Category : Uncategorized

25 Things For My 25th Year

August 27th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
8 Comments

I love making goals and lists and plans – just ask The Hubz it drives him nuts but he loves me anyways. Since I am now (tomorrow) in my 25th year of life I figured what better than a list of 25 things for this 25th year.

Run a 5K
Try Bikram Yoga
Do an overnight hike on the Long Trail
Vist Montreal (again)
Visit Ottawa (again; first time ever with Hubz)
Visit Toronto (again; missing my bff)
Visit Key West because the Hubz
Visit Chicago- a place the Hubz and I have both never been
Attend the Healthy Living Summit
Start my Health Counseling Business
Create an e-book of my recipes
Laugh more.
Do more yoga.
Work on my writing skills.
Get all the stamps in my VT Brewers Passport Stamped
Go to a driving range and hit some balls
Read 10 new books.
Update my blog with a new fun look
Eat more oatmeal.
Drink more green monsters
Call my girlfriends more.
Get a massage*
Get a pedicure
Get a facial (see the trend- love the self care)
Final outfit our house so that it is “grownup” and organized.

*To start crossing things off the list the Hubz and I will be visiting Jivana Holistic Spa this afternoon for some body treatments which includes a Balinese Massage. Here are some photos from the Jivana Holisitc Spa sight since I probably won’t be able to take any photos inside.

The Sauna

Business Before the Party

August 26th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized, review
4 Comments

This day started bright and early with a wonderful session on my yoga mat:

Hope Aurorae Yoga Mat

Considering I had a huge day ahead of me I decided that I needed to enjoy a healthy yummy breakfast. This morning I enjoyed miso soup, whole wheat toast and I attempted to enjoy some melon from our CSA but it as just awful.

I made myself some lunch which was good minus a little failure; I made a mesclun salad with chickpeas, raisins and heirloom tomatoes. Raisins a little old and were supper sugary and secondly I HATE MESCLUN MIX. There I said it. I have tried to like it but it just isn’t going to happen. With my chickpeas and tomato salad I had a dijon balsamic dressing and had some dried mango and Mr. Krsipers on the side.

Dressing: 1t agave, 1t dijon mustard, 1t hemp oil and 3t balsamic

For dinner I made some grinders (aka heros, submarine sandwiches) for the Hubz and I which had sauteed onions, peppers, fennel, vegan sausage, tomatoes, lettuce, dijon mustard and Nasoya vegan mayo.

Grinders with squash "fries" and a few crackers

Nasoya sent me a coupon for a free jar of Nayonaise so I tried fat free Nayonaise. I honestly never was a fan of Nayonaise when I have had it before but decided since it had been years since I last tried it that I would give it another chance. Honestly though the consistency and the flavor just isn’t very great. I find that Vegenaise is much more similar to what I remember as mayo. So I have to say this was a sample fail for me

Q: What is your favorite vegan mayo?

Tomorrow starts my Birthday Weekend! On the agenda:

Spa Treatments
Shopping at Target
Dinner with Friends
Homework—yeah I know, I know

A Great Start To The B-Day Weekend

August 26th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
1 Comment

The Hubz and I are starting my birthday weekend out right and going to enjoy an ancient spa treatment at Jivana Spa. We are both getting the Jivana Journey which just sounds amazing. I am debating between the Thai Lemongrass and the Ginger Spice- I’ll let you know it goes. So excited for tomorrow!

Birthday Dinner #1

August 25th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
8 Comments

As I see it a good start the morning can usually result in a good start to the day and what better way to start the day than with toast and tofu scramble?

We have to improvise a bit lately since we no longer have a toaster but it can be fun using our $2 camping toaster for fun. We had left over cheezy tofu scramble with lots of broccoli which was delicious before our crazy days started.

After a getting a cracked tooth filled and crazy day at work and prepping for another crazy day tomorrow I met up with my mom for a drink and a snack.

After we finished our drinks we met up with this guy:

C.V.L. Dad! (cook.vegan.lover. dad)

Then we did a little shopping and headed to A Single Pebble for dinner.

Double Garlic Broccoli

Dry Fried Green Beans

Vegetarian Pot Sticker

Vegan Ants Climbing a Tree

Buddha's Sesame Beef

Also if you heckle the food blogger for photographing the food you suffer the consequences. Welcome to the blog post hall of shame:

Meet C.V.L. Mom who on the evening of August 25, 2010 who knowing the consequences decided to heckle the food blogger regarding her photographing the meal. Welcome to the hall of shame. XO MAMA just j/k all in good fun.

Meet the Hubz who decided to join in the heckling fun. love you lots but welcome to the hall of shame.

Disclaimer: the blog post hall of shame is all in good fun don’t worry.

How Do You Like Your Almond Butter?

August 25th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
5 Comments

Over the last few years I have becoming an almond butter addict. It is amazing on so many things such as:

Between Bread with Jam

In My Overnight Oats

In My Banana Soft Serve

On top of My Oatmeal

In My Raw Cookies

And the Best way to eat Almond Butter is Straight out of the JAR!

As you probably saw earlier this week launched the OpenSky Lunch Box Project where a dollar from select items will go to help this charity. “The Lunch Box provides schools with free, tangible tools to transform school lunch from highly processed foods to made-from-scratch meals using nutritious, fresh ingredients. It contains tools for real change including school-tested recipes with nutritionals and training tips, financial modeling guides, budget templates, downloadable, customizable calendars, and training videos.” Source

In honor of this amazing charity and my love for almond butter you can now find Artisana Almond Butter in my OpenSky shop and for every jar sold from now until September 7th $1 will be donated by OpenSky and I will also be making a donation for every jar sold as well to The Lunch Box Project.

GREENLICIOUS

August 24th 2010 Posted at Uncategorized, review
1 Comment

I am so excited to show off my new Greenlicious t-shirt to you all! This green t-shirt is eco-friendly and has a wonderful vintage feel and great fit. I am always nervous about ordering clothes before trying them on but I was assured that the shirts fit true to size and they really do. The shirt is soft and fits nicely against the body.

To tell you a little more about the HUMANWEAR, the company behind this shirt, I interviewed the Jellie Stanton the founder:

Q: Why did you choose to partner up with OpenSky?

I believe that OpenSky is a great new e-commerce platform for introducing innovative products to those who follow bloggers that they share common interests with and respect. I’ve bought products myself based on recommendations from bloggers I follow.

Q: What is the inspiration behind the different shirts that you offer?

It all started after watching the documentary “Go Further” where Woody Harrelson and a group of friends take a road trip to demonstrate ways to be environmentally responsible. I decided that I was going to become really involved in the green movement, just like they were hoping to inspire.

My desire was to form a company that would create the “greenest” t-shirt possible, that met the conditions of being stylish, really appealing colors that could be found in nature, with light-hearted yet thought-provoking messages, and was affordable.

Q: Besides making green t-shirts what other environmentally responsible practices does your company do?

We use recycled paper for our hangtags and gift cards and offer really cool recycled wrapping paper. We also ship in recyclable boxes and buy carbon offsets so all shipments are made carbon-neutral.

Q: Tell me what is your favorite shirt?

My favorite t-shirt is COMMUNAL EVOLUTION-a collective push towards a higher state. Woody talks about this concept in the movie and to me, it really sums up the idea that we must come together as a world-wide community to effect the change needed to preserve our planet. I also love HUMAN BEING because it says so much without you having to say anything.

Disclaimer: HUMANWEAR provided me with a discount to purchase this shirt of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway or add this to my OpenSky shop in return for a discount on this product.

Tamales and a Sunset

August 23rd 2010 Posted at Recipes, Uncategorized
6 Comments

Tonight’s local menu challenge is based on Grace’s Tamales from the Waitsfield Farmers Market. Grace’s has delicious vegan tamales but from where we live now it would take over and hour to buy them as well as the fact we can only get them on Saturday’s. Now the Hubz has been bugging me to make a vegan tamale recipe and I have been putting it off trying to figure out a way to make the tamales without all of the fat.

Traditionally tamales are made with a lot of lard or oil or vegetable shortening and it just wasn’t going to happen for me.

Low-Fat Black Bean & Corn Tamales

Ingredients:

14 dried corn husks, plus extra husks to make ties

2.5 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups masa harina
1/2 cup warm vegetable broth
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small red onion, diced small
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1t chili powder
salt and pepper

Directions:
Place the corn husks in a bowl of water to soften for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well. Pat dry and set aside.

In a food processor, process the 2.5 cups of corn kernels until pureed.

In a large bowl, combine the pureed corn, masa harina, lukewarm water, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and oil and use your hands to combine into a dough.

Spray a medium pan with cooking oil and place over medium-high heat. Add the onion, black beans, corn chili powder and salt and pepper and saute until the onions are soft and lightly browned; remove from the heat.

To assemble a tamale, place about 3 tablespoons of masa mixture in the center of corn husk. Flatten with your hand until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place 1 tablespoon of the black beans on the masa mixture. Fold the long side of the corn husk over the filling to cover, then fold over the ends, overlapping them. Tie with a thin strip torn from an extra soaked husk. Repeat to make 14 tamales in all.

Layer the wrapped tamales in the steamer. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and steam until the filling becomes firm and the tamales are heated through, 50 to 60 minutes.

After dinner the Hubz and I went for a walk down the bridge behind our house to watch the sunset and we got to see this guy fly in:

Now off to relax with the Hubz!

P.S. Don’t forget that Almond Butter is for sale in my OpenSky Shop from now until September 7th. A $1 from each jar sold will be donated to The Lunch Box by OpenSky as well I will make a donation for every jar sold.

Dining Out VT: Daily Planet

August 23rd 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
1 Comment

The other night the Hubz and I decided that we wanted to have a date night out on the town with drinks and a fun meal at a restaurant neither of us had been to, Daily Planet. We have walked past here a number of times and have always wanted to stop in so we decided to branch out and try something new. We inquired first to find out if there were going to be any vegan options for us and they had a few so we decided to try.

Maura’s Salad $9 with baby greens, roasted garlic, red grapes, toasted pecans, balsamic and grilled tofu

Summer Vegetable Crepe $16 with grilled tofu, baby arugula and balsamic

Dirty Martini

Overall the Hubz and I weren’t too impressed with things although the Hubz just kept telling me how much he loved the pancake. That’s right pancake! The “crepe” was this big fluffy pancake and it really changed the dish completely. The best part of the “crepe” dish was the massive amount of chanterelles that were on top of it the “crepe”; however it was otherwise expensive for what it was. As for the salad it was pretty blah. I really didn’t enjoy that the greens had become super wilted and it was small for the $10 it cost me. Neil had a beer which was great and I had a dirty martini which was pretty awful. We haven’t totally written the place off because we did enjoy the atmosphere but it is a one more chance type of place.

Value: 1/5
Food: 2/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Vegan Friendly: 2/5

The Lunch Box Project

August 23rd 2010 Posted at Uncategorized
2 Comments

Today kicks of the OpenSky Lunch Box Project where a dollar from select items will go to help this charity. “The Lunch Box provides schools with free, tangible tools to transform school lunch from highly processed foods to made-from-scratch meals using nutritious, fresh ingredients. It contains tools for real change including school-tested recipes with nutritionals and training tips, financial modeling guides, budget templates, downloadable, customizable calendars, and training videos.” Source

In honor of this amazing charity I will be selling Artisana Almond Butter and for every jar sold from my OpenSky shop a dollar will be donated by OpenSky and I will also be making a donation for every jar sold as well to The Lunch Box Project.

I know that there are lots of almond butter junkies out there just like me and what better way to enjoy a jar but by knowing that you have helped someone out with your purchase?

If you have never enjoyed raw almond butter before you are in for a treat because unlike it’s non-raw cousin it has an amazing creamy sweetness that you don’t get from the non-raw version. I like mine on celery, carrots or in green monsters!