I shall return!

Can you say cute? That's my new kitty, Sam. We got him in late June at exactly 8 weeks old. It didn't take long to remember why I prefer older cats over babies haha.

I realized it's been over two months since my last post but this semester has taken me by storm. I blame it on statistics and my bratty kitten.

Since not updating I haven't been experimenting in the kitchen at all, I haven't really tried any new vegan products nor do I have any AR related stuff to blog about.

However, I plan on restarting in about two weeks. Look forward to my experience with henna hair dye, a vegan vacation, kitty pictures and news stories :)

Ohio Dairy Farm

I have seen many animal cruelty videos and this is by far the most disgusting and cruel. If this doesn't switch you off dairy I don't know what would.

Here is a quote on the video:

During a four-week investigation between April and May, MFA's investigator documented farm workers:

* Violently punching young calves in the face, body slamming them to the ground, and pulling and throwing them by their ears
* Routinely using pitchforks to stab cows in the face, legs and stomach
* Kicking "downed" cows (those too injured to stand) in the face and neck – abuse carried out and encouraged by the farm's owner
* Maliciously beating restrained cows in the face with crowbars – some attacks involving over 40 blows to the head
* Twisting cows' tails until the bones snapped
* Punching cows' udders
* Bragging about stabbing, dragging, shooting, breaking bones, and beating cows and calves to death

After viewing the footage, Dr. Bernard Rollin, distinguished professor of animal science at Colorado State University, stated: "This is probably the most gratuitous, sustained, sadistic animal abuse I have ever seen. The video depicts calculated, deliberate cruelty, based not on momentary rage but on taking pleasure through causing pain to cows and calves who are defenseless."

View the video here.

And from the Huffington Post, here is a link to some dairy alternatives if you don't know what to drink besides cow's milk.

Murdered Coyotoes

I actually saw two coyotes on Burnaby mountain last week and they were sooooooo cute. They looked really scared of the cars and the road though, which was sad.

Things like this make me so sad.

What gives us the right to kill a coyote any more than to kill another human being? Why are human lives considered the most valuable? Why can't we just be equal? If you were offered $20 to bring in the paws of neighbourhood cats, hamsters or even the hands of children it would be viewed as barbaric, disgusting and totally inhumane, but a coyote? Who cares, right? The worst part about this article is the main reason for the bounty wasn't even for coyotes attacking humans but attacking "our" livestock. It's a double whammy of abusing animals. The only reason the ranchers were pissed is because there are less profits, less cattle, whatever, not because they are upset that their cows were dying. Who cares if they die, what matters is money. Since when did money become more valuable than a life?

Every day on the news it's considered a tragedy when a soldier or a family dies, and that is just one or two beings. Hurricane Katrina took less than 2000 lives and we are still discussing it five years later. That was a HUGE catastrophe, HUGE!!! But the death of billions of animals (and in this case 71k coyotes) pale in comparison to that or any other human death. 2000 is a huge number of deaths, but 71,000 is incomprehensible. You bet if 71,000 people were murdered for cash rewards there would be riots and chaos...but when it's a "lesser being" or a "nuisance" people seem to ignore the fact that they deserve life just as much as you or I. I know you are probably thinking that I should respect and value human life more than others, and most people get pissed when you even remotely suggest that a life of an animal is of equal value to a human life. I think that we are all on this planet to live and love and we all deserve the equal chance and respect to do so.

Most of what I just typed is a big ramble, not to mention it's been an extremely long week (I know it's on Wednesday haha) and I'm tired. I apologize for my lack of sense.

I just wish there wasn't a need to view animals as lesser beings, and that we just accepted and all believed that they are equal and deserving of our love and respect.

I have to go finish reading Heidegger now. Wish me luck! It's tough stuff.

Soy Candles by Phebes

Soy Candles by Phebes are great smelling, hand crafted, 100% soy candles. At $13 each they are a pretty good bargain too.

I just want to say that I LOVE candles but my biggest beef with them is that they never actually smell when you burn them and they are generally either beeswax or filled with chemicals. As soon as I stumbled across these candles I knew I just had to order some. They come in over NINETY scents! How crazy is THAT? I spent like a week just choosing which ones to order.

They are a great size and the glass can be used a drinking cup when the candle is finished. The scents are not overpoweringly strong but you can smell them when you are near them or while they are burning.

We bought four for mothers days gifts and they were all well received. You can see the scents I ordered in the picture above and I loved ALL of them. Ginger Bergamont is my absolute favourite new smell in the world.

Shipping to Canada isn't bad either, I think $20 or so.



So if you are in need of a gift or just want a new candle I highly recommend you order a few of these. They rock my socks.

I love BC

This post isn't really related to anything. I just wanted to share the beauty of British Columbia with you all :)

I love BC. It is too gorgeous for words. Last week I took a walk along one of the million dikes around my house and it was so rejuvenating and refreshing. I can't believe it took me so long to check out this dike, it's breathtaking. It is totally my new jogging route!!

Here are some pictures from the dike:







By the way, for one of my summer classes we have to do a green project. My teacher gave us absolutely no direction other than it has to be "green" related. I want to do it on something vegan but I need an idea. We can do it in a journal, movie, sculpture, painting...literally ANYTHING and on ANYTHING green.

So, if you have any ideas on an interesting vegan related "green" project drop me a comment. I would love some ideas.

Boca Vegan Burgers!

I am not a fan of veggie burgers in general. I have tried many brands and types and the closest that came to being "good" was the Yves ones. This was until I tried Boca burgers!!

Where have these burgers been all my veggie life? Seriously, they are the BEST veggie burgers on this planet. My mom said she thought she saw them at Costco in huge boxes...but I can't confirm that. As far as I know you can only buy them in the states.

The nutrition boasts "80% less fat than a ground beef burger" which doesn't concern me because I don't eat beef. But, a lot of people are trying veggie burgers for health issues and I would definitely say these are the most omni-friendly burgers out there.

The taste is great, there is no strange soy flavour at all and the texture is PERFECT. It's not so realistically meaty that it disgusts me, but it's not weirdly chewy or squishy. It's just right. They are easy to make too, you just pan fry them for 8-10 minutes. I believe they cost $3.99 for a pack of four so not a bad price either.

So with BBQ season around the corner I highly suggest you go buy yourself some Boca vegan burgers. These are the best veggie burgers by far, I actually look forward to eating one! (Significant because I generally cringe when I have to eat a veggie burger)

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

APPLES in a COBBLER you ask? I always though cobblers were reserved for berries and the like but I decided to go out on a limb and use apples. Let me just say the tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness in the apples is just amazing. And who doesn't love a doughy crust?

I apologize for lack of a picture. I suck. By the way, use an 11x7 glass dish.

Filling:
4 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples (grannysmith)
1 cup cranberries
1/2 sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of water

Dough:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or now vegan Becel!!)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375.

For the filling, combine all the ingredients and spread out evenly in the baking dish.

For the dough combine the dry ingredients and then add the Earth Balance and soymilk. Mix together with a fork until it's sticky and dough-like.

Plop rough tablespoons of the dough out on top of the filling. There is enough dough to fill it exactly, but you can spread it out a little if you want. Optional: brush the top with soymilk.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is slightly browned.

Enjoy!!!

I would just like to say that my cats are hilarious. Right now Alma is sitting in the bathtub and I can JUST barely see the tips of her ears (super cute). For the last 15 minutes I have been turning the faucet on and off so it drips for her. She attacks these drips and drinks the water. When it stops dripping she gets upset and starts meowing until I give her more water. She basically does this like 5x a day and I never get sick of it, it's so ridiculous that I just laugh even though it means I have to get up every minute to assist her. If only I could teach her to turn on the tap - I am convinced Charlie knows how actually because sometimes I see him using his paws or nose to push it to the left, he just isn't strong enough to actually turn it. Charlie enjoys bathtub water too! At least twice a day he goes into the bathtub and swats at the metal drain stop (soo loud!!) until we come in and give him water. I don't know why they don't drink the water in their dish, I change it twice a day and give them filtered water. Silly cats.

I apologize for lack of posts and recipes etc as of late. I THOUGHT that I could post a bunch of stuff the last two weeks but alas I was extremely lazy. I played wayyy to much Sims and watched wayyy too much House. Good times. I do however have an arsenal of vegan product reviews/pics to be posted - stuff like more gardein products, ice cream, yogurt, candles, scratching posts, Amy's stuff and possibly even some beauty products.

And just for shits and giggles, and partly because I feel lame not posting a single picture...here are a few of Charlie. That cupboard is over four feet from the ground and he literally just jumps up into it. He knows he isn't supposed to go in there, so he is giving me his sad "but I'm soooooooooo cute and lovable and soft that you HAVE to let me sleep in here" eyes.



Bye for now!!!!