So much to share. I am still trying to shake this unending illness. The worst of it is over, but I have still been running a low grade fever and can’t seem to get this horrible cough to clear up. I have been extremely frustrated. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. I did enjoy taking my son to a couple of Halloween carnivals. He was so cute and had so much fun. Yesterday I had to drive my dad to Stanford for his pre-surgery work-up. Next Friday he will be having his prostate removed and we will be spending three days up there. I will be trying to blog as much as possible until then. I think that is the last big thing I have coming up until the holidays, so I am hoping to be back to regular blogging again. I will spend some time over the next two days visiting everyone to catch up on all that you have been doing. I have missed you all so much. It is like being disconnected from family for a couple of weeks. I was sad to hear that Harmonia will no longer be blogging, but have been happy to receive regular emails from her. I know everyone has been extremely busy lately.

I can’t wait to check out The Vegan Lunchbox and was thrilled to hear that it had been released. That is so awesome. Hurray for Jennifer and little Schmoo.

I wanted to do something special for World Vegan Day yesterday, but as I said I was on the road the whole time. Hope everyone had a great day and made lot’s of wonderful vegan foods.

It appears another widely known company is being outted for animal cruelty. Butterball, the largest seller of Thanksgiving and Christmas Turkeys has been accused of horrific acts of torture towards turkeys in an investigation conducted by PETA. Don’t people realize that factory farms are just torture houses for animals and that those that run them are sometimes akin to serial killers. They often joke about the horrors they inflict. It is sad and disgusting. Anyway check out Feminism Love You to read more about this issue.

This next bit is for anyone who is thinking about going to college soon. Peta2 just came out with their list of the most vegan and vegetarian friendly Universities. Making the list University of California–Berkely, University of Arizona, Penn State University, University of Colorado, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin, University of Florida, University of Texas, Indiana University and Iowa State. Go Vegan!!!

I came across a great website where you can give “Huggs” to your favorite green stories. It is hugg.com.

For anyone who loves sweets, you absolutely must check out Sticky Fingers Bakery. They are 100% vegan and are beginning to ship some of the delictable delights including brownies, cookies and sticky cinnamon buns. I have bookmarked this site. I will probably be ordering cinnamon buns for Christmas morning. They look delicious.

I came across a blog the other day that listed 80 ways you can help save animals. I think this list is definitely worth a read. Most of us already follow these practices, but there may be some that you haven’t thought of before. It is definitely a great list.

For anyone living in Portland, OR, the Vegan Holiday Festival is looking for volunteers. You get a free food ticket and free entry into a drawing for your efforts. Sounds like a great way to spread the cheer. Anyone interested check out: Vegan Holiday Festival.

This is your vegan buzz from the past two weeks. Lot’s of interesting and exciting articles and information.

This past weekend we celebrated my brother’s birthday and I made some great treats for the party. It was actually quite comically, because I was half delirious from fever while cooking, which is probably the only reason that I thought it was okay to cook as sick as I was, but the food turned out delicious and my nonvegan friends came back for seconds.

Anyway, I made a vegan spinach dip. I was impressed because to me it did not taste any different then the spinach dips of my childhood.

I made it with . . .

1 cup veganaise
2 cups Tofutti sour cream
1 package Knors vegetable soup mix (still looking for a version of this without horrible chemicals)
1 package organic frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 sour dough bread loaf
1 box of triscuits

Mix veganaise, sour cream, vegetable soup mix and spinach together in a bowl, cover and let sit in the refrigerator at least four hours (over night for best results). When ready to serve, hollow out the inside of bread loaf and fill with spinach dip. Serve with bread insides and triscuits.

I also made homemade macaroni and cheese:

1 small package of large macaroni elbo pasta
1 container Tofutti cream cheese
1/2 container Tofutti sour cream
2 tbsp vegan butter spread
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups rice milk
1 small package frozen broccoli
salt and pepper to taste
1 package white vegan cheese, grated
2 cups of vegan croutons

Cook noodles according to package. Melt butter in a pan and saute green onions for 3-4 minutes. Add flour and mix in well. Add rice milk and stir into mixture. Add cream cheese and sour cream and stir in well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook until cream cheese has completely melted and is fully incorporated into sauce. Add frozen broccoli and cook until sauce becomes hot and slightly bubbles. Remove sauce  from heat and add cheese, stir until cheese is completely melted. Pour sauce over cooked noodles in casserole dish. Cook in the oven for 35 minutes. Top with croutons and cook an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Hope you enjoy the recipes, my family did.