Trip to Baton Rouge with Ashley

A few weeks ago, I went to visit my friend Ashley in Baton Rouge. Ashley and I became friends in college and she recently moved to my area of the south. We had a smashing good time exploring some of the area and fighting traffic on a Friday evening. 

After getting lost when my phone's GPS decided to quit, I finally found her apartment and we went to lunch.

 

We went to Truly Free Bakery and Deli where we split some chips and salsa. Ashley got one of the burgers (she wasn't a fan of the vegan cheese, so now she knows...) and I got this gorgeous vegan pie! Yay for veggies on pizza. I got the small size and I could barely finish it. It was a truly beautiful, animal free pizza! 

 

 

We then drove around a bit and found Coyote Moon, the metaphysical shop in town. I loved the atmosphere of the place and the super organized layout. I did not enjoy the clump of middle schoolers that decided to twitter and flirt around the store like baby birds. I ended up buying some candles, a little red resin happy Buddha for my little collection, a hematite ring, and the Doreen Virtue Ascended Masters cards. It was a fantastic shop, and I plan to go back the next time I'm in the area!

After wandering for a while, we found a little coffee and tea shop (the Magpie Cafe, I believe) where I had this lovely cup of hibiscus tea. The atmosphere was perfect for rejuvenating us before we continued our quest!

 

I then spent some great time with Ashley and her beautiful kitty. We stayed up late talking after our Mexican dinner and a trip to Fresh Market.  Isn't he adorable? 

 

 

I had to go back home the next day so I could make it to ballet class and when I got home the monster of all grasshoppers was on the back porch! 

 

 

Hopefully I will be able to go visit my friend Ashley soon! I had such a fun time visiting her and seeing new and exciting places in my area.

Final Summer Trip to NC Post 2014

July 29 to August 2nd

Hey Y'all!

This is my final post about my trip to North Carolina. Here you will see pictures from Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and Snowbird Mountain Lodge.
 I also have pictures of the food I ate :)

This is my mom's version of vegan putanesca sauce (it doesn't contain anchovies... she added those to hers serparately. It is a slightly sweet sauce with yellow onions, garlic, black and green olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, capers, and bay leaves. It is over Angel Hair and served with fresh steamed asparagus. This was ridiculously yummy!

View from the top of the mountain. It was very clear this day when I went to find some books and things from school I wanted to take home with me.

This is a strange combination of foods, but they were really tasty. In the back of the picture we have pearl couscous. To the left we have chickpeas cooked with onion, celery, garlic and spices. To the right we have cooked kale with tomatoes, onions, and summer squash from our neighbor.

Here are some photos from my room at the Snowbird Mountain Lodge. I loved the room I was in (my parents had the room next door) and I wish we had been able to stay longer.

I also have a picture of my brother's gecko, Bobalina, who I was taking care of this trip. She doesn't like traveling too much.

And here come the pictures of trees and woods!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next pictures were taken at the Snowbird Mountain Lodge.

 

 

 

 

And... back to Joyce Kilmer.

 

 

 

This is our picnic lunch after our hike. I had a really fantastic veggie wrap with hummus (asked them to leave off the feta cheese), an apple, and a pickle.

I then sang the pickle song for the next two days. Here it is to get stuck in your head!

 

My mom had the pimento cheese sandwich that ate Los Angeles.

And, last but not least... my picnic lunch on the way home: A veggie wrap from Snowbird, a pickle, Raspberry So Delicious Coconut yogurt, an apple, some ruffles, and half a sandwich I had mad three days before with hummus, vegan pepperjack cheese and arugula.

This is it for my summer trip posts (I think... unless I go to NC again when my family goes in September, but I doubt that I will). I hope you have enjoyed it!

Hiking in the woods and lots of nature

Today and yesterday my family and I went hiking in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Yesterday we went on a rather easy trail that had really huge poplar trees and was relatively flat. Today we went on another trail where the path was more full of rocks, streams, and tree roots. While we were walking today we found this huge tree that had a hollow base. I could have fit in the hole two or three times. It was an amazing tree. I can't remember weather it was an oak or a poplar, but it was huge.

I really love trees. I love tall trees, short trees, thin trees, huge trees. This tree was amazing. I even have it a hug. (Yep! I'm a tree hugger! )

On our way back down the trail, we literally almost stepped on a huge rattlesnake. I screamed and jumped over it, while my parents scrambled around in the woods to stay away from it. It was pretty exciting! And frightening! My Dad is still shook up about it.

We had a lot of fun looking at mushrooms, butterflies, frogs, crickets, cintepeeds, and other critters on the trail. I have lots of pictures to show you in a later post when I can edit them better, but here are a few:

Trip to NC Summer 2014 Part Five

July 18 - July 29

So, it has been a while since I posted a tip update. After our week at Kanuga, we have been enjoying being back at our house. It rained almost every day for a week, but we have gotten out to hike a few times. The weather has been really fantastic recently and hiking has been enjoyable.

So... Pictures and descriptions!

I've been really loving the Gardein meatless products, including these chicken fingers that I made into a sandwich using Vegenaise, Mustard, and Ketchup with Go Veggie! Cheddar Vegan Cheese on olive bread. I adore olive bread and I eat it all the time!

I did go to the store a few times over the summer and decided to do a haul post. Here's the products I got at the store.

Three Words: Hot Dog Pasta.
I really love making this because it's simple, filling, and satisfying. I have been making versions of this since middle school and the toppings have ranged everywhere from barbeque sauce and green onions to butter and garlic. What remains the same is the hot dog and the pasta. In this version I combined sliced Tofurky dogs with Go Veggie! Cheddar Vegan Cheese, ketchup, mustard, Vegenaise, and garlic dill pickles with angel hair pasta. This lasted me two meals (don't worry! I didn't eat it all at once) and was even better as leftovers.

Next you can see the driveway going through the stream. There is a log stuck at the little drop off of the ford, but it will get knocked down in one of the really hard rains.

Selfie time! I'm horrible at taking selfies, as you can see from the look of intense concentration on my face and the randomness of my ukulele in the background. I wanted to see how my hair looked when I had had it in braids for over 24 hours. This was the result... it frizzed out into a huge tangle by the end of the day, but at first, my hair was gorgeous! I wish it would do this when I wanted it to!

And..... a selfie with my ukuleke. I LOVE my little uke. I bought it a few years ago off Amazon for $26 and I adore it to death. I changed the strings (Aquilla, I think) and the sound is pretty great. The C string doesn't like to stay in tune, but besides that, I love it.

This was a strange meal. Tofurkey dogs on dark rye with Go Veggie! Pepperjack Vegan Cheese, Vegenaise, and Mustard. To go with that? A not very ripe nectarine and an overripe banana. Like I said, strange meal.

My next cooking adventure was much yummier! Vegan Lasagna! This one was made with tomato sauce, daiya cream cheese (this stuff is nasty by itself... almost sweet enough to be cream cheese icing), yellow squash, and spicy tomato paste.

My mom and I went into town and went shopping. While we were out, we went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. I had fried tofu and vegetable fried rice. My mom had miso soup and vegetable fried rice. Here's an akward picture my mom took.

And an ear selfie so you can see my new earings! I got them at Tribal traditions in Hendersonville for $8. I adore them! I love dream catchers, and own several, so this was exciting to find them as earrings. The first dream catcher I bought was when I was in middle school. My class went to the Natchez burial mounds for a festival and I bought a dream catcher necklace. I still have it hanging on my wall near my bed.

Next looks strange. I bought a frozen Amy's no cheese vegetable pizza at the Fresh Market, then added my own vegan cheese. They are all Daiya and all different. The yellow is cheddar slices. It was the best with a super smooth melty goo. The white blob is cream cheese with basil and garlic powder to make it taste better. It was ok. The last were mozzarella shreds. They were good, but not the best.

When I was at school, my favorite thing to get after midnight for hunger was a Cookout Cheese Dog. This is a hotdog bun with cheese, chili, coleslaw, and onions. No hot dog in sight. They are messy, gooey, and 99 cents. I would buy two, cheese fries, hush puppies and a huge sweet tea for about $8. I was craving some good old comfort food the other day and I made some hot dogs a la Cookout. Here you see tofurkey dogs with daiya cheddar slices, Amy's vegan chili, diced onion, and lots and lots of mustard on whole wheat buns (they were the only vegan buns at the store and they tasted like cardboard... they were disgusting).  This was super yummy and I will definitely be making them again in the future.

Here you can see me in front of an observational helicopter used in Vietnam. I went to see Miss Saigon at Flatrock Playhouse and this was part of the exhibit. My mom knew a bunch of people who were in Vietnam and my Uncle was in the Navy, so this was a pretty emotional show. It is a retelling of Madam Butterfly set in Vietnam. I loved the idea, but the music wasn't my favorite.

I made beans on toast, but with cheese and mustard and the beans went everywhere! It was probably the messiest thing I've eaten in weeks. I was spilling beans all over the table... next time I will start off with a fork.

A tofurkey peppered turkey, pepperjack, arugula, and tarragon mustard sandwich. Spicy, peppery, mustardy goodness!

The following pictures are from my drive up the mountain with my dad.