a veg life

(posted by Emily)  Fat Tuesday was this week, and in celebration of Mardi Gras, here is an easy vegan gumbo to have any time of year!   Rainbow Gumbo 3/4 c flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF AP) 3/4 c olive oil 2 large onions, diced 2 bell peppers diced 4 celery ribs, diced 4 carrots, diced (I used purple and orange carrots) 1 small head of cauliflower, stems removed and cut into small pieces  8-10 okra, sliced 2 cans red beans, drained and rinsed  4 tomatoes, diced 2 bay leaves sprig (or 2) of fresh thyme 4 teaspoons Herbes de Provence 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon paprika salt and pepper 8 cups (64 oz) veggie broth Brown rice, to add to your bowl **Disclaimer--I know this recipe calls for a lot of chopping, but it's totally worth it. That's the most labor intensive part, I promise!** Begin by mixing the flour and oil in a sauté or frying pan to create your roux . Heat over medium high...

(posted by Emily) Saturday 19 July Daily Step Count: 29,572 On Saturday morning, we woke up to another great breakfast from our hotel. Having the benefit of a free meal to start the day was totally worth it to us. We checked out of our room, but had the hotel hold our backpacks so we could pick them up later, closer to our departure. We decided to head back over to San Marco Square to see what the line for the basilica looked like. The streets were packed, with lots of tour groups from the cruise ships in town for the weekend.  The line to get in to the church was still pretty long, so we opted to get on the vaporetto and head over to Lido .     Lido is another one of Venice's islands, very long and narrow. It has swimmable beaches, so the locals tend to go there on the weekend to escape. The boat trip over was easy enough, though crowded.   When we got to Lido, I was feeling a bit nauseous from the boat ride. Strange, becau...

(posted by Emily) On Sunday, I met up with a few friends from work to go to a dance recital. Our friend and kinder teacher TonyAn and her daughter Jaya were performing, and we came out to support them. It made me very nostalgic to be at a recital during the first weekend in May, because that weekend was always ice show weekend growing up. So many great memories :) After the show, Edana (a kinder teacher and my fellow choir club director) and I decided to head over to Veggie Grill . Edana had never been before, and because she is a vegetarian/borderline vegan, I told her we had to check it out. We had fun during the recital checking out the menu and deciding what to order--probably because we were insanely hungry, having not had lunch that day. I love all of the food VG has to offer--everything from veg buffalo wings to fresh salads to hearty bowls, they have something for everyone. I think the highlight of the menu is the variety of sandwiches offered, and Rick has a coworker who...

(posted by Emily) One of the lasting effects of participating in drum corps for so many years is the large number of friends I have all of the country. In the year I worked for Kappa, it was so much fun to have a chance to see so many of them--Katie in Boston, Will and Munday in Dallas, and Kyle in Baton Rouge.  I visited LSU twice that year, and got to see Kyle on both occasions. In the fall, we watched an LSU football game together and in March, we got to see Butler beat Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen in New Orleans. It was awesome to see him, walk the lakes, and have a chance to catch up.  As with all drum corps friends, social media makes the world much smaller and communication much easier. Two weeks ago, I posted about vegan King Cakes --it was the height of the anticipation leading up to Fat Tuesday and the end of Carnivale/Mardi Gras season. I had eaten King Cake once before, in my pre-vegan days, and was curious if alternatives were available for the dair...

(posted by Emily) If you were at our wedding in September, you had a chance to sample some of the amazing food created by Jennie Cook and her Plant-Based Parties catering team. I feel so lucky to have met the inspiration that is Jennie, and am even more blessed to consider her my friend. Jennie loves food, and is passionate about every client she interacts with. We've taken a cooking class with her, hung out with her at our wedding, made pies with her , and are looking forward to a kraut party (yes, making sauerkraut) in February. I was flattered and totally surprised when she named me her Favorite Bride of the Year :) The most exciting thing about Jennie these days is her brand new cookbook, Who Wants Seconds? . Chapter Six is our favorite chapter, but the book contains recipes for all types of eaters, from "vegans to omnivores, and everyone in between." Rick loves Jennie's White Beans and Greens soup, so that is one of my most-used recipes from the book. ...