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.

Seen and Eaten

This is what I saw last night... (Dash, sleeping on his top bunk)

And this is what I made last night...

Continuing our journey to become more raw...It was the first raw "cheesecake" I have prepared. I used Kristen's Oh My! It's Vanilla Cheesecake recipe from her Desserts ebook. I liked it. The boys liked it, but Sissy said she didn't. (I'll let her try it again today; I think she was a little tired last night and full from split peas and salad. UPDATE: Sissy heartily ate a piece after school.) Tornado asked sweetly if he could go back downstairs after his bath and have another piece. Of course, I said yes. We encourage him, the little skinny fella, to eat anything with healthy fats (this has lots of nuts, coconut, and coconut oil) as much as possible.

Speaking of split peas and salad, the 2 little kids cleaned their plates last night. (Of course, Tornado did, too; that goes without saying.) We have gotten more serious about making Dash try foods that he doesn't want to eat. We've had to sort of spoon it into his mouth (leading us to believe the kid is just being lazy), after everyone is already finished, promising him dessert if he finishes. Some might not agree to this questionable practice, but last night he ate everything on his green-filled plate, without complaining. He was popping that lettuce into his mouth, without being prompted. He's getting used to the taste - if that is any consolation or encouragement to anyone with a picky kid like mine.

Back to dessert...It doesn't taste just like cheesecake - it's something altogether different but tasty in its own right (and much healthier so that's what counts). Having said that, there was an ingredient she recommends to use instead of water (Rejuvelac, made from sprouted wheat berries, and I didn't have this made ahead of time; she says it gives it a cheesy taste and is very healthy/good for digestion.) The texture is sort of amazing, and it has a very cashew-y/coconut-y flavor. There's no baking involved, just food processing, pouring it into the pan, and chilling in the freezer then fridge. I really love the crust - it's basically nuts, dates, coconut, and cacao nibs - and I think I'll use it next time I make a regular cheescake, as well.

That's all I've got for now. We haven't been doing much at all lately. I don't have any new pictures. It seems like when we make it a priority to eat even healthier, that is all that gets done. Plus, I have even more dirty dishes. Oh, yeah, we had to take Dash to the ER this weekend because he was being wild and fell off the bed, landing on his head. Okay...so what else is new? BUT...he started saying he was nauseous, was laying his head on the toilet, looking totally out of it, and then he threw up.

Apparently, he is just fine, though. I guess throwing up may or may not be indicative of a serious problem. He is the same kid who had to be taken to the ER years ago when he knocked his wooden highchair over and hit his head. He repeatedly threw up that time, too. This whole experience did not bode well in my quest to win Ryan's support for child number 4.

Michael Scofield Cheesecake

Ryan and I reached a pivotal milestone in our lives...








We finished Prison Break.







It has been with us almost every night for many months...and I'm sad to let it go. We even waited about a week after we finished the four seasons to watch the 2 hour movie, The Final Break. I couldn't bring myself to watch it because 1) I was so emotionally exhausted after the finale, and 2) I knew as soon as we watched it, that would be it. I didn't think I would cry during the movie because I had cried enough during the finale, and because I already knew months ago what was going to happen. (I can't help it; I always look at spoiler sites.) Well...I was choking sobbing. I kept apologizing to Ryan because I was crying so loud. I was gasping for breath I was crying so hard. Good grief. Obviously, I needed for this to end so I can move on with my life.

Our movie watching party in bed was complete with a homemade cheesecake.

In food processor, I crumbled Barbara's Bakery Snackimals oatmeal animal cookies and Health Valley graham crackers. I added enough melted Earth Balance and agave nectar to press the crust into the springform pan. (I love springform pans. They're one of my favorite kitchen-y things.) This made a really easy, great crust.

Beat together 2 8 oz. packages of vegan cream cheese, 2 cups of sour cream, and 1 cup organic sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 TBS of egg replacer, and 1/2 cup water and continue mixing until creamy. Pour into sprayed pan. Cook at 300 degrees for about an hour and a half. Let it sit in fridge all day or overnight.

For sauce, I mixed fresh chopped strawberries, strawberry fruit spread, and a little organic sugar in a pan and let it sit. I poured it on the cheesecake and let it sit in the fridge long before I removed it from the pan.

Watermelon Unit

My son and I once did a Watermelon Unit in homeschooling.

I made a Delicious Choices cheesecake. This was a company that used to sell vegan cheesecakes online. We occasionally ordered them. Tornado and I would both be so giddy, receiving a cheesecake on our doorstep. We'd immediately start digging in (no plates, just our own forks).

Sadly, they stopped selling them, but for awhile, they sold the recipes online, which Ryan bought for me one Christmas.

It seems the website is no longer valid, but here is a link to the recipes. I covered half of it in strawberry sauce and added chocolate chip "seeds."

We also ate - what else - watermelon, both red and yellow, at the party.

Decorations included green streamer vines hanging from the ceiling and red watermelon balloons with seeds drawn on them. Aren't my big boys so little?

At our next watermelon party, I would make a veganized version of these Watermelon Sherbert Smoothies. I had saved this picture from Family Fun magazine.

Mmm. I think I'm going to go eat some watermelon.

This is an edited/shortened version of a watermelon post I did on my homeschooling blog.