Super Easy Vegan Peach Scones

This is my variation of a basic scone recipe from "Vegan with a Vengeance."  You really could add any fruit.  I chose peaches because my mom went overboard when we went to Sprouts and she saw that peaches were 39¢/lb.  Also, I added lime juice to the soy milk to give it a tang that resembled buttermilk.

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tbl baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup soy milk

1/3 cup canola oil

juice of 1/2 lemon or lime (I use lime because we never have lemons!)

2 medium peaches, peeled and chopped

Preheat oven to 400ºF and grease your baking sheet (I lined mine with foil).

In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients, minus the peaches.  Then add all of the wet ingredients.  Mix until you don't see anymore wetness.  Don't be alarmed if the dough isn't "dough-y," it's supposed to look like crumble topping like this:  

Then fold in your fruit.  To form the scones, I used my 1/4 measuring cup and scooped out the dough.  I put a little more on top and pat it down with my hand on the baking sheet.  You can yield about 16 scones depending on how big you make them.  I only got 12 this time.  :) I also sprinkled some sugar on them before they went into the oven.

12 minutes....

These are great to have for breakfast or a snack with coffee, tea or soy milk.  I like my scones heated up (15 secs in the microwave) with vegan butter.  My mom and sister will most likely eat these as is during our drive to Austin early tomorrow morning.

ENJOY!!!

I Wanted to Change the World

By Unknown Monk, 1100 A.D.

"When I was a young man,  I wanted to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation, I  began to focus on my town.  I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family.  My family and I could have made an impact on our town.  Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world."

The future of the World!

So You Think You Can Dance (dance, dance, dance, dance, dance)

Since its debut in 2005, my summer is not a summer without a season of So You Think You Can Dance.

I missed the first 10 minutes tonight but it'll be OK because of YouTube!!  I tuned in during what seemed to be Chelsie's solo, which didn't look that good or maybe her energy faded by the end because her smile sure did. Chelsie and Gev's jive routine was good. I completely agree with the judges. I didn't notice Gev at all. But I feel like that's because he was wearing all black and was overshadowed by Chelsie's flashy gold costume.

Highlights of the show include:

-Seeing the pregnant choreographer dancing and spinning

-Mark's weird and wonderful solo.  I still love him even if the judges hate him.  It's unconditional.  Even his cheesy "vote for me, my number is #" was adorable.

-Singing along to Twitch and Comfort's first performance to "Open Arms." However, that was the only good thing about the routine.  In fact, it was so bad that my MOTHER commented, "That was bad!"

-Twitch and Comfort's hip-hop routine to "Forever" by Chris Brown

-Katee's dad wearing a "Katee's Dad" shirt

-"He's a man!"-Courtney and Mary, referring to Joshua

-Spankenstein routine

-Will and Katee's pas de deux

I can't wait for the results show!

Quote

"Revel in your imperfections, be entertained by your problems and know that once you looked ahead and wished you were where you are now.  And once again, you will look back and smile." -Unknown

Kindness

Today, I witnessed a true act of kindness that came from pure love.

After dinner, my parents and I went for a walk around the neighborhood with Lucky (our puppy).  As we turned the corner to get back on our street, I see this elderly couple in front of their house.  The woman was tending to her flowers and the man was sitting on his rocking chair.  I hoped that I will have a rocking chair to sit on in front of my house.  I also noticed a giant, fake Wishbone-looking dog pulling an empty wagon in front of their tree and thought, "Hm, that's interesting lawn decor."  I see the man get up and go inside the house and my attention reverted back to the sidewalk.  Moments later, Lucky is barking and is pulling on his leash.  I see the man crossing the street over to us and he is carrying a container full of dog treats.  He says to us, "Every dog that passes by my house gets a doggy treat" and gives Lucky two treats.  Lucky is petrified of strangers so I had to hold him and the man tried to give him a kiss but Lucky resisted and tried to bite him.  So we talked briefly.  He tells us that he has three dogs and that he is so in love with him.  Then he shook my dad's hand and then we said goodnight.  The entire experience was so beautiful and so pure.

After we parted ways, we continued our journey home (5 more houses to go!).  Lucky is very attached to my mother and in turn, my mother likes to play tricks on Lucky.  Whenever we go walking, at some point, she will let my dad walk further ahead with Lucky and then she will hide behind a tree or a parked car and see how long it will be until Lucky notices.  Well today, she hid in between mailboxes and it was THE funniest thing ever.

When we got home, my mom and I went night swimming while my dad watered his flowers.

Today was a wonderful day.

FreeRice.com

Need something new to do on the Internet besides refreshing celebrity gossip blogs and snooping on Facebook?  Visit FreeRice.com!

This is a fun way to increase your vocabulary but more importantly, for every word you get right, twenty grains of rice is donated through the UN World Hunger Program to help feed the hungry.  The site was launched on October 7, 2007 and 38 BILLION grains of rice have been donated since.  The rice is bought with money from sponsors when you visit the site so play often and tell your amigos!

Feed your mind and hungry people! I just learned that phlebotomy means bloodletting AND I donated 500 grains of rice.  I love it when the little bowl fills up.

I get so happy when I find things like this on the web. :)

Long Live the Internet!

As I trudge through this journey of finding my first job (it's surprisingly hard to find one that matches both my interests AND skills, ... or maybe I'm just really picky), a string of thoughts go through my mind.  I think about how long I will remain in this state of frictional unemployment.  I wonder what city I will end up in.  I think about what particular path I should carve out for myself to reach my ultimate dreams/goals.  Then I rationalize that the best thing to do is to take it one step at a time and that right now, I should focus on finding my first job.  

Most of the jobs I've applied for were found on the Internet, but other than that, have I exhausted all of my resources?  I think about how big business moguls started out.  How did they find their first job?  They didn't have the Internet.  So I wonder, what did they use and how did they do it?  Newspapers is the immediate answer that comes to mind.

The point is, I just realized another part of my life that is dependent upon the Internet and you know what, it's not so bad!

A Vegan Remedy for Ailing Vegans

Looking for a vegan remedy to your sore throat? Try Amy's No Chicken Noodle Soup!

I stumbled across this vegan version of the "cure all" soup at Sprouts today and it is indeed light, tasty, comforting, and of course, contains no chicken, just like Amy promises. The tofu was a little hard for my taste and I, of course, added salt but this is a delicious option if you're sick and don't have the energy to stew over a pot of soup that already conveniently comes in a can.  But have no fear, I will undoubtedly try to make my own tasty version once I am well.

It's also low fat so I totally had room to wash down a Tofutti Totally Fudge Pop.

This chocolate novelty is oh, so goooooood going down my throat. After the soup, ice cream and TONS of hot green tea, I think my grossly, inflamed tonsils decreased in size a little. Just because you're vegan does not mean you are denied comfort food when you need it most! Here's to a better tomorrow! :)

Hello and Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to my blog! The title was inspired by my catchphrase "It'll be OK!" and a conversation that took place during my freshman year of college between my good friend Julie K and me. It was originally intended to be the title of my book (and someday, it will be!), but right now it's a blog.  But it's free!  So read me PLEASE!  Thanks for reading! :)