Hello friends. How are you all doing? So much has happened in the past month, and part of me isn’t sure where to begin. I’m sure like all you, I’ve had so many thoughts and emotions running through me the past few weeks. My husband and I are safe and well in Vancouver, WA, but I still worry about my family across the country. My parents live in the Dallas, Texas area, and both are considered high risks. My father has been in and out of the hospital with over 12 knee surgeries in the past 18 months. He still has to go for appointments and procedures. My parents and I have discussed the seriousness of what is going on, and the precautions we are all taking. I am looking forward to being able to visit them during the summer or fall. 

Outside of VegfulLife, I’ve already been working from home for the past four years. My husband works from home as well, so our everyday life hasn’t changed that much. We haven’t been able to frequent any of our favorite nature or birding spots (even the ones where you do not leave your car), and I miss the library! I’ve been so busy at work that I haven’t been able to process all of the rapid changes. 

I am still trying to make conscious living a priority, even amid all of the changes going on right now. Grocery stores are out of many of my go-to items, the majority of favorite vegan restaurants are closed (although some are still open for take-out), and all of the parks are now blocked off. Here are a few ideas and things that have helped me over the past month to remain in a conscious living mindset, as well as do my part to help stop the spread of the virus:

• Limit my online ordering. If there are items that I can live without for a little while longer, I am bookmarking the page or shopping site to return to once things are back to normal. I hope to cut down on the number of people that are having to fill my unnecessary orders.
• This will sound like a contradiction to the first point, but I am ordering items from my favorite local retailers to help give them business during this time. Many of the places I am ordering from, such as Herbivore Clothing and Food Fight!, are currently only staffed by a few people and have been practicing safe physical distancing. From Herbivore, I ordered body soap (because I haven’t been able to find many cruelty-free and eco-friendly products in the stores during the past month) and kitchen items. From Food Fight!, I order some of our favorite vegan snacks, perishable items (so they do not have to throw them out), and even items for a care package we shipped to family in Virginia.
• I am being extra creative while cooking! It has been almost two months since I have been able to find tofu in most stores. I have been able to find some and then started supplementing different ingredients in my favorite dishes. The other day, instead of BBQ tofu, I breaded and baked cauliflower florets and then tossed them in BBQ sauce. The BBQ cauliflower florets were perfect on top of nutritional yeast cheesy rice and slaw, with a side of cornbread. I used a Bakerita cornbread recipe that is amazing! I am also using lentils as a main, plus I found tempeh yesterday! Check out my Instagram posts for additional ideas. I’ve been making taco seasoned lentils, open-faced tempeh Reubens, and stir-frys!
  
  

  BBQ Cauliflower and Cheesy Rice

• We’ve been limiting our grocery shopping to once a week or making a special trip for produce if needed. Most of the time, we are figuring out ways to work around something we do not have. Only going out when necessary, limits me exposing anyone to anything that I might have and me contracting anything.
  
  

  Open-Faced Reuben and TBLT

• Getting outdoors for fresh air has been crucial this past month. However, I am sure you can imagine or have experienced this where you live, more people are venturing outside as the weather is bouncing into spring. Steven and I have been taking walks around the neighborhood, sitting in our car at the waterfront park on the Columbia River, and have gone on a few bike rides. We saw so much wildlife the morning that we sat in the car by the river. We saw 10!! sea lions, three bald eagles that were perched in the tree next to us, our first osprey of the season, ducks, cormorants, and so many robins, geese, and sparrows.
  
  

  Bike Ride Along the Columbia River

• I’ve also been trying to stay connected to friends and family virtually. I have Skyped with friends, former classmates, and even stream a few online church services.  Plus I have been having tea time with George.
  
  

  Tea Time with George (Layla’s photo is on the mug)

• I even found a few minutes for a craft project for my bathroom! I created a succulent garden using a 20 Leagues Diorama Kit. Look how cute it turned out!
  

  Succulent Garden

How have you been doing over the past few weeks? Have you found any solutions to manage some of the struggles we have been working with each day? Have you made any new recipes??

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