Fashion

A great fashion sense is something I mostly lack.  I choose functionality over fashion 95% of the time.  That doesn't mean I don't appreciate fashion, it just isn't something I have really ever "gotten".  I admire someone who can go into a used clothes store and see some piece of clothing and have a vision of what it could be like in an outfit.  Even more I admire someone who can pick out their own fabric, find a pattern (or make one themselves) and make something beautiful and unique.  I stumbled upon a blog yesterday of someone who fits these categories incredibly well.  Out of Order is an incredible blog filled with wonderfully assembled outfits and a an amazing joyous outlook on life.  I have spent the last hour or two looking at past posts and let me just tell you, this girl should be working in fashion.  She has fantastic style and a great personality.  And to top it off, she has inspired me to try to step my style up a notch.  (Or maybe just a half until I have some time to go shopping for some used clothes).  Check her out even if you don't like fashion.  She has some great pictures of other things as well.

Daiya Cheeze

Recently, the topic of vegan cheeze was brought up and I mentioned Daiya was the craze of the interwebs but that it couldn't be found in stores yet.  My boyfriend then informed me that the grocery store he works at does indeed carry it now.  He brought me home a package of the mozzarella style and I made quick work of it.  I enjoyed it well enough but it is not something I couldn't live without.  My omni boyfriend on the other hand, said it was horrible and nothing like cheese.  Oh well.  You can't please everyone.  The first thing I made with it was a meatless ball sandwich.

Then of course I attempted pizza.  I use premade dough from Trader Joe's and veggeroni from Fat Free Vegan.

The taste was decent enough and it definitely melted but it did have a weird sort of stick to the roof of your mouth quality.  Enjoyable enough, but I am just fine with cheeseless pizza 99% of the time.

The next weekend when I was at the Co-Op I shop at I found that they had the cheddar version so I bought some of that as well.  This was used to make burritos and quesadillas.

The above burrito is using a gluten free tortilla from Trader Joe's made of brown rice. I do not recommend.  They did not roll, did not soften in a pan and didn't taste all that great.  Below is using a traditional burrito tortilla.  Much better.

I have been having lots of foods topped by avocado and pico de gallo lately. 

Barley chili inspired by Vegan Eats & Treats and from 500 Recipes.

Roasted potatoes.  I have become a little bit obsessed with potatoes the last week.  I have always loved them but I have been making them a lot this last week.

Be back with some more yummy pictures hopefully tomorrow.  I did a whole lot of baking between the last two weekends. 

Friday Follow

So, since I don't really use my twitter for anything but following people and I know I have at least 2 readers here, I thought I would do a quick Friday Follow here.

First up is a blogger whose recipes I use quite often and am about to embark on a journey with tonight to make the yummy looking blueberry banana bread.  Fat Free Vegan

Next is one of my favorite bloggers for her amazingly upbeat outlook on life and her ability to always make me smile (not to mention some great recipes), Chocolate Covered Katie

And finally, the blog that brings a little bit of laughter into almost every single day, Peas & Thank You

Thank you lovely people for bringing so much knowledge and joy to my life.

Fruits & Vegetables

I may have gone a little overboard this weekend.  This is the supplement to my CSA.  I probably should have read what I was getting before I went through the rest of the market picking things up.  Things I got in duplicate: Cucumbers, cherries, carrots and green beans.  In addition I got: Avocados, a red pepper, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, broccoli and chard.

And in my CSA I got: Blood oranges, squash, strawberries, beets, lettuce, grapefruits and basil in addition to the aforementioned: Cucumbers, green beans, carrots and cherries.

Good thing this gives me the opportunity to have meals like this:

Sushi with brown rice, cucumber, chard, and teryaki marinated yellow squash topped with avocado and teryaki sauce.  Nomnomnom.

And this one that I just enjoyed:

 
Proof that a girl can live on fruit alone....

Well, fruit and water.

Being a Creative Vegan

People seem to always think that eating vegan must be difficult.  My number one answer to the question "isn't being vegan hard?" is that it is super easy for me since I mostly make my own food.  However, when it comes to eating out it is never all that difficult.  If I am going to someones house I try to verify that there will be a salad or some roasted veggies and then offer to bring or ask if they'll have some hummus and pita bread or veggies.  Going to my boyfriend's family's house this is almost never a problem.  They usually have a salad and are pretty good at providing some hummus.  I can make quite a dinner of veggies (raw or roasted) with hummus and some bread.  If you add an avocado in there somewhere I might feel like I am eating better than everyone else is.

When it comes to restaurants it gets a little more complicated.  I do frequent a few vegetarian restaurants with many vegan options but that is usually just my boyfriend and I.  If we are joining family members for a meal of their choosing it is time for me to get creative.

Today was my boyfriend's sisters birthday and her breakfast choice was Ihop.  My first reaction was "What the heck am I going to be able to eat there?". Then I checked out their menu and continued along that line of thinking.  Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets....oh dear.  Then I saw that they had a fruit bowl.  And hash browns.  And toast.  And I knew I was set.  I ended up getting all three and adding omelet toppings to my hash browns.  They had spinach, tomatoes, onions and green peppers.  I also got coffee and orange juice.

I kid you not when I say that this was the best breakfast at the table and I was so excited to get to eat such a yummy, creative breakfast.  Proof that, being creative, a vegan can eat just about anywhere in this meat and potatoes world we live in.

Cats! (For Reals This Time)

I have three cats.  This may or may not qualify me as a crazy cat lady.  As much as I adore my three cats, I will never have three at one time ever again.  Regardless, they do make for some interesting photo ops.

This is Fluffy.

This is Jinx (he and Fluffy are brother and sister)

And this is Precious.  She is ironically named as she seemed Precious when I first got her and then she later turned out to be quite a handful.  She has a number of "quirks" that only a mother could love annoy the hell out of me.  She's darn lucky that I love her regardless.  As I have mentioned before,  Precious has a love of greenery.  This is her nibbling on the top of a carrot I pulled from my garden. 

Wait, you mean I didn't tell you I harvested a carrot?  Here, let me show you!

You know, maybe I have a better picture.  Maybe one without a blurry cat tail in it?

 There, that's bett....oh wait...Jinx!  He is going after the plastic bag filled with vital wheat gluten.  He loves plastic.  I have heard it is like kitty crack (more so than catnip).  Precious and Fluffy may go crazy for my home grown catnip but Jinx is happier with a plastic bag to lick.


Ok, so enough cats and let me tell you about a new discovery.  Gena at Choosing Raw had a guest poster about a week ago from Oh She Glows.  I had yet to come across this blog and was blown away with it.  Angela could not have come up with a better name for her site.  She has such amazing energy and every post seems to glow.  I have been inspired a lot by a number of her posts (not to mention that I want to order some of her Glo Bars) but the one that kept popping out at me as I read further and further into her archives was Vegan Overnight Oats (VOO).  I decided to try it this weekend.  I am happy to report that it turned out fabulous.  I layered the cold oats with some peanut butter mixed with maple syrup for a delicious breakfast.

Gosh darn cats.  Can't escape them. 

I also topped the oats with this chocolate/sunflower seed/peanut concoction I made the night before.

Can't I get one picture without a cat in it?  No Jinx, you can't have my oats.

Finally, a catless picture.  Hope I didn't scare anyone off with my silly cat centric comments.

Be back tomorrow with proof that a creative vegan can eat anywhere.

CSA Farm Tour

I get my CSA at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market every other Sunday from JR Organics.  Every week on Monday or Tuesday I get an email telling me the contents of this weeks box.  A few weeks ago a second email was also sent telling us about a chance to visit the farm.  I jumped at the opportunity, and on June 12th I visited JR Organics.  It was a wonderful experience!  We got to see how the seeds are started &  transplanted, how they rotate crops, keep pests at bay, compost, harvest and package the vegetables and fruits I simply pick up from them.  They also provided us with a delicious lunch!  There were many offerings for everyone including vegans!  It is so rare to get to eat food that I don't have to prepare or ask a million questions about that this was such an added treat.  And as an added bonus, we got to eat strawberries that we picked ourselves.

Rice & veggies, roasted veggies, pico de gallo, guacamole, cucumber salad, tortilla chips and a salad with nopales.  Everything except the chips was made that morning by the women who work/live on the farm.

Pinto Beans.

Lentil Soup.  Yum!








And I think I will throw in some lingering random CSA pictures.

And finally, proof that my cats like CSAs too!

Precious (the black one) loves greens.

I hope I haven't spoiled you with three postings in a row.  That was most all of the pictures I had to share and since the cinnamon rolls I made this weekend failed, I am afraid I might not be back for a bit....we'll see.