thought for the day

"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you." ~ Maori Proverb

raw for dinner

last night's dinner was sort of a finish-up-what's-in-the-fridge meal. i do my best to keep raw pizza crusts in the freezer for easier dishes like this one.

my fungus was about to grow more fungus, so i used 'shrooms for the pizza topping. they were marinated in equal parts shoyu and olive oil with a splash of agave and dehydrated for about an hour. there was a little bit of eggplant caponata left swimming in a lot of dressing - i blended it with a handful of soaked cashews, sun-dried tomato and garlic for a two-in-one tomato/cheese topping.

half of a zucchini leftover from my ramekin raw lasagna was spiralized for a small side of "pasta", topped with the aforementioned tomato/cheese sauce. the lettuce from our garden was served with a maple balsamic dressing john whipped up. (he likes to help in the kitchen so he can get fed quicker because he loves me.=)

on a whim i made a strawberry banana ice cream cake for dessert. more details on this fabulous frozen delight to follow!=)

lose your little mind

my dear friends julia of painted path and alia of inner bliss created a lovely video that i'd like to share.

"What if you trusted with absolute certainty that you are cherished and beautiful and whole, exactly as you are?"

carrot chips

there were carrots taking root in my fridge that needed to be used asap. a search brought me to one of my favorite raw recipe sites, gone raw. i've loved every recipe from gone raw, including these crispy carrot chips.

topped with my sister's yummy kalamata olive hummus

and eggplant caponata

if you've got a picky veggie eater in the house, i suggest making chips out of them. (the veggies - not the picky eaters.=) it seems even the most finicky of eaters can't resist a crispy chip!

garden update: april 10th

these photos were taken two weeks ago; i didn't plan on posting them because they weren't too exciting. for my reference and for those like me who love looking at any and all garden photos, i figured i'd put them up here anyway. plus the rain is keeping me inside today, so hopefully this will satiate me somewhat.=)

let's start with the peas. sugar snap peas make my mouth itchy, but the plants are so pretty and my niece alaina loves to pick and eat the pods right off the vine. i've had some issues growing those and tall telephone peas in the past, so this year i was determined to do it right. they were sprouted prior to planting to be sure they would germinate.

mel says to plant peas an inch deep and cover with a plastic cage. most of the seeds have sprouted, and when it stops raining, i'll go back and fill in the bare spots. to see what happened to the non-sprouters, i dug up a few. the seeds had roots but were rotted, and little white grubs were feasting on them. (i actually dreamt those grubs grew to be ginormous and were eating my wooden frames! aghhh!=)

a few pea plants that were sown march 21st are growing nicely. those seeds were planted without pre-sprouting and many didn't come up. i guess it's mother nature's way of helping me space out my harvests.=)

since these photos were taken, john has built another trellis for the 6x6 bed, so they'll all have something to climb.

"x" marks the spots where i threw in more pea seeds. there are just two strawberry plants from my first year gardening in the raised beds, and the rest are growing alongside the fences on both sides of us. all of the strawberry plants have pretty white blossoms!=) *fingers crossed the animals leave those plants alone*

we may have to make more chicken wire cages like this one.

kale sprout...

spinach sprout...

and our fig tree showing signs of life. now, just two weeks later, it's producing itty bitty fruit. reading up on fig trees, i learned this could be the spring crop, called the breba crop. we'll have to be sure to protect it from frost. the tree should also produce a late summer/fall harvest.

figgy was planted around mother's day last year. she produced some fruit but they all fell off before the chance to mature. so sad.  

photo from july 17th, 2010

when the weather clears up i plan to get more lettuce seeds sown. on the 10th i also planted mustard greens, escarole, sunset and tango lettuce. tiny little seedlings have emerged. seeing other gardeners harvest their greens left me impatient, so i caved and bought some transplants. we've had two large salads from the 16 plants so far.

this weekend i'd also like to plant my root crops (carrot, radish, beet) and chamomile. johnny made these handy little planting templates to help me. he also says he'll put my new potter's bench together soon. ain't he a peach?=)

drumroll please

and the winners of my blog birthday felt creation giveaway are...

john chose the two winners out of a hat. can you believe heidi won again!? she's won three out of four of my giveaways (as well as a slew of other blog giveaways). hubbs needs to take that lucky lady to vegas!=)

congrats, heidi and pralinka, and thanks to everyone who participated! i hope you all have a wonderful weekend!=)

last chance

tomorrow evening i'll be selecting the two winners for my blog birthday giveaway. click here if you'd like to enter and haven't already!

hyacinths and raw lasagna

our hyacinths are in full bloom, and boy do they smell nice!

two were toppling over, so i brought them inside. one is decorating my desk...

and the other's in the kitchen.

the ramekin raw lasagna i prepared yesterday worked like a dream. carmella's fabulous recipe from delightfully raw filled four ramekins, with just enough pesto, tomato sauce and spinach leftover for four pizzas. i doubled my cashew cheese recipe instead (carmi's calls for raw macadamia nuts, which i can't find) and felt the lasagna could have used a tad more nut meat, though i did steal some for "sausage" pizza topping last night.=)

upon arriving home today i popped the lasagna ramekins in the dehydrator at 110 degrees, and in two hours they were ready to go.

eggplant caponata topped my garden salad, and johnny boy sauteed asparagus in garlic and olive oil. (garden update coming soon!)

needless to say, my nose and belly are very happy today. i hope yours are too!=)

today's eats

for lunch i threw together a really yummy salad of cooked chick peas, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes over spiralized zucchini ribbons with olive oil, hemp seeds and black pepper. (breakfast was coffee and raisins, and no, i wasn't trying to make myself go number two!=)

as a mid-afternoon snack, i enjoyed one of my favorite green smoothies: banana, strawberry, apple, lemon, kale and chia seeds.

this evening i made raw meals for the rest of our busy week - lasagna, eggplant caponata and pizza. the pizza we had tonight was made using leftover ingredients from the lasagna, which was pretty convenient. i stored the lasagna in four ramekins so we can get two easy dinners out of it.

raw eggplant caponota minus olives, capers and celery, but still yummy!

mushroom and "sausage" pizza

pesto, cashew cheese, raw tomato sauce and spinach

a local supermarket was going out of business and i decided to stop in just to see what they had. they must have known i was coming because they saved one big container of the most delicious, soft medjool dates, marked seventy percent off! john and i stuffed some with walnuts and pecans for a sweet bedtime snack. yum!=)

what did you have for your bedtime snack?=)

for mom-mom

mom-mom and me, halloween 1981

this post is a tribute to my mom-mom, eleanor. she passed five years ago today. when i think of mom-mom i remember a strong yet gentle women with a knack for cooking and crafting. she took care of me as a sick girl with the flu when my mom had to go to work and taught me how to cross-stitch. she made me and my cousins (all 13 of us) amazing christmas stockings and a handmade easter basket each year. she was quite a mom-mom.

my sister krista in front of our stockings, homemade with love

she was soft and cuddly, just as a grandma should be. she loved sports, especially her phillies, and knew more about them than most men. more than anything she loved her family and was overjoyed when her grandchildren came to visit.

the grandkiddies (minus brittany and kimberly who were born a little later) at a family reunion, in '86 or '87 i believe.

the family she and my grandpop created

my mom-mom and i had a special kind of bond. she was hard of hearing and i was a mumbler, so there wasn't much verbal communication between us. but ours was a genuine, unspoken love; we would hug and kiss and smile and laugh, and that was our beautiful relationship.=)

my mom-mom's giggle was as delightful as a wind chime dancing in a warm breeze. what's wonderful is her sons have a similar infectious laugh that remind me of her.

mom-mom with two of her five children, my dad, craig and her youngest, tommy

eleanor was a woman of strong faith, and i learned after her passing that the serenity prayer was one of her favorites. the prayer card from her service is on my dresser; i read it when i'm struggling.

when mom-mom passed, she was not afraid. she was certain she would go on to be with her husband and daughter, ellen joy, and others who went before her. she is greatly missed, but as her conviction showed me, we will all meet again, some sweet day.=)

music monday: hands

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be we're all OK

And not to worry because worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these

I won't be made useless
I won't be made idle with despair

Gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small, I know
They're not yours, they are my own
They're not yours, they are my own
We are never broken

Poverty stole your golden shoes
It did not steal your laughter

Heartache came to visit me
But I knew it was not ever after

We will fight, but not out of spite
Because someone must stand up for what's right

Where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing

My hands...

In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray...

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And we are never broken

We are never broken

wildflowers

May all your weeds be wildflowers.  ~Author Unknown

tax facts

"America: Freedom to Fascism is a compelling and troubling account of how the wealth of our nation was silently passed from its citizens to a handful of powerful bankers in 1913. That's the year the Federal Reserve Act and the 16th Amendment were introduced, giving a privately held corporation the means to control our finances while ensuring its interest payments through the strong arms of the newly-formed Internal Revenue Service. Ever since then, Russo suggests, Americans have been gradually conditioned to accept fewer freedoms and a lower standard of living... all the while considering debt and servitude as distinctly American values." (freedomtofascism.com)

blog birthday giveaway

*this giveaway is now closed*

as mentioned previously, my baby blog has turned two. to celebrate and express my heart"felt" gratitude, i'm giving away two of my fun felt creations. winners can choose a design from below, or request a customized magnet/pin of their choice.

to enter, simply leave a comment.

"tweet" or blog about this giveaway for an extra entry!=)

get "moo"-ving - we don't want anyone to miss out!=)








two winners will be chosen randomly sometime next week.


*no animals are harmed in the making of these creations - all felt is 100% vegan.=)

cat and dolphins playing

so cute, and the cat looks just like biggles.=)

houseplants in bloom

my blog's two today=)

last year i completely overlooked my blog's first birthday, the neglectful blog-mommy i was. this year i thought i'd celebrate and talk a little on how this blog came to be.

weeks prior to my blog's inception, i hardly knew what blogging was. my friend missy had a blog for her family, and when i became passionate about animal-friendly eating, she encouraged me to start one to share my recipes. so i did. here was my original header:

i have to laugh at how impersonal my first post was - i just slapped up a recipe for vegan pizza and that was that. but when i started following other food bloggers, i found myself inspired by those who shared more of their personal lives, and this space evolved into a place for me to share and connect.

though i no longer label myself vegan or vegetarian, i still prefer to prepare and eat animal-friendly meals, so the title will stay - for now.=)

my sincerest thanks to everyone who supports and encourages this blog. i'm grateful for every thought you contribute, and as a small token of my appreciation, i'm hosting a fun little giveaway - details to come later in the week!

music monday: i didn't f*ck it up

funny but full of f-bombs. viewer discretion is advised!=)

thought for the day

The tests of life are not to break you but to make you. 

source

rumbly in my tumbly

my belly was not happy that we skipped breakfast this morning, or that i chose to watch cooking shows while the baby i sit napped. thoughts of fresh onion and green pepper bread, ranch kale chips and nut tuna waiting at home had it even more grumbly. heading to my house, i may or may not have surpassed some speed limits - but for good reason of course - this meal is phenomenonal!

recipe sources

carmella's ranch kale chips from delightfully raw
ocean's nut tuna from the raw freedom community forum
lisa's onion bread from raw on $10 a day (or less!) with sliced green pepper added