Vanilla Chai Spice Cupcakes

One of my colleagues' birthday is tomorrow, so I am making cupcakes.  If I don't make them, I don't get any because if you don't know all the ingredients, you can't eat it if you have food allergies. 
It's a new job (since August), and the cupcakes have made me somewhat popular because we generally have 1-2 birthdays a month.  So far we have had Banana Nut with Vanilla Frosting (recipes from Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook), Orange with Chocolate Frosting (a request, also from Betty Crocker) Pumpkin with Sour Cream Frosting (same recipe as Banana, with canned pumpkin substituted for the mashed banana), Individual Cheesecakes, Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (also a request, from Betty Crocker), and some Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls (original--coming soon). 

The Vanilla Chai Spice Cupcake recipe comes from the website The Novice Chef, whose food choices are rather sophisticated and don't seem "novice" at all.  I substituted Stoneyfield vanilla yogurt for the buttermilk because we never have buttermilk around.  I did make a little goof--I made 18 cupcakes instead of 12 and sort of forgot to increase the amounts of spices. They still taste wonderful.

Note about the cake recipes in Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook:  It was originally published in 1950.  My mom got one as a wedding present and I grew up on those cake recipes.  But I find they work just as well or better if I cut the amount of salt in half.

Note 2 about the cake recipes in Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook:  If the recipe calls for shortening, sometimes I use Spectrum brand palm-oil shortening and sometimes I use butter.  No rhyme or reason as to the choice.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
none

Cliche Onion Dip for New Year's

Once in a while you want to go back to your food roots--what you ate when you were a kid.  Onion Dip made with Lipton Onion's Soup Mix is out (I check the ingredients every time I see it).  Try this instead:

2 cups sour cream or light sour cream
2 tsp soy-free beef bouillon powder, or 2 soy-free bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp grain-based coffee substitute, for color (optional)

Crumble the bouillon cubes, if using.  Stir all ingredients together.  Let sit 5 minutes and stir again.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
Soy-free beef bouillon: I used Knorr, but their "cubes" are the same as 2 normal cubes.  Also, check the ingredients because sometimes they are soy-free, and sometimes not.

NOTE:  For grain-based coffee substitute, I use Postum, but they don't make it anymore.  There are other brands, like Pero, but I haven't tried them.

ANOTHER NOTE: as of this posting, Lay's Ruffles and Lay's Light Ruffles potato chips are soy-free.

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Eggplant Parmagiana from Cooking Light

I heartily recommend this recipe from Cooking Light magazine. We had it tonight, with a few changes:
- I didn't have any fontina cheese, so we went with all mozzarella
- I used 8 oz of mozzarella instead of the 6 oz of mozzarella/fontina a half recipe should have used.
- I didn't have any whole-wheat panko (which often has soy, anyway) so we used homemade dried mixed (whole wheat, rye, oatmeal bread, whatever was on hand) bread crumbs.
- We used a whole 24-oz jar of sauce for a half a recipe
- It said a whole recipe served 10, but we got 6 servings out of a half recipe

My (dear) husband liked it and asked that it be made again. Since the kids never liked eggplant, and I am officially an empty-nester as of 24 August, I suspect he may get his wish.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
Homemade breadcrumbs instead of whole-wheat panko
Misto sprayer with canola oil, instead of commercial cooking spray
Jar of commercial sauce carefully checked to make sure there is no soy or soy oil in it