries, just my thighs! People would say “what do you eat, just fruits and vegetables?” Yah, um…not exactly. Unless you count potato chips as a vegetable or mistake a twinkie for a carrot. But now I’ve learned a little more about different foods so I'm changning my ways! Not to mention summer’s creeping up, so I better start eating a little healthier. After all, being healthier is why I became vegan in the first place!

I read a book called “Eat to live.” I know what you’re thinking, “I live to eat.” Well, this book promotes a healthy way of eating, and focuses on eliminating the main things that keep us fat, like sugar,oil, and dairy. I started following the diet plan which is eating a lot of salad, fruits, and veggies and I lost 4 pounds in the first 6 days! I recommend this book to anyone trying to lose weight; he offers a radical weight loss plan and a moderate weight loss plan. He has many good tips, like learning to cook your veggies in water (yum). Eventually after 6 weeks you can add oils, nuts, and dessert back into your life sparingly. (I’ll have to look up the definition of the word “sparingly” later)
Surprisingly, it hasn’t been that bad; I have created some really tasty recipes, and tried some amazing new fruits. Ever have a pummelo? Of course the shrinking waste line is the clincher!

But Before you diet or if you want to treat yourself…you HAVE to try these cupcakes. BEWARE they are addicting!!!

From the blog “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World”
Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped Oreo cookies
Frosting Ingredients
1⁄2 C. Non-Hydrogenated Shortening (Spectrum is available at Whole Foods. I have used Crisco in a pinch, but don’t like to with all that trans-fat! I may try using just vegan butter next time.)
1⁄2 C. Non-Hydrogenated Vegan Butter. (I use Smart Balance)
3 1⁄2 C. Confectioners’ Sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1⁄2 t. Vanilla Extract
1⁄4 C. Plain Soymilk or Soy Creamer
1/2 to 1 cup crushed Oreos (more is better I think!)
A pile of whole Oreos for topping!

Directions:
I despise cupcake liners; who wants to fiddle with paper? I like to just dive right in! I find that spraying the muffin pan with PAM works so well. The cupcakes just slide right out!
Preheat your oven to 350 and line your cupcake pan with paper liners or spray with PAM! In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set it aside to curdle. (It just bubbles a little) Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy mixture and beat until foamy.In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mix in two batches to the wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain. Mix in cookie chunks.Pour into pan, filling each cup 3/4 full and bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

For Frosting:
Beat shortening and margarine together in a large bowl until well combined and fluffy. Add sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add vanilla and soymilk; beat for another 5 to 7 minutes or so until fluffy. Fold in cookie crumbs. Frost each cupcake generously and top with a half of a cookie. Enjoy!

Clever Vegan tip of the week: If you’re vegan or if you're not, and fat and wondering why, hold the Olive Oil and the side of Oreos and go eat some fruit! (But first try the cupcakes!)