Going Vegan Day Nine and Cafe’ Bliss

Good Day Compassionate Humans,

As my vegan journey continues so does the moving project.  Today there was a few hours of sanding wood and wiping up the dust sanding created.  Getting to help in the creation of our new home is my pleasure.

As I sat to write this blog, going through some recent pictures from my life and found an image from a recent lunch date.  On August 3rd 2011 it was my honor to become a Permanent Resident of Canada and to celebrate my good friend Clairvoyant Sarah Wilson http://www.sarahwilson.ca/ took my husband Robert and I out to Cafe’ Bliss on Pandora Street in Victoria, BC.  http://www.cafebliss.ca/ my favorite restaurant on the planet so far.  The delicious pizza slice you see pictured below is what I had for lunch that wonderful day.  Thank you again Sarah my sister by choice!

Cafe' Bliss Raw and Live Food Cafe' pizza slice

Seeing this image again sure makes me wish that I was eating another slice of that delicious pizza.

What I ate on day nine:

Breakfast – quinoa, cinnamon and oilve oil and green tea

Lunch – Swiss Chard salad with red cabbage, oinons, celery, shredded yam and cilantro with Robert’ homemade apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

Dinner – after 54 hours of painting, sanding and cleaning I went to bed with no supper at 8:00pm

Snacks – chocolate

Thank you for your time.  Take Care & Have Fun,

Going Vegan Day Eight and The Cooperation Party

Wow more than a week off of all meat, dairy and grains that contain any gluten such as rye, wheat, spelt, oats, kamut, and barley.  I am feeling amazing and the amount of work that has taken place in my life since starting this new diet has been over the top.  Our goal is to move into our new home by the end of August so there is much finishing to be done on our new home.

Me sanding the wood beams in our new sun room

There was five friends that came to the Cooperation Party and helped us install a door, clean up all the dust from my sanding again, install the windows, paint and have fun cooperating!  Then in the evening we shared a lovely dinner and after dinner everyone went to the music studio to jam however I want back to our cabin and painted some more.  We were so busy at the Cooperation we forgot to take any pictures which is unusual as we take photos of everything.

We have also installed semi-precious stones all over the sun room door and at the front entry.  Below is an image of the front entry.

Jade and other semi precious stones laid in cement at our front door. :~)

Our Cooperation Party was a total success Robert’s Father is even in on the project now.  All is Well in my world.

What I ate on day eight:

Breakfast – Almond milk smoothie with flax seed and a banana

Lunch – forgot to eat enjoying the Cooperation Party and the work too much to think about eating

Dinner – Two kinds of salad, rice and nori rolls with our own homemade super duper hot oriental mustard.  This was my first dinner where meat was served while I ate.  The meat was Sockeye Salmon it was charbroiled and it was surprising how even though salmon is my favorite fish it did not have any power to want me to eat salmon once again.  Yeah!  Salmon are for Orcas.  Love you all!

Thank you for being a part of my reality.  Take care & Have Fun

Going Vegan Day Seven and the Cabin

Yummy Black Berry and Almond Milk Smoothie and The Beach

Day seven sure started out right a friend of ours showed us her secret beach.  We walked for about 15 minutes on a rocky beach and then we found a beautiful sandy beach. Which we walked up and down the beach for more than an hour getting grounded barefoot on the sand and walk through the surf.

When we arrived, tired was the feeling in my body.  However when we left what my body felt was refreshed, rejuvenated, clear and excited for the day. When we arrived home we were all going to have a busy day painting, sanding and cleaning our new cabin.

Our new home the Gem Studio, in Cobble Hill, BC

For the last few days there have been many hands creating our new home.  Painting, sanding and cleaning have been my main contributions.  Getting the semi-precious stones that are laid in the concrete was also something that was my contribution.  Once we clean the concrete off the stones and polish the stones up a bit I will post some images.  Here is me painting.

Painting the cabin for our move.

Well it is time to get back to the cabin.

What I ate on day seven;

Breakfast – almond milk chia smoothie and green tea

Lunch – was working on the cabin and forgot to eat lunch

Dinner

greens, beans, kale, quinoa,

Snack none it was a busy day!

Thanks for everything.  Take care & Have Fun,

Going Vegan Day Six

Good Day Earth Loving Humans,

Thank you for being a part of my world.

My favorite kind of raw black berry pie! :~)

Seeing this image of a blackberry pie that was my pleasure to create last year is making my mouth water thinking of how good this pie was!  :~)  I will give you the recipe in a future blog.

Well day six was filled with painting and the preparing of our new home.  I am so excited and jazzed to be helping in the creation of my home.

Working a bunch of hours today getting our new home ready was a blast.  Woo Hoo what a dirty job.  I love every minute of it.

What I ate today was easy as there was lots more work going on than eating.

Breakfast – Almond and walnut smoothie with flax and chia seeds with green tea

Lunch – I was still drinking my huge and very think smoothie

Dinner – popcorn one of my favorite dinners.

Snacks – coffee, tea

Take care & Have Fun,  Good Night  :~)

 

Going Vegan Day Five and Painting

It is fabulous, quick and yummy! :~)

Good Day Passionate Ones,

The above soup is one of my favorite raw soups ever.  To create this lovely dish you need a young thai coconut, (young thai coconuts are found in the produce section and are white with a cone shaped top, when we buy then in the grocery store in North America), one avocado, 12 pistachios, some salt (my preferred salt is Real Salt from Redmond, Utah) and a bit hot peppers, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  The first step is to open the coconut you need a heavy, sharp knife.  Peeling off the white pulp from the conical top of the coconut is the second step.  Once the tan shell of the coconut is exposed, on the hand that holds the coconut my favorite oven mit goes, that way I keep all my fingers intact while giving the coconut a good whack.  Keeping a medium size bowl near by is a good idea that way as soon as the coconut is open you can pour the coconut water into the bowl.  The next step is to scrap the coconut meat out of the inside of the shell and put the coconut meat in your blender.  Once all the coconut meat is in the blender then add just about a half cup of the coconut water as the coconut meat chops finer with a lesser amount of coconut water.  Once the coconut meat is pureed then add the avocado and the rest of the ingredients to the blender.  Blend until thick and creamy.  Can serve one person a big bowl or two people small bowls.  Enjoy with loved ones.

What a glorious day.  We are moving in a few days and I spent the day painting our walls vibrants shades of yellow and orange.  We bought some low VOC paint.  I was glad to know that there are more low VOC paints, however then one of the store employees said that once you add the colour then you do have VOC’s because all colours have VOC’s.  I am going to do some research on this on the internet to see what I can find out and then you can read my findings on a future blog.

What I ate on day five:

Breakfast – Almond and walnut milk smoothie with chia seeds and green tea

Lunck – mixed greens salad, with quinoa and parsley pesto sauce

Dinner – mixed greens salad with red cabbage and onions, quinoa and peppernori (some homemade raw nori warps filled with nuts and buckwheat).

Snacks – peanut butter and my sesame seed rawkies.

Thanks for reading my post.  Take Care & Have Fun,

Going Vegan Day Four and Bio-Diesel

What an amazing day, day four was!  I got to share with a friend of mine Mary who is allergic to dairy the tip about the Coconut Bliss ice cream and Mary was so excited as dessert is her favorite meal.  Mary will surely be getting some Coconut Bliss soon.

I also got to share with Mary’s son Sam that we burn 100% post consumer vegetable oil in our Volkswagon TDI Jetta.  Sharing the joy I get from burning 100% used french fry oil makes my pulse quicken.  Supporting great businesses that sustain a healthy environment has been my passion all my adult life.  Sam asked “How much does the bio-diesel cost?  A $ 1.50 a litre was my reply.  Wow when the company gets the oil for a free they charge you $ 1.50?  Yes, I said .25 a litre goes to taxes and $ 1.25 is for the company Cowichan Bio Diesel (http://www.smellbetter.org/) that creates the bio-diesel.  The employees that work for the Cowichan Bio-diesel are now my friends and they deserve a great wage so paying even $ 2.00 a litre for Bio-Diesel would be ok with me!  Our planet needs some help and it is my pleasure to do all I can to clean up my home.  Sam seemed a bit surprised and then a big smile formed across his face.  It was time for me to go so we said our good byes and I walked out thinking wow I spoke my mind in front of a person I had just met.  Then next thing I knew I felt all warm and fuzzy.  Being in this community on Vancouver Island where my heart rests, is supportive and creative.

I feel content and connected, Take care & Have Fun

Wow life is great!

What I ate on day four: (everything on the food list is organic)

Breakfast – an almond & walnut milk smoothie and green tea

Lunch – pinto beans, quinoa, a salad of mixed greens, red cabbage, onion and Robert’s amazing dressing.

Dinner – same salad as lunch with quinoa and pesto sauce.

Snacks – rawkie sesame seed and vanilla with cacao nibs

Thank you for reading my blog.  Take care & Have Fun,

Going Vegan Day Three

My yummy last nights dinner full of vitamins and minerals! :~)

Wow it is so fun changing my lifestyle.  I feel totally committed as I am sharing my journey with you.  Thank you for being here to strengthen my resolve.  Yesterday was a fun a productive day.

So far being vegan has been a breeze, but we have not been to any parties or family gatherings where my family will be wondering why I am not eating meat.  I don’t know about your family, but my family when they observe that I am changing my diet or my attitudes sometimes feel uncomfortable.  I remember a time when I stopped eating white sugar it was a family dinner Thanksgiving if my memory serves me, dinner was over and the dessert was being served and I said I did not want any dessert as I was not eating white sugar anymore.  Well if looks could kill I would be dead.  As my grandma Ruth was looking at me as if I had committed a crime by not eating her dessert.  I felt a little better as my grandpa was smiling at me maybe because I stood up to my grandma by not eating her dessert.  I have been off white sugar ever since 1994 when my friend Jeffery told me how bad white sugar is and we read the book Sugar Blues http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0446343129/#reader_0446343129.  I have been researching how to keep my health actively since 1994.  Becoming vegan is just the next step on my path to longevity!

What I ate yesterday, everything I eat is always organic:

Breakfast – almond & walnut milk smoothie with banana and chia seeds, and green tea

Lunch – quinoa, salad and homemade apple cider and olive oil dressing that my husband Robert made

Dinner – almost the same as lunch except that salad included basil and walnut pesto sauce.

Snacks – peanut butter and the sesame seed rawkies (cookies we make in the dehydrator)

I remembered just in time.  Last night just as I was about to keep eat my dinner and our neighbour Penny brought us this amazing chocolate and blueberry treat!

Penny's Raw Organic Chocolate Turtles Topped With Fresh BlueBerries! Amazing!

Thank you for your time.  Take Care & Have Fun

Going Vegan Day two

Wow, going vegan has been great so far!  We went to Makaria Farm on Saturday evening and picked up some kale, zucchini, and cabbage.  So Saturday night we came home and made Kale Chips.  We love Kale Chips more than anything!

To make Kale Chips all you need is kale, olive oil, your favorite spices, salt and a dehydrator.  Get as much kale as you think will fill your dehydrator (for this batch we had three bundles of kale and it filled six out of the nine trays of our Excalibur dehydrator) then wash it.  Next you remove the stems from the kale by ripping the leafy part from the stem part put the leafy parts in a large bowl and put the stems into a pile (to put in a salad or soup).  After the kale is all cleaned then put olive oil into a small bowl we used a half a cup of oil and add your favorite spices, for this batch we used garlic, mild peppers, salt, and black pepper.  Mix the olive oil and the spices well.  Then drizzle the oil & spice mix over the kale and next work the oil onto the kale with your hands.   Once the kale is well oiled then we sprinkle nutritional yeast over the kale and lay the kale on the dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 105˙ for 12 to 24 hours depending on your climate.  The warmer and dryer your climate the less time it will take to finish the kale chips to a crunchy yummy texture.  Share with friends if you can control your eating of them until someone comes over.  We ate all our Kale Chips yesterday in just two sittings.  The first sitting was just as the Kale Chips were coming out of the dehydrator we ate about three trays and then later after we went for a swim with our friend Moritz Behm and we finished them off together.  Moritz loved them too!

Yummy Organic Cabbage for my tummy! :~)

The second day of veganism was amazing and I look forward to today.

What I ate on the second day of my new lifstyle:

Breakfast – almond and walnut milk smoothie with chia seeds and a banana

Lunch – rawkers (buckwheat and flax crackers we make in the dehydrator) and pesto sauce

Dinner – a huge salas with lots of greens, lambs quarters, onions and parsley pesto that Robert made.

Snack – Coconut Bliss frozen coconut ice cream http://coconutbliss.com/  the words to describe the dessert are amazing, tasty, yummy, nutritious, fabulous, dairy free, totally believable once you have experience the Bliss!

Thank you for your time,  Take Care & Have Fun,

Going Vegan Day One

Yesterday was my first day as a committed vegan.  Eating only 100% organic food since 1994 and then for the past couple of years I have eaten meat only at friends homes, family dinners and once in a while when some amazing beef jerky is around I just gotta have it. :~)

Then Friday night my husband Robert and I watched A Delicate Balance and I thought wow, now is the time to go vegan!  Helping all the species on the planet to live a life in balance and harmony is important to me.  Eating a plant based diet is one way for me to help.

So yesterday for breakfast I had green tea,  fresh almond & walnut milk smoothie with chia seeds and a half of a banana, lunch was beans and quiona, and dinner was peanut butter and greens.  For snacking on there was some sesame seed dehydrator rawkies (cookies that we make in a dehydrator) that had vanilla, cacao nibs and maple syrup for sweetness.  And I tried some new raw nori wraps that Robert created in the dehydrator, the nori wraps were a taste sensation comprised of parsley, green curry paste, buckwheat groats, flax seeds, the nori wraps and love.

I am blessed to have a kind and loving husband that prepares food.

Thank you for your time.