Work Travels, Vegan Finds, & Lucille Ball

I have been traveling around the region a lot more lately with my job.  In this weather - it's nice and I enjoy it.  I don't like it when it snows and since we are now officially into fall - I know that is right around the corner.  This photo was taken at a park in Lakewood, NY.  I've always liked this view!  Beautiful!

Before I share more views with you I figured I would also share some more vegan finds in the stores I frequent OR wish I could frequent.  A few posts ago I showed you the Ranch Dip.  Here is the Sour Cream from Good Karma!

Here is a new-to-me product from Sweet Earth.  I believe I grabbed it from Target.  I haven't tried it YET but I'm thinking it will be my dinner tonight.

Another roadside stop I took this past summer was this place!  This is part of Chautauqua Lake.  It's actually part of Lakewood Community Park.

And here is one of the docks!

I was super excited to try this product from Starlite Cuisine.  It was 'ok' but I don't think I would buy it again.  I found the texture of the pea protein filling to be a little too chewy.  The sauce was better than the filling texture that is for sure!

Road Snacks!  I've been grabbing them!  They are great for traveling in a small car.  These I found at Wegmans!  I enjoyed them!

During one of my Lakewood trips I stopped at a little bookstore and they had this Rawesomely Vegan book.  Of course, I HAD to buy it!  It was only a couple of bucks.

I also found these infused flavored peanuts.  I haven't opened them YET but I see that in my near future!

I found a purple pepper a while back at Wegmans and bought it.  It spoiled VERY quickly and I didn't get a chance to eat it!  YIKES!  

Check THIS STUFF out!  Tahini in a squeeze bottle?  YES, please!  I'm not completely sure where I spotted this but I knew I had to buy it at the time.

The last time I went to Trader Joe's I saw this Almond Dip and I was so glad I decided to follow thru with the purchase.  It was so yummy!  It wasn't over the top spicy but it had a slight kick to it!

I got these the same place I got the infused peanuts from!  Lakewood Apothecary!  These were on the clearance shelf so I got them for a deal!

Here are photos from Celeron Park and the Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celeron, NY.  Here is the lighthouse on the one end of the park near the dock and water.

In another area of the park they have this beautiful memorial for those who served.

And finally here is the bronze statue of Lucy!  She was born and raised in the Celeron, NY, and Jamestown, NY areas.  They celebrate and remember her in our region not only for her impact on comedy but women in comedy and her connection to our area!

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!

Vegan Snacks, Vegan Cheese, Vegan Soup, Vegan Pizza Pods!

A little bit of a shorter post today.  Not because I don't have more to blog about but because I'm rather short on time.  I'll mostly be blogging about vegan food today!  I'm kicking things off with a photo of these Cinnamon & Sugar Pop Popcorn Mini Cakes.  They were YUMMY!

I recently came across this Spicy Blanco from Siete and enjoyed it much more than the cheddar flavor I tried a while back.  Not that I didn't like the flavor of the other one BUT I found it to be a bit runny and thin.  This was thicker and the consistency was much better - especially for dipping!  The taste was better, too!

I found that our local Tops had a bunch of stuff on their discontinued shelf.  I'm not sure if they are eliminating them to downsize that section (I hope not) or just trying to make room for NEW products!  Here is one of the items I found that they are discontinuing!  I had not tried this one from Amy's yet so I thought I should grab it before it was gone!  It was pretty good!

And here is the meal I had the last time I was in Buffalo (which was a few weekends ago)!  We went to one of my favorite places...The Pizza Plant!  They have many vegan options there including their famous PODS!  I was able to build my own and went for the vegan cheese and artichokes!  YUM!

Vegan Street Food & Popcorn

I've had a rough day.  I needed a brain break.  Just a few moments to travel far, far away somewhere...if only in my mind.

It made me think of one of the books on my bookshelf...Vegan Street Food from Jackie Kearney.  In this book, she takes you on a culinary journey from the Himalayas to the South China Sea.  There are recipes for vegan street food from India to Indonesia.

As much as I would like to ACTUALLY travel - I know it's not possible.  So I need to use the resources I do have to daydream to far away places.  Between that and world food dishes - they somehow make me feel a bit better.

I did find a lot of the recipes complicated or the ingredients hard to find for someone who isn't near a large city with access to a lot of world food spices and ingredients.  But I still adore this book for other reasons.  The stories, photos, maps, and escape of it all.

Another thing I have gnawing on lately is Lesser Evil's Buddha Bowl Avocado-Licious Organic Popcorn.  It's made with Avocado Oil.  It's vegan and gluten-free - among other things.

Brain Break Complete...for now.

Dill Pickle Cashews, Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, & FotoJet

Lengthy Post Alert!  LOTS to cover today!  First...a new snack I have been enjoying...Dill Pickle Cashews!  This isn't the exact bag I am eating from but you'll get the visual idea!  Many of you know I LOVE cashews and I can't get enough of Dill these days so it was the perfect duo.

I found them on Jet.com at a good price while doing some Christmas Shopping last week and HAD to grab them.  I also bought a pound of raw cashews, too!  Again, the price was right!  Cheaper than I could find them locally, that is.  I also found a few other little things for snacks and lunches I will share with you down the road!

Another book DH bought me this past weekend was Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen.  This is the first of Chloe's books I have added to my collection so far.  I have a feeling I will be adding others to my wishlist for down the road!  Sure there are your stereotypical vegan pasta recipes in there but she puts her own twist on them but she doesn't stop there!  Recipes that I wouldn't have considered to be Vegan Italian were throughout the book as well.  I was going to list a few of the recipes I was interested in but the list ended up being too long so once I jump in I will let you know which ones I do end up doing! 

Next up and LONG OVERDUE is my chattering about a free online graphic design site called FotoJet.com.  There are elements of it that are similar to other sites but it seems to offer much more in the terms of fonts and templates!  When I saw this first one I knew I had to make something with it because I've always adored the LOVE BUS!

In most browsers, you can click on these photos to enlarge them from my site.  This one says MyBlissfulJourney - Family - Food - Fiats - Friends - More!  I haven't quite figured out a way to resize EASILY for the header but I knew I loved the look especially because of the teacup on the upper left.  Plus it looked like a neat workstation and place to think.

I could see me using this a lot for blogging graphics!  I see it as a place for inspiration but also for organizing things on my blog at some point.  I have a lot of Projects in the Works so I thought a simple graphic like this would come in handy.

And speaking of inspiration...check this Daily Yoga Graphic out!  Something I surely need to get my rear in gear and do more daily yoga!  I've always thought of this blog as not only an archive but a way to be accountable and I really need to get back into Yoga!  This might help!  With FotoJet you can edit photos, make collages, and much more!

Just to mess around with the site I used some of the photos I have taken in the past and went with the Comic Book feature and made this!  Some of the other things you can do with FotoJet is make Magazine Covers, Posters, Invitations, Cards, Facebook Covers, YouTube Channel Art, Facebook & Instagram Posts, Google+ Covers, Twitter, Tumbler, & Email Headers, Thumbnails, Pinterest Graphics, and more! 

It's a great Marketing Tool, too!  You can create Logos, Flyers, Business Cards, Leaderboards, and Facebook Ads...just to name a few!

Gosh!  I still have so much to share from the weekend!  I will really try and post another blog entry later tonight!  In the meantime...which features do you like from FotoJet.com?  Let me know!