Recipes, projects & products that don’t suck.

Before I jump into today’s post, I just want to encourage continued prayers for those affected by the tragedy in Boston. Such a senseless, horrific act. Stay strong, Boston. We are thinking of you! When I jumped into the world of blogging, I was blissfully ignorant (and still am, to a degree). I know nothing about search engine optimization. As you can see, I still have no ads on my site (still figuring out what I want to do about that). As far as social media, I’m okay at Facebook and Pinterest, but I kind of suck at Twitter. I’m sure I’m doing a million things wrong. But somehow, people still manage to find this little blog – and they even subscribe to it. When…

I took our two dogs to the vet today for their yearly check-up and vaccinations. Plus a year’s worth of heartworm and flea/tick meds for both. And now I’m broke. On the way home, I told them it’s a good thing they’re so cute. They both put on a little weight over the winter and I’m feeling terribly guilty for not walking them enough during the cold months. Why is it that I feel far more guilty about their lack of exercise  than I do my own? Maybe it’s because they can’t choose. They really have no choice in the matter. Fortunately, spring is in sight. Temps have been rising, snow is rapidly melting and the clocks jumped ahead by an hour. Time to get…

I swear it was Monday, then I blinked and it was Friday. The days fly by so fast. I can never ever seem to get caught up with my giant to-do list. Things get added faster than I can cross them off. I managed to order my Christmas cards a couple of weeks ago. They arrived last week. And I haven’t mailed a single one yet. I did buy stamps today, though… so that counts for something, right? Nonetheless, the weekend is nearly here and I’m looking forward to attending a couple of holiday parties! For both parties, guests have been asked to bring a dish to pass. Today, I decided to do a trial run on Dreena Burton’s Creamy Artichoke Spinach Dip (without all…

If you’ve been following along, you know about my vegan superhero crush on Dreena Burton, author of several cookbooks, including my favorite, Let Them Eat Vegan! I’ve tried a number of her recipes and they’ve ALL been SO delicious. Seriously. Not a bad apple in the bunch. That’s why I think she’s such a rockstar. She has 86′d the lemons and gives you only the best. Her apple pie is no exception… When she asked me to test her gluten-free piecrust with her apple pie filling – and then write a guest post about it with my photos, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I have to confess, she asked me to do this several weeks ago… but I obsessed over the photos being perfect. So…

In my pre-vegan days, Raisinets were my movie theatre snack of choice. There’s just something about that combination of sweet, chewy raisins and milk chocolate. Yum. I haven’t tried making homemade vegan Raisinets yet, for fear I’ll eat them all in one sitting. We all have our weaknesses, right? When I discovered this “Raisinet” Cookie recipe in my Let Them Eat Vegan! cookbook (written by vegan guru/goddess, Dreena Burton), I was so excited to try it. For one, Dreena keeps it as healthy as possible AND her recipes ALWAYS taste great. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – whether you’re vegan or not, you NEED this cookbook. Trust me. I would elaborate, but I’ll be doing a lengthy elaboration in an upcoming…