They may have had these for a while, who knows.  I have just noticed them.  I’ve been a long-time fan of the Rising Moon Organics pasta line.  They have vegan raviolis and they’re really yummy.  So for the last two Sunday nights in a row, I’ve been enjoying the TV dinners.  I know “TV dinners” is an old-school term, but I don’t know what else to call them.  Frozen meals?  Frozen vegan meals ready to eat? 

The biggest challenge for any vegan has to be lasagna because it’s impossible to find vegan ricotta cheese anywhere.  I’ve looked.  You have to make your own.  (The Post Punk Kitchen is a good place to start if you want to do that.  I haven’t tried it yet.  The boyfriend was going to try to make me vegan lasagna right after Christmas but we got sick). 

They’re light meals, not very filling.  But that’s probably a good thing.  If you need a cheesy pasta fix, I highly recommend Rising Moon Organics frozen vegan meals.  Thank God for this company and anyone who can pull off good vegan cheese. 

New Year's resolutions are made to be broken.  I had this goal of blogging daily on this blog and my other one.   Let me just start by saying I'm not making excuses here.  I didn't lose passion for the blog and i actually thought about it every day.  I wasn't thinking about it in a guilty way either.  Guilt was not eating away at me, but time was.  What happened was this; I took a full-time job after nearly two years of freelancing.  So there's this problem now of structure in my life.  I'm used to doing what I want when I want, like blogging.  No more.  Now I'm on a tight schedule with the full-time job, the part-time radio job, the freelance work, and working on the college degree online with Boston University.  I actually schedule sleep for seven hours a night!  That is how tight the schedule is.  Today, I have chosen to make my blog a priority in a busy schedule.  This is a schedule that currently involves moving.  So if I can find my way back to my new year's resolution today, so can you!  Go do it, whatever it is. 

I needed a fix last night so I headed to Whole Foods.  Here's what I bought:

• Full Circle Organic Merlot (only $7.99!)
• 2 Bosc Pears ($2.54)
• Nature's Gate Herbal Daily Cleansing Shampoo (the only acceptable shampoo, period. $5.29)
• Nature's Highlights Soy Cheese Pizza ($6.69)
• Vegetarian sushi ($5.50)
• Laura's Wholesome Junk Food Better Brownie Bite-Lettes ($5.89)

Since this is a shorter list than normal, I included the individual prices so you could get a better idea of what this stuff costs so you can plan your own Hippy Shopping Trips. 

This is an oxy moron.  But is is a tasty one!  When I want a treat, I buy Laura's Wholesome Junk Food Better Brownie Bite-lettes.  They are chocolatey, chewy, gooey, and yummy.  It's a good food to binge on when you have PMS.  (At least I admit to the practice). 

The best part, as I scarf 'em down is reading the label so I feel less guilty:

All natural
Gluten-free
No hydrogenated oils
No preservatives (see, you have to scarf 'em or they'll go bad)
No artificial colors or flavors
Cholesterol free
Made with ingredients you can pronounce (I love that one)
Real food for real people (Hey, Mom, I'm real people!  Who knew?) 

Two Brownie Bite-Lettes are 120 calories, 6 g fat, and 2 g sat fat.  They also have a surprisingly large amount of potassium: 105 g. 

They kill the craving for chocolate and are quickly becoming my favorite chocolate cookie-type item. 

Here's a brand I've never tried before.  I always buy the same frozen soy cheese pizza not because I'm loyal but because there isn't much choice.  (Sorry, the name of the brand I usually buy is slipping my mind right now).  I know of one place in Phoenix where I can get a soy cheese pizza, and one place in Scottsdale but I didn't want to drive to either last night.  I wanted a quick, instant-gratification frozen pizza from Whole Foods last night. 

So I picked up a rice crust soy cheese pizza.  I don't have celiac disease but I don't mind eating gluten-free products.  Often the gluten-free stuff tends to also be free of dairy allergens as well.  I guess if food processors try to knock out as many allergies as possible in shot.  The rice crust soy cheese style pizza is lactose free, cholesterol free, gluten free, and finally--yeast-free. 

I don't like the rice crust and that may be just a personal preference.  I guess if I did have celiac disease, I'd probably be fine with it.  The cheese was OK, the sauce was good, but overall, I just didn't like it.  I didn't even eat the whole thing. 

Just a couple quick blogs today since I have an eco-tourism article to write and much work for BU...

Amy's Butternut Squash Soup

This stuff is great! It's yummy and smooth so it's a great pick-me-up on a cold day.  It seems to be just a simple puree of squash but that's perfect.  Usually I like a good veggie or lentil soup that's really chunky, but this was a welcome change.  (And it was on sale at Sunflower Market for $1.99). 

Just found an interesting thing online written by someone who is thinking of going vegan (whether this is serious or not I have no idea) because the cloned meat idea is scary.  Is it that scary?  What do you think?  I'm curious as someone who doesn't eat meat at all and who gave it up years ago for far different reasons.  I can't tell you I've run into many people who are excited about eating genetically-modified food.  I also don't understand the point of cloned meat.  You may as well eat fake meat, in my opinion, which is already plentiful in your local health food store.  I definitely want to look into this when I have more time, but this is going to be it for tonight.  Feel free to leave a comment about this; I'd love to hear from you! 

1) What are vegan shoes? 

Shoes without leather, suede, or any other dead animal parts. 

With that out of the way, Natalie Portman has a line of them for Te Casan.  This falls into the category of expensive "Hippy Shopping Chic."  They aren't cheap.  Check out the info on the Shoe Blog.  How expensive?  How about $185 for a pair of flats? 

Vegan shoes don't have to be expensive.  Find yourself some cheap ones at Payless! 

Taking my shopping cart through the food section of Super Target the other day, I was pleasantly surprised that there were actually some healthy options available.  The worst of the conventional stores?  Albertsons--with Safeway as a close second.  The best?  Bashas.  Fry’s is OK, but usually their soy cheeses are all expired—not like the Whole Foods on Shea and Tatum doesn’t do the same thing.  (And you think a store like that would be on top of it).  The last time I shopped for food at ST, I stuck to the produce section just to grab a couple things and figured the frozen food section would be pathetic. 

I was wrong! 

You can totally find healthy food at ST.  I was excited by a “steam-in-the-bag” frozen concoction called the Southwest Blend.  It had wheat kernels, kidney beans, red & green peppers (which the boyfriend hates and picked out), pineapple, green beans, and corn.  I don’t steam in a bag; that is so totally ghetto.  Dribble some EVOO in a pan and stir-fry it up for six minutes and you’ve got a healthy, well-rounded meal.  It’s made my Archer Farms. 

I also found some health food store brands I was familiar with as well as the Urban Detox mentioned below. 

Bonus Tip:  When you’re shopping for food at ST, you can also hit the container aisle to stock up on reusable plastic containers you can use to pack lunches.  I told the boyfriend we’re going to have to do this together to greatly improve the lunch lifestyle we lead. 

A good barometer of how well you did in a day is to ask yourself at the end of it, “What did I give today?”  (I think that’s a Zig Ziglar thing, can’t remember).  Yesterday, I think I gave a pretty good gift.  I gave the gift of yoga to my aunt.  Yoga is something that helped me through the darkest time of my life and it continues to be a productive part of it today.  My aunt is going through lots of challenges now so I figured the best gift to her would be yoga in a “teach her to fish” kind of way.  Since I got a new eco-friendly yoga mat for Christmas, I washed my old one, wrapped it in a bow and gave it to her along with a book that covers yoga, pilates, meditation, and stress relief.  She absolutely loved it and was so touched.  I agreed to help lead her through some yoga when she’s free so we can do it together and I can teach her what I know.  Qualified yoga instructor I’m not, but I am knowledgeable enough to get her going on her own home practice.  Try giving the gift of yoga to someone in your life who needs it, or think of another type of gift that can also be considered a “teach ‘em to fish” type of gift.  That’s Hippy Shopping at its best.