Cupcakes for my Valentine

I have to give credit to Raina for this recipe for vegan cupcakes, but I did add in Oreo cookies:
Cake:
Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Frosting:

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine, we use Earth Balance
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer

Directions

1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

More vegan meals

It's going to be a month since I started my vegan diet.  I'm proud to say that I haven't eaten any animals since January 16th, 2011.  But, the truth is that I have had dairy a few times: 
-On Friday night we were at a Mexican restaurant that one of our customer's owns and after carefully ordering all of our meals with no meat, cheese, or sour cream, they send over a dessert plate piled with ice cream, flan and some fried doughy things with a chocolate dipping sauce.  I had to have a few bites ... I didn't want to be rude ;)
-A couple of weeks ago, I visited my aunt and uncle's house.  Fortunately, they've been following a vegan diet also so that made it pretty simple except for the fact that my uncle makes the most amazing Penne alla Vodka in the world.  I had to have some.  I also went to their store Evergreen and I couldn't resist the sundried tomato and mozzarella pasta.  I don't get to visit them enough.  I had to take advantage.  It was delicious, and I don't regret it.
-Last thing I can think of was on Super Bowl Sunday.  That Sunday morning I had been thinking back about these deviled eggs that my friend Kim made and took to my mom's house this past Christmas.  It just so happened that the super bowl party we went to had a tray of deviled eggs, and I had one.  It didn't compare to Kim's deviled eggs so it really wasn't worth it.

There's two things I've been missing lately.  One of them is eggs.  The other one is chicken wings.  This past week, Davey has been experimenting with tofu scramble, and it's been very delicious.  Not to mention that it normally comes with a side of tater tots which makes it that much better.  We went to brunch with some friends to Tweet, and I tried their tofu scramble.  David's was much better.  I'm a very lucky girl.
We tried these "chicken" wings from Whole Foods a few weeks ago, and they were really good!

 Here are some other meals we've been having.  If anyone wants any recipes, please let me know.  We've been trying to write everything down so we can make it again if it comes out good or adjust the ingredients if it needs something different. 
-fresh squeezed orange juice (sometimes with vodka which is also vegan)
-other juices we make with our juicer: the last one we made was tomato, celery, lemon, apple, pear and carrot
-fruit smoothies: soy, almond or rice milk with banana, strawberry, blueberry, almonds, cashews, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract and Nopalina (a flax seed mixture)
-oatmeal with fruit and/or nuts and soy milk
-guacamole and chips
-potato pancakes made with daiya cheese inside
-hummus with pita bread or in a sandwich with veggies; our Whole Foods has a giardiniara hummus that is so good that it's almost always sold out
-veggies breaded with garbanzo flour and fried (my uncle just taught me how to make this; we need more practice with it)
-veggie patty sandwiches
-spaghetti with Davey's Cuban "meat" sauce made with a ground meat substitute from Whole Foods (can't remember the name)
-french fries
-frozen burritos: we buy Amy's or Evol foods brand
-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
-salads
-no cheese pizza (we like these two; they're from Whole Foods)

I'm thankful for everyone reading my blog and the comments I've been getting. This past week I've had one family member tell me they're going to try cutting meat out of their diet and another friend of mine even made a vegan dinner!  It really means a lot when I hear from friends and family members that are interested in how we've been eating.