I had this recipe sitting in the drafts section for a few months now… 7 months to be exact. Which is a shame because these are great cookies to make with non-vegan friends. It calls for almost all “normal” ingredients. Meaning there isn’t any fake butter, or things you wouldn’t find in the pantry. There is technically 2 tbsp of soy milk, but you can sub it for water. And there is flax and chia seeds, but you can take them out, you’ll just have a more tender cookie.
New York Times have dubbed the best iced latte in America a vegan latte. Hard to believe but true. Two coffee shop owners didn’t want to put an iced latte on their menu because it wasn’t something they would drink. But they knew about the demand for an iced latte, and searched for a way to bring up to their standards. The answer was a velvety nut milk.
Am I claiming my latte is better? Well, no. But it is still pretty dang good. My biggest complaint about non-dairy lattes in stores is that they get gritty when hot, and iced the coffee gets dulled. I like my coffee strong so I find myself making my own coffee often at home because of it.
It has been a rough few weeks. My work schedule has been totally flipped upside down, and I found myself working mostly night shifts instead of morning. Which means that I’ve just been unable to make dinner for half of the week. Now, just the idea of cooking dinner feels like a chore. At the end of each day, I think about how someone has to cook otherwise our ingredients will go bad.
Luckily, I have the best husband who will cook dinner even though he gets home around 7pm at night. I become an early morning sous chef and pre-chop veggies to make it easier. I’ll try to gather or bunch ingredients together in the fridge or cabinets, so he doesn’t have to hunt them down. Sometimes all he has to do is toss a casserole dish in the oven and bake. But one night I wrote down a totally new recipe and let him work it out.
Another week went by. Been busy, but I really can’t say what I have done. Yeah, just one of those weeks. But we should have some fun posts coming up for you guys this week! So stay tuned. In the meantime, here is our next collection of reads (and a watch) for everyone to check out.
People rarely actually ask why I don’t eat dairy. Maybe people just assume I am some crazy hippie going through a phase. The biggest reason for not drinking milk is that it isn’t very sustainable. Mother Jones relates milk directly to the drought in California by asking exactly how much water is needed to make a glass of soy milk or your cup of yogurt.
The article is a few months old, but I only recently stumbled upon it. It is pretty interesting to the visuals of water to compare each item to. But as I a vegan, I find it most interesting how much more water is needed to make almond milk. I love it, and it is so easy to make. But after reading the article I might want to cut back on it.
I am sure you heard the joke- “How can you tell someone is vegan? They’ll tell you they are.” Working in food service, you hear this one all the time. The joke is sad since I do recommend that any vegans, vegetarians, or people with allergies inform us when buying food. That way, we can help and prevent any mistakes or help you avoid ordering food that goes against your diet. But I am getting off topic- vegans and vegetarians are labeled as annoying and preachy. In all my years, I’ve only met one person who fit the “crazy vegan” stereotype.
Kathy comes up with a pretty good list of reason why vegans are actually the opposite of annoying. She points out that vegans are compassionate and will make you food. I think the making you food part is the most important as I am always making baked goods for parties and get togethers.
The New Yorker has a humorous post about C.S.A shares. As a C.S.A member, I am glad to say that we never have too many vegetables that we can’t handle, although lately, it’s been a bean overload. I STILL have a frickin radish in the crisper. Oh and kohlrabi. Nobody knows what to do with kohlrabi.
This isn’t anything new, but a friend recently informed me that there are many free e-books to download at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website. I am a HUGE Met fan. I’ve written a review one of their books earlier, and I will be writing about my recent visit to the Charles James exhibit. There is something for everyone at the museum, and they do so much to preserve art from the past and today.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art publishes many books relating to their art and their exhibits. Not every single book is available online. Most books that you can download in their entire form are older books currently out of print. New books, such as the new book about the Charles James exhibit, can be read online in a small excerpt (sort of like the previews on Amazon). The Met plans on releasing more of their books, possibly all of them. But for now there are close to 400 titles that are fully available online, so you have a lot to choose from including a book about Ingres that is sitting on my bookshelf.
My husband told me about this story while driving me to my sister’s house, and I knew I had to post an article talking about it. But then Jon Stewart talked about it in his show instead, which I think does a great summery. I know most health food, book, or fashion nerds are not into football, but I enjoy the sport.
So in a nutshell the NFL is getting a lot of criticism about the minimal punishment they handed down to Ray Rice. The NFL takes great pride in trying to make the sport family friendly and sending positive messages to younger viewers. So hearing that players gets a smaller punishment for domestic violence compared to a misdemeanor such as smoking pot is unsettling. There seems to be more violence-related problems with NFL players than drugs, so maybe the league should start re-evaluating how things work.
Uggg… what a downer of an ending! I’ll remedy that by showing a video from Eat Your Kimchi of their lazy cat.
As you all know – I have been trying to shape my diet to have more veggies and fruits to replace meat. One of the harder things that I have run into while changing my eating around is my snacking.
Now, I didn’t snack on meats but I do have smaller meals or meals that will leave me slightly less full. I keep drinking water but sometimes you just need to nosh. I mentioned in my post about Asbury Fresh that I had met Shelly at her booth titled “She’s Got Balls”. I saw her again this past weekend and we got to chatting a bit! She is super nice and had even more to offer this time around, so I picked up the *Coco Mint Treat.
A picture with the ingredients listed on the back – just for everyone who is curious.
This weekend I had the pleasure of going to Asbury Fresh, the farmer’s market located in Asbury Park, NJ. There are so many vendors who offer various things ranging from hand made or vintage clothing to different baked goods! My main reason for going today was definitely to support my good friends over at …
I love detoxes. I mentioned in the last post I was doing a smoothie detox. For three to four days all I eat are smoothies and soups. Usually they are all raw, but they are hardly skimpy. They are packed with lots of nuts and fats to keep me full and going. I like a smoothie cleanse over a juice cleanse since you are getting a larger range of foods. Emily from This Rawsome Vegan Life did one for 7 days, which is longer than I have ever done.
I usually do a detox after big family get togethers and holidays since I usually eat foods I wouldn’t normally eat. It is nice “reboot” for some eating habits. If I am suddenly craving beer and cake every single day, I will usually go on a detox. I find that it makes me want to eat healthier foods. I am still going to want to drink beer and eat baked goods, but I know I shouldn’t be eating them everyday.
Of coarse I don’t like the connection people make with loosing weight with detoxing. Yeah, most of the time you loose weight, but it isn’t permanent. A lot of water weight is loss and quickly gained back when transitioning back to a normal diet. Which is why I like how Emily refers to it as a “Liquid Feast,” since you are feeding your body.
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I’ve been terrible at posting lately! I’ve been busy. There has been some exciting news, as my mother is moving from Utah, all the was across the country, back to the east coast in New Jersey. It has been almost a decade of her living a 4 hour flight away, so it should be an interesting change. She is already planning embroidery and sewing projects with me.
I started to write this post last night and I had the hardest time. I am currently doing a detox, which I like to do them from time to time. I haven’t done one in awhile since I have been eating so well. Writing this entry is hard since I see the photos and want to pull out the leftovers. It is a little painful.
A few weeks ago I visited Burlington, Vermont for my brother Trevor’s Graduation from College! He attended the University of Vermont and (as far as I know) is going to be teaching Crossfit classes and competing in Crossfit competitions for a living. It was nice to be able to see him and his lovely girlfriend, and I had never been to Burlington before then, so it was an added bonus of adventure!
My favorite part of the weekend was when we all met up (my Mother, Step Daddy, Trevor, his girlfriend Jules and myself) and walked around the Burlington Farmer’s Market. I already love farmer’s markets, and Trevor had told me that this one was especially nice.
First off – yes, I definitely missed last week’s Tea Time Tuesday!! Shame on me! Moving on though, this week’s review is about one of the new teas that Rook Coffee Roasters has to offer, just in time for summer!
I just want to start off by talking about Rook as a company. They are based in Monmouth County, NJ with shops set up in Oakhurst, Long Branch and Little Silver. The company was started by two childhood friends (Holly Migliaccio and Shawn Kingsley) who have a passion for specialty coffee. The brews that they make in shop range from fair trade, organic and water processed (a chemical-free way of decaffeinating their coffee).
I usually frequent the one in the Little Silver Train Station as it is on the way to dropping Mr. Ian off at work. The location for it is great, and the staff are really wonderful people! They always make you feel welcome when you walk in the door, and if you are not used to their different roasts they will happily explain them to you.
I decided to try the Berry Tea this week, I have had the Black Tea that they offer and it wasn’t really what I expected. It was just more of a regular “Iced Tea” than an “English Breakfast” blend.
The Berry tea was extremely refreshing! It wasn’t too sweet, and not very bitter. Just perfectly tart after you finish taking a sip. The flavor tastes like there are a few different berries in the blend – raspberry being the most notable (to me anyway…I can’t say for sure what’s in it). I would definitely recommend it on a hot day if you are not feeling like grabbing coffee, but need a little pick-me-up.
