Hey Bloggies,
I have been super busy lately working on finishing up my last month of IIN, focusing on my health coaching practice, working on getting our home fixed up and working on new projects for the blog. I am really excited about everything that has been going on and can’t wait to share more with you.
As for IIN I am now certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners which is all of a sudden making this feel so real. I am also working on some special rates for my husbands company which is a young, health conscious group and already have a number of healthy living initiatives so I am hoping my services will appeal to the group. I also am going to be coming out in the next week with a special readers rate so keep your eyes peeled.
For the blog I am working on a local product project to give you a feature of different vegan Vermont products. This month I will be featuring Nutty Steph’s and Vermont Soy– with that being said if you have specific questions you would like to know about these two places please email me lindsay@cookingforaveganlover.com or comment below. I also am working on another personal project that I am going to feature on the blog as well- keep reading and I’ll discuss this more at the bottom of the post.
With all these projects the Hubz and I haven’t spent much quality time alone together so last night we took the night off and went to The Farmhouse Tap and Grill to enjoy good beer and food. We also did a little shopping because well we both need an update. The Hubz got some new kicks and I got new jeans and a skirt from Ann Taylor Loft (only $12 for both SCORE!).
This morning I started things off right with a bowl of oatmeal with a little sample of Barney Butter (giveaway and review to come son), a banana and Bee-Free Honee (review and giveaway for this too!). I also had a cup of awful instant coffee- Tasters Choice- a free sample I applied for online somewhere- it was awful, then again I’m a coffee snob.
After breakfast I made the Hubz and I lunch; since we went out last night we had no leftovers from dinner (except yummy olives) so I was happy that Cedar’s sent me a few coupons for free products which allowed us to have a yummy Mediterranean feast see below:
After breakfast and lunches came my next challenge for this month- clean out the cupboards before summer. This is the month of the pantry challenge. My goal is to reduce packed items from out cupboards; there really isn’t a much but I am ready to make some changes and increase the dried beans and grains and fresh veggies. In addition to cleaning out the cupboards the real challenge will be to not purchase items that we are already trying to get reduce/crowd out. This is also a pantry challenge to hopefully save a little money on groceries this month because I am a natural food store-aholic- they are my favorite places to shop. So here is what we have to use:
- Rice Vermicelli Noodles
- Rice Paper Wrappers
- Rajmah Spice Mix
- Punjab Chole Spice Mix
- Frontier Soups Wheat Berry Chili Mix
- Sambhar
- Jovial Brown Rice Pasta (also need to review)
- Nature Burger Mix
- Red Lentils
- Green Lentils
- Pearl Barley
- Red Quinoa
- White Quinoa
- Falafel Mix
- Whole Wheat Orzo
- Canned Diced Tomatoes
- Brown Rice
- 3 cans of chickpeas
- 2 cans of black eyed peas
- 1 can of cannelini beans
- Taco Shells
- 3 cans black bean soup
- WW Couscous
- Dried Chickpeas
- Red Rice
- Sushi Rice
- Frozen Artichokes
- Frozen Mana Bread
- Vegan Nacho Queso
- Kaia Foods- pumpkin seeds, buckwheat granola, fruit leathers
- Barbara’s Animal Crackers
- Oatmeal
I know it is a nice long list of items and I hope that between Saturday March 5th (shopping day) and April 5th I will be able to work my way through these items and start to build the pantry that I really want. I am excited for this challenge as well because it is going to help me get back into creating recipes. Have you done a pantry challenge? Who else wants to participate?
Alright so that is the update around here now it’s time get ready for work!
Jason @ Cook Train Eat Race
I would be interested. I am going to the store tomorrow to get canisters b/c I have STUFF everywhere and I need to know what it is and stop buying more of what I already have. This will work in that way, but I might be limited with my switch to vegetarianism and I am sure I have stuff in there I won’t touch now. So it will be a good way to throw things out.
Tanya
I’m a natural food store shop-a-holic too!! Glad I’m not the only one. Anytime we drive around…I MUST stop if I see any natural/health food store at all, small or big. And I wonder where my money goes….
Yay for VT vegan food items. I’m definitely interested in that, so the next time I’m there I can look for it.
…and that beer looks so tasty.
I do need to do a pantry challenge (ooo almost typed panty challenge). I’ve got 2 big bins filled with “stuff” that I need to use up. My pantry is so tiny, it barely fits anything. The problem is…I have some jarred sauces and things and I think about using them, but then I think I’d rather make a lower calorie version of my own,so I leave them there. I guess if I use ’em up, I’ll be able to make my own sauces after they’re gone, right? 🙂 I definitely need a kitchen/pantry organizer person.