Mostly Food But Some Flowers, Too!

LONG POST AHEAD!

This one will be mostly vegan food finds but I have a gorgeous floral photo to share, too!  I'm still going thru MONTHS of photos to catch-up and I have a lot of event-related, family, and life type photos to share but I'm a little low on time to write thought-out captions and explanations so I thought I would theme this as a food post.  

First up...Dr. Praeger's California Burgers.  Dr. P's might not seem like an awesome find but for me, locally, I have been seeing more and more of this brand popping up and wanted to give credit where credit is due.

From several months ago here is a picture of some tofu nuggets I made at home.  It's mostly flour and spices with nutritional yeast and I baked them.  I know it's not a wonderful photo but I was pretty proud of the attempt!

Here's another vegan product from the candy show that my Dad found a while back.  They were tasty!  A tad iffy on the gums but I just need to learn to pace myself!

I'm sure I have already posted this product from Upton's, however, at the beginning of summer I found it on sale over at the Erie Whole Foods Co-op and I just HAD to buy it.  I enjoyed it while camping!

Another snack from the show.  Just HAD to share!  I LOVE the Cranberry and Pistachio combo!  YUM!

Here was another meal I made at camp this year.  It was when I was running low on groceries but it 'did the job'.  It's the new VEGAN Morningstar Buffalo reformulated jobbers.  I can usually find them cheap at our local TOPS.  Sometimes I see them on sale 3 for $9.  I put Vegan Mayo on the bottom and Organic Ketchup on the top.

I can't remember if my Mom found these at Wegman's or if I spotted them at Walmart but I tried them and they weren't bad.  I'll probably only buy them again if I find a super good deal on them again, however.

You know veganism is going mainstream when you can find these at the local gas station!  Oddly, it was my first and only time to date that I have tried this flavor.  They were pretty tasty!

INSERT random yet beautiful floral photo here!

I saw these in the spring at peak bloom on my way to OR from work.  I park near this church and these really bloomed this year!

I have been seeing more and more places carry Lenny and Larry's and I have to say I am thrilled.  Some I like 'ok' and others I adore...like this one!  YUM!

Another Gas Station Find.  LOVE THESE!

Haven't seen them since at that location but so glad they carried them for a while.

Here's another newer product from Vegan Rob's.  Again...from the candy show.  My dad also grabbed me one of their hats!  These Wild Mushroom Potato Chips were way better than I thought they would be!

I have been telling you about my VEGAN FINDS at Ollie's...well...here's another one!  $2 each - Earth Balance Peanut Butters.  But...not just ANY Earth Balance Peanut Butters...they're flavored ones!  Coco Pretzel Crunch and Coffee Chocolate Crunch.  BOTH were a tad dry-ish so you might not be able to snack on it like you normally would BUT I still need to try them in smoothies thru my Vitamix or BlendTec and report back!

I've had these before and really liked them but when someone finds you a FREE SAMPLE you must cease the day, right?

And speaking of FREE SAMPLES...here is another one!  It's was lovely.

Check these out!  I've seen them before but it's been since this past summer that I had a chance to try them!  They were freakin' figgy I will tell you that - and I enjoyed them!

And just to prove that I have been eating real food and not just snacks...here is one of the wonderful veggie dishes I made a while back.  It's simply...broccoli, purple baby potatoes, regular baby potatoes - in a skillet with coconut oil!  I adored this as-is...

...but I was eager to try is as a leftover so I did.  I added cashew cheese, pico, and lettuce and made them into little burritos or soft shell tacos!  They were fantastic!

Earlier in the summer a group of us brought back our local WWN (Working Women's Network) and had meet-up at a local flower shop that also opened a winery/sampling room.  It was right around that time that the business had an Open House of their own and had a local band perform and provided munchies.  The store owner is a friend of mine.  She actually graduated with my sister.  Her parents and my parents are friends.  Her mom and sister actually do my hair, too!  I had a nice time at the open house and LOVED she included so many fresh fruits and veggies in her munchies/offerings!

I almost forgot about these pea puffs.  Not because I didn't like them but because it's not a great photo and because I haven't seen them since.  I believe I found these at our local Walmart in Spring/Beginning of Summer.

Here is a thrown together veggie curry I made a while ago.  I remember it being good and thinking I should have made more of it at the time.  Fall is here in NY and PA and I am sure I will be making more curries SOON!

Total Evolution has been my go-to the last several months.  They have been coming up with some really great vegan options.  They always have vegan buddha bowls and this is one of them!

Yet another vegan camping foods type photo!  Indian Vegan Burger, Vegan Italian Pasta Salad, and Zucchini - peppers - and onions in coconut oil.

As you can see it was July when I bought this.  I do LOVE this bread.  When I visit the Erie Whole Foods Co-Op and see it on sale I have to grab some!  It's soooooo filling!

Are you still with me?  I know this has been a monstrously LONG post.  Let me know in comments if you made it to the very end!

I found this flavor of Bobo's at Wegman's along with 2 others and they helped me get thru breakfasts during Fair Week.  I haven't even talked about Fair Week YET but I have so much more to share with you before I get to Fair Week!  YIKES!

Certainly more posts to come SOON.  In the meantime, tell me what you have tried, what you haven't, what you liked, what you didn't, what you have found in your neck of the woods lately, and all that JAZZ!

Volunteering, Unboxing, Booch Making, Plant Saving, Vegan Eats!

Well, I had to break down and purchase a few groceries earlier than I wanted to but the plus side is that I bought all of this for $23 and I had a $25 gift card so at least I didn't have to touch my bank account.  I still have a lot of what you see here including the celery, hummus, rice, spaghetti sauce, and apple sauce.  I will be using those items as the week progresses.  

At the end of last week, I had some cubed butternut squash topped with a sweet brown mustard sauce my parents found at Walmart that just happened to be vegan.

Before I get into more of the foodie type photos I thought I would tell you about a few things that happened Friday and on to the weekend.  Most of you here in the states are aware of the government shutdown.  In our county we have approx. 100 federal employees AND their families that were being affected by it.  Friday I jumped in last minute and helped at a local church that was having a dinner for Furloughed Families.  There were about 150-200 people or-so that attended.  

When I saw on the church website they were saying there would be a tea/coffee bar - I knew I could help donate TEA from my boxes and boxes of tea leftover from The Sororitea Sisters.  I brought 3 boxes and gave away a lot of it and served a lot, too!

Saturday Morning I stopped over at a place here in town that does Community Breakfasts and volunteered there, too.  I wasn't sure if they would see an influx of people because of the Furloughed Families or not but I knew I had the time and wanted to help.  When I got there I learned that our local Special Olympics Athletes were going to be volunteering as well.  

It was a nice morning and those who volunteered with The Special Olympics did GREAT!  Over 20 years ago I volunteered with the Special Olympics for about 2 or 3 years and LOVED it!  I helped with Basketball, Track, Softball, and attended a few Swimming and Bowling tournaments.  I really enjoyed my time with the Athletes.  And I enjoyed Saturday morning with some of them serving breakfast, too!

I just received another goodie box from Thayers!  WooHoo!  I'm totally LOVING their products and have so much more to share with you but that will be for another day and another post!

Check this out!  BOOCH!  It's official!  My father and I started brewing!  I figured that my parents' house is the best place to try it!  He already has all of his winemaking stuff set up!  Special thanks to a family friend who gave us 2 SCOBY's to get us started!  YAY!  This was the 'granddaddy' of the booch we are brewing.  We had 2 smaller ones we are trying, too.  And with a creative way to cover them, too!  Up top...that's a sterile mouth mask that my dad had and it fit nicely.  We used a bunji cord on this one, too, just in case!

I do have more foodie pics...I swear...but first...my poor plant!  I'm told this is a Dumb Cane Plant.  I've had it for 5 years and over the last 2 or 3 months it's been wilting away to nothing.  I've been trying to save it any way I can.

But after months of this happening to 90 percent of the leaves I knew I didn't have any other choice but to hack it.  It pained me to do it but I had to!

It even had new growth on the top.  So, I took the better-looking tops off and I'm trying to propagate a few of them.  So far they aren't rooting so I'm not sure if they are going to work or not.

There was also new shoots on the bottom...as you can see here...after I hacked nearly everything off.

Here's another look at what I had to do to try and save what I could of this plant.  I'm not sure if it's going to work but time will tell and I will surely report back!

So...on to the FOOD!  First up...Potato Celery Soup!  Saturday I went over to my parents' house and my mom and I cooked for several hours and actually did some meal planning (which I am horrible at).

This soup contains the following:

1 T Earth Balance (Vegan Margarine)
1 T Coconut Buttery Flavored Oil (Vegan, of course)

1/2 Onion

3/4 Bunch of Celery (I used leaves)

2 Small Potatoes

2 Carrots
About 2 and 1/2 C Water
1/2 C Almond Milk
1/2 C FRESH Parsely
Pinch Onion Sea Salt
Pinch Black Pepper

After cooking everything in a pot until soft I took about 75 percent of the mixture and pulsed in a blender and then added the rest of the mixture in for a heartier soup.  It was YUMMY!  I think we also added just a little bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos and Old Bay Seasoning to it - to taste.

Next up...we made a HUGE batch of Lentil Veggie Stew.  This is the veggie part!  I could have totally eaten it just like this!  It was tasty!  We then added the Lentils and cooked down and it looked a little like this...

Here's what this recipe contained:

1 and a 1/2 C Green/Brown Lentils
Coconut Oil - Vegan Butter Flavored as needed
1 Sweet Onion
1 Carrot
2 Celery Stalks
1 Potato
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Small Zucchini

1 tea Ground Coriander
1 tea Ground Cumin
1 tea Turmeric
1/2 tea Cinnamon

2 and a 1/2 C Water
3 C Canned, Diced Tomatoes with Juice
1 C FRESH Parsely
2 T Lemon Juice
1/2 tea Old Bay Seasoning
Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Braggs Liquid Aminos, Agave Nectar - to taste

This was pretty wonderful and we divvied it up into many meals for my parents and myself for the week.

And...finally...Quinoa Black Bean Spinach Stuffed Peppers!  These had the following in them:

About 3 C Cooked Quinoa
3 C Spinach (cooked down)
1 C Black Beans
Oil as needed
1 Small Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 tea Cumin
2 tea Smoked Paprika

1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Juice
1/4 C FRESH Cilantro
Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Lemon Juice, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Chili Powder - to taste

We put the mixture into 4 Bell Peppers that we cut lengthwise.  They looked a little dry and we all like sauce so we poured some sweet spaghetti sauce over top of them.

It worked really well!  And we are still eating leftovers!  My mom has been doing a lot of cooking for the two of them since my father has been out of the hospital and watching his food intake more.  He's been doing really well.  They aren't vegan or even vegetarian but they are eating more plant-based foods than before.  My father has lost about 15 pounds already.  And has enjoyed nearly everything we have been fixing!  PLUS...it's great because I can grab some leftovers! 

Recent Cheap Eats & Zonta Happenings

Today I have updates on recent cheap eats and local Zonta updates.  I thought I would start off with food stuff and I'm working a little backwards because this is what I had to eat last night for dinner.  I made a couple of sandwiches.  Chickpea Sandwich Spread Sandwiches to be exact.  I still had some canned chickpeas from a Brandless order in my pantry.  I added some Just Mayo, Garlic, Parsley, Black Sea Salt, and Smoked Paprika.  I made a double batch so I still have some for dinner tonight.  I might try and pair it with something else, maybe, to change it up.

I've been a little too addicted to making sauces and homemade vegan sour creams with a cashew base.  It's been too pricey and I really shouldn't do that in January which is the worst month budget-wise.  So I challenged myself to make a vegan Mac & Cheese with no nuts, no seeds, no potato/carrot-combo, and using just a few ingredients.  This is what I came up with.  It's been a while for a vegan cheese sauce like this for me.  I used a little Vegan Butter Flavored Coconut Oil, Earth Balance, Yellow Mustard, Flour, Almond Milk, Onion Sea Salt, and Nutritional Yeast.  It turned out pretty good.

Saturday I continued cleaning our kitchen that has gotten out of hand.  While I was doing that I was able to take some time to cook a few things for a bit of meal prep...such as Lentils!  But before I get to what I did with the lentils I have to tell you about this dish, first.  What you see in the photo above is a Sweet Potato Spinach Mash topped with leftover homemade vegan sour cream.  It was AMAZING!

Enter the LENTILS!  After I cooked up the lentils I added the leftovers from the Sweet Potato and Spinach Mash and that is what you see in this next photo  I ended up adding quite a bit more vegan sour cream (because...why not) and it was super tasty!

Late last week we had our monthly Zonta meeting.  This month was a lunch (next month will be a dinner).  They are VERY open to vegan options and always accommodating!  This month we did a Taco Bowl Bar!  This was mine!  They set aside the bean and corn salsa without the dressing special for me and they had a taco seasoned chicken that was cooked separately and offered off to the side!  Of course, I passed that over and opted for extra avocado instead!  Mine contained Quinoa, Tomato, Corn, Black Beans, Avocado, Red Onion, and Lime Juice.

During our Luncheon, we recognized 3 women in our community who make a difference.  These are the 3 ladies we recognized.  I knew all 3 of them.  The one I nominated is the person on the right.  She is highly involved with several dozen aspects of our county fairgrounds as well as our local Red Cross.  The person in the middle is involved with many literacy programs, student programs, senior citizen programs, voter registrations, and others.  And the person on the left is involved with early childhood education, child literacy, area fire departments and first responders, and more.

That evening we had a Service Committee Meeting.  That went really well and we planned for the next several months.  In addition, we had another Free The Girls (FTG) Bra Shipping Party!  We shipped another 456 bras in 5 large boxes!