Hey guys. Anyone watched and enjoyed the Super Bowl? I enjoyed the game and surprisingly enjoyed the halftime show (that’s is normally really weird, and Coldplay didn’t even have to play Yellow to please me). Oddly I do like Coldplay’s new single Adventure of a Lifetime but the video guys, I just can’t. Is it just me, but is Coldplay SOO positive and upbeat that it makes you go crazy? I personally like my music to be angsty and full of deep political messages… okay not all my music. I mean I do love me some Stupid Hoe. But I guess I am getting off topic.
So much has happened this week and I kind-of fell behind on various posts that I wanted to put up this week. Oh well. But I do have a few links to share this week. I hope everyone enjoys it.
This is one of the funniest episodes of Judge John Jodgeman I’ve heard. It starts with a big bang with a case of a wife asking her husband to get his water collection methods under control. It is full of kombucha and fart jokes. What is there not to love?
This is kind-of just a fluff piece, but it is nice to see changing attitudes in fitness in Asia. I love Asian culture and you might notice most women are stick thin compared to some of the Western female counterparts. Getting shape in some Asian countries involve pretty much starving yourself. Nope, not sugar coating it either. So hearing that some women are opting to go to the gym and focus on strength is probably a good thing, even if most of these ladies are trying to loose weight in the end.
I’ve heard some things about this coffee shop in other news articles, but I find this really cool. There are so many things I am digging about this location, the diversity, females, and this cool new movement in Philadelphia of pairing a coffee shop with another store idea. There is this location and cinemug, that is a video rental and coffee shop. Maybe Alexa and I will stop here tomorrow?
I’ve listened to GastroPod before, and they provide awesome podcasts about science and food. This one tackles the topic of calories. It is fun to hear about what they are, and the pitfalls of calorie counting. Some information I knew about in the past, but others were fairly new to me. It is great listen for anyone who has struggled with dieting, or want some more scientific backup about why counting calories is a load of shit.
My sister emailed me this wonderful article about daily meal plan of the owner of Moon Juice. Oh boy was that article a load of shit. You know, the kind of crap that makes you remember why people don’t want to try my maca milkshake. The whole article is pretty much a promo for overpriced sprouted rice protein powder from the company, so there’s been a lot of articles bashing it. This one is clearly the best one.
Hello everyone! I can report that Alexa and I doing very well and are safe from the big blizzard. We never lost any power, and personally didn’t have any flooding issues. The storm was really bad for the coastline in South Jersey, with flooding that is worse than Sandy. Hopefully the response will be faster than Sandy was. I haven’t ventured out of the house much yet, and I have a feeling the snow distribution will be weird. There are so many mini snow dunes in my development, and one car is covered in snow, while the other is pretty much untouched!
So I put together some articles I found interesting this week, and hopefully you can agree. I didn’t have a ton of articles so I am reverting to my old school way of formatting with pictures and all.
There really isn’t anything earth shattering, especially for vegetarians, and vegans here. But I was really excited to read an article on a major non-vegan platform- The Kitchn. There is a series of articles being published as well, like “what do I buy now?” and “what do I eat?” sort of posts. Hopefully this gives a nice transitioning olive branch for people who are thinking about going vegan. Sometimes us vegans and write and write and write but if we keep networking with each other, there is a good chance we aren’t reaching as many non-vegans. So I find this exciting.
I think I’ve linked an article before of how the cardinals hired the first ever female assistant coach, Jen Welters. She was only hired for an “internship” and isn’t working anymore. And now the Bills hired Kathryn Smith, and hopefully she will stay around longer than a summer. But even still I’ve been noticing more and more females in football advertisements outside of hot chicks and cheerleaders. There are more women in the Play 60 commercials, which is great. I know my one cousin really liked playing flag football, but surprise, her mother encouraged her to play more “female” centered sports. Football might not be the perfect sport, but I do see positions that women can excel in.
This is really exciting news, a revival of an extinct species. This isn’t the first time, as I love the story about the kakapo (which is like a cute chubby fluffy dinosaur, in my opinion.) But what makes this story super interesting is that scientists think that they never noticed this frog because their tadpole phase could go on for years. This is another case of how we have to much to learn about animals in their natural habitat. Which brings me to the next article…
The Danish get a lot of criticism about their zoos, and I do feel a little bad. Zoos put animals to sleep all the time, they just aren’t coming out about it. I do think in someways it is good for the vegan movement. The public rarely sees an animal butchered, and therefore find it disgusting. But I think if you are going to eat meat, you have to stomach it otherwise you are a little hypocritical.I also take faith that kids do listen to their hearts, and even the reporter speculates that these dissections could spark interest with kids in animal activism. I think these dissections are examples of showing that zoos are not natural places for animals, and another example of humans creating new “animal” problems.
A new study shows that animals might be empathetic. Seems a little silly, but it is hard to determine different emotions objectively. So scientists construct really weird experiments to try and prove different emotions. Feel free to read, but this experiment does involve distressing and hurting voles.
Why Are Vegetarians Annoying? (An Exploration of a Cultural Rift)
Hank Green has done a few videos about vegetarianism, and I have to give some respect to him. Sadly the comments are full of the same ol’ same ol’ “how can you tell if a person is vegan” jokes. Basically Hank Green admits, he is a little selfish for eating meat, which I totally respect. Very rarely do people come out and say this. There are tons of excuses that give me a big roll of the eyes, bacon, its for my health, it isn’t natural, blah blah blah. And Green is right in saying that we need to draw a line sometimes in the things we do. I would go out of my mind if I questioned every single item I bought in order to live a guilt-free, cruelty-free, sweat-shop-free, lifestyle. I also look at this video as a way to try and live my life less judgmentally, even if everyone else is judging me (which seems likes like a pretty conceded statement, but man reading those comments, people do judge vegans.)
Hi everyone. I feel like I am failing blogging in 2016. The main two reasons is that one week I went to go visit my Grandfather in Florida. He hasn’t been in the greatest health lately, and even has been in a hospital for most of December with a bad case of clostridium difficile, which I read about in this article about feces enemas. Anyways, we booked a trip for the weekend to visit him once he got better. Let me tell you that trip was EXHAUSTING! I kid you not when I say it was non-stop socializing affair. It also was a humbling experience, I am so picky about the quality of my food but I had to take a deep breath and think about why I was there. I did NOT do any research about vegan friendly places. And I messed up. I eat out so little I forget what things are usually not vegan, like onion rings. But mistakes will be made, and I am just glad I don’t need to eat (crappy) salad again for lunch AND dinner.
All week I was trying to catch up on things from the previous weekend, and then the weekend after I went into NYC to celebrate Alexa’s birthday. It was tons of fun, except the karaoke bar that Alexa booked didn’t put in her reservation for the right day. So we had to book it to someplace different that wasn’t BYOB. Our bottles of soju got opened, and confiscated. No big deal, it was like $10. I was tipsy, and doing fine, then when we leave the guy hands me an open bottle of soju back… which was nice but I had no idea what to do with it. I was drunk enough to think chugging it would be a good idea. Uh… wrong. I quickly got super drunk, I am so glad Jon was with me because I don’t remember much from that night. And I had the worst hangover all Sunday, it even lingered into Monday morning. So let’s just say I was pretty frustrated with my very stupid decision. I should of asked that nice guy to just dump the stuff.
So I have a bunch of articles that I wanted to share over the course of several weeks. So sorry that the list is so long. But I need to break the silence on the blog. I hope everyone had a better weekend than me! I will also have some reviews on some restaurants from Disney and NYC.
Extreme health diets are not new. Not saying everyone doesn’t have a grain of truth to their statements, but always use your brain. There is a lot of room food various types of food in your diet.
Hi everyone! I decided to go back to the old set up for my Sunday Readings. At least for today since I don’t have too many different articles. I guess maybe it is because I have been more focused on Thanksgiving than news? Or maybe I’ve been trying to think about Christmas, which is hard coming up with stuff I want. Weird right? I guess maybe it is because I know there is a bunch of stuff I want that I can’t get (like a puppy) Anyways, I hope everyone likes these reads!
Apparently humans are the only reason why the gourd exists today. It is interesting to hear about the evolution of fruits and how they try to be eaten to spread their seeds. It is also nice to hear that humans saved something for once rather than killing them.
This is a quick little article about how Israel is handling the growing vegan community. It is a shame there is no programs like this for American soldiers but this article shows that society can adapt to the growing vegan demands. So saying it just isn’t how people do things is proving to be false.
I love reading articles that further prove there is more to weight than diet and exercise. This one is talking about how what we crave might be controlled by the bacteria in our stomachs. This is probably a good theory since it might explain why people crave different foods once they change what their diet looks like.
I have a lot of beef with the “child obesity” debate. I know someone close with a child who they are trying make loose weight, which rubs me the wrong way. One of the major reasons is because they don’t change everyone’s diet, they just restrict their child’s. The article points out that we need to be more flexible about what we eat, and we are lucky, we are ominous, it is part of our nature to switch up what we eat.
This article made me think about when I lived in Philadelphia and how roads shaped where I would go with friends. I remember hating some walks to movie theaters because it meant walking under highways, and certain areas were pretty much dead zones because of the roads.
Alexa hardly ever takes photos of Gizmo! Such a cutie!
Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a good week. I had a pretty productive one, and I even squeezed in a sick day! It is weird because it has been awhile since I’ve had a “sick” day. I had stomach bugs, but never stayed home with a flu. Even still, I just felt dizzy Friday and left work early mostly because I didn’t feel comfortable standing up for long periods of time. Got home, slept for 3 hours and when I work up I thought MAYBE I should take my temperature. Nothing huge, 99 degree temperature, but it was kind-of a “oh I guess I should came home then.” I am fine now, heck I was pretty much fine by the end of the night. But I think the experience has given me the motivation to get my flu shot this year. I can’t remember the last time I got one, so I am not really looking forward to it. XD
I am also trying to get use to working out again. I think it was much easier to be motivated in my old apartment, it was so small that going out for a run was a joy (also the area was beautiful, not too thrilled about my new run) Now I am going up and down stairs a lot more, more space to walk, I chase the cat, more personal space, and we can control the temperature so we are constantly snuggling under blankets. So I think is hard to find the motivation to lift weights when a cat is snuggling on my lap. Well, I want to really try and run 3 days a week, and weight train 2 days of the week. Maybe I’ll write a post about it once a week, I don’t know.
I am also in the process of planning my Thanksgiving dinner! I am pretty excited about this. It is almost all vegan, my in-laws are bringing their own turkey, which is fine to me because I know turkey can be a hard symbol to loose for the holiday. This is Jon’s first Thanksgiving without eating turkey, so it should be interesting. I will probably post a menu outline of what I plan on making for the dinner.
This article made me stop and rethink my day. It is one of those “yeah we all know this” sort of fact, busy people aren’t productive. I feel like I have been having a hard time getting things done, and maybe I am just bouncing too many different things around. I really want to focus on just reading, or just writing a blog post, or just looking at facebook. I find that when I focus, the clock ticks slower.
Another article in defense of wild bees. Many people defend honey in a vegan diet because OMG ALL OUR BEES ARE DYING! And that is true, but a lot of the problems are manmade creations that we could fix, like planting more native flowers, having various blooms during the season, etc.
Anyone else use their apple news app? I do, and I love it. I like getting a wide variety of article, many I might not find on vegan media platforms. This one is what happens when an Italian goes paleo. I like the conclusion and the breakdown of all the science, and how the author didn’t gush about how she felt amazing. I think a lot of special diets are placebo effects, and if you do feel any real effect, it might take months, or years to have any change, and you might not notice since the change is so gradual.
Alexa shared this article with me about how our housing situation shapes our friendships. We both struggle with friends living far away, and I even hear how people in New York City struggle keeping in touch since with public transportation it can take several hours to get to certain spots. We also prize privacy, which and keep us closed off from the world. I think we both feel like the most “interaction” we felt with our community might of been when we lived in cities. What do you guys think?
I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I think Alexa and I sure did. Alexa had to work but still got dress up as Ariel. Then changed for a spooky Halloween party. This year Jon and I wanted to the whole give away candy thing in our new home. We got a good amount of kids. While waiting we made vegan mummy dogs, brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes (scary to kids). We watched episodes of Simpson’s Tree House of Terror, seasons 2 to 7. When we finished we watched Ichabod Crane and The Brood. OMG, was The Brood good! I know who I’m going to be for Halloween next year- Nola!
Anyways, we have a big list of articles, probably because I’ve been all about Apple News. I’ve been reading so much more. I probably should take a break because some days I think I do feel a little overwhelmed by facts.
Food:
Not sure how many people will be able to read this, but New York Times wrote a profile on Smarties. I loved them since I was a kid but I love that they are vegan friendly. They also are based in New Jersey and Liz Dee is vegan herself! So I really try and support the company!
The New Yorker NAILS the almond milk versus cows milk debate. Okay not all the points! But brings up an important one about our food. We need variety, and we need to know how to handle our waste!
I love this article by The Atlantic talking about taxidermy displays. I feel a similar feeling about zoos. There is this weird contradiction that zoos and taxidermy isn’t helping the animals directly and can be cruel. But at the same time it sparks interest and gets the average person concerned about the well being of the animals. And there is the fact that animals are beautiful, and it is amazing to see an animal that isn’t native to your area and marvel at it’s existence. Anyways, I hope you enjoy that read.
Apparently parts of India are banning cow meat and it isn’t making vegans happy. They have excellent reasons why this is problematic, which is also a reason why I feel like if you ditch meat, you need to ditch dairy as well.
One of my husband’s favorite Simpson’s episodes is the one where Lisa becomes a vegetarian, here is an article praising it.
This episode of Bite Size Vegan made me really happy. She has been trying to document the history of veganism, and found that people have been making the same arguments over time. If you have the time, I suggest watching it. The quotes are really beautiful.
I totally back up the Body Positivity Movement. Yeah, I think there is a link between obesity and health, but I think it is more complicated than “I’m fat therefore I’m sick.” I don’t like when people just chalk it up to “dieting” because there are some health habits that we picked up on in the USA that might be BETTER for our health overall (for example we consume more whole grains!) So I was happy to see yet another study that supports that there is more to weight than calories and calories out.
Hey guys. This week has been a lot less productive than I had hoped for. Part of the problem is you know everyday life. Whomp whomp. Then there is also this weird internet. It is find in the morning, then at night it disconnects every five seconds. Arg! It stinks but there are worse things that can happen in life.
So I just want to point out how cute Alexa looks right now. She had a wedding coming up, and being thrifty me I was all like “NO DON’T BUY A NEW DRESS BORROW ONE OF MINE!” I LOVE this dress. I got it on sale from Ruche, it was originally something like $80-100 but I got it for $39.50. I’ve worn it to a bunch of weddings, luckily I had friends and family weddings that didn’t crossover with guests. Nobody caught me wearing more than once! Anyways, I’ve washed it a few times, when I wasn’t suppose to and it started to rip, but Alexa got it fixed so it might get worn a bunch more times. And if you are dying to have the dress, you can buy it for $96, which this is like super old out of stock. So no bargin hunting.
Also Alexa dyed her hair again, which makes me jealous. I want to dye my hair but my bosses are a little…. uh… judgmental about looks? And our clients are pretty old, and conservative so I don’t think it would be the best move on my part. Alexa wanted to dye her hair like her favorite wrestler Sasha Banks. Note- their all Alexa’s favorite.
So I mentioned doing the Vegan MOFO Offseason thing, and there is the prompt of Pick 3, and she said to share any vegan articles. So I will make this week’s Sunday Reading in lists of threes.
3 Recipes
CARAMELIZED BANANA & RUM SHAKE – I think I know what I should try and make next time Alexa and Ian crashed my place for game playing. I’ve been reading The Drunken Botanist, and it really helps make the connection that plants are booze, and it really a “vegan” food. It is exciting to see all the different herbs that are used in cocktails. My little liquor collection is growing fast, and hubby and I really need a cocktail cart for drinks and glasses.
RESCUED RACCOON ORPHAN NAMED PUMPKIN – I am a sucker for any cute animal story. I think it does make veganism for relatable for most people. So I share them. This one is about a baby raccoon that was hurt and was nursed back to health. It is so endearing to see a raccoon snuggle with a puppy, showing that animals can connect with each other regardless of species.
WHAT HARAJUKU GIRLS REALLY LOOK LIKE – This “decora” style come about right when I fell out of Japan’s music culture. It is probably one of my least favorite street styles. But it is interesting to watch the video.
3 Letters
LETTER #1 – These letters have been buzzing around the vegan blog-o-sphere. If you aren’t up to date these are letters written by Miyoko Schinner, who has pretty much reinvented the vegan cheese scene, to Ryan Bethencourt, an entrepreneur and scientist that I know nothing about.
LETTER #2 – This is the response from Ryan, which focuses on how science is able to engineer products with science. It is fun and exciting, and talks about some cool foods coming out to the vegan community. He views veganism as a world of science and labs, which I can get behind, but I think most people find this anti-food. This view I think is more relatable to older generations who view processed foods as improved products from the natural ones, which sometimes they can be.
LETTER #3 – Miyoko responds back by taking the science away from vegan innovations and bringing it back to the home kitchen. And I love this. I love being able to say you can DO EVERYTHING in the kitchen. I think people are surprised at how easy some vegan food is, like nut milks. My boss was shocked when I said it is just essentially just water and nuts, then filtered. I think it is some sort of balance between science and homegrown food that will sell people to vegan food. It can be fake, but it doesn’t HAVE TO BE.
3 Shopping Finds
REST IN PIZZA SHIRT – I love this shirt as it seems super vegan to me. I’ve heard so many people say things like “Oh if you can’t have cheese I guess you can’t have pizza!” Apparently cheese is what makes the pizza to most people. But I love a good tomato pie, and I found pizza is a super vegan thing.
THE LONG ARM OF THE LOBSTER CARDIGAN – I use to love to eat lobsters, and I also think they are just a cool animal. I remember having them walk around the kitchen floor before eating them, which my husband thought was morbid. What can I say? I knew I was a murdering bastard at a young age. I dig this classy sweater which to me gives more of a nod that lobsters are cool and cute like any other trendy animal.
1960s GOLD METALLIC BROCADE WIGGLE DRESS – Anyone want to give me $140 for a new dress? I love fancy dresses, and I don’t go out as much as I should to put these dresses to work. But I love the light work of the metallic threads, so it isn’t overdoing it on the shiny aspect.
What I wear to my local CSA, cat sweatshirt, stripped dress shirt, cloud leggings, purple striped socks, and super old docs.
Oh boy guys. I’ve been so busy with Vegan MOFO! I’m a little glad to be over with it, and I am also excited to sign up again next year! But for now there are lots of posts to catch up with that I want to write that were “Vegan MOFO themed.” And I’ve been collecting so many of these links that I’ve wanted to share with everyone! So sorry that it is a little long and overwhelming! Take you time guys. Oh! And I can start doing my Farm Haul again! The summer is pretty much done, so that insanely long shopping lists are done. And I get a little bit of break since some of the foods can be stored long term. So yey!
Farm Round Up:
What I got:
1 jack o’lantern
1 bag of stir fry greens
1/2 bag collard greens and kale
1 head of red cabbage
5 tomatoes
9 small potatoes
1 small butternut squash
1 red onion
1 yellow onion
3 big beets
5 small green peppers
4 small broccoli crowns
What I’m cooking:
red lentil dal (with onion and tomatoes)
black bean “chicken” and broccoli stir-fry Pad See Ew
ginger, beet, and carrot soup
tacos with roasted peppers
collard and kale greens in shake
Food Links:
I need to try out these mango yolks. I really do miss the joy of popping a liquid orb on top of toast.
So my husband has been pretty trying to get a waffle maker and I am not a sweet bread breakfast person. But these savory waffles? Uh hell yeah.
So I love Eat Your Kimchi, videos of a Canadian couple in South Korea. They recently did a video of making raw and vegan coconut oil chocolates. They give some nice tips, which makes me want to make some… maybe filled with cookie butter?!
Paleo vs Vegan! Such a heated debate. Even the whole protein thing, ugh. My Mom gave me “you brainwashed gurl” eyes during lunch when I told her she probably shouldn’t worry about protein going on a mostly vegetarian diet (especially since she is still eating chicken and fish occasionally, and eggs and dairy frequently). Anyways, I like this short story about how a guy switched from Paleo to Vegan, and nothing happened.
I love reading vegan travel blogs, because it makes me believe that traveling with my husband in the future will still be enriching. One of the things I miss after going vegan is the spontaneity about traveling. Trying the local foods etc. Travel blogs show that it still kind-of is. This post on Denmark on Oh Lady Cakes is getting me pumped. Now I just need several thousand dollars for the plane tickets. XD
Ted Nghiem writes a great post about why food is exciting… and it isn’t just about trying the new hip foods. I love learning about the history and the story about the food sometimes more than the food itself.
The other night I got asked by a vegetarian why I didn’t eat honey, and I had a few points of why it is bad, but a lot of my logic is that there isn’t really a NEED for honey. I mean it isn’t as culturally important as meat in the USA. I was also happy to read this article saying honey is pretty much as bad as sugar.
I love animal skeletons. I said it. I know, it isn’t vegan. But I find skeletons so beautiful, human or otherwise. So I’ve been thinking about the ethics of being vegan and taking animal for decoration. Well, this blog post does a great job pretty much saying “ethical” taxidermy is bullshit. Although this person eats animals, I love her wording, there is no bullshitting and dancing around the issues here.
I’ve seen a few article talking about the horrors of “trigger warnings” in school settings. And I think there would be some good points, but most of the time it felt like rantings of someone who hates Millenials. I think this sums up how I feel about trigger warnings. It isn’t about trying to get out of doing the work, but more about setting up a discussion!
I’ve recently taken some Orange Theory classes, like about 3 months worth. I stopped taking them for various reasons, but I started to learn why people like taking fitness classes. I think this article makes some great points that I didn’t really believe before taking Orange Theory. Like it is nice to have free hair ties and pads in the bathroom for emergencies.
This article by NPR is a little disturbing about the effects of not getting nutrition for young female athletes. Some of the effects will last into adulthood.
My goodness this week was pretty crazy! Everything crept up pretty fast and then it became the weekend. I figured I need to spend more time working at settling down in the house than updating the blog, which is why I haven’t been that good at updating the 365 posts on Saturday anymore. Oh and because of the farm trips. It is peach season here so every single week has involved us going to our CSA, and then going to the orchard. This week we picked so many peaches that we made chutney. And I am thinking that we still have enough for jam. Wow.
Alexa and I are also busy for VEGAN MONTH OF FOOD! They have a list of prompts and we will try and stick to them. We have some good ideas planned, and some not so much. So we will see how it goes. Especially with the 365 idea. I am not sure how I will incorporate that into the posts.
Anyways, I might not be as active the next week or so while we try and get our ducks in a row for Vegan MOFO. We also may or may not continue with the 365/Sunday Reads posts during that month. But I guess only time will tell what will happen.
**Note: Sorry guys that this post originally just have URLs below and no descriptions or links! I have NO idea what WordPress’ problem is right now. It keeps messing things up.
Farm Round Up:
What I got:
1/2 pint sungold tomatoes
1 quart of yellow pear tomatoes
1/2 pint blackberries
1 quart ground cherries with husks
25 lb yellow peaches
2 lb gala apples
2 lb red plums
1 large cantaloupe
1 large yellow watermelon
1/2 lb green beans
8 lbs slicing tomatoes
5 lbs tomatillos
5 1/2 lbs cherry tomatoes
3 lb purple potatoes
1/2 bag of mixed asian stirfry greens
3 asian eggplants
4 green bell peppers
1 bunch of radishes with greens
6 red italia peppers
7 jalapenos
4 poblano peppers
Jon and I are planning Halloween already. Gonna watch 6 episodes of Treehouse of Terror on Halloween, and we will be watching plenty of horror films and Goosebumps (hubby’s choice) for the month of October. And since we are in our first home, I said we would buy halloween candy, and showed my husband this PETA list of vegan candy to show him that we won’t get egged. (because that wouldn’t be vegan either)
I always like to put in some film info on this blog, and I love soviet russian media! Especially film! So I have to share this super bizarro propaganda film. It is a mixed media animation that takes place in space. Very surreal. Very cool visually.
I love how Gina breaks down protein in this new post. She makes it pretty simple and easy to figure out how much protein you need in your diet, and gives some great options. And she makes me feel better for giving my husband whole wheat PB&J sandwiches- 15 grams of whole protein? Hell yeah.
I know that this isn’t the most vegan all videos. A giant heart…. but I know that sometimes these are the types of things that really get people to connect to other animals. Hopefully it helps put things in perspective for you, humans are the center, or the best.
I love Healthcare Triage because they don’t pussyfoot around. Aaron lays down exercise for what it is- a lot less that what we expect but really beneficial! I am always telling people that you don’t need to run a marathon- just moving. Like to garden? Do that! Cleaning the bathroom? That is actually fairly vigorous activity.
Another Healthcare Triage video that I think is pretty interesting. It goes over what the fuss is about Flibanstein and talks about human trafficking.
Got an old comforter from the basement, and Toulouse is quick to nap on it.
This week has been pretty busy. Lots of cooking and prepping, and I’ve been working longer hours at the frame shop. Then this weekend I thought I would catch up on posts, but I have a busy k.o. punch- my husband’s birthday. We aren’t the type of people to do lots of things for our birthdays. It is pretty simple, choose a dessert and choose a dinner whether it be eating out or a specific meal. Well, then my in-laws thought it was a good weekend to hand off a bunch of Jon’s stuff they’ve been keeping in their basement. It is helpful, but it feels like taking a step back in the moving process. So we have tons of new stuff to figure out what to do with, and I am not very sentimental so I am looking at half this stuff and thinking “my god this needs to be thrown out.” So this should be interesting to see what Jon doesn’t with half this stuff.
The good news for Alexa is that we have been collecting all the “doubles” of things so she might get some freebies when she moves out her house, like an iron, espresso machine, air conditioner, and maybe a pot or two. Oh and wrestling action figures. Jon apparently kept all his old 90s action figures.
Things at the farm are really going. I think this is the time of the year where I get my biggest bang for my buck. I think I remember last you figuring out that I pay something like $27 each week for my share at the farm. It has gone up since then. But the price of some this produce that’s organic is insane. Jeff, one of the farmers, said he had a friend who sold an organic heirloom tomato that was $15 because it was so big and heavy. Wow. I saw that regular tomatillos were $3 a pound, so that means those tomatillos would of cost me $12 in the supermarket alone! I can’t even begin to think how much I would be paying for all the tomatoes!
Farm Round Up:
What I got:
1 quart sungold tomatoes
1 pint blackberries
2 large cantaloups
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb red plums
1 lb MacIntosh apples
13 lb yellow peaches
oregano, basil, cilanto, mint
4 lbs tomatillos
5 lbs cherry tomatoes
1 quart ground cherries with husks
1 quart green beans
10.5 lbs slicing tomatoes
2 roma tomatoes
2 heads of lettuce
1 eggplant
1 yellow onion
1 bunch of radishes with greens
2 poblano peppers
What I’m cooking:
Tomato Sauce for future cooking
Tomatillo and Berry Crisp
Freezing peaches for storage
Yogurt, granola, and ground cherry/blackberry bowls
Grilled “Cheese” and Tomato Sandwiches
Side salads with sungold tomatoes and radishes Jungle Curry with Seitan Curry
Sri Lankan Red Lentil Curry (using the roma tomatoes) from Vegan Eats World Spaghetti Squash Yakisoba Style
I really want to read this comic, but it isn’t actually released yet!
I like this guide on how to order vegan at any restaurant. There is a really great break down of what to look for and what to ask. From my experience working in the food industry, if you are nice, the servers will be nice back. Also, keep in mind accendents happens. It might not be your waiters fault so don’t flip out on them.
Apparently there is a book written about why millennials so foodies. I liked this interview on The Atlantic, but I think there are some points missing. One is yes, millennials have less money, but I think that is why we spend money on food. It is a short term reward that might not cost a lot right now. And another point that I think is missing is that there is a lot of political statements being said about the food we eat, and in some ways a revolt against the system we are forced to get jobs in (aka big corp America)
We are Alexa and Jennifer, two girls who like cute things, comics, food, and animals. This blog is their journey in clothing, food, and animal rights. read more over here Blog Alexa Jennifer
