Happy Monday everyone! (no such thing really-- except on long weekends or days off) So this weekend my dad any I went to see Kinky Boots at the Bushnell in Hartford-- It was AWESOME!

I got the tickets and the soundtrack for my dad for Christmas, so I've been listening to the soundtrack (yay free Amazon download with CD purchase). The music was great, Lauren (played by Lindsay Nicole Chambers) stole the show, especially with the song "The History of Wrong Guys". My dad and I had fun-- great performance, and even better costumes! Anywho, so what I like about summer break is the time to cook, sadly it's also usually too hot to cook but it's been pretty mild this week so I decided to try something different. I bought cauliflower and mushrooms at the store today and didn't know what I wanted to do with it, so I started looking at cauliflower pizza crusts and went from there. I had some Trader Joe's Polenta and looked up some recipes and kind of tweaked it to make it my own. It's not much like a pizza but it's tasty so yeah. I should probably test it again, but I took pics and I'm not a professional, just blogging for fun.



  Gluten Free Polenta Pizza (more of a casserole than a pizza) : 
Ingredients:
  Crust:
1 package Trader Joe's Organic Polenta
1 small head of cauliflower
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon rosemary 1
/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

  Pizza: any sort of pizza toppings-- I used cheese and veggies and sauce. Kraft 2% mozzarella shreds are lactose free!

Directions: 1. Cut up cauliflower into bite size pieces, brush a little olive oil onto the pieces, sprinkle with salt, oregano, rosemary, and garlic powder (I didn't really measure these, just until it looks good.)
 2. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes until tender. Flip about half way through.
 3. While cauliflower is cooking, cut up veggies.
 4. Let cauliflower cool for about 10 minutes while preparing the polenta.

5. Cut the polenta and put in the food processor. Add olive oil, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and nutritional yeast.

6. Blend and add 3/4 of the cauliflower. I used the rest for topping. Continue to blend until a cookie dough consistency.

















 7. Spread the mixture into a 9x13 pan lightly greased. Cook at 450 for about 15 minutes.

 8. Add sauce, cheese and veggies and continue to cook for an additional 30 minutes. 9. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

*Tips*: Ok, so this isn't the most scientific or accurate measurements, but I wanted to post stuff, so I did.
 - The polenta should probably be drained prior to processing.
- It may be better to cook it a bit longer prior to adding toppings.
- DO NOT use a pizza stone-- it makes a mess!

Vegan Pina Colada Cupcakes (alcohol free)

So I just got home from meeting with my new department head. As mentioned, I'm a special ed teacher and I got bumped from my cozy high school setting to the madness of middle school. Don't get me wrong- I'm happy I have a job in the district, but I love high school and was just finally getting the hang of it all, and now I'll be starting over in 6th grade in the fall--eep! But, at least I have a smaller case load and actual resource room time with my kids... I will have to stop with the sarcasm tho...

 Ok, so on to the important things-- CUPCAKES! So I made these at the end of the school year at the request of my advisory kids (like a homeroom, but we only met weekly for 30-40 min but I love these kids!) We had a party and when I said I'd bring in cupcakes, some of my girls requested Pina Colada cupcakes so I was like sure, I can do that. Then I realized mine usually include rum, so I'd have to figure out something different.

 So here goes--- Oh,I'd also like to apologize about the pictures. I did this pre-blog days, but really wanted to put something up. I will make it up next week as I have some fabulous ideas in the works for next weekend's picnics.


VEGAN PINA COLADA CUPCAKES (makes 12 cupcakes or 24 minis)

  Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup crushed pineapple (in its own juice)
1 tablespoon juice from pineapple
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/8 cup canola oil
1/8 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Frosting:
5 tablespoons vegan margarine-softened (I use Earth Balance)
3 tablespoons shortening
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon coconut milk

 To top:
Shredded coconut
Maraschino cherries

Directions:
Cupcakes: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with liners
2. Melt the coconut oil. I put it in a small pyrex and microwaved it starting at 30 seconds, but monitor it depending on your microwave.
3. In mixing bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil, canola oil, and sugar. Add the coconut milk, pineapple and juice, lime juice and vanilla. Mix to combine.
4. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until ingredients are well blended-- there will still be chunks of pineapple.
5. Bake for 23-25 minutes for regular size cupcakes. 18-20 minutes for minis.
6. Cool completely before frosting.

<- cupcakes before they were cooked









Frosting:
 1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until combined well and fluffy. Add sugar a cup at a time, and continue to beat until it is crumbly.
2. Add coconut milk, extracts, lime and pineapple, continue to beat until smooth. Add a bit more cornstarch or sugar if it needs to be less liquidy or more coconut milk if too dry.*
3. Chill until ready to use-- definitely easier to work with after being in the fridge for about an hour. 

*Here's where I kind of fail at measuring. I usually add liquid and powder as needed and don't always pay attention to exactly how much I'm using. This is what I started with, but I ended up adding a little too much pineapple then too much sugar and yeah... I'll try to do better at measuring.

  To assemble:

 After cupcakes have cooled, pipe frosting onto them and then distribute shredded coconut to make them pretty. I cut the maraschino cherries in quarters since I used mini cupcakes and put them on top. Keep chilled for best results. I did have mine out in the classroom all day, and they were fine but if it's hot they will melt. They came out really pretty and tasty! The pictures don't do them justice. I will definitely make the rest much prettier.

Welcome!

Summer Vacation. Those two words are anticipated by students and teachers alike, and feared by parents. As the year comes to an end, the students become anxious as their attention spans dwindle, and teachers struggle to complete all that comes with the end of the year and count down their days to freedom. And then, that glorious day arrives. That final bell rings and students run out the door cheering, leaving a trail of papers in their wake. Following on their heels are the teachers, gearing up for 2 months of nothing but rest and relaxation with no thoughts of school until September; at least that's what everyone who is not a teacher assumes happens. Those of us who are lucky enough to be teachers know that the clock doesn't stop when that bell rings and that summer vacation isn't all fun and games, however, it is usually a time that allows some freedom, much less stress and most importantly, well deserved time outside of the classroom. So, with all that being said-- welcome to my attempt at blogging. So, I'm on my summer vacation as of this past Friday, and it's the first time that I don't have a job. I've been wanting to start a blog for a while, but the school year is insane and I hardly had time to get my work done, nevermind anything I wanted to do. So let me introduce myself, I'm Tanya. I am a special education teacher by day and Adult Education English Teacher at night. I love to cook, craft and create. I'm in a wheelchair, due to a spinal cord injury almost 13 years ago, and have an awesome Service Dog because of it. I love to bake vegan deserts. I'm not vegan, but I'm super lactose intolerant so I bake all vegan stuff. I was vegetarian all throughout high school and college and still cook mostly vegetarian, but you may see a couple chicken dishes from time to time. Ok, so this is a place that I will share recipes, lessons, school stuff, pictures of my fur babies, and just randomly sharing stuff. I promise, there will be more interested stuff than this on here. So sit back, grab a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, and enjoy. And to get this started, let me add photos of my kids.

Bess and General Tso Kitten (they're bestest friends)

Cody cat in the salad spinner box (cats do love boxes)

Cody and GT the one time I caught them snuggling

Bessie Boo