The Best Vegan Biscuits & Gravy

I figured out how to make amazing vegan sausage and mushroom gravy and biscuits! If you don’t like mushrooms just leave them out but I will totally judge you. 

I got store bought vegan biscuits because. what do you expect from someone who only slept a few hours and has three hungry kids?

For the gravy I chopped up a bunch of button mushrooms and sautéed them in minced garlic and smart balance in one pan. In a frying pan I cooked some vegan sausage then crumbled it up. In another pan on low heat, I cook a mixture of about 1/4 cup grapeseed oil, about 1/2 cup of smart balance and about 3/4 cup of flour and about tablespoon of pepper and some sea salt….all this is different every time because I cook by consistency and look mostly. I cook all this until it’s creamy, well blended and golden. I slowly add in almond milk and wisk together to reach the right consistency… usually adding more smart balance, flour, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder until it looks and tastes perfect. Then I add the mushrooms and sausage to create the most incredible gravy freaking EVER. 

  
        

  

Just now,  I spread the gravy over leftover garlic bread, because the kids ate all the biscuits and I’m really just a fat kid inside a yoga mom’s body.

Loss and Hope

Loss is something most of us are familiar with…. loss of a loved one probably is the hardest. I have lost 9 pregnancies. Even though they were early it still hurt, a loss of hope. I always had hope that “this one will stick.”
Some people don’t understand why I’m so close to my kids and why I don’t mind if they climb in my bed at 4am or ask for one more snuggle. My kids are seriously miracles to me- I can’t believe they are real sometimes. Every single one, at one point, has almost not made it during pregnancy or childbirth and a couple of months ago I almost lost Gus when he nearly drowned and was not breathing.
At work, I have seen parents watch their kids die and it is the most unimaginable nightmare and loss. I cry inconsolably because I have only felt a tiny glimmer of that pain and I can’t imagine the full measure of it. I go home and hug my kids and let them fall asleep in my arms because that is how my hope comes back.
People may not understand why I’m so close to my kids but I seriously can’t imagine my life without them. It took so much struggle to get them here and even on the bad days and through temper tantrums I’m glad they are my kids and they are awesome.
Now that I’m divorced, people tell me I’d be lucky to find someone who would want a single mom with three kids. I have hope still that there is a good man out there who could look at my kids as a bonus and not a burden. Someone who will spend time getting to know us, fall in love with us and be happy to be part of this hilarious life.
I still have hope ❤️

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Coffee talk

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I figured out a way to make a better and probably healthier pumpkin spice latte than that chain coffee shop. I make a batch of the pumpkin stuff and keep in the fridge for a few days…

Can of pumpkin
5 heaping teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
Two tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
About 1/2 cup of agave/sugar or mixture to your desired sweetness …
I warm all that together on the stove then brew some strong coffee and start putting it all together with almond milk.
Per cup I use about 3 heaping tablespoons of pumpkin mix, 1/4-1/3 cup coffee and then as much almond milk as I like. If you have time you can froth the milk to make it more authentic and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.

i was also craving a salted caramel mocha so I made up one of those too….

for the caramel sauce …

1 cup brown sugar mixed with 4.5 tablespoons of fake butter and 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/2 cup of almond milk (or half and half)- warm all that in a saucepan on low-med heat for about 7 min and then add 1 tsp vanilla extract. I let it cool a bit and keep this in the fridge in a jar for a few days (if it lasts that long)

to make the drink I use 1/4 cup coffee plus a 1 cup of milk of your choice (I mix almond milk and rice milk) then 1 tsp of hot chocolate powder and as much caramel sauce as you like for your taste of preference…. I also just add more coffee/milk/chocolate powder to make it taste right for my mood and sprinkle with sea salt- top with whipped cream if you like too and drizzle more sauce. I was going to take a picture but my 3 yr old spilled it all over herself and the floor. This picture is fitting of my day….

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the Christmas card picture…

i have determined that it is pretty much impossible to take a picture of three siblings together without help. we had several attempts and i might add, in case you don’t know, that i am a trained photojournalist who knows how to snap a pic of a fast moving moments…. my kids would put the most amazing Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist to the ultimate test.

lets review some of the out-takes shall we…..

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somebody is grouchy

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nobody is looking

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somebody is being a goofball

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so close but not perfect

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somebody is over it

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somebody is being a zombie

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somebody fell out of the picture
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and finally aunt trudy walks in and people start cooperating…

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why my toddler is freaking out….

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i saw a post from another page that was about why a toddler freaks out so i thought i would write a personal list….

the sleeves are too short

the sleeves are too long

his jacket is zipped

his jacket is unzipped

he can’t wear clothes because he is being The Hulk

the flower he picked yesterday died

someone moved his toy

he spilled water on his clothes

he doesn’t want be in a car seat while wearing a coat

his brother is not being serious

i won’t let him play in traffic

his brother has an extra toy

the toy i told him not to bring in the car is now lost in the car

he is eating a white cookie and his brother is eating a pink cookie

she wants to be naked

she doesn’t want to be naked

she wants to wear the purple boots

she is mad at her shoes

she wants to take all the pillows off the couch

she wants all her clothes from her dresser on the floor

going to the fabric store is boring

the costume has a teeny tiny hole in it

pants feed weird

jackets feel weird

shoes feel weird

socks feel weird

underwear feels weird

she doesn’t want me to change her dirty diaper

they don’t want to take a bath

they don’t want to get out of the bathtub

they wanted to buckle the seat belt without help

they wanted me to buckle the seat belt

they wanted the shopping cart that has the car attached but it is in use by someone else

she wants the other pacifier

she doesn’t want the food on her plate because she wants the food on my plate even though it is the exact same food

all food is disgusting

another webpage move….

now i am trying to learn wordpress…. on very little sleep and trying to figure out how to save all the posts i have posted in the past few years….. UGH!!

my funny valentine…

the 6 yr old and i wanted to make special valentines and it took longer than i expected. even though they are not perfect i love them! i had him write the words then i stitched them on the felt and we even made envelopes.

for my valentine outfit i took an old t-shirt and stitched a heart on it. then i took some old jeans and made a skirt and i got my super-fly socks from Sock Dreams.

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apron idea

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i love anthropologie, especially their house accessories, so i had a idea. a while back i used a couple of dish towels from there to make kitchen curtains and i was wanting to make an easy apron so i thought the dish towels from there would make a great apron. all i did was pick out some cute ones that would work and added casing and ribbon…. so easy!

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thanksgiving crafts

my 6 yr old is really into decorating for holidays. halloween looked hilarious around here because he kept drawing things and getting us to hang them from various places. so after oct 31st he was bummed about taking everything down. i told him we could decorate for thanksgiving so now my house is full of turkeys and hearts and rainbows…. not sure but he insists that hearts and rainbows are important to thanksgiving and i agree with him. he also asked me to make him a shirt like the one my friend made for the 3yr old and a “happy thanksgiving” banner.

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could these two look anymore innocent?

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