twice bitten

Wouldn't you know it--I announce my participation in the Cans For Comments food drive, and then I look through the boys' backpacks before school and find out that the school is also having a two week food drive?! I guess we'll be donating a lot of food this December!
So that there's not too much of one type of food, the categories of non-perishable food items are divided by grade. AJ is in kindergarten, and all the kindergarten classes in his school are supposed to bring pasta, rice, oatmeal, or cereal. Ryan is in 1st grade, so those classes are to provide baking mixes. We never use baking mixes, but I managed to find one in our pantry. It's good I need to go shopping tonight...I'm going to try to have both boys bring something for their classroom's box every day.

Here are today's donations:
AJ - a box of whole
wheat elbow pasta.

Ryan - a box of
cinnamon roll mix.




Ryan's lunch: seitan cutlets;
rice; steamed broccoli; edamame
"snack" with apple peel tongue;
black olives; mini Pez; cucumber
slices; raspberries; baked
blueberry oatmeal (recipe
from Fat-Free Vegan here).


And isn't
this just
the
cutest
hiker
you've
ever
seen??
Even
after
she
head-
butted
a rock...

She
can
really
hustle
down
the
trail
for
short distances...

too good to be true

If you didn't already notice, I took down my "Honest Scrap" award. The blogger I received it from turned out to be anything but honest. In fact, the Raising Seven Vegans blog was a fake. She stole triplet pictures from other websites, primarily Pyjammy, the blog of a couple with triplet BOYS (did you ever notice the total lack of pink in the RSV blog? among other inconsistencies I won't winge on about).
Just a note: Don't confuse her with Feeding Little Vegans, which is very much legit.
Anyhow, I hope the author can get some help--she needs it. At least I don't have to compete with someone feigning to be 'the perfect parent' anymore, LOL. And in the spirit of the season--and to always try to find the good in the bad--I am going to participate in something that the REAL triplets family is doing called "Cans for Comments".
It's simple. For each comment I receive on this post, I will donate one canned good to charity before the end of the year. We already belong to a CSA that donates over 10K per year in excess organic produce to local shelters and food banks, plus I always participate in the spring USPS food drive, AND we just donated over 3K this summer from my husband's business to the Boston Boys & Girls Club. But there are always more people in need. We may struggle financially at times being self-employed, but it is nothing compared to the desperation of some families with children during the holidays and winter months. No matter how many comments I get, I'll make it happen!!
And hey, if you happen to know me IRL, feel free to mention it in your comment. I want to make sure everyone knows I am most definitely an "honest" blogger, LOL.

And because I try to never leave a post without a picture...and because the internet audience seems to be gaga over little baby pictures...here are each of my vegan babies at birth...

2 - AJ, 9lbs.5oz.








1 - Ryan, 8lbs.4oz.




Yes, Ryan and Nate
weighed exactly the
same despite Ryan
being born at 40w3d
and Nate being born
at 37w.
3 - Nate, 8lbs4oz.

And of course our
youngest and only
girl, our little spoiled
princess, daddy's
girl extraordinaire...

4 - Maia, 7lbs.7oz.

my little turkeys

I've got some cute crazy turkeys:































































All the food...
Nate and Dad adore
asparagus. They wiped
out both plates at home
and at the cousins'
house.

We're loving all the
leftovers, but I'm going
to have to make a second
round of mashed
potatoes, everyone's
favourite!

Favourite Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs potatoes, peeled, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half
3 T. Earth Balance
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup Tofutti sour supreme
fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a large pot, add potatoes, garlic and enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a low boil. Cook 20-30 min until soft.
Drain potatoes, leaving a little bit of cooking liquid (1/4-1/2 cup) in the bottom of the pot. Add remaining ingredients and mashed potatoes with a fork. Stir to combine.

gone

I've been offline a lot, getting ready for the big food holiday here in our country: Thanksgiving.
I took some fridge pics, and I was going to link back to the blog that I got the idea from--Raising Seven Vegans--but her blog appears to be GONE!!?? I am so sad! It was such a gem. It was one of those blogs where you say to yourself, "I hope I get to meet those people in real life some day". I hope everything's okay with them. There are many reasons people stop blogging, but it's hard when a blog is just deleted without ever knowing why. It's like reading a great book and having it suddenly go missing, and when you go to the library or Amazon to get a new one so you can continue reading it they tell you that it never existed. Nooooo!

Well, for better or for worse, here are my fridge pics...

The first set is before our winter farm share pickup, when we desperately needed groceries! But at least this way you get to see stuff at the back of the fridge for a change...
Top shelf, left: 2 bins of lettuce; a bottle of sake; 2 jars of homemade hot sauce; almond milk; Ryan's leftover breakfast cup (he never finishes his drinks!).
Top shelf, right: pitcher of homemade apple syrup; 2 tubs of miso; jar of capers; jar of grape jelly; big jar of marinated mushrooms; another container of apple syrup; jar of sunflower butter; bottle of agave nectar; maple syrup; jar of elderberry jam (made by my mother-in-law); vegan parmesan.
Middle shelf, left: tub of flax seeds; tin of tahini; jar of kimchee; tub of red thai curry paste; 1 can of natural cherry soda (leftover from Ryan's birthday last month); 3 tiny cans of tomato juice.
Middle shelf, right: tub of raw cashews; leftover homemade tofu salad; 1/4 of an avocado; jar of leftover homemade pickled radishes.
Small drawer, left: tubes of crescent rolls; container of tofu; package of chick'n Smart Strips; japanese pickled gourd strips (kanpyo); package of tempeh.
Bottom shelf, right: leftovers of my dinner the day before.

Bottom drawer, left: 2 thai chili peppers; 2 zucchini; a red bell pepper; green & purple kale; a bag containing a few sweet potatoes.
Bottom drawer, right: bag of shallots; big bag of carrots; bag of celery; cilantro; scallions and a cucumber (kind of hidden).

And the door...
Top left:
jar of
grated
ginger;
stick of
Earth
Balance;
jar of
Marmite;
dropper
bottle
of DHA
supple-
ment.

Covered
shelf,
right:
tub of
Tofutti
sour
creme;
parti-
ally used stick of Earth Balance; partially used tomato.
Middle shelf, left: rice milk; orange juice.
Middle shelf, right: mustard; various salad dressings; rice vinegar; ketchup; balsamic vinegar; lemon juice; red wine vinegar; sesame oil; canola oil; walnut oil.
Bottom shelf: baking soda; bag of yeast; ground flax meal; bottle of mirin; Worcestershire sauce; a couple jars of teriyaki marinades; chinese mushroom sauce; daquiri mixer.

And the next set are AFTER farm pickup:
Definitely some added greens, lots of kale, baby salad greens, leeks, swiss chard, bok choy. And more dinner leftovers in various glass containers.
And the bottom drawers have more scallions, radishes & salad turnips, and various herbs.

Then after pre-Thanksgiving grocery shopping! Whoa!

Various
bever-
ages
that we
don't
normally
buy,
the
first
Tofurky
feast
for the
kids to
try,
Vegan-
aise,
a couple
of diff-
erent
pickles,
an open
soy
yogurt
(that's gotta be Maia's), drink box for Ryan.
I didn't take another "door" picture, but there's a tub of Earth Balance spread, and a jar of probiotics.

Hope that wasn't too boring! I had fun seeing what was in another family's vegan fridge, so I just thought I'd share ours.

Ryan had a special meal planned for Dada when he returned from Rome, but his flight was delayed, so he had to wait a day, but here it is...
Between the square rolls
Ryan spread mustard &
Veganaise, then added
shredded carrot, avocado
& lettuce. Tasty!

Maia was just happy to
have Dada home again...




And today Ryan only had
a half day of school, so I
packed light for him, and
made it a treat of some
favourites...

Ryan's snack: roasted corn; Ju Ju Stars; 1/2 mini bagel smoked Tofurky & lettuce sandwich.

When not in Rome

I don't think there's any hope of me fully catching up from the last few days. I fell behind on friday and then the momentum wasn't there. My husband was in Rome for 5 days and the new Star Trek film came out on dvd, so I admit I did nothing else but watch it repeatedly every evening. But here were friday's lunches...
Ryan's
lunch:
tofu
salad
sand-
wiches;
meat-
less
meat-
balls;
orange
slices;
carrot
sticks;
cucu-
mber
slices;
a hazel-
nut
praline
dark
choco-
late.

I had grandma pick Nate up from preschool since AJ gets out of half day kindergarten at exactly the same time. He then spent part of the afternoon with her, so I packed him a lunch...
Nate's lunch; mixed fruit cup (leftover from a trip); tofu salad sandwich; carrot sticks; grape tomatoes; cucumber slices; a meatless meatball.

And me...
A salad with pickled
radishes.
And some sauteed
Tofurky sausages with
broccoli & tomato.



Saturday's hike seemed
to wear everyone out
more than usual--maybe
it had to do with Dada
being away. Nate and his
crooked walking stick,
about ready to give up!

But then he saw his
brothers at the top...

small packages & silly boys

It was
early
release
at 1pm
for the
public
schools
today,
so a
lighter
lunch...

Ryan's
lunch:
Thermos
of bean,
vege-
table,
barley
soup;
soy
cheese
squares;
herb crackers; a tiny Pez pack leftover from Halloween.

Next I wanted to show Nate's preschool snack, not because of the food so much as the size of the container. Bento snacks and lunches are meant to be packed efficiently, tightly arranged so that there is little excess space. This container is only holds 130ml and can fit in the palm of my hand, yet properly filled it can easily hold a nice snack for a preschooler.
Nate's snack: 2 dried apricots; 4 grape tomatoes; 3 squares of soy cheese; 3 herb crackers.

Any of you with multiple boys knows just how silly and crazy they can get. Besides the blocks and cars and toilet talk...









As I was getting Maia ready
for bed I walked in on a
conversation about "space
diapers" and they all started laughing hysterically.

And on our afternoons hike,
Ryan was "the King", AJ
was "the Queen", and...









...Nate was "the mad dragon", of course!

Don't worry, once the
snow starts to fly I won't
have all these daily
hikes to bore you all
with!

AJ wanted to climb this
pine tree. I thought this
picture looked even better
turned 90 degrees counter
clockwise, LOL.

Honest!

Thanks to Raising Seven Vegans I have a nifty new Honest Scrap blog award to display in my sidebar! Yippee! I will be passing along the award to 6 others bloggers later in the week and posting 10 honest things
about myself (um, yay?,
LOL). But you've got to
check out her blog. Just
managing to post at all
with infant TRIPLETS
and FOUR older boys
(by older I mean age 7
and younger!)!! And she's
breastfeeding all 3 babies.
YAAAHHHOOOOOO! She
rules. Seriously. Go see for
yourself.

Anywhooo...on to us for the day...












Ryan's
lunch:
nudgie
bar;
pretzels;
mini
yellow
gel
cup;
persim-
mon
slices;
cucu-
mber
slices;
carrot
"flower";
soba
noodles
dressed
with
toasted
sesame
oil and soy sauce, topped with shredded red bell pepper & scallion; a slice of cold silken tofu.

Wanna see something
nifty? Or rather creepy?
Check out this monkey
tail poison ivy climbing
this tree that I saw on
a hike yesterday.

We had quite a bit of
it on some trees on our
property when we moved
here. It took me 5 years
to finally axe or spray all
of it. The fuzzy vines I
let sit dead for a few years
before donning rubber
gloves covered with
plastic baggies and ripping
them off the trees into
double trash bags.

There is still a bit outside
our fence, but it's quite
an improvement! Now I'm
slowly making progress
removing it from the rail
trail. As the boys are
getting older, they like to
play beyond the yard.
The hill up by the school
is really overgrown with
it. I wish the town would
make some effort to
remove it, at least right
around where the play-
ground and pickup areas
are. I feel badly for any
kids who are highly
allergic, like my husband.

But that's New England
for you! Poison ivy, poison
oak, poison sumac, ticks,
mosquitos. But at least we
don't have poisonous
snakes, spiders, or scary
amphibians!