The NorthWesternBelle

The August 21 Solar eclipse has been a big deal for several years in my world. Since I found out about it, say, three years ago or so. Since then, the fever over it has only grown, but it is important to me personally because it is happening on my birthday, and its path of totality passes very close to my home town, Idaho Falls. The plan was always to go to IF and be in the path of totality. For two solid years I looked forward to spending a couple of days with my sister & brother that live there and being there to experience the full thing. Then, news from the City Counsel: they're expecting 500,000 people to descend on Idaho Falls, a city of 50,000. Citizens are advised to have enough supplies on hand for a full week, including gasoline. The freeway will be turned northbound all lanes beforehand, and all southbound afterward. The power grid and cell phone towers won't be able to handle the influx. Treat it as an emergency situation between Wednesday and Wednesday....

What's a girl to do on a lazy laundry Saturday when the bff shows up with a giant zucchini straight from her garden? I meant it when I said "giant" Make zucchini banana bread of course! Spoon for scale because the bananas I used were not camera friendly. They were 100% perfect for bread making, though. I still have over half of the zucchini left, too. As it turns out, I cut a piece that turned into exactly three cups shredded. Nailed it! Reviewing the recipe I usually use for zucchini bread (out of the trusty red Betty Crocker Cookbook) I noticed that the only non vegan ingredient is eggs. Well, bananas are as good as eggs, right, so let's do this without the animal product! Also, the sugar content can come down, since, you know, a ripe banana is a sweet banana. I used a full cup, but you could scale it back to 3/4 or even 1/2 if you wanted to. Vegan banana zucchini bread 3 c shredded zucchini 1 c sugar 3 medium ripe bananas 2 tbs vegetable oil 2 ts...

I made another video using YouTube's editor. This time, it's about the last vacation I took...seven years ago. Making the video made me very nostalgic and sorta bummed that I haven't been on another one since. Granted, shortly after this vacation I started a business and had a baby. One day, I'll return to Playa Del Carmen with said baby, my hubby & the BFF, hopefully! Enjoy! ~The NWB

Hello! Welcome to the first of what will be weekly post about new content on my YouTube Channel. Right now it's mostly videos of my son, but I did make a couple of crochet tutorial videos several years ago. My goal is to have at least one new video up per week going forward, starting with some concert footage I've been hoarding for a few years, and perhaps some vacation photos. If you would be so kind as to subscribe, I would be eternally grateful! Without further ado, the first of (certainly) many Colt compilation videos, Colt "Sings" songs from The Pirate Fairy and Frozen, along with his own rendition of Jingle Bells. Thanks for stopping by! The NWB

My husband might have been classically trained to be a chef, but I was trained in a household of seven to be a mother, so I know a thing or two about feeding a crowd. This last weekend we had a Kindergarten Graduation party for my two kids at the park, and nearly 50 people RSVP-ed. Being that the event would be held outside, I decided to go vegan with the menu. It worked out great for the sake of cost and avoiding spoilage. Honestly, the only thing I really had to do to make it all vegan was swap out mayo for vegan mayo, use soda in the Duncan Hines cake mixes instead of eggs and oil, and make the frosting out of Crisco and almond milk. So easy, and everyone raved about the food. Since I was cooking for 50, I made in bulk, so feel free to adjust the proportions to suit your needs! Without further ado: Jessa's Vegan Potato Salad Ingredients: 5 lb bag red potatoes 4-6 large carrots, peeled 5-6 celery stalks 1 red pepper 1 c frozen peas 1 small jar veganaise Mustard to ta...

Another pasta salad recipe! I know, you're excited. I'm excited, too! This one is not vegan, but it is can be easily made into a vegan recipe by skipping the Parmesan cheese. Artichoke Pasta Salad Ingredients: 1 lb pasta, cooked according to instruction, cooled completely 4 Roma tomatoes, diced 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped 1 jar green olives with pimentos, sliced 1 can White Northern Beans Shredded parmesan, to taste (optional - leave this out to make it vegan) Handful of Almonds, ground Handful of scallions, sliced Artichoke Salad Dressing, to taste Salt & Pepper, to taste Parsley flakes (or fresh, optional) Preparation: Combine ingredients in large bowl and blend well. Serve or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to five days Enjoy!

It has been quite a while since we made sushi at home. The last time we did it was for the Sushi tutorials that we did in Ingredients Magazine , probably in 2011 or 2012. Chef Ross decided that he'd give it another go for lunches and dinners this week, and he sent me pics of the prep work throughout the day yesterday. It's actually incredibly cost-effective to make your own sushi, because you can buy your ingredients in bulk and make rolls in bulk. Plus, super delicious! Here's round one: A bit heavy on the rice, as you can see. That's tilapia, cream cheese, orange pepper and scallion. Round 2, less rice and a tighter roll. Lovely! And super delicious with spicy mussels, reduced shallots, carrot, asparagus and wasabi mayo. Round 3 went so fast that I didn't get any pictures of it. See sushi = eat sushi! Round 4 and his rolling technique has peaked! Crab, scallion, carrot, asparagus and wasabi mayo. Round 5 is my lunch, which I'm trying r...