Dips, Diddies, Coins, & Vision Boards

Silly me!  I didn't write these recipes down!  Oops!  But you will get to see some of what I have been eating as of late. 

First up is this little diddy.  It's Brown Rice, Chickpeas, Tomatoes, and Seasonings that I made last week.  It was tasty.  I literally just threw it together!

It's been a week or a few weeks of craziness and I just jotting down my recipes totally slipped my mind!

Yup!  There were various dips, too!  Like this one!  I can't recall everything I put in it but I'm sure it was Cashews, Red Bell Pepper, Smoked Paprika, and probably Lemon Juice at the very least.

I really thought I was going to make at least a couple of soups because it has been so cold this week but I didn't have time.  As I type this it's -2F actual and wind chills in the area made it feel like -25 to -30F.  YIKES!

Here's another dip I make last weekend.  I used the last little bit of vegan mayo I had in the frig, garlic, smoked paprika, lemon juice, a handful of cashews - were probably involved - and most likely some black sea salt - but just a pinch.

What dips have you been trying lately?

I told you I was going to start doing monthly Vision Boards.  Here is my first one and it's a mish mash of things but then again I think that what Vision Boards are mostly.  Things you want to do - things to inspire you - things you want to remember - and things you want to work towards!

This month...Start Each Day With A Grateful Heart was the re-used calendar visual I grabbed from my old 2017 calendar in my office.  Instead of throwing old calendars away I re-use them as other art in some way, shape, or form.  I added a lot of peace, love, laughter type things, too!  Also time to play, do yoga, smile, socialize, etc.

While cleaning last weekend this was one of the many  past projects I found so I thought I would rehang it on the wall. 

As you may have noticed I reuse clothes hangers to hang artwork.

I have also been experimenting with my old alcohol inks again.  I hope to post some of those projects down the road, too!

I was able to reach a mini goal of setting aside a space for my yoga again but I have yet to actually do it.  Perhaps this coming week I will be able to check that off my list, finally.

Things seem to be coming along with my mini-goals.

Another mini-goal for next week is to get to the post office and mail more coin swaps!

I'm having fun with the site I found and have already doubled my collection in 2 weeks.  There is a local shop I have found a lot of them for cheap and I got my firs swap in today, actually! 

I currently have coins from 61 countries!  YAY!

Life Updates, Vegan Snacks, Outdoorsy Weekend Recap

Over the past couple of months I have been attending various meetings and events involving my local branch of The League of Women Voters.  I have decided to become a member.  There are many topics that I am interested in learning more about.  Since I have decided to keep this blog mostly political-free and believe me when I tell you that is a REAL challenge - I will continue to NOT preach my politics here on this blog - but I do have other places to vent - thankfully.  I just wanted to update you on a few things I have been involved in over the past couple of months.

I have also been very involved with a newly formed group called Impacting Poverty.  We have a few things in the works including a poverty simulation in the fall which I will be participating in.

2016 marks DH's 7th year on the county fair board.  One of his major committees is the Entertainment Committee and I have helped out as much as I have been able since he started.  We are working on many things for this years fair which is in August.  This year the entertainment acts include: Colin Raye, Home Free, and Little Texas.  I will be posting more about Home Free VERY soon because the more I watch and listen to them the more I REALLY love them!

My parents recently attended a CANDY SHOW in Chicago and brought back some VEGAN TREATS for me!  I will say so far one of my FAVORITE new-to-me companies is Bobo's Oat Bars!  Here is the first one I tried and I really liked it!

I also nibbled on this flavor a day or two afterwards!  What I liked about this flavor is that the chocolate wasn't overpowering yet still part of the overall flavor!  I have a few more flavors I will be sharing with you down the road so be on the lookout!  I appreciate the fact that the company is active on Instagram and have liked and commented on my posts!

I thought this was certainly worth a mention, too!  A White Cheddar Flavor Skinny Pop Popcorn that is VEGAN!  I enjoyed it very much!  It was gently flavored and memorable!

This past weekend my parents and I attended a Women In The Outdoors Event at Chapman State Park and it was a wonderful day!  This is the 3rd year we have attended as a vendor with our Wildtree Products!  This is one of the MANY pics I took from one of the classes that took place!  Faerie Houses!

They had Essential Oil classes, too!  There were some classes that I had no interest in whatsoever that were not veg-friendly, per say, but in the area I live in I am used to it and skip over them.

They had outdoor Yoga, too!

And right next to us was a guy who was doing classes on Recycling For The Birds.  He would take plastic coffee tubs or other plastic bottles and make bird feeders out of them!  VERY COOL!  I think he did at least 4 classes and all of them were well attended!

IT'S MIDWEEK MUNCHIES TIME!!!
But I don't have an official linky this week so if you participate just let me know in comments!
To see an example of a past MWM (Midweek Munchies) take a look at my top sidebar!

Steam Punk Earrings From Green Tree Jewelry

I've been meaning to post these earrings for a while now but wanted to take the time to really sing their praises!  These are incredibly cool and incredibly special!

These are the Kinetic Steam Punk Earrings I received from Green Tree Jewelry.

These earrings are made in the USA and made from recycled materials which I will get more into below.  These earrings measure 1.65" by 1.5".  ALL of the gears you see here MOVE!!!  How cool is that?  The colors are Aqua Marine/Natural Wood/Black Satin and feature laser-cut wood stained with water-based dye.

As I said before Green Tree Jewelry is a really neat company because they use recycled items in their fashion jewelry. These earrings are made from sustainably sourced wood and 90% recycled display cards! Green Tree Jewelry uses a very thin, strong multi-layer wood, that has been put together in a criss-cross fashion giving it amazing strength.

Another huge benefit of wooden jewelry is how light weight it is! I forgot I had these on they were so lightweight - which I can't say about many other earrings!  Another thing I want to point out is I have neck stress issues so I refrain from wearing earrings most of the time because I don't want the added weight and stress on that part of my body, well, with THESE earrings it's not a problem at all!  I also know someone who has chronic neck pain and her chiropractor told her NOT to wear necklaces or earrings because the weight would make her pain worse...I bet these would be right up her alley!

Wood jewelry is sustainable and eco-friendly! According to Green Tree Jewelry - the modern standards and practices of the developed world - wood has re-emerged its self as one of the most sustainable resources we have today.  (Sadly, these practices do not take place in most tropical regions of the world yet, but with more awareness and support of sustainably resourced suppliers, this will surely change).

As you can see from the 3rd photo above - I have two other earring sets from Green Tree Jewelry and I will be blogging more about them VERY SOON!  I cannot express just how much I LOVE these earrings!  And guess what...I LOVE wearing earrings AGAIN!  Thanks Green Tree Jewelry!

MidWeek Munchies & What I Wore Wednesday!

I thought I would kick things off with the NEW Earrings I got in the mail!  Woot!  I will be doing a more lengthy review on each one of these in the near future but aren't they COOL?  The company is called Green Tree Jewelry and they are made from renewable and recycled materials!

When it comes to MidWeek Munchies I don't have too much to report but here is what I do have to share this week!  First up is BRAZIL NUTS!  I really need to grab some more cashews but I'm trying to hold out for a better price!

One of my favorite dressings EVER!

I needed to grab some more ACV!

And I also needed some more Agave Nectar.  This time I opted for the clean Agave from Ojio.

And I splurged for some trail mix!

I hope you will participate in this week's MWM!  If you have anything VEGAN you would like to share and link up with we welcome you and your posts! It can be a grocery store haul, garden or farmers market trip, online purchase, or anything you made and munched on that happens to be vegan!

An InLinkz Link-up

Domestic Displays, Freebies, and Dobson Fly

I still have a few posts-worth from Fair Week but it just occurred to me I have a slew of other things I need to blog about and FAST!  So I will most likely be doubling up on posts for a while!

Check out this shot of the jams, jellies, and other canning goods from the week of fair in the Domestic Buildings!

With all of the rides, animals, and live concerts at fair I think sometimes the Domestic Displays aren't as talked about but with our county fair they are celebrated NICELY!  There were TONS of crafts as well.  A family friend of ours won 1st and 2nd place for some of his veggies, too!  I loved seeing walls and walls of produce whether it be fresh or canned.

What's your favorite thing to can?

Tuesday - the day of our headlining concert - is the day we usually give away a few thousand plastic travel mugs from a local company that has become known world wide.

Here's a photo of our mug giveaway!  People go CRAZY for them!

Because the company increases their 'going green' practices each year we had TONS of different kinds of mugs to give away this time around.  Many of their unused mugs are melted down and the plastic recycled/reused so they don't store as many of them any more like they used to.

While interviewing some local and state politicians I noticed this weird bug directly behind them.  The photo doesn't do it justice, tho, the bug was about 5 or 6 inches in length.  Longer than my finger.  At the top of it's head you can see it has claws!!!!  It has pretty scary but we left it alone for the most part and the next day it was gone on its own accord.

From the research I've done it seems to be a Female Dobson Fly,

What was weird was they are known as night time bugs but this was seen in the middle of the day.

I also found out that there are about 60 different species of Dobson Flies.  Pretty interesting stuff.

If I remember correctly Opal's daughter used to like bugs - perhaps she will get a kick out of this one, too!

Meeting the Garden of Life Team - Part 1

When I was in West Palm Beach about a month ago (I can't believe it's already been over a month since we were on this amazing trip!) I met a bunch of the Garden of Life Team in their new main office and it was amazing!

I have TONS of photos and I might share those down the road but for today I thought I would mention just a few things off the bat!  I was so thrilled to meet Rhonda Price who I am pictured with in this first photo.  She was so nice!  I met DOZENS of people throughout the office, too!  Everyone was so great!  So many smiles! 

Rhonda told me that they moved their offices to this new building at the end of last year.  The windows and paint colors made everything so bright and cheery!  Rhonda took Dale and I on a tour and spent LOTS of time with us showing us the facility, taking photos, introducing us to everyone, and telling us all about the history of the company and even the area!

In the back ground of these two photos is a vertical wall garden that Garden of Life has in the middle of their office right across the hall from their kitchen/break room.  It was gorgeous!  If you stood back far enough you could see that the different colored plants spelled out G - O - L for Garden of Life.

Also in their kitchen area was a recycling center.  Employees were encouraged to recycle everything they were able to.  The 'wallpaper' for the kitchen was custom - copies of printed letters from employees - as to why they left their previous places of employment to come to Garden of Life.  It was really unique and just one of the many ways they showed just how much they valued their employees! 

Another part of the Garden of Life Office tour I really enjoyed was seeing some of their 'wall of fame.'  They had plaques and trophies but also some of their older products and labels on display.  It was neat to see how their labels and visuals have changed over the years. 

Rhonda told me that she recently went to a Jason Mraz concert and he is being featured in a future issue of their magazine, too! 

This display section was across from their board room.  They were meeting while we were there and she introduced us to them as well!  It was truly amazing!

Another room I really enjoyed seeing was one of their brain storming rooms!  It was set up like a grocery store.  Rhonda told us that they set up their products to see what they would look like up against other products and displays.  I told her that I recently saw an end display at the Whole Foods Co-Op in Erie, PA, and I would try and start taking some photos for her next time I was there.  I took so many photos while we were at the Garden of Life offices.  I had so much fun meeting everyone!  I will probably be doing more posts of my trip in future blog posts, too!

Rooftop Garden NOW Outside!

Hello everyone!  I'm a little behind on visiting your blogs but I hope to do that very soon! 

My days have been jam packed with writing - not only at work - but at the various sites I contribute to - as well as HOME issues.  My brother in law had to have emergency surgery a few weeks ago.  My husband has been having stomach issues again.  We've been in and out of vet's offices, etc. 

Because I try and keep this blog positive and optimistic - I have been doing more and more reflecting.  Because of the things around me - it's put some things into prospective.  These issues continue to speak to me and tell me just how important diet and physical activity is and it's never to late to make changes in your life.



Everything is a reminder to show LOVE to those you hold dear but also to those you may not know.  Be compassionate and understanding as much as possible.

I've been thinking about the small things in life, lately, too!  The little things that make a difference in each day.  The tiniest of occurrences that put a smile on ones face.


One of the MANY things I am thankful for and interested in these days is the progress of our Container Garden and Rooftop Garden Projects that myself and a few co-workers have been working on.

You can see some recent photos throughout this post!  Sure...some attempts have been better than others - but - you won't know unless you TRY - right?

In the first photo you can see that we have hardened off many of the indoor plants and they are now outside full time.  Many of them remain in the containers and/or reused/recycled items I've mentioned in previous posts.  By keeping them in containers we are able to move them if need be.  One thing we have yet to find out is the impact the hot roof will have on certain plants.  If this is an issue we are able to move each containers location to another part of the roof and/or we may put down reused plastic tarps or shelves underneath to cut down on the heat/temperature.  In the 2nd photo you can see some of what we are trying to grow a bit better. 

From left...we have one of the Dragon's Tongue Bean plants.  We kept about 6 other plants indoors.  I think they are thriving better inside actually.  The difference I have noticed with ours is that the indoor Dragon's Tongue are more plentiful and the yields are higher.  The individual beans are larger, too.  However...this outside plant is smaller but more colorful.  If you have read my previous posts about the Dragon's Tongue you may remember that when they are mature they are purple and green in color.  They are gorgeous!  The flavor is amazing, too!  We have harvested some already with more on the way!  They are EXTREMELY Crispy and Juicy!  YUM!

Next up we have some Spinach growing and regular green and white Swiss Chard as well as some Bright Lights Swiss Chard.  We are also attempting some regular spinach.  On the far end you will see a few other the smaller Brussels Sprout Plants we are trying.  These aren't growing as well as the ones we are growing in the orange buckets which I will be showing you in a bit.  We thought we would try a few of them in a different section just for kicks.

In the next photo you will see a table along the back with items on top.  We have everything from Beans and Peas to Basil and Chives.  We have some cucumbers and peppers, too!  In the smaller white containers - for the time being - we are using them to catch rain water.  We also have a few tomato plants and sunflowers started. 

You can also see we have some stairs.  We have more chives on the stairs, a few attempts at onions - which may or may not work - time will tell, and we have more space to expand!

Also under the stairs we have some leafy greens.  We have the Spicy Mesclun Mix as well as the Sweet Mix.  Both have been doing VERY well!  With the Sweet Mix I have already gotten 4 or 5 salads out of it and when I looked at it again this morning it looks like I could pick another lunch-size salads worth!  Since we took this photo we have re-arranged a few things and the peas are no longer in that spot.  We have Kale going there instead, now.

Off to the right of this last photo you can see our STRONGER Brussels Sprouts in the orange buckets.  Next to that is our MASSIVE Broccoli that is sprouting up VERY nicely!  We are stoked!

We decided to keep our Little Marvel Peas INSIDE along with the other Dragon's Tongue Beans.  We have some Rosalita Lettuces we are trying to bring back from the brink and a few other things in our indoor container garden, too!  I will try and share that in the future.  As for the house - we won't be doing much after all.  I did, however, find a Cherry Tomato Hanging Basket from a local greenhouse and purchased that as well as a Hanging Strawberry Plant.  Our Hosta's are taking over 3 sections of our yard!  I'll be sure to share photos of those with you soon, too!

Gardening Journey ~ Container/Rooftop Progress

I've had a couple of comments and emails asking to post some progress photos of the containers we are starting INSIDE to then take outside for our Rooftop Garden.  Well, ask...and yee shall receive...

First up...

GREENS!  Here's a look at our lettuces, leafy greens, even some Kale (the one smack-dab in the middle).  ALL of the greenery has sprouted.  Some more advanced than others but that is expected because of the maturity lengths being different.  We are FOR SURE going to have to thin out and space the one on the left...that's the Rosalita Lettuce.  Those grow into 'heads'.  The others are more loose and leafy.  The Kale is already getting their 'second leaves/sprouts' so that's pretty neat.

Some of the other seeds are sprouting, too!  Here's a look at the Broccoli!  There are 2 sprouts here - one is stronger than the other, tho!

We have the Broccoli in a 1 and a half gallon bucket.  Some of you already read on previous posts that we are reusing CD Jewel Case Holders for the lettuces that are pictured above.

We have another bucket like this one - but it's red - that contains the carrots we are trying to grow from seed, too!

I was beginning to wonder if we got 'duds' on the carrots until we came in yesterday and saw these wonderful sprouts!  Aren't they awesome!

I can't wait to see what they all do next!  I think that is part of my problem...PATIENCE.  I need more Patience!

Now here are our Brussel Sprouts!  We started them from seed but in 'starter sections' and they are doing REALLY well!  We will have to transplant them very soon!  So far 17 out of 18 have sprouted nicely.  I was hoping for at least half of them to survive but look at these babies GROW!  And most of them have 2 to 3 sprouts per section!  Sam and I figured we have 34 of them right  now.  Karen and I were the only ones who knew that Brussel Sprout PLANTS have a large self-supportive stalk and each plant produces MANY Brussel Sprouts!  So even if HALF of these continue to grow we are going to have a TON of Brussel Sprouts!  YAY!  Could you imagine...34 Brussel Sprout "Trees" on a roof?  that makes me giggle!  I hope it works, tho!  Did you know that each plant/tree can grow up to 2 and a half feet tall!?  that's FANTASTIC!

Indoor Gardening & Container Gardening - Getting a Game Plan & Starting

(I originally had this as a schedule post for tomorrow - but - I decided to move it up to today - and will tell you WHY - in the very near future!)

It has begun!  The Indoor Gardening Process for our Rooftop Garden at work!  YAY!  Last Saturday - 3 of us came in and started our 'game plan'.  We also started our first 'flight' of indoor 'from seed' attempts.  As I mentioned in previous posts - we are reusing many items for this project.

In this first photo you will see that we are using 3 long and narrow wooden boxes.  In these 3 boxes we are doing 3 different kinds of onions.  One in each box.  We are jokingly calling the middle one our "Ron Burgundy Onions" - they are really called RED Burgundy Onions...but all three of us thought they same thing.

We obtained these wooden containers from our 'junk room' at work.  Prior to the 'junk room' these wooden boxes were holding old 45's.  Since we will never be using those again since everything is digital we decided to reuse them and put them to work.  The place I work is inside a very old building.  A few rooms that are being used as storage and not for public use because I doubt they are up to code - are gems in themselves.  There are OLD 'leftovers' from pre-1940 in there.  One of the items is an old retail display case with plastic drawers...big enough to fit shoes in.  There are roughly 30 of these.  We used some of them in the photo above to catch the drainage water from the boxes.  We also used them to prop up the wooden boxes so they could get more sun from the window.  If you look in the 2nd photo you will see some small sections we are trying to start.  If they work - we hope to transplant them.  They are Brussels Sprouts.  In the empty space between the two - we ended up putting two 1.5 gallon buckets.  One with Carrots and the other one with Broccoli.  We drilled holes in the bottom of each of those and put them in those clear plastic drawers as well.
On the other side of the room we are using old CD Jewel Case Holders - with holes on the back/bottom for drainage - and put in the clear plastic drawers.  So far - mostly - in these we are doing various greens!  Lettuces - all different colors and kinds - and Kale.  We hope to have these indoors for about 4 to 6 weeks and then harden them off and take them outside.  We have TONS of other plans but are going to space them out.  As for the set up indoors...we ended up reusing old wood and surfaces to make the "tables" and hugged them up to each window.  I will keep you posted on any progress!

Lengthy Post ~ Eventful 2014 Start!

LONG Post Alert! 

Happy 2014!  I've been VERY busy!  In this post you will see a BUNCH of things that I have been working on!  Starting with this Quinoa Dish from a few days ago!  Unfortunately, I have misplaced the recipe!  DRAT!  But it does have various Spices, Quinoa, and Diced Tomatoes in it!  I hope to post the recipe as soon as I locate it tho!  Sorry about that! 

Eeeeek!

Another Mini Project that I have been working on is this Mixed Media Artsy-Crafty Piece.  I have but using various mediums and doing many layers over time.  It's so thick right now it's much like a canvas texture-wise!  I'm happy with the colors and texture and weight of it.  I will be revisiting this again soon, I'm not sure if I will use it in Art Journaling or Wall Art - perhaps do a collage over top or maybe just add a phrase and Frame.  I will keep you posted, tho!

As some of you know...I'm soooooo NOT a baker!  But I'm TRYING to at least TRY!  This was my FIRST attempt at Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies. 

Yes...they are a little flat...but they tasted YUMMY and kept well.

Recipe:

1 1/2 C Bob's Red Mills Flour
1 tea Baking Soda
1 tea Soaked Chia Seeds
1 tea Vanilla Extract
1/2 C Earth Balance
1/2 C Peanut Butter
1/4 C Chocolate Peanut Butter
1/4 C Applesauce
1/2 C Brown Palm Sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners)

My Craft Room is a MESS!

And...I mean...a MESS!  Beyond a MESS, actually!  One of my many MINI Goals is to fix that.  I start in on this a little bit yesterday!

You certainly can't tell from this photo!

What I will show you is HOW I started in on this MESS...

 I started in with the PENS - Markers, Pencils, Water Colors, etc...

You name the utensil...it's HERE...

I like the way it turned out!  I thought I would share it with you here...step by step!

There are 24 compartments - empty - for now...

We made these out of 10 feet of PVC Pipe.

We cut them into 5 inch "rings" for lack of better word, I suppose!

I really wanted a BACK on each one so it would STOP the items I put in there...and they wouldn't fall thru or fall out the back.

Decorative Duck Tape worked nicely.  We covered about 75 to 80 percent of the back because I knew we wouldn't fill them with pens all the way to the top!  I had two colors/patterns of Tye-Dye so I thought it would be cool to use 'em.  It worked pretty well!

We had 4 compartments left over.  As you can see here we could fit 5 across on each shelf for a total of 20 compartments.  With the 4 left over ones we covered completely with the Tye-Dye Duck Tape and set them right-side-up on the top shelf for 4 more containers.

Yes...I already filled all 24 of them.

I love the way it turned out tho...but...I do have a LONG way to go on this Craft Room OVER HAUL.

Here's a closer look at this project.

I have more photos, too, but I think you get the picture!

I also love that this was reusing something and multipurposing.

Cost-Wise it made me smile, too!  We figured it cost roughly 80 cents per compartment by doing it this way!  YAY!

One of the main reasons my Craft Room is TRASHED is because I am a Pack Rat and have too much stuff! LOL

One of the items...

I've been saving and have been given LOTS of tins!  This is just a small amount of the overall picture and problem.  I want to make a mini goal to do a few a week...I will keep you posted on that.

Another item is this...

Yes...those are empty Plastic Soda/Pop Bottles.

I have in the past and I want to get back into working with them again.

I make Plastic Beads out of them...stay tuned for that in the near future, too!  I posted about it a while back on my old Crafting Blog, too!

This is a photo of my 2 cats on New Years Eve.

Gabby on the left and Charlie on the right.

They stayed this close for about a half hour or so.

While I drank my smoothie that I posted about the other night!

And...finally...

Vegan Garlic Ranch Dressing!  Woot!

2 Small Zukes
1/3 C Soaked Cashews
4 Small Dates
4 T Lemon Juice
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Shallot
1 T Parsley
Sprinkle to Taste Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
1/2 C Almond Milk (or to texture/consistency)
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast

This is WONDERFUL!  I'm so happy with this flavor!  What have you been working on in 2014 so far!?