Vegan Finds, Vegan RVing, Nature, Volunteering, & Playing Catch-Up

First I want to say THANK YOU for those who commented on my last post and sent words of encouragement.  I truly appreciate you all!  This post will be more on the positive side.  I have LOTS of vegan finds to share with you over the last several months.  As well as some of the volunteering, family, nature, and camping posts to share!  So...here...we...go!  The photo above is one of the new vegan butters I found.  Since I found this months ago it could very well be old news but I think it's still worth posting!  Country Crock jumped on the plant-based train and came out with this new 'butter' made from Avocado Oil.  I have to say I do like it.  I found this one at my local Tops Market.

These next TWO photos are vegan yogurts I found.  The flavors were good but they were a tad on the thin side.  I believe I found these at Wegman's.

Of course, I LOVE Lemon Meringue flavored things so I had to try this one at the very least!

Here are 4 of the dressings and such that got me thru this season of camping!  I have been trying to follow more and more vegan RV'ers and vegan campers to connect with, too!  I know I have posted the Daiya dressings before but I don't think I have featured the Field Organic Goddess Dressing or the Annie's Lemon & Chive but I enjoyed all 4 of them!

Here is a shot of my cabinet for the camping season.  Of course there were other trips to the grocery store in between but I thought it was worth a corner in this blog post.  I tried the new Daiya Bac'n & Cheddar and I wasn't that much of a fan but at least I can say I tried it once.  It was too salty for me.  I'm just now getting to the point were I am eating the soups because it cooled down for a few days.  Rice is always a good choice.  Trinity and I shared the organic applesauce.  There are some Nature's Bakery items in there and a few Coconut Silk Milk's in there, too!

On to the snacks!  My father went to a snack and candy show and brought back a bunch of munchies for me.  Over the last several years he has noticed more and more vegan options!  YAY!  This was one of the new flavors back in April from Vegan Rob's!  I have to say I LOVED them!  A nice kick!  Addicting!  YUM!

And speaking of addicting...THESE GUYS!  OMG!  I adore them!  The only negative?  I can't find them around here!  Maybe that is for the best...I would eat them TOO MUCH then if they were readily available.

While camping this year we found MANY birds nests!  And some of them were in the strangest places!  This one was behind our camping in between the fence and the water hook-up.  It was built AFTER we hooked-up.  I checked on it each time I went to the camper and the eggs were so small!  Too small to be Robins.  After researching it for a bit, I found out these were Chipping Sparrows.  3 out of the 4 eggs hatched and I was actually able to see them fly out of the next a couple of weeks after they hatched, too!

Another thing that happened in the spring was another Refugee Hike.  Once again I helped with the food - as did my mother!  These kids were AMAZING!  The youngest was about 14 and the oldest of was 24.  There were also a few chaperones, too.  Unfortunately, I missed the canoe trip they did in early August because of the volunteering I do at our fair.

Also in the spring, I was inducted as a new Zonta Board Member.  I'm pictured here in the black shirt with red scarf.  I really LOVE being a part of the Zonta Organization.  My only regret was that I didn't join sooner.  In addition to being on the board now I am the Service Committee Chair for a 2nd year in a row.  This year I am also on the Advocacy and Media/Communications Committee (as I was last year) and new-for-me this year is becoming a member of the Fellowship Committee, too!  I'm VERY excited about the new year!

You may remember that last year our club started collecting bras for Free The Girls.  We have continued to do so and have collected 2,001 bras so far.  I doubt we will be slowing down anytime soon!

These next TWO photos are from some of our Suffrage Centennial Committee Meetings.  We have been discussing and planning various events with several other organizations around our county to celebrate 100 years of Women's Right to Vote.

Many of the ladies have been purchasing and making banners, sashes, flags, and more!  It's really neat to see!  Tonight we actually have an actress coming to town to portray Susan B. Anthony.  I will try and take pictures and blog about it soon!

And, finally, here are some photos from Warren County Serves that took place in Mid-May.  It's a group that formed a year or so ago and they lost many of their members even before the first annual event.  I've always wanted to do something like this to encourage and promote volunteerism in our area so I ended up joining the group!  We had projects that included beautification at our local Humane Society as well as tagging and sorting at the thrift shop they have on the other side of town.  There were several parks that also did beautification projects during that weekend.  There is a community house for those with mental and physical disabilities that a group helped scrape, paint, and stain steps, too!  We also have an organization in our county that houses and pairs service dogs and emotional support dogs to those who have PTSD and other emotional difficulties and that group helped clean-up their parking lot, outside of the building, and such.  Another place that had volunteers was our fairgrounds.  We did a LOT of painting, and I mean a LOT.  And others helped with cleaning some of the buildings and landscaping.  There were other projects, too, these are just a few.

I'm already pondering my post for tomorrow.  I still have a lot of catching up to do.  Let me know if you think these posts are too long or if you prefer them.

Smiles, Backlogging of Vegan Finds, & Community Happenings

I'm still trying to catch up on posts.  I really have to stop doing that.  Life gets in the way, sometimes.  This photo of my darling niece was taken a while ago but I thought it was too cute NOT to post.  That AND she's wearing one of her many unicorn shirts.  Yup!  I'm totally getting her into BOTH unicorns AND dinosaurs!

I've had this Rebel Kitchen Mylk before but recently found it at our local Tops Market and it was on sale and I had to grab it!  I found the chocolate one and the chai one there!

I want to say I grabbed this a while back when we visited the Whole Foods in Buffalo but I'm 2nd guessing myself.  I've never been a cereal person but this looked interesting.  Heck...I have never been much of a breakfast person but I'm REALLY trying to change that.  So far...I'm failing.  I still have this unopened.  Hopefully, SOON I will crack into it!

I finally got my hands on 2 of these plant-based burritos from Alpha Foods.  I know a lot of people absolutely LOVE these.  I thought they were 'ok' but I didn't find them mind-blowing.

And speaking of burritos...I was also able to locate one or two from Daiya recently.  These were also just 'ok'.  I found the texture of the burrito itself a little weird.  The taste wasn't bad...it just wasn't as awesome as I had hoped it would be.

This was another Whole Foods product I forgot to highlight on my blog when I got them several months ago.  They were tasty!  They had a nice medium strength spicy kick to them, too!

This was something I was really surprised about when I first saw them at my local Tops!  They are pricy but because I had never seen them before I HAD to try them!  They were really yummy!  I also had their little dessert cup thingies, too!  YUM!

My husband thinks it's weird that I eat waffles plain and like toast or pop tarts with my hands instead of a fork.  I hadn't had these in a LONG time and found them on sale a while back at the Lakewood Wegmans!

I was able to find these again at my local Aldi.  When they first came out I saw them but it's been a while in between.  I think they are pretty good.  They also have a root vegetable one, too!

Back in early March our local Zonta Club had it's Annual Lucky Numbers Luncheon which is a crazy day of fun and fundraising!  I was thrilled to see THIS vegan handbag as one of the prizes.  I'm not into fashion or accessories usually but I did throw my tickets in this one!  I didn't win but it was all in good fun and we did raise a lot of money that day.  There were over 120 LARGE prizes!

In other community news, I'm part of a group who is trying to wrangle up volunteers in our county.  We are organizing an annual weekend of volunteerism in the middle of May.  It's called Warren County Serves.  More on that in coming posts.  I think this photo was from our February meeting and since we live in the snow belt you can see we even wear hats inside sometimes because the heating systems couldn't keep up with the frigidly low temperatures.

During our Mid-March Zonta Meeting not only did we do another collection and shipment for Free The Girls we also took part in My National Freedom Day.  

Here are some of the photos from our shipping party!  We shipped another 400 bras to Free The Girls!  That is the 3rd shipment we have done since joining to be an official drop off location.  1,264 bras have been shipped in the 3 shipments so far!

More Vegan Eats & Women Are Wonderful Event

Have YOU seen these YET?  Clif came out with new (loose) Granola!  I was able to find this Cinnamon Almond flavor and I must say it was GREAT!  Actually, it was a gift from my parents!  They are VERY thoughtful!  When I eat Granola I eat it loose and dry and usually as a snack!  Because I ate many handfuls of this it was more like a meal!

Eventho this photo isn't the best I wanted to post it because it was a meal I had recently.  It was one of the Tasty Bites Microwavable Pouches...the Spinach Dal...actually, and a side of Garlic Parsley Riced Cauliflower.  I ended up mixing it together.  It was YUMMY!

My 40th birthday is in about a month.  I wanted to do 40 Good Deeds leading up to my Birthdate but I haven't been consistent with doing one each day.  One of the things I'm doing is donating tea to our local Cancer Center for those waiting for treatment (and their families).

Another thing I have done recently is volunteer at our local Women Are Wonderful Event that took place this past weekend.  It was a FUN day.  There were about 100-110 participants about roughly 30-50 volunteers.

Participants could take up to 5 classes/sessions of various topics and there was a breakfast bar and lunch served.  This photo is one of the last classes of the day and it was a card making class.  As a part of the Zonta Club efforts, we had many volunteers there.  We also chose the winners of our Basket Raffle Fund Raiser which the money raised goes to our Service Projects.  That day we also took a collection for our "Free The Girls" Project.  The participants donated 66 bras and $56 to help with shipping our next batch of bras to "Free The Girls".

The other night I was roaming around the house - doing a few things - and I caught Cricket on the recliner like this.  Apparently, she didn't want to sit ON the recliner's seat but wanted to wedge herself in the elbow part of the armrest.

I almost forgot to post this photo.  Still not a great photo but it was a good meal.  I made some more Baked Tofu Nuggets.  This time I threw a bunch of spices in with Bob's Red Mill's All Purpose Flour and some Arrowroot.  I probably left them in a bit longer than needed but the texture was nice.  Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside!

Eating Out of the Pantry, Coins from Malaysia, & a Snail Named George

I was going to blog about another restaurant today but I thought I would save it for another day...SOON!  Instead, I thought I would do a post about current happenings and upcoming events.

One thing is for sure...I don't have a whole hell of a lot of food in my house!  This photo above is from a few months ago and it's already 'ancient history'.  I have a feeling I will be doing a lot with Quinoa and Lentils next week because that is what I have in my pantry.  It will surely be 'slim pickings'.

And speaking of that phrase - I had to Google the origin.  I knew it was old but I didn't know it went back to the 1600's!  And that is according to Dictionary.com...and what they had to say about what it alludes to is a bit ironic due to me being a vegan and all but I still thought it was interesting...

A small amount left after others have taken a share. For example, After each of the children took what they wanted of Mother'sthings, it was slim pickings for the rest of the family. This expression alludes to animals devouring a carcass. [Early 1600s] 

Something that is LONG overdue is a THANK YOU to Suituapui for these wonderful coins from Malaysia!  I received them a few months ago and totally forgot to blog about them!  YIKES!  So sorry!  Because we are in the 'thick' of winter I'm sure I will be sorting out coins over the next couple of weeks again!  We are supposed to get anywhere between a foot of snow up to 2 and a half or even close to 3 feet of snow in some spots!  YIKES!

This is a photo of George the Snail.  It was reported that he passed away on or around the 10th of the month at the age of 14.  He was a land snail species, Achatinella apexfulva, which used to be plentiful on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and George was believed to be the species single survivor.  He lived his last days alone in a terrarium in Kailua, Hawaii, alongside an ample supply of fungi (a food his ancestors liked to scrape off leaves in the wild). (Article)

According to Wikipedia...as of January 2019, the IUCN's 1996 conservation status assessment (the most recent IUCN coverage of the species) still lists the species as Critically Endangered.

A few things that I am in Planning Mode for have to do with several boards, groups, and committees I belong to.  Such as...celebrating the 100 years of Women's Right to Vote...we have a planning meeting of how various organizations can work on the local level to celebrate for a full year!  Another project in the planning stages is our county's first annual Weekend of Service.  We are trying to promote Volunteerism and trying to encourage more people to volunteer!  That will be the weekend of May 17 thru the 19th.  We have a lot of things in the works for League of Women Voters and Zonta International, too.  And, we are in full force for obtaining new vendors for the county fair in August!  In addition, I have been trying to submit more reviews again over at Sororitea Sisters.

16 Days of Activism Re-Cap, Zonta, Vegan Christmas Cookies, BOOCH, Office Plants, More!

Happy New Year!

I'm still trying to catch up on the last several months so I'm sticking with the clumps of 6 to catch up on some photo posts.  In this post, you will see a lot of Zonta related posts because most of them were taken/posted during the 16 Days of Activism!  You can see the first one in the middle of the top row.

You can also see 3 Vegan Finds - 2 on the top and one on the bottom.  The Miyoko's I found while out and about - I think Wegman's.  I think I also found the new Zesty Daiya Cheese Sauce there!  And I know I found the soup that was on sale...actually...it looks like they aren't going to carry it anymore...so it was super cheap!

A snapshot of Cricket's lil paw-foot while she was sleeping on my lap and under the blanket - just because!  The one on the end and on the bottom was from the Friday after Thanksgiving when our Zonta Club Members were selling raffle ticket.  The money raised goes towards our many service projects!  More on those down the road!

I've told you about our new, local Ollies!  I have had good luck with vegan finds there - including Larabar Bites!  YUM!  At our local Tops, I found Red Lentil Pasta.  I really liked it!

I also briefly mentioned how I have made a few 'forts' in my parents Living Room for Trinity.  Here is a snapshot of one of those!  If you click on the pics - they get bigger - and you can see her in the right-hand corner.

I did find some Vegan Mashed Potatoes on sale while in my travels, too, I have had them before but since they were on sale I knew I had to grab them!  

Total Evolution in Warren hired a Vegan Chef and he specializes in Buddha Bowls!  There is one of the pictured in the top center of this 6.  

I recently spoke at a networking function for our local Women's Care Center.  Our Zonta Pres and I talked about our ongoing collection of new and gently used bras for FTG (Free The Girls).  You can see another photo of that on the bottom center and a few posts on the 16 Days of Activism.

I did try another Garde'in Bowl.  The flavor was ok but I could do without the fake chicken in this one.

For the past year or two I have been getting THE BIRD OF THE WEEK in my inbox from The American Bird Conservatory.  I LOVE seeing the different birds and regions they come from.  This one is the rarest of the rare...the Blue-Eyed Ground Dove.  It's found in Brazil and Critically Endangered.  As of the last count, there were only 16 left.  So sad - but - SO IMPORTANT to share!

Our FTG Bra Collection/Drop-Off made our local media...both radio AND print!

Over at The Whole Foods Co-Op in Erie, I spotted some Cheddar-Style Dip from The Honest Stand.  Since I haven't tried it before I scooped it up while I could!  It was alright!

I'm glad that my father is making wine again!  Here you can see some of his latest batch.  I helped bottle!  He does make vegan and non-vegan wine so he always lets me know which ones contain what.  The one pictured is vegan!

Over at The Whole Foods Co-Op they now have Aqua ViTea Kombucha - from Vermont - on Tap!  Woot!  I sampled a few that day and ended up buying one of the Blood Oranges.  It was FAB!

I have been spotting more Well YES!  Soups in more places!  I'm happy to see the vegan options and I have tried the vegan ones I have found - they are ok - but I prefer to make my own soups at home.

I was super stoked to see a Sabres Game on Hulu Plus LIVE a while back but they have been few and far between.  We thought we would get more LIVE Hockey games that we wanted to see so we recently discontinued that add-on because we weren't getting the use out of it, really, and we were trimming unnecessary costs across the board...more on that in a few...

In the meantime...I'll tell you more about our outings and adventures!  Including our stop at Mad Mex in Erie.  I LOVE that place because there are SO MANY vegan options - but - I haven't been there as often as I would like.  I am thankful for the last two times we did go, tho...once with hubby...and the other time with my parents, sister, and niece.

I found a HUGE tub of Follow Your Heart Sour Cream somewhere, too, and it had been YEARS since I tried their Sour Cream.  I have to say it's better than I remember it.  I do like making my own at home but when it's on sale I usually grab what I can.

Many places have been getting more of the Green Giant Diced and Riced Cauliflower Steamables.  Of course, I always double check the ones I purchase are vegan...some are and some aren't...but I'm thrilled they are coming out with more options that ARE VEGAN!

I couldn't resist this Drew's Grains and Kale Salsa!  It was hardier than most salsa's and pretty terrific!

We did make another trip to Mustard Seed in Ohio before the snow started flying!  I was pumped to find their own VEGAN Pumpkin Bread!  It was great!

Another thing I saw but didn't buy (and now wish I had) was Buddha's Hand!  Have you ever bought and made anything with Buddha's Hand?

I mentioned earlier about one Kombucha now being on tap in Erie but GUESS WHAT...there is a place in Warren that has BOOCH on tap now, too, it's Total Evolution and the BOOCH they have is Earth Below that is regionally brewed in Emporium, PA.  So far I have enjoyed everything I have tried from them!

And that blob in the middle on the bottom - NACHOS - with the sour cream and salsa I mentioned above. 

Eat Pastery VEGAN Cookie Dough is BACK at my local Wegman's!  I also grabbed one of the Wegman's brand BOOCHES while I was at it!

The Baba Ghannouj and Garde'in Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers were from Mustard Seed.  The Baba Ghannouj was ok...I like the one I have made better but haven't made it in ages...and when I see a vegan new-to-me-baba I have to try it!  And I had not seen the Chipotle Lime ones anywhere locally so I thought I would grab a package while at Mustard Seed.  I figured I wouldn't be back until spring.

A few people on IG have encouraged me to post more PLAYLIST and MUSIC stuff so that is what you see in the first photo above.  Then another furkids pic.  Then more Vegan Finds! 

The one is a Cashew Queso.  I found that at Mustard Seed, too, it was alright.  Because it was on sale I grabbed some old school Mac & Chreese.  The last time I saw the Hummus Pods I only bought one package.  I LOVED them so this time I tried two other flavors and they didn't disappoint!  LOVED THEM AGAIN!  I also found another Pupusas that was vegan and finally had those the other night for dinner and enjoy them quite a bit!

Our Zonta Club does 'gifts for mothers' thru our local Salvation Army and I donated a gift bag with goodies in there.  Most of which were vegan...including this Salt Scrub!

In the next several photos you can see some office plant progress.  I have re-potted a few since these were taken.  I have lost a few plants in the last couple of weeks, too, which is disappointing.

I have been drinking tea - as usual - and slowly but surely - submitting more reviews over at Sororitea Sisters.

I did find more VioLife cheeses!  YAY!  And Smoked Gouda from Daiya while in Ohio!  Along with Field Roast and LightLife sandwich slices.

More office plants!  The top 3 are currently doing well.  The one on the bottom right I have since lost.  For some reason, I don't have luck with Begonias.  I have NOT been successful with 4 different varieties of Begonias.

You can also see one of my quick lunches from a while back.  I think it was a Vegan Burger from ALDI and Couscous with Tomato Sauce.  I remember eating this over at my parent's house the one day and I shared some Couscous with Trinity and she LOVED it!

And another bottled BOOCH from Earth Below - available at Total Evolution!  I think that one was either the Honeycrisp Cinnamon or the Grapefruit Rosemary.

While at the Zonta Christmas Party - one of the other members made Vegan Coconut Lemon Balls!  They were AMAZING!

Oh Yeah!  And...Morning Star's Buffalo Wings are now VEGAN or at least have a Vegan Option and labeled differently!  They were on sale at Tops for 3 for $9 so I stocked up!  They are pretty good!  I haven't had many Morningstar products the last several years but glad they are coming out with more Vegan Options!

Since I have been pretty bored with TV lately I have been re-watching The Golden Girls.  Classic!

And more plants!  I was REALLY loving the one on the left...until it fell off the shelf and I lost quite a bit of it.  The African Mask plant on the right I LOVE, too!

This past Christmas I TRIED to do some vegan baking again...with supervision...that is!  I say that while laughing because I am an awful baker!  My mom and I tried a few recipes and everything tasted great!  The picture of the Lemon-Glazed Shortbread in the upper left took a while and was pretty hard the next day.  We found that if you put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds they softened well, tho.

I also have some pictures from the Zonta Christmas Party, too!  It was FUN!  You can see a few of us with the 'Gifts For Mothers' for the Salvation Army that I mentioned earlier, too!

And here are a few other vegan cookies I tried making this year!  The one in the upper left is actually a no-bake with only 3 ingredients we just needed to put them on something while they set.  Peanut Butter, Maple Syrup, and Oats.

My parent's cats and my mom and I making fun of CVS's receipts - my mom only bought 3 things and her receipt was 4 and a half feet long!  CRAZY!  Such a waste!

Hubby and I judge Christmas Trees at a local factory.  I posted on IG a few of the trees!  This year we agreed the Paws Along The River Humane Society DONATION TREE was the winner!  Everything was being donated to the shelter!

And more cookies!  The Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies were a hit everywhere I took them!  I just made them a little bit smaller than I should have!  Then I did Vegan Snickerdoodles!  With some help smushing them half way thru baking them they turned out good!  Funny thing...I don't think I got too many of those...but someone must have liked them!