In order to accomplish my pantry cleaning challenge I have decided that I have to work on menu planning. This weeks menu is based around Appetite For Reduction due to the pending deadline- and mentioning the Cookbook Club what should our next book be?????? Check out my menu and shopping list for this coming week (shopping day is Saturday):
Do you menu plan?
Hey Bloggies,
I have been super busy lately working on finishing up my last month of IIN, focusing on my health coaching practice, working on getting our home fixed up and working on new projects for the blog. I am really excited about everything that has been going on and can’t wait to share more with you.
As for IIN I am now certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners which is all of a sudden making this feel so real. I am also working on some special rates for my husbands company which is a young, health conscious group and already have a number of healthy living initiatives so I am hoping my services will appeal to the group. I also am going to be coming out in the next week with a special readers rate so keep your eyes peeled.
For the blog I am working on a local product project to give you a feature of different vegan Vermont products. This month I will be featuring Nutty Steph’s and Vermont Soy– with that being said if you have specific questions you would like to know about these two places please email me lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com or comment below. I also am working on another personal project that I am going to feature on the blog as well- keep reading and I’ll discuss this more at the bottom of the post.
With all these projects the Hubz and I haven’t spent much quality time alone together so last night we took the night off and went to The Farmhouse Tap and Grill to enjoy good beer and food. We also did a little shopping because well we both need an update. The Hubz got some new kicks and I got new jeans and a skirt from Ann Taylor Loft (only $12 for both SCORE!).
This morning I started things off right with a bowl of oatmeal with a little sample of Barney Butter (giveaway and review to come son), a banana and Bee-Free Honee (review and giveaway for this too!). I also had a cup of awful instant coffee- Tasters Choice- a free sample I applied for online somewhere- it was awful, then again I’m a coffee snob.
After breakfast I made the Hubz and I lunch; since we went out last night we had no leftovers from dinner (except yummy olives) so I was happy that Cedar’s sent me a few coupons for free products which allowed us to have a yummy Mediterranean feast see below:
After breakfast and lunches came my next challenge for this month- clean out the cupboards before summer. This is the month of the pantry challenge. My goal is to reduce packed items from out cupboards; there really isn’t a much but I am ready to make some changes and increase the dried beans and grains and fresh veggies. In addition to cleaning out the cupboards the real challenge will be to not purchase items that we are already trying to get reduce/crowd out. This is also a pantry challenge to hopefully save a little money on groceries this month because I am a natural food store-aholic- they are my favorite places to shop. So here is what we have to use:
I know it is a nice long list of items and I hope that between Saturday March 5th (shopping day) and April 5th I will be able to work my way through these items and start to build the pantry that I really want. I am excited for this challenge as well because it is going to help me get back into creating recipes. Have you done a pantry challenge? Who else wants to participate?
Alright so that is the update around here now it’s time get ready for work!
Sunday night the Hubz and I had a our friend Laura over to watch the Oscars and enjoy some yummy appetizers and play a few games.
We had lots of yummy eats the first of which was the trio of hummus recipes from Appetite For Reduction; I made the Curried Green Onion, Shabby Sheik and Roasted Red Pepper & Kalamata. All of us agreed that the Shabby Sheik Hummus was the best of the three.
The hummus was served with bread sticks, tortilla chips and salsa and olives.
Next we have the warm roasted artichoke and red onions salad which was tossed with Garlic Gold balsamic dressing, parsley and dijon mustard- served warm/room temperature and so good.
One of our favorite appetizers were the Truely Gritty Corncakes, this was inspired by the Hubz and True Girt and were delicious. I made polenta and then spread it out on a sheet pan and let it cool and then used a biscuit cutter to make the rounds. I then did a three step process to coat the corncakes–1. flour 2. almond milk 3. Italian breadcrumbs and then lightly brown on each side in a large skillet over medium high and then broil for 2-3 minutes to crisp up. SO GOOD!
Lastly are the Black Swan inspired cupcakes; the fluffy white coconut covered frosting is made to look like the white swan tu-tu and inside of the cupcakes is the black swan aka the chocolate hazelnut mousse.
In addition to yummy eats we played Oscar Bingo as well as filled out our ballots on who we wanted to win each category.
We all won a round of bingo.
But Laura was took home the big win by getting the most correct predictions!
Laura and her winnings
What did you do for the Oscars?
The kind people over at Ciao Bella sent me four of their sorbet flavors and I picked up one additional flavor for review. The four flavors they sent were:
and I picked up:
Overall we loved the sorbets and I will for sure be picking up the raspberry, wild blueberry and blood orange.
Disclaimer: Ciao Bella provided me with a sample of their products to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway.
Have a blog? Want to win a $100? Check out the Swanson Health Blog.
Saturday night we hosted a vegan potluck at our house with a number of local vegans as well as my friend Laura (vegan friendly omnivore) and Allie stopped in for a break from paper writing. Everyone brought a really great dishes including Laura who brought these tasty cheeze and chive biscuits that were so delicious but so not good for you.
Other items we enjoyed were:
Garlic- Scallion Yellow Rice
Vegan Kale Frittata
Extra Spicy White Bean and Upton's Naturals Ground Seitan Chili
Lasagna
Potato and Black Bean Chimmichangas
We also snacked on veggies and hummus while we waited for everyone to arrive and we ended the night with blackout cupcakes which I forgot to get a photo of. Overall we had a wonderful time having everyone over, sharing stories and enjoying yummy food together.
Today is my half birthday which means only 6 more months until my 26th Birthday. This got me thinking about that list I made back in August my 25 Things for my 25th Year and I decided it was time to check in and re-evaluate what I set out to do.
Okay so it looks like back in August I was super ambitious about what I wanted to accomplish and a little travel crazy. Well let’s just say we won’t be doing all that traveling listed above so I’ve already set myself out to fail at these goals (which were kind of ridiculous anyways). So it looks like things are for the most part on track minus the traveling and there are some things that I am still working on and others that will need to wait for warmer weather- there is no way I am going on an overnight on the long trail right now!
So far here are some of the highlights of the year:
September 2010
Visit to the Woodstock Animal Farm Sanctuary
October 2010
Participate in the Marx Foods Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge
November 2010
Released my first e-book Soups, Stews and Chili
December 2010
Hosted 12 Days of Giveaways
January 2011
Celebrate the Hubz 30th Birthday with Friends
February 2011
Released my second e-book Cooking For Friends and Lovers
Important Dates
Start Date: January 16, 2011
End Date: February 19, 2011
Post By Date: February 26, 2011
When doing your final review of each months cookbook each of us will address the topics in our blog post:
Layout
Aesthetics
Recipes
Ingredients and supplies
Other important Information
FYI: Some corrections have been made in subsequent editions of Veganomicon.
This months participants:
Twitter hash tag: #vegancookbookclub
