Citrus Red Cabbage Salad

My new favorite salad.  Mix and match–the tasty possibilities are endless!

Citrus Red Cabbage Salad

Yum!

Ingredients:

• Red Cabbage sliced thin
  Red cabbage is great because it stays fresh much longer than green lettuce.  If you are lazy, you don’t really have to wash it — simply peel away outside layers.  Plus it helps boost your natural cancer-fighters.
• Carrots, grated
  Try grated beets too.  And cucumbers.  Yum!
• Green Onions
  Chop it into small pieces and try to stay away from the white parts (unless you really like them.)
• Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  Or try peanuts.
• Lemon Juice
• Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• Honey
  Might not be necessary if you use a beet and/or add pomegranate seeds.

Directions:
Chop cabbage and add to bowl.  Grate carrots and add.  Chop green onions and add.  Top with pepitas.  Squeeze lemon juice over salad (fresh is best).  Drizzle a little bit of olive oil, add some salt, and a drip or honey.  Serve and enjoy!

Purple Power Vegan Hemp Smoothie & why you MUST own a hand blender

Hand blenders make great pets!

Whether you are a college student, vegan, health-buff, hippie, urban apartment dweller, or fill-in-the-blank-here, a hand blender is a kitchen must.  As a vegan newbie back in college, my good friend and fellow diet converter was the proud and boastful owner of a shiny hand blender.  She’d rant and rave of the glories of the hand blender but it all mostly went in one ear and out the other.  We eventually parted ways, as many friends do, and when the dust settled, I was in a new neighborhood with no local vegan conspirators to handle my blending needs.  Being on a budget sent me to the local Target where I bought a cheap plastic blender that didn’t last more than 6 months.  That and the next few replacement blenders had their share of hummuses (or is it hummusi?), smoothies, margaritas, re-fried beans, dips, spreads, and tapenades.  I couldn’t imagine life without those blissful little blenders.

And then the unthinkable happened.  I received a $50 gift certificate and the inspiration to purchase a hand blender.  Looking back, I can’t recall the “why”, only the “must”.

The Perks of a Hand Blender
1.  Easy to clean
2.  Easy to store
3.  Less dishes to wash
4.  Can stick it directly into mixing bowls, pots, jars, and cups (so you’ll be way more likely to blend things when you know you ought to)
5.  They are shiny

Purple Power Vegan Hemp Smoothie

Hemp Protein Powder Rocks!

Ingredients:

• Grape juice or juice (CHECK THE LABEL!  Make sure it does not contain high fructose corn syrup because that is just nasty.)
• Banana and/or pear (Gives it a nice thick consistency without using yogurt or ice cream)
• Blackberries, blueberries, or generous handfuls of other miscellaneous berries
• Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Powder (I am not particularly attached to this specific brand, but it is what is on hand at the moment and I like it.  Unlike other protein powders, it is only hemp.)
• Hand blender (I guess you can use a regular blender)

Directions:

This is not rocket science. Put the bananas and berries into a cup. Add some juice. Add 1-2 spoonfuls of hemp powder. Blend, baby, blend. Enjoy!

Bad Beethoven! (A Cujo Movie Review)

Beethoven terrorizes the residents and visitors of a secluded farm.  Well-made horror flick with a believable plot, but nothing life changing or particularly spine tingling.  That said, “Cujo” is an awesome name for a dog…

Cujo Trailer

Taken

Liam Neeson kind of really kicks ass.

Twilight Abridged

Originally posted 1/17/9 by Michael Parsons:

Every month, the best movie magazine ‘Total Film’ does an abridged script. This time they did one that make me laugh and laugh. I have read ‘Twilight’ but stayed away from the movie for this exact reason.

So bloody funny.

FADE IN:

EXT. WASHINGTON

KRISTEN STEWART goes to FORKS, WASHINGTON and is INSTANTLY POPULAR at her new school.

ANNA KENDRICK
Oh my God I love your hair you’re so pretty will you be my new best friend?

GREGORY TYREE BOYCE
Can I take you out sometime since you’re so awesome?

KRISTEN STEWART
I guess this is what it looks like when the unpopular fat girl’s pathetic daydreams get written down and published into a bestselling book. Aren’t well-written characters supposed to have flaws?

Suddenly, ROBERT PATTINSON enters. The paleness of him and his family members reach blinding levels while the squeals in the movie theater reach deafening levels.

KRISTEN STEWART
Who’s the albino Wolverine?

ANNA KENDRICK
Oh, him? That’s Robert. He’s universally acknowledged as the hottest boy in school but he doesn’t date anyone because no girl is good enough for him.

KRISTEN STEWART
No girl is good enough for him, eh? Let’s see if that’s still the case in ten minutes

KRISTEN sits next to ROBERT

KRISTEN STEWART
Hey, your eyes are changing color from gorgeous to ultragorgeous. What’s going on?

ROBERT PATTINSON
I totally love you. But you should know, I’m a vampire. And not a badass vampire, but an emo bitch vampire/

KRISTEN STEWART
The only way I will believe you is if you carry me up a mountain using special effects from the 70s.

He DOES.

KRISTEN STEWART
You are a vampire! How old are you?

ROBERT PATTINSON
Over a hundred, but to be fair I’ve spent most of that time working on my hair.

The two of them GAZE into each other’s eyes forever. Eventually ROBERT and KRISTEN go to visit ROBERT’S FAMILY.

INT. GLASS MANSION

KRISTEN meets ROBERT’S VAMPIRE FAMILY.

PETER FACINELLI
Welcome! Don’t let me effeminate appearance mislead you. There must be something special about you for Robert to risk the lives of his family. Tell us about yourself.

PETER FACINELLI
Vampire baseball. Want to watch?

KRISTEN STEWART
Actually, as it happens, the very last thing on Earth I or any other sane person would want to watch is vampire baseball, but go ahead.

They play vampire baseball, which is stupid as it sounds. The game attracts the attention of some EVIL VAMPIRES. They Ttck KRISTEN but ROBERt and his FAMILY save her.

INT. HOSPITAL

KRISTEN is with ROBERT.

ROBERT PATTINSON
I we should break up. To keep you safe.

KRISTEN STEWART
From vampires?

ROBERT PATTINSON
No, from being typecast forever after this series is done. I’m screwed, but it’s not too late for you.

KRISTEN STEWART
No. I want you to make me a vampire.

ROBERT PATTINSON
So, the next generation of young women are currently flocking to see a female lead starring in a movie by a female director based on a bestselling book by a female author, and in this movie the main character wants to become completely submissive and self-sacrificing for a male.

KRISTEN STEWART
I love you. Put a baby in me.

ROBERT PATTINSON
At least the other three books can’t possibly be more misogynistic and depressing.

They ARE.
END

Let the right one in

Definitely one of the “11 great movies you aren’t watching”. So good on so many levels.  I don’t even want to talk about it because not knowing what you’re getting into makes it so much better.  I’d say a vampire movie rocks when it addresses more than just sucking blood.

Let the Right One In Trailer