The Professor's Mothly Homework Assignment: April Showers

 

Spring is a very, very special time of year. The birds are singing, flowers will soon begin to bloom.. Who am I kidding? That's for other places, not at all what happens in Wisconsin. It only just FINALLY got too warm to be snowy and this past week has been downpour, downpour, downpour. We have a break of dark over cast during the weekend with more rain to follow.

I don't really have any special rain gear. Usually I go outside to play in a dark shirt and shorts. Soon after followed up by hot tomato soup and bread sticks. So I'm focusing on how rain makes me feel.

Personally, I love the rain; the way it beads down my skin and how it smells is rejuvinating. The way the earth smells because of the rain is the very best. Fun fact: there's a word for that smell.

 

source: iwantcovers.com

 

I wish I could find a beautiful rain beaded spider web because even though they're kind of cliche, they're the greatest example of beauty created with rain. I can't wait to see what nature has to offer once the rain stops and mother earth does her work. More than anything rain really gives me hope for change.

 



a gorgeous rainbow after a rainy day at the beach
source: me

At this point I'd like to remind everyone that Earth Day 2013 is April 22 (in America, anyway)

Vegetarian Food Reviews

If there's anyone out there like me, they're vegetarian. And if there's anyone out there like me who thinks like I do then they might be hesitant to try some vegetarian/vegan food because that's a very dicey area.
When veggie food is good, its very very good but when it's bad, it can feel like a complete waste of anywhere from $3- $10. A great way to know if what you're looking for is worth it is through reviews. WHICH THERE ARE VERY FEW OF ON THE STINKING INTERNET!
So to hopefully help someone, somewhere out just a little, I'm going to start doing reviews of veggie noms by brand.

First up: Light Life

Image via The Goldstein Group

Vegan friendly?: some things

Good things about this brand:

• If you're used to eating soy, this brand is decent in terms of taste. Their lunch meats (bologna and deli style turkey being the ones I've tried) are my preferred things to eat from this brand.

• The way the company spices their products is very spot on. The  soy chorizo spices are the closest I've had since I stopped eating meat in 2005. The texture is similar as well.

• Did I mention low calorie? It's a great brand to supplement a dieter's meals.

Not so good things:

I do have good things to say about Light Life, I've also got quite a few problems with it.

• While the lunch meat is good, it doesn't smell that way. I have a hard time coping with the scent and unfortunately, I've never smelled something similar to it so I can't give a comparison.

• Every product seems to have a really odd after-taste. It's something that sticks around long after your meal and even after brushing your teeth in order to get rid of it. It tastes just like the smell would from the above mentioned lunch meat. The after-taste is more prominent in the sausages/hot dogs.

• I get stomach issues when I eat more than 2 slices of the lunch meat in a day or eat more than one sausage/hot dog in a day. My stomach starts to hurt as if I were sick. It's not a particularly good brand for those who suffer from heart burn/acid reflux as the food has NEVER reacted well with my stomach acid if I ate more than the previously stated limits.

Over-all review:
I've eaten the pepperoni, deli- style turkey, chorizo, bologna and hot dogs. The products have all been decent but not many of these things would I buy again (only the bologna, turkey and pepperoni). There's a very parishable shelf life on these foods.
This is one of the brands that you might feel you wasted your money on because you either couldn't eat it fast enough or it was just unpalatable. I'm concerned about trying the other foods myself because I don't want to buy food I won't be able to eat.
2/5 stars.