I've abandoned my post...

Where has time gone?

So much has been going on in my life and it's about time I update my blog.

The most exciting news of all is that I am engaged!

Our engagement story:
Christopher Columbus Park, Boston Harbor. The weather was mild, slight breeze and overcast. We strolled through the park as sailboats cruised through the harbor and families played in the grass with their dogs. It was a few minutes before 7 o'clock, May 12, 2011. We took a moment to sit and relish the surroundings. It was here that LT asked Ashley to take his hand in marriage. A beautiful evening on Boston Harbor, followed by a wonderful celebration on October 15, 2011.  - LT wrote this for our wedding website. Isn't he sweet!

Here I am moments before he popped the question...

It was so romantic! I felt like I was in a movie! I was so excited that I forgot to take any more pictures that night. Can you believe it?

Here we are the next day.

We have set the date for Oct 15th. It's less than 3 months away but we are doing very well with planning. We have our pastor, venue, caterer, dj, my dress, his tux, bridesmaid's dresses ordered, tuxes ordered, and our honeymoon planned. Tonight we are doing our cake tasting! I'm super excited about this! I've chosen to taste Champagne, Mocha Fudge, Strawberry and Red Velvet. No they are not vegan but that brings me to the next topic.

Battle with being Veg.

I went back and forth between Vegan, Vegitarian and Pescatarian (a pescatarian is someone who abstains from eating all meat and animal flesh except for seafood).

Vegan Pros:
My body felt the best
Weighed the least
Had less guilt
Felt I was helping the environment more

Vegan Cons:
Socially difficult
Cost a lot for convience foods
I felt guilty about not knowing how to be a perfect vegan.

Vegetarian Pros:
Easier
Cheese plates
Lot less expensive

Vegetarian Cons:
A little guilt

Pescatarian Pros:
More fun to eat at restaurants

Pescatarian Cons:
More tummy aches

So bottom line is that I have decided that I will eat Vegan for the majority of the time, Vegetarian in social situations and rarely I will enjoy a little seafood. This has created some balance in my life. =)

Here are a couple ohsheglows.com vegan recipes I made last week.

Protein Power Goddess Bowl

 

 

Cookie dough "blizzard" ~ LT loved this one!

 
They were delish! =)
 
Well that's all for now. I will try to be better about blogging. ;)
 

Pumpkin Latte =)

Have you seen this??

Vegan Chili

I entered Oh She Glow's Vegan Chili into a church chili contest a few weeks ago. I didn't win which isn't surprising considering the voters were meat eaters but I did get several votes and compliments. =)

I literally had a Tablespoon of this but it was very yummy!


We had to dress up since we did a Trunk or Treat for the kiddos. It was a lot of fun!

 Our Life Group decided to do a western theme so we dressed up as cowboys and girls. Ricky and Ang did not dress up as you can see. Lol!


Well, LT is telling me I need to get ready so we can go see my sis! Yay! See y'all later!

Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Today, I was craving something creamy and delicious. This is not always so easy on a vegan diet. Sometimes I crave non vegan things, such as fish dip, ranch, queso dip, etc. Fortunately, my cravings are easily solved with a little creativity in the kitchen! =)

Today,  I decided to make Spinach and Artichoke Dip. 

Ingredients:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sweet Onion, chopped
Minced garlic
Canned Artichoke Hearts, chopped
Cumin
Dried Thyme
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Nutritional Yeast
Baby Spinach
Soft Tofu ~ liquefy in a blender or food processor
Wheat bread and/or Corn Chips

Saute the onion until translucent. Add garlic. Be careful not to burn. Add Artichoke, spices and nutritional yeast. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add tofu and stir until well incorporated.

Serve with chips and toasted or warmed bread.

Delish!

LT said it was awesome! =)

I will have to remember this one for the next potluck or party.

RawSome!

Have you ever eaten Raw? Not like raw meats. I don't know much about it yet but consists of unprocessed, raw plant foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees. It makes since but I couldn't eat this way 100% of the time since it means no coffee, warm foods, bread or wine but I am excited to try out some new raw recipes.

I made 2 recipes by Ani Phyo this week.


Tomato Chili with Taco "Meat"





I didn't take any pics but it was surprising delish! LT even liked it. I topped my chili with Diced Avocado. Yum!

I also made Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake.



It was so creamy, sweet and gooey! =)

Can you believe it! No sugar, eggs, cream, butter or flour! According to Ani, you could eat this every day and not gain weight! Lovin it!

My next treat is going to be Angela's Pumpkin Woopie Pies. Can not wait!


Ta ta for now.

Microblog

As suggested by my Mom, here is a Microblog of what's been up. ;)

Fall decorations provided by Luke:

I whipped up some yummy fall recipes too:

Wild Rice Stuffed Squash

I didn't save the seeds. I remembered as I was scooping them into the trash. Oops. But I did make Pumpkin Seeds. Luke practically begged me to make them. Very sweet. =)

My Pumpkin Seed "Butter"

I almost forgot to take a picture of the seeds, luckily there was a little left after we all devoured them after dinner.

Everything tasted better when being washed down with a Pumpkin Ale. Mmmm.

That's what I call a Microblog. =)

Where have all the avocados gone!

The Healthy Bitch Daily Feed e-flyer featured the Healthy Voyager on Friday. Here is the yummy looking recipe they posted:

Chickpea Quinoa Veggie Burgers

1 small sweet potato
1/4 cup dry quinoa, baked

1/4 cup dry oats

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
 (spelt if you are gluten-free)
2 tablespoons olive oil


Peel, dice, and steam the sweet potato until soft. Cook the quinoa and oats in separate pots. In a food processor or blender, combine the garbanzo beans, sweet potato, parsley, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper, flour, and one tablespoon of the oil. In a separate bowl, mix the bean mixture with the quinoa and barley. Using your hands, form into six patties. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Brown both sides of each burger.

Serve on a toasted whole grain bun or focaccia and top with chopped salad greens, dressed with a drizzle of canola oil, lemon, salt and pepper. If you want to nix the bun, serve the patty on a bed of dressed dark leafy greens.

Here is what mine looked like...

Huge Difference.

If you are wondering where the diced avocado is... it's a tragic story. I think I was looking forward to having the avocado more than the burger. Yesterday morning we went to the farmers market. I prefer Haas Avocados but they were a lot pricier than the Florida Avocados. LT said that he thought the Florida ones were just as good so we got 1 humongous Florida Avocado for 99 cents. (There was my clue!) So I put it in a brown bag to add a little ripeness before dinner time, we sliced it open and it was hard as a rock. Tasted it just in case that was how it was supposed to be, and we both spit it out. Totally disgusting! Very disappointing. I almost cried. It went in the trash despite the fact that I HATE to waste food. What would you have done with a rock hard nasty Florida Avocado that tasted like the bottom of my shoe?

Anyways!
I had a little trouble with understanding the recipe, to be honest. For example, I didn't know what it meant when it said, "/4 cup dry quinoa, baked
" in the ingredient list and then "cook the quinoa and oats in separate pots." Also, I was not sure how much I should process the food in the food processor, so I made it a puree. If I were to do it all over again, I would use an even smaller sweet potato, process the food a lot less, and I wold bake them instead of brown them in a pan.

They were still delicious enough to each every last bite! The boys ate 1 1/2 burgers each. It makes me so happy when people eat seconds of my food. Well technically, Daniele helped me make the burgers and she made both side dishes, so it would be our food. The sides were Brussels Sprouts with toasted pecans and cranberries and french fries. Yum!

Today is Fun in the Sun with Angela and Ricky! WooHooo!! =) After church of course. Thanks! Hugs!