Elementary, My Dear Vegan: Fruit Loops and a Banana

Hi everyone! Today’s “Elementary, My Dear Vegan” is from S2E17 (“Ears to You”). Lestrade is seen eating fruit loops while working his case; later in the episode, Watson finds Holmes in the kitchen and asks him why he is working at the table.

Holmes: I’m here, Watson, because this is where we keep the food, and I’m hungry.
Watson: You’re not eating.
Holmes: I’m awaiting a breakthrough. Once I have one, I shall eat that banana.

So here’s a simple but delicious breakfast of Fruitful O’s and a banana… 

Leela’s vet called yesterday evening with her blood work results, and everything is good overall; a few of her levels were off just slightly, but he said nothing indicated a problem, so yay, Leela! She decided to join me for yoga yesterday, settling right in the middle of my towel and keeping a watchful eye on the birds at the window… 

Peace. :)

September MiniMofo: Bananana Dakry

Hi everyone! September’s MiniMoFo asks us to make something inspired by a book, so I chose Terry Pratchett’s Witches Abroad (of his Discworld books, the ones with the witches are my favorites; this one I especially loved for all the letters Nanny Ogg wrote home while they were away). In the middle of the book, Nanny procures drinks for herself and the two other witches…

“‘I said to the man, “What kind of fruit drinks do people drink around here?” and this is what he gave me. Made from bananas. A banana drink. You’ll like it. It’s what everyone drinks here. It’s got bananas in it.’
‘It’s certainly very ... strongly flavored,’ said Magrat, sipping hers cautiously. ‘Has it got sugar in it too?’
‘Very likely,’ said Nanny. She looked at Granny’s middle-distance frown for a moment, and then picked up her pencil and licked the end professionally.

Anywey one good thing is the drink here is v. cheap theres this one called a Bananana dakry which is basicly Rum with a bananana* in it. I can feel it doin me good. It is v. damp here. I hope we find somewhere to stay tonigt I expect we shal because Esme alweys falls on her feet or at any rate on someones feet. I have drawern a picture of a banananana dakry you can see it is empty right down to the bottom. Love, MUM XXXX

*Nanny Ogg knew how to start spelling ‘banana,’ but didn’t know how you stopped.” (p. 190-191)

I used this recipe, substituting the rum & triple sec with pineapple juice for a non-alcoholic version, and it was really good! Like Nanny, I made sure to draw a picture when I was done…

...which actually inspired a plan for this year’s Vegan Month of Food (be sure to sign up quickly if you want to participate; sign ups close September 22) – I’ll be following the daily prompts and including a little sharpie sketch of my food because I also want to participate in Inktober.

Here are Cringer and Daisy sharing the cat tower by the window...

Peace. :)

Strawberry, Banana, and Blueberry Ice Cream

Hi everyone! I had some frozen banana & blueberries I wanted to use up, so today I blended them with frozen strawberries for a nice, cool treat! The resulting color was so pretty! 

Here’s Daisy being a little creeper… 

In other news, Buttons has been quite the brave kitty! At her last checkup, the vet told us to keep an eye on one of her canines that looked a bit questionable but didn’t seem to be bothering her. Recently, however, we’d noticed she’d been eating slower and was being extra sensitive about her mouth, so we scheduled another appointment, at which they recommended a dental exam/cleaning, adding that she probably had two teeth that needed to be pulled, maybe more (they couldn’t quite tell because she was fussing so much). So she had her dental appointment yesterday and ended up having three teeth pulled (her upper left canine and two lower premolars). Once I got her home, she recovered fairly quickly from the stress and was so happy to have her dinner! Her appetite has been great, her energy levels are good, and she seems much happier now that those gross teeth are gone! We’re still keeping an eye on her, though, and will be bringing her back in a week for a follow-up. I’m just so glad to have her home; yesterday was so stressful waiting to hear back from the vet! 

Let’s see, what else… I did a bit of gardening/weeding earlier this morning, and I’ll hopefully do more later. Other than that, I plan to keep reading A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. It’s really good so far! 

Oh, and I wanted to share this cool website (Native-Land.ca) that a Facebook friend shared. From the site: “Learn more about where you live. Native-Land.ca is a resource to help North Americans learn more about their local history.” (The Phoenixville library has a book called The Lenape, so that will probably be the next book I check out!)

Peace. :)

Peanut Butter, Jelly, and Banana Wraps

So, I have finally gotten around to trying out another bookmarked recipe from Vegan MoFo 2014, the Banana Breakfast Rollup from A.Cook in the Making. 

as a "burrito"

It's quick and simple to prepare, though I still haven't figured out a way to keep it all in the wrap, so it's a bit messy. But I really can't complain; it's delicious and a perfect lunch for these hot days, so it's worth a little mess. 

as a "rollup"

Here's Leela reading Calvin and Hobbes.

And here's Buttons being a cutie. 

Peace. :)

Banana Everything Cookies

And so begins the second week of the Vegan Month of Food! After seeing the "Banana Everything Cookie" over at OMGosh I'm Vegan, I decided to give it a go. (I had one lone banana hanging around, so it was perfect timing.)

Banana Everything Cookies

The recipe, from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, can be found here.

Whenever I "follow" a recipe, I'm always difficult and end up doing at least one thing differently. My changes this time included: using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, using only one cup of oats instead of two, and using raisins instead of chocolate chips. 

Using less oats obviously caused the yield to be lower (12 cookies), but that's OK. I was pleased with how they turned out, nice and soft. 

I'll definitely use this recipe again; I've even printed it out and added it to my cookbook. 

Also, Zach made tea for me earlier today. :)

chamomile lemon tea

And here is another picture of Mystery cuddling with her little pink bear.

Peace. :)

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Hello on this 7th day of the Vegan Month of Food!  My post today is about a lunch I quickly threw together earlier this week that ended up turning out pretty well.  I felt like having something different than the stereotypical PB&J, so I simply switched out the jelly for a banana.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

Ingredients:

--2 slices bread (I used Vermont Bread's Organic Soft White)

--peanut butter

--banana

Simply spread on the peanut butter and then slice up the banana length-wise, layering the pieces on top of the peanut butter (if you warm up the pieces of bread beforehand--for example, quickly & lightly toast them--the peanut butter will melt nicely).  Add the other slice and cut diagonally, and include some potato chips on the side for an added crunch.

My mom reminded me that this is one of Grandma's favorite sandwiches; growing up, I never understood why she liked it so much.  Now I do.

If you haven't stumbled across it already, there's a special discount at Vegan Essentials all this month!

The second week of Vegan MoFo begins tomorrow; hope everyone's ready!  Goodnight!

Peace.  :)