Good Food, More Nature Pics, and a Kitten!

Hi everyone! Let's get started with the food, shall we? One of my favorite easy lunches when I get home from my shifts at the pantry is a mac & Chao bowl with green beans and tater tots, plus a salad...

My fun dinners this week were burritos with rice, black beans, guac, and crushed Doritos (spicy sweet chili)...

I got this cream cheese for Zach, who ended up not being a fan of it, so I'm finishing it off. Even though I don't consider myself much of a cream cheese person, this is actually pretty good!

And this everything bagel seasoning hummus was a neat treat...

Leftover Gardein chicken fried rice with a Wegmans vegan eggroll...

And more chicken noodles, with soy curls!

And some nature pics from Norristown Farm Park; this walk was a nice way to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen since the beginning of the year......

And as promised, a kitten! Yesterday I got to meet Captain Fluffy Pants, who was rescued by a friend and is such an adorable little sweetheart, though still getting used to people. 

And to wrap up today's post, here are the two extremes of Rogue -- super-spinny ball of energy... 

And melt-on-your-lap cat...

Peace. :)

Easy Meals Continue!

Hi everyone! It's been another week of simple -- but delicious -- meals! First up is a Mac & Chao bowl with tater tots and pole beans from my garden!

And then we have a Gardein black bean burger on a multigrain roll with ketchup, pickles, and a slice of Chao, plus some more tater tots on the side!

And finally, we got takeout from SuTao Cafe for dinner on Friday, and I finished up the leftovers for my lunch today -- vegetable fried rice with lemon chicken, plus the last of the vegan egg rolls from Wegmans!

A pretty flower...

Another harvest...

And a sleepy Cringer...

Peace. :)

Easy Meals Plus Firefly Cafe!

Hi everyone! On Sunday, I made a big batch of fettuccine Alfredo (using a jar of Victoria Vegan Alfredo sauce, which was alright, but definitely needed more salt) and soy curls. The leftovers were great as quick lunches throughout the week! 

I also had some fun dinners with Field Roast mini corn dogs, tater tots, and veggies (pole beans, cucumbers) from my garden… 

And I made a small batch of rice crispy treats using mini Dandies marshmallows, and later, a plain zucchini bread… 

But the most fun food of the week was had today! I met up with my sister for a walk this morning; around lunchtime, we called to place an order for pickup at Firefly Cafe and Outpost. I got the burrito deluxe (with chips as the side); it was amazing but also super spicy! We ate outside at opposite ends of a picnic table at the park, and it was great to catch up with each other! 

I also picked up a small grocery order of some fun treats from the outpost! 

Here’s Daisy being her cute little self, settled in on my lap while I’m meditating…

Peace. :)

Some Food and Trail Pics

Hi everyone! I’ve been enjoying chickpea “tuna” salad sandwiches with tater tots for lunch this week… 

mashed chickpeas, shredded carrots, Vegenaise, celery salt

Yesterday I went hiking with a friend, though, so I grabbed a pre-made vegan burrito from the cafe at Kimberton Whole Foods, eating half of it before the hike and the rest when I got home. It was pretty good! 

Here are some pictures from our hike along a section of the French Creek Trail… 

And here’s Rogue (and Cringer!) pinning me down for some cuddles… 

Peace. :)

Rice Salad with Avocado Dressing (Giant Food)

The new recipe I tried this week was the rice salad with avocado dressing that my aunt had clipped out for me (the recipe can be found online here). I was especially excited for the dressing, since I’ve been enjoying avocados recently, and this one was absolutely perfect when I cut it in half! 

I made some changes to the recipe, though: I was able to grill the zucchini on the panini press/grill but not the corn, so I boiled it instead. I left out the red onion because I’m not a fan of raw onion, and I used just a bit of dried cilantro as a garnish instead of fresh. The dish worked out with these modifications but it took me longer than the recipe’s estimate of 35 minutes, and the end product was just OK. I probably won’t make it again, but if I did, I’d leave out the red wine vinegar (it made the dressing taste a bit odd) and add more salt. 

Served with tortilla chips and salsa.

And here’s what I had for a quick and easy dinner tonight… 

Gardein fishless filets, golden wax beans, and tater tots with ketchup

Here’s the Sharpie sketch that I did yesterday of a cross-looking kitty… 

And the one I did today, of the mini automaton my D&D character is going to be working on building hehe… 

I went to a writers group last night, and I was a little nervous; while it was my third time attending, it was the first time that I’d submitted something to the group to critique. It was a 4,000-word excerpt from a story I wrote for National Novel Writing Month; the first person narration shifts between five characters. I knew I needed to do a better job making each character’s voice more distinct and unique, and this was reinforced in the feedback I got. (Especially since what I’d shared only included the perspective of the first two characters, and they both sounded a bit too similar to the people reading it, haha!) But yeah, everyone provided really helpful feedback, and they all seemed to have enjoyed reading it. I marked up my copy with all the comments, suggestions, and questions that came up, and three people gave me their copies with recommended edits and other notes. So that was pretty cool, and now I have lots of things to think about and rework!

Here is a cute little Leela… 

Peace. :)