Blowing Up My Kitchen

GF Vegan Shortbread Cookies

2011-11-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

I was never into food, cooking or baking as a kid or adult, until I went vegan; six years ago. From day one I had my apron on, hair tied back and a cookbook in hand, cooking up a storm. I discovered vegan potlucks a few years after going vegan and my favourite thing to bring was cookies, easy to make and they travel easy.

When I first discovered I had an allergy to gluten it was wonderful and horrible all at once. I was eating a whole lot healthier (more salads and less bread) and I had no idea how to bake a darn thing. I discovered white rice flour, xanthan gum and guar gum and thought it was the best thing ever to bake with.

Flash forward a few years later, including a trip to Seattle's Flying Apron and a diploma later in Holistic Nutrition. I no longer use white flour, white sugar, egg-replacer or vegan margarine in any of my baking and it still turns out amazing! I use whole foods gluten-free flours, coconut oil, sugar alternatives and my Flying Apron baking book in hand.

The other day I realized I have never made GF vegan shortbread cookies in my life, and sure enough they turned out amazing and I find them quite addicting! I didn't have a rolling pin, nor did I have circular cookie cutters, so I used what I had; a wine bottle filled with water to roll dough and glasses to shape the cookies; some people may call this white trash, but I got to say it's frugal.

Some people argue that if you multiple food allergies (like yours truly) your diet is really limited. It's true in some ways, but not in others. I have rice flour, chickpea flour, buckwheat flour,quinoa flour, teff flour in my freezer and those that think we don't eat a varied diet probably just have wheat flour in their cupboards.

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” - Dr. Seuss

A new vegan household is starting up in November!

2011-09-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

Since my last posting about my landlord problems I have since been living temporarily in a tiny basement suite with a vegan friend of mine and trying to making the best of it. The place isn't that great, but the good news is that we are starting up a new, bigger and better vegan house for November 1st. We means myself, my wonderful long-time friend/roommie Brooke, kitty Douce and our vegan friend Jennie.

The last vegan household I ran was a 3 bedroom, this one is going to be a 4 - 5 bedroom! We hope to find something in the Commercial Drive/East Vancouver area, but we will branch out to other areas (like Kits most likely) if we really have to. So if you are vegan (or open to eating that way at home) and looking to move, let me know! Also, stay tuned, I'll post more info here once I know more about where this dream house of ours is!

What does't kill you only makes you stronger (or take two on gardening politics)

2011-05-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago I blogged on the topic of gardening politics. I've been so busy since then, that I haven't really been able until now to tell my readers what happened in the end. After telling my landlady that she was violating my rights as stated in my tenancy agreement, she still would not back down. A week later I was also told I could no longer have a cat, which for the past two years has been no issue. I was given five days notice, if the cat has to go, I do too, so I gave them my notice. I'm sick of being walked all over so I'm leaving (not to mention the high stress). Dan Savage has in the past talked about "the price of admission" and how it relates to relationships (or in my case landlord). The price of admission has gone up a lot for me, so I'm hitting the road.

Gardening politics

2011-04-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have a gardening dilemma right now that I wish to share. As some of you may know I have been living in the same and only house for the past three years the entire time I have been living in Vancouver. I have even posted some pictures of my crop in the past on this blog. Every year I have had a garden and every year it has been no problem with my landlady, until now.

I received a letter the other day from the landlady. It stated that they were attending to restore the front of the house to lawn area. The reasoning was to a) "for the enjoyment of all tenants." b) "to replace the metal flashing along the base of the house and this work would require necessitate excavation of the garden area currently up against the house." The letter later goes on to say they are going to be planting seed shortly and leveling out the area to plant grass. They said I could have the backyard, but it hardly gets any sun.

Being an animal-rights activists and living with a legal-savvy roommate, I know I have tenant rights and I should exercise them. I looked over my tenant agreement that I signed and then I phoned the Residential Tenancy Branch of BC, they were really helpful. I read what the letter said and what my agreement said in regards to the garden/front lawn.

The lady from the RTB told me that my landlady is basically violating my rights by asking me to abandon my garden. I would have to sign another agreement with amendments for her not to violate it; which I don't plan. I've scanned the letter and my agreement to my building manager and I'm just playing the waiting game right now.

On the plus side, I have started seedlings for my garden, I have baby chamomile, cucumber, catnip and more to come for sure!

Rooted on the Drive

2011-04-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

I had a raw vegan large kale Caesar salad at Rooted on the Drive! It was really great, I havn't had this kind of salad in quite a few years since being vegan. The last time I had a Caesar was when someone at a raw vegan potluck brought some.

Rooted is also a great place to check out local events too, look them up on Facebook.

Food Cart - Off the Wagon

2011-04-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

I was at the farmer's market this afternoon (at the Nat Bailey Stadium) and decided to try out the food at Off the Wagon. It's a traveling taco tralier and everthing is gluten-free and a lot is local too. They have one dish that is vegan, it's a yam and black bean taco, really great! See pictures below.

Speeding up kombucha fermentation (without moving to LA)

2011-04-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

This posting is probably more relevant in the middle of Canada's winter, but I only discovered this trick last night. The majority of kombucha books and some online experts agree that you should brew in a glass bowl. I always brew in a glass container, not a bowl. My container is taller and has a smaller opening and the glass bowl is shorter and has a much wider opening.

When I first learned about kombucha from a friend of mine, I remember being taught that the bigger the opening the better. So last night I re-bottled 8 litres of kombucha, one from a container, the other from a glass bowl. I had decided to use a bowl since I wanted to try it as an experiment. They had both fermented for 6 days and just from using a bowl there was a big difference. It was sour, so sour, in fact I probably won't be able to drink it. It was a good learning experience though!

Moral of story is:

if you want kombucha in a really short period use a bowl (try for 3-4 days, not 6 like me). The larger the opening the more air circulation the more fermentation!
Or if it's winter time try a bowl, it's cold so fermentation takes longer and a bowl speeds it up.
If you need a lot of babies use a bowl. More surface area, one large culture you can cut up for many babies!
Don't try pouring with a bowl to re-bottle, it's a disaster! Use a ladle and a funnel.

Kombucha is a book in progress

2011-03-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

Black tea and sugar fed to a funny looking culture or “mushroom” is what most people think of when they think of kombucha. I've read all the books the library has on kombucha, they all give you the same recipe, sugar and black tea (or Orange peoko). When my friend taught me how to make kombucha she never taught me that recipe and it made a world of difference. I also grew up in a family that only had black tea on hand for guests, we all drank green tea and herbal tea ourselves.

Kombucha to me is anything but black tea. It's green tea, gun powder green tea, oolong tea, white tea, rooibos honeybush, jasmine greet tea and jasmine green tea pearl (if you really want to splurge). Kombucha also means adding in herbs/flowers/barks for flavour, colour and more nutrition. Peppermint, rose hips, hibiscus, cat's claw, rose petals, lavender, Pua d'arco, nettle, I could go on.

I'm in the process of slowly writing a book/recipe book on kombucha. It will be the first of it's kind on the market and in ebook format. I will most likely self publish it, especially after reading this interesting blog posting.

Want to live with some vegans this summer (May - Aug) on the Drive?

2011-03-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Want to live with me? Read on here.

Kombucha and cancer

2011-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I posted "David 'Avocado' Wolfe on Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, How to Protect Yourself", which instantly became my most popular post (nearly 60 hits for a blogger that normally gets 1/6th of that). Just today I learned from a friend on Facebook (also a kombucha brewer) about this article called "What in the world is kombucha?"

Here is a direct quote from the above article:
"After Chernobyl exploded many people in the surrounding area got a variety of cancers. Only a small group of people who drank Kombucha regularly were spared. Apparently, Kombucha is a powerful detoxifier."

There is also a book out called "Tea Fungus Kombucha: The Natural Remedy and Its Significance in Cases of Cancer and Other Metabolic Diseases" written by Rosina Fasching. The Vancouver Public Library has it and I have just requested it! I'll be reading it shortly and I'll let you know what I think of it!

Sublett Available May 1st!

2011-03-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

My lovely roommate Lola is leaving for the UK in May. She loves living here, so she is subletting her room until the end of August. Stay tuned in a few weeks as I will be posting the Craigslist ad here if you wish to join our veggie household!

March is Nutrition Month

2011-03-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

I had no idea, but it turns out March is Nutrition Month! Check out this link to learn more about ways to celebrate!

11 year old exposes GMO foods/Monsanto

2011-03-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

This 11 year old is brilliant! "Pay the hospital or pay the farmer!"

David 'Avocado' Wolfe on Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, How to Protect Yourself

2011-03-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

My friends were in Japan when the tsunami hit. They are back home and safe now. If you want to read more about what they say and experienced, check out their blog here. I never realized how big of a problem this was until I heard about the nuclear disasters that have been happening.

If you live or know anyone in JAPAN, WEST COAST OF AMERICA + CANADA including WASHINGTON STATE, OREGON, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA + BRITISH COLUMBIA then please READ THIS + FORWARD THIS!

Valuable information by David Wolfe
(from this video: http://www.thebestdayever.com/news/podcast/podcast-63-dave-wolfe-on-radiation-protection/)

"It looks like two or three of the reactors at Fukushima are in the process of melting down. In case you haven’t heard, reactor 1 literally blew up. I flew within several hundred miles of Tokyo last night when we left Seoul, ...South Korea. It was all over Seoul TV. American television is covering it up, but that won’t last for long. It is bad. Probably the worst disaster in history. And the fallout is heading beyond the greater Tokyo region and being pulled into the jet stream heading to the West Coast of America and Canada with Oregon and Northern California likely to get the worst of it.

I put this together (as a guide) for thebestdayever.com members and all my friends:

In light of the meltdown of Fukushima: How to protect yourself and your thyroid against radiation: kelp, ginseng, ashwaganda (recently found to regrow nerves), chlorella, zeolites, fulvic acid, nascent
iodine, reishi mushroom, sea salt (also salty miso), botanical (plant-derived) or lipo- vitamin C, magnesium (chlorophyll), selenium (Brazil nuts), coconut butter (coconut products), Megahydrate, Crystal Energy. Spread the word.

Start small, but increase your dosages rapidly and dramatically if you live in Hawaii, Western Canada, and the Western USA. Start now. Fallout will descend upon North America sometime around March 22.
If you live in Japan, start taking massive doses of these foods, superfoods, superherbs, and supplements immediately. These are all safe for children.

Radioactive fallout lingers longest in medicinal mushrooms. If you live in North America, pick your mushrooms NOW. I wouldn’t recommend picking any medicinal mushrooms in the fallout zones (after the fallout begins) for several years, if not a decade depending on how bad the radiation is.

If you live in North America, stock up on food NOW because fresh food may be contaminated for several months after the fallout comes down from the jet stream into the fallout zones.

We all have to band together to stop nuclear power once and for all. All attention of all scientists should move to a total focus on free energy devices (solar, wind, implosion, etc.)."

David “Avocado” Wolfe

If you wish to find out more/understand than I recommend to listen to David Wolfe's latest interview. He talks about the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant and what steps we can take to shield ourselves from harmful radiation:

http://www.thebestdayever.com/news/podcast/podcast-63-dave-wolfe-on-radiation-protection/

Please try to do anything you can and really start NOW and keep updating yourself and everyone else.

Vegan at Emerald City

2011-03-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

No I did not visit the Wizard of Oz; I went to Seattle (aka Emerald City) last Friday with my boyfriend. Our main purpose in visiting Seattle was to attend the Emerald City ComicCon they have every year there. We also checked out a few really great vegan hot spots along the way.

First stop was the Flying Apron, an all vegan, gluten-free and organic bakery/cafe. It's in the Fremont area of Seattle, right next to a records store and the most adorable used bookstore called Ophella's Books (spiral stairs to the basement and a few friendly cats too). A previous roommate told me about this place as she would always go there anytime she went to Seattle.

I've been eating gluten-free for about three years now and this place is like no other. Most gluten-free vegan bakery items I have come across heavily use white rice flour, tapioca starch and a binder of some sort (ie guar gum). This place uses all whole-foods flours (quinoa, brown rice, corn meal, almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, buckwheat, teff, coconut etc), whole food sweeteners (brown rice syrup, maple syrup, agave and honey in some things) and is soy-free; they don't use any vegan margarine, vegetable oil instead. So they are are pretty darn healthy for baked goods items!

After taking a look at their large variety of sweets and savories I ordered a Chocolate Shortbread Cookie (see picture to left) and also I took a Curried Vegetable Pocket for lunch later on. Remember those Pizza Pockets you grew up on? They are similar to these, as they are pockets, but instead of meat and cheese it's filled with curried vegetables and in a brown rice bread pocket. One will fill you up as they are a pretty good size!

I also purchased their cookbook, "Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book" as I want to learn more about how bake GF with flours other then white rice flour and with whole foods sweeteners too. I'll be trying out their Quinoa Bread shortly, so stay tuned how it turns out!

A chocolate shoe!

We hit up The chocolate ShoeBox before they closed at 7pm that day. They are an all vegan and chocolate shop in the Greenwood area. I've never seen such a large selection of vegan shoes in person (though I've seen plenty online) before! They had it all, boots, (including the vegan doc martins I have made by Vegetarian Shoes), sandals, Mary Jane's, flats and sneakers/running shoes too! There were men's shoes there too, t-shirts, belts, purses, and chocolate of course!

Vancouver just opened up their own vegan shoe store as well! Nice Shoes, located on Kingsway at 20th. I'll be checking it out shortly!

For dinner, we went to this place called Thrive in the University District. It's a raw vegan cafe and juice/moothie bar. They also have a large selection of raw resources for sale, uncookbooks, nuts/seeds and a few kitchen gadgets, including the Vitamix! We both ordered the Bella Burger; made with portabella mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts, really great!

After dinner we took the I-5 home, it wasn't too busy so we made good time. Overall Seattle is a really great place for vegans and for those with gluten allergies too! For the bookworms out there too, the Seattle library is really great too and there are bookstores everywhere we went.

I'd like to visit Seattle more in the future with that said. VegFest is happening in Seattle this month, so something you might want to keep in mind! It's during the last weekend of this month.

Simple Chocolate Pudding

2011-02-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

I was talking to Julie from Love of Food today about this Simple Chocolate Pudding I wanted to share to her. I thought it was on my blog already, but after a few looks I couldn't find it at all. Turns out I only posted this as a note on Facebook (before I was blogging), so see below for the recipe at last!

Simple Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients
8 oz fresh black mission figs*
1 tbsp raw cacao powder
2-3 tbsp filtered water

Directions
Place everthing in food processor and blend until everything is incorporated.
Eat, enjoy & repeat!

*Fresh figs are notoriously expensive at most grocery stores. Do you know why? They have to be hand picked as they are so delicate as they cannot be picked until they are fully ripe. A few summers ago I did a Craigslist barter with a fig tree owner in the Strathcona area. Myself and a friend picked two 100 year old fig trees, I got 3 bucket fulls and she got two bottles of kombucha!

Spaghetti alla puttanesca

2011-02-21T23:58:00.000-08:00

As a child, spaghetti alla puttanesca was a big staple in our household. I havn't had it in a number of years and thought I'd try to make it for the first time. The other day I had some leftover brown rice noodles and I wasn't sure what type of sauce to make. I went to the store and bough all the typical ingredients to make it. With my internet down and my parents not picking up their phone I had to make up the recipe myself from memorization. It turned out really great!

Here is what I put in the sauce:
diced tomatoes
roasted red pepper
lots of parsley
capers
artichokes
lots of nutritional yeast
Daiya vegan cheese
and served over some brown rice noodles

If your Italian is great, you might have noticed that spaghetti alla puttanesca actually translates to "whore's style spaghetti". You can learn more about it's history here. It's a very simple recipe of pasta sauce, usually consisting of the following: diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers, olives and parsley all served over al dente noodles.

Fast Mexican Lasagna

2011-02-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

Freshly clipped out of the latest alive Magazine I have fallen in love with the Fast Mexican Lasagna recipe. Below is my veganized and gf (gluten-free/genny-friendly) version of the lasagna.

Fast Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients

4 Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grains soft tortillas (these are amazing!)
1 17 oz can of refried beans (I used Amy's Organics brand)
1 cup salsa
1 1/2 cup Daiya vegan cheese
1 cup sliced sweet roasted red peppers

Directions

Preheat oven to 350* F.
Line a pie plate with coconut oil.
Evenly spread out 1/4 of the refried beans on to 1 tortilla. Place in pie pan. Drizzle with 1/4 cup salsa, sprinkle with vegan cheese and roasted red peppers.
Repeat 3 more times and lightly press down on each layer as you assemble the lasagna.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until bubbling and hot right through the centre. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing to make it easier to cut.

Makes 6 servings

Student nutritionist's (aka Genny) comments
This recipe is very high in iron with the Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grains soft tortillas and the Amy's organic refried beans. It has a few other vitamin/minerals with the salsa and peppers too. But overall it's comfort food, super tasty and grounding, but not something to be had everyday with the amount of somewhat processed foods in it. I'm not going to tell you how much carbs, fats or protein are in here. I don't care about numbers, I just care about quality of foods, not quantity.

Vancouver Raw Food School

2011-02-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

As many of you that read this blog know, Vancouver has a really great vegan and raw vegan community. There are a fair amount of vegan restaurants in the city, and best of all some really great raw vegan teachers. For the later, there is Indigo Food, RAW Foundation and now I just discovered Vancouver Raw Food School (VRFS).

Indigo, RAW and VRFS are all run by highly skilled, talented and raw vegan women in our community. They can teach anyone how to prepare raw vegan food that tastes wonderful and isn't too difficult to make. I recently met the owners of VRFS at a gala in New Westminster. I helped promote the gala by blogging about it. Now I'm helping set up a meetup site for them and thought I would also spread the world by blogging. So stay tuned for classes and retreats shortly to be posted by yours truly on their new meetup page.

Gift from Google

2011-01-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

The other day I checked my mailbox and to my surprise there was something there from Google of all people! They are giving me $100 to use towards adwords advertising for my blog! I've got until the end of March to be able to use it.

This has motivated me to learn more about Wordpress. I do use it for my Who's Your FOSS?! blog, but really I don't know much about it. I want to in the near future transfer over this blog to Wordpress and make the blog in a much bigger and better website. With the help from the new Wordpress Insider Meetup group I have just joined I will be learning how to make a website from scratch! I'm very excited!

Raw Vegan Foundraiser/Gala - Friday Jan 14th

2011-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Calling all raw vegan foodies, I have a very exciting event to announce. On Friday January 14th from 6:30 to 10pm in New Westminster is a Charity Foundraiser for the Royal Columbia Hospital (RCH) Neonatural Unit.*

Entertainment from Vancouver Circus School
Dance the night away with music from Reverbnation Band and wine samples courtesy of Pacific Breeze Winery.

Desserts from Organic Lives and even more desserts and appies from Vancouver Raw Food School (VRFS).

Clive Langton of Raw BC will be the MC for the night and Preet Marwaha of Organic Lives will be the keynote speaker.

Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased online or by e-mailing VRFS.

*The funds are going to the neonatal unit through the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation in New Westminster BC. This is one of three main trama centres and special care units for babies in BC. The hospital has a helicopter pad so babies are flown in from all over BC; they take babies from 24 weeks old.

Get BAKED - This Sunday vegan bake sale

2010-12-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, December 19th the Vegan Project is putting together a vegan holiday bake sale called Get BAKED. It will be at the Main Space (350 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC) from noon to 5pm. There will be many lovely attractions including:

-Hot apple cider as soon as you walk through that door

-the best holiday music playlist you've ever heard

-Santa Clause himself, available for pictures with kids and pets!

--many talented vendors sharing their yummy vegan delights
including:
-Jessica & Bridget from The Vegan Project raising money for The Vegan Project .

-Katie from Juicy Juice Bar. She makes great healthy, gluten-free snacks, juice and smoothies.

-Julia from the Loving Hut selling Wisdom Balls since they had to close due to a neighbour's fire.

-Ashley from Sprout Inc. selling raw vegan mini cheesecakes. I've tried their products before and they are amazing!

-Julie from For the Love of Food selling her 'Grawnola'

-Tara raising money for herself and 4 others to become Cove Guardians in Taiji with Sea Shepherd.

-Genny from Stop UBC Animal Research raising awareness and funds for our group. Cookies, peanut-butter cups, cupcakes and t-shirts available.

Entrance fee is $2 or FREE with a healthy snack donation for the kids at Grandview Elementary

Interested in vending? Email meetus@theveganproject.ca for more info.

Easy To Make Raw Vegan Treats this Saturday

2010-12-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday December 18th my raw vegan friend Celina will be teaching a raw vegan class. Details below:

What: Easy To Make Raw Vegan Treats
When: Saturday December 18th from 7-10 pm
Where: Eternal Abundance (1025 Commercial Drive at Napier street, Vancouver, BC)

In this class one will learn how to make three easy, healthy, delicious treats in the (see picture to the left for a visual)

- Two-Bite Chocolate Brownies
- Chai Balls
- Chocolate Coconut Bars

-Plus an organic raw vegan version of traditional egg nog with the same creamy richness and flavor!

The three treats can be stored long-term in the freezer, make great gifts and potluck offerings, and once you know the basic recipe the variations are limitless!

They are also free of animal products, refined sugars and flours, bleaches and chemicals and are full of omega-3 fats, fiber, antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

This class is suitable for beginners.

It's $25 per person and I have space for 12.

Please contact Celina, Raw Vegan Chef & Instructor by email to register: celinadm@live.com

Event is also on Facebook.

The mystery of hemp seeds

2010-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I was at Taste of Health show and bought a large container of hemp oil to use for getting my omega's and to put over salads. A few days after using about 1 tablespoon daily I started to get really dry lips. The same thing happened to my boyfriend at the time too. I didn't realize how sensitive I was to hemp products until I started to pay more attention to my body these last few months. I'm not sure why it happens, perhaps the balance of omega 3 and 6? I'm not sure really.

In the summer I started [yet another] contract office job and in the bathroom I had the choice between regular soap with SLS [my allergy] or between an all natural soap with hemp oil in it. I chose the better of two evils - the hemp soap, but even that affected me. I looked up symptoms of dry lips and it gave some possible explanations. One of them was a sign of pregnancy, caused by increase in hormones. I was never pregnant, but that little exercise really made me realize how much Google can scare you sometimes if you look up symptoms you are experiencing!

I've since had to cut out hemp oil found in all food and non-food items. I still have half a container of chocolate Vega, I don't want to toss it so I use it in small amounts to get less symptoms. I've started to slowly realize how much hemp is used in natural soaps and other cosmetic products; it's everywhere. I'm reading labels more carefully and will soon be on the search for a vegan, gluten-free, hemp-free replacement for Vega; if you have know of one, let me know.

Hemp is extremely nutritious, one of the two complete vegan proteins (the other is quinoa). It's also considered not highly allergenic. I hope this sensitivity is only temporary, as I love the stuff.

"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!"
- George Washington in a note to his gardener at Mount Vernon (1794), The Writings of George Washington, Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress)

Question for my readers (answer in the comments section):
What are you allergic/sensitive to? What do you miss the most from being allergic/sensitive to it?

Kombucha songs!

2010-12-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled upon this the other day, check it out!

The band System of the Down also has a song called Sugar. There is a few lyrics in it related to kombucha:
"the kombucha mushroom people
Sitting around all day
Who can believe you? X3
Let your mother pray

Sugar"

Almond and coconut milk

2010-12-06T00:57:00.000-08:00

I am slowly starting to realize the value of having non-flavoured almond milk in the fridge. The other day I made some squash soup and by-accidentally poured in some vanilla flavoured almond milk! It tasted like dessert crossed with squash. I somehow finished the soup, but I'd never eat it again either! For the holiday season coming up be sure to try out the Noel Nog, a vegan version of Eggnog!

I don't think I have mentioned this before on the blog, but has anyone tried out the So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage yet? It is finally available in Canada and you must try it! It tastes like coconut, but not as heavy, and with added nutrients too. It's really great to use for large batches of coconut tapioca pudding, in Sarah Kramer's Coconut Currey Lentil Squash soup or just over cereal!

Sea cucumber and 9 everyday products article

2010-11-07T01:06:00.000-07:00

I just learned the other day that sea cucumber is not vegan. I had no idea, such a misleading word. I've even had it a few times from the farmer's market; live and learn. On Vegan Grub's website they state what vegans don't eat:

"Anyone who has a face! And sea cucumbers. (Who are sea cucumbers? Cool freaky animals without heads, so how can they have a face?) Anything of animal origin. This includes dairy, eggs, and honey.From a vegan perspective, animals are no longer food. Animals are individuals who share the earth with us."

Have you read the '9 Everyday Products You Didn't Know Had Animal Ingredients article yet? It's an alright article, but they clearly missed the boat on a few things. Wine, beer and condoms often have animal ingredients in it too. Bet you didn't know that! In the book Vegan Freaks: Being Vegan In a Non-Vegan World by Bob and Jenna Torres cover these 3 topics (plus tons more all vegan should know about).

Why is beer/wine not always vegan?
"When filtering the drinks prior to bottling, companies can use things like isinglass (from fish bladder,) gelatin, egg whites, and sea shells, among other things. These products grab onto the impurities and make it easier to catch them in the filters, though there are many animal-free alternatives in use.
These ingredients don't usually show up on the label, so the only way to find out is to ask." Barnivore

Why are condoms not always vegan?
Condoms are usually made with casein (a milk by-product) to create their product. Brands that are vegan are: Gylde, Condomi*, Fusion, Durex: Condoms – Avanti Ultima, Pasante, RFSU and Unique.

According to Daniel Peyser, author of Dispatches From Hell: A Vegan's Guide to Love, Sex, Relationships and Other Suicidal Tendencies the brand Lifestyles are also vegan. I'm not totally sold on this yet, as on their official web page they state they have traces of casein in their products.
Source: Vegan Society and Vegan Essentials.

*Condomi uses cocoa powder instead of casein for creating their product. They are make in the UK and currently not available in the US or Canada. They are currently working towards meeting the US requirements for sale. Source: About - Vegan Condoms

B12 and kombucha

2010-11-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

I wanted to find out today if there is any benefit for those with low iron to drink kombucha by doing a search online. I came across this website called Cajun Ernie and also the Free Fermentology Foundation - Bacteria for the people.

This link, it goes over the different type of anemias and also how kombucha in general can help your health. Often vegans are asked where they get there B12. Here is an interesting quote from the above link:

"There are trace amounts of Iron and B12 in the tea which is easy for the body to assimilate since it is in liquid form. For those with too much Iron in their system it is reasonable to assume the tea would be effective in eliminating the excess because of its normalizing and adaptogen properties.

Since Kombucha sometimes enhances the effectiveness of other medications, it is important to keep your health provider informed so dosage can be adjusted accordingly if necessary.

Since 1977 I have had pernicious anemia requiring monthly injections of B12 vitamins. Before my condition was detected I would get numb from the soles of my feet up to my knees. The B12 shots would help the numbness go away except the soles of my feet remained numb and felt like wood. My Doctor said get used to it since the nerves ends were probably too damaged to ever recover. I also learned to live with the rash around my ankles (a side effect of the shots). I started drinking Kombucha daily

One night I woke up with a stinging pain in my toes. The next morning I suddenly noticed I could feel the carpet fibers under my feet which I hadn't felt before. Later that week my soles were back to normal. The numb feeling and rash have both disappeared now and not returned."

All fermented foods have b vitamins in them, tempeh, sauerkraut and miso are some of the most common ones in my diet. Be sure to read Wild Fermentation for recipes and inspiration.

Another gem I found today was a list of kombucha tea contents after seven day ferment. Be sure to check it out on the Free Fermentology Foundation website.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-10-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

When I went vegan about 5 years ago there was three things that made me stick to it. Being around my lovely vegan sisters, listening to Bob and Jenna rant on the Vegan Freaks Radio Podcast (the book Vegan Freaks books is great too) and recipes from Sarah Kramer. I found How It All Vegan shortly after making the switch to veganism at the Chiliwack Rotary Book sale for a buck!

My favourite cookie recipe comes from Kramer's La Dolce Vegan! Here is how to make a double batch of Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies, I've modified them to make them gluten-free, with less sugar and a healthier sugar. I can promise you these will go fast at potlucks and you will receive compliments too!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

egg replacer equal to 2 eggs
1 cup Earth Balance (or other brand of vegan margarine)
3/4 cup of coconut sugar crystals, ground fine (with coffee bean grinder)
1 tsp of vanilla powder or 2 tsp of vanilla extract
2.5 cups white rice flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2.5 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
1.5 cups vegan chocolate chips

Directions
Set oven at 350 F.

Place egg replacer, Earth Balance, coconut sugar, vanilla in food processor and blend until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl stir together all other ingredients: white rice flour, baking soda, powder, sea salt, shredded coconut and vegan chocolate chips. Add the mixture from the food processor to the dry ingredients and stir together until well incorporated.

Roll dough into balls, lay on a greased cookie sheet (I use coconut oil) and bake for 8- 10 min. Take out of oven and push cookies down with a fork and bake for 2-4 more minutes. Let cool for at least five minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes 36 - 48 cookies.

About the weird ingredients
Coconut sugar has B vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and many other nutrients. Use the same amount of coconut sugar when substituting it for regular sugar. It's safe for diabetics too, or those with blood sugar issues.

Guar gum comes from the Guar gum tree. It's a stabilizer; it helps gluten-free products stay together. Both of these products can be found at most health food stores.

Gluten free storage tip, for your GF flours to last longer, place them in the freezer or fridge, so they don't' go rancid.

Taste of Health 2010

2010-10-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

This year's 12th annual Taste of Health and Gala will be taking place in two weeks, on Saturday October 23rd. What exactly is it all about? It's a vegetarian/vegan health food fair hosted by Earthsave Canada. This is the perfect event to bring a friend or family member that has no idea what vegans/vegetarians eat. There will be plenty of food samples; anything from: kiwis, vegan cheese, faux meats, hemp milk, soy milk. Raw BC will also have a table there, as will other non-profits and also some cruelty-free cosmetic companies.

There will also be a stage set up for various chefs to show off their skills, giving plant-based cooking tips and samples too. The schedule for the cooking demos and talks isn't announced yet, but when it is, be sure to check it out here. I have gone to TOH for the past four years or so, I have seen anyone from Raw Rose, Aaron Ash of Gorilla Food, Andrea Potter from Radha Yoga and Eatery and the lovely Sarah Kramer.

This event happens on October 23rd from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Vancouver Masonic Centre, at 1495 West 8th Street (close from the 99 B line bus). The gala will be at the same location, door opening at 6pm. This year John Robbins will be the keynote speaker, as well as live entertainment and an auction too. Organic Lives (gluten-free vegan + all organic) will be providing the tapas (as well as the food at the fair). For tickets for the gala and full details of this wonderful event check out their website.

This event is really important. We need more compassionate people in the world to make a big difference. This starts with our diet and a shift in our thinking. Bring a friend, family member who is not a vegetarian or vegan like yourself. This event will open their eyes to all the wonderful food, the best way to teach someone about our lifestyle and to make it more mainstream.

If you are a blogger, blog about this. Make sure to put it on your Facebook wall, and tweet about it too if you are on Twitter. Please help spread the word about this great event.

Thanks!
Genny

Make the Switch

2010-10-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Want to eat a more plant based diet but now sure how to start? A friend of mine just launched this website called Make the Switch on World Vegetarian Day (October 1st). It has great resources for vegetarians, be sure to check it out!

VOKRA's Walk for the Kitties!

2010-09-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know myself and my roommate have been VOKRA (Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association) foster moms in the past. We had to say goodbye to our Orange Juice a few days ago, as him and Douce were not getting along. One of the VOKRA volunteers told us about a fundraiser that is taking place this Saturday.

What: VOKRA's Walk for the Kitties
When: Saturday Sept 11th 9:30am to 5pm
Where: Jericho Beach Sailing Centre

There will be food, games, prizes, raffles, music, kids, crafts, cool t-shirts and more... all proceeds go to the kitties!

More details on Facebook and on VOKRA's website.

VOKRA is a wonderful no-kill shelter and is 100 percent volunteer run.

An evening with Gene Baur - special exclusive event

2010-09-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

I'm a broke student and won't be able to go this, but thought I would spread the word about this event.

You are invited to a very special evening with Gene Baur, co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, at Vancouver's premiere raw vegan restaurant, Organic Lives.

If you have never had the opportunity to meet Gene Baur, now is your chance to visit with one of North America's most important animal rights activists.

The ticket price of $50 covers the cost of dinner. Any additional proceeds from the night will be donated to Farm Sanctuary to assist in their work to rescue and advocate for farmed animals.

This intimate meet and greet event is limited to 30 people, so get your ticket now. We expect it to sell out well in advance.

Purchase your ticket(s) here.

Event Date
Sunday, September 26, 2010 from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Event Location

Organic LIves

1829 Quebec Street

Vancouver, British Columbia

Fresh squash

2010-09-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

I grew squash in my garden this year (for the first time) and it's finally ready!

Want to live with me?

2010-09-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

For all those that read my blog I thought I'd let you know I'm roommate searching right now. It's available for October 1st (or sooner, possibly as early as Sept 15th) and if you are vegetarian/vegan in need of a new home we would love to talk to you! You'd be living with two other vegans who are also foodies (imagine fresh baked vegan cookies and smoothies), bloggers and animal rights activists. See my CL ad for more details.

PNE Food - Not so bad for a vegan...

2010-09-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

This past week myself and my boyfriend have visited the PNE twice so far (and possibly again on Monday) thanks to a lovely friend of mine that scored us free tickets. When I think of the PNE I imagine deep friend butter, Mars Bars, fish N chips and the only vegetables being potatoes and zucchini, but again deep fried.

But I didn't starve at the PNE, in fact I had a lot of options as a vegan with multiply food allergies. I had a potato and chickpea dish from an East Indian restaurant, and other time I had tofu, rice and tomato sauce dish from a Vietnamese restaurant. There was also a smoothie bar set up with Vitamixes and all the 4 drinks (Berry drink, a tropical smoothie and 2 I forget what they were) they were offering are vegan, raw and gluten-free. Times are changing, not everyday you can say you have more food options at the PNE then your typical chain restaurant!

Raw Vegan Dinner at Gorilla Food with Meatless Vancouver

2010-08-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Are you free on the evening of Monday the 23rd? Meatless Vancouver is organizing a dine-out at Gorilla Food. The food will be all raw, all organic and all vegan. I attended the last dine-out at G-Foods and was very impressed with the food. For Monday's menu is the following:

Chilled Cucumber Cleansing Soup w/ Brawschetta
Fresca Lasagna w/ 3 Color Salad
Pear Pudding

RSVP and learn more here.

Dishes all raw vegans should master, part two

2010-07-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

My last posting was about what dishes all raw vegans should have mastered to show off to friends, family and co-workers (in an attempt to get them more interested in our raw vegan diet). I had so many ideas that this is the 2nd part of this postings.

Something chocolaty
My favourite chocolate recipes is Famous Raw Freezer Fudge.

Chocolate balls
I make chocolate balls ever so often in my food processor. I don't really have recipe for it, but here is the general idea:

Place nuts (almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts) with some sweetener (dates, agave nectar or honey if you use it), add raw cacao powder, dash of vanilla powder and also some peppermint or cinnamon for extra flavour. Process until it's in a dough consistency and then roll into balls. Roll into dried coconut if you wish.

A few books I would recommend for more raw vegan dessert recipes are:
Health by Chocolate Victoria Laine (not all raw, if they are it's clearly marked or has alteration to make raw)
Living in the Raw Desserts, Rose Lee Calabro
Ani's Raw Food Desserts, Ani Phyo

Why you should make something chocolaty
Everyone loves chocolate and raw chocolate (not regular dutch pressed chocolate) contains over 300 compounds, including: protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, ion, zinc, copper, calcium, sulfur and so much more [source] It's also very high in antioxidants as well (more then blueberries). Read David Wolfe's book called Naked Chocolate for more information.

Smoothies
Smoothies, particularly green smoothies are really big into the raw food movement. If you are serious about smoothies, I'd suggest you buy a Vitamix, it can handle anything.

For the basic green smoothie, you will need:
2-3 pieces of fruit
handful of greens (kale, spinach, swiss chard, whatever you perfer)
1-2 cups water (depending on how thick you like it)

Mix everything in the blender, perfect way to start your day.
To learn more about the green smoothie following see Victoria Boutenko's Green for Life and also her new book Green Smoothie Revolution.

Why you should make this recipe
Easiest and most delicious way to get your greens each day. Because they are liquid its the easiest way for your body to digest the nutrients (make sure you rotate what greens you use though).

Hummus with crackers
Here is the hummus recipe I always use.

For crackers, I never really follow a recipe, but here is the general idea:

in a bowl place any of the the following: ground flax seeds, sesame seeds, almond pulp (from making almond milk) shredded carrots (or carrot pulp from juicing), finely cut ginger, pepper salt and other seasonings you may like (curry is another good option). Dehydrate overnight at 104 degrees.

Why you should make this recipe
Great to take to social gathers, pack as a snack and easy to make.

Dishes all raw vegans should master

2010-07-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

About 2.5 years ago I was lured into the raw vegan lifestyle by a strawberry pie. I was listening to the podcast “Food for Thought” and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau who runs it, mentioned her no bake strawberry pie recipe that she recently created. I was (and still am) eating a gluten-free diet and at the time and had never made any gluten-free baking goods before. I had a food processor so I made the recipe a few days later and loved it! After that I decided to eat a lot more raw foods. Luring people in with food is a very effective way get people more interested in your diet, wherever it be vegan, raw vegan or whatever you fancy.

Some ideas for dishes you should have under your belt to introduce to your friends, family or co-workers are:

Kale chips
I've never followed a recipe when I've made kale chips before. The basics you need are:

Ingredients

kale (though you can also use swiss chard or other greens)
olive oil
sea salt

Directions

Cut up the kale in bit sized pieces.
Sprinkle with oil oil and sea salt. If you want a cheesy flavour add some nutritional yeast to it (vegan, but not raw). Dehydrate for at least 8 hours at 104 degrees.

Why you should make this recipe
It's really easy to make, is great to pack as a snack and even those that don't like greens will love this recipe.

Burgers
At Gorilla Foods one of their most popular dish is their burgers, it's one of my favourite's there. I've tried a few recipes and had no success until I came across Brendan Brazier's recipe (in his Thrive book). Here it is:

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup ground flax seeds
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp coconut oil, hemp oil or EFA blend (the more the better)
sea salt to taste

Directions
Process almonds first in food processor until a course texture is achieved.
Add in the rest of the ingredients until combined.
Form into burgers and enjoy. Serve on top of lettuce (along with cucumber, tomatoes and other items too if you wish).

Makes about 2 burgers

Why you should make this recipe
Even though this recipe is a little heavy on the fat, it's the healthy fats (omega's and nuts). For your friends that are hamburger lovers, they will most likely enjoy this recipe.

Pie
So many pies, so little time!

There are so many different flavours, some of my favourites are:
Strawberry Pie
Apple Pear Ginger Pie
Coconut Cream Pie

Why you should make this recipe
It's perfect for bringing to a potluck, I always receive compliments whenever I make pie. Everyone will love it! It doesn't take long, about 15 minutes max to make a a bit of time to set in the fridge.

Next up will be suggestions for something chocolaty, smoothies, and hummus with crackers.

$50 gift certificate contest!

2010-07-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

First a little about my favourite places to travel to just for the food and then information about my first giveaway I'm doing; you could win $50 to spend at more then 200 online CSN stores. This could mean anything from dining room sets, to cookware, kitchen gadgets, cribs and even dog beds! Really if you win, you won't have any trouble spending $50 at one of these online stores!

The western coast of the USA is my favourite place to travel just to get food, as it's very vegan friendly. Wherever it's Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe in the University District of Seattle, Food Fight!, Blossoming Lotus or Sip in Portland or even Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco, all these places are the best place for vegan/raw vegan food!

Now back to the contest, how to enter: just make a comment. Tell me about your favourite place you like to travel to just for the food. Also include your e-mail in the comment section (so I can see it). Contest will close on July 18th at midnight and is only open to those living in USA or Canada only. All those that comment will be entered in the draw to win the $50 gift certificate. The winner will be announced in the comments section and also later personally contacted via the CSN stores! Best of luck to everyone!

[Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons]

Rawsome Resources

2010-07-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

After my article called “being raw vegan” was published with the Examiner I thought it would be good to do a follow up with some resources available for raw vegans in Vancouver.

Recipe books:
The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made With Living Foods--Includes Over 350 Recipes from the World's Top Raw Food Chefs edited by Lori Baird and Julie Rodwell.

This is a really great book for those just starting out on raw food. It includes all subjects you would need, such as: how to sprout, what sort of kitchen gadgets to get down the road (dehydrator, food processor juicer, etc.). It has tons of recipes. It's a fairly large book and yet still very affordable even with that said. The public library should also have this one too.

Victoria Boutenko has a book out called Green For Life and her follow up called Green Smoothie Revolution that are really important to the raw vegan community. The books go in great detail about how important greens are and includes lots of recipes of how to incorporate it into your diet. The 2nd book has more recipes then the first.

Uncooking with Raw Rose, by Rose Vasile
Really great recipes, simple and tasty.
Raw Rose lives in Courtney BC and also holds uncooking classes and retreats.
Her book is available at Gorilla Food I believe.
Earthsave Canada has it at there library in Kits, for purchase or to borrow from the library.

Again, being a big user of the library, there are tons of books on raw food recipes at the Vancouver Public Library. Well worth checking out.

Websites:
Gone Raw has lots of recipes all submitted by members of the site.
This site also has a very extensive and active forum. You can ask questions on it and get tons of feedback from everyone else. Great for insight and learning!

There are tons of raw vegan blogs as well. I'm not even going to attempt to list all my favourites!

Potlucks:
Vancouver Raw Food POTLUCK
Vancouver Meatless, not exclusively raw, but all vegan with some raw events

Raw in Abbotsford

See the “being raw vegan” or "Meetup.com: one website all Vancouver vegans should join" articles for more details about these groups.

Raw “uncooking” classes:
RAW Foundation

Indigo Food
Radha
Organic Lives

Raw vegan restaurants in Vancouver:Gorilla Food, downtown Vancouver
Organic Lives, Main Street area

Radha Yoga and Eatery, Main Street area, all vegan and some raw options
Truffle Cafe, Commercial Drive area, Cafe is inside of Eternal Delight Grocery Store, all vegan with lots of raw options

Nutrition:
Live Food Factor by Susan Schenck. The book is massive, I'm only a little bit into it. It has to be the best book so far that I have read on raw vegan nutrition.

The Raw Food Revolution Diet by Cherie Soria and Dietitians Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina

Raw Vegan Radio Podcast
Really great for nutritional information, current raw vegan events and interviews with high profile raw vegans.

Eating raw vegan doesn't have to break the bank

2010-07-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Often while individuals learn about the benefits of eating more raw vegan foods in their diet, it always comes down to one thing: cost. It can cost a lot to eat raw vegan or you can keep a few things in mind and pay less.

Some ideas for cutting costs on your food bill:

Check out the Raw on $10 (or less) blog. It has daily postings that include: menu plan, recipes (with pictures) and a detailed cost breakdown.
Dining out at restaurants a few times a week can really add up. When you do go out just order a main course (most of the time). Extras like starters, desserts and smoothies or juices can all make an expensive bill.
There are a lot of prepared raw vegan food available at your grocery or health food store. Items such as fruit/nut bars, kale chips, granola and trail mix are all quite expensive. Check out Gone Raw or pick up some raw vegan “uncooking” books at your local library.
Eating a lot of superfoods and taking supplements can add up. Figure out which ones you can't go without.
Decide if you can afford to eat all organic, just some organic or none. For someone on a budget the best idea may be to only buy things organic that are heavily sprayed and have pesticides. See Food News shopping list of most contaminated.
Decide how much raw vegan food you want to incorporate overall in your diet. Do you want to eat all raw or perhaps 2 out of 3 meals raw? For some eating breakfast and lunch raw and then dinner partly raw and partly cooked could be a good option. Depending if it's winter of summer may be another factor for how much raw food you eat too.
Plant a garden at your house, at a community garden or do some container gardening on your deck. If your garden is large enough, you can freeze or dehydrate your produce if you have a surplus. Learn more about 10 reasons you should garden.
Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Learn more about this at the UBC Farm website.
Grow sprouts; it's a cheap habit and they are highly nutritious. Learn about the process here.
Round up a few friends and carpool to Discovery Organics in Vancouver. Minimum order is $200. It's like Cosco but everything is organic!
At your store you shop the most at, ask if you can buy some things by the case. Chances are they will have no problem with this. I have some friends buy bananas or avocados by the case (often splitting with a friend).
Think of other areas in your life that you can cut costs (so you could spend a bit more on food); spending less on housing, clothing or entertainment are all options.

What do you do to save on your food bill?

Save the human...

2010-07-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching the "Save the human! Don't Eat The Planet Music Video." There are 6.7 billion humans and 60 billion livestock animals on our planet. What are we doing to lower our carbon footprint? The main message in the video was to go vegetarian/vegan to "save the humans". What surprised me is not once did they say "save the animals." It was implied by eating a vegan/vegetarian diet that we would be saving the animals, but not once did they actually say it!

Introducing the Raw Coordinator for Earthsave/Meatless Vancouver Meetup

2010-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

As some of you may be aware of the structure of the Vancouver Raw Food POTLUCK meetup group , it has drastically changed again. A few months ago we had a "Organizer" and a bit more then half a dozen "Assistant Organizers". As an assistant organizer I could plan potlucks and post other events as needed. About a month ago that all changed; overnight all Assistant Organizers were no longer part of the leadership team. I heard from a raw friend of mine that the Organizer felt that she only wanted potlucks posted and not raw food classes as well (there were a lot of those). I want to respect her decision, but at the same time, still be able to promote raw events, talks, classes somehow.

As they say, when one door closes, another opens. To make a long story short, I am now the Raw Coordinator with Earthsave Canada/Meatless Vancouver.

David 'Avocado' Wolfe is coming to town. He will be in Vancouver from August 19th to 21st. Check out the details on the Meatless Vancouver Meetup calendar.

Kardea Bars

2010-06-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Kardea Nutrition recently stumbled upon my foodie blog. They were nice enough to let me sample their Kardea bars and in exchange I would blog about it.

About the bars:
They are low in fat, low carb, low sugar, whole grain, natural, high in protein, high fiber, vegan, kosher and gluten-free. The oats in them are from a gluten-free source, but because the bars are manufactured on equipment that also contains wheat products they cannot certify them as gluten-free. One of the staff members of Kardea is Celiac, she has quite a few bars a week and still has no ill effects.

My thoughts on the bars:
I tried 4 different flavours: Cranberry Almond, Banana Nut, Chai Spice and Lemon Ginger. One of the first things I noticed is in all of these bars the first ingredient is brown rice syrup. Normally I avoid this sweetener like the plague as I find in baking you can never hide the not so great tasting flavour. As well some other protein bars use brown rice syrup and it tastes horrible in their product, but this is not the case with the Kardea Bars.

All of the bars have a really great flavour and texture (both chewy and crunchy) as well. I usually don't eat cranberries very much (don't' care for the flavour), but in the case of the Cranberry Almond bar, the flavour wasn't too intense. The Chai Spice was my favourite flavour, and the Banana Nut reminded me of the taste of Banana Bread. The Lemon ginger was really great as well. I'd have them again!

Currently they are not available to Canada, though I am sure you can ask your local grocery store/health food store and they might be able to bring them in. You can also order them online here.

My new writing gig: RAW Foundation & more

2010-06-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have recalled, I recently got a (surprise) new writing gig. I'm going to be working part time with Janice who runs RAW Foundation. She teaches gourmet raw vegan cooking classes and needs someone to help her with blog postings, social media work and promoting her classes; I fit the bill! If you have never been to one of her classes before, I really suggest them; they are lots of fun and the food is amazing! You can view her classes and learn more about her company here.

The other great news is the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publishers (BCAMP) is putting on an exciting event tomorrow (Saturday). It's called the "Magazine Writer's Craft Fair". It's a conference for writers of all types, particularly those that write for magazines or want to get into it (like myself). It goes from 10am to 3:30pm in downtown area. What really amazes me about this event, is they can provide me with a vegan gluten-free meal for lunch! You don't really know, until you ask. All I did was phone the BCAMP and ask about food options and right away they already had a vegan gluten-free option! Brownie points to them! I was planning on going to Vancouver's largest clothing swap that day, the Swap-O-Rama-Rama, but this is too important to miss! Stay tuned for a clothing swap/potluck sometime in July at my place!

{Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons}

Weekend Madness

2010-06-24T01:44:00.000-07:00

There is so much happening this weekend if you are not hitting the road for Portland's Animal Rights Conference. A couple foodie events: a fundraiser at Gorilla Food, a dine-out with Veg Meetup Vancouver and a beach potluck with Earthsave, be sure to check out the Vegan foodie events this weekend article for full details.

Some other neat things happening in the city are:

A Yard sale (for pets) this Saturday

Vancouver's Largest clothing swap, Saturday 11-4pm

2nd Annual Community Bike Ride, Sunday June 27th

Tomorrow: Let's eat Chocolate for Sisters!!

2010-06-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

Gorilla Foods is taking part in the Amnesty International "Taste for Justice" campaign tomorrow.

On Thursday, June 24th we are contributing all of the proceeds from our Chocolate Hempseed Pie sales to their efforts to end violence towards women around the world.

Feel free to come down and enjoy a slice for a great cause!

Thanks to our friend Luciana for her work that she does with them!

For more info on Amnesty International campaign see this link.

It's scary times for whales right now

2010-06-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

There are plans to overturn the 25-year old global ban on commercial whaling for reducing the numbers of whales killed each year. The 88 countries that are part of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agreed yesterday to have a meeting for two days in Morocco to decide if they should adopt a draft plan which would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to legally hunt whales in the Antarctica (and other locations) for 10 years; in exchange for a gradual drop in the numbers killed.

The same week, EU, led by Britain has adopted a common negotiating position which rules against the resurrection of commercial whaling. Meanwhile both New Zealand and the USA strongly support the IWC decisions regarding this issue.

“In a move that took many people by surprise, three of the world's largest international non-government groups, Greenpeace, WWF and the Pew Environment Group, today said they were prepared to see commercial whaling resumed if six conditions were met.
In a joint statement they demanded: an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean; an end to trade in whale meat and products; the elimination of unilaterally decided whaling quotas; an end to hunts of endangered whale species; putting science at the centre of IWC decisions and prevention of objections or reservations by IWC members if the moratorium is lifted.” (Source: Greenpeace and WWF give conditional support to commercial whaling plan)

The good news is that groups like the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare are not going to accept any return to commercial whaling. Each year nearly 2,000 whales are killed each year, putting them near extinction. Closely 33,000 whales have been killed since the ban was put into affect (source: according Animal Welfare Institute in Washington). The problem is the ban is currently not being enforced by government officials, only by The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The meeting finishes on Friday June 25th. There are some that fear if no agreement is reached, the IWC could breakdown.

What can concerns individuals do? Support the Sea Shepard, WDCS and the International Fund for Animal Welfare in their fight for whales lives. Sign petitions at:

Anti-whaling petition

Care2 petition

Whales Revenge

Pass petitions and the below links along to friends and family. The more signatures the better.

Learn more about this important issue

Greenpeace and WWF give conditional support to commercial whaling plan

What is Greenpeace Thinking? Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

Baking Bread, 3rd try...

2010-06-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

After my failed attempt at gluten-free vegan bread with horribly tasting spirulina bread and also “cave” bread I decided to give it another try with the “Allergy-free Cookbook” by Alice Sherwood in my hands. I turned to page 166 for Brown Bread GF recipe. I took out the soy flour (did not replace with anything), used guar gum instead of Xanthan gum, and used a lot more poppy seeds then sesame seeds, since this is what I had a lot of. I also veganized this recipe, since it called for eggs, I used egg replacer instead. The book describes it as “this is really quick to make with a healthy seedy farmhouse texture and taste.

After it was done baking, I let the bread cool for about 20 minutes, tried removing it from the pan to cool on cooling rack, but it would not budge! I then waited another 20 min and again the bread was stuck! Finally I cut into it to have a slice and then used a spatula to remove the rest of it. It tasted pretty good, though I'm not sure if I would make it again. One of the ingredients it called for was molasses, and even though the bottle I bought was organic, fair-trade and “sulfur-free” I still woke up the next day with the puffiest eyes. In other words, once again sulfites at work!

Father's Day

2010-06-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day everyone!

A couple ideas for celebration are:
Take Dad to Car Free Vancouver! There are more locations then last year too, including: Commercial Drive, Main Street, West End, Kitsilano and North Vancouver. Learn more about this great event on their official website. I've been a few times so far and really enjoy the festival!

Celebrate with a gourmet raw vegan brunch or dinner.

Lastly, if you Dad likes ties, check out this site.

Whole Foods Pulls Kombucha

2010-06-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

I was on Facebook tonight and read Food Fight's status update: "Unlike Whole Foods we still sell kombucha." I did a little more research on what they meant and here is the dirt:

"Whole Foods is removing kombucha from its shelves because of concerns over slightly elevated alcohol levels."

(Source: Whole Foods removes kombucha drinks from stores). K-tea that has 0.5 % or more of alcohol must carry a goverment warning on it.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I saw this coming as my friend is friend's with the founder of GT and he causally mentioned how there is more alcohol it it then what most people realize. GT is the fastest growing beverage company right now and this is really going to hurt them. At the same time, it gives those smaller companies a larger market now, though some customers may be questioning k-tea now since Whole Foods has gone public. So far all the news articles are just from American press, so I am not sure what the verdict is with the Canadian Whole Foods.

Learn more at
Alcoholic Tea: Whole Foods Pulls Kombucha Drinks
Whole Foods removes kombucha drinks from stores
Whole Foods Yanks Kombucha

Thin

2010-06-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Georgia Straight just published an article called "Misconceptions abound regarding eating disorders in men" that is worth reading for more insight on this issue. Here is a documentary I found online as well, you can see the first part below.

Introducing the Vancouver Animal Advocacy Examiner

2010-06-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

I just accepted a new position with the Examiner as their "Vancouver Animal Advocacy Examiner". I've written two articles so far: June is Adopt-a-Cat Month and The Petnership Project Trade Show, this weekend. You can also join my Facebook fan page, Vancouver Animal Advocacy Examiner.

A friend of mine will also shortly be starting to write as the "Vancouver Animal Rights Examiner". Stay tuned in the Society and Culture section of the Examiner for both of our articles.

1984, Vegetarian Times

2010-06-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished making some Hibiscus and rose hips soda today. It taste a lot like the ginger beer I made a while ago, so I decided to see if I could find out online what the alcohol content is (my guess is it's 5% or so).

I wasn't able to find that out, however, while searching I came across a Vegetarian Times July 1984 digital copy! On the front cover is "Raw food and Raw Talent, the story behind Wendy O Williams". Raw food has been around a long time, but it's only just now becoming so popular. There is also a lot of tacky 80-s advertisements well worth checking out, including one for the Vita-Mix! View the magazine here.

Collective Living Internship at the Beehive in Vancouver

2010-06-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

One of my raw vegan friends runs the "Life As Art" Yahoo group. It's all about community events happening in the Vancouver area and events are mailed out on a daily basis. I really love being on it, as great stuff always comes up. Take today's posting for instance:

"Do you want to learn and experience how to live in an urban
intentional community? If you are interested in setting up a
collective house or intentional community, this internship may be the
perfect opportunity to learn the systems and skills to make it
flourish.

The Beehive is an established collective house located just off
Commercial Drive. We believe that mutual support in the domestic realm
fosters stronger individuals and stronger communities. Collective
living is a powerful form of activism, allowing us to exercise our
values of social and environmental justice right in the home.
Together, we hold safe space for individual and collective growth.
Recently, the Beehive spearheaded a day of workshops about collective
houses, and now gives presentations to share our experiences with the
greater community.

We are offering an opportunity for one individual to learn
experientially by living in community for up to 4 months. The
internship is available from July 1st - October 31st but we are
flexible with the start and end dates although we do require a
six-week minimum to fully engage in our processes. The most important
thing is to find the right person. Any age welcome.

You would be the 6th adult in the home,together with one cat, and one
kid who comes a few days per week. There is a guest room for friends
and visitors. Residents share food, space, stuff, housework, rent and
many values.

Cost is negotiable depending on income and length of stay, between
$800 (6 weeks) and $2000 (4 months). This covers complete room and
board including furnished room, food, phone with long distance,
internet, laundry and your very own loaned bicycle if needed.

In joining us, some of the things you would be involved in are:

Delicious vegan dinners every night with ethically sourced food
(local, home-grown, CSA, organic, dumpstered, unprocessed and/or
minimally packaged). The house is vegetarian but dinners are vegan to
be accessible to all. Eating together is one of the great joys of
collective living, and since the Beehive's inception it has been a
central priority of the house. We share sit-down dinners almost every
night of the week which fosters a connection and friendship that is
the real foundation of our household.

Cooking one night a week for everyone and being home for dinners at
least half the time.

Gardening in our extensive food gardens if you have green thumb or
want to grow one!

Processing food – making preserves, fermented foods, sprouts, soup stock, etc.

Regular, organized housework to maintain our community

Meaningful conversation (maybe somethimes with the 4 yr. old kid!) and
open communication.

A weekly house meeting lasting 1.5 hours based on consensus

Having friends and guests over for dinners and overnight visits in the
guest room

Occasional larger social events such as potlucks, meetings or birthday parties

Weekly 30-minute meditation session on Tuesdays (optional)

A happy, bike-based home!

Overall, we exercise simple, economical and environmentally friendly
living. We are social but not a party home, and the house is usually
quiet and calm in the evenings.

If you are interested and excited to consider joining our home, please
call or email Sara and/or Elisa

Sara - redsara@gmail.com

Elisa - lee.elisa.lee@gmail.com

Telephone: (604) 569-4697

We would like to learn what you hope to gain from living in community,
if you have any relevant experience, and what skills and passions you
might bring to the collective during your stay.

The next step would be a phone conversation, followed by a scheduled
diner at the house for us to get to know each other and see whether
the fit is right. "

It's a small world as they say, I live about 2 minutes away from the Beehive and have always wondered what happens at that house! I e-mailed Sara to ask if it was ok to repost this on the blog and she said it would be great and invited me to come over for supper sometime!

June is Dairy Alternative Month

2010-06-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

June is bike month and also Dairy Alternative month. I've written a few articles on the later as the Vancouver Vegan Examiner, see below.

Dairy Alternative Month

Store bought dairy alternatives

Other vegan dairy products to consider

Vegan yogurt

I also just discovered this great blog on Granville Online called DIY, see the article called "How to make homemade sour cream."

Do you drink Silk soymilk at all? Be sure to read:

"Silk: The Creamy Soy Beverage from Microsoft, ExxonMobil and Wal-Mart".

Aprons are multipurpose

2010-06-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

When I was in grade seven I made my first apron in sewing class and then used it for cooking class in the next term. It wasn't until I became vegan five years ago that I really started to cook and bake much. I have a bit of a apron collection now, anything from prints of purple, tacky Christmas, cats and even one from Australia my sister shipped to me. A lot of people don't wear aprons when they are in the kitchen and I don't understand how they manage. Put me nearby chocolate, flour or beets and I will get it everywhere! I have started to realize that aprons can be used for more then just cooking, for instance:

Washing dishes so you don't get water all over you.
Hanging up laundry on a clothing line outside, use the pockets for placing the clothing pins in.
If the doorbell rings and you are not expecting anyone, put on an apron, if it's the JW's or someone canvassing you will look busy, “sorry I'm in the middle of making dinner right now”
With a little imagination, a vintage apron and a few other items you could dress up as a 1930's housewife (or whatever decade you wish) for Halloween.

The South Dakota State Agriculture Heritage Museum had a display called "Tie One One". It's a vintage apron display! Check out the online display here.

Banana rama

2010-06-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Of all cookbooks, Sarah Kramer's La Dolce Vegan! actually has a gluten-free banana bread recipe! I replaced practically every ingredient; I used coconut sugar instead of maple syrup (sulfites allergy, will blog about that later), vanilla powder instead of extract, arrowroot instead of cornstarch and most importantly I took out the walnuts and put in chocolate chips instead. I'm not sure what I did wrong, possibly tried taking out the bread too soon after it came out of the oven, but take a look below as what it turned out like!

Soy-free for now

2010-06-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

For the past month or so I have cut out tofu and tempeh out of my diet. Before that, I had these to products quite a few times a week. I started to realize how expensive buying tofu/tempeh were compared to lentils, beans and even nuts/seeds to some extent. The other issue, is I already have more food allergies then I can handle, so eating a highly allergenic food makes no sense to me. I have heard of some vegans that have become allergic to soy because of over consumption of it, Sarah Kramer and also a roommate of mine is a good example of this. Cutting out tofu/tempeh so far hasn't been difficult, as I said before I was only eating if a few times a week; though I have heard of cases of vegans eating it 3-6 times a day! A lot of vegans drink soy milk all the time, but since discovering Almond Milk over two years ago I don't care for the stuff anymore.

Lastly, I have a few friends that have started or are eating a soy-free (and some gluten-free too) vegan diet so you could say it's rubbed off to me. A few vegan athletes also eat very low or no soy (and possibly same with gluten) in their diet; Robert Cheeke and Brendan Brazier. Considering they both want to fuel their body with the best foods, avoiding soy/gluten is a no-brainer.

Are you a vegan/vegetarian that avoids gluten and/ or soy? Or what else do you avoid and why?

Bitter sweet

2010-06-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

Attention all kombucha brewers and bakers, do you really know what is in your sugar you use? If you are using Rogers Sugar/Lantic Inc. you might as well toss it now. According to the ACTivist Magazine Rogers about a year ago, started using GMO sugar beets in their products, the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network revealed this. This Canadian company has failed to respond to the 4,000 e-mails, letters and cards it received last February and March.

For more information regarding this issue, see the article called Canadian Sugar Company Chooses Genetically Modified Sugar Beet. Ironically enough, I was at a large health food store (you probably know the one, but don't want to name it) the other day and was reminded about this issue as they had Rogers on the shelf; I'll be writing to them.

Special Sunday brunch at Gorilla Foods with Vesanto Melina

2010-06-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Message from Gorilla Foods, Vancouver's downtown raw vegan restaurant.

Hello from the Gorilla Food Fam News,

I wanted to remind you again about the special brunch and talk at Gorilla Food this weekend with author and dietician Vesanto Melina. It is on Sunday afternoon, June, 6th at 12:30.
We still have a few seats available for the morning brunch starting at 10:30; and then at 12:00 we will open the space to hear her talk about the vegan, raw food diet and about her new book, Becoming Raw.

There will be two set-menu choices, $16
Both options are served with your choice of any juice or any smoothie on the menu.

Option A:
A savoury Breakfast Burrito, served with pressed green and mint citrus salad.

Option B:
Gorilla Grawnola, served with fresh cut fruit and berry nut and seed mylk. Served with Cinnamon Seed Toast and Hemp butter with Berry concoct.

The talk is free but will have limited seating so please reserve your spot or arrive a bit early!

Thanks!
Talk to you again soon!!
Aaron
Gorilla Foods

Addicting baking powder biscuits

2010-06-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

After having a bit of trouble making that perfect loaf of vegan and gluten-free bread, I decided to see what recipes The Gluten-Free Vegan, written by Susan O'Brien would have. The author doesn't have any regular bread recipes (though plenty of dessert breads), so I decided to give her baking powder biscuits a try.

They turned out amazing and very addicting. I plan to make some more very soon and a double batch too. Like all recipes, I changed more then half the ingredients in called for, below is how I made them.

Baking Powder Biscuits
adapted from

The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien

Ingredients
¾ cup sweet white rice flour
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ cup Earthbalance margarine

¼ cup almond milk

coconut oil, enough to grease 1 cookie sheet

Directions
Preheat oven at 375*

Place flour, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a fork or a potato masher to cut margarine, until mixed.

See picture to right, my roommate's octopus looking potato masher (works like a charm).

Add the milk, stir and form a ball.

Scatter some rice flour on a work surface (counter top or cutting board) and knead the dough a few more times. Roll out the dough until it's about .5 inch thick. Using a wineglass or 2 inch biscuit cutter, gently cut out the biscuits and place on a coconut oil greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just browned on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack. Serve with peanut butter, jam, maple butter or vegan cream cheese.

Makes 4-6 biscuits

Bread disaster, take two

2010-06-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

After my kitchen drama with the green GF vegan bread, that was just too healthy tasting to be considered edible I decided on a different approach. I decided I wanted to make bread based on rice flour since the stuff I buy at the store is made that way and tastes amazing. I took a vegan Irish soda bread recipe and replaced the all purpose flour with sweet rice flour instead and used almond milk instead of soy milk. Everything else was the same, results: epic fail. The bread was taking so long in the oven, the middle would not become food. After two hours or so in the oven I gave up on it. See picture bellow for my "bread cave".

Have you ever tried a completely different diet?

2010-05-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

My roommate subscribes to a few foodie magazines that I always get to read when she is done with them, one of them is called Cooking Light. It's a carnivorous magazine that really has no articles about “cooking light”; there are hardly any recipes or articles that feature detoxing, raw food, or veganism. In the May 2010 issue, the editor Scott Mowbray wrote about his half-ass failed attempt at eating vegan for the first two months of the New Year. No offense Scott if you are reading this, I really liked your conclusion after all (see below in bold).

Scott calls it a “pretty strict vegan diet”, that means to him: eating 160 out of 180 meals completely vegan, eating meat twice, eating vegetarian at restaurants “since of course they can't make it vegan” (BS I say) and eating a mouthful of meat filled chili at his Super Bowl house party. The good news is he did not find veganism boring , what he missed the most was cheese (wow big surprise there), he did not lose weight (well maybe if you were more strict about it you would) and he is not going to stay vegan. He does feel that undertaking this diet has changed his diet overall, making meat an even smaller role in his life. He has developed a taste for soy milk, and invented a few tasty vegan recipes.

Scott concludes: “A change in diet requires considerable discipline and creativity is like any other change. It broadens the view, feeds the mind, awaken the senses. Things you need, you find you don't need all that much. A few people look at you like you are crazy, and that alone makes it worth the effort. For all those reasons I recommend it. Maybe not the full V right away. Maybe to start, a day or two of vegetarian eating each week. “

He asks his readers: “have you ever tried a completely different diet?” and sends information to write in their answers to him at Scott_Mowbray@timeinc.com. I decided to write to him to tell him it can be done and more then once too. If you wish you can write to him about your stories of diet changes and also you can put it in the comment of this blog posting if you wish. See below for my response to him.

To answer that question is the story of my life. I became vegan at the age of 20, my sister's were already vegan and well to make a short story I stumbled upon a book that made me switch to veganism overnight. I've been vegan for 5 years now.

I've also been on the allergy elimination diet for 3 weeks to find out if I have any allergies. That was the most difficult diet I was ever on, it eliminated so many foods I was use to eating (most nuts, seeds, most grain products, no sugar, no salt etc.). After completing this 3 week diet I found out I was allergic to gluten. I've been a gluten-free vegan for the past 3 years now.

About four months after discovering my allergy towards gluten, I found out I was also allergic to sulphites and sulfates. This involved avoid dried fruits, fresh grapes, canned foods, processed foods, vinegar, most tofu, and questioning anything I eat or put on my skin. Reading labels is a must for me to not get reactions, especially when it comes towards shampoo/conditioners; you would not believe how many companies are not vegan, do animal testing, have hydrolized wheat protein or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in their products. Spices, herbs, teas and restaurants are a real hit or miss for me as well. I am very lucky I do not have a anaphylactic shock towards sulphites/sulfates, otherwise I would not have made it past my 23nd birthday.

After about one year of eating gluten-free I started to dabble into raw vegan foods a lot. Raw food is always gluten-free so that is what drew me to it. I've been eating a fair amount of raw vegan foods for the past two years now. I'm also heavily involved in the raw vegan movement here in Vancouver, BC. I even keep a foodie blog that often features, vegan, gluten-free and/or raw vegan recipes and events.

If that wasn't enough, I've also been on an anti-candida diet and also a anti-inflammation (no nightshades and low amount of sugar) diet at the same time for about six months, this too I've found very challenging. Right now I am eating vegan, gluten-free, low sugar and a fair amount of raw food too. I really don't want to change my diet anymore, I've done it enough now!

Green GF vegan bread (tastes as good as it sounds)

2010-05-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided to try out making my own gluten-free vegan bread. I started buying it the odd time and it cost a fair amount for such a small loaf. I tried out this “incredible Hulk Can Bake” recipe that my roommate suggested but never tried before; keyword = never tried! The recipe is a little different it calls for spirulina (not BC bud) to make it green looking and a little to healthy tasting in my opinion.

First of all I soaked the quinoa overnight in 2 cups water and drained it in the morning. I used buckwheat flour, egg replacer, agave, arrowroot starch, and no baking soda! I didn't realize I had no baking soda, so I just used baking soda in place of both soda and powder instead! I made my own milk for the recipe it was mostly cashews with a bit of hemp seeds.

Recipe for homemade milk

Ingredients
4 cups filtered water
1 cup nuts/seeds of choice
dash of salt
sweetener to taste (optional)

Directions
Blend all up in blender until smooth.

I had a blonde moment to while making this bread. I added in an extra 2 cups water near the end because I thought I hadn't used it yet; but only later realized it was for soaking the quinoa in the night before! I ended up having to add in another cup of buckwheat flour to get it back to the right consistency.

So not only did it produce one loaf, but two loafs of bread that I can't even stand to eat! Next time I am going to try the recipe with: white rice flour, no extra water, baking power and baking soda and absolutly no spirulina!

Sidney (BC) Health Fair, May 29th and 30th

2010-05-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Clive who is part of Raw BC is going to be one of the keynote speaker at this event on Sunday from 12:45 to 1:30pm. Clive will be talking about "Eating raw food feeling alive" at the Sidney Health Fair 2010. This year's main theme is: "back to basics" and nothing could be more basic then eating simple and consuming raw food! To learn more about this health fair, visit their website.

Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness

2010-05-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

I was at the Loving Hut restaurant the other day with the Earthsave Canada Readers Group. The topic of being able to track down books came up. One women was saying that since she blogs she often contacts the publisher and asks for a free copy and in exchange she will read the book and put a great review on her blog. One book I have had my eyes on for a while is Robert Cheeke's Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness. I'm not about to start competitive bodybuilding but I would still love to read his book, see what he says about fitness, training, how he got into the sport and how he became vegan.

Tonight I wrote him an e-mail, here is what I said...

hi Robert,
My name is Genny Bourdages and I have been vegan for the past five years and have recently started to write for my two blogs I run and a few online publications as well. Mostly on the topic of food, veganism and also on the topic of books too, see my signature below for the list of all the writing gigs I have. I was wondering if it would be possible to get a free copy of your book and in exchange I will read it and give you a great review on my vegan foodie blog and also my book blog. I have a fair amount of people that read my blog, anywhere from BC, Florida, California, Italy, UK, Australia, all around the world pretty much. My vegan roommate has already read it and she really loves it. She passed it along to a ex-vegan co-worker who is really big into fitness and lifting weights. Anyway let me know what you think of my proposition. Thanks.
Genny
Vegan blogger addict
Vancouver, BC

The great news is I heard back from Robert a few minutes after sending the message. He will be shipping a book my way sometime late next week!
You can learn more about Robert and his book, see below for links.
Robert Cheeke

Vegan Body Building

Facebook, search for Robert Cheeke

Twitter

Stay tuned for the book review!

My attempt at making Japanese rice crackers

2010-05-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight I made some Japaneses rice crackers. I decided to try out with my highly addicting and newly discovered vegan Cheddar Style Spread Creamy Sheeze. It's vegan cream cheese that tastes much better another other brand I have had (Tofutti). I used this recipe.

Like always I modified the recipe a little, but also because the recipe could have been better for directions. I used 1.5 cups white rice flour and mixed in a bowl with 3 tbsp of coconut sugar.

Once it was blended, I placed a bit more then one cup filtered in the kettle. Once it was hot I poured it over the flour and sugar mixture.

I mixed it well and then added in 1/8th a cup of Tamari wheat free soy sauce and 3 tbsp of black sesame seeds. I didn't add in any mirin since I don't have it, plus it's alcohol and I'm a straight edger.

The recipe originally says to roll the dough into balls and then to steam them. Well that sounded like too much work to me so I skipped that step at first. Instead, I greased a pizza sheet with coconut oil and then placed the dough down like cookies. I baked at 350* for about 15 minutes. They turned out alright but resembles cookies more then crackers (surprise?!)

At this point I decided to actually follow the recipe. I got out a small pot, filled it with water and put a metal strainer on top of it. I put all the dough in there and steamed if for about 10 minutes. I wasn't really sure how long to steam it for, as the recipe didn't say anything about duration.

While the dough was steaming, I got out a cutting board and sprinkled white rice flour over it and took out a rolling pin and put flour all over it too. If you don't have a rolling pin you can take a bottle of wine, fill it up if it's empty and use that as a rolling pin. My roommate actually did the same thing for a few months before she finally got a rolling pin.

I took out my oven mitts and took the strainer of of the pot with boiling water. I then placed it on the floured cutting board and tried to roll out it. Did not work at all, it was sticking everywhere! Maybe the temperature was not working and perhaps if I cooled it it would work better? I gave my sister a call, she bakes tons of vegan cookies and cupcakes, so I figured she would know. She suggested placing the dough in the freezer for about 10 or 15 minutes until it cools.

I cooled if for 15 minutes and afterwords it rolled out perfect! I used heart shape cookie cutters and baked them at 350* for 10 minutes. They turned out ok, they cracked a lot and taste alright, but could be better. In the future I will use a different recipe, but all the same it was fun trying out this recipe. If anyone has made rice crackers before I would love to hear about what recipe/technique you use.

Food porn from Vegan Chaotic Cooking!

2010-05-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more highlights from the Vegan Chaotic Cooking! dinner party I hosted the other night.

If there was a prize for presentation this would be it, dolmas (rice and veggies wrapped in grape leaves).

Here is what a grape leave looks like.

Here is a picture of the coconut curry soup that Zubin made, it was great! It had to be made in my iron coated wok instead of a soup pot, as it was already in use!

There was also raw vegan pasta, dahl, coconut cream pudding, banana strawberry ice-cream and pumpkin "mini pancakes". Stay tuned for the next vegan chaotic cooking event here.

Food with an identity crisis (is it a waffle, a pancake, a muffin or a cookie?)

2010-05-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

I hosted a vegan chaotic cooking dinner party the other night. It was called "the ruin a dish with a partner meetup". Myself and my partner in crime really lived up the the expectations to "ruin a dish". We took this waffle recipe to start with; this is really where the trouble all started.

First off I don't have a waffle maker. Secondly, I make the recipe gluten-free by using white rice flour and guar gum instead of all purpose (wheat) flour. I also ended up changing a lot of the ingredients, instead of soy milk, I used some home made cashew milk I already had kicking around. I also used spiced canned pumpkin to save a lot of time as well.

After the wet ingredients were mixed well and the dry ones too we added the two together. The texture still wasn't what pancakes are. At this point I made an executive decision to add in a bunch more cashew milk and still it needed water afterwords. We were never able to get a true pancake texture.
We debated about making muffins, but decided cookies would be easier (see picture on right side).

We took out some cookie sheets, greases them with coconut oil and dropped "cookies". We baked for 10 min at 350*. The cookies turned out more like mini pancakes, not cookies. We also tried to make an actual pancake with it, but it was an epic failure (see picture on left side).

I think I have finally figured out that my frying pans are really poor quality. In the end the waffles that never were, ended up being "mini pancakes" and we served them with apple sauce. Regardless of what they looked like, they still tasted really great.

Coconut Cream Pudding

2010-05-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

A few days ago myself and my friend made this recipe for a Chaotic Cooking dinner party. It turned out really great! See below for recipe and picture.

Ingredients
Irish moss, soaked for at least 1 hour
Meat of 4 young Thai coconuts
2/3 cup coconut water
handful of pitted dates
4 tablespoons coconut oil
dash of sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or 1 tsp vanilla powder

Directions
Irish moss is hard to find sometimes, I purchased mine at Organic Lives. It is a type of seaweed that is really great for thickening foods. You will want to take a medium piece, rinse it off well since it comes from the ocean and then soak it in water for at least an 1 hour.

With a sharp chef''s knife, open up the coconut by slicing/hacking on all four sides. Make it wide enough so that you can retrieve the meat of the coconut later. You will have to slice/hack many times before it will open for you. Place the water in a large glass container. Repeat this to all 4 of the coconuts.

Place 2/3 cup of the coconut water a a blender. Place the rest in the fridge for later use. Coconut water is nature's Gatorade, it's great to have after exercising to restore your electrolytes.

Picking out coconuts: make sure there are no brown bits on the bottom of the coconuts (that means they are rotten inside). A lot of grocery stores carry them, just make sure you check them over properly, as often they are not high quality.

Place all the other ingredients in the blender, blend until smooth and creamy. Place in fridge to thicken.

Option #1
Place a few tbsp of raw chocolate for a different flavour.

Option #2
All pudding recipes can be turned into a pie!

Simple raw pie crust

Ingredients
2 cups dates
2 cups pecans

Directions
Blend well in food processor and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Pour pudding recipe on top. Chill for a few hours to set.

Never say never

2010-05-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

I was best friends with someone for 3 years before things went to hell in a handbasket. In some ways he that shall not be named was a big influence to me. We made a $50 bet that by my 23rd birthday I would not be vegan. He lost his bet; I'm nearly 25 and still going very strong with the vegan lifestyle.

He also told me that I should never be a writer; I'm dyslexic so sometimes my spelling/grammar isn't perfect, but who is perfect (or perfekt)? I started writing shortly after I heard that, for a few small publications (college paper and community newspaper), but I didn't become a blogger/writer addict until many years later.

Dr.Seuss' art teacher told him his poetry and art were horrible and not to pursue it, that never stopped him. The Chicken Soup For the Soul authors got turned down by nearly 30 publishers, before Health Communications Inc would publish their book. I was told I wouldn't last at being vegan and couldn't write, that didn't stop me either. Telling someone that they can't do something has to be the best motivation for them to prove you wrong. Never say never.

A Hard Pill to Swallow, now on Sex Life Canada

2010-05-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted about why I don't like the birth control pill for animal rights, environmental, health and nutritional reasons. I wanted this article to get more readership since it's an important topic everyone should know about. I noticed that Sex Life Canada has an article right now about how the pill just turned 50 years old. I thought this would be the perfect time to also publish my thoughts on the BCP. You can view the posting here.

The yogurt dilemma

2010-05-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we all have bigger dilemmas to deal with then yogurt. Normally when I go to the grocery store (usually Drive Organics since I have friends there) I have the choice of two different brands of yogurt. There is Nancy's soy yogurt which is low in sugar but contains grape juice (my allergy) or there is a choice of another brand (forget name) that has no grape juice but is very high in sugar.

It's a never ending battle when it comes to yogurt for me, so I don't buy it often and when I do it's normally Nancy's yogurt. I then keeping wishing grapes were not in everything (there will be a follow up posting about this). The other day that all changed. My roommate Vanessa goes to Seattle ever so often and well in the States there are more progressive food wise. They carry "So Delicious Cultured Coconut (vanilla flavour)". Yes that is right; vegan and soy-free yogurt, the best part is it taste like heaven! According to their website this treat is not available to Canada yet! For those that go across the border ever so often, it's worth to keep your eye out for this gem.

A Balancing act, featuring kombucha!

2010-05-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Watch A BALANCING ACT: Kombucha / Museum / Contest / Travel Documentary in Action & Adventure | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Contributing writer for the Vancouver Observer

2010-05-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have heard via Facebook, I am now a contributing writer for the Vancouver Observer (VO). You can check out my profile here and my first posting here.

The VO is an online platform for bloggers, writers, filmmakers and photographers. You can learn more about them here. I will be writing for them, probably about once a week or so, on similar topics as I do for this blog (and possibly cross posting as well). They have a blog section on their website, once that I have been reading lately is called "Meatless in Vancouver". It's a vegetarian, not vegan focused blog, still well worth the read. There are lots of really yummy recipes featured on it. Charles, who runs the blog even had a "poker night snack recipe" and it's kale chips!

"Avoid drinking home-brewed kombucha..."

2010-05-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

My lovely friend DC photocopied me an article he found called "Ancient Kombucha: A new way to rejuvenate the body" by Felix Sedin. It appeared in the Alive Magazine in the March 2010 issue. To say the least, I was not impressed with the article at all.

The last two sentences of the article state: "Your best kombucha bet? Avoid drinking home-brewed kombucha, and opt instead for one of the new commercially prepared options now available at your natural health store." This is exactly what we cannot afford to hear. The article earlier mentioned how sometimes mold can grow on the kombucha mother and can cause serious health problems. Generating fear around a fermented product and then advertising that there are commercial products on the market sound a lot like product placement and company sponsorship to me. The reality is it's very easy to spot mold on your kombucha mother and if you see it toss the mother and toss the kombucha tea! If it smells off, toss it, easy as that!

The commercial kombucha products that are on the market are alright, but overall they are much sweeter then they really need to be, especially with added in fruit juice. They are more sugar then actual beneficial properties in my opinion. Buying commercially made kombucha you will find will also drain your bank account as it's fairly over-priced.

As much as I did not care for the article, the author did mention some great tidbits as well, such as the nutrition profile of kombucha and how it has been called a purifier and detoxifier. Two thumbs up for mentioning that you should especially ask your natural health care practitioner if kombucha is beneficial to you if you are pregnant. For those wondering about pregnancy and kombucha use, I don't recommend it. Kombucha is a breakdown food and contains a small amount of alcohol, neither recommended for a growing fetus. All the more reason I don't plan on getting pregnant!

For those that love kombucha I invite you to learn more about it before you decide to brew it yourself. The Vancouver Public Library has a lot of great books out on the subject, just search for "tea fungus" as the subject heading, or title search for "kombucha" as well. Check out my blog postings with the "kombucha" tag as well, for more information.

Best results with brewing kombucha come with knowledge of safety precautions that one needs to take (ie a safe, clean environment to brew in, avoiding lead bottles etc.) and experience. We all need to take precautions when we drive our car, ride our bike, avoid pregnancy and operate electrical appliances. Kombucha is no different and I only wish more people realized this.

The lost poem

2010-05-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

This is a poem by Apollo Poetry (aka The Traveling Poetry), I believe he is raw vegan too. Well worth watching, see below.

Pizza night at The Wallflower

2010-05-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I wrote for The Examiner about Karmavore and Diaya Vegan Cheese, in my Karmavore Vegan Shop article. There is now another restaurant that is using this wonderful vegan cheese, The Wallflower. They are located at 2420 Main Street (@ Broadway) and if you are free on Tuesday nights you are in for a treat. Tuesday are now Pizza Night at The Wallflower! They have gluten-free pizza that is made from scratch with buckwheat flour. They also have Daiya Vegan Cheese available, so they can make gluten-free vegan pizza! Pizza is $12 each Tuesday after 5pm.

Tonight I dined out with the Ubuntu Vancouver Lo-co Meetup group at this restaurant. I ordered a vegan pizza with tomato, mushroom, spinach and Diaya Vegan Cheese. The pizza was really great! The buckwheat pizza is really tasty, and same with the vegan cheese, I'd order it again. Other then the pizza, they also have a few other vegan (like mac and cheese :->) and gluten-free options, you can check out their menu here. See pictures below.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Breakfast Bread

2010-05-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

This recipe has been adapted from a VegWeb recipe. I baked this a few days ago, I doubled the recipe, without realizing how much it really makes in a single batch!

Ingredients
2 cups white rice flour
1 1/2 cups organic sugar
1 1/2 cups Gluten-free rolled oats

2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 tbsp of carob powder
2.5 cups vanilla rice or almond milk
1.5 tsp guar gum
2 dashes of vanilla powder

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Melt the peanut butter on the stovetop for a few seconds to make it easier to mix.

Add the vegan milk to the dry ingredients.

Last, stir in the peanut butter.

Pour batter in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes or until knife comes out clear. Enjoy!

Serves: 12-14

My First Two Postings for Vancouver Vegan Examiner

2010-05-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've posted my first two articles for The Examiner: "Meetup.com: One website all Vancouver vegans should join" and "Karmavore Vegan Shop". Let me know if you have any article ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Making vegan more mainstream

2010-05-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

A year ago I started to brew kombucha after attending a class my friend Patricia held at her house. She left at the end of July for New Zealand (she now has a raw vegan cafe there) and I then took over teaching Kombucha classes, which I soon learned I really love doing. I wanted to be really educated on the topic since I am teaching class, so I read everything the library had on the topic. With each book I learned some different insight on the matter. I started this blog in the middle of December of last year to be able to educate more people about kombucha (among various other topis related to food and veganism) since there is so much misinformation about it.

I've since become a blogger addict, I blog for Blowing Up My Kitchen! as you know and as well for Blowing Up My Mind!, my book censorship blog. I very recently got my first paid job to write for The Examiner, I am the “Vancouver Vegan Examiner” . I will be making veganism more mainstream and posting at least once a week, if not more. You can check out my first posting here.

Making tempeh, aka how to lose your insanity

2010-05-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ever since I first read The Hippie Handbook by Chelsea Cain I have been wanting to learn how to make tempeh. I didn't want to follow the recipe in her book as it called for making tempeh in the bathtub, with a heater in the bathroom, I figured there was a better way around this (particularly since we don't have an electrical outlet in the bathroom with tub). Along came the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz, my food bible and also has really great directions for how to make tempeh. I had no idea what I was really in for.

Step 1: gather all ingredients needed in order to make tempeh: starter culture and dried organic soybeans. I was able to find tempeh starter culture from the company called Gem Cultures, Inc. They are based out of Washington so I was able to get my culture in good timing. Soybeans were next to find. I tried at least four different health food stores on Commercial drive and no luck at all! Finally, as a last resort I went to Wholefoods at the Cambie/Broadway location. They had dried, organic soybeans in bulk so I got a good sized bag. I found it very odd how it was easier to find the tempeh culture over the soybeans!

Step 2: next up was actually starting the process of making tempeh. I placed 2.5 cups of dried organic soybeans in my food processor. Process/pulse until a lot of the beans our broken up, this will allow more surface area for the spores to grow on and it also allows the hulls to come off much easier.

I should mention at this point that processing soybeans in food processor is about the noisiest thing my little machine has ever made! Also, it's best if you start this project in the afternoon, as the first time I started it I realized that my tempeh would be ready in 24 hrs, when I would not be around (at a concert instead :->).

Step 3: after processing your soybeans you will boil them for 1 to 1.5 hours long (do not add salt). Get them so they are just barely soft enough to eat. You don't want to cook them until they are all done, as the fermentation process will soften the beans more. Very important, while it is cooking, skim off the foam and hulls and toss. I forgot about this the first time and had to start all over again!

Step 4: when the beans are ready, strain them and spread them out, or a portion at a time on a clean towel to dry them. That is right you need to dry the beans as the most common problem with tempeh is excess moisture (which creates an inedible product). Swaddle and pat the beans until most of the moisture has been absorbed into the towel. This is the part where I basically started to get a little impatient (or losing my insanity), it takes a long time until those beans get most of their moisture gone.

Step 5: put all the dried beans into a large bowl and add 1 tsp of tempeh starter culture/spore and 2 tbsp of vinegar. I didn't get this far. Nope, see the problem is one needs a working incubator to incubate the tempeh for 24 hours. I was borrowing my Mom's egg incubator and for the life of me I could not get it to drop from 40 to 29 to 32 degrees! 29 to 32 degrees is what the tempeh must be incubated in for 24 hours to work properly. If you ever wonder why tempeh cost more then tofu it's because it's much more labour intensive!

My conclusion is that tempeh is too much trouble to make and it's much easier to just go to the store and buy some from Green Cuisine! If you do decide you want to lose your insanity, full instructions for how to make tempeh can be found in Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Ellix Katz. The book also has about 100 other recipes that I am sure are much simpler to make.

Kombucha Tea is the New lemonade (Stand)

2010-05-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, May 8th from 10am to 3pm in my neigbourhood a very large garage sale is taking place. From what I remember it is taking place from: 1st street to Venebles and from Victoria Drive to Nianimo Street. Normally I would be out there with my bike, two large bike bags, cash on hand and be going from place to place to find the latest deals, but not this year.

This year I will have a little table outside of my place (Semlin Drive @ William Street, as long as weather is good) and I will be selling kombucha kits (kombucha culture, starter tea and detailed instructions) and I will also have a few bottles of kombucha tea "on tap" for sale as well. There will be Gun Powder Green Tea with Rose and also one other flavour, possibly Honeybush Ginger Aid flavour. Come by to try out some k-tea, learn how to make kombucha or ask my any questions you have!

100 Super Useful Links for Vegetarians & Vegans

2010-05-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

I received a random e-mail today from someone who runs a blog for the Surgical Technician School blog called "iScrub". They just posted a 100 Super Useful Links for Vegetarians & Vegans article.

I looked over it and I am very impressed with what topics were covered: general information, cooking, podcasts (<3 Vegan Freaks!), shopping links (:-> Food Fight!), activism, useful blogs, news information and more. You can check out their posting here.

Their other postings as well, may be worth reading, such as "50 Nutrition Tips to Better Your Brain", "100+ Ways to Spring Clean Your Mind and Body", and "100 Best Blogs for Living Healthy on a Budget.

Authentic Scottish Food

2010-05-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was attending the University of the Fraser Valley (back when it was called “Univerisity College of the Fraser Valley) and I was taking a “media communications” class that I really enjoyed. The teacher I had, I cannot remember his name now, but he was the best teacher I had in college at that time. He gave us this handout called “Social Constrution of Reality” that was really interesting. See below.

“A strange craving for some authentic Scottish food led me away from David Street in search of a branch of a restaurant chain I admit I was not very familiar with from any of my father's tales of the old country, a brightly hued vinyl environment called McDonald's. Although I have never been to the ancestral homeland, I had somehow imaged a different ambiance. I sat down at a table and waited 10 minutes for a waiter. Instead, they sent out a spotty-face child who claimed to be the manager, and he asked me to leave because I hadn't purchased anything. It was the only authentically Scottish moment of the whole experience.

It turns out that you have to line up in front of a counter at this McDonald's place to get your food, and carry it to a table yourself. As for the food, I just don't see the Scottish connection. Edinburgh is not known for its hamburgers. Even Hamburg isn't know for its hamburgers. But hamburgers are what McDonald's clan would ha'e you eat. I tried to order an Egg McMuffin because it at least looked a bit like a scone, only to discover that breakfast was no longer being served. “It's just not a week scone, I said, to no avail. It's hard to image, but to my disappointment became even more pronounced when I learned they have no single-malt Scotches, no blended Scotches, no Scottish ale, not even a piss-flavoured English beer. As for what they do sell to drink,, I think they water down the Coca-Cola and I note that
there is nothing in the words “chocolatly shake” that guarantees you will receive milk or chocolate in any quantity.

On the whole, this restaurant is a good supply source of straws and those little pouches of paper and salt. For napkins, visits Starbucks.”

Excerpted from: M. R. Muggles, “Dining on David for Stoners,” The Georgia Straight, April 1-8, 1999, p. 46

G-Foods Featured on Michael Franti Youtube Video!

2010-04-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

I just found out about this video today. Gorilla Foods is featured in Michael Franti's video. Fast forward to 1 minute 44 seconds to see Aaron Ash being interviewed.

Conehead Talk

2010-04-28T01:45:00.000-07:00

I just finished re-watching The Coneheads. They are a pretty funny family and they say everything literally. Breakfast/lunch/dinner is called “Consumption of mass quantities”. If you've seen the movie before you will probably remember the huge amount of food (and non-food items, like toilet paper) that they eat.

Eggs are referred to “chicken embryos” in Conehead talk. If you stop and think about it, the big agriculture industries/food industries do anything but call their products what they literally are. They hide the truth with words such as: “eggs”, “milk”, “foie gras”, “beef” and “pork” instead. When my sister Maddie was little, she and my Dad use to go to a restaurant often to have escargot. She had no idea what it was, but just knew she loved it. A while later, my Dad told her it was just a fancy French name for snails. She got really grossed out and never ate them again.

When Mrs.Conehead was grocery shopping, she screamed when she saw eggplant in the produce section! She thought people were eating her own species! It's not socially acceptable to eat our own species, but why is it if it's other species? If “snails”, “force-fed ducks”, “cow breast milk” and “chicken embryos” were the common words to describe our food I am sure most of the population would be vegan, and the omnivores would be the minority, not the other way around. Branding is a powerful tool and the meat, egg and dairy industry have won over many consumers by picking their word use very carefully. Be informed, knowledge is power.

Stone Soup Film Festival!

2010-04-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Stone Soup Film Festival: Exploring the Politics of Food
May 8, 12:30 - 9:30 pm
Britannia High School Auditorium
1001 Cotton Drive, Vancouver, BC‎

Stone Soup Film Festival is for everyone. This year's festival will explore a range of films from family health and nutrition, to food economics, urban gardening, aboriginal fisheries, ecology, and sustainable agriculture. Our program includes two BC films, short and long documentaries, youth and family films as well as experimental film.

Selections include: Dirt, which tells the amazing and little known story of the relationship between humans and living dirt; Milk in the Land, a beautiful and mesmerizing film that navigates the complex political and social history of industrial milk production; T’lina: A Rendering of Wealth, a film which shares an intimate view of the power of community and the strength of the Kwak'wala Nation in preserving their ooligan food fishery; What’s on your Plate?, a wonderful children friendly film which follows two eleven-year-old city kids as they explore their place in the food chain, and many more films!

Festival passes are $12, available at Britannia Community Centre
Admission to individual films is by donation (suggested donation $5).
All proceeds go to local community gardens.
Check out our film blog for films and schedules here.

Jell-O

2010-04-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

This cartoon says it all why Jell-O is not vegan.
For those that want to make "vegan Jell-O", I would suggest using agar-agar instead. This video below is a good starting point for a "vegan Jell-O" recipe.

Meat The Truth

2010-04-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

Liberation BC put on a screening of the movie called Meat The Truth that I saw recently. The movie takes an environmental spin on why eating a plant-based diet is best for Mother Earth. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth did a really good job describing what global warming is, but not a single word was mentioned about the problems of big agriculture business, our food choices and how much power we have with our fork.

The movie features fourth generation cattle farmer, Howard Lyman (aka The Mad Cowboy).
Howard has a pretty good sense of humour. During Meat The Truth, he was asked how come he thinks there are more women that are vegetarian/vegan then men. His responce: women are smarter!

There were a few clips from Our Daily Bread in the movie, as well some from The Meatrix. The later, is a funny cartoon (and non-gory) way to show people why it's not good to support factory farming practices. See below for a video of it. There is also The Meatrix II and III available on their official website as well.

Overall the movie was really great, funny and very informative. You can learn more about Meat The Truth at their official webpage or on The Internet Movie Database.

Here is a trailer for the movie

Speciesism = thinking "animals should not use human language"

2010-04-25T00:19:00.000-07:00

I just posted on my book censorship blog a posting called We're not in Wonderland anymore Alice.” (-Charles Manson). It's a posting about how I just discovered a Wikipedia entry called "List of books banned by governments". What I found the most interesting was the speciesism rational for banning Alice In Wonderland.

The Lenny's Alice In Wonderland Site, on the FAQ page, states:
"I heard the Alice books were banned in China. Is this true, and why?

A: The Alice books were indeed banned in China; it was in 1931 by the Governor of Hunan Province, on the grounds that "animals should not use human language" and that it was "disastrous to put animals and human beings on the same level."
(source: The File Room)"

This is one of my favourite things about this book, about how all the animals would talk to Alice, including the flowers (who could walk) too! I guess Governor of Hunan Province would think us vegans are pretty weird considering we put animals and humans on the same level!

Larabar: PB & Jelly!

2010-04-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Larabar recently came out with a new flavour that I just love. It's called the Peanut Butter & Jelly! It has four ingredients: dates, peanuts (roasted), unsweetened cherries and a dash of salt. It's my favourite flavour right now! In the latest VegNews Newsletter (it came out 9 days ago) they mentioned that there is a brand new "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough" flavour, though I havn't been able to find a link about it on Larabar's website just yet. Larabar also runs a blog that I just starrted following, you can check it out here.

Can a Recipe Be Stolen?

2010-04-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

This article is a bit dated (January 2006) but still worth the read. I've always wondered about this a bit since I seem to take every recipe I find and adapt it, I hardly follow I recipe without adding in or taking out ingredients! So the million dollar questions: can a recipe be stolen?

An excerpt from the article
"The ethics guidelines of the International Association of Culinary Professionals focus on giving proper attribution to recipes that are published or taught. The association advises using the words "adapted from," "based on" or "inspired by," depending on how much a recipe has been revised. ("Adapted from" is the phrasing favored by The Washington Post and many other newspaper food sections, which, along with culinary instructors, enjoy "fair use" of someone's creation for the purpose of teaching, news reporting, scholarship or research.) The only time a recipe should be printed without attribution, the association contends, is when it has been changed so substantially that it no longer resembles its source."

Food Porn At It's Best

2010-04-24T00:42:00.000-07:00

I was just checking out what blogs were listed as vegan (nearly 200 including myself) on the Foodie BlogRoll website and came across this blog posting. It's a recipe for a "Raw Vegan Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce". It looks amazing! I'm definitely whipping this up sometime and I will make the "cheese" layer very chocolaty! Recipes are just guidelines after all!

Your Food Isn't Garbage

2010-04-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is starting up a Residential Food Scraps Collection!
Starting Earth Day (April 22) you can now recycle your food and not let it go to waste.

This will include: uncooked fruit, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filter, teabags and eggshells. Just add these items to your yard trimming cart and it will be collected just like the garbage and recycling!

Raw Food and Ubuntu

2010-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

I recently joined a new Meetup group called "Ubuntu Vancouver Loco". I know some of you are probably scratching your heads wondering what the heck "Ubuntu" means. It's a Debian-derived Linux distribution that focuses on usability, regular six month releases and a focus on community. Or, in other words: it's a very popular flavour of Linux, it works, it has frequent upgrades and it puts community first, not profit.

I'm not using Ubuntu right now, but I joined the group to learn more about it and also to be able to know where to go for help once I have it installed it on my laptop. I've been to a couple of the group's meetings so far, they are very popular (at least 30 people show up) and everyone is really friendly and has a whole range of knowledge with this open source operating system (OS). I've used Linux before, I had Linspire on my last laptop for a while. I later got an iPod and couldn't sync it since the OS doesn't have Apple iTunes and then went back to Windows. The good news is there is Songbird and it is the open source version of iTunes and works with Ubuntu.

You are probably wondering why I'm blogging about Linux on a foodie blog. The two are actually related. People who are vegan and who eat a lot of raw food are very opened minded. Those that use linux and go against the man are also very opened minded. So with that said I can think of half a dozen friends that use Ubuntu and all but one are raw vegan!

It's a small word too, because the main organizer of this group, Randall he also loves kombucha. He has been trying to find the brand he was drinking when he was in the states but no luck so far. So with that said on May 1st at "The Best Lucid Lynx Party in the World", I am bringing kombucha with me!

To find out more about Ubuntu, see their official website.
To find out more about Ubuntu Vancouver Loco see their Meetup page.
To join in on the fun of the Ubuntu release PARTY, see " The Best Lucid Lynx Party in the World".

The Vegan Project, Food Cart Focus Group, This Tuesday!

2010-04-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

My roommate Lola just told me about this event that we are hosting at our house. Here are the details...

Beginning this summer delicious, fresh, homemade vegan food will be a lot more accessible to those in Vancouver! Are you interested in what I'm getting at? Do you want to be part of the brainstorming process? Please join myself, my roommate Lola and her my cousin Bridget (co-founder of The Vegan Project) at our home in Commercial Drive area this coming Tuesday for a focus group.

We are looking for input from the vegan community (Vancouver has the best veggie community around) and from anyone with taste buds that likes good food. We appreciate all input about a name for this business, menu ideas, theme, layout, start-up input, and the thousand other things that go into staring up a rad vegan food business!

Start time is flexible until we get some feedback about work schedules and such, but we are tentatively thinking 6pm. Lola will whip up some cookies and snack items for people to munch on. We are very excited and I truly hope you will come out! Full details on Facebook.

Processed People Documentary

2010-04-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

I just found out about this new foodie movie. Check out the trailer below. You can also learn more about this movie at their official website.