Glass jar terrariums.

Terrariums have been on my DIY list for a couple of weeks but I was having a hard time finding the perfect jars for the right price (they are expensive!). My search had spanned two states and I had nearly given up hope until last week.

I remembered I had a couple of glass cake stands that had been retired to the closet (I learned the hard way that if you place fake fruit in a glass lid for one hot summer, the glass will reek of formaldehyde and be unfit to house food forever). Voila! Inspiration struck.

MATERIALS NEEDED:
Gravel/sand/small rocks
Activated charcoal ($6 at Wal-Mart in the aquarium supply section)
Potting soil
Plants *Smaller is better!
Glass jars *Larger is better! I thought my jars would do fine but next time I will use larger ones.
Tools *I use this term loosely because what you need depends heavily on what plants you use. All I needed was a spoon for scooping and two trash bags laid out on my living room floor to work on. You might need tweezers to organize tiny plants, scissors to prune the roots of a large plant or gardening gloves if you're a pansy. I recommend to keep it simple.

Set up your work space by laying out everything you're going to use.

Getting everything together is 80% of the work. From here you just layer everything into the jar as follows:

1 inch of gravel/rocks -> 1 inch of activated charcoal -> enough potting soil to cover the roots of your plants -> plants.


Place just enough water in the jar to dampen the soil. Wipe off any water drops or soil that collected on the sides of the jar, place the lid on and set it somewhere pretty.


This is a bare bones terrarium. A lot of people will layer moss over the charcoal to prevent the soil from sinking through to the bottom, but it's totally optional. Check Google for more information about what types of plants thrive or die in this type of container. I can't wait to make more and fill my living room with them.

 

Road trip!

Last week I took a road trip to Oakland with Esther and Allie. We had a fantastic time and took hundreds of photos which will take an eternity for me to post. It was great to introduce new friends to old friends and to see them all get along together; definitely one of my best trips back.

I was naughty and ate nonstop the entire trip, but that's what vacations are for, right? Lots of free poured liquor and deep friend vegan food (rocky road cinnamon roll anyone?!). I was so glad to come home and get back on track nutritionally and physically (the liquor, however, will follow me wherever I may roam).

I've got a million tutorial posts to put up if I ever find the time (or a new laptop); how to turn a cardboard box into a planter for vegetables, how to make a terrarium out of an apothecary jar and all sorts of recipes. The weather is slowly improving here in the city of salt and my internet use will be limited once we hit consecutive warm days; so I apologize in advance for gaps in posting.

Congratulations on surviving the rapture everyone!

Breakfast of champions.

This smoothie is one of my favorite things to have for breakfast before work. It's easy to make, tastes like dessert and is healthy for you (it's also one of the only ways I'll eat bananas because I hate them). I usually have this around 5:45 AM and won't start to get hungry again until around 9:00 AM, so it's pretty filling. Besides, who wouldn't want to start their day off with chocolate and peanut butter?

1-2 very ripe bananas

1 heaping T ground flax seeds/flax meal

1 level T cocoa powder

1/4 C peanut butter (go for natural! I use Adams and the ingredient label reads: peanuts. The cheaper and more processed the peanut butter = the less healthy your smoothie is)

1 C soymilk

Combine together in a blender (I use Esther's Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth.

Some days I add more flax, more peanut butter, less milk, more bananas, etc; It's also extra rich if you use Silk's dark chocolate almond milk.

Cilantro Lime Grilled Corn

Barbecued baked lentils have been replaced as my staple go-to dish for potlucks and bbqs. Please welcome the new champion: grilled sweet corn in a cilantro lime marinade.

I spent Cindo de Mayo at a bbq at Megan and Quinn's and used this marinade on kebabs with smoked tofu and peppers. The marinade was awesome and the kebabs were a hit. I had some leftover sweet corn and marinade and decided to experiment with cooking the corn under the broiler. It took quite awhile, but it worked. Esther confirmed that it was the best corn she's ever had in her life. I agree. Invite me to your summer bbqs!

Sunday, May 1st.

I started May off with a box of wine and a house party and came home with $50 in fake money and no ID.

Seabirds vegan food truck: a novel.

Food Network's Great Food Truck Race rolled through Salt Lake City this weekend and vegans were all abuzz because one of the trucks just so happens to be completely animal free!

 

I'd read about Orange County's Seabirds on QuarryGirl before and was jazzed at the chance to try it out in my own city. Esther had been told the truck would start serving breakfast at 10:30 AM on Saturday so we grabbed Candice and headed out to Coffee Garden on 9th & 9th around 11:00. Did we expect a long line? Yes (TV crews + vegan food = crowd). Did we expect to wait for FOUR HOURS in the snow and rain? No. Was the food worth it? Toss up.

I don't know what the hold up was and they never really offered an explanation. We'd heard through the line that the menu consisted of Jamaican jerk jackfruit tacos, a quesadilla and a breakfast burrito; and by the time we had moved closer to the front they announced they were out of tortillas and cheeze sauce already. Luckily, Cali's was in the hood and donated some supplies so they started cranking out those famous beer battered fried avocado tacos. Esther was an hour late to work and we had all lost the feeling in our extremities so it was hard to keep happy faces when we finally did reach the truck. I'd say it was worth it just for the story of waiting in line.

Overall I thought the food was pretty good but a little pricey. The beer battered avocados were awesome and I loved that Seabirds sauce. The crew were nice and entertaining and even offered some warm tea while we waited in line.

On Sunday, Esther and I happened to pass the truck while it was parked outside Whole Foods. We decided since there were only a few people milling about the front that we'd give it a go again. This time we ordered fried rice because they ran out of the pesto flatbread and cinnamon bread didn't sound like a good dinner. The rice was, again, just pretty good. It had lots of veggies (baby bok choy!) but was a tad oily. Overall I'd eat there again if they happened to be in my neighborhood sans 100 other people in line ahead of me.