July 4th meal ideas

So the 4th of July is rapidly approaching.  Usually it's not a holiday I get to concerned about.  But this year my husbands family will be coming to visit for the whole weekend.  So I will be expecting at least 8 adults and 3 children.  I'm excited about the prospect because I love cooking when it comes to planning big meals!  The first family holiday at my house is such a huge opportunity!

Something that has always been really nice in the past when visiting family, is that there are always a large variety of choices in the fridge.  Since going vegan my options have dwindled a bit since I'm "currently" the only vegan in the family.  So far! So now that everyone will be at my house for the weekend I am planning to have tons of healthy delicious vegan options!

A few family staples I am wanting to have are chicken and dumplings, buffalo dip, and macaroni and cheese.  Now I also need to keep in mind my father in law is diabetic.  As most people look at those items you'd probably think I have my work cut out for me.  But I have some ideas in mind for those recipes!  Actually the macaroni and cheese may be the easiest with an exception of finding diabetic pasta.  I know of a brand, but unsure if my stores carry it.  I believe I found a buffalo dip that uses Just Mayo as a base.  Unfortunately my husband won't even eat vegan mayo!  Subconsciously stubborn. Lol. I did get the opportunity to pick up Beyond Meat Chicken at whole foods that I will probably dice up for the Buffalo Dip.  The same company that makes the Beyond Meat has a chicken soup recipe on their website.  I love to play around with recipes especially after looking at reviews and such.  I have made a non chicken dumpling soup before with potatoes and leeks and then broth and seasoning, etc.  I guess potatoes aren't great for people with diabetes so I may skip the potatoes and use Beyond Meat chicken since all it's ingredients seem safe in that regard.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday I've been decorating our bedroom and I've been waiting to get the duvet in the mail.  Well the package was delivered today.  My husband hates it! I do admit the white comforter insert that's been waiting for a duvet has been looking  really good with our bedroom.  The duvet I ordered, I was absolutely in love with online.  It totally didn't match and the material was a bit disappointing.

So I think it will be returned and I will need to look for a cleaner looking white duvet tomorrow.  I will probably start at TJMax.  That is where I found the down alternative comforter for a good price, and they almost always have good housing options.

So wish me luck in my searching!

Dinner tonight we did one of our favorites! Sorry didn't take a pic, didn't look super pretty. Anyway it was my peanut butter Thia sauce.  This time we had it with Soba noodles, broccoli and carrots.  If you like peanut butter this dish is super easy and delicious!

I'm gonna make my best guess at the measurements. I usually just throw everything together and add more of any ingredient based on how it tastes.

Thia sauce
1/2 C unsweetened peanut butter
1-2tbs vinegar( I use Asian vinegar since I have it)
1 Tbs Vegan chicken broth bouillon powder
1 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs Agave
Sraracha to taste for heat

Water as needed so it's not too thick. You can also use soy milk, coconut milk, etc.

Vegan chicken patties

I had planned on having a salad tonight but since my husband made non vegan pizza for dinner I didn't feel like a salad was going to cut it.  So I decided to try out my chicken less patties with spinach, buffalo sauce, just mayo, vegan cheddar and provolone, unsweetened ketchup and mustard.  Delicious!

I'll probably relax the rest of the night.  We have just finished redoing our bedroom.  My mother gifted us a new comforter for our anniversary.  So since the one I fell in love with didn't match our room at all, naturally, I simply had to paint the room.  It really was hideous before since we haven't painted anything in out house since buying it. We really are lucky with most of the color choices.  But our bedroom had been tan with royal blue carpet.  The wall with the closets and bedroom door had a husker red stripe on it.

Our New bedroom is grey and dark blue.  I had to find a way for our carpet to not look as ridiculous!  So today was spent arranging close in my "new" dresser.  *new meaning the antique dresser from my husbands bachelor days that has been hiding in my basement.  I am planning to paint it as well.  I'll post before and after shots.

So as I was saying tonight I plan to relax rematch Sherlock Homes the series on Netflix and have a blue moon.

A new day.

Hi,

This is my first blog, I'm not much of a writer but I love to read.  I'm apologizing in advance for poor grammar.

A little about myself to get everyone caught up:  I live in Nebraska, grew up in Chicago, have a degree in art education but currently working in a kitchen and taking real estate classes.  Moved with my husband for his job.  We have been trying to start a family since May 2011. Currently unexplained infertility.  After my last treatment about a year ago I did some extreme dieting and lost 30lbs.  Shortly after that went vegan over night. I've been a vegan for about a year now.

As of today we are finally ready to try natural IVF.  I'm really excited but really anxious at the same time about getting my hopes up to much.  My reasons for wanting natural IVF vs IVF: cost, morally (tons of fertilized eggs bothers me, I'm scared of needles, had horrible side effects on clomid.

So as of today I received my packet or envelope in the mail.  I was expecting this big envelope and it was no bigger than a bank statement.  I was definitely dissapointed.  I was wanting to spend far more time going over information.  Yes i assume it would not be anything I don't already know at this point.  But you don't watch Christmas movies to learn about Christmas right!

So anyway I read through their two sided page and filled out my medical history form, ran to my local Dr. and received a copy of all my records.  So now I wait for August 11.

I'm scared to get my hopes up and I'm scared it won't work the first try; which is very possible.  Cause my money conscious husband(who hasn't freaked out or stressed the past 3 years that we don't have a baby yet) might want to wait a while before trying yet again.  In all reality we will possibly need a loan to help with this procedure anyway ;(