Saturday, October 13, 2007

Fall is Here and It Just Aint Hempenin'

We blew off the Saturday morning Farmer's Market today for several reasons. One being we were all too cold to get out of bed. I know I complained about the heat and Rob said I would complain about the cold too...I said "no way", but here I am. I guess a few weeks of fall-ish 70 degree weather is too much to ask out of good old Illinois. We refuse to turn on our heat this early (even if we did it wouldn't quite kick on because it is a tad over the 55 degrees we keep it at in the winter). So we all ended up in the king size bed this morning keeping each other warm and chatting...this is the upside to cold weather for me.

Our friend Todd's mother is so thoughtful and sent Josie this adorable sweater and blanket she knitted for her. Josie will get so much use out of it and she is snuggly warm today. Todd's mom sent a blue one to Dema when he was born. It is so nice of her and really touched me. My mother was knitting a blanket for Parker (he was two) when she died and I had hoped to have it finished and give it to Dema when I found out I was pregnant. My father had other plans for it and had given it away to Crisis Nursery (a great non-profit organization which my mother supported). It still breaks my heart, but Todd's mother's sweet gift helped me heal. I don't think she'll ever realize how much her knitted gifts mean to me. I am so thankful for the many people in our lives who fill the "grandmother void" for our children since both Rob's mother and my mother have passed.

The other upside to the cold weather is it makes me feel like cooking...if nothing else it heats up the house.

I had leftover pasta and FYH vegan cheese so I made two smaller casserole dishes of Vegan Baked Ziti. I used jarred sauce again (this time Muir Glen Portabello Mushroom) and I really need to make my own sauce, but it was fine. The last 10 minutes of baking the oven was turned up to 450 degrees so it got a little more crusty (which is nice) and I liked having it in two smaller dishes instead of one big dish. We have potatoes, kale, pumpkin, and squash to use this weekend so more food pictures later.

Product Review: Nutiva® HempShake™ - Chocolate

I wasHemp Shake Chocolate, 16oz. shopping the other day and couldn't find our favorite hemp milk and I noticed this product and had an impulse buy. I thought the boys might like it since they like the hemp milk so well. I poured a tall glass of rice milk when we got home since they were in such a hurry to try it...one drink from both of them and I was left to down the rest. It isn't bad tasting, but it doesn't dissolve no matter how much you stir so it has a grainy, gritty texture (nothing like the picture on the container Parker pointed out...another lesson in advertising and packaging). I'll drink the rest myself (hoping it is really good for me because that would be the only reason to consume it...that and the price), but I don't think I'll buy it again.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! Josie is so adorably breast milk fat!!! I love her cheeks and chin!!

VeganLinda said...

I just want to kiss her cheeks all the time! :-)

Todd McHenry said...

Linda, you just made my mom's day! -Todd

VeganLinda said...

Todd, :-) I have a thank you card for her, but forgot to write down her address from the package. Can you email Rob or me w/her address? Thanks!