Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, stem and most seeds removed, chopped
• 2 cans white beans
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch of ground cloves
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilies
• 2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 slices of thick cut pepper bacon
• Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon)
• Sour cream
• Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

*recipe adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Ingredients:

1 c all-purpose flour

1/3 c cocoa powder

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1/4 c coconut oil

1 c + 2 T coconut milk

3/4 c granulated sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla extract, divided

2 t coconut extract

1 c shredded coconut, divided

1/4 c nonhydrogenated shortening (I like Earth Balance)

1/4 c butter, softened

2 c confectioners sugar

1 1/2 t coffee extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.\

Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over very low heat. Once melted, turn the heat off and leave it in the pan, on the stove.

In a med/large bowl mix together 1 c of coconut milk, sugar, 1 t vanilla extract, and the coconut extract. Stir in the melted coconut oil. Add the flour mixture in 4 batches, mixing well after each addition. Mix until smooth and then  fold in the shredded coconut.

Fill the liners 2/3 of the way and bake for 24 – 26 min. Allow to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting and toasted coconut topping.

Frosting:

Beat the shortening and butter together until well combined and fluffy. Alternately add the sugar and coconut milk to the shortening mixture, beating well after each addition. Add the coffee extract and the remaining 1/2 t vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Toasted coconut:

Preheat a small frying pan over medium heat. Pour the coconut into the pan and stir constantly until it is honey brown. Turn the heat off and continue to stir for about 30 additional seconds. Pour onto a plate.

Assembling these little bits of heaven:

Frost a cupcake with the frosting. Dip the frosting side of the cupcake in the toasted coconut.

Share (at least one) and enjoy!

xo

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

I have been trying to focus in on the key activities that make me happy now that I am home more and one of those is cooking and preparing food for my family. I went balls to the walls today people and everything is so yummy, I have to share.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas

1 3/4 c flour

1 c sugar

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1/4 c Earth Balance (or other vegan) butter

3 T (heaping) apple sauce

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 c vegan chocolate chips (Whole Foods brand is my favorite)

Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl (I use a potato masher). Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a mixer just until well combined. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake for an hour at 350 deg.

Note: this bread is very chocolaty. If you don’t like that, halve the amount of chocolate chips. Also? What’s wrong with you? I kid.

Basic bread dough

I checked this book out from the local library and made the basic recipe. I was so easy to make and the dough is rising now. Besides the aforementioned banana bread, I have never baked bread before. I’m sure mine will never look as pretty as the loaf on the cover, but I hope it will be delish!

Vegetable stock

I use a lot of veggie broth around here – for cooking rice in, for soaking beans in, for making soups. I got the great idea from our farm co-op to make my own with the leftover shoots and stems from the veggies I cut up for salads and stir fries. In a large pot add whatever veggie scraps you have (I added pea shoots, the ends of carrots, celery, scallions and radishes). Add water to the top of the pot, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for an hour. Turn off the heat and let cool. Ladle the broth over a fine strainer into containers for storage. I’m refrigerating half for immediate usage and freezing the rest.

Bon appetit!

Here’s how it works:

The first five people to leave a comment on this post will get something from me.
But in return, you have to do the same thing on your blog and make something for five other people. The details are as follows, and if you want to play, copy the following onto your blog and leave me a post:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.

2. What I create will be just for you, with love.

3. It’ll be done this year (2010).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something strange.

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

7. Send your mailing address – after I contact you.

I have avoided many of the  images and stories about the Haitian disaster. My heart can not bear it. Being a mother and imagining the fear, loss, devastation these lovely people must be feeling makes my heart-break even more for those who can not find their loved ones, who have lost their homes, who are without.

I can not fly down to Haiti to help. I do not have much money. But I do have some skills. I can make beautiful jewelery. And because the fantastically lovely Kelly Diels DM’ed me asking to take part in The Help Haiti Blog Challenge, I did.

While I was working, I kept loving kind thoughts of these people in my mind. My intention was clear – make this jewelery so lovely that people not only want to buy it to help the Haitians, but so they are happy to wear it and remind themselves of the good they have done.

All proceeds from items listed in my Etsy shop today will go to Doctors Without Borders.

Love and peace,

Sarah

OperationArseBeGone

Which is funny because I come from the land of flat arsed women, so while ‘baby got back’ won’t ever apply to me, ‘baby got saddle bags, love handles and muffin top’ may or may not. I want out of the bag, I’m letting go of the handles and I don’t even really like muffins. Let’s do this!

I signed up for a swim class with my sister in law because I have worked out a total of ZERO (count them, 1, 2, 3, 4 – ZERO) times this year. My ability to embody Patience may be taking over in a bad way and moving more into lethargy, inaction, laziness. So I’m trying to nip that in the trunk. 

For starters I want to couple the weekly swim class with strength training and yoga on alternate days.  Check back next week and let’s see if I got myself motivated to do this. I’m shopping for a new swim suit today, so I think that may be the best possible motivation. Additionally, I signed up for the #losermoms competition. I highly doubt I am going to win but I am definitely always up for a good competition. And did I mention I need some for serious motivation?

Eat healthy, whole foods

There is a lot more to this and it will require more energy than I’m willing to put in now. Bottom line – I’m working through this – reading, thinking, listening to podcasts, logging points on weight watchers and being part of #losermoms. It’s slowly coming into focus and I will for sure delve into it deeper soon.

I have also been posting to my flickr365 daily and in process of making a patchwork quilt baby blanket for a friend (pics after the surprise). I am working on spending more quality time with the hubs, kids, rents, etc. I have started the house beautification project (slowly). Pauper? Me? not yet… – The hare may win yet.

And so I would normally expect that by now, three days later, I’d have three workouts under my belt.  And all I have is one trip to the pool with the kids. Which really means that I played in the pool with a two-year old and tried to swim for about a minute.

So I thought, maybe I picked the wrong goal to focus on. Maybe I should start with a different one. And believe me, I am prepping for those Everests. Knowing that I am going to tackle the whole eating sitch in the coming year is making me slowly begin to be aware of when and why I am eating. And I started to clean out the basement, micromovement style, yesterday.

I EVEN created a vision board for 2010.

(I’ve done this for a few years now and am rather surprised by what came out in this one. Normally I have LOTS of pics of exercising. In this one? Only 1. I am also surprised by the sheer amount of strong, funny, confident, smart women I have this year too.)

But a completed workout? Did I even pull out my yoga mat? Bueller? Nada.

Normally I would beat myself up about this with all sorts of internal bullying and come out at the other end feeling…well, shitty. Which may or may not lead to getting myself to the gym, but definitely leads to me feeling like crap about myself.

So here’s this word rearing it’s head again: Patience. I need to have some with myself. I’m going to do this, I have no doubt about it. Just because I’m not the perfect, super strong woman today doesn’t mean I can’t patiently work towards that over time. It’ll come grasshopper, just have some patience. In the meantime, how about focusing on how to get activity more ingrained into your day? How about getting inspired to workout?  

And I have been trying to focus on getting motivated all day. Reading some fitness blogs, subscribing to some fitness podcasts, planning to get my gym bag organized tonight. At some point in the week, this will give me the push I need to get my arse into the gym/onto the mat/movin’.

I think a splurge at lululemon would help also…

And being the eternal optimist, I ALWAYS make New Years Resolutions. Without fail. The only one I’ve kept for more than a year was when I was 19. But then I broke it when I was 21. So yeah, I’m great at the setting but not at the follow through.

This year, in an attempt to not set myself up for another failure, I set an intention for 2010. My word of intention for this year is Patience. And I am Committed (yes, with a capital C) to honoring this for the entire year.

But yet, I have this list in my head of things I really want to change. And then I went and finally got around to reading this RT by @_apricottea. About two clicks later and I’m at this site and I’m ready to make some resolutions. But this year, when I make them? I am going to be Patient (yes, also with a capital P).

6 Habits for 2010 that I, SaritaPagita, want to change:

1. Get that booty movin’. Whether that’s through more yoga (daily would be great), more running (any would be better) or dancing/swimming/30-day shredding/hiking, I need to get active. But it’s got to be fun. And while 2009 was decidedly more active than 2008, I want to step it up a notch and be active by some means everyday.
2. Healthy eating. Sheesh, I’m already sounding like such a cliché. But, I have been sliding down a slope for a couple of years now and I need to change that. I eat really healthy compared to most people: I’m vegan so my diet should mainly consist of fruits and veggies, beans and rice. But lately, it’s contained too much soy ice cream, potato chips, diet coke and beer. I want to kick out the vegan cupcakes so they are more of a very special occasion treat. Note: over sharing to begin in T-minus 3, 2, 1… Also, I have some food issues – eating when bored, restless, sad, when I’m not hungry – that I really want to tackle. So at the end of the day, this is the ‘habit’ I’m really striving to deal with. Ok over sharing over.
3. Be a better mom/wife/daughter/friend. I will be more Patient and present with my kids. I will be a courageous, loving, kind, gentle, nurturing mom/wife/daughter/friend in 2010 and beyond.
4. Be more creative. Do something creative everyday which includes playing the violin, loading a pic onto my 365Flickr, and hopefully something else (learning to knit, making jewelry, sewing, scrapbooking, drawing, painting).
5. Declutter/beautify my house. Keep it clean and organized. Be proud to have people over. Make it more homey. Get all the baby stuff out, because we ain’t having no mo’ babies, yo!
6. Live like a pauper as much as possible. Remember how I’m losing my job? Yeah, that’s going to require me to stop buying books, makeup, shoes, anything that catches my eye (look! something shiny) like I still have a job. I’m going to have to be creative and be Patient.

And the habit I’m choosing to start with will be to Get that Booty Movin’. First step towards breaking the habit of couch potato chubberston is that I’m all set for 9 am yoga tomorrow am. Baby steps. Patience.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Namaste and Patience.

99. Been stung by a bee.