My Vegan Rider

A lot of people ask what I like to eat so that they have something available when I come to visit, so I decided to make a vegan “rider”. Not so much a list of demands, but more a list of things I enjoy

Snacks:
Fresh fruit – strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, plums, mango, melon, cherries, apples, bananas.
Fresh vegetables – celery sticks, carrot sticks, broccolli, cherry tomatoes, corn. I never outgrew Ants On A Log
Applesauce
Fruit Leather/Fruitabu
Pistachios, cashews
Soy yogurt
Zen Soy chocolate pudding
Purely Decadent ice creams, sorbets, and frozen tings
Chips
Tortilla chips
Salsa
Guacamole
Pita bread
Hummus

Dinner:
Mac and “Chreese” – great with broccolli
Anything from Amy’s Kitchen as long as it’s marked vegan on the ingredients
Pasta!

Lunch:

Breakfast:
Cereal with soy milk
Stephen’s Tofu Scramble

Other:

I Love: Purely Decadent

Purely Decadent ice cream by Turtle Mountain is shocking. I’m not a huge ice cream person, but this stuff (the Pomegranate Chip specifically) is so yummy. I bought it on a whim when I was looking for something sweet and fruity and I was really impressed with how delicious it was. Pomegranate ice cream with little dark chocolate chips throughout. They don’t skimp on the extras, either! When I (eventually) finish it, I am so excited to try their other fancy flavors.

Price: $3 ish

Where I Get It: Major supermarkets (including some Market Baskets even!)

I Love: Zen Soy Pudding!

Zen Soy pudding is a must-have if you love pudding. I’ve tried Kozy Shack soy pudding and it’s terribly bland and gets a skin. Zen Soy is a sweet and delicious one, though. I absolutely love the chocolate the best, but I almost always prefer chocolate over anything else, so try them out yourself. Yummm.

I love having these plain or dipping fruit into them.

Price: $3 ish for a 4-pack

Where I Get It: Whole Foods

I Love: Vegenaise!

Vegenaise by Follow Your Heart. “Vegenaise .. makes it better.” Their slogan makes it seem medicinal, but I agree. It certainly has helped me through some hard times. This stuff is great in pasta salad or mixed with some seasonings for a veggie dip. It’s great in a tofu salad, too (aka “tuna” or “egg” salad). I’m pretty disgusted by most dairy products, even the ones that I love the taste of, but Vegenaise is a wonderful substitute. Labeled as a dressing or sandwich spread, that only partially encompasses its versatility. It may not be fine cuisine (unless you don’t tell anyone!), but it’s awesome for adding some zing to an easy snack or side dish.

 

My favorite uses:

• Pasta salad. Pasta, celery, black olives, carrots, and chick peas.
• Veggie dip. Add some favorite seasonings or diced garlic/veggies and take your produce swimming.
• Zing up a sandwich. Sometimes I don’t want just “turkey” on bread, but perhaps I’ve run out of sandwich ingredients. Vegenaise to the rescue. A little bit goes a long way.

Price: $4 ish

Where I get it: Whole Foods or Hannaford

Recycling Household Bottles: Part 3

Jump right in.

BOTTLES WITH SPRAY TOPS
Use as-is or decorate for a more personalized touch.

Spritzer of all trades

• Paint (watercolors work best).
• Water – styling hair, watering plants, de-sanding at the beach – especially feet.
• Watering or feeding potted plants, garden.
• Cleaning products – homemade products, keep a spare in the car or other rooms, spot cleaner for clothing (Spit, gentle handsoap and a little friction are wonderful at getting stains out of clothes! It’s gross but it works).
• Bug repellant. Check out some natural bug repellants.
• Perfume, cologne, air freshener.

CUT OR ALTERED BOTTLES:

Be careful cutting! This plastic can be nasty when not cut with the right tools.

• Packing material
• Bird feeder
• Tool tray (requires several bottles)
• Wall mounted organizer (bottle halves as “cups”)
• Bead trays during work
• Protective face mask
• Camera tripod
• Beads!
• Plant/flower pot OR . .
• Plamp (way cooler than my idea)

BOTTLE CAPS:

• Pierce and string as outdoor holiday decorations. Secure tightly. ‘Tis never the season to be a litter bug.
• Prop up your laptop to un-trap heat and ease up on the fan. Attach rubber or felt to prevent scratching the table or computer.
• Stampers – glue on foam letters or shapes. You could even cut your own foam designs!
• Fridge magnets -attach magnets, add shapes, words, photos, clippings, pom poms, anything!
• Sail boats. Cut a plastic sail, attach it to a straw/coffee stirrer, poke through cap hole. The Pantene wide caps with gold stripes make really classy bath toys! Too bad Pantene tests on animals.

For some more involved bottle uses, check out Extroardinary Uses . .

Also cool: Studi-Oh

That is my fairly exhausted list of bottle recycling fun. Feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or requests!

Recycling Household Bottles: Part 2

So we covered how to not accumulate the bottles and how to use up what you already have so as not to hastily waste useful things in an excited rush to recycle. The remaining parts of this series will cover what to do with the bottles as: Whole bottles, Bottles with spray tops, Cut/altered bottles, and their Bottle caps.

*CLEAN ALL BOTTLES THOROUGHLY BEFORE BEGINNING. If you can still smell the original product or see small bubbles when you let water sit inside, you’re not done cleaning. This is one step you shouldn’t hurry through.
*LABEL any liquids clearly (cleaning products, paints)
*SECURE ALL BOTTLES if they contain small or hazardous materials. Keep children and pets in mind during any project.

Now for the bottle fun!

Recycling Household Bottles: Part 1

I began thinking up and researching ideas for what to do with household, toiletry, and beverage bottles when I first became a vegetarian. (This post has been re-posted and edited slightly since then.) When I no longer wanted to use the products I had because they were tested on animals or contained animal ingredients, I knew it would be incredibly useful to simply toss them in the trash. Thus begins my quest for the best fate for these bottles and containers, as well as others that frequently become unnecessary trash.

Whether you’re phasing out animal-tested/animal ingredient-containing products, or simply recycling for the good of the planet (hopefully both), here is a three part series on what to do with your bottles to keep them from ending up in the wrong place.

Recycling Household Bottles: Part I

H.E.C is for Human Elephant Conflict – Elephants Continued

“Everybody pretty much agrees that the relationship between elephants and people has dramatically changed. . .

. . .Decades of poaching and culling and habitat loss, they claim, have so disrupted the intricate web of familial and societal relations by which young elephants have traditionally been raised in the wild, and by which established elephant herds are governed, that what we are now witnessing is nothing less than a precipitous collapse of elephant culture. . .“

http://anthropik.com/2006/10/elephant-men

*Originally posted on Blogspot 1.10.08