Custom Made Feline Friday

From Pandacookie's Etsy 

Purchasing gifts for a cat enthusiast can be difficult. How far is too far? How far is not far enough? A generic cat figurine most likely isn't far enough but a larger than life size mosaic of someone's favorite feline may be a bit much. Luckily, the illustrious Pandacookie is creating custom cat ornaments for the cat lover in your life (or yourself). The prices range from $8 - $12 and 10% of all proceeds from now to December 31st will go to Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. I've placed my order and I'm very, very satisfied with the results and am looking forward to giving them to their future owners. Custom-made, reasonably priced, proceeds going to a good cause and totally adorable? Count me in.

PS- Not into cats? Pandacookie's page has tons of great goods! Check it out!

What's in your Vegan Holiday Kitchen?

Holidays mean something different to everyone: obnoxious songs, lots of eating, time with loved ones, so on and so forth. While I don't appreciate the yearly unearthing of Angela Lansbury's "We Need a Little Christmas", I do appreciate holidays for the time spent with family and all the tasty food. Unfortunately, I sometimes get so wrapped in creating the tasty food, that I sometimes accidentally forgo the time with family part. Whoops. 

Because of that I'm super psyched about Nava Atlas's Vegan Holiday Kitchen. The recipes in here are the kinds of recipes that are simple but impressive. When it comes down to it, I want the focus of my holiday to be on family, not the time I spent in the kitchen. While reading the book, two thoughts repeatedly came to mind: "that looks delicious" and "that looks easy." Atlas's book features recipes such as Hot Artichoke and White Bean Spread, Glazed Onions and Brussels Sprouts and Cashew Chocolate Mousse Pie and is divided by holiday. Well-organized with tasty, delicious recipes? Count me in. Just don't play Angela Lansbury.

Feline Friday: Mido

This week's feline is Mido, a resident of New York City. She was adopted by my friend Alice from Empty Cages Collective in Brooklyn and now lives a life of luxury. Mido enjoys chasing bug-like toys, being sung to and batting her food out of the dish before she eats it.

Mile High Runs: An Update

Not those kind of runs. The runs you do with your legs, while pumping your arms.

One of the side effects of moving to Denver was that my fitness essentially reset itself to zero. The altitude is absolutely killer, or at least it is for me. It's absolutely frustrating to live in one state, then move one over and not be able to do things you could the day before. Luckily, I'm stubborn with my running. At this point, I have not only completed the Couch to 5K program, but I'm up to running 8ish miles at a time (um, not every time though), even with the altitude! Even better news is that I run by dinosaur statues (pictured), which is pretty darn inspiring. Dinos to the left, mountains to my right.

As of right now, I am trying to create the perfect playlist to work on my pace. Apparently, songs at 180 bpm are optimal, so I'm trying to fill my playlist with those. Jog.fm has been a giant help in figuring out bpms for songs, but if you have a suggestion for a song or an app (I have an iphone) to create great running playlists, that would be bomb.

I can't wait to run the next time I'm at sea level. I'll be like a superhero.

Feline Fridays: Pudds is tired of the paparazzi

Pudds sometimes gets fed up with me taking his picture. The result is adorable!

Thanksliving at Chomp!

Gravy. Green bean casserole. Stuffing. These are a few of my favorite things and they were all at this month's Chomp! The first Wednesday of each month, Plants and Animals Denver puts on a massive vegan dinner party, complete with raffles and live entertainment. An added bonus? Awesome vegan dinner conversation. This month's theme was Thanksliving and featured quinoa stuffed apples, cupcakes with caramelized pecans, sourdough biscuits with a roasted vegetable stew and many other mouth-watering options. If you are in the Denver area for Chomp!, definitely stop by- great food, great conversation and the potential for prizes? Heck yes.

Edit: Sorry for the cell phone picture! I'll use a real camera next time.

A Revelation in Trash Can Liners

While being a functional adult this weekend, I took out the trash. When I went to replace my can liner with one from my collection of paper sacks from grocery stores, I realized something moderately terrifying: none of my liners were from an actual grocery store. They were all from Chipotle, the big ones for carrying your burrito bowl home. I made do with one of those for my trash can and vowed that I would be cooking at home more often, in effort to save both money and my waistline. Tonight's feature came together in less than ten minutes: Rising Moon ravioli with sauteed mixed greens, yellow tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Sad picture, but quick and delicious. Easy peasy, but that's sometimes hard to remember when I'm hungry and there's a Chipotle on every route I take home from work.

What are your favorite tips, tricks and resources for easy, quick weeknight dinners?