HB Asia

Hi!!! So I didn't post about my November trip to PEI.

Or our trip to Portland....which we didn't take any pictures of. But the Christmas lights were gorgeous...

I didn't even post our Christmas tree!!!

But today I wanted to publicly say...HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ASIA!!!!! Yay! My favourite doggy!!!

Isn't she sweet??? And for her birthday she's getting new awesome dog bowls, some pigs ears, and a walk in the snow. Awwww....

A boring old witch?

Last weekend I went to a Halloween Party. Most people did. I went through various plans for costumes from Rainbow Brite to a witch. I have a cute black skirt I really wanted to wear plus I couldn't find Rainbow Brite's socks. A witch was plan until about noon Saturday.

I ran into the host at the market before the party. He said in not so many words he would judge me if I showed up as a witch. Hmmm, don't want to be judged and decided that I am boring.

So, creative as I am I was Glinda the Good Witch. And I had the perfect outfit. I re-purposed my wedding dress.

Fun! Bonus - the boustier bought for it was re-worn. I'm trying to depreciate it. Only 5 more wears and I'll consider it a good investment. :)

Vegan Diet Finish Line

Oops. The 2 month vegan diet challenge was supposed to end this morning. And it did, with cream in my coffee. But truthfully it ended on Friday at the Palate with the mussels in fusilli with a dill cream sauce. Yum.

And then on Saturday with the falafel wrap cover in tzatziki and garlic spread. And the cupcakes with 3 eggs in the mix. Oops. So good.

Of course, on Sunday we went to Cora's for breakfast and I got a crepe omelette's. Mmmm. With hollandaise sauce. Not vegan either.

I think I've decided that I am not doing a vegan diet again. We came out of it trying only one new recipe. And the one new thing we started doing, roasting veggies and tomatoes in the oven instead of making a pasta sauce, we did last night and added pesto sauce and sprinkling cheese on top, and it was so much more awesome.

Besides, did you know they make foam insulation for your house out of soy?!!? What can they not do with that bean. It's gotten a little scary!!

And after re-reading this post I think I've had a very indulgent weekend and need to hit the gym. Eep!!

Vegan Diet - 6 days left

Six days left in the 2 month vegan diet that I am sick of. Not that I'm craving chicken or anything in particular (maybe just chocolate and ice cream). But last night was awesome. I made a soup. A sweet potato, corn and jalapeño soup. It was thick and yummy and took very little effort. Also it was a nice change from the Curried Lentil Soup that has been a vegan staple. Once again I am delighted that I finally bought a hand blender. I use it constantly.

I used a recipe from 2 different sources and guessed on the ingredient amounts. I had 2 very large sweet potatoes to work with and the recipes differed in potato size and numbers. Everybody Likes Sandwiches was the one I focused on mostly because hers made more soup and I have a habit of returning to a pot of something I like until there are no leftovers for lunch. She got her recipe from the Wednesday Chef whom I have read religiously for about 2 years.

Try the links, try the soup. It's very passive cooking. I put on the onions and garlic to fry while Chris cut and peeled the potatoes. I added the broth, turned up the heat and let them boil for 25 minutes until I blended everything, added the rest of the ingredients and ate supper. Yum!

I'd post a picture but I don't have one. But I can verify that the sweet potato soup is orange and looks like a bisque. :)

Vegan Diet - 2 weeks left

We're 6 weeks into our vegan diet.

I don't think it's nearly as much fun as last time.

I'm super interested to see what kinds of habits we keep. I think I'll very quickly go back to drinking milk and eating eggs. Mostly because I don't drink a lot of milk. We have a ton of potatoes in the house from our CSA box and my favorite thing to do with potatoes is to put them in a frittata. And I can't do that. So we have a ton of really nice looking potatoes sitting in the kitchen. Just waiting for some sort of inspired idea. Vegan potato salad is pretty yummy. And they can be added to curry and chili. Ummmm..... and broccoli and potato soup. What else? Any suggestions? Please!

Also, I'm sick of pasta with roasted veggie pasta, lentil soup and couscous. Even though I made couscous just once, I find it bland. I'm still on board with the soy ice cream treats, hummus wraps and vegan curry. 2 weeks should be nothing. But last week I cheated a lot. I got home from the pasta buffet at the Delta on Thursday and I said to Chris, "The vegan pasta was super boring....and I think there was dairy in my cheesecake."

I think I should add an extra week just for that.

vegan diet

About a month ago Chris and I decided to do a two month vegan diet. We did it once before for 2 months. It was about a year ago that we tried it and we only had good memories. Although I recall missing eggs.

So we're a month into our 2 month vegan diet and I cheated. I ordered a veggie wrap and I was so careful to not get pesto on it because of the Parmesan cheese. Well that's great. But I was distracted and didn't noticed that it was made with mozzarella cheese.

I did not unwrap my spinach wrap to dig out the cheese. I ate it. And it was so good. I miss cheese. I am sad I can't buy home made cheese when we pick up our CSA box. I don't really care about eggs this time. And I certainly don't care about meat. But OMG I am dying for a dairy product or two...or three. *Sigh*

Wedding Album

I finally ordered and received my wedding album. Super exciting. It took a couple days to put together. It took a couple of months to work up the motivation. I love it. Too bad I didn't think ahead and decide to order a storage box. Oops. Either way its kinda gorgeous.

My parents still have their wedding album. My dad hauls it out a couple of times a year. :) I kind of wanted one to look at in 35 years too.

This is the front cover.

This is the back.

The inside is full of fun stuff too.