Loverly Weekend

Ummm, could this kid be any more perfect looking? Don't answer, you may not think so since he isn't yours, but I am pretty sure he is perfection through and through.

Saturday we went to one of our favorite places, the youth museum. I was finally feeling mostly better and it was fun because there was practically no one there.

We hung up a world map so that we could start planning for our year abroad. We decided that we are only going to mark things on the map after we have researched them and have specific destinations in mind. For example, we couldn't just mark Samoa, we had to know that we wanted to go to the To Sua ocean trench. So exciting to actually plan for dreams.

Josh's homemade Father's Day Card. The little measuring tape part pulls out and says, "Dad, no one measures up to you." Thanks to Family Fun for the idea :)

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend.

Happy Sunday!

Blah Blah Blah

I haven't been feeling well since yesterday morning. Nothing horrible, just really tired and a headache and tummyache. It has left me with a complete lack of drive to get anything done which makes me feel sort of sad. Plus, all of this lazing around gives me a lot of time to think, which isn't always a good thing. Aaaand, for some reason I lost my whole bottle of Celexa and can't get a refill until the end of June. It all adds up to melancholy Katie.

I have been trying to implement so many positive changes in my life, but sometimes I feel like I am juggling all these balls and just waiting to drop them. I feel like I am not as great of a mom as I could be, nor am I the best wife or housekeeper or cook or really anything at all at the moment. It would be ok if I didn't know that I was capable of more, but I am. I need to get it together and get into a routine and stop being a bum.

Thankfully, a new day starts tomorrow and I have the ability to make choices and fix the things that are bothering me :)

Sorry for rambling.

On a positive note, Josh surprised me with the new Sarah McLachlan cd this week. It was such a thoughtful surprise and I am enjoying listening to the new music. It's not my favorite Sarah, but I don't think anything can live up to my love for her first few cd's.

Happy Saturday :)

Wednesday Wishes

For this round of Wednesday Wishes, I have decided to wish for...meetings with some of my most favorite blog friends! Of course, I would LOVE to meet everyone, but these ladies just stand out for me :)

Courtney from you will. Won't you? Courtney was probably the person that I connected with first and she is someone I consider a great friend even though we have never met in real life. She inspires me with her creativity and her no nonsense personality. Court, I wish we could meet in real life and watch scary movies together!

Kellie, from getthewordsout, is one of the nicest people I have never met. I am so lucky to have her as a blog pal, pen pal and just general pal. I can't say enough awesome things about Kellie. Kellie, I wish we could meet in real life and do our book club!

Melissa, from Vintage Melissa, is a new addition to my daily reads, but one I look forward to immensely. Melissa is a vegan mom, an outdoor enthusiast and just an all around really cool lady. I am excited to get to know her better and to learn more about vegan parenting from her. Melissa, I wish we could meet in real life and have an awesome vegan meal with our kids!

Justine, from Here We Go, is someone I became smitten with the first time I read her blog. She is so sweet and genuine and crazy in love with her boyfriend. Plus, she works at a summer camp for people with special needs, which is one of the most awesome jobs I could ever imagine. Justine, I wish we could meet in real life and just chat over coffee somewhere.

Jamie, from Inspired Mess, is just one of the most inspirational people on the planet. From what I can tell, she is an awesome mom, a talented crafter, a fighter, creator of Happy Mail and a wonderful blog friend. Jamie, I wish we could meet in real life and do some crafting together.

Tiffany, from I Am Rena's Daughter, is such a nice person with a wonderfully kind heart. She always has the sweetest comments and her blog always brings a smile to my face. I am excited that she is my pen pal and that I am getting to know her better. Tiffany, I wish we could meet in real life and visit some awesome book stores.

Last, but certainly not least, is Amy from Lunie Bin. If you check out her blog you will see that she is an amazingly talented crafter and all around cool gal. She and I are both searching to find some awesome friends and I am so happy that we connected. Amy, I wish we could meet in real life and you could give me some tips on art journaling :)

Please be sure to check out Kellie, Courtney, Liz and Karlie's wishes this week too!

Happy Wednesday


P.S. Rikki, you would totally be in on this list too except I already get to see you in real life!!! My wish would be to see each other whenever we want :)

Taking on the V-Con

Hello Tuesday! I am so excited to see you because that means I get to introduce my new feature. Actually, the feature belongs to me, Courtney and Rikki as we begin our journey to cook our way through the Veganomicon.

What is the Veganomicon you may ask. Why, it is one of the most amazing vegan cookbooks ever created. It was written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero of Post Punk Kitchen fame and features over 250 recipes.

Courtney, Rikki and I will each cook the same recipe and make a post about our experience every Tuesday. Since we are each cooking the same meal our readers will get to see how the recipe turns out for three different people with different levels of cooking experience. I am definitely low woman on the totem pole for this one, so I am looking to gain some awesome cooking experience and hopefully not burn down my kitchen :)

So without further ado... Taking on the V-Con

This week I made Simple Seitan

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Braggs)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated

BROTH:

8 cups cold water plus 3 bullion cubes

1/4 cup soy sauce

Mix together the gluten flour and yeast in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together veggie broth, soy sauce, olive oil and garlic. Pour the wet into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture has been absorbed and the ingredients are clumped together. Knead the mixture for about 3 minutes until the dough is elastic. Divide into 3 pieces and then knead those in your hand to stretch them out a bit.

Prepare the broth: Fill a stockpot with the water, bullion cubes, soy sauce and add the wheat gluten pieces. Cover and bring to a boil. Try to catch it as soon as it boils and then lower the heat to simmer. Partially cover the pot so that the steam can escape and let it simmer for 1 hour, turning the seitan occasionally. Turn off the heat and take the lid off; let it sit for 15 minutes.

Remove from the broth and place in a strainer until it is cool enough to touch. It is now ready to be sliced up and used.

The ingredients

Dry mixture

This is what the seitan looked like after I added the wet and dry mixtures.

Cooking it up
The finished product

I was really happy with the way the seitan turned out. I actually made it intending to use it for a recipe, but I have been eating it plain with veggie bake. It has an awesome texture and flavor, and it was so easy. I think next time I will make a double batch so I can freeze some.

If you decide to try the recipe, let us know. I would love to see what other people think.

Thanks to Courtney for our AWESOME graphic :)