Over $600 raised for the 3 bulls in three days! :)

I'm so happy to share that between online and offline donations, Jodi has raised over $600 for these bulls in less than 3 days! :)

This is from one of the latest updates from Jodi: "I am forever grateful to all of you! These cows are just the sweetest - and I think they know something's going on. Yesterday Dan was walking by them, and Spotty Friend was just staring at him intently. Dan told him that we are doing everything we can to save them - and he look at him and let out the longest "MOOOOOOO" ever! :)"

There are many kind and generous people of the Vegan Etsy, EtsyVeg, CFE and EFA teams donating proceeds from their Etsy stores towards this cause. These stores are filled with some wonderful goodies so if there was a time to buy things from them, it is now!

I'll keep updating this list as new people join in to contribute a portion or all of their sales so please keep checking in.




thisisit.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales on both 3rd Feb and 10th Feb









oooohshiny.etsy.com - donating 50% of the sales through 13th Feb









veganosaurus.etsy.com - donating 50% (or more) of sales through 13th Feb









mvegan5.etsy.com - donating 10% of sales through 15th Feb









holisticallyheather.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb









aktie9.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb









lolalynn.etsy.com - donating 75% of bracelet sales through 13th Feb







leandogpottery.etsy.com - donating 20% of sales through 13th Feb







kimbascritters.etsy.com - donating 50% of sales through 11th Feb















AuntFlosPads.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb






dragonhouseofyuen.etsy.com - donating 10% of the next baby hare sale from her store







Karramandi.etsy.com - donating 20% of the next sale from her store







jenoconnell.etsy.com - donating 20% of sales through the end of Feb









silentlotus.etsy.com - donating 25% of sales through 13th Feb









vegandogslife.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 12th Feb

Made my first sale for the bulls! :)

A very kindhearted person just made a large purchase at my Veganosaurus store to help save the bulls. She purchased:

The Pokey Gang


Angelica Piggy


Snaizel Hazel


and

Tomatoey


I had stated yesterday that 50% of all sales at my Veganosaurus store until the 13th of Feb 2010 would be going towards this cause. But I wanted to donate in more from this sale. So I just sent $50 to Jodi.

It's heartening to see those numbers in the chip in widget increasing. Within one day, more than 10% has been raised. We are extremely grateful for this incredible generosity shown by everyone and are confident that the goal will be reached and the 3 beautiful boys saved. :) Please keep chipping in, in any way that you can.

Help Save 3 Bulls from Being Slaughtered

My friend Jodi of This Is It! Creations just found out that the 3 bulls who graze on their land were scheduled to be slaughtered today. They asked the owner if he would consider selling them the bulls instead and he has agreed. But he needs them to pay the full amount of $3600 in just under two weeks time.

These three are amazing animals. They have been named Pooka Cow (the brown one), Spotty Friend, and Less Spotty Friend. They are only 2 years old and have many more years of happy lives to live.



I will be donating 50% of all sales from my Veganosaurus store on etsy until 13th Feb 2010 towards these beautiful creatures.



Please help Jodi and her family save these boys through donations, networking and getting the word out to everyone you know.

Donate here:



Also, if you would rather mail a check, please send it to:

This Is IT! Creations
P.O. Box 1252
Jacksonville, OR 97530

Future of these animals? Jodi says, "We've been asked where the cows will go if we do raise enough money to save them - they will stay here, at least for the short term. We have 11 acres of land, a barn, and a stream. We are planning to create a line of products where all of the profits will go toward their care (hay, vet bills, fence mending, etc.) If we can find a loving family with enough land to adopt them, we are definitely open to that as well. :)"

Thank you in advance for all your help!

Baked Potatoes, a post eclipse feast. :)

We had a long annular solar eclipse today. From start to finish it lasted for about 4 hours. Here in Bangalore, the eclipse started around quarter past 11 am and ended at a little past 3 pm. It hit its peak of approximately 84% at 1:23 pm.

Traditionally we believe that during an eclipse, the stomach should be completely empty. And after the eclipse is entirely done, we bathe and then cook something fresh to eat. Any previously cooked food that's been lying around during an eclipse is chucked away, never to meet a mouth or a tummy.

This practice stems from a mythological story about the Demon-God, Rahu, swallowing the Sun (or the Moon, depending on his mood), making any eclipse a very inauspicious period of time. Hmm so why doesn't the Sun (or the Moon) stay swallowed beyond a few hours, you ask? Well that's because Rahu is a severed head (his body being considered a whole other Demon-God, Ketu, the history of which I might narrate to you on another day) with a large gaping hole at the end of his neck, through which the chosen celestial body escapes.

The scientific explanation given to us is slightly simpler. Something to do with the rays of the sun and bacteria. Well whatever the reason, I believe that some traditions are meant to be followed. Even if it's simply because I've grown up with these practices as part of my culture. And by me following them, no one's getting harmed in any way.

So I had my breakfast a little before 9 am hoping that it would be digested (well most of it at least) by the time the eclipse started and peaked. Now normally, I go without eating for hours in the afternoon without even realizing it. But today of course, since I couldn't eat, that was pretty much all I did want to do!

I was fine for the first couple of hours. I even meditated a bit during the peak eclipse time and it felt awesome! Then at a little past 2 pm, the thought of chocolates floated into my head, immediately followed by a sudden craving for potatoes. One of my friends on Facebook had mentioned earlier that he ate masala dosa, crepes stuffed with a savory potato mixture, for breakfast. My oatmeal, though I had it with mom's scrumptious mixed veggie Sankranthi sambar from yesterday, had paled in comparison. So those potatoes from the dosa must've stayed somewhere at the back of my head all along and then suddenly popped out shouting, "look at me! look at me!" with all their might when my tummy awoke from its calm reverie at the word "chocolate".

You might agree that the thought of potatoes is a hard thing to get off the brain. Especially if every time you nearly shake it off, your tummy ominously rumbles it right back into place! I'd soon forgotten all about the chocolate and was holding on to one single image... delicious baked potatoes. I tried to distract myself for the remaining hour of the eclipse (thank goodness there was only an hour left!) by watching the latest episode of House MD. It was a mostly successful attempt... except for that one moment where I could've sworn that Eric Foreman's whole head morphed into a potato and said, "the phrase 'Who's Your Daddy?' comes to mind".

At 3:11 pm, I shot out of bed like hot coals had stung my rear end and zipped to the bathroom. In such a hurry was I to get done with that bath that I considered not conditioning my hair *gasp* but I overcame that temptation.

Then I ate a yelakki banana to soothe my tummy and finally got down to my cooking! :)

Et Voila! Here is the result...



Whole wheat and flax chapatis, piled with herbed baked potatoes, topped with fresh tomato salad. I still can't believe I mustered up the will power to actually take pictures of the feast before wolfing it down!

Herbed Baked Potatoes

Small to medium sized potatoes
Sea Salt
Pepper
Turmeric Powder
Sambar Powder (or Red Chilli Powder if that's more accessible to you)
Dried Herbs - Thyme, Dill, Chives
Dry dessicated coconut powder
Coconut oil
Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Lime Juice

Wash and scrub the potatoes along with the peel.

Boil water in a large pot and add a little sea salt.

Toss in the potatoes whole and boil for about 15 minutes.

Take the potatoes out with a slotted spoon, cut them in half and place in a microwave safe baking dish.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except nutritional yeast and lime juice) adjusting quantities according to your taste and toss until all the potatoes are coated.

Place in the microwave oven and bake covered under the micro option for 5 minutes. Uncover and bake with the micro-grill combination option for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle on the nutritional yeast and lime juice and toss again.

Finally bake in the grill option for 5 more minutes.

(You could also just bake in a regular oven for about half an hour instead of using the microwave).

Taste to make sure that the top layer is slightly crunchy and the insides are soft and well cooked. Bake a little more if required.

Serve hot.

Fresh Tomato Salad

Diced fresh tomatoes
Chopped fresh basil and mint
Lime juice
Green chilli paste or crushed green chillies
Black salt
Balsamic vinegar
Parma! - vegan Parmesan

Put everything into a bowl and mix with your hand, gently squeezing the tomatoes to merge the flavors together.

Enjoy with a satisfied smile! :)

December's EtsyVeg Challenge Entries - My Frostwind is in it.

Each month EtsyVeg team holds a challenge for its members. Based on the month's theme, we create an item and submit it. At the beginning of the following month, a poll is held on the Etsyveg blog where anyone (even non-members) can drop by, admire all the gorgeous submissions and vote for their favorite item.

December's theme was "Winter Daydreams". Please take a moment to stop by the EtsyVeg team's December Challenge Blog post and vote for your favorite entry. It's got a lot of gorgeous creations by the artists of the EtsyVeg team and believe me when I say it is not easy to pick just one favorite!

Of course, I'd be very grateful if you'd vote for my Frostwind - Exquisite Fine Silver Wire and Swarovski Crystal Pearl Brooch Pin that's part of this challenge.

Also January's challenge theme is "Fresh Start" as we kick off a brand new year and a "fresh" opportunity to set intentions, renew, recharge, and move forward (maybe in new directions)! To find all the items submitted for January, please do a search on Etsy for "FreshStart EtsyVeg team". Members will be submitting new items all through the month.

Vegan Southern-style Tofu Fry (Super-Quick Party Snack)

This recipe recently got published in a local mag Time Out Bengaluru.

They wanted a Vegan recipe that was quick and easy to make with easily available ingredients. Something to serve along with cocktails. And most importantly, something original. So this is what I came up with...

Vegan Southern-style Tofu Fry.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 packet of Firm Tofu
¼- ½ tsp Sambar Powder
Salt to taste

Method
Gently press the block of tofu to squeeze out any excess water. Cube the tofu into bite-sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add the tofu. Gently stir till the cubes are lightly browned. Sprinkle on the salt and sambar powder. Alternatively, pepper or red chilli powder can be used instead (but then it won't be very Southern :oP). Stir fry for another minute. Pierce the cubes with toothpicks and serve.



P.S: The best Sambar Powder is the homemade kind but if you're feeling lazy or don't know how to make any, it's easily available at Indian Stores. A well known brand is MTR.

Feeding Etsy to Twitter.

Here's a quick step by step, followed by a video, on how to link your Etsy shop's RSS feed to your Twitter account so each time you create a new listing or relist or renew, this activity gets tweeted automatically.

1. Create an account on TwitterFeed and login.
2. In your dashboard click on "Create New Feed".
3. Enter a name for the feed under "Feed Name" - your Etsy shop name for example.
4. In a new tab/window open your Etsy shop's main page and find the "Subscribe to shop feed" link at the bottom of the right hand column. Right click and copy the link location. Or you can even click on it and copy the link from the address bar.
5. Go back to your TwitterFeed account and paste the link under "RSS Feed URL".
6. Click on "test rss feed" button. It should test and say "Feed parsed OK" in green.
7. Ensure the "Active" box is ticked.
8. The default "Advanced Settings" are fine as they are so leave them alone for now.
9. Click on "Continue to Step 2".
10. Under "Available Services" click on "Twitter".
11. Authenticate your Twitter account or select it from the drop down list if you've already authenticated it before.
12. Click on "Create Service".
13. You can also use TwitterFeed to automatically post your new Etsy listings to your Facebook account or Fan Page at this point if you like by clicking on Facebook and authenticating your account (not shown in video).
14. Click on "All Done".
15. Your Etsy store feed is now set up to automatically post to Twitter whenever you list/renew/relist an item.

You can also link your blog's RSS feed to Twitter using the same method. In Step 5 you just enter your blog's RSS feed link which can be found right at the bottom of your blog - "Subscribe: Posts (Atom)."

Avocado Mint Smoothie

This one has Avocado, Date Syrup, Agave Nectar, Fresh Mint Leaves and plenty of water. All just blended well into a delightfully refreshing and delicious smoothie. YUM!

Caramelized Bananas

Last weekend we attended this awesome seminar by Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. Nandita Shah (of SHARAN India). It was 2 1/2 days of highly interesting lectures, super-fun cooking demos and yummy, healthy, vegan food. Both doctors are really nice people and patiently answered all of our questions - the intelligent as well as the silly ones. :)

One of my favorite recipes demonstrated by Dr. Nandita was Caramelized Bananas. These bananas are scrumptious! They contain absolutely no added sweetener and are ridiculously simple to make! It barely takes 10 minutes to get the whole thing done!

Did I mention they're delicious? :)



Sesame seeds - toasted well in a dry pan.
Ripe Bananas - cut in half lengthwise and horizontally.

Heat a pan (non-stick/Teflon makes things a lot easier). Place the bananas in a single layer in the pan. Gently flip the bananas once in a while as they cook. Once they reach a delicious looking golden color take them off the flame.

Serve sprinkled with the toasted sesame seeds.

I bet it takes you lesser time to make this dish than in took me to type it out for you. Enjoy! :)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Coconut Crumble Cookie-Cake

Made this for my granny's birthday. Since she's a huge peanut butter fan and prefers cookies over cakes, it was a perfect recipe. The inspiration was a no-bake cookie recipe which I modified in various ways to concoct this one. :)

Adjust quantities of all ingredients according to your taste. This is an extremely flexible dish. I made this one extra sweet just for her because she has a predominant sweet tooth. Just remember that the coconut oil tends to bring out the sweetness even more so always start with a lower quantity of sweetner and then increase it if required.

I just threw the ingredients into a bowl by handfuls and container tilts, but I've tried to put down measurements here to give you a general starting point.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Coconut Crumble Cookie-Cake.

1 1/2 C Oatmeal
2 T Rice Flour
1/2 C Dry Coconut Powder/Flakes
1/2 C Chopped Walnuts
1/4 C Vegan White Chocolate Chips
2 T Coconut Oil
1 large scoop Peanut Butter
3/4 C Sugar

1. Toast the oatmeal in a dry pan for a few minutes by stirring constantly.

2. Put this into a mixing bowl. While it is still hot/warm add the peanut butter, coconut oil and sugar onto it and mix well. This softens the peanut butter and coconut oil helping them to get incorporated well.

3. Finally mix in the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust.

4. Put this 'batter' into a microwave safe dish and nuke for about 2-3 minutes. You can skip this step and directly go to step 5 but I liked doing this so the sugar would be slightly caramelized to add an extra crunch.

5. Cool down to room temperature. Press into a desired container/plate and pop into the freezer. Let it set for at least 20 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, get your toppings ready. You can serve the cookie just as is but since I made it for an occasion, I figured it called for a bit of decorating.

For the Topping:

1/4 C Vegan Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate Chips
2 T Peanut Butter
2 t Tutti-Frutti (or other dried, chopped fruit)

Put the peanut butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and nuke for 30 seconds. Stir and put it back in for another 30 seconds if required. Just stirring well now will melt the chocolate chips completely and mix the peanut butter in.

7. Once the cookie is set completely, take it out of the freezer. Decorate it with the melted chocolate (you can pipe it on but I just used a fork and drizzled it on in thick lines) and sprinkle the tutti-frutti over it.

8. Pop it back into the freezer for 10 more minutes for the chocolate to set.

Enjoy! :)

Please do share the variations (vegan only of course :)) you used to make your own in the comments section.

Jewelry Artist magazine feature

I've been featured in the December 2009 issue of the Jewelry Artist magazine in the article on page 50, titled Designer Social Networking. :) :) :)

It all started when I posted the tutorial on creating a Facebook Fan Page earlier in the year. When I created that tutorial, it was simply with an intention to make things easy for a couple of my friends and blog followers. Little did I know it would become so well known.

A few friends asked me if they could share the link to my blog post with their friends and then before I knew it, it went from one friend to another, until one fine day Danielle Mavel, better known in Etsy kingdom as the very cool daniellexo - Etsy's education coordinator, contacted me to ask if my tutorial could be posted in Etsy's awesome blog The Storque. Needless to say I was thrilled! If you're in the Etsy community, you'd know that being featured in any way on Ye Holy Storque is a *huge* deal. :)

Well anyways, months passed and it was heartwarming to read each and every comment and convo letting me know that the tutorial had helped people create their own page.

Then in August, Danielle contacted me again and told me that Annie from Jewelry Artist magazine wanted to interview me. So I got in touch with Annie and she told me about this article she was writing about Social Media for Designers. I was in the US at that time so it was easy to schedule a telephone interview. Annie was very pleasant to talk to and I really enjoyed telling her all about my use of Facebook and Twitter.

The article was to come out in October's issue but for some reason they decided to put it in December's issue instead. I was told that when an article is moved to the holiday issue, it's always a good thing. :)



Jewelry Artist mag also wanted to feature a couple of my jewelry pieces along with the article. Since I had just gotten into stamping at that time, my store was filled with stamped jewelry - particularly pendants. So they chose two of my pendants and I sent them pictures in the required resolution.





I'm now waiting for my copy of the magazine to get here by snail mail. Can't wait! :)

December's Full Moon Miracles - Canadian Rockies Art.

December has kicked off to an excellent start for me! The full moon has brought with her some wonderful miracles into my life. There are so many already that I can't even begin to list them all here. And I know there are plenty more in store for me all month long. I can just feel it! :D

Over the next few weeks, I'll log some of these experiences here on my blog so I can share my joys with all of you.

I'd like to start with something that I've been gloating about since Tuesday morning. :D I won a $50 gift certificate to the highly talented jewelry artist, Nathalie Girard's fabulous Artfire store Canadian Rockies Art. All I did was take part in a contest where I had to promote her store on Twitter on Cyber Monday. This dear friend of mine is so talented and such a wonderful person that I wouldn't have needed a prize to promote her. :) Of course I did put in a bit of extra effort because I SO wanted to win that GC! And well, apparently I kicked ass!! :D

Now I'm in a fix! There are too many gorgeous pieces to choose from! LOL

The picture above shows one of my most favorite pieces by Nathalie. Jezyka sterling silver necklace "featuring a stunning 22 carats Hydrothermal Quartz in the shade of the finest Paraiba Blue Tourmaline." It's available at her Artfire store right now but I don't think it'll last long there.

And then there's this unique copper pendant called Mended Heart. Here's what Nathalie says about the piece... "Throughout our lives, our hearts get broken for many reasons and in various ways…. many times over… and with time, we patch things up and keep on going...Mended Heart - a pendant about life and the uniqueness of each of us."

Apart from all the metal and wire pieces, Nathalie also creates some simple and cute ear studs in a range of designs. I own a pair of her basic Little Rock Studs and I wear them all the time! Here are the adorable garnet and lapis treasures I've been eyeing for a while now...



And finally, here's a sweet sterling silver Hugs n Kisses - XOXOXO finger ring. Thankfully it's one of her many "made to order" items, so even if it get's sold by the time I make up my mind, I can always get more. :)



Well I'm sure you can see my dilemma now. Fortunately I do have a bit of time to decide on what goodies to treat myself to. And while I'm making up my mind, I can sell and build up my reserves because in all likelihood, I'm not going to stop at 50 dollars once I begin to shop at Canadian Rockies Art!

P.S: Click on any of the pictures above to be taken to their specific listing.

Ten Percent for Peace Event This Week! EtsyVeg Pairs up With Food Not Bombs!

Both my stores, Art by Susmitha and Veganosaurus, are participating in EtsyVeg's Ten Percent For Peace event.




Join the EtsyVeg Team this week as we promote Ten Percent For Peace. All this week, November 30-December 6, members of our team will be offering great handmade items for you or your loved ones. Through the generosity of the season, all sales this week in participating shops listed below will be donated to a great organization called Food Not Bombs and their "Dollar for Peace" campaign. Food Not Bombs is an all-volunteer global movement that shares free vegetarian meals as a protest to war and poverty, believing that money spent on sustaining warfare could be used to feed the millions of people starving across the globe. With nearly 400 chapters in countries throughout the world, they call attention to poverty and homelessness in society by sharing food, fighting poverty, and seeking a more just and peaceful existence for all!

Shop handmade for the holidays with EtsyVeg shops all this week and help us to raise support for Food Not Bombs! Feel great supporting local and small businesses and artisans who create each and every item in a unique way, and helping an organization that works to help people create a more peaceful world while combating the serious problem of world hunger!



Visit the following shops this week to find great items, and in some shops, great sales or special offers!

aktie9
amefaust - Free Matte and Free
Shipping
artbysusmitha - Free Worldwide Shipping
auclairdelalune
beanlennon - Buy 1 get 1 half
off
claynfiber
daisywares
griffinlamps
jenoconnell -Free U.S.
shipping, 1/2 off shipping elsewhere
ladonnae
lostmitten
luniquejewellery
magglepie
movetheneedle - Free
Shipping
sassandperil - Free
Shipping
silentlotus
starfirewire
sweetvconfections - Free 1/2 Dozen Cookies with every order
urbanimal
veganosaurus - Free Worldwide Shipping

Mostly Raw Beet and Carrot Salad Wrap

An all vegan, mostly raw concoction of freshly grated veggies in a tangy marinade and creamy dressing wrapped in tapioca/rice paper. The juicy veggies, sharp marinade and sweet dressing compliment each other perfectly!

Tapioca/Rice paper can be found easily at local Asian Stores. And even if you don't have any, the salad is scrumptious enough to be enjoyed on its own. :)

There are no specific quantities to most of the marinade or dressing ingredients. Just go with your taste buds and adjust.

Mostly Raw Beet and Carrot Salad Wrap

1 Beet
2 Carrots
A few Basil Leaves (freshly plucked ones taste best so grow your own in a little planter on the kitchen window)

Marinade:

Balasmic Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Tamari (I have the Wheat Free version)
Parma! (vegan parmesan)
Nutritional Yeast
Agave Nectar (very small squirt)
Green Chilli Paste (fresh green chillies ground into a paste with a little bit of asafoetida and sea salt)
Black Salt or Sea Salt

Sweet Creamy Dressing:

Almonds
Pistachios
Raisins
Saffron (a few strands)
Whole Black Pepper
Garlic (1 small clove)
Ginger
Nutritional Yeast (a dash)
Black Salt or Sea Salt (a pinch)

The Salad:

Soak all the dressing ingredients (except nutritional yeast and salt) in 1 cup of water. Keep aside for 15 minutes (more if time permits). Meanwhile...

Grate the beet and carrots and mix together. Chiffonade the basil and sprinkle on top. Add all the marinade ingredients and toss well. Taste and adjust. Cover and keep aside for about 30 minutes (an hour if you have the time).

Strain the dressing ingredients and keep the liquid aside. Blend into a creamy paste using the soaking liquid a little at a time. Keep blending and adding until all the liquid is used. Add the nutritional yeast and salt and blend again. Taste and adjust.

Pour over salad and mix well.

The Wrap:

Keep a large bowl of warm water and a large plate ready. You need to work quickly with the rice paper or it will either tear or stick to the plate.

Take a single sheet of the rice paper and dip completely into the water and spread it on the plate.

Place a couple of spoons of the salad mixture in the center of the paper and fold the bottom portion of the sheet over the veggies. Then fold the sides and finally roll everything upwards.

The wraps should be served and eaten soon after they are made.



Enjoy! :)

Vegan Double Beans Stew

After our 3 month long (semi) holiday, I had pretty mixed feelings about getting back home. On the one hand I wanted my super relaxing, veganlicious, creativity filled vacation to go on forever and ever. But on the other, I was really beginning to miss mom, dad and sis and had had enough of admiring our adorable little doll of a baby niece on the web cam... I wanted to meet her already!

I'd gotten too used to the lazy days of housekeeping services so it wasn't easy getting back to a dusty house with plenty to clean (not to mention unpack). My very thoughtful mommy had brought her maid over to our place the day before we arrived to do a quick sweep and mop but a 3 month old layer of dust takes much more than that to go away.

Soon after we got home, I took full advantage of my jet lag and started my days disgustingly early so as to get work done and out of the way a little at a time. The kitchen was the first point of attack of course; and then the rest of the house followed. Fortunately, my maid returned to work within a few days and made things easier for me.

It took a bit of effort to switch from vacation mode to reality mode. Thankfully Deepavali was the weekend following our return to Bangalore so it helped make the transition nicer. Having missed all the other festivals through August and September, it felt good to be celebrating this one with family.

Finally all the excitement is over and I've settled back into my regular routine. And you know what that means for all of you, my faithful blog readers. :)

Thank you for waiting so patiently until I got back into the swing of things. Here's something I whipped up on Monday night.

Vegan Double Bean Stew

1 Cup dry Red Double Beans - quick soaked, rinsed and cooked until tender
1 medium Onion - sliced
2 large Tomatoes - diced
1 small Capsicum - diced
handful Cilantro - chopped
Fresh Green Chillies
Olive Oil
Omum (Oregano) Seeds
Nutritional Yeast
Agave Nectar
Dried Herbs - dill, chives etc..
Salt (preferable Black Salt or Sea Salt)
Pepper
Tamarind Paste or Lemon

Drain the cooked beans and reserve the cooking liquid.

Blend a large ladle full of the cooked beans with the tomatoes, capsicum (green bell pepper), cilantro, a piece of onion, green chillies, salt, nutritional yeast and a little bit of olive oil until creamy. Use some of the reserved bean broth if required.

Heat a few spoons of oil in a pan (for about 30 seconds) and sprinkle some omum seeds; they should crackle immediately. Add the sliced onion and stir fry till tender and slightly browned.

Add the cooked beans and the blended creamy mixture and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer for a few minutes. Add more of the reserved bean broth until you're satisfied with the consistency. Stir in some tamarind paste (if using) and let everything simmer for another minute or so. Taste and adjust the salt. Turn off the flame and let it sit for a minute.

If you're using lemon, squeeze the juice into the stew now. Add freshly crushed pepper and mix well. Drizzle on some agave nectar and sprinkle the dried herbs over the stew.

Serve with brown rice or enjoy as it is! :)

Feature and Giveaway on Sweet Figments.

Connie of Sweet Figments has kindly featured both my stores on her awesome blog. I am so excited about this! :)

The interview has been coupled with a giveaway where you get a chance at a $20 shopping spree at my artbysusmitha or veganosaurus etsy stores.

Please visit her blog and follow the instructions if you'd like to to enter the giveaway.



All the best! :)

I grabbed me an Etsy treasury!

Once upon a time I was an Etsy Treasury pro. I used to stay up all night, into the wee hours of the morning, prowling the halls of Treasury and Treasury West and every single time there was an opening, I grabbed treasury after treasury after treasury! My friends would look on in awe as I proudly displayed the many treasuries I'd put together, one for my store, one for one street team I belonged to and one for another team... They named me the Etsy Treasury Ninja Mistress....

*Sigh* that was a long time ago. Now the treasury grabbing has become a rare event. So when I do, it's a cause for celebration! :)

Last night I got lucky enough to wander into the treasuries about half an hour before the next opening was due to happen. I was super-thrilled! So I made DH sit with the MacBook and keep watch over the treasury countdown while I quickly finished doing a few rounds of Frisbee, Bowling, Sky Diving and Canoeing on the Wii Sports Resort (man I wish I could live in that Resort in real life!). When we had about 4 minutes to go before the treasuries opened up, I took over the computer and sat with jittery, bite-my-nails-and-tap-my-feet excitement and waited (without refreshing the page since I'm a good girl). And that's when it hit me, I hadn't even decided a theme! Boy had my Treasury Ninjaness become rusty! So when that blue box popped up I zeroed in on the one thing that's been on my mind lately... COPPER! Been working with it a LOT over the past week. So here it is... my latest treasury... FABULOUS COPPER!



I've featured some of my favorite artists and then some new favorites I discovered last night while hunting for copper creations to fill my treasury with. I could spend ages browsing these stores! The artists are so incredibly talented!!

Here's a screen shot showing the items on stand by on the right:



And here are a few of the copper pieces I've worked on over the past week. There are many more listed at my Etsy store - Art by Susmitha and some more to come over the next few days:

ETSY GEEK, CRAFT-O-HOLIC copper necklace











Every Existence Would Exist In Thee - Charlotte Bronte quote necklace









V for VEGAN pendant














STOP AND SMELL THE TYPOS... pendant












On Ne Voit Bien Qu'Avec Le Coeur - Le Petit Prince quote necklace

Here's to more treasuries and more inspiration!

Mitsy's Flickr Favorites Game

I'm playing the Flickr Favories game on ARTMIND. The theme I choose for my mosaic is Vegan Cakes.. Surprised much? :D

So here are a bunch of awesome pictures of vegan cakes I found on flickr showcased in the form of a mosaic...


1. Vegan bike cake!, 2. Vegan Chocolate Cake, 3. Vegan 49ers Cake, 4. Vegan Chocolate Cake, 5. vegan valentine cake, 6. Tomato Spice Cake (Vegan), 7. vegan birthday cake 2, 8. vegan raspberry cake, 9. flat tire cake (vegan), 10. Vegan Chocolate Cake Take 1, 11. Vegan Peace Of Cake, 12. frances and rob's vegan wedding cake, 1, 13. organic vegan devils food cake

If you want to play this game or check out all the other beautiful entires, visit Mitsy's blog.