The Beetlejuice Dilemma

Actual conversation had on the way back from hiking today: 

ME: I think we should figure out where we are going to meet up if we both die.

EVAN:  Why don’t we just meet at the house, that way I can haunt the shit out of you.

ME: (appalled face)

EVAN: No, it will be the best kind of haunting.

ME: Naw, I don’t want to put ourselves in a Beetlejuice situation.

EVAN: Well that’s easy, just don’t say Beetlejuice three times and we’re good.

ME: No seriously, what if people move into the house and they start messing with our vibe and we are stuck hanging out in the upstairs away from the fridge.

EVAN: That’s exactly when you would say Beetlejuice babe. That’s what he’s there for.

ME: I guess.

 

Yet another conversation where we couldn’t come up with a solution to an unrealistic problem that we made up.

Redefining Freedom as we Grow Up

The last few months we’ve been in this crazy warped universe of not following through on the things we said we were going to do (i.e. post on the blog everyday) and busy crossing items off the “things we will NEVER do” list. First and the most time consuming, mind blowing, most unpredictable to our friends and family NEVER do is buy a house in the suburbs. When I say suburbs ya’ll I mean off a golf course and sandwiched between retirees on the outskirts of a ‘city’ that is already considered on the outskirts of Oregon. This means we also bought a lawnmower (lawn care: never-do #13), purchased several area rugs (buy more then we can fit in our cars: never-do #8), and pined over whether or not the tablecloth pulled together the formal dining room (have our stuff own us/cause stress: never-do #11). These NEVER do’s were written to keep us in a place of feeling freedom, allowing us to do, be, have, seek out, experience all life has to offer without feeling like we had chains on our ankles. So when the conversation came up about buying a house, we were both quick to list all the reasons this be counterproductive to freedom, which just left us feeling like arrogent, close minded prats. SO – we set out to make a new list that defined the current version of what freedom really means to us…

…and this is what we came up with:

• Finding the humor and light-heartedness in all the mundane, frustrating, confusing, unjust, painful, ridiculous shit that happens in life and not taking ourselves so seriously 
• Our stuff tells a story that is uniquely ours *we threw away everything that felt arbitrary or that didn’t bring us joy when we passed it and filled our home with our voice – yes, some people might not understand our strange infatuation with kitschy animal art but I’m not putting up a stock photo from Ikea just because it matches well with the paint
• Accepting ourselves and appreciating others with SUPER intentionality (this one takes some deliberate work)…
• then never shutting up about everything we appreciate, beating the drum of all that is going well – the more we believe what we do is meaningful, the more meaningful it becomes

A fancy house needs a little bit of alleyway art – but these birds make me laugh a little every day

What really feels free and amazing is setting a literal and proverbial fire to that damn never do list – then spending time re-writing the very short ALWAYS-do list which includes:

• Find happiness now 
• Appreciate others
• Be your own best friend and ally

We LOVE this house! We love the way the light finds a new resting place each day, how the kitchen already smells like garlic and has great acoustics for music and laughter, that we are surrounded by books and pictures in every room, how we are finally sitting at the base of a mountain and that people here are easy to smile and say hello. Life is soooo good!

*Thanks for hanging in with us during this long break – much more to come of food, observations, and inappropriate language over the coming days, weeks, months, and years. 

With the nook in full view

 

Not pictured – sweet firefly lights that warm up the porch at night and the smell of lilac

 

First piece of refinished furniture. Let’s just say it looks really good*
*from a distance

 

Vegan Super Bowl Menu

For the most part, I enjoy having a food blog (‘food blog’ is used in the most liberal sense considering there are more links to 90′s hip-hop music videos, lists of my favorite ways to be lazy, and my social commentary on shameful behavior than actual recipes). But there are some elements of maintaining a food blog that are not talked about enough and go against my pragmatic sense of how a life should be lived and documented, unless of course you are a professional food blogger who gets paid to do shit like stage pictures in perfect 3:00 PM lighting and lay awake at night thinking up new ways to reinvent the donut.

For example, tomorrow is the Super Bowl and there is nothing more I want to do then share with you our amazing menu and sell you in tantalizing words and mouthwatering pictures that demonstrate the fact that veganizing food-centric events/holidays doesn’t always have to include chickpeas, quinoa, beets, or raw lettuce.  But here’s the non-sequitur of this whole food blogging racket – I can’t hype you up in pictures because I’m not making this epic meal until tomorrow, thus not giving you enough time to hype yourself up via purchasing ingredients and bragging to friends about your spread. It’s bullcrap, I know – but I’m saying screw it and at least sharing our menu with link and old pics from other times we prepared said menu items.

Anyway, we may have just found out who was playing in the Super Bowl a few days ago and I may have thought the 49ers were a baseball team, but I was raised right to leverage every event possible into a good excuse to overeat food and hang out with my friends. If our menu isn’t doing it for you, check out these 19 Delicious Vegan Superbowl Recipes.

SOUP – The Best Ever Chili 

DIP – Guacamole

SANDWICH - BBQ Jackfruit 

SIDE - Vegan Buffalo Wings

with a side of vegan ranch

TREATS

Ultimate Brownies 

Peanut Butter Popcorn Fudge 

Web Feast Friday: Rawmageddon Begins

Friday the First can mean only one thing:  RAWMAGEDDON has begun!  Our first 30 Day Challenge went surprising well as we managed to post almost every day during January.  We missed a couple of days, but definitely feel pretty confident that we can continue our streak.  Now that February has begun, 30 Day Challenge #2 has begun in which we eat raw every meal, every day.  Day 1 is in the books with juices, smoothies, nuts, and salads dominating the menu.  We have some interesting recipes queued up for a few occasions and look forward to sharing some of these with our faithful readers.  In the meantime, we leave you with some great ideas for your Super Bowl Sunday festivities!

Anything that’s vegan AND fully loaded has to be good.  Right?

Sunday brunch idea to get primed for the big game!

CUPCAKES!!

For those of you taking on Rawmageddon with us, add this to your Big Game must-cook list.

I’ve ask myself this question so many times.  Now I have an answer.

If you haven’t liked any ideas thus far, here’s a whole list of ideas to help you write your Super Bowl menu.

Here’s the “big game” I’m really looking forward to this weekend.  J-Pow!!

I couldn’t help myself.  I had to end things with some more BTnH.

Rawmagedden: the accidental gluten-free life

 

 

With one more day until the start of Rawmagedden, the planning, dreaming, and grocery listing is in full swing and guess what we just realized…raw means gluten-free – BOOYAH!!! We wonder how we will feel and look and think – all that changed when we went vegan, so the possibilities are endless. Check out this ultimate infograph on living gluten-free and join us for 28 days of raw eating!

 

Top Sick Day Movie Marathons

I dare you to guess my mood. It must be the fever.

I haven’t been shy about expressing that if I’m going to do anything, I may as well do it big.  That dedication has taken on a new form of what I can only assume is the Hayley version of the flu. I say the Hayley version because I am pretty convinced I may be a real life version of the Bruce Willis in Unbreakable as I should have died, contracted sickness, broken multiple bones and/or some variation in-between many times in my life yet have managed to remain unscathed. I’ll just brag and say if completing doctor office paperwork were a race, I would be hands down in the top 3 finishers right behind a newborn baby (no name or social? not fair) and Chrissie Wellington whom I’m 90% sure is a at the very least a robot hybrid. 

Back to the going big part. Yesterday morning at work I was good, good, good, good, happy, laughing, good, good, bored, good, nautious, wind sprinting across office, projectile vomiting in what I can only hope was the ladies restroom, laying on floor of the ladies restroom for an unknown amount of time, good, back to meeting, hot sweats, sending a confusing email to my team with the word ‘moist’ in it, driving home swearing my windshield was covered in a wax paper film, laying in bed in a slightly hallucinogenic state where I thought I could hear small voices making fun of me from the closet. Now today I find myself keeping everything down but just wandering around the house looking for warmer socks. I’m assuming this bug would have killed a lesser person, but it is rather inconvenient for me, not to mention Evan is more then a little repulsed by what I’m assuming is my complete lack of hygiene and musky smell. His face does not whisper.

Now that warm socks have been found, it’s time for my favorite activity that I never get to do: MOVIE MARATHON!  In a tribute, below are my top 7 favorite movie marathons of all time.

HARRY POTTER YEARS 1-8

Damn right I put a picture of Professor Snape – I love this quintessential underdog, not to mention the dude can breath lines through his teeth in a magically villainous way that has me doing the Arsenio Hall arm pump every time.

THE MATRIX TRILOGY

When it comes to special effects and end-of-the-world story lines, the Matrix was years ahead of it’s time. Who can forget movie one, first fight scene when the camera pans around Trinity in mid-air right before doing an aerial face kick? And Keanu finally found the perfect role where his translucence and general apathy played like a badass.

LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY

I once had the cops called on me for watching Lord of the Rings too loud in my apartment. When I answered the door braless in dumpy sweatpants holding a giant bowl of popcorn there were four cops at the door who insisted they search the house. I don’t know what they were searching for, but a small part of me wished they would have found Viggo Mortensen passed out in a closet.

STAR WARS (all 6 movies…)

I don’t care what you think, I like them all and I will watch them and they will bring me joy. Yoda kicking Saruman from LOTR ass at 900 years old? Yes please.

THE BOURNE MOVIES

Except for the new one with Jeremy Renner. Just leave that to a time when the fever is really high – then maybe you won’t be disappointed.

QUENTIN TARANTINO MOVIES

No exception – always begin with Pulp Fiction. Then Reservoir Dogs and Inglorious Bastards warming up to the Kill Bill movies, mix in From Dusk till Dawn followed by Death Proof and come back down on Jackie Brown. Afterwards be sure not to go out into the general public – side affects of this mini-marathon include non-sequitur monologues, malaise, and a-mouth-on-you-that-your-motha-wouldn’t-even-kiss levels of swearing.

(and if you have no shame and/or are alone)

Twilight

Don’t judge me.

I’m going to go eat some soup and watch Evil Dead. Peace.

“Don’t you hate it when you put a little too much trust in a fart?” S.R.

A quick tribute to some fine folks, Sarah and Brian. Thanks for a spectacular weekend. Let’s do it again real soon.

Web Feast Friday: Sunday Edition

As you may or may not have noticed, our streak of blogging came to an end on Friday, January 25.  I am actually impressed that we made it that long considering the whirlwind of adventures and funtivities we have been engaging in over the last couple of weeks. We spent this past weekend relaxing, skiing, cooking, and imbibing with our dear friends in Sunriver, Oregon.  I’m blaming our streak coming to an end on a fun-friend-filled weekend.  Best.Excuse.Ever.

Mountains, outdoor activities, and wildlife. Sounds like a damn good time to me!

 

We forgot our camera back at the cabin, so this isn’t actually depicting our day. Add in icy snow and 25 mph winds, and you get the idea.

We had actually been saving up lots of great links to share on Friday, so we figured why not get “caught up” with our blog posts by cranking out some bonus posts on Sunday.  This Webfeast is dedicated to our weekend in Sunriver and will definitely get us back on track and prep us for our next 30 Day Challenge which is our Raw February!

After this past weekend, a detox is definitely in order!

Feeling a little acidic?  We definitely are.

We’re in the process of writing our Super Bowl party menu.  These might make the cut.

A new obsession.

We’re in the market.  Anyone have any recommendations or reviews to share?

This came in handy after a long day on the hill.  Vegan and GF!!

T Minus One Week Until Raw-mageddon

As we mentioned in previous posts, we are taking on a 30-day challenge each month of 2013.  The idea is to hopefully pick up some habits that will stick through the rest of the year, or to create some additional mindfulness when participating in new activities or adventures.  We are currently on day 24 of blogging every day, and are fast approaching February 1 which is day of our “Raw Foods Month.”

With this is mind, we have been looking for several recipes and tips to help us along the way, and to provide us with some interesting and tasty things to cook.  We are also looking for anyone who wants to join us to post their plans, recipes, and ideas so we can all partake in this adventure together.

These posts over at Vegansaurus and One Green Planet provide lots of great info, insight, and links about eating raw.  We have already added the following raw menu items to our February meal plan:

Carrot Cake Bites

Taco Salad

Carrot Avocado Soup

Breakfast Sushi

Chia Pudding

Goddess Bowl

I’d say we are ready!

In other news, Dr. Dre’s, The Chronic turned 20 last month.  This one of very few albums that I have owned on cassette, CD, and now MP3.  It was definitely the soundtrack of the summer for my crew of small-town Iowa boys in their early teen years.

Best ever banana pancakes

This weekend our fellow Oregonian friends Sarah & Brian are meeting us in Sunriver for our first weekend getaway in almost 2 years. Being 32 is awesome because we have money, homes, babies, and a general lack of shame – but being 32 also means we have money, homes, and babies THEREFORE our lack of shame is due to our lack of time and energy. For example, ten years ago a typical picture of joy for my Sarah and I included the following:

• Copious amounts of inexpensive beer – Natty Ice anyone? 
• A day of shopping for cargo pants & peasant shirts at Old Navy
• Either Losing Yourself with Eminem or Shakin’ our Tail Feather with Nelly & P-Diddy
• Giggling and people watching at a bar table and until 2 AM then seeking out the nearest burrito

The 32 year old version of our friendship joy includes:

• Buying expensive moscato to drink when we have bonding time – purchased in 2009 (it’s getting DONE this weekend)
• Skyping during moments of quiet – and spending half that time provoking the baby to make funny faces
• Still kickin it to 90′s hip-hop ya’ll! Nuthin’ but a G Thang baby!
• Giggling and people watching at a McMenamins table until 8:00 PM then going home to watch Walking Dead reruns and planning Sunday brunch

And we can cook up one hell of a brunch! It’s going to be the quintessential friendship-hangover-banana-pancakes mega-brunch stack. This isn’t your grandmother’s brunch yo – this is the kind of meal you can eat while laying down and/or curled up on the floor.

It’s gonna be a great weekend.

Our friends know us well – beer, dried fruit, nuts, chips, and salsa. Oh damn.

This girl and I have climbed many mountains together

BEST EVER VEGAN BANANA PANCAKES 

From our favorite cookbook, Vegan Brunch 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 very ripe medium bananas
• 2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or fav nondairy milk)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• Pinch ground allspice (optional)
• Cooking spray

Use a fork to mash bananas in a large mixing bowl. All the oil, milk, water, vinegar, and maple syrup and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix until there are few clumps left and be careful not to overmix.

Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed, nonstick skillet (cast iron) over medium heat at least 3 minutes. Pan is hot enough by adding a drop of water and it dances around the pan but not smoking.

Spray the pan with a light coat of cooking spray. Pour pancakes one at a time in 1/2 cup measurements and cook until the tops look dry (about 3 minutes). Flip over and cook another minute. Transfer to a plate covered with tinfoil to keep pancakes warm while you prepare the others.