Fundraising baking

My whole day was full of baking :)

Ruth had a great idea to bake and sell muffins at the hospital she works in to raise money for our Red Cross Warrior Dash event this coming Saturday. 

We decided to bake three different types of muffins: white chocolate and raspberries, choc chip and vegan vanilla muffins with strawberry frosting. 

We used Donna Hay recipes for the non-vegan muffins and a recipe that I found from a book called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (check out this blog too). I've never tried any of these recipes before and luckily the muffins turned out perfect! 

The house was filled with the most delicious aroma and they tasted amazing (well I just tasted the vegan ones but apparently the others were yummy too). 

The thing I find with Donna Hay recipes is that if you want them to turn out well, you have to follow the directions exactly. Don't mess about with estimations or substitutions (unless you are a pro at baking). We decided that because these muffins were for sale we had to make them perfect so we used all the exact measurments and ingredients.

And what a success it was! Ruth told me that the muffins sold very well. There was even one gentleman who couldn't eat eggs and was eccstatic that there were vegan muffins available :) That makes me so happy to hear that no one missed out. 

If you're interested in donating to Ruth and I, please hop onto our fundraising page and spare some dollars: http://www.redcrossfundraising.org.au/reez_and_ruth 

For more info about The Red Cross, visit their website: www.redcross.org.au/

White chocolate and raspberries

Choc chip

Vegan vanilla muffins with strawberry frosting

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Flourless carrot and banana muffins

I've just finished a pretty insane workout with two of my very close friends, and although I need a shower so (so so so so) badly, writing up my post before the day ends takes greater precedence :)

Not only did I try something new today, but so did my two lovely workout buddies. Today we baked a recipe for flourless carrot and banana muffins which our favourite fitness blogger Cassey Ho posted up on her instagram (check out the recipe here).

We also made a vegan friendly version of the icing which tasted so delicious! All three of us totally recommend it:
1 Tablespoon Tofutti brand of Better than Cream Cheese (vegan cream cheese)
3 Tablespoons Soy Life vanilla yogurt (I recommend this brand because it's so yum! With some brands of soy yogurt, you can really taste the tofu, but this one is creamy and has a nice vanilla flavour)
1 teaspoon agave (uh-gah-vey) nectar. Maple syrup could work too.

I've never been super keen on working out, but I think the Blogilates videos by Cassey Ho have changed me. She works you so hard, but I can feel myself toning up and just feeling great! If you've got 15 minutes to spare, give her videos a go!

Ok guys, it's seriously time for me to shower now :)

This one will kill your arms, but it's worth it!

A bit of this and that

I've picked up more shifts for work, and even though it takes up most of my day, I'm still determined to try and do something new everyday. 

Today I made banana-wheat germ muffins using a recipe from my Veganomnicon cookbook. Wheat-germ is the most nutritional part of the wheat grain. It's known to be high in protein and folic acid and is loaded with lots of other nutrients necessary for good health and well being (find out more about it here and here). 

For a bit of decoration I put from dried banana on top which I made using my dehydrator. I served these babies while they were still warm with a bit of vegan almond ice cream that I made. I love when all the non-vegans in my life like the food I eat, and my family seemed to really like these.

 

I also got around to watching the movies My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke which are both directed by Hayao Miyazaki. My Neighbour Totoro was a totally cute family friendly movie. My brother really enjoyed it, and it was a very short movie, so it's great for anyone with a short attention span. 

I thought Princess Mononoke was a good movie. I didn't like it as much as Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle - two movies also directed by Hayao Miyazaki - but it's still worth watching. I love a good love story too, and this movie had a nice one :)