Sanctuary

November 6, 2014 by Britt 2 Comments

A couple weekends ago, Chris, Roman, and I took our very first trip to a farm animal sanctuary. We drove two and half hours north of the city to Woodstock, arriving just in time to hop on the last tour.

The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary currently sits nestled among the mountains of upstate New York. I don’t think we could have picked a better time of year to visit than the fall. The rolling mounds of patchwork orange, red, yellow and green surrounding us were stunning.

One of the first things we noticed as we drove up was a large array of solar panels on the property, announcing that sustainability is a priority here. Something else that I noticed immediately, before we even got out of the car, was the smell—or rather, the lack thereof.

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15-Minute Pumpkin Butter

November 5, 2014 by Britt 1 Comment

I have always been a big fan of pumpkin butter. Its silky smooth spiciness just sings of fall. So I can’t say why exactly, until about a month ago, it had been years since I’d had any.

Thankfully, my dad’s fiancée put pumpkin butter back on my radar again. When we were visiting, she pulled a jar from the fridge at breakfast. I stirred a little into my oatmeal and fell in love all over again. As I was enjoying the familiar, warmly-spiced spread, I did something that I typically do. I started thinking, Hey I could make this. In fact, I’m going to make this when we get home. No, you know what? I’m going to make a healthier version of this when we get home.

And so I did.

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What Vegans Eat

November 4, 2014 by Britt 2 Comments

Breakfast: Oatmeal sweetened with maple syrup and spiced with cinnamon and a pinch of cardamom, diced pear, walnuts, chia seeds, and buckwheat groats. Not pictured: a cup of black coffee.

Lunch: Leftover lentils, roasted garlic sesame mochi, and lightly steamed kale and collards.

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Buffalo Chickpea Dip

November 3, 2014 by Britt 13 Comments

The Sports Center alerts constantly buzzing on my husband’s phone, followed by groans of disappointment over the status of his “fantasy team”, tell me that it’s football season. The holidays and the food-filled gatherings that accompany them are also fast approaching. Both of these make for good excuses to throw together the recipe that I’m about to share with you, but, truth be told, you don’t need an excuse. For the love of everything that is right and good, just make this recipe.

Buffalo Chickpea Dip, guys.

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Brrrrr

November 2, 2014 by Britt 3 Comments

Today was crazy cold and windy, so we had to bust out some of the winter gear. It looks like I might be going into my third season rocking my maternity winter coat, which worked well as a babywearing coat last year, and this year is just huge. We were happy to find that Roman’s hat and mittens from last year still fit, because tiny fingers. Also, adorable!

World Vegan Month + Nablopomo = Done!

November 1, 2014 by Britt 1 Comment

Happy World Vegan Day, guys!

That’s right, November 1^st is World Vegan Day, and it also kicks off both World Vegan Month and Nablopomo. Since starting Leaves of Kale, I’ve been planning to participate in Nablopomo, which is a challenge that bloggers take on to write a post each day of the month. (The organization BlogHer now hosts a challenge every month, but November is still considered the official month of Nablopomo.) Having already planned to take this on, when I realized that this month is also World Vegan Month—well, come on! It’s just too perfect.

So, since it’s Nablopomo, and in celebration of World Vegan Month, I am planning to write and publish a post here every day for the remainder of November.

I have no illusions that this is going to be an easy task, especially with a toddler to chase. My posts will no doubt range from fully photographed recipes to a list of articles that I’ve enjoyed reading, a few thoughts, or maybe a series of simple iPhone snaps of whatever I’ve eaten that day. I know that this month will challenge my perfectionist tendencies, and I hope that it will push me into a consistent blogging groove. It’s going to be an exercise for sure!

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