I want one!!!!

My dad is too cool for school. He finally got another motorcycle after years without one. Take that oil companies!

Being a badass runs in my family.

Hope everyone is doing well . . . I am super busy as you might have guessed!

back to the grind

Oh yeah . . . this semester is gonna be INTENSE. I'm only taking 3 class but 2 of them are Anatomy & Physiology classes (lecture and lab) so, I have my work cut out for me.
Also, our unlucky with money streak is not quite over either as we found out a bunch of stuff is wearing out on newer car (2006 Toyota Matrix) that is gonna cost us. I am not, however, giving up hope that things are gonna turn around for us because I know for a fact I have quite a few karma points banked.

I had my 29th birthday last week and I really cannot believe I am almost out of my twenties! Seriously, I don't feel that old and I don't think I look 29. It’s a strange feeling like my life is on warp speed now. What the hell happened?
Anyways, here are a few pics I took the past week.

Jared bought me (us) this AMAZING cookbook for my b-day (even though I said no presents!!!) and we love love love it. My Panda Drummer is peaking over and was mad impressed.

Well, I did say no presents but I also told Jared I wanted an aloe plant and of course he remembered. Surrounding the aloe plant is 3 figurines I picked up (pretty cheap too!) at different antique stores, as my own presents to myself. They looked sad and needed to come home with me. (in this pic, to the left is my Jesus Fish sculpture, which I'll show in next pick. To the right, is one of our wedding pics.)

I can't think of anything much cooler than a Jesus statue riding a Fish in the ocean (I actually made this for a ceramics class years back), that is being charged upon by a shiny white bad ass unicorn and having "Blinky" motor by. Nope, not much else cooler that that

. . . well, expect maybe these 2 Birthday pictures I was sent from my sister Erin of my nephew Gabriel. Gabriel is wearing a pirate outfit I picked out a long time ago that he can finally fit into.

Oh and the back view showing off his first "tattoo" printed on his bottom that says "Shiver Me Timbers" with a pirate ship. ARRRRH!
Is it possible to be both tough and adorable at the same time. Yep.

breaks should be about easy going, right?

Let's see, I made all A's in my 3 summer courses and presently have a 4.0 GPA. This felt like a promising start to August. However, besides my lovely grades and overall healthy and happy family, this month has been kinda crappy so far . . . It all started with taking Sweetpea to the vet for all her shots and updates for the year that came out to about $250, then my 93 Ford Thunderbird (we call her the Dirty Bird) likes to give me the shit eye every now and again (the car version of giving the shit eye is by turning on the most dreaded CHECK ENGINE light). Oh, and because my birthday is this month, I had to get emissions testing done on the ole' Dirty Bird and pass for my license/registration to be renewed. We Passed!
Oh, and if all that wasn't enough, I found out I have to get a very expensive dental procedure done ASAP that won't be done anytime real soon because we just spent WAYYYYY too much on my tuition and books for fall semester.

Oh, and I turn 29 on Tuesday, August 19th AND that is the first day of my fall classes as well as the start of my last year of being in my 20's. Time to start thinking about, putting together and actually accomplishing my 30 before 30 list. I think the first on my 30/30 list will be organizing all of my random old pictures that should be respectively in proper photo albums instead of ratty ole' shoe boxes. There is quite a few and clearly, at my age, I would have a lot of OLD pictures.
I mean, I need to protect gems like this . . .

This was taken of me in Tampa, Fl when I was around 4 years old, blowing bubbles, lookin' sassy in my 1983 outfit, complete with some bad ass skates. Ah, to relive those carefree moments would rock.

Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe Ice Cream Social

How awesome is it that Atlanta's one and only vegan store, Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe, is having an ice cream social saturday night to celebrate their first year on Highland Ave anniversary.
They are the coolest.
We'll be there, will you? Hope so. You should be.



<3
Lori

Flying Saucer Snack Attack

Like a broken record, I am still swamped. Besides conquering chemistry, a huge struggle for me has been bringing brain sustaining food with me to school on the days I am there for over 8 hours, that doesn't bore me. I like sandwiches and all but I certainly couldn't eat one everyday like Jared does, so I have been racking my brain as to what I could make that will ward off hunger and keep my taste buds happy. Part of the problem is that I forget to pack my lunch/snacks the night before and food in the morning just isn't very appetizing to me. Another issue is that what I do manage to pack isn't anything I am in the mood for later on. By the time I'm on campus and hungry, it's too late. So, besides boring sandwiches, I have been bringing apples, carrot sticks and sometimes chips or pretzels. For someone who enjoys food, this is not cutting it. I seriously don't know how parents pack a lunch for their kids everyday (or just about everyday)!!!

Anyways, my friend Ashley (Vegan Invasion), made an awesome cheese ball for the ICE pre-party a couple of Friday's ago that I have been thinking about ever since. It is seriously as good, if not better, than the original cheese ball it is based on . . . You know, the incredibly dense cream cheese and cheddar ball covered in nuts? I didn't have one set recipe but made this version from several recipes I found online. My version was simply Tofutti cream cheese, shredded vegan cheddar block (Galaxy Nutritional Foods), Earth Balance, nutritional yeast, vegan Worcestershire sauce, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, liquid smoke (the key ingredient!), dried chives and a finely chopped green onion mixed until fluffy and smooth with an electric hand mixer. I had trouble forming it into a ball, so it became a spread with a top layer of roasted chopped almonds. I'm not sure how long it will last once Jared gets home, but my plan is to pack this up for lunch this week with some crackers, in addition to my carrot sticks and apple. Thanks for the idea Ashley!



p.s.- I LOVE this picture of my nephew, Gabriel, because he looks how my brain feels every night before I go to sleep.

a very sad weekend

It feels weird to be posting about food this weekend, so I'm not going to. A friend of Jared's, who was also Jared's best friend Hank's roommate/friend, Thomas, passed away this Friday. He had been battling cancer since he was a kid and unfortunately, he didn't make it through. I knew Thomas just as acquaintances, who I really only saw out at clubs, bars or parties, but he was very well known and loved by a ton of people back in Tampa, a few of whom are mutual friends of mine. I know this must be tough for anyone who knew him, his family and girlfriend, because it has been a tough couple of days for me. It is so sad to see Jared and Hank heart broken by the loss of a friend/brother, especially Hank who lived with Thomas for several years. Thomas was a great guy who was very funny/witty and had a smile I always looked forward to seeing.

This pic was taken quite a while back, before Thomas got super sick again, but it includes Jared's best friend Hank (on the left), Jared in the middle and Thomas (on the right).

the Sunshine State

Jared and I got back from another one of our quick and fully packed Florida weekend trips. Jared did great in the bike race in St. Pete but did manage to get a bit sunburned in the strangest places like on the very tops of his knees, the back of one of his calves, and the top of his left hand. I guess it makes sense if you think about what is exposed when you ride a bike. Sunburns aren't funny, but it is a little comical to see him with random red patches and not in the usual spots like his face or arms.
We stayed with my dad and step mom the whole trip, which always means loads of good food. Unfortunately, I only took pictures of the last meal we had together and only because my dad reminded me. My baby nephew, Gabriel, was an adorable distraction. I got to hang out with sister, Erin, all day Saturday but my poor brother-in-law, Mike, had to work, so I only got to see him for a short time at dinner. While I didn't get to meet up with my busy little brother, I did get to see my Aunt Jennie, who brought the most lovely homegrown nasturtiums. If you have never had nasturtiums, they are a peppery edible flower. They look gorgeous on any plate, but I think they are the most beautiful in salads.
Our last meal on Saturday night was a mostly vegan Southern veggie plate. The vegan items we had included: squash, pole beans, vinaigrette coleslaw, baked sweet potatoes, tomato slices and marinated cucumbers. I also added an orange nasturtium to my plate. The only non-vegan thing made was cornbread, of which I of course didn't eat a piece of. For dessert, my dad and I made a vegan apple crisp and of course, I forgot to take a picture of it. I was very proud that my family ate a mostly vegetarian, if not a vegan, diet while we were in town. (This isn't the best picture because the lighting wasn't ideal for these shades.)

On our way back to Atlanta, we stopped to see my Grammie and Poppie, who live near Ocala, Florida. As usual, they unloaded a TON of fresh grapefruit from their trees (aren't we so lucky???). Somehow we managed to bring home 2 huge shopping bags packed to the brim with grapefruit. In fact, if you live in or around Atlanta, let me know if you'd like a few (leave me a message and we will try to meet up with you, if I know you). We have more than we could ever eat. I'm not sure what I am going to do with them other than juice or eat them, but I see sorbet in my future. If anyone has any grapefruit ideas, let me know! We have more than double than this picture shows.

For breakfast, I just cut off all the skin and cubed one up. It was super juicy, a bit sour and a little sweet. It was essentially, the best grapefruit!

mini vacation, Apple Crisp tester muffins

Tomorrow we are off to Florida for a mini vacation! Jared is riding in a bike race in St. Pete on Saturday and I'm tagging along to visit my family who live in Tampa (St. Pete is only a bridge away from Tampa). It'll be cool to hang out with my dad and step mom, doing what we do best: cooking, talking about cooking, watching cooking shows. With all the crazy stuff going on with me trying to get into school and Jared surviving tax week, it will be a well deserved break from real life. Plus I get to see my sister, brother-in-law and new baby nephew Gabriel! I might even get to see my little brother, who is attending U.S.F, which are both mine and Jared's Alma mater and where we met.
As I mentioned before, I am a recipe tester for Happy Herbivore. Since we will be gone this weekend, I had to test the Apple Crisp Muffins before I left . . . plus, we do need a snack for the long car ride tomorrow (which is about 7-8 hours). I seem to be stuck on her muffins, which is a good thing because I love muffins!

break from a very trying day

UGH! Getting into school is so frustrating. I don't even know how I handled this the first time I went to college at 17/18 years old. I was informed today I gotta do a million more things despite thinking I had everything in order to get in this summer. I'll spare you the details but I ran into a roadblock with my transcripts, in state tuition petition and can't get the same answer from different "advisers" letting me know exactly what I need or don't need to take to get into the nursing program. Anyway, I've been stressed and haven't felt like cooking, or even eating for that matter. I know I need to keep my head clear to deal with this Dilbert-esque college, so, to clean out my fridge and get a power punch of nutrients, I made a veggie plate for dinner tonight. I roasted a head of cauliflower with olive oil, salt and Herbes de Province as well as a broccoli spears and a bunch of asparagus in olive oil, salt and black pepper. Needing some comfort, I also made some smashed potatoes with an Earth Balance, garlic, maple syrup and nutritional yeast sauce.

For dessert, my favorite fruit in the world, WATERMELON!!!!
.
I can always count on my sister Erin to send me pics of my adorable nephew, Gabriel. He always makes me smile, even on the worst of days.

Quick Trip to Jacksonville, Fla

Jared's family is from and around the Jacksonville area in Florida and we decided to take a short trip to see them this weekend for Easter. Jared's family is always a lot of fun, especially his Grandmom, who we are staying with. Apparently, there will be tons of relatives in Jacksonville this weekend, some of which I haven't even met yet! I think typical Easter fare in his family (like a lot of families) is spiral ham with sides loaded with milk and butter products. No surprise, Jared and I are more than likely going to be the only vegans celebrating this weekend, so I have made a few things to take with us so we can enjoy a meal with family without having to stress.
I made my very first Roasted Tofurky, which I basted in olive oil, soy sauce and fresh sage. Jared has made this roast before and loves it. If it tastes as good as it smells, I know I'll love it too.

For sides, I made roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary & thyme, garlic and olive oil, as well as fresh steamed green beans.


For a sweet treat, and to warm over wary non-vegans, I also made some of my chocolate chip pecan cookies, which is always a huge hit.

I am also bringing cereal and soymilk for breakfast and a raw nut mixture of cashews, almonds, pecans and pistachios.
I hope everyone has a Happy Easter and a lovely weekend with friends and family!

Signs of Spring

True signs of spring for us are tax season, picnics and allergies.
As I've mentioned before, Jared works as a stockbroker. Under normal circumstances, it can be a stressful job. Throw in tax season and Jared's job can be down right bad. This week ended especially awful for Jared, so I made him one of the first things he eyed in My Sweet Vegan: Peanut Butter Bombs!!! Okay, okay, I had one or two myself and they were good, but Jared really needed them, I swear! Little did he know, I had a great Saturday planned too. (Sorry for the blurry pic, we were hypnotised by these delicious and naughty treats.)

I decided to surprise Jared with a picnic. For Saturday's picnic, I made some lower fat potato salad on Friday night. That's right, lower fat potato salad. Yes, I did use Yukon gold potatoes and a little Vegenaise BUT to make a very creamy dressing for the potato salad I used soy milk and lemon juice. The lemon juice thickened the soymilk and gave it a tangy bite. I also added celery, grated onion, mustard, salt, black pepper and Herbes de Provence. Of course, Jared saw the potato salad and got into it when he got home from work Friday so I told him of our picnic plans.

Saturday morning came and I surprised Jared with breakfast in bed. I made him banana waffles with mixed fresh berries and maple syrup. I first let the blackberries, blueberries and strawberries macerate in maple syrup while I made the waffle batter.

I made the Banana Nut waffles from Veganomicon, minus the nuts. On top I added the mixed berries with maple syrup and little whipped Earth Balance. These were so good.

After breakfast and lounging around a bit, I made sandwiches for our picnic lunch. I got some ciabatta rolls from the farmers market and slathered homemade pesto that I made with that lovely basil in my last post. I used the pesto recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I also added cucumber, avocado (just a little), red onion and tomato.

So, we packed up our food, blanket and dog Sweetpea and headed over to Grant Park. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was in the upper 60's and very sunny.


There was also these beautiful flowers surrounding us, (which I think were actually weeds . . . but, hey, sometimes weeds have the prettiest flowers) that reminded me that allergy season is around the corner.

Sure signs of spring, maybe, but I am feeling like a cold is in the making so winter may very well still have it's grip on me. Hopefully, it is just allergies come early.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this Valentine's Day, I'll share a photo of Jared and I when we went to Seattle for our honeymoon 3 years ago. We also rented a car and drove down to Portland, which was also very nice. We weren't vegan then, so we would love to go back to Seattle and Portland as vegans. I love this picture because we got the perfect skyline with the Space Needle, downtown and Mount Rainier. The sun was setting, so it was just a perfect moment. Plus we were smiley newlyweds!

Sweetpea (the dog) and Peeny (the cat) also wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. They are forever life partner cuddle bugs (they really do spoon like this when it's cold out).

treats from a friend, fruit shake

Jared and I have really, really great friends. We are fortunate enough to have the same friends and some of our friendships have lasted as long as our own relationship (7 years). I met our friend Jon through Jared because they were both guitar players in a band called The Chain Link Disaster. Jon and I instantly bonded over our love of music and of cooking/baking. The cool thing about Jon is that once Jared and I became vegan he immediately started experimenting with vegan treats for us. So, much to my surprise, when I got back from Tampa, Jon had mailed us 4 kinds of HOMEMADE vegan treats all the way from Brooklyn! He made us oatmeal raisin cookies (although they are mini muffin shaped), brown sugar cookies, a giant cinnamon sugar cake thingy and a spiced fruit cake. The oatmeal raisin cookie/muffin treats are my favorite (can you tell? I have 2 on my plate). What a great guy! Sorry ladies, he's taken.

I haven't been too hungry at night, which is a good thing, so for dinner lately I've been drinking my dinners in the form of fruit shakes or smoothies. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but I have had several smoothie/juice bar jobs in my day. In fact, I am known as the Smoothie Queen in my family. So, I am fortunate to know how to make really great shakes and smoothies at home. Tonight's drink was less like a smoothie, since I didn't use fruit juice and more like a shake, since I used soy milk. This beauty is 1 cup of vanilla soy milk, 1/2 a pint of fresh blueberries and 1 medium frozen banana. That’s it!

back from sunny Florida

Well, it was a whirlwind trip. I managed to see about 15 family members and most of my old co-workers (which is a LOT) in seven days time. It was fun but I'm glad I am back in Atlanta with Jared, Sweetpea, Peeny and the colder weather.
First things first: I got to meet my new nephew Gabriel. He is a cuddle bug! He's winking at you.

I got to hang with my dad watching cooking shows, talking about, making and eating food. Always fun!

I managed to still eat beans everyday while on vacation.
My dad made this white bean stew which was very tasty.

I also made this very colorful salad with my famous House Dressing.

I did make these naughty cookies for myself and the family:

But I justified a few cookies since I was eating some of my Grammie and Poppie's lovely pink grapefruit from their trees.

it was a good day!

My sister had her baby today! His name is Gabriel and he is adorable. He is the first grandbaby for my dad and step mom, so he is one popular kid right now. I've only seen him in pictures but I love him already and get to meet him this weekend. On Saturday, I'm going to Tampa for a week to hang with my family, especially the newest member.
I know it's gonna drag until then!
In honor of such a great day, I made some awesome Triple Berry Ice Kream. I made this sweet (but healthy) treat while listening to Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life (on vinyl of course and really loud), dancing around, so happy!
Happy Birthday Gabriel!

Triple Berry Ice Kream
1 box of Mori-Nu tofu (I had extra firm, but I think firm or soft style would be better)
1 cup of Vanilla Soy Milk
1/3 cup of Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon of Strawberry Preserves or Jam
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Strawberry Extract
1-1 1/2 cups of Frozen Berry Mix chopped a bit (I used the rest of the strawberry/blackberry/blueberries I used in the muffins in the previous post. I probably used half of a 10 oz bag)
A couple drizzles of Agave Nectar

In a food processor, blender or with an immersion blender (what I used) blend the tofu, soy milk, maple syrup, strawberry preserves/jam and extracts together until very smooth. Place in your ice kream maker and follow the instructions for your machine. It took about 20-25 minutes in my machine. In the last few minutes of blending, add the chopped mixed berries until well incorporated. I also drizzled in some agave nectar in the last few seconds of blending since the berries cut the sweetness of the ice kream base.
Eat right away for soft serve style (my fave) or store in an airtight container in the freezer. It gets really hard; so let it sit out for a few minutes before serving if you plan on freezing and eating it later.

Soft Serve Style:

eatin', hangin' & a bread machine

Jared and I went to Florida for Thanksgiving and it was a whirlwind trip. We got to Ocala, Fl to spend Thanksgiving Day with my grandparents, dad and step mom. We left Atlanta so early that by the time we got to Ocala, I was delirious and forgot to photograph the food I brought. We had garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, green beans, corn and banana bread. It wasn't the best spread I ever put out but it was more about having a meal with my family. After we ate, we headed down to Tampa and stayed with my dad and step mom. Besides all the good eats at the house, we made a trip to one of Jared's favorite restaurants in Tampa called Trang (sorry, no website), which is a Vietnamese place with two full pages of vegan options!
I wasn't super hungry so I got three appetizers including wonton soup, sesame lemongrass "beef" and spring rolls (which weren't very pretty).


On Saturday, my sister Erin had her baby shower. The shower was at a Mexican restaurant called Red Mesa. The menu was lacking vegan selections but I spoke with the staff and they made me a bean burrito with enchilada sauce on top and a side of roasted corn, red peppers and spinach. I also added some guacamole and it was very tasty! I was so wrapped up in the shower activities that I forgot to take a picture of my food but I did happen to snap a picture of my step mom and sister.

Besides hangin' out with all my family, I also scored a barely used bread machine my dad bought at a garage sale. He got it a while back and has been teasing me about a kitchen gadget he had for me when I came to visit. I was totally thinking it was a garlic press or something small like that and then he brought out this super fancy bread machine. I am one happy girl!

As soon as I got home I made a loaf of whole wheat agave sunflower seed bread. Yum!!!

go go muffins, a very unhappy puppy

I love taking naps. One plus side to being unemployed is being able to take afternoon naps, which is what I did today. I fell asleep to the thought of making a muffin I could wake up to. As much as I dreamed, the only thing was, I had to make the muffins when I woke up. What resulted was my own muffin creation that had carrots, unsweetened coconut, pineapple/pineapple juice, walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, brown sugar, natural sugar, canola oil, unbleached all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and vanilla extract. The whole time I was making these, I had Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go stuck in my head (look, I grew up in the 80's!). So, I'm calling these
Go Go Muffins.

Split open!

Also, since tomorrow is Halloween I found this picture of our dog, Sweetpea, dressed up as a pirate to share. We aren't into dressing up our pets but we love pirates and this was Sweetpea's first Halloween. This picture was taken when she was a puppy three years ago and since she looked so miserable, this was the first and last time she was made to wear an outfit. ARR, Happy Halloween!

good times

Jared and I had a lot of fun with Erin and Mike the past two days. Out of four of us, no one remembered to bring the camera out until dinner last night where I snapped this picture of my sister (the table is hiding the baby bump) and brother-in-law at Soul Vegetarian.

We had a full weekend including eating dinner at Noodle (in Decatur) and shopping at Ikea on Saturday night. On Sunday we went to the Atlanta History Center, had lunch at Olive Bistro, dinner at Soul Vegetarian and ending the night with my sister and I watching really bad TV (we watched Desperate Housewives, as our husbands rolled their eyes and left the room). It was a whirlwind weekend filled with laughter, story telling and good eats. Oh, and they loved the muffins!