Peanut butter tofu stirfry - recipe

This is an Amy original. :)


PEANUT BUTTER TOFU STIRFRY

Ingredients*:
2 T Olive oil
2 T Sesame oil
5 cloves garlic - minced
1 package extra firm tofu - cut into bite-sized pieces
2 stalks of broccoli - cut into bite-sized pieces
1 carrot - chopped into bite-sized strips
2 T Tamari
Cayenne (red) pepper flakes
3/4 - 1 C natural peanut butter
4-6 servings of brown rice (I used Instant brown rice)
Handful of crushed peanuts (optional)
*Please note these are approximate amounts.

Saute tofu in 1 T olive oil and 1 T sesame oil until it starts to turn golden. Add the garlic in and cook for another 5 min. Set tofu/garlic aside. Cook broccoli and carrot pieces in 1 T olive oil and 1 T sesame oil, along with about a 1/4 cup of water, covered, until soft.
Add tofu back in with the broccoli and carrots. Add Tamari and peanut butter. Stir until the peanut butter melts. Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper to taste.
In the meantime, cook your brown rice.
Put the stirfry mixture on top of the brown rice (you might want to add a little Tamari to the rice first for flavor). Add peanuts on top and serve.
Makes about 5 yummy servings. :)

Cheap Ways to Save the World and "The Meatrix"

I don't have time to write much of an entry today, so I will leave you with a couple informative bits instead.

This first thing was posted on a Y!Group I belong to. I found it interesting and exciting that breastfeeding made it onto the list.

Johns Hopkins University identifies "10 Cheap Ways to Save the World"

The fall 2005 issue of Johns Hopkins Public Health includes a list of the 10 least expensive ways to save millions of lives. Experts on the School's faculty identified the interventions.

The ten cheap interventions are:

1. Quit smoking.
2. Increase vitamin A supplementation.
3. Expand oral rehydration therapy.
4. Build pit latrines in developing countries.
5. Use bed nets treated with insecticide.
6. Treat premature newborns with antiseptic baby wipes or
sunflower oil.
7. Use home based water purification systems.
8. Increase condom availability.
9. Vaccinate poor children against measles.
10. Breastfeed.

For the complete story and details about each item on the list, click here.


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Yesterday, while browsing vegetarian Web sites, I came across The Meatrix - a short Flash movie that takes a look at the many problems and issues of factory farming, where the majority of our meat, eggs and dairy comes from. If you are concerned about animal rights at all, it's definitely worth a look. I'm not saying everyone should become vegetarian, but I do think it's important (for animal rights and your own health) to know where your meat comes from. Reject factory farming and try supporting your local farmers instead. :)

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I'll be posting a tasty Peanut Butter Tofu Stirfry recipe in the next day or two. We had it for dinner tonight. Mmmmmm. :)

Soup's on - carrot soup recipe! And my blog is featured!

Here's a new (to me) soup recipe I got from my friend Julie. :) She made it for our moms' night out get-together a week and a half ago and it was delicious!

Carrot Ginger Soup
2 or 3 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1.5 pounds of carrots, chopped
2 baking potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 c. soy milk (the recipe called for 1 c. of white wine, but I didn't have any and using the soy milk was just as good)
7 cups of vegetable stock
¼ c lime juice
1 knob of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced or 2 t ground ginger (or I used pumpkin pie spice)
1 T chopped cilantro
1 T lemongrass (optional - I didn't have any and it tasted fine without it)
salt & pepper to taste

Saute the onion, carrots & potato in the olive oil for 10 minutes until softening, but not browning. Add the soy milk (or wine) and cover, letting it simmer for 10 more minutes. Add the stock & the ginger and cook until the vegetables are totally softened, about 45 minutes (or longer) depending on how small you cut them. Puree in a blender or food processor and then add the remaining seasonings to taste.

And here's the best way to eat it - using a carrot spoon, of course! ;)



Edited to add:
How cool is this?? My blog is featured on the Toronto Vegetarian Association. The listing says:
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Musings of a crunchy, domestic goddess
• Daily
Blog run by amygeekgrl who is passionate about breastfeeding and parenting, and cooking delicious looking veggie meals.
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Oh, just noticed there's also a poll to vote for your favorite veggie site. Wanna give me your vote? Hehe. It feels kind of weird for me to be on there since I just started adding veggie recipes to my blog, but it's fun to get a mention nonetheless. :)

Ava, the builder and talker (pics)

Gratuitious pics of Ava, the little builder...

She's gotten in the habit of pulling cans out of the pantry over the past couple months and building. This was her most impressive creation yet. She did it completely by herself.

I asked her to move in closer to it so I could get some better pics. She decided to pose that way all on her own. It wasn't really falling, but she certainly added a nice effect. ;)

So after our recent visit to the doctor and my estimating that she had at least 75 words in her vocabulary, I decided to write them out and count them so I could be sure I wasn't counting words twice or just being an overly optimistic mother. I'm currently at 133 words (which includes a few phrases too) and I know there are others I haven't even included yet. What a talker. :)

Edited to add:
Avery's mom asked what some of her words are, so here's a condensed list:
Ava, mommy, daddy, baby, blocks, water, milk, eggnog, book, draw, paper, sticker, heart, circle, music, nose, mouth, eyes, belly button, hair, rocking, all right, ok, naked, cracker, hummus, chocolate, apple, jacket, socks, shoes, glasses, backpack, ducky, doggies, kitty, diaper, ready, wow, potty, remote, batteries, clippers, toothpaste, hot, cold, moon, happy, nice, please, more, oh my, thank you, welcome, bubbles, basket, up, down, poop, help, got it, phone, weigh, puppet, peek-a-boo, so cute, ta-da, pat-pat, night-night
... and many more. :)
In fact, since Jody got home tonight he's thought of even more that I had forgotten to put on the list. We're up to 155 now.
I feel I should mention that all of these aren't said perfectly clearly, but they are definitely recognizable to us.

Holy gas bill, batman!!

In order to fit our gas bill into our budget and avoid high costs in the winter and low costs in the summer, we've been on averaged monthly billing with our gas company for over a year now. Our bill for the past year has been $52/month. Not bad, right?

Well, January is the month that we originally signed up, and therefore means this is the time they reevaluate our bill.

Even though we keep our heat at 68 degrees around the clock (it's hard to go much colder with a child who won't wear blankets when she sleeps), and our gas usage has not increased at all over the past year, our bill has gone up to $159/month!! HOLY CRAP!! That's one hell of an increase!

We don't have an extra $107/month to send to the gas company. I'm not sure how we are going to pay for it. A friend of mine was telling me that we might qualify for assistance so I'm going to check that out.

Of course this comes at a time when we are trying to eat more healthfully, including buying many organic foods which, plain and simply, cost more. Arg.

It's just so disheartening. It's not like there's anything we can do about it (is there?). We can't not have gas - we need heat, we need hot water.

I know others have seen similar, if not more dramatic, increases in their gas bills lately as well. Is there something we can do to help bring the prices down? Anyone have any ideas?

This just plain stinks. :(

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Btw, I had hoped to jump on the bandwagon and do my first Thursday Thirteen today, but I just haven't had a chance to write up a list. Maybe next week! :)

Out of the mouths of babes

Some of you may recall that several of my friends are pregnant. That, coupled with the fact that I have taken pictures of a few of them and their beautiful pregnant bellies (and have been working on their pictures on my computer), has lead Ava to believe that we ALL have a baby in our belly.

She was eating lunch a few days ago, when she stopped what she was doing, pulled up her shirt, grabbed her chubby rolls and said, "baby." I tried to explain to her that she didn't have a baby in her belly. She looked perplexed, pointed at my belly and said, "baby?" And I again said no, no baby in mommy's belly either.

Later that night she did it again first with herself, then with me, and this time included dad, stating he had a baby in his belly as well. :)

She does this every now and then. It's super cute but hard for me to explain that only some women have babies in their bellies, when so many of the women she sees regularly do. ;)

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A couple new veggie soup recipes will be posted soon. :)

Things I never thought I'd hear myself saying

"That's not poop, it's a raisin!" - Said with relief after Ava kept saying, "poop, poop, poop" and pointing at something beneath my chair.

"Take the ducky out of the toilet, now please." - Said after Ava decided ducky needed a swim.

"Get your hands out of the toilet." - Said on numerous occasions now when Ava decides to go exploring in the "waawaa."

Are you sensing a pattern here? Ava is fascinated with the toilet lately. Not going potty on it, but sticking her hands (and other things) in it. We're doing our best to keep the bathroom doors closed, but I don't always remember. Might have to invest in a couple of those childproof locks for the toilets. This is getting old, fast. :oP

On a related note of doing things she knows she shouldn't be doing, Ava will sometimes say "Noooo, baby" as she reaches for something she shouldn't have. She knows it's not for her, but she's gonna try to get it anyway. Li'l stinker. ;)

It's hard to say no

I did a maternity photoshoot for a friend this weekend. Although her 15 month old daughter wasn't excited about being in many pics, I still managed to get some good captures. They weren't the sweet ones I had visions of getting with the daughter resting her head on or kissing mom's tummy, but, as I'm learning in the business, you gotta go with the flow. ;)

At the end of the session, while I was packing up my things to go home, my friend called to her husband to get out the checkbook. I asked her what for and she said "to pay you." I reminded her that there was no fee for the session. (I've been waiving my session fee and offering 50% off print prices while I'm still learning and portfolio building.) She really wanted to pay me, but I told her that it wasn't necessary.

It's hard to say no in a situation like that, when the money would certainly come in handy, but I know it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to take money from one person when I'm not charging anyone else, especially since the experience I'm gaining from all of this is invaluable.

She asked me when I was going to start charging and I told her I didn't know. I just don't feel ready yet. She said she thinks I'm ready, Jody tells me I'm ready, but I have to feel it myself. I know I'll never know everything and never be perfect, but I do want my comfort level to be a bit higher before I go "pro."

I hope she will be happy with the pictures I took. There are several that I like, but it's more important that she likes them. I might share a few of them here once I get done proofing them.

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As for the rest of the weekend...
We went to a couple flea markets on Saturday, in search of some props for my business. I found a small bench that I like but I didn't get it. I can't decide if I should spend some money buying small things like that or keep saving for the 50 mm lens that I really want. Right now I'm leaning towards saving for the lens.
We also went out to lunch, which was a really nice, rare treat.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. :)

Couple recipes - Chickpea lunch and Kentucky Fried (Baked) Tofu

I'm not sure where I picked up this first recipe. (My apologies in advance to anyone I may have snagged this from since I don't know whom to credit. If I did get it from you, let me know so I can link ya here.)

No pics of this one, but it's a nice colorful (and tasty) lunch and super easy to throw together.

Chickpea Lunch

1 can of chickpeas
sliced cherry tomatoes
feta cheese
lemon juice
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried oregano
salt
pepper

Toss together and serve.

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The second recipe is for Kentucky Fried (Baked) Tofu. I got this from Running2Ks, who I believe got it from a friend. It's really easy to make and is very tasty!


Kentucky Fried (Baked) Tofu:

2 Tbsp hot water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp almond butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove fresh garlic
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1 lb very firm tofu sliced in thickness to your liking
Salt & Pepper Kettle chips crushed
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then pour in a bowl (or just mix vigorously in a bowl if you don't want to dirty your blender like me). Dip the tofu in the sauce and then coat it with the Salt & Pepper Kettle chips. I added a bit more water to the leftover sauce and poured it over the coated tofu pieces. Place tofu pieces on a cookie sheet and bake @ 350 F for 15 min. Flip them over and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Mmmmmm, tasty! Jody and I both loved these and and Ava ate them right up as well. :)

Healthy lil toddler - doc appt.

We had Ava's 18 month check-up yesterday. She's nearly 19 months now, but hey, at least I got her there. ;)

The appointment went marvelously. Ava is healthy and doing very well. She's at or above all the developmental milestones for her age. The normal number of words for a child her age to have is 3 to 50 and she has at least 75 (and I keep thinking of more words I didn't yet count). The doctor was quite impressed that she's been doing somersaults on her own for the past three months. Yep, she's our little monkey.

Ava was very cooperative during the exam. She stood still while the doc listened to her heart and lungs. She opened her mouth to let her look at her throat. She even showed off her teeth when asked. And while the doc and I talked, Ava played peek-a-boo with her by hiding behind the chair and climbed up and down the little step to get on the exam table, saying "wheee!", assisted by the doc's hand. :)

Her weight was 29 lbs., 6 oz., (95th percentile) and her height was 32 1/2 inches (75th percentile), though I think she's at least an inch taller than that. Her knees were bent when the nurse measured her. (Actually, I just looked up her 15 month stats and she was supposedly at 32 inches then, so I definitely think those measurements are a bit subjective.)

I didn't go armed with a list of questions this time because I just didn't have any concerns. It's kind of nice when that happens. ;)

We did talk a bit about the switch to vegetarianism. I said we are eating vegetarian now and she said, "Does she like fish?" And I said "Yes, she does, but we aren't eating fish anymore." (Why do people think fish aren't animals?) I guess that was her lead in to talk about how fish is important for brain development. (Anybody got anything she could eat instead for her brain? Avocados?) She asked about dairy and eggs and I said we were still going to have dairy and eggs, but I wasn't planning on giving her cow's milk anymore. So she asked if I was using soy milk or what? I said soy and rice milk. She went on to say that rice milk is pure sugar to kids at this age and not to give it to her. Hmmm. I got home and compared the boxes of soy milk and rice milk. Soy milk has 7 grams of sugar and rice milk has 10 grams. Rice milk is fortified with B12 and soy milk isn't. I dunno. She drinks so very little soy or rice milk each day anyway (she's still nursing), I'm not sure I should be concerned. I'll do some more research.

My approach with doctors has always been that I respect and listen to what they have to say. But I do that with the knowledge that they are only human and can't possibly know everything, and then I go home, do my own research and make decisions that I feel are right for us. So that's what I'll do.

We also started her on her Polio vax. (We're delaying and selectively vaxing and have only done 3 shots of the DTaP so far.) I feel good about the way we're doing her vaxes. It took me a long time to decide we would even do any, but I'm glad we went the route that we did.

I'm thankful to have a happy, healthy lil toddler. :)

Recipes - Indian food and Chocolate-covered peanut butter balls

I made Miriam's "Pseudo-Indian Dinner" for dinner the other night. It was my first time cooking with or eating Swiss Chard and I have to say, I really like it! :)

This is Miriam's recipe, but I added in amounts that I used of everything because I'm anal like that ;) and it will help me to make it again the next time.

Pseudo-Indian Dinner

3 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion
2 C water
1 large potato chopped
1 can garbanzo beans
2 large spoons of tomato paste
1/2 t cumin
1 t coriander
1/2 t tumeric
2 t curry powder
3 shakes red pepper flakes
1 bunch freshly chopped red swiss chard

Sautee garlic and onion in olive oil.
Add water, potato, garbanzo beans, spices and tomato paste.
Once potatoes are softened, stir in the chard. Allow chard to cook until softened.


Serve over quinoa (Miriam's idea) or brown rice (my idea) or basmati rice (thought that would be tasty for future reference). Sprinkle with lemon juice.



Thanks for the delicious recipe, Miriam! :)

And now for the scrumptious dessert - Chocolate-covered peanut butter balls!

Running2Ks got this from the book "Sinfully Vegan" and it can be a vegan recipe if you use vegan chocolate chips. Since we aren't vegan though, I just used regular chocolate chips.

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls

- 1 cup peanut butter (I used natural, organic peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- Approximately 3/4th of a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips (can use vegan chocolate chips to make the recipe vegan-friendly)
Blend the peanut butter, pumpkin and powdered sugar in a food processor (or mix well in a bowl). Form into small balls and place on wax paper; freeze 30 minutes or until hard.
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove.
Using a wooden toothpick, dip the frozen balls into the melted chocolate. Place back onto the wax paper and put back into the freezer until chocolate has hardened.
Enjoy!




I took some of these with me to our AP group's moms' night out get-together last night and they were a big, big hit. :) Jody loves them too and was bummed I didn't bring any home. I told him there were 4 leftover, but I left them with the hostess because I knew if they came into the car with me, I'd eat them all on the drive home. ;) They are really good. Thanks for sharing the recipe, R2Ks!

Feeling a bit frustrated - Ava food stuff

I'm very pleased that we've been eating vegetarian meals around here for the past week without a problem. I've found several new recipes to try and have been enjoying eating new, delicious foods. (Will post some recipes I've tried recently soon.)

The problem is, Ava is not as excited about all of mommy's new recipes as mommy is. ;)

I don't think being vegetarian is bothering her - the only meat she was fond of in the past anyway was fish. The problem is, I think, the dishes I am making are too "exotic," for lack of a better word, for her.

Here I am all excited that I'm making these tasty and very nutritious meals, but she doesn't want anything to do with them. (Although she does like hummus and that's something.) So I'm banging my head on the wall.

I don't want to become a short-order cook. I'd like her to eat what the rest of the family eats. However, I do realize some foods might just be too spicy for her (even though I don't get too crazy with the spices because I'm a wimp myself when it comes to spicy foods).

So I guess I'm now on the lookout for vegetarian recipes that are more kid-friendly so that she can enjoy our meals too.

Part of this might be due to the fact that many toddlers get picky about their eating habits regardless of if they are carnivorous or not. It's hard to say. Even before this began, she would have her days of not wanting to eat much of anything.

I have made some Morningstar Farms® Chik'n Nuggets for her and she liked those, but with drinking some soy milk (also rice milk) and having tofu and tempeh in meals, I start to worry about how much soy is too much. I've also made her organic mac and cheese with pumpkin mixed in. She does ok with that. Her favorite food - that she would eat any time of the day or night if granted permission - is cheese (string cheese, slices of cheese, whatever) but mama is trying to cut back a bit on that.

I got the book "Raising Vegetarian Children : A Guide to Good Health and Family Harmony" in the mail today and need to give it a look. I think there are supposed to be recipes in there and I'm sure there will be other information to calm me a bit.

I'm probably worrying unneccessarily. I've been known to do this in the past when she didn't want to eat. It seems as soon as I vent about it somewhere, she gets back to normal, so here's hoping that's the case now as well. ;)

Thanks for listening. And if you have any links to kid-friendly veggie recipes, I'd love them. :)

Excited about my photography class

I decided to use the money I received from Christmas (thank you, moms & dads!!) to sign up for an online photography course. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while now to help hone my skills and build my confidence.

This particular course has received rave reviews on the photography forum I regularly visit and I was very excited to get started.

I'm also happy to have a buddy to take the course with. A while back on the photog forum, a bunch of us signed up to be paired with a buddy who was at the same (roughly) skill level as us. So me and my buddy Laura (who lives in the northeast) are taking the course together. It will be nice to have someone to turn to for support or to give me a kick in the pants to get out and take pics and practice. ;)

Anyway, I read through the first lesson and already learned a few things that will be SUPER VALUABLE to me in my work.

I did a bit of practicing on Ava with my new skills (shooting in manual mode and using the in camera meter to meter for exposure) and came up with this pic (which I converted to b&w in Photoshop).
She's got a messy face cuz she was strapped in her booster seat eating lunch. (How else do you expect me to get her to sit mostly still and not run away from the camera? LOL)

I still have to work on my "assignment" (taking pics of several things outside using different manual settings) for lesson one but I haven't had the time yet. I'm hoping to get to it this week so I can move on to lesson 2. :)

Vegetarian Chili Recipe

A new friend of mine made this veggie chili for a holiday potluck I attended in December. The chili was sooo good that I emailed her to get the recipe and try it out myself. Turns out she doesn't really follow a recipe, but kind of makes it up as she goes. However she was happy to give me a list of the ingredients and approximate amounts. I made some slight adjustments when I made it for dinner last night, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. It was delicious.

Vegetarian Chili

One Chopped Red Bell Pepper
One Chopped Green Bell Pepper
One Chopped Yellow Bell Pepper
One Hot Pepper (Jalapeno)
One can black beans (drained)
One can pinto (great if you can find them already in chili sauce) -
drained
Tempeh (cut into cubes)
One large can of whole tomatoes (I used chopped tomatoes)
One small can of tomato paste - for thickness (I only added a few spoonfuls)
Chili Powder - (I used a teaspoon)
Cayenne Pepper - (I used a couple shakes)


You can throw this all into the crockpot and let it cook throughout the day. I didn't have time for that since I didn't start dinner til 5, so I put it into a large pot. I cooked it on the stovetop over medium-high heat for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the peppers softened.

I found the chili to be quite thick, so I added in a cup of water at the end to thin it out.



We garnished it with plain yogurt and shredded cheese, however this could easily be a vegan recipe without the garnishes. :)



It makes about 6 or 7 servings.

Yummy!!

Swimming and yummy food shopping - weekend recap

It was nice, laidback weekend around here.

On Friday, Ava and I went to a friend of our's 2nd birthday party at the rec center. We had snacks and cupcakes and then all went swimming. Ava got to wear her new bathing suit (which I must say is super cute on her). She was a bit apprehensive about going in the water at first. The kiddie pool was really crowded when we first got there. It seemed school let out early that day or something because there were a LOT of kids there. But it thinned out a bit and Ava ventured in on her own time. Once she got in the water, she had a lot of fun splashing around, cheering kids on as they went down the little slide, and even went down the slide a few times herself (while holding mama's hand). I think we'll have to get her swimming more often. The last time we went was over the summer at an outdoor pool. It had been too long!

Friday night, Jody got back from San Francisco, where he'd been for three days on business. He had a good time and got to see the city a bit this time and wants us all to go back there sometime so he can show me and Ava around. I don't know if that will happen anytime soon, but it would be nice to go someday. I've never been to California.

On Saturday we did very little. Stayed home, washed diapers. Jody attempted to fix our dishwasher which is no longer draining. Ugh. Hmmm, not much else.

Today we went grocery shopping at Wild Oats (a natural foods store), where I got a variety of foods to make some new (to me) vegetarian recipes this week. :) The store is a bit of a drive for us - about 30 min. away - but I seemed to do pretty good with the amount of food I bought for the money I paid so it was worth it. I hate that organic foods cost so much more than conventional, but like someone previously said, you pay for it now, or pay for it later. I'm pretty excited to try out these new recipes (some which came from Running2Ks and Miriam).

For dinner tonight I made vegetarian chili using a recipe a new friend gave me. It turned out really good. I'll post the recipe this week. :)

Tonight we watched Desperate Housewives and "Hitch" and now are about to call it a night.

I think I'm getting (or have) a cold. I started with a sore throat yesterday and have had a bit of a runny nose today. I've been using Zicam (anyone have any luck with that?) today and hope it helps me get rid of the cold fast.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I have a bit more to write about, but I'll save that for later. :) G'night.

Let's talk about food

I've been inspired by many of my blogging friends to start creating some recipes of my own and posting them on my blog. Here is the first of what I hope will be many successful attempts at whipping up something new and tasty. :)

Yammy Pasta
Sauce:
1/2 of a 40 oz. can of yams (drained)
6 oz. can of tomato paste
1 C cream (though you could substitute soy milk easily enough)
approx. 1/4 C frozen chopped onions
approx. 2 C frozen chopped spinach
a couple shakes of Pumpkin Pie spice (which is just cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger)
a couple shakes of cayenne pepper
approx. 1 T brown sugar
Pasta:
Whole Wheat Pasta

Mash yams. Mix everything else in. Heat on stovetop until hot.
Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
Place yam mixture on top of pasta. Sprinkle parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (I would have if I had it) on top. Serve.

Makes about 5 servings.



I also found that you can add some soy milk to the mixture (without the pasta) to water it down a bit and make it into a soup, which was how Ava liked to eat it. I should clarify. She ate it only after making sure she spread some in her belly button and all over her chest. Glad I took her clothes off for this meal. ;)

Anyway, I thought it was pretty tasty and seemed like a good combo of veggies. I can only assume that Ava liked it. ;) I wish I could give you Jody's take on it, but he hasn't had any yet. He's been out of town on business the past few days and gets home tonight. Yay! I'll be sure and have him test out some of the leftovers.

Now let's talk about Tings.
I've had a few people inquire as to what exactly Tings are, so here's a pic to give ya an idea. (Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.) ;)

They remind me of Cheetos, but don't have any cheese in them. (They are actually a vegan food.) However they do have nutritional yeast, which has a cheese-like taste to it. I recently found a Yeast Meets West website listing all of the benefits of nutritional yeast and I have to say, I'm quite impressed.

Nutritional yeast contains 18 amino acids (forming the complete protein) and 15 minerals. Being rich in the B-complex vitamins, it is vital in many ways and particularly good for stress reduction. The B-complex vitamins help make nutritional yeast such a valuable supplement, especially to the vegetarian. It is one of the rare vegetarian sources of B12.
One element of yeast is the trace mineral chromium, also known as the Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF). This is necessary to regulate blood sugar and is important for diabetics and people with a tendency toward low blood sugar.

So not only are Tings a yummy snack, they are good for ya too. :) I have to add that Ava LOVES them.

Little fairy pic

There are a lot of technical things wrong with this photo, but I still think it's pretty darn sweet. (Of course, being the mama I'm slightly biased.)

Here's my little fairy.

I don't know if she'll let me play dress-up with her again anytime soon. I bought this garb a couple days ago cuz I figured it would make for some cute pics (both of Ava and potential clients), but Ava wasn't all that impressed and had the wings flipped over and onto her front within the matter of a minute. ;)

Working on healthy eating (and ? for the veggies out there)

As part of my New Year's Resolutions, I included: "* Become more aware about the food and drinks I ingest and feed to my family. - to include researching vegetarianism and veganism and learning about the impact of current farming and food production in this country on the animals and environment so that I can make informed dietary decisions."

I admit I haven't done much research yet, but my gut is telling me that the best thing for us is to make a gradual switch to vegetarianism. However, I'm not sure I will cut fish completely out of our diets. I need to read up on that. But I am fine with no longer eating chicken or turkey and I haven't had beef in nearly 8 years so that's no skin off my nose. (By the way, I don't mean to imply that we'd be vegetarians if we continue to eat fish.)

So far I haven't had much problem cutting meat out of our diets (Ava hardly eats it anyway), although it will be a lot easier once the meat we do have in the house (think frozen chicken and ground turkey) is gone. I'm contemplating giving it away to friends if anyone wants it. That way I know it won't get "wasted," but I don't have to be the one consuming it. ;)

Tonight's dinner was Country Lentil soup (courtesy of Fantastic) and Tribe Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with pita bread. It was very tasty and I loved hearing Ava say, "Moo-oore, hummeeess." :)

Question for all of the vegetarians or vegans who read my blog:
Do you have any books (or websites) on the topic (especially relating to kids) that you recommend? Specifically, I'm looking for a good book that discusses nutrition and the vegetarian child. I want to make sure Ava's nutritional needs are being met and I'd like to be "armed" with this knowledge as soon as possible because we have her 18 month check-up next week. I'm not sure what my doc's stance is on vegetarianism. She's pretty open-minded and has been mostly supportive of my parenting decisions in the past, but she likes to know that I've done my research and made informed decisions so I want to go prepared.
(By the way, I have other questions about vegetarian/vegan eating, but I will save those for another day.)

For anyone who is looking to cut some meat out of their diet, even on a very small scale, I just came across this site - Meatless Monday - that looks like a great way to get started. "Meatless Monday is a national health campaign to help Americans prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer - four of the leading causes of death in America." It includes recipes, cooking tips, ways to eat on the go, staples for your cupboard and more. It seems to be a very helpful resource.

Thanks in advance to any book recommendations or websites you all have. :) I appreciate it!

Hey, hey - come out and play :)

Word on the street is that this is "National De-lurking Week," so if you are a lurker on my blog, won't you drop me a comment to say hello? :) I'd love to hear from you.

Btw, no, that picture is not me. Nice eye makeup though, huh? ;)

Watching movies lately

After taking a break from Netflix for several months, Jody and I signed back up again over the holidays. In addition to having a steady stream of movies that way, my sister brought a few movies with her to watch during her visit. As a result, I've seen my fair share of flicks lately.

A few worth mentioning are "Crash" and "March of the Penguins" which I will write about in the two posts that follow.

Crash - the movie

I finally saw Crash this weekend.

SYNOPSIS:
A provocative, unflinching look at the complexities of racial conflict in America, CRASH is that rare cinematic event - a film that challenges audiences to question their own prejudices. Diving headlong into the diverse melting pot of post-9/11 Los Angeles, this compelling urban drama tracks the volatile intersections of a multi-ethnic cast, examining fear and bigotry from multiple perspectives as characters careen in and out of one another’s lives. No one is safe in the battle zones of racial strife. And no one is immune to the simmering rage that sparks violence - and changes lives...

Wow. What a powerful movie. I knew it was about racism, but I had no idea to what degree.

It's frightening, eye-opening and heart-wrenching, yet it is also thought-provoking and full of hope. I was in tears during a few scenes, both surprised and amazed by what my eyes were watching.

There's no guessing how this movie will unfold. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what will come next, but fearing it at the same time.

"Crash" has an all-star cast, is very well-acted and was excellently done. Because of the strong themes, language, etc., it is definitely not appropriate for all ages, but I really think this movie should be required viewing for all adults in America. Perhaps it will open some minds and some hearts.

Two thumbs way up.

March of the Penguins - movie

Carrie brought March of the Penguins with her on her visit to our house. She and I watched it together one night while Jody was out playing DnD, then Jody and I watched it again together a couple nights ago.

Synopsis: Each winter, alone in the Antarctica, a truly remarkable journey takes place as it has done for millennia. Thousands of Emperor penguins abandon the deep blue security of their ocean home and clamber onto the frozen ice to begin their long journey into a region so bleak, so extreme, it supports no other wildlife at this time of year. In single file, the penguins march blinded by blizzards, buffeted by gale force winds.

They head for their traditional breeding ground where - after a ritual courtship of intricate dances and delicate maneuvering, accompanied by a cacophony of ecstatic song - they will pair off into monogamous couples and mate. The females remain long enough only to lay a single egg. The males are left behind to guard and hatch the precious eggs, which they cradle at all times on top of their feet. Subjected to subzero temperatures and the terrible trials of the polar winter, they face great dangers.

After two months during which the males eat nothing, the eggs begin to hatch. The chicks can not survive for long on their fathers' limited food reserves. If their mothers are late returning from the ocean with food, the newly-hatched young will die.

Once the families are reunited, the roles reverse, the mothers remaining with their new young while their mates head, exhausted and starved, for the sea, and food. As the weather grows warmer and the ice floes crack and melt, the adults march many hundreds of miles over some of the most treacherous territory on Earth, until the chicks are ready to take their first faltering dive into the deep blue waters of the Antarctic.

This movie is filled with some amazing, beautiful cinematography capturing the lives of some amazing creatures.

It was really sweet and beautiful to see how tender the male and female penguins are with each other during their courtship and mating.

And then, after the mother lays the egg, it was awe-inspiring to see the way the parents care for their new egg, and eventually, their baby. Talk about Attachment Parenting (especially for the daddies)! ;)

After seeing some real doozies lately, it was refreshing to find a great movie that was safe for the whole family. Ava especially loved seeing the baby penguins.

I give it two thumbs up! :)

4 things meme

I figured I'd snag this meme after seeing it over at True Blue Semi-Crunchy Mama (aka Running2Ks) and Knocked Up Vegan (aka Miriam).

4 Jobs I’ve had:
Mother/homemaker
Newsroom office manager
Salesperson in the shoe dept. at K-mart
Customer service rep at a bank

4 Movies I can watch over & over:
Breakfast Club
When Harry Met Sally
The Princess Bride
Napoleon Dynamite

4 Places I’ve Lived:
Colorado
Michigan
Oklahoma
(uh, that's all)

4 Books I Love:
Our Babies - Ourselves by Meredith Small
The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent

4 Shows:
Arrested Development
My Name is Earl
LOST (when I remember to watch it)
Desperate Housewives (I admit it)
Smallville!!
Edited to add: OMG, I can't believe I forgot to put Smallville on here, which I admit to being totally addicted to. Who can resist Clark? ;) So I'm changing my answers to include Smallville and delete LOST. (Sorry, LOST fans.)

4 Vacation places: (Places I haven't been, but I'd love to go to)
Hawaii
India
Peru
Germany

4 Websites I visit daily:
Blogs
Yahoo! Groups
Gmail
ILP

4 Foods:
Chimichangas
Avocados
Chocolate
Hummus

4 Places I would rather be right now:
Tropical island
A beach
A hottub
On a massage table

4 Albums I can’t live without: (Artists)
U2
Depeche Mode
(I'm totally stuck in the 90s *wink*)
Sarah Mclachlan
Mozart

Promising workplace breastfeeding proposal

Proposal would require Colorado employers to permit breastfeeding at work

Under the proposal from Sen. Deanna Hanna (D-Lakewood), businesses would be required to set aside a "quiet, private" location for the process (breastfeeding) and would specifically exclude a toilet stall as a location for the breastfeeding. In addition, the measure calls for two separate 20-minute paid breaks for the new mother in addition to whatever lunch break is allowed.

Sen. Deanna Hanna said, "It's a simple accommodation (for businesses). It's short-term. We all know people who smoke get those accommodations to leave the building for periods of time during the day and that's part of their work day. I think nursing babies is a lot healthier than taking smoking breaks."

Well said, Senator. :)
I hope this passes.

(The wording seems a bit unclear, but I assume this applies to mothers who choose to pump their breastmilk at work, not just actually breastfeed.)

A few new pics of the kiddo and Auntie

Took these pics of Ava and Aunt Carrie today while we were out and about on a outside pedestrian mall. There's a rock playground there, if you will, for kids to play on. Ava enjoyed messing around by herself until the bigger kids came. Then she kept saying "wow" "wow" "wow" as she watched them run and play all over the place. :) (You may notice that "baby" came with us on our adventures today. She likes to accompany Ava on her excursions.)




By the way, Carrie and I made Indian food for dinner tonight - a veggie palak paneer (using tofu instead of cheese). And, while it wasn't the best, it still turned out pretty good (once we added some salt and red pepper flakes for an added kick). Didn't have any naan though so we used pita bread. ;)

Sistah is in da house

My sister Carrie got into town yesterday (yay!) and will be staying with us until Monday, so I probably won't be blogging much (or leaving many comments) the next few days.

She and Ava are having a grand ol' time together already. Aunt Carrie is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. :)

Hope you all have a nice week. :)

Good finds!

While cleaning out my basement yesterday, I came across some little silverware that my mom saved from my childhood for my future children. My mom saved A LOT of my old stuff (you'd be amazed), but I'm always thankful when I come across something that Ava likes to play with (like my old toys/dolls/books) or can use (like clothes or this silverware). We have had the hardest time lately trying to figure out what she should use to eat with. Our silverware is obviously too big for her, but the infant spoons from when she was a baby are too small. We had not yet gone out looking for something in between the two and now I'm glad that we didn't. This silverware is perfect Ava-size! Thanks, Mom! :)
(Note the bears, Cookie Monster and Annie's dog Sandy on the handles. Not sure where Annie went!)

As previously mentioned, I've been on the lookout lately for a good small chair for Ava. I've seen some plush ones at Target for $20, but they all have princesses (or is it Barbie?) on them and I just want something plain and simple. A friend of mine mentioned she found her daughter's rocking and wicker chairs at a flea market, so that's where Ava and I headed this afternoon. We found this great little rocking chair for $19.99. :) I was so thrilled!

We also saw a cute little wooden play kitchen stovetop/cabinets that Aunt Carrie might get for Ava for her belated Christmas present. We'll be going back up there this week for sure. :)
So anyway, I plan to go to the flea market more often. There is so much to see there and many things that I think would come in handy as props for my photography business - like other little chairs, hat boxes or baskets (for babies/kids to sit in), etc. Yay! I'm glad to have discovered it.

Fun night and good, productive day

We had a really fun time last night. Jody, Ava and I went over to our friends' house - Dax, Brandy and 2-yr-old Creed - to ring in the new year with them and another couple - Sonja and Troy and their 7-week-old daughter Annabelle.

We had a potluck dinner with lots of yummy appetizers and other foods, and we actually had a few drinks as well. Anybody who knows us knows this is really out of the ordinary for us. We just don't drink much. In fact, the bottle of Jose Cuervo we took with us to make our margaritas is easily three years old and only had about 3 ounces missing from the bottle (and now only has 7 oz. missing)! LOL

We had plans to play games, but the conversation kept flowing, so we sat around and talked all night.

Ava and Creed had a BLAST playing together. They've known each other since Ava was a few months old, but it's only in the past few months that they've both reached an age where they can really play and have fun together. :)

Anyway, we had planned on only staying til 9 or 10 p.m., but we were having such a good time we didn't leave until 11:30. We were home by the time the clock struck 12. Happy New Year!

Today has been really productive around here. Jody and I took the Christmas tree down, I did a few loads of laundry including our bed linens, Jody straigtened up the extra bedroom (in the basement) for my sister's arrival in two days, then I went down there and did a bunch of organizing and rearranging. I gathered up a big box full of things to give away - curtains, blinds, sweaters, coats, magazines, old purses, etc. Guess I'm getting started on my voluntary simplicity living. ;)

Jody has the day off tomorrow, but a friend of his will be in from out of town, so he and all the boys are getting together for an all-day DnD session. Blah.

I think the lil miss and I will run some errands. I'm on the lookout for a cute little chair for her that I can also use for my photography business, so we might hit a flea market or second-hand shop or two. We'll see. Also need to do a bit more cleaning before my sister gets into town. She'll be staying with us for six days. She hasn't seen Ava since her 1st birthday in June so she's very excited about getting to spend some time with her niece. And I'm excited to see her too. :)

And now I'm going to go read some more about simple living. (Thanks for the link, Amy!)