The Hippy Prospect

             As the snow is starting to melt away and the warmth of the sun begins to embrace my frost bitten cheeks, all I can think about is where I want to go to this summer. There are endless possibilities which I'm starting to delve into now. Being that I'm a broke college student, I'm trying aiming for a trip with very little expenses. I just want to share a few resources that I'm using as I'm trying to plan this trip.

          Free camping! FreeCampsites.net is a great resource where you can check out places past campers have been and how they would rate the camp site. Considering that camping is a very fun and  inexpensive means to travel across the country, I plan to use this website a lot.
         I'm planning on getting a National Parks pass before the trip. For $80 you get free admittance to all national parks for a year! At National Parks I plan to go cliff jumping, do some climbing, gaze up at some magnificent trees, and a lot more. I love to be out in nature, so this is a fairly inexpensive way from me to experience it nation wide.
       To organize my thoughts, ideas, and plans for the trip I just made a google docs. Easy way to brainstorm things to do, and to share with others.
       I cannot wait till for this road trip because I know it will be the highlight of my summer. Do you have any road trip plans for this summer? Feel free to share past road trip tips!

To start off I just want to say being vegan is a life style, not a mere diet. Initially going vegetarian was a breeze considering I didn't eat meat often. Transitioning from vegetarian to vegan was a lot more difficult; more conscious eating. The exclusion of cheese, chocolate, and other sweets have been my biggest challenge. Also convenience foods are usually not an option. Working as a server, it is really hard not to snag a bite of the extra mac and cheese or chocolate cake that would otherwise be tossed. But fear not, I have devised a list of a few tips to making the transition a little more smooth!

           My brother's birthday is coming up this weekend and I decided theres no better way to show my love than by baking him a sugar-loaded fattening dessert.  While perusing the inter-web I found a recipe for Boston Cream Cupcakes, but I thought they would be even better if they were mini! They turned out surprising well!
Yield- 80 mini cupcakes
Difficulty- Easy

Ingredients 

Cupcakes~ 

1 box white cake mix (16.5 oz) 

1/4 cup melted butter 

1/2 water 

1/2 cup milk 

3 egg whites 

Filling~ 

12 oz vanilla instant pudding 

1 tbls vanilla 

1 1/4 cups whole milk 

Frosting~ 

1 cup heavy cream 

12 oz Semi sweet chocolate chips 

Powered sugar

        While super moist cake mix can be pretty great, you can make it even better. Instead of using all water, I added a mix of water and whole milk to the cake batter to make it a little more creamy. Instead of using vegetable oil, I used melted butter to make it a little more flavorful. You can also add a tiny splash of vanilla to spice up the cake mix after its been sitting on a grocery story shelf for quite some time. All these small adjustments improve the quality and make it taste just that much better.

         Preheat oven to 350°F. I used a 3x4 mini cupcake tin. I would suggest a bigger tin, or buy multiple baking tins because I had to do a copious amount of batches in the oven which took a copious amount of time. Also I chose not to use liners, and instead oiled the tin with coconut oil. This is completely up to you! 
              To make the cupcakes, combine the cake mix, melted butter, water, milk, and egg whites in a medium bowl. Stir until there are few lumps left. The batter gets to be pretty sticky and thick which can make measuring difficult. Put about 3/4 of a tablespoon of batter into each tin. The cupcake tins/ liner should be about 2/3 the way full. You need to keep a very close on them once they are in the oven. To procure a very light spongy textured cupcake you want to take them out the second they start to golden. If you are unsure if they are thoroughly cooked, stick a toothpick in one of the cupcakes closer to the center. If it comes out clean, they are ready. You want to take the cupcakes out of the tin right away otherwise they will continue to cook. While holding the sheet with an oven glove, insert a knife or fork along the edge to pop the cupcakes right out. Set the cupcakes aside to cool as you prepare the cream filling.
               With a hand mixer, beat together the whole milk, pudding, and vanilla extract until it starts to thicken or about 2 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 15 so the pudding can set. During this time use a knife to slit a small x into the top of the cupcake. This will help to make room for the filling. Be sure not to puncture the bottom or the filling might leak out. Spoon the pudding into an icing bag and begin to fill the mini cupcakes. The technique that worked best for me was inserting the tip into the center of the cupcake, and squeezing the bag while making a circular movement. As  the center of the cupcake filled the tip would be more likely to slide out. Be careful not to overfill the cupcake because the pudding will squirt of the sides or bottom!
       

           After all the cupcakes are filled, set them aside to make the chocolate ganache. Heat heavy cream in a saucepan until it begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat completely and begin to slowly add in the chocolate morsels. Whisk until it is completely smooth. Refrigerate until it begins to thicken or about 30 minutes.

         Then dip the top of the cupcake into the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle cupcakes with powdered sugar before serving! These cupcakes also freeze well for later enjoyment! Omnom

August 2, 2015/ 2 Août, 2015
         Cette semaine,
   Je suis allé la formation pour mon nouvel emploi. Je travaillais toute la journée, que ces derniers jours et je suis fatigue. Heir, mon entraîneur était anglais et il parlais avec moi en français. Je trouvais cela cool. Á le restaurant il y a beaucoup de éléments de menu. Je dois me rappeler tout de ça. Je dois connaitre le poisson dans tout le sushi, les noms des blancs et rouges vins, et les éléments dans tout les nourritures avant je commence le boulot. Ma tête est douloureux.
          Aussi aujourd'hui je finis des papiers pour les prêts scolaires. Je suis prêt pour l'école!
À tout à l'heure!

July 24, 2015/ 24 Juillet 2015,
            La vie est belle! J'ai déménagé dans une maison très mignon. J'habite avec trois filles qui sont étudiants. Elles sont très gentils. Ma chambre besoins un peu de travailler concernant le style. Mais cela vient dans le temps.
            Je viens de recevoir un travail servant au centre-ville de Minneapolis. Le restaurant dispose d'un sushi bar et une terrasse sur la toit. Il est très chic. J'espéré de faire beaucoup d'argent.
           Et je suis très excité à l'école à l'automne!
À bientôt!
Katie

July 18th, 2015/ 18 Juillet, 2015
            Aujourd'hui, je suis commence un journal seulement en français donc je peux parler en français avec facilement. J'ai pris un examen placement pour l'école donc je pourrais prendre français intermédiaire, mais je échoue ca. Si je veux prendre un cours français ce term, je dois prendre le français débutant.  Je pense que ce sera un bon méthode apprendre sans payant beaucoup de l'argent.
            Aujourd'hui je continue de se déplacer dans ma nouveau maison. Je pense que ma chambre sera désordonné pour longtemps. Je suis coucher dans ma lit maintenant, sur le plafond il y a une mouche ou des peintures tache. Je ne sais pas. Bien, je dois dormir parce-que je travaille très tôt.
Bonne nuit,
Katie

         I am taking Environmental Science, and I chose genetically engineered BT corn. Having a basic knowledge of gmos, I thought the topic would be interesting. Stumbling through web pages and videos on genetically engineered food and animals, I found a documentary called The Future of Food. The more of it I watched the appalled I became.What I took away from the video and overall what I've learned on the topic so far is that knowledge is power and how easily we get taken advantage of. Major corporations that are gaining a monopoly over the food industry want us to be ignorant. The less we know about the food we are buying, the more money they make. Americans chose the cheapest option without understanding the implications. Mass production/sales of low quality goods only supports the unethical means of creating the product.
   
           From here on out I am done with unknowingly supporting companies like Monsanto. This isn't just a health kick or fad of the week for me. The following are steps I will be taking to help create a more sustainable future.

      - Voting. I am not a political person by any means. I hardly know the difference between a democrat or republican, but I know what I believe and I want my opinion heard by our leaders. And if possible join a protest, and stand up to say no to gmos.

     - Au Revior Walmart. I have had a disgust for Walmart for quite sometime because it supports capitalism. But disgust has no turned to a rage/anger and I will not step foot in Walmart again (this will be somewhat difficult).

               -Spreading the word. This one will be somewhat easy considering most of my friends have similar view points. I plan on conversing with family members as well, in attempts to suede them from the dark side.

               -Knowledge is key. Keeping up with whats going on in the biotech world, and informing my self on whats already happened is essential for understanding the whole situation. Ignorance may be bliss, but staying ignorant is just being too stupid to give two shits.

If you have any comments please leave your input!!