Trip to North Carolina Summer 2014 Part One

Part the First June 25- June 27

Lets start where all great road trips start. Packing and making a picnic lunch. There are several traditions that we always so when we make a road trip to North Carolina. The first is that we always leave late. The second is that we always make sandwiches and deviled eggs. I no longer eat eggs, so I didn't partake, but I will post my dad's recipe so you can make them if you still eat them. I have yet to make egg salad with tofu, but when I do, you will be getting a post about it because it will be very exciting.

My brother and I used to get really excited when we got to cook in the kitchen when we were little. I was tall enough that I could reach the counter, but my brother couldn't and he had to stand on a chair. This is one of those recipes that we made every time we took a car trip and I have many very good memories of late nights and early mornings making these eggs.

Deviled Egg Recipe (NON-VEGAN)

6 hard boiled eggs
1 to 1 1/2 cups Hellman's mayonnaise
(It has to be Hellman's. That is the only mayo that my dad likes and the only mayo that he will put on his deviled eggs.)
1-3 Tablespoons of yellow mustard
salt
pepper

Hard boil the eggs, then let them cool in ice water.
After they are completely cooled, peel them and cut them in half lengthwise.
Take the yolks out carefully so you don't tear the whites.
Mash the yolks with a fork and mix in the mayonnaise and  mustard until you have a creamy, bright yellow mixture.
Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper to taste and carefully spoon the mixture into each egg white.
Chill and serve.

So what did I have if I didn't eat the eggs?

Picnic food at its finest. The pink stuff in the water bottle is watered down watermelon lemonade.

I made roasted red pepper hummus, lettuce, cucumber, and olive sandwiches. I was trying to use up the fresh produce we had in the fridge, so this is what I came up with. I packed some Campari tomatoes, watermelon, apricots, cantaloupe, and black pepper pop-corn to go along with my sandwiches. I also brought along several Larabars, dried apricots, dried mango, and dried kiwi for snacks in the car. It was a really fantastic picnic lunch at an Alabama rest area.

I was super hungry because I hadn't had much to eat for breakfast, just the leftovers from Tuesday's dinner of cannellini beans mixed with tomatoes, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, and rice with green onions, and roasted zucchini and garlic. This dish tasted reminiscent of etoufee. I'll have to experiment a bit more to see if I can make an etoufee in the future.

I ended up listening to my Oldies and New Age playlists on my ipod as well as reading The Return of Sherlock Holmes for a majority of the drive. I slept a few times when I couldn't keep my eyes open, but not more than 1.5 hours of the trip saw me with my eyes closed. I really love these Sherlock Holmes short stories. I have been slowly reading them over the past year. I love the way Doyle introduces new characters and the descriptive adjectives he utilizes in nearly every sentence. A few of my favorite words he has used: Meretricious and Crepuscular. Also my new favorite quote from The Adventure of the Empty House is: “My dear Watson,” said the well-remembered voice, “I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.”

We arrived in 11 hour and 30 minutes, exhausted, hungry, and ready for bed.

On Thursday, the next day, we did what everyone does when they arrive for the summer: go grocery shopping. The only things we had in the house were some foods my aunt had brought over the day before: a few cartons of vegan soup (yay!), a roasted chicken (not for me!), several different types of mustard, tomato sauce, bagels, cream cheese, and some dressings and sauces for salads and cooking.

My mom and I spent over 2 hours shopping. We had to get all the staples like bread, onions, lettuce as well as my vegan staples like tofu, beans, rice, and pasta. We also had to buy detergent and charcoal and foil, so we were there for a long, long time. After two loads of laundry, a wonderful lunch, and a nap, we traveled to Brevard and saw the music center's Opera's Greatest Hits. It was a spectacular performance. I really wanted to leave by the end because I was so tired of sitting.

 

Breakfast was Angel Hair with a really fantastic jarred sauce from Muir Glenn. It was heavily mushroom flavored and thick with chunks of veggies. It tasted exactly like the sauce from Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli, but without the beefiness. I don't usually use premade sauces, but this one was really fantastic, organic, and vegan!

 

This mix of refried beans, sour cream, and cheese was delightful to eat with my quesadillas.

Lunch and dinner consisted of homemade vegan quesadillas using Gardein Beefless Tips, La Preferrida Vegetarian Refried Beans, Follow Your Heart Vegan Sour Cream, Go Veggie Vegan Mozzarella Shreds, Mild Salsa, Kalamata Olives, Flour soft tacos, and olive oil. I adore the sour cream. This was the first time I used it and I wish they sold it at stores at home. I am on the fence about the mozzarella shreds though. They taste fine when I eat them right out of the bag, but once they melt, they have a really oily and drippy consistency that I don't really care for.

On Friday, my dad and I went for a hike. I tried to take some pictures of the beautiful rhododendron blossoms, but the dim lighting from the overcast sky make all the pictures too blurry. My dad and I walked about three miles before we rand into my mom and I continued back to the house to make a phone call and my parents continued hiking. It was a much harder hike than I was expecting. My left leg was cramping and being a nuisance as we climbed up the hill, and the bugs kept dive-bombing my head because of the floral scent from my conditioner, but it was a really fantastic hike. I sweated completely through my clothes by the time I got back (it was only an hour and 10 minutes that I actually hiked, so we went at a pretty good pace). I had forgotten how much thinner the air is in the mountains compared to below sea level. In the end, I think I did well and I can't wait to do more hiking in the coming weeks.

Breakfast was leftovers from dinner yesterday. I really loved that sour cream with the refried beans. So yummy!

I tried a new Tasty Bite pouch for lunch and did not like it very much. It was the Thai Basil Noodle pouch and it was really spicy and didn't taste like basil at all. It was also very oily and it make my stomach a little upset, so I won't be repurchasing that flavor.

I also had a few apricots and watermelon that I split with my mom. Some of the apricots were super ripe and others were super not.

I stumbled upon an awesome "accidentally vegan" junk food at Ingles: Barbeque Flavored Mini Rice Cakes. They are ridiculously good. I've really been craving crunchy things recently, but most of the chips at the store are either covered in dairy or they are ridiculously oily. These Ingles brand snacks were the perfect balance of sweet and salty with that wonderful crunch and none of that nasty oily aftertaste. I highly recommend them if you are in an area with Ingles stores.

Lilies in the garden.

A new hairstyle I tried. I'm sorry it is so blurry! It is done with two rope braids pinned together. Look at the little curl by my ear. They always happen when I don't want them, but when I do, they never show up.

 

 

This is the video I used to do my hair. Hers looks so much better, but I tried.

 

Our little bat friend that lives on our porch.

Food Glorious Food

Another food post headed your way!

Tofu Scramble

Let's start off this post with a tofu scramble. I've been having trouble finding tofu at the supermarket that isn't soft. This was the last container of Extra Firm tofu at Rouses and I grabbed it off the shelf like a possessed woman when I saw it. I scrambled it with cherry tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, spinach, olive oil, low sodium soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little Cajun seasoning.

Banana Date and Coconut Water Smoothie

This next picture doesn't look too appetizing, but that is just because the bananas were oxidizing. This is a banana, date, and coconut water smoothie. It tastes like desert in a beverage. Absolutely adore this for a lunch or dinner meal/ meal supplement.

Beautiful Taco Seven Layer Goo

Layers of Taco Goo

Beautiful, Tasty, Glorious Taco Goo

I'm not sure what to call this. A seven layer taco dip casserole? It tastes much better than it looks. Starting from the bottom: Soy taco, vegetarian refried beans (regular refried beans contain lard and are therefore not vegan), pinto beans, kalamata and pimento-stuffed green olives, white sushi rice, medium chunky salsa, guacamole. I made the guacamole with 1 avocado, juice from 1/4 lemon, 3 tablespoons green tobasco, onion powder, garlic powder, and cultured coconut milk (coconut yogurt). I was out of daiya, so I had to improvise.

Lettuce Tacos

The next day I used romaine lettuce to make lettuce tacos with my leftover taco goo. They were incredibly fantastic! The crunchiness of the lettuce really made the rest of the food taste better and the spices had marinated overnight so the taco-ness was more pronounced.

Angel Hair with Dressing and Oil

Next we have Angel Hair with leftover house salad dressing from the Nutrition Company, olive oil, and garlic. It was wonderfully tangy, salty, and fresh tasting.

Vegan Pepperoni on Olive Bread

I was trying to use up things that would go bad while we were away, so I needed to use up my veggie pepperoni. Enter the pepperoni sandwich. It is literally pepperoni on toasted olive bread. Yummy and filling!

Lettuce Tacos with Peas

The rest of my taco goo with the rest of the romaine lettuce and leftover green peas. Iced pomegranate juice is my beverage.

Angel Hair with Peas, Pine Nuts, and Veggie Burger Crumbles

Last is the exciting leftover conglomerate: Angel hair pasta, crumbled Chez Marie vegan burgers, leftover green peas, pine nuts, olive oil, and garlic. I drank pomegranate juice with it.

I hope you enjoyed this food picture dump. TTYL

Food and Flowers and Frivolous Phenomena

Food and Flowers and Frivolous Phenomena

How's that for alliteration!

Ramble time! I finally saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I loved it! I adore Cap. If I could chose a favorite superhero, it would be a hard choice between Cap and Superman (I used to watch the old black and white Superman tv show with my Dad a lot), but I would probably have to go with Captain America because he is so stubborn and stands with his convictions no matter what. I also love Agent Coulson from SHIELD and love the tv show. I can't believe the season finale is next week! Too soon! I need more BAMF!Coulson in my life.

I've also been watching the second season of Star Trek: TOS on Netflix. I always think: This must be the strangest episode ever. Then I see the next episode and think: No, THIS is the strangest episode. Nothing can beat aliens that think they are gods. Then I get a few more episodes down the line and I'm watching Chekhov dance to imaginary music being played by Spock while androids watch in confusion and my brain just explodes. I adore this show. I've always loved the movies, but I hadn't seen some of the episodes. They really are beautiful and funny and insane. And nothing beats the William Shatner Look-of-Surprise. It is so bad, it is good.

I've been making some really fun foods recently. I even remembered to take some pictures!

 

Here is Tasty Bite Spinach Dahl with Lime Rice and Mozzarella Daiya Shreds. These are those microwaveable pouches that you can find in the Asian/Indian/Ethnic section in the grocery store. I really love this combination. It tastes almost like Palak Paneer, which used to be my favorite Indian food that I would get at restaurants. I also love the Tasty Bite Eggplant Punjab.

 

I was running out of food when I made this which is why there are two different types of noodles in it! Chia Seed noodles, heart shaped veggie noodles, canned tomatoes, and Daiya with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Super tomato-y and filling.

 

 

I made Falafel out of a box. It was super yummy! I broiled it in the oven with a little bit of olive oil. I made a dill dressing out of Vegenaise, dill, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Gotta have olives too! These are filling and immensely satisfying. I could only eat 3 or 4 before being totally full. These would be really great in a sandwich with cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes. I, alas, was out of all of those things when I made these over the weekend, so I just ate them as you see them.

 

I tried something different when I went out to eat on Monday. I know, shocker! This is the Ponchatoula salad at Nutrition Company with tempeh instead of chicken. It was really wonderful, but I'll probably get a vinaigrette next time because poppy seed is my least favorite dressing because it is so sweet. The strawberries took care of the sweetness factor so it isn't necessary. I loved the seasoning on the tempeh. It was slightly spicy and gave the sweetness of the salad a bit of a kick. Also, the juice I had was the best drink I've ever had. It was called the Don Juan and was made from pineapple, parsley, ginger, and apple. It tasted like Christmas in a cup.

 

Look at this awesome pasta I made on Cinco de Mayo! Angel hair, sesame oil, soy sauce, canned sweet corn, canned tomatoes, liquid smoke, ketchup, and garlic powder. Super festive looking and delicious. The corn and the tomatoes gave it a slightly sweet taste, while the soy sauce and liquid smoke gave it a salty kick. The sesame oil added another layer of flavor to make this a diverse and exciting experience for the taste buds.  A different version I made of this was: pasta, sesame oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, liquid smoke, tomato paste, ketchup, tofu, and black pepper.

 

And hey look! Another lettuce sandwich. I love these! Lettuce sandwich made with olive bread from the Fresh market, Vegenaise, and Campari tomatoes.

My hair has been growing in darker recently.

I've been reading a book called Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A. S. Byatt. I am over halfway done with it and I still can't decide if I like it. It is a retelling of the familiar Norse myths, but from the sort of perspective of a young child during the Blitz in the English countryside. I love the childlike way the stories connect and unfold and also the skald-like delivery of the stories. I know these stories pretty well. I am a Norse myth nerd so I have read and/or own many books that are essentially retellings and translations just like this one. But this one has a strange and fresh feeling to it that transports me as a reader to a different place and time, so I feel like I'm with the girl thinking about the myths as she walks down the lane by the hedgerow. This writing style isn't for everyone and there are many negative reviews of this book out there, but I find it refreshing and poetic, if a bit odd. I'll reserve my final judgments until the end of the book, but so far I love it. One of my favorite passages is about Loki's child Jörmungandr, the world serpent that circles around the word devouring her own tail. The descriptions of her thoughts and the sights she sees at the bottom of the oceans are so descriptive I can picture the underwater world with a rich, vivid clarity that makes the stories very real in my head.

Trying out makeup for ballet

My ballet recital is coming up next week. We had our dress rehearsal today and it was really fun getting to dance in our costumes! I now have glitter all over my body that won't come off, no matter how hard I scrub. I had to go through tons of my makeup to find what I wanted to use. You can see all the different eyeliners, brown shadows, and lipsticks I considered before I figured out what looked good. I'm going to experiment the next few days to try to figure out what will look best before next week. I'm super excited.

It is really spring now. It's muggy and in the 80s everyday now. The flowers are really beautiful and fragrant (and causing me to be all allergy-fied, so I don't like them too much). Here are some of the beautiful flowers outside! And blueberries! And trees! I'm leaving them big so you can see how awesome some of these plants are. I take all my pictures on my phone, so excuse the awful blurry/fuzzy haze on some of these pictures.

Look how furry the pollinators look on this poppy. They are such a beautiful color.

I love the little hairs on the inside of these foxgloves.

White foxglove

Yellow and Purple Columbine

I don't know what these are, but they are beautiful

So many beautiful flowers in the garden.

Hey look, a little bug crawling on the columbine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this ramble. Stay tuned for more fun pictures, recipes, rambles, reviews, and (eventually) my Walk to Mordor (I'm getting pretty far now!). Have a glorious day!