Well it's been awhile hasn't it. I was in Long Beach for 5 days then home for 2 then off to Portland for 5. Let's just say healthy eating and travel don't always go together. So last night we started back on our vegan diet with some yummy black bean and butternut squash burrito's from Oh How she glows blog .
As we hit mid summer, I really need to get going on weaving for the guild sale. It's just hard to get anything done during the week. Then with being gone on weekends, not a lot is getting done. Hopefully I'll make progress this week. I'll keep you posted

Being vegan is a work in progress. I'm trying for five out of seven days. the weekends are the hardest. I don't understand why Mark has lost weight and is all skinny and I haven't lost a pound. The hardest part seems to be cheese. Even the vegetarian cookbooks I have all use cheese.
We have grapes in our backyard.

I turned them into pickled grape leaves.

 Now I need a stuffed grape leaf recipe. hopefully a vegan one

well another vegan dinner is well done. And I avoided cheese at lunch time
Sometimes juggling one's commitments is like being in a circus.
So, happy hour tomorrow is on: 5:00 my house
Magic Mike is postponed until July 12.
Goat viewing on for Sunday at 10

Live oak festival was great . My favorite group was Melody of china. They play beautiful melodious music on traditional chinese instruments; not at all  like what my father listened to when I was growing up.
Here's a recipe for a vegan omlette. I used soyrizo as the filling. If you haven't tried soyrizo, you've got to give it a try. It tastes just like choizo but w/o the fat.
Jessica and I had dinner at sidecar last night. Good food and good drinks. And yes you can eat vegan there. We had Red Quinoa Tabouleh, very yummy but a bit salty.
My 21 day kickstart india trial has come to  an end but I am going to try and stay vegan as much as possible. I've learned that cheese and seafood are my weaknesses. I think seafood is ok depending on how it's cooked ( not fried). I do plan to continue as much as possible.
Today's adventure was taking Anika to get a Pygora goat. It was love at first sight for Anika!

I finally finished weaving the pattern gamp I started in Feb. It's fine different threading patterns wide and 12 different treadlings. Each treadling is done in 4 different colors (beige, dark, light and 2-tone). It's almost 4 yards long.Now I get to start really making something!

Happy Monday! NOT!. I hate Mondays and they hate me back. I work in Los Osos on Mondays and not my usual office in SLO. The computers hates Monday too and hence they don't work. Sometime between Fri and Sun they party too hard or whatever then don't show up to work. It's hard to work with an EMR when the "E" part is missing.
Being vegan was a challenge over the weekend. I had already planned that we would be off the diet a bit. Meat wasnt' the issue but the cheese and sour cream were tough to avoid. Altogether my only slip was  bit of feta cheese and a pork rib.
There's no picture of last nights dinner because Mark asked for a night off of Indian food. Instead I used Smart Meat to make a spaghetti sauce and put it over whole wheat past.
Next weekend we'll be camping. I'm planning the menu now to find some camping foods we can make vegan. Luckily we like Morning Star Farms sausage. I also bought some Bocca Burgers. Black bean Chili may make an appearance too.
Tonight is left overs.

Welcome to day 5 of the 21day kickstart india. Yesterday started with the usual oatmeal. I may try indian style next week. I did have a slip up at lunch but it was sushi so it was worth it. And I was very careful with portion control. Something I'm not know for when it comes to sushi. Last night was a new recipe and actually quite easy. I need to make a big batch of rice today as we keep waiting for the rice to cook. Tonight is leftovers unless we eat downtown; which will be a challenge as alcohol is involved.

Navratan Kurma           

Makes 6 1-cup servings

1/4 cup (25 grams) raw cashew nuts, soaked in about 1/2 cup (125 milliliters) of water for about half an hour  

3 cups (500-750 grams) chopped mixed vegetables (I used carrots, cauliflower, green beans)

1 medium onion, chopped coarsely

2 garlic cloves

1-inch (2.5 centimeters) piece peeled ginger

1 or more green chilies, seeded (optional)

1 teaspoon (2.5 grams) poppy seeds (optional)

1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) turmeric

1 tablespoon (7.5 grams) garam masala

2 cardamom pods

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup (125 grams) plain soy yogurt (if not available, substitute ½ cup blended tofu with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of lemon juice)

salt, to taste (optional)

1/4 cup (38 grams) raisins

3 tablespoons (3 grams) finely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Take cashews soaked in water, drain, and set soaking water aside. Place cashews in a blender and grind them into a fairly smooth paste. Add a little water, if needed, to make cashews into a paste. Steam mixed vegetables until tender.

Place onion, garlic, ginger, chilies, and poppy seeds (if using) in a food processor to create a coarse paste or mince them. Add paste to nonstick, heavy steel, or cast iron pan and sauté until the mixture becomes fragrant or until it just begins to brown a bit.

Add the turmeric, garam masala, and cardamom and stir. Then add tomatoes and cook, stirring, until tomatoes break down, approximately 3 minutes. Add soy yogurt and stir, letting the paste cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt, if using.

Add cooked vegetables, raisins, and cashew paste, mixing well. When the gravy comes to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer on a low flame for another 5 minutes for the flavors to incorporate. Garnish with cilantro.