Vegan Holiday Menu Three

I hope you enjoyed the first two vegan holiday menu. If you missed them, you can view menu one here and menu two here.

The idea for this holiday menu came from watching one of those holiday baking challenges. The contestants were asked to make their favorite holiday meal out of cake. Both of the Italian contestants made lasagna.

Now I know my lasagna is no way authentic but I hope you still enjoy it.

Vegan Holiday Menu Two

Here is menu two for a vegan holiday meal idea. If you missed menu one, click here.

Vegan Holiday Menu One

It is that time a year again. Holidays filled with meat, butter, and milk laden dishes and gluten-filled baked goods. I have put together three-holiday menu's that may help you survive this season. Mix or match the items or use the whole menu. I hope you enjoy.

Three Vegan Sandwiches

In honor of National Sandwich day, which is November 3rd, I am sharing three of my favorite sandwich "recipes". The sandwich is believed to be the namesake of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who when playing a particularly intense game of card, did not to break for the usual meal of a slab of meat and various sides. Apparently, he insisted his meal be put between two slices of bread. Hence, the sandwich was born. Ture? You decide.

Know Your Gluten Free Grains

This blog post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something, I will receive a small commission.

According to the Whole Grains Council, gluten is a protein found in wheat, spelt, barley, rye that is hard for some people to digest, including me. Symptoms may include: Pain in the abdomen or joints, belching, diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, bone loss, fatigue, or malnutrition, delayed puberty or slow growth, cramping, itching, lactose intolerance, skin rash, or weight loss. When I eat gluten, my allergies flare, my joints ache, I become bloated, and my thoughts become foggy.

Heart Of Carrot is being updated

As you can see, Heart of Carrot is in a state of disarray. We will be back up and running soon! In the meantime, you can connect with us on Facebook here, Twitter here, Instagram here, and Pinterest here. We just set up a youtube channel, although we do not have any videos yet, you can still subscribe here.

Thank you for your patience.

Love and Light
Mary

Tasty Tuesday-Sweet Potato Hummus

I came up with this recipe because we had guests coming to visit. I want to serve something but I didn't have a lot of prep time.

1 pound frozen organic sweet potato
1/4 c organic extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c organic tahini
1 garlic clove...pressed through garlic press
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice (organic)
salt to taste

Cook sweet as direction on package, drain and cool. Once the sweet potatoes are cooled, place them along with the olive oil, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice in your food processor and process until a smooth puree is formed, scraping down sides as necessary, about 30 seconds total.

Transfer hummus to serving bowl, drizzle with additional extra-virgin olive oil and serve with Jilz Gluten Free Crackerz

Back in Austin

The drive from Phoenix to Austin was pleasantly uneventful. We spent the night in Fort Stockton, well a few hours. We arrived in Austin around 3:00pm on Wednesday. I am telling you audiobooks make the trip seems to go so much faster! I listened to Discovery of Witches it is part of theAll Souls Trilogy. It is by far my favorite book of all times. I have read it several times.

This year, like last we went to Tracy's sister house for Thanksgiving. There is always a lot of good food. We had a great time and left with full bellies.

Our annual black Friday movie was canceled due to weather, instead, we enjoyed a lovely meal with Tracy and Robin.

I worked a few hours at the school putting away Mabon decorations and putting up Yule decorations. Kevin also worked hours there doing some handyman projects.

Monday Kevin has a dentist appointment. He is getting his permanent crown.

He is leaving on Tuesday to go back to Phoenix for a couple of weeks. Then we are off to Iowa for Christmas!

Phoenix-Week Nine

This week has been good. Kevin is feeling a lot better. His mouth isn't hurting as much and his energy levels are returning. The kitchen is totally painted, including the cabinets and handles. We picked out flooring for both the kitchen and bathroom. Kevin painted the ceilings in the living room, hallway, and bathroom.

We will be leaving Tuesday for Austin after Kevin's treatment. We are going with Tracy to the same place went last year for Thanksgiving. We had a great time, we are both looking forward to all the delicious food that awaits us!

I shipped back four boxes to Austin, there wasn't going to be enough room in the car. One whole box was filled with yarn and finished projects. Oh and another whole box of shoes.

I sent a box of finished baby projects to Hannah, she will be selling them on her website, Hold Them Close.

Kevin got is license to sell mobile homes in Phoenix. He also brought another trailer in a different park. That one is a double wide. It needs much less work than the current one. He hired someone to paint the inside and out before he gets back from Austin.

I go back to work on December 1st. There are a lot of new students and a new employee. I hope it doesn't take too long to get back on rhythm.

Phoenix-Week Seven

Kevin's mouth is feeling much better. There is only one spot in his mouth is hurting now. He is also producing more saliva. He hasn't gain any weight over the last couple of weeks, but he hasn't lost any either.

We are leaving for Austin the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. We don't have any Thanksgiving plans as of yet. I am hoping we get back to Austin at a reasonable hour so I can go to the store. There is absolutely no food at home. I mean none. I am going back to work on December 1st. Kevin will be coming back to Phoenix to finish up his treatment and work on the house.

The process on the kitchen is going good. There is only one small section on wall left to paint. Kevin painted the inside of the cabinets. All he has left to do is paint one side of the cabinet doors. There is still a lot of paint to be done. Did I mention we both hate painting?

I have been crocheting a lot. I did add a few things to Facebook but only one scarf to my website.

The plan is still go back to Iowa for Christmas. I am so not looking forward to the cold weather, but we are both looking forward to seeing our family and friends.

Phoenix Week Five

Kevin only has three more days of radiation. We are hoping Kevin's mouth starts healing soon after the treatments. It has been causing him a lot of anguishing pain. It seems his nausea wasn't as bad last week, I am grateful.

Phoenix Week Four

Kevin's chemo treatment ended a week ago. He is still has two weeks of radiation however they have shrunk the area getting radiated. His tongue hurts a great deal, but his appetite is very good. I am cooking enough food for a small army. He has lost a lot of weight. He did gain a pound this week, hopefully this trend will continue.

Phoenix Week Two

I was disappointed to find out Monday, Kevin lost four pounds over the weekend. I can not understand how a person loses four pounds in two days. Even with the weight loss, Kevin started feeling better on Tuesday. Matter of fact, he felt good the rest of the week. He felt good enough to do some work on the house.

Phoenix Week One

I have been in Phoenix for a little over a week. When I first arrived Kevin was not eating solid foods. Now he is eating mostly solid. He wasn't taking all of his meds or supplements either. The amount he is taking is overwhelming. I figured out if I open all the capsules and mix them with a tablespoon of coconut cream, he can take them. The tablets he chokes down. He is mixing the probiotic with goat yogurt. I mixed the green drink and another of his powder supplements together. I also mix all of his liquid supplements together. Making sure he is taking everything at the right times is so important.

Grow, Grow, Grow

I am pleased to report that everything I planted in the last couple of weeks are doing well. The Seminole pumpkin took three days to sprout, the winter squash took five. One of the Malabar spinach plants has finally latched onto the trellis, the other one isn't showing signs of growth, but the plant itself looks healthy. Two of the okra plants are showing much growth either, but they too look healthy. The three okra plants I planted in the grow bag just got their true leaves. The beets, kale, and chard are just poking through the soil.

My Obsession Continues

Last week I planted two okra plants, four Malabar spinach, four Seminole pumpkin, one summer squash, one dwarf Barbados cherry tree and two eggplants. I plan was not do anymore planting until fall.  Plus, I had all week off with a lot of time on my hands and I found a 3-pk of 45 gallon grow bags for only $35.00!

Exile is Over!

My self imposed exile from Natural Gardener's, well any garden center is over. I am the first to admit, I may have had a problem when I went shopping. It seems, I could not leave any garden center without spending at least $100. No kidding. I decided I finally have a handle on my addiction and it was time try out my new found self control. Although, I did not go alone. Kevin went with me...just in case.

Garden Update 6/21/15

I am very thankful to my neighbors for watering my garden and flowers while we were gone. Almost everything survived. I did lose the rest of the summer squash and the last spaghetti squash plant. I was able to harvest a few squash before I removed the plants. The cucumber plants are looking a bit sad, but they are still producing. Most of the cucumber skins turned yellow, however the flesh is still tasty.

Squash Vine Borer Update

After the initial shock and sadness of discovering the squash vine borer devouring my winter squash, I went back out to Natural Gardner. Come to find out these spawns of the devil are very specialized critters, normally only attacking squash vines that are hollow. This means both winter and summer varieties.

The adult borer looks like a small wasp; only being about 1/2 inch long. Their body is orange abdomen with black dots. They have two pairs of wings. A metallic green pair and a black pair. The metallic pair are only visible when they are flying.

The Joys and Woes of Gardening

I love my garden. The pleasure I get from watching it grow and bloom is unmeasurable. Everyday, I notice something new and exciting. There are little cucumbers starting to emerge. My cherry tomato plant laden with fruit. It has grown so big the regular size tomato plant in it's shadow. The green pepper plant is not very tall, but there are several peppers growing. My Gardenia is blooming early. The fragrance is amazing.