More Vegan Finds, Plants, Community, and Such!

With the many months I took off from blogging - I still have TONS of photos and things to share!  I'm trying to schedule a few blog posts in between to try and catch up, too!

Here you can see one of the painted rocks I found this year.

This was on the fairgrounds.

I'm still LOVING these Swapples!  If you haven't tried them yet you should!  They are VERY dense and VERY filling!  Soooo versatile, too!

I ended up grabbing 3 different flavors of these at the beginning of summer and they helped me in between meals during fair week.  They are a little dry but the flavor is good.

I'm having some ups and downs with my office plants lately.  I'm pretty sure it's because fall and winter are coming.  I remember that happening last year.  This is one of the plants that seem to be doing well lately.  It's one of my newer plants.  It's called a Dragon's Tongue.

Near the end of August I attended a community event in Irvine, PA, at the Wilder Museum.  There was a speaker from SUNY JCC highlighting the life of a local suffragist by the name of Elnora Monroe Babcock who was born in Freehold Township and grew up around Columbus, PA.  She went on to do AMAZING things in the Suffrage Movement throughout the state of New York, too!

This isn't one of my plants but it's a hanging basket I got for my mom for Mothers Day and it's still going strong!

This past summer I spotted a new-to-me product from Earth Balance and HAD to try it.  It doesn't taste extremely different from their other vegan butters but it is tasty!

I was going to safe this for a work lunch some day but I ended up having it for dinner one night in stead.  It has been way too long since my last vegan meal from Annie Chun's!

I'm pretty sure my new favorite shreds are from VioLife!  I got these at Mustard Seed but just spotted them LAST WEEK at my local Tops and I couldn't be happier about it!

I also spotted a new-to-new product from Gardein while at Giant Eagle in Erie, I believe.  They are still in my freezer and I haven't tried them yet but I'm thinking it will be SOON!

At first taste I wasn't overly thrilled with this Good Karma product but have since paired it with some things like Salsa and it wasn't too shabby.

This is a product that Hillary and I have been boasting about on IG.  I really enjoyed it and wish I would have bought 5 more!  I'm pretty addicted to it, actually!

And here is one of the new-to-me Amy's Kitchen products I found at the Erie Target a while back.  I really enjoyed this, too!

Vegan Baked Goods at Mustard Seed

It's been several weeks since we visited Mustard Seed in Ohio.  I really DO love that place!  I believe there are 3 locations.  My favorite is in Solon.  As you can see in this post - they have REALLY expanded their Vegan Baked Good Options!

I didn't buy any of the items in either of these photos but I wanted to feature them here and on IG.

What I did grab were some of these Mini Blueberry Muffins!  They were AMAZING!

They had a nice selection of cookies, muffins, cakes, pound cakes, cupcakes, etc.  And NOT just in one flavor...several flavors!

I mean...check out these Vegan Pound Cakes!

I have MANY more items to post from our last Mustard Seed Trip!  But there are SO MANY pictures and so little time.  I will try and pace myself to NOT overload you all!

I did also want to post this really cool Woodstock Guitar!  I think we found it at Sam Ash but I guess it could have been Guitar Center.  Too bad the Woodstock Anniversary - this year - fell thru.  I remember when I was in college a few of my friends went to one and I was going to try and go until my parents told me NO.  I was right at that 18 year old line but still lived and home so I didn't end up going.  A friend of mine brought back a Woodstock Grateful Dead Beanie Bear tho so that was cool!

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!

How To Catch Up On The Last 3 (Or More) Months?

I guess the BEST way is to just jump in, eh?

Yeah!  It's been WAY TOO LONG since my last post!  There has been a LOT going on and I really hope to share as much as I can with you!  I thought the best way to do it is in screenshots of 6 and go from there!  So with this first set of 6 photo shown above you can see that I have been trying my green thumb at more plants.  My co-worker has really been getting me into it.  The problem is...I can't keep up with buy more and more dirt and potting soil for the ones we are obtaining!

I was able to get my hair done and I have to get it done again soon!  I'm so horrible about being consistent with that!  YIKES!

Cricket is still doing well.  Riley and Charlie are aging by the day!  I have really seen a rapid change in both of them this past year.  Charlie is 19 and Riley is 18.

I have been able to locate some great new and new-to-me vegan items over the last several months in our travels!  I also put in an order online at some point, too!  This Daiya wasn't available to me locally with the 4 cheese style but I was able to find it online!

SWIRLS!  These Vegan Swirls receive a HUGE two thumbs up from me!  I absolutely LOVED them!  I can't wait to find them again!  She's Swiss Cheese I bought online, too, and whereas it wasn't the best vegan cheese slices I have ever had I was able to get them at a low price so I was happy I was able to try them on the cheap!  The Foodies Frittata was ok, too!  Very filling!  Again...found that online over at Vegan Essentials.  Same with the French Bistro product.  I have to fess up and say I wasn't a fan of that product but was super excited to try and was stoked it was one of the 'overseas' vegan products I was able to get my hands on!  The Mustaches were cute and cheesy but really small and easy to eat in one sitting!

We did take a trip to Indiana a while back - more on that in the near future!  

I have been finding some great random vegan deals at our new local Ollie's, too!  Annie's was on sale not too long ago!  There was another Vegan Mac I grabbed from Vegan Essentials that was pretty good and from Germany (I think).  And some more office plants!

Here are some Amy's Vegan Cheese Pizza Snacks that I finally found and enjoyed! 

And the other 5 photos are from Letchworth State Park!  We finally visited it this past fall!  I can't believe I had never been there before now!  We hope to go back in the spring or summer, too!  I really liked the visit!

Our mall is being ripped apart and the guys working on the building were going to trash all of the plants so my co-worker and I grabbed a bunch and tried to save them and propagate them.  Some are working well and others aren't.  

More pics of Cricket and Riley!

In one of our Ohio trips I was able to visit Mustard Seed Market again and found more VioLife Vegan Cheeses which I really like!  And our local Tops has Enjoy Life Cookies!  YAY!

LOTS more on tap!  Just need to take it a little at a time!  Hope you haven't given up on me!

Golden Milk, Vegan Blue Cheese, Witch Hazel, & Nettles Tea

I found a few things I forgot to add to yesterday's post!  First off is this Golden Milk from Wegman's that I had about a week or so ago!  I opted for the 8-ounce. 

You know how I LOVE Turmeric and I try to add it to at least one of my food or beverages a day!

This was pretty good.  It was mellower than I expected.  The Black Pepper sank to the bottom and it was a bit harsh but not overly-so.  I need to make more of this myself - at home.  It's easy and I have all the ingredients on hand.

One of the many 'new-to-me' products I was able to get my hands on this past week and our travels to Ohio was this Blue Cheese!  Vegan, of course!  It's by VioLife.  I have seen The Vegan Zombie and others post about it from Expo West and I thought it was going to be a year or two before it came over to the East side of the US.  So when I saw it - I didn't hesitate to grab it.

I will say...it's ok.  It's not OVERLY awesome.  I don't think it's something I would nibble on by itself.  However, I have tried it two other ways.  One was to melt it on a bagel - that was fairly good.  The other was to do a small dice and mix in with an Alfredo.  That was YUMMY! 

It's something I will continue to play around with.  I'm convinced it has potential.  I'm thinking the crumbles on a salad paired with another vegan creamy ranch or blue cheese type dressing would be stellar.

A few updates...thankfully, I seem to have the Dyshidrotic Eczema under control with the help of Witch Hazel and Nettles Tea.  I'm going to continue to use both of these things because now I have a boil on my leg from a pair of pants that was irritating me.  Both can be used for both issues.  And I'm going to try and drink Nettles Tea each night for the additional benefits while building up my immune system and a bit of self-care for my liver. It's also great for inflammation, pain, and skin so those are things I can put in my mental Rolodex, too!

For some AWESOME info on BOTH:
Nettles Tea & Witch Hazel

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!?

VEGAN Smoked Gouda Beer Cheese, Recent Finds, & Power Bowl!

I'm going to hop around in this post but for good reason and that reason is this Vegan Smoked Gouda Beer Cheese I made literally just minutes ago!

But before I get to the recipe I have some 'explaining to do'.

For a week now I have been talking about our last trip over to Ohio and our visit to Mustard Seed Market, well, I have some new-to-me items to blog about along with some additional finds from my travels today!

First up...I FINALLY got my hands on Daiya's Smoked Gouda!  I have been searching for this stuff for about 8 months and I was able to find it at Mustard Seed Market in Solon, Ohio!  That's about 3 hours from my home so this will be a treat until I find it closer.  I have to say I'm a HUGE fan already!  It might be a good thing that I don't have access to this vegan cheese often or I would probably have to eat it daily.  I ate about half of it in small chunks as a side to my meals but I wanted to try to make something with it, too, so I ended up making a Gouda Beer Cheese - VEGAN!

Another item I found at Mustard Seed Market that I had not tried before was the So Delicious Coconut Milk Unsweetened Yogurt Alternative.  I know I am probably one of the last of our blogging buddies to try this but I'm still glad I was able to!  My first go-around with this wasn't a great one but that was totally operators error!  This time around it was a GREAT SUCCESS!  I also used this in my Vegan Smoked Gouda Beer Cheese!

So...here's the recipe...

10 T Light Beer
1 T Flour
1/2 Block Daiya Smoked Gouda, Shredded
2 T Plain, Unsweetened Vegan Yogurt
Yellow Mustard (Very Small Squirt)*
Smoked Paprika*

* = or to taste

If you would like this thicker just add a little bit more flour.

This was OUT OF THIS WORLD if I do say so myself!

Today we took another day trip - this time to the outskirts of Buffalo - more specifically West Seneca.  We went to a few music stores, a HUGE Wegmans, Feel Rite - which is a natural foods and vitamin type store, and a Halal Grocery Store.  We also went to Taste of India.  I asked them about their vegan options and after a long list I chose to go with their Chana Masala.  I brought the leftovers home for dinner.

While we were at Feel Rite I grabbed a Meyer Lemon Kevita.  I haven't seen this one where I live so I wanted to grab it.  I think I have a new favorite!  Then again, I'm partial to Meyer Lemons.

The other night I threw a bowl together for dinner.  This isn't the greatest photo but it was a tasty bowl.

I found at my local Shurfine Market a Wild Rice and Veggie Blend in the frozen foods section.  I found some flatbread that I toasted, and a half of avocado.  I also threw in the rest of the Pizza Hummus from the night before.

I still have LOTS to share over the last couple of weeks but I think I will stop there for today.