Happy World Vegan Day!

October is National Vegetarian Awareness month!

A big thank you to Gillian Zimmer for emailing me about this!

Check out Fix.com for a Celebratory Recipe!

Iridology

Did you know that there are only supposed to be two colours of eyes? Brown and Blue. If you have any other kind of colour, it is a sign of something that is going on in your body.

I have green / gray eyes! Ugh!

Burning Man - partie deux

Yup, I'm headed to Burning Man again this year! Although I'm really excited, I'm not going with my bestie that I went with the first time.

I found a great travel partner in her and I know it will be soooo different this year. That being said, I have opened up a new challenge for myself. Getting out of my comfort zone and finding trust in people I barely know. Isn't that what Burning Man is about? Finding myself and getting out there.

I have joined the regional group here and they are a great bunch of people. I camped with a few of them in 2012 and didn't have any problems.

Since I'm a bit wiser on what to bring, I don't think I'm going to bring my good camera this year. Now THAT is going to be quite difficult since I bring it EVERYWHERE I go. I will try to bring a point and shoot, but it won't be the same, quality wise, but I know I won't have to worry about my equipment and won't have to lug around a huge heavy bag (see picture above - look at that damn backpack! - I'm far left)

24hr Pickles

I found this recipe on Honest Fare about 5 years ago. This is the second time I've done this. They say cucumbers, but why not beans too?!? :)

6-8 pickling cucumbers
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar (optional or use less if you don’t want any sweetness)
1 ½ Tablespoon salt
½ -1 teaspoon *red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon celery seed

1 Tablespoon mustard seed or stone ground mustard
1 ½ teaspoon horseradish
A LOT of dill (like 1/3 cup diced)
2 garlic cloves
¼ cup sliced **white onion
2-3 Tablespoons water

*I altered the recipe a bit by only adding the *red pepper flakes to the beans and using **purple onions instead, as that's all I had at the time.

Slice about ¼ of an onion into thin slivers. Peel and smash garlic with your knife (but don’t chop or dice though). Put garlic and onion in a pot with vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, red pepper flakes, splash of water and half your dill. If you have mustard seed, you can add that to the pot too. But if you’re using mustard powder or stone ground mustard as an alternate, don’t add it yet.
Bring contents in pot to a nice simmer and then immediately turn off heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and half your cucumbers. (wash and cut the ends off the beans) Line them up in a reused pickle jar.

Use a large soup ladle to add your brine to the cucumbers in the jar (try not to loose too much in the process). You can also use a funnel if you have one, but just make sure you get the onion and all the dill in there too.

Add the remaining fresh dill and mustard or horseradish if you like. Then put the lid on tight and give it a few nice shakes before storing it in the fridge over night.
Give the jar a stern shake every few hours if you remember.

Veg Expo Vancouver!

This weekend!

Buy your tickets here!

Cowspiracy | The Sustainability Secret

Hey guys! Please please please look into this! It's so important to spread the word!

Cowspiracy | The Sustainability Secret

Dr. Neal Barnard's interview with The Vegan Woman 2014

Love this man!

eTalks - The Secrets of Food Marketing

Brilliant.

Vegan Mac & Cheese NACHOS - The Red Fern

Oh my goooooodness! I can't see myself being close to this restaurant anytime soon, so I might have to make these myself :P

Morning Ginger Drink

I found this morning drink a few weeks ago and it is a variation of something I already do. I have a weird nasal thing going on this year (started after my dental surgery) and this seems to help quite a bit. I actually can breathe through my nose when I get up in the morning! That is BIG!

This was found on Young and Raw

1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ginger juice
1 tbsp grade b maple syrup or Agave (optional)
*Pinch of cinnamon
Half cup of hot water
Add a tiny bit of room temp water to cool it down

 * I have been using Turmeric in place of cinnamon to help with inflammation

Juice your ginger by running it through a slow or cold press juicer. If you don’t have a juicer that will properly juice ginger or small roots, then you can slice a large knuckle of ginger and boil it on the stove with 1 cup water. Boil it down until the water is mostly ginger, and then store it in a jar in the fridge.

Prepare and drink BEFORE you have your green juice or other breakfast.

This Elixir May Lend Various Health Benefits:

Gallstones/kidney stones – may help flush them out
Clear skin
Cleanse blood
Balance blood sugar
Decongest liver
Warming
Helps stimulate the digestive system
Cleanses the colon
And with me, helps with nasal congestion!
 

10 Reasons to Quit Coffee

Low Carb Diets and Coronary Blood Flow - Dr Michael Greger

Gary Yourofsky

Mr. G and Jellybean

Buddies! So adorable..

Frosty the Snow Goat

Ooooooh my goodness!

Watermelon Mint Smoothie

Is it summer yet? I'm so ready!

I made this on the weekend and it was so refreshing! This is an adaptation from Fully Raw Kristina. She has a video you can watch called "My watermelon juice secret" that you can watch.

I basically do the same thing as her except I actually blended the mint with the watermelon, but only used about 1/3 the amount she did.

I used one smaller watermelon, blended with a handful of fresh mint. Strained into a bowl and then transferred to a jar. Another tip (that I didn't do) is to maybe chill the watermelon first. I'm going to do that next time!

Why Are Bananas Going Extinct?

Bunny Eating Raspberries!

Oh my goodness, this is the cutest.

Fresh Spring tea - Mint and Vanilla

I was at a friend's house the other day and she served a lovely light homemade tea of Mint and Vanilla.

It was so light and delicious! I made some this weekend to sip in the sun while I read.. this would also make a lovely cold beverage as well.

 

All you need to do is roughly chop up a small amount of mint leaves and add in a scraping of vanilla and pour your boiled water over it and let it steep for about 5 minutes. If you don't have real vanilla, extract can work, but make sure not to over do it. Add a drop or two and taste test it first.

Digestive Health and Wellness

Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw - Full Movie

How Cooking Can Change Your Life - Michael Pollan

Cashew Sour Cream

I made this following Brendan Brazier's recipe in his new book Thrive Energy Cookbook. I highly recommend this book!

1 Cup Raw Cashews
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 Tsp Sea Salt

Place cashews in a medium bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Drain cashews and transfer to blender. Add lemon juice, vinegar and salt, plus 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth.

Put in airtight container (a small Mason Jar works great!) and can be in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Ultra Endurance Athlete Rich Roll Powered by Plant Based Diet

Continuing with my new crush on Rich Roll, here is an interview from Fit For Two TV

Yup, I really dig this guy :)

Happy Birthday!!! 4 years being vegan :)

Although I don't know the exact date (I have it written down somewhere!) my veganism has turn 4 this month! I have had some ups and downs (and my scale has seen some ups and downs as well - heh), but have always remained true to a plant based diet.

(Some of my downs involved high consumption of potato chips, but have since then learned my lesson. - cough)

Who knew that 4 years ago I wanted to go on a vegan cleanse for only 2 weeks and haven't looked back. I can't believe it! - actually... I CAN BELIEVE IT! Yay me!

Antibiotics and recovery - update

Waaaaaaay back in January I posted about my dental surgery and having to be on antibiotics. If you missed it, you can find it here.

It's taken me a long time to get back to what I assume is "Normal". I can't even imagine being on antibiotics or another drug for more than that! It has taken me this long, from 1 week of antibiotics. sigh. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I feel like I was doing my best. Some of the things I did were:

• Eating more pickled and fermented foods (pickles, miso, kimchi)
• Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep (I don't have kids, so I have had the luxury of being able to get 8 or 9 hours a night)
• Yoga
• Walking 4 km (or more) a day (roughly 2 miles for you in the US)
• Probiotics
• Cut out bad fats and sugars - even though I have been vegan for over 4 years, I was still being dumb with sugar and fats. I was addicted to potato chips and some sugary snacks. I have recently cut all that out.
• Started supplements  - Red Reishi mushroom, black seed oil, Chlorella, and Spirulina

I do feel a lot better doing all of the above! I still want to do more yoga, start running and swimming and eventually meditation. I found that I was in a slump after Christmas, so maybe not all of my symptoms were from the antibiotics, but I can tell you that I feel a hell of a lot better these days!

Have you been on a drug for a long period of time? What are your ways of getting back on track?

T. Colin Campbell on the Rich Roll podcast

I started to listen to Rich Roll's podcast earlier this year and have been devouring it every week. This week he had T. Colin Campbell, who is one amazing man.

Hear the full interview here.

If you're new to the podcast, I urge you to try to listen to all of them! Rich is an amazing interviewer!

How to Juice and Smoothie with John Joseph

How great is this guy? heh

David Carter of the Oakland Raiders

Woot! David Carter is the latest NFL-er to go vegan!

Read the interview here!

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely going to keep an eye on his website when it's launched :)

Chocolate, Cheese, Meat, and Sugar -- Physically Addictive

Chicks Dig Veganism: One Man's Story

Trying not to laugh at work is SO hard. This is such a cute interview.

Birthday present

My birthday was a couple weeks ago and my parents asked what I wanted. They usually scoot me a small amount of cash, but this year they wanted to make it special since it was a milestone bday for me.

I think my mom has always wanted my sister and I to be twins, since she always dressed us alike and have always bought us the same things so that it was "equal". She and my dad bought my sister a charm bracelet and were on the way to buying me one too. I'm surprised she actually asked me what I wanted instead of just buying me the bracelet.

The foodie vegan nerd in me just couldn't get around a charm bracelet. I wanted something for the kitchen. I was sure that they would just laugh at me, but then this arrived in the mail.

Just another sweet baby to add to my brood! 

I'm SO excited!!!!!!!! Oh the things I can make with this sweet machine! The possibilities are overwhelming :)

2014 Book Challenge

Ever have that thought that you should get off the computer and just read a good book? (she says as she's on the computer) I have that feeling quite frequently, so this year I decided to make it reality.

I am going to try to read a book a month, but I'm not going to punish myself if I don't. Some books reel you in and can be finished in a week, others are tedious and a challenge and take over a month. I had been reading a lot on my 20 minute commute to work, but for the past month or so, have been walking the 2 miles to my desk, so sometimes I will be consuming my interests in the form of an audio book.

I'll document the books I read above under 2014 Book Challenge. Want to challenge yourself with me? Have any good books that you want to reccomend? Leave me a comment below.. I'd love to get some great suggestions on what to add to my book pile :)

Cashew Cheese Spread

This is actually easier than I thought it would be!

Cashew Cheese Spread

1.5 Cups soaked Cashews (I soaked them for 4 hours, you can get away with less)
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/2 Teaspoon Salt of your choice
1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
1 Cup Water
I have also thrown in some herbs before, but you can go plain if you wish.

Blend everything until smooth and pour into a Nut Bag that is in a glass container. Loosely tie a knot at the top and place the lid on and put in fridge for 4 hours. Pour extra liquid (that seeps out) down the drain and remove the remaining cheese from the nut bag back into the glass container. Keeps for about 4 to 5 days.

There are so many recipes on the internet for this kind of spread, but I will credit Mimi Kirk for this adapted version. I was reading her book "Live Raw" and had to try it :)

Almond Pulp, Flax and Rosemary Crackers

I finally found a lovely way to use my Almond Pulp! Yummy Crackers! Yahoooooo!

These can be made Raw in your dehydrator or baked in your oven. I found this recipe on Elana's Pantry website. I changed from Thyme to Rosemary, but you can obviously substitute whatever you like!

Almond pulp, Flax Seed and Rosemary Crackers

• 1 cup firmly packed almond pulp
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (I use a coffee grinder)
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon Rosemary, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl
2. Roll dough into a ball, press between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to ¼ inch thickness
3. Remove top piece of parchment paper
4. Transfer the bottom piece with rolled out dough onto baking sheet
5. Cut dough into 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter
6. Bake at 135° for at least 20 hours, or until crunchy
7. Let crackers come to room temperature on baking sheet, then serve

I baked these at 200° for roughly 4 hours. I kept busy around the house and just checked in every 45 mins or so.

I have been eating these with my homemade nut cheese! Oooooh, that will be my next recipe!

Homemade Almond Milk

If I would have known how easy it was to make my own nut milk, I would have done it a looooong time ago! This is seriously the easiest recipe ever.

Homemade Almond Milk

 

1 Cup Almonds - soaked overnight
2-3 Pitted Dates (optional - if you want a hint of sweetness)
3 Cups of Water

After soaking the almonds over night.. (approximately 8 - 10 hours) Put them in the blender with 2 dates and the water and blended until smooth and milky. Add more water if you don't want it as creamy. I find 3 cups is the perfect amount for me.

You'll need a strainer of some sort. I have used cheese cloth, but a nut bag is SO much easier. You can also use a small strainer. Also use a tightly sealed container, like a mason jar. The one I use is 1L.

Strain a bit at a time, and squeeze out the milk into your jar. I tried to take a picture of me squeezing, but it proved to difficult to do that AND take a picture - HA!

You'll be left with the nut pulp. You can either store it in your freezer or compost it. I am currently trying to find recipes to use it in. Last night I added some to a banana mango smoothy....nice!

And that's it! Store Milk in the fridge for up to 7 days...although, if you're like me, it'll be gone before that! I find this is about 2 dollars cheaper for me than buying it at the store.

Raw adventure!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was going to try a raw diet. I spoke to a few friends who are fully raw and I have decided to test the waters very slowly. Since it's still technically winter (we've been having some pretty nice weather here in Vancouver!) I want to be able to still enjoy my hot/warm comfort foods.

Some people like to dive head first into new things, but I'm a slow cautious person. I slowly eased into being vegan and I can't imagine not doing the same for going raw.

One of my online inspirations has been Mimi Kirk. She has been raw for quite some time and looks great! I recently bought her book "Live Raw" and read every word in one evening. She's quite amazing :)

She has had quite a few adventures; I encourage you to read up on her. She was also born in 1938.. doesn't she look amazing?

Another book that I have been referencing is "Raw - the uncook book" by Juliano.

I've actually have had this book for over 5 years and have barely cracked the spine, but the last few weeks I've been referencing it non stop!

So my baby toe is in the water.. I've started with upping my juicing. I usually only juice once a day, but I've upped it to two. My usual green juice (apple, cucumber, ginger, leafy green and parsley) in the morning, now juiced and then blended with 2 bananas and then a V8 type juice (leafy green, parsley, celery, carrot, green onion, red pepper, tomato, cucumber) for the afternoon.

I have always tried to eat raw snacks, but my dinners tend to be the easy convenient vegan route for dinner, which in one word means - processed! - ack! So I'm going to try to tame that lion...by adding more veggies! yay!

Wish me raw luck!

Homemade Mayo!

I have been buying Vegenaise  since I've been vegan and often thought of making it myself. Now that I have my Vitamix it seems possible, although I'm sure a standard blender would do just fine!

Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Non dairy Milk (I used unsweetened Almond Milk)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Ground Mustard
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tsp Agave
1 Cup Oil of your choice - I used Grapeseed

Place milk, salt mustard, garlic, vinegar and agave in blender. Turn slow to combine, slowly add the oil and blend until creamy.

Place in glass jar and store in the fridge. I've had mine over 10 days and it seems fine, but keep an eye on it :)

I'm pretty impressed with my first go!

I just put it into an old Vegenaise jar

Antibiotics and recovery

I recently had a dental surgery and had to take antibiotics 3 days before and 4 days after. I'm not too fond of any kind of drug in my system accept a wee bit of alcohol from time to time, so this has been quite difficult for me. Besides the antibiotics, I was frozen at the dentist, had nitrous oxide and now am on Advil for pain relief.

I feel so run down this week; when I get home from work, I'm so exhausted that I usually end up in bed by 8:30! At least I'm getting a lot of sleep!

I have been doing a lot of research on how to recover from a bunch of antibiotic treatment and these are the common suggestions on the sites:

• Eliminate sugar/simple carbs from diet
• Add probiotic supplements, prebiotics (i.e. high-fiber foods), fermented foods and vitamins.

I have been following all the doctor's instructions as well as drinking a lot of my meals. I have been having soup all week with the addition of a second huge juice in the afternoon.  After the two last pills tonight, I can start on the probiotics and I guess I should buy some sauerkraut and pickles! YUM!

I'll keep you updated if any/all of these things work!

**EDIT - here is a picture of me trying to do a 'duck face' while my mouth was still frozen - so hilarious!

 I found a site that has a recipe on how to make your own probiotics

 *Excerpted from “The Colon Health Handbook” by Robert Gray

“CABBAGE REJUVELAC:”
 
Recovering from Antibiotic Use (or over-use?)...
 
 “Cabbage is a vegetable that is teeming with lactobacteria. No starter is needed for making rejuvelac. Just start one morning by blending together 1 3/4 cups (420ml) distilled or purified water plus 3 cups (720ml) coarsely chopped, loosely packed fresh cabbage. Start the blender at low speed and then advance the blender to high speed and blend for 30 more seconds. Pour into a jar, cover, and let stand at room temperature for 3 days. At this time, strain off the liquid rejuvelac. The initial batch of cabbage rejuvelac takes 3 days to mature, but succeeding batches take 24 hours each.

Each morning after straining off the fresh rejuvelac, blend together for 30 seconds at high speed 1 1/2 cups (360ml) distilled or purified water plus 3 cups (720ml) coarsely chopped, loosely packed fresh cabbage. Pour into a jar, add 1/4 cup (60ml) of the fresh rejuvelac just strained off, cover, shake and let stand at room temp. until the next morning.

You can also make cabbage rejuvelac without a blender by chopping the cabbage very fine and using 2 1/2 cups (600ml) finely chopped, loosely packed cabbage listed above. The amount of distilled or purified water used should remain unchanged.

Good quality rejuvelac tastes similar to a cross between carbonated water and the whey obtained when making yogurt. Bad quality rejuvelac has a much more putrid odor and taste and should not be consumed. Always avoid using tap water when making rejuvelac because chlorine has been added to it for the purpose of killing bacteria of any kind.

Drink each day’s rejuvelac during the course of the day by taking 1/2 cup (120ml) 3x a day, preferably with meals.”

Breaking The Food Seduction - by Dr. Neal Barnard

Have 57 minutes? Watch this! Such a great video!

"Whether you're drawn to chocolate, cookies, potato chips, cheese, or burgers and fries, we all have foods we can't seem to resist—foods that sabotage our best efforts to lose weight and improve our health. These foods are winning the battle—but that's because we're fighting it in the wrong place. As physician and leading health researcher Dr. Neal Barnard explains in his groundbreaking book, Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings— and Seven Steps to End Them Naturally, banishing these cravings is not a question of willpower or psychology— it's a matter of biochemistry. Based on the author's research and that of other leading investigators at major universities, his book reveals the diet and lifestyle changes that can break these stubborn craving cycles."

10 Day Juice Fast

My friend Sara recently completed her 10 day Juice Fast. I'm so proud of her! Read about her experience here:

Intro: 10 Day Juice Fast

I have thought of doing my own juice fast before, but have decided to go into the RAW movement instead. This will, of course, include a lot of juicing. I am hoping to document my trials like Sara has, but I'm hoping it will be longer than 10 days. If possible, I am hoping to at least go a couple months. I guess only time will tell!