Cherry Festival at 21 Brix

Blogger is acting up with insert photos so I am sorry I don't have any photos at this time but I do have video!  Two of them, actually!  The first one you can hear my mother in and the second one features my sister!  We took these videos at 21 Brix Winery during their Cherry Festival a few weekends ago!  We had our Wildtree tables set up and took breaks and turns to go Cherry Picking!  I completely nerded-out because they had 16 different kinds of cherries and 2 or 3 thousand trees!  Each video is only 2 minutes!  Take a look!



My sister was pretty funny in this video!  We was "overwhelmed" with the variety of cherries! LOL  And YES we did try all 16 different kinds!  They were sooooo good!  On a side note ALL of the wines that 21 Brix sell are listed as SAFE on the Vegan Wine Site I'm told.  YAY!

Happy Veterans Day & Buffalo Bills Game Day

Happy Veterans Day!  Special THANKS to all the veterans out there on this and everyday!  My father was in the Navy during the Vietnam years and he was on the USS Kitty Hawk during that time.  His father served during WWII and was in the Army.  I have other friends and relatives that have served too!  I appreciate them everyday!

This past Sunday my mom, dad, sister, and I went to the Buffalo Bills Game and this was a memorable site to see.  Soldiers HUNDREDS of them bought out a flag that stretched the entire length of the field.

This was one of the few games I have attended that we actually WON.  We were in a box which is always nice!  I piled up on Nachos and topped them with various veggies, salsas, and even a dry coleslaw with a subtle vinegar base.

It was a wonderful fall day for a football game, too!  The sun was shining brightly and it wasn't all that cold considering what time of year it was and us being in Buffalo, NY.

It was nice spending time with my mom, dad, and sister.  This upcoming weekend I will have more time with my mom and dad (and maybe sister) as we will be going to see Meatloaf LIVE in concert!  I'm excited to see him perform!  As you can see here we are all decked out in our BILLS gear!  And YES I am still rockin' the glasses!  My eyes are feeling better overall but I'm still not loving the fact I am wearing glasses instead of contacts.  I think it's probably better for me and my health in the long run having NOT to put plastic IN my eyes - if you know what I mean.

I'm trying to get more family photos these days!  Starting at the game and flowing on to the car ride home my sister and I 'got a little silly' and took pic after pic of the two of us.  It was pretty fun.

As you can see my sister is more of a girlie girl than I am.  She LOVES the color pink whereas I can't stand to wear it.  Even though my sister and I have a lot of opposites we are still very much a like in other ways.

I keep coming back to this photo that we took in the car and I filtered it black and white.  It's not the most clear photo but I love the way it turned out with our smiles and the sunlight.  I love how we are being a bit goofy, too!

We all have to be a bit goofy from time to time, don't you agree?

If you are looking for MWM (MidWeek Munchies) keep scrolling...I did TWO posts, today!  I also would like to say CONGRATS to Kelsea who was the winner of the MyKind Organics Multi-Women's 40+.

Vegan MoFo ~ Gambit (& Strong Hearts Cafe)

Sometimes blog posts just write themselves, don't they?  Well, yesterday I was lucky enough to visit a place that has been on my bucket list for YEARS.  That place was Strong Hearts Cafe in Syracuse, NY.  It's a 100% Vegan Restaurant.  And YES my sister and I drove almost 4 hours just to have lunch.  Okay - Okay...maybe we did a few other things to but Strong Hearts was the main reason for this trip!  I'm so blessed that I have a sister who would go with me on this journey.  As I have said before she's not vegan or vegetarian just a really wonderful sister!  So get ready because not only will this be a LONG post but I will incorporate both a review of my experiences at Strong Hearts Cafe AS WELL AS tie it into today's Vegan MoFo prompt which is "What [insert well known person] would eat if they were vegan."


Here's how I'm taking this Vegan MoFo prompt challenge...

Here's what Gambit would eat if he was vegan.  First I will start of by explaining who Gambit is.  For those of you who don't know he's an X-Men Character.

Gambit is also known as The Ragin' Cajun at times.  His powers are: Kinetic energy control and manipulation, Static generation, and he's a Skilled card-thrower.  Being a skilled Card Thrower I had to point out one of the nice touches while visiting Strong Hearts Cafe.  Once you order they hand you a card as seen above to determine your order and table for delivering your food.  (Keep reading to see how I connected the dots with the Ragin' Cajun reference, too!)

Taylor Kitsch has played Gambit in a few movies already and when I read THIS ARTICLE I knew I had to include him in this post.  If you don't know Taylor Kitsch he's also starred in the movie John Carter AND Friday Night Lights!  I also have to confess that X-Men is my favorite "Superhero" and/or "Comic Book" series that has been made into movies!  I LOVE the characters and make it a point to watch the movies when a new one comes out!  So for today's Vegan MoFo Challenge I would say Gambit and/or Taylor Kitsch would be my choice to blog about.  I think if he were a vegan he would like what I had for my MASSIVE meal while visiting Strong Hearts Cafe which was a Caramel Cookie Dough Milkshake, Cajun Seitan Sandwich, and Pumpkin Spice Walnut Cheesecake!

First up...the sandwich!  Take a look at this bad boy!  Cajun Seitan Sandwich!  I was lucky enough to meet one of the owners/founders of Strong Hearts Cafe JOEL.  He was super nice and I chatted with him a bit as well as one of the other employees.  Both were great!  I knew I wanted to try one of their Seitan sandwiches because I don't really eat a lot of Seitan.  When I asked both Joel and the other girl working which of their Seitan Sandwiches they thought I should get they both quickly said CAJUN.  That settled it for me!  Cajun it was!  

I'm so glad they suggested it - the sandwich was AMAZING!  It had just the right amount of heat to it!  And they certainly do NOT skimp on ingredients!  Their sandwiches were jam-packed with healthy contents!  I mean LOOK at these photos!  YUM!  The Cajun Seitan Sandwich had Cucumbers, Lettuce, Tomato, Cajun Seitan, Cheddar Cheese (I think they use Daiya), and I believe it was on a rye panini type bread!  Because this was a fantastic Cajun flavor I think the Ragin' Cajun himself would appreciate this vegan sandwich!

Next up...is this wonderful Milkshake!  It seemed like Strong Hearts Cafe had about a billion different flavors of vegan milkshakes - okay - that might be an exaggeration - but - they did have A LOT!  It made it difficult to decide but I did it!  I went with the one call Farm Sanctuary which is of course named after the farmed animal sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.  It was Caramel Cookie Dough flavor.  And is was out-of-this-world!  My sister had a Peanut Butter/Chocolate flavor and I had a sip of that, too, and it was amazing!  My sister LOVED her milkshake AND sandwich.  She opted for the Roasted Vegetable Hummus Sandwich.

As you can see we both chose the "greens" as our side but you could choose 'chips' if you wanted to as an alternative.  My sister said that the hummus they used for her sandwich was a Cilantro flavored and she thought it was terrific!  The greens had a light Italian Dressing flare to it, too!  I wanted to make sure that I pointed out the MASSIVE size of these sandwiches.  Now...I didn't take a tape measure to them but they were comparable to the size of an iPad.  And not the newer, smaller iPads...the earlier version that were larger.  Just to give you a visual!  But that's NOT ALL...we still haven't talked about the impressive cheesecake...don't worry...I will...keep scrolling!

As for the Vegan Cheesecake I KNEW I had to have at least one piece!  After all I LOVED cheesecake before dropping dairy and it seemed the one place I knew of in the region (Pizza Plant in Buffalo) never seemed to have it available the few times I have dropped by!  Anyhow...check OUT this large slab of Vegan Cheesecake GOODNESS from Strong Hearts Cafe!  When I order a slice I thought it was just going to be regular cheesecake but vegan but BOY was I wrong!  Apparently depending on the time of year they may do different types of cheesecake.  This one was a Pumpkin Spice topped with a few large Walnuts!  WOWZA!  And YUMMO!

So YES my sister and I had a wonderful time at Strong Hearts and everything was AMAZING.  I was going to try and grab some stuff to go but after we were done eating I was so stuffed I couldn't even think about eating anything else so instead I bought one of their t-shirts!  Everything was affordable.  Everyone was so nice.  This place is a Utopia of sorts and I would urge everyone to go if they can!  Gambit/Taylor Kitsch if you are out there - GO - GO to Strong Hearts Cafe!  You'll thank me later!

Vegan MoFo ~ Share Something Vegan with a Non-Vegan

I might be taking the easy way out with today's prompt for Vegan MoFo but trust me when I say I NEEDED to share this post.  The very important person I'm featuring in today's post is my sister Megan.  

My sister is NOT vegan or even vegetarian but has always supported my choices throughout the years and is the best sister ever!  I know many of us could say that about out siblings but I've always been close with my sister...growing up we never fought like other teens tend to.

Now that we are older there are certain things we do to keep communicating.  One being that we are Wildtree Reps.  My mother was the first one of the family to become a rep - then I did - then my sister - and finally my father.  It's a family thing but for different reasons.  Of course one of the main reasons for me personally is because of all the vegetarian and vegan options they offer.  Not all of their products are veg but LOTS of them are...most of them are, actually.  Anyways...my sister was always the creative one in the kitchen.  I wasn't.  I would take the easy way out when it came to food but since dropping dairy (after being lacto/lacto-ovo veg for 18 years) I started making the majority of my own food as you can now see on my blog.  My sister and I have made it a tradition to attend the WNY VegFest for the last two years.  It's been a lot of fun!  We've been able to meet up with some great people including the Vegan Zombie Crew (both years) and other YouTubers, Bloggers, Authors, Speakers, etc!

YEARS ago I attempted to coordinate a Vegetarian Potluck on a monthly basis and no matter which month or how many people (or lack there of sometimes) that showed up my sister always would!  Of course my mom and dad can be thrown into that conversation, too, I have been very lucky and blessed!

Another thing that we are able to do as Wildtree Reps is to go to a number of community events and festivals and I love walking around with my sister and checking out the other vendors.  We usually come across various animals that attend, too!  Here she is pictured with a random dog we came across years ago.  Funny thing is 2 Autumns ago both my sister and her husband as well as my parents were at one of these events and saw dogs from a regional shelter and ended up adopting them!  

Here is a photo of Megan with Atlas and my father with Lexi!  They are both much bigger now but you get the idea.

As you can see from the other photos I have posted my sister also has helped me with some of the things I do for work and volunteering, too!  We've also attended various concerts together, as well!  Like I said my sister isn't veg - she doesn't eat a lot of meat and does TRY the foods I make and has even made many vegan dishes herself.  She usually goes out of her way to make me something special during parties, too!  She recently made this jam made from Blueberries, Agave, Lemon Juice, and Chia Seeds just for fun!

Almost every holiday she at least TRIES the foods that I make and bring!  This one I did YEARS ago and it's a Maple Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole.  I even impressed myself with this one!

Megan's into a lot of alternative foods and that is what makes it FUN.  These last two photos are from the last couple of years during Thanksgiving.  They are photos of my plate to prove that I never go hungry (haha!)  I thought I would hop over and pull from my archives and share with any new visitors.  For more posts on my sister you could always type in the word "sister" into my sidebar search window, too!

I know this post was a little bit of a blabber fest but when my sister and I get together that is what often happens.  I love my sister Megan dearly and always will.

FINALLY...a FOOD Post!

I should probably save some of these for Vegan MoFo that starts September 1st but since I am already so far behind on posting I figured...why put it off?  So this is going to be a graphic heavy CRAZY mish-mash sort of post but all FOOD related.  Over the past few weeks these are some of the foods I have been throwing together...the good, the not-as-good, and the odd looking! Take this first photo for example...it's a strange combo but it sure was TASTY!  It's a burrito/wrap with Tater Tots, Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, Yellow/Red/Orange Mini Bell Peppers, and I topped it with Sriracha Vegan Mayo!

Over at The Raw Food World NEWS Site under the Recipe Section you will see this next recipe popping up on the site soon!  I submitted it yesterday.  You'll have to check out the recipe section for the full recipe when it's up but I will tell you that it consists of Mango, Chocolate Flavored Almond Butter, Coconut Nectar, and Water.

You will probably be seeing a lot more smoothies posted on my blog and over at the recipe section of The Raw Food World NEWS Site because of all of the frozen bananas I still have from scoring them for FREE from a local produce stand!

Another thing I have been doing is working off of what I have in my pantry and you will see what I mean with the next few photos.  Sure I did a few pasta related recipes within the same week but I also used left overs and recreated a new recipe with them.

First up is a Garlic Alfredo White Sauce that is technically raw and vegan and I ended up putting it on a veggie based pasta as you see here.  For this sauce recipe I used:

1 C Hemp Seeds
1 C Cashews
1 C Almond Milk
1/2 C Nutritional Yeast
2 T Lemon Juice
2 to 4 Cloves Garlic
About 1/2 t Nutmeg

After I mixed it all together I topped it with Nutritional Yeast, Parsley, and Nutmeg sprinkle, too!

The sauce recipe above made a LOT of sauce so I used it on other things throughout the week, too!  With this next dish it's more of a Taco Pasta.  Here's what I did for this one...

1 C Cashews
1 C Almond Milk
1 Orange (or Red) Bell Pepper
1 or 2 T Wildtree Taco Seasoning
1/4 C Nutritional Yeast
2 C Black Beans
1 C Salsa

This was pretty fantastic and very filling I can see myself making this again or variations of this again!  The possibilities are ENDLESS (or should I say the PASTAbilties? LOL)

Are you pasta-ed-OUT yet?

Remember that first sauce I was telling you about above?  Well this was one of the many things I did with it.  I was really short on time that night and it sure did come in handy.   I added it to noodles and brussels sprouts.  I also added some Wildtree Lemon Pepper and thinned it out with a little water.

I usually don't eat that much pasta within a few weeks anymore so this was a rare occasion.  I will say that since I dropped dairy from my diet I have cut WAY back on the amount and frequency of my pasta and potato intake.  My food intake has become much more varied and diverse with little to no effort most of the time.

I guess that just proves I am not lacking variety.

It irritates me when people say I 'miss out' by excluding things from my diet.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  My diet is more diverse now than it even has been.

Up next is raw vegan noodles.  I actually had this for lunch yesterday.  It was a small portion but the sauce recipe made a large amount so I will be using that on other things this week.

1/4 C Water
1 Avocado
4 T Pine Nuts
1/4 C Basil
2 T Lemon Juice
Pinch Black Sea Salt

In other food related news my sister made this jam!

It's REALLY wonderful!

My sister isn't vegan or even vegetarian but likes to eat a lot of veg food and gets pretty creative in the kitchen.

The only ingredients in this?

Blueberries, Chia Seeds, Agave Nectar, and Lemon Juice!

Is her big sister rubbing off on her?  I don't know.  I don't think I can take credit for that.  But I do know that my sister is SUPER AWESOME!  And I'm not just saying that because she might be reading!

HI MEGAN!  (it's ok to comment, LOL)

WNY VegFest - Part I - The Speakers

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual WNY VegFest and my sister and I attended because we had SO MUCH FUN last year! I have a wonderful sister! She's not a vegan or even vegetarian but has attended this festival both years now and even sat thru 2 of the speakers this year with me! I'm so grateful for her!

Speaking of which...here's a photo of her and I waiting for one of the 'chats' to begin. We did an official VegFest Selfie! Megan and I are 3 years, 2 months, and 1 day a part in age! How cool is that?

Last year was the first year I met the guys from The Vegan Zombie and I wanted to meet up with them again this year, too! Here they are! Jon (on the left) kept saying 'sorry' because he was distracted by the puppies from the puppy rescue on the other side of them. But who could blame them? They were super cute dogs! More on that in a future post I am sure! Then Chris (on the right) and I chatted about social media, T-Shirts, their road trip, juicing, and more! A few months ago I was going to buy a Breville Juicer but had seen Chris's posts on Instagram and totally had to ask which juicer he was using and I ended up getting that one instead. It's a SlowStar Juicer. I had told him on Instagram that I purchased one and he asked me if I used it yet and felt a little bad that I hadn't used it yet. His encouragement is greatly appreciated. I think between them and OPAL over at I;m Celebrating Life - I will be pursuing that more seriously around the 17th of this month. I ended up buying another Vegan Zombie Shirt and also bought a WNY VegFest T-Shirt at the festival's table, too!

This year my sister and I were able to attend 2 of the talks. The first speaker we saw was Karen Ranzi. I will be purchasing her book in the very near future Raw Vegan Recipe Fun for Families: 115 Easy Recipes and Health Tips for Energetic Living.

Another speaker we were able to see was Kristin Lajeunesse. I was lucky enough to meet her, too! I have been following her on Instagram for a while and we were chatting back and forth on there prior to her talk and meeting. She's super nice! 

Her book is Will Travel for Vegan Food: A Young Woman's Solo Van-Dwelling Mission to Break Free, Find Food, and Make Love, and is the founder of the award willing website, Will Travel for Vegan Food.

Not sure if you can see me in THIS vlog she posted on Instagram but I'm in the 3rd row back on the right behind a lady with a black tank top on and she's sitting by a guy with a black shirt and sunglasses on.

HERE is a list of the other speakers that were at the event. I was standing next to Vlad while in line for fresh juice and didn't know it was him until after he left. And I would have loved to catch Jane Esselstyn and Victoria Moran's talks but we were doing other things during those times. Another one I wanted to see was Jessica Meyers Food Demo which was living foods and sprouting and fermentation.

I will be posting more and more throughout this week on the adventures of WNY VegFest so please check back and let me know if you were there! And if you weren't there let me know if you've ever seen any of these speakers and/or YouTubers!

Dave Coulier Later in the Week...

 

Later this week my sister and I are going to take a quick road trip to Erie to see Dave Coulier at Jr.'s Last Laugh.  I'm so excited!  He played JOEY in Full House.  My sister and I have watched every episode MANY TIMES in our younger years!  It's sure to be a fun time and kick back to our child hood seeing him do some stand up!  I can't wait!  I wonder if we will get to meet him...that would rock!

Holiday Valley, Elicotville, John Harvard's, Sister Time, Scenic Drive

I think this will be the last of my posts for today.  This is 3 of 3 - so please continue to scroll down!

Here's another photo of my sister from over the weekend.  When you read my other posts it will all make sense!  It's a photo of me trying to dry her pants with a hair dryer! LOL

Yeah...so after we were caught in the heavy rain we decided to pay my parents a visit at the resort they were staying at for the weekend.  It was part of a promotion where my Dad works.  He and my mother helped work it and the accommodations were amazing!  They were at Holiday Valley in Elicotville, NY.  Holiday Valley is known as a Skiing Destination in the winter and a get-away in the summer months.  They are also quite busy during the fall.  It's been YEARS since I have been there for any reason.  Since we left our event 2 hours early we decided to swing by.  We saw some 'friends of the family' we haven't really seen in a while - who also worked with my father.  Mom and Dad were on their way to a dinner but Megan and I decided to go to Dinner in one of their restaurants within the Resort.

The name of the restaurant was John Harvard's Brew House and it was a really nice place!  There were a few vegetarian options on the menu and they could easily be veganized by omitting an ingredient or two.  The waitress was really nice and willing to help with this!

My sister - who is NOT a vegetarian - had a flatbread pizza with a Basil Pesto Sauce, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, and Onions.  So technically her meal was vegetarian but not vegan.  She really doesn't eat a lot of meat but still isn't veg.  There are several foods she stays away from because of stomach related issues such as fried foods, red sauces, carbonated beverages, etc.  She really liked her flatbread.  I'm not going to lie - it smelled amazing.  So much so - my next kitchen adventure might have to be a Vegan Basil Pesto Sauce.

We ended up splitting an appetizer.  We got the Mediterranean Platter (minus the Feta) which consisted of: Hummus, Tabbouleh, Roasted Peppers, Kalamata Olives, Tomatoes, Artichokes, and Pita Bread.  It was the first time my sister had Tabbouleh and she really liked it.  I told her next time I make it I would save her some! 

For my Dinner I got the Mediterranean Wrap (Minus the Feta) which was Hummus, Olives, Baby Lettuces, and Diced Tomatoes.  It was HUGE.  I took half of it home.  It was tasty, tho! 

After we were done with dinner we took a stroll around the grounds a little bit.  We came across this Faux Bon Fire out behind the one building!  I thought it was beautiful!  Everything about the place was nice, tho!

This was a photo of the building my parents and their crew stayed in...

My sister and I chatted the whole way home about trying to go back at some point and stay longer and have a girls weekend but I am sure it's very expensive!

Even if you don't STAY there you can go to the restaurants and different things around town which is more of what we are apt to do, I guess.

I also mentioned it to my husband and he was interested in taking a trip out for dinner some evening and/or weekend!

Neat Place!

Olean Festival, Flying Squirrels, Biker Dogs, Ferrets, & Someone Looked Familiar!

This is the 2nd post of today so be sure to scroll down!

This past weekend was a busy one!  Saturday "we" were at a festival in Olean, NY, with our Wildtree Table.  It wasn't awesome but it wasn't awful sales-wise.  However we were forced to leave 2 hours early due to a 'down pour'.

Usually 4 of us go to events - My Mom, Dad, Sister, and I.  My parents had other obligations which I will tell you about in my next post.  So my sister and I were at this event - for the most part - by ourselves.  My Dad helped unload and my Mom stayed for about an hour.

There were many 'interesting' things that happened during this festival for us.  First you will see these TWO photos of - basically - a wall.  This is the side of the Rec Center at the Park in Olean that the festival was at.  When we first arrived this image was NOT present.  I noticed it about 30 minutes afterwards.

As you will see in the 2nd photo it's a closer look!

After MUCH deliberation about 20 of us came to the conclusion that this was a Black Flying Squirrel!  I have only seen photos of Flying Squirrels before and have never seen one in real life or up close.  This was a very tall building but the squirrel was quite large.  Flying Squirrels are generally nocturnal animals so it's rare to see them during the day like we did.  I kept an eye on this "cutie" all day!  He was there well after we left and would shift positions every 20 minutes or so thru-out the day!  After doing some research on Flying Squirrels in our area I have found they are rare and listed as "Least Concern" on the Endangered Species scale.  I was so excited to have seen one in real life!  It was one of the highlights of the weekend - for me.

BUT...the CUTENESS didn't stop there!  Saturday in Olean was real fun and there were LOTS of cute dogs roaming around...including this one!  His name is Winston and he and his family were there visiting the event as well!  They were among some of the Bikers that attended.  Winston is a Biker Dog as you can see from his goggles and carrier vest.  We were told that he LOVES riding motorcycles!  He's a Chihuahua/Pom mix and he was so sweet!

Another 'furry friend' we were watching was a man walking his albino Ferret!  What a neat day!

Another cool thing that happened Saturday during this event was that I recognized a guy next to us - a fellow vendor - who looked SO VERY FAMILIAR!  It was driving me crazy and I was trying NOT to stare.  Long story short - he was doing the same thing - looking over thinking I looked familiar!  Come to find out we went to college together and we haven't seen each other in 15 years or so.  He has been doing wood working as well as handmade bracelets with quality beads among other things.  He told me he was doing a lot of Pet Accessories, too!  My sister and I ended up buying 2 bracelets from him as well as a Wine Bottle Holder that I will be giving my Dad tonight for a Birthday Present (his Birthday was yesterday).  I hope I get to see his other creations at future shows.  It was neat to see him after all these years and funny we both recognized each other!

Like I said before - we were forced to leave early due to heavy rain.  My sister and I are not as good as my Father when it comes to packing the car up - but - we DID IT!  Here's a funny picture of my sister after we fit everything into her Nissan.

My sister was pretty funny this weekend!  It was great sister time.  I will tell you more about that in my next post.  I realize this entry is a bit long already.

Questions of the day: Have you ever seen a Flying Squirrel?  When's the last time you had that feeling you knew someone - how did you handle it and what was the outcome?  Did you see any "cute" or "interesting" this past weekend!?