Summer and So Forth

In June, we roadtripped it back to Arkansas to visit family and friends. Ryan had to work while we were there, but it's nice that he can just work in Little Rock without having to use vacation days. We were gone for 15 days. We spent time with my parents, sisters, niece and nephew, and some of our friends. The kids and I also drove to Missouri to stay with my brother and his family for a few days. It was good to be "home."  

 

spinach, kalamata olives, roasted garlic, and artichoke

with olive oil instead of red sauce at ZaZa's...

one of my favorite pizza topping combos

 

On the subject of vegan: we met my youngest sister one day at Mellow Mushroom in Little Rock, which opened RIGHT AFTER we moved, good grief. We were also happy (and also bummed that it happened AFTER we left) to discover that ZaZa's Pizza in Conway now carries Daiya. (We always brought our package of Daiya with us for them to use.)

 

We have missed our old Whole Foods! It's a lovely location for a Whole Foods. We just loved everyone there and were always treated so nicely (despite the fact we are a lot of people and we do things like lick the sample tongs). We actually found out they are planning to move locations soon, which will be weird. (I also worked here for a short time many years ago.) I will say...as happy as I was to return to our home away from home, I quickly realized how much better the selection is in Tampa. So there's that. (And it wasn't me that licked them, by the way, and I gave them to an employee.)

 

He fell right over to sleep against my chest while we were shopping.

 

In Missouri, the kids and I had lunch one day with my parents' best friends from my childhood. We ate at The Grotto in Springfield, which is vegan-friendly. I enjoyed my salad (which was a fulfilling greek-style salad), and the kids enjoyed their hummus, etc. Our friends chose this place to eat after googling vegan restaurants in Springfield. And I love that they did that because even though we rarely see each other, they know me. And that was pretty much the theme of this trip...it was really nice to be around familiar people again. To watch my nephews play baseball. To reminisce and catch up with four of my best friends from high school.To see my kids giggle with their cousins. To eat cucumbers out of my aunt's garden and tomatoes out of my dad's. To cry along with relatives who were happy to see us and sad to see us go.

 

I write all of that to say: I'm in a bit of a weird phase right now. We love Tampa. I like Florida better than I like Arkansas and Missouri for enough reasons that Florida probably wins. However, if we choose to stay here, we are choosing a life without the people we love in it. So if I live there, I'm not 100% content, and if I live here, I'm not 100% content. I know that's the way life is, and you just have to find a way to be content, regardless. Maybe most people aren't 100% content? I'm a restless person, in general, so I have that against me. These are just some of my thoughts right now.

 

 My parents also decided to put in a saltwater pool upon our departure. Seriously, y'all.

Another big event of the summer (ok, not so big - but it happened) was my birthday this week. Ryan wasn't even here - he was on a business trip, and some other dumb stuff happened the night before that ended up taking up most of my day. But I did make myself a chocolate pie because it's always a good time to have chocolate pie. I let the kids decorate it themselves with strawberries, ground up chocolate chips, and candles. 5 candles seemed like a better number than 39, apparently.

 

HAPPY birthday.

 

It had been a dilemma: chocolate pie or pumpkin pie? I was going to pick pumpkin since I don't have it as often but didn't have enough time for it to set. So since we had to buy pie crust and Soyatoo anyway, we made a pumpkin pie the next day.

 

And then I'm going to eat salad today.

 

Things I'm Lovin' Lately

Vivacious Vegan from Adventures from Nutritarian Vegan in Midwestern America so kindly awarded me with the Stylish blogger Award. The bad news...VV is leaving the blog world. :( I hope she comes back one of these days!

In order to fulfill the duties of this prestigious award I must:

1. Make a post & link back to the person who gave me this award.

2. Share 7 things about myself.

3. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.

I find that it is difficult to come up with 7 more things about myself that you don't already know. So instead, I'm going to mention 7 "things" I have especially liked lately.

#1

Alamo City Salt-free Citrus Pepper. Would also like to try their Chili Lime or Lime Pepper, etc. I'm a big fan of citrus flavor in general. And also, incidentally, citrus lotion, shampoo, bubble bath, etc.

#2

Sunja's Kimchi. Especially on wraps. This is my wrap with kimchi, greens, carrots, tomatoes, and chia seeds. I'd bet money there was some melted Daiya hiding under there somewhere.

I've eaten a lot of wraps lately on my gluten free tortillas, which are my favorite. Even though they're a little tough, I love them still.

another random wrap with avocado, rice, black beans,

cooked Kabocha squash, Daiya, and kimchi

#3

Hail Merry's Chocolate Miracle Tart...it really is a miracle.

It's hard to get a picture to do it justice. The ingredients are cocoa, coconut oil, maple syrup, almond flour, and salt. The only downside is the $4.99 price tag. I've tried finding a recipe that would equal its creamy wonderness, but I haven't quite achieved an exact match yet. Anyone have somethin' for me to try?

Update: Since I started writing this a few weeks ago, I think I have finally eaten my share of chocolate tarts. Don't get me wrong; it took me many, many months to get tired of these. I always go through cycles of being obsessed with one dessert at a time. I had the Lemon flavor tart the other day, and it was a nice change.

#4

I saw these Pom Wonderful Fresh Pomegranate packs at Sam's Club. I have always loved pomegranates, but this was a healthy-lazy girl's dream: pomegranate seeds all ready to eat. And usually when I eat from a pomegranate, it's one seed at a time as I make my way through. When you put a handful in your mouth at a time, it's bursting with juicy wonderment. I hope they have these next time I hit Sam's, or maybe I'll ask another store to carry them.

I also really liked the pomegranate seeds on my oatmeal. (Also included: apples, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, grapefruit, and raspberries.)

Speaking of Sam's Club and raspberries, they have had the BEST organic raspberries (see above). I rarely ever buy fresh raspberries because I'd only buy organic, and those never look so fresh. These were the freshest, brightest, plumpest organic raspberries I've ever seen.)

#5

That Pickle Guy's Olive Muffaletta. It is a raw mixture of minced olives and vegetables plus spices (and oil, which is the bad, bad thing). The jar makes these claims: Great on everything! and Habit Forming! Have Plenty. I can't say they are exaggerating. I love it on sandwiches.

#6

Another hit for Hail Merry. (I really love everything I've tried from this company!) Red Bell Pepper Macadamia Nut Dip.

There was just something about it; I couldn't get enough.

#7

Coconut Secret brand raw Coconut Aminos. I was interested in trying it after I saw it on Bitt of Raw's blog. I was going to order it online, then one day I gasped with excitement when I saw it newly sitting on the shelf at my Whole Foods. I like the taste of it; it is a nice alternative to Bragg's or soy sauce.

#7

A version of Kristen's Raw Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake. I use frozen bananas, almond milk (or whatever "milk" we have available), frozen cherries, and Vega's Choc-o-lot Shake & Go Smoothie Powder (pea & hemp protein plus veggie based). The cherry-chocolate combination is so good.

See how I applied a Michelle-like technique of sneaking more into my list. Hopefully, everyone is reading this part and not just assuming I can't count.

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That's my list, and here is my version of the States Traveled Map that has been floating around on your blogs. This has been good for me to look at. Especially during my "My life is so boring; I don't ever get to do anything, wah wah" moments. I think my new resolution for this year is to be able to fill in one more white state. Which one should I try?

As for passing on the award, let me think about that and get back to you. I have a couple of ideas, but I don't think I can come up with 10 new ones. Let me look around.

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Here is a fun read! Quarry Girl attended the Natural Foods Expo in L.A. again; I always look forward to her thorough recaps of the latest, greatest vegan products on the market. Still no health(ier) biscuits in a can or squeezey cheeze for me, but there is some other great-looking stuff! I know my kids will want to get their little hands on some vegan Peeps.

Missed you guys!

Four Fun Facts

I've been tagged by Heather at Where's the Beach?. Here are my Four Fun Facts:

Four TV Shows I Watch:
*Friday Night Lights

*Grey's Anatomy

*Private Practice

*The Bachelor (I'm just being honest.)

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
(These aren't necessarily the 4 things I'm MOST passionate about, just 4 OF them.)

*traveling around as much of the world as possible, also sharing that with my kids

*my food choices

*my kids' health and well-being; making sure they feel loved, supported, and challenged

*Brad Pitt. And Ryan Gosling. But only after my husband, of course.

Four Words/Phrases I Use Too Much:
"Awesome," maybe? I don't know if I use any word or phrase too regularly. Ryan can't think of anything for me, either. Sisters, any ideas? I do use "like" (as in "it's, like,...") and "so" too much in my writing.

Four Things I’ve Learned From The Past:

*It's important to guard your heart. (Above all else, guard your heart...Proverbs 4:23)

*Be careful of your word choices during arguments, because you can't take it back.

*Holding onto bitterness against someone isn't good for you. (If you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop, in order that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop...Mark 11:25)

*I have a bad habit of setting people up to disappoint me. I tend to see the world through fairy-tale lenses. This isn't fair to other people, and I'm not doing myself any favors.

Four Things I’m Looking Forward To:
*warmer weather

*another Hail Merry Raw Chocolate Tart, the next time I go to Whole Foods!!!

*visiting these places (among others) one day: Italy, France, England, Greece, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Yellowstone, and the Dakotas

*Every day I look forward to that moment of crawling into bed with my husband, relaxing, talking, laughing, and watching one of our shows; we just finished season 4 of Big Love.

Four Things I Love About Winter:
*I like Heather's answer: Um, pretty much the only plus is getting to wear boots.

*I also like wearing sweaters and the clothing choices, in general, during winter. I have a bad habit of wearing cardigans in the heat of summer.

*I like witnessing my kids' excitement the one or two times a year it snows here.

*Christmas and my daughter's birthday in February

I am supposed to tag some people. I'm going to go look at my blog roll and tag the first blog that's showing up right now...well, it's Heather so I can't tag her...next is Shenandoah Vegan. Well, I KNOW she will LOVE being tagged and telling us so many more things about herself. :)

I'm also tagging someone new I've been "following," but I'm just "getting around to" adding to my "roll."

Vegan Georgia - Her blog is fairly new; go over and say "hi!"

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My Hippy Pack

Carissa at Coffee & Sunshine created something called "Hippy Packs." She exchanges vegan friendly gifts with someone, and I thought it sounded like fun! Who doesn't want to get a box of vegan goodness in the mail? Thanks, Carissa, for a fun swap. (She wrote about my package here.) I think the world of this girl.

Here is what was in my box from Carissa: Color Drip Candles & chopsticks(fun!), Mama's Special Organic Kettle Corn (yum! didn't last long with the kids plowing in, too), Mareblu Naturals Cashew Crunch (yum!), MacFarms Hawaiin Macademia Nuts, Mrs. May's Almond Crunch (yum!), Seeds of Change Organic Quinoa & Brown Rice mix (haven't cooked this yet but looks good!), and a cute beverage cup!

There were also bags of Hops Flowers (She wrote that when made into tea, these help with insomnia, fevers, and digestion.) and Chamomile Flowers. I was excited that she sent these because this is one of the things I love about Carissa. She's always growing something and concocting something. She creates a lot of things naturally, from scratch; I love it and want to make more things the way she does.

She also sent me several packets of tea. This was perfect timing since one of my New Year's Resolutions was to get in the habit of drinking tea. I'm definitely not a drinker of any sort. I've mentioned before that I don't like soda, alcohol, coffee, tea...I have a hard time even getting my daily intake of water. I want to start drinking tea everyday, though, for the health benefits. So , thank you, Carissa, for the nudge in the right direction! I've been drinking my tea, adding in a dash of orange juice, and I like it that way.

She included two flowering teas. She wrote about them here on her blog. You just add hot water.

And look what happens! It's so pretty! The kids and I greatly enjoyed watching them "bloom."

Giveaway Winner and Versatile Blogger Award

Thank you for taking the time to enter my CSN giveaway. The winner is...Michelle from lovinlivinvegan! I picked the number 24, which was Michelle. Just for fun, I picked another number to see who came in 2nd place (I'm lame and was a little bored.)...it happened to be another number that corresponded with Michelle. Clearly, she takes it. Send me your email address, and I'll pass it on to CSN.


So...I said I would post about the super fun awards I've received! I think I'll break it up into 2 posts so that you don't get sick of me talking about myself. My first award was from the very-fit Heather at Where's the Beach? I loved finding her blog because not only does she provide lots of yummy food pictures and recipes and seem super fun, we discovered we live in the same area!

So the rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award on to 10 bloggers you've recently discovered and you think are fantastic!

Thank you, Heather, for my award!

1. My younger son is entering kindergarten. My 3 year old will also be at home this year. My 10 year old will be starting his second year of public school. We homeschooled him for K-2nd grade. There's a good chance he will be homeschooled again, but for now, we think this is the best thing for him and his needs. I blog more about homeschooling and our family life at Academy at Thousand Oaks.

2) I was an Elementary Ed. major in college. So was my husband. That's how we met. We fell in love over file folder games and science projects.

3) I also had an English Minor. I taught 9th grade English for 2 years before we started having babies. When I was little, I mostly wanted to be a teacher or a writer. So now I get to homeschool and blog, which works for me.

4) I had thyroid cancer almost 8 years ago. My oldest son was 2 1/2, and one of the most traumatic things about this for me (besides being told you have cancer) was having to wean him from breastfeeding. My surgeon was not secretive about the fact he thought I was nutso for crying about weaning a child he thought was too old to be nursing in the first place. He apologized later because his wife told him that there are, indeed, moms who choose to breastfeed longer than a year. So, yeah, I don't have a thyroid now, which isn't very fun. My dad and brother and many other family members have messed up thyroids, too.

5) I am sensitive, stubborn, and self-conscious. Even though I'm totally the person who answers, "What do you want to do?" with "I don't care; what do you want to do?" - I'm actually pretty controlling...

6) which is interesting for me because I'm a Christian. I don't desire to be in control, but my willful nature takes over a lot

7) I grew up in southwest MO, and it's where I long to live now. Either there or NYC. I realize these places are complete opposites. I'd like to either live at "home" where most of my friends are - or in my favorite city with tons to do.

I feel like I'm being really wordy and narcissistic.

Let's deflect with a cute picture of my kid.

He had recently discovered our milkshake maker in the cabinet. I guess we hadn't used it in his memory. (My cabinets are a wreck, and I'm in the process of organizing them.) They were excited to use it. We hadn't had "icecream" milkshakes in awhile (we've gotten so used to our frozen banana shakes). We've been stocking up on the Purely Decadent coconut milk ice cream lately - it's normally $4.99 at Whole Foods (and probably $5.99 at Kroger); it's been $2.99 at Kroger and $3.99 at WF!

And here's my fabulous hubby with our oldest son, when we were at the River.

Can't leave out my cutie pie 3 year old (left), with her cutie pie 3 year old cousin.

Now to pass on the award:

Vegan Fox (She hails from the Ozarks, my home; what's not to like about that?)

Scottish Vegan Homemaker (Well, she's a vegan homemaker like me but much cooler because she's Scottish.)

Busy Vegan Mama (Another stay-at-home mom - she's fairly new to blogging; stop by and say hi!)

Food Feud (I just like it.)

Living Food Junkie(great food AND other great ideas)

Okay, I'm actually going to stop at 5 (I could keep bragging about my fellow blogging buddies all day.) only because I've got to feed the shorties who are standing next to me, saying, "I'm hungry." Over and over again.