Pointless Pinterest

So my friend sent me an invite to join Pinterest awhile ago and a few times I've gone on and added a few things. I put one photo on there and twenty-seven days later (twenty-seven days later!!) someone decided to make a negative comment about it and it exploded. There are so many Haters hating my Pin! I've had this blog for a long time and have generated thousands of hits from my posts on vegetarianism. I post things on my Facebook page and I've been on Twitter for a few years now. I have 2200+ people following me; yet I've never experienced negativity on anything like I have on Pinterest. I considered deleting my account but instead have just taken my last name off it for now. Maybe that will alleviate some of the bad vibes they are all sending my way! Here is the link to one of my photos on Pinterest if you want to check it out but please don't hate all over it; it's taken all it can handle.

In My Life ~The Beatles

I want this song played at my funeral ..and I hope that every person who wants this song to be about them, makes it about them. "In my life, I've loved them All"

Veggie Chicken Enchiladas

In spirit of Cinco de Mayo I'm posting what I believe to be an awesome Veggie Chicken Enchilada Recipe. Change it up; there's so many ways to do it. I throw in bell peppers when I need to use them up. I'll serve it to my fam usually with some spanish rice and avocado :) A quick fast variation of this is to just wrap up refried beans and cream cheese in a tortilla, cover with enchilada sauce and salsa, smother it with pizza mozzarella and bake until the top browns. Literally a 20 minute meal from start to finish done that way!

                                                                   Ingredients

• 2 veggie chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch strips or use Gardein Chick'n Strips instead
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 5 small chile peppers, diced (optional)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup shredded stretched pizza Mozzarella cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute veggie chicken and onions until veggie chicken is evenly brown. Stir in diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, stewed tomatoes, chile peppers and broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover skillet, and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove veggie chicken from skillet. Meanwhile, allow skillet mixture to simmer and reduce to about 2 1/4 cups. In a medium bowl, combine veggie chicken and about 1/4 cup skillet mixture (just enough to make a paste like mixture). Mix together with half the chopped green onions. Pour remaining 2 cups of skillet mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. In a second skillet, heat cream over low heat, being careful not to boil. Dip tortillas in the warm cream to soften and coat. Spoon about 1/3 cup veggie chicken mixture onto each tortilla. Top veggie chicken mixture with half the shredded cheese, and roll up tortillas. Place rolled tortillas in baking dish, seam side down, and drizzle with enchilada sauce. Cover with remaining shredded cheese, and sprinkle remaining chopped green onion over cheese. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbling.

RIP MCA ..Love Carter

I was at work last night when I heard the news about the death of MCA. My kids were asleep when I got home but my husband told me he had mentioned it to the Boys. Carter was kind of weirded out by his death when he brought it up to me this morning.. and said it was really odd that I didn't leave him a Star Wars Shirt out to wear yesterday.
I know why. I always leave my kids clothes out for the week and the outfits reflect the type of activities they will be involved in for the day as well as coordinate with what the weather forecast has predicted. (yes, I'm that damned organized) May 4th was Star Wars Day. My kids have a few different character shirts I could have laid out for them but for some reason at the time of sorting their laundry, Star Wars Day had slipped my mind. Instead I had left Carter's loved, well worn Beastie Boys Shirt out for that morning..
When Carter mentioned this coincidence to me today I could see his heart through his eyes and I understand that he gets what I get. He feels that sense of connectedness and notices that even small coincidences should not go unnoticed. It's not about him relating in any way to this band personally; it's about realizing the awareness that we are all connected in some way or another. He was born with these instincts but is just beginning to recognize the wonder behind them all. It's pretty awesome to watch and see.

RIP MCA

Starbucks, This 'Bugs' Me

I've heard of companies using cochineal beetles before and I know to look for it on the ingredients of what I buy in the grocery store but I wouldn't think to look for it in a Starbucks drink. The beetles are used as an alternative to artificial flavourings but it's not a good alternative! Seventy thousand beetles are killed to produce just one pound of the red dye. Here's my idea.. for a cool drink on a hot day, drink REAL drinks like Water and Lemonade made with real lemons. I do love a Starbucks Coffee once in awhile and appreciate the company's interest in providing products that are Fair Trade. This one ingredient probably won't make me stop going there but it does make me want to spread the word to fellow Vegetarians. A drink that was once Vegan is no longer and of course I know now to never order these items. Most people freak out at the sight of an insect, ..now imagine drinking up the crushed bugs AND paying $7 for it. Regardless if you live an ethical lifestyle or not, it's just gross! Read this article I saw today on Yahoo Shine about the Starbucks Strawberry Cream Frappuccino and Strawberry Smoothies.

Animal Ingredients

I've referred to this PETA Animal Ingredient List  on many grocery shopping excursions over the years but I've come to recognize many of them without it now. There is also a great app on iTunes called Animal Free that is an awesome resource when out and about (..What did we do before iPhones?!) and gives a description of how the ingredient is animal derived.

Saney vs Javier-The Chugging Challenge

Please Don't Take My Sunshine Away

- Posted from Jennifer's iPhone

Vegetarian Coconut Tempeh 'Chicken'

I took the easy way out today and used a Clubhouse Thai Coconut Chicken (vegetarian) mix to make dinner tonight. I added in a few tablespoons of peanut butter, teaspoon ish of brown sugar and a vegetable bouillon cube to two cans of coconut milk. I let it simmer while I stir fried the veggies in a bit of peanut oil (broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, mushrooms and carrots) In a separate frying pan I heated through a package of Turtle Islands Tempeh Coconut Chicken. I served it all with brown rice, green onion and crushed peanuts. The whole dinner maybe took me a half hour to make; less time than if I had placed a take out order (I had cut the vegetables up earlier in the day) Super quick, super easy, they've all been fed AND everyone liked it. Mission Accomplished.


- Posted from Jennifer's iPhone

Imagine Lyrics

Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try
No hell below us, above it's only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one




- Posted from Jennifer's iPhone