What's Been Going On Lately

A few random, fun happenings in my life lately:

I got to meet a blogger friend! Heather from Where's the Beach? and I had lunch together (the Friday before last). She blogged about it here. Since we live near one another, we had been talking for many months about getting together, and I'm glad we finally got the chance. She's fun, and I enjoyed our lunch (although it was much too short!).

This was my first time to eat at the relatively new 4 Square Gifts, which is a gift shop plus vegetarian deli (including vegan and gluten-free options) in Downtown Little Rock. I ordered the Hummus & Tofu Wrap, which was tasty, especially due to the lemon garlic hummus and kalamata olives.

We traveled up to Missouri that weekend to watch my niece in the Branson Community Theater production of Oliver! So cute and fun!

It usually only snows once or twice a year here, but it feels like it has been snowing every week.

where we live

The kids love the snow, obviously. And I love getting a call while still in bed that says, "The Public School System is closed today due to weather...". I bet my parents wish they had automated announcements when we were growing up. Of course, they didn't have cell phones or even phones on their nightstands, so I guess it wouldn't have made a difference.

We celebrated Ryan's birthday Friday night. (Unfortunately, he was out of town on business all week, including on his actual birthdate.) I asked him to choose anything he wanted for supper. I thought he might say a big Mexican meal or mashed potatoes and "meat"loaf, etc., but instead he picked Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with homemade cheese sauce. Normally, I use the grilled cheese recipe out of Ultimate Uncheese. I used Veganomicon's cheese sauce recipe this time, since I was out of tahini. On dark, seedy French Meadow Bakery Hemp Bread.

I also made Butternut Squash Soup. From scratch. Not really. I used Pacific's Organic Creamy Butternut Squash Soup.

He also requested a Delicious Choices Cheesecake. Delicious Choices was a company that would ship vegan cheesecakes to your door. Did anyone ever buy one? We bought several back in the day (always the sampler - every gigantic piece was a different flavor), and when they stopped selling them, they sold the recipes (that apparently can be found here).

I usually make the crust from scratch, but for sake of time, I just crumbled up two Wholly Wholesome Graham Cracker Crusts mixed with just enough melted Earth Balance.

I used a mixture of organic frozen strawberries, organic strawberry fruit spread, lemon juice, and a tiny bit of sugar for the topping.

Happy birthday, Ryan! Please don't go away on week-long business trips anymore!

This isn't the healthiest cheesecake recipe, but they are as delicious as their name indicates.

Vegan MoFo: the one where I got an award

I got an award! To accept this award, I need to list 7 strange or obscure facts about myself. I received this award from Michelle, who has a great list. She's indeed strange (in a good way!)...I mean, she has a duck...and a pig. And other things just running and flying around her house. And she wants to get a moped for her and her husband, with a sidecar for her duck. She is altogether endearing for more reasons than just her choice of pets.

So this is what she said about me: a vegan girl with a VEGAN husband!!! if not for anything else, go check out her husband...you won't be disappointed. i think she is raising her kids vegan also, so that's neat to read about. i enjoy her sense of humor. :)

She's totally after my husband. And then it suddenly dawned on me, as I was looking back through her blog...our husbands are very similar looking. We apparently must have the same taste. Which is funny because she and I aren't exactly opposite-looking either.

I'm really happy for my husband when he gets female attention. I think he's a babe, and it's good for people to receive positive feedback, ya know? He doesn't think he's a babe...especially since the declination of his hair. (Bless his heart...that "bless your heart" was especially for you, Michelle.)

So I hearby dedicate this award to my herbivore husband. Ryan.

And his hair.

God rest its soul.

Did you come by my blog to read about food today? I apologize for the shift in conversation. Here are a couple of food pictures to tide you over.

Here is the salad I had for supper one night this week: greens, chickpeas, zucchini, quinoa, carrot strips, celery strips, grated beets, and pumpkin seeds. For the dressing, I used a mixture of vegan caesar (light on this) and salsa.

And "What little piece of vegan heaven is that?" you might be asking...you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out.

Onto my list (maybe not all strange but hopefully a little bit interesting):

1. The coolest places I've ever visited are the Egyptian pyramids and the biblical holy land spots in Jerusalem.

2. I've actually peed on the Sinai desert. I couldn't hold it any longer, and...we were in the desert. I had to pee so bad I was actually crying. I ran off the bus to the desert, and a group of girls followed me because I think they had to pee (urinate? which is better to say?), too, or just wanted to protect me out in the wild or something. I was so annoyed that they came with me because I like to have a little privacy. So I got stage fright and couldn't go; it just wouldn't come out. I got back on the bus, nearly panicked at this point, wondering if I could die from holding it in that long. Fortunately, the bus made another stop after awhile, at a check-point or something, and I immediately darted back off for a sec on my own.

3. I left my friends (including my date) at a Nelson concert in highschool to sneak through the crowd toward the stage. I touched one of their hands.

Here's a picture of them, in case any of you young ones don't know who I'm talking about. I'm sure they were much cooler, you know - dressed much cooler, posing much cooler - the night I saw them...or else I couldn't possibly have been screaming as loud or as long as I was...right?

4. I stuck a raisin up my nose when I was really young, and my mom had to take me to the doctor to get it removed. I still remember the shine of the light in my eyes and the doctor looking down over me.

5. I don't like the taste of alcohol. At all. I've never had more than a few sips at a time. I can't really understand how so many people enjoy it. I sometimes think everyone must be pretending to like it because of peer pressure. :) Don't even get me started about coffee; blech. I occasionally do wish I enjoyed these liquids; I feel like I'm missing out on this big party going on.

6. I sometimes believe (Okay, I don't really believe this; my behavior just seems to indicate that I believe this.) that inanimate objects have feelings. I often turn a stuffed animal upside down because I think it can't breathe. Or if I choose the second jar of pasta sauce in the store, I'm afraid I hurt the first jar's feelings. Please don't stop reading my blog.

7. I went to the same high school as Don Johnson. Not at the same time, of course. But he's related to practically all of my friends in some way and comes back regularly to visit. Maybe more impressive than that: Brad Pitt grew up in our nearby town, the "bigger" town in our area, where we hung out. And I think...deep down, I know we could have been friends had we met. I think we would have connected. I just KNOW it. I can feel it.

I was going to pass this award on to blogs I've newly discovered through Vegan MoFo...but it was really too hard to narrow it down. And I wouldn't want to leave anyone out and hurt anyone's feelings...I mean, did you read the part where I can't even hurt inanimate objects' feelings? If you are reading this right now, that means you're one of my favorite bloggers (of course) so consider yourself awarded. I would love for you to post 7 obscure facts about yourself.

gratuitous vegan husband parting shot

Texas Revisited

Blogging hiatus is hopefully over for a bit. Had to have some time to get accustomed to our new schedule of activities. Also, I put myself on the Eat to Live diet for 2 weeks, and it was just too tempting, looking at all of your yummy meals. :) I have the afternoon free, though, and I plan to relax on my bed for a bit and do a little blog reading.

Early last month, my groom and I got to spend about 24 hours alone together to celebrate our THIRTEENTH anniversary. We decided to go to Dallas again because it's one of the closest big cities to us.

I packed a veggie burger for him and a Caesar salad for me to eat on the way. We also stopped at Whole Foods on the way out to pick up some car snacks. We chose: chocolate chips, watermelon, papaya chunks, Tofurky Jerky, Kale Chips, and B-Fresh Gum (which I always buy in a 10 pack to get the 10% case discount).

We drove straight to Bliss, a raw cafe we had never tried. It is a tiny place (but has more of an elegant feel to it). All of the seating is open-air, and I have to admit the temperature was definitely warmer than I'd prefer it to be while I'm eating. I liked it a lot, though, and I look forward to eating there again!

I ordered the Cowboy "Rawko" Tacos because that's just what I'd generally be drawn to on the menu, and I'd seen Amber Shea's (from Almost Vegan) post about them. Ryan and I each ate a taco, and we definitely liked them a lot. We felt very light and healthy, eating them.

I have to admit, Ryan was pretty bummed that I wanted to go to a raw restaurant, rather than Spiral Diner. It was definitely a tough call, but I knew we needed a new experience. Ultimately, we realized Spiral Diner is closed, anyway, on Monday's so that made it easier for him. He was glad we tried Bliss, though; he was impressed.

We also split the Rawsagna. (I'm a big, cheesey fan of cute, clever food names, by the way.) The lasagna was always delicious and very healthy-tasting. I think I preferred the lasagna, and Ryan preferred the tacos.

As we were looking over the menu, the waiter instructed us to "save room for their cheesecake," (what a mean thing to do, as you will soon discover) which is supposedly amazing and just like "real" cheesecake. Sign me up. Weeeell...when we were finished with our meal, we asked for slices of cheesecake. He told us they just sold the last piece! We did order this dessert to share - I forget what it was - a torte maybe? It tasted good, softer like a pudding.

We checked into our hotel, which was the Holiday Inn Market Center. It was great; I highly recommend because they were so helpful. We were able to park our car, and the shuttle van dropped us off at our next destination -

which was the American Idol concert. We thought it would be something fun and lighthearted to do together. This was actually the first season of the show either of us had ever watched. I never thought it was something I'd be interested in, but we really got into it, voting and everything. It was bonding time together after the kids went to bed.

Ryan got into it especially because he loved Lee DeWyze (the eventual winner), who is from his home state of Illinois.

Casey James - woo, woo!

It's as if the Heavens parted...

We were on the 4th row center. We really enjoyed the concert. We even enjoyed the contestants who weren't our favorites on the show.

The hotel shuttle came back to pick us up, even later than they generally run, which was so nice of them. When the driver found out it was our anniversary, he was very congratulatory and told us to go into the hotel lounge and order a drink on the house. I love nice people! I got a glass of orange juice. Which isn't what they had in mind, I'm sure, but I really like orange juice!

The next morning, we planned on stopping at a big Whole Foods I wanted to investigate. Ryan was a little like, "It probably wouldn't take any longer to stop at Spiral Diner... ." He really wanted to go. I'm so happy I have a husband who is just as excited to visit a vegan restaurant as I am!

I'm embarrassed to even say everything we got. Something comes over me when I'm faced with a menu with limitless options. I lose control a little bit. A lot.

Anyway, we took our food to eat on the road. We had the Chipotle Tempeh Quesadillas as an appetizer (Yeah - it's totally not meant to be an appetizer; it would be better served as a MEAL for two). Incidentally, I noticed there was a recipe for these quesadillas in the latest VegNews.

It was so filling - and decadent and delicious, and yet...we were laughing at ourselves because it was all sort of...disgusting. It was just that we were trying to eat it in the car. And I forgot to get napkins! Oil was dripping from us, and we felt like we were sweating because it was so spicy. The whole napkin situation was horrible. I did find a couple of tiny, flimsy napkins in the glove compartment, but they were no match for the oily Daiya quesadillas. It was one of those "you had to have been there" moments. Ryan got sort of quiet after he ate. His hand was off to the side, just curled up there, still covered in food for the longest time. I asked him (with a repulsed face) if he was okay.

He said, "I'm just still in shock over that quesadilla."

But did we stop eating? Nooo.

The Mitch

I got this same sandwich twice, last time we were in town. There's just something about it...the bread is so thin, yet there's that extra piece (like Ross's gravy-soaked extra piece of bread in his sandwich on Friends) - and with the thin tofu, bac'n bits, and Veganaise...I just love it. We split it.

"Ross, it's just a sandwich."

"Just a sandwich? I am 30 years old, I'm about to be divorced twice, and I just got evicted! That sandwich was the only good thing going on in my life! Someone ate the only good thing going on in my life!"

Meatball sub - mmmmm!!! I always pick the fruit as the side, as if that will somehow make up for my glutony.

I DID order several desserts, BUT it was more with the intention of taking them home for the kids. We just took sample bites of everything, then saved the rest in the cooler for them.

This was a tasty raw dessert. I'm always eager to try raw desserts.

I always go for the cinnamon roll, if it's ever an option. I love them, and I never get to eat them. I can't remember if I have ever made them, but I probably only get to eat one or two cinnamon rolls a year, if that.

The brownies were good. Soft in a way vegan brownies aren't always.

Peanut butter cup was good - probably no better than the ones I make at home.

So...what I've failed to mention is that I had also ordered nachos and a taco salad. I just sort of had it in my head that we'd still be on the road at suppertime, and of course, we'd be hungry again. I hate not having anything to eat when I'm traveling. To be clear - I was NOT hungry again. I didn't even eat supper. I think Ryan and Tornado ate the rest of the food for supper that night.

Have a good day - more about my Eat to Live diet later this week. I've lost 4 pounds so far. I feel like it's necessary to say that after my narrative above.

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.

A Take-Out Day, Tennis, and A Girl Can Dream

Last night, Ryan and I had a date night (thanks, Mom!). He brought home take-out from P.F. Chang's. He ordered the Vegetable Chow Fun, and I chose the lettuce wraps. I always get the lettuce wraps.

Then we headed out for a little action on the court. Ryan was a totally rockin' player back in the day. It has been years since we've played together. It felt really good to get out there and sweat. I don't sweat enough, quite frankly. Even when I'm at the air-conditioned fitness center, it's hard for me to really sweat.

It's funny because I was out there doing pretty well, if I can say that. I was thinking, wow, I could really DO this. Maybe I'll even be on a TEAM. Then Ryan serves a few at his actual speed, not the "being easy on his wife" speed...and I realize...maybe I have a little ways to go before I sign up. ha! :)

*********************

Earlier that day, the kids and I had to "go into town" for an appointment. We stopped by Drug Emporium first because my sister Tracy had been telling me I need to check it out. (I think there are a few Drug Emporiums scattered here and there across the U.S. - don't know if they all have health food.) They have a huge selection of natural food products. It's like a mini-health food store in there. In fact, I'd say there's just as much - if not more - than some small health food stores. The prices were good, too. I can't say everything was cheaper than Whole Foods, but there were many, many things that were. They have a big refrigerated/frozen section. Amy's meals were definitely cheaper than at W.F.

at Whole Foods

my mock chicken salad on a bed of lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and garbanzo beans,

with a few Multi-Grain chips on the side

We still had to stop by Whole Foods for some produce. And I had to feed my starving children. They were subsiding on trail mix and...ahem...a small pack of Nutter Butters from the doctor's building gift shop. Ryan had met us there to watch the kids while I went into my appointment. Later, the kids said, "We ate Nutter Butters!" I said, laughing, "Ohhh, I see. Daddy let you have junk food." My 5 year old very defensively said, "Whaaat? Nutter Butters aren't junk food!" I guess the peanut butter aspect threw him off. (For the record, Nutter Butters, with all of their icky ingredients, are technically animal-product free. Very occasionally, Ryan has the kids in a "gas station food" type environment, and getting a pack of 4 Nutter Butters for the kids to share is his go-to.)

Since my subscription expired, I also picked up the latest copy of VegNews. Obviously, I love it; it's the only magazine I read from cover to cover (even the advertisements). But one of the first places I turn: the New Products pages.

This is the product I'm most looking forward to trying. Hopefully, it will be at W.F. soon. Earlier this year, when I was shopping and happened to see Daiya sitting in the "cheese" section for the first time, I gasped. I think people two aisles over heard me gasp. I may gasp again when I see Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza behind the glass.

I really am trying to move farther away from all of the packaged food. I do want the major bulk of my diet to be whole & fresh with a lot of raw. However, I just can't shun the aisles of the grocery store completely. I have 3 kids, and I'm tired...I can't cook every single thing from scratch. Plus, it's just fun when new products come out on the market.

I'm still waiting on a few things...

1) Vegan canned biscuits (I think maybe there are technically some that are vegan already, but I'm waiting for the organic, non-hydrogenated, non-sugar kind to come out.)

2) Vegan canned crescent rolls (again, a healthier variety)

3) Squeezey cheese in a can!

I mentioned squeezey cheese once on a vegan message board, and the great Jo Stepaniak suggested I make a batch of her Uncheese, then put it in a frosting piper. I thought this was a fabulous idea.

It doesn't completely fulfill the convenience aspect I am looking for, but it's yummy, fun, and looks cute. (Tornado was all too happy to eat my sample here and ask for many more samples to follow.) You could stick the frosting piper in your cooler for a road trip.

So...what vegan convenience foods do you dream about?

"Sweet" Treat From Hubby

So...a week into this blog, and I haven't quite yet moved forward with my goal of getting out of my cooking rut. All in due time.

My husband went to Dallas on business this week, and he returned last night. One of the managers he knows from the area took him to Spiral Diner, since he knows Ryan is a vegetarian. That was so incredibly thoughtful of him. Especially since the night before, Ryan had to eat with a group of them at a barbecue place. The kind of restaurant where they carve huge amounts of meat onto a plate and automatically set it before you. Ryan had a baked potato and corn on the cob.

Anyway, he said he actually felt a little guilty eating at a vegan restaurant without me so he brought back the only thing he thought would save on the plane. Brownies, cranberry cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. What a man I have. We were just happy to have him back home, cookies or not.