So much is going on these days!

I cannot believe that it's been since January since I last posted. This year is seriously flying by.

I just got back from my first bike ride to Lake George and back. I've been dreading it because the first time I did it last year sucked. I suffered like no other. But this year it wasn't bad. Some of the hills were a little tough, but nothing to cry over. 18.76 miles in 89 minutes. I'll definitely be taking less time soon enough.

What have I been up to? I've jumped head first into animal activism. One of my New Years Resolutions was to be more active for the animals and I'm keeping this one! I started a group called Adirondack Animal Rights on January. Find us here on Facebook. I'm working on a website, so I'll share the link to that when it's ready. It needs a lot of work at this point.

I took part in a march against the Canadian Seal Hunt in Montreal on March 13th. Here I am speaking out for those who cannot speak for themselves:

I'm hosting a free screening of the film Sharkwater this month to educate people on the plight of sharks. As apex predators, they are vital to healthy ocean ecosystems, yet it is estimated that populations of large shark species have declined by 90%. The numbers are staggering. Three sharks are killed every second by humans. This is unacceptable. Please come to the screening and, if you can, leave a donation. I'll be sending all donations to Sharkwater Productions. Here are the details:

Sharkwater - Free Film Screening
Friday, April 23rd @ 7PM
Rock Hill Bakehouse Cafe
19 Exchange St
Glens Falls, NY

I've also planned a bake sale as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. It'll be on Sunday, May 2nd and will benefit a local shelter. More details will be announced soon.

I'm planning a peaceful demonstration in Albany for World Week for Animals in Laboratories. I'm waiting to hear from the Albany City Clerk if my permit application is approved, so details will be given asap, but it is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 18th.

Finally, I've been invited by Bob Timmons, Artist for the Ocean to be a leader/organizer for the new grassroots ocean awareness group, Ocean Activists United. The goal of this group is to create worldwide awareness of issues affecting the ocean and its inhabitants through collective events planned throughout the world around the same time. I am so honored that I was asked to be a part of this group since I'm just getting started out in my activism. Our first events are tentatively scheduled for May 15th and will be for Lolita, the captive orca who has been forced to perform and live in a tiny pool at Miami Seaquarium for 40 years. That's right folks, forty years. Please do your part and do not support these abusement parks, as Ric O'Barry calls them. Don't buy a ticket!

I am so glad that I finally decided to become active. I feel like I've finally found myself and I'll work tirelessly for non-human animals as long as I live. This is the life I was meant to lead. Please support my efforts. Join my Facebook group, spread the word to your friends and family who care about animals (really, who doesn't?) and let me know if you have any ideas for events or campaigns.

Now that I have so much going on, I hope to post more often. I have some exciting things in store and I can't wait to share them with you!

Biking, birthdays, High Peaks and more!

I wish I could record all of my thoughts from my bike rides, because I always think of lots of stuff to write about. But, of course, I forget it all by the time I get home. I'm waiting til later to go on a bike ride. Badge says he wants to go for a ride after work. So we're going after work.

Speaking of work, I think I'm starting to feel the effects of this isolation during the day when he's gone. No car. No humans. Just the little fuzzy children. I may be going crazy.

Yesterday's bike ride was brutal. I think I made it in 42 or 43 minutes each way, which is average for me. But I felt like garbage pretty much the whole way. I think it's the heat and humidity. I wanted to give up and walk twice; once on the hill to the 149 bridge on the way to Lake George and once on the hill to Magic Forest on the way home. That is insane talk. I've ridden the bike trail 7 times in the last 9 days. There is no reason I should have to give up and walk. Actually I'd never do that because I'd be too embarrassed if anyone saw me.

I kept up my pace and, as usual, passed a few people twice. I passed them on my way to Lake George and again on my way home. That's always a good feeling for me. Not so much for them, I'm sure. Yesterday I was about to pass this man for the second time on my way home, but I couldn't for some reason. It was the oddest thing. I kept catching up to him and then he'd zoom on ahead. Well, he had a rear view mirror on his handlebars, so he must've seen me coming and didn't want me to pass him. I think he finally got tuckered out because I passed him and never saw him behind me again. He totally dropped off the radar. Obviously if I'm about to pass you for the second time you're not going to be able to keep up with me! I'm not trying to brag, but I do most of the passing. I've only been passed a couple of times by road bikers. They're always so super fast!

However, I read this article yesterday about a guy who won a road race on a mountain bike! Hooray! :) Everyone made fun of him at the beginning, thinking he'd never make it. I bet they were embarrassed when he won! Too awesome.

My sister's birthday is today and she wants to go to El Mexicano for dinner. I'm freaking out, as usual, at the thought of going out to eat. This area is not vegan-friendly at all. I'm going to call later to find out if they can make us something vegan, but I have such trouble trusting people to know what is vegan and what is not. I was blown away the first time I saw the list of animal byproducts. It's a lot to know and I would never expect a non-vegan to have that great a grasp on it. I guess I'll see what they say. We can always eat at home and just go to hang out.

Now onto the delicious food I made yesterday! It really was a successful day.

First I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used the recipe from chooseveg .com, but tweaked it a little. Obviously I added chocolate chips...

(...and I have a confession to make... they're most likely not vegan choc chips. They're leftovers from our pre-vegan days. We said we were going to use up what we had rather than waste anything. Well, the chocolate chips were slow to go and I don't have the original packaging, but I assume that they aren't vegan. But don't worry, I'd never offer something that wasn't totally vegan to another vegan! And now you're thinking, if I'm making non-vegan cookies, why am I worried about eating something non-vegan by accident at a restaurant. Well, that's just where I draw my line. I believe that we all need to decide where our own personal lines are drawn).

Anyway, so I added chocolate chips because I was craving PB and chocolate. Also, my dough didn't come out doughy at all. It was more crumbly that anything and wouldn't form into balls, so I added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of water. Not sure what I did wrong... Maybe because I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup white flour? Not sure.

They came out great though! So yummy! Not too sweet either. I had two this morning for breakfast. Oops! :)


Don't they look delish?!?

Then it was time to make dinner. I decided on Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle from Veganomicon, which incidentally was a good-bye gift when I left my job. It's been a month already! Time sure flies!

Anyway, I didn't have broccoli rabe, in fact I've never had it! So I was going to use broccoli, until I took it out of the fridge and it had gone bad! What? Yes, it went bad. Broccoli never has time to go bad in this apartment! For shame...

Soooooo, I decided to use cauliflower. Yes, the cauliflower was still good and so delicious!


I thought I was getting better at taking food pictures, but obviously this one came out weird. Oh well. Can't you still see the yumminess?

It was super spicy! We also thought it kind of tasted like pepperoni but we decided it must be the fennel. But I loved it! I've been looking for more tempeh recipes besides our old standby Tempeh Toss. This was so good. I had a craving for pasta last night, but didn't want to make the usual tomato sauce. I'm going to try this with all different kinds of veggies next time. I seriously recommend getting this cookbook. It's totally fab!

Today's task: granola bars. We're trying to plan a trip up to the High Peaks to climb Giant Mountain. It'll be our 6th peak. We haven't been up there since climbing Mt. Marcy in April. I miss it so much.

Here's me on top of Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York State:


You can't really tell anything from this picture. It was snowing and windy and yes, those are the clouds you see all around me. Supposedly you can see 44 of the other 45 High Peaks from the summit, but we couldn't see any due to the nasty weather. So sad. Also, Badge is afraid of heights so he took this picture sitting down a little lower on the summit. I'm very proud of him for making it though since he wanted to turn around more than once. It was definitely a little bit scary!

So, anyway, I want to try making granola bars because they'll be good snacks for the trip! Wish me luck!

MMMBanana Bread and more!

I've been riding my bike just about every day lately. Usually to Lake George and back on the Warren County Bikeway. According to this map, it's 9.4 miles from downtown Glens Falls (or my front porch, as it were) to Lake George. I've been taking 45 minutes each way... until today. Today it took me 43 minutes to get to Lake George and only 40 minutes to get back! WOOHOO! I used to hate going to LG because of that damn 149 bridge. It's still my arch nemesis, but I'm getting much better at climbing all of the hills along the way. They've been getting easier each day, thankfully!

This is my bike...


Mine is the black Trek in the front. I'll get a better picture another time. It's my baby. It's the most awesome bike. That being said, road bikes are so much faster! My bike is great for riding through trails, going over roots, rocks, curbs, you name it. But whenever I see people riding road bikes they're FLYING! My bike is much bulkier and heavier. However, I most usually pass anyone not riding a road bike and leave them in the dust! Yeah!

Another note about the link above. The rules are all there... stay right at all times, no more than 2 across on the trail, if you need to stop get off the trail. I don't know how many morons I pass each day taking up the entire trail, riding on the left, stopping in the middle of the trail. Come on... the serious bikers out there are usually riding pretty fast, so you need to be out of the way. Hmph.

Now on to the yumminess... Banana Bread from How It All Vegan.


3 ripe bananas, mashed (Mine usually come from the freezer. I always buy too many bananas so that I have a few to freeze when they ripen.)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sweetener
3/4 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 cups flour (I usually use part wheat and part white, however I was running low on wheat, so this picture is of white flour only)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until very mushy, then add the lemon juice, oil sweetener and dates (I leave the dates out), and stir together. In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour, wheat germ, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and mix together gently until "just mixed". Spoon into a lightly oiled loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. Test with a knife to see if done. Makes 1 loaf.

This recipe is perfect. So delicious! In fact, I'm eating a slice right now for a snack with my Peaceful Planet shake. Yum!

Vegan Shepherds Pie for dinner. I'll post tomorrow!