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)