Weekend Wrap Up

Well this weekend wrapped up No Impact Week here in Greensboro.

To commemorate the week I finished by reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan.

A good book indeed and it gave more in-depth information than could obviously be included in the movie.

I do have to say, and I in no way receive any sort of compensation for doing so, that the book is well done and the real jewel of the book is the list of resources in the back.  You can get website information about how to volunteer with a local environmental group or how to find a clothing swap in your area.  There are also numerous book suggestions (many of which have gone on my list to pick up at my local library).

To further apply our no impact philosophy, and to do something useful with a plastic item, my son Andrew and I made a watering can from a large white vinegar bottle.

To make it was super simple.  He drilled (yes he got a little power tool exposure) one hole in the cap and then several holes in the bottom of the bottle.

To make it work

• Fill a bucket with water (preferably with water from your rain barrel).
• Push the bottle down in the water so that it can fill up (keep your thumb off the top hole)
• Put your thumb over the hole on the cap and lift from bucket

The water is trapped and you can just remove your thumb from the hole once you are at the flower bed.

I was really impressed with how easy this was and that it worked.

Once the recycling project was finished we were on to another project...chocolate making.

I am so very lucky to have a friend like Sharon, Bit of the Good Stuff.  She sent me this fantastic raw chocolate making kit.

I put my fear aside and got out the kitchen scale.

I put WAY to much thought into how hard this was going to be...because in the end it was SO easy.

It took all of about 10 minutes (and then another 90 while I waited for it to set up in the fridge).

My result...well take a look for yourself:

They are in a four leaf clover pattern for St. Patrick's Day

I put a goji berry on each one and waited.  I didn't want to get too fancy or stray from the original recipe as I wanted to make sure I got it just right.

My kids will tell you they love them, but are mad that I didn't let them eat more than one a piece.

They are indeed delicious and I highly recommend raw chocolate making to anyone who can do a little measuring.

Other than that that was about it for my weekend...OH well there was a little matter of Georges St Pierre retaining his welterweight title (in a fantastic fight against Nick Diaz).  

Yeah for GSP!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and are ready to kick off a fantastic Monday.

Remember today is the last day to enter my Plastic Free by Beth Terry giveaway (check it out here).

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Happy Friday to All

Today's post is a bit of a mish mosh.

Here are some things I have been wanting to share, but on their own they don't really warrant an entire post.

I have been drinking lemon water because I heard it was a good way to start off the day...and I always read Sharon having it when she puts up her WIAW posts.

I opened the Vega newsletter this morning and low and behold they listed out 5 reasons to drink lemon water...sweet (well really tart):

Support immune function: Lemons are high in antioxidant vitamin C, known for its supportive role in healthy immune function.
Alkalize the body: Although the tartness of a lemon may make them seem acidic, lemons are actually one of the most alkalizing foods for the body. Lemons contain both citric and ascorbic acid, weak acids easily metabolized from the body allowing the mineral content of lemons to help alkalize the blood.
Aid digestion: Citrus flavonols are believed responsible for lemon’s traditional use as a digestive tonic.
Clear skin: Vitamin C and other antioxidants in lemons combat free radical damage. Free radical damage — especially as caused by UV exposure and environmental toxins — is responsible for many symptoms of aging.
Promote healing: Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), found in abundance in lemons, promotes wound healing, and is an essential nutrient in the maintenance of healthy bones, connective tissue, and cartilage.

These are some fantastic reasons to start your day off with lemons...so run out and pick up 1 or 20 and get to drinking.
For the full article click here.

My daughter found a new way to sleep:

She is in a box with two pillows curled up in a semi-fetal position.  I don't know how her legs didn't fall asleep, but she seemed very pleased with her ingenuity when I talked to her about it after the fact.

I signed up for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012

You receive the name of three fellow bloggers and send them each a dozen homemade cookies (include the recipe).  In return you receive 3 dozen cookies from other bloggers.

I participated last year and so enjoyed the treats I received (I was given 3 vegan bloggers and in return received vegan cookies).

You can participate outside of the US as long as there are 4 other bloggers from your country to participate.

This year's swap has an added feature in that you make a $4 donation to Cookies for Kids' Cancer as part of your participation.

So not only will you be filling your tummy you will be filling this wonderful charities coffers as well.

I am going to be running my second 5k, Hit the Brixx, this weekend.

Not only have I roped my mom into coming again (she ran the Women's Only 5k with me 2 weeks ago) but my 10 year old, Owen, is going as well.

I am excited to keep up the running fun.  I really can't believe that I enjoy training and running, as I have spent 30 years avoiding it (maybe this is what a mid-life crisis is).

The Packers won, and won big last weekend (WOOHOO), with Aaron Rodgers ALMOST scoring a touchdown (it was brought back when one of his teammates fouled):

To end this on a foodie note here is my absolute favorite find on Pinterest this week:

Source: blog.zokuhome.com via Cherie on Pinterest

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe weekend.

Thanks so much for reading my ramblings.

What fun things are you going to do this weekend?

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WIAW Valentine's Day

Happy What I Ate Wednesday Friends!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day even, if like our host Jenn, you aren't completely into the holiday.

I have to say that I was pretty amazed how many times the guys at work said "Happy Valentine's Day" to me. I really figured it would pass most of them right by. I suppose I should give them more credit :)

Today I want to show you what yesterday's eats entailed for my children.

I will warn you though there is a copious amount of pink and hearts...what can I say I love my kids.

For breakfast we started off with heart shaped pink pancakes:

I topped Caroline's with powdered sugar (pictured above) but the boys opted for Nutella (and ate them before they could be photographed).

For lunch:

A PB&J cut into a heart shape, veggie straws, a fruit leather (pomegranate from Target...and they are organic), as well as homemade apple-pear sauce (sweetened with cinnamon).

And last but not least:

An iced vegan sugar cookie topped with crushed freeze dried strawberries (completely delicious and thank you Celeste for giving me the idea). 

For dinner:

A Field Roast mild Italian sausage on toast with mustard.  I topped it with homemade brussel sprout slaw and had a side of jalapeno Food Should Taste Good chips. 

I LOVE Field Roast and was completely in love with all elements of this meal.

So what did you have for Valentine's Day?

Be sure to hop over to Jenn's, at Peas and Crayons, and see what other bloggers had this week.  Your mouth may water, but I promise you won't be sorry.

Two quick announcements:

1. Yesterday day I ran a one day giveaway to give a little love to my readers.  The winner is Jess from Floptimism.
2. Also I have a Food Should Taste Good chip giveaway running through tonight.  You too could win some yummy chips just like my jalapeno ones I had for dinner.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Vegan Brownie Pie

This past weekend my kids and I wanted to celebrate my husband's birthday (a little early).

I think it is because they wanted some cake love him so.

I asked him what kind of treat he would like...which I knew would be like pulling teeth.

See Kyle isn't one for sweets and really he only had one request...he wanted oreos in it.

Well of course I could accomodate him.

I decided I would create for him a brownie pie with oreo crust.

The chocolate all blended together so that you couldn't see the crust, but I promise the overload of sweet does hit you.

For Crust
20 organic chocolate sandwich cookies
1 Tbsp Earth Balance, melted

Take the cookies and smash the hell out of crush them in a gallon ziploc bag with a rolling pin.

Add your Earth Balance and then press into a spring form pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Brownie filling was from Colleen Patrick Goudreau's The Joy of Vegan Baking (which as a side note is just a wonderful book for some very delicious desserts).

Pour the prepared brownie on top of the crust and bake for an additional 40 minutes.

The result was pure joy from my house...mainly because Caroline was so very excited to sing "Happy Birthday."

What is your favorite cake to have for your birthday?

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday.

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WIAW Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WIAW...you are officially 1 year old.  What an exciting day and thank you Jenn for bringing us into this wonderful mix so that we can peep at what each other eats (even if it is just one days worth).

We will have to virtually share this delicious cake

Now onto the eats!

Well this is Monday for me.

The day started off with my kids begging me to take them to Panera (no school and no work on account of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday). 

I am not a hard sell as I absolutely love that place and they know it...so they manipulate me easily.

For breakfast I had the new Mediterranean egg white sandwich

This was incredibly filling which meant I needed no morning snack and I barely had lunch when I ate half of this peanut butter and strawberry preserve sandwich.

Dinner rocked!

I am just going to say it because I am super proud of the creation I put on the table.  Spinach and artichoke stuffed phyllo with a side of ravoili.

It was delicious, healthy, vegan, and easy to make.  Who knew phyllo could be easy to work with.

I posted the recipe yesterday (here) so if you too would like to enjoy this please help yourself.

All in all I was very pleased with my eats and I hope you will visit Jenn over at her blog Peas and Crayons to see what other fine bloggers have eaten.

Did you eat anything this week that knocked your socks off?  For me it was stuffed phyllo.

Be sure to come back tomorrow as I have a rockin' new dessert for you all...and I promise it is pure deliciousness.

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Fun Friday Foto #4

Happy Friday!!!

The weather has finally turned cold here in North Carolina.  I think the days of 60 degree t-shirt weather has come to an end.

Time for soup and hot tea/coffee/cocoa (whatever your preference is) is upon us.

Speaking of soup I am guest posting for Jenny on Savour the Senses.  I have a vegetable noodle soup to share with you all so please do head over there and check it out.

To whet your appetite here is a quick look at the finished product.

I don't wish for any snow and ice, but the cooler temperatures do put me in the mood for soup and Christmas (which by the way is only 16 days away...WOOHOO).

To prep for a busy weekend (lots of baking to do and share with you next week) I have a few fun photos I would like to share, just to get you in the right mood!

"I don't need a fork to eat nutella covered pancakes"

"Oh please make it stop"

This is my "I promise I didn't do it" look

Self portrait

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What I (tried to) Eat Wednesday

Hello to everyone and Happy What I (tried to) Eat Wednesday.  Thank you, as always, to Jenn from Peas and Crayons for hosting our party.  Please be sure to head over to her blog and check out the other talented bloggers and the foods that they have prepared.

With the Christmas season quickly approaching (18 days and counting) my husband and I have decided to re-dedicate ourselves to working out a little bit more.

Now we go to the Y 2-3 times a week but decided to ramp it up with Jillian Michael's Shred.

Holy Cow!  I was thinking a 20 minute workout couldn't be too bad, but man of man does she kick your butt for that short period of time.

I do have to admit that sometimes my helpers made the workout a little cumbersome.

When I'm not trying to work out I've been busy blending smoothies in our new Vitamix.  We have been rocking smoothies everyday and most days I get a couple of sips before relinquishing them to my kids.

There must be something to the smoothness of the smoothies that makes them enjoy them so much because this was never a problem issue when we used our magic bullet.

So without further ado please allow me to share with you what I tried to eat this week.

Breakfast was a triple berry smoothie with a tablespoon of Vega vanilla chai protein powder.

I didn't get too much of that breakfast, but you know I can't be upset because I love that she wants to eat such delicious whole foods.

Lunch I got most of was a bowl of vegetable soup (I will be guest posting the recipe on Savour the Senses this Friday).

Andrew REALLY likes this soup and proceeded to come sit in my lap to "help" me with the mushrooms (as well as the carrots, spaghetti, and celery).

Oh well the veggies are good for you!

For dinner I didn't photograph it because it was the ugliest pancakes I have ever made.

I had a lot of trouble with flipping them in the pan (consequently I will be buying a new pan today as I think the non-stick surface is shot on the old one).

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and will come back later today to see my post for Mom's Crazy Cooking challenge....we did fudge today :)

So what yummy food do you lose to your kids/spouse/boyfriend/dog?

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Fun Friday Foto #3

Happy Friday everyone!

Just 23 more days till Christmas.

I don't say that to stress you out, just merely to share the joy I have that Christmas is only 23 days away...WOOHOO!

My kids are enjoying this holiday time.

They got to decorate the tree all by themselves

And are now enjoying finding our "Elf on a Shelf" each day.

Have you heard about this cute book and doll? 

To keep it brief the elf comes to your house to watch your kids for Santa and report back as to how the kids are behaving.

What is fun is that each day the elf is in a new space watching you (Owen, who is 9, has asked to be able to move the elf around...he knows the deal with Santa).

Last night there was a very heartwarming sight.

All piled in together in one rocking chair. 

Owen was reading The Elf on The Shelf to Andrew and Caroline.

It was so nice to see him being such a big help and eagerly participating in the bedtime routine.

And yes they all dressed themselves, hence the mismatched pajamas.  I don't bother to correct them because there is quite a sense of accomplishment in being independent and making your own choices.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  What sort of things do you have planned?

For me I have cookies to make for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.

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Fun Friday Foto

Yes I know "foto" is the incorrect spelling, but hey today I was feeling alliterate.

Happy Friday to you all and to all the veteran's today "Thank You."

At meals I often have a camera with me because I never know when I will want to take a photo of the kids, of more often food.

This week, at dinner, I captured a photo of Andrew that I thought was worth sharing.

He was not drinking a Newcastle (he just happens to love this glass).

It was apple juice with a little head on it.

I thought it was funny and just wanted to share.

This weekend I am going to attempt almond and rice milk (results coming on Monday...even if they are a fail).

What do you have on your agenda?

May you all have a happy and safe weekend!

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What Happened to Halloween?

Well everyone is well aware that last night was Halloween.

My kids barely made it through dinner before they were ready to run upstairs and get dressed up.

I must say they looked pretty cute as a princess and Batman:

The princess outfit was complete with rain boots.  We didn't have any rain she just wanted to be like her 4 year old brother who was also sporting boots.

My 9 year old was a character, sorry I can't remember what it is called, from Lord of the Rings (one who keeps watch over the ring).  He didn't give me any silly poses just a serious look:

Batman on the other hand was feeling quite silly

They were all ready to go and had practiced their "Trick of Treat" loudly in the car.

Once we got to my parents neighborhood there was a problem...no one was home. 

What is up with that?

I think my kids made it to 6 houses when we couldn't find anymore. 

One was my parents house so that doesn't REALLY count because who denies their grandchildren a visit on Halloween?

The plus side of this is that we didn't have to trick or treat for long and we don't have too much candy that I will have to pawn off on co-workers.  However I felt a little sad for my kids because they were really enjoying going up to peoples houses.

Well we will see what happens next year. 

Did anyone else experience any issues?

Hopefully everyone had a safe and happy Halloweeen.

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