Stresemann's Bristlefront & Lazy Vegan Meals!

For the new year I am going to include more animals on my blog.  More specifically ones that need attention.  Whether that be educating myself and others about an Endangered Species or posting about another animal in need.  I thought I would start this off by sharing info about a bird that goes by Stresemann's Bristlefront.  I have been reading on this bird because of the information I received in my inbox from The American Bird Conservatory.

It's a unique bird that nests in underground tunnels.  They went unrecorded for over 50 years.  Back in 1995, there were about 15 birds that were located.  As of today, there is only 1 individual female bird of its kind that has been accounted for.  Professionals are saying that it's due to logging and other issues as to why the Stresemann's Bristlefront Bird could be the world's rarest bird.  It was recently found in Northern Brazil.

The group is trying to raise money to locate and start bringing the species back from the brink.  You can learn more about that HERE and even hear what she sounds like. 

I've been in RESEARCH MODE over the last several months.  Whether it's for the Votes For Women National Trail to celebrate 100 years of Women's Right To Vote and how I can submit historical places in my area to show up on the national trail map - or if it's Geography based to learn more about different countries and cultures.

While researching different countries and islands and such I have been keeping an eye on my Flag Counter.  It's the widget on my sidebar if you scroll to the bottom.  Yesterday I had people from 40 different countries visit my blog!  Overall, I've had 223 countries visit.  As of today, I'm only missing 20 country flags!  I will be researching these 20 countries and see how I can not only learn more about their culture but their foods and see if I can veganize them!

Speaking of food, I'll move on to my LAZY MEALS as of late!  The photo you see above is a little diddy I threw together.  It's made of frozen, riced Cauliflower & Sweet Potato.  I added Tofu that I pan fried and added garlic while pan frying.  I added a little brown sugar and dijon mustard and mixed well.  I know it sounds like a strange flavor combo but I'm kind of hooked on it now.

This past Sunday we went to a potluck and my mom and I made a HUGE tossed/veggie salad and some Vegan Macaroni Salad.  Here is a photo of the Mac.  We made the elbow mac like we usually do and then I added Just Mayo, Frozen Peas, Relish, Garlic Pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning!  We brought back an empty container.  I know most people didn't know it was vegan!

Another lazy meal I made not too long ago was this dish.  I made it in the microwave.  It has Rice, Black Beans, Sweet Corn, and Tomato Sauce.  It only cost about $2 to make and I had enough for 2 to 3 meals!

Surprising Snack & Vegan Memes

Here's another 'Eating From Your Pantry' sort of post.

A while back I had bought some canned peaches.  Then - when I bought more from The Raw Food World - I used to buy some of their Living Intentions 'Cereals' which were basically granola.  I found an unopened bag of one of them in my cabinet.

I decided to pour some over the peaches and have it as a snack the one night.  It was pretty darn good!  The Granola was Ginger Chia.  It also had other superfoods - and as you can see - shredded coconut.

In our backyard we have a cemented area and above it an overhang (kind of like a porch but not really).  It has a spot light which you can see part of here in the upper left hand side.  Near the rafters you can see 2 nest side-by-side!  The one on the left is from last year and the one on the right is from this year!  I don't know if I have ever seen 2 different nests that close to each other - naturally!

Nature is COOL isn't it?

One thing that I haven't talked about much here on my blog is that I am a fan of 'The Walking Dead'.  Then again...MANY...people are!  I was joking with a friend about how NEGAN sounded a lot like VEGAN and what do you know...I started seeing Vegan Meme's on Instagram shortly after.  In case you don't follow the series,,,NEGAN was FINALLY introduced in the season finale a few weeks ago.  In the comics - from which the series is based - the character is known for being a villain and carries a barbed-wired bat that he named Lucille and uses it as a weapon.  Here...the bat is replaced with celery!

Here's another Negan Vegan Meme I recently came across!  How funny!

SPOILERS below & possibly in comments...

So...who do you think 'met Lucille' if you know what I mean?  Post in comments!  I will let you know my thoughts there as well (in the near future.)

The actor who plays Negan is Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  I have been a fan of his for a while.  Eventho he's a 'bad guy' in this - I am looking forward to seeing what he does with the role.

In the comics (which I haven't read but have heard a lot about) Glenn is the one that 'meets Lucille' but the TV series doesn't necessarily follow the comics verbatim.

REMINDER!!!!  MWM (MidWeek Munchies) is BACK!  Clickable link and Link-up on the upper right hand side of my navigation bar!  Looking forward to your posts!!!

Around The Grounds...

I still have a few more posts to blog about with more pictures to show off from our trip to West Palm Beach Florida last month and our stay at The Breakers!

Today I thought I would share with you some of the random photos I took from around the grounds of The Breakers.  I still have pics coming soon from our trip to the Garden of Life Headquarters as well as our downtown West Palm Beach Walk.

First up...I'm pretty sure that this is an old Fiat.  I could be wrong I couldn't get much closer to it that day but I thought it wasn't something we saw every day and thought I would take a pic of it.

In addition to all of the photos I've already posted having to do with the Organic Herb and Vegetable Gardens they have at The Breakers I thought I would post this, too!  It's a photo of a sign that I saw more than once on their grounds.

The Breakers utilizes reverse osmosis, an environmentally friendly alternative water source, to irrigate our golf course and landscaping.

I thought this was so cool!  The Breakers is a very old and historic place and even they are able to take steps to help the environment so why can't everyone else?  Every little bit or large step helps!

Here's a photograph of one of the ducks we saw on a walk one day.  It was on the one golf course.  He wasn't afraid of us in the slightest!

This duck is a Muscovy Duck.

He was pretty cool!

I wish I was able to see more wildlife while we were there - we did see more birds in the middle of flight - but we didn't see very many on the ground while we were there.

For those of you who are from or have visited Florida - what's your favorite bird of the region?

And finally - this is one of the many hallways in The Breakers.  I just LOVED all the lamps, tapestries, chandeliers, ceilings, rugs, comfy chairs - you name it!  They really have mixed past and present with the decor at just about every turn!

To the left of this hallway was one of the bars and restaurants called HMF. The name of the restaurant stood for Henry Morrison Flagler the owner of the original Breakers. Did you know that The Breakers Hotel Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973? In 1973, the 105-acre listed area included 15 contributing buildings and one other contributing object.

Vegan MoFo ~ Moldovan Fasole făcăluită & A New Friend

Yesterday I was scrolling thru my Website Stats for 'who comes from where by country' and noticed I had a visitor from Moldova.  To my knowledge this is my first visitor from that country!  I was THRILLED!  Welcome!  It tempted me to learn more about the country and foods they call 'theirs'.

If you have been here before you know I LOVE learning about world foods and how to veganize them.  Here is a soup I made - inspired by Moldovan Fasole făcăluită...which...from what I understand can be both a dip and/or a spread.  Moldova is near Romania and they share many traditional flavors and foods between the two countries!

Here's what I put in this dish!

1 C White Beans (I actually used Lima Beans, here)

2 Carrots

1 VERY Large Onion (or you could use 2 to 3 small onions)

3 Cloves Garlic

2 Tomatoes

1 T Tomato Paste

Splash of Grapeseed Oil (I used Wildtree Roasted Garlic)

1/4 to 1/2 C Water (depending on the consistency you desire)

I've VERY VERY VERY pleased with this dish!  It tastes delicious and it's something I did in my Ninja so it's incredibly easy and awesome!  I will certainly do this again!  YUMMY!  Totally worth the attempt!

Yesterday at the office we found this Youth Pigeon on the 'middle' roof of our building.  He hung around all day and we were fairly concerned about him since it was so hot and muggy and it didn't appear to be any food or water anywhere in sight.  Near the end of the day I found an old Ice Cube Tray stashed away in a closet and decided to fill it up and take it out to him.  He acknowledged that it was there so that's a start.  I didn't want to get too close.  I didn't want to scare him.  But by the end of the day 3 of us were able to get really close to him so he might be starting to trust us.  He's still out there and looks to be ok and roaming around and trying to fly a bit more.  I hope it's just in the middle of his learning process and that there isn't anything wrong with him.  We'll keep an eye on him in the meantime.  I know exactly were a bunch of the Pigeons live back there but it's almost like they are ignoring him.  We've named him Bubba.  A few years ago there was a Red Tail Hawk back there that stood about 2 and a half feet to 3 feet tall and we named him Rudy.  But we haven't seen him in YEARS.

Participating Post: Vegan MoFo, What I Ate Wednesday, 

Bunnies & Birds

As you can see I'm still trying to catch up on posts from last week's Fair Week!

This year I spent a little bit of time in the barns but wasn't able to get many photos.  I was able to form a friendship with at least 1 of the sheep but the barn I had the most fun in while I was there was in the Combo Barn with the Bunnies and "Poultry".  They used to call it the Chicken Barn but it has more than 'just chickens' in there now.  They have chickens, hens, roosters, swans, ducks, etc.

Between seeing these sweeties at the Fair and reading all of Opal's posts about her furbabies lately I have been considering adopting a Bunny.  I don't think this will be something that will happen right away, however.  First, I want to educate myself quite a bit as I have never had a Bunny before and want to be sure I know more before I jump into it.  I want to be a good "furmama" to them, of course.  I am learning a lot from Opal.  I always learn a lot from her.  She's a wonderful person and always willing to help fill my head with knowledge!  I also want it to the be 'right' situation for both the bunny AND our household.  I want to make sure we have nice living quarters for them before we adopt them...plus I don't want to run out and 'get' just 'any' bunny.  I would like to look for a rescue or adoption situation...one that NEEDS a home. 

As for these photos...the first one I couldn't resist taking the photo - they were babies!  And LOOK at their markings!  How glorious!  This next lil guy was so sweet, too!  I tried to snap the photo when he was looking at me because his eyes were so adorable paired with his droopy ears!  But he moved a bit too quick!  And this last one was SO HUGE!  But he was VERY friendly and quite calm, cool, and collected!

All of them were amazing but I only got to take a few photos of a couple of them!

Speaking of Friendly Creatures - I saw this one and couldn't help myself either!  I spent a good 5 to 10 minutes with this beauty. 

This one really liked to interact with the passerby's!  Vocal, but not TOO vocal and 'strolled' with me back and forth as I walked by.

The one sheep I mentioned at the beginning of this post was like that, too!

Wild Things of The Weekend

I'll be having 3 separate posts today and this is the 2nd one so remember to scroll down! 

Last week I told you about my adventure to the JCC Campus and touring their Community Garden.  Well, I found out about another one over at the Conservation Demo Area in North Warren.  They really need to publicize this more because I had NO idea!  Read all about it HERE.  I know right where it is and I want to check it out soon!  This is much bigger than the one in Jamestown.  The spaces are 25X25 and are only $25 per year.

In my last post I was telling you about my travels and adventures of my Produce Hunt.  Well, before I left I got into  my car and directly above my windshield I saw this gorgeous fella!  My husband's Grandmother LOVES Cardinals.  I think I might post it to her Facebook Wall.  I noticed that we have a Cardinal's Nest in a tree on the other side of our house...actually the tree itself is in our neighbor's yard but the branches flow over into our side yard.  That's ok because we have a tree in our yard that flows over into their yard so it's an even trade!

Even though the weekend was WONDERFUL and I enjoyed nice weather, beautiful produce, and wild life - both indoors and out - the kids had a really lazy Sunday! 

Suzie was sprawled out on Hubby's recliner.  She's not that big of a dog but she tends to take up a lot of room!  She was sound asleep half way thru the day!

Paco, however, took more time to calm down and unwind yesterday.  He was back and forth between the Sofa, the Recliner, and the Loveseat!

In this photo I just LOVE the way his legs are laying there!  It's times like these he totally lives up to his name/type of chi - Deer Chihuahua.

But things progressed...in this evening of Paco-Chi...

He became quite tired.  I think he was trying to fight it.  This photo makes me laugh every time I look at it.  It looks like he's smiling but it also looks like he's almost falling asleep sitting up!

This pose didn't last long, tho!  As soon as he heard Riley and I move...he moved...all the way over to the Sofa...

...and under the blanket!  He burrows himself in blankets.  Stereotypical of Chihuahua's from what I have seen and heard.  I still can't get over how cute it is, tho!

In this case - he did his burrowing - but then popped his head out and went face first into the sofa cushion.

There was NO argument when it was time for bed!  The little bugger was POOPED out last night!

In my 3rd post - which will be posting in a couple of hours - I will have LOTS of food posts and photos and recipes!  I hope you will visit back and comment!  You know I LOVE comments!  Did you see any wild life this weekend!?  If so - let me know!