Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes & I Can't Believe the News I Received from My Doctor Today
Great news already! In one of my earlier blogs I shared that I went to my doctor for a blood test so we could compare another blood test in a month to see if the plant based diet had health benefits. I had already been on the plant based diet for 10 days when I went to see Dr Chai. Dr Chai takes my blood every few months.
To his amazement and mine – my cholesterol already dropped from 240 to 156!!
He immediately took me off the cholesterol medicine Vytorin which I have been taking for years. I can't believe it. I haven't had a cholesterol reading under 200 in 20 years and I consider myself a healthy eater. Actually, I let myself believe my high cholesterol was hereditary.
There is no turning back now – Proof positive – you are what you eat and if you care about your health, why wouldn't you do it?
I also wanted to share a story from the late, great Joseph Campbell because this is how I feel today.
A woman stands on a windy beach and is caught in the rocks from the waist down. She can't move. The rocks are covered in gold. The gold, which is a sign for the vitality of life is locked in the rocks.
Suddenly a lighting bolt hits and and the rocks fall away and all that is left behind is the gold. I feel a new zest and harmony in my life and I am no longer a woman bound by the rocks. All this from a plant base diet you ask??? There is something about not eating living things that has set me free.
I think I am going to treat myself with a vegan vanilla cupcake tonight. Hope you enjoy this vegan vanilla cupcake as much as I did!
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1¼ cups flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- ¾ cup refined sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract or vanilla extract
- 1 cup of frozen blueberries or strawberries (at room temperature - measure before thawing)
- 6 oz (about half box) firm or extra firm silken aseptic pack tofu, such as Mori-Nu, drained of any excess liquid
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon lemon extract (optional) or some fresh rind
- ⅓ cup water or fruit juice as needed
- 1 tsp agar powder
- 1 tbsp arrowroot
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners
- Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good and curdles
- Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla and other extracts. In a large bow - sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and mix until no lumps remain.
- Fill cupcake liner two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool before frosting.
- Gently strain ice away from berries and measure - you'll need approximately ⅓ cup of ice. If more liquid is needed, use water or a complementary fruit juice
- Blend drained berries, tofu, salt, agave, lemon juice and lemon extract (or rind)in food processor till cream - 30-60 seconds
- In a cup, stir together 1 tablespoon of the blueberry juice and arrowroot and set aside
- In a small saucepan, whisk together remaining juice and the agar powder. Bring to a boil over the medium-low heat and simmer for about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally, ten reduce heat slightly. Pour in the arrowroot mixture in a steady stream and stir constantly till mixture becomes very thick and is no longer opaque, about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and pour int food processor with tofu mixture. Blend until creams, scraping the sirs of the bowl a few times. Scrape mousse into a container, cover and put in refrigerator to set - 1-2 hours
- Whip slightly with whisk or fork before frosting the cupcakes
Nancy, that is incredible! I'm giving serious thought to a plant-based diet myself as I become enlightened by your experience. Although my HDL is always well above average (most recently 89), my total cholesterol generally hovers around the 200 mark. I have vehemently resisted taking cholesterol medicine because of side effects and my belief that high cholesterol can be controlled through diet. A previous doctor suggested I try Red Yeast Rice in lieu of pharmaceuticals and that was the only time my numbers dipped below 200. Unfortunately, I had to go off that a couple years back when I was diagnosed with candidiasis (systemic yeast)and endured months of severely restricted eating (nothing but low-sugar vegetables, gluten-free grains, healthy fats,lean meat and eggs, nothing with yeast and nothing fermented) and lots of anti-fungal medicine. Ugh! Interestingly, even during that time my cholesterol was still over 200. Although I follow "clean" eating principles and eat little if any red meat, my total cholesterol was 246 in January. My brother, an M.D. who has a history of high cholesterol – at one time in the 300s, always insisted that we need to be on the medication because our livers lack the enzyme to process the cholesterol, and that dietary cholesterol is irrelevant. He was on Lipitor for years until recently when he experienced serious muscle damage as a result and went off it immediately. I'm not sure how he has fared controlling his numbers with diet but I am definitely going to share your blog with him.
Thanks for posting your journey and congratulations on this latest milestone!
Thanks for the feedback Anita – I am starting to believe that dairy is key and one of the hardest things to eliminate from your diet. That is one thing I have never eliminated from my diet until now.