11/10/2024

Now that the van/camping stuff is organized and ready to go, I needed to pack my clothes, shoes, boots, food. I made both Bolognese and chili to take for the first few travel nights. I hate having to cook after driving 4.5 hours. I bring items in a plastic bag and heat them up. How do I heat them up in a van? I boil water and then put the ziplock bag in the center of the pot. The edges can't touch the sides. With the Bolognese, I cook the spaghetti and put the plastic bag in with the spaghetti. Dinner is served! 

Until tomorrow...

11/3/24

Today the clocks were turned back an hour so I slept in. After taking a bath, I walked the dog. Then I did laundry and most dreaded task: invoicing clients. I was proud that I finished invoicing by dinner. In-between invoices, I roasted brussel sprouts and baked some tofu for dinner. 

It was a super nice day and I wanted to go hiking but life got in the way. 

Until tomorrow...

9/24/2024

The preparations for my trip continue. Today I made vegan Bolognese that I'm going to freeze and take on the trip that way I'll have a meal that's precooked and ready to eat. All I have to do is boil some pasta. And here's the trick while you're boiling the pasta put the plastic bag of Bolognese right in there with the pasta and it will heat up the Bolognese and cook the pasta at the same time. That is my cooking tip of the day. 

I have been attacked by yellow jackets a few days ago and today I finally came up with a solution of putting yellow jacket bait out. As of this evening I've caught 25 yellow jackets.

Until tomorrow...

TAXES, TAXES, TAXES

Taxes, taxes, taxes. Okay I did some other things. I spoke to my friend in the Netherlands for a bit. 

I did make a lovely stir fry for dinner. 

Until tomorrow...

ANOTHER HIKE

I started today with a 2.8 mile hike. It was almost all the way uphill. I had to walk to the park uphill and then the park inclined 530 feet about sea level. It had beautiful views. 

I was supposed to work on my taxes but instead, I made chocolate-peanut butter protein bars. 

Lucky needed a bath and since it was our first sunny day in weeks, in the bath she went. She is now fluffy and smells nice. 

I decided to make a vegan bake with potatoes, sweet potatoes, kale and vegan hot dogs. Delicious! 

Until tomorrow...

RAIN & COOKING

I decided to cook today. It is pouring on outside. I made a fennel and sweet potato au gratin. Then I made kale, chickpea and broccoli soup. So incredibly tasty. I used the Instapot. The soup was ready in 22 minutes! And I didn't have to do anything except chopped veggies and open a can. 

Unfortunately I used a mandolin and cut my finger. It was so stupid. I didn't use the guard. 

I walked 3 miles. 

Until tomorrow...

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY

Ok. We have had enough rain. I was doing laundry and making lasagna when my brother texted me to say there was a mudslide near my home. I went to check it out and it was basically a giant tree that fell across a major road. It was sad to see but it wasn't a major mudslide. The news must have been slow today. 

The Internet was going in and out all day. Luckily nothing worse. 

I made sweet potato, kale, mushroom, and green beans lasagna with bechamel sauce. It is amazingly delicious.

The photo will not turn for this blog. Who knows why! 

Until tomorrow...

ATMOSPHERIC RIVER

It started raining a few hours ago. I hear we will get rain through Tuesday. Everyone is preparing for lots of rain, power outages and loss of Internet. Also flooding, leaks, trees falling and mud slides. 

To prepare I charged all electronics, charged my generator, took down my flag, turned on my portable wifi connection, brought sandbags up to put in the front and unplugged my computers. It is supposed to be quite a storm. High winds, rain, thunder, lightning, etc. 

I made some delicious soup in case we lose power. I have a gas stove to I heat it up. 

I hope none of these things happen but I like to be prepared. 

The leak I found a few days ago, so far has not been leaking. I suspect it will leak tomorrow with the high winds. 

Until tomorrow...

STEW

Today it rained. And rained. And rained some more. We had to do indoor activities today. Like take a bath, cook some food and do some work.

I made a stew with cauliflower, Japanese potatoes, and chickpeas. It turned out really good and was great over rice.

That was basically my day.

Until tomorrow...

TEMPORARY DIET

I think I forgot yesterday to say that I am not supposed to eat food that is acidic, fatty, caffeinated, spicy, and crunchy. That pretty much leaves oatmeal, yogurt, rice and plain pasta.  I can eat apples or applesauce. I do want to eat a chip or cracker but no dice. It will just prolong this pain. 

I drank the Throat Coat tea and it seems to do something. The rest of the items will arrive tomorrow. 

I heard from the vet. Lucky's labs look great. Her kidney values have gotten better. That is good news. 

I heard back from the car place and the part has been located and shipped. They probably will start work on it on Monday. 🤞🏼

Last night I used my new Instapot to make rice. I have a rice maker but hearing the Instapot makes rice in 12 minute, I had to make it. It turned out pretty good. 

Until tomorrow...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I decided to make a Vegan Wellington for Christmas. It has mushrooms and pecans ground up into a ball inside the puff pastry. I made two of them and I'm going to freeze the second one. 

You have never seen someone so excited getting a fire extinguisher, power strips, a folding shovel and car emergency kit. I am planning a trip in the spring and I was thrilled to get items to take on my trip. 

My Christmas dinner was excellent. 

Merry Christmas!! 

Until tomorrow...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE

The highlight of my day was getting my turntable to play music. Over 15 years ago when I moved the needle on my turntable was destroyed from the movers. Because my turntable is so old, it was very very difficult to find a needle replacement. 10 years ago I went from place to place trying to find a replacement needle with no luck. But a month ago I found a place and they had my needle. I wasn't completely sure that this was going to work but I bought it and sure enough it works. Once I got the needle I then could not get the turntable to play. So tonight on a whim I pulled everything out and found the problem. Right before I went to bed I got it to play the first few chords of the album that was on there, the theme to All in the Family. I am so excited to play my albums again.

I spent most of the day cooking. Surprise! I made a spinach leek quiche. Then I made the potatoes for tomorrow. And depending on how I feel tomorrow I'm going to make a vegan Wellington.

Besides taking Lucky on two walks, that was pretty much my Christmas Eve.

I hope you have a very happy and safe Christmas Day. 🎄🎅🏻 That is if you celebrate Christmas. 

Until tomorrow...

NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK

I promised a photo of my food. Here is a photo of the chili. 

Yes, those are green olives! It is a bulger wheat chili with green olives and two kinds of beans. 

I'm still working on the photos of the other recipes. 

Yesterday I finally found a place that has 🤞🏻 a needle for both my turntables. It has been a 10 year quest of mine. I have one turntable from the 1980s and another from the 1950s. The 1950 turntable is in a console and has a reel-to-reel inside. The console weighs a ton. I just want to make it work. I miss albums. 

Until tomorrow...

FINISHED THE CHOCOLATES

I woke up this morning with a decided to cook. First, I made vegan chili with burger wheat. The secret to it is green olives. 

Simultaneously, I made vegan bolognase sauce with plant-based crumbles. This tastes delicious. 

Then I made the filling for my chocolate cups. Since my hazelnut was destroyed, I used pistachio paste. It tastes okay. I put white chocolate, chopped almonds, golden raisins and pistachio nuts in the filling. It is not as good as the hazelnut paste but will do in a pinch. 

I will post photos tomorrow.

Yesterday I had to take Lucky to the vet in a rush. She was dehydrated again. She has kidney disease so once in a while she needs some fluids. Today she seems much better and went on a short walk. 

Until tomorrow...

THANKSGIVING DAY

Happy Thanksgiving. Being vegan this is not my favorite day. Today is centered around the killing of a bird and eating it. I know it is often around family and friends too. 

I am going to try to attend a sunrise service next year that commemorates indigenous people. I think that would be interesting. 

I decided to give Lucky a bath. She has been quite dirty since I was in Hawai'i and it rained. She was not happy about the bath but loves being clean. 

She fell asleep soon after the bath. 

Then I decided to make a bit of food. I made tofu, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and couscous. 

It was a bit beige but delicious.

I received phone calls and video chats with friends and family. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN SOUP

 It rained today!! It was a light rain or maybe a sprinkle. It was nice to see rain again. 

I decided to make soup. I am trying to listen to the Integrative Medicine people and eat better. It was a bean soup mix and I added yellow squash. It tastes great! 

I basically worked on invoicing clients all day. I ran into a road block when I realized my accounting software is on my broken laptop. Ugh! Now I have to spend hours on the phone with support! 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN PAN DINNER

 I made a vegan pan dinner. It has tofu, green beans and Japanese sweet potatoes. You season everything and throw it on a pan and put it in the oven. It is a very easy dinner and it made so much I will be eating it for a couple days. 

 My friend's kid came by to help me. He drove me to the computer store to get my laptop looked at. You know, the laptop I spilled tea on the keyboard. The place he drove me to would not look at it but later in the day, I took a taxi over to another store. They are sending it to get looked at. For $30 it is worth getting it assessed. 

The kid also drove me to the dog food store to get some new food for Lucky. She is loosing weight and isn't eating as much. I thought some food that is enticing would help. Later she ate a little bit of it. Lucky is eating but not as much as she used to. Yesterday she walked 2 miles so she is fine!

Until tomorrow...

RAW CAPPUCCINO CHOCOLATE CAKE

I did not follow yesterday's blog post. I did way too much today. I did laundry, walked the dog (not far), made a chocolate dessert, made soup, and swept the floors. 

I made a lentil soup using one of those bags of soup mixture. I threw in vegetables and seasonings. 

Then I made a chocolate dessert. It is a Raw Cappuccino Chocolate cake. It is DELICIOUS! 

I ate this slice. YUM! 

Now I have my feet up. 

Until tomorrow...

SPICEY PEANUT BUTTER GRAIN BOWL

Today Lucky and I hung around home. We went for a long walk with Lucky in the doggie stroller for hslf the time. Then we went to the post office to get mail. Then we stopped by the neighbors house and got some fresh pears off their tree. We took some apples too! 

I can't think what else we did. 

Oh, I made an amazing dinner: Spicy Peanut Butter Grain Bowl with baked tofu, grilled green beans, carrots and Japanese sweet potatoes, rice and some lettuce from my garden. It was delicious. I have plenty of leftovers. 

Until tomorrow...

FAMILY VISIT DAY #4

 Today was the big barbecue. It was big for me since it is my first barbecue in years. My sister-in-law arrived for her conference and she came straight to my house. Then my parents arrived and the "party" began. 

We opened my new table and used my Hawaiian decorated plates and accessories. Everything was orange, red and yellow. Then the grill issue started: we could not open the tank valve on the vegan grill. It is the new tank we bought on Tuesday and had it open then. I think someone tightened it to much.  We tried for 15 minutes then I decided to cook my sweet potato burger inside on the stove. The "meat" grill worked fine and the Impossible burgers were cooked into cheese burgers. 

I served the lemon potato salad and all the fixings for burgers. My new table was perfect and I got out the umbrella. It turns out my stand does not work with this umbrella, so after lunch we all researched a stand that would work. 

After the burgers, I served a dessert that I made a couple of months ago and froze. Unfortunately since it is so hot here, it melted a bit. They all said it was delicious even if it doesn't look perfect. I served them the lavender blueberry cheesecake. 

 Lucky came down for a bit while we were eating and wandered around. That is the most social interaction I have seen in awhile. 

Overall we had a beautiful day and a great barbecue. 

Until tomorrow...