It's Freezing in Here!

http://www.veganmofo.com/

The family and I have invested a lot of money in our future. And frozen the results. This is one money saving tip where you really can not go wrong.

Last weekend there was a very big sale on carrots, potatoes and onions. Naturally, we bought a lot! But once we brought all of that produce home I thought "what are we going to do with all of this food?" What we needed was a freezer. Off to the local (and not-so local) classifieds I ventured. There, I found just the thing. An apartment sized freezer, for a very reasonable price, plus transportation. I am very thankful to have parents that do not mind helping us this way. An hour and a half drive could have turned into a very long and tiring walk, carrying this:

(Okay, it's a little lopsided - please excuse my poor photography)

So we got to chopping up the carrots.. a LOT of carrots.

Blanching them in skalding hot water..

And freezing them in our new dazzling freezer.

(Also pictured are chick peas, black beans and bananas!)



After carrots, we followed the same basic procedure with potatoes. And you know what? I loved every minute of it. It wasn't easy at all, but so rewarding. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I then sent my husband to the store to buy five purple cabbages (they were on sale!) so we can do the same with them over the next couple of days. Lets break down the costs, here.

20 lbs of carrots at $1/5 lb bag is $4.00

40 lbs of potatoes at $2/10 lb bag is $8.00

15 lbs of onions at $1/5 lb bag is $3 *I didn't freeze these*

Apartment size freezer ($20) plus transportation ($20)

That is 75 lbs worth of food for only $15.00! Lovingly preserved with room for more, at a one time purchase of $40.00

Check back tomorrow and I will tell you about even more savings, and show you what happened with those onions.

THIS IS ALSO VEGAN MOFO POST NUMBER FOUR! Vegan Mofo is the Vegan Month Of Food. The idea is to post about vegan food, 20 times during the month of October (minimum!). Vegan MoFo

Vegan Mofo

http://www.veganmofo.com/

Yep, October is Vegan Mofo (Vegan Month of Food). It couldn't get any better than this.

While I have heard about Vegan Mofo in the past, I have never really followed it or participated. This year I am doing both. And all I can say is, rock on.

My plan is to blog about money saving through the month. I will post my good food finds, what we're doing to cut food costs, when I try out new recipes, our favorite kitchen utensils, and more.

I wish I could figure out how to add a Vegan Mofo button to link you to their awesome page, but I really don't know how to do it! Hey, give me a break. I'm still pretty new at this.

In the meantime, you can find some information on their website, here: Vegan Mofo

Be sure to check out the blogroll. Rumor has it, there are at least 600 blogs participating this year. I think it will take me eons to read through them all!

It's Time For The Reveal!

http://www.veganmofo.com/

Another month of Foodie Penpals has passed. I was very lucky this month, for not only was my foodie penpal vegan, but she is a baker! Yep, I wished upon a star. You can visit Marisa's website HERE

The first thing I noticed was a large package full of chewy ginger candies and the lovely kitty card. Now, I really love ginger candies. It is these that got me through the nausea of my last pregnancy. So, I naturally shared them with my husband. Because I love him so much. Maybe also because I have some dental issues, and chewy candies are a no-go right now. But also, because I love him.

So what you see here is two jars. One is blueberry syrup, made by Marisa. The other is Creole sauce, made by her husband. Infront of those jars you will see nanaimo bars. That's right. I requested them, and Marisa was kind enough to spoil me. She sent me not one HUGE container, but two. Unfortunately, the packaging did not survive and they arrived open and a little messy, but that did not stop me from devouring them right away. And, I did share again.

Nanaimo bars are a big part of my childhood, and it has been about 8-10 years since I have been able to indulge. Thank you Marisa, you have inspired me to try making my own rendition.

Primal strips. Salty, savoury goodness. These are a rare treat for us indeed, and I enjoyed them accordingly. The little blue packages that you see in the back, that is almond butter! I was quite excited about this, because I knew it was something I would share with the two older wee ones. Ape boy and the little Twirler need treats, too. We spread it over rice cakes for them, and topped them with a little cinnamon.

According to Ape boy, he could not tell the difference between Almond Butter and Peanut Butter, but the Almond Butter is better.

Blueberry Syrup.

It was much celebrated, over lovely gluten free pancakes that the Husband made for us.

This is definately my favorite pancake recipe. Also, after these pictures were taken I tried a wee bit of peanut butter on my pancakes, topped with this yummy blueberry syrup. Either way, with or without peanut butter, this syrup is divine.

I honestly did not know what creole sauce was. Marisa suggested that it was tasty on burritoes, but I still didn't really get it. I even googled creole sauce, and was not sure. So, we decided to try it on Amy's Black Bean Burritoes. I quite enjoyed it! Similar to salsa, but much more hearty. A special treat, indeed! I always love the chance to try new things. Though that was not always the case. Before becoming vegan back in 2009, I would cringe at the sight of anything new. Now I am reassured with the simple fact that - hey, it's only plants.

To see what I sent my foodie penpal, visit Danielle at http://dishanddash.com/

FOODIE PENPALS INFO:

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!
***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

To view more reveals, click the Foodie Penpals Website (The Lean Green Bean)

Beans Save Money!

This is another money saving tip from me. Beans. They save you a lot of money! Not only are they a ton cheaper than flesh foods, more versatile, but they expand, they are easy, you just can't go wrong with beans!

It is not nearly as cheap if you buy them canned, though. So here's the deal. With the exception of kidney beans (which need to be boiled for ten minutes first), throw them in your crock pot! Cover them with a few inches of water and cook them for 6-8 hours. So, if you do it by 8 or 9 am, they will be ready to use for dinner time. This also means no horrid soaking overnight. Everytime I soak beans overnight, they sit in the fridge un-used until I have to toss them out. THIS does NOT save me money. I like this crock method MUCH better.

Here is what I used:

           It cost us about $2.50 for a small (2 lb) bag of black beans. That bag, expanded into..

THIS.

That gave us roughly 1.5 cans per bag. At four bags, that is 6 cans worth. Here, a can of black beans is around $1.30! Which means that a $2.50 bag of beans made $7.80 worth of canned beans. That is over a $5.00 savings! I LOVE beans. I didn't have anything smaller to freeze the beans in, excuse the excessive plastic!

Not only did we save a ton of money, but we reserved the liquid in the bottom of the crock after cooking the beans to make gravy. There was about three cups of brown beany liquid left. To this I will be adding some Miso paste, spices and a variety of other delicious items (garlic, mushrooms, a bit of thickener). This saves us another $2 on gravy! I'll be freezing the jar for later use.

Refried beans for breakfast, anyone??

My husband makes them and we put them over rice. With tomatoes, garlic, onion and the rest is a mystery to me.

TEJA's Animal Refuge

I recieved an email today from a Toronto friend. This is what she wrote:

Hey everyone!!!

This is an urgent call to help a sanctuary in dire need... some of you may have heard of Tejas but most of you have not.

When I first visited Tejas (and it's founder Nicole) I was shocked... shocked that most of us folks in Ontario and specifically Toronto have never heard of a sanctuary so close to us (that houses HUNDREDS of animals) ... and shocked that a woman in her late sixties was not only running the place alone, but lived in such extreme poverty. 

This past month a bunch of us have formed an Onatario based group to help out Tejas  (I've coped and pasted the Facebook event page below in case some of you are not connected to FB)... We're excited to be working with the OADL folks to help out!!!

Please read the below event, donate if you can.... and most importantly please please spread the word about this incredible sanctuary. 

If any of you have any building skills, access to raw material, access to companies that could donate money, supplies, or animal feed. or even are willing to have a donation jar in their place of work... please connect with me. OR if you would like to help us out with marketing and fundraising please email me as well. 

Look for us at the ARKII and All Creatures Rescue table.. come say hi AND if you want to donate any of the following items we will be accepting them at the table (and all month long at our home and bringing them to Nicole beginning of October)

- money

- towels/blankets

- dog/cat food

- screws/nails

- tools (electric drill and other things)

http://www.facebook.com/events/347251502027039/permalink/349196478499208/

The goat portrayed in this event's photo is doing pretty great. The lady in red, not so much. Can you help her? Portrayed is Carl the goat, in good health and spirits after being rescued from factory farming; and his keeper, Nicole Joncas, 67, founder and operator of Teja's Animal Refuge, east of Ottawa. For 23 years, Nicole has always ensured that animals come first at Teja's, which over that span has provided a home for thousands of goats, sheep, horses, cows, hens, ducks, geese, pigs, dogs and cats res cued from abusive situations like factory farms, and brought to a new home at Teja's. And because the animals come first, little if any funding is ever left over for Nicole, and so her state of poverty grows and grows... Because she won't spend the animals' money on herself, Nicole can't afford to: pay her phone bill, and so her service was cut on August 28; fix her leaky tattered roof; repair her smoke-belching home heating; replace faulty wiring that's cut off electricity on her main floor; insulate her home (she tapes plastic bags to her windows); replace her dilapidated windows and torn screens that allow cold and flies inside her home; and just generally renovate her 150-year-old country home and her 23-year-old sanctuary-keeper existence. Helping Nicole is good for her, and essential for the animals. And for the animals directly, $ is needed for food, vet bills, sterilization, enclosure maintenance, hired labour, repairs to fencing and pasture, replacement of the pig barn's stolen block heater, purchase of a tractor, and more. And GREAT news too: Concerned, experienced activists from Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto are working to change fortunes at Teja's, by boosting public promotion of the sanctuary, and its funding. One of the initial steps will be a visit to Teja's shortly by renowned animal rights photographer Jo-Anne McArthur. Activists will also utilize online fundraising platforms, revamp Teja's website, and produce a Teja's brochure. Please share your ideas and talents and post a comment or send a message if you want to get involved! While that's all being worked on for the medium and long term, in the short term any donation you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Whether it's $5 or $500, any help is valuable. Let's pool our resources and give some relief to Nicole and her rescued animals. ********************* TO DONATE ************************ -- ONLINE via http://tejasanimalrefuge.ca/?page=donate . -- CHEQUE, payable to Teja's Animal Refuge, sent to: Teja's Animal Refuge, 21511 McCormick, Glen Robertson ON K0B 1H0 -- CASH in person during volunteer days, first Sunday of every month from 1-4.https://www.facebook.com/events/376536982419902/ Donations of $25+ receive a tax receipt. ***************** ITEMS ALWAYS NEEDED ***************** - Sheets & blankets to provide bedding & warmth for the animals - Dog food, watermelons, cukes, bananas, apples, grapes, tomatoes for the animals - Large-print books and an e-reader so Nicole can read - Hundreds of screws (3.5 inch) - An electric drill to use on the volunteer day or to donate - A sturdy pickaxe made of strong wood My family and I will be hosting a fundraiser next spring for this sanctuary. If there is a way that you can help out with it please contact me HERE

Cookbook Review!

Yesterday I enthusiastically travelled to our local library to pick up my books "on hold." I couldn't wait to pick up The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester and start flipping through it right away! Seriously, this book did not even make it into my book bag.

My first impression was how beautiful the pictures are. My mouth was watering already! My eye caught on a few recipes as I skimmed the pages, including the Subtly Spicy Peanut Coconut Fondue. The next thing I noticed was breads, brownies, and even pizza. In a slow cooker! Who knew?

I love that each page has a label of gluten free or soy free under the title of the recipe. That really simplifies everything for us, since we are cooking all gluten free foods now and prefer to avoid soy when possible. The recipes in The Vegan Slow Cooker are simple, hearty, do not take much time or preparation to make, and because there are very little processed foods the ingredients are cheap to buy! Big bonus for my family, being on such a tight budget. 

Basically, I LOVE this book. It is easy to follow, it is gorgeous and mouthwatering. Really, you can NOT go wrong with this one. It works for all seasons, and is essential for the busy parent or working vegan. But don't feel that you have to be vegan to enjoy it, with these scrumptious recipes anybody can indulge!

I really want to try making the Split Pea And Apple Soup for my Mom, who loves the stuff (though I bet she's never had it with apple!) and the Citrus Rum BBQ Sauce. I know my husband will be waiting in great anticipation for that peanut coconut fondue.

When The Going Gets Tough..

Make Hummus.

Earlier today something upset me, and so I decided to make hummus. I mean, why not? It's an amazing thing, hummus.

It is versatile, easy to make, fairly cheap, does not take long, goes with several dishes.. it is kind of like peanut butter, but savory. Yes, hummus is the savory peanut butter of my life. Though, it might not go so well with jam. Or will it?

Besides all of that, it is fun to take out aggression on lemons. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to hurt the lemons, I love lemons! But hand squeezing out all of that juice is sure to build some muscles and make a girl feel good about herself. And, the smell! Oh, the smell. Doesn't the smell of fresh lemon juice just perk you right up? So while I drown my sadness in the whirring of our food processor, I begin to feel a little better.

Batch #1 of hummus is lemon garlic, with no specific recipe. I had a big bowl of chickpeas that had been soaked and boiled already and were waiting eagerly to be used up. I threw in some tahini, roughly 4-5 tbsp (it's a big batch), the juice of one lemon, garlic powder, and water. Pretty basic. I then took half of this for Batch #2 of hummus. With this batch, I will be chopping up a hot pepper, and mincing some for the top as garnish. Sounds delightful, no?

While I would have preferred to use much more fresh ingredients, our fridge is sparse. In the meantime, I look forward to using the hummus that I have made. And on Sunday I am making black bean brownies. I really hope they turn out well! I might even splurge and make them a pretty dress of icing. Because everybody deserves to feel beautiful.