Vegan Potstickers

OMGoodness!! This was the biggest hit in my house of any meat or not meat dish in I don't know how long....forever? Seriously. I got the recipe from this wonderful sight called Weekly Vegan Menu. Hubby was a little skeptical since we've had a lot of downs among our ups of this new way of life. Especially because we had never heard of TVP. It is textured vegetable protein and it is loaded with fiber and protein. It is a dry product that has to be reconstituted. Do NOT let this scare you. It just means that it keeps better than meat and won't clog up your freezer. We bought our ten ounce bag for $4 at our local health food store. You could even add this to any meat dish to help the expensive meat go further. It is so delicious and you don't even know that it's not meat! Without further ado, here is our delicious dinner. My five year old actually moaned when I gave him his plate. About two minutes later, he ran in and told me, "I thought it was going to be disgusting but it was really good." LOL My kids rock.

DIY Watering Can

I made another Pin! I made a homemade watering can out of my old Tide containers. Just make sure you clean your laundry containers out really well. Next get a fairly small drill bit and drill wholes in the lids. Ta da!!! Easy peasy and works great!

We just keep trucking along. Now, if I need to haul water up to my garden area at the school, I'm set!!

Making Pins

So, I am a huge fan of Pinterest. I mean like bordering on addicted. LOL I have a little less time for it these days, but I still have to get my daily dose. Anyhow, I have boards. Boy! Do I have boards! I also have over 3,000 pins. Yep, I spend a bit of time pinning. Well, I recently decided that I need to be making the things I pin or what is the point (well, other than pretties and a gigantic time suck, lol). I will make at least one thing a month that I have pinned. I made about four or five in March. I'm shooting for more in April, but we will see what happens.

Here is my paint chip calendar. You have seen them all over pinterest. I have seen several tutorials. I know it seems a little like duh? why do you need a tute? Well, I like to know the specifics. How big were your paint chips? What size frame did you use? I guess those are the big questions that I didn't find answers to. So, here is my rendition.

Materials:

16 x 20 picture frame (I got mine from Walmart) or bigger

several paint chips (same brand)

in several different colors of your choosing

ruler

scissors

pen

tape or glue or something sticky

I used Glidden paint chips. They were 5" so I just cut them down the middle making two 2.5" pieces for each chip.

Then I laid them out on the back of the paper that came in the frame. I probably organized them two or three different times, but eventually I found what I liked.

Next, I eyeballed the spacing and started to tape them down. Now, you could measure this all out and get the spacing exactly. However, in my house it's more like "run, run, run the toddler is coming!! Hurry, hurry get done!" and so that's how it went.

Next, just place your paper with chips in the frame and hang!

Voila! Next time, and there will be a next time, I am thinking of getting a slightly bigger frame. I had to combine Saturday and Sunday and the OCD voice in my head keeps screaming at me. lol I plan to make one for all seasons. This is our summer one. I know, I know. It's spring, but come on! It's in the 80's around here for darn near a month. We are calling it summer. LOL I mean, the June bugs are already out. Wouldn't they know best?

On another note, I wanted to share the goodness that I have been having for breakfast lately. It is yummy, which totally surprised me, and it's way filling. It is from the Engine2Diet website. You should run over and check out their goodies, for sure. Anyhow, the thoughtof taking a picture occurred when I was almost done, but still. It has Total, Grapenuts, Shredded Wheat (unfrosted), old fashioned oats, flaxseed meal, golden raisins, walnuts, banana and strawberries. Hubby has his with blueberries. This will fill you up and get you going (and regular) and you won't get that mid morning hunger. Give it a go. You have nothing to lose!

TV you HAVE to watch!

We have been watching a TON of documentaries on food lately and they have made a real impact on us and on our choices. I would like to recommend a few. If you haven't seen 'Food Inc.' you need to drop everything and see it today! It will at least spark you to write a few a few emails or change your buying habits. We also watched 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". This one made us run out and buy a juicer, LOL. The deeper impact is that it made me realize that I really can get almost everything I need from vegetables. While I'm not doing a juice fast, I am incorporating fresh vege and fruit juice into my days and it is making a real impact. We watched 'Forks over Knives' and this one had a real impact on my husband. Cancer runs in his family in a big way and he took special note of the studies done linking meat and meat products to increases in disease and cancer. Next we watched "Engine 2 Diet' and it is done by the son of one of the doctors in Forks Over Knives. It inspired us to try new plant based, whole grain foods

without fear. Oh, and we bought his cookbook. LOL We also watched 'Food Matters' and while it wasn't our favorite, it was free and worth a watch. We learned a lot about super foods and some of what they said made a lot of sense to us. Now, all of those were free on Netflix so you aren't out anything but time if you watch them.

We rented two more from Zune that were really quite amazing. We watched 'Vegucated' and it was AMAZING! It showed how average people can be vegan or even vegetarian with little effort and it makes a big affect. It was moving, educational and enthralling. My five year old stated that he wasn't going to eat animals "ever again" after watching it with us. I felt the same way. We then watched 'Fresh' and we loved this one too. It isn't about being vegan or vegetarian. It IS about being more aware of your food choices and where they come from and how they get to your plate. It also advocates buying fresh and local. We found out that there is a store not too terribly far from our home that sells only local goods from small local farms. We are SO going as soon as we get the chance! How awesome is that?!?

Well, if you watch them all, you are out about twenty hours and less than ten dollars. I feel that they are all worth a watch whether leisurely or with purpose. Now, I have to run. I will leave you with this so very awesome, completely delicious, completely vegan pizza we had for dinner last night. Yum Yum Yum!!

Wow Wow Wubzy

Ever watch with amazement at the joy and wonderment of a toddler? We are at that awesome stage where she thinks that everything is so cool! It's a good reminder to cherish every moment. They are fleeting. Enjoy my amazing little miss!

Sewing fun

I've been spending a lot of time on pinterest. I find so much inspiration there. I've also been clocking my points over at dailyfeats.com , which you should so head over and do if you are not already. I recently earned a $10 Starbucks gift card. I'm halfway to another gift card and I'm going to make it Staples so that I don't have to pay for new inserts for my planner. Anyhow, today I want to share my awesome coin purse that I made last night.

It was lots of fun and a little trying at times. The red line is my bakcstitching. I'm still learning to sew and my hand sewing is very atrocious but I figure I will only get better with practice. You should run over and check out this amazing tute! Talk about step by step instructions to help you create a unique and cute little goodie for you or someone who is special to you. All of my younger littles have requested one, which I knew would happen and planned accordingly. I'm also thinking that I could whip out a few for Christmas.

Maybe I'll do a little step-by-step with the next one I make. You know, so those of us with a LOT less sewing skills than the goddess who originally made this might have a more fighting shot.

Organizing My Coupons

Well, it's been more than a few days, but life is what it is. So, I promised a post on my couponing obsession. I should state that I used to coupon with great regularity but got out of it due to location and all that. (read also:laziness) Anyhow, so in a way I'm a little new to the idea. Plus when I used to coupon I did it on a small scale. It's important to know the coupon policies of all the stores where you plan to use your coupons. For instance, Walmart will only let you use forty without manager permission and I have a store near me (Woods) that will not take internet coupons. This is important to know when you are on a mission and have a handful of coupons and a long list. Better to know before you get in line with a full cart.

I start by buying between four and ten papers a Sunday. I get a preview of the inserts in my email box so I usually know how many I'm going to want. It also depends on how many they have at the store and if I remembered to pick up quarters. Meh. I put like insert pages together and cut them all at once, usually. If I buy a bunch, this doesn't work as well because the pages get wonky during cutting and you can cut off the bar codes. Ask me how I know. Anyhow, it doesn't take that much more time to break them up and do three or four pages at a time.

I spend a lot of time over at MoneySavingMom (and you can follow her on Facebook. Very useful) and looked through all of her coupony goodness. She uses the coupon box. It's cheaper and only costs five dollars to start, so that's where I started. The coupons are kept in alphabetical envelopes with an index cart to state the category. This is fine, but a bit of a pain if you are in the store and you see an unplanned deal and you think you have that coupon, but have to look. Now, do it with a toddler, a five year old and whatever else kid (or husband) that you had to lug out with you. No fun and easy to make a mess. I used this method for about a month. Last week, I changed it.

So now I'm doing the ever popular binder method. I use a zippy trapper-keeper-thingy (although they aren't called that anymore and if you say it within ear distance of anyone in public they look at you like you have eight heads) and those sheets that kids use when collecting baseball cards. Sometimes I have to skim down the sides of my coupons to get them to fit, but it works. Just yesterday I had the perfect chance to use my binder to its full capacity. I was in the store and had to thumb through it, easy peasy. I think I'm in love!

I also bought those stick on label tabs. I love, love, love those deals. Post It is amazing. lol This also feeds my Queen of the Organized side. I'm not a hundred percent done putting my binder together, but here you can see my tabs. The yellow tabs are non-food items, in alphabetical order. Food will be blue and red, although I haven't exactly decided if it will be mix and match or a method to the madness. It's easy to thumb through, easy to carry and very easy to use. I was also using dry erase markers to write the expiration date on the front of the pocket for that coupon, but I'm not a hundred percent on that either.

Well, this is what I have, for now. Later we can talk about using the coupons and other such goodness. For today, there is lots to do here at home so I must go.