The Flying Cupcake

I’ve gotten some amazing cupcakes lately from The Flying Cupcake in Indianapolis. They have a daily selection of vegan cupcakes with at least a dozen unique flavors. If you’re lucky, a bakery may offer one or two vegan options. The fact that this bakery has a MENU of vegan options is fantastic. They are even very careful about cross-contamination and they keep the cupcakes in a separate display case. Did I mention the cupcakes are also gluten-free? So cool.

I recently got the ebony and ivory cupcake but I had previously tried the vanilla. I think I like the vanilla one a little more but they are both good. Just be prepared for a sugar coma! Definitely worth it.

Spaghetti Squash with Avocado Cream Sauce and Fresh Corn

As promised, here is a delicious gluten-free & vegan dish. There are very few resources for vegan and gluten-free dishes. Like… very few. I was overwhelmed when I started collecting vegan cookbooks at just how many there are. I suddenly realized I’m not the only one interested in vegan food. Now, I throw in the gluten-free twist only to find three cookbooks for gluten-free vegans on Amazon. Hopefully they are the three best cookbooks ever.

I love avocado and I love pasta. Gluten-free pastas like the ones made out of quinoa aren’t bad, but they are expensive when compared to wheat pastas. I’ve also always thought to myself… if I’m going to stop eating something, I don’t want to simply replace it with fake versions of the real thing. Exhibit A: Daiya cheese. Exbibit B: Coconut milk ice cream. And exhibit C: Quinoa pasta.

So here enters spaghetti squash. Pasta that is made out of a vegetable? Clearly this has to be my best friend. Mix in a little avocado and fresh corn and I am content. I’ve kept this 100% simple but it could so easily include roasted pine nuts, lemon juice, cilantro, or any other ingredient that sounds good!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
• 1 avocado
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• kernels from 1 ear of boiled corn on the cob
• red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and place in a lightly greased roasting pan, cut sides facing down. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, remove the peel and seed from the avocado. Slice the avocado up into smaller pieces and place into a food processor with 1/8 cup of water. Add salt and pepper. Process until smooth.

4. Prepare one ear of corn by boiling it in water for 4-5 minutes. Once cooked, slice the kernels off the cob and set aside.

5. Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven when it is ready. Remove the seeds from the inside and discard. Use a fork to comb the remaining insides out.

6. Combine the spaghetti squash, avocado mixture, corn kernels, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Serve immediately.

Yields: 3 servings

Mittens and Cricket

This could be an entertaining post about protecting your hands from the cold while participating in a popular British sport. Instead, it’s a halfway decent post about two furry gentlemen who moved in with me recently. They are convinced that I am the one who moved into their home but please don’t listen to them. After all, they are the ones who spend hours hiding in brown paper bags and chasing ping pong balls. Who are they to pay the rent? Anyway, Mittens and Cricket are my new 9 week old kittens and they are adjusting very well to life in the “big city.”

In addition to acquiring two more beating hearts in my home, I also just moved into a new place and have cooked one meal in my new kitchen so far. I have “cooked” about 10 other meals technically but all of these involved the microwave and a can of lentil soup. Oh, well. Apparently I’m still getting used to a new kitchen. I bought plenty of veggies the other day so I should be cooking up new dishes in no time. Hopefully, most of my future meals will be gluten-free. I’m trying to jump on the GF train since I have started reading Wheat Belly. The wheat-free deal always made sense to me and I’ve experimented with the idea of “gleeganism” in the past (gluten-free and vegan… yes, there’s apparently a name for it). Let’s see how it goes on a more long-term basis!

Here is my only real meal so far – just some veggies, but can’t go wrong with that!

$2 Dinner

1 can of black beans + 1 avocado + a little corn and a little red onion + dash of S&P = lazy dinner for one. Healthy food is not ridiculously expensive. Bypass surgery, Lipitor, blood glucose monitors, gym memberships, Nutrisystem… those things are ridiculously expensive.

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta

I think I’m on day 9 of my cleanse but I’m honestly not trying to keep track very closely. I still crave sweets and pasta and since I won’t let myself cave in to sweets right now, I figured I might as well allow myself some pasta. I have been wanting to try gluten-free noodles lately so this GF cleanse provides a perfect opportunity. I found some pasta noodles made from wild rice. Since I am also not eating tomatoes right now, I decided to pair this pasta with pesto. I typically eat about 5 lbs of tomatoes every hour… yeah probably about that much. However, I love pesto so I knew this would still be delicious without involving tomatoes. I am also striving to get plenty of protein while cleansing hence the addition of the chickpeas to the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. gluten-free pasta
• 1/2 cup basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/4 cup matchstick carrots
• black pepper, to taste
• fresh dill, to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. I noticed that my rice-pasta cooked up a little faster than wheat-pasta so keep a close eye on it. Drain the pasta and set it aside.

2. Combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, and olive oil in a blender until smooth. Add water as needed to smooth out the consistency. Set pesto aside.

3. Saute the zucchini, yellow squash, yellow onion, chickpeas, and carrots in a pan over medium-heat until cooked through. Add black pepper and fresh dill to taste.

4. Pour the veggies over the pasta and top with the pesto sauce.

Yields 3-4 servings.

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