Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Candy for Breakfast

RAW (well, mostly raw) VEGAN CANDY, THAT IS! :)

otherwise known as:
pumpkin seed butter (organic but not raw)
hand-ground (by me) flax seeds
shelled hemp seeds
raw honey

all mixed up and stuffed in a huge medjool date! mmmmmm... candy for breakfast ftw! (also, breakfast at 2pm ftw, lol)

Seriously, I will be forever grateful to Sheri over at Green and Crunchy for the concept of stuffing dates with nut-butters and other deliciousness! I do it all the time now :)


I'm also having a carrot and a clementine. And I'm already planning my pre-work energy meal: multigrain pasta with tomato sauce, spinach, mushrooms, onions and green peppers and fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme, and a green salad with radish and alfalfa sprouts :) sounds pretty scrummy if I do say so myself.

taaaa <3


ohbaby.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Recuperation Diet

disclaimer: this has nothing to do with weight loss, so kindly save your "omg you so don't need to lose weight!" comments (though I do appreciate them ;)). The next few days (and on) are all about cleansing my blood and organs of all the crap I put in my body over the last few days. I'm going a little aggressive with it because I feel particularly shitty, excuse my french (stomach pains, flank pains, etc). So here goes.

I don't know, it's simple. not really "breakfasty" on the outside, but this is the kind of light stuff I like to eat in the morning. I would have loved to add lemon to my water but I didn't have any.

orange and green superman breakfast

1 small carrot, cut up
1 small orange pepper, cut up
handful of organic baby spinach
small handful of radish and alfalfa sprouts (no dressing. I just chomp it into juice with some water in my mouth. sounds gross, i know, but that's how you're supposed to chew veggies! TO A PULP/JUICE. Chewing is the first stage of the digestive system.)
1 organic whole foods multivitamin (I use New Chapter. <3 'em)
giant glass of water


yum yum yummers. simple and delicious. my cells are thanking me big time right now, lol =P


see you next year, stuffin' and 'taters :(


PS: THE OLYMPIC TORCH CAME THROUGH MY TOWN (and this is a smaaaaalll town) TODAY AT 8:55 IN THE MORNING AND I TOTALLY MISSED IT!!!! weak.

Friday, December 18, 2009

bachelorhood

Ben: "Is it [your fridge] really that bad [Connor]?"

Me: "Oh my god. There are things in there from the day he moved in!" (referring to over a year ago!)

Ben: "Really?"

Connor: "Dude. There's a cob of corn in there that has literally disappeared."


lol<3






Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Eat your sunblock.

by eating HEMP! :)




Hemp seeds, hemp nuts, hemp oil... also flax seed, pumpkin, sunflower & sesame seeds, walnuts, most nuts actually...along with algae (eg. spirulina, chlorella).

all contain Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) which, when eaten regularly, help protect your skin from the sun :)

(sesame seeds and whole grains are also good sources of selenium, which also minimizes the damaging effects of UV rays)



Here's the breakdown for those interested:

The seeds and nuts contain Linoleic Acid (LA), which is converted to Gamma-Linoleic Acid (GLA) -- an anti-inflammatory/hormone balancer/cancer-suppressor
-- in your body. GLA is also found in borage oil, evening primrose & blackcurrant seed oil.

These seeds and nuts DO NOT contain the vital EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) or DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Fish are able to produce these from the algae they eat, which we then absorb when we eat them. We can of course eat the algae ourselves; chlorella and spirulina provide valuable sources of these converted fats as well as a whole host of other nutrients.

If you do not regularly consume fish or algae (organic whole foods vitamins often contain algae as well), your body is able to -- when functioning properly -- convert these fats itself. Here are some ways to help optimize your conversion of fatty acids:

-Include good sources of the nutrients which aid essential fat conversion – zinc, magnesium, calcium, biotin and vitamins B6, B3 and C.
-Avoid things which inhibit conversion; alcohol, saturated and trans fats (from animal foods and processed foods), smoking, caffeine, viral infections, stress and excess intake of vitamin A and copper.
-Balance your intake of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Due to the widespread use of sunflower oil in food manufacturing we tend to have a much greater intake of omega 6 to 3 fats in our diets. This imbalance can lead to the conversion enzymes getting used up for omega 6, restricting omega 3 conversion. The ideal balance is around 3 to 4 parts omega 6 to one of omega 3.
-Some people may have less of the conversion enzymes and may need to be strict with the above nutrient supporters and inhibitors. These people include those with atopic allergies (asthma, eczema and hay fever that runs in the family) and those with diabetes.
-Include an algae (spirulina or chlorella) drink 4 times a week. (Odwalla's "Lifefood" juice - available at metro, fortinoes, basically everywhere - has a hefty shot of spirulina)
- Have a daily intake of nuts (preferably soaked and dried) & seeds.



Back to the skin point: How EFAs help protect and beautify your skin is simple. EFAs strengthen and increase the fluidity of your delicate skin cell membranes. These cell membranes are the guardians of your skin - keeping toxins out and bringing moisture and nutrients in. They also stimulate the production of skin's natural moisture protective coating, make the skin more resistant to environmental damage and help construct new healthy-looking skin.

Other vitamins that help promote healthy, beautiful skin are vitamins A, B, C & E and the minerals Zinc and Selenium. Specific food examples that are good for skin are berries, olive oil, organic green tea, leafy greens, mushrooms and most importantly WATER.


And that's all I got. Have a nice day :)



Here is a video that explains Omega-3s further and includes a yummy recipe :)




and another,







Monday, December 14, 2009

Glass Walls

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."
-Paul McCartney


I couldn't figure out how to post this video, but it's right on the main page of this site.
Meat.org

Disgusting. Heartbreaking. Essential to watch.

I'm crying my fucking eyes out but I'm still watching it. I suggest you do, too, and don't stop or look away, especially if you consume animal products.

It's irresponsible to be deliberately uninformed about the horrible, appalling shit we put our "food" through.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Eating Vegetarian/Vegan/Raw in: Guelph, Ontario (again)!

Mostly in pictures because I'm lazy.


pic courtesy of guelphmercury.com
(the rest of the pictures are from dan's Bold, I just forgot to take one of the front)

The Cornerstone Vegetarian Restaurant
1 Whyndam St N
Guelph, ON
(519) 827-0145





waiting for our food to arrive


Crostini Platter with garlic hummus, sundried tomato pesto and green olive tapanade & green salad
(SO good!)




Pinto, Mushroom & Avocado Enchilada with salsa & salad, Mine
(ridiculously delicious. and filling.)




Grilled Aged White Cheddar Cheese, Dan's
(buttery and delicious. okay so I had a little nibble ;) ) 


3-Bean Chili with cheese, Dan's
(scrumptious. would have been better without the massive amount of cheese. good lord.)


And since I was in the mood for some raw superfoods for dessert, we headed to WOW raw cafe on Carden...


...for some of those Hemp Balls and Raw Chocolate Macaroons from last time (I actually got pictures this time!) and a Chocolate Parfait (their chocolate dream cake "batter", chocolate pudding and whipped "cream"). The parfait was nummyumnumnumumyummygood. Though the strawberries they threw in were pretty mushy...weak. But after I took those out it was basically chocolate heaven. ohbaby <3


I hiiiiighhhlly recommend The Cornerstone. It wasn't as ridiculously expensive as the reviews I read made it seem (though I wouldn't call it cheap), and the food was ohmygod good. There were also plenty of vegan options, save the desserts (they had some tofu cheesecake. meh.) even though I admittedly tried both of Dan's cheesy dishes. I'm a badass like that.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Hurray for giveaways!

I've never won one, mind you, but a girl can dream. A girl can dream.

#1: Twin Cakes Bakery is giving away samples of the following items in honour of their 2nd Anniversary:


  • Raw brownie bites
  • Raw rosemary cracker
  • Raw pumpkin kale cracker
  • Raw collard green fiesta flatbread
  • Raw spinach flatbread
  • Chocolate chips cookies
  • Cranberry orange scone
  • Lemon blueberry scone
  • Pumpkin chocolate chip muffin
  • And our holiday raw gingerbread macaroon
Go here to enter. 

Giveaway #2: Smoothie Girl @ Smoothiegirleatstoo.blogspot.com is giving away a selection of four homemade nut butters in celebration of HEAB's one-year-blogversary. Heather (HEAB) is going to choose the 4 she wants and the lucky winner will receive 4 of the same nut butters.

    Go here to enter that one.


And that is all. Good luck! Taaaaaa!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Nothing to say

Just a couple great links to share <3

Crazy Sexy Cancer: A documentary about healing stage 4 cancer with whole foods.



And here is a Raw Food Testimonial video. I tried to embed it but it was all wide and wonky =P


Enjoy :)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Eating Raw in: Guelph, Ontario!


Wild Organic Way Cafe & Juice Bar
22 Carden St
Guelph, ON
(519) 766-1701
www.WowRawCafe.ca



We started off with some water (with cucumber!)

 
From the left: Chocolate Monkey Smoothie (Banana and raw cacao with a dash of agave blended with almond milk) & Sweet Beet Juice (Apple, celery & beet). Both were delicious!


This is what Dan got: Tasty Tacos (Corn tortillas stuffed with a sunflower& sun dried tomato “refried bean mix”. Mixed with just the right seasoning and topped with guacamole and salsa).


He seemed to like it =P Sorry for the shoddy photography, these were taken on Dan's blackberry bold, lol.



I ordered: Falafel Wrap (2 delicious falafels wrapped in a collard leaf, topped with our WOW tahini sauce, red onions and fresh diced tomato). This was very good! The falafel is made from ground almonds, and it really tasted like the real thing! My one complaint would be that there was a bit too much of the actual falafel and not enough onions and tomatoes, it was extremely filling - I wasn't even able to finish it all! The salad dressing was particularily delicious; I think they just use their tahini, and mm-MM! so tasty.
 
nom


 yummy :)

For dessert, we ordered: Hemp Balls (Looking for a lighter dessert?  This will hit the spot! Small but MIGHTY DELICIOUS. Cashews, coconut, date, vanilla & hemp hearts), 1 each

and Raw Chocolate Macaroons (For you chocolate lovers simple and decadent raw chocolate coconut and agave), 2 each

but we ate them all before I could get pictures! =P They were that good. The hemp balls. Oh man. And the macaroons were just sooo sinfully chocolately (except not sinful at all because they were raw! =D)

All-in-all I highly recommend WOW cafe if you're ever in Guelph! There are lots of other great restaurants and stores on the same block to browse through as well, such as Footprints EcoStore, where I got some all-natural, organic bath bombs and a great oatmeal soap bar!

Happy Shopping!

(All descriptions of WOW dishes taken from www.WowRawCafe.ca)

 

Friday, November 27, 2009

The most delicious thing I've ever eaten.

Okay maybe that's an exaggeration. Certainly the most delicious fajita/wrap I've ever eaten.
Dan and I feasted on these last night and were extremely satisfied. We couldn't have fit meat or cheese on these badboys if we wanted to ;)


As you can see I needed *two* toothpicks to hold it together. It was a mouthful!

The makings:
-Whole Wheat Tortillas (which turned out to contain L-Cysteine Hydrochloride, rendering them unvegan. oh well)
-Spicy Hummus (protein)
-Guacamole (good fats)
-Kale (calcium, iron, protein, vitamin c...the list goes on. kale is a power vegetable!)
-Parsley (vitamin c & a, iron, folate, potassium, calcium... parsley also contains various anti-carcinogenic properties. just sayin')
-Green Onions
-Tomatoes (vitamin c & a, lycopene, an anti-carcinogenic [especially when cooked])
-Carrots (you should know what's in carrots by now)
-Green & Orange bell peppers (mad vitamins, obviously, and a potent cancer-fighter)
-Mushrooms (selenium [good for the fellas], and other stuff, most notably potassium [lowers blood pressure] and riboflavin [an essential b-vitamin])
-Alfalfa Sprouts (This is the ONLY plant that supplies the full range of vitamins, from vitamin A, B complex [even B12], C, E to K. Alfalfa sprouts placed in indirect sun for a couple of days before harvesting, even produce nutritious blood-healing chlorophyll. They also contain calcium, folic acid, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, sodium & zinc. MM!! <3 I loves me some sprouts)
-and lastly, salsa. (another source of lycopene)

I can't wait to make another one <3

bon appetit!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Veggie (or more appropriately Beanie) Sloppy Joes

I threw these together the other night and they were insanely delicious, though VERY sloppy when first made, more like Chili, lol. I just smothered a slice of toast with it, followed by another piece of toast (which I also smothered). Still very tasty, but they were much better in my opinion after the mixture sat in the fridge for a night.

Drain a can of kidney beans and mash them up in a pot. Leave some chunks. You could also use any other bean that has the same texture as kidney beans.
Add a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat up on medium.
Once heated, add spaghetti/tomato sauce of your choice (I used some kind of chunky tomato & basil one), as much as you want, just taste as you go along, but don't make it too liquidy. You could even use Manwich mix and just use as much beans as meat indicated on the can.
Heat it all up.
Add some cumin, chili powder and cayenne, to taste.

Bam. Vegan Sloppy Joes.
I was also going to add a little ketchup but forgot. I think that could be good.

Enjoy!

No pictures, unfortunately. And there may not be any until I get a new camera :(

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Books & Bakes

I've been a busy little beaver today. Washed and folded 2 loads of laundry, did 2 loads of dishes, cleaned the toilets (hurray!), ran out to the post office, made some cookies, tidied my room... and I'm not even done yet! I know to a lot of women out there that probably doesn't seem like that tiring of a day, but hey, I'm a beginner and I am BEAT! lol. So much so, in fact, that I'm going to keep this post short and sweet.


My trip to the post office was to pick up these 2 books, which I have been eagerly awaiting for several weeks (I think. It definitely felt like several.)



I am super excited to get started on them!!


Next order of business, aside from laundry and dishes: I felt the itch to bake something. And Lord knows, when I get this itch, there's only one way to scratch it... I gotta bake.

So I decided to throw together some Multigrain Cocoa-Peanut Butter cookie mounds. I had no recipe for the kind of cookie I wanted to bake, so I just winged it (wang it?).

Here's what I used:



2 cups multigrain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup organic peanut butter
Almond milk to moisten
Raw agave nectar to taste (though you'll see in a minute that my taste was a bit off)
1 tsp vanilla (which I forgot but would definitely be good :P) 
and the reason I didn't add the "vegan mofo" pic to this post, 3 tbsp butter. I simply didn't have anything else. Margarine, Oil, Apple sauce, nada.

I first mixed the dry ingredients, then mixed the peanut butter with the agave. I mixed the two, then began to add the almond milk. Once the mixture was combined, I transferred the mixture in globs to a lightly greased (ie buttered ;\). I was only able to fit 9 at a time on my cookie sheet (in hindsight I could have squeezed more on but I didn't know whether or not they'd spread since I'd never made them before)



The lack of sheet-space actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because as I somehow didn't realize until this batch was done, was that I had grossly under-sweetened the mixture. It was tasty, what with the chocolate and peanut butter, it just wasn't sweet enough at all. So I added some more agave nectar to the second batch. I still couldn't fit all the remaining dough onto my cookie sheet, so the tiny bit I had leftover, I just added some plain white sugar to. Just in case.

I also added a little more decoration to the first batch, to sweeten it up a little =P



When in doubt, add more chocolate :)

And that's all for me today. Tonight I'll be making some more roasted acorn pepper squash for the squash-hating boyfriend. I'll let you know how it goes, lol.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Roasted Squash and BSPCPS!!!






Happy Wednesday!

Today I made Broccoli, Spinach, Potato and Chick Pea soup! (or BSPCPS, for short). It started out as a variation of the Broccoli & Arugula soup I posted about at the beginning of the month - the variation being that I was going to simply substitute the arugula for spinach.

I then decided that I'd add some potatoes (canned) to add a little extra creaminess and hopefully taste something like Caldo Verde, a Portuguese potato & kale soup that I absolutely adore.

Then, thinking of my Dad and his obsession with "a protein" - "this needs a protein" "is there a protein in this?" - I chucked a can of chick peas in as well. :)

Here is the basic recipe, keep in mind everything is an estimation and this is one of those "just throw everything together and see what happens" recipes, which is why I love it :)


1 container vegetable stock (I used campbell's organic)
3 or 4 tbsp olive oil
2 large canfuls of water
1 can whole white potatoes
1 can chick peas
1 head broccoli (leaves included)
3 or 4 large handfuls baby spinach (could substitue regular spinach or any leafy green)
I also threw in about 1/3 of a cup of chopped up green and yellow peppers, because they were sitting in my fridge.
1 bay leaf
1 tsp or so of ground oregano
1/2 a head of garlic, peeled and chopped in half
1 green onion
dash of salt
few grinds of pepper

1. Put first 3 ingredients together in a pot along with oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
2. Bring to a boil then add garlic. Boil another minute then add potatoes and chick peas.
3. Cook until heated through, then add broccoli & peppers.
4. Cook until bright green and just fork-tender, then remove from heat and add spinach & green onion.
5. Pour into a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender (this is what I used) and blend until smooth. (this soup came out a little more watery than I intended. but I also didn't have a full head of broccoli, maybe a half. so you can either add a half a can less water or just give it a try with a full head of broccoli)

This soup literally took me less than 20 minutes to make. I know this because at 3:40 I was thinking "I should get started on that soup." and at 4:01 I took this picture.




















mmmmmmm!


Oh, and a couple of days ago I made some roasted squash. Too simple to warrant an entire blog post but delicious enough to demand a picture!



















Just an acorn pepper squash, cut in quarters then rubbed in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and baked at 400 (I think) until irresistable. Notice the pools of garlic and olive oil in the centre? yummmmmm. I also roasted the seeds with salt and oil, just like pumpkin seeds, and they were insanely good also. I've got another one so I'm going to make it again tomorrow for my squash-hating man in hopes of conversion ;) Taaaaa

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Easy Vegan Choco-Banana-oatmeal muffins & a borscht variation ♥ plus baby peppers and baby raccoons!






Happy continued Vegan MoFo to you all! Here are a few things I made today.


Veggie, Root Veggie & Chickpea soup (aka A Borscht Kinda Thing)!




















(I apologize for the god-awful photography. My camera screen is broken, so I can't view the pictures I've taken until I plug the camera into my computer. It's...a pain. lol.)

1/2 a large white or yellow onion (you could use a whole one, I just had a half :P)
1 pkg. (2-3 cups) vegetable broth (I used campbell's organic)
1/4 cup white wine (cooking wine or regular. I used cooking)
As much garlic as you want (I used like half a head, lol)
1 540mL can chick peas/garbanzo beans
1 796mL can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 680g bag mini red potatoes
2 large carrots
2 zucchinis
3 medium-large beets, including as much of the greens as possible (sidenote: raw beets are DELICIOUS. I almost reconsidered using them in the soup and just snacking on them. they're so much less beety than cooked beets, if that makes sense :P and speaking of Raw Beets ;) just thought I'd throw that in there)
1 container button mushrooms
1 each red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers


1. Dice onion and saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. When softened, add garlic, stir for a few moments, then add wine. Continue to saute about 30 seconds, then add tomatoes and broth.
2. Add bay leaves and bring to a boil. Chop up your veggies to whatever size you want, keeping them as uniform in size as possible. When the soup comes to a boil, add the potatoes. You can either add the beets (not including greens) now or wait. I like to wait because I prefer them not fully cooked.
3. When potatoes are half-cooked, add beets.
4. Add chick peas and zucchini. Wait a few minutes then add everything else besides the beet greens and cook until desired "doneness" is reached. I like my veggies half-raw and crunchy so I only cooked them for 5 minutes or so. Add greens in last minute of cooking.
Enjoy!


Easy Vegan Choco-Banana-Oatmeal Muffins!!
Like the inside of my oven? Refer to disclaimer below previous picture :P



1 box oatmeal muffin mix (I used PC (a canadian brand) organic because the mix itself doesn't contain milk ingredients or egg)
1 Large overripe banana
1 tbsp flax meal or ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp warm water and left to sit 10 mins or so (to replace the egg)
1/2 cup (eye it. use more or less depending on your taste.) semi-sweet chocolate chips (such as PC's 'The Decadent' chips. yes, they're vegan! mm-mmm. Thanks to Lindsay Hutton over at Gone Vegan for that little tipsky)
2 tbsp oil or apple sauce (I used apple sauce)
1 scant (short) cup water. The recipe calls for 1 cup but I kept it short because of the extra moisture I added with the banana.

1. Mash the banana
2. Add dry muffin mix and chocolate chips. Coat the chips in powder, that way they won't sink to the bottom of the batter.
3. Add flax mixture, apple sauce and water. Mix until combined.
4. Follow the cooking instructions on the box and enjoy! These are ridiculicious. I've eaten 2 since I started writing this =P


Here are a couple more pictures I'm too lazy to write a whole blog entry for :)



















The smallest green bell pepper in existence =P
I plucked it just before the plant died. It wasn't getting any bigger.

It was delicious. Very flavourful :)




















A young raccoon that found its way onto our property today. My GSP (German Shepherd Puppy :P) is still out there barking at it up in this tree as we speak. Poor little guy :(

Anyway, Happy Thursday! Hope you're having a scrumptious-vegan-food-packed day, I know I am!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lentil Burgers







A hearty, delicious source of protein that will ensure you aren't the odd vegan out at the bbq :)

Lentil Burgers

1 can lentils
1 medium onion, diced
1 garlic cloves, chopped
1 ½ burger buns to make breadcrumbs
oil for frying
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne
toppings of choice

1.Saute onions and garlic
2.Toast buns until brown
3.Tear up toasted buns and put in food processor, chop into crumbs
4.When onions are soft, add spices
5.Rinse lentils and add to onion mixture, add breadcrumbs
6.Return everything to food processor
7.pulse until ball forms
8.Fry burgers in small amount of oil on medium heat, flip when browned and eat when heated through!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Vegan MoFo Survey








1.Favorite non-dairy milk?
Almond (vanilla)

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
Any vegan cupcakes or cakes, Rawzagna (lasagne made with layers of tomato and zucchini with nut cheese [lol] instead of pasta and cheese), and Zucchini Noodles

3. Topping of choice for popcorn?
Used to be butter... the last time I got it I admittedly just got butter (I'm new, okay?!) so not really sure yet. I'm really want to try Earth balance margarine but I've only ever found it in one place >_<

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?
Almond Alfredo Sauce. I waaaaay over-salted it and ended up just making plain tomato sauce instead.

5. Favorite pickled item?
Plain old pickles (so, cucumbers I guess)

6. How do you organize your recipes?
I have a giant, extremely organized binder full of recipes, and a bunch on Word that I have yet to copy.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?
I have a garbage, a recycling bin, and I just chuck most of my food garbage over the fence (I live in the country have no neighbours on one side)

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook or store them)?
Bananas, almond butter, and coconuts (it would really suck if there were already bananas and coconuts on the island...) Let's say, assuming this is an island where Bananas, coconuts, mangos & pineapples grow wild: Almonds or Almond butter, Raspberries & broccoli

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?
Creating dozens of disgusting, completely inedible concoctions & mixtures of random food in the fridge and cupboards. Frozen peanut butter, ketchup and parsley sludge, anyone? I eventually got better at it =P

10. Favorite vegan ice cream?
There is this one soy one (I forget the name) that was really good, it came in drumstick-like cones too. But now that I'm off the soy, I don't really have one :(. There is also a rice one that I have barely seen anywhere. I need an ice cream maker.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance?
Knife. Juicer. Immersion blender. Couldn't just choose one =P

12. Spice/herb you would die without?
Pepper.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?
Non-vegan cookbook? No idea, I have a lot of old ones. Vegan? Raw Food, Real World by Sarma Melngailis and Matthew Kenney

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?
Raspberry <3

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?
Cookies.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?
No thank you. Actually, I am kind of curious to try homemade Seitan. Looks wierd.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?
Dinner.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?
Bunch of random crap.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.
Mangos, Cauliflower, Peas

20. What's on your grocery list?
Butter (I live with my dad, you know :P)

21. Favorite grocery store?
Fortino's. They have the best health food section I've found in my surrounding area, by far.

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.
Chocolate Chai Spice Cupcakes <3
And Portuguese Pasteis de Natas (Custard Tarts). Good luck to me on the latter, lol.

23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3?
Vegan Family Inc, Choosing Raw & Kristen's Raw

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?
Green & Black's makes a good dark vegan chocolate. Also, did you know PC's The Decadent chocolate chips are vegan? Mmmmmmm. Just the chips, not the cookies, but you can buy the chips separately and make your own. mmmmmmmm.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?
I bought a mango and some kiwis yesterday?

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Yeast. I've made bread. It turned out well. I'm still intimidated. I think it's the bread-making process in general.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Vegan MoFo 2009









So, October is the official Vegan Month of Food, meaning that all vegans are encouraged to stretch their cooking muscle, spread the word about the glory of veganism, etc, and vegan bloggers are encouraged to post as many vegan recipes and tips as possible, aiming for 1 a day, or at least 20 in the month.

I am anxious -- as this is my first october as a budding vegan -- to participate in this event, so here is my first vegan recipe!

This is a favourite soup of mine and one of the first really healthy, vegan dishes I ever prepared, using the nifty little immersion blender I got for either my 19th birthday or the subsequent Christmas, I forget :P


Broccoli & Arugula Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
½ yellow onion, roughly diced
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets (about 2/3lb)
2 ½ cups water
¼ tsp each salt and pepper
¾ cup arugula or watercress
½ lemon


1.Heat the olive oil in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté for just a minute or until fragrant. Add the broccoli and cook for four minutes or until bright green.
2.Add water and salt/pepper, bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover.
3.Cook 8 mins or until broccoli is just tender, then pour soup into a food processor/blender with arugula (or use an immersion blender) and blend until smooth, or until desired consistency is reached (really you can make this soup as smooth or chunky as you like! I've had it a few ways and I promise, it's just as delicious any way you blend it :P)
4.Serve with a bit of fresh lemon.


Enjoy :)

Thursday, October 1, 2009

My (very) Lengthy Opinion Piece on Feminism and the Modern Family

Fem⋅i⋅nism
ˈfɛməˌnɪzəm/ [fem-uh-niz-uhm]

–noun
1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
2. an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.
3. feminine character.

If only this was all feminism meant today.

There is no doubt that, at the time of the Women's Rights Movement, the cause was a very just one, and the movement was necessary. Women's Rights were, and are, worth fighting for. However, over time, the definitions have changed, as has the approach of Feminists themselves. In my opinion, they have largely lost sight of what “freedom”, “rights” & “choice” really mean.

I feel that Feminism (in the form of Feminists) enforces the idea of equality and liberation to the extent that they are actually impeding women from making any choice at all. The choice is: Work. Period.

Feminists (and in most cases, even women who don't consider themselves feminists in any way) will scoff at a woman who has decided (key word being DECIDED) to work in the home instead of outside it, as some ignorant, uneducated, barbariess. They ignore the CHOICE that was made, because in their mind, that wasn't the choice that was fought for. The Women's Rights movement fought for the female's ability to work, drive, vote, etc, so now any woman not taking FULL advantage of ALL of those “rights” is looked down upon, and any woman that vocally expresses a feeling or belief that women actually “belong” in the home is considered offensive, or at the least, “old-fashioned”. Furthermore, if a woman feels the call to stay home and raise her family, that choice is often a burden on the family because our society is now set up so that you need 2 incomes to survive (or at least thrive).

What these women are forgetting, or perhaps never realized, is that the liberation is in the CHOICE ITSELF, not the notion that one choice is more liberated than the other.

I find it extremely upsetting and ridiculous that it is now commonly believed that the role of a homemaker is not important; That raising your children yourself & directly influencing their minds, ethics and ideals, making sure they eat healthfully everyday, that they have a well-maintained and peaceful place to call home (and to establish their view of what a home should be), is somehow outdated and unnecessary. I am here to tell you, that I (and many others) DISAGREE with this notion. Greatly.

I believe both sexes take pleasure and pride from doing something that their spouse/partner is not naturally good at. A man feels proud when he opens a jar his wife can't (as a small scale example) or explains to her something about his work, his car, something she doesn't understand. If you can't lift a heavy box, does he get angry or frustrated with you? Of course not, he doesn't mind. Because he wants to be only person in the house that can lift that heavy box, he wants to sweat for you and show you he's a man (I know this seems primal, but we are more primal than we like to think).Just as a woman (admit it) feels pride in the fact that her man doesn't even know where to begin in the kitchen, or 'oohs' and 'aahs' at a meal she's prepared from scratch, or when she calms the baby when her husband can only make it scream louder. This system of mutual pride and respect for eachother's unique skills, in my opinion, breeds fulfillment and, believe it or not, happiness. Yes, people actually can be happy in a “traditional” home setting. In fact, from what I've seen, it's much more common than in what is considered the “conventional” family of today.

Does anyone really wonder why the divorce rates are so high? In my opinion, it can be largely attributed to the deterioration of traditional gender roles and of the family unit.

Now, I know to many this may seem like a contradiction of what we've all come to associate with the “traditional” family that existed up until the early 60s or so: happy husband, unhappy wife. We also seem to associate the fact that these women were unhappy with their roles as wives and mothers, the cleaning, the cooking, the laundry, etc. This is a misconception.
Back in the days of the Women's Rights Movement, women actually had something to fight against. They were unhappy because they were oppressed, their opinions didn't matter, and they felt their husbands and the men in power wouldn't listen and didn't care. Their discontent (at least for some) was as a result of that oppression, the inability to choose, not the horribly drudgerous task of caring for their homes and their children. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. We are no longer oppressed, and thanks to those women, we now have the right to choose what path we want to take. Does that automatically mean I should want to be the CEO of a company or I'm somehow less of a liberated woman? Hell no. I take my right to drive and vote just as seriously as anyone else. That being said, I feel much more fulfilled in preparing a wholesome meal, cleaning an entire house in under 2 hours, or, silly as it may sound to some, having a drink and a kind ear ready for Dan when he walks in the door, than I ever could sitting behind a desk, or doing whatever else someone would consider fulfilling work.

The result of this deterioration is a society full of immasculated, unmotivated, purposeless men and over-stretched, exhausted & equally purposeless women who can't get through the day without Prozac or Paxil, and thank God for day-care and Mcdonald's. We have forced ourselves into a world where we do not belong, where we have to work 10x as hard to thrive, where (sorry) we can actually be a burden (many in the law enforcement and military fields have expressed this), and as a result, we've alienated the men and left them without purpose, without a role. After all, anything they can do, we can do better, right? Yeah, right. You won't catch me chopping wood anytime soon :P

And we haven't only alienated the men, but ourselves, by eliminating any and all of the unique skills we have that men do not instinctively have. How many girls do you know who claim, almost braggingly, that they “can't cook” or “don't clean”? I find this pathetic, not to mention imeasurably sad.

Ladies, ask yourself this. Think of the last time you found yourself performing a traditional gender role. Maybe you were at the cottage, and all the guys got up early to go fishing, and you and the other girls decided to go ahead and make breakfast. Now picture the moment when they walked through the door, saw the feast you prepared, and sat down to gorge with grunts of appreciation. Didn't it feel natural? Didn't you feel good about doing it? About yourself?

Think of the last time you took an interest in something your man is good at, really listened to him and then expressed how interesting and complicated it all seemed (teehee!). Didn't he glow with pride? Think of the last time he planted a big kiss on you between bites of something delicious. Didn't YOU glow with pride?

Now, think of the last time you both dragged yourselves in from work, paid the babysitter, and planted your work-weary asses on the couch to watch tv, exhausted and barely saying a word to eachother. Who takes the pride here? Who is taking care of whom in this particular situation? For those of us for whom fast-food isn't an option, who is making dinner? (Funnily enough, in most cases it would usually still be the woman making dinner. Interesting how we tend to fall back into natural gender roles even when we're “equal”, no?) That is one of the main positive dynamics of the “traditional” family unit. At the time of day that he is wilting, you can take care of him, and vice versa.

Maybe we're so wrapped up in our false pride, our need to portray ourselves as less submissive and more assertive, less feminine and more authoratative, less gentle and more professional, that we've lost sight of how to attain REAL pride, the pride that let's you sail through life, fulfilled, instead of constantly waiting for fulfillment to surface (which we all basically accept doesn't happen until after retirement anyway).


Today, we feel that as couples, we are more independant, we are able to have our own lives and not be “dependant” on eachother... but is that so? Or is it the opposite? Are you really both independant if you're leading the same lives? To me, when a man works and a woman stays at home, it gives them much more time and room to have their own hobbies and interests, and lead their own lives apart from eachother, then uniting at the end of the day to share their stories, thus creating a greater sense of love and unity overall. How can that happen if you both have the same lives, the same stories? I don't know, maybe I'm stretching now.

I guess my point is, while men and women are equal, we are not THE SAME. And, in my opinion, we're fooling ourselves to try to be the same, and have the same roles & goals in the world.

If you have an honest boyfriend, ask him one of these days (without guiding him towards a particular response), if he had the money, how would he feel about you staying home and performing the traditional woman's role? Really listen to his response, his body language, etc (most guys these days are probably a little scared to admit their true feelings on the subject). Then ask yourself the same question. You may be surprised at what you actually think and feel about the issue. Then again, you may not, but however you personally feel, please realize that other women may not feel the same way, and they deserve respect for their personal interpretation of womanhood.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Vegans and Vegetarians of Note

When I found this list originally on Wikipedia, I was shocked at how many names were on it! I decided to keep looking online to see if I could find any other famous veggieheads that weren't listed, and I found tons! It's crazy! Nearly every major celebrity (not to mention great mind!) you can think of is/was either vegetarian or vegan!

(One of my sources didn't specify which were vegans and which were vegetarians, so the unlabelled ones could be either :P)

Disclaimer: Some of these people may very well not be livin' the good life (meaning the vegetarian life ;)) to this day. So if you find proof that Orlando Bloom ate a turkey sandwich, don't yell at me.

Also there were more than just these in the original list I found but I decided to take out all the lame boring ones nobody's heard of for the sake of length (and as you can see it's still pretty damn long!)


In hollywood

Casey Affleck (actor, vegan)
Pamela Anderson (Actress, model)
Gillian Anderson (Actress... Scully from X-Files, vegan)
Christina Applegate (Actress)
Alec Baldwin (actor, vegan)
Kristen Bell (Actress)
Jessica Biel (Actress)
Orlando Bloom (actor)
Pierce Brosnan (Actor)
Lauren Bush (Model)
Ed Begley, Jr. (actor, vegan)
Linda Blair (actress, vegan)
Jennifer Connely (Actress)
Jackie Chan (actor)
John Cleese (Comedian, Actor)
James Cromwell (actor, vegan)
Ellen Degeneres (actress, vegan)
Willem Defoe (Actor)
Cameron Diaz (actress)
Portia De Rossi (actress, vegan)
Emily Deschanel (actress, vegan)
Zooey Deschanel (actress/singer, vegan)
Leonardo Dicaprio (actor)
Michael J. Fox (Actor)
Richard Gere (actor, activist)
Ginnifer Goodwin (actress, vegan)
Daryl Hannah (actress, vegan)
Anne Hathaway (Actress)
Woody Harrelson (actor, vegan)
Josh Hartnett (actor)
Dustin Hoffman (Actor)
Samuel L. Jackson (actor)
Ashley Judd (Actress)
Lisa Kudrow (Actress)
Jared Leto (Actor)
Steve Martin (actor)
Tobey McGuire (Actor)
Alyssa Milano (actress)
Gabrielle Miller (actress... Ruby from Corner Gas, vegan)
Demi Moore (actress)
Petra Nemcova (Supermodel)
Kevin Nealon (actor... Doug Wilson from Weeds, Vegan),
Carrie-Anne Moss (actress... the matrix chick, vegan)
Robin Quivers (Talk-show host... the black lady-host on the howard stern show, vegan)
Brad Pitt (actor)
Marcus Patrick (actor... the sexy black man from all the soap operas, vegan)
Natalie Portman (actress)
Joaquin Phoenix (actor, vegan)
River Phoenix (actor, vegan)
Summer Phoenix (actress, vegan)
Robert Redford (Actor)
Jerry Seinfeld (Actor, Comedian)
Jason Schwartzman (actor, musician... rushmore, spun, marie antoinette, etc. vegan)
Alicia Silverstone (actress, vegan)
Oliver Stone (director)
Taryn Terrell (WWE Diva Tiffany, vegan)
Naomi Watts (Actress)
Olivia Wilde (actress... Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley from House, vegan)
Vanessa Williams (Actress, singer)
Kate Winslet (actress)
Reese Witherspoon (Actress)


In music

Bryan Adams (rock musician, vegan)
India.Arie (singer)
Brandy (Singer)
Michael Bolton (Singer)
Andre 3000 (Rapper)
Common (rapper)
Dr. Dre (Rapper)
Fiona Apple (singer, vegan)
Erykah Badu (Singer, songwriter, vegan)
Brian Bell (Guitarist for Weezer, vegan)
Cedric Bixler-Zavala (singer for The Mars Volta, vegan)
Hunter Burgan (Bassist of AFI, vegan)
Geezer Butler (Bassist, lyricist and founding member of Black Sabbath, vegan)
Leonard Cohen (musician)
Tim Commerford (Bassist for Rage Against the Machine, vegan)
Tracy Chapman (singer, songwriter)
John Feldmann (Lead singer and guitarist of Goldfinger and producer, vegan)
Peter Gabriel (Singer)
Tom Gabel (Lead singer of Against Me!, vegan)
Robin Gibb (One of the three Bee Gees, vegan)
Alex Greenwald (Lead singer for Phantom Planet, vegan)
George Harrison (guitarist)
Davey Havok (lead singer for AFI, vegan)
Andy Hurley (Drummer of Fall Out Boy, vegan)
Chrissie Hynde (Rock musician with The Pretenders, vegan)
Jack Johnson (Musician)
Forrest Kline (Lead singer of Hellogoodbye, vegan)
Todd Kowalski (Singer and bassist of Propagandhi, vegan)
Lenny Kravitz (performer, vegan)
Meat Loaf (Singer, Actor)
Mya (singer)
K.D. Lang (Solo singer, vegan)
Avril Lavigne (singer)
Dennis Lyxzén (Singer of The (International) Noise Conspiracy and formerly of Refused, vegan)
Ian MacKaye (Punk singer-musician, vegan)
Benji Madden (Singer, Guitarist for Good Charlotte)
Joel Madden (Singer for Good Charlotte)
Bob Marley (reggae legend)
Ziggy Marley (reggae singer)
Johnny Marr (Former guitarist for The Smiths, vegan)
Paul McCartney (Musician)
Mary Tyler Moore (actress)
Moby (Electronic musician, vegan)
Morrissey (musician, vegan)
Alanis Morissette (Musician,vegan)
Jason Mraz (American singer/songwriter, vegan)
MURS (Rapper, vegan)
Bif Naked (Canadian punk rock singer, vegan)
N.O.R.E. (American Rapper, vegan)
Prince (American rock icon, vegan)
Sinéad O'Connor (Irish singer/songwriter, vegan)
Oi Polloi (Scottish punk band, vegan)
Yoko Ono, (Singer Musician, vegan)
Pink (Singer)
Propagandhi (Canadian punk band - all members, vegan)
Janne "Burton" Puurtinen (Keyboardist of HIM, vegan)
Rikki Rockett (Drummer for Poison, vegan)
Adam Russell (Bassist of Story of the Year, vegan)
Justin Sane (Singer and Guitarist of Anti-Flag, vegan)
Gabe Saporta (member of bands Midtown and Cobra Starship, vegan)
Matt Skiba (Lead singer and guitarist of Alkaline Trio, vegan)
Sade (singer)
Seal (musician)
Grace Slick (Rock musician with The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship,
Starship, vegan)
Ringo Starr (Drummer)
Joss Stone (Singer)
Stic.man (Hip Hop artist with Dead Prez, vegan)
Joan Jett (Singer and Guitarist of The Runaways and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, vegan)
Justin Timberlake (singer)
Shane Told (From Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein, vegan)
Shania Twain (country artist, vegan)
Carrie Underwood (Singer, model)
Persia White (Actress and member of band XEO3, vegan)
Saul Williams (Hip hop musician, poet, writer, and actor, vegan)
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Thom Yorke (Lead vocalist of Radiohead, vegan)
Nick Zinner (guitarist for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, vegan)
Conor Oberst (lead singer and guitarist Bright Eyes, vegan)

In Sports
(I just left all of these because, in general, I don't know who any of them are besides Laraque :P)

Georges Laraque (Professional Ice Hockey Player, vegan)
Ken Bradshaw (Professional Big Wave Surfer, vegan)
Peter Brock (Australian touring car driver, vegan)
Mac Danzig (professional mixed martial arts fighter, vegan)
Robert Cheeke (bodybuilder and founder of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, vegan)
Scott Jurek (ultramarathon runner, vegan)
Carl Lewis (track and field star, vegan)
Mike Mahler (Professional strength coach, vegan)
Martyn Moxon (English cricketer, vegan)
Salim Stoudamire( Professional NBA Player, vegan)
Ed Templeton (Professional skateboarder, vegan)
Ricky Williams (Professional American Football Player, vegan)
Ruth Heidrich, Three-Time Ironman
Debbie Lawrence, 5k Record Holder
Jim Kaat, Baseball Player
Hank Aaron, Baseball Player
Bill Pearl, Bodybuilder
Marv Levey, Buffalo Bills Coach
Robert Parnish, Center (Bulls)
Joe Namath, Football Player
Lawrence Phillips, Football Player (49ers)
Steve Bellamy, Founder of the Tennis Channel
Surya Bonaly, French Figure Skater
Brendan Brazier, Ironman Triathlete
Sally Eastall, Marathon Runner
Andreas Cahling, Mr. International Bodybuilder
Carl Lewis, Olympic Track Star
Edwin Moses, Olympic Champion
Leroy Burrell, Olympic Champion
Murray Rose, Olympic Swimmer
Pat Reeves, Power Lifter
Bill Manetti, Powerlifting Champion
Ed Templeton, Pro Skateboarder
Mike Manzoori, Pro Skateboarder
Brian Anderson, Pro Skateboarder
Jamie Thomas, Pro Skateboarder
Forest Kirby, Pro Skateboarder
Brian Sumner, Pro Skateboarder
Andrew Reynolds, Pro Skateboarder
Jen O'brien, Pro Skateboarder
Matt Field, Pro Skateboarder
Chris Lambert, Pro Skateboarder
Brad Staba, Pro Skateboarder
Geoff Rowley, Pro Skateboarder
Rick Mc Crank, Pro Skateboarder
Moses Itkonen, Pro Skateboarder
Sergei Trudnowski, Pro Skateboarder
Laban Pheidas, Proskater
Steve Berra, Proskater
Anastasia Ashley, Surfer
Martina Navratilova, Tennis Player
Bille Jean King, Tennis Champion
Peter Burwash, Tennis Champion
John Salley, Toronto Raptors
Lucy Stephens, Tri-athlete
Stan Price, World Record Bench Press
Killer Kowalski, Wrestler


Others (not in alphabetical order, sorry, i got lazy)

Rosa Parks (Civil rights activist)
Socrates (Greek philosopher)
Henry Ford (Ford Motors)
Mark Twain (Writer)
Dan Castellaneta (Voice of Homer Simpson)
Charles Darwin (“The Father of Evolution”)
John Harvey Kellogg (Doctor/Kellogg Cereal)
Plato (Greek philosopher)
St. Francis (Patron saint of animals)
Sir Isaac Newton (Physicist)
Benjamin Franklin (Inventor, Philosopher, Scientist)
Leonardo Da Vinci (Artist, Inventor)
Albert Einstein (Scientist)
Clara Barton (Founder of the American Red Cross)
Coretta Scott King (Wife of Martin Luther King Jr.)
Pythagorus (Mathemetician)
Vincent Van Gogh (Artist)
Thomas Edison (Inventor)
George Bernard Shaw (Writer)
Jane Goodall (Primatologist)
Mahatma Ghandi (Peace activist)
Nicola Tesla (Inventor)
Leo Tolstoy (novelist)
Voltaire (philosopher, writer)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

My first post in over a month

... is to shamelessly advertise this Link!

Enter to win a free Vitamix blender!!




PS: Contrary to my previous post, my garden did not die, I just neglected to photograph it :P

Friday, July 17, 2009

Sowing, Sowing, Sown

I planted the last of my garden yesterday – finally. I know, mid-July seems a bit late to be planting a garden – and it is :P The weather has just been working against me lately. Every afternoon that I happen to be home, it’s either been rainy or way too sunny, or cold, or hot, never the perfect day. Then, the days it actually was pretty nice outside happened to be days when I felt like doing nothing LESS than toiling in the dirt with the red ants (I encountered TWO large egg mounds today, ewwwuuughhh!).

The weather wasn’t exactly perfect today, either. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful. Sunny, hot, it just stayed sunny and hot for a tad longer than I would have liked, so my poorly sun and wind-hardened pepper plants and single spindly tomato plant got about a half hour to an hour more sun than I wanted them to. I think they’ll survive though. Hopefully. I just figured what have I got to lose? The tomato plants were a good foot+ and flowering by the time I actually got them out there, and the tomato plant at least 2 ½ ft (LOL!) and hey - the weather ain’t cooling down anytime soon!

Anyway, I put out 5 pepper plants (I forgot how many are red and how many green) and 1 tomato plant. I already have 3 zucchini seedlings out there, 2 spring onions and half a row of mixed salad greens, and everything is looking good so far. I’m pretty excited about it! This is my first ever attempt at growing anything (excluding early this spring when I planted a tomato plant and 2 zucchini plants that died almost IMMEDIATELY). I haven’t actually been out there to check on them this morning but I’m just praying they’re holding in there and not wilted and shocked by the sudden wind and sun exposure after months indoors… oh well, I’ll find out in a few minutes. At least now the constant cloud looming over my head (“the plants are still inside. When am I going to plant those plants? They’re still inside. It’s been so long…”) is finally cleared and I can get on to my next project: Learning how to sew! (and learning how to properly harvest this little garden I’ve sown – most likely as I go.)

Will add a picture of the garden if it’s still alive when I go out there.


Sidenote: I’d love to make time to do some reading today (hopefully putting it into writing will help it happen :P)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Jess(ica): Past, present and future.

What this blog really should be called is “Diary of an Aspiring Woman, Wife, Mother, Vegan, backyard gardener extraordinaire, expert quilter/knitter/sewer, charming hostess, gourmet chef, professional multi-tasker, neat-freak & overall organized and together person” but I thought the term “Domestic Goddess” would sum it all up in a more stylish way and without losing readers half-way through.

About me:

I’m 20 years old (21 in 6 days)

I have lived in rural Ontario, Canada with my father since February, with our 4-month-old German Shepherd, Layla, who has become my joy and practice baby :P

I have a wonderful boyfriend/Fiance (there’s no ring , yet) named Dan, who is a marvelously competent and bearded man about to graduate college as a computer engineer (I’m so proud of him and so anxious to start our lives together!)

I have recently (at least a few months) decided to become completely vegetarian and am yearning to make the transition to full-blown veganism as soon as possible. I’ve found that I just can’t justify eating or using products made from animals, especially when some of the animals we exploit most frequently (cows, pigs) are arguably MORE intelligent than my precious puppy whom I love so much. That just doesn’t make sense to me. Besides, I’ve always struggled with the logic behind eating animal flesh, birds’ eggs and other creatures’ milk… anyhow, I’m sure I’ll approach this subject at a later date :P


As of recent, a lot of changes and a lot of “firsts” have taken place in my life. First time living anywhere near the country let alone smack-dab IN it. First puppy. The switch from aspiring vegetarian to budding veganista, and finally the transition between future-office-working-business-woman to wannabe traditional cake-baking, floor-scrubbing housewife. All in all it’s been an eventful few months, so I figured what better way to document my metamorphoses from frivolous, absent-minded 20-yr-old to, well, frivolous, absent minded 21-yr-old with a slightly better idea of what she wants out of life.

Well, I think this is more than enough information for a first blog, not that I’d know I guess, I’ve never actually blogged before, but I have recently become an avid reader of various “Stay-at-home-mom”, vegan, and Simple Living blogs, so, I mean, I’m basically an expert :P

Until next time!