Vegan Mama

I went vegan the first week in July this past summer and it has been one of the BEST

decisions I have ever made. I have seen the benefits of this way of mindful eating on every level of my being: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. For me, it is the

healthy & compassionate choice and it just makes sense.

For me.

There has been a TON of cooking and baking...but right now, here is some of what

we've been enjoying in random order.

Vegan = the most delicious, healthy meals to create and devour!

Vegan French Toast with Agave and Fresh Berries.

Vegan Lo Mein

The most scrumptious Vegan Berry Muffins, made by my Cub!

Typical Simple Summer Meal: Garbanzo Oat burger with corn on the cob.

Fresh-squeezed lemonade & a salad was also somewhere in there.

Summer Breakfast: Usually consisted of a quick bowl of some sort of organic cereal and organic berries with oat milk, rice milk, or occasionally vanilla soy milk.

Stay tuned for my post about the vegan Rosh-Hoshanna dinner I prepared tonight to take

to my aunt's apartment in the city tomorrow night.

There is usually a lot of meat there...and I wanted to make sure I had something tasty...that I could share with everyone.

I made Stuffed-Cabbage style vegan meatballs and chopped "mock" liver.

Wanted to make sweet potato kugel but I became exhausted after the third hour of cooking

after work.

Here's to good health!

xoxo

One of A Kind

I am in love with this for the following reason:

1. It was made out of melted Ring Pops, so iconic in their own rite.

2. Of course, the words go without saying. No explanation needed.

3. Reminds me that sometimes it's those little unexpected expressions of another's creativity that makes me so happy.

(Thank you, Julia Chiang, artist.)

The A-Z's of Moi...

Thought I would jump on the tell-all train and complete this little interview. This A-Z OF ME seems to be all over the blog circuit lately. I conducted an interview with my Cub this week that I'll post later on. So for now...Here I go:

A: Age? Timeless

B. Bed size: Queen...but it is not a good bed. I don't like it. I desperately want one of those new fancy beds with the pillow top and king-size would be nice, too.

C. Chore that you hate: Doing dishes. I am forever cooking; therefore I am forever doing dishes.

D. Dogs: Never. Highly allergic. Don't believe in keeping domestic animals, either. Sorry pet lovers.

E. Essential start to your day: Prayer, Coffee, Kiss my daughter

F. Favorite color: Turqoise

G. Gold or Silver: Gold girl.

H. Height: 5'6"

I. Instruments you play: Still can play piano a bit...Have studied piano, violin, clarinet...and soon guitar!

J. Job title: Mama to Girl Cub, English teacher, occasional Seamstress/Costume Designer... but I'm not finished yet! In the future I hope to answer this with "Birth Doula, Yoga Instructor, Author, Vegan Chef & Instructor, Nutritionist."

K. Kids: My Beautiful 7 year-old daughter. Soon there will be more...Another post for another day!

L. Live: Don't make me write this. Okay, Staten Island, NY. Hopefully we'll be living happily in the seaside town we've been dreaming about by next summer. We're getting closer...

M. Mother’s name: Jo-Ann.

N. Nicknames: Cyn, Cyndells, Sis, Sprouts & Smeautiful.(both by the ex)

O. Overnight hospital stays: Birth of my daughter by c-section.

P. Pet peeves: People who talk about themselves incessantly...or when someone feels the need to tell others what a "good" person they are. (Um, why?!) OR the opposite end of the spectrum: those who don't communicate at all. Hmpf.

Q. Quote from a movie: "Stay gold, Pony Boy. Stay gold."

R. Right or left handed: Right but can draw & eat with my left pretty well if necessary. And I have a major weakness for lefties.

S. Siblings: My magnificent younger brother, Peter--who is in every way my compliment and my heart.

U. Underwear: comfortable, cotton, simple but girly.

V. Vegetable you hate: Never met one I hate, but allergic to a couple.

W. What makes you run late: Everything. Character-flaw alert!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth, breasts, sinuses. Do sonograms/ultrasounds count?

Y. Yummy food that you make: Everything I make is yummy. Seriously. My Pinto Bean Carrot Cake is pretty kick ass and I make some out of this world vegan soups.

Z. Zoo animal: "Zoos are terrible. It's prison for animals." I have to agree with Kara, here. I never take my daughter to the zoo. She has only gone twice with her father's family.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS

Taking it all in...

Cub puts a flower ring on every finger at a jewelry sale.

Mama eats a veggie taco salad at the beach.

Beautiful fall berries inspire future crochet projects. I couldn't stop touching these...

Something a bit magical, comical, and eerie about these formations down by the pond.

We have commented on them and stopped to say hello each time we've been there.

Loving the natural world...

A Day In Our Life: Saturday

We headed back to work and school this week. Overall, it went well. Cub looked exhausted both days when I picked her up in the afternoon. At night while putting her to bed, she told me she had missed me and wanted to go home. I felt similarly during the first day back at work, too.

On Friday, I just stopped for a second...and my mind was not occupied with students, rooms, attendance, lesson plans...and I just remembered, "I have a daughter who is at school today and I miss her a lot. I wonder how she is doing right now?" I don't like being apart from her for so long, but this mama has to pay the bills, so right now there is no choice.

One day, maybe my dream of homeschooling my children will become a reality. I'm hoping it will be after she completes fifth grade, so I have four years to make it happen.

This morning, Cub's violin lesson was rescheduled and we ended up treating our tired selves to Starbucks and pedicures. I love that they are right next to each other. Certainly makes it easier to do the double indulgence thing. Afterwards, we went over to the home of Cub's "bff," which I'll call House of M on this blog to protect their privacy. While the girls played together I took off for the farmer's market sans Cub. There is something I love about buying fresh produce from the market and then going home to cook afterward. I made an Israeli couscous salad with collard greens and carmellized onions. It was delicious. Too bad the Black Bean Brownies were not as yummy. I will no longer use a whole mashed banana plus olive oil for egg replacers. Serves me right for straying too far out from the original recipe. Later, I walked the few blocks between our place and House of M and watched a touching and thought-provoking documentary about a charter school in Harlem, "The Lottery" with S.

Tonight, I am typing from House of M where I'll be watching the kids while my sweet friends; E's parents get to enjoy a night out on the town. So, its pizza, crocheting, and movies with the girls for the duration. Baby M is already sleeping in her mama's bed and Boy M is at a movie night down the block. I love our friends and their big, relaxed, intelligent, kind family. I love that we are friends as well as neighbors and that our kids love each other and are classmates. There are always things to talk about and do together. It is just comfortable with them. We are blessed.

Our Endless Summer: Catching Up - South Fork, LI

While texting a friend from our camp site last night I found myself telling him what I've been saying for weeks now: This was the BEST. SUMMER. EVER.

Yes, we have been living our summer life to the fullest...and there has been one adventure after the next. I'm taking photos but haven't found the moments needed to upload and post. So, this will be the first of a series of catch-up posts.

#1: Long Island, Terrell River County Park- We took off one Sunday for a spontaneous hike along a section of the south fork in Long Island. We hiked a short mile through what felt like an enchanted forest until we emerged at the shoreline.

***************

We ate a delicious lunch at the old school diner on Main Street, hiked, explored, bathed our hair in the water, lounged, talked, shared a delicious bar of organic dark chocolate & made some new friends, too.

It was a magical, serene & restorative day for me & Girl Cub.

Cooking/Diet Inspiration

A trip to the local library with my Cub and her sweet friend allowed for time to browse my fave section of the library-the cookbooks!

I found three books that I am really enjoying. I've listed them in order, saving the best for last.

The Everything Vegan Cookbook is a great basic cookbook that reinvents the classic comfort foods (like "Deli Macaroni Salad") and some yummy desserts for this sweet tooth ("Sweetheart Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes!")

The Daily Bean : I never met a bean I didn't like and I have been eating them almost daily for protein as well as enjoyment. I love this book. It is divided into chapters according to bean variety. So far, it all looks very yummy...especially the desserts. This evening, I think I'm going to have to try out the "Pinto Bean Carrot Cake." It just looks so good.

And my Cub loves her carrot cake!

This is a book I have been wanting to read for the looooongest time and just have not had the chance. I will definitely buy it.

After some resistance, I have come to really admire Alicia Silverstone.

Yes, she has come a long way since Clueless!

I read this book in one day and made a lot of notes about diet and food in general.

The Kind Diet focuses on diet, eating for optimum health and self-improvement with respect for all living beings on our planet.

She breaks everything down in easily understandable terms and gives a lot of medical/nutritional information to support her food choices.

I highly recommend it...and the recipes look tasty, too.

To me, a person who reads cookbooks and recipe/food blogs for fun...there is nothing more inspirational than expanding my knowledge of the food I eat

and refining my skills to make each meal beneficial

for the greater good.

Blessings and happy eating, Everyone!