Week 1 behind me...Back to running!

As of yesterday, I've been on The Daniel Fast for 1 week. It's going very well so far. I'm already receiving definite answers to prayer! God is so awesome and faithful! This week's challenge was that I did bake, though I didn't think I would. I wouldn't voluntarily torture myself and make a batch of cookies for the house! But, I received an order from a customer. I didn't realize how often I would take a little piece of chocolate if making pops, or a bite of cake, or a taste of caramel when making S'mores. The interesting thing though, is that it's much easier to not take a taste when it's for God. I've been trying to lose weight for quite a while, and those little temptations are much harder to resist when it's for yourself. I won't say it isn't difficult, but it's more satisfying to not indulge when it's for Him. Today I ran for the first time in...I'd rather not say. It was awful. Lungs burning, feeling slow and sluggish. Like I'd never run before. Almost. My niece, Susan is running her first 5k this month (go Susan!) and I agreed to do it with her. Then I wallowed in my own misery so long that I just got around to training for it. Was I really so arrogant as to think I could go months without running and then knock out a 5k like it's no big deal? Arrogant, or a little immobilized by my pain. Whatever the reason, it isn't good enough. Running is good for me. I love running. I feel better when I run. I have time to think. I have time to pray. I have time without distractions. How could I have sacrificed the blessing in that for so long? It doesn't matter. I'm back. Please keep praying for Travis. That's it for now.

No baking for 3 weeks...

I'm going through a pretty horrible thing right now, and I've decided to do The Daniel Fast. The purpose is to seek answers to prayer, and grow in your walk with the Lord. In my case, one of the reasons I'm doing this is to intervene on my son's behalf. He needs God right now, and I'm not sure how much he realizes that. I really need to focus on having God's direction in dealing with him also. So, this is what I'm doing.

You could click on The Daniel Fast above and go to a website all about it. But I can tell you the gist of what you eat and don't eat here. Basically it's vegan with more restrictions. In addition to no meat, dairy, eggs, or animal products of any kind, you also abstain from coffee, alcohol, bread (anything with leavening), and sweets. The only drink that is allowed is water.

Today is day 3. So far, my only real struggle is with the headaches I'm having as a result of not having coffee (caffeine headaches). If anyone has any advice on this, I'm listening...

I will continue to update here. In the meantime, if you are a praying person, please pray for my son, Travis. God knows the details, He'll understand. Thank you!

I don't blog anymore...but I want to!

I feel pretty ashamed. I've considered taking down my blog, but really feel compelled not to. I'd like to say "the reason is". But the list is too long. So much has changed. Initially, I just didn't get everything I baked photographed. So, I felt that I couldn't bake, blog about it, and not provide a photo. Then it just snowballed from there. You know how it is when you get out of the habbit of doing something? You do, right?

I've given it a lot of thought, and I don't think this will be just a baking blog anymore. I'll keep blogging, but about what is really going on. All of it. Well, not all of it. That could get really boring!

Here's a little bit about what I've been doing, and how it will change my blog. First and formost, I should have named this blog "I run so I can bake". Because I do. I am a runner. I wasn't always, but with each passing year I seem to love it more. Very strange how that happens, isn't it? This past September I ran my first half marathon. I have a picture here to prove it! This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life! The entire time that I was training for it, and then running it, I felt I should be blogging about it. There is something so magical about setting a goal like this, training for it on your own, and then achieving it. I can't describe it, but it changes you. From now on, I will include running in this blog. Just because I bake a lot doesn't mean I can't talk about running, right?

This brings me to my next subject. Everything about the way I eat, and subsequently the way I bake has changed. First, I gave up meat (for a month, I thought). My neice, Susan and I read "Skinny Bitch" and I think this inspired the idea. She said she wanted to go pescatarian for a month and see how she liked it. Pescatarian is basically a vegetarian who eats fish. I jumped at the chance to make this change with her. I thought it would be fun! It was. Actually, seven months later it still is. We didn't go back. Since then we've read a number of other books and have given up a lot of other things too. I shouldn't say "given up". It sounds like we made a sacrafice. But really, we made decisions about no longer eating things we felt were harmful or at least were not helpful to our bodies. I promise more details on this later, but this entry is already pretty long.

That's a pretty good summary of what's changed. Almost. I've also started trying a lot of vegan recipes. I WILL be sharing some vegan cupcake recipes. I can't believe how amazing they are!

For now, this gives everyone enough to read. Hopefully the future entries will be much more frequent and shorter :o)

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me! I love to be inspired by and learn from others!

Banana Pops

I made banana cake over the weekend and still had ripe bananas.
So...Banana Pops!


They turned out delicious!

Vanilla Latte Cupcakes with Cream Soda

Iron Cupcake Soda Pop!

I've created a cupcake using Cream Soda, my favorite! I knew as soon as I read soda was the secret ingredient that it would be cream soda. For another experiment, I created this frosting, Coffee Cream Cheese. When I put the two together...Vanilla Latte Heaven!!
They really turned out great!

Please take the time to vote!!
Voting will begin no later than Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Monday, May 4 at 12 noon.
Here are the prizes I'm competing for:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=16748
a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

The Recipe
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cream soda
Makes 18 cupcaks. 350 for 20 minutes.
The Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 pound confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons coffee extract
Cream butter and cream cheese, add extracts, then slowly add the powdered sugar.
Frost when cupcakes are completely cool. Sprinkle with shaved white chocolate.
This frosting would work very well with chocolate cupcakes too :o)

Espresso pops

These were so much fun!

They are all espresso, or mocha latte...not sure what to call them yet. Suggestions are welcome.
As for the appearance, lets take a vote!
Take a look at the different espresso pops and vote (to the right) on which
one you think looks best.

Thanks for your help!
I can't pick a favorite, I really love them all!

I can't wait to see what everyone thinks!

Spring pops!

I went a little crazy with the pops!

Spring chicks (thank you again, Bakerella)
These were classic chocolate pops.

Then I made lemon...yum!

They were delicious!
So....I made blueberry lemon...



I have to say, the lemon were my favorite. Until I made the espresso...