Yummy Vegan Wedding Food, Another 5 Things About Me, and A Grocery Store/CSA Wrap Up

First off I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who wished me well during my 'tooth ordeal', it means a lot! I'm happy to report that I'm back in action! I am able to eat solid food and have really been enjoying it. My first 'celebratory' meal was vegan sushi. I love sushi! We made avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, and avocado/cucumber rolls. We, as always, added pickled ginger directly to the roll.

Last night, we had the wonderful honor of watching some good friends of ours get married. The ceremony, with some glitches, but with a sense of humor about it, was wonderful and both the bride and groom looked amazing. Both so happy! Brett was able to get a picture of the vegan dish prepared especially for yours truly.

Not only was I honored that they made a special dish for me - it was unbelievable! And the guy who prepared the food had never cooked vegan before, all I can say is he seems to have a knack and perhaps should. He marinated portobello mushrooms in balsamic vinegar and then stuffed it with ratatouille. It was topped with a bit of faux cheese and he made a balsamic reduction to go on top. It was out of this world! Seriously it looked and tasted like something you'd get at a really fancy restaurant. After we got ours, the meat eaters got in on the action and cleared them out! The omni's even enjoyed them. I was told that he would give the recipe, so I'm going to make sure I get it, I'll make that whenever I want to wow someone with vegan food!

Romina tagged me to tell you all another five things about myself. This is the third time I've done this! I'm running out of interesting 'Jen Tid-bits' but here you go.

1. I have never wanted a wedding, nor to have children. I guess I'm just not a 'traditional' person. Brett and I will get 'married' eventually, but neither want the fuss and hassle nor are we religious, so will likely do so at a courthouse. We are already committed to each other, we've lived together for 5 years, we just want to legal recognition at this point.

2. I'm sure this comes as no surprise, but I'm not into fashion, I like to look presentable, but don't really put a whole lot of fuss into it - never have. I've learned what colors and fits of clothing work for me and stick with that. Unfortunately, the colors that look the best on me are my least favorite colors: orange, red, pink, mustard, etc. Basically shades of red. So most of my clothes are colors I don't actually like. My favorite color, oddly, is brown, and I happen to look alright in that too, so it's not all bad.

3. I'm a very 'serious' person, I suppose you could say. But I'm equally as silly as I am serious. I love crass, politically incorrect humor. I love to make fun of myself, others and uncomfortable situations, it helps me cope with the reality we currently live in. I think humor is essential to a full, healthy life, and can help make times of strife more bearable.

4. I value honesty above being 'right'. What I mean by that is, say you are a racist, sexist bigot, I would rather you be honest about it, even though most people wouldn't consider those feelings 'right', than put on some facade and poorly hide your obvious 'ism's'. We can't solve really hard problems unless we can face our own 'ism's', it's tough, uncomfortable, but we all have them.

5. If I met the person I used to be now, I would want to kick their ass :-) or at the very least I would have considered myself a 'douche'. I used to be a very close-minded, selfish individual who cared only for myself. I also made horrible decisions, which I think most young-ins have the propensity to do. However, as I've gotten older I've consciously tried to explore my own short comings and do what I can to actually be the person I'd like to be.

Now I have to 'tag' five people to tell us five things about themselves.

Let's see:

Jessy from Happy Vegan Face; Lisa - the Show Me Vegan; Kumquat Peekapoo from The Path of the Vegan; Callina from Epic Eclectic; and M from My Face Is On Fire.

And finally, I will end this post with a grocery store/CSA wrap up. Our CSA bag was much larger this week thanks to the weather starting to cooperate (aside from far more rain than usual and lots of wind!).

Here is our grocery store haul:

I never know where to start. I'm going to change it up this week. Starting from the back left: pickled ginger, organic Mexican style cheese (for Brett, he likes regular cheese on black bean quesadillas), organic veggie broth, organic plain rice milk, organic Fair Trade Sumatra coffee, sushi nori, whole wheat burger buns, Newman O's, organic strawberries (from California!), a Sweet and Sara Peanut Butter S'more, sea salt, an Alternative Baking Company vegan Espresso Chocolate Chip cookie, wasabi powder, 3 organic California avocados, 2 organic cucumber, 2 organic yams, vegan jack, quick oats, organic frozen sweet corn, and black peppercorns.

Here are the peppers and such: 2 organic red bell peppers, poblano pepper, organic garlic, habanero, jalapenos, and serrano peppers.

Here's our CSA bag for the week:

It's all organic. We've got leaf lettuce, spinach, green onions, spearmint, radishes, and asparagus. I can't wait to eat that asparagus, it's so good!

Well, I'll try to get back on later to post the weekly garden update and catch up on all your blogs!

'Til next time.