Yep...still vegan

5 days in, still going strong. I don't miss cheese, milk and mayo as much as I thought I would. But I DO miss it a little. I've been slack on taking pics of all the food I've made! But I did manage to snap a pic of burrito night. This was a big challenge for me because I LOVE to smother everything in sour cream and cheese! Not to mention slaw soaked in mayo! Yum!!

 

So here's what I came up with:

 

Not quite the same but still delicious. The slaw has a little honey (which I later read in not so vegan, but...) and rice vinegar, dill and pepper. I put extra avocado to give that soft cheesy texture. They were still oh so good.

I've started making my tortilla shells with coconut oil instead of crisco. The shells turn out so much better with the coconut oil! They are so good I eat them plain!

 

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21 days of being vegan

It all started with "hungry for change" then "forks over knives". My viewpoint of food has drastically changed. I never in a million years could see myself giving up meat, let alone any animal byproduct.

But after watching the documentaries, I really got to thinking. Diabetes runs in my family, I do have the mid morning crash, and my cravings for bad foods was something I could not deny. I love food! That's a fact!

I thought it would be a nice challenge to try going vegan for a week. Easy enough! Until I saw an app on my phone for "21 day vegan kick start". And so it began, my 21 day challenge...David is not 100% on board, but is very supportive! He eats what I cook but might add cheese or ranch to it ;)

Day one: apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast. (Failed to snap a pic)

Lunch: carrot and roasted red pepper soup with couscous confetti salad (so good)

 

Snack: apple butter with bananas on whole grain bread.

Dinner: hoppin' johns salad and confetti couscous.

Day one complete. Not so bad!

 

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Time to brighten things up a bit

I've bee growing tired of our decor.. Thanks to Pinterest, I find myself looking at everything wondering what I could change about it. The truth is, we have never really "decorated" our house. It's always been on the back burner.

Well, I wanted to brighten up the living room on the cheap so I decided that pillow covers may be the way to go. Decorator pillows can get expensive so I decided I would make my own. So off the the cloth store I went.

Here are my color choices. The light blue/purple didn't make the cut. I love that fabric but I didn't have enough :( it was in my stash of leftovers.

Here are the first 2. Also a fabric from my stash

I love this yellow with flowers! It's happy and reminds me of spring.

Here is my finished product! They were so easy to make and for under $15, not too shabby!

Thanks Pinterest for all the inspiration ;)

 

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Mommies helper

If you didn't know, Malia is almost 3 now which makes her a big girl! And being a big girl means taking on big girl responsibilities! She's tall enough to reach the door handle and just recently learned how to OPEN the door! Very exciting milestone for her. I wonder how long it will be before she tries to open her bedroom door to escape nap time, or bed time....

Today she wanted to help me clean up. So, with Ella down for her morning nap, together we tackled the kitchen. Here she's taking the recycles to the laundry room...

Time to open that door

........

All done! What a big helper!

Now on to the dishes. She likes to help mommy and daddy with this a lot...and when I say help, I mean she likes to play in the water.

Here she's actually helping by putting the plates in the drying rack...really to hurry me along so she can have cups and bowls to play with.

She did it right!! She's growing so quickly!

Notice the apron ;)

 

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Time for an apron

Ive been talking about making an apron for Malia for some time. In an effort to be better about doing the things I want rather than just talk about them, I decided today that I'd just do it! Stop waiting for the perfect conditions. I put the house work aside and during the girls nap time, I started on her apron.

I have collected quite a bit of fabric over the last few years since I started this hobby, So I had everything I needed. I really like this fabric. It's a cheerful color. And I believe they are apples, but I'm not 100% on that. This fabric has also been used in some sun bonnets.

As usual I got very into my sewing and failed to take pics as I went. Ah well, what ya gonna do?

Here is my little model! She wasn't in the mood for taking pictures as you can see, but she went with it anyway! I made it reversible so she can choose what color she feels like wearing (for a toddler, making her own decisions is a big deal!) so above is the green side...

And here is the pink/yellow side! Again, she looks so thrilled!

Here it is in use! She's helping daddy make western casserole :)

 

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The artist within

 

Her artwork is really coming along. It's neat to see her creativity come out more and more!

 

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Yeah, yeah...

I know, I know, where have I been? Well, raising 2 girls is a lot of work! At the end of the day I usually just pass out ;)

 

Here are a few pics from the snow the other day. I wanted to get better pics of Malia playing, but I couldn't juggle the camera and Ella without Ella freezing to death! So these pics are taken from the kitchen door. Barkley was having just as much fun as his sister!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malia got out there before I got to zip her jacket and put mittens on her! She knows how to push open the back door now. So after a few handfuls of snow she came running in with freezing hands. But, nothing a warm cup of cocoa didn't fix!

Now, spring can arrive at anytime! We are ready for you!

 

 

 

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