Possible Boston Zoos closing

This has me upset today:

Cash-strapped Boston zoo may be forced to close doors, euthanize animals

Another Hiatus

I'll be taking another hiatus from my blog, this time for a good reason. I'll be in Rome, Italy for 10 days, so hopefully when I get back I will have plenty of pictures to share!

Cheese and Marshmallows

I've recently come across two vegan products that I am in love with. The first is Diaya Cheese. There are two kinds available: cheddar style and Italian style. I have tried both and the Italian is so-so, but the cheddar is amazing. It melts like real cheese and makes the best vegan grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had! It's not made with soy, so it's great to have an alternative to soy products. I have read a few reviews and people say that they like it straight out of the bag but that it loses all flavor when it's melted. I beg to differ, it's delicious melted.

The next product is Dandies Vegan Marshmallows. These taste exactly like real marshmallows and they even toast so perfectly, so I'll never miss s'mores again.

I didn't take pictures of either product, but check out their websites. I bought everything through Pangea.

7.8.09

Sorry I've sort of abandoned my blog, I've been really busy lately. Also, I haven't made anything exciting, so I've had nothing to blog about.

I'm trying to watch what I eat. Not so much a diet, but cutting way back on the junk food, sweets and carbs and a little better portion control. That's one reason I haven't made anything exciting. I love baking, but I know if I bake a cake or something I will end up eating it all! I have very weak willpower :)

The reason I've been watching what I have been eating is that I'm trying to lose weight. When I moved to New England from Michigan, I had no friends and did a lot of sitting around and doing nothing because I had no one to do anything with. The result of that was gaining 50 lbs. Yes, 50! In September I decided to do something about it. I started eating healthier (people who aren't vegan are always surprised because they don't thing vegan junk food exists, oh but it does!) and toward the end of April I started going to the gym 3x/wk. So, since September I have lost a total of 65lbs and gone down 3 pant sizes. I'm feeling great, but I still have about 40 lbs to go until I'm a healthy weight for my height.

Though I haven't made anything delicious lately, I have gone out to eat and had plenty of yumminess. We often eat at a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant near out house. I love Ethiopian cuisine and we're lucky enough to have several options in Boston. I haven't taken any pictures of of our meals there because, well, Ethiopian food is very unappetizing looking.

I did, however, take some pics of our recent trip to Rawbert's. I've blogged about this place before because I love it. I'm never disappointed.

Beanless Zucchini Hummus with Dehydrated French Onion Bread

Raw Pad Thai

Quesadilla with Jack Cheez

Raw Corn Chowder with Dehydrated Crackers

Wing It Vegan Giveaway

Head on over to Wing It Vegan and check out the amazing giveaway: a Healthy Chef 4-in-1 appliance that looks absolutely amazing!

Garlicky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Garlicky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Another tester recipe, so delicious. I make hummus all the time, I'm sort of a hummus addict. I put it on sandwiches, use it as dips for veggies, pita, crackers (I may even admit to eating straight from the bowl with a spoon)... well, you get the point. I love it. I've made it with other beans besides chickpeas and it's always so easy to make and so good. Bianca substituted black-eyed peas for chickpeas and the result is yummy. The picture is not much to look at, but believe me, it is a good recipe, simple to make and oh so good!

Spanish Scramble and Strawberry Kream Cheezecake

I have way too many cookbooks, so many that there are some from which I've never even tried recipes, or for that matter, ever looked at. I don't know, cookbooks are an addiction. Anyway, two of my books which I have looked through longingly, but have not put to use are both by Ani Phyo.

Yesterday I tried two recipes. They were both so good! The first was a Spanish Scramble I made for brunch. It's basically an almond and sunflower base which is then combined with tomato, cilantro and scallions served over spinach. It was very filling and kept me full for a long time, which is often difficult to do! My only complaint was that it was a little bland. If I make it again, I think I'll add some jalapeno.

Spanish Scramble

The next recipe I tried was for Strawberry Kream Cheezecake. When I first made it, I didn't like it because it has a very strong lemon flavor, however, when paired with strawberries, it was perfect. It's one of those recipes where I had to restrain myself from eating the entire thing. The "kream" is made from cashews. It never ceases to amaze me how cashews can be used to replace dairy products because they are so creamy. The crust was so simple, it is just almond flour and dates. It is wonderful.

Strawberry Kream Cheezecake

I'm glad I finally got around to making something from each one of these books. All of Ani's recipes look so great, so I'm sure I'll be making more in the near future.

Ooh La La, Ya'll - French Toast Southern' Style

Sorghum Molasses French Toast

Another tester recipe courtesy of Bianca at Vegan Crunk.

When I saw the recipe was for french toast, I couldn't resist, I love french toast and it's been ages since I've had any. My one hesitation, however, was that I have never tasted molasses. Nope, not even molasses cookies. I was a molasses virgin.

I told my boyfriend about the recipe and he immediately crinkled up his nose in disgust. When I asked him what molasses tastes like, he said, "Tar".

We don't usually share the same taste in food, so I decided to make it anyway. And my verdict? I am not a fan of molasses... at all. If you do like molasses, then this is the recipe for you. The french toast itself was delicious, so I made a few more slices, topped them with Earth Balance and maple syrup and happily ate it up. Maybe I'm just more of a traditional french toast girl. Bianca topped hers with bananas, I bought raspberries to top mine with, but I was so excited to try it that completely forgot that I had berries! Oh well, there's never a bad time for berries, so I'll have them for breakfast :)

Holy Shiitake!

I just wanted to repost this video because I finally got around to making "shiitake bacon".



And the results? Tastes just like bacon. Actually, it takes like burnt bacon, but it will make a great topping for salads or pizza.

I took a few photos, but my camera is broken, so I used my phone. They didn't turn out very well, but I'll post them anyway.

Mushrooms mixed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt

Mushrooms spread out on baking sheet

Finished product

So basically:

1. De-stem some shiitake mushrooms (I used 1/2 lb), thinly slice the caps
2. Mix mushrooms with 2-3 Tbs olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
3. Spread mushrooms out on a baking sheet and put into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes

Out to eat

Since becoming vegan, we rarely go out to eat anymore unless it's at a vegan or vegan-friendly restaurant. Most of the time when I end up at a restaurant, the only thing I can find on the menu I can eat is a salad. I don't like salads. If you ever find me eating a salad at a restaurant, you can bet I'm unhappy but just being nice so the other people I'm with aren't bothered.

The other day we were out and about and I got really hungry. There weren't any vegan-friendly places anywhere close to where we were, so I started looking up online on my phone what vegan food some of the nearby restaurants had to offer. We were really close to a Chicago Pizzeria Uno's. The website I found listed numerous items that were vegan friendly or easily veganized, so it looked like a really safe bet. Well, that website must have been pretty outdated because there was hardly anything there I could get and nothing mentioned on the website was even on the menu. I thought I would be able to get a cheeseless pizza with vegetables, but their dough contains honey. Breadsticks? Nope, they have cheese baked into them. Almost everything on the menu is slathered in meat or cheese, mostly both, though. I finally found a pasta dish that sounded good, so I ordered it but made it clear that I could have no dairy. (On a side note, I find people treat me a lot better if they think I have a food allergy rather than not eating a certain food by choice. I never implied that I had allergies, it was just assumed. Restaurants are sensitive to allergies but not to morality.) Anyway, when my dish came it looked delicious. I dug in and as I pulled the first forkful to my mouth, strings of cheese clung to the fork. When the waitress came back over to check on everything I explained how there was cheese in my meal, and a lot of it. She apologized and put in a new order for me. The manager even came out to apologize. They were extremely nice about the whole thing. I was just so aggravated at how hard it can be to go out to eat. I hate being a pain in the ass to waiters and waitresses by asking about ingredients (one good thing about Uno's is that they have a kiosk where you can view all the ingredients to all of their items before ordering) and trying to substitute items and so forth. I also feel bad when I have to return something to the kitchen because it's such a waste of food.

Anyone else feel like this or have similar experiences?

4.29.09

Beet Salad

From Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry


Shredded Beet, Apple, and Currant Salad
w/ Apple Vinaigrette

The weather is supposed to be very warm this weekend, so I wanted a nice cold salad to serve as a side with lunch. I bought Vegan Soul Kitchen about a month ago, but this is the first recipe I've had a chance to make from it. It's really good and exactly what I had in mind. I love beets even though they stain everything they come in contact with, including my hands. Oh well, it was worth it.

Tester Recipes

Okay, so as promised (but much later than promised), food pictures! Well, drool over this - because seriously, it's amazing.

Dijon-Pecan Seitan w/ Maple Butter Glaze
with a side of Mess O' Greens with Turnips

The seitan was so good and I chose to make collard greens with a nice splash of hot sauce. I only made half a batch because my boyfriend hates anything involving mustard. After I cooked it he loaded up a plate, took one bite and said, "Oh, mustard... um... it'd be good without the mustard" and slyly put it back on the serving dish. He loved the greens, though, as did I. I was going to make a side of her Mashed Sweet Taters, but didn't get around to it. I have sweet potatoes sitting in my refrigerator, waiting for me, so once I make them, I'll post pics of that. I can already tell by the reading the recipe that it's going to delicious.

And now for a confession: I am a bad tester. There, I said it. Bianca comes up with some wonderful recipes, but I don't make them all because there are some things I know that will just not get eaten if I make them. Let me assure you, though, that they all get great reviews from the other testers. And just so you aren't missing out on what will be in her cookbook, I've posted pictures from her tester site so you can see what you've been missing by reading my blog.

Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy

Creamy Squash Casserole

Fried Tofu Chicken and Waffle Sandwich w/Maple-Dijon Sauce

Mint Julep Brownie

So, I think you can probably tell by the pictures that her cookbook is going to be amazing. I wish I like the taste of chocolate and mint together because I love brownies :( Anyway, I can't possibly be picky all the time, so keep your eye out for more tester recipes!

What's a busy girl to do for dinner?

Today is the first day in a very long time that I have been home more than hour (besides sleeping). I have been working 10-12 hour days with no days off. That leaves little time to cook, or much of else for that matter. I got home around 2pm today, so I took advantage of that time to make Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes from Hannah Kaminsky's recent recipe. They are quite tasty, but a bit too lemony. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup lemon juice, and that's all I put in. Who knows, I grew up with chocolate cake mixed with red dye masquerading as red velvet, so maybe I don't truly know what it's supposed to taste like. Anyway, they are really good. Now I have a dozen of these guys sitting around the house and no one to share them with. That means - you guessed it - I'll eventually be eating 1 dozen cupcakes all by myself.


I wish my camera could have captured the color, they are such a pretty shade of red.

I spent all my free time baking cupcakes, so I didn't have time to make anything fancy for dinner. That's where prepackaged foods come in handy. I love to cook and don't often eat prepackaged foods, but sometimes it's just easier. This dinner literally took me 3 minutes.

Take a little bit of sausage:

brown it in a pan and mix it with some of this:


and you get a tasty dinner.


I promise there are more exciting meals to come. Dijon-Pecan Seitan with Maple Butter Glaze is on the menu this week courtesy of Bianca's wonderful tester recipes.

I love cupcakes

The weather was perfect today. The little boy I care for and I took full advantage of that and had a picnic (hence the outdoor pics) by the water. We stopped on the way to the park at a little vegan bakery and got some treats. Check out this super fabulous cupcake. It was called a black bottom chocolate vanilla cupcake. It was delicious. Now I think I need to get to it and bake some cupcakes of my own.

Mmmm, Juice... and help?

I bought a juicer last week, but I have literally been so busy I hadn't even had a chance to take it out of the box until last night! Last night I set it up and made and apple/carrot juice. Nothing fancy, but it's about all I had in the refrigerator. It was delicious! I am in love with my juicer. So here's where I need help: pulp. What do I do with it? I have heard people incorporating it into bread recipes, soups, or dehydrating it for chips. Any favorite recipes out there or suggestions? I am going to end up with all this wonderful pulp and I can't bear to throw it out.

New additions to my kitchen

Finally, I have a juicer! And a dehydrator! I can't wait to hit up the farmers markets :)

Spring Cleaning

Spring is here and the once seemingly obese squirrels are back out, only now they are scrawny, scavenging for food and begging tourists for handouts. Yes, a sure sign of the season. I saw this little guy scampering down a tree and heading for a nice roll in the dirt. Nothing says clean like a dirt bath :)







(sorry the shots are so far away. If only you could have seen the look of pure ecstasy on his little face as he rolled around, very cute.)

3.28.09

Like I needed one more reason to be vegan. . .

(by the way, the above is a link, click on it)

Pizza

I have been craving pizza in the worst way lately, so that is what was on the menu for dinner last night. It turned out so amazing it leads me to wonder why I don't break out my pizza stone more often.


It was a store bought whole wheat crust (because I'm lazy like that), sauce from VWAV, Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, big dollops of cashew ricotta from VCon, onions, spinach, cremini mushrooms and crumbled tempeh bacon.

Ingrid Newkirk

Has anyone read Ingrid Newkirk's will? If so, thoughts?

Read it here

Rawbert's

Yesterday while out enjoying the nice weather, we stopped in to Rawbert's Organic Cafe in Beverly, MA for lunch. As you may have guessed, it is a raw restaurant. In addition, they have a small market area where they sell cookbooks and kitchen staples. We've been here before and it's always delicious, however, this time I had my camera with me (yes, I finally found it!), so I snapped a few shots.

Pesto Stuffed Zucchini

Creamy Portobello Soup

Nachos with "Jack Cheeze", Cashew Sour Cream, Salsa and Hot Sauce


Dehydrated Onion Rings

This is the side view of the restaurant. The front is cute, but I like the mural on the side better.

Everything was really good, albeit pricey. The only complaint we had was that the soup was really thin, but it did have a great flavor. the "jack cheez" was amazing, I could have eaten it by the spoonful! We also had raw brownies, but they were gone before I could get pictures of them. I wish I knew how badly I would now be craving them, I would have gotten a dozen to go!

Seitan n' Dumplins!

Another wonderful recipe from Bianca. Seitan and Dumplins. I don't think I have had a dish like this since I was a child. My mom would occasionally make Chicken and Dumplins, but I don't remember it tasting this good. This is definitely a cold weather comfort food.

I have misplaced my camera. I know it's around here somewhere. I've been doing some spring cleaning and right now the apartment looks worse than when I started, but once I get everything back in order, I'll find it. So, I was not able to take a picture of my creation, however, I will post the picture Bianca has on her site because, well, mine looked pretty much like that. This way you can have a picture to drool over, because really, a food blog without pictures is pretty boring.

Seitan n' Dumplins

Now comes, my confession: I used store bought seitan. I know, I know, that's lazy. But Bianca said it was okay to use store bought and it was just easier this time. I love homemade seitan, but I just didn't have time!

Anyway, this is so yummy! It's already all gone and I just made it yesterday.

From GoVeg.com

Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Pigs

Attention, shoppers: Stop picking up dead “Babes” and “Wilburs” at the grocery store! Here are our top 10 reasons to keep pork off your fork and put delicious Babe-free alternatives on your shopping list instead.

‘Meet Your Meat’: Pigs

Porking You Up
It’s a fact—ham, sausage, and bacon strips will go right to your hips. Eating pork products, which are loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, is a good way to increase your waistline and increase your chances of developing deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and impotence. Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than pure vegetarians are. Every time you eat animal products, you’re also ingesting bacteria, antibiotics, dioxins, hormones, and a host of other toxins that can accumulate in your body and remain there for years. Learn more about animal products and your health.

Pigs Have Feelings Too
Ninety-seven percent of pigs in the United States today are raised in factory farms, where they will never run across sprawling pastures, bask in the sun, breathe fresh air, or do anything else that comes naturally to them. Crowded into warehouses with nothing to do and nowhere to go, they are kept on a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive and make them grow faster, but the drugs cause many of the animals to become crippled under their own bulk. Learn more about cruelty to pigs. Check out these videos from pig farms in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Pigs and Playstations
Think that you can outplay a pig on your Playstation? You may be surprised. According to research, pigs are much smarter than dogs, and they even do better at video games than some primates. In fact, pigs are extremely clever animals who form complex social networks and have excellent memories. Eating a pig is like eating your dog! As actor Cameron Diaz put it after hearing that pigs have the mental capacities of a 3-year-old human: "[Eating bacon is] like eating my niece!" Learn more about pigs.

Pigs Prefer Mud, Not Crud
Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are given sufficient space, pigs are careful not to soil the areas where they sleep or eat. And forget the silly saying “sweating like a pig”—pigs can’t even sweat! That’s why they bathe in water or mud to cool off. But in factory farms, they’re forced to live in their own feces and vomit and even amid the corpses of other pigs. Conditions are so filthy that at any given time, more than one-quarter of pigs suffer from mange—think of your worst case of poison ivy, and imagine having to suffer from it for the rest of your life. Learn more about what happens to pigs in factory farms. Check out the mange-ridden pigs on these South Dakota and Nebraska pig farms.

Farming Family Values
Factory farms are pure hell for pigs and their babies. Mother pigs spend most of their lives in tiny “gestation” crates, which are so small that the animals are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. They are repeatedly impregnated until they are slaughtered. Piglets, who are taken away from their distraught mothers after just a few weeks, have their tails chopped off, their teeth are clipped off with pliers, and the males are castrated—all without painkillers. Learn more about cruelty to pigs.

The Manure Is Blowing in the Wind …
A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people. In 1995, 25 million gallons of putrid hog urine and feces spilled into a North Carolina river, immediately killing between 10 and 14 million fish. To get around water pollution limits, factory farms will frequently take the tons of urine and feces that are stored in cesspools and turn them into liquid waste that they spray into the air. This manure-filled mist is carried away by the wind and inhaled by the people who live nearby. Learn more about how factory farming damages the environment.

Bacteria-Laden Bacon and Harmful Ham
Extremely crowded conditions, poor ventilation, and filth in factory farms cause such rampant disease in pigs that 70 percent of them have pneumonia by the time they’re sent to the slaughterhouse. In order to keep pigs alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them and to promote unnaturally fast growth, the industry keeps pigs on a steady diet of the antibiotics that we depend on to treat human illnesses. This overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of “superbacteria,” or antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The ham, bacon, and sausage that you’re eating may make the drugs that your doctor prescribes the next time you get sick completely ineffective. Learn more about the effect of eating meat from sick, diseased, and drugged animals.

Hell on Wheels
More than 170,000 pigs die in transport each year, and more than 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. Transport trucks, which carry pigs hundreds of miles through all weather extremes with no food or water, regularly flip over, throwing injured and dying animals onto the road. These terrified and injured animals are rarely offered veterinary care, and most languish in pain for hours; some even bleed to death on the side of the road. After an accident in April 2005, Smithfield spokesperson Jerry Hostetter told one reporter, “I hate to admit it, but it happens all the time.” Learn more about cruelty to pigs during transport.

Killing Them Without Kindness
A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour, which makes it impossible for them to be given humane, painless deaths. The U.S. Department of Agriculture documented 14 humane slaughter violations at one processing plant, where inspectors found hogs who “were walking and squealing after being stunned [with a stun gun] as many as four times.” Because of improper stunning methods and extremely fast line speeds, many pigs are still alive when they are dumped into scalding-hot hair-removal tanks—they literally drown in scalding-hot water. Learn more about what happens to pigs at slaughter.

Ditch the Bacon and Get Fakin’
Save pigs from hell and yourself from bad health by feasting on faux pork products instead. Stuff a sandwich full of Yves brand veggie ham slices, or throw some Lightlife Smart Bacon into a sizzling skillet—the freezer and “health food” sections of your local grocery or health food stores are packed full of these and other tasty substitutes. Check out VegCooking.com for hundreds of recipes, product recommendations, vegan meal plans, and a shopping guide.

Death on a Factory Farm

Premiering Monday, March 16th @ 10pm on HBO


Click Here for More Information

As for me, I'm still undecided as to whether I will watch this or not. I know enough about factory farms and keep up to date with laws affecting animals/farms. My hesitation doesn't come from "oh, I know everything already", it comes from the fact that I am very emotional. I cry at the drop of a hat. Anytime I watch anything like this I am an emotional wreck for weeks, even months. Those images of cruelty are never forgotten. Just thinking of the possibility of watching this brings me to tears. If you have non-vegan friends, please encourage them to watch this. It may not sway them to change their ways, but at least it will give them a better understanding of where there food comes from and at what cost.

Biscuits and Gravy

First of all, a big THANK YOU to Bianca for this recipe!! Of all the things I miss from my non-vegan days, biscuits and gravy is near the top. The biscuits are light and fluffy and the gravy is ridiculously easy to make. These have totally filled the biscuits and gravy gap in my life.

Mmmm... Biscuits

Whole Wheat Biscuits and Vegan Sausage Gravy

I have another recipe coming up from Bianca for Vegan Chicken and Dumplings. While I have all the ingredients on hand, I haven't made it yet because my boyfriend has recently had some oral surgery and has begged me to hold off on making it until he can eat solids again. So, hopefully you'll be seeing that on here soon, especially since I can't wait to try it.

Bacon?

Okay, I have never tried this but I definitely will be soon. Has anyone tried shiitake mushrooms as a substitute for bacon?

Cooooookies!

You must head on over to One Frugal Foodie to check out and enter the Erin Baker's Wholesome Baked Goods giveaway there. How amazing would it be to win all of that? I want every single thing listed. Everything!

Nooch

Am I the only vegan out there that hates nutritional yeast flakes? They taste absolutely nothing like cheese and they smell like feet.

Divvies

Last fall I happened to be watching The Martha Stewart Show and one of her guests was a woman named Lori Sandler. She was there to demonstrate baking cupcakes that used no peanuts, tree nuts, eggs or milk. Lori's son has food allergies and she decided to create some recipes for sweet things her son could eat and share with his friends. She and her husband later opened a bakery and sold her creations, which she named Divvies. While this is wonderful for people with allergies, it's also another great option for vegans. At the bottom of their website, this is featured:

All Divvies products are Kosher Parve and Vegan

Hooray!!! I recently found two Divvies items for sale at Whole Foods on a Valentine's Day display (where they sell my cheaper than on the website).

The two items I found are Two Hearts and Bingo Benjamint Crunch.



They are really good, I'm especially fond of the Benjamint Crunch. By the way, this is what it looks like unwrapped:


How cute is that?

In addition to a nice variety of candy, they also sell baked goods and popcorn.

I have tried her recipe for cupcakes and they, too, are quite good. Here's the recipe:

DIVVIES CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients

Makes 1 dozen

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups water

Photo courtesy of www.marthastewart.com

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water until well combined. Add flour mixture to the mixer and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Batter should look and feel more watery than normal cake batters.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup 1/2 to 3/4 full. Transfer to oven and bake, rotating pan halfway through cooking, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Immediately remove cupcakes from muffin tin and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

DIVVIES VANILLA FROSTING

Ingredients

Makes enough for 1 dozen cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, chilled
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon rice milk

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, margarine, salt, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
2. Add rice milk and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add remaining 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, mix until well combined. Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to one week.