Homemade Almond Milk

Towards the end of college, I babysat for a family pretty regularly. This was the year I became a vegan, and was so lovingly given a sweet nickname from these kids...."Meeeeeghan the Veeeeegan" (that has to be pronounced so that Meghan rhymes with vegan).  Get it?  Knowing I was a weird vegan, the kids asked me all sorts of hilarious inquiries.  On this particular day, I was asked "how is almond milk made?".
Obviously, I made up an extravagant answer describing how each almond is squeezed until one little drop of milk comes out.  Clearly it takes a big batch of almonds to make one container.  If memory serves me right, they believed me :)

Truth:  Making homemade almond milk feels a bit like my answer.

Truth II: It is totally worth the work.

Well, it is officially day two of no sugar and I feel pretty good.  The hard part starts this weekend when we head to the beach and will be surrounded by all sorts of goodies that I will sadly turn down.

What have I eaten so far?  Lots of avocados, a few hashes, quinoa salads, homemade granola and lots of chia seeds.  However, making the almond milk has been my favorite activity so far.  The greatest part about making almond milk is that you get almond meal out of it!  That is when I felt as thought I squeezed a thousand individual almonds....

I Quit Sugar

Yes, this is really happening, the Newmans are about the quit sugar! Starting tomorrow, we will embark on a dreadful, yet exciting (?), cleanse.  I'm going to post some of our weekly meals and snacks so you can see what our life is like during the next eight weeks.  I can't speak for Andrew, but I am a sugar addict and it is time to go on a bit of a cleanse...

Sarah Wilson, an Australian blogger, journalist and food nut has written an incredibly informative and scientific book about the need for more fat in our diet and less sugar. Well fructose to be exact.  Not only is there a great deal of food science in this book, but there are also recipes, beautiful pictures, drawings and a specific 8 week plan to follow. We are ready to get healthy again.  

Click to find out more about Sarah Wilson and I Quit Sugar.

Italy Part 2

Italy Part 2- these are some of the mobile pictures when the big camera didn't make the cut....

 

Italy Part 1

Wow, I've taken a little vacation from the blog!  Andrew and I just got from Italy with my family and it was and incredible trip.  Even though we got back two weeks ago, we are still feeling jet lagged...is that possible?

We spent most of our time in Florence, where my parents had rented an apartment right in the city center, located between the Duomo and the Uffizi Museum- we were perfectly located in the city.  One day we went on a wine tour.  There we toured the vineyard, and ate a five course meal where they paired a flight of wine with each course.  It was fantastic!

We headed to Venice for one night and met up with Andrew's Aunt and Grandmother.  His Aunt Melanie lives in Vicenza and teaches art on a military base and his Grandmother had been visiting.  It was so sweet to spend time with them in Italy!  On the way home from Venice we stopped in Vicenza to see where Melanie lives.  Now we have some context where we hear her talk about life in Vicenza.  On our final night we headed to Fiesole, a little town on the mountain that overlooks Florence.  We had a delicious meal with and an unreal view, it was a perfect way to end our tip.

The Duomo di Firenze

Santa Croce, Florence

The Ponte Vecchio, Firenze

Fiesole.  The joke of the trip was that Greg somehow ended up in the background of almost all of our couple pictures. #photobomb

The view from Fiesole

Greg's arm to the right....

Elle & Co.

Today I was featured on a friends blog!  The blog is called Elle & Co.

My friend Lauren, who runs the blog and company, asked if I would be a part of her Friday coffee date series...I was so happy to do so!  Aside my my guest appearance, you should check out her site.  She has her own design company, driven by her love for organization.  You can purchase so many cute and useful items from Elle and Co.  I personally love the item featured above.  It is a family starter kit for organization.  How unique and helpful!

Thanks Lauren!

Homemade Sushi

I can eat some serious sushi.  And by that, I mean a lot.  We have reached the point where Andrew and I can no longer just go out for sushi and order a few rolls.  Nope, no longer our style.  At this point, we can only go to all-you-can-eat sushi buffets.  Glutenous or amazing?  I will go with amazing.

Since we love sushi so much, I thought I would try to make some at home.  It was so easy!  I do happen to have a sushi making kit, which includes a rolling mat.  This is one tool you absolutely need to make sushi at home. Another thing to note, make sure you get sushi rice, it makes a world of difference!  For a healthier option, get short grain brown rice.

My kit came with a "how to" book, so I received instructions from that.  But you could just as easily watch some youtube videos to get tips.  For Andrew, I made rolls with teriyaki salmon and avocado.  For me, I made veggie rolls. The great thing about sushi is that you can make so many different varieties!

 My ingredients

 Dinner time

Chocolate Cupcakes with Candied Bacon

People in the office make lots of jokes regarding me being a vegan, in a loving way of course.

Well these bacon cupcakes all started because a co-worker tried to make an outlandish request; he asked for a chocolate bacon cake for his b-day.  I like to bring in a birthday treat for everyone, so I ask for a favorite dessert!  Even though I am vegan, I love to experiment with baking, so I gladly accepted the challenge.

I'm still tweaking the recipe, looking for the perfect balance between chocolate and bacon.  Once I do get the recipe just right, I will share!  Essentially, it is a chocolate cake, with chocolate icing and candied bacon on top.  I candy the bacon by cooking it in brown sugar with a bit of cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  It smelled so good I was tempted to eat a piece.

 We start with a chocolate base

 Add a little icing

And then a little bacon.  Enjoy!