Mushy Week for the List

More rain and wind this weekend, lots of chilly, drizzling mist and Leela has decided she’d rather be comfy inside in front of the fireplace.

Spring seems to be a little late this year, our backyard tree is finally starting to bloom weeks later than usual. But we’re not complaining about the rain after a serious lack of it last year. The fog and drizzles were gorgeous this morning.

And I got to see a beautiful pair of swans on my run this morning loving the full ponds, much better than yesterday’s view at the gym.

It’s been a busy, but productive weekend for the local vegan community for me. I arranged my first restaurant meetup for the Sacramento Vegetarian Society and interviewed a chef for another local vegan group which was fun!

I’ve also been eating leftovers and batch cooking chickpeas for the week for salads, stir fries, and chihuahua meals.

We got a beautiful view from our backyard while cooking dinner tonight as the storm clouds cleared for the sunset.

And my potato chickpea curry stir fry came out great for a simple, oil free dinner.

There have been decadent eats too, such as a cashew tofu stir fry at a local Thai restaurant.

A new dish from Pho Vegan Asian Cuisine, vegan “beef” tips with special smokey seasoned rice that was delicious. And a simple tofu stir fry made pretty with rainbow chard.

Hubby got me a fun gift for Valentine’s Day that we finally tried today – an Essential Oil Bath Bomb Kit.

I was surprised that it was actually easy, much easier than I though. Basically mix the dry ingredients, stir in the wet, use the molds to shape the bath bombs, and let dry. It made about 20 bath bombs that are making the kitchen smell great now as they dry, but it’s also easy to re-use the molds and buy cheaper re-fill ingredients and use your favorite essential oils. I’m inspired to get creative with more to make as fun gifts.

The List:

• 31 vegan recipes for an inspired March. Lots of great recipes here that could easily get a health makeover, it’s been ages since I’ve made chickpea “tuna” salad.
• Kevin Smith gives Men’s Health an entertaining tour of his new vegan lifestyle. Great views on sugar and the expectations Americans have on how food and drinks should taste.
• Thank goodness Panda Express finally came around to offering vegan options. Took long enough, right?
• This teacher got a hard health reality check and got into running.
• Vegan beauty products explained. Ugh on the confusion of ingredients and different labels.
• Vegan runs across the US to promote vegan ice cream. Such an interesting endeavor and I wonder if more athletes will do promotional runs.
• More vegan options from IKEA. And you can buy vegan veggie dogs in the freezer department now. I need to make a trip to ours soon!
• Great that articles like this are showing up in USA Today. The comments also highlight how clueless some are and prefer to stay that way.
• This marathoner lost 230 lbs. by going vegan. I am loving all these transformation stories lately.
• I love that billionaires are stepping up to fight climate change.
• And I can’t get enough vegan celebrities.
• Six benefits of running.
• Should you go vegan for your gut? Probiotics, prebiotics, and gut health is such an interesting topic to me.
• Bay Area vegan restaurants carnivores will love.
• I could go for all of these recipes, especially the pancakes.
• Volvo has a new vegan electric car. I am a fan of electric cars and embrace them as our future.