Microwave Cooking

I found a terrific old microwave only cookbook in a thrift store a while back and I couldn't resist. It had recipes from escargot to ice-cream. I did the culinary world a favor by pulling it apart to make this lovely tribute to the 70's. I left some of the recipes intact in the collage, so I can always make Creamy Wilted Lettuce when the hankering sets in.

Photo Fun

It is always fun to manipulate photos whether it be drawing mustaches in a Spanish text during class or eye-patches in a yearbook. I stumbled on a fun site today that allows complete photo makeovers, from a discoing bird to the dark twisted world of a bunny, in a touch of a button. Very easy and satisfying. I'm sure there is a craft project in there somewhere.

http://www.befunky.com

Vegan Caviar

Vegan caviar? Yes, vegan caviar! These vegan vittles are sure to please the adventurer in everyone. Cavi-art is a seaweed based caviar made in Denmark. Supposedly the faux delicacy is remarkably like their fishy counterpart. Unlike fish eggs however, Cavi-art is cholesterol free, mercury free, low sodium, and does not effect endangered fish.

Cavi-Art Web Page:

http://www.caviart.us/

The Vegan Store:

http://www.veganstore.com/cavi_dash_art-vegan-caviar/Page_1/409.html

DIYers Help Haiti

When the earthquake hit Haiti, people in the US wanted to help. Like many of you, I gave to the American Red Cross. Now, there is an opportunity to give to a small organization or give material goods straight to the people. ThreadBanger is a do-it-yourself YouTube channel and blog I follow that offers great ideas and tutorials for craft projects. This is the first time they have ever offered an idea on how to provide aid, so it got my attention. The video below talks about Planting Peace

ThreadBanger on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ThreadBanger

Planting Peace:

http://www.plantingpeace.org/

Donate to the Rad Cross online:

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_Donate_OnlineGiving

My First Bento Box

This is my first official bento lunch, no more Tupperware for me. This box is made by San-X and has Mamegoma, a cute white seal, on it. I am really excited to stop using disposable plastic bags for lunch. Green and disgustingly cute -- how great is that? On the top tier I have baby carrots, broccoli, edamame (baby soybeans), hummus, and "cheese" sauce. The smaller bottom tier is made up of shells and "cheese" with broccoli.

Green Eggs

One of my favorite foods growing up was my mothers zucchini eggs. She would grate zucchini, sauté it, then add a couple of eggs, and cheeses. To veganise the recipe I grate zucchini, sauté it, added firm tofu crumbled up, nutritional yeast, garlic, pepper, salt, turmeric, a little lemon juice, a little mustard, and grated carrot for presentation. I usually serve it with fresh spinach, and lemon rosemary potatoes. It is a super easy breakfast to wake up to during the week if you bake a potato and make the eggs the night before.

Bento Stash

My Bentos came today!!!!!! It is sad how much colorful plastic excites me. I got a mushroom bento with matching bag, a San-x seal bento, penguin sauce cup, reusable bear food separators, reusable flower food cups, 4 flower shaped vegetable cutters, 2 free soy sauce bottles, and 12 reusable animal food picks. I can't wait to use them all!

My new gear goes great with what I already had: a heart, star and bear rice mold, a rabbit furikake shaker, 2 pig food cups, 3 nori face punches, and several free soy sauce containers.

Turkey Cheddar Bagel

It is a rainy Sunday, the perfect time to curl up with a vegan turkey cheddar bagel sandwich and work on my thesis. Tofurky Peppered Deli Slices is my favorite brand of turkey meat to use. It seriously rocks!

Essex Blush

I ordered a bento from Japan a few weeks ago and it has hijacked my brain a bit. I am afraid that once it comes it will be all I will write about. Sorry in advanced. For now to switch things up a bit I though I would put some pottery up. This is not quite a bowl or vase, but rather something in between. It is a great container for the kitchen, money, or any small accessories really. I underglazed the pot in black then used an Essex and Cobalt blue glaze which turned in to a nice blue with purple blush. Much like my current hair color. I am a little disappointed that the bottom detailing did not show as well as it could, but it allows the glaze to be the center of attention.

Pea Green Rice

Since the earthquake I have not wanted to do any crafts. Consequently, I have thrown myself into getting creative with my lunches. So I whiped up a batch of these cute rice balls. There is no food coloring in these. I put rice, pureed peas, salt and pepper in the rice cooker. They taste like pea soup, which is what I was going for. To get less pea flavor I could have strained the pea pulp out, but I thought it would be tastier and healthier to leave it in.

Furikake

Furikake is a dry condiment meant to jazz up rice. It typically consists of fish, sesame seeds, nori, sugar, salt, and msg. Not very vegan. There is a vegan version for sale on Amazon.com called "JFC - Nori Fumi Furikake (Rice Seasoning)", but I decided to make my own. First I powdered dehydrated Forest Mushrooms and nori in a food processor, and then added sesame seeds and a pinch of kosher salt. I put the mixture in a cute bunny shaker so I could sprinkle it on my rice during lunch :)

First Bento

I still haven't found a bento box yet. I have searched all over town but nothing has caught my fancy. I found a website called J-Box that ships cute things from Japan. Until I make up my mind Tupperware shall have to do. My first bento is made of: shaped carrot flavored rice with nori faces, edamame, celery filled with peanut butter and cashews, carrots, and blueberries.

Spring 2010

Today is the first day of Humboldt State's Spring 2010 semester. It is also my 5o th blog! Why do breaks go by so quickly? I curse the name of relativity!

Miracle Fruit

The Miracle Fruit or Miracle Berry is one of the neatest foods around. They block sour and bitter tastes in food, so the sweetness comes out. I threw a party this winter offering Miracle Fruit tablets and then serving plates of out of season strawberry, lemons, limes, sour apples, and salt and vinegar potato chips. All the fruit tasted ripe and sweet. The chips even tasted sweet, and the lemon was like candy! The tablets lasted about half an hour for me and my guests, the fresh berries might last longer. Give them a try! I think they are great for kids or parties.

Fresh Berries:

http://www.miraclefruitman.com/

Tablets:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_17?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=miracle+fruit+tablets&sprefix=miracle+fruit+tab

Animal vs Meat Collage

Sometimes it is hard for me to explain to people why I am vegan. I can say all the logical environmental and health reasons, but that is only part of it. I really love animals, they are so diverse and amazing. Every time I see a steak all I can think is that this was a living, breathing cow that was killed because of me. I made this collage to illustrate how I see meat. The outside is covered with animals some people consider a food source and some that are not. The inside is a collage of raw and cooked animal flesh with a quote at the bottom "whoever is kind to the creatures of God is kind to himself".

Vegan Shoes

One of the hardest products, besides food, to purchase animal free is shoes. I have found it to be much easier to buy shoes online so I can see what they are made of. I only wear flip-flops, boots, or super girlie shoes so this post is limited in scope. Sorry.

First up is Vegetarian Shoes. Thay are a UK company so their shoes and shipping are more expensive but the shoes are worth it. Among other things they make vegan versions of Birkenstock sandals, and Doc Martens. I have the green Airseal Para Boots and I love them!

http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/

The next two stores are not all vegan and very girlie. The stores are Plastic Land and ModCloth. I like the price, large selection of animal free shoes, and how easy it is to see the material the shoes are made with.

http://www.shopplasticland.com/

http://www.modcloth.com/

Tempura Yam Sushi

One of my favorite foods in the whole wide world has to be tempura yam and avocado sushi. Yum! I could live off it. Set these out for friends and I guarantee a hit—that is, if you are willing to share :P

Benefit From a Change in Diet

This video is not beautiful, be forewarned. It was taken before Barack Obama became president, so his views may have changed with his position. Despite this I like the video because it shows that the president of the United States understands the impact meat and dairy have on our health, land, as well as local and global politics. I'm sad that he does not have any ideas for improving the national diet bedside the caned rhetoric of adding vegetables to school lunches.

I love the line "Americans would benefit from a change in diet"

Skyrocket in Flight

This collage is a rocket ship made out of car ads. The dreams of the 1950's realized today, not in science, but in consuming goods. The stars in the background glow in the dark :)

Panda Orange

How cute is this? Turning an orange into a panda is much simpler then it looks. This panda is my first attempt, and it only took a couple of minutes. I can only eat oranges in panda form from now on :P

Bunny Cookies

I am still in the middle of reorganizing. So I took a break to make bunny sugar cookies with pinwheel hearts as a fun treat. I don't know why but cookies taste better when they are shaped as something cute.

On a side note, my camera was crushed by all the contents of my book shelf during the quake. It is not a huge loss. It was on its last leg anyway. I can still use the camera for now but I can't delete pictures, get into menus, or see what I am taking a picture of so my pictures may be fuzzy or cut off.

Earthquake

Yesterday afternoon Humboldt County was hit with a 6.5 earthquake. The picture above is of a store that is a mile away from my apartment. I was grocery shopping at another store when the quake hit. Huge chunks of the ceiling fell, the lights went out, things flew off the shelves and shattered, very scary. My lights were out for over 5 hours and my house is now trashed (like everyone else in Humboldt), but everyone is okay! I am going to spent today picking up the pieces.

Los Angeles Times Story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-eureka-quake10-2010jan10,0,4204701.story?track=rss

CNN Story:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/09/california.earthquake/index.html

Magic Gift Box

These paper boxes are a quick and easy project. They are so cute and fun to open. I wanted to make them and fill them with homemade cookies for gifts but the paper wasn't strong enough. I am still trying to think of small and light enough gift ideas to fill them with. If you have an idea please post it in the comments :D

Magic Box Tutorial:

http://lifeaslou.blogsome.com/2008/01/30/magic-boxes-a-life-as-lou-online-class/

Artificial Meat

Early in December the BBC wrote an article on growing meat in a laboratory. I am really excited about science trying to decrease strain on the planet and animal suffering. I believe we have gotten to the point where companies selling a product have more influence over the public than advocacy groups. Therefore if a company has found a way to benefit from competing with factory farms I am very much for it.

Below is an interview between BBC's Claire Bolderson and Mark Post a Professor of Tissue Engineering at Eindhoven University.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/12/091130_meat_artificial_nh_dm.shtml

The Cutout

I wanted to make a book vault and I came across a used copy of The Cutout by Francine Mathews. How perfect can you get? I got most of it done while watching Out of Africa. I am only halfway through cutting though, so I will show how it looks when it is finished.

Boomer Activity Center

I completed the last job interview today, and to celebrate I bought Boomer a bird activity center. Yeah, for no more interviews! He is a little to big his new toy but hopefully it will still exercise his feathery brain and body.

Inspirational Quotes

I went to a party a few days ago were the house was decorated with portraits of inspirational figures. It was empowering to be surrounded by all the brilliant and creative figures, so I set out to make a smaller version for my apartment. I did not have much room so I chose 7 of my favorite authors: H.P. Lovecraft, Upton Sinclair, Sylvia Plath, Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Margaret Mead, and George Bernard Shaw. Each portrait has the authors name and my favorite quote. It took much longer to make than I expected for such a simple project, but I like how it turned out. It didn't help that Burt ate one of my quotes.

Little Vegan Gingerbread House

I just got my Little Vegan Gingerbread House kit from the Cupcake Mint! It came with: a list of ingredients, instructions, gingerbread house panels, a tube of vanilla buttercream icing, multicolor gumdrops, red sugar, and multicolor circular sprinkles. I added slivered almonds for snow. Mmmmm, who knew gingerbread houses could be edible?

Mustache Mugs

These are my secret project. Mustache mugs! They make who ever is drinking look like they have a mustache. I have been toying around with the concept of sets. The owl tea set had the same size texture and color so it was easy to know that they went together. The mugs are different shapes sizes, handles, and have different images on them. However, they still look like a set because they share theme, style, and color.

Go Vegetarian!

For any of you out there scrambling for a resolution for 2010 there are many organizations offering information and support to those willing to try vegetarianism. Going vegetarian can help you loose weight, save money, spare the lives of countless animals, and vastly reduce your carbon foot print. I love being vegan, it can be hard sometimes, but it is really special to know I am not inflicting needless suffering. Happy New Year!

Pledge to go vegetarian for 30 days

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2055

Vegan Outreach starter guide on PDF

http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/gce.pdf

Vegetarian Times free starter kit on PDF

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/2007/pdf/vegetarian_starter_kit.pdf

PETA's starter kit on PDF

http://www.goveg.com/pdfs/VSK_celeb.pdf

Mercy For Animals' free starter kit (paper version)

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/vegan-starter-kit.aspx

Action for Animals free starter pack (paper and miscellaneous)

http://www.afa-online.org/starterpack.html