Meatless in Monterey

We just returned from a weekend in Monterey, California. I had no problem traveling with my omnivore family and staying meatless. We rented a cottage with a kitchen, so we ate about half of our meals there. We brought a little food with us and made a trip to Trader Joe's. As a treat, I think that the Trader Joe's Coconut Milk Chocolate Ice Cream cannot be be beat! It is really rich and delicious. Is not not low calorie or low fat, but it does have less calories and fat than a serving of regular ice cream.

Before the trip I bought the Happy Cow App to help research veg-friendly restaurants. We played our meals by ear, but it was still nice to have this tool. Our first meal in town was at the Sand Bar and Grill. John wanted seafood, but I was still able to find a meatless and delicious pasta dish. It had olives and capers for a nice flavor. Our view of the bay and boats was fantastic.

One of our favorite Bay Area chains is Ike's Place. They make a huge variety of sandwiches, including vegetarian and vegan options. Alex and I split a "Meatless Mike" since the sandwiches are large.

I was impressed with the cafe at the Monterey Bay Aquarium even though it is a bit pricey. I was able to find a veggie burger and plenty of other meatless options. They had menus out that shared their vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options.

The food was just one part of this fun trip! I will share more pictures from our trip in a future post.

Easy Vegan Waffles

My husband made whole wheat vegan waffles for Mother's Day, and they were a hit.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 pinches of salt
4 TBSP sugar (I can find vegan sugar at Trader Joe's.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plant milk
4 TBSP vegetable oil (I may sub apple sauce for some of the oil next time.)
Makes approximately 12 small waffles

We enjoyed our waffles with some veggie bacon and raspberries from the farmers' market.

(Recipe adapted from Spark People.)

TGIF Challenge

I enjoyed making a card to enter into the first TGIF Challenge. I love the color combination of Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and Pool Party!

I was so happy to see that the Kind Koala stamp is not on the Stampin' Up! Retiring List. I wanted to use this cute stamp again and decided to fussy cut the cute koala from some Crumb Cake card stock. I used a blender pen to add some Crumb Cake ink to the ears. The blender pen also allowed me to add Crushed Curry ink to the flower petals.

I originally intended to die cut a Crushed Curry oval to layer on my card until I realized that I am out of Crushed Curry card stock. Another easy way to add a pop of color is to ink the edges of your card stock with the Stamping Sponges.

Here is my finished card:

Supplies Used:
Stamp: Kind Koala
Card stock: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, and Crumb Cake
Ink: Black Staz On, Crumb Cake, and Crushed Curry
Tools: Blender Pends, Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Stamping Sponges, Scissors, Trimmer
Accessories: Pool Party Baker's Twine (retired) & button (from the Everyday Occasions kit)

The new Stampin' Up! catalog goes live on June 2, 2015. Based on the demonstrator preview, this is my favorite catalog in my 6 years of stamping. If you do not have a demonstrator and want a free copy of this catalog (US only), feel free to email me at stampacrossthemiles@gmail.com.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Around Here - April 2015

Here are some of our pictures from April 2015:

Alex enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt and then we headed to the East Bay for a yummy vegan brunch with family at Sanctuary Bistro. I managed to avoid eating milk chocolate Easter candy this year!


We continue to have mainly vegetarian & vegans dinner, and recently I made vegetarian chili with "Happy Herbivore" cornbread. I found a vegan cheese that I like on grilled cheese sandwiches. It takes a little longer to melt than dairy cheese, but it fulfills my grilled cheese craving.


Alex and I planted a little garden during his spring break. We need to add a little more dirt, but I am happy with the fabric container. It will be easier to move in the future and holds a tomato plant, a blueberry bush, and some strawberry plants. We planted spinach, summer squash, and carrot seeds. We also have a couple of herb plants.


On April 25th, we headed to the first ever Oakland Veg Fest and had a great time. We enjoyed yummy food, free samples, and inspirational speakers.



Happy May!