These are happy cupcakes.
The ingredients are good for you in every way. They are healthy, wholesome, delicious and easy to make. They are lovely to look at, and fun to share. They are a mini celebrations of all that is good in this world!
So a couple weeks ago I basically had a melt down because I felt so stressed and anxious about aaall the things I think are so important that I need to get done. School work (essays, readings, exams, presentations), blog stuff (recipe creation, photography, social media sharing), and another project I am working on that may or may not a be a cookbook about savoury vegan recipes. On top of that there are the endless little tasks of simply maintaining a social existence (meeting up with friends, being polite, loving my partner). I am not saying I do not enjoy school, "work", friends, family or Jack. But I am saying all these responsibilities add up to a whole lotta pressure to be perfect and please others. I think most of us spend the majority of our days (and thus our lives) working to make other people happy, in ways that often don't really matter. For example, yes I have a paper this semester that is worth 40% of my grade, and in some ways it's important I do it and get a good grade so I can graduate with a decent GPA aaaand of course writing the paper will open my eyes to a whole story I didn't know existed (I think I'm gonna write about the history of abortion in Canada). But REALLY, does it matter? Even in the worst case scenario all that will happen is I fail the course. But I will still be healthy, loved, comfortable, self-aware, and alive in this amazing world!
I don't know how much sense I am making. What I am trying to say is that I think so many of us - namely middle/upper class people in developed countries with access to stuff we take for granted like food, internet, human rights, fridges, mattresses and Netflix - let ourselves become perpetually stressed about shit that doesn't actually have anything to do with us being happy. We worry way too much about deadlines for papers and numbers instead of saying "Hey, I am alive today and that feels pretty great." Stress is a catalyst for lifestyle disease. Let's throw it out. Let's be grateful for what we HAVE and who we ARE. Let's look at the sky, stars, moon or sun and recognize and that we are merely fragments of energy in an organic multi-verse of scientific amazement and spiritual connectedness, here for a moment until our cells are once again recycled into the elegant, magnificent cosmos.
Of course it's necessary to acknowledge that many of us face intersecting levels of oppression and choosing to be happy or live the life you want is incredibly challenging and sometimes not even an option. I am privileged enough to make it a priority but I will not call this world a fair one until we can all have the capability to live how we like.
Anyways: these cupcakes are delish, they make me say "mmmmm!" and I hope they brighten up your day.
X
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES with BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Makes 5 big cupcakes; 5-10 servings (with leftover frosting)
Cupcakes:
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dried coconut meat
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons carob powder
Use this recipe.
1/2 cup dried coconut meat
Frost with the buttercream, then sprinkle with your powdered coconut, and enjoy!
SUBSTITUTIONS: use buckwheat, almond, coconut or quinoa flour instead of rolled oats and/or coconut; use cocoa or cacao instead of carob.
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