Flippantly Vague Musings of a Quirky Vegan

Vanilla Banana Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes, oh yes! And Want Some Vegan Marshmallows?



I found this convenient baking mix at Trader Joe's for pretty cheap and decided I wanted to veganize their recipe into some nummy cupcakes.I like to bake my own cupcakes from scratch most of the time, but sometimes it's fun to have a box mix to use. Instead of the two eggs it requires, I added one Ener-G "egg" and one half of a ripened banana, and then used Earth Balance and soymilk to replace the other animal ingredients. The mix is full of little vanilla bean flecks, so there is a very slight crunch to them, which I kinda liked. And the banana only added a barely noticeable banana-y flavor, which I also kind liked.
















But, I couldn't leave well enough alone. Once they were cooled, I decided to pipe in some of Suzanne's Strawberry Ricemellow that I have been saving for something fun. I got it from Pangea. My sister-in-law Rebecca lives about 5 minutes away from their storefront in Rockville, MD, so I asked her to send me some vegan marshmallows (soooo goooooood in rice crispie treats!!) and some Ricemellow. Yay! I only piped it into a handful of cupcakes, just in case it was disgusting or something. Then I topped them off with a thinned-out veganized version of the Hershey's choco frosting recipe and some organic sprinkles. So hence, the Vanilla Banana Strawberry Chocolate title! Pretty good! The strawberry center is fun for the kids, but it sure is sweet! These would be fun for Spring, with all the cute pink and yellow-ness, and pastel sprinkles.

































Next we have a veggie calzone using Trader
Joe's pizza dough, packed full of spinach, broccoli, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and marinara sauce. I also added in some Basil Pesto sauce and some Basil Tofu Ricotta from VWaV. A flavor sensation all wrapped up!

















Now, what is this? It's not food, that much I can tell you.














I will give you a hint...think Homemade Recycling/Reusing ideas! I will reveal it in the next post. Do you think you can identify what this is? If so, or the first to get as close as possible, will win a bag of VeganSweets Marshmallows shipped directly from my house to yours. Leave a comment with your answer by 9:00 am MST Wednesday 12/20. Yip yip! Does this make sense?
(I will randomly select a comment if no one is close, just so you know the rules of my game. I have never had a giveaway on my blog, so please forgive me if I butcher it! I'm just tryin' to have a little fun for the holidays! :-)))

Labels: calzones, cupcakes, marshmallows, recycling