Tropical Depression/Hurricane Nicholas snuck up on us. We were already on the road to Texas when it hit. But we were still over 100+ miles away from the Gulf Coast and managed to miss most of the rain. It was downgraded to a tropical depression this morning and is dragging itself slowly over southeast Texas, leaving thousands in the dark and dumping a foot of rain. #OMG!

While waiting for the storm to pass, we decided to stay north of the Gulf Coast and visited River Park in Boerne, Texas. We had a lovely picnic on the river and avoided most of the weather.
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The river was up due to the rains, but it was a nice break. There was plenty of wildlife out enjoying the overcast skies, and I'm sure, avoiding the high winds and rain south of us.​.

If you need a break watch the video...

​Sakura is the national flower of Japan, the cherry blossom – translated into Sakura, represents a time of renewal and optimism. The proud pink blossoms mark the end of winter and signify the beginning of spring. Due to their quick blooming season, cherry blossoms also symbolize the transience of life, which is a major theme in Buddhism. 

​I believe mine are ornamental plum but they are still a very pretty way to welcome Spring!

We had snow last week and you can see the blooms are not as intense or colorful as normal, but still, nature finds a way. 

Quick video!

​Enjoy your weekend!

Okay, it might be wishful thinking as we had snow on the 16th, lol But the calendar says Spring is here and I'm going with it!

Hope you have an amazing Spring where ever you are in the world!

I will be back soon with more reviews and maybe some actual trip pictures!

Quick, recent roadtrip from New Mexico to south Texas.

Hi Travel Family!
Yesterday's post was about a movie we watched and since then people have been emailing me asking where they can find it. Amazon! Of course! 

Note: That is an affiliate link, which I make (maybe) a few pennies off. BUT that has  nothing to do with my movie review.  Read my review here if you missed it. If you enjoy off beat science fiction why not give it a try?
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We were too busy today for movies, lol.

The weather is crisp, but nice (read no snow/ice/rain/blizzards) so I'm doing a few DYI projects, I hope to post about tomorrow.  

Quick video of all the things I should have blogged about, but didn't lol. 
​Happy Holidays! 

How are you?
It's a chilly 42' this afternoon in overcast New Mexico. (I love it!) And because I have a MEGA amount of traveling coming up I am out walking around trying to do anything but work, lol.
​So behold the beauty of  a chilly afternoon walk...

More videos soon, I may even finally post the Iceland videos. Better late, than never.
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Catch you later~

The blog challenge continues. Today we talk TV.
I don't watch that much TV but I am enjoying a few programs right now:

I didn't want to watch Wynonna Earp because I had no idea what it was about. A western? A country singer?  Demons? #WTF?!

Then a friend told me what I was missing! After watching season one I was hooked. The dialogue was spot on and the heroes are tough, not frail women. They are messed up, swearing, demon slaying misfits, but who isn't? Plus it is chocked full of supernatural baddies that keep getting odder and odder. What's not to love? And oh yeah, there's Doc!
Start at season one and enjoy the bat shit crazy ride!

 I'm also watching season 2 of Ozark. 
Unless you live in a cave, I'm sure you've seen or heard about this one. To me it feels like a 'Breaking Bad' type wannabe drama. Its well written and well acted of course, but I don't know... There is something off about it. I don't love it as much a BB.
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Although it does ask some of the BB questions, like how far will an 'average person' go? And when do you stop saying it's to protect your family and just admit your good at crime? At times it feels too heavy to watch and can be a bit predictable.

But at least it's not your standard crime drama, with overtones of the Sopranos as well as BB it looks at crime on may different levels. It's immensely popular so I wont give away any of the details if you aren't caught up yet. And speaking of BB I'm also hooked on Better Call Saul. Which is shot a few miles from my current home base in New Mexico.

Better Call Saul is the prequel to Breaking Bad.
Over the last 4 seasons we slowly watched the random players come together and evolve into the people we watched in BB. "Saul" or Jimmy, is the connector in all of this, with an entertaining, if not disturbing backstory worth watching. If you want to watch a smart, well written and staged drama, then give it a try, it will not disappoint.

Thats all the tv I have room for now. Do you watch any of these shows? What TV shows are you hooked on? Share your recommendations below.

See you for the next blog channel post tomorrow!
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March is always a busy month, but that doesn't mean we can't still eat good food, yeah? So to prove that - here is a mini vegan food diary.  I have tried to cook more and eat less take out. Plus be more creative and try new recipes.

I like to have stuff on hand for when people stop by. Stuff that is easy to cook and also doesn't scare the non-vegans. LOL So I bought a new pantry friendly burger mix. It actually tasted okay, kind of bland, but with pickles, onions and peppers it made a tasty burger. I'm gonna keep some on hand for surprise company.

Now I'm feeling inspired to try more new foods. Gotta go cook - catch you later!

So it's Saturday night and I was minding my own business...
Yes, it's gonna be that kinda story.
I have spent my day off whipping up vegan treats and catching up with friends via social media.  #BestDayEver!
One of the treats I made was a lovely bunch of Vegan Raw Fudge.  Recipe was so simple and quick that I should make weekly. But then I would be eating fudge weekly and well...maybe not a good idea either.

If you follow me on SC you saw my heavenly creation among my daily random snaps. 

Now I do make other things, they just don't look as pretty as the dessert, so I rarely post them. But tonight as I was cooking, and I was also talking to one of friends, he was teasing me about the fudge and we were private snapping back and forth....So I sent him this video of what I was cooking at the moment.  Please note dear reader, this was a private video but I was not naked, not everything that happens on SC is porn related.  BUT,  It did get me in serious trouble! 

I was cooking, and not paying attention to WTF I was doing and sent not to him, but to my stream... and the fall out was almost immediate! 
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"WTF! Is that Chicken?!"
"IS THAT CHICKEN?!"
"How can you cook chicken!"
"That's gross chicken!" 
"I thought you were a vegan!" 

And more of that....

Okay in my mind that's clearly not chicken. 
Isn't this chicken????

I was clearly not cooking THAT!
What I was frying (How dare I right? But I was using orgainic Olive Oil, I actually linked it below the recipe for your insepction) was clearly NOT chicken, it was TOFU, you know, that thing every vegan is supposed to eat? I rarely eat it, but thought I wanted to try this receipe for a change of pace. #GoMe and didn't that work out well...

Here is the actual recipe for my Fried Tofu Nuggets:

Crispy Tofu Nuggets
Ingredients
    •    1 block extra-firm organic tofu (NOT CHICKEN)
    •    3 cloves garlic
    •    2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup
    •    1 tablespoon dijon mustard
    •    1 tablespoon maple syrup
    •    2 tablespoon water
    •    1/4 teaspoon black pepper
    •    3/4 cup of oat flour (I made my own from whole oats - aka oatmeal)
    •    4 tablespoons olive oil (or enough to fry the tofu)
    •    A dash of Himalayan salt 
    •    A side of your favorite sauce for dipping

Instructions
    1    Drain the tofu, and cut into nugget sized pieces. NOTE: DO NOT USE CHICKEN
    2    Once cut, lay the tofu pieces on a clean dishtowel, and then wrap them up in the towel. Put a cutting board on top, and balance something heavy, such as a few cans on top of that. This is how you press the tofu to help release excess water. Let the tofu press for 10 to 30 minutes, the longer you press it, the drier and more firm the it will be. Note: It will not turn into chicken.
    3    When you are ready to make your tofu, mince the garlic cloves and add them to a large flat bowl that is big enough to fit your nuggets.
    4    Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the garlic bowl: the tomato paste/ketchup, dijon mustard, maple syrup, water, and pepper,  whisk together.
    5    In a separate dish that is also big enough to fit the tofu, add the oat flour.
    6    Dip the tofu  in the tomato mixture, and use a spoon or fork to help spread a thick layer of the sauce on the tofu. Now dip the sauced tofu into the oat flour and use your hand to help pat the flour onto the tofu. Repeat with remaining tofu pieces. 
    7    Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, carefully fry the tofu pieces until they are golden brown on both sides, and heated through. About 3 to 6 minutes per side. The breading can be a little fragile and falls off easily, be gentle when handling the tofu. (Still not chicken)
    8    Serve with sticky rice and a side of your favorite dipping sauce.
Serves two - three people.
 It is actually very, very good! 
I found this basic recipe on line and added my own twists to it. But clearly NOT chicken.
Here are the oats I ground up in my food processor and the tofu I used...

Those are affiliate links, if you want to buy straight from them, I do get a few pennies from the sale. It does not affect your cost at all and helps to keep me in tofu and maple syrup. I'm hoping to save enough money to take Snap Chat lessons so that I never make this mistake again. 

Have a good weekend and can I call you for bail money if the Vegan cops don't believe me? We ate all the evidence.

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