Monday, April 28, 2014

Weekend recap...with coconut;)

Morning, all!  Hope you guys had a great weekend!  Mine started bright & early Saturday morning with my Beyond Expectations family to participate in the annual Comcast Cares volunteer day.  As part of the 7,000 volunteers participating throughout NJ alone, our group helped spruce up the Anchor House in Trenton, NJ.
photo credit: Carla Hicks
The crew spent the day painting, gardening, baking cookies, wrapping gifts and organizing the incredible youth shelter.  Check out the Beyond Expectations website for more photos, info & a link to a NJ.com featureJ  Pretty cool day with some incredible, genuine people.

And by the time I got home, we were ALL ready to get out and EATJ  And thankfully, a Groupon helped pick our final destination of Mamitas Restaurante Latino, a bright & friendly restaurant in Newtown, PA.  It was only moments after being seated that I decided it was perfectly acceptable to have the 'rice pudding' drink known as Horchata to go along with my dinner...and this one may have been the best one I've ever had!  
Sweet & cinnamon-y, it even tasted more "rice pudding-y" than my brown rice/chia seed attemptJ.

I just KNEW Katie would ADORE it...and I was rightJ 

After swooning over the Horchata for a good 10-15 minutes, we started swooning over our appetizer choice of chicken Pupusas...
...which tasted almost identical to my beloved Arepas, except these are flour cakes vs. corn.  Perfectly crisp and stuffed with spiced chicken...kinda hard to dislike em!

And for my entree, I went with the steak enchiladas drenched in Mole sauce.  The tender steak wrapped in fresh corn tortillas were delish, while the mole sauce was JUST spicy enough to keep my portion in checkJ  The heat just seemed to build & build while you ate, so by 1 and 1/4 enchilada, I was maxed out... 
...although you know I'm a weakling for spiceJ  I'm sure a normal person would have no problem devouring this whole thingJ

Katie, meanwhile, was super happy to have her favorite meal along with us:  Rice & beansJ 

And to finish off the meal:  As soon as I heard the words "Coconut Flan," you know it was OVAH!

While Scott & Katie HOUSED this Tre Leche cake.  I was able to sneak a SINGLE bite without my child biting off my handJ  She loved this pretty much as much as her beloved BEANSJ 

After dinner, we took advantage of the gorgeous night to burn off some calories and some energy from Katie and wander around downtown Newtown (thinking of you, Lea!J)...

...although we did get rained on a bit, we got this beautiful sunset in returnJ  Not too shabbyJ

And while Sunday was spent with a mix of boxing class, 'promised' everything bagels with caramelized garlic cheese (epic idea!)...

...3 mile park walks & a dinner of leftover Easter ravioli & ham, I figured yesterday was a good day to remember to make my favorite "Sunday homemade dessert"...which I remember exactly every 4 months or soJ  And since we've been inhaling FAR too much Easter candy AND I had such success with my 'healthier baking' last week, I went the more "natural" route and made Bethenny's Vegan Coconut Cupcakes...
I swapped the vegan shortening for Coconut Butter with MUCH success...but the best part was THE FROSTING!
  • 1/4 cup coconut butter 
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
It was actually a halved-version of the original frosting recipe and was MORE than enough for the 8 cupcakes Bethenny's recipe makes.  These cupcakes will cure ANY sweet tooth as these are SWEET & COCONUT: 101!  I'd actually consider halving the sugar in the cupcake recipe because the frosting was more than sweet enough.  If you have a coconut fan in your life:  MAKE. THESE. NOW!

Alright, that's enough from me for the day!  Hope you have a great one.J

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