Vegan Cauliflower Sweet Potato Chowder

It's a NEW Week!?  Are you ready!?  I'm TRYING.

I have to tell you I already have LOTS to share this week but I'm going to try and pace myself so I can post something at least once each day!  I would like to start off the week by sharing this AMAZING Vegan Cauliflower Sweet Potato Chowder I attempted last night!  I combined 2 online recipes and then added a few other things to it.  I altered it so much that I think that I can safely put the recipe here on my blog.

Ingredients for Vegan Cauliflower Sweet Potato Chowder:

1 Small Head of Cauliflower

2 Sweet Potatoes

5 C Water

1 C Cashews

1 T Wildtree Absolutely Onion

5 Cloves Garlic

1 tea Basil

2 to 3 tea Braggs Liquid Aminos

Most of the soups I do - I throw everything into my blender and DONE.  This one took a few more steps.

First I took 3 C Water and boiled.  I added the Cauliflower that I broke up into smaller chunks, added the Sweet Potatoes that I cut up into smaller chunks and too the skin off, and added the Onion, Garlic, and Basil to the pot.  I put them on medium until soft.

While I was waiting for them to get soft - I moved over to my Vitamix and put the other 2 C Water in my blender along with the 1 C of Cashews.  I blended those until it looked like milk.  

I then added the Cashew Milk I just made in my blender to the pot of Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes, etc that was on the stove and simmered for another 5 minutes or so.  This is when I added the Bragg's Liquid Aminos, too!

I then took about 75% of the contents and put it in my blender again and blended until smooth.  I added it back to the pot and stirred it.  

I just HAD to try a bowl (or two) and absolutely LOVED it!!!!  YUMMO!  I topped the individual serving bowl(s) with a sprinkle of Smoked Paprika and Nutmeg!   WOWZA!  Totally LOVE this soup!  Or is it a CHOWDER?  You be the judge!

It made an INSANE amount so I will surely been eating it for DAYS!  YAY!

It's been a while since I posted any photos of the furkids.  Not sure why.  Here is Riley on the left and Cricket on the right.  They snuggled up on my lap on DH's Recliner (I rarely sit in it).  Luckily I had my iPhone nearby to snap this pic.  This was Saturday Night.  They were touching 'cheek to cheek' and I don't mean the cheeks on their faces! haha!

Cricket was kind of a little terror this weekend.  She's about 4-ish but she still acts like a puppy!  After all the activity of the weekend and her tear-assin' around the house - this was her last night - sacked out on my lap.  She has gained a little weight since we adopted her over 2 years ago but she still only weighs 7 pounds at the most.  She's so small.  Especially when she crawls into a little ball and sleeps!

Playing Catch Up!

I found this cute meme on Instagram the other day and reposted and commented...This is my Monday Face...and Tuesday Face...and Wednesday Face...lol...YEAH...it's been a rough few weeks or months but I am trying to kick the attitude and start a NEW!

Eventho it's been a very mild winter here in the snowbelt I'm looking forward to spring regardless!  So far today we had between a foot or two of snow fall.  I was shoveling my sidewalk and driveway and the city plow came thru and plowed me back in.  Nice!  I'm typing that with much sarcastically - I don't know if you picked up on that!

The furkids are doing well!  Cricket is a 'crazy lady' that is what we call her sometimes but she's also a sweet pea and darling girl!  She puts so much life into our home.  She has a devilish side, too!  She likes to torment her brothers.  Riley has a soft side for her most times whereas Paco is too polite to do anything to snap back and I usually have to stop Cricket from picking on Paco.  Paco is so funny - he actually waits in line to drink from the water bowl in the living room at night.  He lets Cricket and Riley go first and he waits until last to lap up the water!

Paco is doing really well considering all of his medical issues.  He's been on his same meds for over a year now and his blood work is consistently where it should be.  He pees a lot but I would rather him do that than not be with us.  He's still sweet as ever!  And he's so strong to deal with everything, too!  He's plumped up from the meds but just adds to his character.  

I took this photo on a sunnier day than today and just had not posted it yet.  I'm still wearing my glasses and most likely will just continue to.  I think it makes me look older but I don't really care.  I know in the past no one could believe I was 36 but maybe now I will start looking my age anyways.  It is what it is, right!?

Work has been rough but I'm still plugging along.  I've been fairly uninspired in the kitchen as of late and going back to some comfort foods, cheap foods, fast foods, and good old stand by's!

I've been throwing a lot of dishes together much like this veggie curry here.

I've been re-organizing my tea collection and re-visiting some old favorites.

I have been able to spend a good amount of time with my parents the last several months.  They went to Aruba last month.  They LOVED it.  My sister had a rough weekend because she lost one of her furkids to cancer.

I'm still VERY MUCH into the Essential Oils.  My parents have gotten into them, too!  My sister has been buying some stuff online at PipingRock.com so I thought we would try it at as well.  So my parents and I went in on it together and they bought an Essential Oil Starter Kit with about 14 different oils.  I had at least half of them so I didn't get one of the kits I opted for 4 individual oils instead.

I decided to try 2 of their blends.  The Mental Clarity and the Stress Relief blends and I have them at work.  I have tried and like both of them.

Then I grabbed some Grapefruit Oil and Pine Needle Oil.  Those were two of the ones on my results sheet I received before Christmas.  I really like both of these, too!  I will say that the Pine Needle surprised me.  I thought it was going to be way too 'manly' and pungent but it's 'just right'.

I really like Piping Rock so far!  Their prices are quite a bit lower than many other sites I have seen.  I've only gotten their oils but I intend to make a purchase down the road that contains some of their nuts, seeds, snacks, etc.

Smoothies, Vegan Cheesecake, Furkids, Vegan Cheese Sauce, and More MyKind

Happy Monday!  This is pretty much a Weekend Round-up of sorts but I guess I am starting backwards.  This morning I was successful with trying to stick with my Monday thru Friday Morning Smoothies!  Here's what I did for this morning:

1 1/2 Bananas
2 Dates
1 C of Coconut/Almond/Hemp Milk
1 T Sun Warrior ORMUS Peppermint

It's pretty yummy!  I think I found the trick to doing smoothies with bananas for someone who doesn't like bananas like myself.  ADD DATES!  I wonder what tomorrow will bring for my morning smoothie?  I'm thinking Wheatgrass!

Last week I blogged about FINALLY finding Daiya's Cheezecake in my region.  I had some over the weekend.  Here's a photo of it.  I was looking for a vegan pie filling which I was able to find but I was really happy about the dyes and other not-so-great ingredients in them not to mention the PRICE.  So I found that buying a think of strawberries was actually cheaper than buying the canned stuff which is RARE where I live so I grabbed some and made my own.  All I did was throw some strawberries into my Ninja Blender (yes I still use this as a food processor mostly) and a bit of Organic Raw Cane Sugar.
*ADD 1 t of Garden of Life's Organic Plant Protein VANILLA.  It's optional but awesome!

I'm kind of spoiling a little bit of my upcoming MidWeek Munchies but telling you some of these recipes but OH WELL.  I'll post about some of the ingredients TWICE this week!  Here's yet another Vegan Cheese Sauce I made this past weekend and I topped it with Spanish Paprika that I bought in bulk at my local herb store!

This sauce as the following: 1/2 C Cashews, 1/4 to 1/2 C Pine Nuts, Juice of 1 Lemon, 2 t Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 C Coconut Milk, 1 Squirt of Yellow Mustard, 1 T Garbanzo Bean Flour, 1/2 t Paprika (and more to top), 1/2 t Turmeric, 3 to 4 T Nutritional Yeast.

The sauce was tasty but I think I used a bit more Spanish Paprika then I would suggest to others that are just trying it for the first time.  I also noticed that 'regular' paprika has very little taste whereas this Spanish Paprika is POPPING with flavor!  If you can find it - BUY IT!  The difference is amazing!

The furkids enjoyed the weekend cuddling up to us.  We were around more than we had been but we still took a trip to Buffalo on Saturday.  More on that later in the week.

Here's a pic of Riley lazin' out in between me and the sofa.  What a SLUG!

Friday night while I was writing I had Charlie sitting next to me on the stairs.  Yes...this is our feral cat Charlie.  He's pushing 15 years old and doesn't seem to be slowing down much.  He likes tormenting the dogs that is for sure!

Oh!  Yeah!  We also saw our first snow fall of the season.  As you might now I'm NOT a fan.

This morning it was 28 degrees.  Brrrr!

And in Friday's mail I received a box from Garden of Life!  YAY!  They sent me a bunch of their new products and I have to say I'm pretty stoked!  You may know I am not usually one for pill-taking but many of these are liquids.  I'm especially excited about the Vitamin C sprays!  I've tried them already and the flavors are pretty impressive.  I'm taking these NOW to fight off the germs of my co-workers!  I've also started taking Colloidal Silver.  More on that in a future post, too!  I'm also excited to announce that Garden of Life is allowing me to do weekly giveaways on the weekends starting THIS COMING WEEKEND so stay tuned for that!

Meet Cricket!

Meet Cricket!

Well, the local shelter was calling her Layla.  Her name before that was Skye.  She doesn't respond to either name.  We were trying out names on her and she acknowledged Cricket.  I think her full name is going to be Cricket Chaka Khan Bliss.

Yup!  We are fostering her.  But I really think that that foster situation is going to turn into an adoption situation.  She's amazing!  And the other 2 dogs are getting a long with her well, too!

She's listed as a Chihuahua Mix.  I'm convinced she's mix with a tad of Rat Terrier...but...she has SO MANY Chi tendencies!  She looks way bigger than she actually IS in this photo.  She's only about 4 pounds.

I've taken her into work with me the last two mornings.  She LOVES riding in the car.  She also likes toys.  She's about a year and 7 months old.  She's been at the shelter for 7 months approximately.

Paco's old puppy vest fits her great!  She's very friendly, answers to just about anyone, and doesn't mind crate time for bedtime.

I'm hoping everything continues to go well because I'm already falling in love with her - she's AMAZING!

On Sunday I took her over to my parents house and they have a nicer neighborhood to go for walks in.  The drivers in the area are more cautious and slow.  Where I live they treat the street like a race track.  I felt safer there not knowing how she would react quite yet.

Check out this photo!  That's Lexi - my parents dog - on the left and Cricket on the right.  Lexi is a Border Collie/Rat Terrier Mix.  We were calling Cricket - Lexi's Mini-Me because of the marking.  They got along GREAT, too!

With Paco's health issues I can't really take him on walks.  Riley is VERY choosy when it comes to men...he only likes my husband and his brother.  So it will be great to have a walking buddy!

Isn't she the CUTEST?

Household Updates

Last week was crazy.  I wanted to hold off on posting this until I knew more.  I'm happy with my choice to wait because I think there has been some improvement.  Here's what's up...Last week...Paco developed another spot near his hip.  He also stopped taking his meds - which was never a problem up to about Wednesday Night.  PLUS...Wednesday and Thursday he was getting sick.  Thursday Night even more so.  I called the vet that had been with him thru his whole ITP Diagnosis and she wanted me to bring him in again on Friday so I did.  They did all the blood work all over again and said the good news was that his levels and counts were the best they have been since this whole thing started.  The bad news was they are pretty sure that he has an ulcer somewhere in his body.

So we took him off of the steroids and added an additional medication to coat his stomach and help with this ulcers.  This seemed to help a LOT.  Because it was an intense steroid that he was on - they asked me to start giving it to him yesterday so I did. 

Time will tell what we will do next but I have a feeling they will have to adjust the steroid(s) that he IS on because that is the problem.  

Thankfully all else seems to be ok.  What I will say - without any hesitation is that ITP SUCKS!!!!  I wouldn't wish it on ANYONE...human or animal! 

In other news...Suzie has been rapidly aging.  We've had her for 12 years and she was 2 when we adopted her.  She's the Queen Bee - always has been - always will be - but - she's been making some noises the last few months that we are chalking up to arthritis.  She's always been a picky eater but the last week or so we've had to coax her to eat more than usual.  She's not in pain because she's still running around and playing.  I have been adding water to her food and yesterday I picked up some soft food to mix in with what she usually eats...I know she wasn't crazy about the food we just ran out of so that could be part of it too!  BUT...I have to say she is LOVING the wet food that we bought for her.  She's been eating it up without much nudging from us.  Disclaimer...our furkids are NOT vegetarian/vegan neither is my hubby.  Anyhow...I hope this new special mixture of wet and dry food will be the trick for her.


Aside from 'furkids' it was a weekend of CLEANING in our house!  WOWZA!  I started on Tuesday of last week going thru my clothes and ended up trashing a bag and donating 3 large garbage bags full of clothes.  THEN...this weekend I was able to toss 2 more bags and donate 4 more bags of clothes to Goodwill, too!  I still have more to go thru but this is a great start!  We went thru the upstairs hallway, the bathroom, the bedroom, the down stairs living room, and front room, and Paco's Palace (as we call it) and cleaned, too! 

Another thing we chatted about this past weekend was possibly opening up a YouTube Channel or two.  We thought it would be a good thing to do this winter since we tend to be hermits when the snow flies...which brings me to my next tidbit...SNOW...blah...YEAH...we saw our first snow fall of the season...a dusting...thankfully it didn't last the whole day on Saturday. 

Paying It Forward

One story I didn't share with you from last week was this...in the middle of everything going on with Riley's removal on his neck and then the MAJOR health issue Paco had been dealing with for a few weeks PLUS hubby's Crohn's being confirmed by a 2nd doctor...I was having a HELL of a week.  Before getting to work the one morning I decided to go to a local drive-thru where they have a few (vegan) bagel choices I sometimes go for when I'm short on time.  I decided to go thru their drive-thru.  I usually have them toast it but no butter or cheese.  I opt for a slice of tomato instead.  They are VERY accommodating!  ANYWAYS...I get up to pay and the girl told me my 'bill' was taken care of my the person in front of me.  I know this concept is nothing new but it's never happened to me.  That day my emotions couldn't handle everything and I was overwhelmed by the  kindness of a stranger I sort of FROZE - thanked the girl - drove away - and proceeded to BAWL my eyes out.  This simple act - with everything I had going on - I just couldn't BELIEVE it.  I was so thankful.  It's was so much that someone PAID for my breakfast that day but moreso that I had an angel of sorts that made me feel like someone out there understood I was having an emotional few weeks and I was at 'wits end'.  Regardless I was so taken back by it.  Less than a week later I decided to also Pay If Forward and go back to the same drive thru and do the same thing for someone behind me.  It felt good.  I'm going to continue to do that at least once a month in that same place.  I love doing nice things and try and do them often but it makes you really want to do more, too, when you aren't the only one who seems to care if you know what I mean.

Furkids/Family Medical Updates & Timeline

If you read my post yesterday you will see that Paco is not doing well.  He was diagnosed with IMHA.  We are very worried.  He's currently at the vet hospital getting aggressive steroids and fluids.  I've been doing a lot of reading and research on the disease and it's NOT good.  Even if he pulls thru - it will be a long and tricky recovery.  It's so frustrating because other than the rash on his stomach he was NOT showing any other symptoms of the disease.  Perhaps that is a positive thing - meaning we caught it early - and he will do better than the majority of other cases I have been reading about.  Right now it's a waiting game and I almost can't handle that.

Last night I went thru the last 8 months in my head and put it all together...I can't believe (the following) all happened in the last 8 months with all 5 of our furkids...Suzie had two fatty tumors removed - her stitches popped and it set her back for a few weeks.  We lost our precious Gabby to Liver Cancer and that was totally unexpected.  Charlie had a wound that would not heal on his tail and he had to have his tail amputated.  Riley - just last week - had to have a large portion of skin removed from his neck and has a double ear infection that we are still treating.  6 days later - this has happened with Paco...I took him in for what I thought was a rash and it ended up being IMHA.  All this in 8 months.

In addition...my  husband has been having stomach issues for about a year and a half.  Yesterday (while everything was going on with Paco) he was out of town for more tests and procedures and it was confirmed a 2nd time - but by a specialist this time - that he does, in fact, have Crohn's Disease.

Yesterday completely sucked.  BUT...it's NOT a home without Fur-Kids.  And at least my husband now knows that it IS Crohn's Disease.  It's something he will have for the rest of his life but it's manageable.  Now if we can just get some more answers on what to do next for him.

Riley's Cone

I thought I would throw a quick blog post up about Riley's day yesterday.  Yup!  He's wearing a cone!  The night before we noticed a lump on his throat and long story short we were able to get him in to see a vet the next morning without having to wait.  After losing Gabby not that many month ago I was worried something major was going to be wrong with Riley.  BUT...I'm happy to report that the lump we found was a larger equivalent of a 'skin tag' and was removed without having to put him under. The vet was able to numb the area and clip it from his skin and he only required a few stitches.  They are telling us that his re-coop time should only be 14 days.  We were relieved and very happy it wasn't something major.  He also has another ear infection but he's had chronic ear infections his whole life so we are more than used to treating those.

Foods, Fiats, & Furkids

Where to begin?  LOTS to blog about today!  Some recaps from the weekend as well as some other stuff!  I guess I will start with food!  Yesterday I had a light food day.  Not only because I was busy but because I wasn't overly hungry.  I had a Raw Day - which was nice!  But it was VERY simple.  I had a mini meal of Coconut Water and Aloe Chunks and a whole grapefruit.  Last night I had a MASSIVE Salad.  Lettuce(s), Tomatoes, Radishes, Cashews, Sprouts, etc.  I topped it with a salad dressing that I will post below about along with some Nutritional Yeast.  The sprouts I sprouted myself and blogged about that previously as well.  In addition - I added a few raw sprouted chickpeas that I also did myself - in my kitchen.  A few days ago I started sprouting some Radish Sprouts that aren't quite ready yet.  Speaking of Radishes, tho, I found some at the Erie Whole Foods Co-Op that were semi-local and gorgeous!  I could resist and HAD to pick them up for $1.99 per bunch.  They were HUGE and featured 4 different colors.  I used one of the Red ones in this salad.

This is a photo of the Homemade Raw Vegan Salad Dressing I made that you can also see on the salad in the photo above!  This was incredibly flavorful and SO EASY to make!  Here's what's in this Creamy Orange Dressing:
3 Mandarin Oranges
1 Avocado
1/4 C Lemon Juice
3 T Grapeseed Oil
1/4 C Water
2 T Basil

And speaking of EASY food and beverage prep...I discovered a neat way to make a glass of Lemonade!

8 to 10 ounces of water
1 T Lemon Juice
A few drops of NuNaturals Lemon Flavored Stevia

So easy and so tasty!

I've also been focusing on 'waste-not-want-not' type things in the house - especially in the kitchen!  After making the dressing above I saved the peels of the mandarins and put them in boiling water.  The aroma filled my kitchen and it was wonderful!  I also added a pinch of cinnamon.

I also made a few lunches a head of time last night.  This was one of them.  A simple Veggie and Rice Noodle Teriyaki Stir Fry.  I used frozen veggies - here - because there isn't much to choose from in the area of fresh right now.  I used Wildtree Teriyaki Sauce to taste.  I really like their sauce because it's not very salty at all - and - of course - it's vegan!

Multi-color peppers, peas, asparagus, corn, carrots, etc.  I even topped it with more sprouts!

Saturday - hubby and I took a drive in HIS new Fiat.  Yes...that's right...we now have TWO Fiat's!  They are even the same year but his didn't have a previous owner where as mine did.  His is a 'stick' where as mine is an 'automatic'.  We found out that his gets about 4 miles more HIGHWAY than mine does...which is kind of cool!  So...I average about 40 and he goes between 40 and 44 highway.  It was a fun drive!  We swung by the shop in Erie to have them check his breaks and it wasn't a big deal - they fixed a slight noise - and they chalked it up from it sitting on the lot previous to us buying it.  After that we were on a mission to find a good Indian Restaurant.  You see...my husband hasn't been a fan of Indian Foods and I am.  BUT...this place...he really liked so I was so happy!  We ended up in Niles, OH, and went to Bombay Curry & Grill.  Everyone was so nice and there were many vegetarian and vegan things to try!  We ended up both getting the buffet so he could try anything he wanted for a nice variety and I could see exactly what it was before eating it!  For the two of us - this bill was only $17.  AWESOME!

The 'furkids' have been doing well!  I woke up yesterday to this photo op!  Lately I have had to put this green blanket on top of my pillow and he will either sleep by my head or burrow underneath the blanket but on top of the pillow.  In this photo he wedged himself in between the pillow and the sofa arm rest and under the blanket!  So silly!

 And as I was getting ready for work the other day - the other two pups were 'cheek to cheek' and I don't mean the ones on their faces - in this photo - ready to lounge for the day while I went to work.

Charlie's doing real well!  It looks like the sore on his tail is getting better and he's been fairly nice.  As many of you may know - he's a pretty feral.  We are still missing Gabby and always will - but she's with Sammy now!  One day - we will be reunited!

WW BlogPaws Edition

Almost Wordless Wednesday BlogPaws Edition!

Suzie snubbing Riley's Kisses!

Paco trying to pal up with Riley when he knew I was upset
about him chewing my Memory Foam Pillow!

Lexie - My Parent's Puppy!

Paco looking evil but really having FUN playing with Daddy!

Riley laying on me with Christmas Lights glowing in the background!

Charlie laying on my pillows after trying to hide them from Paco!

Furkid Fun

I figured it was time for an update on our "furkids".  A few weeks ago Dale took this chair out of our home studio/office and put it in the hallway.  I think he thought I wanted it for my work station area in the corner of our living room but I was sure it wouldn't fit.  So there it sat for a bit near the Attic Door until we figured out what to do with it.  Well, Gabby made that decision FOR us!  She claimed it.  So we are going to try and keep it but put it by the window - it seems she is really 'digging' this chair.  It's a very high chair, I might add but she can look out the window of the upstairs hallway so that is probably another reason she likes it.  She's such a sweet cat!

It's been REALLY cold here the last several days and it's supposed to follow suit for the foreseeable future.  Paco's been burrowing and snuggling more and more.  I'm still fascinated by the art of nest making, here!  He totally did this himself.

In other news - Suzie is FINALLY doing well!  We had a stitch pop and it knocked the stitch removal date back 4 days.  Long story short she DID get them removed on Friday and has been a happy camper ever since!  She's such a trooper!

Here's a photo of all 3 dogs lined up on the sofa over the weekend!  I couldn't help but take a pic of them! 

The only one I didn't get a pic of this weekend was Charlie.  He's been sleeping on his chair mostly.  He seems to be mending his tail ok by himself and it doesn't really seem to bother him.  I have been checking it often just to make sure, tho!  It's been closed for a while now so that's good!

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.

Tornadoes, Storms, & How The Furkids Deal

(This is my 2nd Post of the day - Remember to Scroll Down)

Last Night was a strange one!  We were under Tornado Warnings, Watches, Severe Thunderstorms, as well!  Tornadoes are not an everyday occurrence where I live. 

<------ In order of appearance: Suzie, Riley, and Paco could have been any closer to each other OR any closer to their MOM while all of the commotion was going on with the storms!

I'm the one with my legs under the white blanket.  We were listening for an extended noise to head down to the basement but we didn't need to!  Thankfully!

I heard that a Tornado touched down in Union City which is about 40 minutes from us and it's rumored there was one in Scandia which is about 10 to 15 minutes from us!  The one in Scandia is unofficial at this time.  There were some without power for a little bit and the street lights were off-whack.  Our internet was down for a little while but nothing major.  This morning there were two school districts in the region on 2-hour delays and there was some debris such as branches and trees that were down and in the road, but again, nothing major to my knowledge.

I will say that Paco turns into a completely different dog when he is unsure of something!  It's like he's trying to be a 'tough guy' but gets really mellow and calm.  He didn't want to stray too far from us, that is for sure!  He did shake a little but not overly-so and not consistently. 

The Dogs were not the only ones who act differently!  YES!  All animals can sense weather changes - AND - mood changes!  It's times like this that I'm reminded of that!

Charlie is the WORST when the storms occur.  But last night - he hid for the first few hours and then was okay towards the tail end of them.  Gabby wasn't too bad.  She was on the stairs the entire time.  I took this photo after things started to wind down a bit.  It's rare if I get a photo of them together let alone with them both looking in my direction.

I'll be back in a little bit with another post - a food post!  Until then...have you had any strange weather lately?  How do your furkids deal with it?  Stay Safe!

Burgers, Basketball, Food, Weather, Dogs, Cars, Movies, Radio Remotes - Oh My!

I mentioned last week that it has been pretty crazy lately!  This post will show you some of the things that have been taking place - both in my Full Time Job in Radio, in the Community, in my fun-job Wildtree, and in daily life. 

Kickin' things off is the radio remote that we had on Friday at the Allegheny Burger Festival and Gus Macker 3-on-3.  Here's a photo of my hubby while talking to a vendor and friend of ours on the radio during the live broadcast.  That's Dale's New/Used FJ Cruiser in the back ground that we put 92 Gold Magnets on for the remotes.  It actually works well for that station because of the Yellow in the 92 Gold Logo! 

The Burger Festival and Basketball Tourney was Friday thru Sunday.  Our Radio Remote was at the very beginning from 11 to 1 on Friday.  Saturday - my mom, dad, and I took our Wildtree Stuff down and were there from 9am until almost 10pm.  The weather was PERFECT!  There were around 200 teams.  We did pretty good for sales - not awesome - but not bad, either.  It's funny how many fellow vegetarians and vegans I meet at Burger and Rib events!  This weekend I met a young man who was also vegan and we had a great conversation.  He ended up buying some Wildtree Butter Grapeseed Oil.  The Butter Flavor is vegan - the flavoring comes from coconuts!  He was there with two of his friends that wanted to try and get him to eat a burger.  He stood TRUE.  One of the vendors there did a HUGE Vegan Burrito for me!  It was awesome!

 Sunday we dropped by a few car lots and looked to see what they had.  I will be in the market for a switch soon but I am looking for something  very specific.  It has to be SMALL since Dale's vehicle is so HUGE.  It has to be good on gas mileage.  I want to get my payment down.  $200 a month would be awesome!  It has to have a unique color that stands-out.  And Automatic.  I have to say I am sort of in LOVE with the new Chevy Spark!  But I'm not into buying BRAND NEW cars, ya know?  This one is technically USED but not by much.  It only has 156 miles on it.  I don't like this color and come to find out it's a Standard.  I'm really interested in the Jalapeno color of these, tho!
After enjoying a drive around town my husband, mother-in-law, and I went to see Star Trek - Into Darkness.  My Husband went to see it on Saturday with his brother, too!  It was GOOD! 

Sunday evening - we spent a quiet night at home and as you can see the 'furkids' were just hanging-out, too! 

Riley is such a GOOF.  He LOVES to lay on his back - which is rare for most dogs - at least the dogs I know!  He must have laid like this for at least an hour.  I also go a close-up of his mouth and teeth!  He was cracking me up!

Oh yes!  I almost forgot to mention that Friday Night we were supposed to meet up for dinner with some friends of ours!  Tom and Nicole.  Tom plays Mandolin in Dale's band.  But Tom wasn't feeling well.  So Dale and I went to dinner at a near by Golf Course and Restaurant that we haven't been to in a LONG time!  Jackson Valley Golf Course.  They had a nice salad bar - I also got a plain Sweet Potato, too!  I hope to post some photos of the overlook later today or tomorrow.

The weather has been great the last few days!  Yesterday it was 88 and 89 degrees when I left work at 5-ish.  This is totally my kind of weather!  To think - just a week ago it was snowing!  It's supposed to get a little cooler again but the forecasts have been up and down so that could all change again - and again - and again!

More happenings through-out the day yesterday...we had another LIVE remote broadcast!  This time it was from Jones Chevrolet in Starbrick.  They were having a Ribbon Cutting for their new showrooms!  They did a very LARGE Expansion and Upgrade to their facilities!  It was neat to get the grand tour!  They've been in the area for 95 years!  It's been passed down thru 4 generations!  The Chamber was there - I have worked with them in the past - as I served on the board for 6 years - and our Mayor was there - as well as the District Manager for Chevy - and other family and employees of the dealership!

Dale was EYE BALLING the new Corvette!  Grrr!  I told him he already has his Corvette!  This year I hope we take it to some car shows!  Dale told me he doesn't like the new head-lights on the 'vette's because they don't pop up like all of the other Corvette's lights do!  He's rather upset they changed this aspect of the 'vette!  I will say - the color is pretty awesome, tho!

And FINALLY...some food!  I've been really hungry for some Indian Food and last night I did a take on a dish based on what I had on hand and I am really pleased with how it turned out!  Here's what I did for this Indian Mushroom-Lima Bean Stew:

2 C Lima Beans
6 Ounces sliced Mushrooms
1 Small Onion
1 C Diced Tomatoes with Juice
1/2 C White Cooking Wine
1 T Garam Masala
1/2 tea Turmeric
1 T Garlic Paste/Spread
Pinch of Wildtree Garlic Galore
1/2 tea Red Chili Pepper

I had a little bit of this last night to taste it and I'm having the rest for lunch today!  It's very yummy!  I sort of blabbed on a little long again, today, Oops!  I'll be back later today or tomorrow with more photos and happenings!  I'd love to hear about your weekend and your thoughts!  Drop me some comments!