Ignorance

People are so ignorant these days. I don't even know why I bother.

Why is it that as soon as someone is into AR or a vegan or whatever people assume they stop caring about humans? Can they not be cared about equally? Is it really that difficult to care about BOTH humans and animals at the same time?

I always hear and read about people whining and bitching that us AR freaks are only worrying about dying cows and seals and we ignore children dying in third world countries, or in the sex trade, or in abusive homes, etc. I think people just want to make themselves feel better by bitching out AR people for caring about animals over their own species because they feel bad about not caring themselves.

I treat both animals and humans with respect. I don't put either one above the other and am perfectly capable of helping both at the same time. I am sure most vegans would agree with me.

I would actually say I care about humans more than most people do. Compassion should be extended to all living beings, not just to those of the same species.

Sorry for the negativity, I'm not very annoyed with mankind right now. On the plus side I had a great time volunteering today! Drug addictions and being in prison aside, the women I help out are amazing. Every single one of them is so kind, welcoming and thankful for the time I spend with them. Funny how I get more respect and thankfulness from the women in the shelter and prison than from people at my school or the grocery store.

Uber Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

Pre-vegan I had perfected an amazing spinach artichoke dip. I was craving some the other day so I decided to veganize my old recipe, the only problem I had was with substituting the romano-mozzarella-parmesan blend. I thought to myself, "NUTRITIONAL YEAST!!!!!! I HEARD THAT ADDS A CHEESY FLAVOUR!!" Yes, I literally yelled that inside my head...it was that much of a revelation, plus...I NEVER use nutritional yeast (except in scrambled tofu) so I was surprised I thought of it. Nevertheless, it added a mighty strong cheese flavour.

I would have to say that NOBODY would notice that this is vegan, it is that creamy and cheesy tasting. Go ahead, give someone the vegan-taste-taste, guarantee they won't know :)

With regards to the Sour Supreme - adding this was a last minute decision, the amount I used seemed to work great, but feel free to add less, more or I guess you could omit it altogether, but I think it adds to the creaminess factor. I just had some leftover in my fridge so I thought, why not add it in?

You need:

1 container of Tofutti plain cream cheese
1/2 cup of Tofutti plain Sour Supreme
1/2 onion, finely diced
8 oz of frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed out and chopped up
most of a 12oz can of artichoke hearts, chopped (I think I used four hearts)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp each of the following - basil, parsley, cayenne pepper, pepper and salt
olive oil
quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice

To make:

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Saute the onion, artichoke hearts and spinach in the olive oil for a few minutes until the onion is clear (do not brown)
3. In a hand blender mix everything else together until smooth
4. Combine the onion mixture into the cream cheese mixture and mix together with a spatula.
5. Bake in a small dish for 20 minutes until it smells delicious and the top is lightly browned.

You could serve this with veggies, crackers, bread, pita slices or nacho chips. All would be delicious.

Note the creaminess:



And, because my girls were sitting so close together on the bed I snapped a few pictures. The quality of this one is terrible, but I love how smug Alma looks and how angry Bella looks. I think it's hilarious.

Food Loggity Log

Hi all,

Isn't that piggy cute?

I ate pretty healthy yesterday until I sabotaged myself and gave into my craving for an entire bag of Jalapeno Kettle Chips (argh).

- giant glass of juice with 1/2" piece of ginger, 2 apples, 2 pears and 2 beets
- 2 pieces of Me n Ed's leftover pizza (really healthy pizza)
- handful of roasted almonds
- brown rice and veggie soup with some crackers
- Triscuits with peanut butter
- 1 apple
- an ENTIRE BAG OF Kettle Chips. ARGH! I had intended to save the rest for today to eat, but I wanted a snack while I was watching American Idol (yes I know, the show is so lame...but Ellen is going to be a judge so I must watch!) - but to be fair, kettle chips only have 150g bags so it's not THAT bad.

I haven't really eaten anything today. I had chocolate soy milk, some Sjaak's mini caramel chocolates and a strawberry fruit roll up thing. I'm having a burrito for dinner and am going to make spinach-artichoke dip later tonight (I'll post the recipe tomorrow if it turns out good). So today is unhealthy, but I am writing an essay with a ridiculous topic, so I am justified in my poor diet haha.

To add to my extremely busy schedule for the next two weeks, CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) contacted me and I have to go write a 4.5 hour written exam in Richmond (I'm going to get lost and probably get hit by a car or something haha) on Tuesday. If I get a good grade on the exam I go on to the next part of recruitment so wish me luck! I really want this summer position, it's great resume experience!

Dairy

Anyway you look at it, the dairy industry is extremely cruel.

Mercy for Animals just finished an investigation of New York's biggest dairy provider. Here is the video:



Here is the website where you can find other information on the investigation.

Ugh. I honestly don't understand how people can do this, how people continue to ignore it and how people who know about this continue to consume animal products. Seriously? I always hear of people making excuses even when they are fully aware of the treatment of animals, but somehow taste buds and mindless government sponsored nutrition facts are ground into our heads.

I am going to cheer myself up by looking at cute pictures of cows now. Just remember that animals have feelings too and under no circumstances should they be exploited and abused for our taste buds, clothing or entertainment. It's disgusting and unnecessary.

*Edit* Here is the link to Mercy for Animals general website. You can get other info and see videos of their other investigations there.

Inner World of Farm Animals

As a vegan I am constantly reading about veganism. Usually it's on the negative effects of factory farming, animal products on your health, general horror stories, etc but the other day I decided I wanted to buy a happy book and that's where the Inner World of Farm Animals by Amy Hatkoff kicks in.

This book is so good and it's FILLED with super cute pictures of farm animals (which are surprisingly hard to find on the internet). I will admit I did tear up at a few of the stories like the one that talks about this cow that died. The farmers buried her and all her friend cows stood on her grave all somber and then left for two days to grieve. So sad! Those poor cows lost their best friend.

It was very refreshing to find a pro-vegan book that focused on the joyful reasons rather than the negative ones. It is my new "coffee table" book.

Oh! And another bonus is that when you take off the book jacket (which I usually do because I HATE them) there is another picture and the title on the actual cover. I was so surprised because normally hardcover books are just plain under the jacket (yes I know, that is a lame thing to get excited over...but I think it's a revelation).

I am not looking forward to the next 2 weeks. Four papers, volunteering, midterm studying for SIX midterms all before the Olympic break. Ugh.

I am going to eat breakfast now. I already had beet/pear/apple juice and now I am going to have toast with delish raspberry jam.

Did I mention my new life goal? Starting at the Olympic break (I gotta use up the crap left in my cupboards or I would start now!!) I am giving up 99% of refined sugars. The only thing I am going to eat with sugar is my own baked goods...but I am going to buy fancy organic cane sugar or something so it feels less unhealthy. I am trying to be healthier, so it's the obvious next step. I'm actually quite excited...mostly because my real addiction is to chips (I love you Jalapeno Kettle Chips), but sugar still wins me over quite a bit so I don't think it will be that hard.

MY FRIDGE!!!!!!!!

I have an old post on what's in my pantry/fridge. But, my fridge changes weekly, and to prove to the world that vegans don't have freaky weird food in their fridge (for the most part!) here's what's in my fridge this week.



Coke (BAD!!!!)
Asparagus (hiding behind the coke haha)
Tofutti Sour Cream
Tequila and Triple Sec (literally 6 months old...look how full it is still!)
Water
Hemp seed oil
Almonds
Taco salsa stuff
Soy milk
Chocolate soy milk
"Prairie Naturals" protein powder
leftover taco stuff (Yves mexican ground round and refried beans)

organic salsa
leftover hummus
organic apples
chickpea flour (finally found some!!!)
organic peanut butter
the best organic store bought raspberry jam (Crofter's)
organic applesauce cups
Earth Balance (why I have 2 tubs, I don't know)

tortilla's
organic celery x3
10lbs of organic carrots (mostly for juicing)
cauliflower
lettuce
beets (in that blue container)
cantaloupe

Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Pears
Grapefruits
Cilantro
Broccoli
Leeks
Green Beans

I think that's everything for the shelf part. See? All yummy and nutritious stuff!



Tofu
Yves Salami deli slices
oatmeal
assorted nuts

I think for the most part you can tell what's in the door. Mostly condiments and pickled things like peppers and pickles. I have more salsa and some grenadine in there too. I just realized I have FOUR different salad dressings in the door and I HATE salad. What is wrong with me?

Now I am hungry!!!

Dinner and Kitty Pics

Hello internet world, I've been quite busy this semester with my two volunteer jobs and my SIX courses! My house is so messy! This weekend was quite nice though. I caught up on some school work on Friday, did nothing on Saturday and then my brother came over for the night last night and all we did was play video games. Actually, I depotted all my eyeshadow and was going to make my own palette but it messed up so now I have to go buy a real one *sigh*. It was fun to depot them though.

I went to Bruce's Market today and saw some corn (which I thought couldn't be grown in the winter...but I guess anything is possible nowadays) so we bought that for dinner. I made some quinoa, broccoli, baby bok choy and leeks to go with it. Yummy!



The corn was DELISH!!! I can't believe I ever hated corn on the cob as a child. What the heck was wrong with me?

Here's some pics of the kitties:

FUZZY TAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's really gross when he cleans it because he'll hear a noise or something and look up but the tail hair will still be in his mouth and it looks all stringy and wet. Ew!



It's only been three weeks, and look how close Bella is to the other kitties!!



Bella really can't take attractive photos haha.



Earlier Alma was drinking some water and Bella came out of the bedroom to get food. She saw Alma there, and kind of sat still wondering if she should risk trying to get food so near to Alma...but she risked it, and walked right up and started to eat but then Alma kind of perched on her back legs and made this double chin hilarious rocking motion face. It was great. Bella looked defeated and just walked away haha. (I just read this over, that story doesn't really make sense but I don't know how to word it better...so, hopefully you get what I'm sayin')



I was going to start an essay tonight but I decided to take the night off instead. Good refresher. On the weight loss front - I have lost an inch off my thighs and arms so far! I've also lost 1/2" from my boobs/waist/butt too. Progress!!! It's only been two weeks too, so I'm quite proud of myself. I even went to the gym at 6:30 in the morning last week before I left for school. I have to go four times this week to make up for my poor eating yesterday.

I heard a rumour the COPAT is no longer required for corrections jobs - but it's probably just that, a rumour.

Goodbye, my sweet love

It's official! March 10, my tattoo removal process begins via excision. I AM SO NERVOUS!! It's going to hurt like a mother fucker, basically they just cut the tattoo OFF and stitch it back up. I can't get laser removal because the colours are too vivid, which is better I think anyways. I don't care about scarring ( I LOVE SCARS!) and if there is a nice scar, it will remind me of my beautiful tattoo.

I'm so sad. I don't want to get it removed...but who knew I would be going into law enforcement? Oops. Should have put it in a more inconspicuous spot. When I graduate I am going to get the EXACT tattoo put on my hip or something haha.

At least it's going to be free. My sisters plastic surgeon is doing it for me, so I'm sure my scarring will be minimal. After all, this man can make ears from butt skin and rib cartilage...I'm sure scraping off some neck skin is a walk in the park for him!

Now I must go write this fucking retarded 4k word essay which was due YESTERDAY. I swore it said next week....it's just strange to have an essay due 2 weeks after we started classes.

Oh well. I'll lose a few points for lateness, not the end of the world. (Actually it is kind of. I've never handed anything in late before, and it makes me sad to lose points for something so stupid...although it's a distance ed class, and it doesn't say explicitly anywhere how many late points are to be taken off)

Cereal

Nature's Path Acai Plus granola cereal is my new favourite! The little apple chunks make for a nice chewy texture, and the granola part isn't super hard and painful to chew like some cereals.

Go buy this! So yummy!!! (and of course, eat it plain or with an "alternative" milk like soy)

Gardein

Gardein frozen line is coming to Canada in February!

I really want to try their "chicken" strips. I was considering driving down to Washington to buy some but they don't sell them their either!

I'm excited.

What do I eat?

I pride myself on being quite knowledgeable about the animal/food/etc industries, so if a situation comes up where someone asks me something I can answer it truthfully (or at least know a place where they could find the answer). But there is one question I hadn't really pondered. I was getting my haircut today and the lady asks me, "I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude...but what DO you eat???"

I was like, "uhhhhh....................I eat everything?" Then I went on and said a few random foods like Asian foods, whole grains, cereal, fruits/veggies, stir fries, pasta dishes etc...but I had to THINK about what I specifically ate.

I didn't know how to answer at all, especially because I eat whatever I want...I don't feel limited by being vegan at all. I'm sure if you asked an omnivore what they ate they wouldn't be able to tell you specifics either. People think vegan food is strange and foreign and we only have 2 or 3 options (all of which must be nasty tasting).

I just thought it was funny. I wish I had something witty to say, but I was caught very off guard. My wittiness is always an afterthought and I always have these grand things planned to say, but in reality they never work.

LUSH Celestial Moisturizer

LUSH Celestial moisturizer is ahhh-mazing. It is super thick, so I would only recommend it for winter/nighttime use because I think in the hot summer it would be too greasy. It also smells extremely relaxing making it perfect for nighttime. I've had the jar for over a month and as you can see in the picture, it has a tonne of product left. I use a little more than a pea sized amount morning and night and my skin has had zero flakes since I first used it. I have always had dry skin on my nose and forehead and sometimes cheeks in the colder air, but this moisturizer works great for that.

It is a little greasy feeling for about 10 minutes, but it is kind of a nice greasy unlike other moisturizers, and once it goes away your skin is soft as a baby's bottom.

I paid $21.95, so I guess that's pricey to some...but it lasts forever, is vegan and is from LUSH the greatest store ever, so the price is worth it to me.

Bottom line: If you are looking for a good moisturizer for really dry and sensitive skin go buy this NOW. It kicks the butt of all my previous heavy-duty moisturizers.


I would also like to say I LOVE LUSH. I went there to buy new toner today and I saw Snow Fairy (it's a Christmas time only product, I thought it was gone already) so naturally I gravitated towards it and snatched one up when the salesperson was like, "You know, that's buy one get TWO free right now?". I literally squealed with joy. I now have a year's supply of snow fairy, hooray! It really is heaven in a bottle!

I was a fatass today and ate Burger King and an entire bag of Kettle Chips which totally ruined my two kickass workouts I had today and yesterday. I must lose 16 inches (total) and this is not the way to do it!!! I really need to find something that has the satisfying crunch and saltiness of chips without the fat and calories.

Vcon's Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits

I decided to make the "Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits" from the Veganomicon. You can find the recipe here It was fantastic, especially the biscuits. It made 6 portions, so we have plenty of leftovers which reheat nicely with the exception of the biscuit (turns a bit gooey).

It's pretty time consuming to make but I would make it again, maybe with more leeks and spices though...it was a tad bland. I also substituted white kidney beans for navy beans because I don't know what a navy bean is and I didn't see any at Save-on.

Apple, Pear, Beet Juice

I have never had a beet in my entire life so I was very anxious to try this juice. I have heard beets are fabulous for you though, so I want to juice them at least once a week. Let's just say this juice is AMAZING. The recipe is from the Juicing Bible.

1 pear
2 apples
1 1/2" piece ginger
3 beets
1/2 lemon

All my fruits and veggies:


Look how VIBRANT it is. Seriously amazing. My tongue and lips were kind of pink after I drank this, but it was totally worth it - I had so much energy after I drank it. When I scooped the pulp out I used my fingers which was a mistake because they were pink for the rest of the day haha.





It almost looks fake.

School is really busy this semester, but that makes it go by faster so I guess it's okay. Bella is adjusting to the other cats still, but they haven't fought or anything serious yet which is encouraging. I don't really have any other updates, I lost 1lb in my first week - and I still had a bunch of chips (my big addiction) and only worked out twice. I'm hoping to lose 2 or 3 by the end of this week.

Bye!

Avocado Green Tea Face Mask

I love face masks but I don't do them enough. I usually walk around or lie on my bed in savasana (corpse pose) for 10 minutes with relaxing music on while I wait for the mask to work its magic. Tonight I listened to Deuter's "Escape from Gravity" and I would have fallen asleep had Alma not walked up and sat right by my head snoring and purring extremely loudly.

I remember the first time I did yoga in my apartment, I finished in savasana and both Alma and Charlie walked up and started sniffing me all over. It was so hard to concentrate because their whiskers were tickling me haha. I guess the weird music, the weird movements I was making and then lying on the floor dead seeming concerned them.

Anyways.

Back to the mask. Tonight I used a handheld blender and it creamed the avocado to perfection! Normally I use a fork and chunks of avocado keep falling off my face, but I will definitely use the blender from now on.

You will need:

- 1 avocado
- 1 teabag of green tea leaves
- some olive oil (I just did two splashes...so whatever amount that is)
- 2 cucumber slices for your eyes

Mix everything together and bam, a face mask! Avocado, olive oil and green tea do GREAT things for your skin so do this mask frequently.

I think it's best to steam your face with boiling water, then exfoliate thorougly and then put the mask on for 10 minutes. After you take the mask off use toner and lots of moisturizer and your skin will feel amazing, I promise. If you are lazy, skip the steaming and just exfoliate really well.

Look how creamy it is! I wanted to eat it so badly. Keep the leftovers in an airtight container with the avocado pit for a few days in the fridge...if it goes a little brown that's okay.



I look so sexy! The avocado even matches me green eyes.



I can finally put my last load of laundry into the dryer now and go to bed. Goodnight everyone.

IKEA, Kitties and other ramblings...

Jason and I went shopping yesterday (or the day before? I can't remember) and we bought a new camera, some things from IKEA and I returned a cookbook I had bought which turned out to not be vegan even though it claimed to be.

I had been wanting to go to IKEA for awhile to buy air tight glass jars for my grains because I keep them in bulk plastic bags or open rice bags which isn't very good. I decided to put them on my counter because they double as decoration. As you can see in the picture, they aren't very full haha, I definitely need to go buy some more grains to fill them. I have brown basmati rice, quinoa, green lentils, red lentils, whole wheat couscous and short grain brown rice right now. Eventually I want to add some more. We also bought some serving dishes including a super cute bird platter for only $6!! I had to buy it. We also bought some tan duvet cover/pillow set because we needed a new one. I haven't been to IKEA since we moved here and I forgot how much I love it. (Hehe, my grapefruit is showing itself in my grain picture...I really need to eat it before it goes bad)





We went to Future Shop and bought this camera too. My old Sony cybershot has been taking blurry pictures lately, even after I cleaned the lens out so we figured it was time to finally buy one. We spent a bit more than we wanted to but it was totally worth it. The camera rules! It's easy to use, the auto function works great and most importantly the photo quality is amazing.

Here's what it looks like. Red it so pretty and it's really vibrant in real life too:



I bought Pat Barker's Juicing Bible the other day because I don't really know a whole lot about juicing, plus it's handy to have a bunch of recipes. I don't really know what juices to match with each other so it's really helpful.

Here are some pictures of two kitties just for fun:



Charlie always wraps his paws around his eyes when we have lights on and he's trying to sleep. It's so cute.

Juicing

I have renewed my long lost love for juicing. Seriously, go buy a juicer and use it as much as you can. I use this juicer by Breville and it works great. I think it was $200? I can't remember exactly, but I got a $50 giftcard to use at the store so it was really like $150 and I got to buy an immersion blender! I am a sucker for lame deals, I know.

Today I had celery apple juice and it was a total flashback to my childhood. My parents had a juicer when I was a kid and I remember piles of oranges, grapefruits, celery, apples, carrots, etc. Every day I would wake up to the annoying buzz of the juicer but it always tasted good, except for the nasty garlic, spinach, ginger, etc cleansing juices you would have to drink if you were getting sick or something.

I'm off to the gym now. I met with a personal trainer last night and she gave me a great cardio routine.

VHS and other things

I was going to go to bed, but something reminded me I wanted to research some animal cruelty stuff regarding the Vancouver zoo. It's just disgusting.

Then I got sidetracked and ended up on the Vancouver Humane Society's website, which for some reason I have never been to! 665 million animals are raised for food each year in Canada...something I never knew before. I don't know why, I guess I wasn't looking hard enough, but I could only ever find worldwide or US specific stats.

Here is one stat I took from the VHS' website:

The Fraser Valley has the highest animal stocking density in Canada (UBC Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Dr Hans Schreier).

There are approximately:

* 15.4 million chickens
* 128,000 cattle
* 95,500 pigs
* 9,000 sheep
* 5,000 goats
* 767,000 turkeys

Disgusting right?

Here is a website about egg production in Canada. In Jan 2008 SFU apparently switched to cage-free hens (which means nothing to me) but at least we're trying! You can email and ask which restaurants in metro-vancouver offer cage free eggs too, which I think is nice. I emailed them, not that I eat eggs, but it would be useful for people I eat out with.

My heart hurts now, I can't help but cry for all these poor souls. Even just last night me and Bella shared a very peaceful moment. She was sitting by my side purring and sleeping and she started to knead her paws totally unprovoked and I just knew she was so happy and relaxed and dreaming of better times ahead because she can finally rest her head on a soft couch with a loving family and not in a crowded, stressful and sad shelter. I felt so happy for her, but it made me sad to think of all the animals, on farms and in shelters or abusive homes, that are sad right now. I wish I could give them all hugs and tell them that one day they will be safe.

I don't know what I research animal issues at night time, it always upsets me and then I can't sleep. I am going to go read the first of the True Blood series now, so far it's exactly the same as the tv show but apparently in the next book it changes quite dramatically. Hopefully the terrible writing will ease my mind!

Bella

Bella is pretty adjusted already. She is extremely confident around myself or Jason and is warming up to Charlie. After the one hiss Charlie gave her, and the hilarious and creepy stalking (which he is almost over) Charlie seems to be indifferent now. I put Bella on the top of the china cabinet where Charlie was sleeping and they were about a foot away. Bella looked at him, Charlie opened his eyes for a second and just went back to sleep so neither of them felt threatened by each other or anything.

I wish I could say the same thing about Alma. She is being a grumpy girl! Both Bella and Alma hate each other still, oh well, it's only been a day, by the end of the week they will be besties.

Here are some pictures of Bella:







The last picture is how she sits, it's absolutely hilarious looking. Alma sits with her arms straight out all the time, but Bella looks like she dislocates her shoulders or something to get them to stick out even further, and then she pulls her head back so she gets this hilarious double chin.

I'm off to research juicing recipes and tips now. Bye!

Bella

We adopted a new cat today :)

Her name was Cricket, but I like to give human names to my pets so we renamed her Bella. She is the sweetest girl and a huge sucker for pets. The second I walked into the room I knew she was the kitty I was going to take home. She was standing on her big scratching post tree just "marching" and purring and meowing and she just looked at me with her big green eyes.

I wanted to take all 150 cats home. There was another cat who was almost identical to Bella, only 8 years younger that Jason really liked. I convinced Jason that Bella has been at the shelter for nearly 8 months and because she is "old" nobody wants her, no matter how charming she is. (Bella is supposedly 10, but when I first met her she seemed 4 or 5...she is probably more like 7 or 8, but who knows)

The second I opened her carriers door when she got home she pranced out all curious and wide-eyed. She didn't seem scared at all. Charlie met her with a hiss but he doesn't seem angry or mean, just curious and almost scared of her. Alma took one look at her, went entirely tense and hissed like crazy. Now she's just sitting on the couch angrily.

Bella is sitting under the bed right now, she doesn't seem that scared because as soon as either of us go over to her she comes out for pets. I think she is just hiding from Charlie, who just fell asleep beside the bed haha. He was crouched down staring at her, but I guess he got bored or something. He looks hilarious.

I took some pictures of her, but none of them really turned out. I need a new camera because mine is taking blurry pictures 80% of the time now, and it didn't help that Bella kept moving around because she is so excited. I'll take some pictures tomorrow when she is more calm and post some. She is one of those white/orange/black smudgy cats. Generally they are my least favourite cats, I just don't really like their markings...but for some reason Bella just stole my heart, she's so pretty!!!