Buffalo Cauliflower "wings"

I love wings, I mean really who doesn't. This was one of my partner's and I favorite meal, so when I decided to go plant based I had to figure out how to substitute this delicious meal for a meat free version. 

I took to Pinterest and found the recipe that I used. Original recipe here from hot for food. They also have recipes for different flavors. 

I doubled the recipe and added Cayenne pepper to the batter mix to add a bit of zing I found that it also made flavoring the "wings" unnecessary.

This recipe can serve 4-8 people.

Ingredients

2 heads of cauliflower

Batter:

2 cups flour

4 tsp onion powder

4 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp Cayenne 

1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use silk almond or cashew)

2 cups of water.

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce

1 cup hot sauce

Preheat oven to 450f.

Cut cauliflower into pieces (about the size of actual wings).

In a bowl stir all the dry ingredients together. Then slowly mix in the milk and water. ( until batter is still thick enough to stick to the cauliflower)

Dip cauliflower in batter. Put on parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Put in oven for 25 minutes or until they start to brown. Flip half way through.

While waiting mix. BBQ sauce and hot sauce together.

Once out of the oven coat with sauce and our in the oven for another 25 minutes.

Take out of oven, let cool for 5 minutes and dig in.

Huggies Pull-ups ( fade away designs)

Underwear like design 1/1 stars

 I like that these are a mix of underwear and diaper together. It allows my son to take them off and put them back on like underwear but if we are rushed, because he realized too late he needed to go to the bathroom the side just Velcro's off.


Designs 1/1

I liked that the designs were from popular characters that my son love and that I think are still pretty popular for boys.

Fade away pattern 1/1

Ok this is the iffy part with me. Yes, the designs have specific areas where the pictures fade but unless my son actuals sees them fading. If your child can learn by understanding that you want these pictures to stay on all the time then great it should work for you.

Protection 2/2 stars

I like the way these Pull-ups have protection for both boys and girls. I have a boy and the protection on these things are awesome. I haven't had one mess with these. No poop or pee has went through these.


Last opinion I think the cool and learn would be better for my son but despite that I think these are a great helping tool to start off potty training.


I received this product for free from Influenster, for testing purposes.

Adult Review- Cumfy hogtie

Price- Ranges from 40$ to 76$ I'm sure you might find it for cheaper or higher prices if you look harder but this is an ideal of the prices that I've found. We bought ours at between us lovers boutique in Sudbury.

I was really debating about posting a review about sexual items on my blog but I told myself why not. I've done the review on Bj blast so I figured why not keep doing it on a few other items that I've tried out with my partner.

Today I'm going to talk about the Cumfy hogtie restraint. When my partner and I saw this product in the store we just looked at each other and smiled like two school kids that just scored candy. We've done the ropes and the fancy knots but sometimes having something simpler to do the restraining is more convenient at times.

What I like about this product.

The cuffs have a nice padding in the inside almost like fleece. I like that because your wrist can be somewhat moveable in them and they don't cut or hurt with a bit of struggling. It is also adjustable with a few wholes to adjust the sizes. I liked that there was the four ring center which allowed a good way of attaching and positioning your partner in different positions. I also like the ease it takes to set up.

What I didn't like.

If you look closely on the picture just below the paragraph you will see the center piece where your cuffs attach. On the center piece there is clips that you well clip onto the cuffs. These broke extremely easily. They either bent or broke right off which will made this purchase a downer. Other reviews online have also stated having the same problems as we have so it's not just me. 

 Two different sized cuffs one for the wrist one for ankles.

I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone. My partner and I still use the cuffs as it's sometimes still easier and comfier then rope directly on the skin. The only reason why I'm but recommending this product is because of the links that broke. If they can solve that issue then this product would be great for both beginners and experienced people.

COVERGIRL Supersizer Mascara review

COVERGIRL SUPERSIZER Mascara Review

This is the Cover girl super sizer.

I got to try this product through bzzagent and like most products I've tried I really enjoyed it.

Packaging 1/1 stars

Now, I realize that for some of you the exterior looks might not be important but it is for me. I love the color of the tube and how bright it is. It makes it easier to find in my makeup bag and the colour just makes happy.

Brush handling 1/1 stars

I like the brush and I find it works well. When you receive products from bzzagent they often come with little video's on how to use them. So I watched this one. It might sound funny to some of you but that little twirl up thing she does in this video I had trouble doing, but I got with practice.

Staying power 1/1

This product is great. It stays on all day. Even through heat and sweat but it is easily removed. I don't think it would stand if you are in an area where there is a lot of water such as crying or in the rain though, because it comes off easily without soap.

Does it work? 2/2

What I like about this mascara is the you can make your lashes long and looking natural like in the video or have a bolder effect like the picture below that I took. I found that it wasn't clumpy at all and I don't have to go over it a bunch of times to get the look I want.

Picture of the mascara from:

http://m.covergirl.com/beauty-products/eye-makeup/mascara/super-sizer-mascara

October 2015

Hello muffins,

So I haven't completely lost my mind in October. I've had a few rough parenting weeks but I've found myself getting calmer and realizing that I really just need to breathe and realize a few things.

My boys have definitely been challenging this month but that's OK. I did lose my cool a few times and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. Now, by losing my cool I don't mean I went Rambo and destroyed my house but I did yell. In the middle of my yelling I realized that what I was doing was wrong although it does happen. I then took the time to apologize to my youngest ( he'd been waking up all week at 2 and falling asleep 30 minutes before wake up time, I was exhausted) and gave myself an adult time out. That's right, I treated myself like I would treat my child if he had a tantrum and I found myself so much calmer. I think as parents sometimes we get so frustrated because we just feel like we need time to breathe and sometimes we don't get that. And when we feel that way we just get lost in frustration, forgetting that our children (especially the younger ones) can't quiet communicate the way we want them to. They are learning about feelings and how to respond and let's just say when I caught myself acting on this absurd kind of fit I realized that I didn't want my child to react that way. I want him to communicate the proper way, to talk and explain how he feels instead of pushing his wants on to others. So for the rest of the week when I started to feel frustrated I just took a step back to observe my situation and then talk to my child the way I would want him to talk to me. I want my children to learn that it's OK to be frustrated and be emotional but there is a good and a bad way.  Inthe weeks that I had them with me I noticed that the calmer I was the better the children were and not only did they communicate better with me but with themselves too. I also found that I was better at analyzing my feelings and that most of the time my frustrations were due to a communication break down and that asking questions to my children and trying to understand them by asking questions made my life a whole lot calmer and the children's too.

As it comes to my vegan diet it's been hard. I don't eat anything that is non vegan in my house and at work since I pack my lunches except chocolate and candy, I won't lie that's been hard) but at restaurants and at families houses I'm a complete failure. I see meat and I want it which I can generally refrain myself but most places so far don't really offer vegan options so I do I have to work on that.

Halloween costumes turned out pretty good.  The boys costumes are a bit big but that's OK. Collecting candy with them, my hunny and my best friend C was great.

This was the outcomes of our costumes.

When it comes to my vegan repertoire of cooking I didn't really make anything to impressive. I have fallen in love with Chana Masala which is an Indian dish typically made with some milk but I was able to take the milk out and substitute it with coconut milk or almond milk. I also made a vegan version of coleslaw which turned out to be delicious. No recipe but if II get the ingredients again I will mark the ingredients and give you the recipe.

I got to go to bulk barn this weekend which was loaded full of nuts and products that I don't normally buy here where I live because I can either not find it or it's to expensive. I know I have to watch the ingredients even in the list as some of them contain milk for some reason. With that said I did find some good ingredients that will hopefully allow me to make some more great dishes to enjoy as a vegan.

I am also hoping to put a few reviews up on the blog. One about a product I've received through bzzagent and one will be an adult review.

Love

Me

September 2015

Hello muffins,

I know I'm a bit behind in posting how I did in September I've just had a really hectic month.

My oldest started school. I can't believe how fast time goes it's crazy. I swear I was just changing him diapers and bottle feeding him yesterday. Now, he's just a big ball of happiness, always eager to help and play.

Along with school both boys have started at a new day care that comes with new rules and it's a bit hard to get used to it. The new rules make things a bit harder between my ex and I when it comes to children's medication but I am getting on my way to making everything easier.

I also had a lovely wedding to attend I was a bridesmaid. It was fun and cold and I am very happy I got to attend such an event.

My goals for September were as follows:
Get some pickling and jam done.
Complete the budget from August receipts.
Finish organizing the house ( my room and kids toys
Learn to hem pants
Make one vegetarian "dish" a week.

So how did I do pretty good I have to say.

I didn't make jam but I did make some Cajun picked carrots and beans. I love the taste of the carrots but not so much the beans. Since I don't like the beans so much I've giving almost all my jars away.

I've also learned how to make cooler wine. My hunny and I have made a batch of black cherry wine and one wild berry. We also have another lime flavored one that needs bottling this up coming weekend. This month if finances allows we want to make an actual red wine to use for cooking and special events.

I did a budget with August receipts but August was such a weird month of spending which I normally don't do that my budget just didn't work. I did however just repaid my credit off this month ( October) and hopefully I can keep it that way.

I'm hoping that come January I can make another budget that's accurate that will include: savings for holidays, presents, insurances and just regular savings.

When it came down to organizing my house all that was as half success. The kids toys were sorted, while the rest of my house just got worse. Right now I feel a little crazy and since cleaning and organizing will get done.

Learn to hem pants. Haha, that was an experience. I got a sewing machine and I've never used one. By watching a few videos on YouTube I got the basics but let's just say I still have a lot to learn. I managed to break only one needle which I think is a win. :)

The last thing on my list was to make one vegetarian meal a week. Well I've started a journey to veganism so all of my own meals are meatless ( I do eat meat and animal by products such as cheese and eggs when I go out for supper but I am trying to stop that too.)

This is one of my favorite lunches a quinoa salad inspired by a recipe in the book oh she glows.

Goals for the month of October:

Make Halloween costumes

Continue growing my cooking repertoire for vegan food

Try not to lose my mind ;)

Any ways I'll have to stop this here my battery is at 2%. :s

Have a good month my loves

P

Zuchinni fritters

As some of you know this year I joined an organic produce program delivered by Trussler's Pantry. Every week I receive a bin full of fresh, organic, locally grown produce. In the latest bins I've received a lot of zucchinis, and didn't know what to do with them all. 

I also went to the library and picked up "The Vegetarian Student Cookbook: great grub fit the hungry and broke" by Ryland, Peter and Small. It's in this book that I have found the zuchinni fritters recipe.  I looked at it for inspiration and made my own version. I also highly recommend the book, there is a lot of yummy recipes in this book.

Ingredients

2 zucchinis (I used 1 green and 1 yellow)

3 green onions

2 tsp garlic 

1/2 tsp vegetable seasoning and  dill

5 tbs of flour
Olive oil or coconut oil ( I prefer coconut oil but it's your choice)
1 cup cheese of your choice ( I used cheddar)

Grate zuchinni. Put in a strainer and let sit to remove excess water.

Put oven on broil.

In a skillet put a bit of oil, the garlic and green onions and cook until tender. Pull off heat let cool.

Finish staining excess water from zuchinni by pressing it in your hands put into a bowl ( you can add 2 eggs if you want this will help hold your zuchinni patties together and help them brown). Add seasoning and dill and onion mixture into the bowl as well as the flour. Mix together.

Put empty skillet back on the stove at medium heat ( I use the same one that oII cooked the onions in to save on dishes), add a bit of oil. Make patties with the zuchinni mixture and put in the skillet.

Cook until browned, take out of skillet and put on a baking sheet. Add cheese on top of the cooked patties. Put into oven until cheese is browned.

Take out and eat. Yum.