Celebrating First Year as Vegans!

We are celebrating our first year of becoming vegan this month! I say "becoming vegan" because it took us almost a year to completely give up all animal foods and products. We had to learn how to shop and cook new foods, and are still learning where to buy non animal products for clothing, shoes and personal care and cleaning products too. It's definitely a process. I ate eggs up until about Easter last year, and had my last fish on our trip to the coast last October. (honestly the fish did nothing for me anyway, which is weird because I used to love most fish). Im not sure I wouldn't eat some salmon, if I knew who caught it, and knew it was fresh and not from a factory farm...and it died humanely...we'll see. But other than that, we are full on vegans now! We just feel so good knowing we are no longer contributing to the unneeded pain and suffering of any animals (or at least doing our very best to prevent it!) We feel great too--our clothes fit good, no more bowel problems, less headaches and allergies and way less anxiety! I also get way more excited about meals and the food is always delicious and satisfying .

We had a great Thanksgiving this year at our house! Well, the food was amazing anyway...I was very nervous the day before when we were cooking and expecting alot of Jamison's family to stay with us. I just get that way when I have to play hostess! I want everything to be really nice and warm and inviting and yummy! This is what we cooked:

Maple glazed sweet potato scones, spinach dip in a sourdough bread roll, olive and pickle tray, chickpea cutlets, roasted lemony potatoes, wine, holiday salad with spiced pumpkin seeds and pomegranate, creamy pumpkin penne with sage and toasted pecans, pumpkin pie, chocolate pumpkin bread pudding, chocolate peanut butter cups, and...vegan irish coffees. MMMMMM!! My sister also brought garlicky green beans and Tuaca Apple Pie hot drinks, and Mom brought her famous sweet potatoes that she veganized and they were better than ever!

Everything was absolutely delicious and we all had a great time. We're hoping that all the delicious food wowed our families and maybe even changed their thinking about what they want to eat! We are eating vegan everyday, but it seems even more important to be conscious during our family celebrations. Jamison and I have decided on a new tradition for our family: since we want to celebrate love and gratitude during our holidays, we want to have only (cruelty free) vegan goodies to eat in our house for our celebrations, and anyone who wants to celebrate with us is welcome!Personally, I feel so good about how we are being so much more conscious in our purchases. I know that turkeys are among the most abused and tortured animals out there and even sparing one is something (imagine if everyone made this choice!).

Chef Chloe's website

Found a great new website: Vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli's site called http://www.chefchloe.com

Happy

I was at the park the other day (it was beautiful fall weather and I don't know if I've ever seen the trees so colorful!), swinging next to Jossy in her little swing, and we were hanging our heads way back to look up at the clouds in the blue sky and it hit me: I am INSANELY happy!! Just having so much fun with my baby girl, being Mom and wife to such an amazing man as Jamison, and knowing how lucky we all are. Last night, Delberta went all the way to the park and back with us (almost a mile), in her new wheelchair! I cried with relief that she can still join us on walks now for awhile! Looking forward to a great holiday season with my family.

Holiday Salad with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds & Pomegranate

broccolini tini

Found this smoothie recipe in my "Vegan Comfort Foods" cookbook by Alicia Simpson. She says " Broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese kale, offering the best of both worlds. This smoothie is incredibly detoxifying, which is why it's the only smoothie that is broken up into two 8 oz smoothies instead of one 16 oz...Broccolini has a specialaffinity for breaking up mucus. Drink this smoothie slowly until you get used to it; feel free to store it in the refrigerator, and sip it throughout the day.
I usually have some issues with mucus in the spring, related to allergies, so although it is now almost August, I wanted to add this post so I can look it up later! Maybe we can grow some ourselves, I will look into it...

Here is the smoothie recipe:

1 cup broccolini florets
1 c frozen tropical fruit mix (papaya, pineapple, mango)
1 kiwi, peeled and cut into thick slices
3/4 cup fresh pear juice
2/3 Medjool dates, seeds removed (0h my gosh I have been buying organic fresh dates from the co-op, I never knew they could taste soooo good!)

Anyway, can't wait to get our new Vitamix!!! (we are waiting for a sale as they are $450 to $600!

Mad as hell at Dairy industry

This is what I just posted on Facebook:
Bawling my eyes out. Just watched the most horrific video of animal brutality I have ever seen on You Tube, of Conklin Farm in Ohio. If you can, watch it, and send a note to this man, asking him to stop (the main abuser was arrested and fired, but Conklin himself is also in the video committing acts of abuse). Just another reason I will not support the dairy industry. Please don't kid yourself if you think this doesn't go on...

Johnson Ⓥ I know that some of you will say that "this isn't the norm". That may be true, I don't know, I am not aware of what all goes on as far as horrific abuse on most farms. I do know that this one did happen, it's on this video and it is horrifi...c. I also know that innocent cows on dairy farms are continuously impregnanted every year, so that they can be hooked up to machines and milked, so that humans can have what was intended for the calf that was ripped away from it's mother soon after it was born. ( I have seen cows and calves wailing for each other when they are separated, it is no different than if you took a human's baby away.) The cows are given hormones to make them produce so much milk that their udders are painfully enlarged, often to the point of infection called mastitis (which makes udders pus-ridden and bloody), and this is treated with... antibiotics. They are simply milk machines. Is this not abuse??

yoga

Did an hour of yoga tonight...because I needed to, and to help me sleep...but I am still awake! I was lying there thinking of something I read in Yoga journal that I think is so profoundly brilliant. It is regarding envy, and here is an excerpt:

"Forget about the person you envy. Forget about what she has that you wish were yours. Look instead at the energy that feeling is made of, and you'll notice that nothing in the feeling has any real solidity. Perhaps, at that moment, you might open to the insight that the energy forming and dissolving within your mind and heart is not really separate from the energy around you. Perhaps, at that moment, you might realize that the person you envy is not really someone separate from you; that you lack nothing because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains potentially everything you could ever want or need."

Suz and Nana's birthday parties

Had a super fun weekend! Started out at the Farmer's market, where we bought a flat of berries, $26 dollars worth of blueberries, raspberries and yummy boysenberries! Then went home and had them on pancakes! (froze the rest for smoothie pops in our new popsicle maker!)

Cindi made Jossy a little apron and sent it in the mail...there's Jossy cookin' in her little kitchen!

Suz had a fun BBQ at her house yesterday. We all got to hang out in her newly landscaped beautiful backyard. We ate and chatted, hit a pinata with the kids, danced and laughed as usual. Love that funky disco music! Jossy danced until she fell down and skinned her knee.

Then today Steve and Karen had everyone over for a pool party for Nana, but we also sang to Suz since today was really her birthday. It was really fun and great to get together with the whole family. After Jossy went to bed, I took Suz out for a couple martinis tonight at Bardenay downtown. It was nice to talk just the two of us. Jossy is restless in her sleep tonight, probably from too many jellybeans at the party, she called them "beans" and wanted to eat a ton of them!

Tomorrow we have swimming lessons. She is doing great, learning how to get in and out of the pool and kick her feet; and we are working on blowing bubbles but she keeps drinking the water instead!

4th of July with my fam

Went to Tamarack and rented a great house with Mom, Suz and Lex and Taylor. We had a blast! The house had a hot tub, a wrap-around porch with a view of a gorgeous meadow and the lake in the distance and an outside fireplace, and plenty of room. We played Dance Revolution on the wii, ate and laughed, roasted marshmallows (ours were yummy vegan coconut ones!) hiked, and went to the lake. Suz rented a jet-ski and we hung out on a small sandy beach all day on the 4th. We watched the fireworks on the lake from the deck. I had planned every meal, and made stuff ahead of time, so we could do more relaxing and less cooking! It turned out great! We had french toast, sticky buns, pesto pasta, and spinach salad with maple sugared pecans and craisins. Suz and Mom brought bacon and chicken and stuff and I wasn't even tempted by the bacon. Jossy and I did have an egg, only because Mom got them from her co-worker from his very small farm, and they were good. It was really an incredible time, so much fun!!!

First journal post

Yesterday was a good day (it is now 12:31 AM so technically tomorrow). This is my first post, so I should make it profound...but I am tired! So here we go...

It was one of the days I live for, really. Jossy and I went to visit Nana and had alot of fun: first we went for a walk outside of her apartment at the new assisted living facility and sat in the sunshine in the pergola by the garden and chatted and laughed at Jossy. Then we had lunch in the cafeteria and I had meat for the first time since Thanksgiving! It was turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy and Jossy and I were very hungry, they had no vegan options, and it was very, very satisfying! I felt some guilt after, only because I truly believe that for things to change from factory farming, we vegans (wannabe vegans?) have to start letting it known that we really want some good non-animal product options in every situation. Today I really felt we needed the nourishment...and it was fun to eat mashed potatoes with Nana! So not too much guilt really.

Anyway...After that we came home to a clean house, the cleaners were here today and it is my favorite day when my house is clean for 5 minutes! Jamison was home early after finishing a huge RFP that he has been busting his ass on for weeks! I worked on some potty training with Jossy (me reading to her while she sits on the potty) and she went pee pee in her potty and got a prize! (a pretty rhinestone flower for her toenail).

Then we went to a yummy vegan dinner at the Shangra La Tea House, and Jossy loved the food and the live music! She clapped and cheered them on! :)

After that, on to PetSmart where the cat litter and dog treats were on sale!...then Target where we found some cute training pants and Sesame Street underpants AND an Elmo that sings the alphabet, AND we bought the wii game "Dance Revolution"!!! To top it off, when we came outside it smelled of fresh rain and we saw a huge double rainbow.
To top it all off, Jossy went right to sleep after I promised her a surprise in the morning if she didn't have to "Go Potty!" after we got in bed (she typically does this several times at nap and bed time lately and it's getting ridiculous).
I got a hot shower, my first post in our new family blog is done...time for sleepy at last. :) Thank you God, for our wonderful life.

Quick pickled red onions

"For the Quick Pickled Red Onions
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar or other sweetener"

maple pecan spinach salad by Abby

One bunch spinach
2/3 c Pecans
1/4 thinly sliced red onion

Coat nuts with:
2 T EVOO
2 T maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch cayenne
pinch seasalt
...then bake at 300 on sheet with parchment paper for 15 minutes

Dressing: mix together whisking oil in slowly last:
2 T balsamic vinegar
3 to 4 T EVOO
3/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp fresh pepper
1 tsp maple syrup