Chip Dip

I mentioned I was going to try to replicate the Cactus Cut potatoes from Boston Pizza the other day. Well, I think I did it pretty good...except I burned the potatoes so I just used plain potato chips and it will still really good.

The recipe isn't exact, I just kept adding things until it tasted good so I don't actually know how much I put in, these are estimates.

Ingredients:

1 tub of Tofutti sour cream
4-5 sprigs of green onions, sliced
a few dashes of Cayenne pepper
3 tsp's of chili pepper flakes
a squeeze of lime juice (hides the weird flavour in the sour cream)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder

To make, just mix it all together in a bowl. Add less or more spices depending on your mood. Enjoy!

Bye, Bye 2009

Tonight me and Jason are going to a friend's house for board games. It should be a nice quiet evening and a good way to ring in the new year. I made six layer dip so I'll have something to eat too, I'm so excited to gobble it up.

Today I cut my thumb open, and bruised the bone, with a knife while trying to get a very stubborn pit out of an avocado. I'm very clumsy.

Have a happy, and safe night everyone! Hopefully 2010 will be good, except for the whole Olympics thing, ugh.

Nonsense

Ugh. So, I booked an appointment to get my hair cut later...but I just looked in the mirror and actually liked my hair so now I am thinking to just not show up haha. I guess I'll have to dodge some salon phone calls because I feel awkward phoning and cancelling when I just booked it an hour ago haha. Oops!


Maybe I'll wait until it's at chin length, so another month, and then decide. I am definitely going to dye it red on the weekend though...I need to do SOMETHING to it.

I am going to attempt to replicate the Cactus Cut Potatoes from Boston Pizza, which I loved pre-veg, later today. I also have to make a 5 layer dip for New Year's eve. I haven't made it in awhile and it's so good that I'm considering making two, one for today and one for tomorrow haha.

I want one of those mandolin graters. I was originally going to buy a large stock pot as my next kitchen thing, but lately I've been into slicing things (particularly potatoes) and it's annoying with a knife.

My diet has been horrid the last 3 weeks. Basically fried foods and chips and orange juice. It's so bad. I feel so lethargic haha. I have eaten good so far today though! I had a smoothie and a bowl of Bob's Red Mill oats with agave nectar and blueberries in it. I'm most likely gonna make spaghetti for dinner, so at least today will be healthy. I need more greens though. Frig.

Anyways, off to the store now. See you!

Crockpot Stuffing

I didn't take a picture of the stuffing I made for Christmas, so I stole that one from the internet hahahaha. Anyways, this stuffing was absolutely delicious...next time I make it I might add a cup of diced apples too.

If you are wondering why I cook this stuffing in a crockpot and not on the stove or in a casserole dish, it's because the crock pot simulates the moistness that you get when you cook stuffing inside the turkey. I HATE dry stuffing, and this made the moistest (is that even a word?) stuffing I've ever had.

For the bread cubes, I just used a big loaf of white bread and cut it up and let it sit on a cookie sheet overnight. Then in the morning I just baked it at 300 degrees (stirring every so often) until all the bread was hard. If you have squishy/soft bread it will just turn to mush in the stuffing...I made that mistake the first time I made this.

Ingredients:

12 cups of bread cubes
2 cups diced onions
2 cups sliced celery
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Earth Balance
2-3 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper
2 tbsp's or so of "poultry" seasoning

To Make:

Melt the butter in a big frying pan, saute the onions and celery for about ten minutes over medium heat until they are soft (do NOT brown them).

In a crock pot mix together the bread crumbs, cranberries and seasoning. When the onion mixture is finished add it to the crockpot and stir everything together. Add about 2 cups of vegetable broth and mix it around until everything is moist.

Cook it on low for 4-5 hours. If it seems to be drying out you can add more broth but be extremely careful not to add too much or it turns to mush.

It's a pretty basic recipe which I just sort've made on a whim, but it turned out absolutely delish. I'm definitely going to make this more than once a year!

Jokerz chocolate bar

Thank goodness Christmas is over. Although, I just went to the mall to use a giftcard I got and the parking lot was RIDICULOUS!!! I don't even try to park near the entrance in those situations, I have legs for a reason....walking an extra five feet isn't going to kill me.

There was however, this "battle" going on between this old guy and this Indian girl. It was absolutely ridiculous. There was one parking spot right at the front and neither would move to let the other take the spot, so they just sat there (blocking all traffic) honking at each other. It was funny. When I left I saw the old guy's car in the spot...so I guess he won lol.



I mentioned awhile ago that I had ordered some of the Go Max Go chocolate bars from vivagranola.com. I put the Jokerz one in my stocking and it was amazing!! Jason said it tasted like a Mars bar but I've never had one so I don't know if it actually does or not. I definitely recommend Jokerz to anyone, vegan or not, because it's so friggin tasty. It wasn't overly sweet like the Mahalo bar either.

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Last night I hosted my vegan Christmas dinner and everything tasted delicious. There are no leftovers except some buns and stuffing so that's lunch for me haha.

I'll post the recipes for the pot pie and the stuffing on the weekend.

I'm off to do my gift-baking now!

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls..."

Hello virtual world,

It's been awhile I know. I've been busy with exams but my last one is Friday! After that I promise to update more regularly again.

Here is a video I found, it sums up all the reasons I went veggie pretty nicely. I even learned some news things like in some farms 40% of the fish die before being sold as food! That is fucking disgusting and cruel. Why would you want to eat the same fish that were raised in conditions so horrid that they killed 40% of their friends? Gross.

I like the quote at the end too, "It is only prejudice that allows anyone to think there’s a difference between abusing a cat and abusing a chicken, or abusing a dog and abusing a pig. Suffering is suffering no matter how you slice it." - Paul McCartney

Here's the video:

My life is so interesting

Not.

I'm at school right now, my bus got here freakishly quickly...I guess when it's final exam time less people take the bus, so less stops, so it gets here faster. Although, the 701 was really busy...so I would think that would even it out.

There was an extremely irritating man on the bus sitting in the front. EVERY time and for EVERY person who got on the bus, this man would practically scream "Merry Christmas" to them. It was so distracting and pissed me off to the maximum.

I have my first exam in 30 minutes. I'm quite excited, when you finish the first of your finals it feels like the semester is that much closer to finishing. Sure, class ends but it doesn't seem like the end until you actually write an exam. I finish next Friday!!! I don't know what I am going to do next weekend in "celebration", probably just clean my house and gorge myself on fatty foods haha. I guess I might go buy Jason's Christmas present.

I was trying to calculate my textbook cost for next semester...most books aren't posted/are custom course packs but I think I'm looking at about $600 or $700 bucks. I hate buying textbooks!!!

I won't be posting any new recipes this week, we are eating boring food that I've made 100 times because I don't have time to experiment and then if I fail to remake something. It's sad, really.

Anyways, I'm gonna go read news websites or something. I might go buyback my textbook actually.

See ya.

Pierogies

These are incredibly tedious and bitchy to make, but totally worth it. You can't buy vegan pierogies at the store so I had no other option but to make these. They taste delicious and for my first time making homemade pierogies ever, they turned out great. Make a fun afternoon out of making these. This recipe made 30.

Dough:

1 cup warm water
3 tbsp canola oil
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Filling:

4 red potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup canola oil
1 small onion, diced
salt and pepper
1/3 cup Daiya cheddar cheese

To make:

Cook the potatoes in boiling water and strain. Saute the onions until clear (do NOT brown them). Mash the potatoes together with the onions, canola oil and salt and pepper. When sufficiently mashed mix in the cheese. Set aside.

Here's the "fun" part. Mix together the warm water and canola oil in a bowl. Mix in the flour with a fork and when you can't anymore dump it out on a clean counter. Knead together with your hands until nice and dough-like.

Divide the dough into quarters. Roll out each quarter until it's pretty thin and then take the top of a cup (3-4" in diameter) and make the circles. You will have to roll out each quarter multiple times until you use it all up. After you've finished the dough lay them all out on wax paper.

Here's a picture of the rest of the process:



Put a walnut sized amount of filling in the pierogi. Wet the edge of one half of the pierogi and fold it over and pinch very firmly. You can also pat the top of the pierogi before pinching to release any air. The first few will probably "leak" but after that it goes pretty quick. It's fastest to lay out all the pierogi's and then put the filling in all of them so then you just keep folding and pinching. But, you could do one at a time as well if that's your thing.

I froze most of mine by laying them out on a cookie sheet until frozen then I put them in a bag. To cook, just boil until floating and saute them if you want.

That's it for new recipes! Enjoy them. I have my last day of class tomorrow and exams begin Wednesday. They are expecting 2-4 cm of snow Thursday night and 10cm of snow on Friday. I have an exam at 8:30am on Friday...and if there is snow there will be double the snow on Burnaby Mountain which SUCKS because now my exam will probably be canceled and rescheduled and everything gets messed up. I hate rescheduling exams. Actually, I just hate the fact that some idiot decided to put a University campus on the top of a mountain. The mountain isn't even that high, but it seriously gets a tonne of snow. Every year students get trapped up there (last year I caught the LAST bus down - took 3 hrs to get home and it usually took 45 minutes) overnight and every year multiple days of classes are canceled because the buses can't run. Last year a bus crashed and the driver had to be flown to a hospital because her entire face got smashed in!

At least all my classes are at the Surrey campus for the spring. My distance ed exams will be at Burnaby but they will be late enough that snow issues shouldn't be a problem.

I think I am going to play Sims now. I made the True Blood cast (Eric, Sookie, Bill, Jason, Hoyt, Jessica, Tara and Sam) and just finished furnishing their mansion. Eight people is really hard to manage but I can't wait! I'm such a nerd, but I am going to make Sookie and Bill get engaged, then Sookie falls for Eric and then there is major dramz. They all live together too, so it will be extra dramz. HA HA! Hey, at least I don't play WOW anymore...so I'm not THAT nerdy.

Hummus Avocado Pita

I know this doesn't require a recipe, but sometimes people don't know how to make something easy like a pita without meat or cheese or something. I can assure you this is extremely filling, tasty and healthy! This makes a great lunch and can be made ahead of time too. If you keep the pit in the avocado, you can save the other half in the fridge without it going brown.

1 whole wheat pita
half a tomato, diced and seeded
half an avocado, sliced
half a red pepper, julienned
half a large carrot, julienned
2 huge spoonfuls of hummus (Recipe Here)
handful of greens (I used a prepackaged "spring mix")

To assemble, cut the pita in half and smear in the hummus on each side. Place your veggies in and then cram as much greens as you can fit. When full, warm it up in the oven for optimal tastiness.

If you've been reading my blog you would have seen my post of our makeshift bookshelf tree, but now we have a real tree! Well, fake, but it's still a Christmas tree. Doug still had his old one from when he lived in an apartment so when we are my moms on the weekend we got to take it. It's small enough that the kitties aren't as interested as last year too. I had to spray citrusy perfume all over the bottom branches though because Charlie still wanted to eat it.

It's so cute!!!

Alfredo

Alongside the Daiya cheddar I ordered, I got two bags of the Italian variety as well. As a vegan you get tired of tomato sauce, or "pasta primavera" and just want a creamy thick pasta sauce like the old days. Today I had that desire and decided to make an alfredo recipe and boy did it taste fucking delicious! (yes, swear words must be used to describe the sheer tastiness of this recipe)

Make this. You won't regret it!

Ingredients (makes 2 servings - leftovers won't keep as the butter will separate):

1/2 cup soy creamer
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tbsp Earth Balance
1/2 tbsp flour
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
salt
pepper
PINCH of nutmeg
1 cup or so of Daiya Italian Blend cheese
Whole wheat linguine noodles for two servings
Veggies

To Make:

Melt the butter until it's bubbly, whisk in the flour for a minute. Add in the soy milks, garlic and spices. Bring up to a very low boil while constantly whisking. When it boils lower it to a simmer until it is nice and thickened. Remove from the heat when thick.

While you are making the sauce, cook the linguine according to the package. I used some frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot blend) and added them to the boiling water in the last 5 minutes which worked great and made less dishes.

Strain the veggie/pasta and return to the pot. Remove the garlic chunks from the sauce and mix into the pasta. Serve immediately.

YUM!!! Enjoy the recipe.

Black Bean Enchilada's

I basically slapped this recipe together on a whim. It turned out really delish, and was my first time making enchilada's in over a year!

(Ignore the ugly factor, mushy food really doesn't photograph well!)




According to Jason (who got the leftovers) these taste even better the next day. I might pre-make them next time.

Ingredients:

1 can black beans
1/2 can refried beans
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 jalepeno's, diced (with seeds)
1 cup salsa
8 corn tortilla's
1 can enchilada sauce
Daiya cheddar cheese
cumin
salt and pepper
olive oil

To make:

Preheat the oven to 375 and lightly grease a casserole dish.

Saute the onion in olive oil until clear. Add in the jalepeno's and green pepper. Saute for a few minutes then add the spices and salsa. Saute for another few minutes and set aside.

Warm up your corn tortilla's so they don't break when you roll them up. Spoon some refried beans into the middle of a tortilla, spoon some of the filling on top. Roll it up and place seam side down in the casserole dish. Repeat for the rest of the tortilla's until the dish is full.

Pour the enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle some cheese on. Bake for 20 minutes covered and 10-15 uncovered.

Enjoy! These will definitely become a new staple in our meal line-up.

Uncle Eddie's and Go Max Go

I picked up my order of vegan goodies on Saturday. I was so excited! I now have a four month stash of vegan candy! Awesome, right?

I ordered some of these chocolate bars by Go Max Go. On the chocolate bar front there isn't anything for us vegans to buy except plain dark chocolate bars, sometimes with nuts or fruit...but nothing full of artery-clogging-sugary-goodness like a kit-kat or snickers.

I tried the Mahalo one first. YUM! It tasted exactly like a Bounty (my pre-vegan fave), only better. It has a rice chocolate coating, a coconut middle and almonds on top. I could only eat half of it in one sitting though, it was definitely very sweet and rich. But who cares, if you can only eat half in one sitting that makes more for later!

Here are some pics, isn't the wrapper cute?





I also ordered Twilight and Jokerz which I will be trying later. If Mahalo is any indication though, the other flavours will be just as delicious. I think you can only order these online, which makes them a pain....but if you "stock up" like I did (candy addiction here!) then you can have vegan candy bars on hand for when you get a craving.

I also ordered a bag of Uncle Eddie's Peanut Butter Cookies. I had heard they are really good, though expensive. It was $6 for a bag, but totally worth it. Again, it's difficult to find pre-made vegan cookies...so the convenience factor totally makes up for the price. I would definitely order them again. They are REALLY rich and filling though, and you definitely want a glass of soymilk to go with them!

I have been busy lately and haven't updated with any new recipes lately. I'm going to post a few after this post. Now, go order some vegan goodies! Get them for Christmas stocking stuffers or something.

Epic Fail

My pumpkin pie was an epic failure. Balls.

Daiya Mac and Cheese

I tried out my Daiya last night. It was amazing!!! I tried a bite of the cheddar variety just on it's own and it tasted almost identical to real cheddar.

I veganized a mac and cheese recipe. Look how CREAMY it is!!!!



Amazing, right?



Jason gorged his down and finished mine because I was full, he said it tasted like regular mac and cheese too.

Here's what I came up with:

3/4 soy creamer
3/4 cup soy milk
cayenne pepper
pepper
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup daiya cheddar cheese
3 tbsp Earth Balance
3 tbsp flour
2-3 cups dry pasta either shells or macaroni

Melt the butter and mix in the flour until nice and thick. Add in everything else but the pasta and cheese. Whisk over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it's bubbly and thick. When thickened, stir in the cheese until it's creamy and entirely melted. Meamwhile cook your pasta. When everything is done, mix the two together.

It took me like 15 minutes to make, and was great. Jason want's "snobby joes" tonight, but I want to try another thing with cheese haha. I might make some black bean enchiladas instead. Yum.

I'm off to eat my leftovers!

Daiya Cheese

I got my order from Viva Granola today. It took 3 days to get here (well technically 4 because I wasn't home when they tried to deliver it) so my cheese was still cold. I ordered Daiya Cheese, Primal Strips and a pin that says "vegan" on it with a baby chick beside it for my backpack.

I opened the box and they included a handful of dark chocolate peppermint patties, some business cards to other vegan things and a note on my receipt that said "Thanks very much, Michelle :)". It was so nice, nobody hand writes on things anymore! I will definitely order from them in the future despite the $10 shipping.

I was absolutely stunned when I opened the bag and the Daiya smelled identical to cheddar cheese!!! It was amazing.

Here is a picture of the two flavours of Primal Strips I ordered. I will be testing them out at school tomorrow and Thursday:



and my 2 pounds of cheese! Yay!! I hope it's good.





My bread crumbs are in the oven drying out right now and it smells absolutely fantastic!!!

It's Charlie's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!

He turned two today. He's so big now!!! And all grown up!!! Now both my babies are two and it's really sad, I think I need another kitten haha.

Haha, I just noticed you can see my nose in that picture. It's kind of funny, the only way Charlie likes to be carried is if you wrap him up like a baby...I guess he feels more secure or something haha.

Random Life Things

First I would just like to say I find it hilarious when people justify saying a member of the opposite sex is good looking with "I'm not gay, I just think they're hot/sexy/good looking/etc.."

Seriously, who cares if you were gay anyways? I would say stupid American's, but people do it here all the time to haha.

I weighed myself today and was 176.8 pounds. I lost 6 or 7 pounds this month! I didn't even exercise!

I have new goals this month:

- weigh 169 pounds or less
- pass all my finals (well 4/5 should be A's...but philosophy I had 50% and 47% on...so I need to pass one of the exams!!!)
- start my food log again
- stop buying and eating candy/sugary things - I have a sugar addiction and a crunchy addiction
- wear fun eyeshadow at least 3 days of the week (This sounds retarded, but I enjoy applying makeup, esp. eyeshadow...and lately I haven't worn any at all)
- from the 18th onwards do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING except bake goodies, play video games and dance around my apartment

So basically, lose weight and be less stressed this month. Good luck to me!


Here's a quick recipe you could make for dinner! Pasta Primavera:



Well, I don't really have a recipe....but I think this is what I generally use.

2 cups vegetable broth
1-2 tbsp's corn starch (depends how thick you want the sauce)
oregeno
basil
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 cups of cut up veggies - i always use broccoli, carrots and onions. Zucchini and mushrooms would be great in this too. Or those snow pea things.
1 tomato, diced
Cooked Spaghetti for 4 people

Saute your garlic in some olive oil until it's fragrant. Add in the spices and the vegetable broth. Bring it to a boil and add the veggies...cover and cook them for a few minutes until they are mostly soft. Then stir in your cornstarch and simmer (while stirring) until the sauce is nice and thick.

When the sauce is thick and the veggies are cooked (but have a slight crunch, yum) dump the sauce in the pot with the cooked spaghetti noodles. Add in your diced tomatoes (the best part) and mix it all up. Serve with crunchy french bread.

Now I must go put a hat on (my hair is at a really awkward length, so all I can do is wear a hat haha) and get my DAIYA CHEESE! WOOT! I will be back later to post my first success or failure with it.

I'm also test running my stuffing recipe tonight for Christmas. I'm excited, I haven't had stuffing in over a year. (I wrecked my Thanksgiving stuffing lol)

Bye!

Corrections

I just found out corrections Canada doesn't have a tattoo policy! I won't have to get mine removed until I become a cop (and who knows, I may stay in corrections!)

I also bought the divacup today, I'm gonna test it out later tonight or tomorrow. Aunt flo is coming later this week, so hopefully all goes well!

Random jabbering

So, I have a 300gb hard drive and the other day I was trying to download this ultra-Disney pack of movies. It turns out I only had 5gb or so free.

As a result of this inconvenience I have a new goal for the Christmas break: organize my bloody hard drive (including my pictures folders which are absolute chaos).

I also have to organize my SFU email account. I have 200 pages of email (25 per page) most of which are useless....but I still have to go through them all, ugh.

On a less mundane note, I decided where I want my first trip to be once I graduate!! I am absolutely, definitely going on an African safari. I am not sure how much roughing it I want to do...but you can go on SEVENTY-THREE DAY safari's through like half of Africa. That might be a bit long but I might do a 30 day one or something. Gah. I need to graduate and get a bazillion dollars to fly to Africa. The actual safari prices aren't too bad, it's the flight that kills it pricewise lol. Oh well, I think it would be totally worth it.

I must go finish this paper now. ONE WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! My first final is in like 10 days, fuck. I hate finals, especially when all of my classes have one.

**Also** Anne Murray's Christmas album (which the exception of the blatantly religious songs like away in a manger) is AMAZING!!!!! I have listened to it like 45 times this past weekend. GO GET IT!!!!!! Spread the Holiday cheer, muahahaha.

Impatient

Impatient should really be my middle name. I don't like waiting for anything, except in line which is weird. Did you know 3 minutes is the time when people go from annoyed to angry when waiting in line? 3 minutes is like nothing!!! Seriously. You can't even finish popping a bag of microwave popcorn for that.

Anyways.

I really want my damn daiya cheese to hurry its butt up and get here. I want to make pierogies!!!

That's all I really have to say.

Pho!!!!

I LOVE Pho. Actually, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pho to be even more specific. When we lived in Surrey there was a place right under Surrey Central (yes, super ghetto) called Pho Tam that made the best pho ever. It was like $4 and you got a gigantic bowl of delicious pho-y goodness, although not vegan!

I was craving pho, so I decided to make my own. I browsed through a few online recipes which are all pretty similar...but this is what I used, it tasted pretty authentic!



For the Broth:

8 cups of vegetable broth
3 tbsp soy sauce
8 cloves of garlic, cut in half, skin on
2 onions, cut into big chunks, skin on
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
2 anise star things
3 2" sticks of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ground cloves

Put all the dry ingredients into a hot pot and sear them. When they are nice and brown add in the soy sauce and vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or so. When it's done, either strain the broth into another pot or just scoop out all the big nasties.

For the Toppings:

Fry up some Tofu (I used half a block for 4 bowls, but adjust to your tastes)
bean sprouts
green onions, sliced
Sriracha hot sauce (yum!!!)
I think some people also use lime wedges and basil...but I keep it simple

You also need a package of thin rice noodles. To assemble, put some (cooked) rice noodles in a bowl, add the broth to cover and then put in your desired toppings.

Here's all the random things used to make the broth taste authentic, it smelled absolutely delicious:



Here's my tofu frying, Jason said it looked like croutons. It totally does too haha. Maybe I was subconsciously craving Caesar salad (ew).



Here is what anise star pods look like. OH MY GOD!!!!! They are the most amazing things ever, it smells like black licorice and it is AMAZING. I LOVE black licorice smell and am hell-bent on making some pretty potpourri with this stuff even though Jason strongly objects and refuses to enter the house if it smells like black licorice hahaha. You definitely need the anise seed pods (not ground anise seeds either...different!) to get the authentic taste, so make the trip to the asian market to buy some.



And finally, you NEED the Sriracha hot chili sauce:

Fashion Victims

Someone posted this video on veggieboards. It's just a quick re-cap of stuff I already know, but others may not. Here you go:



I'm still sick too! Jeez Louise, it just isn't going away. I had planned to make home made pho tonight but I couldn't find anise stars anywhere. I was going to stop at T&T market on the way home from school but I felt like poo again this morning, so I didn't go. Argh! I was so excited for pho, I haven't had it in like 8 months.

I suppose I could drive to T&T, at least I'll be warm in my car and not standing outside in the rain waiting for the bus which is the worst when you are coughy and have a runny nose!! Plus, I hate sitting beside people when I'm sick, I feel so awkward and rude. And, if I drive at least I'll be in and out faster....less time to spread my sickness haha.

I'm annoyed I missed school today though, I was supposed to get my 2nd philosophy midterm back. I told the TA I was sick for the last two weeks (lies) just so I wouldn't have to go to the useless class, and now today I am actually sick. I was reminded of the boy who cried wolf lol, so I told her I had an appointment with my department adviser and asked her to email my grade. I AM SO SCARED!!!!!!! At least half the class didn't even finish the exam from what I can tell, so maybe I'll be above average because I finished.

As for food. Well I weighed myself yesterday and I was 175 which means I would have lost like 9 pounds this month...but that number is quite artificial I think. Seeing as how I've been sick and haven't been eating too much. Oh well, if it stays the same until Monday I totally kicked my goal of 4lbs out the window. Woot!

I haven't made anything new or exciting all week. I am making curried chickpeas and cauliflower over basmati rice tonight though. It's super easy and I feel dumb posting a recipe but here:

Ingredients: Can of chickpeas and coconut milk. Some cauliflower, onion, rice and curry spices. I just use curry paste from a jar (ignore the sodium content) because it's easier.

To make: Saute the onion until clear, add chickpeas and cauliflower. Cook for a minute and then add the coconut milk and curry paste. Meanwhile cook your rice. Just simmer the curry mixture until the rice is finished and then serve over the rice. It's delicious, fast and cheap. Yum.

Anyways. I really have to muster up some energy to do some studying. I've done jack-all the last week and am super behind. Bye!

Candy cures everything

I got a phone call from the website I ordered my boots from and apparently they screwed up and don't actually have my size in stock. My calves are too muscular for any other boots so I just canceled my order. *cries*

I can't find any cute/warm/waterproof boots ANYWHERE.

So in order to appease my sadness I ordered a bunch of vegan candy and chocolates online. I am so excited!!! With shipping and driving to Sumas to pick it up I just ordered a bunch and Jason has to hide them from me so I don't gorge myself silly lol.

I'm going back to bed now. Bye.

Christmas Decorations!!!

I love Christmas. I especially love Christmas trees and Christmas music (I've expanded my collection by 200 songs in the last 2 days).

Last year the kitties completely wrecked our fake Christmas tree and because we can't afford a new one (nor do we have space for one) we decided to decorate our shelf as our "tree". It worked great!!! I even put the Christmas mat in front of it, so later we can put all the gifts on it haha.

Here are the pictures:

The bedroom door, notice the garland had to be cut short (and is now even shorter) because a certain someone kept attacking/eating it.


The bathroom door:


The back door:


Our ballin' Christmas village. My mom is obsessed with these villages with lights and moving parts and music and all these decorations (I swear it's like 100 pieces) and it takes up like half the living room....well, as you can see, our village totally kicks her villages butt:


The Mantle:


My genius idea to turn our entertainment shelf into the Christmas tree. Notice the tree topper and everything lol:


And, the entire thing complete with stockings for us and the kitties:


I finished creating the recipes for my stuffing and pumpkin pie. I'm gonna test drive them next weekend and then I think my feast will be complete:

- Savory Mushroom Pot Pie
- Apple Cranberry Crock Pot Stuffing
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Roasted Asparagus
- Steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots
- Whole wheat buns
- Pumpkin Pie

Mmmm. I can't wait!! We made a list of all the baked goods we are making people too including candied nuts and caramel popcorn!!! Yum.

Now I'm off to shower and then to an early bedtime. I still have to go to school tomorrow even though I know I shouldn't/can't. Ugh. Monday's are so long and I have to leave so early.

Exploring Kitties!

Tonight we set up our Christmas stuff but we had to dig the box out of this storage room we have in our bedroom. Alma is constantly scratching and meowing at the door to get in(god knows why) and every time we open it the kitties go crazy with excitement.

Last time they both tried to jump onto the very top shelf and both fell. I think they learned their lesson because neither of them tried to jump anywhere without being very cautious about it.

Here are some pictures of their adventure in the closet filled with crap like coolers, hockey skates/gloves, bags, boxes and fans and the a/c unit:









Charlie made it to the top!!

Vegetable Soup

As I was making this, I realized it was extremely similar to my minestrone soup minus the zucchini. Oh well, I'll post it anyways. I really wanted alphabet noodles but I couldn't find them! I should have bought the shell shaped ones now that I think of it, that would make it less minestrone-esque.

Anyways.

Ingredients:
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery sticks, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 white potatoes, very smally diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 green/yellow beans chopped into bite sized pieces
1 can of beans (I used Romano just because that's what I had)
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups veggie broth (I used Better Than Bouillon base)
3/4 cup of fun noodles (shells, alphabet, macaroni, wheels)

Spices - basil, parsley, poultry seasoning mix, salt and pepper


You could also add cabbage or spinach or something for some greens, but I didn't have any on hand.

To Make:
Saute your celery, onion and carrots for a few minutes. Throw everything in except the noodles and beans. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer until everything is cooked. In the last 10 minutes add partly cooked noodles and the beans.

Serve with a crispy bread, or alone.

Christmas

So, I'm hosting a vegan Christmas dinner at my apartment on Dec 23rd for my grandma and brothers and sister. I'm really excited! Firstly because this is my first veggie Christmas, and secondly because I just had the greatest idea!!! I was thinking to myself, aw crap, I am baking goodies for Christmas gifts this year on the 23/24 AND I have to make dinner on the 23...AND I only have ONE oven.

How am I going to cook stuffing?

IN THE CROCK POT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I did a quick google search on crock pot stuffing and apparently it's a pretty common thing, who knew? It apparently simulates the moistness you get from cooking stuffing in a turkey, and I LOVE moist stuffing. I can not stand dry stuffing, so I am hoping it will be delicious.

I am trying to put together my feast list this week so I can test drive some recipes. I already have my pot pie recipe I made a few weeks ago that was absolutely delicious, and the scalloped potatoes from V-Con (no mashed, everyone does mashed!!) and now I am trying to come up with a stuffing recipe.

Anyways. I am going back to bed, I think I have swine flu and I have to go cook a vegetable soup in a few hours so I need my rest!!!

I'm sick

I'm sick today, so I have nothing interesting to post other than I checked on my garlic and a few of the sprouts are at least 5 inches and are starting to fork! I was so excited. There is one baby sprout though, it's only about an inch and it's very sad looking haha.

I was supposed to start at the ACCW today, but felt too sick. I had to cancel dinner with my grandma too! It's terrible. Jason did bring me cherry pastry things though, so that made me feel a little better.

I think I've lost 4 pounds too! YAY!!!

And, I figured I am sick...so what better way to cheer myself up than to browse through old kitty pictures.

The kitties both sleep in very similar positions at least 50% of the time, it's soooo cute.



Alma investigating my flowers last spring. Look how skinny she was!!



And, count on Charlie to sneak his way into unlikely cuddle spots. He completely ignores the cat beds and snuggle sacks we buy him, but embraces a plastic bag for hours lol.



I'm trying to plan a trip to Mayne Island (one of the gulf islands). I really want to visit the Rest Q Animal Sanctuary, and I want to go kayaking, and hiking, and nature looking and just resting. It looked like a fun place to spend a weekend. The only problem is I only have 1 week at the end of August between semesters. Hopefully something is free the last week of the summer!! We'll probably take the ferry there, but if we have money I really want to take the plane ride over there. I think it's $90 a person. I guess it will depend on how much our accommodations cost.

Oh well, I still have plenty of time to figure it out. Either way, I'm excited.

I think I'm gonna go play Viva Pinata now. I haven't played it in ages and it's a good sick game.

Boots

I finally found a website with nice vegan boots. My favourite pairs only had a 13" calf circumference and I have muscular bad boys, so they wouldn't fit me. There were super cute, peter pan esque ones too, but they only had a size 11 or 6, so I couldn't get those either.

I ended up going with my first choice faux-suede-uggesque boots. They won't be as good in the rain and slushy snow but on the plus side they have a rubber wedge part, so I'm off the ground a little. Plus, it's not like I'm trekking directly through gigantic puddles and snow piles...I generally go around! I can't wait to have warm fuzzy toes!!!

So, these are the boots I ordered. I'm super excited!!! I shipped them to Sumas, saved me $20 shipping plus UPS will charge me like $80 for customs and brokerage fees when they deliver it directly to my house.

Woot!

The Most Delicious Fruit Crisp

As promised, here is the recipe for a fruit crisp. I forgot to take a picture and it was all eaten by the time I remembered lol! It's that delicious.

You will need an 11x7 glass baking dish. If you don't have one (which you should, it's the one dish everyone has) go buy one, it's so versatile and costs like $5.

For the Filling - Ingredients:
3-4 Grannysmith apples
3-4 Pears
1 cup blueberries
2-3 sticks of rhubarb (I didn't actually use any, but I had planned to and the store had none...but it would make it even MORE delicious)
1 lemon's worth of juice
1/4 maple syrup (the real stuff!)
2 tsp's cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg, cloves

For the Topping - Ingredients:
1 cup oats (not the quick cook ones)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pecans (or just 1 cup of either)
2 tsp's cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg, allspice
1/4 tsp salt

To make:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice your fruit.
2. In the 11x7 dish mix together everything from the filling ingredient list
3. In a bowl, mix together everything from the topping ingredient list. If it's too dry add a little more Earth Balance until it's all gritty and chunky.
4. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Bake for 45 minutes or so - until the fruit is soft.

It is best served warm. Or, you could buy the So Delicious Coconut Milk vanilla icecream and eat it with that! I am totally doing that next time.

Anyways. I highly suggest making this, especially with this windy, wet weekend coming up! Talk about comfort food.

On the personal life front, my day was extremely boring. Both my classes today dealt with spousal abuse, snore. On the bright side, my bus connections both to and from school were perfect, which always makes my commute 10x better, especially in the wet, cold, windy weather.

I think I'm finally going to get into ACCW this Saturday for this volunteer position with Elizabeth Fry I've been trying to get. Basically I go hang out with the female inmates for a few hours every other Saturday and help them write letters and make cards to their family, or just to give them company.

My contacts are dry, I have to make dinner, and the Office must be watched, so goodnight everyone.

Bored

I had to come to school early today to print my paper. I totally forgot that I had run out of blank paper, ugh.

So, I was on the bus and there was this hilarious asian guy sitting in front of me. He reminded me of Hiro from Heroes, he had this sheepish/skittish/something weird and hilarious about him way. Anyways, we were stopped at a light and this girl was at the crosswalk so Hiro-lookalike WHIPPED off his glasses and dramatically flicked his hair/head to the side and made a face at the woman. It was the greatest thing ever, so Fabio-esque! It was hilarious, I tried so hard not to laugh. This probably doesn't make sense, but if you saw it, you would have found it hilarious too. Not to mention, the girl was totally out of his league lol. It totally made my dreary morning, that and the amazing fog up at SFU this morning.

I love fog.

I forgot my "lunch" on the counter this morning and Thursday's are my long day. Oh well, I'll just buy a crappy sandwich from subway which is really just a salad on a bun. The sweet onion sauce is delicious though, so I guess it's worth it. Plus, this Subway doesn't charge me for cheese, so I save 50 cents. Yay.

Well, this keyboard is the worst, so adios amigos.

Peaceable Kingdom

This looks really good!



The part where the sheep jumps out of the truck into the field is so happy! I cried when the lambs reunite with their mommies too. Something about lambs/goats/sheeps, they are sooo amazing, I just love them. They melt my heart.

Anyways. I should really go write that pesky paper.

I made this for dinner, but didn't finish it. I've never had pomegranate seeds before, and apparently I don't like them.

I've been meaning to post my food/exercise log for the last week...but I suck haha. The last three nights I've eaten out (although last night was sushi, so it's okayish) and I've been living off toast basically. I haven't been exercising because I keep making excuses and I just suck lol. I will be back on the get-fit-eat-healthy bandwagon soon, I hope.

Cravings

First off, today's winner on the bus was a real goodie. I have seen her on the bus many times, I was pretty sure she was schizophrenic, but tonight confirmed it lol. She always sits in the same spot and BARGES her way to the spot so nobody gets there before her...well tonight this 15 year old or so black kid sat there. He had glasses and was a total band nerd (carrying a trumpet case and all!). Really nice looking boy. Well, this schizo lady throws a fit, she went absolutely ballistic and started screaming about him being the devil in disguise and she has to wipe out all the devils and she started crying and shaking and screaming about god, and everybody telling her to kill the devils in disguise, then she HIT HIM ON THE HEAD with her umbrella. I felt so sorry for the kid, he was crying and she hit him REALLY hard too. So, the bus pulled over and the cops were called and stuff. Normally I get irritated when there is a bus delay, but this was entertaining.

Needless to say, I probably won't be seeing schizo lady around anymore.

I decided to do a post on cravings tonight. I was sitting on the bus and a girl near me started eating reese's peanut butter cups and I massively wanted some. I have a recipe to make some, but I wanted some SOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly. Now that I'm home, the craving is gone, but it was definitely the strongest one I've had since going vegan, or even vegetarian.

Cheese: I have not had a single craving for cheese. There is a new vegan cheese out called "daiya" that is supposed to be amazing and exactly like regular cheese, I briefly wanted to buy some for Mexican food or pizza...basically somewhere where you think you "need" cheese. Well, after thinking about it for five seconds I realized things taste better without cheese. I have never been a big cheese eater, with the exception of Mexican food. Pizza is actually a health food without cheese! Not to mention how nasty cheese is for you, so even if I did get a craving (unlikely) I would just think about all the nasty things it does to you.

Here is a little blurb on why cheese is addicting, I'm too lazy to find a better one...I think it sums it up enough though. Basically many cheeses contain morphine (from the cow's stomach) as well, casein (a milk protein) is concentrated in cheeses, and is highly addicting. Cheese also causes cancer (well dairy in general is the single most potent and dangerous carcinogen today), gives you migraines, makes you fat, smelly and lethargic.

Milk: Again, not a single craving for milk...or even chocolate milk, or a latte, or anything with milk as the main part. I have wanted a chocolate bar once or twice like a coffee crisp or something but again, I think how terrible that is for me. If I do get a chocolate craving I buy a dark chocolate bar. Lots of them have fruits and nuts, so they can seem more candy chocolate bar type too. If I really need a candy chocolate bar, I just buy a dark kit-kat. So...no, I have not had cravings for milk or milk products.

Yogurt: No cravings here either. I thought that I would crave yogurt because I used to eat it at least twice a day. I absolutely loved it. I am actually surprised I haven't wanted any, and now that I think about it...yogurt isn't even that good. You don't even need it in smoothies, and most brands of yogurt just plain suck anyways.

Eggs: Again, no cravings here either!! I really LOVED scrambled eggs with 12 pounds of ketchup on them, seriously, the best breaky ever. I am quite surprised I've had no cravings for that. As for baking, eggs "bind" and that's their only purpose in baking. So, for vegan baking all you need is something to "bind". Easy peas. Things like flax seed, banana, apple sauce, or even "egg replacer" which is just a powder you mix with water to replace the egg. Like the dairy products, if I ever do get a craving (again, unlikely) I will just think about all the nasty things they do to you, and the horrible cholesterol aspect.

Don't even get me started on the allyouneedischeese and dairy goodness, and yourhealthy weight ads. First of all, it all causes cancer and makes you fat and second of all dairy products are not a good source of calcium. If you are consuming animal proteins (from meat, dairy, eggs) it "cancels out" the absorption of the calcium, so you aren't even getting very much calcium from milk or whatever. Other foods contain equal amounts and more of calcium.

Anyways, back on topic.

Meat: I never really liked meat to begin with. I smelled bacon the other day (i used to LOVE it and the smell) and really felt disgusted by it. The only thing I am craving is a hamburger. I don't know why. Probably because it is really the only meat thing I regularly ate before going veggie. I just can't kick that craving. I get it almost every day. I just remind myself of the tortures of slaughter, animal cruelty and the fat and calories. The craving then goes away :)

I don't know what other foods there are, but the bottom line is I haven't craved anything. I have heard cheese is the only hard one to "give up", but I didn't eat much of it to begin with. You also cannot think of it as "never eating ____ again in my entire life" because then you are setting yourself up for failure. Think of the reasons why you do not eat ____ anymore, and is it really worth giving into the craving for your taste buds? Probably not.

Basically, you may think you will get cravings for certain animal products after going veggie, but really, you probably won't. Even if you do, they pass very quickly.

The same goes for things like sugar, pop, junk food, or any food. Honestly, try giving up something you thought you could NEVER give up for just two weeks. I'm sure after that two weeks it won't be as appetizing nor will you be craving it.

Anyways, I have a paper due tomorrow that I must start. (yes start, but it's a shortie)

Tomorrow I am going to post a recipe for the most amazing fruit crisp ever. You must make it on the weekend. I promise that you're taste buds will explode with excitement and over-deliciousness.

Spring 10 Courses

Just once can I register without any issues? That's all I ask. I had planned to take a psychology class in the spring, but the enrollment thing kept saying the tutorial section was "closed" even though they weren't. So, I couldn't register.

Oh well, it's a requirement for Crim majors, so I'm sure it will be offered in the summer. If it isn't, I'm screwed...I'm set up to graduate next summer, but I have to finish my random courses by the summer!

Anyways.

I am taking 5 criminology and one political science. Fun fun fun. The worst part about the spring semester is going to be the Olympic Break. Not so much the break itself, but the fact that it pushes back the end of the semester. So between spring-summer and summer-fall we only get ONE week instead of two weeks for a break. Ugh.

Not to mention, my last class is on April 16th and my first exam is April 18th (and the other 5 within 6 days after that). I lose that 1 week+ grace period between finals and the last class to study. I'm so annoyed! This means my final exam studying will start when I'm writing my term papers. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Fuck you VANOC.

My courses are:

Women in the CJS
Canadian Policing
Sociological Explanations of Crime
Research Methods in Crim
Criminal Law
Administration of Justice (poli-sci course)

They are all interesting enough, with the exception of research methods in crim haha. It's gonna be a busy semester, but I'm looking forward to it. Not to mention I managed to avoid the Burnaby Campus all together. Kind of ironic though, most crim courses are offered at the Surrey Campus, and I moved the same week I decided to do a crim major. I would have been a 5 minute walk from school! Oh well, the commute from here to Surrey is faster than here to Burnaby, so it's okay.

My Bath/Body Products and Kitty Pictures

I am absolutely obsessed and addicted to hand cream. I can NOT handle it if I don't have access to some sort of hand cream. I use Karma by LUSH (smells divine, but is quite strong) and a grapefruit scented one by Kiss My Face for my purse:



I love chapstick, and LUSH, so it only made sense that I bought the "None of Your Beeswax" vegan lipbalm by them. I love it! It's the most creamy and silky and moisturizing chapstick ever, period. You only have to put it on once a day (if that), it's that great:



I love to take baths (not very environmentally friendly of me!) but I don't take more than 2 a month (if that). This my current collection (all from LUSH): Half of a "Candy Cane Bubble Bar", "Think Pink" bath bomb, "Christmas Eve" bubble bar, "Jingle Spells" bath bomb (the one with the stars), and "Cinders" bath bomb (orange). Most of the stuff I have right now is for Christmas so I haven't used most of them...but everything from LUSH is good, so if it smells good I assume it will be good:





Charlie likes to sit in the bathtub any time I go near it, hence his cute mug in the picture haha. Anyways, from left to right. Snow Fairy (OH MY GOD GO BUY THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! along with the godmother soap - same scent - and snow fairy solid perfume and bath melt), seriously, Snow Fairy is the greatest scent in the world. I am going to stockpile them this year. I also use "Olive Branch" by LUSH, it's a unisex scent, but it's probably my 2nd favourite smell in the world.

Veganese Conditioner. This is the first vegan conditioner I have ever bought. You could get cheaper stuff from Kiss My Face or Jasons Naturals or something, but I love the lemony scent of this. If you are new to natural conditioners, the first thing you will notice is the lack of silicon/extra smooth feeling when you rinse it out. Don't worry, that's just superficial, your hair will not be hard to brush, will not be knotted and will be even silkier when dry than when you use conventional conditioner. I promise.

Karma Solid Shampoo Bar. It looks kind of gross in the picture, seeing as how it's all over my container for it, but I can not preach this product enough. First of all it uses no bottle, lasts at least 3 months (like 6 with short hair!) and smells absolutely amazing. It's only $10 for a bar, so it's cheaper in the long run too. I've used 3 or 4 of the shampoo bars but I always come back to Karma, the smell is too good. It is super sudsy too. By the way, if you go out and buy one, don't be conned into buying the shampoo bar tin to keep it in, it's useless, the bar gets stuck inside and you can't get it out without wrecking it. I just use a small Tupperware container for it, just don't get it wet when it's not being used.

It doesn't look like anything in the picture, but I use the Henri Bernard Crystal deodorant stick. I took off the plastic screw on case thing because you get it wet to use and when you put the lid back on there is no air for it to dry properly. I absolutely love this, it is not an anti-perspirant, but I haven't noticed my pits sweating anymore now than when I wore Dove or Degree. I NEVER get BO either(not that I've ever had a problem with that).

That tall yellowish thing is my face wash. It's by Korres. I think it's the white tea cleanser, but I could be wrong. I absolutely love this too. It is expensive, but I have been using it everyday for like 2 months and as you can see...a little goes a loooong way.

Jason Naturals power smile toothpaste in vanilla mint is what I use for toothpaste. The first time or two I used it, it felt a bit weird and tasted off (not bad, just different) but now I love it. My teeth feel squeaky clean after I use it.

And finally, my toner. If you don't know what toner is, you use it after you wash your face and before you moisturize. I don't know what it does exactly, something about pores closing but I love the smell and refreshing feeling this gives me. If I feel particularly breaking-outish I use the tea tree oil toner from LUSH.

I still have a lot of products I still have to replace, like my moisturizer (I'll probably go with a LUSH, Korres or Kiss my Face one), my hair styling products (I only use hairspray), my dental floss/mouthwash etc. I am most dreading when my exfoliator runs out (which won't be for another few months) because I love it so much, I have the Microdelivery Peel by Philosophy...it is seriously the greatest thing ever..I will probably make my own when it runs out I guess.

The soap I have in my bathroom, for handwashing, is the Lavender Olive oil soap by Kiss My Face. I bought this on a whim thinking it would smell okay, but OH MY GOD. I stand in my bathroom and just breathe in deeply because it smells so good. The scent even carries out of the bathroom into the bedroom because it's so strong, but a good strong. Yum:



And, I am pretty sure this is vegan..if it's not at least it's natural haha. I use the Mango Vanilla Shave Cream by Alba Botanica. It smells like heaven, and even though it's not foamy it works just as great:



Last night I was cramming for my second philosophy midterm, Charlie was helping:



You can see my shoes in the background! Well, some of them at least. My flip flops are by Simple Shoes and are the most amazing and comfortable things on the planet. I have a pair of white sneakers from them as well, but they heel part gives me blisters. (They are called ECOSNEAKS though, so I really do need to get down and dirty and break those bad boys in.)





I had my umbrella hanging to dry and Charlie kept trying to climb inside of it, so I opened it and put it on the floor for the kitties to explore, it was so cute:





Alma likes to sleep on her back, I love how it shows off her hilarious stomach pattern:



Charlie stole Alma's spot, but she was determined to stay there...so she just lied there while half falling off the couch haha:




Put a box on the floor and Charlie goes in it, simple as that: