Lately

Lately, around here I have:  

picked up a humane society dog from her spay and transported her back to the shelter.  (She's a sweetie and traveled so well in the car), 

had a bowl of yum--brown rice, broccoli, carrots, sprouted teriyaki tofu, and tamari, 

finished bottle feeding our last kittens for a while.  These three are still here but they are around 9 weeks and 2 pounds so they can be spayed/neutered whenever our next appointment is, 

been swimming a couple of times with this guy, who loves to jump in the pool and make a big splash, 

transported this cutie pie, Smudge, (a former foster), to Petsmart where she got herself adopted a few days later.  

made a couple batches of massaged kale salad with strawberries and coconut for Mr. GV, 

packed up this little one, Shirley, 

and her sister, Laverne, and wished them a happy life as they went off to one of our adoption partners, 

went with my mom, sister, and this guy to a local consignment sale, 

where I bought two things:  a stack of people magazines for $2 and a tuxedo T-shirt for my nephew.  Tacky as hell but he loved it and so do I, 

managed to accomplish some reading, of course with some help, 

took some more picture of Simon (the tiny trio is named Alvin, Simon, and Theodora) because of some interest in this sweet Siamese boy, 

made Happy Herbivore's Taco Soup (good but IMO needs more liquid to be more soup-like), 

and found that our local chain grocery store now carries vegan cookie dough.  Most of the time I make mine from scratch but I wanted to support their vegan choices so bought a container.  My nephew got to enjoy the first half here after an especially good day at school and the other half was taken to a board meeting for the humane society.  

In addition, we cancelled Hulu!  That's $7.99/month we won't be paying.  We can still see all the shows on Hulu that we want, they just won't be available until 8 days after the broadcast showing instead of the day after.  We are watching less and less TV so that suits us just fine.  

Vegan MoFo

I am not participating in Vegan Month of Food (MoFo) this year for a variety of reasons.  One reason is because we are eating a rather boring diet right now.  I could report daily on what we are pulling out of our pantry and freezer and eating, or the fact that Mr. GV is trying to lose a few more pounds and eating a rather monotonous diet, or show you the toppings I put on my baked potato that I eat almost every day. But those tidbits really do sound boring to me, so I can imagine how uninteresting it would be to anyone reading this. 

Instead I'll be continuing with my regular ol' blogging topics, just general life around here!  But I encourage you to check out Vegan MoFo if you are veg or veg-curious!  

What we are not cutting back on

While we are cutting back on expenses around our house, there are a few things we don't intend to cut back on.  Those are the ones that are most important to us:  eating healthy and making sure our non-human animal friends eat healthy. 

For us, eating healthy at home means plant-based, mostly whole foods, organic when possible.  We are not perfect of course!  We have a freezer in our garage that has some processed foods in it, and I admit to eating Boca Chik'n patties sometimes.  We are eating out that freezer slowly though, and not buying near the amount of processed foods we have in the past. When we go out to eat at vegetarian restaurants, often we get dessert and other less healthy foods, although always plant-based. We are trying even harder to eat healthy right now, as we are both trying to lose some weight.  

At least twice a week I shop for produce, which usually includes sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, broccoli, baby carrots, kale, bananas, and oranges. Sometimes we also get apples, grapefruit, cucumber, melon, spinach, celery, avocado, and herbs.  I wouldn't mind being one of those people that goes to the grocery once a week or even once every two weeks, but there's just no way with the amount of fresh produce we eat.  

I want to get back to making my own bread, but I'll be honest with you:  I hate running the oven when it's hot outside.  So for now I'm buying whole wheat bread at the grocery, which costs us nearly $3/loaf.  I know I have flour in the freezer so I really should start making that bread again.

The other item I mentioned that we won't compromise on is taking care of our four-legged friends.  Our dogs eat dog food that we have to order online, and it is not cheap.  But we feel it is the best for them so that will continue to happen.  I also buy them natural dog treats, such as dried sweet potato slices.  I plan to try making those myself, but again, I've got to run the oven for it.  

The cat we have added to the family (more on that in another post) gets food from the grocery store.  Right now she requires a special kind of food, and we supplement it with Newman's Own canned food.

We could put our grocery cash in an envelope and live that way, but so far I am just keeping up with what I spend by writing it on paper.  (I'm an old-fashion paper kind of girl, and not really into spreadsheets.) We don't have a budget yet for a grocery category, but we plan to within the next couple of paychecks.  Right now we're just getting a feel for what we spend.  

Anybody want to pipe in with what they will not compromise on in their budgets?  

Epic road trip, Days 16 and 17

Our last stop on our epic road trip was the Badlands!  I was feeling a little sick and run down this day, so you don't want to see any pictures of me, I promise.  In most of them I could barely muster a smile.    Ha.  

Mr. GV was enchanted by the Badlands, and I can't blame him.  

The prairie dog town was an adorable sight to see too. I even saw a ferret running around out there (looking for dinner of course.)  

We took this opportunity to unload all our recyclables.  We tried our best to be as eco-friendly as we could on this trip, and wound up carting around our recyclables for a long time.  

Mr. GV took this picture just for my benefit.  I promise you, I was not getting out of the car after that sign!  Not only were there rattlesnake warnings, there were also signs reminding you that prairie dogs carry bubonic plague!!

We stopped off at Whole Foods that evening and stocked up on some food to help us get home.  This was our first time with any of Upton's prepared foods, and wow were they good.  

And here we are.....Day 17 and the last picture from our Epic Road Trip.  We took this in our garage, right before we walked in to see our puppies after a couple weeks away.  We had a great time being together, and the best part of the trip was that we still like each other after that much time together!  Here's to (at least) another 20 years of marriage!  I love you, Mr. GV!!  

Epic road trip, days 10 and 11

The following morning we started out on the next leg of our adventure.  We had a rainy day of driving, going through Idaho, and some chilly temperatures.  

We arrived at our room in Kalispell, Montana in the later evening and headed out to the local WalMart for a few provisions.  

I love okra if it's fried.  I've never seen it in this form before though, and not sure I would like it.

The next day we had to take care of the task of getting the oil changed in the car.  Afterward we went for lunch at A Fresh Start in Kalispell.  It was good, although the portions were small and we found out there was honey in the slaw.  

Mr. GV went for a bike ride that afternoon while I enjoyed some time at Goodwill.  When he came back to the room he told me he had lost his room key, driver's license, and credit card.  Oh I was upset and worried, because that is how I react to those kind of things sometimes.  The room key was no big deal, and the credit card could be cancelled and other than leaving us short one method of payment for the next week, would be OK.  The driver's license is what I was most worried about.  He was going to have to drive without one, and just hope he never got stopped, because I could not drive cross country by myself.  

We retraced his route, and what do you know?  On a way, way back mountain road outside of town, we found all three of them laying in the road!  We were both so relieved.  

We just hung out at the room for the rest of the evening, and enjoyed the fact that the sky still looked like this at 10:00.  

Epic road trip, Day 9

The next day we headed to Proper Eats.  We could order both breakfast and lunch and so we did!  We had a Reuben (of course) and breakfast scramble.  

Proper Eats has a market on the other end of the building.  I would swoon if we had a market full of organic goodies like this near our home.  I love the old fashioned cases.  It reminds me of the grocery stores in my small hometown when I was growing up.  

Afterward we headed out to wash clothes.  Laundries are one of those places that can be dicey, in my experience, so I looked for one that had good reviews online as to cleanliness and safety.  This one was both clean and felt very safe.  Well, except for the VIPER hanging out of the bathroom ceiling.  Have I mentioned before that snakes are my biggest phobia?  That if I see one in a magazine or on TV there's a very good chance I will have a nightmare about it that night?  We had been in the building maybe 2 minutes when somebody announced the snake was peering out of the bathroom ceiling. 

 Did we stay?  Yes we did, but I had to suck up all my courage just to put the clothes in the washers and dryers. I spent most of my time either outside or positioned near the emergency exit door.  I would consider it a definite emergency if that snake came out of the bathroom.  The manager was called, and he came and took a look.  Then he called animal control and they were working on getting it out of the ceiling when we left.

Tumble dry, thankfully with no snakes inside.

After THAT experience, we headed to Ikea.  That place is completely overwhelming, but I did decide to buy a couple of things.  I bought a lamp, lampshade, and rug for J's room at my house.  We also picked up a lamp that attaches to the headboard for reading, and a dimmer switch to attach to my lamp so I can read after Mr. GV goes to sleep.  

And of course Mr. GV stocked up on multiple jams.  These are all varieties you cannot get anywhere near home.  

As it was our last night in Portland, we headed to Blossoming Lotus, which had been our favorite place to eat so far.  First up--pierogis!  I could have just had unlimited plates of this and been happy all evening long.  

Chana waffles with curried chick peas, cauliflower pakora, cilantro-mint chutney, and cashew sour cream.  

BBQ bowl:  soy curls in a whisky ginger bbq sauce, mac and cheese, smokey potato salad, green apple slaw.  

Cheesecake

I had one more thing on my Portland bucket list:  Voodoo Donuts.  Naturally we waited in line, but it wasn't that long.

They were out of some of the vegan varieties, so we just got the Voodoo Vegan Dozen, a variety that were picked for us.  I was disappointed that it was heavy on the cake donuts, which are not my favorite.  But in the end I was pleasantly surprised because the cake donuts were actually very good.  Was I glad we stood in line for these donuts?  Yes.  Vegan donuts are not very common, and it was a treat to have a whole box of them.  Were they extra delicious, unlike any other donut?  No.  They were decorated in an unusual way, but in the end they tasted like any other donut.  

And then it was time to pack up after 6 days in anticipation of leaving Portland the next day.  Or, as the sign below suggests, "Do the Hustle!"  

We enjoyed our time in Portland.  Yes, there are tons of places for vegans to eat, and places that aren't  exclusively vegetarian or vegan often at least know what the word vegan means and even list a few items on their menus.  Would I visit again?  Sure.  Am I yearning to go back, and dreaming of another visit?   No.  

This trip was partly to determine if Portland would be somewhere we might think about retiring in 20 years or so.  The verdict?  Portland is not right for us.  The traffic is crazy, and it's a large, busy city just like any other city. We never felt truly comfortable anywhere we went. I am certainly not running down Portland.  I know it is a perfect fit for so many people, vegan and otherwise.  It's just not a perfect fit for us.  

Epic road trip, Day 7

Day 7 of vacation!  We were headed to a museum but the parking was nonexistent and the crowds were crazy so we just skipped it.  But we did discover that the vegan mini mall was nearby!  

I can't remember the name of this sandwich, but it was something like a Reuben and was de-lish.  

I believe this was something like a sloppy Joe.  It's Mr. GV, so he got kale.  Naturally.  

And I don't recall the name of Mr. GV's dessert, but mine was a pain au chocolate.

Bread with chocolate inside.  I'm not sure it gets any better than that!  

It was pouring down rain but after it slacked a bit we ventured next door to Herbivore.  We had a blast looking around that store.  There was a huge wall of vegan books, mostly cookbooks of course.  My only complaint would have to be that I could not wear any of their cute shirts!  Yes I'm a plus-sized gal, but their XL is nowhere near the typical XL you would find in most stores.  Dear Herbivore:  Please make shirts for us larger gals and guys.  We would like to represent our vegan values too!  

Next it was on to Food Fight.  

Loved this place!  All kinds of vegan goodies, and the staff was very friendly.  

So, our haul:

A coozie for me and a coffee mug for Mr. GV.  

I replaced the one that advertised our local natural gas company pronto!  

A lid for drinking out of a mason jar, free coaster, soy candle, and soap.  

Couple of lip balms, and 3 adorable little pins (I'm addicted), and a ring that says "vegan."  

Food!  Plentils, jerky, ginger candies, licorice, caramels, chocolate, and soy curls.  

Bought as gifts:  licorice and gum balls for J and dog treats for my three rotten pups.  They love them! 

Another mug for Mr. GV, his fave lip balm, and some lotion for me (love it by the way.)  

And some iced coffee.  Not pictured is a new wallet that Mr. GV picked up at Herbivore.  It's pretty awesome, and something he'd been needing for quite some time.  

We had a very enjoyable time on this day, just knowing everything we ate and everything we bought was vegan.  Not having to ask about ingredients or read every label is such a gift!