Thrifty Vegan & Raw Vegan Cookbook Finds!

Hi Folks!  A bit of an easy-out on a post today.  It's all about Thrifty Finds from Ollie's, mostly, on vegan cookbooks and raw vegan cookbooks.  WHY?  Because, I'm still trying to catch up on blogging things and because we received more bad news 2 days ago...my step-father-in-law passed away.  His viewing and funeral are Sunday and Monday.  This year has been a rough one.  At times I feel pretty numb.  Including right now.

  Anyhow...the first book I wanted to tell you about was Hannah Kaminsky's Vegan A La Mode.  I haven't been able to make anything out of these books YET but I'm thinking about getting together with my mother once a week and trying to make something out of each book this fall and winter as long as the weather cooperates.

This was another book I found this past spring.  Funny thing...I don't have an Instapot YET but hope to soon!  I think all of the books I have found at Ollie's were only $2.99 each!  I do know that I have to invest in a different bookcase for the house at this point.

This is one of my newest ones to my collection.  Matthew Prescott.  I found him on Instagram and it seems like he and his wife have done books on different things.  This one was plant-based and had a lot of vegan (and non-veggie) contributing comments so I thought I would grab it.

These last two are both from Susan Powers.  And they are BOTH Raw Vegan books.  Something I need to start doing more of again and soon!  I have been relying too much on store-bought processed vegan stuff lately.  For a couple of reasons, one being I have been on the go and not really at home much in 6 months to concentrate on cooking and the other being I have been finding so many interesting vegan options and products in stores as of late that I have given into those temptations.

I'm LOVING that these books are available locally in our rural area and for CHEAP!  What kind of books have you found lately?  What kind of CHEAP stuff have you spotted near your home, too!?  Do tell!

Vegan Air Fryer Ideas, Raw Food, More Vegan Finds!

I think I'm back to the point of 'regular' blog posts!  Woot!  So I will do away with the 6-pack of photo splashes for now.

I briefly mentioned getting my parents an Air Fryer for Christmas.  Well, we actually bought my sister and brother in law one - as well as - my hubby's grandmother an Air Fryer, too!

So...basically, I'm the only one in my family that doesn't.  I'm thinking in the near future that might change.  DH also is intrigued by InstaPots so I'm betting that will be in our future, too!

Because I have been spending more time at my parent's house since my Dad has been out of the hospital I thought I would see what the Air Fryer could do!

Mom and I did Sweet Potato Fries from raw...and then we did Asparagus from raw, too!  

The Raw Sweet Potatoes took a little longer than frozen - I would imagine.  They turned out great!  As for the Asparagus - the taste was intense - which we all liked - and we like the crisp - but - if you let these little buggers sit too long they get a little rubbery...so serve immediately!

 While we were traveling we visited a different Ollie's...not the one in our own town...that I normally post about.  I found a Raw Food Cookbook at the other store for only $3.99.  Of course, I had to grab it!

This will be a shorter post today because I'm in a hurry and have a lot on my plate for the day!

Yesterday I stopped in at our local ALDI and found Good Foods Plant Based Dips!!!!  Woot!  Check out this Queso Dip that IS VEGAN!  It was pretty darned tasty!  I have to buy more ASAP!

Weekend Re-Cap in Photos!

Saturday I decided to take a short drive up to Kinzua Dam.  I didn't go to the actual Dam but the Big Bend Area. 

If I were to actually make a stop at the Dam I would be in a Parking Lot or at the Bridge going over top of the Dam that you see here. 

I wanted to do some thinking.  I also wanted to take some photos.  It's been a while since my last stop up there.  It's one of those places that people from far away visit often but the locals don't usually frequent.

If you visit my Instagram Account you can see more photos and even a short video, too!

The weather was gorgeous that day!  It seemed like it was the perfect temperature.  It wasn't muggy (like it has been most of the time the last couple years in the summertime) and it had just the right amount of breeze.  As you can see from the photos...the skies were blue and had some lovely, light clouds.

This photo is looking down 'water' from the Dam from the same spot.  One of these days I might go up to the Dam and the Bridge area and take some more photos to post here.

I wanted to go over to a small waterfall that is tucked off the road into the Allegheny National Forest a bit but ran out of time.

We left our house to make a quick trip up to the Buffalo area and stopped at The Pizza Plant for an early dinner.  Of course, I'm always excited because they not only have Vegan Pizza - they have Vegan Cheese for their Vegan Pizza!  I wanted to do a different topping for it this time around, tho.  Usually, I opt for Tomatoes or Mushrooms.  This time I went with the Artichokes.  It was fantastic!  I ate it for 4 meals!

Driving back wasn't fun.  There was a lot of construction.  We made a mistake with a detour and went about a half hour out of our way.  Oops!

Here's a close-up of an individual piece in case you're interested.

In other news...I've decided to take on another volunteering project.  This past month The Dyslexic Advantage eNewsletter was asking for volunteers to voice certain articles of their monthly online magazine.  I figured since I'm in radio full-time and have access to the equipment both at work and at home, I thought it was something I could easily do.  Plus, I have been wanting to get more involved in advocating for Dyslexics (since I, too, am one).

This past Thursday, there was a chair meeting for our Zonta Club.  It was a real eye-opener about just how much we do in our area.  I hope to help get the word out more about the efforts.  In the meantime, I was asked to chair the Service Committee so I'm looking forward to that, too!

Another thing we did this past weekend was stop in to our some-what-new, local Ollie's Bargain Outlet and we found some extra large fuzzy blankets for cheap.  We bought them and some other stuff for the house and I have to say that the blankets are a HIT with the dogs!  They LOVE them!

Here is a photo of Cricket sleeping on my lap...on the new blanket, of course.

What did you do over the weekend!?

Vegan Finds, Changes, & Updates!

I was going back thru a slew of photos I have been sitting on since my hiatus and realized just how many I still have yet to post - to blog about - and to share!  This post will be just as busy as yesterday's if not BUSIER!  First I wanted to share with you a salsa I made.  I was lazy the other day and opened a cheap storebought salsa.  It was pretty underwhelming.  Once I added sweet corn and black beans it made all the difference in the world!

Before fair week I went to Wegman's for one last shopping session before all the fair craziness!  My mother and I went and had their salad bar.  This is what I was able to find and it was tasty!  There were 2 kinds of greens for salad base, pickled sweet peppers, butternut squash zoodles, carrots, mushrooms, various seeds, cabbage, peas, artichokes, etc.  I believe I topped it with a Pomegranate Balsamic of sorts. 

One of the items I finally broke down and purchased was Miyoko's Vegan Butter.  I had not yet tried this because it's usually quite pricey.  I remember it being on sale by a buck or two so I figured WHY NOT.

I grabbed a package of these to have in the camper freezer.  I have had them before and with the right dipping sauce, they are pretty good.  

In my travels over the last couple of months I have been seeing more and more places carrying Lenny & Larry's!  I remember having them when they first hit the food shows last year and enjoyed the ones I tried up to that point.  I was just so excited that I saw these at our local Sheetz that I had to grab one!

I picked up these but I cannot remember where I got them.  I want to say they were over at the new Giant Eagle in Erie but I could be wrong.  They were pretty tasty.  I would probably purchase them again if I came across them.

These Vegan Potato and Onion Pierogies were something left from last last Ohio Trip.  They were YUMMY and I remember making a Cashew Based Alfredo Sauce which was even better than the Pierogies themselves!  I was just sooooo thrilled to find a storebought Vegan Pierogies that I couldn't pass them up!

About a month ago or more I made my first online BRANDLESS purchase.  There were a few things that didn't go as planned with my order but it all worked out in the end.  This was one of the things I bought and I am so happy I did!  It's delicious!  And I'm not going to lie...I recently had a couple of spoonsful stand alone and straight up.  I know that's weird but it was tasty and I bet would make a good soup!

One thing I made before Fair Week kicked in was this Lentil Curry.  I just used what I had on hand (which wasn't much) but I made do with what I did have.  Lentils from a Halal Market in Buffalo, Frozen Spinach, Canned Coconut Milk, Canned Stewed Tomatoes, and some spices.  It turned out fine and dandy!

Next up is this Vegan Camping Food Plate.  I have to apologize for the foam plate.  I don't usually buy them or use them.  It was someone elses and it was a thrown together potluck meal.  My mother made Baked Beans which were vegan and no one even knew.  I made the Sweet and Sugary Tomato Salad and there wasn't much of that left.  I used an organic and vegan natural sugar for it.  I also made the Vegan Macaroni Salad which is now being requested by many on the fairgrounds.  Of course that makes me smile.  I'm glad I'm not the only one eating the vegan stuff...eventho...the other people aren't vegan.

One of the new things over at the VIP Tent during fair week was the 'throw back' looking popcorn machine.  The accidently vegan kicker was the 'buttery' look...it was actually a non-dairy coconut oil base.  YAY!

Our fair was the first full week of August but this past weekend we went to a neighboring fair.  We were treated to a special 'ice cream' and because it wasn't vegan I wanted to participate somehow.  I noticed they had frozen bananas on a stick.  I asked if they could do one PLAIN and she said yes.  Oddly...I HATE BANANAS!!!!  But I thought I would step out of my lil box of comfort and try it.  When it was completely frozen it wasn't too bad.  When it started to thaw I couldn't handle the banana taste or aroma.  I ate what I could and shocked my husband in the process!

I did find another accidently vegan option this past weekend, too!  This was a Blooming Potato!  I asked the vendor about the oil and the fryers all they used in the fryer was potatoes and the oil base was vegetable.  There were tons of toppings you could opt for but I stuck with the basic potato and hit up the condiment bar.  I put onion, relish, and ketchup on them and they were VERY filling!  It was a WHOLE POTATO afterall!  I shared with about 6 other people, too!  It was a real winner!

Not sure if I mentioned on the blog but I mentioned on my IG that our town recently got a new Ollie's Bargain Outlet!  I used to visit the one in Erie when I was around and always had to hit up their book section for vegan cookbooks!  Now I don't have to go to Erie!  I have one right here!  So far I have bought at least 4 or 5 discount vegan books there and added them to my collection.  This was one of them.  It was only $2.99.

I absolutely LOVE this photo I was able to take of one of the stray cats in our neighborhood.  I felt bad for her that she was stray but she seems to be fine with being outside.  Prior to leaving for fair she was laying and sleeping on our front steps and stoops.  As soon as I approached her she would run away.  I haven't seen her in about a month.  I hope she's ok.  I always worry about our busy street and animals getting hit.

Another thing I haven't updated you all about in a while is my adorable niece who FINALLY started walking the past couple of weeks.  My mom and dad watch her 3 times a week and took her to a local park yesterday.  Here she is with my mother and their dog Lexi.

And speaking of furkids...here are my two pups!  They have been doing more and more of this since we lost Paco.  Riley is about 17 years old and our feral cat Charlie is 18 so I'm afraid what the future may bring with the two of them being older at the same time.  

Cricket is about 5 now, I think.  She is still the Queen of the Castle.

And another thing I forgot to tell you was that I finally cut my hair a couple of months ago and think I'm already due for another haircut!  With my last two haircuts they cut off about 14 inches of hair!  WOWZA!