Healthy Vegan BrowniesCopying Vitalicious Vitamuffins Brownies and Dreaming Again

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give the gift it away.

Joy .Golliver

One day, my son just randomly announced that when he grows up, he will not get married. I was very surprised when he said this,because he is only nine years old. I wondered, did I do something that made him be appalled about marriage? So I asked him curiously why is that,  and he said , "because I want to be like Greg's grandpa."  Who what? Greg's grandpa is one of the character of the book he is reading - The Diary of the Wimpy Kid. Greg's grandpa is named  Grandpa Heffley. about Grandpa Heffley

Grandpa Heffley is strange, unpredictable and ignorant. Obviously, he is enjoying life vacationing and just being goofy and he is not mindful on what people think of him. He lives in his own terms. Though he is married for a very long time to Greg's grandma, it looked like he is seizing his days living a "free kid and free of responsibility life," so he runs around town in his big motorbike and huge spectacles. For my son, he likes that kind of life. As he said, no kids to take care of and no responsibility, just riding a bike. When he said this, I was not sure if I should be mad or I should be happy that he is reading a book. But one thing I know I am glad about, at least he has a dream. 

When I became a housewife, I have become settled of being a wife and a mother that I just do not think of dreaming anymore. My focus has been on my family and there is nothing else. Dreaming was being shoved in the back burner and has became a burden. It just became a  fixture because motherhood is a very tough job that nothing else matters, even dreaming for myself is something that became a luxury. my schedule is so full that sometimes even, I can only think before I go to sleep. 

Proverbs 29:18 said that When there is no vision, the people perish. What a good way too remind me to dream again.

  

Currently, I am still in the phase where I say when I grow up, I want to be ... It feels like I am re- tuning my life and teaching myself to to find my dreams again. I think this is a wake up call for me because I had let myself go and just I led a life being tossed around by circumstances. No direction, just going with the flow. I gave away the free luxury of dreaming. I also felt that this is just an appropriate time because the kids are grown up now. 

I am almost in my middle age and re- directing myself on looking and finding my dreams again at this age can be a very difficult task to conquer. In my case, I have to try and test some waters and see some unknown  territories. It is scary and it is mentally draining and it is financially expensive. I feel so blessed that I have the luxury to try to find my path and I owe it to God for blessing me abundantly.

At present, I have not found that dream that I would die for and live for. Don't get me wrong, dreaming for a productive life  for my family and children are very important to me. But there is that "something" that I am looking for- for myself. That something that would energize me again and makes me feel so alive. That something I realized is passion...

Now, I am seizing the day as I wait for "THAT" passion to really ignite. And when I do,  my family will be more thankful because I will  become a better mother, a better wife and a better member in the society.  I will give it away wholeheartedly and use it for God's glory. 

I am going to end this musings with  Grace Coddington's, quote: "Always keep your eyes open, keep watching because whatever you see can inspire you." 

How about you? What is your passion? Have you found your passion? How did you find it? 

Today, I am going to share to you my version of Vitalicious Vitamuffins Brownies. This recipe was inspired from   Chocolate Covered Katie blog check here. I changed some ingredients depending of its availability in my pantry, but it is really, really good and it was also very easy to make. You cannot tell that it is vegan. This recipe yielded 8 pieces of little flat muffins. If you want a bigger batch, just use the whole can of pumpkin puree. The whole can is total of 2 cups. Just adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly. This is the only brownie in my whole life that I happily munch and was not afraid to give to my kids. There was not guilt, just pleasure of the sweetness of the chocolates. I say it is YUM!  

Copying Vitalicious Vitamuffins Brownies

1. 2 tbsp milk of Choice ( I used Silk Choco)
2. 2 tbsp cooking oil ( I used Canola Oil)
3. 1/2 tbsp  vanilla extract
4. 1 tbsp black sesami seeds ( you can replace it with flax seed or white sesame seeds)
5. 1/2 cup pumpkin
6. 1/2 cup spelt flour
7. 1/4 tsp baking soda
8. 1/4 tsp salt
9. 1/2 tsp baking powder
10. 2 tbsp sugar/
11. 2 tbsp cocoa powder
12. 1/4 cup chocolate chips plus additional chips for decoration

Note: The batter tend to get sticky but do not worry. It is just like that. Do not be tempted to add liquid in it. Since I only used 1/2 cup of pumpkin, I used it to make pumpkin tart with peanuts. I will post it on Thursday.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease standard size muffin pans.

In a mixing bowl mix ingredients 1 to 5  and stir well. Add in ingredients 6 - 12 except the choco chips for decoration. Mix gently then use a spoon to scoop the batter into a greased muffin pan and put 3 to 4 choco chips for decoration. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes and let cool before removing from the pan.