Cleaning the Property

We rent this beautiful 10 acre place with a modest 4 bdrm, 2 bath house on it.

When we moved in the house was clean enough but the property is really a mess.

The former tenants burned all their garbage. All of it. Everything. Soda cans, food cans, glass and plastic bottles, paper, plastic plastic, plastic, ohdearlookatalltheburntplastic, radios, disposable diapers, make up, nail polish, aerosol cans, lunch boxes, toys, shoes, clothes, screen doors, tools, bicycles... I could go on and on.

Everything. They just burned everything. They apparently bought into the idea that "fire cleanses all" but didn't follow through with it so nothing burned completely and there are a number of stinking piles of half burned garbage in various locations around the house.

Today we cleaned up two of them.

This is the pile next to an old trailer. This used to be the first thing you saw when you drove in the driveway.














This trailer was probably used for dump runs in the last century circa 1993 or so. That would have been before the tires went flat and the rats moved in.


This is a close up of the burnt garbage. I wish you could smell it.














This is a rat nest under the trailer.















This is the second pile that got put in the back of the pick up.














It will go to the dump on our next run.



















After.
















I feel like such a weight has been lifted. I'm so happy that I won't have to look at or smell those piles of burnt garbage any more.

We found this many car batteries. One was buried in a ditch like part of the erosion control.
















Dental Hygiene is important.
















We started the garden. Erik built a box out of old pallets about 3x8 ft. We will probably build one more and we are going to put a wire fence around the outside of the sidewalk to keep the deer out of the plants.














See the reflection of the lake in the window?




We filled the bottom of the box with lava to level it up and for better drainage.















I'm looking forward to spring, aren't you?

After all that for dinner we made vegan pizza. I got some great photos and will post them tomorrow. Now I'm going to bed!

Juicing for lunch

Well, here is is Wednesday.
I had juice for breakfast and juice for lunch so I guess I'm juice feasting today! Yay!

Lunch today was the most beautiful glass of juice I have ever made. A bunch of carrots, a hunk of ginger and an orange.






It's so good I don't want to drink it because then it will be gone! I might just have to make another.

Tonight dinner will be a cauliflower and potato curry over quinoa with green salad.

Dinner Last Night with Banana Nut Cake and Bliss

Juice this morning was carrot, beet, celery.














I'm going to use that pulp to make some Beet Your Meat Raw Vegan Burgers for dinner



Dinner last night was tempeh baked in tomato sauce with onion and potato.














I didn't write down the recipe but it was really good. A sweet sauce made with tomato, zucchini, onion, garlic and grape juice. I am always trying to make barbecue flavor. This one was ok. The man put more barbecue sauce on it :)

Also featured are side salad of corn, tomato, cuke, zuke, onion and fresh thyme, red leaf lettuce with sauerkraut and horseradish and some bread that didn't seem to want to rise. I may or may not have forgotten the baking powder or something. It still tasted good, it was just... thin. and dense. The boy loved it, ate three pieces before I caught him :)

I also made a banana cake with banana nut raw frosting that I was happy with.

Banana Layer Cake

Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour a loaf pan

In blender:
1 cup grape juice
3 ripe bananas
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 tbs oats
2 tbs ACV
Blend well and set aside

In large bowl:
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix dry ingredients well and add liquid banana mixture

Pour batter in greased and floured pan and bake at 350F for 1 hour. Cool completely.

Frosting or filling

In food processor:
1.5 cup Brazil nuts
2 ripe banana
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs vinegar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Process with S-blade until positively creamy. Chill while the cake is cooling.

When cake has completely cooled, cut the cake in half, cutting the top off of the cake.
Put the bottom back in the pan and spread the frosting all over the bottom half of the cake. Put the top half of the cake back on and chill the cake for an hour before serving.















Shown with Cherry Amaretto Coconut Bliss
which I would never buy but the man brought it home. He said I deserved a treat. Thank you, baby. I like treats. I really don't need any ice cream but I love you for thinking of me. The reason I look sadly at your bowl when you have ice cream is because I am thinking of how bad it is for the cows. I never liked ice cream very much, it's too damn cold :)

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Yesterday we went to Redding for a Karate tournament. The boy won TWO 1st place trophies! :D YAY!!







In forms and sparring. He's getting good at his level and is almost ready to go up one. Tests are today and photo shoot with all the trophies that he and his, er dojo mates? fellow fighters? The other kids from his karate school? Yeah, them. They all got first place trophies! Lots of them. It was a great day all around.


I went out and dug around in the yard today. It wasn't pouring but it was damp. I just got rid of some weeds around Minnie's grave and piled some more rocks and I figured out where I want the compost pile, I put some big rocks around and put the first bucket of kitchen scraps and some of the weeds I dug up. I am hoping it will inspire the man to build me a frame. It's off our property in the vacant lot next door, close to the hiway and sort of behind a tree, out of sight.
:) secret compost. I has it. It was fun, I got all muddy and had to hose myself off in the yard. I'm glad I got those rain boots, cuz i wasn't afraid to walk through it all and I got a lot of those burr bushes dug out and turned over the soil. I'd like to get more flowers to plant out there, maybe split up some of the ones that are over grown in the bed on the east side of the house.

I have started to collect up some recipes and put them in a cohesive type of order. I want to publish an e-book. I think that might be a good goal for me. No preachy, preachy or nutritional garbage, just easy, filling, vegan and raw recipes to help people transition to a vegan diet.



My back is in a knot from the long drive yesterday, I'm going to go stretch out on the mat for a while.

Later I will tell you all about the smoothie I made this morning. Isn't that exciting? Go have a smoothie. You will thank yourself.

Here is a photo of a kiwi I cut open the other day.




Vegan = Love!

Good Morning

I just had a bowl of Raw Vegan Chili for breakfast.

I put it in a glass ramekin in the toaster oven for 20 min at 200F. and then I topped it with sauerkraut. It was warm, but not hot and it was SPICY! after sitting and marinating for two days. So good. I'm going to have to use that dinner idea again sometime. It's just one of those things that you have to hang around the dehydrator for a day. Next time Maybe I will make double batch and freeze half...

Tonight we are having a picnic or barbecue style dinner. Corn on the cob, potato salad, and tofu dogs on store bought buns I'll have mine on a collard leaf, thanks. with all the fixins. I will warm up some sauerkraut and slice some onions and whip up some cucumber relish real quick. And a big green salad, of course.


Ok, I better get busy, the kitch is a disaster area. At least all the plants got watered today, go me.

Yoga

Juicing the Day Away... and Collard

Lunch started with a collard wrap. Inside is leftover beetmeat, tomato, onion, seed cheese and basil.

















The Money Shot














It continued with 42 oz of freshly extracted juice.




Pretty Foamy









Celery, beet greens carrot, apple and some other random things like the stems from collard leaves and lemon mint.

Now I just need to make the pulp into something raw and delicious for dinner. Wish me luck.
I'm envisioning sunflower seed loaf with tahini sauce. hmm. I will let you know.

Supreme!

It's a happy Saturday morning. My kitchen is a disaster and I need to go food shopping but for now I present to you the...

Acme Supreme Juicerator













I have a juicer. Yay. No more blender juicing.





I found this at goodwill. I don't know how much it cost. It was at the As-Is store and they just look at your pile and give you a number. I got out for $13 with the juicerator, a full body massage pad, the kind you lay on, and a bunch of other junk.
















I managed to keep it raw all day except a sampling of the melon jelly on some toast. the man's father came over last night, Dil. He is eating all raw too, so I was able to feed him and it was nice to have someone raw around. The guys ate leftovers, there was plenty of falafel and quinoa left from last night.
Red leaf lettuce made a great wrapper for some raw tahini, tomato, cucumber, sauerkraut and raw vegan sprinkle.

Wrap, eat, repeat!













I got my herb garden planted, all the starts are in.
Sage, basil, chives, parsley.














All my starts are in pots now. Rainbow blend cherry tomatoes and yellow & green squash. I'm waiting for the bumper crop. I put them out on the screened in porch, my garden porch.














It's not much but it's my first attempt at growing anything edible aside from sprouts and I am hopeful.

There is mint and other edibles growing out in the yard, I think I will forage today when it gets a little warmer outside. The other day I made a smoothie from the meat and juice of one young coconut, banana, red lettuce and mint I picked from the yard. It was fantastic.

This thing



















Sorry for the blurry photo. It's a shower caddy shaped like a cat. I think I paid more for this than the juicer and massage mat combined. But, my man had to have it and what Baby wants, Baby gets :) Anyway, you can see, there is no shampoo in there. There is a bottle of oil, a bottle of homemade shampoo/body wash, a bar of E3Live soap, a scrubby mitt, a comb and a brush with pumice stone. Why we needed a bigger shower caddy that, I don't know, but it is a cat and that's pretty cool.

Minnie is doing just fine. She ate a little more than a teaspoon of food and took her pill and now she is sleeping under the bed. I was holding her on my lap after the pill giving, petting her and telling her how wonderful she is and she climbed up and sat on my shoulder. AWWWW!! She stayed there for a couple of minutes and then went under the bed for her mid morning nap.

Oh, I was just reminded of what else we bought yesterday. A microphone. It plugs into the amp and makes your voice very loud. The boy is beat boxing on it right now. We need a drumset and the drive and we could start our own band. Talent is optional, right?

I had a dream about making raw beer. I will wait and see how the batch I put up the other day comes out and I think the next one I will try to make raw. We'll see.

A long ramble about a bunch of different things

Mickey loves the new screened in porch he can play outside and still be safe.














Did I tell you that I am making beer? I am. I got some hops on sale at Nightfire, boiled them up added some nutritional yeast and a couple of tbs of sugar and put it in an old wine bottle with the cap loose. That was a few days ago. I'm not sure when it will be ready but I will let you know.

2 liters to freedom














I have been trying to get photos of my hair for the No Poo entry but I can't get them by myself, no timer on my camera. I keep forgetting to ask the man to take some.

my ugly mug with freshly rinsed hair. No 'poo since Aug 2008













wow, there is a lot of grey in there.

Me in a pretty dress.





I got this at Community Thrift in San Francisco last year. It's a size 20 which fit me perfectly when I bought it. It has a tie so I can make it tight at the waist and it has a lot of skirt. I will shorten up the straps and it then the bust will fit perfectly. I don't know what dress size I wear now but a junior 13 pants fits me perfect at this point. Sometimes a 10 will fit but it's snug. I wore a size 20 and was considering a size 22 this time last year.






I got up this morning, did 30 minutes of yoga, stretching mostly and some balance poses. Then I blended the seeds and strings of the melon that the boy ate last night. I blended it with some water, seeds and all and then strained it. Poured it in a glass and drank it up. Cantaloupe is such a treat. Creamy and yummy, but I have to take melon all alone or not at all. I get serious gastrointestinal difficulties if I try to eat melon with anything.

it's the seeds I'm after













Last night I made jelly with some of the melon. Just a half a mason jar full. I boiled the melon with water, sugar and some agar flakes, reduced it by about a half, until it started to get that melted candy feeling. I don't know how to describe it. Then I poured that in a clean mason jar, let it cool on the counter and then put it in the fridge. It's jelled up real good. It should be eaten soon, I don't know how long it will keep.

I got new rubber boots. Big black ones like Christopher Robin. Mine are the same breand as those but only $12 at Ross. Totally Ross-some!!
I wore them to the bus stop every day this week. We have been bringing the umbrella every day but only used it on Monday. Tues, Weds and Thurs, it has only started pouring after it warms up a little. Just like I remember when I was a kid, it would start to pour as soon as I got to school.

It's definitely spring, even if it was snowing this morning.

















Minnie is doing much better.














I got the pills down her real easy, two at a time, she didn't fight at all. Then just held her for about 30 minutes. She laid in my arms purring while I tried to think healing thoughts. Then I brushed her and petted her for a while. She doesn't clean herself anymore so she has some matting. I try to brush her out every day but those mattes sneak in. She also played with her toy, a couple of twisty ties. My cats love them. If there is a twisty on the floor, look out, claws will be flying.
I gave her 1 tbs of the new Vet food and she ate














This much. Maybe half.














I am going to leave the rest out for her, she might eat later. I left some out last night and she ate it. Around 4AM I heard licking. I thought, who is licking what? Then I remembered, Minnie! She's eating! I turned on the light which made the man scream AAAHH! but Minnie kept eating and I turned the light back off. Yay for nocturnal feeding patterns!
I'm still waiting for poop. The kittehs, that is. I don't want to think about it too much. It's sort of dread and anticipation all at the same time. I'm just really glad that she is eating and playing. She is still very yellow. I can't believe I didn't notice it until Vet pointed it out. She's bright yellow.


In other news, Victoria's Secret sent me an online coupon for $20. So I bought 5/$25 panties. That's $5 for 5 pair of Victoria's Secret Pink® Cotton Hipsters in various colors. Woot, I say. Woot! Ahem. Ok, sorry. I also got two Body by Victoria® racerback bras, with Infintiy Edge, they were on sale 2/$40. None of my old bras fit anymore. I literally swim in them. It's like church bells in my shirt. I've been wearing sports bras that I bought at the goodwill. But now, I will have bras.
I can go without shampoo, but I am still heavily addicted to Victoria's Secret racerback bras. Hey, I quit coffee 2008, heroin 2001, cigarettes May 2008, almost a year! AND lip balm!

That's right. I have been without lip balm since I don't even know when. December, I think. It's nice. It was the last cosmetic to go. Now it's just oil. Coconut, olive and jojoba.
Sometimes my shins get ashy and I like to grease up my face, neck and chest once in a while. I like to rub coconut oil on my stretch marks. It makes me feel all tropical.
I use some olive oil that is scented with orange oil in the shower and sometimes on my hair, but thats it. Oh, I still use toothpaste and on special occasions I will use some Tom's of Maine calendula scent deodorant. Roll on or stick, I have both. Both have propolyne glycol and I try to use them as little as possible.
I guess I'm lucky, the man doesn't use deodorant or cologne of any kind. I made him some shampoo/body wash out of castile soap, witch hazel, jojoba oil, a tsp of salt and rosemary oil and now he smells wonderful all the time. He was using a shampoo with a heavy perfume before. I am slightly allergic to perfume. It gives me a headache, feels like my throat is closing, sometimes I will start coughing or sneezing. It's hard to go out in public sometimes because of people's perfumes. I can't go to the boys karate dojo because of the air freshener they use.

Ok, I am done rambling, loading photos and editing. I have to get some tomato plants repotted and I don't think its going to get any sunnier than it is, which isn't very. I'm glad it's not raining.

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments, they mean a lot to me. Have a happy, healthy Friday, one and all!

Raw Vegan Casserole Project

Bottom layer is broken up raw seed crackers. These are flax, sesame and quinoa, made with vege juice pulp for the liquid.


















Over that is a layer of raw zucchini noodles. Just julienne zucchini if you don't have a gadget for noodling. I used 3 small zukes, then about 2 tbs sauerkraut, on top is half a small onion cut in paper thin slices and a tbs sesame seeds.















A basic seed cheese made with an additional 10 brazil nuts and a little bit of extra water. Just enough to make it thin enough to run down through the veges to the crackers but not watery, creamy.

Spread the cheese sauce around, tap it to get the bubbles out and lift the sides a bit so the sauce can run down. Garnished with onions and pop in the dehydrator at 125F.















I have it in the dehydrator now and will leave it in until dinner time, so that will be about 4 hours. It should get warm and soft and start to get cooked looking around the edges. I imagine it will have to be sliced, I really don't know how it's going to come out. As usual I am all excited about dinner!!!



Inspiration from one of my favorite people to emulate:

Rawkin'

Hot, Spicy :AND: RAW! DIY Homemade Indian Style Pickled Jalapeno Peppers RECIPE :PLUS: Photos of My Nude Figure Lighter Collection

Today I made RAW pickles out of jalapeno peppers and carrot.
















From left to right:
Headless nude with red light-up nipples. Flame comes out of the neck.
quartz geode
bronze colored with head. She has a look on her face, you can see the close-up down below. Press the left breast and a flame comes out the right.
Jar of pickles
glass bead shaped like a pig in a kimono
USA pottery cat planter. I don't have a plant small enough to fit in his ass right now.*
Day of the dead or Grateful Dead type of bud vase.
Mermaid doll in the bud vase by Rainbow Creatures Inc of Seattle Washington

You can see the look on her face in this photo.

































I put the pepper tops in a jar of their own and pickled them with just salt, no spice, to see how they would be. I didn't want them to go to waste and these guys will eat them.















Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
I made these before the recipe is here

You will need a glass jar with a lid. I used a wide mouth mason jar with a canning type ring and lid. There is no cooking involved, this is a RAW recipe!

11 large jalapeno peppers, sliced very thin
1 carrot sliced very thin
1 tbs salt
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp asofoetida**

Mix together in a clean, dry jar and leave for 4-6 hours so the peppers can marinate in the spices. The salt will draw the water out of the peppers and there will be liquid in the bottom of the jar.
Then add
6 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs olive oil

Leave jar in a cupboard at room temp for a day and the pickles are ready to eat. Shake them every couple of hours during the time that they are curing to assure that all the pieces are coated evenly.
The next day the pickles are ready to eat.
Store the remainder in the fridge in a covered jar pretty much indefinitely.***


I hope you like these, they are far too spicy for me! I make them for the man so he doesn't keep buying can after can of canned jalapenos. Gotta keep it on the DIY, don'tcha know?

Next Post will be:
Vegan Seitan Burgundy

Hail Seitan!

Footnotes:
*That should get me some hits, huh?
**sometimes spelled asafoetida (by most people :) and also called hing. This is an onion or garlic substitute and adds an unmistakable "Indian" flavor to foods.
***They should smell spicy and tangy and be a little bit crisp. As always, if they smell "off" or "funny" or seem slimy or have a funny texture or smell bad TOSS THEM! It's not worth the small cost of the peppers and salt to get sick over. As always the second, I ain't responsible if you get sick. :P

Cat Photos For Your Amusement and Vegan French Toast Teaser

Try not to notice the dog (Wicket W. Warrick) in the back, there












It snowed all day yesterday and some today.

blah.

Mickey looking regal. Or at least superior to the dog.















Far away Minnie Cat















Up close Minnie cat














Today I am cleaning floors and washing area rugs with my home made laundry soap.

Tonight for dinner we will be having Vegan French Toast, McDougall Style-ee

Peace, Yo.

S is for Sick Day

The boy stayed home sick again today.

This is a photo of unfermented sauerkraut and a jar after fermenting for 3 days.














I put up two jars of sauerkraut this morning and made wee pies for breakfast. It's just pizza dough with leftovers in a crust. Like a large ravioli or a small calzone. They were filled with the leftovers from a casserole that I made last night. It was flax and zukes and tomatoes. Not a very good casserole but a great filling for a wee breakfast pie. I first made them wee pies yesterday. When I said, "there are wee pies for breakfast" I was greeted with looks of confusion, but they went over well and so I made them again today. Today the announcement of wee pies made them say "Whee!!".

They think the wee pies are special. I put a small piece of dough in the shape of the initial of each person then they are special.
Actually, I made way too much pizza dough but don't tell anyone.

I took no photos of the wee pies but here is a photo of an "S" shaped tortilla that I made special for someone whose name starts with S and is also sick. "S" is for "Sick"













No wee pies tomorrow, all the dough got used up making sculpture this morning

















Tonight for dinner will be enchiladas. I am cooking the bean and vege filling right now, the tortillas are ready to roll out, cook and fill and I made enchilada sauce this morning to bake all the black bean and vege filled tortillas in. I am gonna bake it in one of the new glass baking pans I got this weekend and it's going to be wonderful!

I will update with photos of the finished product later

Tomorrow I will tell you all about this Vegan Sausage Pizza w Whole Wheat Crust