Wednesday, April 25, 2018

What I Ate Wednesday (A Day of Vegan Eats)


Spring is here in earnest now, with some warm days, some rainy days and lots of worms making their appearances on the driveway. Perhaps that wasn't a good transition into noodles? What I meant to say is it's a transitional time with regard to food. You have those cool and rainy days when a bowl of soup is much appreciated. And those warmer days when you just want to throw a veggie burger on the grill. For just about every darn day, noodle and rice bowls work. Change up the toppings and sauces depending on your cravings and what you have in the fridge and pantry. Above, we had udon noodles with peanut sauce, sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, tofu and sesame seeds.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Marinated Tofu Cubes With Roasted Veggies


Whether you're 100% vegan or eating meatless meals a few times a week, it helps to have some simple, plant-based meal ideas in your repertoire. Tofu is an absolute essential in our house. It's a great source of protein and it readily takes on flavour from seasonings and spices. In the case of these marinated tofu cubes, I have flavoured them with a marinade of soy seasoning, nutritional yeast, sesame oil, lime juice, garlic and ginger.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Preserve Your Memories With A Photo Canvas Print (With A Giveaway)


If you're like me, you don't get around to printing your photos very often. Like almost never. It's really the downside of digital photography. Before the advent of digital photos (not so long ago) we were forced to print all of our pictures if we actually wanted to see them. There are, of course, many upsides to digital photography too - a key benefit being you can print only the photos you really like. Like this photo from our summer trip to New York City four years ago.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

What I Ate Wednesday (A Day of Vegan Eats)


I don't have any exciting new meal ideas to offer this week. I'm afraid it's just been one of those weeks. We are eating a lot of the same old same old. If you follow me on Instagram, you might know that both of my kids injured their ankles in the past week. My dancer is in a boot for several weeks while my basketball player is limping through his days. It means a bit (okay maybe a lot) more of me waiting on them (hand and foot) and a few more appointments and drives to and fro. Which leaves little inspiration for crafting new and exciting meals and recipes. But we have been eating. That's an achievement, right? As I didn't do a What I Ate Wednesday post last week, I'm starting this post with Easter, above. Well that's our Easter breakfast anyway. After the egg hunt, we enjoyed blueberry pancakes, vegan sausage and a fruit salad. The kids also had loads of chocolate.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Lettuce Eat Plants T-Shirt (With The New Cricut Patterned Iron On)


As I mentioned in this post in which I made some pretty adorable iron-on mini totes (if I do say so myself), I've become a real iron-on enthusiast. Besides the sheer fun of personalizing all the things - tees, totes, towels and totally lots of other things, haha, iron-on is just plain addictive as a process. Once you figure it out (mirror the image before cutting and place the correct side of the material down on the mat) it's completely easy too.

My iron-on addiction means that I was beyond excited to try out Cricut's new patterned iron-on, which comes in nine incredible sampler packs with three different 12" x 17" iron-on sheets in each. All of the designs are beautiful and I plan on making all sorts of things with them, including some personalized hand towels. For my first project, I settled on a veg-friendly "lettuce eat plants" iron-on tee, perfect for your plant-based and/or vegan pals (like me!).

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Simple Acts To Save Our Planet & How To Celebrate Earth Day As A Family


When I think about the environment and all of the damaging effects that humans have had on our world, it feels pretty overwhelming. Visions of plastics swirling through the ocean spin through my mind. It seems impossible to overcome. But, with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, it's a fitting time to take a deep breath and think about the simple steps that we ordinary people can take to make things better.

Just released today, One Green Planet writer Michelle Neff's new book Simple Acts to Save Our Planet: 500 Ways to Make a Difference outlines easy ways for us to perform simple acts of kindness for our earth, with manageable activities that range from simple home updates, to gardening basics, to supporting the local community. The book's publishers, Adams Media (a division of Simon & Schuster), were kind enough to share some excerpts so that we can all get started today. But first I want to share some ideas for celebrating Earth Day as a family.