New children’s vegan book!! June 22, 2009

I’ve looked around for vegan and vegetarian books for Punkyroo before and tried a couple and  have found dissapointing. But one day looking for a new recipe to try out I saw a post about a new children’s book but talking about WHY we don’t eat animals like the vast population. It’s called That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book ABout Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things by Ruby Roth.  I checked it out and watched the youtube video about it and decided to order it. Since it was on pre-order at the time when I ordered it I had to wait atleast a month to get it! I was so anxious to get it and hope that Punkyroo liked it.

Finally it came in!!! I LOVE this book. the illustrations (also by Ruby Roth) are so cute and wonderfully written. Punkryoo likes it too. She’s known we are vegan and if you ask her why she would say “we are vegan because we want the animals to be happy”, that’s a pretty good way to put it to a 2 year old at the time and she says it’s with such joy. But  with this book it describes it a bit more without going into too much detail. She understands and actually asks all the time while shopping, cooking or making snacks.. “is that have no (insert animal/animal byproduct) so we can eat it? we are vegan we don’t eat that”, it’s nice to know she understands and questions about food.  

When we go grocery shopping she sees the lobsters in the tank and asks to see them, which I don’t like but made it into a teaching about us being vegan. We tell her that they are in there because some people eat them but they belong out in the ocean. She still always wants to see them and says “they belong in the ocean” with a sad face. Well last time we went they didn’t have any in the tank , which we didn’t notice until Punkyroo’s face lit up and shouted “there’s no lobsters!! they’re in the ocean!!” it was so hilarious and so cute.

Off track but back to the book… The book was wonderful and anyone vegan or vegetarian and has children really should get this book, I really recommend it!!

Unschooling May 26, 2009

I have to say deciding to unschool was one of the most easiest things choose to do. Yes doing the research and contemplation about it was long but once I took all the info in I knew this was for our family.

A while back I posted unschooling groups for my county all over trying to find atleast one other unschooling parent and I pretty much gave up hope until a mom in my natural mom’s group posted under my unschooling thread on the forums!! She said there are a few that get together at the park every week! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!??? I was looking all over just one spot I didn’t think of to look and there they were!  So we decided to head on down and meet other unschoolers.

Of course I ended up writing the wrong day and the next week something else came up but finally we made it.  Luckily hubby had off and joined us, which I think really helped him. It was so nice all the moms are so nice and the kids are wonderful. The age range was very nice from 5 all the way to the teens! All the kids played, except Punkyroo as cautious as shy is but she still loves watching other kids playing and then playing with us.

Getting to sit down and talk to other moms, especially ones that have been doing it for years and finding out more details about the one last thing I was worried about but not really ….registery with the county, but knowing that I can unschool without having my child stressed out and graded to a system that makes no sense is such a weight of my shoulders. 

It was so cute though another unschooling family walked up and the boy was so excited to play with the other kids but also to see the other parents!! He ran over and started stalking to the parents and then off to play! It was so nice to see how the children and adults interacted. The whole time I was there I felt at ease, that this is part of me and who I am and who my family is.

On another Unschooling note….Dayna Martin has a book coming out!!! Yay!!  Radical Unschooling-A Revolution Has Begun…. what an awesome title!  I can’t wait!

Slacker

I know I know, I’ve been slacker majorly on this blog. Lots have been going on around the house and two we’ve been in a “eat the same stuff over and over” mode much to hubby’s request. I do have some new recipes and some I’ve tried that I have to rave about and just good parenting stuff I want to share.

Vegan ribs!! March 9, 2009

The other day I was looking around the interent for new recipe ideas and I remembered seeing Your Vegan Mom blog featured in Vegetarian Times Magazine. While I was looking around I came across one post about a bbq and vegan ribs. “WHAT vegan ribs?!!! I HAVE to try these!” As I was reading the recipe from the creator,Fat Free Vegan, of these magnificin vegan ribz I realized I had everything to make them.

So Pizza and ribz it was for dinner, this way is Hubby doesn’t approve then he still gets his wonderful pizza and dinner wont be a bust. These ribz were SOOO easy to make, it’s the first time I baked seitan. I didn’t have any liquid smoke but it was still so yummy. Oh also I used a foreman, I think it might be better stick with a grill on this since my BBQ sauce kept carmalizing and cleaning the foreman is a pain, it’s right up there with dusting for me.hehe. These taste so much like the meat version it’s scary! Punkyroo and I had a few bites of testing before Hubby got home. She LOVED these! These will definelty be made again, especially for all my hunting/meat lover family members.

I do have a picture but I havn’t uploaded it to the computer yet, these are just too good I had to share right away, but I’ll add my pict was it’s uploaded, but Fat Free Vegan’s picts will definetly have you drooling.

May you finally have Peace March 6, 2009

Last post I mentioned I went to see my grandparents who were in Hospice. At the time the doctors only gave them a very short time to live. It’s sad to see them the way they were mainly because they were in such pain that not even their pain meds (which included morphine) could hel. It was they time to pass as much as none of the family wanted them to leave, we wanted them to have peace. Well as of yesterday my grandma passed on, the day after her 89th birthday. She was an amazing woman with many talents won lots of trophies for dog shows, chochet, knit, sew, cook, garden, helped alot with the church( she would crochet bundles of botties, blankets, caps, outfits for new babies for free).  She was a wonderful grandmother and even when I found out that my grandparents adopted my mom I never doubted their love, they loved unconditionally as I was their biological granddaughter. I have so many great memories with them and on their land that I will never forget. While I was up I was given the choice to bring some things home if I wanted some of which included blankets and a pillow she made, pictures and some nicknacks of things like squirels and birds that she loved to feed and watch while she knitted or crocheted and now those are in my daughters room given much attention and love to and she’ll tell you that the cardinall in the stained glass piece was her grandma’s favorite or that she would feed the squirrels like the figure she has and that the pillow she must have in her crib was made by her. They may not match with things but the sentiment and memories connected to it is so more important.

May You Find Peace Whereever You May Be

You Will Be Forever Loved and Never Forgotten

Flying first time since married and this is my luck March 3, 2009

It’s been a crazy while around the house lately. I recently just got back from a longer than intended weekend in Michigan visiting family but mainly to see my grandparents in Hospice. Yep it was the first time away from my husband more then a normal day since we moved in together almost 5 years ago and of course the first time away from Punkyroo since she’s been born so it was interesting. Relaxing to get time from major responsibilities but I was wanting to get back to my family.

BUT, of course there’s a but…out of flying 2x a year form Florida to Michigan and back from age 10-18 I never had any airline troubles until of course now. I was first late for my flight, I seriously watched my plane pull away from the gate as the tram just got to the end, then I didn’t know I was on standby until I went to the gate desk, luckily I got it. Then I was told I was on standby again in Atlanta (my connection) just to be stressed out more and then told “oh no you’re not on standby”…4 hours of waiting stress for nothing.  So my original depature was at 7am with a connection wait of 45min and arrival at 11am, which turned into departing at 9am connection wait of 4 hours and arriving at 6-something pm! I wanted to make the most of the Friday-Sunday I’ll be there since I havn’t seen my sisters and stepmom since my wedding and dad since Punkyroo was 8months old. But the good thing about such a layover in Atlanta was enough time to go to Level to Level looking for a place to have something Vegan…Panda Express- Eggplant Tofu, steamed veggies and veggie srping rolls! Yum! Oh and a smoothie from a smootie stand!

Now on my way back I was ready to get back to Hubby and Punkyroo but what happens when I arrive at the airport?…. My flight was canceled due to snow storm in Atlanta!! So Monday morning I leave out, luckily they put me on a non-stop flight! But this made Hubby have to take another day off work. Oh and toppers, they told me because so many lfights were canceled to get there at 5:30am to get through the long lines to make my 7am flight and remind you this is a private airport I came and left in Michigan, so we get there at 5:30am and there was less people traffic than the night before!! Man I could have got 2 exta hours of sleep! But it did give me more time to talk to my dad before I left since Sunday was race day and good luck getting his attention or response from him then!lol.

Other than that stuff it was a good trip considering the reason I was mainly there. Atleast I was able to say goodbye to my grandparents before they passed.

Cloth Diapering Dr.Seus February 7, 2009

One of my fell0w moms in my natural mom’s group posted this and thought I’d share….

SUESS IN CLOTH

Do you like a cloth diapered bum?

I do not like them, CD Mum. I do not like a cloth diapered bum.

Would you use them here or there? I would not use them anywhere.
I do not like a cloth diapered bum. I do not like them CD Mum.

Would you use them in the house? Who will use them? Would your spouse?

I would not use them in the house. No one likes them, especially my spouse.
I will not use them here or there, I will not use them anywhere. I do not like
a cloth diapered bum. I do not like them CD Mum.

Would you wear them to the mall? With a design and nothing dull.

Not to the mall. Not printed or dull. Not in the house.
Forget my spouse. I would not use them here or there. I would not use them anywhere.
I would not have a cloth diapered bum. I do not like them CD Mum.

Would you? Could you? In a car? Wear them, wear them…here they are.

I would not, could not in a car.

You may like them. You will see. You may like them, this one’s free.

I would not, even if it’s free. Not in car. You let me be.
I do not like them at the mall.
I do not like them, printed or dull.
I do not like them at the house.
I do not like them, neither does my spouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like a cloth diapered bum.
I do not like them CD Mum.

Micro fleece! Suede cloth! Stay dry liner. Could you? Would you put that on your docket?

Not on MY docket, even if it’s free.
Not in the car. Mum, let me be.
I would not, could not at the mall.
I could not, would not printed or dull.
I will not use them, neither will my spouse.
Not out and about or even at the house.
I will not use them here or there.
I will not use them anywhere.
I do not like a cloth diapered bum.
I do not like them CD Mum.

Say, if it’s Sherpa?
100% Sherpa! Would you; could you if it’s Sherpa?

I would not, could not if it’s Sherpa.

Would you, could you with a pocket?

I would not could not with a pocket.
Not if it’s Sherpa. It’s just not on MY docket.
Not in the car. Not if it’s free.
I do not like them, Mum, You see.
Not in my house. Not at the mall.
Not for my spouse, regardless if printed or dull.
I will not use them here or there.
I will not use them anywhere.

You do not like a cloth diapered bum?

I do not like them CD Mum.

Could you; would you if it’s hemp?

I would not, could not if it’s hemp.

Would you, could you, it won’t rip!

I could not, would not, even without a rip.
I will not, will not, even if it’s hemp.
I will not use them with a pocket.
It’s not my thing, not on my docket.
Not if it’s Sherpa, not if it’s free.
Not in the car, you let me be.
I do not like them at the mall.
I do not like them printed or dull.
I will not wear them at the house.
I will not, nor will my spouse.
I will not use them here or there.
I will not use them anywhere.
I do not like a cloth diapered bum.
I do not like them, CD mum.

You do not like them, so you say.
Try them! Try them! And you may,
try them and you may, I say.

Mum, if you will let me be.
I will try them and you will see….

SAY….

I like a cloth diapered bum.
I do. I like the CD Mum.
And I would use them if they’re hemp.
And I know these wont’ rip.
And I will use them with a pocket.
And if it’s hemp, it’s now on my docket.
And in the car, Wow it’s FREE!
They are so good so good you see.
So I will use them at the mall.
I don’t care if printed or dull.
I will use them at the house.
We will use them, even my spouse.
And I will use them here or there.
I will use them anywhere.
I do so like a cloth diapered bum.
Thank you, thank you…
CD Mum.

~adapted by ~denise m cole, this-end-up.com 4/2006

I’m back February 6, 2009

Ok, so after a week of vaca and then getting back and a week of being sick I’m back!

We had a wonderful time in North Carolina, we stayed at this beautiful house, Eagle’s Nest-Eagle’s Lair, up on the mountains. Punkyroo got such a kick that tons of ladybugs were everywhere in the house. Don’t freak out, that’s the only bugs that were in the house. But we would collect as many as possible and release them outside and then a few hours later there’d be more, so she called it Lady Bug House and wants to go back she reminds us! It was also great finding a lodge to stay at in the mountains that wasn’t decorated with hunting or fishing stuff!

And a great topper was a well known cafe that specifically labels meals that are vegetarian AND VEGAN 10 minutes away, Lulu’s Cafe, it was great to have a take out menu to an vegetarian/vegan likings!! Bonus!! Although we didn’t go since we made our dinners but having that menu in the house and available was very nice.

It was a wonderful stay. The Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Ripley’s Aquarium, Snow Tubing and SNOW BOARDING!! Oh yeah! After 4 years of no boarding I did really well and it was great to finally show Hubby in person myself boarding and Punkyroo was all excited and proud which made me feel really good. But it was a wonderful time, Hubby needed the vaca bad so that was nice to finally see him relax, since he works alot of weekends.

So I’ll get back to sharing recipes again soon, gave me time to try out some new ones, yummmm..

But one last thing, my last post was about the BNKC’s meeting….WE WON. All the commisioner’s voted YES!! Feb. 3rd was a wonderful turning point for the animals at the shelters. It wont happen over night of course but hopefully in 5 years we will be there!

Please support BNKC! January 19, 2009

Two weeks left until we have our meeting with the commisioners! This is our final meeting and it’s open to the public, so that means we need your support! If you have not signed the petition please do, if you want to go a step further…show up to the meeting! This is a peacful meeting, no rallies, screaming etc. We want to achieve a full house of supportive brevard residents.

The meeting will be held in the Board Room, Brevard County Gov’t Center at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera. It is bldg. C, the only three story bldg. on the first floor.  The meeting begins at 9 am however new business is held towards the end of the meeting and the agenda hasn’t been developed yet. We might be heard in the morning if the agenda is short and we may not.

We are so close now to making a better future for these poor animals that are dumped in the pound, please help us seal the deal…sign the petition, spread the word, come to the meeting, let everyone know about the meeting.

Also visit our website and learn how you can join the coalition and help more.

Let’s add vegies to bread! January 3, 2009

I really like zucchini, I can’t say love because broccoli is the veggie that wins that spot for me but zucchini is next. My dad would grow it and my step mom would cook with it and one thing is zucchini bread. I’ve never had it since I was never there during the harvesting time, but I was curious.

Well with the VEgan Planet cookbook the recipe is in there and Tahini Zucchini Bread one to be exact. This was soooo yummy and worth all the time to make it and be gone by the end of the day!

Punkyroo and Hubby gobbled it down, with also help from me! I’m a crispy crust person when it comes to fresh baked bread. I definelty recommend this book! Ohh so many yummy recipes!

For dinner tonight I did a breakfast dinner night with Flax-berry Pancakes and the Vegetable Skillet hash from the book and ahhh soo yummy.  I wish we had good farmers markets over here, pretty much its the grocery store just outside. I thought Farmer’s Markets where grown locally but there are out of state stickers (even some out of country) on produce! So sad to say I don’t do farmer’s markets for produce except for Tomatoes when they are the only thing from Florida and that’s if they carry them. It’s funny since I’m in a area that’s so diverse Suburban, Urban and Country just mintues away from each other. But the Country side, there are lots of farmers and I don’t understand why they aren’t out there selling their produce. But for the day to be able to buy actually locally grown produce will be wonderful! (Until we get our gardening knowledge down).

Tofu Egg(less)rolls January 2, 2009

When I was prego with Punkyroo I had a cravings for Chinese food, the problem is Hubby hates chinese food beyond eggrolls and steamed rice and since he’d be hungry too I just picked another place we both could eat ate.  Well I finally came apon how to make eggrolls and YUM YUM they are sooo good and Hubby loves them too. Well when we went vegetarian I had to find a substitue for the ground chicken in it. At first I tried the ground vegan sausage crumbles but Hubby didn’t like the texture and so I finally tried the Tofu and it worked great. At that time I didn’t know you are suposed to press the tofu and then cook so when I made tofu the first time in a dinner it was disgusting and so I was afraid to try it again but after I learned how to properly prep tofu I tried it in these and it worked!! YAY I can keep my eggrolls. But then when we went Vegan (or should I say Punkyroo and I went vegan since Hubby is vegetarian) I found out my eggroll wraps I was using had egg in them.. I always wondered why they where called eggrolls when they didn’t have egg in them. So after all the ones in the stores having egg I finally found an Asian store and found some without egg! Yay! So sorry to say that you may need to do some searching for the wraps unless you can make them or have already made vegan eggrolls before.

 

 

 

Tofu Egg(less)rolls

• 1 pck of Extra Firm Tofu (16oz)
• 1 Tbs grated ginger (you could mince it if you are unable to grate)
• 1 medium cabbage head (green),finely chopped
• 10 oz bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 5 green onions, chopped
• 30-40 eggroll wrappers (It depends on how much you stuff them, sometimes I have 30 and other times I have as much as 40, due to this I usually buy 2 packages of wraps just in case)

Stir fry the tofu and ginger in a skillet on high heat until lightly browned. Add the cabbage, brean sprouts, carrot and green onions;cook for 2 minutes. (if you’d like your filling with some slight seasoning you can add 2-3 tbs of tamari now). Take the skillet off the heat and let cool down. Use 2 tbs of the filling for each egg roll (I usually make some smaller for Punkyroo).

Follow the directions to fold the wraps on the package (if it doesn’t place the wrap on a dry surface with a corner pointing at you, place the filling in the middle, Fold the corner facing you over the filling snuggly, Fold both side corners snugly against the filling, wet the last corner with a little bit of water and roll to seal the last corner, lay flap side down until ready to cook to prevent unrolling itself).

Take a large skillet, wok, or other device to fry your eggrolls in. Fill with oil enough so each roll would be half deep. I usually set my burner on notch 7 since it’s not too too hot to pop oil every second but enough to brown each side quickly. Add a few rolls at a time and cook until golden brown usually around 2-3 minutes; flip on other side and repeat. Place on a paper towel lined plate and let cool.

If you are looking for a baked version, Sorry I havn’t looked into how to bake them yet. I’d love to learn how to to get away fromt the oil. So if anyone knows the directions to bake eggrolls please let me know!!

And since this is a rare dish to make in our house since the oil fried-ness and all here is a dip that is sooooo yummy but its only used for these.

• Vegan mayo
• Brown spicy mustard

Add amount of mayo you think is enough to serve with amount of rolls you will serve. Than add mustard and keep adding until desired taste is reached. I always eyeball and taste test it so I can’t give measurements but  Hubby LOVES it. Usually I make around 3-4 rolls for each of us, well 1-2 for Punkyroo; so I usually do 3 big spoon fulls of mayo and around 3 tbs looking like squirts of mustard and go from there, any left over I just cover and serve with the next nights batch of rolls.

Catch Up December 30, 2008

With having Hubby home for almost a week due to the holidays I’ve put my blog on the back burner. But here is a quick catch up of a couple dishes I’ve made lately….

 

 

Also no picts uploaded yet but I have been testing out some recipes from Vegan Planet and love them! Ahh the banana pancakes are soooo good! I think this is my fav vegan cookbook so far.

I also checked out Vegan Freak and read that so fast I was shocked, I usually take my time reading books but this one made me want to know everything it offered asap. Althought Hubby would of rather me not of read it since after a couple chapters I ran around the house reading all the labels and doing a Vegan purge. I have done one for the obvious food and such but not in the personal care items like shampoo, shaving cream and what not so he was upset to come home and see the counter covered with stuff for me to get rid of. I ended up putting them in our garage sale since th eco-side of me didn’t want to throw it away and end in the landfill. I had to make a few calls to verify the glycerin in some since I thought some were vegie base but didn’t say on the ingredients but sure enough I called or went online to their websites and there it was (yay, I liked my newly found eco-friendly hand soap!).

But I told Hubby “atleast there’s nothing left to purge!”. 

Biden is Big dissapointment December 19, 2008

Well I guess Biden isn’t on the same animal compassionate side as Obama. But Biden BOUGHT a german shephard dog from a breeder, also not confirmed yet but there is speculation that it may have been from a puppy mill breeder which would be even worse.

Is this a “must have before you move into the white house staff” thing is to have a dog? It almost seems as a accesorie to be there, why didn’t they gets dogs before? 

Well hopefully people wont run out to buy dogs just becausethe  Bidens and Obamas did/are. I saw a article saying that now that Obamas are thinking of getting a dog that people are going to go out and get one… are you serious???!

I know not very bright people have done this in even more ridicolous situations such as 101 Dalmations and then a little while latter the shelters/pounds are filled with dalmation dogs since they aren’t the cute puppies that were in the movie anymore. Seriously, would you buy your kid a tiger because they saw Aladin? um no.. why would you buy your child a live animal just because they saw a movie. Pet sit, even foster an animal from rescue or shelter to get a feel of it, most likely your kid will not be interested any longer at the end of it and will be on the next thing.

I’m sorry if this is a bit ranty but this is a sore spot.

If first you don’t succeed December 14, 2008

Try again, maybe a different way. I tried Vegan with a Vegance’s Seitan (good) Jerk Seitan (not so good). It may be our taste buds but none of us liked it. So I had all this seitan left over and so I figured I’d just try cooking it in the pan plain in “cutlet” shape and it worked Hubby, Punkyroo and I ate it all, which was good since we had 5 chunks of it leftover after the Jerk Seitan recipe. Every day or so Punkyroo will ask for “seeeteen”, it’s so cute.

But I just sliced it very thin and cooked it on a med-high heat on both sides until it was browned on both sides.

Another “meat”ball try December 13, 2008

So I’ve probably tried about 5 vegan meatball recipes by now and some have tasted good but just didn’t hold or just plan was gross but these are the best we’ve made so far. The taste and holding of these are good. All of us ate them up and 3 thumbs up.

This recipe is “neat”balls from Vegetarian Times magazine. I just put them with some spaghetti sauce and some cooked spiral noodles that I added fresh spinch to the pot while boiling and Voila! To be honest, this is our Thanksgiving dinner! We are thankful everyday so we don’t really concentrate on a big meal since only family close by don’t celebrate holidays due to religion. I wasn’t up to challenge a tofurky recipe as of that time anyways.

How I love my VTmagazine December 12, 2008

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this magazine, so many yummy recipes and I love their articles and like any magazine has awesome do dads and such that are finanically out of reach or a not-really-need that I get to drool over.

But anyways I made this a few nights ago, Unemployed Shephards Pie. This is made with eggplant as the main ingredient and Punkyroo and I give a thumbs up but Hubby doesn’t care for eggplant that much , quote from hubby “it’d be good without the onion….and the eggplant…” and I said ” oh so just the mash potatoes?!”  , Hubby “yep, sounds good!” ; My eyes are about to fall out from all the eye rollin by now. hehe.

 

To this day I’m still trying to find a recipe that my mom used to make, she barely cooked but one of her dishes between crazy diets was this eggplant casserole dish, it was sooo yummy I could almost each the whole thing. All I can remember was it having 1 or 2 eggplants peeled and diced up then boiled, then it having tomato sauce and also some crushed up saltine crackers?? If anyone knows of a similar recipe please let me know!!!

Vegan Reuben!! December 11, 2008

YAY!!! I’m so excited to shout out that I found a yummy vegan Reuben sandwich!! This is another recipe from the The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook. Punkyroo chowed down also. I love it, she has the taste buds as I do, it’s true whatever the mom eats prego the baby will grow buds for it as well, which is great since Hubby snubs alot :sushi,seurkraut, mushrooms, olives, onions (she’ll eat them raw!) . So needless to say Hubby did not partake in this eating session. 

Change…hm… December 10, 2008

I was thinking of changing the look to my blog from this awesome theme to one of the picutres I’ve personally taken, I figured I’d ask you…

Busy busy busy

As you may noticed I havn’t posted anything for the past week. I’ve been really busy with Hubby’s birthday, my little sister’s birthday, new camera battery died and the one we waited 2 weeks for isn’t the right one  and one of Hubby’s co-workers died(son of the boss and also part of the same hall that Hubby used to go to and Inlaws still do) so it’s been nuts.  Today I’m preparing to make a big soup (my creamy chili soup)to take over today for the family.

So hopefully I will be adding some really yummy recipes and recipe raves soon! Oh and I found some cool crafts for the moms that read my blog!

Victory for Ella December 4, 2008

Thankfully Ella has received some justice, not enough in my opinion, for her awful untimely death. Christine Abrams is sentenced to 8 months in jail, one year of probabtion, 80 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine!

I just can’t believe that her lawyer said because it only involved a dog that she shouldn’t get a max penalty. THat’s exactly why people will keep getting away with animal cruetly..with people with that mindset. They are a living creature that we bring into our homes.

May you rest in peace now Ella.

Ella vs Christine Abrams December 3, 2008

So FINALY the sentencing of Christine Abrams case is tommorow, after rescheduling so many times I’m glad it’s coming to an end. And better news is she has supposedly chaning her plea from not guilty to Guilty or no contest.

If you havn’t heard of the Ella case or been following Voices For Ella…

“Ella was a 1 year old white German shepherd from Cocoa, Florida.She was found dead in her crate in March of 2008, after her owner admittedly abandoned her. Christine Abrams was arrested in March for felony animal cruelty. When formal charges were filed, the State Attorney dropped the charges down to misdemeanor animal cruelty. Shortly after that, an additional misdemeanor count of unlawful confinement was added. The case is currently in pre-trial proceedings.

According to veterinary records, Ella’s leg was amputated in November 2007, which was only two months prior to when Ella was reportedly abandoned. The records indicate a leash became tightly wrapped around Ella’s back leg after she had been left alone and tethered overnight. By the time Abrams returned home one night, Ella’s leg was badly swollen. The vet provided two options: skin grafts costing up to $4,000 or amputation. Abrams elected amputation. Ella only had 3 legs when she died. “

The terrible thing is that when she left ella in her crate there was a full bag of dog food right by the cage. As well as where she was staying her friend didn’t want the dog there and Christine was close distance away! How could someone say they care about an animal and treat it so? Anyone who looks to accept another living creature in their home needs to treat it as they would themselves or don’t add to your family! If she knew she wouldn’t be coming back she should have taken Ella to a rescue or no kill shelter, many animals with disabilites live happy with families… dogs that only have their back two legs, only front 2 or even the side 2, blind, etc…

There will be a rally starting at 7:45am at the Viera Courthouse located between The Avenues and Mantee Stadium. Hopfully justice will prevail for Ella and set a path for the right way to treat animals.

Care 2 Contest continues… December 2, 2008

So Care2 is running another “America’s Favorite Shelter” Contest again. The winning Shelter gets $10,000, 20 top recuiters get a $50 gift certificate and each week, a random shelter will win $500!!!

If you are trying to look for SACC, go under Florida->Melbourne-> and it will be first Brevard County Animal Services and Enforcement-South Animal Care and Adoption Center.

If you are looking for CBHS, go under FLorida->Cocoa-> and you’ll see the Central Brevard Humane Society

Simple Dessert December 1, 2008

As you may have noticed I havn’t added any recipes or recipe reviews since we’ve had not so good luck on our new recipes lately.

As we were out I finally found an Asian store so I could get some spring roll wraps/rice paper for these Plantain Egg-rolls my MIL makes. Mine didn’t come out the same since she fries hers and her wraps were different then the ones I got but these are wonderful!!! The sweetness comes from the over ripened plantain and heightened from being baked. Also with it only needing 2 ingredients it’s perfect for a fast dessert.  Hubby LOVEs when I make these and this is the first time I made them to when Punkyroo can have some. It’s funny she just squeezed out all the plantain filling, she loved it. I love that it’s fast, healthy and it soothes Hubby and my sweet tooth.

Plantain Egg-rolls

• Plantains (1 plantain will make fillings for 8 rolls)
• Rice Paper or Spring Roll Wraps
• Cinamon(optional)

Preheat over to 425*.I keep my wraps/paper in the freezer until I need them, put them in the fridge a day or 2 before you plan on making these if you have them in the freezer. Take your over-ripened plantain and unpeel it, cut the “meat” in half and then take the 2 ends and cut them in 4 strips so you will have 8 equal length and thickness strips (usually about 3 or so inches long).

If you are using rice paper you will need to dip the paper in water until you are able to scrunch it up without it breaking. Place it down on a clean surface and put one strip of plantain on the edge and fold up like a burito.

If you are using the square spring roll wraps make sure your surface is dry. Place a pointed corner facing you and put the plantain on the wrapper, and fold like a burrito and use a little bit of water to softend the end corner to stick to the “body”.

If you plan on uping the health value or just taste sprinkle your cinamon on top of the egg rolls now. Place your egg rolls on a lightly sprayd baking sheet. Place in the oven for 6 minutes and then take out and turn the egg rolls over for another 5 mintues. Some of the plantains may burst out of the wrap or paper, this is completely ok and normal. Let cool and eat. If you are using the rice paper, it may be slightly chewy, if you want more of a crunch use the wraps.

If you don’t mind it being fried. Here is what you do… Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add preferred oil in the pan so the eggrolls will be half deep in the oil. Fry each egg roll for about 3-6 minutes…or until it gets golden brown and flip to the next side and do the same. If you want to use cinamon you may want to either spinkle th ecinamon inside the egg roll or after it is fried. Take out of skillet and place on a paper towel laced plate.

Green Laundry November 29, 2008

Due to our family’s desire to be Eco-conscious and be away from chemicals as possible I’ve been looking and looking to find a way to get away from detergent. Also Punkyroo has Eczema. I’ve looked into Maggie’s Soap Nuts and asked other mom’s in my Natural Mother’s group and they said they work good for lightly soiled object but not so good for the tougher jobs..and with Hubby in the tiling business I need something to get all that gunk out.

While I was doing my daily “clicking to donate” (see links on the side for all the click to donate sites, all free and no spam junk, I came across this Magnetic Laundry System. It’s 2 magnets that go in your washer and it…

“Research by Physicist Dr. Hendrick Lorentz shows
that with the right magnetic fields, water molecules
(H20) are made to have similiar effects that detergent
chemicals do… in other words, they stick to other
tiny particles like dirt, and carry them off!”

 

 

So now I’m in waiting to see if anyone I know has tried these and how well they worked. We are planning on using the 7th Generation laundry detergent once our current one is empty since alot of my natural mom’s rave about it.

New Cookbook and a Beanball Sub

While searching around for another cookbook to check out I came across The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook. This has a bunch of yummy sounding recipes in it!

I recently tried the Beanball sub and it was yummy. I do have to state though that all the “meat” ball recipes I’ve tried havn’t kept shape and became firm. Don’t know if its how it’s supposed to be or if I’m doing something wrong but these are the only ones that have kept shape BUT didn’t get firm.

This sub was very yummy though and I will still make them again.

New Camera!! November 28, 2008

Have you ever felt like either everything is together or falling apart? Well recently that is somewhat how I feel… first our blender bit the dust, then 3 tomato plants kicked the bucket and then our camera is on it’s last toe. Luckily we replaced our blender (yay I seriously used it like 6x yesterday) but since our camera still works (half the time but the lens cover never closes to prevent scratches and what not) we havn’t wanted to fork up the money for a new one, until today.

We went to a store just to check out prices and we had a camera in mind..until we saw a level up model but of course that meant more money. So we scoped out the paper and only one store had our camera on sale. And what a loving hubby I have to offer to go to the store before work and get it! I feel bad because he HATES situations like that but if we actually wanted to be able to buy that camera we’d have to make a hard choice to somehow get in the middle of the crazyness.

I have only ever traveled to a store on Black Friday once and it’s funny because it wasn’t even to buy something just to walk around so it wasn’t stressful for us, especially since it was later in the day.

So hubby called and announced he got it, EEEEeeeee!!! I’m so excited, no more of a camera deciding it doesn’t want to take a pict when it feels like it and no more wrapping the camera in a piece of fabric whereever we go!hehe.

Vegan Stuffing

I love my Vegetarian Times magazine. In one the the issues they had this chestnut stuffing and I felt up for a new recipe. I forgot to mention Hubby has asked if I can only make 1 new meal a week since we’ve had no so good luck with recent recipes I’ve made soo… I agreed to the terms, hehe.

This dish called for chestnuts and I looked EVERYWhere for these darn nuts and couldn’t find them so I skipped them. What do you know next grocery day they were right there!! So I grabbed some since this stuffing was so yummy I’ll try it with the chestnuts. But this recipe also called for white wine and I could have sworn the alcohol evaporates when cooked but wasn’t 100% so I skipped that as well. Oh and I added some Vegan Kielbasa. Everyone goobled it up! Know what’s funny though is I didn’t even make it for Thanksgiving! We had it simple here, I tried a new recipe for “meat”balls hopping it’d be a winner, Yep that’s right we had Spiral Spaghetti and Neatballs for dinner, I did have some flavor of Thanksgiving… Pumpkin Muffins. I was a little distraught though when they came out gooey, popped them back in for longer, nope still gooey. I’ll have to see what I did wrong.

But anywho back to the stuffing…. This was really good. I think this was in the latest issue or the one before.

Obama…”green” white house

FINALLY!!

I was reading in the paper today about Obama wanting to make the white house “green”!! YAY!  Seriously if we talk and talk about making a healthier place to live, the President should have been the first to jump on board and do what he can around him, starting with where he lives. The interviewer asked a question like “so will you be going around at night turning off lights?”, now why not, if that is his choice then why not? It saves energy. Just because he’s the president doesn’t mean he can and should waste whatever he wants whereever he can.

I know here we make sure everything is only plugged into a socket when it needs to be used. No Ghost engergy suckers in this house! If it saves engergy, makes the world a little healthier and saves money than go for it. The even tiniest steps add up.

So I give kudos to Obama, I just hope it goes through.

New Cloth Diapers in!!! November 26, 2008

Well Punkyroo is still potty training. She’ll have an accident here and ther but mainly its right when she wakes up is when she’ll pee. Since we do disposables/cloth/training undies I can’t wait for it to be done but she’ll get there in her own time.

In the beginging we tried the Elimination Communication (EC) and was doing great but then we moved and it got put on the back burner and EC is something you have to stick to and make a #1 priority so that kind of back fired. I do have to say it was good since she was used to the potty seat but it was harder to get her to sit on it. And here is the deal I HATE disposables…the waste, chemicals and the money that we are litteraly throwing away, but Hubby loves them. He hates dealing with cloth and training undies that have pee and poop in them. So you see the battle I deal with.

So we were getting close to the end of the 3rd “last box” of diapers and I was determined to it finally being the last but convincing Hubby to make that choice as well would be hard. Since Punkyroo wasn’t fully there I wanted to buy a few cloth diapers since the ones we were using, she outgrew. So I atleast convinced Hubby to get a couple new cloth but I guess if I got my way he’d get his too…more disposables. blah.

Here’s the deal during the day Punkyroo does great in training undies and goes in the potty chair but during naps and bedtime she’ll have an accident if I’m not quick enough to get her.Even when we go out just her and I she’ll go on the toilet BUT when Hubby is home or we all go out there’s a 50/50 chance she’ll tell us she has to go or have an accident and that’s why Hubby wants more disposables.

But anywho to my main point…. I got a couple of BumGenius One Size Organic diapers! They are awesome!!! I ordered them from a fellow WAHM’s  (in my mom’s group) store called Earth Angel Diaper Co. When I can I try to buy/support local WAHM. These are supper super soft! I was looking for an AIO that was organic or bamboo. And these were it! They are more expensive then most but the great thing is that they snap to 3 levels to fit the 3 sizes (except for tiny newborn) so the price is well worth it since you can use them alot longer than normal ones!! It’s so funny PUnkyroo loves them so much she’d rather wear them then her big girl undies!! I have to say these are sooo much better than are previous ones.

Making your period green? November 24, 2008

Ok if you are a guy you might just want to skip this post…

So if you are like many you have been making eco-friendly changes in your habits and things or you are planning on it. Well we all know the main this thrown at us from reusable grocery bags, light bulbs, water bottles and such but what about that dreadful time of the month. Yep making your period green!

Since I got prego with Punkyroo in Sept 2005 I didn’t have my period until Sept 2008! From pregnancy to nursing and then nursing and having the Mirena put in I was loving the free and carefree ways of not worring that I might leak. But when I had my Mirena taken out things went back to normal and I had to think about my period again, drats!!

As I was looking through the Frontier Co-op catalog I saw a thing called The DivaCup. Somehow this weird looking funnel cup thingy was for my period. How? I did not know. SO looking around I found it’s site and was reading. This thing is used for 1 year and creates wastes a split of a hair that of disposables! Yes it may seem pricey up front but just like cloth diapers it saves alot of money in the end. I calculated mine out and it was in the hundred range!! On average it estimates 100-$200 in savings for the average person. So combine that with the amount of waste you save and not to mention all the chemicals in and used to make the disposables I decided to get the DivaCup. I had also seen reusable pads and such but I’m going to give the DivaCup a try first since I was never a fan on pads.

Well I got my order in and a few days ago I finally got the chance to try out the DivaCup….and after a few days of getting used to inserting,cleaning and just the feeling I have to say I will not use disposables again! I do have to say it’s different at first but after some practice inserting is alot easier. Also the DivaWash (sold serperatly) smells soooo wonderful!! I recommend using the DivaWash with it, you only need a tiny tiny amount and you only need to wash the cup 2x a day. I think the funniest thing is that Hubby was so curious-grossed out about the idea of the cup atfirst. He asked so many questions when I told him about it as if he was going to be using it!LOL! But I really suggest these to anyone.

Video for the Omnis

If you are a vegan or vegetarian you know all to well the comments and jokes we get about our humane choice. Well here is a video from the show 30 Days where a avid deer hunter stays with a vegan family (one daughter that works for PETA)for 30 days. During that time he is put in protests, works on a rescue farm, rescues a calf from a factory farm on near death. This is a great video to send to those who make comments and those jokes that let’s face it are just plain over down and annoying. This is a good video that’s not gory to make them turn it off but actually helps with explaining and the understanding of why we do what we do and that it’s a part of who we are and not a “phase”. I’d love to atleast see George go vegetarian but that is a choice and atleast he is aware and like most of us it starts small and then next thing you know BOOM we’re vegetarian and then not much longer it sparks and we’re vegan.

Peanut Butter “sandies”

These cookies have a taste , well atleast to my taste buds, like a mix between peanut butter cookies and pecan sandies and altered from the Peanut Butter-Oatmeal cookie recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine! And these are my two favorite type of cookies. I have to admit these are my first vegan cookies I have made and I’m glad they turned out great! Hubby gives a big thumbs up (…we don’t let Punkyroo eat any cookies, candy, ice cream etc…well she had a couple bites of vegan bday cake recently but I didn’t give her any icing but I’m sure if she did eat them she’d approve).

Peanut Butter “sandies”

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 1/2 cup cramy peanut butter
• 1 tbs No Egg egg replacer powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Punkyroo’s first trike November 23, 2008

Rollin (rollin).Rollin (rollin).Rollin on Recycle!

So Punkyroo was noticing all the people with bikes while we’d be out or in our yard and especially the little kids at the playgrounds with their little trikes, so Hubby and I realized it’d be good to get her a trike. We’ll we looked around and  there weren’t any trikes that looked in a safe condition to buy second hand so went to the store and there we found a cute green trike that was made with recycled material! Awh and it had a Go Green sticker on it too! Just too stinkin cute. So hmm.. the green trike was the same price as the others that weren’t made from recyleable material (well by a few cents) and with us trying to make everything we buy now with the environment and our health in mind it was a no brainer for us.

But Punkyroo absolutely LOVES this bike…I like how it will fold in half so it’s easier to fit in the trunk! She asks to ride it everyday. Also since our driveway has a somewhat slant to it it’s alot more fun when mommy has to chase you on the bike! hehe. It’s so goofy to see toddlers and their reactions…when she first got on and didn’t know how to peddle she tried to bite the handle bar gripper! Atleast she doesn’t have this issue with people!

Vegan Spinach Stuffed Shells

So one of my “hit” dishes to make when people came over and a constant plea to make for dinner was my Spinach Stuffed Shells. Of course pre-vegan these were mixed with ricotta cheese and parm cheese and egg. So in desperation to not hear grumbly moans and disgusted looks from Hubby for another night I reached to re-invent my “famous” dish. What do you know it worked Hubby LOVED it and says it’s a make again. He was extremely excited when I told him what I was making and that quickly changed to disapoinment when I told him I was concockting my own filling to make it vegan. But I pulled it off with a little bit of this and that and cooking directions from this and sauce from that I was able to please everyone in my house for dinner!

I do have to say I’m so thrilled to say we bought a new blender, we couldn’t go any longer without one so I can get back to hummus, smoothie, soup makin!! Yay!

I can add the recipe later if anyone is interested, just let me know. I just have to sit down and remember what all I put in and what I did and write it in my Cookbook Journal! But here are some picts of my yummy dish! I do have to say there is one suprising ingredient you might not have heard put in stuffed shells, well atleast none that I’ve heard of.

So I finally sat down and put together what and how I made this…

• 1 box Jumbo shell noodles, cooked and drained
• 1 1/2-2 cups Marinara sauce
• 2 eggs worth of No Egg egg replacer
• 1 tbs plain Silk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (you can always add more spinach if you’d like it more spinachy, I’d say up to 2 packages of 10oz)
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (1 slice whole wheat bread heavily toasted and blended to crumbs)
• 1 small-medium onion, grated and slightly squeezed
• 1 avocado, pureed or mashed if you are unable to puree
• * if you’d like to have have the cheese tast in there add 1/4 cup vegan shredded cheese, but it’s good with or without.

Preheat oven to 350*. In a small bowl, whisk the egg replacer mix, silk and salt. Stire in the spinach, bread crumbs, (add cheese here if you want it), onion and avocado.

In a 9x13in baking dish spread just enough marinara to slightly cover the bottom of the pan. Start stuff the noodles with about 1 tbs of spinach filling and arrange in dish until the pan is full. (I usually leave out the rest of the noodles for us to munch on while I’m cooking to keep from any melt down tantrums from Punkyroo…and sometimes Hubby ).

Once the pan is full place a spoonful of marinar on top of each shell and then spread to coat the top of all the shells, if you like alot of sauce then you’ll need more marinara and then you just pour the jar over all the shells. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Avocado Brushetta November 22, 2008

YUMMMM is the best I can come up with to describe this very good appetizer. I found this in Vegetarian Times or Healthy Cooking magazine ( I can’t remember). But it is just sooo good, with the lemon and cilantro and chunck of avocado I try to make dishes that would be good with this just so I can make it! Hubby and I eat it like no tommorow but Punkyroo is on and off about it. But if anyone would like the recipe I can add it on here since I can’t remember what magazine I got it from.

Oky doky here is the recipe…

• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs red wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (dried is fine too)
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed
• 1 loaf of whole-grain or ciabatta bread toasted (I use french bread and untoasted) sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices

Combine lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper in small bowl. Whisk in oil, then stir in cilantro and parsley. Fold in avocado cubes. Spoon avocado mix onto toast slices and serve.

YAY! I have a tomato! November 21, 2008

Ok after loosing almost my whole (organic) garden to first the heat and then to cabage worms we actually get to enjoy literatly the fruit of our labors! Our first “big” tomato is almost red! We started off with zucchini, pumpkins, cherry tomato, parsley, lavendar, better boy tomato peas, carrots, and cantaloupe! NOW we only have 1 of 8 cherry tomato plants, 4 of 6 better boy tomato plants,  and 2 of 10 parsley plants! So we are very happy to be able to still get some of our veggies (Punkyroo eats all the cherry tomatos as soon as they ripen and havn’t had one since we first planted CT last year at the old house!). Poor Punkyroo, she’s used to eating them as soon as we pick anything of the vine and so she was crying a few times today because we have to wait until tommorow when it’s fully ripe, but she is so cute. I’m planning on moving the garden and hopefully we’ll get a compost ,(Hubby-hint hint wink wink) that I’ve been wanting so bad for a long while now, so I can fully prep our terrible sandy soil.

Homemade Cinamon Apple Oatmeal November 18, 2008

Well it’s not the instant but not the steel cut oatmeal either but the rest is put together by hand and not a season packet.. Punkyroo loves this for breakfast and I think I’ll be making this while on vacation for a nice warm wake up meal.

Cinamon Apple Oatmeal

• 1 medium apple, chopped in small bites size (leave peel)
• 1 tbs cinamon ( this may be too much for some in one serving)
• 1 1/2 cups Old Fashion Oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups Silk/Almond/Rice milk

In a microwave safe bowl ( I like things quick but if you prefer to do this on the stove then just adjust the time to the stove time) combine the oatmeal, cinamon, apples and mix well. Pour in the “milk”, it should be just slightly covering the oatmeal, and mix. Put in the microwave and cook the time directed on the box ( I usually just cook it in 1 minuted intervals until It’s to my desired tenderness and also to prevent boil overflow).

Take out of the mircowave and stir, most of the liquid should be absorbed. Add just enough milk to slightly cover oatmeal and mix again, this helps it cool down faster and not make the oatmeal as sticky in your mouth!

Sesame Spinach Noodles November 17, 2008

In the midst of trying to find a quick easy dinner to put together on those days that errands/apts drag us late and this is just the thing. I try to always have on hand extra pasta and some type of sauce in 911 dinner situations. One night I had pasta but no sauce and so I searched around for something to flavor the noodles…. Sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy suace…BINGO! This is a dish the whole fam loves and it’s put together as fast as you cook thin spaghetti!!!

Sesame Spinach Noodles

• 1 box Thin Spaghetti
• 4 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped in bite size pieces
• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 3 tbs tamari
• 4 tbs sesame seeds

In a large pot boil water. Add spaghetti and let cook for a few minutes. Add the spinach and let cook some more. Add the zucchini to the pot when your noodles have only  2 or so minutes left so they are cooked but still retain slight hardness.

Drain noodles and place back in the pot. Add the oil and tamari (you may need to add more tamari for taste). Once noodles are evenly coated add the sesame seeds and mix well. Serve!

Carrot Soup November 16, 2008

I know I havn’t posted any recipes lately but I’ve been meaning to….

While having the Vegan with a Vengance in my clutches I decided to try the carrot soup in it. Hubby looked at me like I was nuts when I told him the 3 bags of organic carrots were for the one soup! This was pretty easy to make and that was wonderful. Unfortunately my blender kicked the bucket on me while I was puree half of the soup so it’s more like 1/3 got pureed. I never realized how much I used my blender until it’s gone. But this was pretty much consumed by me, Punkyroo and Hubby had a very little bit of it so I was left to eat it all by myself, which wasn’t bad it was just alot of soup! Next time I’m freezing half of it for later. This soup was really creamy and flavorful, the coconut milk was a nice flavor boost and carrots when cooked get even sweeter so to have a natural sweetened dish was excellent!

Hah! Micheal Vick is a funny one November 15, 2008

…In a recent article I just read Micheal Vick seriously thinks he’s going to play quarter back again once he gets out of jail!! He is a funny one. What team would seriously be that greedy plus risky to hire him on? To show kids and people out there that what he did gets a slap on the wrist and then oh OK you can play now, uh negative! That would be a terrible message to send.

What he did was dispicable and honestly he would not of confused this if he wasn’t caught. so to say sorry, pay the money to rehabilate the poor dogs whose life wasn’t tortured to death and spend less than 2 years in jail just doesn’t cut it. Only a person so weak and pityful would do what he has done to these dogs.

But it is nice to hear of all the stuff he is loosing due to everything that has happened. His yachts, farms, houses! Makes me get a nice warm feeling inside for the dogs that were unfortunate enough to have known Vick to know they are in loving homes and he is loosing everything. People like him need to have the crap scared out of them to stop these acts.

Honestly for football’s sake that they never deal with Vick again. I will truely be sadend, due to the facts so many kids look up to the players.

To me, Vick should have receive FAR FAR FAR more time in jail.

Isn’t it crazy how someone can kill someone and get life or the death sentence but so many of his dogs were tortured beyond belief pre-meditated and knowing the outcome-killed and straight killing on purpose and get little over a year in jail! Ridiculous!

Fringe is my slightly LOST November 13, 2008

I don’t know about you but I LOVE the show LOST, just the bizarre and curiousness of the show and not to mention its not the same them just switched with diffferent names and places with the same old plot and drama. But this season is a new series…FRINGE and I have to say I wasn’t sure if I’d like it but I do. So if you like weird, science stuff or atleast want a different change of pace from the same high school/courtroom drama check this out.  I like it also since I can watch it online whenever I want.

Vegan Winter meal Suggestions November 12, 2008

Ok in one of my past posts I wrote that we will be going to see snow for the first time in 4 years so that means the very first time for Punkyroo. Well due to the temperature we’ll be staying in, of course we’ll have heat, but something to cook up and warm us from the inside after a good play in the snow.

That’s where you come in. Anyone who has really yummy warm/hearty recipes please share with me or give me the link to your recipe, in the comment box. We’ll be there for 7 days and I’m planning to prep as much as I can before hand.

I do have one meal for sure I’m bringing and that’s my Creamy Chili. I made this the other night and reminded me how sold I am on this soup I came up with.

1.Dinner-Creamy Chili

2.Lunch- Creamy Chili

3.

4. 

So I’m ready for any suggestions. I am trying all recipes before I go and they must past the picky Hubby and Punkyroo and I are pretty easy to please. SO if your recipe passes I will post your recipe and your name or blog (whichever you prefer) on the Week Calendar above.

Tagless clothing bad now too?

So one of the blogs I read EnviroMom has a post about tagless clothing you know those ohh so cofortable shirts with no tag on the back of the neck? Well they are not so comfortable to some out there that are getting severe rashes from the stuff in the ink for the imprint.

Do we seriously have to have everything in our life we touch be dagerous to our health? Toys, bottles, pesticides in food, vaccines, and th elist goes on. And notice alot of the stuff is for babys and kids?!!  What ever gets the companys that dollar right? {who cares who’s using this because I wont be, so use whatever is the cheapest even if it’s toxic and that’ll do} seriously feels like the mindset of some of these places.

But back on the subject at hand the taggless imprints…. If you go to this blog you’ll read of a post from a mom who’s baby had a bad reaction and stuff she found out, even being contacted by an insider who works with the product and they had this to say..

“One is a plastisol type, which is the same basic material that the large designs on the front of t-shirts is made of… the ink is a PVC blended into a phthalate… at a certain temperature the PVC melts and the 2 components form a solid… that solid is transferred to the shirt with heat and pressure… this type of ink is on the way out as phthalates are now being classified as hazardous… residual phthalate from not fully fused ink is what is most likely causing the reaction.

The other type of ink is a solventborne polyurethane that is post cured via a catalyst… typically a polyisocyanate… this ink can have 2 possible irritants… small levels of formaldehyde in the urethane or residual polyisocyanate that is left unreacted…”

So just becareful and keep an eye on that area of your baby because I don’t think if this happened to Punkyroo that I would have thought that that might be the source. We are lucky so far and escpecially with her eczema. But It’s true, look around and now its hard to find tagless less. So hopefully they will find a newer and non-toxic method of these tagless tags.

County Fair November 9, 2008

Yesterday we headed down to the county’s annual Fair and it was alot of fun. Then you have the Vegan side of me… wow… things that you notice when you’re vegan. But I’ll get to that after all the good stuff.

It was so nice, the perfect day to get out and ride some rides. Punkyroo loved the tall slide you sit on a hemp sack and slide down, the merry go round, ferris wheel and {gulp} dizzy dragons. I didn’t think Punkyroo would be able to actually pull the wheel thingy to make it go that fast!! I was so queezy. I LOVE roller coasters but I can’t take the things you sit and spin yourself. Anywho it was really nice and we stayed there ALOT longer than we planned on but it was worth it. Another really awesome thing that happened was.. nursing my little girl while on the ferris wheel. What could be a prettier view while nursing than all the lights of the fair, the cool breeze and a perfectly happy child? 

On the extended nursing in public issue… Hubby and I got into a debate type of talk a few weeks ago about nursing in public without a cover and I think that fussed me more to be confiedent in doing so. Don’t get me wrong he’s completely supportive he’s just more on the jelous side since he thinks they are “his”.LOL. But when I first had punkyroo I was more hesitant due to my own comfort level and Hubby wanting me to cover as well and I just got used to it but as time goes by and a fidgety baby reveals yourself and more nursing support from other bf moms I grew to accept not to worry about it and feel more comfortable with the main goal. Nourishing my daughter. I like the phrase “Put a blanket over your head while you eat” . With all the images of sex everywhere and even hidden in children movies nursing my child is the least of someone’s staring/glaring eye’s worries. Well now that I’m done with that off subject speach.lol….

The vegan side of a fair..

Petting farm, food and even some rides… Even if we didn’t bring a ton of snacks the only possible choice for something to eat at the fair would have been corn on the cob and fries!! Between the turkey legs, chicken on a stick, ice cream, floats, burgers, etcc and then all the sugar stuff we don’t let Punkyroo eat like cotton candy, funnel cake, etc there is nothing to eat! It’d be nice if they could atleast start to involve 1 item for vegans at a fair, not asking the whole food genre change but atleast to include something that could sustain us if we were hungry.

They had a set up to teach you how to milk a cow and pre-vegan I would have jumped right in to see what it’s like but not now. They even had a fake cow with utters to “milk” for the kids! A seeting to wrangle a steer’s head with a laso and all. So what did we choose to do? Straight to the corn cob box! Punkyroo had a blast playing with the corn cob box thats made just like a sand box, we had to pull her out she had so much fun.

One last thing to add to this long post today is the smoking. Have you ever noticed (well if you have a kid) that 98% of the workers smoke?! Its not the “take a cigarette break” smoke. They smoke while manning the rides. It wouldn’t be bad if just didn’t allow the workers who manned the kid’s rides to smoke but they don’t. The main rides we went on, every single time the same worker was smoking and we were there for 5 hours!! Yes we were outside but when they are under a tent and nothing but little kids all around waiting for minutes and inhaling the smoke..that’s not good. I think the smoke made me more sick than the dizzy dragons. But my opinion is either make a designated smoking area or not allow any smoking by the kid’s ride. It’s a family event not a bar. And I know any smoker who reads this wont like it but eh that’s my opinion.

The not so vegan,even vegetarian hubby November 7, 2008

Well as I’ve wrote previously that I made the choice to go vegan and did not pressure Hubby to go vegan either but due to my changes he was unable to eat meat after reading the vegetarian kit mini mag. I told him though I would not cook it, if he wanted meat he’d have to cook it and he would never touch raw meat while cooking…. so I’m thinking hubby is vegan well atleast vegetarian since he doesn’t have issue with dairy products until today…

I caught him red handed or should I say pocket. Punkyroo and I greeted him in the driveway when he got home and as he walked around the car to clean out a spill from his water jug I saw a piece of papper taped to his back pocket. Well knowing the guys at work I figured they were just doing their little stupid things. Well I take it off and saw it was a Burger King receipt for a chicken sandwich and other stuff. Then I thought it really might be his so I asked and he said he didn’t make his lunch and he got it! Here all these past 6 months I’ve thought he’s been without animal meat and then to say he’s ordered some a few times! I feel like an affair just happend or something (well the secrecy of one).. an affair with a poor piece of animal that died to go in his stomach. Poor chicken. I know I told him to make it if he wanted it but I was still going to make him get free- range organic meat if he had to have it not one that most likely was kept in a tiny filthy cage.

It’s just getting to that point now where even the smell of cooked meat makes me feel sick now, where some fried chicken smelled ohhh so good. It’s just amazing how things have changed in just 6 months.

Twilight the Movie November 6, 2008

I used to be a HUGE watcher of any “supernatural” “scary” movie there was until I got prego and for some reason I just started getting bad nightmares from even a tiny little glimse of a trailer on TV. So I was sad to stop watching those movies but recently I’ve been able to start easing my way back again.

While doodling on the interenet I ran into Twilight the movie and it’s trailers (since I don’t watch tv, all my shows are online). And it looks really good, my favorite has always been the vampire movies out of those types of movies. The Interview was my first “scary” movie I saw and I was just hooked. Well anywho this movie looks good and I was reading that it’s based off of a book or books. So I’m probably going to try and see if I can sneak in the time to read this/these books before it comes out to rent so we can curl up in the bed and eat chips and salsa.

But here is a video someone put clips of the trailers together with a 3 days grace song, one of the many bands I like, that’s pretty good.

Fostered kittens update November 5, 2008

So many of you read that my family were fostering some kittens from our local County run shelter and we had taken them back to the shelter to get a better chance of adoption. Well here is the update:

We went there the next day and all three were there.. but Hubby stopped by on his way home from work yesterday and said Padma was adopted and Skyler had an “adoption pending” note! Yay! Hopefully Binks gets adopted soon as well.

I have to say it’s bittersweet letting our foster animals go but thats the only way we can help so many. A couple that was adopting one of our previous foster pups asked me “how can you do this, aren’t you sad to see them leave”, since I had a smile on my face, I guess he thought I should be braking down in tears but the thing is that that pup didn’t have to spend more than 10mins at the shelter and that was in his new companion’s arms! How can I not be happy about that?! It’s true it is a little sad but the worst is bringing them back to wait in a cage or kennel for days or weeks.

It’s great that since PUnkyroo is so small I can’t go out and volunteer but fostering gives us that chance to still help out and have Punkyroo included and to learn about different animals and ways to take care of them.

 

Here is a picture of the pups we fostered that I was talking about..

YAY! NO McCain-Palin!!

So this was my first time voting. I never liked politics, well actually I hated them and I still do.  Last night as I stood in line for 2 hours to vote, with my feet killing me and me having to pee, by the time I actually got to a booth  I knew who I was going to vote for and who I wasn’t.

I voted for a liberal underdog, Bob Barr. The tough things was though knowing how close it’d be here in my state if I should vote for Obama-Biden since there was absolutely no way I’d vote for McCain-Palin( I knew that from the start, especially with Palin behind him). But in the end I choosed what I wanted and just hoped while watching ABC that McCain would not be winning. So YAY!

I asked PUnkyroo while I was nursing her in bed who she thought would win Obama or McCain, even thought she’s 2 I was curious to what she’d say, and what do you know…Obama!

Dr.Seuss-style Breastfeeding Poem November 3, 2008

I found this poem on the internet when I was still prego and just thought about it today and wanted to share with any mom out there who hasn’t read it before, believe me it will atleast get a little chuckle but in a silly way is encouraging to those who may not be so courageous to nurse in public.

If you can’t tell I’m a big advocate for breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding (going on 2 1/2 years now with PUnkyroo). It’s the most natural thing but in the US it’s made out to be so Taboo, but luckily things are getting easier for us who nurse.

Dr. Seuss for Nursing Moms

Would you nurse her in the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?

I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I’d nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.

Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her `till she’s full!

Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy’s milk is the best start!

Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.

As for those who protest lactation,
I have the perfect explanation.
Mommy’s milk is tailor made
It’s the perfect food, you need no aid.

Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast’s the perfect food!

I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk’s the perfect food!

We make the amount we need
The perfect temp for every feed.
There’s no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.

Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy’s milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can’t be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.
I will not let my baby cry,
I’ll meet her needs, I’ll always try.
It’s not about what’s good for you,
It’s best for babies, through and through.

I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads and ma’am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am.

Aurthor unknown

 

Achoo!! Sorry so long had to dust this baby ;) August 17, 2011

WOW wow wow!! So I never intended to drop off the face of my blog, you know life..it happens. SO what’s new, yeesh, were to begin!!
We still unschool, found a wonderful group of homeschoolers that are so supportive and laid back. We try to do as much organic as we can but with economy it’s very hard especially since Hubby he does tile. We foster when we can, which brings up a new thing… our oldest bunny passes away a few months back Very heart broken, Punkyroo walked around with her stuffed bunny pretened it was Mr.B..we’ll always miss him.
Some for sure new thing are… I’ve become a licensed Zumba Fitness Instructor in November and recently just got licensed to teach Zumbatomic (for kids ages 4-12) and Zumba Toning. I absolutely love it, and it’s wonderful in allowing me to work anytime and have Punkyroo with me. Punkyroo asbolutely loves me teahing Zumba, she loves practicing my routines with me and always showing off to family or friends her moves. hehe, too cute.

Also started making tutus, bows but mostly sculpted hair bows and recycled pop tab bracelets (which my friend and partner makes the bracelets). I helped her make a tutu like one I made for Punkyroo a long time ago and she suggested to make and sell them. So at a homeschool craft sale day I made and brought a couple and they all sold, I was so excited. So my friend and I brought our noggins in and decided to try and try and start selling these. She’s an amazing knitter and croucher so she makes the bracelets and tutus with meand I do tutus and bows It’s nice since doing a big order we’ll get together and our girls will play. It is pretty awesome when that friend is also a vegan homechooler with a kid close in the same age! Seriously how awesome right?! and the odds, crazy!

So on the Unschooling front Punkyroo is doing awesome! She’s reading now and it’s so amazing to watch the process. 5 years old now and she’s reading and all on her own desire. We worked with letters and sounds and always read to her. Then one day it was “mommy I want to read to you too, I do a page and you do the other, we’ll take turns” and it’s been great. It was like that with adding too. Money was a wee bit harder for her but is a toughie remembering 1 item represents more than 1. We will def stay on our unschooling road. Granted there’s days when with almost anyone not in a school setting wonders if it’s enough or good enough etc but usually that passes when I see how happy and how much she’s developing by passion and curiousity.

So I’m hoping to dust off this baby and get back to it!
To anyone wanting to see the stuff I’ve been making just check out Tied Tutus & Things on facebook at Facebook.com/TiedTutus

Crazy life December 21, 2010

Ok so for all of those who have read my blog, I’m sorry I dropped off the face this computer it’s been crazy this past year.
Some new things include:
*Coming into a great homeschool group that is open and understanding of my unschooling ways.
*I have taken back up a part time job at night after (so hubby can watch our daughter).
*Reconnecting and mending breaks with some family members.
*And the biggest thing that is new as in only a month new… I became liscensed to be a Zumba fitness Instructor!!

Ok so honestly after writing that out it doesn’t seem alot to keep me away from this blog for a year but I guess it has. And thank you for those who have been reading my blog and wrote me some nice emails asking if I’m alright or if I got carried away but some crazy ninjas and to the newbies to my blog for all the nice words about my blog <3 I'm hopeing to be able to keep more active with it now that things are a litlle more mellowed out. KNOCK ON WOOD!