Vita-VEGAN-Vegamin

My Boys

2010-03-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here are my boys. The one on the left is 15yo, the one on the right is 16.
This is a pic of them at the hospital we volunteer at every Tuesday.
They sometimes balk at the few hours per week I require them to donate their time, but after 2+ years, they are still going in, doing their job, helping others. Sometimes one of them slips and says, "I kinda look forward to Tuesdays." Then catch themselves and rush back into teen-mode.

I know they do a good job, because everyone has nice, positive things to say about them. I only have my babies for such a short time. 15 and 16 already! How did that happen?! I hope I've done enough to send them out into the world.....to be kind, compassionate, thoughtful and wise citizens of the universe.
Oh, how I LOVE these kids!

My Sweet, Goofy Girl

2010-01-29T09:32:00.000-08:00

What to say about my 13 yo girl. She is sweet, funny, and marches to the beat of a different band. Above all, she is kind. Here is said 13 yo with her new hairdo/color.

Great giveaway at What's For Dinner.

2010-01-25T14:19:00.001-08:00

Check out What's For Dinner for a great giveaway! Not to mention some yummy recipes for non-vegans.

Miso Soup

2010-01-23T10:42:00.001-08:00

Another thing I have enjoyed lately is Miso Soup. I make mine with spinach, mushrooms, green onions, roasted garlic, sauted in some sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce or teryaki sauce. When the spinach is wilted, I add about 4 cups of water mixed with about 3 tablespoons of miso paste (I prefer light yellow, or mellow white). I let that simmer for a few minutes, then add some cubed tofu. Yum!

Wow, it's been a while!

2010-01-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

I am such a blog slacker. So, ok, we'll try this again. I'll start this year off with a pic of my go-to meal for the last couple of weeks. Scrambled tofu. I have had this every day for 2 weeks straight.

This is made with a block of tofu, *rinsed, pressed, cubed* then fried up in a dry skillet (or sometimes with just a spray of olive oil).
When browned, I add some chopped mushrooms, green onions, roasted garlic, chopped spinach, sometimes a bit of jalepeno pepper, and let that cook for a few minutes.

Then I add some soy sauce, turmeric, dry mustard, thyme, pepper, and nutritional yeast flakes and let that cook in for a bit.

It's not the most appealing looking meal, but it sure is tasty!

Shrek Smoothie!

2009-03-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

In a lovely Shrek glass.

Shrek Smoothie

1/2- 3/4 c. liquid (I used soy milk and water)
1 medium banana
1/2 c. fresh pineapple chunks
1 Tbsp flax seed
1/2 of an orange
1 wedge of a lemon
2 handfuls spinach
1/2 c. ice cubes

MP3 of the Day

2009-03-16T12:35:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more freebies!

SXSW 2009 Preview

2009-03-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Check this out. You can download 40+ songs HERE at Spinner.com . I haven't listened to them all, I'm sure some are great and others......eh, but who can turn down lots of free and new workout music?

WARNING: I have listened to a about 4 so far that are explicit. Do with that info what you will ;) .

Win a Juicer @ Hangrypants.com!

2009-03-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules, copied from HP's blog:

The Lexen Healthy Juicer Contest
877MyJuicer.com and Lexen Healthy Juicer are giving away one Lexen Healthy Juicer to a Hangry Pants reader. Both bloggers and non-bloggers will have several opportunities to win. Here are the ways:

(1) Comment: Leave a comment, any comment, on this post.

(2) Have a Blog? Earn Two Additional Entries by posting about the contest on your blog.

(3) No Blog? Earn an extra entry by emailing us at HangryPants@gmail.com with the subject line: Healthy Juicer.

(4) Referral: Get someone new to enter the contest and list you as the referrer in his/her comment.

The contest will run until March 30th when we will randomly choose a winner. Good luck!

Edited To Add: The contest is for U.S. residents only, but we forgot to say that, so if a non-U.S. resident is chosen, we will send you something else fun.

Hurry on over to Hangrypants.com to enter!

Hummus.........

2009-03-14T19:37:00.001-07:00

Tonight's dinner: Hummus and Veggies. Although I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my Vita-Mix, hummus is a definite NAY, NAY. It pulverizes it, and I like my hummus with actual texture. I usually use (and will continue to use) my little Braun hand mixer:

There are a million Hummus recipes floating around out there , and here's another one:

Hummus

1 can Garbanzo beans (S & W Organic)
1/4 c. liquid (water, veggie broth, the bean water from the can, what-have-you)
1/8 c. olive oil
1/8 c. FRESH lemon juice
sea salt to taste
California Style Garlic Powder to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. Tahini (organic, roasted, MaraNatha if you can find it)

Method:
Throw all ingredients in your food processor and blend to desired consistency.

Variations:

I will sometimes add cilantro, or fresh garlic instead of powder, or a dash of chipotle sauce.

Sorbet!

2009-03-14T19:02:00.001-07:00

What yummy sorbet this thing makes. I really want to come up with a Lemon Ice (like those MinuteMaid Frozen Lemonaide treats). That is my favorite summer/ballpark treat.
But for now, this will totally do.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World...........

2009-03-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero are GODDESSES among women. Really.

This afternoon dd and I made the "Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake" paired with "Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting".

DS and DD don't like coconut, so they had theirs plain. Hubby, ds and I enjoyed the frosted ones.

German Chocolate Cake is dh's favorite cake and he only gets it when he goes to visit his mom. He's soooooo excited that he liked these and he now can have GCC a little more often.

CCK's Better-n-Rice Pudding/Snickerdoodle Oatmeal

2009-03-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

For my next entry in CCK's Jocalat give-away, I have made this tasty Pudding/Oatmeal.
I'm going to try it as-is, but will probably have to add the customary dollop of almond butter as well.

Chocolate Covered Katie (formerly CCV)................

2009-03-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

is having a give-away....... a case of LaraBars!

Here are her contest rules (copied from her blog):

There are two ways to enter your name into the drawing:

1. Mention the giveaway on your own blog, with a link back to this post. Then leave me a comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so, and I’ll enter your name into the drawing. If you don’t have a blog, just leave me a comment on this post saying you don’t have a blog but would still like to be entered into the drawing.

2. I wanted to do something to celebrate the fact that—finally—my recipes are all in order (a big feat for a scatterbrain like me). So… if you make a CCV recipe and blog about it, then leave me a comment telling me you did so, your name will go into the drawing THREE more times!

Entries must be in by March 19th. I’ll pick a random winner and announce it April 2nd. The contest is open to ALL readers, all over the world (as long as you have an address to which I can ship the box). I’d never want to leave out my foreign friends!!

Good luck, and happy chocolate-ing!

So hurry and enter HERE

Happy Anniversary to Me!!

2009-03-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my anniversary gift! So far I've made fruit smoothies, that everyone drank (this is HUGE as my 14yo son isn't big on fruits and veggies and my hubby is even worse), and mango ice cream and strawberry ice cream. No pics though, we wolfed it down to quickly.

I can't wait to try the tortilla soup tomorrow. Oh, and a nut butter or two.

This is going to be such a great gadget to have come next month. I asked my kids what they wanted to do in honor of Earth Day next month, and after much deliberation they decided to go vegetarian for the whole month. Currently they are meat-free for the first 2 meals of the day, but then the boys will eat meat with hubby for dinner (dd isn't a big meat anyway). Yay!!

*************************************************************************************
I had to edit to add a pic of the lovely plant hubby gave me as well. Happy 16th Hon!!

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals

2009-02-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

This sweet book is available for pre-order at amazon.com .

My kids are all older, but I'm still buying it!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T15:08:00.001-08:00

What a sweet family I have. For V'day, my kiddos bought me my own copy of the Vegan Bible; Veganomicon. I had been scrounging recipes off blogs, and checking it out at the library until now. :) Hubby bought me some beautiful flowers also. Hope I can keep the orchid alive!

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

2009-01-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, the ultimate rainy-day-comfort-food.

Mashed Potatoes and some leftover gravy from yesterday. Awesome!

OMG! Chickpea Cutlets..... you're my new boyfriend!

2009-01-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

I just made these:

from the Chickpea Cutlet recipe in the vegan bible:

paired with the gravy recipe here I subbed earth balance for the margarine, and arrowroot as a thickener.

I took so long trying to decide just how I was going to eat these babies......over rice, noodles, on a bun, with a side of spuds...... that I gave up and just ate one plain. Even my 14yo son likes these.

This is a keeper!

Veggie Potstickers

2009-01-21T20:36:00.001-08:00

I made the best potstickers yesterday. They were filled with leftover stir-fry (broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, spinach, garlic, onions, ginger), and dipped in Garlic Teriyaki/Soy Sauce. I'll probably be making these daily for the rest of this week.

My Review of 'Bob' 5-in-1 Wobble Clock

2009-01-16T15:19:00.001-08:00

Originally submitted at Brookstone

Give it a push. See it change function and color. Watch it wobble. View time, day/date, temperature, timer and alarm with just a touch. Each function has its own backlight color. View temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit. 3-hour countdown timer. Alarm with touch-snooze feature. Uses 3 AAA ba...

Fun clock, easy to use........

By RMAnd from Grand Junction Colorado on 1/16/2009

Gift: Yes

Pros: Clear Display, Reliable, Keeps Good Time, Attractive Design

Cons: Needs 3 AAA batteries

Best Uses: Bedroom

Describe Yourself: Midrange Shopper

Primary use: Personal

Fun clock, my kids, ages 12, 14, and 15, saw it and had to have it.

I love it because it reminds me of Weebles, you the little wobbly people back when we were kids!

(legalese)

Spicy Chickpea Sammie

2009-01-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

WOW! This is so tasty. I found the recipe at Happy Herbivore I didn't have any spicy dijon mustard, so I used yellow. Also I'm not a big fan of cumin so I just added a dash instead of 1/4 teaspoon. I loved it! Not only is it a good sandwich in and of itself, I think it would make a great spread for a veggie sandwich, too.

Broccoli Potato Soup

2009-01-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

Found this recipe at VeganDad . It's pretty good considering I didn't have any coconut milk on hand.

And, yep, I'm still using my Christmas dishes :) .

All things tiny....

2008-11-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

I had to laugh when I read What's For Dinner this morning.

Mara speaks of her love of "tiny things", and asks readers comment on any "weird food thing" they might have.

I totally LOVE tiny things. I'm posting a pic of a few of my "tinys". (the cd and big spoon are just for size reference).

My other weird food thing, is that get a craving for something and eat it for days and days (as long as 2 weeks sometimes).

Again with the Sprouts!

2008-11-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

I can't get enough of brussel sprouts. I must be deficient in something :) .

Spaghetti Squash with Marinara Sauce and Nutritional Yeast

2008-11-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

So tasty!

Butternut Squash Puree

2008-11-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

Not bad for my first effort!

Recipe @ Pioneer Woman

Contest @ Cheaper than Therapy

2008-11-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

From Kristen's Custom Creations.

Three ways to enter....Check it out here

Good Luck!

Dinner tonight....

2008-11-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

Ribz and Sprouts :)

8,000 kitty toys.....

2008-11-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

....and he prefers a tired old cardboard Coke case.

Spaghetti Squash for Dinner

2008-11-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

I microwaved a spaghetti squash for dinner tonight. Yum!

Yes, I'm still using Halloween bowls. I probably won't put them away
until I get out the Christmas stuff. I kind of feel bad for Thanksgiving,
getting so overlooked the way it does. :)

Agenda for today

2008-11-09T09:12:00.001-08:00

Spending a good portion of today importing all of my Christmas music onto itunes. Resisting the urge to put up Christmas decorations.

My boy is ready for his learners permit!

2008-11-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

How did my baby grow so fast?

Wow!

2008-11-04T22:02:00.000-08:00

I can't stop smiling. I'm not going to sleep a wink tonight! America, you did me proud!

Tomato Florentine

2008-11-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Today has been a good food day for me. I made a crockpot full of Tomato Florentine Soup. Can't wait to dig in!

Ribz....Tasty!

2008-11-03T13:07:00.001-08:00

I love this Ribz recipe. I got it from FatFreeVeganKitchen . The only thing I do different is I add a pinch of black pepper, and I bake it for 20 minutes, then flip the ribs over in the pan, then cook it for the last 5 minutes. Yeah, baby!

Yes, I stink at blogging.....

2008-11-03T09:29:00.001-08:00

This blog has been my worst yet, as I started it over a month ago in hopes of a first post on Oct. 1st. Well, most of the month went by before I realized I missed that goal :) . So then I decided to shoot for Nov. 1st. Uh, it's now the 3rd, but you know what? Better late than never!

Hmmm, a little about me and mine........

*I'm 40 years old (how and when did THAT happen)

*I'm mom to 3 of the best kids on the planet

*I'm vegan

*I love to read

*I love music

*I love movies

That's all for now. Today is not so busy, so I'm going to spend some time in my kitchen making a couple of my favorite things: Tomato Florentine Soup and a batch of Ribz.

Oh, and here's a recent pic of my crew: