Eat Like the Bird--Easy Vegan Recipes: "Simple Smoothie"

One of my favorite ways to start off the day is with a very simple, yet delicious fruit smoothie, created in my own blender. This is my standard recipe, but it is easily altered to create various taste sensations that fit your mood, or to use up a particular fruit that you have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 Banana
3/4 Cup Blueberries
3/4 Cup Strawberries
2+ Cups Vanilla Soy Milk

Put all of the fruit into a blender. Add enough soy milk to cover the fruit. Put lid on blender(!), and turn on low to start. Once it gets going you can switch it to high. Add more soy milk if necessary---you want the consistency to be thick, but thin enough that you could drink it through a straw, sort of like a milk shake. When you are satisfied with the consistency, turn the blender off and pour your tasty beverage into a glass. This recipe should fill two pint glasses (that's 16 oz each).

Now, my secret to this recipe is that I use all frozen fruit. I buy bags of organic frozen blueberries and strawberries to keep on hand in the freezer. I also buy fresh bananas, and freeze them as well, by peeling and then cutting into quarters or thirds, and storing in a zip lock freezer bag.


As I mentioned, you can experiment with different types of fruit. In the summer I get a bountiful harvest of blackberries from the back yard that I freeze. Raspberries, and other summer time fruit that you can pick yourself are a scrumptious addition to this recipe.

You can make a "tropical" blend with mangoes and papayas. I sometimes add a dash of pineapple or cranberry juice to the mix as well.

Another little tip-- if you only have plain soy milk, you can add a little dash of vanilla extract, and a couple dashes of cinnamon to spice it up a bit.

Bird Day Thursday--Vegan Eggs?

Last week my chickens were featured on EtsyVeg's "Pet of the Week". Lots of people commented that they would like to see a picture of their eggs.....so here they are:

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Don't forget about the Etsy Veg
Earthly Riches Giveaway, which ends 4/28
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and my Super Spring Cleaning Sale,
going on through the end of the month!
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Meet My Girls

My chickies were featured as "Pet of the Week" on Etsy Veg this week.

Check out the Etsy Veg Blog for more photos and the story behind them.....

Vegan Sample Bags--On Sale Now!

The first batch of Vegan Sample Bags is now available! This is a collection of sample size items from various artists and crafty-type folks-- all without the use of animal products or ingredients. Heather, from Holistically Heather came up with the concept for this a few months ago. After countless hours of work, (including making each bag by hand!), and donations from over 30 awesome vegan merchants (including yours truly), the bags are now up for sale here.

For just $25 you get a beautiful handmade, reusable tote bag filled with 15-20 items. That's a bargain if you ask me. Plus 10% off all sales goes to For the Animals Sanctuary! Vegan Craft Samples are a great way to test out some vegan products that you've been thinking about, and also make a great gift! (Think "Mother's Day"). For a list of all the participating shops, and detailed descriptions of their sample items, you can check out the Vegan Samples Blog.

Get 'em while they last. They are already selling like hotcakes!! And we all know how fast hotcakes sell.....

Chicken Victory!

Today truly is a Happy Bird Day, with the news that BOCA, manufacturer of many faux meat products, has just announced that they will be eliminating eggs from ALL of their products! This is great news for vegans, giving us lots more options to choose from their extensive selection, which was previously limited due to their use of eggs. But more importantly, it's great news for the many hens that suffer every day in cramped, filthy cages to produce the massive numbers of eggs used in our over-consumptive society.

This change came about as a result of a campaign by Compassion Over Killing, in collaboration with Mercy for Animals, the Animal Protection & Rescue League, and the phone calls and letters of lots of caring consumers. After less 2 months of campaigning, COK received this statement from Boca:

"I am pleased to let you know the BOCA brand will be eliminating eggs in all of its products by the end of this year. We anticipate all BOCA products will be egg free in 2010."

Combining this with the recent campaign successes with Morningstar Farms and Lightlife, who both agreed to REDUCE the number of eggs used in their products, it has been a great few weeks for hens and for veganism.

“Morningstar Farms has committed to reducing its egg usage by an estimated 500,000 eggs in 2009, which is in addition to the already 1 million fewer eggs in 2008.”

“Egg whites are being removed from two more Lightlife products. Both our Veggie Burgers and Mushroom Burgers are being converted to vegan products with a completion date of June 1, 2009.”

Please take the time to contact Boca to thank the company for making this great leap forward for the animals, and setting a huge precedent for other large food producers. You can find out more about COK's Boca Campaign at the Boca Egg Facts website.

Knitting Challenge

According to the National Craft Association, March is National Craft Month! Hooray for crafters!

One of my fellow Etsy-ers from Team Veg, Jennifer of Pretty Haute, brought this to the team's attention, along with a creative challenge.

Knit-a-square.com is a project of the Soweto Comfort Club, which collects 8"x8" knitted or crocheted squares from all over the world and assembles them into blankets for thousands of African babies and children living in poverty. Many of these children are orphaned because of HIV AIDS or are themselves infected with it.

Jennifer's challenge is to make 4 squares to send this month, to celebrate National Craft Month. That's only one square per week. (or if you can make more, even better!).

Complete instructions are on the Knit-a-Square website, including types of yarn, gauges, knitting tutorials, patterns, etc. They prefer wool but for those of us of the vegan persuasion, who do not wish to support the wool industry, they will also accept acrylic, bamboo, etc. Just be sure to follow the instructions on their website.

Jennifer put the challenge out to the Etsy Veg team, but I am passing it along to ALL crafty types (especially those that know how to knit and/or crochet). It's a great way to use up those scraps of yarn that are just sitting around in your yarn bin. I've also gotten lots of yarn for FREE or CHEAP through Craig's list, garage sales, garage sale leftovers, and thrift stores.
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Since knitting is already a 'challenge' for me, I'm not sure if I will be taking on this one myself, or not. For example, it took me about a year and a half to complete this blanket for my "new" nephew. I started it before he was born, and finally gave it to him this past xmas. (He'll be 2 in April!) I would like to say that it took me so long because I am a perfectionist, and it is the best blanket ever made, but as you can see from the photo, it is far from perfect! Although, it was made using all recycled, secondhand yarn, which I knitted into squares, and stitched together. I finished it off with a crocheted border (also a newly acquired skill for me) and sewed on a Sesame Street back with a secondhand sheet from a thrift store.

Catching Up With Christmas

Oh, I'm so far behind....this is my first of many product reviews that I will be posting here. These are items that I received as gifts this past holiday season:

My Vegan Etsy Team coordinated a Secret Santa for any members that wanted to participate. This was a really fun activity for me, and a great distraction from the usual hustle and bustle of the holidays (craft fairs, birthday parties, family get-togethers, etc.) We were all (secretly) given the name and address of a fellow teammate to whom we were to send a handmade gift (our own creation, or something purchased from another crafter).

My Secret Santa was Bashley of Bashley's Uncommon Threads. I was so thrilled when I opened my package, which contained a handmade, decoupaged box featuring a collage of BIRDS(!) and accented with beautiful bird pins (see photos below). The second part of the gift included a donation in my name to a chicken sanctuary! -- The Chocowinity Chicken Sanctuary in North Carolina. It is one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received, and this was from someone who only knows me through our online connection with Vegan Etsy! It was especially impressive considering handmade boxes are not even the craft that she sells on her Etsy site, which is kitchen aprons! Please check out her site and show her some love...

Here are pictures of the box-- from every angle:




































The recipient of my Secret Santa gift was another Lynn!--Sparklynn, who makes really beautiful handcrafted jewelry and hair pins. I was worried that it would be a challenge deciding on an appropriate gift for someone that I do not know in person. But after reading in her profile that she has a few pet snails, it was an easy decision. I gave her one of my box sets of Snail Mail Greetings-- a handmade, recycled box with a selection of my handmade photo greeting cards (including, of course, one of my Snail photo cards!) She was very happy with my gift, and I received this message from her:
"I just received my present today and I LOVE it! I was just looking for a snail picture to frame and it just appeared in the mail - how cool is that?! I love the cards and the snail is going into my office at work. Thank you so much! I adore my present. Your pictures are so beautiful!"

Hymns for a Dark Horse Another gift I received was from my friends, Rob & Eleni of Beloved Binge (band) and Binge Cafe (blog). It's an album by the Bowerbirds. Eleni thought that I would really like their music style, and she was right! And it's not just because of their name or the many bird references throughout their songs. I'm still trying to figure out who the lead singer reminds me of. Names that come to mind are David Byrne, Clem Snide, and Thom Yorke, but I think there might be someone else who would be a better reference point. Anyway, they definitely have a unique music style which combines acoustic folksy melodies with hints of world music sounds, and interesting lyrics. They mix in a lot of different instruments including guitar, piano, violin, accordion, drum, banjo, and upright bass. All equaling up to a highly pleasurable listening experience! Check out the Bowerbirds!

Name that Bird Contest #2

This month's contest is a little different, and another multi-parter, but should be pretty easy (and fun!) for everyone. Pictured below are five photos of six famous Cartoon Birds (one of them is a pair). To enter this contest, you'll have to name all six birds, and tell me what kind of bird they are supposed to be. (Cartoon birds don't always do justice to what they look like in real life, although some of them are awfully cute!)

The prize for this contest will be a 4 Pack of Photo Greeting Cards of your choice! You can choose from over 100 different cards, now on display in my new Snail Mail Greetings Gallery. The winner will be selected at random from all correct entries. Contest ends at midnight, Feb. 28, 2009.

Please email (aguavino@gmail.com) your entries with the subject "Cartoon Birds".

Good Luck!
























(Click on image for a larger view)

Famous!

Just about everyone in the family was featured in various blogs this month:



Noah was the Pet of the Week for Etsy Veg. Check out his cute pic and find out what he's been reading lately. Also be sure to check out Etsy Veg and the shops of all their members in the Crafty Veggie Marketplace.








You can find Tom and Roadrunner the Chicken at Binge Cafe. (Please don't report us for animal abuse--she really doesn't mind sitting on top of his head! We let the chickens sleep in the house one night during an unusual cold snap that hit Seattle last month.)












And, one of my light switch covers is featured in the latest treasury for Etsy Veg.

You can also find a review of one of my necklaces (and my first Etsy sale!) by Molly of Vegan Etsy from way back in September.

Check out both Etsy teams for fabulous handmade cruelty-free items.