tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58321754380059484522024-03-05T03:33:14.948-06:00The Pretty in Pink VeganJust a simple Memphis girl blogging about family, friends, vegan food and pretty pink things.Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-80544258497605306322014-08-04T17:54:00.000-05:002014-08-04T17:56:11.951-05:00Portrait of a VeganLast week my friend Megan sent out a round of questionnaires for a project she is working on called Portrait of a Vegan. Her goal is compile a group of vegans to show that there are many different faces of veganism, not just the rail thin, hippies people expect a vegan to be. Since Pink Noodle is keeping my super busy my blogging has fallen by the wayside but because Bianca fussed at me yesterday I am going to attempt to do better and blog at least twice a week. Be prepared for a lot of food dump posts. Don't worry I'll post some pics at the end of my interview. Here is my Portrait of a Vegan.<br />
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Age:<span style="color: magenta;"> 32</span><br />
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Occupation/What do you currently do? <span style="color: magenta;">Office Manager At Redeemers Group/ Owner of Pink Noodle Vegan Cuisine</span><br />
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How long have you been vegan?<span style="color: magenta;"> 1 year 6 months</span><br />
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Why did you decide to go vegan? <span style="color: magenta;">I saw a documentary on how animals were killed and the hormones they are pumped with and decided I no longer wanted that in my body.</span><br />
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How difficult or easy did you find transitioning into the lifestyle, specifically here in Memphis and/or in the South? (If you did not go vegan in Memphis, then simply how was your transition into a plant-based diet?) <span style="color: magenta;">It was a moderate transition because I have friends that are vegan and helped me with advice and most importantly cookbooks and I have never been fond of Southern Food.</span><br />
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What were/are your social experiences like as a vegan? <span style="color: magenta;">People don't expect it being a black southern woman, some think I did it because of my circle. </span><br />
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How do your peers/colleagues react to your lifestyle?<span style="color: magenta;"> At my former job I was teased by co workers and left out of the monthly lunches that were catered. My friends were very accepting especially after I cooked for them and explained that there isn't very much of a difference. </span><br />
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How has your family responded to the lifestyle? How have traditional social gatherings, such as holidays, been? And how much did your traditional lifestyle change when you went vegan?<span style="color: magenta;"> Ha, well my biggest supporter was/is my aunt but I remember when I first started my sister cooked a Sunday dinner and they made spaghetti with meat in it. Everything had meat even the green beans. They told me since I wasn't going to eat it or pick the meat out there is some grass in the yard I could go eat. </span><br />
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What were/are your biggest challenges transitioning into the lifestyle in Memphis? <span style="color: magenta;">Chocolate my biggest challenge is standing in a check out line and not being able to grab a Kit Kat or Twix . So to fix it I started making my own chocolates.</span><br />
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What are your best tips of advice for new vegans in the city/South? <span style="color: magenta;">Find a vegan sponsor someone who is on the journey. They can give you tips, books and they won't give you grief if you have a slip up. </span><br />
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Have you had any crazy dreams related to veganism? <span style="color: magenta;">Recently I had a dream that a local coffee shop I go to for breakfast told me that the veggie sausage I've been ordering have eggs in them. I starting shouting at the owner, beating him with my purse and told him that I was told that there were vegan and that I write a blog and have friends that write and I would make sure that vegans never stepped into the restaurant again. </span><br />
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What or who have been some of your greatest influences or resources as a vegan? (Do you have any favorite books, cookbooks, blogs, websites, that you return to frequently…) <span style="color: magenta;">My friends of course </span><br />
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What's your favorite veg-friendly city to visit?<span style="color: magenta;"> I don't have one. When I travel I go for the shopping or sites lol</span><br />
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As a vegan in Memphis, where is your favorite place to shop for food or go out to eat? <span style="color: magenta;">Phuong Long on Cleveland. I love Asian food and they have over 20 tofu dishes and the pho is made with veggie stock.</span><br />
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How has veganism affected your love life/dating? <span style="color: magenta;">Ha! Another part of the reason I went vegan was because I finally ventured into the dating world and it was a few months after my weightloss and a guy told me I had a "banging body" and that's what he was most attracted to. So I decided to shut down the dating wall I would go vegan. Dating me is a job within itself for not being able to feed me would just build another wall they would just leave me alone. That didn't work out to well now because my now boyfriend is vegan so the running is over. </span><br />
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How has veganism changed in general, as well as in the city of Memphis (or in the South) since you first transitioned into the lifestyle?<span style="color: magenta;"> Since I am a new vegan I am not sure of the change but I do see a vast shift since I have started and am happy to say that I am part of that shift. </span><br />
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What are some of your favorite meals that you have veganized? Or, If you could veganize anything, what would it be?<span style="color: magenta;"> Lasagna and sweets </span><br />
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Have you had any slip-ups? Do you foresee yourself remaining vegan in the future? <span style="color: magenta;">Slip ups yes mainly because I was lazy and didn't read a label or because I was misinformed. I honestly don't know what the future holds for me but as of this moment in my life I am happy with my veganism. </span><br />
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I am one of the lucky vegan woman why you ask because I have a mate that is also a vegan, it makes things so much easier when I cook dinner and go out to eat because he eats the same things so I don't have to worry about him ordering me the wrong thing or questioning my eating habits. He does nag about my sugar intake because Lawd knows I consider cake/pie dinner but I nag him about his fried foods habit so it balances out. Another sliver linning is that my other half can and will actually cook for me when I am too tired or just feel like cooking. Aren't we cute together?!<br />
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My favorite dish to get when I go to Phuong Long on Cleveland is the Vermicelli Bowl. Sadly my weekly noodle bowl has taken a hit due to the super tight budget I am on so I decided to make my own. Its not that hard. Of course there are the vermicelli noodles, fried tofu ( I make mine spicy) mung bean sprouts, cucumbers fresh herbs and pickled carrots. ( I've been watching a lot of Top Chef so I know how to make a quick pickle) Normally it comes with a side of fish sauce but this vegan doesn't have to leave that out because the Viet Hoa has a vegetarian fish sauce that I keep in stock.<br />
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One Saturday morning on our trek to the Farmer's Market the boyfriend sent me off to go buy flowers but before I left I mentioned to him that the Stickem Food Truck has the most amazing tofu and guess what I have waiting for me when I get back. Tofu and French Fries!! Yes, I had tofu and french fries for breakfast. I'm gangster like that. </div>
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Last Wednesday we were both in Meltdown mode so we decided to make a pallet in the floor and watch stand up comedies for the evening. Of course cooking for a no go so I decided to make Ramen for dinner. I added Thai Chili Peppers for that extra spicy because when you are upset spicy foods and stand up comedies will clear the whoa is me's. Needless to say I laughed so hard there were tears rolling down my face. Check out the his and her chopsticks. Yes I took the bigger bowl. </div>
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I promise to do better with my blogging but even as I am blogging I am getting texts asking for approval on the logo for Pink Noodle. So what I think I will do is 2 posts a week one food related one Pink Noodle </div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-88815745709798891132014-07-15T18:14:00.001-05:002014-07-15T18:14:22.405-05:00Pink Noodle ToysEveryone that knows me knows that I love kitchen gadgets now combine that with my love of QVC and their 5 easy pays and you know what that equals? Cassi buying kitchen gadgets for Pink Noodle. Now I promise I didn't plan to start buying appliances this early but there was nothing on TV and I stopped on QVC and David was in the kitchen and low and behold they were showcasing a Ninja Product. I love my Ninja Ultimate Blender so when I saw this <a href="http://www.qvc.com/Ninja-Storm-Designer-Series-400-Watt-40-oz.-Food-&-Drink-Maker.product.K39392.html" target="_blank">Ninja Storm</a> came in Pink ( or cinnamon as they call it) I had to buy it!! Plus with 3 easy pays of $14 bucks I would be an idiot not to.<br />
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My plan for my baby Ninja is to use it as a food processor and smoothie maker. Starting out there isn't a need for me to have a huge Ninja and a food processor so this little baby will work out great! Look at what it can do!<br />
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<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Includes 400W motor head, blade, 40-oz color-tinted pitcher, storage lid, Quick Start Guide, and instruction manual</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Quad Blade technology provides uniform cutting and ice-crushing action</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ergonomic operation with one-touch pulsing</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Storage lid helps keep leftovers fresh in refrigerator or freezer</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Built-in anti-spill gasket seals lid tight for no-mess use and pouring</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Blade, pitcher, and lid are top-rack dishwasher-safe; wipe motor head to clean</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">BPA-free plastic and steel construction</li>
<li style="line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Measurements: Pitcher with lid 6-1/2"H x 6-1/2"Diam at top; 6"Diam at base; Assembled unit with motor head on top 12"H</li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I can even make ice cream in this baby if I want. Small, Pink and Powerful just like me. Its not on easy pay any more but for $32 bucks why not grab <b><a href="http://www.qvc.com/Ninja-Storm-Designer-Series-400-Watt-40-oz.-Food-&-Drink-Maker.product.K39392.html" target="_blank">one</a></b>. </span></div>
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My second purchase came after watching Big Brother last week. There was nothing on TV and while flipping through the channels there was David again playing with more toys. This time he had the KitchenAid 9 cup Food Processor with French Fry and Dough Attachment. I was literally drooling over the TV. This machine does EVERYTHING I need it to do in Pink Noodle. I will be slicing a lot of fresh fruit and veggies but the selling point for me was that I could cut up french fries. I REFUSE to serve store brought fries at Pink Noodle and my original plan was to buy the old fashioned french fry cutter but not anymore. This lovely KitchenAid does it all!! </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The proof is in the precision. The versatile blades and discs handle all of your slicing, shredding, kneading, and chopping needs. Use the multipurpose blade for everyday mincing, mixing, and emulsifying. The reversible shredding disc helps you achieve both fine and medium cuts. Use the mini blade and bowl for smaller chopping tasks. A dough blade is included to help you make bread. And...fresh-cut fries, anyone? A special French fry blade makes mounds of fries in a jiffy--always a crowd favorite. It's also ideal for slicing other firm fruits and veggies like zucchini, carrots, and apples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now this one did cost a bit more but with the nifty 5 easy pays it was mine!! Don't be alarmed I also ordered this one in <a href="http://www.qvc.com/KitchenAid-9Cup-Exact-Slice-Food-Processor-w-French-Fry-&amp;-Dough-Attach..product.K41122.html?sc=TSV&UDC=TSV&MSG=TSV_OTO_INSTOCK" target="_blank">pink</a>.</span></div>
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That David in the Kitchen gets me every time but I know that I will get good use out of these products. Now I can't promise that every kitchen gadget in Pink Noodle won't be pink but if it comes in pink, it will be ordered. Don't worry I did make a promise to Amy that the whole restaurant won't be in pink. I don't even think I could handle that.There is a limit on my pinkness but there will be drops of pink here and there. Now if you haven't checked out my<a href="http://gofundme.com/pinknoodle" target="_blank"> Go Fund Me</a> page please do and if you aren't able to donate please share the link. </div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-53497413903693119442014-07-13T19:38:00.003-05:002014-07-13T19:38:49.517-05:00Pink Noodle Remember me? I am sorry that I have been gone so long but it has been for a really good reason. Guess who's opening a restaurant?! This girl! Keithon has always wanted to open a restaurant. (but I decided to write a cookbook instead) I have decided to call it Pink Noodle vegan cuisine (thanks Brenna for the name) and most of the recipes from the cookbook will be on the menu. The plan is to change the menu with the seasons so the food will be fresh and locally sourced. This all started because I went to a local place for breakfast and had a vegan meltdown. For those of you that don't know a vegan meltdown is it happens when you go out to eat and there are very few things on the menu for you to eat or they just offer you the most impractical thing to eat and you lose it. Well that morning I was offered soup and I lost my shit! I looked at her and asked her can I eat soup and drive. Now of course she said no, so for breakfast that morning I had a bagel and a latte that ended up costing me $9 bucks!!! That is crazy and of course I was starving as soon as I finished it. That is when I said screw this , this restaurant is happening.Vegans shouldn't have to be punished financially for their food choices. So I set up a <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/PinkNoodle" target="_blank">Go Fund Me</a> page and support has been amazing!<br />
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Of course the first step is finding a building, being the midtown girl that I am I wanted to stay in the area mainly because with Pink Noodle I want to give back to the community that made Cassi Cassi. I credit the universe and my deceased grandmother for this location because ( while driving) I closed my eyes and asked my grandmother to send me a location. And not 20 seconds later I passed a building, sadly the sign said for sale by owner and a cloud formed over me because I thought there was no way I could buy a build. The Law of Attraction is a motherfucker because when you put something out into the universe you get it. My first bid on the building was rejected so I had to counter it and Ta-Da, I got the building!! ( loan free and interest free might I add) Saturday I did the closing paperwork and got my key to the new home of Pink Noodle!!</div>
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Now this building has been sitting for a few years so there is work to be done and right now I do not have it in the budget to hire people to clean it. That is where my amazing friends and coworker came into play. Today they came out with husbands and childhood friends in tow and we set to work. Lawd Jesus did we work today the heat index was in the 100s but no one complained and that is why I love them. Even in the heat Amy managed to get a posed picture of me. Please excuse the face it was hot and right now the building doesn't have air. </div>
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Now this building as been completely gutted so we had to clean up the mess that was left behind. The building caught fire and I am glad it did because even in the state that the building is all of the bathroom fixtures, duct work and electric is brand new. So that helps out a lot when it comes time for the inspections and what not. The cleaning did not take as long as everyone thought, we knocked out all of the big stuff about noon and we started around 10:30.</div>
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Since I am not able to pay to play the gang for the hard work, I decided to feed them and test out a few menu items for lunch. Today we had Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna with Avocado and Kale Salad and Pantry Cookies for dessert. All of these recipes are in the cookbook that I wrote (unpublished as of yet) for the Kale Salad I used kale, avocado, sundried tomatoes, regular tomatoes and massaged the kale with olive oil. Now the reason the cookies are call Pantry Cookies is because one Sunday I was bored and my sweet tooth was kicking my ass so I literally threw some ingredients that were left over in the pantry in a bowl and made cookie. I used coco powder, shredded coconut, chopped almonds and the normal cookie base. I like testing my food on non vegans because they are use to animal products when eating and I love the reaction when they discover that you don't need animals to cook. One even went back for seconds! </div>
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Now after lunch we set to work on the outside because it was train wreck with trash and overgrown weeds but lucky for me I had someone that brought a backhoe to get the nastiness up. Sadly I just couldn't, anyone that knows me knows I hate nastiness but IF I had to pick it up by hand I would have and then proceeded to take a millions showers. ( check out the backhoe in the sunlight it looks pink)</div>
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There is still a lot of work to be done to make Pink Noodle a success and that is where my readers come into play. My goal is to open Pink Noodle in October and without a loan from the bank, so I need donations of Time, Money and Talents. Share the<b><a href="http://gofundme.com/pinknoodle" target="_blank"> Go Fund Me</a></b> page, send people that have talents my way, donate building material or if you can please donate please do even if it is just 5 bucks every little bit helps.</div>
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Thank you to everyone that has donated thus far. </div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 20px;">Tina Sullivan</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 20px;">Brandon Ayers</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; line-height: 20px;">Cassi Conyers </span></span><br />
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-57984704776979390432014-06-11T17:19:00.000-05:002014-06-11T17:29:37.551-05:00Kitchen Gadget Nerd Those that are close to me know that the smallest thing will excite me but nothing excited me more than kitchen appliances. Some woman get highly offended when they are given appliances for gifts but not Cassi. Give me a kitchen toy and I am yours for life!! Right now my dream toy is a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer but before I obtained that I have been drooling over the <b>Ninja Ultima Blender</b>. Being the kitchen queen that I am you would think that I would want a Vitamax but we all know my love for all things Asian so the Ninja had my heart. Plus the price point is a bit cheaper and it does the same thing. The only thing that it is lack is the ability to make soup in the blender. It clearly says NO HOT LIQUIDS and that made me a sad bunny. None the less I LOVE my new Ninja and I have even named her Betsey. She is thick and powerful just like me.<br />
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Now of course I couldn't wait to try this baby out but what to make. A smoothie was just too simple and I wanted to put this baby to work so I opted for a soup. Yes, I know I can't cook in it but I could damn sure blend some shit in it. I wanted a soup with the hardest herbs I could find, so I decided on Coconut Lemongrass Soup. It gets no tougher than garlic, lemongrass and ginger. Two cans of coconut milk , a can of water and the herb and I let it rip!! Jesus H. Christ this girl is POWERFUL! It almost whipped the coconut milk into cream and for the life of me I couldn't find the herbs I know I put in there.<br />
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif; text-align: start;"> Once I had everything blended I put it back on the stove to simmer with the zucchini and set to work on my noodles. While I was in Japan I picked a pack of PINK Soba Noodles. I mean they were pink, it had to happen. I did taste one raw just to make sure it wasn't sweet and to compare it against the regular ones I already had. ( They taste the same)</span></div>
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Once everything was simmered dinner was served. I had to tweak the recipe a bit because it didn't have the flavors I was looking for but all and all this soup was pretty good. Needless to say I am in love with my new blender and am pretty sure I am now going to find shit to blend just for shits and giggles. I am pretty sad that I have to say goodbye to my old blender because it is completely blinged out but it has done its job. <br />
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-18056155038544510782014-06-09T17:36:00.000-05:002014-06-11T13:57:27.721-05:00Hot Springs Food and FunSo a lot of changes have taken place since I have returned from Japan and I am happy to report that they are all amazing and wonderful changes. Sadly my routine has been turned upside down and blogging fell by the wayside. ( I started a new job, got a boyfriend and my son left for the month of June) but never fear I think that I am back on track and I have a ton of things to blog about. Since I still haven't finished my posts on my week in Japan, once a week I'll throw in a Japan post just for the hell of it.<br />
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Over the weekend my wonderful, amazing boyfriend took me on a holiday to Hot Springs. Its about a 3 hour drive from Memphis but it is just far enough away to say we left town. I was not giving any details about the trip other than we are going to Hot Springs, pack shorts and we would be staying in a hotel. Normally I would be freaked out by the lack of control but I decided to just go with it and I am so glad that I did. The boyfriend did an amazing job of filling the weekend with things to do and he even drove! Our first stop once in Hot Springs was a place called <a href="http://www.hotspringswinery.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Winery</b></a> for a wine tasting. This man knows me so well because after working 8 hours and sitting in a car for 3 hours mama needed wine. Since the wine is made locally in Arkansas I am being a positive Polly that is vegan. After the tasting the boyfriend and I decided on 3 wines, 2 for him and 1 for me. The wines at the The Winery were a bit too sweet for me but the Arkansas Red was just dry enough. Every time I visit a winery I get a logo glass to go on my wine table. I also couldn't resist this wine glass.<br />
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Saturday morning we got up bright and early to seize the day and by seize the day I mean I needed coffee. Lucky for me there was a coffee shop right across the street from the hotel called JavaPrimo Coffee House. Double win for me because the syrups they use for flavoring were vegan! I ordered a raspberry soy latte, sadly I did not get a picture because mama's only focus was coffee. I was told the night before that we had a reservation at 10:30 am so I had to make sure we got there on time. He wanted to stop by the farmer's market but the guys at the coffee shop said on Saturday the market is art and crafts instead of fruits and veggies but they did suggest a estate sale that we checked out. After the estate sale we headed to our appointment. I repeat I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world. He booked a couple day at the spa. Hot Springs is know for their mineral springs hence the name of the city. <a href="http://quapawbaths.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Qupaw Bath & Spa</b></a> is amazing and the staff even pronounced our names correctly. (That means a lot to me because our names aren't hard to pronounce but people still get them wrong.) We started out our spa day with a private mineral bath, OMG this bath was amazing. Check out this info from the page:<br />
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<i>“It’s all about the bubbles Oxygen-rich microbubbles, to be precise. The patented process supersaturates the water with billions of these little wonders, raising oxygen levels up to 70 percent higher than common tap water. Measuring only 50 microns in diameter, tiny microbubbles form a cloud in the water and gives you a delightful, effervescent sensation. The luxurious blanket of bubbles brings amazing benefits as it delivers a deep breath of nature’s miracle cleanser— OXYGEN. Developed with your skin in mind, MicroSilk creates microbubbles that reach gently into the pores, increasing skin’s metabolism while promoting skin cells growth and the reduction of fine lines, wrinkles and scar formation. Microsilk improves overall skin cleansing, exfoliating and hydrating the skin.”</i><br />
<i> </i>After our soak it was on to a couple's massage of course I'll spare the detail but be assured there were no happy endings.<br />
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After<i> </i>spa time we hit the Street of Hot Springs. Literally there is one street that everything is located on which is perfect you park the car and just walk. Sadly Hot Springs is not a very vegan friendly city and Cassi did have a meltdown in a restaurant. I get that way when I go too long without food and my options are next to none. Lucky for us a woman heard my melt down and came to my rescue and suggested a place at the very end of the strip. <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.parkislandmarket.com/" target="_blank"><b>Park Island Market & Cafe</b></a>. Park Island is not completely vegan but they have a few vegan options and everything is organic. I ordered the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="size12 ArialBlack12">Dos Pupusas which is </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="size12 ArialBlack12">Two Oaxaca Cheese stuffed Handmade Corn Tortillas one with Black Beans &</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="size12 ArialBlack12">one with a Cactus Veggie Medley served with Rice and a Ricotta Requeson. Don't worry they left out all the dairy! And the boyfriend ordered the veggie burger, not to be nice but because he is a vegan as well!! This makes things so much easier when it comes to dining. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="size12 ArialBlack12">Sunday its was time to head home and since we already ate at Park Island we decided to wait until we got to Little Rock to eat . Thanks to a recommendation from Bianca we stopped at <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/theveglr" target="_blank">The Veg LLC</a></b>. The Veg LLC is a new vegan eatery in River Market. I love the concept for River Market because it is like a giant food court. It looks like a great place for start up restaurants. The Veg LLC has a small menu but don't let that stop you, this food is amazing.I ordered the <b>Chickpea "tuna" sandwich</b> and the boyfriend ordered the <b>Quesadilla with Sweet Potato Fries. </b>The "tuna" sandwich consisted of whole chickpea, seasoning, celery, red onion and "mayo" In my non vegan days I was never a fan of mayo but I am finding now I can deal with it in small doses. As far as the boyfriend's quesadilla I was not able to sneak a bite but I over heard that it had hummus and salsa in it. He also raved about the sweet potato fries because they appeared to be grilled. So if you are in the Little Rock area go check them out.</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All and all it was a great weekend. Memories were made, food was found d fun was had. I can't wait to get back and have a do over. </div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="size12 ArialBlack12" style="color: black;"><br />
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</span></span>Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-30375125878020685242014-05-23T16:50:00.003-05:002014-05-23T16:50:35.476-05:00Japanese Vending MachineBefore I left for Japan I was told about these machines that dispense anything your heart could desire. Everything from food, drinks ice cream etc but then I was informed that you could even get panties from the vending machine! I was determined to find this magical machine so every time I hit the streets of Japan I peeked in every vending machine I saw and let me tell you there were a lot. Before I arrived I did not understand why the Japanese needed so many machines but after hitting the streets via foot and bike I realized why. All that walking and making makes you thirsty.<br />
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My first drink in Japan did not come from a vending machine it was given to my by my host Lisa at 6:30 am on my first morning in the city. To be far my body thought it was about 4pm so I wasn't drinking that early and crazy enough it was only one of the two glasses of booze I had the whole trip.</div>
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My next drink came when I went to the onsen and because I was fighting a sore throat I was trying to load up on as much vitamin C as I could get my hands on. This one was just like a sparkling lemonade but the crazy thing about Japanese drinks is the calorie and sugar content. It is next to none. Out of all the drinks I had I think the highest calorie count was 71 and that was for 16 oz drinks. </div>
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My next drink came during the battle</div>
of the trains. To get to the train station from my house it was about a 20/30 minute walk. That is not a crazy long walk but let me tell you when you get done with all the uphill and stairs and dodging little old ladies on bikes you work up a thirst so before I got on the train I grabbed a Match Pink. It was a semi fizzy drink with the hint of grapefruit favor.<br />
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I couldn't tell you where I was when I grabbed this little beauty but from the flooring I assume I was at another train station. This was by far my favorite drink. I was aiming for water but because I can't read Japanese I attempted to pick the most water looking bottle and ended up with MIU. It is a water based drink but it has a fruit flavoring to it. Not like the nasty flavored waters we have in the states but this was refreshing and very fruity. The bottle was amazing too because it was semi twisted where you grip it to make holding it easier.</div>
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So the next day I tried again on my quest for a simple bottle of water and yet again I failed. It was like playing vending machine roulette and every time I was a winner. I ended up having the Green Da Ka Ra twice because it was so good. I'm not sure if it was vegan or not because it has picture of honey on the label along with a lot of other healthy foods. Vegan or not this drink made the cold I was battling so much easier to deal with. I could taste the aloe, lemon, orange and a hint of honey it. It was almost water. </div>
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My final drinks came at the airport and lucky for me they were under 3 oz so I could take them on the plane. Yes I brought a fiber drink. It is my secret shame. Cassi can not poop while on vacation or while out of town. I don't know why but my body just shuts down. After 6 days in Japan I was willing to drink whatever I could to make myself go. Now my flight home was 23 hours so there was no way I was drinking this on the plane because it would be just my luck that it worked....well. So I saved it til I got home and FYI this drink works fast and it even tasted good. </div>
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I picked this little baby up for my little baby so that he could see what Coke is like in Japan. Yes this was not coke, it was some type of grapefruit flavored soda that my son reluctantly shared. If it were me I wouldn't have shared either it was really good.</div>
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Now I was told about these machines that sold panties ans I did find one but I was not able to get a picture because it was in the onsen and phone where not allowed of course. I was tempted to buy them but they were 550 Yen and they were granny panties. Pass. Maybe on the next trip I will find that magical machine and it will have cute undies.</div>
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<span id="goog_980561751"></span><span id="goog_980561752"></span><br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-57259719946528670572014-05-21T15:12:00.001-05:002014-05-21T15:17:08.127-05:00Eating and Sleeping In JapanSorry for such the big delay with posting but once I returned from Japan jet lag kicked my ass. I was having trouble staying awake let alone having a clear enough head to blog about my adventure. I am finally back on track so now I have a lot of catching up to do.<br />
Going to Japan I had a few options on where to stay and since I was going alone I kinda wanted to go somewhere that I would be able to meet new people and maybe hang out with them. I knew that a hotel was out because I didn't want to be in that type of settling. So a co worker told me about the site Airbnb. He used it a few times when he traveled out of town and had positive experience so I decided to give it a try as well. There were a ton of places for me to choose from but after narrowing my selections down I settled on sharing a house verses staying by myself. When I saw this listing I fell in love. There is a beautiful rooftop that gave a view of the neighborhood, the kitchen was was totes cute and it even had a pink toilet!!! What really sold me on the listing was the host Lisa she is the nicest, warmest stranger I have ever met. Before I even booked she was happy to answer all of my questions and even give me advice before I got there. It was also a bonus that she was spoke English.<br />
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Along with giving me advice about the area and making sure I knew how to catch the train Lisa was nice enough to cook a few vegan meals for me so that I would not feel excluded from the nightly dinners. Along with Lisa there were 3 other guests in the house. Even with the large number it did not feel the least bit cramped. On my first full day in Japan Lisa made this wonderful rice salad. It was loaded with rice, lettuce, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, kidney beans, pine nuts, sunflower and sesame seeds. Sadly I did not get to enjoy it that night because I started to come down with something shortly after landing in Japan but lucky for me she made a huge salad and I was able to try it the next night and it was amazing. I will be making this at home. There were also a ton of dressing to choose from and lucky for me they were all vegan but I did have to get Lisa to tell me what was what. </div>
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On my second night in Japan the rest of the house had steaks and left over rice salad but again Lisa was nice enough to whip up so Chickpea Masala. My appetite was back so I got to eat dinner. </div>
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When I was gearing up for my trip I was making a list of things I wanted to do while in Japan and one of the things that was on the top of my list was go to a grocery store. Lame I know but I am one of those rare people that love going to the grocery store. On my walk to the train station I would pass this semi open air market and after my day in Kyoto I stopped by. Sadly It was close to closing so they were packing food up but I was able to grab a few things to make dinner. I loved the fact that this market actually packed up all the fresh fruits and veggies each night instead of letting them stay out. Also anything that pre-made or pre-cut went for 50% off after a certain time. That's how I was able to get sushi for 150 Yen. ( A buck fifty American dollars) That is unheard of!</div>
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For dinner I decided on a stir fry. The food is Japan is so much cheaper. I was able to get mushrooms for a buck, bean sprouts for 39 cents and wait for it tofu for 59 cents!! It is madness I tell you. The fried tofu over there is so much better than the crap I buy here, it really hurts my soul.</div>
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I loved the tofu so much that I went back to the market the next day and since I went a bit earlier I was able to walk around the market to see what they had to offer. Of course very few things were in English but I had my nifty I am vegan card with me so when I saw a product I wasn't sure about I asked for help. Sadly all the things I picked up had fish or milk in them. Never fear I brought more of my bargain tofu and since my fruit intake was a bit low I wanted to see what Japanese watermelon would taste like. FYI its tastes just like American watermelon. I was slightly disappointed. </div>
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I didn't do as much eating out as I thought I would in Japan but even without eating out I don't feel like I missed out because I was able to cook with fresh Japanese ingredients and to me nothing gets better than that. I really want to email Lisa and ask her to FedEx me some tofu so I can show people what it is really suppose to taste like. Now if you are ever in the Osaka/Kyoto area and are looking for a home away from home, check out <b><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/662623" target="_blank">Lisa's</a></b> listing, You won't be disappointed.</div>
<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-24680064703406408362014-05-12T08:16:00.003-05:002014-05-12T08:17:03.130-05:00Mother's Day Times Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since I'm here in Japan where everything is a day ahead, I decided to celebrate Mother's Day twice! Why not its my day.So one Mother's day in Japan I got dressed in my cute panda tea and set my sights on finding a coffee shop that my guy friends told me was in the area. Well now he owes me coffee because I did not find said coffee shop. Of course I didn't give up, it was my day and I was going to find coffee. It was a Sunday morning and it seems like everything in the area was closed so I headed for a Shell station. Gas stations have coffee right, nope. This gas station only have gas but the attendant was nice enough to draw me a map to the 7/11. Now of course the 7/11 would have coffee, it would be gas station coffee but coffee none the less. Well if they had coffee I didn't see it because I was taken aback by the amount of prepared foods they had. Most of the dishes we meat based but I was lucky enough to find a few vegan options . I settled on the soba noodle, kimchi and oj. Yes I know orange juice and kimchi don't go together but it seemed that with all the travel I have caught a cold and I am trying to load up on as much vitamin C as possible. </div>
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What I loved most about my Mother's Day breakfast was the price. I got all that food for 600 yen!! That's 6 bucks US money. Now way I got that at home.</div>
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When I opened my noodle container I was a little nervous because it contained extra packages that of course were not in English but no worries I whipped out my Google translate app and took a pic. I told me what each package was. The very small one is grate wasabi, nori strips, the clear package translated to noodle loosen water and of course the big brown package was soy sauce. I'm sure these noodles were meant to be eaten cold but I nuked em because I don't like cold food. </div>
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I also found out why the Japanese culture is so thin. They bike EVERYWHERE. So when in Rome or in my case Japan you bike. My next stop later in the day for to the onsen. My host Lisa was nice enough to loan me one of her bikes to get to the onsen. It was about a 20 minute bike ride but because I got lost twice it took me more like 30 or 45 minutes but I found it. For those that don't know an onsen is a Japanese Bath house. There are a bunch of mineral pools set at different temps that you get into....naked. Yep Cassi stripped naked in broad daylight among a bunch of strangers. I decided before I came that I was going to go to the onsen to try to get over my body image issues. Sadly I only lasted about 30 minutes. Being naked is just not my cup of tea but hey at least I did it. </div>
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It is meant to spend a great deal of time at the onsen so there is a cafe so that in between or after baths you can eat. Now this was my favorite part of the onsen. So far my favorite part of Japan is the vending machines! Anything you can think to drink are in these machines. I decided on a sparkling lemonaide. It says it contains the vitamin C of 50 lemons.</div>
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Ordering food in Japan is very hard if you can't speak Japanese and even harder if you are vegan but no worries I printed of a few "I am vegan" flash cards to take with me. So my meal was a total surprise. I was served tofu with grated ginger and green onions, pickled ginger, miso soup, a green salad and of course rice. I have never in my life eaten just block of silken tofu but eating it with the pickled ginger and grated ginger it was pretty decent. Not my favorite way to eat tofu but hey I'm here to try and see new things. </div>
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The onsen also had very small gift shop and look at what I discovered. PINK NOODLES!!! Keithon will hate this but I love it. My host Lisa told me that these are spring time noodles so they are meant to be eaten cold. I can't wait to get home and create a recipe for these.</div>
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Now on Monday Japan Time and Sunday American Time I ventured out to Osaka with another housemate because there was no way that I was getting lost on the train. Even better for me he had portable wifi so we had Internet the whole trip. So between the wifi and his Ipad we didn't get to turned around. The most confusing thing for us was buying train tickets. Its like trying to answer a math word problem. You have to decide where you want to go, when you want to get there and what train you need to catch and then you give the machine the matching amount of money and it spits out a tickets that you insert into the turn stall. We brought quite a few tickets, sometimes the turn stall gave them back and sometimes it kept them. It was very confusing. </div>
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Our first stop was The Instant Ramen Museum. I have been dying to go here since Bianca told me about this magical place. I won't mention anything else because I am saving it for a blog post all its own. It is that special.</div>
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After we left the museum we passed the cute little bakery and I assumed that by the title that it may be s vegan bakery. No such luck but they did have the most adorably teas and since I troubled the woman so much with the vegan questions I had to buy them. They are all themed based on what they do. I can't wait to get home to try them.</div>
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Since we spent most of the day riding trains and sightseeing we forgot to eat lunch so once we got to our final train station we went on the hunt for food. The train stations are like malls here. It is amazing. Had I been alone I'm sure I would have spent way too much time shopping. Micheal was craving sushi and that was fine with me because I was sure that I would be able to find some type of veggie roll. Again I whipped out my vegan flash card and the server brought us a American menu. I order the pickled veggie radish and a cucumber roll. It was all they had on the menu. Instead of putting the wasabi on the plate it is already inside the roll. I'll have to start ordering like this when I get home.</div>
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Sadly I ran out of chap stick while we were out so I asked Micheal if we could stop at the convenience store inside the station so I could pic up more. Lucky for me the lady at the counter spoke perfect English and she even helped me find some bath salts to try to get rid of whatever this madness is that I can't shake. (yes I know one of them says honey but I don't like to take drugs, I am overseas and beggars can't be choosy) As soon as I finish blogging I am going to a soak. </div>
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Aside from the Ramen museum my favorite part of the day was our trip to the 100 yen store! 100 yen is equal to 1 US dollar so this was a dollar tree. Again had I been alone this could have been a problem. THEY HAVE EVERYTHING!! I wanted to grab so much more stuff but I was sharing the day and it was cold and rainy so I only grabbed a few things for Keithon and myself. I am so excited to wear my panda socks.</div>
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I'm not sure what tomorrow holds but I know it will be just as exciting as today because everything thing is new. And before I leave Japan I am going to find that vending machine that has panties!</div>
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<span id="goog_384031057"></span><span id="goog_384031058"></span><br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-31201747070603498692014-05-10T13:10:00.000-05:002014-05-12T15:31:52.549-05:00Japan BoundTwenty four traveling hours and 3 plane changes later I have arrived in Japan!! This by far was the most taxing trip I have ever taken and at one point I started beating myself in the face with my neck rest because I just wanted off of the plane. I left Memphis at 8:19am Friday morning and FINAL arrived in Osaka at 10:30pm My plane was suppose to land at 8pm but there was a delay so I was "stuck" in Hawaii for a few hours. Trust me I didn't mind Hawaii is the most beautiful airport I have ever seen It is almost completely open air. The breeze and fresh air was much needed after being on a plane for a million hours.<br />
Now of course on the plane they feed you and being the smart cookie that I am I pre ordered my vegan meals ahead of time. I thought that my second flight was going to have a meal service but it seems that it was just a typo so I needed to order something to eat or I would have harmed someone. So I ordered a Tapas selection they had. ( it was the only vegan thing on the mini menu) It was loaded with pita chips, hummus, burshetta, apricots, almonds, olives, crackers, cookies and a dark chocolate. ( the lemon cookies weren't vegan so I didn't eat them) The back of the box tell you what's vegan and what's not. It says that the dark chocolate is not vegan but the label didn't have any animal products on it so I ate it.<br />
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Now like I said before I was suppose to land in Osaka at 8pm but there was delay in Hawaii and for some reason my assigned seat was no longer mine so the desk clerk gave me a new seat. Sadly it was an aisle so I asked her very nicely if I could have a window seat because I wanted to lay against the window and sleep. My guy friend kept me up 24 hours prior to my flight to get my body adjusted to Japan time but I still couldnt' fall asleep. I did doze off one good time but I did the church nod and woke myself up and no more sleep was had. I am so glad that the clerk gave me a window seat because it was not just any window seat it was a window seat in Economy Comfort.!! That is one step behind 1st class and this diva was in love!!! I have to upgrade me flight on the way back. I just can't go back to coach lol. Economy Comfort gives you all type of perks. I had a bigger, seat my own private TV, a sleep mask and ear plugs, I could charge my phone and wait for it EXTRA FOOD!! I LOVED the TV option, even though I don't watch much TV I was excited that I could watch Top Chef!!! Mama loves her cooking shows and since I cut off the cable a few years ago I haven't been able to watch it. </div>
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In Economy Comfort they also give you a schedule of the meal service for the flight. This worried because the menu was Asian themed and filled with meat. This made me sad because I thought that I would not be able to eat but I guess I dozed off and the food fairy came and delivered the vegan meal I requested weeks ago. At first I was put off but the pattie in the middle because I had no clue what the hell it was but if you know me you know I sniff my food before I eat it. Weird habit I know but its what makes me me. It turns out the black and gray patty was some type of black bean pattie. It was actually pretty good too. There was also spinach and tomatoes, a salad, steamed carrots, Hawaiian water and fruit. I passed on the bread because I was pretty sure the bread was not vegan. For airplane food it was actually pretty good. I was shocked.</div>
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I managed to doze off again and when I woke up the food fairy delivered a vegan snack for me!! Again looking at the menu they give you the snack was suppose to be a sandwich and cake but I guess because I ordered the vegan dinner they put two and two together. My lovely snack included OJ, a banana, a bagel with jam and a granola bar. Yes I know it says honey and vegans are not suppose to have honey but we also aren't suppose to waste resources either and I already trashed the cookies so the bar stays. I haven't eaten it yet so I will back it along with the almonds in my bag for tomorrow as snacks while I'm out seeing the sights. Economy Comfort also allows you free booze but my nose and throat started acting up on the second flight so I stuck to OJ and green tea to try to knock out whatever is going on. The last thing I need is to be sick. </div>
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Its already Sunday here so for mother's day I am going to take myself to the Onsen and to get my flaming bowl of ramen!! It is ramen that has been set on fire!!! Check out the pre flight pic of me when I put on the silly sleep neck thingy. I posted it to my facebook page that it made me look fat. And Keithon Bryce if you are reading I love you booger bat!!</div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-14844133924901817482014-05-04T19:39:00.000-05:002014-05-04T19:39:39.694-05:00The Warming Of The HomeAfter what seemed to be a never ending battle with an Internet provider I now have Internet access in my new home!! I know I am a ton of post behind and my phone is filled with so many meals I can't wait to share. I also leave for Japan this Friday so to catch up I will be posting backwards to get you all caught up on the food madness that has been my life for the past week. For those that don't remember two weeks ago I moved into my new home, that was the reason for the lack of Internet, and last night I threw a house warming so my friends could check out my new space. The weather has FINALLY decided to warm up and stay that way so I threw a cookout themed party. <br />
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I have never grilled out alone but hey how hard could it be right. You start a fire and throw the food on the grill. Now please excuse the lack of pictures between grilling, hosting and drinking I forgot to snap quite a few of my menu items. For the grilling portion of the meal. I foil roasted whole ears of corn with garlic butter, rosemary potatoes, chili and soy marinaded mushrooms, Kroger's Meatless Burger Patties and Smart Life Veggie Dogs.<br />
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The night before the party I made a pasta salad from my cookbook. I always make pasta salad the night before a party because it gives it gives the pasta time to soak up all the spices. There was also a spread of chips with Wholly Salsa guacamole. ( I do take short cuts from time to time) </div>
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My favorite cousin Christy came down from St Louis and with her she brought are fondue fountain machine. No party is complete with dessert and I honesty did not have one in mind so this ALMOST worked out perfectly. I went to Mary Carter's to get the dark chocolate that I use to make my candies and the lady instructed me to cut it with vegetable shortening so that it would flow through the fondue fountain. Well let's just say that did NOT work and me being the stubborn person that I am did EVERYTHING in my power to get it to flow. Even to the point of taking it apart while it was still on. Yeah it started to spin and it threw chocolate all over my beautiful new kitchen. You would think I would give up after that but remember I'm stubborn. Sadly I could not get the chocolate thin enough to keep flowing so I put water in my mini crock pot and placed the bowl of chocolate on top. It wasn't a chocolate fountain but it was still chocolate and my friends dipped away. </div>
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Now of course a party is not a party with out booze and I had a ton of beer gifted to me by a friends. My friend Lana suggested that I fill my washer up with ice and place the drinks in but I when I was at Family Dollar picking up a few odds and ends for the party I spotted a pool not just any pool but a PINK pool!! I had to have this. So I had Keithon fill it with a bit of water and Amy threw in 2 bags of ice and Ta-Da instant diva cooler. No fishing around for your favorite beverage. I also made this amazing punch that I forgot to take a picture of. I will make this for all of my parties. I poured in a bottle of champagne, a bottle of Ginger Ale a pint of Brandy and some frozen pineapples, strawberries and honeydew and topped it with fresh orange slices. This punch was amazing!! Next time I promise to take a picture of it. </div>
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My friends never fail to amaze me. I did a registry at Target for a few odds and ends that I discovered that through the years I just neglected to buy or the ones I had needed to be replaced badly. I honestly didn't expect any gifts but my friends went above and beyond. I spent all morning putting up my new "toys" and posting pics to Facebook and Instagram. I now have a ton of brand new cooking tools that I can't wait to use!! The kitchen in my new home is by far my favorite room. </div>
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I am not completely settled in my new home, my closet is a mess and now soon to be office is being used as storage until I get back from Japan. I leave Friday and my nerves are starting to get the best of me. All in all my house now feels like a home and I had a great time hanging out with my friends. That is my cousin taking a picture of me talking a picture of the group. Sadly I may never get the picture she took because she dropped her phone in water at the party. I put it in a bag of rice so here's to hopping it comes back on. </div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-84752642842715014242014-04-23T19:43:00.002-05:002014-04-23T19:43:44.564-05:00Moving Week Food DumpSo for those of you that don't know my blogging absence has been because I have been moving into my new home. ( More on that later) I haven't moved in almost 4 years and I forgot that when you move very little if any cooking is done. So for the past week I have been packing, moving and unpacking and Keithon and I have been doing way more than our fair share of dinning out. So to fill my blogging void here are a few pics of the food I did remember to take a picture of. Sadly Comcast has not connected my Internet so I am sitting here at Imagine blogging my little heart out. (shout out for the free wifi)<br />
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Now the night that I did the paperwork for my new home was a call for a semi fancy dinner and of course my choice was Asian food. So Keithon, Karen , her son and I headed to Osaka for sushi! The woman stated that they do not use eggs in their Tempura so I took her word for it. I also ordered all the vegan sushi they have on the menu which sadly isn't much but if I recall correctly I was an avocado roll, a veggie roll and a tofu roll.<br />
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Of course Keithon and I made more than a few trips to Imagine. So many trips that I have now stolen Bianca's Mayorship on Foursquare. She told me she will earn it back while I am in Japan. ( Good luck my friend) Now we all know I love Imagine because its like being with family. Everyone knows everyone and the place just has good vibes. Last Thursday Keithon and I went by for lunch and while we were there another fellow Imaginer told me that he would bring me a drink. I honestly thought he was kidding until he came back with a drink!!! It seems he lives right next door to Imagine. This man went to his house, made drinks and brought them back. This drink did nothing for my packing efforts. After Imagine I went home and took a nap. </div>
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Now don't worry I did eat along with my lovely pink drink. Keithon ordered the meatball marinara and I ordered the veggie plate. I picked the side salad, corn bread, brown rice and black beans. Because Megan and Nigel love me they put the black beans on top of the rice.</div>
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Now Monday I was able to do a little cooking and when I say cooking I mean I dumped some things in a pot and made soup. This soup is loaded with veggies, chickpeas and barley. My kitchen is still not completely unpacked and it is so hard for me to cook cook with my stuff in boxes. Hopefully this weekend I will be completely settled in. </div>
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Last night was our monthly Vegan Drinks Meet up at The Deli and the group this month was crazy big. I love that more people are learning about the group and coming out. It also seems that they were having a tasting for a new beer company and as a result they had the beer on special as well as with the purchase of the beer you got to keep the glass. Right now I am thankful for any cup I can get my hands on. I'm not a beer a drinker so I choose my beer based on its name, Namaste. It was a light beer kinda close to a Corona. </div>
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I've gone to The Deli more than a few times in my non vegan days but this was my first trip as a vegan and they have quite a few vegan options. This makes me happy that a bar has more than just hummus to eat. Don't get me wrong I love hummus but when I go out Mama wants more than hummus but my dear child ordered the hummus plate. Their presentation is AMAZING! I had the hummus for lunch today and it is super creamy and spicy. I will be ordering this again. I ordered the Tofu Pita this pita was filled with fried tofu, cucumbers, tomato and sprouts and of course a side of fries. The Deli is known for their fries so I couldn't turn them down. </div>
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Now somewhere during this moving adventure I had ice cream from TCBY. For those of you that don't know TCBY now carries Silk soft serve and on this day I loaded it up with Oreos, mango's, blueberries, 3 Sour Patch Kids and 1 cherry. Yes I asked for 3 Sour Patch Kids and 1 cherry, it s my ocd. </div>
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Now we are all moved in and hopefully I can get back to my love of cooking but before I get back to cooking I have to bake for the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale this Friday. If you are in need of vegan treats meet us downtown in front of Grawemeyer's at 520 South Main from 6pm to 9pm. The weather is going to be great and all proceeds go to the Memphis Humane Society. So stop by, pick up a treat and say hi!</div>
<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-8626389208303738442014-04-17T08:36:00.001-05:002014-04-17T08:36:34.493-05:00Hold Tight I'm Coming Back<p dir=ltr>Fear not vegan readers, I have not given up on blogging or eating. This month has been filled with a lot of AMAZING changes for me. One of the bigger ones is a new home! So in the prep of moving the wifi is off for now but I move on Saturday so I have hopes that I am back up and running by Sunday. </p>
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Today is Keithon's actual birthday so we had a mommy and me day. First stop was breakfast. Keithon is the breakfast person in the house so since it is his birthday what Keithon wants Keithon gets. Sadly finding a vegan breakfast in Memphis is a bit hard but after a Internet search I found out that <b><a href="http://www.threeangelsdiner.com/" target="_blank">Three Angels Diner</a></b> had a nice vegan spread that I was sure would make Keithon happy. We ordered almost every vegan option on the brunch menu. We had the tofu scramble, biscuits and gravy and vegan sausages. The tofu scramble was loaded with tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and smoked paprika. ( I added a bit of hot sauce because I like mine spicy) </div>
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Since breakfast was out of the way I surprised Keithon with a trip to <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Noshings/541580865879032" target="_blank">Sweet Noshings</a></b> to let him be will a kid in a candy store. Sadly he did not get as excited I thought he would. He took his time looking at every case. He was trying to figure out which candies were vegan and which were not. For an 11 year old he did pretty well and since it was his birthday I allowed him to get WHATEVER he wanted. ( what made his candy non vegan was the beeswax that Jelly Belly uses to make the jelly beans shinny and the glaze on the candy corn) He also found a soda that is suppose to taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. </div>
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Just like his mama Keithon likes to drop hints of what he likes to do and last week he dropped the hint about <b>Rio 2</b> coming out. So unknowing to him after the candy store we were headed to see Rio 2. We saw the 1st one so the 2nd one was pretty easy to follow but heaven help my non movie loving soul it was the longest movie in the world. Long or not it was a good movie and I always love the hidden messages in Dreamworks movies. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen it yet. As you can tell by this picture Keithon was over the whole mommy taking his picture thing. </div>
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All in all my one and only had an awesome birthday. His friends now think his house is pretty cool because he has a pinball machine in the living room and inflatable furniture. The boys even enjoyed the vegan pizza and cheese dip I made them. Now on to the winner for Fillet of Soul Afro Vegan.... the winner is<b> Sarah Kate</b>. Sarah I will email you to get your address to ship your book!! </div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-25007092652016958792014-04-09T21:53:00.000-05:002014-04-09T21:53:10.204-05:00Good Food, Good Wine, Good Friends and A Give Away In my head I have reached the blogger holy land. Why you ask, because a few weeks ago I was contacted to do a cookbook give away! Nothing warmed my little vegan soul more than to know that my blog was read and considered worthy of having a contest. So of course when they asked would I do it I said yes, a million times yes! So tonight I will be sharing a review of Wheeler del Torro's newest book<b> Fillet of Soul Afro Vegan</b>.<br />
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Some of you may know Torro from his previous book The Vegan Scoop, now if you loved Vegan Scoop be prepared to fall in love with Afro Vegan. It is filled with beautiful color photos, stories of his international travels and recipes from each of the regions he traveled International cooking may seem a bit scary but Wheeler makes it a breeze to do. Along with the beautiful pictures he even includes directions on how to garnish the dish! When I received this book I fell in love with it, to the the point when I slept with it in the bed with me. I already have a few recipes bookmarked to try later.<br />
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Now the hardest task for me was to choice a recipe to cook. There are recipes from Paris, Jamaica, Senegalese, Ethiopia and even a chapter on Southern cooking. Being a Southern girl I know cooking from the Southern chapter would be "cheating" so I ventured outside my comfort zone and went for a recipe in the Senegalese chapter. I settled on the<b> Avocado san Crevettes</b>, sounds fancy huh. Don't freak out I was able to make this dish in less than 30 minutes and it used ingredients that are readily available. Reading the plating directions I knew that this would be a bit more food than Keithon and I could handle so I called over Aisha and Bianca to help me eat, give me feed back as well as have a little girl talk. This is dish is the best of the food world. It has a salad element, a protein base from the black eyed peas and the avocado adds a healthy fat. The most interesting part of this recipe was the prep for the avocado. It calls for avocado, non dairy yogurt and of course lemon. I have never thought to try avocado with yogurt but the two together made the avocado amazing and it also give the black eyed peas a totally different taste. I don't care for black eyed peas but tonight I almost went back for seconds. I love the bright colors of this dish.<br />
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Now of course you can't have dinner without dessert and with the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale coming up I need to test my cookie again before offering it to the world. The actual cookie I am making is from my cookbook that I am hoping will be published. I was out of almonds and coconut so I just used the chocolate chips I had in the pantry. The girls thought they were good just the way they were. I still may tweak the base of the cookie just a bit more. </div>
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Now on the contest!!! Some of you may recall that I am heading to Japan in a month and the food over there is amazing. So for an entry leave me the name of your favorite international dish and come back on Friday when I announce the winner of a signed copy. But if you don`t win make sure you pick of a copy of<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fillet-Soul-Wheeler-del-Torro/dp/1619278170/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397098222&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=fillet+of+soul+afro+vegan+cookbook" target="_blank"> Fillet of Soul Afro Vegan</a> it won't disappoint. </div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-5951031947975291812014-04-06T19:06:00.001-05:002014-04-06T19:06:42.309-05:00Evergreen Rocks and So Do Things That Come From A TruckThe weather is slowly starting to warm up here in Memphis and with warm weather comes outdoor events. Last week was a bit of a stressful week for me so when I saw Fuel Cafe post that the food truck was heading to <b><a href="http://evergreen-montessori.org/" target="_blank">Evergreen Montessori School</a> </b> for a family friendly event called Evergreen Rocks, Keithon and I stopped by to see what it was all about. Evergreen Rocks was more of an open house to showcase the school as well as give the community a afternoon of fun. Along with tours of the school they also had T-Shirts for sale as well as a student who couldn't be more than 5 playing the drums and singing Eye of The Tiger.<br />
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My main reason for going to Evergreen Rocks was to check out<a href="http://fuelcafememphis.com/about" target="_blank"> <b>Fuel Cafe Food Truck</b>. </a>Saturday was also the opening day of our Downtown Farmer's Market, which is where you can find Fuel's food truck along with other local food trucks. Sadly I couldn't take part in opening day but the market runs til October so there will be plenty of Saturdays for me to venture to the market. When I first became vegan along with Imagine's menu, Fuel's vegan burgers saved my <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">veganism</span>. These patties were created by Fuel's owner Erik and are also available at our local Whole Foods in the deli case. Now the burger is not available on the food truck but they do offer the perfect hand held food. TACOS! The fuel vegan burger is crumbled and served in locally made soft corn tortillas topped with vegan cheese, lettuce, salsa, red onion, cilantro, and vegan sour cream. It has been 6 months since I was able to have one of the babies and I was over joyed when my name was called letting me know my order was ready. These tacos are stuffed to the brim with vegan goodness so if you are not a trained professional you may need a fork.</div>
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Another thing I love about Fuel's food truck is the array of crazy hot sauces they have and yesterday I found a new one that is the Whole Foods version of my beloved Sriracha called Ninja Squirrel. It is not a spicy as Sriracha but the bottle was just too cute!! I may just buy a bottle because it is so adorbs.</div>
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Before Keithon and I stuffed our faces with tacos we headed over to my favorite camper photo trailer. Yes you heard me right trailer. <b><a href="http://amurica.com/" target="_blank">Amurica</a></b> is the brain child of Memphis local Jamie Harmon and where ever there is a Memphis you will find Jamie with trailer in tow. This is not your typical photo booth in the Amurica photo both you will find all types of props to enhance your photo experience so if you are looking for a zany, memorable photo track down this trailer. Check out these pictures. </div>
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So all in all Saturday was a great day. I was able to have a my beloved taco, have a new picture for my desk at work and a really good friend helped take a big weight off my shoulders. If you can't check out the Fuel Food Truck on Saturdays at the Farmer's Market check out their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FuelCafeFoodTruck" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page to get updates on where it will be during the week. Hey its a food truck do you really expect it to sit still but if you don't want to chase down the truck check out the brick and mortar. The same goes for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amurica/229990113691671?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank">Amurica</a> as well as the trailer they also have a studio and both are located in Midtown. Yet another reason Cassi loves Midtown. </div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-1932871841560192882014-04-02T18:31:00.003-05:002014-04-02T18:31:44.816-05:00Never Joke With A Vegan Everyone goes through that "get to know you" stage when you first start dating. You know the basics, what do you do for a living, what type of music do you listen to, what are your favorite foods, etc. So of course "Jack" and I went through this stage and then we hit the food conversation. Lucky for me he is accepting of my veganism and more brownie points for him because he knows how to cook and not just food that come out of a box. Everyone that knows me knows that my favorite food is cupcakes. My entire kitchen is dedicated to them. Some how we got on the topic of squash and his ability to make squash casserole and of course I asked what he puts in it. He went through the list of ingredients, we were doing good until he added the meat. So he told me that he would make me a squash cupcake. I told him keep joking I will make a squash cupcake and make you eat it. He called my bluff, NEVER CALL CASSI'S BLUFF. I will always deliver.<br />
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Now I had a spaghetti squash left over in the kitchen that needed to be use before it went bad now of course I couldn't make my normal sweet chocolate type cupcake so I decided to use more spices versus more sugar. Since squash is in the same family a zucchini I based it on zucchini bread but a tad bit sweeter. Bam Squash cupcakes.<br />
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The texture is that of a cupcake and you can't taste the squash but if you break it apart you can see the strands of squash. I had my co workers and Amy try it and they approved so I guess I did ok turning a joke into food. My original plan was to make cupcakes but the batter was a bit thick so I decided to use a mini loaf pan for the test batch. It was super moist with just a bit of spice. Check out the recipe.<br />
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<b>What You Need</b>:</div>
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Cooking spray</div>
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1/3 cup granulated sugar</div>
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1/3 cup packed brown sugar</div>
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1/4 cup stick vegan butter, softened</div>
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1/4 teaspoon ground ginger </div>
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1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon </div>
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2 tablespoons almond/soy milk </div>
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract </div>
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1 teaspoon vinegar</div>
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1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour</div>
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1 teaspoon baking powder</div>
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1 teaspoon baking soda</div>
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1/8 teaspoon salt</div>
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1 cup cooked spaghetti squash</div>
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<b>What You Do:</b></div>
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Preheat oven to 350°.</div>
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Coat small loaf pan with cooking spray, set pan aside.</div>
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Combine vinegar and baking soda in a small plastic bowl. Mix well and set aside. Beat sugars, margarine, ginger, and cinnamon at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in milk, vanilla, and vinegar/baking soda mixture; beat at low speed of mixer until well-blended. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in sugar mixture and squash. Spoon into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly.</div>
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Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan; carefully peel off wax paper. Cool completely on a wire rack.</div>
<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-81138610578806103722014-03-30T18:54:00.000-05:002014-03-30T18:54:28.912-05:00The Cure For Writer's BlockFor the past few weeks Sunday in my house has had the same routine. I sleep until my Pandora alarm wakes me up, I put on my robe and I sit at the kitchen table and I work on my cookbook and proposal. Today I only had 2 sections to complete before finalizing everything and sending off to publishers, the market research and concept synopsis. I really should have started on the creative part first rather than the research. I felt like I was back in college. I was a fact checking, note taking nut basket. Needless to say after about 3 hours of research my brain was fried and I was having the worst time switching my mind back to the creative side. Its a blessing and a curse. So what better way to get back into my creative frame of mind than to cook a new dish.<br />
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I had no clue what I was going to cook once I stepped in the kitchen. Yesterday I told Keithon that we were going to make hummus to munch on through out the day but when I got into the kitchen I changed my mind and wanted something new. I remembered that I still had a ton of <b><a href="http://www.bobsredmill.com/garbanzo-bean-flour.html?&cat=15" target="_blank">Bob's Red Mill </a></b>chickpea flour in the pantry and on the back of the package was a recipe for falafel. Sadly Middle Eastern Food is my weakest area in the kitchen but what better way to get out of the research mode than to work on a new dish.<br />
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For the recipe I thought that I would have to use a can of chickpeas along with the flour but the recipe only called for the flour. So I set to work on the recipe but just like many recipes I had to cut the recipe in half because it was too many servings and I don't have time or food to waste. ( this is the main reason for my cookbook, small families need small recipes) Another great thing about the recipe is that the patties are pan fried and not deep fried. This southern is not keen on deep fried foods. I also tried my hand at Tahini Sauce. Keithon didn't complain so I guess I did OK. I definitely will try this recipe again.<br />
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After cooking lunch my plan was to watch cartoons on Hulu but I figured to get me back in cookbook mode watching cooking shows would do the trick. The only trick that it did was remind me that I have a trip to Japan coming up so I ended up watching a ton of documentaries on Japan and for the bulk of the afternoon I have been watching this show called <b>Viva! Tokyo</b>. If you can get past the child like narrations and the sexual jokes it has a lot of good info. So of course after hours of Japanese culture of course tonight's dinner was going to be Japanese. Since New Year's Day Keithon has fallen in love with Soba Noodles which does my heart proud because its a great source of protein. So I settled on a Soba Noodle soup using some leftover fried tofu and fresh veggies we have in the fridge.</div>
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When ever I make an Asian soup I always but the raw veggies in the bowl and then pour the broth over them, that way they stay extra crispy and retain a lot of the nutritional value. </div>
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I still haven't gotten my creative juices flowing again and the day is winding down so I've decided that I will attempt to finish the final part of my proposal this week and then its off to the publishers for acceptance.</div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-8016171051817983972014-03-28T18:44:00.001-05:002014-03-28T18:56:08.198-05:00A Meeting Of The Minds Any time that I can get out in the city and meet new people I am all about it. I love networking events and not because it's a chance to make connections in the business world but because I love talking to other people and seeing what I may be missing out on in the city. Plus it's a chance to meet new people and brainstorm. You never know where your next great idea will come from or who will be able to get you over a hump you may be having. So yesterday while I was playing around on Facebook I saw that my friend Aisha was going to a meet up hosted by <b>Memphis Young Creatives</b>. This month it was going to be hosted at <b><a href="http://prettyinpinkvegan.blogspot.com/2013/12/prepaid-wine-yes-please.html" target="_blank">GreenCork</a></b>. So I decided to attend. Why not, I live in Memphis, I'm young , I'm Creative this sounded like the perfect group for me.<br />
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Here is a little background on the group.</div>
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<i><b>Memphis Young Creatives is a meet-up comprised of young professionals in Memphis in various creative fields, such as marketing, promotions, PR, photography, web design, music, and more. The group meets monthly to talk a little shop (and non-shop too), share tips and advice, and support each other in a relaxed, after-work climate. Meetings are held at a different local restaurant each month, to help support local small businesses, where conversation is shared over drinks and appetizers.</b></i><br />
<i><b>The group was founded in the Spring of 2013 by Elizabeth Cawein (Signal Flow PR), Cheryl Hurley (The Stylist Quo), and Shannon Little (Huey’s/Shannon R. Little Communication).</b></i><br />
<i><b>Events are announced each month via Facebook and Twitter and are open to the public</b></i>.<br />
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This month's meet up was pretty informal which was great, it gave me the chance to talk about something other that debt collection and Mindcraft. I meet some really cool people and found out about a few events that are going on next month. Its nice to go to a networking event where people are not trying to one up each other.<br />
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Now of course I couldn't go to Greencork and not have a glass ( or two) of wine. They are in the process of changing out wines and Miles let me sample a wine that hasn't made it to tap yet, called<b> Chocolate Shop. </b>I am a chocolate lover but being vegan chocolate can be pretty hard to come by so I knew I had to try this wine. It smells and tastes just like Tootsie Rolls! It was not overly sweet like you may think but it was just sweet enough with just a bit of a bite at the end. I can't wait until this wine is in rotation.<br />
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One of the ladies I met asked how do I eat out at places that don't have vegan options on the menu. I told her I can always find something on the menu and if I can't find anything I just ask if they will make me something. This is another reason I love GreenCork, Mrs Robin will ALWAYS make sure that I have something to eat. I have yet to be disappointed with anything she gives me and last night was another hit. She prepared a spread of carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, grapes, strawberries and my favorite, stuffed grape leaves. On the side there was an amazing fig jelly, brown mustard and a balsamic vinegar. I tend to believe that Mrs Robin really loves me because she feeds me so well.</div>
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If you haven't been to GreenCork yet please check it out and tell Mrs Robin I sent you. Also if you want to check out Memphis Young Creatives email <b><a href="mailto:shannonrlittle@gmail.com" target="_blank">Shannon Little</a></b> for updates.<br />
<span id="goog_1828025841"></span><span id="goog_1828025842"></span><br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-26048612182597978532014-03-26T19:02:00.000-05:002014-03-26T19:02:04.523-05:00Busy Vegan Bee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sorry for the lack of posting, since Spring has Sprung I have been on the go none stop, between my cookbook, Keithon and Hollywood and hanging with my awesome group of friends my blogging has taken the hit. Sorry but never fear I am back with lots of things to share as well as a recipe!!<br />
If you have been following me for awhile you know about our monthly Vegan Drinks Meet Up, this month the group headed to <b>A-Tan</b>. Now if you live in Memphis you know A-Tan is known for one thing, their signature drink the Flaming Volcano. This drink is massive, so massive that Bianca and I opted to share it. I love that it is served with fire in the center. ( it's the pyro in me plus who doesn't love booze that is one fire) Sadly I couldn't tell you for the life of me what is in the drink other than ice, fruit and yummy boozy goodness.<br />
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Back tracking a few nighst before that, my friends and I got together to check out a play at <b> The Circuit Playhouse</b> called <b>The Great American Trailer Park</b>. What I love about my friends is we love to have fun and don't care what others think. So to fit with the theme of the play we all went dressed in you guessed in trailer park gear. I had to make sure my outfit was trailer park perfect so I had Bianca give me the once over, she approved. Her shirt says Tipsy and mine says I heart Duck Density. ( don't worry I will never wear that shirt again) I loved the refreshments they served at Playhouse because it fit the theme of the play, boxed wine and Frito's. High class I tell you. </div>
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Sunday I started on the proposal part of my cookbook project. My recipe list was finalized or so I thought, thanks to Keithon Bryce I now have another recipe to add. I still haven't decided what chapter it will go under or if it will be an add on or replace a recipe I'm on the fence about. Yesterday on the drive home Keithon asked what we were having for dinner and I told him Chili Mac. The blank stare he gave me was priceless. Then I explained it to him, "remember that stuff you use to eat long time ago that came out of a can?" Yet another blank stare. So I got home and set to work in the kitchen . The main reason I decided on Chili Mac was because there were meatless crumbles in the fridge and an opened box of elbow macaroni in the pantry that we needed to eat through. After Keithon realized that he would not be eating dinner from a can he was all in. Plus I love cooking for my son because he is my taste tester, that child can't lie to save his life and if a taste is off he will say "mommy I don't want to upset you but something is missing" Cooking is my form of art, like fellow vegan Erykah Badu says " I'm an artist and I'm sensitive about my shit" so I take great pride in my cooking and I will not rest until it is perfect and after a few tweaks I got this recipe right. (some recipes have ended in tears and will never see the light of day)</div>
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Chili Mac</div>
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What You Need:</div>
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1 1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni</div>
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2 cups frozen meatless crumbles</div>
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1 can crushed tomatoes</div>
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1 tablespoon nutritional yeast</div>
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1 clove garlic (chopped)</div>
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1 teaspoon dried onion</div>
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1 tablespoon chili powder</div>
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1/4 teaspoon cumin</div>
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1/2 cup of water</div>
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pinch of salt ( optional)</div>
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crushed red pepper (optional)</div>
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What You Do:</div>
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Cook pasta according to package. While pasta is cooking in a large saucepan combine remaining ingredients excluding meatless crumbles. Bring to a simmer stirring occasional, when sauce starts to bubble add in meatless crumbles continue to stir until crumbles are coated with sauce. Once pasta is cooked and drained add to sauce mixture, stir and serve.</div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-22414150393859995842014-03-19T19:56:00.000-05:002014-03-19T19:56:02.470-05:00Celebrate Vegan Times<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yep you read that right today is my 1 year Veganversary!!! Today marks one year that I decided to really focus on what I put in my body. Now before I made the vegan leap my diet was not a bad one. I didn't eat any red meat, fast food turned my stomach, and fried foods were my least favorite. A lot of people think my leap to vegan was because of my friendship with Bianca and yes she tried to convert me but that is not the reason I made the change. When I decided to make the leap it was in the beginning of my weight loss journey and an icy day in Memphis. The weather was super crazy we had a mixture of ice and snow that decided to fall at the same time, which is nothing new for Memphis but it is by far the worst type of weather to drive in. We were allowed to leave work earlier and I attempted to take the safest route home, the expressway. They looked pretty clear on the camera so I took a chance. In my journey home I forgot about the overpass I would have to take to get to the express, the Walnut Grove overpass. If you live in Memphis you know that even in the best weather that area is a death trap and they there is a light at the top of the overpass. As I was slowly crossing the bridge to ease onto the expressway the light turned red so of course I had to stop well let's just say my car decided it was a good time to spin. Once I was done spinning my car was on the other side of the road facing the way I came from and still in one piece. The was not one car in my way. I didn't hit the curb, the bridge or another car. There was an angel in the car with me that day. Once I finally made it to where my child was located my nerves were shot to shit needless to say. It took me at least 30 minutes to collect myself. After I got myself together I decided to watch a few weight loss doc on Netflix and I learned a lot that day about the chemicals they put in our foods that are killing our bodies. Then I decided to watch <b><a href="http://www.getvegucated.com/" target="_blank">Vegucated</a></b>. If you haven't seen it please watch it. I even called sent Bianca texts as I watched it. Of course she asked are you going to become vegan now, my answer was still nope. I liked my cheese and my seafood. ( I learned later way I loved cheese and ice cream so much) The vegan bug hit me when a few days later when I was eating dinner. I made a turkey meatloaf and after eating it I felt sick and bloated, so I made myself a green juice to settle my tummy. The juice helped a lot but then it hit me my body was rejecting meat so I still screw it I'm done eating it but Cassi can never do ANYTHING easy and if I was going to become vegan I was going to be a RAW vegan. I damn near died!! Memphis is not the place to because a raw vegan especially in March!! IT WAS FREEZING AND I WANTED SOUP! I cold and hungry and none of the tips Bianca gave me were working , I wanted soup. So I ditched the raw route and just stuck with being a vegan. Check out my before and after pictures. I look old pictures of myself and it turns my stomach that I ever let myself get to that point. </div>
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Now on the the celebration food!! Last night was our monthly Vegan Drinks Meet Up ( I'll post about that later) and Pam ordered a Lo Mein dish that everybody took interest in because it was vegan!! Lo Mein is normally egg noddles but at A-Tan they use Ramen noodles and ya'll know mama loves her ramen. So tonight I decided to recreate it for my cookbook. It didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted but that is because I was rushing and I second guessed my noodle to sauce ratio. ( next go round I'll only use 2 noodle rounds I used 3) I used the ramen noodles I picked up at the Viet Hoa and I love these because the calorie count is so low. They are only 230 or 320 calories per round. I forgot the exact because I threw away the bag but if you eat ramen you know that most bags start at 400 calories and can go as high as 1000 and the sodium is through the roof but because I made my own sauce I controlled the sodium, calories and MSG. ( I hate MSG) Also on my next go round I will drain the noodles more. Taste wise they were great but I'm still not happy with the presentation. </div>
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Of course a celebration is not a celebration without dessert and instead of cupcakes I made cookies. ( Testing yet another recipe) Chocolate chip cookies are the simplest cookie to make but vegan chocolate chip cookies are super expensive because of the chips you have to use. The sugar angels were in my corner during a recent trip to what Bianca and I call the Ghetto Kroger. That Kroger is a vegan person's nightmare BUT they are finally remodeling and adding in better vegan options and look at what I found on close out. VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!! These has to be chunked in the back because they I have not seen them in my 2 years of vegan baking. The only option I had was the Simple Truth Brand at almost 5 bucks a bag. Highway robbery I tell you but these chips were only $1.79 a bag!!! I need to go back and get more because they are out of my life forever. </div>
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So instead of regular chocolate chip cookies I made chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Its a celebration so why not indulge. As I am typing Keithon sampled one and told me that they were good. I trust him because if a flavor is off he will tell me. </div>
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Now tomorrow night is my real celebration. My girls and I will be headed to Imagine for dinner and drinks at Greencork. So if you are in the area we will be a Imagine around 6:30 so come by and say hi! </div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-41277656282909443812014-03-17T20:24:00.000-05:002014-03-17T20:24:15.459-05:00Drum Roll PleaseNow some of you may have noticed that my postings have been cut down a little but trust me it has been for a really good reason but I will get to that later. Tonight I am full of announcements! I stated back in January that I planned on taking a trip to Japan and as of Friday I obtained my ticket!! It has now become real. Cassi is going to Japan!!! When my purchase was complete I sat at the computer shaking not because I was scared but because I set a goal for myself and I achieved it. I can't wait to shop, eat and visit the temples. This will be the best Mother's Day ever!<br />
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Now for my second announcement, since November I have been busy at work in the kitchen creating recipes and veganizing classic family recipes. Why you ask because I have been working on a cookbook. I am now in the proposal stage meaning that the book is finished and I am ready to submit it to publishers. The theme is a cookbook with simple, starter vegan recipes, geared toward single parent households that want healthy, child friendly dishes all using pantry ingredients. So the total servings will be small and dishes simple enough to whip up in less than 45 minutes from start to finish with basic ingredients that should still be in the pantry from prior meat eating days. Waste not want not is my motto. My hopes for this book is for it to become a vegan transitional cookbook, a starting point for the new vegan family. </div>
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I have the most awesome friends in the world. They have come over to taste new recipes, push me to try a recipe again when it didn't turn out how I wanted and for dealing with all the cookbook and recipe talk for months on end. I would say the journey is over but it has just began because once the book is published there will be book signings and cooking demos. For the past year or so I have attended the bulk of Bianca's cooking demos and from backstage it looks like a cake walk but after Amy put my through a mock demo in my kitchen, I felt like I was on The Next Food Network Star. She asked questions about the ingredients and the process. If I could sub this for that. It was crazy!! But I pulled through like a champ questions and all. Here she is making what will be one of my signature dishes, Spring Rolls. They are fast, healthy and they scream Cassi. I always find a way to work them into any party I have.</div>
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So I am asking for positive energy and positive vibes as I submit my soon to be best selling cookbook!Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-74270826215368048932014-03-16T20:30:00.000-05:002014-03-16T20:30:44.280-05:00Adventures In Dating Last month I made the statement that I was going to venture back into the world of dating, well I am still doing it but the last few dating partners have been, how do I say this.... duds. Not their fault not my fault every date isn't suppose to lead to a trip down the aisle. They are just dates and Megan from <b>Imagine Vegan Cafe</b> summed dating up best. "We are just awkward people trying to find our match." I never thought of it that way but she hit it right on the head. So last week while Keithon was on spring break Mama Bear had a little free time on her hands so I enlisted the help of my girl Aisha to find me a date. (Yep I basically let her pimp me out.) We seriously went through her Facebook friends, like it was the Toys R Us catalog. Those that know me know I am super picky and honestly would rather stay at home and read a book than date but after a few nos and by few I mean a lot. She said hey go look at "Jack's" page. ( names are hidden to protect the innocent, I give them nicknames based on their personality and so my girls can keep them in order. Bianca, Aisha and I decided on the name Jack because he is a jack of all trades. ) Looking at his page I laughed so hard I snorted... a few times, this man is hilarious. Aisha thought I completely cracked up but once I regained my composer, I told go ahead hook it up. Any man that can make me laugh so hard I snort is someone I want to cross paths with. Laughing is my biggest turn on. Make me laugh and I'm yours.<br />
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This is Jack.The pillow he is cuddling with is mine but for blackmail purposes we will say its his. (There is also a video to go with the picture)<br />
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My second requirement for dating is food based. After making me laugh you have to be able to feed me, accept my food choices and not make fun of me because of it. ( It has happened before I dated a guy that made fun of me being vegan. No worries he's gone now) So for our first official date we decided on a in date meaning we grabbed food and stayed in. It takes some of the pressure off... for me. Bonus points for him, he let me pick the meal. So I had to think what do guys like to eat... PIZZA. To me the best home style vegan pizza is served at Imagine. I ordered the black olive and mushroom pizza and paired it with a red wine I had at the house. I was going to go with beer but Aisha said wine. I guess wine is more date like. We were suppose to have dinner at his place but when I pulled up there were fire engines everywhere. There were 2 fires in the building so yeah we headed to my place for dinner. (fyi the building is fine, I guess they were just small fires)</div>
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I seriously held my breath as he took the first bite because vegan cheese is a hard sale but he actually liked it and not the I like it because I want to get in your pants like it. He had real questions about it and he even thought there was meat on it because of the mushrooms!!! I told him mushrooms are one of the veggies I use a lot of because of the vitamin D and the meaty texture it gives foods.</div>
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So after we ate a little to break the ice I suggested we play a game. I am a big kid and have a ton of board games. Since I wanted to get to know him a bit more I suggest we play <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moment_of_Truth_(U.S._game_show)" target="_blank">Moment of Truth</a>. </b>It is a lie detector game based on a TV show that came out in 2008. To play the game you pull a card and you pick one of the three questions to ask and the person answers and then puts their finger on the button and it decides if you are tell the truth or not. Corny I know but it is a great ice breaker and a way to find out dirt on the other players. More bonus points because he actually played with me willingly. </div>
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Fast forward to Saturday, everyone knows that I have the worst sweet tooth in the world and by far my favorite sugary treat is ice cream. I will eat it in the dead of winter. It doesn't matter to me. Hold on here comes the girly stuff my dream date is to go out with a guy for ice cream. Yes I know this is not the 1950 and there was no sock hop to go to but hey there is just something sweet about a guy taking a girl to get ice cream. So guess what we did Saturday morning. Yep you guess it we went for ice cream! ( insert swoon here) We headed to <b><a href="http://www.yolofroyo.com/" target="_blank">Yolo</a></b> to get ice cream. My favorite thing about Yolo is the add ins. I love to create stuff plus they have more than a few vegan add ins as well as sorbet on tap so we vegans don't feel left out.</div>
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I went for the pink lemonade sorbet and topped it with Oreos , blueberries, Kiwi syrup and Popping Boba pearls. Yes it looks crazy but it made me happy and he didn't question one add in.</div>
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So it seems that the one date that I asked the universe for has turned in to a week of dating. Don't worry I'm not complaining because I like it. Dating is pretty cool, when I get my nerves out of the way and just enjoy the process. Plus this guy is cool with my veganism and makes me laugh so I plan on seeing more of him.</div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-37421545841520423142014-03-10T20:31:00.000-05:002014-03-10T20:35:06.334-05:00Weekend Wrap UpMy girls mean the world to me so whenever I can support them or celebrate them I am all over it. This weekend my was my chance to support Bianca from Vegan Crunk. Saturday Bianca did a food demo at our annual <b>Southern Woman's Show</b>, where she made<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 25px;"><b><span style="color: #0b1305;"> Black-Eyed Corn Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.</span> </b>Check out the post <b><a href="http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com/2014/03/southern-womens-show-cooking-demo.html" target="_blank">here</a></b>. She did an amazing job, as always and I even got a taste of demo fame. Mainly because I was on stage to help plate while she cooked<span style="color: #0b1305;">. </span></span></span><br />
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After the demo was over the girls and I checked out a few of the vendors and even played a round of Purse Bingo. Sadly we left with only the purses we came with but who doesn't love a good game of bingo. My favorite part of our outing was the photo booth that was hosted by <b>Q107.5. </b>Give us props and a camera and we go crazy. </div>
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After we finished playing glamour girls we headed downtown to <b>DeJaVu</b> for dinner. I love this building, its so New Orleans. By the time we sat down to dinner we were starving because sadly there were not to many vegan options at the Southern Woman's Show. I was only able to eat a pretzel. I wanted to get a "purkle" but Aisha wouldn't let me because I refused to pronounce pickle correctly lol. So for dinner I settled on the <b>Curry Tofu with a side of Roasted Potatoes and Citrus Spinach. </b>There was so much food even starving I couldn't finish it. </div>
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Sunday was an off day for me food wise. Not because of Daylight Saving Time but because my baby bear is out of town this week. So its just me and Hollywood this week. Most people would turn cart wheels when they don't have to cook but not me, I actually like cooking. So when I don't have anyone to cook for I don't cook. For breakfast I added a bit of coconut milk and fresh veggies to my left over tofu and BAM breakfast. Now dinner went downhill fast. I hate to say it but I had cookies for dinner. Yep cookies for dinner. Hey who was going to stop me. In my defense it is a cookie recipe I am testing for the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale next month. </div>
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I am still hard at work on a project that I hope to be able to reveal this Sunday. While Keithon is gone I'll be using my time to focus on the final touches of project and I promise I will try to best to eat dinner at night because if I don'lt eat I can't post. There is another recipe that I am working on that started out as a joke but I hope to knock out this week as well. So stay tuned.</div>
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Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-26331331128237018252014-03-07T18:55:00.001-06:002014-03-07T18:55:43.933-06:00Oh Ye Of Little Will PowerSo it seems that Cassi can not stop eating out. I gave it my best effort but Tuesday night Keithon and I went to Imagine for dinner and sadly I cut into next week's grocery money to do it. I had every intention of staying the course but Monday there was this crazy sleet/snow mix that shut down the city and knocked out power to a lot of the city, including myself. Keithon and I were in the dark from 9am until about 2:30. It sucked but lucky for us we have a gas stove so I turned on the eyes as well as the oven and shut of the parts of the house we didn't need and wrapped up in blankets. Lucky for us the house didn't get below 63 degrees before the power came back on. So after being "trapped" in the house for 3 days straight being in the kitchen was not on my to do list. Plus my poor stove needed a break. <br />
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I love going to Imagine aside for being able to eat ANYTHING on the menu, they know me by name and they genuinely care about you. Imagine has a massive menu and you would think that I would be able to order a dish that is listed right. Nope, my name is Cassi and I like what I like. If you have seen me eat or snack for that matter, I sort my foods. Yes I have to eat like foods together and I hate for my foods to touch but my favorite two foods are soups and nachos. Go figure right. Sadly my all time favorite food is not on the menu. They have a nacho dish but it doesn't have all the madness that I need to make nachos nachos. So I order the Taco Rita minus the rita add chips. This is what the Taco Rita should be:<br />
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<em>The Taco-Rito <br />
-It’s the soft taco meets burrito. Bean and “meat” mix, topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa and served with black beans over brown rice</em><br />
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When I get through this is what it looks like. I love it. Its big, its messy and it makes me happy.<br />
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I have also decided to end this no spending freeze. I am free of credit card debit, my car is also paid for and aside from my trip to Japan my money is mine to spend. I have learned that my 75 dollar mani pedi are not a requirement but mama will continue to get her nails done just not at such a crazy price and I can spend money I will just not go balls to wall and buy whatever I want when I want. So things can wait. I will get to Japan in May so there is no need for me to live like a popper. Since I ended my spending freeze I decided to come back to Imagine and order the Taco Rita as is.<br />
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On another note if you are in the Memphis area head to the Southern Woman's Show to check out Bianca from <b><a href="http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Vegan Crunk</a></b>. She will be there doing a food demo at 2:30pmCassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5832175438005948452.post-27194174787829464942014-03-03T19:51:00.000-06:002014-03-03T19:51:54.728-06:00Budget Grocery Shopping Some of you know that I have put myself on a spending freeze. It has gotten to the point that I cut off my debt card so I can't swipe it or buy anything online. My will power sucks. On some no spend challenges they say you only have 5 or 10 a week to spend on groceries but I have a 10 year old boy and he has to eat so I made my grocery budget $15 bi weekly. So Friday morning when I got paid I pulled $30 out. Saturday morning I took stock of the pantry and fridge to see what it was that I truly needed and set off to the store. I don't know why it was so scary to go into a store with a budget, I do it all the time. I guess it was the lack of a safety net that scared me.<br />
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I normally go to four grocery stores to get my shopping done but I knew that with a $15 budget Whole Foods sadly was out as well as Kroger so I settled for <b>Cash Savers</b> and the <b>Viet Hoa</b>. I shop at Cash Savers for my produce because its cheaper. When produce are close to sale by dates they mark them down.... drastically. One a good day I can get my mushrooms for 99 cents and other produce for 49 cents. Last week I got a BAG of blood oranges for $1.08. You can't beat that.<br />
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I go to the Viet Hoa for the same reason the produce is super cheap. There reason for cheap produce is because their traffic is so heavy and they stock only in season produce. I can get cilantro 4/1.00, limes 10 for $1 and roma tomatoes 79 cents a pound. Plus they stock all the Asian foods I need. Check out my receipts. I did go over my budget by about 27 cents but I can make that up next week.<br />
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Check out my haul. I was impressed with all the food I was able to get. I did buy on impulse items. I'm still not sure what I am going to do with it. Its an apple crumb topping. Hey I'll figure it out later.<br />
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That bag of green beans cost me 49 cents and the carrots 55 cents!! Crazy right. Since I took stock of the pantry before I left I saw that we had black beans and tortillas so I decided on DIY burritos. </div>
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My post may be a little limited due to the fact there will be a lot of leftovers and I am working on a new project. I will have a big announcement in about 2 weeks so wish me luck. </div>
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<br />Cassi Conyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15793491204325695854noreply@blogger.com6