Cupcakes, Quinoa Salad, and a Meme!

I've mentioned many times that I make cupcakes for the women who my mother works with, and they requested some more last week! I asked my mom if I should make the Boston Cream Cupcakes or the Cappuccino Cupcakes with Espresso Creme (both from VCTOTW), and she immediately said she wants the Boston Cream Cupcakes (Boston Cream Pie is one of her favorite desserts)! While I had some issues with the filling being too loose and tasting a little bit like tofu, everything worked out once the cupcakes were assembled! My dad and I both had one when he came home that night after I packed half of them for my mom to take to work the next morning, and after my dad took one bite he said, "You saved four more cupcakes for us, right? Well, I'm going to go eat the rest now!" Haha- I guess he liked them! While he did not actually eat all four of them that night, they were finished within the next day or two. I'd really love to adapt the filling a bit and make this recipe into a full-fledged Boston Cream Pie (cake)!

I have had the recipe for the Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango from Vcon bookmarked for a few months now, but I knew it would have to wait for awhile before I could actually find some good mangoes around here in the summer. You can imagine how thrilled I was to buy my first mangoes of the season last Saturday! I resisted eating them right away, and rushed home to make this salad. YUM! I love the flavors of this and it's the perfect summer salad and super healthy, too! I also packed some with me for dinner while my family and I went to a Kenny Loggins concert (my parents love him, while my sister and I kept escaping to walk around the food court and lawn area) for Father's Day at Ravinia, an outdoor theater in our area. My sister tried some of my salad while I was eating it and actually really liked it and she requested that I make this for dinner sometime! As if I needed another reason to make this again! Oh, just an interesting little side note: while at the concert on Sunday, my family went to to buy their dinners at the food court area and right next to the check out I noticed that they sold a small case of meals from the local Whole Foods, so I got curious and checked what they had. I almost fainted when I saw that they were selling vegan chocolate mousse! I snatched some up, of course, for dessert that night and was super excited because I would never have expected to find it there!

And, because I ate a cupcake (obviously) and would love a pig as a companion animal (two categories Vegan Noodle listed to be tagged), here's the meme I filled out from Walking the Vegan Line:

What were you doing five years ago? I just finished the fourth grade (wow! that's a long time ago) and...... was at summer camp? I don't even remember

What are five things on your to-do list today?
1. buy a graduation card for my cousin
2. test out a few muffin recipes
3. charge my cell phone (it's sitting right next to me, I just always forget it when I go downstairs....)
4. attempt to walk my dogs (this is will not go over well- trust me)
5. plan something to bring to a family gathering for dinner

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. hummus with veggies and pita bread
2. cereal
3. peanut butter on sliced apples/bananas/toast
4. fruits and vegetables
5. dry roasted soy nuts

What are five things you would do if you were a millionare?
1. go on a vacation across the country eating at every vegan restaurant I've ever wanted to go to
2. donate to various charities/organizations
3. buy a car
4. buy a bunch of baking supplies
5. put the rest in the bank for when I really need it (yes, I'm boring)

What are your 5 bad habits?
1. throwing my clothes into my very unorganized drawers
2. forgetting to put away the dishes while they dry
3. losing bobby pins
4. washing my hands excessively
5. over thinking things

Where are five places you have lived?
1. Wilmette, IL
2. Lake Forst, IL
(that's it...)

What are five jobs you've had?
(I'm just going to skip this section since I haven't even had 5 jobs, just babysitting and tutoring since no one will hire a 15 year old around here :( )

Five people I tag:
(in keeping with the pattern from both Shellyfish and Vegan Noodle) I tag you if you....
1. love scary movies
2. have never had surgery
3. currently have your fingernails painted
4. love sweet potatoes
5. can roll your tongue