Masoor Seddho (Red Lentil Soup), Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup, Navratan Korma Inspired Soup, Crafts, Stress Relief, and Life Updates

It's been another roller coaster of a few weeks and that is my reason for not posting.  I really had hoped to post some more interesting and uplifting news but things didn't work out like I had hoped.  I need to be better at letting go and moving on, I suppose.

I guess now is as good as time as any to share with you some of the things I have been eating and creating.

As you can see in the first photo I recently gnawed on some Avocado and Tomato Toast.  It's topped with a Maple Mustard.  I also grabbed this smoothie you see in the 2nd photo which is Mango Squash & Veggies.  It was very tasty.  I got it from Total Evolution.  Maybe this week I will check out one of their soups or finally get their Oatmeal Bar.

I've been busy with work, League of Women Voters, and County Fair stuff.  I've also been a busybody at home.  Plus, I have been enjoying my new found joy of coin collecting more and more.  I have slowly gotten back into paper crafting which you will see more of in this post.  I'm really trying to stay busy so I don't start over-analyzing myself or move into a deeper depression. 

I'm still trying to get back into Yoga again but just when I think I will I have been battling with pain more.  Just when I think I have kicked my pain in a couple of days it comes back.

I've been tinkering with Mandalas again and it's been a nice short form of meditation of sorts.  As you can tell I'm not done with this.  Sometimes I do a bit at a time and will come back to it days later and add more.  DH and I just re-watched all of the Harry Potters which was a nice way to relax, too.  And of course there is my ongoing love of tea but I'm trying to adjust my intake on the highly caffeinated ones due to the aches and pains I have been struggling with.

I was averaging a card a day for a while there.  The cards I do only take a few minutes so it's a nice brain break.  It's a shame I let a group of people ruin my love of paper crafting for as long as I did.  I'm really trying to get back into it again.  So far - so good - in small increments.

I haven't bought any new supplies.  Everything I have been using to make the cards have been from scraps.  I intend to continue with this method.  I want to see how long I can go using old stashes and supplies.

Last weekend we gathered at a friends house for an annual party-after-new-years.  I usually bring baked beans but this time I thought I would bring something different.  DH suggested Buffalo Cauliflower Wings so I did just that.  I have two photos to share with you here.  I know I have posted my own recipe before but this time around I stuck pretty close to Jason Wrobel's recipe that he had in his Eaternity book I bought MONTHS ago!

They went pretty well.  I did 2 versions.  One was quite spicy and the other was not-so-spicy.

I ended up bringing Rootie's Blue Cheese for DH (for those of you who don't know he's not veg) and for who ever else wanted it.  I brought Daiya's Blue Cheese for me and who ever else wanted it.  It was funny but when we were cleaning up the dairy version of the blue cheese was barely touched and my vegan blue cheese bottle was nearly gone.

I'm not complaining at all - that is what it was there for - but I'm thinking that no one really looked at the bottles and just ate it regardless.  I find this interesting and am pretty thrilled!

It's been nasty weather-wise still.  This morning it was -7 degrees at 9am.  Friday Night we got a few inches of ice and then about a foot or more of snow.

So as you can imagine I have been eating a LOT of soups!  About a week ago I made a Cashew Carrot Ginger Soup.  Ingredients include...

1 C Cashews
1 Small Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Knob Ginger
6 Carrots
Water & Sea Salt as needed
Garnish: Nutmeg, Smoked Paprika, Parsley

For lunch today I had this amazing Red Lentil Soup!

It's my new favorite!  I would have made more right away but I only had enough Red Lentils for 1 batch!

It was inspired by Vegan Richa's Begali Red Lentil Soup (Masoor Seddho) but instead of the Tomato I used Tomato Sauce.  It was all I had on hand.  I also used Earth Balance instead of the Mustard Oil.

This was WONDERFUL and I will be making it again as soon as I get more red lentils!  YUM!  I'm not going to lie - I ended up garnishing it with more Earth Balance!  It was so savory!

This next one might not look like much but it was pretty tasty, too!  It was inspired by Vegan Richa's Navratan Korma Recipe but I turned it into a blended soup instead.  It called for 5 cups of veggies I used a bunch of stuff that was hanging out in my freezer and frig to use it up.  Many veggies like Eggplant, Sweet Peppers, Green Beans, Carrots, Water Chestnuts, Potatoes, Peas, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, etc.  Instead of the 4 tomatoes it called for I used some leftover Spaghetti Sauce.  There are various spices along with Cashews and Pistachios, too!

Poms, Snips, & Crystals

It's been a rough week.  But since this is my positive and uplifting space My Blissful Journey I won't vent here.  Instead I will focus on a few things that made me smile yesterday.

A small local grocery store near here had pomegranates on sale for quick sale.  They were VERY ripe but you could get 2 for 79 cents!  I grabbed a duo of them and might try and go back to get more depending how the two I got look when I crack them open later today.

Parsnips!  Parsnips are a food that I don't eat a lot of.  Not because I don't like them - mostly because they aren't a big thing in my area and they don't keep many in stock at the stores.  And when they do they aren't the cheapest thing.  I don't really have many recipes and/or ideas in my creative arsenal for them either.

I branched out.  Yesterday I grabbed two of them.  They cost $3.71 for the two of them.  I would like to do a raw vegan rice recipe with them soon!

One of the many things I am learning about at the moment are crystals and chakras!  I ordered two of these cones and should get them tomorrow.  The orange and the yellow.  I'm thinking about getting the red, too, because of how I tested on a chakra test and daily life, habits, characteristics, and interests.  I hope to put them on my desk at work and surround myself with more positive things.  Another thing I am getting back into is Mandalas, too, and will be putting some of those in my office when I complete them.

Blissful Art Journey ~ Mandalas

One of the things I have been tinkering with lately in my Craft Room is Mandalas.  What got me interested in Mandalas was THIS VIDEO from Matt Monarch of the Raw Food World and Raw Food TV Show.  But after really doing some research I've found they are close to the Sand Art that Monks do and while I was in college back in '97 took a trip to an Art Museum in Cleveland where Monks were set up for 2 weeks working round-the-clock on their masterpiece while in silent mediation and only eating fruit and drinking water.  It was amazing.  Now that I know more about Mandalas in all walks of life I'm finding there is no wrong way to do them.  I'm not going to lie...I'm certainly NOT a mathematician therefore I doubt I will ever take a contractor to it they did in Matt's video.  I have seen several other videos of people free handing them and I tried my every first free hand Mandala over the weekend. 

The one you see above is from a book I bought and it's not quite done yet.  I think I will be leaving some white space in the first one but not as much as you see here.  I also like the fact you can work on these over time or all at once.  It's very calming.  I'm enjoying them.  The free hand one I did is the 2nd photo.  Again...it was my very first one.  I think I will continue to do these.  My husband already has requested one for the home recording studio.

Have you ever seen mandalas before or tried doing any on your own!?