Saturday has sprung upon us and oh my it did not disappoint. Not only was the sun shining down upon us but the temperatures were in the perfect 70’s range. Genki Husband and I were off of Grandma watch duties so we were free for the day. Unfortunately I had about 3/4 of a week left of coursework to do by Sunday night so time was limited for outdoor enjoyment. Thankfully Genki Husband and I got into the sunshine for a nice pup walk in the morning, afternoon and evening. It was the first evening we were able to have all the windows open in the house and sit outside for a picnic dinner for two- such a delight after a long winter. Our spirits were lifted by the sunbathing outside, warm pup walks and a grande picnic outside with just the two of us. Sometimes sunshine is the best medicine for just about any illness.
Traditional oatmeal with a drizzle of agave nectar with a few ‘accidentally vegan’ chocolate chips. On the side a homemade bagel with vegan earth balance butter and a nice hot cuppa.
Berry Almond Amaretto Herbal Tea by Teavana. This is the perfect tea for a day you want a cuppa that is light in fruitiness but does not just taste like water. It smells amazing – if you have a teavana nearby just go smell it, you will want to buy it.
We had homemade vegan cookies for breakfast but this was all that we had time to take a photo of… oops… all gone before the camera could come out. 1.5 each person. mmmm
Lunch time with leftovers: 1/2 tofurky sandwich with organic mixed greens on top and hummus; bowl of Genki Goulash Soup and 1/2 pink lady apple.
My parents have an exchange student again this year and she is from Colombia. She had these at the house and who can pass up figs? mmm Maybe not vegan though, no idea. This is a fig with non-traditional caramel inside. Delicious! It is very sweet though and I had to eat one piece in two different sittings.
View of the fig with caramel piece. It has plastic wrap around it so it has a strange appearance to the top. The dark piece was the fig.
Coon Hollow Preserve in Michigan. This is a small preserve but it is very pretty any time of the year. There are snakes on sunny days though in the spring, we learned this after a few clouds moved and the sunshine filled around us. Yep, I moved out of that preserve pretty fast into the car. ha-ha We went here after lunch for a little touring.
Spring flowers peeking through the grass and leaves.
A little too much time at the preserve and we started to get a little crazy… started to hug all the trees.
Then we cried over fallen trees… poor trees.
We did some bird watching.
We found these cute sprouts coming up through the ground too. I love sprouts, they are adorable almost like mini umbrellas.
Finally on our way back up the trail again. It’s short but pleasant hour trip.
Carrot, Dill, & White Bean Salad. This was really good but our white bean fell apart so it wasn’t as attractive as the original. Our only change would be to use 2 tsp brown sugar (or none) instead of 2 tbsp. It was really sugary. This would be nice as a side dish more than a main dish even though it has the protein in it.
Genki Husband and I sat and watched the sun set together while outside on our picnic table. It was gorgeous even though there were clouds. Nice calm, warm evening in Michigan.
Then we sat eating homemade popcorn with coconut oil and salt. We also had a glass of Virginia Cooper Vineyards wine as we watched “How’s it Made?” on television. This was actually the first time we watched television since getting here. There’s just something about sitting on the floor that makes watching television more romantic.