HAPPY NEW YEAR! The year is over and a new one is beginning

2009 was a year of firsts for me. Let be begin by saying that I have come to the realization that I am a picky eater. It all seems normal to me until I look outside myself and realize that to the general public I don't like much of anything at all. Then add veganism to it and it really looks like there is nothing I eat. I don't really care much for sauces, dressings. I eat the same veggies over and over again. I won't touch anything with corn syrup in it or very rarely. I decided it was time to rectify this or at least a little. I added veggies to my diet. Veggies that I have either never tried or was scared to try all my life. This includes

Brussel Sprouts



Asparagus



Purple (blue) potatoes




Not pictured but also tried was Jicama.
I also tried twice to make seitan.




The first attempt was horrible. I got the recipe from veg cooking which surprised me because every recipe I've ever used off of the site has been wonderful. I finally found a recipe for pepperoni seitan from fat free vegan and it was wonderful, easy, tasty. I made it twice already. Awesome stuff.

So here is to hoping that 2010 will bring a more healthier me with new veggies and fruits to try. I've got 20lbs more to lose before July so I can look great on my first cruise. I've already lost 18 and that took a little more than a year and a lot of tweaking done to my diet.
May all of you have a great new year and I hope the year brings wonderful new experiences your way.

Merry Christmas!!

It's been a very busy week and I'm still not done yet. We still have presents to wrap and food to cook. Fortunately I have all the cookies done and some bread as well.
Hope all of you have a great Christmas this year.
Here are some pics of the cookies and pumpkin cranberry nut bread (with a baked sugar top)

Happy Hanukkah!!!!

Last night was the start of Hanukkah and I celebrated with making Latkes ( shredded potato pancakes mixed with onion, salt, pepper and a couple of other things ).
I'm not Jewish but I once lived in a Jewish neighbourhood and I hold the Jewish people in high esteem so this was my excuse to make such a wonderful recipe.
I had to search online for a vegan version of these and I picked one out of several. They came out great.



Very easy to make.
2lbs potato shredded
1 small onion shredded
1 tbsp egg replacer
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt ( i like salt )
2 tbsp flour

Mix it all up together and shallow fry in oil. Make sure that each side is very golden so that the middle is cooked thoroughly.

Latkes are traditionally eaten with applesauce but you could also use some vegan sour cream.

For some history on Hanukkah you can go here

Grow your own and then make these

Whole wheat pizza crust topped with sauce and veggies



Roasted garlic mashed potatoes



What do these yummie foods have in common? Herbs!
Grow your own. It's easy and its fun. Well, I think its fun and best
of all its way cheaper than buying fresh herbs and tastes better
than dried on the grocery store shelf herbs.

Heres Rosemary



Oregano



Oregano on the left and Rosemary on the right ready
for chopping.




Basil





You can grow herbs in the house on a windowsill, which I think is
the best way. Less bug problems. Basil is pretty easy to grow outside if
you do it in the spring into summer. By autumn the weather is too cold for
them. Herbs can be planted year round if you keep them in the house. Just
be mindfull of cold air around your windows. You may have to take them
away during the night and replace them in the morning.

One of the best kitchen tools ever and a product review

The cleaver. Huge and intimidating but awesome and wonderous once you get to know it.
I was determined to figure out how to use this puppy. It slices, it dices, chops, smashes. It does it all. Once I finally bought one ( a cheap one at that ) I had no idea how to use it but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I knew all the possibilities that were in store for me.
The first week using it was really awkward. To have such a huge utensil in my hands. Really I felt like an idiot but the coolest thing happened. Once the cleaver knew I was serious about learning how to use it it started to give me its secrets.
I didn't have to go online to figure this stuff out. The knowledge flowed from the knife, up my arms and into my brain. We are now best friends and I can't imagine life without him.





Here is my product review of a great bar of dark chocolate I discoverd about a week or so ago.
As you can see from the wrapper it's dark chocolate, no milk product at all and says it has almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts. Notice it does not say chopped or pieces of.
I picked it up and felt nothing but bumpiness. Good sign. So I took this $4 potential yumminess home. I NEVER pay that much for chocolate so I was really hoping that this would be worth it.



As you can see from the front of the bar it has separation. Separation doesn't usually affect the taste of chocolate so I wasn't scared.



Until I saw the back of it. How long has this thing been sitting on the shelf anyway????



Well, as you can see I took a bite of it before I took the pic and let me tell you. The separation did nothing to take away from the taste of heaven that this chocolate provides. It's a complete shame that its just been sitting on the shelf ignored when its just chock full of nutty dark chocolate goodness. Well no worries. I am willing to spend the $4 on you my chocolate lover. Oh yes. I will be there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ahh Thanksgiving. The day where you know you are not the only one spending the whole day in the kitchen slaving away. That millions of others are doing the same thing at that same precise moment. A moment of unity...well sort of. My day wasn't focused on what to make surrounding a once alive and beautiful turkey. I've been reading some blogs lately and thought about adopting a turkey. Money is really tight right now though but maybe soon.... In the mean time here are some pics of what I've made for lunch today, well actually made yesterday but you know what I mean. I didn't make too much because we always go in my in-laws for Thanksgiving. I just bring enough food for myself and some to share.

Roasted Garlic mashed potatoes with fresh oregano and fresh rosemary




Vegan Mac and Cheese with fresh spinach, chopped carrots and meatless beef ( which I forgot to add when I took this pic)



Pumpkin cranberry nut bread. One with chopped pecans and the other with chopped walnuts.




Here is a pic of one my cats.
Osugimasu basking in the sun. Check out how twisted her body is!





Did you know that according to National Geographic Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln? And according to this website Hogue News Lincoln appointed it the last Thursday of the month of November while President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it the 4th Thursday of the month since there can also be 5 Thursdays in the month.

Changed blog name

I have changed my blog name to a more appropriate one. Vegan In Tennessee.
It seems I live in a state where there is hardly anything for vegans unless you make it yourself.
I am vowing to change this. Vegetarian and vegan restaurants barely make it a year here before going under. That being said I want to let you know about a new vegetarian/vegan restaurant opening next month. Its called The Wild Cow. I also want to let you know that I have never met the owners of this restaurant or anyone working for this place. Just want to get to word out so people here in Middle Tennessee can go and support this place. I will be there. Will you?

Better Late Than Never - Easter Dinner

Tomato Basil Bread


















Eggplant Lasangna













Fruit













Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies













Blackberry Wine from a local winery
Beans Creek

Yummy Stuff

Views from my hike

I see this every morning that I hike


TURTLES



DEER

OLDE ABANDONED ENTRANCE TO THE FAERIE REALM






LAKE VIEW

ANOTHER LAKE VIEW

Happy Easter

From my garden to you

Food.........YuMmY

Whole wheat pasta, white bean alfredo sauce and sauteed veggies



Onion Rings, one of the best comfort foods ever

The struggle for food and saving money tips

I figured out that I eat on average 1800- 2100 calories a day. The latter being the days I don't work. Now that it's warmer I can go hiking which is good. The downfall is that hiking makes me hungry so I have to make sure that I don't go over my average caloric intake. Doing this will help me lose more weight. I've lost 15 pounds since last year but my goal in another 10 this year. That means I have to shave another 200 calories off my day. That also means retraining my brain to remind myself that I am not going to starve. There is plenty of food at home. I'm sure I can do it but it will take some time.

Saving money tips.
I keep reading articles online about how families are saving money on this that and the other. None of it helps us since we already do those things. I guess that means we are doing okay. But I have come up with more ways to save money......I hope.

Start a garden. The initial money spent on starting a garden is kinda high but you will make up your money in a year or two, at least we will. We've had to spend a lot of money on our garden because our soil is nothing but clay and chalk. So that means lots of dirt having to be bought. If you don't already have a fence its a good idea to make one around your garden to keep animals out. Thats another expense we've had to deal with. Once our harvest comes in we will save about 20 -30 dollars a month. We already spend about 400 a month for 4 people and 2 cats and sometimes we can shave that to 350 so the extra 20-30 a month will be great.

If you don't have the space for a garden container gardening and windowsill gardening are great options. Especially if you know someone who works at a place where you can get containers for free. It looks like I am going to have to use the option of container gardening for some of my veggies since they are not liking the mixture of dirt and clay outside in the garden. My garlic and onion on the other hand have no problem being in that mixture. I grow herbs on my windowsill all year round, especially basil. The price of basil in the grocery stores really disgust me. I can grow 3 years worth of basil all year round on my windowsill for less than the price of a package of basil in the store. Why do people buy this stuff?

Make your own candles.
Do you burn a lot of candles? I do. Sometimes there is wax left in the container. Did you know that you can reuse that wax for another candle? All you need are your containers and wicks. Wicks by the way are pretty cheap. I just bought a bunch on ebay for $3. To get that wax out of your containers those hot plate things for your candles work perfectly.
This option of making your own candles only works if you don't mind the mixture of colours and smells that will be likely by remelting and combining old candles. It is a great option for emergency candles though since I would hope the smell and look of a candle wont be the first thing on your mind during an emergency.

Nails and California

I took a picture of my nails last week but it didn't come out good. Here is my hand this week. As you can see I stumbled with my goal of not biting. My middle finger had a deep split in it so I bit it off to even it out ( a horrible excuse I know ) and my index finger was right next to it so I just had to bite it too. :(


Here is some scenery from my friends backyard out in Placentia, CA.


Birds of Paradise and two bushy looking palm trees


My first day there we went hiking in the mountains. I wish I could remember the name of the mountain. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I really missed seeing the mountains. I lived for a small spell in Colorado and had the priviledge of seeing Pikes Peak everyday. The mountains here brought it all back.


Here is a view of the mountains on the trail.


A pretty vine that grew onto the trail.



The view at sunset.




I think one of the places that I liked most was Santa Monica. It had a view of the mountains and it has the ocean. Here is what you see when you enter the pier.




We also went to The Huntington, a botonical garden in San Marino. One of my favourites are wisteria




I thought these cacti were quite interesting and somewhat alien looking...






I have to give a hug to every oversized character that I see and this shrimp was no exception. Here I am at Universal Studios giving a hug to the Bubba Gump shrimp.




My friend took me to this awesome crepe place that sells these drinks called boba. I had never heard of them before but it looked interesting. I did some research and found out that the little balls that are in your drink are huge tapioca pearls. The point of the drink for those of you who don't know what boba is, you suck up the pearls with the drink in a huge straw. The tapioca has little flavour so it soaks up the flavour of the juice you have it in. Drinking this with a straw forces you to drink up the tapioca. It's really wierd and really fun to drink.
Traditional boba is made with tea that is sweetened and has milk in it. Mine had blueberry juice. You can kinda see the tapioca in the cup.




I never had a desire to go to California before and everyone told me I would love it there. After having gone there I have to agree. It's quite beautiful and the weather is nice too. I wouldn't live there but I do plan to make another trip out there.