fooooods

i have had food on the brain. i don't know if i'm feeling tired or it's the cool, cloudy/rainy weather we've been having or what, but i feel like i've been thinking about food, looking up recipes and snacking a lot today and yesterday. so i baked something this morning and now i'm going to share about it! :)

i've been making a lot of recipes from this site lately: http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html. i really like her balance of healthy and yummy ingredients and that the main dishes aren't all meat-centered. and she has lots of things that i wouldn't think to try- she's pretty creative. anyway, last night i made the red lentil coconut soup for the second time- i don't use red lentils or yellow split peas or golden raisins, but rather the less-glamourous brown, green and purple varieties, respectively. i also used minced candied ginger instead of fresh because we never buy fresh ginger, and we never EVER buy cilantro, so there wasn't any of that either. and i just noticed, while perusing the ingredients again, that i forgot to add salt to it. i didn't notice it missing from the flavor. then we topped it with yogurt and roasted, salted cashews and heated up a couple whole-wheat pitas in a frying pan for on the side and yuuuuummmm...i highly recommend it. 

on tuesday i made her vegan peanut butter cookies, again, for the millionth time, and i've already gushed about how wonderful they are. and they still are. and they are almost gone.

this morning (late morning, i feel the need to clarify) i was browsing the dessert section and came across ginger cupcakes. the ingredients list is simple, and since i wasn't being terribly productive anyway, decided that at least this would be something i could do and that i'd have something to show for it at the end. and do i ever! they are DELICIOUS. i did change a few things with the recipe- i used whole-wheat pastry flour, sucanat, 2 eggs instead of three, and, of course, i added chocolate chips to most of them after pouring the batter into the cups. and for some weird reason i got 16 cupcakes instead of 12. the flavor- i was really surprised. they're very tasty- mildly spicy and not too sweet- but my favorite part is the texture! it doesn't taste like it was made with whole wheat flour and sucanat, if you know what i mean. i love ww flour and sucanat, but you kind of have to resign yourself to the fact that all of your baked goods are going to have that quaint "rustic", "hearty" quality. not that there's anything wrong with that; all i'm saying is that these cuppycakes have a very soft texture and i think what may be called a "delicate crumb". yay!