I’m here, really. But it’s been a turbulent couple of weeks and I took a blogging break to honor one of my dearest blog readers. Hubby returned from a tough week and a half trip to Florida for my mother-in-law who moved into hospice care. It’s been a hard time with lots of sadness that is ongoing, but our sweet little lap buddy has been there for us.
Lots to catch up on. 2 weeks ago I attended a small benefit concert featuring Kyle Vincent to raise money for animals affected by the Australia wild fires. He’s a wonderful vegan artist who I wish I’d known about sooner!
He’s a super talented artist who plays multiple instruments and has an amazing voice and I found his music refreshingly positive and therapeutic, really needed for the current times and a nice break from some of the more darker music I find myself listening to. It was also a birthday party to celebrate his birthday featuring multiple vegan cakes including an insane peanut butter chocolate cake the didn’t last long.
Eats have been pretty simple on my own with large salads, tofu stir fries, curry chickpea sautes, and an interesting potato and black beam saute in green salsa.
Last weekend I went to a SacTown VegFest wrap up meeting in Sacramento then met my sister at Revolution Wines for vegan brunch. We started with the Vegan Charcuterie plate with carrot lox, Miyoko’s cheese, almonds, fruit, and so much good stuff to share. I got the Impossible B&G plate – Impossible burger grounds with vegan biscuits and gravy with tofu “eggs”. And my sister got the Mediterranean Salad with delicious house made falafel.
After we walked the area on foot checking out open houses for fun from beautifully restored old homes to new modern town homes. I’m not looking to move, it’s just fun checking out the area and I especially love seeing older homes.
This week I kept to more simple eats at home alone, I worked through a bag of soy curls for simple stir fries, more salad with hemp seed ginger dressing and chickpeas, and a tasty marinara sweet potato saute.
Spring seems to be happening here early, poppies are showing up everywhere, trees are blooming and it’s been warmer and sunny. And Miko has decided he finally likes his tunnel bed after refusing to sleep in it for years.
We were so happy when hubby returned Friday night, such a relief to have him home safe after a tough trip. We stayed home most of this weekend catching up of house stuff, cuddling a sweet pup, and eating enjoying more salads and vegan Thai takeout.
I have also been finding deal shopping at Grocery Outlet therapeutic and the vegan deals have been great the last two weeks.
Hubby really enjoyed Laura’s Classic Recipe Plant-Based Burger. Taste and texture comparable to Beyond Burger with a slightly different flavor profile.
I was thrilled to find Miyoko’s Cheese Wheel and Banzo Chickpea Pasta, yum!
Another find I enjoyed for simple, solo meals was lemon pepper RightRice.
I cooked it with an added can of kidney beans, chopped carrots, and spinach for a simple meal that made easy lunch leftovers. The lemon pepper seasoning was very strong even with the added ingredients and did not need additional seasoning.
Whew, okay – to the list!
I’m so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. My prayers are with you all.
Thank you so much. :-)
You should never feel bad about taking a blog break. Real life always comes first, and if the blog isn’t fun, it’s not worth doing. I’m just glad you keep coming back! You always have the best food finds to share.
I really hope things improve from here, for you and your whole family.
Agreed, and life has been a lot lately. Aw, thanks and you too!