Coming soon...

Hi everyone! Today is the day for the talk. I plan to pick up the pace a bit after that and thought I would give you a taste of what is coming up. ;)

I plan to post recipes and photos of some of our current favorite things to eat, including a tempeh potpie!

Is anyone interested in a swap? I know that December can be a little rough for many people, but perhaps we could do a simple holiday card exchange, homemade or store-bought. Either way, we will definitely get the ball rolling in January!

There is a lot of great vegan literature out there! I have been reading bits and pieces of things to prepare for the talk. I will post some of my recommendations very soon! If you have read anything wonderful, please post about it in the comments! You can also check my Twitter profile (bird icon on the left) to see a few quotes from my readings.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful December so far!

November is here and so am I

Hello out there!! Sorry for dropping off the blog-world for another month. It will happen ;) Lately I've been feeding my new obsession: swap-bot. It's so great to send out happy bits of mail and find some in my box in return! Speaking of, if you would like a bit of happiness let me know or e-mail me with your snail mail addy and I would be happy to send a note or bit of mail art your way. It might be a few weeks (as I will discuss in a minute), but I'd be happy to do it. I'll be loading some photos up to Flickr soon and will be sure to post a link here.

In other news, next month I am giving a talk on vegetarianism, veganism and the in-between. The program is titled "Demystifing Vegetarianism." Isn't that an awesome title? A branch manager for one of the other library branches in town asked if I would be interested in hosting this and I had to say yes. I'm very nervous about it, but I am so excited for the opportunity to share some ideas with the community and promote any changes that people are willing to make (or consider)! I'm definitely a team player and value others thoughts and ideas, so if you have given a similar talk or have any helpful tips or thoughts please send them my way! The vegan blog community is AMAZING and I would love to hear your thoughts! If you're not a vegan, what sorts of things would you want to hear about? I will keep you updated with anything interesting that comes along in the process. 

We have a winner...

Congratulations to ikkinlala!!

This book had been banned by the Republic school system, very close to where I live. The Springfield-Greene County library system received a grant allowing Sarah Ockler, the author, to come and speak in the area. It was an amazing opportunity for the community and I'm so happy to be able to celebrate and pass on the love of banned books! For the curious, here's my previous blog entry about the giveaway. To learn more about the book here's a link to goodreads.

Yo swappers! Want a sweet treat in the mail?

Vegan MoFo Swap 2: Sweet Treats

 

**This swap has been postponed until further notice. Please feel free to comment or contact me if you are interested and I can let you know when it happens :)

Did I mention that we are having two swaps this month? Well, that was no lie!

Sweet Treats Swap:

* You will send a package with one sweet item (regular sized candy bar, large cookie, etc.) to one other person! Feel free to send a sample of smaller chocolates or sweets, as long as they are equal in value to a regular sized item it is fine ;) You are welcome to send more, but this is all that is expected ;) Sweets may be store-bought or homemade!

* To sign up, leave a comment below or send me an e-mail. Please contact me if you have any dietary restrictions, allergies or general dislikes (people who don't like chocolate do exist! strange, I know!). I will pass that information on to your partner, but do not let this keep you from signing up!

* Sign-ups close on Mon., Oct. 31. You will receive your swap partner's information sometime the next day.

* Swaps should be sent out by Fri., Nov. 11. If you are unable to send it at that time, please send early or do not sign up.

* If you are a first time swapper, please send your snail mail info. to me at aveganfox[at]gmail[dot]com

* Questions or thoughts? E-mail me or comment below!

This is just a fun way to send a little sweetness in the mail :)

By the way, I am getting very excited about mail swaps, mail art, postcards, etc.! If you are interested in doing a separate, one-on-one swap please e-mail me and we will set something up!

VeganMoFo: Pumpkin Harvest Curry

A few days left for the Banned Book Giveaway!

Last night I met up with an awesome group of vegans, vegetarians and anyone else interested! We have a group set up on Facebook for anyone in the area to join. This was our first meet-up and around 15 people showed up! Next month we're going to have a vegan Thanksgiving potluck and I'm psyched!

Over the past year I've become very intrigued by mail art and mail correspondence in general. I've mentioned the bookmark exchanges on goodreads before and these have really added to my interest. A week or so ago I signed up for swap-bot. If you like receiving and sending mail you should definitely check it out! Feel free to look me up and give a shout ;)

Here's a package I sent out this morning (my first bit of mail art; before postage):

There's an awesome crew of vegan bloggers in the Vegan Cooking and Cookbooks group on goodreads. In honor of Vegan MoFo we decided to hold a cooking challenge! Each of will make a pumpkin dish and post about it on our blogs. I will list links to each of their entries at the end!

For this challenge I decided to use fresh pumpkin. I've only cooked with the canned stuff and pumpkin seeds in the past, so I thought this would be interesting :) I picked out a leaning medium pumpkin that I took fancy to at a local produce stand, but from what I've read since you might want a smaller pumpkin. Evidently, smaller pumpkins are ideal for cooking as they will have more flavor. In the end, we were pleased with the results, so no complaints from this house!

Pumpkin Harvest Curry 

I just threw in spices that appealed to me in the process so please adjust and experiment to suit your tastes!

The Goods:
1/2 med. pumpkin
1 pkg tempeh
1 zucchini
2 sm. or 1 lrg. red pepper
1/2 red onion
1 can coconut milk
1 c. water (add more as needed)
sesame oil
tamari or other soy sauce
curry spice mix
cinnamon
coriander (freshly ground)
garam masala spice mix
ginger
lemon juice
pinch of salt (if needed)

Pumpkin:
Divide the pumpkin into eighths and roast at 350 F for 30-45 min. Set aside.

Zucchini, pepper, and onion:
Slice and fry at medium-high heat in a dry skillet (I use cast-iron) for 1-3 minutes. You want these to stay crisp to add a little variety to the textures in the dish.

Tempeh:
Add a little sesame oil to the skillet. The skillet should already be warm from the veggies. Toss in tempeh and splash a little tamari or soy sauce on top. Once brown, set to the side. 

Curry Sauce:
Add sesame oil to the skillet. Add all spices and stir around for 30 seconds or so. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and mix with spices. Let this sit for a minute or so. This is the base of your sauce, like using a curry paste. Add the coconut milk and cup of water and mix thoroughly. Then let the sauce simmer over medium low or medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Putting it all together:
Mix everything into the sauce, add a splash of lemon juice, and let simmer for a few minutes. You want everything to absorb a little of the flavor of the sauce without losing the crispness of the veggies.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Cooking Challenge!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Squares ~ Plenty Sweet Enough

Pumpkin Curry with Lentils ~ A Cowhugger's Life
Vegan Baked Pumpkin-Bourbon French Toast with Pepita Caramel Syrup ~ The Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes

Sweet Potato Pumpkin Lasagna ~ Carrot Top Vegan

Liebster Award ~ Thanks Farrah!

Thanks Farrah! Farrah's a new vegan who has an awesome blog that you should definitely check out ~ Carrot Top Vegan.
 

"Liebster" is German for 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers and show some support.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

I am so honored to receive this award a second time :) Especially because it means that I get to share the love! Once again it is so freakin' hard to choose! For this round I have chosen some of my fav's over 100, but still under the 200 follower mark (last time I tried to stay under 100) and some newer fav's. Once again these are all AMAZING blogs that you should check them out!:

*Vegan Flower*

 *Coffee & Sunshine*

*Vegan CineGrub*

*VegSpinz*

*Bread Without Butter*

Liebster Award ~ Thanks Val!

Thank you so much Val! Please check out her blog, A Cowhugger's Life. As some of you know I'm a huge fan of goodreads. We have a great vegan group on goodreads with awesome bloggers, like A Cowhugger's Life ;) In the past I've been really bad about award posts, so I'm posting this asap before it gets left behind!

"Liebster" is German for 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers and show some support.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

It is NOT at all easy to pick, but all of these bloggers deserve it! They are all awesome and you should check them out!:

*Zombie Cats Eating Plants*

*Vegan and so Forth*

*Dandelion Vegan Blog*

*lovinlivinvegan*

*Budgeting with the Bushmans*

Want to get in on the action?:
* Recipe Swap ~ sign-up by Oct. 15
* Book Giveaway ~ sign-up by Oct. 18

Banned Book Giveaway: Twenty Boy Summer

Congratulations to commenter 5: book_pusher!!

*Giveaway now closed*

During Banned Books Week the Springfield-Green County Library system (Missouri) held a series of events. The headliner this year was a visit from Sarah Ockler whose book Twenty Boy Summer was banned from the Republic school system and later made available to students with parental permission. You can view more links and read some of my ramblings about it here. The Republic Monitor recently published an interview with Ockler, taken after a Read-Out at the Republic Branch Public Library. -link-

GIVEAWAY: A signed copy of Twenty Boy Summer :)

To Enter:

* Leave a message in the comments telling me about a banned or challenged book that you have read or would like to read. There are tons of books out there to choose from! (You'd be surprised at some of the books that have been banned: The Giver, Call of the Wild, The Great Gatsby, Slaughterhouse Five, Little Women, A Wrinkle in Time, Merriam-Webster Dictionary...)

* Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you (if your e-mail is attached to your profile, that works).

* Giveaway will be open until October 18. I will randomly choose the winner the next morning.

Vegan MoFo: Weekly Wrap-up

There is so much awesome food floating around on the blogosphere during Vegan MoFo that I decided to take a cue from Scissors & Spice and create a Pinterest board to keep track of some of the awesome food finds. Have you checked out Pinterest yet? I found about it while at work one day and decided to use it to tag ideas for teen programs. It's like have tons of virtual cork-boards to view. And yes, it can be quite addicting!

I'm just starting to catch up on some of this week's feed, so much of this is from the last day or two. Here's a screen shot with some of this week's selection. It's quite small because I haven't quite figured out the best way to do this. BUT it's here and if you click it you'll see the bigger picture:

And now for some Shout-outs to some awesome bloggers. Check them out!:
*Molly ~ Vegan Flower ~ Especially made my week because I got lucky and won her giveaway!
*Amber ~ Zombie Cats Eating Plants
* Jenny ~ Vegan and so forth
* Rose ~ Dandelion Vegan Blog
* Michelle ~ lovinlivinvegan
* Carissa ~ Coffee & Sunshine
* Bobbie ~ Budgeting with the Bushmans
* Val ~ A Cowhugger's Life
* Lee ~ Plenty Sweet Enough
* Farah ~ Carrot Top Vegan
* Betsy ~ The Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes
* Kathy ~ Healthy Slow Cooking

Vegan MoFo: Coconut bacon, Avocado, & Tomato on Focaccia

In the trend of trying new things in the kitchen, I made focaccia! I used the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. Next time I will make adjustments so that it is thick enough to slice through the middle for sandwiches.

A few years ago I worked as a cook in a coffee shop in Columbia, MO. We made huge cookie sheets of focaccia that we had to slice through for paninis. Initially it was so intimidating! Here you are, faced with a huge sheet of bread, and you're expected to cut through it - no mistakes. But you get the hang of it by starting slowly. By the fourth or fifth pan you'll feel like a pro ;)

I filled this bad boy with coconut bacon, avocado, tomato, fresh sprouts, zucchini, and veganaise. Served up with burrito leftovers (beans, rice and Daiya).

Inside shot:

It's been quite fun (and a bit challenging!) posting every day this week. I was planning to aim for the whole month, but I'm going to change it up a bit. Part of the fun of Vegan MoFo for me is previewing the awesome things everyone else is doing and discovering new blogs. This week I haven't done nearly as much of that as I would like! I would rather make more time for blog reading than fretting about posting daily. So, my current goal will be 3-4 a week during October. Considering I didn't post for nearly two months before that I think it's a good goal ;)

Check back soon for the Banned Books Giveaway!

I'm Sprouting!

Ever since my sister told me how easy it is to sprout I've been meaning to do it. Well, I'm a bit of a procrastinator and a few years have passed. But Sunday I took charge and started soaking some beans.

The beginning of my sprout revolution:

And success! We now have homegrown sprouts :)

Vegan Mofo: Big Fat Burrito

First I'd like to give a shout-out to my friend Bobbie who just started blogging! Her new blog, Budgeting with the Bushmans, is awesome and you should definitely check it out! Bobbie and her family recently moved to a small town in Northwest Missouri near an awesome eco-village, Dancing Rabbit (read about my visit last year here: part 1 and part 2).

Craving a burrito? Here's what we put in ours:

The Beans: After cooking dry pinto beans, I left enough "bean juice" (the water they cooked in) to cover beans, and added: tamari, garlic, roasted red bell pepper, lime juice, chili powder, and salsa.
I usually add cumin, but was out. These tasted great regardless! Black beans always work well too.

The Rice: After cooking I added tomato paste, broth (I used "Better than Bouillon"), lime juice, smoked paprika, green onion and garlic.

Everything else: Kale (from our garden :), green bell pepper, Daiya, and salsa.

This definitely hit the spot!

If you like getting mail and swapping join in on the VFS Recipe Swap!

Vegan Mofo SWAP! 1: Recipe Swap

*Swap is now closed*

Hey, hey, hey! We are long overdue for a swap my friends. If you haven't swapped before don't let that stop you! For VFS swaps we aim for inexpensive, small swaps. Just a happy little something for those of us who like to get "snail" mail ;)

In celebration of Vegan Mofo there will be two swaps this month! For swap one you will share three recipes with three people and for swap two...well you'll just have to wait and see!

Recipe swap rules:

* For this swap you will have three partners (crazy, I know). The people you send to will not necessarily be the people sending recipes to you (it'll be a surprise!). As you might have guessed, you will receive recipes from three different people for a total of three pieces of mail and nine recipes ;)

* Send three recipes to each of your partners. You may send the same recipes to each person. These do not have to be your original recipes. Feel free to choose recipes that have been posted on your blog. The choice is yours ;)

* Recipe design is completely up to you! A few design ideas: zine or mini-cookbook, index cards, written on stationary, bookmarks, anything goes! Keep in mind that this shouldn't cost more than a stamp or two.

* Sign-ups will end on October 15. You may sign-up in the comments or by sending an e-mail to the address listed below. (If you are new see the note below)

* On Sunday, Oct. 16 you will be e-mailed your swap partners' information from me and should send the recipes out by Friday, Oct. 28. If you can not send your recipes out by this date please do not sign-up.  

* If you are new to VFS swaps please send your mailing info. to me at aveganfox*at*gmail*dot*com

* As always feel free to leave ideas for this swap or future swap in the comments :)

Participants:

Amber

Aya

Theresa

me

Vegan Mofo: Coconut Bacon

I've been meaning to post this for a looong time. It all started with this Simple Coconut Bacon on VegWeb.

Coconut Bacon (For measurements see link above or measure to taste)

Coconut Flakes
Tamari (or soy sauce)
Maple Syrup
Smoked Salt
Apple Cider Vinegar (opt.)

Mix all ingredients in a dish until coconut flakes are well-coated. Let sit for as long as you can stand, 20 min. - 1 hour. Heat skillet on medium high and toast until lightly crisp and brown. These will crisp up a bit more as they cool.

We have served this on pizza (see Pizza Time!), as a breakfast side and as a soup topping (see below). We're planning sandwiches this week, so there may be a follow-up post ;) Coconut bacon is quite tasty! It's definitely hard not to stuff it all in your mouth before serving ;)

Vegan Mofo: Raw Hot Cacao

Is there anything better on a cool autumn day than a warm cup of sweetness?

Raw Hot Cacao (inspired by Ani's Raw Food Kitchen)
This will fill two mugs, plus a little to top them off after a few sips ;)

3 c. Water
1/3 c. almonds* (or cashews)
1/3 c. dates
1/4 c. cacao nibs
touch of agave or raw coconut sugar to taste

Put all ingredients into blender* and blend for 7 minutes or until desired temperature is reached. Enjoy!

*Soak almonds for 6-8 hours ahead of time. This will make them easier to digest. They do not need to be completely dry before use in this recipe.
*I used a Vitamix for this recipe. Please let me know the results if you make this in a standard blender and I'll share the info.

Vegan Mofo!!

It seems my urge to start blogging again came just in time for Vegan Mofo :) This will be my first year participating and though I didn't sign up in time to be on the official list, I'll be blogging every day possible. Besides blogging, I'm back to checking Google Reader and it has reminded me of the great inspiration found on other blogs. I'm excited to spend more time in the kitchen and discover new great blogs this month!

As I mentioned in my last post, not every entry will be about food. We have swaps and such on the way after all! But for this month I will try to at least link to other vegan posts to celebrate all the wonders surrounding Vegan Mofo :) Speaking of sharing, I'll be posting many awesome finds on Twitter this month. So stay tuned...

Ramble On

A short paragraph in which I blab about what is to come: It's crazy, but for a little while there I thought that maybe I was done with this whole blogging thing. Seriously. It probably won't continue forever, but I'm not quite done with it yet. I have decided to branch out a bit. I'm still vegan. I cook food and eat it. But lately I'm focused on other things, like books, music, enjoying the outdoors before it gets cold, and many other things. What this means for the blog is that I will be writing about other things if I start posting more often. I tried starting another blog, but wasn't really attached and as some of you know, it's hectic trying to keep up with more than one. Kudos to those of you who do so successfully!

Did you know that it's Banned Books Week here in the U.S.? It's true! So stop in to your local library or bookstore today and show your support by picking one up! (I should mention that I started this entry several days ago, but just because it's the end of the week doesn't mean you have to stop celebrating banned/challenged books!) I recently read Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. If you're interested, you can read my review here. I also read Slaughterhouse Five, which I highly recommend! These books were recently banned in Republic, MO. Book banning frustrates me, but having this happen so close to home really pissed me off. It all started with a man by the name of Scroggins who discovered "filthy" books disgracing the local school libraries. You can read what he had to say in this link. So the Republic school board listening and decided that these books were not appropriate. I would like to mention that, to my knowledge, the board did not read the books before voting. It's hard for me to not go into a long rant over this. So, to keep it short, the books are now available, but only accessible to students with parental permission. The Springfield-Greene County library system is doing amazing things to celebrate Banned Books Week this year! Sarah Ockler is presenting tonight and tomorrow here in Springfield! There are several other events happening that you can read about here. You should also check out Ockler's blog! 

Yes this was a rambler. No, I won't wait so long to post again. To prove it, these entries will be up in the next week (since I've taken so long to get them up!):
*SWAP! Information for the next swap will be posted in the next week. As always, you are welcome to leave suggestions in the comments or e-mail me with your ideas.
*Coconut Bacon - I will post this soon. I've actually had the recipe sitting by the computer for several weeks...
*Stayed tuned: Sometime soon there will be a GIVEAWAY!!

Surprise!

BOO! I'm back! Right now I'm working on offline pursuits, so blogging may be a little sparse for a time, but I plan to make more time for it! I can't believe it's been over two months!!

The Vancouver trip was amazing and I will post more pics and discuss some of the incredible food we had very soon! Here's a sneak peak:

In September there will be a SWAP! (That's a promise Amber!) I miss swapping with you guys. I haven't decided on a theme yet, so if there are any requests feel free to let me know!

Taking Flight!

Early tomorrow morning we're flying to Vancouver! I'm psyched! Unless something crazy happens, like breaking an arm or a camera, I should have some pics to share when I return :)

Coming up (after June 14):
* Vancouver pics - of course!
* Next swap!
* Coconut Bacon
* Vegan Advocacy tips
* A surprise post (if you're lucky ;)

'Til then I wish you all a wonderful week and look forward to catching up on your blogs when I return!

Review: Chocolate Inspirations

English Toffee via website

Chocolate Inspirations, Inc. was kind enough to send me a wonderful sample pack of their vegan confections last fall. Now that I'm on a roll with posting more regularly I thought it was about time to pull this one from the vault! Though it has been some time since my tasting I took notes regarding my thoughts. Overall these were a little sweet for me. I am so used to using things like coconut crystals and dates that sweets loaded with cane sugar are not as thrilling as they used to be. But for those who regularly use sugar you might be interested in their variety of vegan options.

Cashew Brittle: Toffee-caramel taste with a semi-sweet chocolate coating, and a crunchy-chewy texture. This is not as crisp as the brittle I grew up with, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Caramel Latte Pretzel Bites: These were very sugary-sweet, not much more to the flavor than that. The pretzel seemed stale. I noticed this to be the case with most of the pretzel bites. I know that due to weather it took a bit to get the package and this may have been the issue. I didn't notice a lot of difference in flavors between the pretzel bites. All featured a sweet coating and pretzel.

*Caramel Cup: Sweetly satisfying :) One of the best things I tasted from the selection! A thin chocolate layer on the top and bottom of a chunk of caramel. The caramel had a fudgy texture which I found very satisfying!

English Toffee: A tasty, soft-textured toffee.

Coconut Brittle: Chocolate covered crisp brittle with a hint of toasted coconut. Not certain if the coconut was toasted, but it tasted like it.

*Granola Bark: Very tasty! Mixed with dried fruit and topped with a layer of chocolate. The texture was somewhere between a granola bar and a no-bake cookie, quite nice!

Cinnamon Toast English Toffee: Good taste and was exactly what I expected from the title: loads of cinnamon and sugar flavor accompanied by a crisp, caramelly flavored toffee covered in chocolate.

Granola Bark w/chocolate via website

This link will take you directly to the vegan selection: link.

Quickie

Cameron - the legless cat wonder

For any new folks stopping by, Cameron does have legs. He just has special powers that allow him to make them disappear whenever he likes;)

If you like making raw food or want to try there is an awesome contest you should check out at Vegan On the Go's blog.

Blogroll...I've been updating again. Twitter is a crazy new land that I have entered. Within I have discovered even more fantastic vegan bloggers and I've added a few to the list. I removed blogs that haven't posted in 6 months or more. For now I want to feature bloggers that post fairly regularly. If you do not see your blog listed and would like it to be so, please tell me! Recently I've noticed several missing that I thought I had listed ages ago.

I enjoyed a lovely weekend! Yesterday Madi, my niece, and I spent most of the day together geocaching, drawing by a lake, and running around.

If you are interested in regular updates regarding recipes, bits of information, and some randomness you can join me on Twitter via the little birdy at the top of the right column ;)

Smile Time - Donut Style

Happy donut face

Recently I borrowed Babycakes Covers the Classics.  Scanning the recipes I thought to myself, "What haven't I tried since I started baking with coconut crystals?"  DONUTS! Since my wonderful mom bought me a mini-donut pan to match the regular pan (also from her ;), I had to use both.  For this round I made the "Agave-sweetened Plain Donuts" with coconut crystals.

Before

After

And how did they turn out?  Pretty tasty, but a little sweet for my tastes. They actually reminded me of a fluffy vanilla wafer (must admit that I used to have a weakness for those).  These babies were loaded with vanilla (a whole 1/4 c!).  Next time I'll try them with a little less vanilla and sugar.

Slightly blurry inside shot

No smile Cam - he didn't get a doughnut

Mini Strawberry Face :)

Trivia Question:  What inspired this entry title?

Local: Pizza at the Grotto

 

We borrowed Adam's Mom's camera for the Vancouver trip in June.  I took this opportunity to slip the small traveler into my purse and snap shots of local restaurant eats as promised ;)

The Grotto is a local joint in Springfield, MO that serves pizza, sandwiches and salads.  A vegan menu is available at request, which makes the experience even better.  The most exciting thing about the Grotto is vegan cheese!  I could hardly believe it when a friend told me about this place last year.

We went out for a girls' lunch since Hannah (sister) was in town for Tori's (niece) graduation.  The crew included Mom, Hannah, Tori, Madi (niece) and me.  

First up, appetizers!  Homestyle chips seasoned with rosemary and thyme, and hummus with herbed focaccia.

The chips were slightly crisp and had a nice delicate herby flavor.  The hummus was decent, but pretty average.  I was happy to see the extra oil on top :)  It was a little more oil than necessary, but since it's been dry on previous occasions it was a welcome sight.  Their focaccia was quite nice; flatbread sprinkled with herbs and sea salt and slightly crisp.

Did I mention how enticing it looked?

We ordered two large pizzas.  Hannah and I decided that it was important to have plenty of food and had no fear of taking home leftovers if necessary ;)

The Vegan Veggie Medley features a light marinera with roma tomatoes, grilled squash, red onions, portabello mushrooms, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers and fresh herbs.

Nicely loaded with veggies and very satisfying.  Check out the huge slice on my plate!

Our second pizza was a classic Vegan Margherita.  Also very pleasing.

A very satisfying meal :)  Adam and I enjoyed the leftovers cold.  It was definitely just as good the second time around ;)

Almost forgot photos of happy people!

Hannah, Tori, and Madi = 3 lovely ladies!

My lovely Mom :)

Trying to Tweet

Just a quick post to let you know that I've decided to give twitter a try.  I haven't had a chance to find everybody yet, so if you're on there let me know so I can follow you!!

I posted a happy new video on the other blog for anyone interested ;)

And then there were two

Decorative wall at Dancing Rabbit -Aug. 2010

After toying with the idea for a few months, I have decided to make a second blog.  This blog will continue to be devoted to veganism and food.  The second one will be more of a inspiration and project blog.  I'm trying out WordPress and will probably be playing around with different backgrounds, so it may change quite often for a while ;)  You can check it out here if you dare.  If you're into stop motion animation, I just posted a fun music video over there - link.

The next swap will be on hold 'til mid June.  A lot of things keep coming up lately and I know my mind won't sit still until I've seen Vancouver, which happens June 7-14 ;) 

Happy Things to Come

The sun is shining brightly today and it's hard not to smile about things, even while visiting the laundry mat.  We took a detour and had a slice of vegan blueberry cake at a local tea bar.  We also ordered pita and hummus and I had a cup of berry tea, a very delightful event :)  As soon as I get a smaller camera I will start posting photos of local eats.  Believe it or not, there are more options popping up in Springfield, Missouri all the time :)

Up for tomorrow:  Heading to Mansfield for the Baker Creek Spring festival and hopefully getting back in time for a vegetarian potluck!  If it's not raining too hard I'll try to take some pictures.

It's not too late to sign up for the poetry swap!

In the news: The Good Stuff

How often do you get excited by the news?  Usually I end up pissed off or depressed.  Today that is not the case :)  I actually have some happy things to share.

Adventures in Veganism features a very positive outlook on veganism.  Published in our local 417 magazine, editor Katie Polluck goes vegan for a week and writes about her experience.

Have you heard of Loreen Dinwiddie?  This awesome lady just turned 108 and has been vegan since 1922.  That's 89 freakin' years!!!  Check her out on Vegansaurus!


*Don't forget to sign-up for the Poetry Swap!   
*Check out the updated Blog lists (in the right column)!  I've added some newer pals and cool blogs.  You can always contact me if you would like to be added ;) 
*Coming up: Spreading the Word (The Importance of Vegan Advocacy)

SWAP! *Poetry*

Public domain image link

It's SWAP time again!  In celebration of National Poetry Month (April) I thought it would be fun to send a poem through the mail.  It is your choice whether to send an original, favorite, or just an awesome poem that you happen to find.  Send it as a letter, card, postcard, mail-art, bookmark, or any way you like! Rose had a cool suggestion a few months ago to send a poem and picture.

It's only necessary to send a poem, but you may be as creative as you like.

Want to put a little verse in the mail?
* E-mail your mailing address to me by Tuesday, May 3: aveganfox[at]gmail[dot]com
* Once you have received your swap partner's info., send out a poem by Wednesday, May 11.

As always, feel free to discuss ideas for this swap or future swaps in the comments below!

Current Swappers: 
Amber
Rift Vegan
Rose
Affectioknit 
Rebecca
Dirty Duck
me