Saturday, June 30, 2012

...Vegan Breakfast...


...Saturday morning...and I had fresh blueberries in the fridge...

...so we had blueberry pancakes for brekkie...so yummy...and easy...I love the pop of the warm blueberries in the pancake...

Ingredients
1 Cup Self Rising Flour
1 tbsp. Sugar
Mix 1 tbsp. Ground Flaxseed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 Cup of almond milk (or soy)

Mix all together and add a couple of handfuls of fresh blueberries. Spray skillet with oil and cook pancake for a few minutes until bubbles form - then flip and cook until lightly browned on both sides...serve with or without maple syrup...

Friday, June 29, 2012

...a day in the country...

...a friend invited us out to his farm...

...it was a gorgeous hot and sunny summer day...

...there were lots of interesting old farm buildings...

...and trails...

...look who's peeking out of this shed...

...there were pretty views around every turn...

...lots of mountain pastures...

...and hills...

...and 4-wheeler trails...

...it was a lot of fun...

...Scout had a blast on the 4-wheelers...

...wishing you a lovely start to your weekend...

Thursday, June 28, 2012

...a very frugal attic fan...

...it's been really hot here...the high today is supposed to be 98° F (37° C)...

...and we found out that we have no attic ventilation...so it's really HOT up there...

...so I decided to add some...really quickly...and for almost zilch $...

...first I added two shelf brackets...for about $2...

...then a shelf board...we had one already...but you can probably buy one for less than $5...

...I set a box fan on the shelf...and used zip ties to tie it securely to the sides of the louvered window...I didn't want it to be able to tip over...we already had the fan...but I think we bought it at Stuff-Mart for about $10...

...so there you have it a very frugal attic fan...

...guess what else...someone really needs to clean the attic...it's a mess...so I've added that to my LIST of things to do...HA!

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

...WIP Wednesday...

...first off...I've joined a book club...my sweet sister is always talking about her book club and all the fun they have...so I was super excited to be invited to one right here in my neighborhood...it's just a sweet bunch of ladies from my community...plus a sister of one and a friend of another...8 of us all together...I went to the June meeting last week even though I hadn't read that book...not quite knowing what to expect...but they really did discuss the book (Sacre Bleu) in depth...it was a lot of fun...then we came to a consensus on the book for July...

...Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson...my book came Monday...and I only had a little bit of time to read...but it promises to be a very funny one and I'm looking forward to it and the discussion...

...I have been knitting as well...the socks are almost finished...and I also have another baby blanket on the needles...remember the African singers from a couple of weeks ago...well...one of those ladies is expecting...and I'm trying a new pattern...if it works out...I'll share it with y'all...HA!...

...do you belong to a book club?...if so...or even if not...what are you reading?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

...A Tale of Two Stocks...


there are two new posts over at The Vegan Version...

Vegan Brown Chicken Stock
Vegan White Chicken Stock

Monday, June 25, 2012

...this morning...on my front door...


...look what I found on my front door when I stepped out to get the paper this morning...it's a Luna Moth or Actias Luna...and I remember putting one in a shoebox when I was in first grade...which we found similarly clinging to the bricks on our way to school one morning...we quickly made a tissue bed for it in a box and I proudly carried it to school...I'm sure everyone was as fascinated by it as I was...we set the open box outside in the evening and the moth was gone the next morning...I haven't seen one of these alive in years...

...wishing you all a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

...trained...


...I spent a couple of days in training for a new Crisis Pregnancy Center...I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to serving as a counselor...it's sort of scary for me...and I'm sure more so for them...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, June 22, 2012

...frugal peppers...


...my local grocery store had a huge sale on red/yellow/orange peppers...and by huge I mean they were $1 each...they are usually like $4.99 per lb...so I stocked up...I bought 5 of each colour...and we ate so many of them fresh and grilled...they were delicious...but you can see that these are starting to get a little bit crinkly...

...so I cut them all up...and laid them out on a cookie sheet...aren't they pretty?...

...and put them in the freezer for a few hours...that way they freeze individually...

...and I can put them in a ziploc baggie and then just take out what I need and they won't be clumped together...

...so what are you preserving this summer?...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

...Vegan Breakfast...


...'Sausage' Gravy and 'Buttermilk' Biscuits...YUM!

"Buttermilk" Biscuits

Mix 1 cup cold soymilk or almond milk and 1 tsp vinegar and set aside to curdle:

then Mix together:

2 cups self-rising flour

and about 4 tbsp Earth Balance

With a pastry-cutter, mix the EB into the flour until you have a coarse mixture with no large pieces.

Next add the curdled milk-vinegar mixture and mix quickly until the dough comes together.

Now roll or pat the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter (or a can with both ends cut off like my Mom does) to cut the biscuits.

Place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

"Sausage" Gravy

I get sausage flavored TVP at the SDA store near my Mom's house...but I've also used the gimme lean version and the boca version too...if you're using the dehydrated TVP you'll need to rehydrate it first:

Add one part textured vegetable protein to one part hot water. Allow sausage TVP to hydrate for about 15 minutes. Adding ½ cup textured vegetable protein to ½ cup of water will yield about 1 cup of cooked meat substitute.

...then I make a thick gravy with just about 2 cups of soy or almond milk and 1/4 cup all purpose flour...just stir together over medium heat until thick and smooth...then add the sausage and it's liquid (there won't be much)...

...it's fairly low fat as far as gravies go...and it's delicious...

~Hoping you have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

...off to camp...#1...


...right after Church on Sunday...the kids grabbed a bag and stuffed a lunch to eat on the way to camp...

...then they loaded all their gear...

...and then themselves...and headed off to camp for a week...it's really quiet around here...we sent him off with a new little point and shoot camera...so hopefully he'll take a few pics to share with you...but I'm not sure he inherited my picture taking gene...so we'll have to wait and see...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

...Belated Birthday...

...we celebrated Scout's Birthday a little bit late this year as the Man was out of town on the actual date...

...cards and presents...mostly summer/camp clothes...and you can see part of the I.O.U. that I printed out for the game that Scout asked for...it's not been released yet...but the trailers are out...so he'll get that as a really late birthday present when it's released later this summer...

...Scout chose his cake...Devils Food...and we grated some chocolate chips to make the pretty little border...we lit 14 candles...hard to believe...

...and Scout blew those out...just a simple little family birthday with his Papa home on the eve of Church camp...

~Have a lovely day!...

Monday, June 18, 2012

...Exploring WV...the Kanawha State Forest...


...We spent a nice hot day in the nice cool forest...

...there were these wooden bridges everywhere...

...as the path criss-crossed the creek...

...we followed the moss-covered trail...

...through a section of labeled trees...that was fun...I knew most of them...

...another bridge...

...and the Snipe Trail...I had heard of the snipe hunting custom but have never participated...

...we just followed the path...

...which followed the creek...

...then we came to the Bog...

...which is an entirely different eco-system...

...it was lovely and green...and boggy...

...I was trying to get a photo that showed how far above the creek we are...probably 60-70 feet and pretty much straight down...but I don't think it looks that way in the picture...

...lots of fallen trees...that happens in a forest...

...next we came upon this underground resevoir...

...with its leaky cap...very interesting...

...then we found an abandoned coal mine...

...you could really hear the water echoing through the tunnels...

...it's all blocked up now...

...right next to the coal mine...they had built a slag pile dam...

...the path across the remaining portion of the dam...

...it broke and destroyed part of the camp...I would have liked to have seen the lake behind it...
...this is the other side of the broken dam...you can see the difference in the colour of the soil and the slag...

...this is what the slag on the top of the dam looks like...

...the trail is a loop back to the campground where we saw the remains of an old power plant...

...some knobby trees...

...then back across the bridges and then back home...it was a fun afternoon...

~Have a lovely day!