May 21st

Cottage day today! I’m so thankful that I live in Canada and that we have some amazing places available to us that we can escape to and really experience nature (including all its mosquito-bugginess) whether it’s a cottage in the country or visiting one of our many national or provincial parks. Just being surrounded by its awesome beauty really makes me feel that connection all the more deeply and I’m just so glad that I’m doing this small act to help greenify my little corner of the world. There’s so much more I can do, and I’m working at it all the time, but for now being vegan is the kindest I can be to the environment.

Dom and I continued with our “long weekend=pancake” theme today by making banana-nut-chocolate chip pancakes. The banana is great for binding the mixture together instead of eggs. You could probably use any recipe you have for pancakes and replace the egg with mashed banana, and the milk with non-dairy milk and you’d have yummy vegan pancakes. Just make sure you use baking soda and/or baking powder. They are a vegan baker’s best friends. Oh, and if your original recipe calls for sour/buttermilk, you can add vinegar to non-dairy milks and it will do the same trick. Try out the banana pancakes next time you make them. As long as you love banana, you’ll love them.

Today on the way to the cottage we stopped at a tiny little town for groceries and found our usual grocery store closed down! We had to stop at the only other store that sells groceries, and they have a very tiny section. We were kind of worried we wouldn’t be able to find anything there for me, but our experience there makes me believe you can find vegan food anywhere – not lots, but enough to choose from to make a complete meal. We picked up some hummus and pita, some corn, cucumber and arugula, some pistachios and a can of vegetarian beans. Along with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixture as a salad dressing, we were set for a great easy meal at the cottage while enjoying the sun and the calmness of the lake. Knowing you can make kinder choices anywhere is very comforting. Maybe they’ll get some veggie dogs there soon?