16 Days of Activism Re-Cap, Zonta, Vegan Christmas Cookies, BOOCH, Office Plants, More!

Happy New Year!

I'm still trying to catch up on the last several months so I'm sticking with the clumps of 6 to catch up on some photo posts.  In this post, you will see a lot of Zonta related posts because most of them were taken/posted during the 16 Days of Activism!  You can see the first one in the middle of the top row.

You can also see 3 Vegan Finds - 2 on the top and one on the bottom.  The Miyoko's I found while out and about - I think Wegman's.  I think I also found the new Zesty Daiya Cheese Sauce there!  And I know I found the soup that was on sale...actually...it looks like they aren't going to carry it anymore...so it was super cheap!

A snapshot of Cricket's lil paw-foot while she was sleeping on my lap and under the blanket - just because!  The one on the end and on the bottom was from the Friday after Thanksgiving when our Zonta Club Members were selling raffle ticket.  The money raised goes towards our many service projects!  More on those down the road!

I've told you about our new, local Ollies!  I have had good luck with vegan finds there - including Larabar Bites!  YUM!  At our local Tops, I found Red Lentil Pasta.  I really liked it!

I also briefly mentioned how I have made a few 'forts' in my parents Living Room for Trinity.  Here is a snapshot of one of those!  If you click on the pics - they get bigger - and you can see her in the right-hand corner.

I did find some Vegan Mashed Potatoes on sale while in my travels, too, I have had them before but since they were on sale I knew I had to grab them!  

Total Evolution in Warren hired a Vegan Chef and he specializes in Buddha Bowls!  There is one of the pictured in the top center of this 6.  

I recently spoke at a networking function for our local Women's Care Center.  Our Zonta Pres and I talked about our ongoing collection of new and gently used bras for FTG (Free The Girls).  You can see another photo of that on the bottom center and a few posts on the 16 Days of Activism.

I did try another Garde'in Bowl.  The flavor was ok but I could do without the fake chicken in this one.

For the past year or two I have been getting THE BIRD OF THE WEEK in my inbox from The American Bird Conservatory.  I LOVE seeing the different birds and regions they come from.  This one is the rarest of the rare...the Blue-Eyed Ground Dove.  It's found in Brazil and Critically Endangered.  As of the last count, there were only 16 left.  So sad - but - SO IMPORTANT to share!

Our FTG Bra Collection/Drop-Off made our local media...both radio AND print!

Over at The Whole Foods Co-Op in Erie, I spotted some Cheddar-Style Dip from The Honest Stand.  Since I haven't tried it before I scooped it up while I could!  It was alright!

I'm glad that my father is making wine again!  Here you can see some of his latest batch.  I helped bottle!  He does make vegan and non-vegan wine so he always lets me know which ones contain what.  The one pictured is vegan!

Over at The Whole Foods Co-Op they now have Aqua ViTea Kombucha - from Vermont - on Tap!  Woot!  I sampled a few that day and ended up buying one of the Blood Oranges.  It was FAB!

I have been spotting more Well YES!  Soups in more places!  I'm happy to see the vegan options and I have tried the vegan ones I have found - they are ok - but I prefer to make my own soups at home.

I was super stoked to see a Sabres Game on Hulu Plus LIVE a while back but they have been few and far between.  We thought we would get more LIVE Hockey games that we wanted to see so we recently discontinued that add-on because we weren't getting the use out of it, really, and we were trimming unnecessary costs across the board...more on that in a few...

In the meantime...I'll tell you more about our outings and adventures!  Including our stop at Mad Mex in Erie.  I LOVE that place because there are SO MANY vegan options - but - I haven't been there as often as I would like.  I am thankful for the last two times we did go, tho...once with hubby...and the other time with my parents, sister, and niece.

I found a HUGE tub of Follow Your Heart Sour Cream somewhere, too, and it had been YEARS since I tried their Sour Cream.  I have to say it's better than I remember it.  I do like making my own at home but when it's on sale I usually grab what I can.

Many places have been getting more of the Green Giant Diced and Riced Cauliflower Steamables.  Of course, I always double check the ones I purchase are vegan...some are and some aren't...but I'm thrilled they are coming out with more options that ARE VEGAN!

I couldn't resist this Drew's Grains and Kale Salsa!  It was hardier than most salsa's and pretty terrific!

We did make another trip to Mustard Seed in Ohio before the snow started flying!  I was pumped to find their own VEGAN Pumpkin Bread!  It was great!

Another thing I saw but didn't buy (and now wish I had) was Buddha's Hand!  Have you ever bought and made anything with Buddha's Hand?

I mentioned earlier about one Kombucha now being on tap in Erie but GUESS WHAT...there is a place in Warren that has BOOCH on tap now, too, it's Total Evolution and the BOOCH they have is Earth Below that is regionally brewed in Emporium, PA.  So far I have enjoyed everything I have tried from them!

And that blob in the middle on the bottom - NACHOS - with the sour cream and salsa I mentioned above. 

Eat Pastery VEGAN Cookie Dough is BACK at my local Wegman's!  I also grabbed one of the Wegman's brand BOOCHES while I was at it!

The Baba Ghannouj and Garde'in Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers were from Mustard Seed.  The Baba Ghannouj was ok...I like the one I have made better but haven't made it in ages...and when I see a vegan new-to-me-baba I have to try it!  And I had not seen the Chipotle Lime ones anywhere locally so I thought I would grab a package while at Mustard Seed.  I figured I wouldn't be back until spring.

A few people on IG have encouraged me to post more PLAYLIST and MUSIC stuff so that is what you see in the first photo above.  Then another furkids pic.  Then more Vegan Finds! 

The one is a Cashew Queso.  I found that at Mustard Seed, too, it was alright.  Because it was on sale I grabbed some old school Mac & Chreese.  The last time I saw the Hummus Pods I only bought one package.  I LOVED them so this time I tried two other flavors and they didn't disappoint!  LOVED THEM AGAIN!  I also found another Pupusas that was vegan and finally had those the other night for dinner and enjoy them quite a bit!

Our Zonta Club does 'gifts for mothers' thru our local Salvation Army and I donated a gift bag with goodies in there.  Most of which were vegan...including this Salt Scrub!

In the next several photos you can see some office plant progress.  I have re-potted a few since these were taken.  I have lost a few plants in the last couple of weeks, too, which is disappointing.

I have been drinking tea - as usual - and slowly but surely - submitting more reviews over at Sororitea Sisters.

I did find more VioLife cheeses!  YAY!  And Smoked Gouda from Daiya while in Ohio!  Along with Field Roast and LightLife sandwich slices.

More office plants!  The top 3 are currently doing well.  The one on the bottom right I have since lost.  For some reason, I don't have luck with Begonias.  I have NOT been successful with 4 different varieties of Begonias.

You can also see one of my quick lunches from a while back.  I think it was a Vegan Burger from ALDI and Couscous with Tomato Sauce.  I remember eating this over at my parent's house the one day and I shared some Couscous with Trinity and she LOVED it!

And another bottled BOOCH from Earth Below - available at Total Evolution!  I think that one was either the Honeycrisp Cinnamon or the Grapefruit Rosemary.

While at the Zonta Christmas Party - one of the other members made Vegan Coconut Lemon Balls!  They were AMAZING!

Oh Yeah!  And...Morning Star's Buffalo Wings are now VEGAN or at least have a Vegan Option and labeled differently!  They were on sale at Tops for 3 for $9 so I stocked up!  They are pretty good!  I haven't had many Morningstar products the last several years but glad they are coming out with more Vegan Options!

Since I have been pretty bored with TV lately I have been re-watching The Golden Girls.  Classic!

And more plants!  I was REALLY loving the one on the left...until it fell off the shelf and I lost quite a bit of it.  The African Mask plant on the right I LOVE, too!

This past Christmas I TRIED to do some vegan baking again...with supervision...that is!  I say that while laughing because I am an awful baker!  My mom and I tried a few recipes and everything tasted great!  The picture of the Lemon-Glazed Shortbread in the upper left took a while and was pretty hard the next day.  We found that if you put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds they softened well, tho.

I also have some pictures from the Zonta Christmas Party, too!  It was FUN!  You can see a few of us with the 'Gifts For Mothers' for the Salvation Army that I mentioned earlier, too!

And here are a few other vegan cookies I tried making this year!  The one in the upper left is actually a no-bake with only 3 ingredients we just needed to put them on something while they set.  Peanut Butter, Maple Syrup, and Oats.

My parent's cats and my mom and I making fun of CVS's receipts - my mom only bought 3 things and her receipt was 4 and a half feet long!  CRAZY!  Such a waste!

Hubby and I judge Christmas Trees at a local factory.  I posted on IG a few of the trees!  This year we agreed the Paws Along The River Humane Society DONATION TREE was the winner!  Everything was being donated to the shelter!

And more cookies!  The Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies were a hit everywhere I took them!  I just made them a little bit smaller than I should have!  Then I did Vegan Snickerdoodles!  With some help smushing them half way thru baking them they turned out good!  Funny thing...I don't think I got too many of those...but someone must have liked them!

I Won "The Slowest Potato Peeler Award" - Vegan in a Fake Turtle Shell - Turtle Power!

How's THAT for a Blog Post Title?  Yup!  It's true!  A few Friday's ago I participated in a Potato Peeling Contest for Charity.  I was nervous that I was going to come in last but I ended up having a lot of fun and walked away with this groovy award!  I know the guy next to me was slower than I was but he won the Longest Peel Award so 'it's all good'.  Maybe the organizers knew that I would get a kick out of it!  I don't know!  It was all for a good cause!  It was the kick-off to our local Torchlight Campaign for United Fund.  There are several organizations locally that benefit from the funds raised each year.

There were about 9 of us that participated in the Potato Peeling Contest including someone from our local paper, our radio stations (that was me), one of our county commissioners, a few educators, and ag people, too!  Awards were given for fastest and most accurate, the longest potato peel, and the slowest and most taken off with the peel.  That is where I come in.  Perhaps I just took much off of the actual potato.  My original plan was to create a tool that basically peeled it for me.

I wanted to take a battery operated handheld drill and put the potato on the end of that and peel it while it was spinning.  It didn't work the way I hoped so I didn't do it and changed courses at the last minute.  These are the potatoes once I was done with them.  I also think there was some trickery that went along with it because I ended up with 2 extra potatoes in my bowl before they weighed them. It was all in good fun but it was a bit ironic that the vegan was the slowest peeler!

In other news - I FINALLY got my hair cut and colored!  Woot!  It's been about 10 months since my last visit and I was WAY past due!  If you look real close in the first pic you can see how long my hair was in ponytail.  It's hard to tell but I had it pulled in front of me quite a bit.  This photo is after I got it done and it's about shoulder length in front and just a bit shorter in the back.  End result - they took over 6 inches off me - I guess I didn't know how long my hair had gotten until they cropped it off.  It does feel better after getting the length off a bit.  I still have my hippie hair it's just a little more manageable.

Vegan Contest & Giveaway ~ Garden of Life's Marley Fit!

You've heard me talk about my love for the Garden of Life Products that I have tried - but this is yet another reason I LOVE them...their efforts around conservation, sustainable framing, green practices, organic disciplines, and philanthropy.  It only made sense to me when they teamed up with the MARLEY Family as the Marley family shares most - if not ALL - of those principles with their lines of products as well.

Garden of Life’s commitment to sustainability begins with organic farming. CERTIFIED ORGANIC plant protein from sprouted grains and legumes is truly good for our planet, unlike conventional farming practices that utilize 150+ synthetic pesticides leaching into our water supply and soil, promoting genetically modified seed crops and reducing our planet’s biodiversity. In addition to CERTIFIED ORGANIC farming practices, Garden of Life uses recyclable packaging, vegetable inks, sustainably farmed papers and 100% certified renewable wind energy credits to run our company’s operations.

That's why TODAY I am starting a giveway for this...

• Support healthy blood sugar levels and burn fat naturally with the power of Svetol^® Green Coffee Bean Extract, RAW Food Created Chromium, Organic Cinnamon, and Organic Sprouted Grains†
• Help regulate your cortisol levels and manage stress related cravings with RAW Organic Ashwagandha†
• Build lean muscle mass, help repair it after work-outs and sustain it on a sensible meal plan with 28g of RAW certified organic plant protein—a complete protein with 13 organic sprouts and a biological value of 98.2%!
• Naturally filling and satisfies hunger with RAW Organic Soluble and Insoluble Fiber from certified organic grains, seeds, legumes and fruits
• Promotes healthy and comfortable digestion and elimination with live probiotics and enzymes†

THIS CONTEST is for US Residents ONLY.  It runs thru 8am THIS FRIDAY so don't wait!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OR

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2006be7f3/ 

Relay For Life Quarter Auction, Homemade Wine, & My Dad

I can't believe it's been a full two weeks since I attended a local Relay For Life Quarter Auction.  I wanted to blog about this well before now!  Oops!

This is the first Quarter Auction I have ever been to.  It was a bit confusing at first but it ended up being REALLY fun and I know they raised a slew of money for their Relay Team!

The girl who arranged it is a friend of mine and she started her team because she has lost her sister, mother, and uncle all to cancer.  My mom, dad, and I participated in the fundraising auction as participants but didn't win anything.  We also participated as donators of our Wildtree Products, too, and our auction items seemed to have a lot of interest!  In addition we did a live tasting during before, during, and after the event - and during the breaks.  It was a FUN time!

In the first photo above you can see my father with the pink number signs!  I LOVE him dearly!  He's an awesome guy! 

I follow a few of his high school buddies on Facebook, too!  A week or two ago one of his friends posted this photo of him.  My dad thinks it was from when we he was leave from his time with the Navy during Vietnam.  He was on the USS Kitty Hawk during that time.  I just LOVE old photos!  I think he looks adorable in this picture!

In other DAD News...

His Wine Making is going VERY well!  He has started a white wine and will be entering his semi-dry into next weekend's Amateur Wine Making Contest.

I really hope he places!  It would be a VERY big deal for him!  I will certainly keep you posted on that! 

Here's another look at his revised Wine Bottle Labels!  The one he's entering is the RED.

I  think he will be purchasing two more containers so he can have more than 2 wine's 'working' at the same time.  One of these days I should take photos while I am over there and post them so you can see them!  It's an interesting process that he's been trying to explain to my sister and I for a while now!

I have to say the wines I have tasted that he's made so far have been VERY GOOD...they have exceeded my expectations!  And with them being the first wine's he's tried - I think the outcome was EXCELLENT!  He's had a lot of feedback from other wine lovers already and he's very pleased.  I think I take after him in that regard...when we get positive feedback from others it just makes us want to do more and more!  I'm so proud of him for getting into Wine Making - it's a great new hobby for him and something that mom and dad can do together!

International Women's Day

I was reading this article and was LOVING all of the information I found it in regarding what these women are doing!  I will be checking out each of these organizations at some point but wanted to give a little shout out on my blog regarding International Women's Day this past weekend as well as what these amazing women are doing - especially when it comes to world hunger (and other issues).

Here are 23 women righting the wrongs of hunger that will be celebrated on International Women’s Day, according to Food Tank:

• Rebecca Adamson—Adamson is founder and president of First Peoples Worldwide, an organization facilitating the use of traditional Indigenous knowledge in solving issues such as climate change and food security.

• Rucha Chitnis—Chitnis is the South Asia program director of Women’s Earth Alliance, mobilizing resources to grassroots, women-led groups who are working to secure women’s rights and food sovereignty.

• Ertharin Cousin—Cousin is the executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme. She leads the organization with more than 25 years of experience combating hunger and food issues worldwide.

• Grace Foster-Reid—Foster-Reid is the managing director of Ecofarms, a community-based business in Jamaica that produces honey products from her family’s farm.

• Stephanie Hanson—Hanson has been the director of policy and Outreach at One Acre Fund since 2009, which provides smallholder farmers in Africa with support, inputs and training, with the goal of doubling agricultural production on each acre of smallholder farmland.

• Wenonah Hauter—Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, Hauter has worked extensively on food, water, energy and environmental issues, and her book, Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America, examines corporate control over our food system.

• Heather Hilleren—Hilleren is the founder and CEO of Local Dirt, an online platform for finding and buying fresh, local food directly from family farms.

• Saru Jayaraman—In 2001, Jayaraman began leading a national movement to improve conditions of food workers, and she founded Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

• Sarah Kalloch—Kalloch is a senior advisor at Oxfam America and runs Oxfam’s Sisters on the Planet program, engaging more than 200 leading American women in anti-poverty advocacy.

• Nancy Karanja—Karanja is a professor of soil ecology and director of the Microbial Resource Centre at the University of Nairobi. From 2005 to 2009, Karanja was the sub-Saharan Africa regional coordinator for Urban Harvest, a CGIAR program with the goal of stimulating agriculture in and around cities to alleviate poverty and increase food security.

• Joan Karling—Karling is the secretary general of Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). She helps safeguard the environment, preserve traditional knowledge and protect biodiversity through securing land rights for indigenous people.

• Myrna Cunningham Kain—Kain is the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) special ambassador from Latin America, she is a social activist for the rights of Indigenous peoples with extensive experience and in 2001 she was named, “Hero of Health in the Americas.”

• Anna Lappe—Lappe is an expert on food systems and a sustainable food advocate, she has authored three books, and co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund. Currently, she runs a new initiative, the Real Food Media Project, to spread the power of sustainable food.

• Federica Marra—Winner of the 2012 Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Young Earth Solutions competition, Marra created Manna From Our Roofs, an innovative organization that engages young people across the world in food cultivation, preservation, and education.

• Kathleen Merrigan—Merrigan is an expert on the relationship between farmers and politicians, she served as deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), playing a vital role in Know Your Farmer and Know Your Food initiatives. She currently serves as executive director of the Sustainability Institute at George Washington University.

• Anuradha Mittal—Mittal worked as the co-director of Food First Institute for Food and Development Policy and as an internationally renowned expert on development, human rights and agricultural issues.

• Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba—Mwamakamba is a program manager with the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), she coordinates the Youth and Gender Programme, aimed at developing a holistic agriculture policy framework in Africa that will support youth and women.

• Mariam Ouattara—From Cote d’Ivoire, Ouattara founded Slow Food Chigata, which encourages local women’s cooperatives to grow fruit and vegetable gardens. The chapter has also held workshops on how to produce ecologically sustainable food without chemicals.

• Esther Penunia-Banzuela—Penunia-Banzuela is the secretary general of the Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA), a regional alliance of national farmer’s organizations.

• Claire Quenum—Quenum is the general secretary of the African Network on the Right to Food as well as director of the Togolose women’s right group Floraison. Through her work she promotes the right to adequate food in Africa.

• Sara Scherr—Scherr is the founder and president of Ecoagriculture Partners, a non-profit that works with agricultural communities around the world to develop ecoagriculture landscapes that enhance rural livelihoods, have sustainable and productive agricultural systems and conserve or enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services.

• Michele Simon—A public health lawyer specializing in strategies to counter tactics that harm the public’s health, Simon has been researching and writing about the food industry since 1996.

• Kanthi Wijekoon—A hero to other women, Wijekoon was arrested while she was trying to escape Sri Lanka to find a better life for her family. The Rural Women’s Front helped her get out of jail and she went on to lead programs reaching more than 600 women a year, increasing daily wages for women rice farmers.

Another Wild Weekend! Strawberry Festival, Forrestville, NY, Merritt Winery

 Yes!  I'm still catching up from the weekend!  This past weekend we were in Forrestville, NY, at Merritt Winery, for their Strawberry Festival!  It was VERY Fun!  We were a vendor with our Wildtree stuff there!  Saturday was gloomy, tho, but we still did very well sales-wise!  So well, in fact, that we had to beg our up-line to spot us some product for Sunday!  Because we have such an awesome team leader she did help us out BIG TIME!

You can click on these photos to enlarge them!  Here are a few of our display but also of the other vendors, too!  We were in between a fellow vendor friend ours GlassWerks out of Lakewood, NY.  We've done many shows together.  On the other side of them was another friend Recycled Peaces who sells Tye-Dye items and he's from Onoville, NY.  There were 2 other vendors who were from the Warren, PA, area that we have done a few shows with, too! 

Behind us was a nice large covered picnic pavilion area that the Winery had which also included a kitchen.  It was outdoors but still covered and secure.  They had a Beer and Wine Stand outside where you could buy by the glass or bottle.  They were serving chocolate covered strawberries and strawberry short cake.  I was tempted to get just the strawberry topping of the shortcake but didn't we were too busy to take a break.  My mom and sister got me some hummus and it was in our cooler all weekend.  I think there were 6 different kinds so I literally ate Hummus all weekend!  There were some veggies and crackers as well for dipping!  I keep saying I want to make some of our dips with Vegan Equivalents and I have at home for myself but always forget to bring them with me while we work!

I can't believe how much we sold!  We brought VERY LITTLE home with us!  One of our newest best sellers is the Happenin' Hot Pepper Jelly!  We sold 52 jars of it!  And it's VEGAN.  I LOVE that Wildtree's Jams and Jelly's do NOT have Gelatin(e) in them!

 There were MANY Bands throughout the weekend, a Classic Car Show, and many Motorcycle Groups stopped by!  Former Boxer and Politician Baby Joe Mesi was there and this years funds raised went to his Anti-Bullying Campaign.

It was a real fun event!  We plan on attending each year as a vendor from now on!  We've been there in the past - just for fun - and they have various charities they raise funds for - in the past we've been there for the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Foundation Charities.