Green Beans for Dinner!

I sauteed up some of my dad's green beans tonight for dinner. I added about 3 Tbs of margarine and sauteed them over medium flame for about 10 minutes. I dusted them with some crushed sea salt before eating them. Yum!

Recipe: Bruschetta Pasta

I had so much fresh basil I decided to make Bruschetta, but I didn't have any bread. I decided to think outside the box so to speak and use pasta as a base as opposed to bread. I served it at room temperature and it was very tasty!

Recipe:
Bruschetta Pasta
1 box whole wheat pasta
4-5 ripe tomatoes
2 large bunches of fresh basil
1 small onion, chopped
salt
white pepper

Cook the pasta according to box directions. In the meantime, Chop the tomatoes and the basil. Add the onion and salt and pepper. I tossed around the idea of sauteeing the onions first but in the end decided to keep them raw. Add to the pasta and serve at room temperature. Mangia!

Recipe (kind of): Fakin' Bacon

Gian figured out a fantastic new way to cook Smart Bacon. It makes the slices significantly less healthy, but man-oh-man they taste like real crispy bacon! Here's his secret: he fries them in a pan with a thin layer of oil covering the bottom of the pan. He cooks them for about 3 minutes per side on high heat. They come out really crispy! They don't taste oily or anything.
Fry 'em up!
Flip 'em!
Use them in a BLT!

My mother-in-law is awesome

She made us dinner the other night and it hit the spot. She grilled up some corn on the cob and some eggplant. It ws very summery and surprisingly filling! She actually doesn't have a grill, so I'm not even sure how she made it! She's Italian and often will cook traditional recipes vegan - like the eggplant. We made eggplant sandwiches with the leftovers.

I feel bad sometimes because we're all vegan and she's not. She also is very traditional in her cooking (she imports lentils, steaks, and herbs from Italy) but she does a bang-up job veganizing her favorite recipes for us! Sometimes though I wonder if she feels like we're missing out on something because we're not eating things in a traditional way...I don't feel like we're missing out, she always cooks us amazing meals.

George and Buster

Our friends Gemella and Jim stopped over the other day and brought a puppy they were dogsitting, Buster, with them. Buster is a Beagle (I think). Good Girl wasn't too interested in playing with Buster, but George loved him!

They chased each other around the Dining Room...

And into the kitchen...

It looks like George is going to eat Buster, but he was very gentle!

Into the kitchen again...

George likes to sit at the kitchen table so that he can beg for food - Buster just liked to climb on Goerge. He was too little to understand all that he could gain from the kitchen!

Fixed!

Phew!
After many cords, wires, computers, and hours, my computer is fixed (thanks, Gian). I still have to reload my documents and folders that I backed up, but I can't do that until I find my Mac Office disks...

I had 51 pictues on my camera that I just uploaded. Crazy!

(Oh yeah, notice my snack of $8.00 organic grapes - I didn't realize how expensive they were until I left the store and looked at the receipt - and my new copy of Vegan with a Vengence!)

Product Review: Silk

I like Silk's new ad campaign. I think it's good for Veganism (giving cows human-like characteristics) and I think it will appeal to middle school / junior high school kids and maybe even their parents.

I'm a big fan of Silk. I like the flavor of their soymilk. I felt like Silk was my savior - as a new vegan I only drank Vanilla Edensoy and throught I'd have to live the rest of my life without creamy drinks, smoothies, milkshakes, or cereal (lets face it, Edensoy isn't that great by itself). I've had other brands since then (SunSoy Chocolate is pretty good but too hard to find) but Silk remains my favorite.

I buy the Single Serve Very Vanilla and Chocolate and keep them in my desk at work for a light snack or to put on cereal/oatmeal. They're the perfect size and are good cold or room temperature. (Speaking of single-serve, I wish they would reintroduce the strawberry single serve!!)

Silk Smoothies are a guilty pleasure. They're a little pricey for every day consumption (about $1.73 at Wegmans) but are so yummy. They're basically a yogurt and fruit smoothie. They are rich, creamy, sweet, and fruity with a little tang to let you know it's yogurt. I often will buy one and drink it as I'm grocery shopping at Wegman's or if I can contain myself I'll wait and drink it in the car on the way home.

I also like the creamer. I saw the quart-sized creamer once at Whole Foods in NYC but have never seen it around here. I bring the pint sized containers with me when it's my turn to do "breakfast" at work and have not yet had a single complaint; most people say how good it is and many have told me they've switched from their usual creamer to Silk after trying it! I also use it in baking recipes. It's $1.89 at Wegmans (where they have many flavors) but only $1.00 at Giant (where they only have either Plain or Vanilla depending on the shipment).

Talking about Silk gets me excited for the Holidays when Silk Nog will be available. I've been known to buy cases of it and stock my fridge so it's available to me well into February. Yumm!

So Many Pictures

I have so many pictures I want to share but I don't want to upload them onto Gian's computer. He hates it when I clutter up his harddrive (mine is so cluttered)! Maybe this weekend I'll upload them regardless so I can post something interesting!!

Product Review: Method Home

Method products are awesome. They come in cool packages, they're environmentally sound, animal-free, and best of all they work really well. We use so many of their products, dish soap, hand soap, bathroom wipes, toilet cleaner, shower cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, wood floor cleaner, etc. This is some of their idealogy from their website:

"Adam realized that he could use his expertise to create naturally-derived, biodegradable formulas for the beautiful products Eric had in mind. And method was born. The goal was to evolve the household cleaner from a toxic object that hid under the sink to an all-natural, biodegradable, and stylish counter-top accessory."

I think they succeeded!

Achoo!

So my computer is still sick. Gian said I have to back up all of my files before he can do a clean install. A daunting task to say the least. Anyway, I have all of these great pictures to upload but want them on my computer so I'm trying to wait for it to feel better. Right now I'm using Gian's laptop. It's okay but the battery is shot so you have to keep it plugged in (kinda defeats the point of a laptop!) *sigh*

As Seen On TV

The Vidalia Chop Wizard is a info-mercial product that caught my eye. It's a chopper with a storage container built in. I hate chopping veggies so this appealed to me. Of course, I won't actually buy it until it's on the discount shelf at Boscovs or until I find it at a garage sale, but I'm certainly intrigued.

VegNews Annual Veggie Awards

VegNews has opened voting for the annual Veggie Awards.

You can vote here: Veggie Awards Voting.

Snakes on a Plane

I try not to get caught up in too much pop culture, but this truly amuses me.

Snakes on a Plane is a new Samuel L. Jackson movie about *drum roll* snakes on a plane. It's kind of satirical, playing up the ridiculous over the top acting of some of Samuel L. Jackson's previous rolls. He seems to love the project and in the many interviews for the film, he hams it up about the somewhat pointlessness of the movie.

The movie came about via fan websites requesting an over the top flick with Jackson swearing as much as possible. The studios ate it up and the film became a reality. There are also a plethora of fansites regarding the movie and tons of fan-made merchandise (all of which Jackson says he has purchased).

Anyway, the best part of this movie (so far) is this feature:

You can send a free personalized message from Samuel L. Jackson to anyone you want telling them about the movie. It's hysterical. You can send one from the Snakes on a Plane Website.

The Flu

My computer is sick. This is the first time in 5+ years that it has been ill. My husband thinks that he can clean wipe it and reinstall OS X and then it will feel better. I'm very nervous about the whole thing. What if it doesn't get better? I wish I could just give it an asprin.

Product Review: Yuppie Juice

I was shopping in Wegmans today, picking up the fixin's for BLT sandwiches for dinner when this Acai Juice caught my eye. Now, it is WAY too pricey for regular consumption ($2.73 for 9.6 ounces) but it hit the spot to quench my thirst on the way home. It's touted as having the most anti-oxidents of any juice and apparently has been featured on Oprah.


I like that it only has a few ingredients (all whole) and no fructose. It was incredibly sweet, but I could taste the agave. It had a pomegranatey-grapey taste. Overall a big thumbs up -- I just wish it were less expensive!

"Hi, Principal Skinner" "Hi, Super Nintendo Chalmers"

So I started my new job. It's great, but I've been working until about 7 every night which leaves little time for cooking, eating out, or posting!

It's been a long time since I needed to explain my Veganism to anyone. At this point in my life everyone I'm around knows I'm Vegan, knows I don't joke about it, and knows what I eat. Well, starting a new job started the education process all over again.

Unrelated to food issues, everyone at my new job is phenomenal. They are so helpful and really, really friendly. Everyone jokes around all the time and really makes an effort to make work fun. And the coolest part is that as I meet more and more people I realize that I've actually worked with a number of them before in other positions that I've had over the years- it's such a small world!

Oh, and I have a secretary that opens my mail for me! So bizarre!!!