“Well, that depends on who bites first!” I replied.

I feel like I got the first bite of The Big Apple, and enjoyed every morsel of it! Of course it was only the soft, tender and entirely compassionate pieces of niceties I chose. As part of our vegan lifestyle coach certification through Main Street Vegan Academy we took the time to experience some of the city’s renowned vegan restaurants and cafés.

This was, in fact, the first trip in many years that I was totally at ease, knowing I would be delighted with my menu options, three times a day.  Not only are gluten-free options easily understood and well catered for in vegan restaurants, but we, the coaches-in-training, got to choose off entire menus rather than those with slimmer plant-based pickings.

New York certainly caters supremely for the compassionate eater, with whole foods so creatively concocted and visually celebrated by their creators, it would be a shame not to share some photos with you…

Peacefood Café’s cuisine is “transformational, healthy and delicious”, just as they claim on their enticing menu.

I went back to Peacefood Café on my last day in the city, to sample and savour this Lasagna! (filled with zucchini, mushrooms, walnut cheese, spinach basil mix & tomato sauce and served with a half salad).

This was my well-chosen first-time visit meal option. A Fluffy Quinoa Salad. (fillingly packed with  baby green & sprouts, avocado, sweet peppers, corn & onions tossed with creamy lime mustard vinaigrette)

                                                        A wonderful ambiance filled with the best of vegan vibes!

On the menu of Café Blossom, they state that they’re “first and foremost animal caring”. Well on that particularly cold night, this hungry animal was only too pleased to tuck into a surprisingly, intensely gratifying raw plant-based meal.

My plate of organic vegan cuisine, by way of the Zucchini Linguine, was abundant with olives, scallions, avocado, baby spinach, pine nuts, sunflower sprouts and cashew cream!

The lunch menu at Pure Food & Wine had me wanting to extend my patronage all the way to midnight!

This Caesar Romaine Salad was the very best I’ve ever tasted. Tossed with nori, pumpkin seed macadamia parmesan, lemon, caesar dressing and avocado.

While the Zucchini and Greenhouse Tomato Lasagna - layered with sun-dried tomato sauce, pistachio basil pesto, pumpkin seed macadamia ricotta – still makes my mouth water.

Aah, Candle Cafe! This holds a dear place in my stomach, and heart. It was at Candle 79, on the 30th July 2012 , where Craig, my hubby and I experienced our first intentionally vegan restaurant cuisine. Which was as significantly memorable as our dinner guests; prolific author, Victoria Moran and William, her talented husband.

At Candle Cafe West my dining company was equally as splendid. An enthusiastically selection of varied dishes were chosen by Leah Jacobson (raw chef and food lover extraordinaire), Sayward Rebhal of Bonsai Aphrodite and Joshua Katcher of The Discerning Brute. 

I chose the Spring Rolls, wrapped in rice paper, they came packed with pickled cabbage, avocado, carrots, cucumber, apple, cilantro, and tempeh. Served with a divine spicy dipping peanut sauce.

I won’t disappoint by not sharing what is arguably the main attraction of any meal. Dessert! This lived up to its highest expectations. Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse Pie, served with berry coulis and salted peanuts.

Bon appétit.

I recently wrote a blog on Vegansaurus! in response to articles suggesting you can’t be a healthy high raw vegan. My post, entitled “Eating raw will not ruin your life!” offers insights into how I think about high raw foodism in the overall context of a healthy vegan lifestyle. Some of you lovely readers eat high raw diets, so I thought you might be interested in jumping in on the discussion happening over there.

To read the article and get involved in the discussion about high raw veganism on Vegansaurus!, click here.

Photo.

Sleeping in late . . . watching the Macy’s Day Parade . . . making pancakes . . . watching The National Dog Show (picking our favorites) . . . spending time in the kitchen “uncooking”, cooking and baking . . . getting together later with friends and family . . . giving “thanks” . . . that’s what Thanksgiving is to me.

Our normal routine of my husband making pancakes for everyone has switched.  It now has become my destiny to fulfill that position as I make the most delicious Gluten-free, dairy-free Coconut Flour Pancakes.

Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes

*Note — if you have an egg allergy — this recipe is not for you until I figure out how to do this with “flax eggs”.  I found this recipe months ago from one of my favorite blog sites Lillian’s Test Kitchen.  I needed to make pancakes that my gluten-free, dairy-free daughter could eat.  It turns out, this is the only pancakes I make now.  What I love about Lillian is that she also posts a video of her test-driving the recipe.  I find a visual often helps me.

Try out this recipe!  It’s so worth it.  I use real maple syrup with these pancakes.  Lillian tops hers with pure coconut oil!

Now on to dinner . . .

Yesterday I posted that I had a “Meatless Meatloaf”  recipe floating around my brain.  I got home from work early yesterday, so I put pen to paper and ingredients to work and actually came out with a pretty delicious “Meatless Meatloaf”.  I decided to put all the flavors in that I would use to make in a regular meatloaf together minus the meat, breadcrumbs and eggs.  Below is my recipe . . .

Meatless Meatloaf

(An original recipe by Me!)

2 cups Walnuts

16 oz. mushrooms (I used sliced baby Portobellas – on sale)

Mirepoix Flavors

1/2 large onion diced

2 celery stalks diced

1-2 carrots diced (I used 1 huge carrot)

Herb flavors

3-4 cloves garlic diced

1 tsp. sage

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. rosemary

1/2 tbsp. cumin

2 tbsp. oregano

1/2 tbsp. sea salt (or kosher salt or regular salt)

black pepper to taste

1/4 cup Olive Oil

Flax Egg (directions will follow recipe)

Add the Mirepoix ingredients (carrot, celery, onion) along with the garlic into the foodprocessor and pulse to desired texture.  I diced mine pretty fine.

Diced Mirepoix

Transfer to large mixing bowl.  Add the walnuts and mushrooms  into the foodprocessor and pulse until you get the consistency of ground meat (but don’t overdo, it will come out creamed.  I left some “chunk” in mine).

Combine in mixing bowl with the carrots, celery, onion and garlic.  Mix to incorporate.  Add all the spices, the 1/4 cup olive oil and the flax egg*.  Mix together.

Transfer mixture into a bread baking pan sprayed with Olive Oil to prevent sticking  (I use glass, but feel free to use what you have.  May have to make adjustments in cooking if using metal or teflon).

Bake for 1 hour at 350º.  Let cool for 5 minutes for loaf to set.  Serve and enjoy with your favorite meatloaf side dish.  Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Meatless Meatloaf

 

*For those of you who are allergic to eggs, flax eggs are the perfect substitute.  I use the technique from Bonzai Aphrodite.  For those of you that are not allergic to eggs — feel free to add eggs to this recipe.

**This recipe came out delicious.  I baked it for my daughters, but I know, that in the future, I can make this “raw” by simply forming the “meat” into burgers and dehydrate them at 115º for about 6-8 hours (though I will have to experiment with that to get exact cooking time).

I hope you experiment outside your comfort zone and try Fluffy Coconut Pancakes and my Meatless Meatloaf as well as experimenting with Flax Eggs.  The most important thing, however, is that you

Enjoy!

Michele ♥

Wishing you all a Wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!! 

Everyone and their mother needs to read Sayward’s diet trial (the link above). Anyone who respects their body and truly values life will find her dietary experiments very refreshing. Here is someone who completely defies what society has set out for her, someone who listens to her body, not to what she’s told she needs by this corrupt fucking food industry.

I miss being a total health nut. Thankfully, “letting myself go” is still better than most people on their best day. But I’m really unhappy and a lot of it has to do with my lack of exercise and super wacky diet. I know it’s extreme but I want to do the master cleanse sometime soon. I’ve abused the shit out of my insides and I want to give them a break. I went about a week without any gluten and holy crap what a change. It was hard, WAY harder than going vegan has ever been, but I felt so much better. My eyes are the most obvious change to me (and have become a kind of gauge for me), other than not feeling like a fucking balloon 24/7. My eyes are much bigger and brighter and I love them, if I can be vain for a second. I’m so used to them being small and always looking tired. I’ve enjoyed feeling rested and energetic in the morning. I did cheat yesterday though, the tiniest little cheat ever, and I felt like TOTAL SHIT this morning. I was thinking it wouldn’t be a big deal, but I must be more sensitive to it after going without any gluten. So I’ll definitely be more careful.

I finally figured out how to manage my money. I know I’m really late in learning this lesson, but that’s not something that I was ever taught. No one ever told me to be careful, to plan. Even in the recent years it’s always been, “Ask for help!” but it was always too late, when I was up the fucking creek in debt and warrants with none of my basic needs met. A lot of my anxiety has been based in my issues with money, so I’m glad to have that one crossed off the list.

Orchestra results are out and I am not sitting first this semester. I already knew that even before my audition, so I was prepared for it. Really though, I’m not even a little bit upset by it. I didn’t practice because I just didn’t want to. As much as I thought it SHOULD have mattered to me, it didn’t. So I didn’t think too much about it after I realized that. I’ve had some really crazy performance anxiety in the past year. It started at one of our orchestra concerts. I didn’t feel like I had much control over my limbs and my neck. Every time I tried to relax I thought I was going to drop my cello and fall off stage. When I was playing I couldn’t set my weight on the cello, I couldn’t balance for shit, not even on my chair. It was quite literally the scariest experience of my life. All of this on stage, in front of god knows how many people, trying to lead a section. I even had a couple little solos that night. At the ends of pieces, oh dear god, that was the worst. Trying to hold my bow still at the tip was excruciating, trying being the keyword here. It was impossible, I had to move or I probably would have dropped it. Very scary and very bizarre. I attributed it to the pressure the orchestra was under last semester, but when it happened again at the next concert, again at an Honors Recital, and at our final concert, I figured it may be something more. I didn’t feel it at my junior recital in November, or at my jury in May, but the weirdest thing is that I have felt it several times as an audience member (usually during Bach..???) and once at a red light…? From what I’ve read, it sounds closest to vertigo, but not exactly. I do have trouble looking around for fear of falling, but it doesn’t last for a long period of time. Sometimes it’s instantaneous. So, who the fuck knows, but I’m really relieved not to have to worry about it happening again while I’m a section leader. I hope it’s psychological and not physical. But I guess we’ll see.

Meh. If I could just learn to budget my time and energy as well as I am with my money, then I’d be doing some serious damage.

One day at a time.

<3

I first found out about this treasure trove of raw-tastic vegan recipes via one of my all time favorite interweb haunts, Bonzai Aphrodite. Sayward Rebhal, the bloggess of Bonzai contributed heavily to both the recipes and the writing for Rawesomely Vegan (RV). It’s been super fun to go through the book and recognize recipes from Sayward’s blog, and even try my hand at guessing which ones were from a familiar kitchen. So far, I’ve only tried three of RV‘s recipes, but all have been a delight. (The two in this post, and the other on Mother’s Day for our sloppy joe’s!)

The first was raw tabouleh– a recipe that called for sprouted quinoa versus the traditional bulgur wheat. I adore this recipe, and much prefer it to the conventional cooked variety. (If you’ve read Veganland before, you know I’m one sucker for anything quinoa.) Sad as it is, I’ve never soaked or sprouted my favorite grain before and sheesh! Was I ever missing out! many of the quinoa grains had adorable little sprouted tails from where they had begun to germinate in the 24 hours I left them to work their raw magic. The grains were simply dressed and had a tangy deliciousness to them that was completely shone through via the use of all raw ingredients. I didn’t use quite as much parsley as the recipe called for, just based on personal preference. I tend to like more grains in my tabouleh than greens, which is quite a contrast from how I normally function, but I digress…

The second recipe that went from RV into my kitchen (and soon my belly) was “Goodness Garlic Aioli.”  I have a secret to let you in on: I’ve always HATED mayonnaise, in all iterations, forms, and functions. After I became vegan I accepted vegannaise because well, it simply didn’t have that yucky taste and general gross factor, but I’ve never in my vegan career purchased, let alone made a jar of the stuff. If/when I dined out, if vegannaise was there then it was fine by me. And again: sheesh was I ever missing out! It’s taken me a little while to get over the gross factor with this stuff, I’ll admit. It’s pretty damn close and the fact that I tried it off the tip of my finger probably didn’t help. But it’s creamy, decadent, and oh so easy to prepare. Can you guess what will be gracing my sandwiches in the coming weeks? (Also, the slaw that sat atop our vegan sloppy joe’s on Mother’s Day was laced with the aioli.)

I christened this stuff Vay-O, vegan mayo. I felt very original, but I’m probably not… Anyway, veggie humor aside, this not cook cook book is super rad, and I’m proud to have it grace my shelf. If you’re looking for ways to incorporate more raw foods into your diet as I am, just love the crunch and flavor of a good uncooked meal, are a raw foodist, or just a foodist, buy this cook book. And at $21.95, it’s a complete and total steal for the knowledge and recipes you’re gaining. So seriously, get RV and get uncooking.

Bisous!

Rachel

Typical Blogger, depicted by SNL

Though bloggers have had a bad rap over the years, everything from “All bloggers are narcissists!” to “Just because you can write one doesn’t mean you should…”, I think on the whole blogging – whether as a pursued hobby or professionally – has come to give us the points of view and opinions we often miss in more traditional forms of journalism.

I found two posts recently, on different sites, that discuss a few aspects of blogging most writers don’t talk about. I suspect there has come a time when any blogger has felt these things, whether they acknowledged them right away or they recognize familiar feelings when brought up directly.

The feelings of these writers are relatable to anyone, and I hope they’ll mean something to you by either being immediately relatable or simply to offer a “behind the scenes” look at what spilling it all on the internet can mean for some people.

Kathy of Healthy Happy Life blog

This first segment comes from Healthy Happy Life - a cooking blog that is truly one of the best, most comprehensive and beautiful cooking blogs on the entire internet. Hands down.  Sandwiched between (see what I did there?) countless posts of the loveliest and most inspiring recipes you ever did see, I found this post that addresses the sometimes uncomfortable feelings that come up when people don’t take your passion seriously. Perhaps at times you don’t even think of it as “serious work” because it’s never been defined as such.

Behind any finished product, hidden away from what is presented to an audience, a lot of work, time and money can go into something like blogging (or any hobby or profession, really). Take yourself seriously, and others will follow suit.

(excerpt from post)

“Still strolling the market I whip out my camera and snap away at the golden satsumas glistening in the morning sunshine. No, I’m not a photography hobbyist or a tourist gawking at the produce and to-die-for weather. Living, breathing and sharing healthy vegan food is what I do for a living. I love my job. But..

I love my job. But I hate my title. So I’m changing it.

And I want all my fellow career “food bloggers” out there to join me because everyone(“blogger” or not) needs a good title for their career. A title that actually describes what you do – and not merely a stereotype of what you do.”

Her new self-made, say-it-proud title is: Internet Content Producer. Sounds fancy! What a great idea.

Read the post DON’T CALL ME A FOOD BLOGGER on Healthy Happy Life

I just found the next blog when doing a search for vegan pregnancy books. This blogger is also a published author, and I am only kicking myself for not knowing about her earlier – especially now, but more on that in a minute.

Sayward of Bonzai Aphrodite

 Sayward wrote Bonzai Aphrodite – a vegan cooking, urban farming, eco-chic design and DIY blog. Everything she writes is told from a positive, encouraging and often times funny voice, and she makes it seems like any of us can tackle these projects or lifestyle changes.

Sadly, her most recent post is also her last. It’s an incredibly beautiful and intimate look at what a person can go through “off camera”. I encourage you to read the entire post.

(excerpt from post)

“The dilemma essentially is this: bloggers want to perpetuate positivity. To lift people up and empower them. We want to show you beautiful things. Or maybe I should just speak for myself. That’s what I want.

But in doing so, we paint an unrealistic, idealized version of a person – me – and of a life – my life. Again, just speaking for myself, I fear that I’ve created an impossible standard. A measuring stick whereby readers, trying to live up, will always believe they fall short. I know this because I’m also on the other side of it, with other bloggers, comparing myself to my perception of them, and feeling like I’m “less than”. And I know it because people write to me, feeling just exactly that way after reading Bonzai.

This is a real problem and it really breaks my heart. I don’t ever want to play a part in someone feeling bad about themselves.”

AND

“Over the years, one of the most frequent questions I’ve received is: “How the hell do you do it all?” Ha! But I’ll tell you the truth. For the first time, I’ll actually answer the damn question.

It comes at great cost. In order to “do” so much and give so much of myself, I set aside the things which are the most important. I sacrifice my relationships.

And this hurts. I have a knot in my belly the size of Kansas and I feel like I’m letting everyone down, and I’m sorry, and I’ll miss you. I just really hope you can understand.”

Read the post “… 3 Years is a Good Solid Run…” here

Bonzai Aphrodite - cute happy vegan baby enjoying hummus. Too cute!

I read my favorite blogs enthusiastically, and a new post feels like a letter from a friend. When it comes to the more personal blogs, the authors actually seem to become my friends (some cases, in real life). I rely on them, I trust their advice, I want them to do well and be successful and happy.

It can be hard to put yourself on display and become vulnerable to people interpreting your life through their own eyes (and then of course, there are always those few people who love to dislike you, who can turn out to be the most loyal readers of all).

I have respect for anyone who takes action to follow their dreams and put themselves out there. You are a modern day hero. How’s that for a title?

I really like the idea, but I’m not sure if there are any left that I can kick out of the house. My hubby is just about at his limit of reusable items around the house. There’s no way we’re going family cloth, even just for liquids, because I know we’ll run out before I remember to wash them (at least the toilet paper’s recycled). I’m not ready to take the plunge into reusable feminine products. He buys his own Kleenex because I buy ones made from recycled paper and are not soft enough. I refuse to blow my nose on dead trees, what can I say?

The one thing that I have been trying to kick out of the house or at least use recycled are paper towels. We have quite a collection of various kitchen towels, but hubby insists on buying paper towels. Honestly that’s what I want to do for the MMM, but I know he won’t hear of it.

I really don’t know what to do! I’m no-poo, so there’s no shampoo to get rid of. … Hmm. I have been wanting to try out Sayward’s deodorant recipe. Maybe I’ll buckle down and try that. I’ve been using Tom’s of Maine’s deodorant, but it seems to wear off before the end of the day. I may finally have it!

+engraving by albin brunovsky+

happy monday!

so here we are, at the beginning of the week and boy, was it a rocky start. today i had a series of frustrations that led to a mini breakdown and so what did i do? i threw on my sweater and took a walk. i live near a beautiful campus so i wandered around the grass-filled paths and found my special spot. it is a little stone bench by a stream and it is surrounded by redwood trees and eucalyptus. i sat there, closed my eyes and let the sun shine upon my face. i only spent 15 minutes there but when i left, i was more calm and feeling happier about my situation. what a little change of scenery can do!

here are some wonderful inspirations for your week!

the wonderful, marvelous goddess leonie strikes again! this time with a helpful article on how to meditate – for lazy people.

the brainy sayward from bonzai aphrodite (where i got the above photo) wrote a great article on misconceptions about juicing. if you are still on the fence about getting your greens and nutrients via good ol’ juice, check this out!

jen saunders shared wonderful thoughts on how to notice when you are happy. i really enjoyed the article and it prompted me to write a little list of what/where/who makes me happy.

and last but not least, i finally saw the trailer for the feature film from youtube, life in a day. oh my goodness, it looks so inspirational and beautiful and incredible…i can’t wait to see it!

have a wonderful week!

happy monday friends!

today was a busy and productive day and i am about to fall asleep on my laptop. but before i do, here are some things floating around the interweb that caught my fancy this week…

poppy and leo have posted a great april mixtape. i listened to it this weekend while writing some articles and it was so relaxing.

this chickpea, spinach and tomato soup recipe from my beloved herbivoracious looks amazing! i can’t wait to try it this week.

one green planet featured one of my favorite bloggers bonzai aphrodite talking about the basics on feeding your vegan baby. this is awesome and there needs to be more of this in our online health community!

and i will leave you with a beautiful poem by the brilliant jen lemen:

Love Will Find You Out

It’s okay to fall apart.
You don’t have to know the answers.
All those pieces you’ve been holding for so long while you raced around your life looking for the last roll of scotch tape, go ahead, let them fall.
Let them fall.
Every last piece.

It’s okay to scramble.
You don’t have to be calm now.
All those plans you’ve been stringing together like a macaroni necklace in kindergarten–
every last one is beautiful, so beautiful, so go ahead.
Keep grabbing at everything you ever wanted and always feared you’d never have.
Every last beautiful dream.

It’s okay to hope against hope.
This is not a time to be reasonable or rational.
Run, run as fast as you can against the tide that is crashing down now.
When the last wave sweeps over you
and every hope has been dashed
You will still be here, right here
and you will not be sorry you tried to make all your sorrows disappear.

It’s okay to cry.
Even if you are a man. Even if you are a mother. Even if you feel each tear
as an accusation against your strength, your resolve, your natural equilibrium.
Cry in the car. Cry in the shower.
Cry in bed when no one is listening or looking.
Cry when you kiss the kids goodbye for school.
Cry when you do the dishes.
Berate yourself for not being able to get it together
and then cry anyway.
How else will you know you lived, if not for these tears
reminding you were not made of metal, wood or steel
after all?

It’s okay to be lost.
Throw away the map. Leave the keys in the car.
Get out and walk.
Forget about everything you ever knew.
Crumple up those directions and move now from memory
The memory of your heart
The memory of your breath
The memory of that one time you laughed so hard you cried
The memory of that one kiss, the one that left you longing
to be loved for ever and ever.

At the end of your unraveling,
you will look down and see your own feet
that have carried you so, so far
and you will decide for once that it is okay
to sit down
to rest
to hold out your hands
to lift up your head
to open your heart
to the possibility that you were never alone after all
not for one minute

That Love was right there
in her terrible silence
not quite sure how to say it so you would believe her
that you were a thing of rare beauty on the earth
That She still has your macaroni necklace
That She’s been following you around,
making maps of all the places you’ve been lost,
so you’d know how to get back when the time came
to put it all to rest.

Go ahead, be disappointed.
Nothing turned out how you hoped.
Sit under a tree and tell me the whole of it
and I won’t say a word.
I won’t say a single word.

This is the secret nobody knows.
All these days Love carried my heart in her heart.
I was her favorite, even as I cried,
and now I am sitting under her tree
listening to you
the way she listened to me
while I swore she was never ever there.

It’s okay to feel lonely.
At the end of your wanderings
when there is no more scotch tape
and you can’t find your macaroni necklace of dreams anywhere
your heart will trace an unpredictable path
to this place and you will have just enough courage
to let Love tell you the terrible beautiful truth
of how loved you were
and how even now, at the end of everything
it’s not too late.