Everyday Soul

For your supply of soul this week, three tantalizing treats and one perfect party idea from around the blogosphere:


• Food & Style's Shoestring Okra Fries (Baked them, spiced them, loved them.)


• Manifest Vegan's Chocolate Acorn Squash Baked Custard (Sooo making these for Thanksgiving!)


• Vegan Dad's Zucchini Pancakes (De-glutenized and served last night at my very own version of...)

• Rachel Red Lips' Naked Lady Party! Otherwise known as an all-girl clothing swap, this simultaneously frugal and fun party idea inspired me immediately to arrange one, which went off without a hitch last night. Traded some darling fall clothes with my stylish friends and fed them lots of zucchini pancakes with homemade tzatziki sauce. I highly recommend the experience.

Photos borrowed from the respective bloggers!

Everyday Soul

Since it's been a while, here's the short list of what's been replenishing my soul lately:

It feels like a miracle every time I'm blessed with the opportunity to eat an ALTER ECO chocolate bar. Right now, I've moved on from the one studded with crystallized orange peel (still so good...) to their Midnight Crunch bar, a glorious imitation of a classic with friggin' QUINOA providing the evocative CRUNCH.

Another sweet, but ultimately pretty darn healthful treat I finally got to try is the new line of Larabars that, with the edition of chocolate chips, easily pose as such everyday favorites as chocolate chip cookie dough and fudgy brownies. Identify these new flavors by their chocolate spots! They aren't being carried by any of my local stores, so I had to have my conspiring mother bring me a stash when she came to visit last weekend. Yeah, I hoard sweets a little...

And last, a DIY gardening tip I'm hyped to try: Toilet Paper Roll Seed Starter Pots! Upon noticing how these little cardboard buggers were piling up in my bathroom, decided to repurpose them for my autumnal backyard gardening endeavor.

Everyday Soul

I've been getting pumped the past few days about a new job I just acquired as a camp counselor for lil' behbehs, teaching music, cooking and yoga! Woohoo!!! Compiling this Everyday Soul felt especially sweet in light of this news.

First, to celebrate future paychecks earned, I ordered a round of Dr. Cow's Tree Nut Cheese, an aged cashew cheese that is in fact much smaller than I perceived it to be from the pictures. And at first I didn't even really care for it. But THEN, I tried it on a piece of GF toast with some blueberry jam and WHAM, it hit me: this is a dessert cheese, for sure!! The rest will most certainly be consumed in this manner. Worth the cost? For me, yep.

Second, waited patiently all yesterday for one of the only shows I care for on television, Mad Men. It was always the costumes, the sets, the aura of the show that made me want to watch--that is, until the end of last season. The writers set up some maaajor drama! Last night's premiere did not disappoint. Can't wait to see what's up next.

And finally, I have officially been shampoo-free for two months! Okay, that might sound like a weird and kinda gross thing to confess on the internet, but really, it's been great! And by that I mean washing my hair exclusively with baking soda and conditioning occasionally with lemon juice was one of the best eco-decisions I ever made. After a period of about three weeks during which my hair was almost constantly in a bun because of the extreme greasiness, I came out the other end with a fuller head of hair than it seemed to be before. Here's where I learned how to do it.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Cow's and AMC.

Everyday Soul

This weekend, thankfully, held quite a lot of soul in store. Saw a fantastic documentary from 1960 about a kickin' jazz festival, appropriately titled Jazz on a Summer's Day. The style, from the cinematography to the clothes and music, made me feel like I was right there watching Louis Armstrong improvise.

Was treated by a dear friend to a still-warm mason jar of homemade blueberry jam, delivered right to my doorstep.

And my momma has been keeping me up to date on a cleanse she just started, the Detox for Women by Natalia Rose. We've already read a couple of her books on how to make the transition to a raw diet without wreaking havoc on one's digestive system, and this one, tailored specifically to women, I can hardly wait to get in the mail. If you're interested in raw food, but want to ease into it, Rose knows how, allowing a cooked meal for dinner and even wine and chocolate everyday! Sounds pretty do-able to me.

Everyday Soul

Ah, first days of school. Going back when July hasn't even begun feels a little wrong, but I was ready for a reason to leave the house during these sweltering days of summer. At least in six weeks, I'll be through with math classes for GOOD!! Now, I think I'm in need of some Everyday Soul.

Been on a serious kick for Angela of Oh She Glows' Vegan Overnight Oats. Layered mine yesterday morning with some Banana Soft Serve (Choosing Raw) as per Angela's suggestion. YUMMMM, I can hardly eat hot oatmeal anymore! Summer is for cooling foods, dudes!

Now, how many of you have ever whipped up some homemade almond milk? Anyone? It's so simple, it's GENIUS! I almost made a habit of it in the fall of last year, but I have pledged to make a batch every Sunday from now on because it saves SO much money, reduces packaging aaand tastes so fresh and delicious! My golden ratio is 1 cup almonds, soaked overnight, rinsed, then blended with 7 cups filtered water. Strain well and use within a week.

And finally, finally the Cooking Channel is live! Since I read this NY Times article on the new Food Network brainchild, I've been waiting to see more. Well, Two Fat Ladies reruns rule, and so does the ethnically diverse set of CC hosts. Plus vegan cupcakes are listed as a "Food Trend" on their front web page - a very good sign!

Images courtesy of Oh She Glows and the Cooking Channel.

Everyday Soul

For your dose of Everyday Soul today, I wanna show some love for the longest day of the year and present a few morsels I've been referring to for summer inspiration lately.



Clockwise from top left: Lemony Spiked Sweet Tea, immortal summertime jams by The Beach Boys, American Cream Solid Perfume by LUSH (SMELLS SO GOOD!!!), sweet aaaand savory crepes even though I have yet to produce a successful batch of gluten free 'uns (this VeganYumYum recipe looks promising), the Miu Miu Spring 2010 kitty cat!!! (can't wait to find a way to iron this DIY--i.e. affordable--version all over something adorable), and finally, YogaGlo, a cool site for doing all kinds of yoga on any level for any duration of time right in your own home. Discovered via Savvy Abby.

Everyday Soul

Enticed? That's a pic of this fantastically thick strawberry smoothie I threw together yesterday morning, composed of:

3 strawberries
1 frozen banana
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 heaping tablespoon almond butter

Blend until smooth, enjoy with a spoon.

In other news, I have been roped in to The X Files series. Have y'all noticed the incredible selection of movies and TV shows now available for Instant Play on Netflix? Dang. All nine seasons of the show are up! It's gonna take a while, but I think I'm in it to win it. Plus we've had a projector set up in our living room since Saturday; dinner and a movie is now an at-home luxury. LOVE IT.

Also, who's heard of The Morning Benders? I'm very much enamored with this song of theirs, especially the recording process. Check it out:

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

There's some Everyday Soul. Go forth and find some of your own!

Everyday Soul

This Everyday Soul is all about summer. Summer hasn't officially begun yet, and neither has hurricane season, but Florida has always tended to ignore such designations. It's been hot as Hades here lately and potentially the first named tropical storm of the year is already a-brewin' over in the Atlantic Ocean.

So last night, in true Floridian fashion, I ignored the generally accepted start of outdoor grilling season (Memorial Day) and made some killer shish kebabs. Just marinated this gorgeous array of veggies and some tempeh in lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce and LOTS of garlic for a couple hours, then skewered 'em and popped 'em onto the grill.

Grilling is so easy and so versatile that I just know it's going to be a frequent occurrence for me in the lazy days ahead. Go ahead, break the rules! Start grilling tonight! Heck, wear white if you want to! And maybe mix up something I like to call an Arnold Calmer: one cup brewed minty green tea mixed with the juice of one whole lemon and sweetener to your taste, iced down.

Trying my best to embrace the raging humidity, partially by staying inside and playing music! Made this new little page on a site called bandcamp as a way to make my tunes more accessible. Maybe give it a look.

Everyday Soul (NY Edition!)

Hey y'all, I went straight from New York to Georgia, so now I'm livin' it up down South, but here are a few tantalizing photos from two very special vegan eateries I had the pleasure of dining at whilst in the Big Apple!



First, Boneshakers. This is a charming little place in Brooklyn that serves up the most deceitful breakfast sandwich I've ever tasted; deceitful in that it's DELICIOUS but also totally vegan and doesn't make you feel like you're going to die of heart failure when you've finished it. Presenting The Sag:



Next, the bakery where dreams come true: Babycakes!!! I actually went twice during the week, so I got to test a variety of things, including...


The Cookie Sandwich

and


The Wonder Bun! Mmmm...

Be back Thursday! <3

Everyday Soul

Today, I depart for New York City for a week! Gonna take a Spring romp around with my best bro, Tommy (Hard Work). Couldn't possibly be more excited. So I may be posting some pictures from sweet vegan restaurants that I hope to hit up in the city, but until next week, probably no recipes. To hold ya over, here's some Everyday Soul.

First, MOMS! Aren't they the greatest? Made mine sweet potato pancakes for breakfast yesterday morning. Since I've been home, I've read about half of her as yet unpublished novel - it's FASCINATING! What a role model. :) How did you spend your Mother's Day?

I love being able to have Pizza Fusion's Gluten Free Very Vegan Pizza delivered. It feels like such a luxury. Pigged out on this after I played a show on Saturday. Whole cloves of roasted garlic, people.

And lastly, I wanted to share with y'all my favorite beverage of the moment: the Kombucha Spritzer. Mix one-third of a Synergy Kombucha tea (flavor of your choice), a splash of cold water, the juice of half a citrus fruit, and one packet of stevia, then serve on the rocks! These are so refreshing, taste like soda without be remotely bad for you, and save you regular Kombucha drinkers some serious dollars.

Happy Monday.

Everyday Soul

Here we are at Monday once again! Somehow this week slipped by quicker than I knew. Maybe it was because I was havin' so much fun. But really, this has so far been the most therapeutic vacation. I'm so thankful to be home. Here are a few morsels of Everyday Soul for y'all, to get you going for the week:

Who's seen Fried Green Tomatoes? It's an old Southern favorite of mine. Saw it first with my grandmama, and relived it Sunday night with my own mama.

Discovered the wonder of chia seeds! Apparently, they are the richest plant source of omega-3's ever, and they help control the usual blood sugar spike that occurs with the digestion of carbohydrates. Definitely my new favorite superfood. I'm hoping to someday fulfill this new dream I have of sprouting chia seeds for consumption in a Chia Pet.

And lastly, Nerve City had hardly plugged in their guitars at this warehouse show I went to Saturday night before I knew I'd love 'em. Warming up with Mr. Sandman? Come on. "Patience As a Virtue" is where it's at.

Have a good one!

Everyday Soul

What a fabulous Sunday. Enjoyed some vegan biscuits n' gravy at The Top (my very favorite brunch spot in Gainesville) with my parents, with whom I then returned to West Palm Beach for a two-week visit.

After a raw pasta dinner courtesy of Mom, went for a walk around the neighborhood as the sun set. Back at home, I finally got to watch Coco Avant Chanel! It was a beautiful film, and fed my soul thoroughly. I love how much comfort and freedom guided Coco's designs. In fact, maybe I should direct my gratitude toward Miz Chanel for the fact that I can wear pants whenever I like without being called a boy.

Also savored a few chunks of this incredible small-batch chocolate, Escazu during the viewing and would highly recommend it. Good heavens, even two minutes after eating, the rich flavor still lingered on my tongue. A testament to the quality of the chocolate, but also to the way every bite of something sweet these days is truly a gift to me! Haha. I promise, give up sugar for a month or more and you will understand.

Action in the kitchen arena will quickly pick up now that I'm at home, so expect some recipes this week. Just wanted to deliver a few humble Soul Food encounters to your blog-reels on this rainy Monday, in hopes they might inspire some for you!