My Jingle Jangle Weekend

I'm headed down to the exciting, bustling metropolis of Durant, Oklahoma this weekend to visit my mother. While there, we are going to the EtsyDallas Jingle Bash. I'm really excited to get my crafty shopping on. Mom and I had planned to do so at The Girlie Show, but dual migraines kept us in T-Town. This will be our make-up shopping session.


If any of you are already fans of Harrilu (I sure am!), then check out today's post. Wear any Harrilu shirt, dress, skirt or tunic to the show to receive up to 20% off your purchase! I guess I'll be rethinking my Jingle Bash attire to save a little green.


I hope to see some of you there!

Me on OklaVision

Me and my mug will be on OklaVision today shortly after the clock strikes noon to promote the Fresh Blend Handmade Gift Boutique and all the fun craft demos we'll be doing between now and Christmas. Click here to watch live beginning at noon Central time or wait until after 1:00 to see the archived show throughout the weekend.

Happy viewing (and shopping)!

Crafty Vegan Food Adventures #1

Here is my yesterday in food.

I usually have oatmeal with pecans, cinnamon and maple syrup for breakfast, but after about two solid months of it, I decided to make a change. I didn't want anything sweet, so somehow I decided on an English muffin spread with refried black beans and salsa. Yes, that's really what I've been eating shortly before 8:00 in the morning. With orange juice, of course. My camera had a foggy lens apparently, so it's hard to see. Behold the close-up:

It's a weird breakfast, but it's ridiculously filling and delicious! The English muffins are Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain brand -- hearty and tasty. The beans are 365 (Whole Foods) spicy refried black beans (fat-free and vegetarian), and the salsa was made by love's incredibly talented coworker. The orange, as always, is Tropicana Homestyle (some pulp).

At work, I had a mug of my favorite tea ever:

It's Harney & Sons' White Christmas Tea. I served it in my gorgeous mug from Forever Tuesday.

This was my raw lunch. Feast your eyes upon half a head of endive, cherry tomatoes, raw sunflower seeds and tahini sauce. The sauce was a variation on this recipe. It should also have included avocado chunks, but sadly I cut into the little bugger only to find brown spots throughout. This salad was still surprisingly filling, and man that sauce is good. I followed it up with a not-so-raw one of these:
These soft chocolate chip cookies are once again from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested.

I was going to eat an apple for a snack, but lunch kept me surprisingly full. I did manage to chug down about 64 ounces of water throughout the work day, too. So here's dinner:

These are leftover baked falafel from the night before covered in -- yep -- more tahini sauce (not gravy, as the picture seems to indicate). I got the recipe here. I think I messed up the spice ratios because the falafel itself was terribly bland, but coated in the garlic-heavy sauce, it was tasty and filling.

I had more orange juice and another cookie (OK, too) for dessert. All in all, my diet wasn't as produce-heavy as I would have liked (damn you, avocado!), but it was still a fairly good eating day. I definitely got my fiber, thanks to Loops.

Tee hee, I got plenty of dietary fiber, too.

So that's my Wednesday in food. I hope you enjoyed! I plan to do another post next week.

Trading for crafty holiday goods

We all love to give beautiful, unique, handmade goods for the holidays whenever we can. However, it's hard to find the time and energy to make 50 knit sweaters -- plus, does everyone in your family really want a variation on the same item? That's where the amazing, gorgeous gal that is my dear friend Holly of HollyRocks steps in this year with her 2009 Hollyday Tradeoff. Do you want to trade with other crafters for amazing gifts this year? Then head over to her blog post and fill out the requested information. If you want to trade with me, you can comment here or convo me on Etsy.

Let's get trading!

Crafty Vegan Food Adventures

I read a lot of vegan food blogs mostly because I think almost constantly of food. A lot of my favorites, including The Voracious Vegan, do regular posts of everything they've eaten that day (called Everyday Nums on her blog). I think it's interesting, so I have decided to do the same thing on my little writing corner. My plan is to do this weekly, but I am committing to nothing at this point. Tomorrow I will feature all of today's yumminess. For the moment, though, I wanted to share my new favorite quick, easy, delicious dinner: cornbread with chile beans.

I will be the first to admit that dried beans taste a lot better than canned ones. They're also a lot more work and require planning, so I always keep some canned beans around just in case. We'd had a thing of Whole Foods brand seasoned chile beans for, well, I have no idea how long. I was cold and cranky and tired Monday night, but seeing them in the pantry gave me a little (read: very, very small amount) of cooking energy. The result:

The cornbread is one of my favorite vegan baked goods. It takes minutes to prepare, and it is every bit as good as dairy-filled recipes I've made. Borrowed lovingly from The Joy of Vegan Baking, here it is:

Ingredients

1.5 cups non-dairy milk (I used rice)

1.5 Tbsp white vinegar

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup unbleached white flour

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp canola oil

.5 to 1 cup whole corn kernels (optional -- I skipped them this time)

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

2. Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl, set aside.

3. Mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the milk mixture and oil (and corn, if using), stirring until just combined.
4. Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes. Makes 9 servings.

To make the chile beans, open the can and pour into a saucepan. Heat them. Add spices if you'd like. Yep, that's all I did. I put cayenne, black pepper and some chile powder on them. They were fine by themselves, but served on top of the cornbread, they were amazing. Divine convergence.

Look for more food from me tomorrow!

Fresh Blend Boutique and classes

Thanks to everyone who came out to Fresh Blend on Saturday! We had a blast and met lots of interesting people. I'll post some pictures another day this week.

Today marks the beginning of the ongoing Fresh Blend Handmade Gift Boutique at Fresh Roast. Any time between now and Christmas, drop by to purchase great handmade items by the Tulsa Craft Mafia and friends.

Tomorrow will be the first of our three-part series of crafty classes as well. For only $3, you will receive materials and instruction on making your own totally unique holiday cards. Andrea of Paper Lotus Design Group provides assistance. This is a great activity for all ages, so don't miss it! While not required, RSVPing to enroll@maketulsa.com is greatly appreciated.

Fresh Blend in the news

Fresh Blend starts in just a few hours! An article by Jason Ashley Wright ran in the Tulsa World today highlighting our sure-to-be-spectacular sale. Read it here. Don't forget to come see us at Fresh Roast Coffee House between 2 and 7 today.