Richard's First

Okay I have a LOT of things (pictures) to post and for some reason, blogger decided not to work this morning.

But ...

It worked just long enough for me to upload pictures of Richard's 1st Ferris Wheel ride ever!






My whole family and I went to the fair yesterday. Afterwards we went back to my parents place for a pool party too.

I was pretty surprised to find a Greek food stand at the fair. The falafels we had were pretty good although they did layer on the tahini pretty thick.

I'll attempt to load the pictures again tonight but for now it's off to work at a new office.


Hope no one gets a case of "the Mondays"
:)

Teddy

Day with Cara and Emily

Well I was GOING to stay at home today to watch Alton but when I turned on FoodNetwork, he wasn't on :(. Maybe I mixed up the days or maybe I just turned onthe tv at the wrong time.

I decided it was best to see some friends. I'm at Cara and Emily's pad right now and she's making a little snack of nachos for us.


We just went to dog park again and I've got a bunch of good new dog pictures. Take a gander at Emily.



Emily is a true veggie dog at heart. If you were to place lettuce and meat infront of her, she'd go for the lettuce every time.

The top 5 moments of the day so far are as follows
1) I found 6 Bucks in the parking lot
2) I got a new purse!
3) I'm hanging out with Cara and Emily
4) The Beagle at dog park
5) N-A-C-H-O-S (I'm hungry)


I'll be back later with some pictures (can't download here) I think an informational post is needed soon. Anything you'd like to learn about?
Teddy

OT

Picture courtesy of Cara's dog blog and it's one of my favorite breeds (b/c I've got Eskimo blood running through my veins!)


I am one tired pup!

I just found out that I have to go into work tomorrow at 6am and stay till around 5PM. I get paid OT but boy am I tired. When I'm this tired I don't care WHAT I eat. Just shove some food in front of me without any meat and I'll eat it.

No cooking tonight :( (and it really does make me sad). I need to go to bed now and it's only about 5:30 in the afternoon my time. I'll just grab a quick bite before bed.

Sorry for complaining but phew I am in much need of some R&R. Which brings me to my next topic- THE WEEKEND!

Here are my plans



Saturday I'm doing ABSOLUTELY nothing but sleep in and watch the GOOD EATS marathon on food network. I honestly admire Alton Brown for being so savvy about food. I know he's not veg at all but, no one's perfect eh? haha Besides, I can do the veg stuff here.

Okay time for bed

Talk with you soon!

Teddy

PS Alton's new show "Feasting on Asphalt" begins on Saturday too! You should watch; he broke his collar bone filming it! eek

Pictures from Veggie Family night

Mom and Me

The eggplant we ate

John has this cool toy. It's a gun that measures the temperature of whatever you point it at.

Eggplant and oyster mushrooms on toast

Mom made desert. She was inspired by the banana post so we had banana's in brown sugar and a touch of lime juice.
The picture really doesn't do the dessert justice.

Overall, it was a good way to start off the family veg night. I think I'm cooking next week. Any recipe ideas? My mom loves eggplant, and okra(but I'm not a big fan of it). I'm thinking Asian flavored. Any help would be awesome!

Teddy

Wednesday Family Night

Hi guys!
I'm at my parents house right now. Tonight is our family night. I just wanted to share the good news. My mom came up with a great idea! Vegetarian home cooking night on Wednesdays.

We're going to cook as a family every week! Tonight is eggplant and mushrooms on toast; it's a recipe my mom found and was eager to try.

I'll try to post some pictures of it later tonight :)

Teddy

Banana facts

I used to LOATHE bananas (don't ask why, I don't get it either). Now, I have grown to enjoy them. I still prefer them in an altered state though be it cooked or frozen, with peanut butter or chocolate.

Banana Fun Facts
In 2001, there were more than 300 banana-related accidents in Britain, most involving people slipping on skins.

Bananas are America's #1 fruit and the average American consumes over 28 pounds of bananas each year.

There is no such thing as a banana tree. Bananas grow on plants.
Banana plants are the largest plants on earth without a woody stem. They are actually giant herbs of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.



Bananas are not grown commercially in the continental United States. They are grown in Latin and South America from countries like Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Guatemala.

The word 'banan' is Arabic for finger.

History

Some horticulturists suspect that the banana was the earth's first fruit. Banana plants have been in cultivation since the time of recorded history. One of the first records of bananas dates back to Alexander the Great's conquest of India where he first discovered bananas in 327 B.C.

When Spanish explorers came to the New World, so did the banana. According to Spanish history, Friar Tomas de Berlanga brought the first banana root stocks to the Western Hemisphere.



Bananas were officially introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents. Before that time, bananas came to America on the decks of sailing ships as sailors took a few stems home after traveling in the Caribbean.

Get Healthy! Eat a Banana. You know what they say "A banana a day keeps the doctor away"
My two favorite facts from the above article are :
1) One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

2) PMS: Forget the pills eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

(source) (source)

TOO HOT

It is SO hot outside that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk (not that you WOULD).
Since there is no AC here I'm heading out to the pool. I'm slacking on the posting a little but here's what I have planned: A Banana post!

And I'll be around tonight for commenting :)

Have a nice saturday (I just got back from working my OT- YUCKIE) and I'll talk with you tonight!!


Teddy

Day at the Dog Park

Cara and I went to the Huntington Beach Central Park a couple of days ago with her dog Emily.



There was a chubby Chihuahua there that thought it was a Great Dane. It really didn't like Emily and decided to let her know who was boss.





Cara loves Corgis!




This little guy was my favorite. It's a Boxer puppy named Rocco. Boy was it hard to get any pictures of this fellow.




He kept doing this- running by me as fast as he could and stopping for 3 seconds to say 'Hi'.




This is picture is from last time we went to the park (I never got around to posting it but it's a good one). The puppy here is a Golden Doodle (1/2 golden retriever and 1/2 poodle). I dubbed this 15 week old puppy Snikerdoodle!

Happy Friday guys! (too bad I'll be working OT this weekend)

Teddy

Banana Nut Muffin Recipe

Here you go guys!

Banana nut muffins

1 1/4 cups flour
2 ripe/mashed bananas (about 1 cup)
3/4 Applesauce mixed with 1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon and ginger
1 capful of vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 flaxseeds
1/3 cup soy buttermilk (to make this you just put 1 tsp vinegar to every 1 cup of soy milk)
a couple of big pinches of nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Mix Bananas with applesauce, baking soda, spices, "buttermilk", and sugar
Add flour and nutritional yeast; stir until fully incorporated
finally add nuts and flaxseed
Pour into muffin cups
Bake for 15-20 minutes until mix is golden brown and firm.

Banana nut Muffins

I made banana nut muffins for the first time ever yesterday. They turned out wonderful. I looked at about 5 recipes (vegan and non) and changed them to make one wonderful vegan recipe.
I like my muffin with texture so I put a lot of walnuts in them and I also added some flax seed (maybe they're SEMI healthy)



Does everyone like my heart muffin wrappers? I love them. Bought them 2 days after Valentines for dirt cheap at target.

I'll post the recipe later tonight (I don't have it with me here at work)

Happy HUMP DAY!!

Raspberry Facts

Raspberries probably originated in Eastern Asia and they were used as a cure for sore eyes and throats and to cleanse the teeth.

Part of the Rose Family

Raspberries are the most fragile berry

This berry comes in many colors

Black raspberries

The two main colors are Black (aka black cap) and Red


Golden- this is a type of Mutant red raspberry


Purple - a cross between the black and red raspberries

How to choose
Raspberries, unlike strawberries, should not have a core (or hull) in them. If your raspberry has a core, it was picked too early and is likely to be very tart.

Black and Purple Raspberries are available July into August.

Raspberries can be grown from the Arctic to the equator. (source)

Half to one pound of raspberry fruit per day can provide twenty to thirty grams of fiber which is adequate for an adult daily nutrition requirement. (source)


Sources:
www.hungrymonster.com
www.britishsummerfriuts.co.uk

Au Lac Restaurant Review

This is a Vegan/Vegetarian/RAW restaurant


As you walk in there a little whistling monkey that greets you .

After you stop admiring the cute stuffed little guy you can watch them prepare your meal and also see the piles for fresh ingredients they use.


I was bad and I forgot to take pictures of the best part, the FOOD. But here is a run down of everything the 3 of us ordered and what we thought.

Teddy:
I wasn't very hungry so I just ordered the Wonton Soup. I've had it before and I enjoyed it just as much as last time. The wontons seemed to be filled with some sort of TVP and my favorite part is the salty broth (it's very flavorful)

Cara:
Kung Pao "Chicken". Cara is allergic to chicken but loves the flavor of it. Since she's tried so many kinds of them, mock chickens are her speciality. We all agreed that hers was the best choice. Their Kung Pao comes with "meat", zuchini, carrots, bell peppers, and peppers. I like that they use all those veggies.

Eva:
Schezuan stir fry and Tomato and dill soup. The soup seemed to be a BIG hit. It was filled with tons of dill and fresh tomatoes. The Stir Fry wasn't everything Eva was hoping for though. It has less veggies than she wanted and she was a little envious of Cara's choice.

Dessert:
We all shared a RAW desert of a "Rainbow Pie". I'm not even 100% sure of what was in it. When we asked they said it had 7 different layers of fruit and here's what I could decipher. The bottom layer was a crust using dates (I think) and the top layer was sort of a blueberry mousse. In between was just fruit goodness. I really liked the dessert. Eva thought it was a little too sweet for her and Cara was surprised by how much she enjoyed it too.

Over all, I'd rate the night as a A-. I think Cara would like to go again with me.

After the dinner, we went to see An Inconvenient Truth.

Sorry for forgetting to take pictures guys but I'm sure I'll be back there again soon :)

Teddy

Lazy Sunday

This is by FAR the best Abbey picture I've taken. Most people think she looks like she's "roar-ing" but that's just her big yawn :)


I'm feeling like relaxing to the max today. I'll be posting the Au Lac review tonight or early tomorrow morning. For now, I'm just going to watch Best In Show with Abbey (it's a great animal movie we can both enjoy hehe)





Have a nice, peaceful Sunday!

Au Lac Restaurant

Helloooo tastey Veg food! (Au Lac)

Tonight I'm planning on taking Cara and her friend Eva (not sure how to spell her name) to Au Lac! I'll admit, it's been less than a week since I've been here but Cara says her friend is lactose intolerant and likes to try vegan food.

If this place is a success, I'll take them to Native Foods too.


My recommendations:
Fried Veggie "egg" rolls
Vietnamese BQQ vermicelli
and to drink a Young Coconut

I honestly think that if you're in the Southern CA area, this place is worth stopping by. It's a whole in the wall and those are the best spots to eat.

I couldn't find ANY pictures online of the place. I'm going to try and take some myself and post them.

Links

Hey Guys
I've updated my 'Daily reads' Section. (FINALLY EH?)
If I left you off let me know and I'll add you.

Next is alphabetizing them (eekk- one thing at a time here)

Honestly, I read each of these blogs EVERYDAY (yes, I read blogs for HOURS; that is how much I love them!) and I really don't want to accidentally leave someone out.

Thanks to everyone on the list and I'm always looking for more to read (vegan or not, I <3 FOOD)

Talk with you tomorrow!
Teddy

foie gras

I know what you're thinking: WHAT? FOIE GRAS?!

No more force feeding me!

I just wanted to say I'm all for this- Foie Gras is BANNED in Chicago
The article is poorly written (in my opinion) BUT I like the fact that it's banned : )

Way to go Chicagoans (???)

Apparently CA is phasing it out too!

No to Foie Gras
Well I'm glad I searched around on the IN-TER-NET-Y today :)

Teddy

PS coming soon- RASPBERRY info and a restaurant review

MwM

Midweek Munchies: What Funwithyourfood (Teddy) is contributing for the week Hello I actually did some shopping on Monday and Tuesday because when I came home from NY there wasn't any food in the house (I guess Richard was a hungry hungry boy while I was away). Here's what I got: Raspberries (for pie making) Nectarines Kale Spinach Avocados Strawberries MORE Lychee :) YAY (they're selling them in my growers direct store now; I didn't even have to go to little Saigon to get them!) Cherry tomatoes Mangoes Apricots Hummus and Veggie chips for munching I think that's about it. I really like to enjoy the fresh cheap fruit while I can. Summer is probably my favorite food season (hm but I do like the pumkin pie flavors of fall- who can choose?) Links to other Midweek Munchies (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

Click here for the Midweek Munchies code
Click here for Harmonia's blog

Trackbacks, pings, and comment links are accepted and encouraged!
Technorati Tag: Midweek Munchies

A special thanks to Running2Ks and Rift for all of their help with coding, graphics, and encouragement for this project.

PURPOSE of Midweek Munchies: Put together by a small group of Veg Women, we hope to spread the word about healthy vegetarianism while obtaining idea starters for meals, recipes, learn about new products, and meet other female veg*n bloggers. Visiting and commenting on other participants lists are encouraged but not required. Have fun and Go Veg!

Vegan Pie

Vegan-izing the family pie recipe was an 80% success. Why only 80? The crust, I didn't make enough of it.
I was going to buy premade crust but when I looked at the ingredients list they all had LARD in them and the ONE that didn't was 6 bucks. I figured that I might as well make it myself. Here's what happened : my pie pan is 9 3/4 inches and the pie crust was clearly for a 9 inch pan. Needless to say, there wasn't enough crust to go around.

But here's the good news

1) richard loved my "thank you" pie for him. So much so that he asked "teddy, how much of this am I allowed to scarf down before you start thinking I'm a pig?" haha

2) I brought a piece in to a coworker, she tried it and said that it was VERY good. Then I told her it was Vegan and she was shocked. I LOVE doing that.

Apart from the crust mishap, I'm pretty happy with my creation. Now to try it on the family and restart a NEW secret family recipe :)

Teddy

And the winner is ...

My MOOOMM!

:)

My mom was the first to figure out the Veggie Word Scramble. I knew she'd like it. She LOVE puzzles and is great at them. I have to say it's a little unfair (mom is in MENSA and does really hard puzzles everyday) but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles.



CONGRATS MOM
(that's her when we went to Italy last year)

NY food

Grandma got me 3 quarts of fresh strawberries




and a quart of cherries


There was a QUAD cherry too! :) Grandma says that's a "keeper"


Grandma and I bake pie :)




The pie before we cooked it




Putting away the flour



The finished product.

Needless to say it's not vegan but I'm working on vegan-izing. I've bought some ingredients and am brain storming

I'm trying to make it tonight for Richard as a thank you for helping me out while I was gone.

: )

Wish me luck!

Dansville, NY- HOME

Phew am I tired
I got home yesterday and I did NOTHING but sleep- literally. I was out from 3pm to 7am this morning and I'm STILL a little pooped.

THANK YOU RICHARD- isn't he too cute?? I couldn't go online at and coming home to that last post was too cute ;)

Speaking of cute things, I'm posting the pictures of some of the animals I saw in NY:

Starting with


The Giraffe (okay okay it was just a statue at a restaurant we went to but I liked it!)



I got to see a COLT- just a month old! He was a little scared and kept by his momma the whole time.



He's a little stallion which means they had to keep him away from his Dad because the male horse would have killed him. How could you hurt something so cute?!




This is Emily (my 16 year old cousin- 16 and a HALF) and FUDGE (a new kitten that was barely old enough to take home). The kitten isn't Emily's but she sure loved it. Em doesn't need any more animals though- she has 2 goats, 2 cats, 3 dogs, a bunch of fish and a FROG that lives under her front porch. Phew that's a LOT.



I'm holding Paddy O'Brien in this picture. HE is a Pug, Cocker Spaniel mix. If you can't tell by the look on my face, he just gave me a BIG FAT KISS on the mouth hahaha. Oh and all those people, they're my cousins. Paddy is as big as he'll ever be and he's one of Emily's (and Kathrin's- the blonde next to me) 3 dogs. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of their dogs or goats or cats and I wish I would have.

My cousins got Paddy and a German Sheppard (Della) at the same time. Now Della is 6 months old and TOWERS over Paddy- but that doesn't scare him at all, they still wrestle all the time :)


Animals I didn't get a picture of:

A Black Bear that ran across the road we were driving on
All the Deer I saw (about 6 or so while driving around-they were in the fields munching)
The Fox that stops by my grandma house (she was very scared)
The flocks of Canadian Geese I saw.


I had a great time. I'll be posting more on the FOOD later :).

I did get my grandma's recipe for dutch pie. It's not vegan, I'm going to see what I can do to change that though and start a NEW family tradition!

Talk with you soon

Teddy