Tofu Tacos, Around The Community, Wegman's Vegan Finds, Nepal Tea

While I am still catching up on blogging and posting pics from my everyday life - here are some other things that have been sitting in my TO BE POSTED File.  First up, is my meal from Mad Mex in Erie.  They have some really wonderful vegan options.  This time around I decided to try something I haven't tried yet which was this plate of Tofu Tacos!  As you can see they were soft tacos with lots of sprouts, vegan sour cream, guac, rice, black beans and it was all sorts of YUM!  That was for my Birthday Dinner back in the middle of March.

March was also Women's History Month and our local library has a very creative and involved staff.  They had a nice display of Women's books and Authors.  They even did little bookmarks and such!  Really nice!

Another thing taking place at our local library last month was the Youth Art display in their gallery!  Here is just one of the pics I took of the walls.

Oddly, March was a REALLY BUSY month!  Yet another thing I participated in was an evening at the Library where we could speak with 3 electronic voting machine vendors to see which ones our county wants to go with moving forward.  It was open house style and you could come and go.  Some people stayed for a few minutes or up to an hour - but I found myself returning to each vendor with more and more questions and I think I was there nearly the whole time (2 or 3 hours).  I was there on behalf of our local League of Women Voters.

In this photo, you will see a really old staircase and wallpapered ceilings.  This was part of a tour I took in our community.  It's a historic home that was purchased by a non-profit that houses women who were just released from prison.  It helps them get back on their feet, find work, find housing, and rehabilitate.  A few of us are trying for some grant money for a Day of Hope we would like to do.

Another community event I attended last month, was our historical society's annual meeting.  It took place in our county courthouse.  This is a photo of the main courtroom.  What's significant about this courtroom is that it's the first (and maybe the only) courtroom where a sitting judge was shot and killed.  That took place in 1954.  The wood is still present and you can see where one of the bullets grazed it and I believe the other bullet might still be in the wood to the right (not shown).  But during this specific community event and annual meeting a speaker talked about a local home that he purchased.  Because it was the recipient of a Pennsylvania Historical Marker he told us what he could and could not do with the property and showed LOTS of photos of the house and land.  I found it very interesting because it's not even a mile from my parents house.  

Here is a tea sampler set I recently received from Nepal Tea and I will be writing reviews over at Sororitea Sisters in the coming months!

A while back I grabbed some Vegan Tofu Ravioli at Wegman's.  It seems like it's been forever since I have tried anything from Soy Boy which is a company in Syracuse, NY.

Another item I found that day was these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Cybele's.  I have to say I had not seen them anywhere up until this point.  They were darn tasty!

And...behold...I finally got my hands on the JUST Cookie Dough.  OMG!  I'm eating it right out of the container.  Forget MAKING cookies!  

Weekend Roundup: Local Fundraising, New Copper Skillet, Tandoori Spice Vegan Burgers

Saturday was a BUSY day!  I volunteered to help the local Zontas with their Lucky Numbers Fundraiser.  It's the first time I attended the event but I hope to be a member and wanted to get one under my belt before I was a member next year (that is if I am accepted as a member).  It was a pretty crazy yet fun event!  The ladies who organized it did an AMAZING job!  I didn't win anything (as far as the large prizes go) but it wasn't about that for me...I just wanted to help if I could.  I did, however, win this lovely mug and gift certificate to a local coffee & tea shop!

Well over 200 people attended and it was a HOOT to see everyone go bonkers over the winnings!  Here are a few photos of some of the high-end prizes at stake.

With my ticket, I received 5 chances.  With those - I went for the kitchen items.  The 8-Quart Instant Pot on the far right was one of the ones I had my eye on.

There was a heavy-duty Spiralizer, too, that looked pretty cool.  I already have 2 spiralizers but nothing like the one that was on the table.

Here was one of the sections of the room that was filled with participants!

Lunch was served (I had a salad) and there were other drawings and such that you could participate in.  Some people dressed up and some people had noisemakers for when someone at their table won!

After the Lucky Numbers Event, DH and I went over to a friends house for dinner.  I didn't have a lot of time to make anything special but I brought the makings for a large salad and grabbed some storebought hummus and pretzels.

Yesterday, we wanted to find a Waffle Maker but couldn't find one locally.  Instead, I found this Copper Electric Skillet and make pancakes.  I would show the pancakes but I would rather wait to post one that was tastier than the first attempt.  I will show this Vegan Burger for now.

This is the Veggie Burger on the skillet above.  I found them at Mustard Seed Market and have had them in my freezer since we got back.  Last night I thought I would finally try them.  They were pretty good.  I didn't put it on a bun but I did make some dipping sauce for it.  You can see that in the next photo.

The Tandoori Spice in these was potent - but you know me - I'm a fan of spice!

For the dipping sauce it's basically a Vegan Aioli I threw together.  I think next time I will make it thicker.  The flavor was good, tho!

It was just Vegan Mayo, Garlic, Sriracha, Smoked Paprika, Lemon Juice, and a pinch of Black Sea Salt.

It was pretty good on corn chips, too!

I probably could have added some nooch to it, too!

Question of the Day...what was the last brand of veggie burgers that you tried that was 'new to you'?  What did you think of 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.

Sunshine Week & Snow Storms

Sorry I didn't post twice yesterday like I originally planned!  TODAY I will be posting at least twice so please check back soon!  

This week is Sunshine Week and as a new member of my local League of Women Voters I asked the local board members if they wanted to hold a Sunshine Week event for the first time this year.  I volunteered to head it up and they said YES!  I'm so VERY grateful for this wonderful group of ladies!  The LWV has truly changed my life for the better!  Women aren't the only members of the league - we have men that are members, too!

Anyways...back to Sunshine Week...

Sunshine Week is a national initiative spearheaded by the American Society of News Editors to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy. It was established in March 2005 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.  Sunshine Week occurs each year in mid-March, coinciding with James Madison's birthday and National Freedom of Information Day on the 16th.

During Sunshine Week, hundreds of media organizations, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and other participants engage public discussion on the importance of open government through news and feature articles and opinion columns; special Web pages and blogs; infographics; editorial cartoons; public service advertising; public seminars and forums. The purpose of the week is to highlight the fact that "government functions best when it operates in the open." Unfortunately, in many states legislatures exempt themselves from public-records laws, claiming "legislative immunity." Source: Wiki

What we did for our Sunshine Week Event was visit our court house.  Our Judge spoke with us - as did 2 of our Commissioners.  We then went on a tour of our historic Court House.

Even with the horrible snow storms we had going on this week - we had a completely engaged group of 14.  For it being the first time we've held anything like this AND with the weather I was pleased with the attendance.

February in our snow belt was AWESOME it was like SPRING!  I remember it being 70 degrees towards the end of the month.  March is another story!  It was about 6 degrees this morning when I looked.  And we got about a foot to a foot and a half in some areas.  The wind has been wicked.  There is a lot of ice and black ice on the side of the roads still.

So eventho it was Sunshine Week - we had Snow Storms!  OYE!

Spring Leftovers & Napping Furkids

This is how I fell asleep the other night!  With Cricket & Riley laying on my legs right next to each other.  Paco sleeps in his pen area for safety reasons and his immune issues.  We would hate for him to try and jump up on something and injure himself.  He doesn't seem to mind it - I think he actually prefers it - it's his own space that no one else can invade!  But aren't these two so sweet?  Cricket is certainly sweet when she wants to be and other times she's the instigator!





In other news...Spring has sprung!  And here are some leftovers that are popping up on their own from our Rooftop Garden/Container Garden.

2 kinds of chives!  They look better than ever before!  They are mostly onion chives but I think one is a garlic chive, too!  In this background of this photo you can also see some Lavender as well!

This is a close up of our Rhubarb that is start over for the season!  How exciting!  Can't wait to see what else progresses!  I do know that we need to start planting seeds to see what happens with those soon, too!

With my full time job as of late - I have been doing a lot of local speaking for high school students and organizations.  It's been fun!  I'm also highly considering joining our local chapter of The League of Women Voters!

Dad's First GOLD!

Guess who WON GOLD this past weekend at the Youngsville Art & Vino Venue?  MY DAD!  I'm so proud of him!  He was so very excited about winning, too, and rightfully so!  He will be receiving his Gold Medal soon for this Dry Wine.  This was an Amateur Wine Making Contest and it was judged by Wineries in our region.  He received GOLD for the Dry and our dear friend Lynn received a GOLD for her Sweet Wine.  There were only 2 GOLDS awarded.  There were a few Silver, Bronze, and Diamond, I think, too...but...Dad and Lynn's were the only 2 Gold's!  Woot!  Here's a photo of his bottle.  The labels were finished in just the nick of time, too!  He named it Irish Red.  It's a Chianti. 

Recently he started a white wine...a Riesling. I'm looking forward to trying this one!  I thought this dry was great...not overly dry so I guess one could call it a Semi-Dry.  Either way...I really liked it.  It was smooth, too!

This event was so much fun!  We've been vendors with our Wildtree Products each year.

I was able to take a few photos of our set-up before all hell broke loose! LOL!

Once the start time hit - the event-goers seemed to come thru the door fast and furiously!  BUT...it was fun, regardless!

We sold out of the Hot Pepper Jelly - as we tend to do at the events we sample it at!  It's overall our BEST seller - second year running!  As you can see in the first set-up photo in front we had all the Grapeseed Oil Flavors out.  To the right we had 3 'dry' ones for people to try...the Lemon Pepper, Rodeo Rub, and Mediterranean Rub.  In the center of this 2nd photo you will see a wooden stand that we came across and decided to use.  I'm not real sure where my parents came across it but it works nicely!  Looks pretty sharp, too!  On the right hand side you will see the other items...some dips, spreads, sauces, more dry rubs, and some more jams/jellies, too!  It was a FUN Day all around!  And my Dad's very first medal for his wine making!  YAY!

Catching Up For REAL This Time!

Ummm, yeah...so...I mentioned last week that I was going to do multiple posts most days last week to CATCH UP and that sooooo didn't happen.  So...now I have twice as much to talk about, I suppose!  Oops, sorry, my bad!  Another LONG POST AHEAD!

I'll start back to the weekend before last, I guess.  We spent the weekend in Salamanca, NY, at their Falling Leaves Festival.  The weather was rainy towards the end of the day on Saturday and it was kind of nice on Sunday.  There IS a reason they call it Falling Leaves.  The leaves were CERTAINLY falling EVERY WHERE!  It was neat, tho!  Sales could have been better but overall it was an 'ok' event.

There was a Bird Rehab Center there as well as a Petting "zoo" with rehabbed animals.  One of the animals was this large rabbit that was so cute and soft!  Then I was able to spend time with some of the goats that I met last month at another event.  This one came up and gave me 'kisses' and nudges, even!  LOVE them!

Elvis was there!  Well...it was an Elvis Impersonator, actually, but he was pretty good!  He drove in on a Motorcycle!  He seemed like QUITE the crowd pleaser, too!

On Sunday there were Puppies/Dogs/Kittens from a local no-kill animal shelter.  They were adorable!  I swiped these photos off the website, actually!  The Reddish/Brown and White one is Atlas and the Black and White one is Lexi.  Atlas came to them from a Kentucky "kill" farm of sorts.  Apparently they arrived at the facility and they had to 'sell' them and if they weren't 'sold' in 5 days or less they were destroyed.  How awful!

My father fell in LOVE with Lexi right away!  He said she reminded him of his dog when he was 9.  A few days later he woke up and told my mom that he had a dream about Lexi the night before.  Last Friday My Mom & Dad officially adopted Lexi and my sister and her husband officially adopted Atlas!   I will have more current photos this week or maybe even later today!  They are amazing dogs!  Atlas is a Beagle/Pointer Mix and Lexi is a Retriever/Collie Mix.

In other news...Amherst, NY, my old stompin'-grounds finally has a Trader Joe's!  It opened this past weekend and I wasn't able to go YET but I will soon...FOR SURE!  Here's a photo I found on Facebook of the store!  It looks awesome, doesn't it!?

I've been snacking on Flax and Chia Crackers a lot lately!  I think this latest spur of interest is because of some of the dips and spreads I have been creating!  I have so many products I need to review - it's CRAZY!  Here's one of them!  Chipotle Chia Crackers from New Earth!  These are VERY VERY crunchy.  Crunch with Caution, I like to say!  These are powerful RAW treats!  Check out the ingredients:

organic sprouted buckwheat, organic red bell pepper, organic chia seeds, nutritional yeast flakes, pure water, wild-crafted Himalayan pink salt, organic chipotle powder.  Other ingredients: Joy, celebration and fun!

At first bite I was not a huge fan of the texture but after gnawing on them I quickly changed my mind because they were tasty and somewhat addicting!  They are VERY power-packed with 22 grams of protein per bag!  YAY!

Another thing I wanted to share with you was my new favorite food attempt!  Almond Cheese!!!!  I have been LOVING the Whole Foods Co-Op in Erie's Cashew Cheese and this is darned close!  I will certainly be making this A LOT it's so good!

I used:
1 C Almonds
1 C Water
3 T Lemon Juice
2 Cloves Garlic
Pinch Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

As you can see it's awesome for dipping!  And spreading on things!  It thickens in the refrigerator over night.  YUMMO!

Another Raw Vegan Food Idea and Snacking Idea! 

The English Muffins are Sprouted from Ezekiel Bread.  The Flax Crackers are from Foods Alive.

Cuties From The Weekend

This past weekend we had a Wildtree Display at a Corn Festival in Youngsville, PA.  We've done this event in the past and it's been great sales-wise.  This year...not so much.  But there was a lot of stuff still going on and there were MORE people there Sunday VS the day before but the sales just didn't happen.  The weather was amazingly comfortable and the park was nice but some what out of the way.  They had it in the park this year because they are doing their Streetscape Project in their downtown area.  The City went thru that years ago and it really messes with everything that the community organizations and businesses TRY and do!  Been there - done that - TOTALLY feel for the organizers and local businesses!  So I 'do' understand why things were different this year.  Having said that...I did enjoy my time with some animals that visited the area yesterday.  I originally met the guy at another event last year and he really loves his animals.  Most of the animals were 'saved' from questionable circumstances, adopted, or rehabilitated in some causes, I believe.  My father and I have always LOVED Prairie Dogs - and years ago when I was more active in Care2 issues and activities I read that some states are having Prairie Dog 'hunts' because of over population.  This breaks my heart!  I mean look at these cuties!  They remained snuggling like this for at least 15 minutes!

  
There were sheep and goats there, too!  The sheep were VERY friendly.  Actually ALL of the animals were VERY friendly.  There was one goat that must have been the 'grand poobah' or even the bully of the bunch that was trying to steal everyone elses food, tho!  This goat on the left was so cool!  He was quite the ROCK STAR with his Salt and Pepper Shaggy Hair!

Some of the goats gave me love nibbles as I fed them!  I'm not going to lie...I loved every minute of it!

This Trio of Cuties were hanging out in the corner of the large pen area.  They loved eating the grass and playing.  The guy had an Old School "Fisher Price" type house that they LOVED.  I remember it from last year, too!  They all played in it and around it.  Some of them even liked to jump on top of it and stand or sit there and show off a bit.

I don't really know what this little guy's name is but my mom and I were calling him "George".  He was roaming around the grounds totally free!  He was quite the grass eater!  He let me pet him for at least 10 minutes. 

All of these cuties were extremely clean, playful, social, and adorable. 

There were some really LARGE rabbits, too, and they were so soft!  They all had access to grass, food, water, and play area ALL day!  There was a cute turtle as well as a few other animals of interest! 

I believe the gentlemen visited school often to teach the children about the different animals as well.  If he's at the one event again this year - like he was last year - I hope to talk to him more.

Photos From a 5-Year-Old

Meet Gavin.  He's the son of one of my very close friends.  She was in our wedding and I was in hers.  Her son is now 5 years old.  It's been a while since her and I have been able to spend any length of time with each other because she lives in VA and teaches.  She and her son visited the area last week and I was lucky enough to meet up with the two of them after I was done with work on Friday.  They met me at the Fair and when I was done at 5 we spent some time walking thru the barns, displays, and exhibits, and then on to the carnival and watched the rides for a bit.  He didn't want to go on any of the rides, tho.  We left the Fair Grounds about an hour and a half later and went to a restaurant in the city. 

We went to Kim's Kafe in Warren.  I know the owner and she always has veggie options - which I appreciate VERY much!  I ended up having one of their Veggie Stir Fries!  Kelly had a Turkey Wrap and her son had a Quesadilla.  Kim was 'in stitches' over Gavin.  It was quite comical!  What fun!

Afterwards, I took them for a quick walk around town.  They seem to enjoy the waterfront and parks and the weather was pleasant.  His favorite part was a downtown business that features an operating "Railroad/Train Set".  He could push the button from the street and make it 'work'.

After that we walked over to Friday Night "Music In The Park" where there was a regional band that played country music from the 60's, 70's, and 80's.  That's where HE swiped my iPhone and decided to take these photos!

Not too shabby for a 5-year old, eh!?

I think I got home about 9 or a little afterwards...it was the earliest night for me last week.  What a crazy week!  But I am so happy I got to spend some time with these two!  I do wish we were able to see more of each other but you know how it goes - life tends to get in the way!

Paco's Pouting, Suzie's Scratching, The Rouse is Rockin', and Sassy Cheesy Salsa

It kind of looks like Paco is pouting here.  I took this picture over the weekend - in the evening - when we were comfy on the sofa.  I believe this was Saturday Evening.  This was before I was so RUDELY Awakened by Suzie at 5am Sunday Morning Nailing just below my left eye as she jump off the back of the sofa and did her best impression of a Guard Dog while seeing something she questioned outside of the Living Room Window!  She woke me out of a dead sleep with that nail-scratch and I'm certain it will scare.  I've been putting Aloe on it a few times each day in hopes it will help in the meantime.  I don't usually wear make-up but I am trying to 'rock' the cover-up today while at work to try and hide it.  WOWZA!  Did that hurt for most of yesterday! 

Suzie knew she 'got me' and was trying to 'butter up' to me the rest of the day yesterday - her way of apologizing.  Of course I couldn't stay mad long.  I mean...LOOK AT This!  I sometimes call her my 'lil pot belly' cuz she lays on her side and shows her belly like a baby pot belly pig.  She cracks me up!  Yeah...so I couldn't stay made long even tho the scratch is clearly visible to everyone I come in contact with.

In other Weekend News - Saturday - during the day we went to Youngsville, PA, for the Rouse Summerfest with our Wildtree Stock.  Rouse is a local historical name known for quite a bit around here.  Now the Rouse Name is known for the Rouse Home/Estates.  It's a Retirement Home/Nursing Home/Transitional Care/Day Care, among other things.  It was a fun time, the weather was cooler than it has been, there were a few bands playing Bluegrass, Oldies/Beach Music, etc.  It rained a little bit but held off until almost the end for the heavier rain.  We didn't do awesome business-wise but we didn't do awful, either.

At the end of a busy weekend and headed into the busiest week of my work year I needed some comfort food and noticed I had some Daiya Cheese I needed to use.  I wanted an EASY sauce type thing for Corn Chips so I added the remainder of the Daiya Shreds into a splash of Almond Milk and melted it down and added a half of a jar of Natural Salsa - Medium - to it.  It's VERY tasty and I have lots to get me thru this week!  I think I might thin a bit out for pasta early this week to stretch it a bit further.  Rice mine work well, too!

Tangy Limas with Squash and Tomatoes, Buffalo Black Bean Dip, Wild Week, Pups, and Cousins

It's been a long week but a VERY busy week and it's the first of 3 long, busy weeks in a row!  This time of year is my BUSIEST of the whole year at work!  It's NUTS!  On top of that we have been going thru a lot of changes as well as equipment issues as we were hit by lightning over the weekend and had LOTS of issues with various pieces of equipment and so on and so forth.  Another reason I have been out of sorts is because I had to go back to the dentist today and that sucked!  I'm finally getting to the point where I feel semi-normal again.  Found out I have to go back in September for another filling, too, THAT BITES!  Pardon the pun, there.  In other news...I do have a few photos, fun, and food to share with you including this first pic.  It's Tangy Limas with Squash and Tomatoes!  I really love the lemony flavor of this paired with the dill and produce I used!  It contains: 1 C Lima Beans, 1 Onion, Grapeseed Oil and Water to consistency wanted, 1 Zuke, 1 tea thyme, 2 tea Wildtree Dill Blend, 2 C Diced Tomatoes, and I sprinkled Vegan Parmesan Cheese and used the juice of 1 lemon.

I also made an interesting Buffalo Black Bean Dip recently, too!  In this I used a bit of Coconut Oil and heated it with 1/4 C Chipotle Hot Sauce (I used the rest of my now discontinued Wildtree), 1 C Black Beans, 1/2 Red Onion, 2 Cloves Garlic, 1/4 C Cilantro, splash of Balsamic Vinegar.  This was a bit bite-E, and after sitting in the frig overnight it got more garlic-E-er and I really liked it!

Last week - Thursday thru Saturday - we took our Wildtree Display over to our local fairgrounds.  There were LOTS of different things going on including a BBQ Festival, Regions Archery Tournaments, Vendor Show, Music Festival, Silver Cup Horse Show, and Go-Kart Racing.  We didn't do as well as we hoped but the weather was CRAZY!  It was 93+ degrees for 2 solid days with over 85% humidity then Saturday evening it 'let loose' and poured HARD CORE!

Paco and Riley enjoyed the time home last night and they snuggled up to each other, too!  I had one on one leg and one on the other leg!

Tonight I hope to meet up with my cousins from TN/AL area.  Haven't seen them in a year and before that it was several years.