The Night before the Day before New Year's

Alright, got my classes figured out. I've decided to pursue my women's studies minor. The classes are always interesting and thought-provoking and I figured it may help depending which direction I take my activism, etc. So my schedule is:

1230-145 Intro to Political Theory (been dreading this but Alexis took it last semester so she'll be my salvation)
200-315 Cultural Anthropology (swear this will be the last class i "don't need" but it just sounds like so much fun!)
330-445 International Relations (with Alexis!!)
Online:Women, Gender, & Environment
and: The Female Experience in America

SPEAK meetings will be Thursday nights.

Five classes. Lots of reading. but Dena says I'll only be working 20 hours/week once Camie gets back which means extra time and less money so more time to read! Plus I think taking a class online (in this case two) will be a big help again. It's easy to "fall behind" but I also like being able to manage my own schedule and not sit around campus for no reason...although I'll end up doing that anyways. Also looking forward to not having to get up SUPER early and deal with morning Tampa traffic although parking will be way horrible at 1230. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Got next weekend off, doing a demonstration against Ringling and some other things. Off tomorrow as well *New Year's Eve* hehe.. gonna see Dead Kennedys at night.

-kristie

Two days off!

Wow, so I actually have two days off in a row!! It's amazing. I'm going to spend them tidying up the house so that I can relax once school starts. I will post pictures of anything interesting I come up with! I also need to trade coffee tables with my dad and then paint the ones I'm keeping. It has three glass panes on the top and I was thinking of creating some kind of collage from underneath. Thinking of going with black for the rest of it since my old bedroom and IKEA furniture are all black. Even though the kitchen needs the most work, I'm gonna do living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, (the 2nd bedroom is still full of boxes >.<). Although I'm not sure if I can really clean the living room without having the 2nd bedroom to separate things into.

January 1st I will be doing some SERIOUS blogging as it is one of my New Year's Resolutions..oh! Here's the list:



1. Stop biting my nails. Which means I'm totally getting it out of my system right now... To do this I will need to religiously paint them..and when the paint starts chipping, take it off and paint them again.

2.Make menus. This will help me with my whole blogging/cooking thing as well as being able to spend less on food with my fourteen trips a week to the grocery store/restaurants/etc.

3. Blog once a day. I'll start with themes to help me stay on track and to go along with my other goals... So far I have "Movie Mondays" which will help me turn in my Netflix movies.. "Tasty Tuesday" to go with my whole cooking thing.. "Wake Up Wednesday" crazy stuff going on in the world since I AM allegedly going to school for Political Science... "Thirsty Thursdays" because I'm getting a blender for Christmas (*fingers crossed*) and am going to make tons of awesome drinks... "Fashion Fridays" where I'll dive into my ever expanding yet boring wardrobe which will help me to NOT buy new clothes and to rework the ones I already have... then Saturday and Sunday I've yet to come up with or will be "whatever" posts...who knows...*maybe a band review on Saturdays to help with #14

4. So yeah, Don't buy new clothes!! (and other things I don't need). Which will help with the blogging as well as the:

5. Get rid of student loan debt!! (Or at least get it under $2000 which I can easily make up after graduating before the whole "accumulating interest" kicks in.

6. Hold a yardsale in the Spring!! Pretty self explanatory..help with the aforementioned as well as:

7. Clean the house!!! But I mean, really clean it. Get rid of everything we don't need/use or upcycle/recycle it into something new...including this broken television.

8. Read textbooks. Again, self explanatory..I just don't do this.

9. Keep my car clean. It's always a mess and noone can ever fit in it (maybe I like this).

10. Cut out soda! (and other random things I shouldn't be eating/drinking..except Taco Bell, I can't get rid of you.)

11. Have an awesome SPEAK semester! SPEAK (Students Protecting the Environment & Animals thru Knowledge) is my student on-campus group.

12. Workout regime! Pronto. and I'll make Stephanie go with me!

13. Get a tattoo!

14. Learn a new song on guitar every week. That's 52 songs by 2012 :)

Hefty list but I'm gonna try!!
-Kristie

Happy Holidays!!!

Here's what I got :D



Nine chapsticks, AR videos to use w/ SPEAK, hand sanitizers/lotion/bodywash, cupcake maker/donut maker/blender, juicer, owl vase/SUPERfreakonomics, scarf(my mom made) w/ matching birdy/photobox, penguin pajamas, quesadilla maker and magic cleaning cloths, dry erase calendar board, amber necklace, and a cutie making gingerbread houses with me.

**and the not pictured thai cookbook!! woops, it was in the bottom of the box, i'll get the picture up later!

I guess I was good this year ;)

-Kristie

Stuffed Peppers!!

I don't really know why but I'm so proud of myself for making stuffed peppers, even though it was incredibly easy!!! Honestly, just poured some olive oil in a pan, added mushrooms and fresh garlic (which I smell like again ugh haha), then added some boca veggie crumbles, tomato puree, black beans, and brown rice...mixed it all together, gutted the green peppers and tomatoes (marc hates peppers), filled them up, baked them in the oven, added some cheese and voila!!!!

Just need to bake for about 15-20 minutes and the whole mixing ingredients maybe took about 10 (boiling the rice/frying the crumbles, etc.).



bon appetit!!
-kristie

P.S. I am just loving these owl purses!!!

Busy,Busy

Well, I thought Christmas break was going to be a month of peaceful recuperating and organizing but it's yet to be such!! I'm back to working 40 hours (partly because Camie has the month off, partly because they don't really want me parttime EVER) and then there's been this whole Christmas fiasco and the fact that I love going to sleep early. Anyways, I did spend a day moving the massive pile of yardsale stuff consuming our kitchen into the 2nd bedroom (which we've hardly ever used for anything other than an old computer room in Marc's case) and organizing the kitchen a bit...



Finally hung up our "Halloween" caricature and moved all of our cookbooks from the living room into the kitchen (although they're connected, it still makes me want to use them more.)

The house still needs a lot of work and I really don't have the motivation. I'd rather not be working fulltime right now but the whole "student loan debt" issue stops me from putting my foot down. Sometimes I don't even know why I'm going to school since "real jobs" make me want to vomit. Hopefully it will all eventually work out.

I made cinnamon buns out of biscuits the other day, forgot to snap a photo but they were delicious!! Just mixed cinnamon w/ sugar to put inside them and made frosting out of powdered sugar.

So far I'm only taking four classes in the Spring. I'm contemplating a language but I might back out--since my French permit has yet to go through (and I can't drive an hour away 4 days a week just for Chinese again). Think I might just keep it to the four (and one's online!) because I know two of them at least are going to be a lot of reading and I'd love some time to start an ETSY store to help out with the not working as much thing.

That's it for now, I suppose. Also putting together a 2011 Goal List, will post here later!!

8)

Good morning!

This morning I decided to brave this cold and windy weather to get some breakfast ingredients (which I found out later I had at least half of already...) I decided to make chocolate chip scones with an orange glaze!!

They were super yummy! I grabbed the recipe from this book.

When I went to make the glaze, I misread "orange juice" for "orange extract" so just put less extract and added some vanilla almond milk to smooth it out. still turned out fine :)

Last night for dinner, I made chickun w/ cheezy mashed potatoes and some raw veggies. yum!!



Happy Eating! :D

Also realized after REbuying a bunch of ingredients today that I totally need to reorganize my kitchen!! I work all night but tomorrow I'm off so have to start a list of projects to accomplish!! Pictures when it starts getting interesting :)

Vegan No Bake Cookies!!!

Guess what, the semester's almost over. That means I'm seriously (seriously) even though my own boyfriend doesn't believe me seriously going to do this blog!! Look, I'm going to start right now. I've been trying to research really HEALTHY eating but am CRAVING some dessert foods.. I decided to look up no-bake cookies when I realized that I have a BUNCH of oatmeal leftover from a previous roommate. (I HATE oatmeal but I LOVE oatmeal cookies.)

So, I found this simple, vegan, no bake (I just used a microwave for the whole heating thing) cookie recipe on this vegan forum. Thanks!

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

2 tablespoons of E.B. or another butter substitute
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
dash salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla
1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter (optional: add more to taste and increase the oatmeal) - I personally used soynut butter - but any nut butter will do.
1 1/2 cups UNCOOKED oatmeal
-heat butter until the butter is melted. Add 1/4 cup cocoa and blend until the cocoa is dissolved into the butter.
-Add the sugar, milk and salt. Blend well.
-bring ingredients to a full boil. You want a full boil, but because it will continue to cook for awhile once it's removed from heat, heating it too long can cause the mixture to scorch.)
-Add the vanilla, peanut butter and oatmeal. Stir well. Drop by tablespoon-full on waxed paper and allow to cool.

They are absolutely delicious!! I used vanilla soymilk (maybe this helped since I didn't actually have any vanilla but I use it for everything, even mashed potatoes.) As an added sweetener, I poured in some agave nectar. I used my new favorite earth balance soy-free butter and tahini nut butter instead of peanutbutter (which I happened to be out of). I probably used at least 4 times the peanutbutter it called for.. it helps make them thicker plus I am a huge fan!!! Try them out, delicious :D

p.s. makes more than shown above but i'm currently chowing down on the rest of the mixture. I would also usually use almond milk but my grocery store was out--but that would make them soy free as well!

Exciting things Happening

Time to mention them even though I know I won't blog for another month..ugh.

Veg Fest is this Saturday!! It's going to be awesome. Free vegan food, adoptions, musicians, speakers, artists, eco-friendly exhibitors, etc. Marc and I are volunteering at the Children's booth (reading and coloring, killer!!) :D Dr. Tauber and Dr. Ponticelli are both announcing it in their classes and I've written to some other organizations as well aaand, made a handy dandy Facebook event.

Other happenings: heard back from HSUS and Drew regarding our Dissection Alternative campaign on campus.

Entering a vegan chili competition.... a few other things in the making.

This week we went to Boca Fiesta and Karma Cream TWO days in a row. They have new fried okra as well as stir fry veggies with vegan queso. TO DIE FOR!! The vegan cookie dough icecream is so so good. They even have all the toppings: vegan whipped cream, chocolate, marshmallows, etc.

Then, we went to Mellow Mushroom on Marc's birthday and got some killer calzones. All this after visiting the Ethos Vegan Kitchen for my birthday!! I'll have to get some pictures on here soon.

We just got new fancy "grown-up" aka Android phones so I need to figure out how to send the pictures online/to facebook.

School is going well. I am suuuper busy. 20 (really 17) credit hours and the Prez for SPEAK but I love it.

Finally went down to 20 hours at work.

Driving to PA next weekend for a few days, to see Anti-Flag and Jamin.

Marc has a show this Saturday and Friday we're going to Howl-O-Scream.

Chinese is going well, today was shaky but I'm halfway decent at it at least for a beginner.

Cleaning the begeezers outta the house incase Jamin comes back. Going well, our kitchen is FULL of stuff we're getting rid of. I'm liking it. There is MORE stuff in our room (added a desk, some craft stuff drawers, etc. yet I think it looks bigger and cleaner than before. What gives?

Plenty to do, over and out til later :)

Shout Out to Taco Bus!!

This is Taco Bus. Yes, it's a bus. (with a sit-in area on the side and around back)

They are open 24/7 and have not only delicious grilled tofu BUT

VEGAN STEAK STRIPS and

Butternut Squash Tostadas.

Thank you, taco bus. http://www.tampatacobus.com

It's not a Snuggie.

So funny, Frances and I had mentioned wanting Snuggies (yet feel horrible joining the Snuggie bandwagon). Really, they are a great design! Those who are not avid readers just don't understand. Last night we went to get Italian Ice and then walked around the stores (Marc's trying to find some new shorts). The first thing I see is......



Mine! hahaha, and it's not a Snuggie! Technically. Either way, I can now read peacefully on the cold, winter nights. I wish they had two because I would have gotten Frances one. Maybe we can share custody.

Then we went to Sally's and I got some purple haze hair dye.. not sure exactly what I want to do to my hair but I GUESS I'm growing it out again.. I usually get really bored with my hair which is why I always end up chopping it off. I used to dye it orange here and there but now that I have a job that wants you to look """PROFESSIONAL""" I can't--unless I go back to the wig I wore when I had a mohawk (ha). Maybe I could just use the 'punky professional' dye Marc told me about-harhar-

Current hair (after being out in the hothotheat)

kind of a weird growing out shortness

I also made shorts out of a pair of teal pants I had...just TOO much teal to cover all of my legs, idk. Plus I need some shorts-added a Cobra Skulls patch to the back pocket (which I still need to do another run through with needle and thread) and voila! shorts :) and they're the perfect length.



work 11-8 talk about ruining your day..

my favorite vegan noodles & gravy dish

Note: I used to eat noodles and gravy as a kid like nobody's business!! Everytime I went to Grandma's I wanted noodles and gravy. Here is my vegan swing on things.


P.S. I had already eaten almost half of the noodles and used less than 1/2 can gravy!! So when I explain my servings, the bowl had been full to the top with noodles...

Besides the fact that everyone at work is starting their 'diet' this week, I'm starting to really look into what we're eating and how to create the perfect, well-rounded vegan meals. I thought I was doing the right thing by buying these 'tricolor' noodles .. (maybe pasta in general is just really THIS packed full of carbs) .. but here is the breakdown of what I was making tonight.

Ingredients:
1 box tricolor twisty noodles
1 can Campbell's mushroom gravy
1 bag Gardein "beefless" beef tips

The noodles are pretty crazy:
328 carbs
56 grams of protein,
1680 calories,
8 grams of fat.
I probably eat 1/3the box at a time that makes it..
109 carbs,
19g protein
560 calories,
<3g fat
mushroom gravy is.. (whole can)..
5 grams of fat,
100 calories,
15 carbs..
cut in 1/2,
2.5 grams of fat,
50 calories,
7.5 carbs. not bad.

beeftips
45g protein,
17.5 carbs,
6g fat,
300 calories....
soooo in half again
22.5 grams protein,
8.75 carbs,
3g fat,
150 calories.


GRAND TOTAL: (1/3 regular box of noodles, 1/2 can gravy, half bag beeftips)


41.5g protein (someone my weight should eat a little under 50g a day optimally, so almost done this meal alone ;D)

125 carbs--not terrible but still more than Marc should have in one meal (diabetic, supposed to have about 75carbs three times a day)

about 8g fat--really good I think!!!

1010 calories (half daily intake) which seems a lot but dinner IS my biggest meal of the day


Hmm.. I need to go look at pastas and see if there's anything with lower carbs that would be better for us to eat. I do like that it is high in protein, though.

I'm back! (from GA)

Okay, for starters I found the best gourmet-type vegan restaurant in Atlanta! It is called Cafe Sunflower:

We almost didn't find it. I had looked up 'vegan restaurants in georgia' and found the menu for it which looked irresistible. vegan lasagna!? Yes, please. I called one number and it was a fax or something, my GPS would NOT find the address and when I called the other number noone picked up. I tried again a little later and finally!...an answer w/ directions. We later find out that they close for a few hours between lunch and dinner so I guess that's why I couldn't get through.

We got two appetizers, two meals, two teas, and two desserts as follows:

Sampler Box containing spring rolls w/ sweet-n-sour sauce, hummus w/ pita bread and veggies, soy nuggets, i can't remember what those things are called you get in like wonton? soup, and stuffed mushrooms. DELISH!

fried green tomatoes! with hummus in between them, SO DELICIOUS!

Marc got this, some kind of lemon crusted tempeh w/ mashed potatoes and veggies

I got this eggplant orzo lasagna w/ tofu ricotta!!

These delicious sugar and caffeine free all-natural tea.

and two pieces of pie!! Peanutbutter (front) Chocolate (back)

We asked for a dessert menu and they literally brought out a tray of pie slices to choose from!! ALL VEGAN! I was in heaven and teared up on the inside. Some of the other pies were chocolate raspberry, carrot, coconut creme?, strawberry shortcake.. but my mind was set on peanutbutter!!!

So why Georgia? ...to see this man!

aka Billie Joe Armstrong! Whom, sources tell me, is totally veg! They are Marc's favorite band and we got a guitar pick and one of tre's drumsticks so that was awesome. Two days before this we went to an 8-hour ska show called the Mass Ska Raid at the Masquerade, get it? and.... they had tofurkey kilbasa and boca burgers!! SCORE!! It was only $4 for two kilbasas and a bag of chips. The same price as two cheap hotdogs and a bag of chips :) I thought that was awesome. In between this, we went to a place called Little 5 Points with our friend Mike. Him and his wife were gracious enough to let us stay at their house while we were up there. (THANKS!) We went to this restaurant (the name is escaping me) and they had really awesome veggie chili, burgers, zucchini chips, sweet potato fries, tater tots, etc.etc.

All in all, a very good trip!! On the way back to FL we stopped in Gainesville to get some icecream and a cupcake, brownie, and cookie from Karma Cream!! It used to be 24 hours but I think right now they close down for a bit at around 2:30AM? Not sure..there was some kind of sign on the door but I slightly ignored it due to the fact that I LOVE their icecream. I got toffee w/ vegan whipped cream and vegan hot chocolate fudge :) Marc got a chocolate & pumpkin shake. So good!

Oh, we also saw that Will Ferrell movie "The Other Guys." I thought it was a lot better than the trailer made it seem, so no disappointments! Also got a Rat Fink doll and a Tank Girl comic book!! hehe.

I really need to figure out how to do my own layout on this thing, as a side point.

So we got back Wednesday at 1/2AM. Interned that day.. I ate my leftover lasagna :) and made my favorite 'beefless' beef tips w/ noodles and gravy for dinner, started reorganizing the house (trying to get this done before school starts up--11 days!)

Today I worked 11-8 and literally ate an entire dish of nacho dip for lunch and dinner. I'm addicted!!! Tofutti now makes a sourcream & guacamole together. I actually bought in on accident but it tastes SO good with salsa. I always thought normal sourcream was kinda nasty but the tofutti one is so addicting!! It has the same taste except without the gross feeling of eating curdled milk. Just mixing that with salsa is good enough..with some daiya cheddar cheese on top. Refried or black beans are always good as another layer and you can make veggie crumbles with taco seasoning for meat. mmm I love vegan taco nights!

I went through all of my nail polishes and threw away the ones that weren't good anymore. I then went on to paint them pink with white polka dots! I love painting my nails (which I happened to stop biting while in Georgia). It's weird because the last time I stopped biting them was when I went up to South Carolina and when school was starting and here we are--vacation and school is starting!! Coincidence?

I rearranged the furniture in the living room maybe two weeks ago. It seems so much larger and inviting-like a living room should feel! The record player is now in a corner on my old tv stand and all of our records (currently) fit on the shelf below it. The guitar stand even has its own space. I actually spend time in here and can even have boardgame nights after the redo. Hooray!

That's all to report, intern again tomorrow. Work Saturday and Sunday.

corn yarn!

I have thai food photos to upload!

My Mom knits and whatnot and is going to make me a killer scarf for the winter. Of course, we were looking up different colored yarns (wool-free yarns)...and she found this awesome yarn made out of corn!!!



They have a lot of other awesome colors, too. She uses this site called yarnmarket.com that has links to tons of different places that sell the stuff. I am super excited to get my cruelty-free scarf!!!

Other not necessarily vegan-only updates:
Phenylalinine: That stuff that is all over labels with a giant "caution" or some kind of bold color around it! I looked it up... Here's the chain: In large quantities, it inhibits your body's ability to produce serotonin. It's in aspartame so it's in a whole lot of sugar-free stuff. That's why aspartame causes mood swings.. the lack of serotonin!! I knew aspartame caused mood swings but never knew the scientific reason behind it. It's also been linked to cancer. So, any sugar-free eaters or diabetics out there (my boyfriend's diabetic) beware!!

..because it's not just a bite.

I am just terrible at blogging!! It's been a good two weeks. I always have such great blogging intentions but I don't really like writing unless it's 3AM and I'm home alone. Being awake at 3AM and by myself is not going to happen...so my body must adjust!! I randomly send really crappy phone pics to facebook but I will update you with what has been my quickest/tastiest find this week. *drumroll..............*


voila!! I call them 'bagel chomps'... get it? (bagel bites...but theyre' really big. The name has already grown on me and rolls freely off my tongue whenever I am making them. I use everything bagels, some kinda dairy-free fancy spaghetti sauce I found at the grocery store (forget the name..it started with a 'b'?) and DAIYA cheese...which is amazing and actually melts (I could have melted it more but I am extremely impatient and 1) don't cook things long enough and 2) eat things when they are extremely hot and burn my mouth. I can't help it, I love food!! These were honestly delicious, though. Daiya has a pretty strong flavor so you don't even need that much.. and the sauce was like basil and garlic so that added to it as well.

I used to use "parma" but I can't find it anywhere around here. I get Daiya down in Tampa. The best thing is it's dairy, gluten, and soy free! So my Mom can eat it, too :) (she does the gluten-free thing.)

Other vegan updates:
Toms Shoes added two new vegan wrap boot colors! Olive and ash! Still haven't decided which color to splurge on.

I've also gone on questioning what "caranauba wax" is. Well, it's vegan!
"Carnauba, also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the palm, Copernicia prunifera, a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of Piauí, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Norte.[1] It is known as "queen of waxes"[2] and usually comes in the form of hard yellow-brown flakes. It is obtained from the leaves of the carnauba palm by collecting them, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching the wax."

So Frances and whomever she is with (Ian/Emily? just Emily?) are coming over. We might make vegan whipped cream! :D

This past update-less week.

I know, not blogging lately. I've been incredibly busy. Work has been okay, getting a bit busier now, for whatever reason...yet more strict (no cellphones aka texting haha, no drinks without lids, no food which--doesn't USUALLY apply to me since copious amounts of chocolate is often NOT vegan..) One of the warehouse guys is having a baby so I need to go find a gift from Target (my favorite store ever). I LOVE buying baby things!!! I honestly have this outfit I got at Old Navy for $1 JUST BECAUSE. Too bad it's a girl and not a boy, this is definitely a "boy" outfit..it'll have to sit in my closet a bit longer, ha.

Internship-running smoothly. About a month and a half to go (before school starts). I've been more or less keeping the journal running smoothly but have yet to start the 20 page paper. I'm hoping I get the inspiration next week to start working on it. Perhaps my house will be a little more put together....

THE HOUSE! I'm in an incredibly creative and COLORFUL, might I add, mood lately. I went shopping at the usuals (Ross, Marshalls, Target) and got some wonderful things. Bright orange curtains, an owl stuffed with potpourri, 200 colored cardstock squares, awesome wedges with colored stripes on the sides, Marc got the movie Igor...we need to watch it again before he brings it to work. I know there's more!! New orange ceramic bowls since I'm probably throwing away most of our old dishes.. Marc got a giant glass boot, like Beerfest, except we don't drink so it's either going to be 1)gifted to a deserving individual or 2) turned into a plant pot!! :D So then, TARGET!! had these 4 packs of plastic dishes (yes plastic but it's TARGET so it's decent) plates/bowls/cups for $2 each!! Then they had these huge square plates with splattered colors (which happened to match the colors in one of the sets I bought) and giant cups soooo...got two of each of those :) also $2.. Then they had HUGE mixing bowls so got one black, one pink :) I literally walked up to the cashier with my arms full of dishes but I think it was well worth it. Oh yeah! and this awesome cheetah print mug from Marshalls..for tea drinking, solely :)

So the cardstock, I made little origami birds and hung them above my reading chair in our room! They are SO cute!! I'm trying to make the house look nice before the summer is over so that it's not frustrating me once school starts. I want to have my mom/stepdad over for *vegan* dinner one night, too. I think I know just what to make. Thus, I am looking for a nice little dining room table that can fit four if need be.. any ideas? I know I can get one from Ikea and Target... I think I'm going to buy the chairs from Target that Marc hates, I'll just make my own cushions for them. I need someone to get this twin bed and other bs out of my house!!! It's just sitting there and it's hard to clean when theres a mountain of things you just want out of your house. I need to hit up Goodwill ugh no it's this huge chain store now, I'll probably bring everything to St. Vincent's or something instead.

School! I just redid my school schedule and it's so beautiful I could cry...and hopefully it won't make me cry for other reasons once I'm halfway into it..like last semester (HA), oh, last semester was a trainwreck.

Here we go!! Chinese I/Lab, Chinese Cinema, International Human Rights, Totalitarianism in Film and Lit., and a research paper on Animal Rights Philosophy sponsored by Tauber :D I am beyond excited. I moved some things around so I could have a semester to just really enjoy myself BECAUSE:

I really wanna get an ETSY store running! I know JUST what I'm going to make.

Speaking of making, I have not been a good chef lately! Believe me.. takeout takeout and more takeout??? Chinese, Taco Bell, Thai.. really not that $$ but still. The kitchen just honestly needs a massive overhaul before I make anything fancy. I did, however, bring the vegan cupcake book to work with me. If I am somehow super full of energy tonight, I'm going to tackle enough of the kitchen to attempt making cupcakes. We'll see how that goes. If it's a success, there will be pictures.

Oh! Went to Harry Potter world on Monday--amazing. The ride was ridiculous (you know, the good kind of ridiculous) but it made me pretty sick. The only thing we didn't do was the wand picker but I wanted to save something for next time (we have passes).. Butterbeer is just cream soda. Bummer? eh. The pumpkin juice was REALLY good though!!! Chocolate frogs are $10--you are warned. Everything is totally worth it though, it's Harry Potter!! And note, Mythos--the "Lost Continent" restaurant right outside HP has Pad Thai right now!! VEGAN! and my favorite, ever. It doesn't come close to the Thai restaurant here, it's very light, but it was still an awesome find. And City Walk has Moe's for dinner after the parks close :D There's also a burger joint in each park that offers veggie burgers. Finally breaking through? haha!

Oh! I made mac-n-cheese with ramen noodles. I've decided ramen noodles SUCK and I refuse to ever try to convince myself otherwise ever again..same goes for oatmeal. BLECK! The cheese sauce I made was really good though.. mix of daiya and nutritional yeast. Tonight I'm probably going to make spinach stuffed ravioli with spaghetti sauce--next week I'll try to tackle the alfredo sauce :D

I promise, pictures soon. I'm in serious need of getting the house together so that's all I've been doing every night. Yes, it's going to take that long. and then I have so many ideas sometimes I just sit there and stare.

Tonight: Tackle kitchen, make cupcakes, finish bedroom, SIGNUP for traffic school.

I think I can handle that?

Pizza time!

Okay, I know I haven't been updating this thing. Did go to my faaaaaavorite thai restaurant ever the other night. I hadn't been in over a week!!! I just can't go that long without peanut sauce (best thing on this planet, more or less.)

Tonight (since there's still a ton of cheese left over) I decided to make a pizza. Half green peppers (my half) half mushrooms (Marc's half) all pepporoni :) I don't remember the name of the pepperoni I used, I threw the label away a while ago, but I got it at Whole Foods. It's Pillsbury pizza dough crust. Touch of italian seasonings in the sauce. VOILA! Bon appetit.

I spent $20+ on cheese this week.

I need to start using my camera and not my crappy phone for these pictures. I was very excited ALL day to come home and make quesadillas!!! Chicken quesadillas. What better to accompany this than nachos!?!?? I used tofutti sour cream and daiya cheese. Both awesome! What else was in the nacho dip?... guacamole :) salsa, beans, cheese. Fast, easy, cheap, and delicious.

SUCCESS!

vegan boots... yes, please!

Vegan blog so I can post ALL things vegan right? Like these amazing boots, def. at the top of my Christmas list. Get a shoe give a shoe- TOMSSHOES.com. For a chick with skinny legs, it's hard to get the perfect fitting boot. Here it is no matter what size you are: the TOMS vegan wrap boots, they come in MULTIPLE colors and I am just in love. I broke down and bought a pair of vegan toms a couple weeks ago (flats). SO comfortable!!!!

Last night I decided

that I was craving something with peanutbutter. SO.... what better to make than chocolate covered peanutbutter balls? By the time I got to the "chocolate" part (you have to freeze them before and after adding chocolate) I was running out the door so I can't say I made them in perfect little chocolatey circles. I moreso dumped some chocolate on top of them and ran out the door. Are they still delicious? Of course. And for those depressing nights I honestly say hey, just throw the ingredients together in a bowl, stir, and enjoy. Your stomach won't thank you any less.

What's not always vegan? Well, I decided I didn't feel like using any butter or margarine *vegan brands are.. smart balance/earth balance* cause sometimes things like butter, mayonnaise, etc. just gross me out even when I have the vegan alternative. Will they stick together better WITH melted butter? Probably.

I did throw in some graham crackers which honestly made them awesome. Anything non-"honey maid" will work for that.

and then the chocolate :) Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (and I believe their semi-sweet chocolate chips) are dairy-free. Although I'm honestly not a fan of either on their own, they have both turned out wonderful in baked goods.

Okay guys, I admit it..

..after driving home in rush hour traffic from my internship (yeah, it took an hour and a half to get home today).. I just wanted something to eat and I didn't want to cook it. So I scrounged up the change in my car (like I said, Friday is payday) and stopped at Taco Bell for a Fresco Bean Burrito.. I mean, for $1.11 you can get a burrito (refried beans, tomatoes, hot sauce, all wrapped up in a wonderfully delicious tortilla shell), a water, hot sauce, and extra napkins for your car! You can't really go wrong.

However, my lemonade of choice when I get home...Simply Lemonade w/ Raspberry. It will never do me wrong-if you haven't had it, it is worth the splurge. Maybe I'll get ballsy later tonight and whip up something else to eat. hmm.. *and the wheels start turning.

There's vegans, veganistas, kristies, and me: the veganistie :D

Well, here we have it. I suppose this adventure begins with the first time I watched the film Julie & Julia. What a great idea, blogging about food-- (one of my favorite things). I happened to walk into the breakroom the other day and this movie was playing. A few moments later it hit me... I should do something similar--perhaps take a similar cookbook and veganize it!! I always get asked how I eat, what I eat, where I receive this or that (protein, calcium, etc.) and people are always shocked when I tell them what I had for dinner... "Vegan sloppy joes?? How does that work?" Well, here I am.. to not only tell you but SHOW you exactly how that (and yes, a whole lot more) works. Now, I must admit that I am a bit busy... work + school + internship + living outside of my parent's house does not always provide me with as much money or time as I would like. However, I am here to prove that going vegan can be both cheap and delicious. There will be the 5 minute meals (yes, like the vegan sloppy joes) but I promise to throw a few curve balls along the way. If I eat it, it will be in this blog. . . and there will be pictures.

Since payday is Friday (and this is Wednesday morning), tonight I'm going to throw together whatever I can find in my house...bare with me :) For lunch today I had leftover Thai -- pad thai tofu (no egg) with a side of peanut sauce. DELICIOUS! I honestly drag my boyfriend there 1+ times a week and yes, the waiter knows my order by heart. SO!

Pictures tonight..what am I gonna make?