Vegan in a House of Carnivores

It’s been about 18 months since I made the plunge into a vegan diet. Not because I have an emotional attachment to animals, although I do on some level, and not necessarily to help save the planet, which I do think needs all the help it can get, but I did it for health reasons (menopause is no joke) and how it made me feel. That’s not to say, even though they all knew the reasons, that my family thought I’d lost it. (you can see how excited Paul is)

Thrilled!

All they could see was a life without bacon or hamburgers, no more steak on the grill or sausage sandwiches, and oh geez…no eggs! When I tried a two week trial vegan diet out for size on the entire family it lasted about ten days before my son came to me in tears. “Mom…(sniff, sniff) do you remember (tears, sniff, sniff) when you used to cook with meat?” True. True story.

What! No bacon??!
What! No bacon??!

 

So you have to come to grips with the fact that you live with a bunch of carnivores. How does that work if you don’t eat animal products and you do all the cooking, grocery shopping, etc.? One could say very carefully…but really it just takes creativity and extra hands when you have to deal with things you don’t want to deal with. Like cut up chicken for the gang and not touch it…you designate one of the carnivores.

Martinis are vegan!
Martinis are vegan!

 

Meals are planned (most of the time) so everyone can have what they like and I am not driven absolutely mad by cooking like a crazy diner chef. Things like mexican style spicy hamburger alongside a pan of black beans made with the same ingredients minus the obvious. Or Jerk chicken…again substituting beans for the bird stuff but using all the same ingredients in both.

Tyler eats vegan
Even Tyler likes vegan.

 

There are times that the whole family eats vegan. Do they always know it? No. Too many things are pretty good replicas so there’s no need to spill the beans (so to speak). Once I committed to this I found some great resources with recipes that work for all of us.

Samosa Style Potatoes
Samosa Style Potatoes

 

Let me share some. Maybe you’ll give it a try…

My absolute favorite and go to recipes are from  Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Another go to book, especially if time is tight, is from the Minimalist Baker (they also have a fabulous blog)

Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking: 101 Entirely Plant-based, Mostly Gluten-Free, Easy and Delicious Recipes

Again great, easy recipes that pride themselves on being able to be done quick!

Third, but equally as good, is Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen: Traditional and Creative Recipes for the Home Cook

Now we happen to LOVE Indian cuisine and this gal translates all your favorites into vegan yumminess. I have this on my IPad because I cook from it so often.

There are many more that I’ve come to love and rely on. Next time let’s talk about baking. Sweet stuff…everybody’s favorite!

If you try any of these let me know what you think!

 

Until next time,

Susan

 

Two Shows the Same Weekend

Show prep is in full swing here at my very messy studio…this year I have two shows on the same weekend!

First there is the best mixed media show in southern California…

October 15, 2016
October 15, 2016

My daughter and I will be at Glitterfest (Anaheim, CA) from 10-am to 3pm in our best fall attire with all my goodies.

Also the same day and weekend is the 39th Annual Fall Bernardo Winery Art and Craft Fair (Rancho Bernardo, CA)…my son, Paul, will have his maiden solo voyage running my booth on Saturday from 10am to 5 pm! Please come say hello and spur him on! He’s a budding entrepreneur and has been working with me for the past three years. He can do it!!

So how does one prep for two shows on the same weekend? FURIOUSLY!

Stay tuned for some sneak peeks…

Until next time,
Susan

Eleven Months

Geez…eleven months??!

…has it really been that long? Eleven months? Yikes…

A lot of folks must be wondering what the heck happened to her? I also took a three month hiatus from social media…so some are shaking their heads.

Who are you?

Well…honestly, even though my intention to get in her to write are good ones, I often feel like I have nothing of any substance to say. Or some topic peeks my interest and time or family or something keeps from writing even two words.

Eleven months!? I can’t believe it…but I do.

Let me do a little refresher…yes I am still here!!

My goofy son
My goofy son

Yes my son is amazed its been eleven months also. Family time has been priority around here and the summer was spent all four of us. Lunch and dinner together just about everyday.

I’m still working up some crazy art and wearable stuff. Doing a lot of sewing but will have jewelry this fall.

CoExist Bracelet

So I’m not truly MIA…just taking a break…for eleven months. LOL.

Did you miss me?

Until next time,

Susan

Ice Resin Design Team 2.0

Well, to say I’m thrilled would be an understatement…!

It was announced today and the team for Ice Resin in 2015 includes …me!

It’s an honor and a delight to be involved with such a great group. After my 2012-13 involvement with them I have to say I missed them all last year!

Here’s the new team…

Ice Resin Design Team 2015

Here’s to an absolutely creative and artsy 2015!

Please be sure to join me in all the creative festivities!!

Come by and like my page…Susan’s Charming Trinkets and be sure to look up the Ice Resin Design Team on the Ice blog

 

Until next time,

Susan

Sisal Christmas Trees DIY

Inspired by another artist I decided to make some of those little sisal Christmas trees this year. Of course you can buy bags of sisal trees but I needed to make them from scratch. (of course)

So I headed off to Home Depot for some ingredients:

Project Ingredients

Based on my inspiration tutorial, which you can find here: DIY Bottle Brush Trees, these are all the necessary things.

  1. sisal natural rope

  2. heavy duty scissors (I went with serrated blades)

  3. 18 gauge wire

  4. vise

  5. drill

I added safety glasses and a cup hook to this list. Also the above picture shows my household drill that doesn’t have an adjustable chuck (the thing that holds the bit) so I needed to upgrade into this…

Bigger Drill

It has three movable parts where the bit is held so I could do this with the cup hook…

sisaltree1cuphook

 I stuck that in there for twirling of the wire necessary to make the tree. But let’s back up a little and start with the sisal. First you want to cut some lengths of the rope to work with. I cut 6 inch pieces, about 20 to start, then untwirled all the fibers. You will have to untwirl two times. The first will take apart the rope. The second will take apart the fibers and look the picture below. At least this is what you are shooting for.

sisaltree1untwirled

Looks like my hair! Keep doing this until you have a nice full pile. Mine were about 6 undone strands of rope each but you can really do more or less depending on your aesthetic.

Next you will need to cut the wire.

Cutting Wire

I started with 12 inch pieces which then are folded in half.

sisaltree1wirebend

Now take your pile of fibers and fit them in between one of the folded wires. Take a second wire and place it over the fibers in the opposite direction. Slip these to each side of your fiber pile and it should look like this.

sisaltree1lineupwire

Trust me…at this point you’ve made a big mess and you’re wondering if this is even going to work. But be patient because it’s slowly coming together.

Get your scissors and we are going to cut diagonally in between the wires like so…

sisaltree1cut

Then go back to each side and make some more diagonal cuts so you have basic tree shapes.

sisaltree1cutotherside

Here’s where that cup hook and larger drill come into play. Placing the bottom of the wires, the open end, into your vise screw it down hard so they will stay put.

Wires in Vise

Then take your drill with the cup hook and place the hook like so in the folded portion of the wire…

Cup Hook Twirling

Pulling up slightly with the drill start to allow the wire to twirl. The hook will probably catch a bit more wire here than you would like but keep twirling with the drill moving slowly until you get the hang of it. The wire will be very twisted when it’s done but not so twisted that it breaks or twirls over on itself. This took me a few tries before I felt comfortable. AND WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES! You don’t want things spinning through the air to hit you in the eyes!

So here is the pay off…

After Drilling

A messy tree like thing…but wait! Take your scissors or, I used a needle tool, and brush out the fibers. I found it best to work in one direction. Then using your scissors trim into a tree shape. Keep trimming…and trimming….and trimming and a tree will appear!

sisaltree4trimwide

 

Many Sisal Trees

Miraculous! All of a sudden you really have a mini sisal Christmas trees….but they’re beige. And now the real fun begins!

Don’t hate me but I’m not going to show you until tomorrow!

See you back here then!

Susan