I Want To Live On A Farm

Hello, my friends!

I hope you all are having a great day!  It is beautiful in my area, a very comfortable mid 70's with plenty of sunshine.  My kind of weather.

First, let me please make one thing clear.  I am very happy with what I do.  I work with people that have special needs.  It is a very rewarding place to be.  I literally can help make a difference in their lives on a daily basis and I know that I am making a positive difference out there in the world.

However, I do like being by myself (an my close family/friends are ok to be around).  My first choice for another career would be to own a bookstore at the beach somewhere, but that would be expensive and I would have to worry about the hurricanes.  That wouldn't be fun.  So, I thought of something else, living on a farm.

I love animals.  I love being outside.  I love having vegetables.  So I realized that maybe living on a farm would be perfect for me (again, if I can't live at the beach).  I can see myself feeding the chickens every morning.  Yes, I try to be vegan, but I would have no problem eating the eggs from the chickens that I raise and treat well.  I would play with the goats in my backyard.  I can hang out with the cows while they're grazing around.  I would have all the dogs.  ALL THE DOGS.

I would most certainly be having a garden.  And I would love to have a big enough farm where I can grow enough to sell at farmer's markets and roadside stands.  If you know me even a little bit, I know that you can picture me doing this.  

So I have realized that this would be perfect for me.  Either I need some awesome people to buy me a farm or I need to win the Powerball.  If anyone is is willing to buy/give me a farm, please get in touch with me. Until then, I am very happy with where I am at.

Is there anything that you would like to see me blog about?  I am up for suggestions.

Please feel free to leave any positive or constructive feedback in the comments.  You can also email me at blhutton4@gmail.com

Be As Vegan As You Can

Happy Weekend, my friends!  It's going to be a little bit toasty out there today, stay cool and hydrated!

If you have been following me, you may have read one of my recent blogs about my meatless general tso's chicken.  I still can't stop thinking about how good it was.  I made enough for 4 lunches this past week, and I loved every single bite of it.  I'll be making it again soon.

Although I highly encourage to be vegan, I know that for some of us there may be huge obstacles to being 100% vegan.  I am not 100% vegan.  I will never turn down a Reese's or a chocolate chip cookie.  If something has eggs in the recipe, I may still have it.  I do draw the line with meat products for myself.

There could be many reasons for not being able to be completely vegan.  Economic class, access to grocery stores (many people live in "food deserts"), unsupportive friends/family, or simply not being able to give up that one food choice.  And, of course, there are many other reasons/barriers.

Be as vegan as you can.  If you simply cannot give up cheese, that's ok.  If it is harder for you to buy more vegetables, get what you can.  If you can be vegan for breakfast and lunch but not dinner, that's ok.  Little changes can make a big impact.  

I try my best not to judge other people's choices, I don't know their story.  Yes, I wish we all could be completely vegan.  The world would be so much better.  However, any step in the direction in progress.  Do what you are able.

Thank you so much for reading, I truly appreciate that you have taken the time out of your day to ready my blog.

If you would like, please feel free to leave any positive/constructive feedback in the comments section.  Also, you can email me at blhutton4@gmail.com.  

Make it a good day!

For The Love Of Reading

Happy Wednesday, my good friends!

I hope you guys are making it through the week.  We are halfway through it, I'm pretty sure we will make it to the weekend!

If you know me, you know I love reading.  I have read my whole life.  When I was just a little one, my mom would read to us every night.  We would also sing songs and have a good time.  I have ready ever since I can remember.  My favorite books when I was younger were Bread And Jam For Frances and the Berenstain Bears books.  We also had some bible stories books that we enjoyed.  I grew up knowing the reading was a fun activity, it was never something I "had" to do.

In a different lifetime, maybe I would have been a book editor or a bookstore owner.  However, that has not happened.  I will say that I would love to own a bookstore at the beach.  That would be my heaven.  Side note, if someone has money to give me to do this, let me know.

While I could write many blogs about reading, and maybe I will, I am going to briefly talk about a book that I just finished.  Back in April, my sister and I went to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie (loved the movie).  While there, we were watching the trailers for some of the movies coming out soon.  One of them caught my eye: Where The Crawdads Sing.  It sounded vaguely familiar.  I probably saw it somewhere, perhaps as a suggestion on Goodreads.

The trailer of the movie looked good.  Once I got home, maybe not the same day, I looked up the book.  I found a used copy on Ebay for roughly around $6, including shipping and decided to buy it.  

I have lots of books, both physical books and ebooks that I need to read.  I try keep up, but I can't resist a good deal.  So, I read some of the other books I had before I got to this one.  I need to improve my review of books skills, but I will say that I got hooked on this book as soon as I started.  Normally I read mystery/thriller or young adult (think Hunger Games or Harry Potter) books.  This was something a little different.  It is a love story (not romance novel) combined with a little bit of mystery.  You can't help but feel for Kya (The Marsh Girl).  The book takes place in the 50's-60's, with a young girl trying to survive in a cruel world.  

This book makes you recognize that we can all make pre-conceived notions about people, whether it be where they live, who their family is, who they hang out with.  None of us deserve to be looked down upon, we all need a helping hand every now and then.  I'd like to think that we as a society have improved from that time period.  But, we always need to try to be and get better.

So, while this isn't a book review, I do recommend this book.  If nothing else, Mayne you will find out where the crawdads sing.

Please feel free to comment with any positive/constructive criticism.  Also, I am making my own mailing list for now.  If you would like me to email you with updates, please feel free to email me at blhutton4@gmail.com

Easy, Inexpensive General Tso's Meatless Chicken

Happy Sunday, my beautiful friends!

I hope you are enjoying the day, this is the perfect summer day.  At least in my area, it is sunny and the high temperature will be in the mid to upper 70's.  It's a perfect tank top day!

So far today, it'a about noon local time, I feel like I have gotten a lot accomplished.  I did some laundry, cut some grass, took my niece and one of my dogs out for a short walk.  I also got my breakfasts and lunches ready for the week.  I made 5 of my oatmeal breakfasts and 4 lunches, and now I am going to be starting cleaning the kitchen a little bit.

Speaking of lunches, I wanted to share with you an easy and relatively inexpensive vegan version of General Tso's Chicken.  General Tso's is one of my go-to's when I am getting some Chinese food.  I don't always get it every single time, but it is one of my favorites.

Since I don't eat meat, I have to hope that a place will offer General So's Tofu, which isn't half bad.  Some of the local places have it, others don't.  I will say that for the most part, it isn't difficult to at least get something that is vegetarian when getting Chinese food.

I had a light bulb moment this morning when I was thinking about what to meal prep for work.  I normally try to have several boxes of Aldi's Meatless Chicken Tenders in my freezer (you may know that I love Aldi).  They are actually really good.  If you haven't tried them yet, I highly recommend them.  And as an imperfect vegan, I always have whole grain rice in stock.  Lately, I have been also keeping several of the larger bags of frozen broccoli from Walmart in my freezer.  (I have it mostly to add to my dogs' food.)  Luckily, I bought a bottle of Aldi's General Tso's sauce a couple of weeks ago.

Oh my goodness, it is almost like the real thing from a restaurant!  I made 4 large servings worth of the rice.  I also added some plant based butter to it once it was done.  I added a bunch of the frozen broccoli to it.  Since I was getting this ready for the week, I wasn't worried about letting it thaw out first.  At the same time, I got a box of the meatless chicken tenders out to thaw for a few minutes.  Once it was thawed enough, I cut it up in to smaller pieces.  And then, you guessed it, I added the General Tso's sauce to it.  Add what your heart tells you to.  I like enough to know it's there, but I don't like it drowning in sauce.  

I tried a few bites of it.  I can't wait to have more this upcoming week.  I will definitely be adding this to my rotation.  I'll just have to make sure to buy some more of the sauce next time I'm at Aldi.

Let me know if you try it and what you think of it.

I am trying to figure out how to have an automated email subscription service for those of you that want to subscribe, but I haven't had any luck with finding a free service yet.  In the meantime, if you have a blogger account, you can go to your settings and add this to your reading list.  Also, I am thinking about having my own emails go out for when I write a new blog.  Either the day of or the following day.  If you would like this, please let me know.  My email is blhutton4@gmail.com

If you have any positive/constructive feedback, please feel free to comment on this post of email me at the above email address.

Thank you so much for reading and enjoy your upcoming week!

My Plant Based Journey Part 2

Good day, my friends.  I hope you all are finding ways to stay cool in this heat wave we are having across the country.  It's a bit on the toasty side.  Don't forget to check on your elderly friends/family/neighbors.

So, I am back for Part 2 of my plant based journey.  I believe I left off with the last entry that the first time I tried being plant based, it didn't work for me.  However, Covid then happened.  And when covid started, I said to myself that I wanted to be healthier when it was over than when it started.  I decided that I would give being plant based another try.

The second time I made the attempt (and also the first time), it was primarily for my health.  Of course, I love animals and was concerned about their welfare.  However, I think a lot of us block out what is actually being done to them.  We ignore the truth, I know I did. 

I like to learn things.  I love to read.  I watched pretty much all the Netflix food documentaries.  I read many books about the plant based diet and other ways food could help us with our health.  Along the way, I learned about all the inhumane treatment of animals.  Believe me, it is horrendous.

I started back up with the plant based eating plan in April-ish 2020.  I don't like saying vegan/vegetarian.  I again like to focus on what I can eat, not what I'm not eating.  For the first few months, I slowly transitioned to not having meat.  The last meat I ate that wasn't seafood was in September 2020 and it was a Slim Jim.  I used to love those!  For maybe about another 6 months after that, I again would maybe occasionally have some sort of seafood.  Shrimp was one of my favorite foods and I would treat myself to it sometimes.

Since about spring of 2021, I very rarely had seafood.  At the beginning of the pandemic, I did stock up a little on cans of tuna and such and I hate wasting.  On the rare occasion, I will add a can of tuna to my pasta.  But that's like once every 5-6 months.  I should just donate the rest to a food pantry and be done with it.

So, for about a year, I have been pretty much a "vegetarian," not consuming any meat.  As far as eggs and dairy, I normally wouldn't go out of my way to have it, but I would use it.  I try to avoid them, but I wouldn't stress if they were in something.  (I can't really drink regular milk anyways, but I could have it in something.). I will say that I liked butter in things.  On toast, in pastries, or on some cooked veggies.  But I decided not too long ago that I really want to try as hard as I can to be a vegan.  However, if I have the very sparingly item that has either eggs or dairy in it, I am not going to be upset.  After all, I am not going to give up on Reese's.  I still like to refer to myself as plant based, but essentially I am an imperfect vegan.

While I started being plant based for my health, I would say that the main reason I am now is for the animals.  An animal's life is more important than my taste buds.  Also, it is really important for the environment to limit animal products. 

And don't worry, I get my protein.

And there you have it, my plant based journey up to this point.  I am still learning.  One of the things I am trying to focus on now is how to be a better animal/vegan advocate.  I want to be able to communicate with others better.  I am currently doing a short program through CEVA, Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy.  I am learning many ways to be a better communicator through them.

I hope that you enjoyed ready my journey.  If you have any positive/constructive feedback, please feel free to use the comment section.

Also, you can follow me on instagram at plantbased_brandi

Thank you for reading!

My Plant Based Journey Part 1

 Good day, friends!

I hope everyone is doing well today.  What was one good thing that happened in your day?

Some of you may have followed my original blog site and may kind of know my story.  However, some of you may be new to me and I wanted to talk about my plant based journey with you.

I would like to think that for most of my life, I have consumed a somewhat healthy diet.  I live in western Pennsylvania.  So yes, I consumed animal products.  But I wouldn't say it was the standard American diet.  I loved chicken wings, burgers, and steaks.  I also loved my veggies.  I liked the healthy food (veggie burgers included), but I certainly wouldn't turn down a bacon burger. 

Maybe about 3-4 years ago,  I decided to try a low carbish diet.  I didn't want to go low carb, my body needs the energy.  Plus I never thought it made much sense to exclude fruits and vegetables just because they may have had a higher sugar content.  When I started this eating plan, I also researched food in general and kind of stumbled upon the plant based diet.  Now I really don't like the word diet, because it implies that you are depriving yourself of something.  I like to focus on what I can eat, so I like to say eating plan.

The first time I tried the plant based eating plan, I still was being mindful of the amount of carbs I was eating.  If you are following a plant based eating plan, you know that you really aren't worrying about carbs (as long as they are healthy carbs).  In fact, it's a lot of carbs.  Since I was trying to be mindful about being low carbish, it didn't work.  I was always hungry and went back to eating meat.  But in my heart, I knew that the plant based eating plan was the right path.

Since this getting to be a longer story, I have decided to break this up into separate parts.  Myself, I like reading shorter blogs.  Once they get to be too long, it gets hard for me to focus.

Thank you so much for reading, I am truly enjoying sharing my thoughts with you.  I hope that I am inspiring you in some form.

Feel free to leave positive/constructive feedback in the comments section.

Also, you can find me on instagram at plantbased_brandi

Taking Time To Reflect

 Good day, my friends!

I hope the day is bringing you joy and happiness, wherever you may be!  This page, at least for now, is reflecting on what's going on in my life.  Of course, a lot is going to focus on being plant based, but other thoughts just might be what I am thinking about at the moment.

This particular entry is to focus on how I reflect on things.  Some of you may know what I do for a living, which is working at a facility with intellectually and physically disabled individuals.  My particular job focuses on training new direct care staff, so a lot of what I do is talk for a good portion of the day.  I love what I do.  Not only do I get to help our new staff, but I also get to help our individuals succeed and live a good life.  but at the end of the day, I need a rest from socializing.  It's not natural for me to be a "people person."

When I was younger, I was always the shy, quiet kid in school.  I didn't go out and socialize much.  My sisters were my closest friends (they still are).  It wasn't until I was a young adult that I worked more at being a people person.  I had jobs where I needed to be with the public, and that did improve my skills greatly.  And now, I speak in front of groups for good portions of the day.  And I am ok with that, I have adjusted over the years and for the most part, I am comfortable being in front of groups now.

At the end of the day, since it is not my comfort zone, my brain needs a break.  I need solitude.  I need to clear my head space.  Most days, as soon as I get home from work (well, after I let the dogs out), I go for a walk or a run.  This helps relax me.  it's my transition to being home.  Once I get back from that, I need to get dinner for myself and the furbabies.  My dinner is usually light, I try to eat larger meals earlier in the day.  Once I am done with dinner, I like to learn, whether it be watching an educational video or reading an insightful book.  After that, honestly, sometimes I just sit in silence for a bit.  No joke.  I'll sit in my chair in my living room and just relax.  I'll reflect on how my day went.  What was good, where I can improve.  No music, nothing on tv, no anything.  Just silence.  It eases my mind.  I usually head to my bedroom about a half hour to 45 minutes before I go to sleep.  This is when I read my fiction book. 

I know for some people, they need to be around people.  They need the human interaction.  I get it.  Not me.  I could be at home for multiple days without talking with other people, and I would be ok with that.  Naturally, I am an introverted introvert.  I like to keep to myself.  For the most part, I really don't need to socialization.  I need the silence.

This may make sense to some of you.  I hope it does.  Just know, if you feel the same way I do, you aren't the only one.  

Any positive/constructive feedback is welcome in the comment section.

Feel free to follow me on Instagram: plantbased_brandi

Kindness Is The Right Choice

 In today's world, there's a lot going on.  Some of it's not pretty.  However, I truly believe that there is far more good out there than bad.  Yes, we may sensationalize the bad, it gets the headlines.  We can't help but hear many stories on it.  But, there are many good things going on, too.  I hear about many people helping their neighbors out.   It may be something as simple as a few kind words being said to a stranger in the store.  It could be helping someone that has a flat tire.  It could be paying for someone's groceries.  

When you have the chance, choose to be kind.  You will never be wrong when you do.  There may be some people out there that manipulate and take advantage of things, but that's on them.  If I have the chance to help someone, I will try my best to help.  It could be that I hold the door open for someone.  It might be I help someone that's a few dollars short at the store.  

I remember a time in my life where things were a struggle.  And you never know, I could be put in that situation again.  There have been many kind people in my life that have made a huge difference to me.  From kind words, to giving me books, to helping with groceries, to giving me gas cards.  I am trying to pay that forward as much as I can.

Trust me, you will never be wrong by choosing to be kind.

Feel free to follow me on instagram: plantbased_brandi

My Favorite Breakfast (At Least Right Now)

 Good day, my friends!

I hope all is well out there!  They are calling for possibly some strong storms in my area this evening, as if we haven't had enough rain lately.  If only I could send some of the rain out west, they sure need it there.

Anywho, today's blog is brought to you by........ Steel Cut Oats.  Up until recently, I had not been a fan of oatmeal.  I would have it once in a blue moon, but never really was fond of it.  I was trying to find ways to have a more filling, protein filled breakfast.  I'm trying to be as vegan as I can, so a breakfast of eggs and bacon was not going to happen.  I was hooked on peanut butter and jelly for a bit, but I would end of feeling like I was starving an hour or so before it was time for lunch.

After doing some research on the World Wide Web, I stumbled upon the traditional oatmeal, but mixing in peanut butter while making it.  Hmmmm, that sounded tasty.  It also called for some chia seeds thrown in, and adding some granola on top.  I'm a texture person, so I liked the idea of adding some crunch to it.   The recipe also recommended using steel cut oats, they're supposed to be better for digestion.

I am not a fan of cooking, so thankfully this only takes about 10 minutes to make enough for 2 breakfasts. I use about a 1/2 cup of quick cook steel cut oats with 2 cups of water.  I add a little bit of maple syrup for the sweetness and add a large scoop of Justin's honey peanut butter.  I add some chia seeds.  After tinkering with the recipe, I now also add some ground flax seeds and a dash of cinnamon.  I bring it to a boil, and then simmer and stir for about another 5 minutes.  Once I turn the heat off, I then add some protein powder.  I still have some leftover whey protein powder that I hate throwing away, so I am using that.  Once that is gone, I have some plant based chocolate protein powder.

After splitting it up into 2 containers, I let it cool for a bit.  Once it has cooled, I then add some berries to it.  I prefer my oatmeal cold, so I put it in the fridge.  The next morning, I'll put it in my lunchbox.  Right before I start work, I'll throw some granola on top.  And there you have it.  A delicious protein packed breakfast.  For the most part, it does keep me full until it's time for lunch.  

What do you like for breakfast?  Do you have a favorite oatmeal recipe?

Let me know what you think.  Positive/constructive criticism is welcome.  I am working on getting ads added to my site.  Once you see them added, please click on them to support my page.  Just clicking them gives me credit.

Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you on the flippity-flip.

My New Favorite Treat

 As some of you may know, and my page name would imply, I follow a plant based diet. I have learning along the way for the past couple of years, not eating any meat.  I am currently limiting my eggs/dairy consumption, being as vegan as I can.  This treat is vegan.

I had a little brain storm the other day on a new treat for myself.  Get plain Wheat Thins.  I myself usually shop at Aldi, so I buy their version (much much cheaper).  Find some peanut butter.  I prefer Justin's Honey Peanut Butter, you don't know what you're missing if you haven't tried their peanut better.  It is sooooo much better than some better known brands.  And lastly, some hazelnut spread.  Again, I use the Aldi version.

All it takes is a tiny little dollop of peanut butter and hazelnut spread on each cracker.  Three simple ingredients that many of us may already have on hand. Oh my yummy goodness! You will be in absolute heaven.  Trust me, you have got to try this little treat.  It's sweet and salty.  It's crunchy and gooey. It doesn't get much better than this.  There may also be times where I make this my lunch for the day.

Also, I am working on getting ads up and running on this site. 

.  

My New Site!

 Hi Guys!

I have decided to start my own domain!  This makes my blog more reachable in searches, and more control over the site.  Please bear with me as I am learning!

My plans are to use this as a platform for my ideas/inspiration/journaling.  Please expect to see multiple subjects on here, but my main focus will be sharing my plant based journey.  I hope you enjoy and please feel free to give me any positive/constructive feedback.

Enjoy!

~Brandi~