Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

Do you ever go to a bakery or restaurant, eat something delicious and then think to yourself, “I could make that?” I do. And I usually consider that I could make it myself because it’s A: too expensive to buy again, or B: I bought it somewhere that I can’t easily get back to for re-purchasing.

In this particular case I had a cupcake from LaHave Bakery on my last trip to Nova Scotia and I couldn’t get it out of my head, I also can’t go back to buy another one anytime soon.

To make myself feel better about that, I found a recipe for chocolate cupcakes, made my basic vanilla icing and then changed that vanilla to almond. Of course, it's never going to be exactly the same as what they make, even if I had their recipe, but it's reminiscent and that will have to do.

 

To be honest, I don’t actually know for sure if the icing in LaHave had almond extract in it, but it sure smelled like it. Even if it didn't, I have almond extract already from a recipe I made last Christmas and this seemed like a nice place to use it. I was actually pleasant surprised by how much more I like almond versus the traditional vanilla.

Here are the recipes I used:

 

Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 12)

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• ¾ + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup chocolate chips

 

Almond Icing

• 3 tbsp room temperature butter
• 3-4 cups confectioners sugar
• 3-5 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp almond extract (or change the extract for a different flavour!)
• Splash of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

 

Preheat the oven to 350F

Grease or line your cupcake tins or cake pan

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt

In a separate bowl combine sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Whisk until well mixed

Combine the two mixtures and mix well, continue to scrape down the sides

Fill the tin(s) about halfway

Bake approximately 15-20 minutes

Wait until the cake is fully cooled before icing

 

To make the icing just combine all ingredients and mix well.

I used my emulsion blender to get the icing smooth and creamy.

If the icing is runny you can add more icing sugar, if it's dry add a bit more milk.

 

Spending Ban

I’m going to preface this post by saying that I do not understand why talking about money is such a taboo subject.  I’m going to talk about it anyway.

Do you remember a while back when I made it my goal to save $8000-10,000 by March 2017? That wasn’t just something to say, I had every intention of making that happen. I STILL have every intention of making that happen, and I’m almost there.

Back in July I came up with the idea of putting myself on a spending ban. If it isn’t immediately clear to you, a spending ban means no spending outside of what must be paid.

For 1 full month there would be no frivolous spending. No buying things just because. Any money that would be going out for the month was accounted for. Obviously, all of my bills still need to be paid and that is already worked into my budget. The other things that I have to spend money on are somewhat flexible. Gas and groceries change price depending on the day, how much I get, etc. I looked at previous spending to create a budget for those.

For the purpose of general savings and not just for this month I looked into lowering some of my permanent bills. I had no luck finding cheaper car insurance but I did manage to get my phone bill lowered by $10/month.

As of August 1^st the ban began. As is normal, when I tell myself that I can’t do certain things those things end up being exactly what I want to do. I found myself wanting to go shopping a lot for the first week or so, but it eventually passed. Winning at my own challenge is very appealing to me and I had every intention of doing so.

I considered ahead of time that we would have one night in August where we would be going out and likely couldn’t escape from a little spending. My answer to that is our “occasion” piggy bank. Sometime back Ryan and I started saving any cash income in a special spot for use on special occasions, vacations or rainy days. We decided we would be willing to spend a specific amount that night and that is all that we took.

At the end of the month I saved almost exactly what I had hoped for. I went over on my grocery spending but spent less on gas. I made a little bit more than I was expecting as well. I also discovered that this month was the perfect time to use those gift cards I’ve been carrying around for over 2 years now and that allowed me to spend a day at the mall with my friends and not feel any pressure to spend.

I consider my first spending ban a success and I am now on my second one for the month of November. I also finished all my Christmas shopping in October which should allow me to have a stress free November/December where I am able to save money instead of going into the red as so many people do. The fact that November happens to be a 3-paycheque month certainly doesn't hurt either.

After November my next challenge will be to survive a 2-3 month ban sometime in the New Year!

Spinach, Mushroom and Butternut Squash Lasagna

This was my first ever attempt at making lasagna and I think it turned out really well. I was looking online for an idea of what kind of flavors I could use to make vegetarian lasagna but also make it more exciting than your typical lasagna without the meat sauce.

I didn’t look at anyone else’s recipe, just took ideas that looked good. I kept seeing butternut squash come up and even though I can’t remember having ever eaten it, it seemed super appealing. Adding spinach and mushrooms was just a great way to add extra flavours and texture since I wouldn’t be using meat sauce or ricotta cheese.

Here is what I used:
Lasagna noodles
Tomato and herb pasta sauce
Butternut squash (mashed)
Spinach (frozen, thawed and drained)
Mushrooms (sliced and cooked)
Shredded cheese (marble and mozza)

Start by putting sauce in bottom of pan so nothing sticks
Make your layers, anyway that suits you
I did:
Noodle- Sauce – cheese – butternut mash
Noodle- sauce- spinach – mushrooms – cheese
Noodle – sauce – butternut mash
When the layers are done top with lots more cheese
Cover with foil
Bake at 425F for 1 hour
Uncover for the last 5-10 minutes to ensure melty cheese and a bit of a crisp

I was so pleased with this recipe, it turned out even more delicious than I imagined. Having mashed butternut squash replaced the ricotta cheese nicely and all the flavors worked together perfectly. Everything was hot and gooey and melted.

The best part is, with the noodles I had and 1 full butternut squash I had enough to make 2 separate lasagnas so I get to have it again!!