1 cup soft tofu
1/4 cup cashew pieces
4 tsp sweetener
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup fruit (strawberries, blueberries, whatever)

Make approx. 1 cup. Blend all together in a mixer and store in an airtight container. Supposedly keeps 4-7 days.

1 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry sweetener
1/2 margarine
1/2 soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

SAUCE:
3/4 cup dry sweetener
1/4 cup coca powder
2 cups boiling water

Preheat over to 350 F. In a large bowl, stire together the flour, baking power, cocoa and salt. Add the sweetener, margarine, milk and vanilla and mix gently until “just mixed”. Spread in a lightly greased/oiled casserole dish or loaf pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the sweetener and cocoa. Sprinkle evenly on top of the cake mixture. Carefully pour the boiling water over top. NOTE: DO NOT MIX THIS!! It will do its own thing in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. To serve, scoop out portions and serve in a bowl with vegan ice cream.

Vanilla-Banana Pancakes (Vegan)

1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed (the more ripe, the better)
1.5 cups soy milk (water would also work, but the pancakes will not be so fluffy)
1 tbsp dry sweetener (sugar)
1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)
sliced fresh fruit (garnish)

-Preheat a frying pan, low to medium (grease if necessary)
-Sift dry ingredients together first (flour, baking powder, sugar) in a mixing bowl
-Separately, mash the banana, with the milk/water and vanilla
-Add the liquids to the dry ingredients until “just mixed” (over-beating vegan batter will result in dry, hard baking… you want to keep a bit of air in it)
-Blob little amounts on the frying pan; when the top begins in “bubble” you can flip them over.

**Best results with a frying pan with a lid. By cooking on a lower temperature and keeping the heat closed in, the pancakes will rise higher.

Enjoy with maple syrup or fruit preserves.

Last year, I actually had in my hot little hands an offer to buy a condo for $x. I turned it down. The market boomed, the condo went up double in value, and was sold for TWICE the amount a few months ago. This has happened with several of my friends who were homeowners last year; their property doubled and they walked away with $80-100,000 in their pockets, and slammed it into a huge downpayment for a bigger home. (Do they NEED a bigger home? Nooo…. but anyways…

The thing is, no one knew this was coming. Housing always “appreciates” but so do all the things that go along with owning a home. My rent has doubled in a year, but so did homeowner’s property taxes, condo fees, utilties, etc.

I rent a 614 sq ft 1 bedroom apartment. If I were to buy a place, I wouldn’t buy a 1bd, because the resale would be low. I would buy 2+ and pay at least 2x for it. Therefore, it makes more sense to agressively invest the difference… have liquidity… simplicity… why pay more for space that I don’t need?

Also, I learned how much maintenance costs and how many things can go wrong with owning. In my tiny apartment, I have had EVERYTHING go wrong within 1 year - fridge problems, stove problems, washer and dryer quit twice, dishwasher problems, toilet lever broke THREE times, toilet plugged, and then the guy above me had water problems and my ceiling and kitchen wall turned to mush and needed to be re-drywalled, patched, painted…. I didn’t pay one cent. I rent from a large rental corp. that has 24/7 maintenance man on duty. I called in my leaking ceiling at 11 PM and a guy was there in 25 minutes (he lives on site).

ALSO… I can’t say how nice it is to have the snow shovelled, and on-site security to break up the parties that keep me up at night.

So while renting is “shelter” and throwing away money in a way… it has definately saved me hassle, sleep, worries, and I enjoy the services the company provides. For right now, a full-time working person in grad school, I don’t have a spare second to paint or drywall. I like knowing that the maintenance man is around for that.

Someday, when I come home from work and have nothing to do on weekends and evenings, I’ll get into grass-cutting and painting and cleaning eavestroughs… for now, it’s smarter to focus on a career that will get you the bucks to do those things.

Just my thoughts. Hope they help.

I used to draw but quit after highschool. I am just trying to get back into it again… do you think they would take sketches?