I've Got You And You've Got Me - New Buffalo

There wasn't an official video for this song, but I think this one is pretty cute. I hear this song and get sucked into a world of happiness and smiles.

I thought you were God - Clare Bowditch

This is an old one which I've recently rediscovered. I get more of the story she is singing every time I hear it.

Sia - Buttons

Totally loving this one too. What a bizare video, it wouldn't be very many women who'd be comfortable looking that odd and sometimes ugly.
I wonder if her head hurt by the end of it?

Kate Nash -Foundations

I freakin' love this song, and such a beautifully constructed video!

Yummy!

Soy, you don't drink milk any more?

I never used to like soy products, the taste was too rich and the kinda nutty after taste would make me go ick. However since eating soy things I like such as tempeh, tvp and the odd bit of soy based 'fake meat' I must have gotten a taste for it.

Today after work I wanted something to eat before volleyball but nothing too heavy. I knew we had some left over soy milk in the fridge which I'd used to make white sauce, so I thought why not just knock it back finish it off. Surprise surprise I really enjoyed it! I couldn't taste the soy after taste, just a yummy creamy cold banana drink. Now you'd think it's the banana that killed the soy taste, but I didn't put much in, so I really think my taste buds are changing.

Here are some of the best dairy replacements I've come across so far:
-King Land Soy products (GMO free, organic too) soy cream cheese
-King Land Soy Products fruit yogurts (these are sooo yummy!)
-So Good vanilla soy ice cream
-Cheezly Edam style vegan cheese
-Cheezly Herb and Garlic vegan cheese
-Cheezly Cheddar style vegan cheese
-Cheezley Mozzarella style vegan cheese
-Nutritional yeast

the yogurt, cream cheese and ice cream are all available at Coles (In Freo), the vegan cheese can be purchased at Mana Wholefoods in South Freo.

Nutritional yeast kinda looks like that flaky fish food you get but all in a creamy colour. It's basically a very nutrient dense (B vits) deactivated yeast. You just add it to anything that needs a cheesy flavour and bam! Tastes like cheese!

Yesterday I made lasagna which was a big hit with Tony Polony. We used gluten free lasagna sheets (they are also egg and dairy free!), then I made my yummy lentil and tvp tomato sauce. The biggest challenge was the white sauce and lack of cheese. So I made my white sauce using soy margarine, soy milk and my nutritional yeast flakes to give it the yummy cheesy flavour it needed.

Next challenge in the lasagna making was to get a nice crunchy top. Normally it would be heaps of cheese which goes all golden in the oven. This time I used the last of my white sauce and cooked up some fresh bread crumbs with garlic. So by using breadcrumbs I was able to give it a yummy golden crunchy top.

I really enjoy these culinary challenges!

I think this suits me

I am starting to think that this sort of diet suits me really well, I have lost about 3 kg now and am feeling really good for it. Like I've said in previous blog posts I don't feel like I am denying myself at all and I feel as if I get to eat plenty.

The Negatrons Attack!

So what do you say when people ask 'why are you vegan?' It's such a hard question to answer quickly, plus with most people I don't want to get into the politics of it all.

I was at Coles the other day reading the ingredients on some raisin bread when an old lady said to me 'you won't get thin eating that!', I of course turned and smiled politely and told her ' I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm vegan'. We talked for a little while about what a vegan is and she left our conversation with a little more knowledge than she had before. But it struck me that I am going to get this a lot. When I proclaim 'I am vegan' to the vast majority of people they are going to expect me to 'explain myself'. Do I ask omnivores to explain to me how they can be OK with eating meat? to 'explain themselves' and haul them over the coals about how they are going to get adequate nutrition? No I don't because it's not my business, and not my problem. Amazing how bold complete strangers will be when you throw the word vegan at them. I can almost guarantee I eat a more wholesome nutrient filled diet than the average Australian by far!

I went to my parents place last weekend. I had previously told my Mum I am going vegan and had a long conversation about food with her. She is very knowledgeable about food like I am and by the end of our talk she had a myriad of ideas of what to cook for lunch when Tony and I came to visit.

So we arrived at Mums only to find out she was making gnocchi which has egg. I told her 'I can't eat that' to which she replied, 'well it's only a little bit'. The way she said it was like my beliefs don't matter to her at all, and that I was just going through a silly phase or something and I should stop being difficult.

My Dad was even worse. Those of you who know me know that I am very close to my Dad and we have a lot of fun. But he was incredibly disappointing. I'd even go so far as to say he was an asshole. I don't think I've thought of my Dad as an asshole since I was a teenager so that's saying a lot!

It was a constant barrage of 'jokes' about being vegan. Rather than let me explain what it's about he'd just talk over the top of me saying stupid shit like 'a man needs meat' and other bull crap. I was really hurt and really disappointed in him. I know my Dad can be set in his ways at times, but I really thought as this is something important to me he'd be more supportive. I am not asking him to go vegan, I'm just asking for support in my decisions to do something good for myself and good for the world.

I came away from that family lunch feeling like I'd just confessed I was taking up heroin. Really disappointing stuff.

My poor Polony

I was awoken yesterday morning at about 6.30 by a call from Tony 'Can you come get me, I've had an accident'.

Of course I thought the worst to start with, my mind reeled at all kinds of situations involving cars, riding into trees, skidding down hills etc. Tony's voice didn't sound right. Not just shaky because he gave himself a scare but like he was being careful to not move too much. I asked if he was OK, he said yes and I jumped in the car to go get him. Thankfully it wasn't too far away.

When I reached him he was holding a rather bloody towel up his face, on closer inspection he had ripped his chin open and a huge chunk of meat that used to be his chin was hanging down. Tony being the helpful boy he is was determined to help me get the bike in the car, I had to use my 'strict Mum voice' and make him sit in the car while I did it. Thankfully a guy was walking by with his dog and helped me with it. The trouble with Tony's bike is when you take off the wheels it's REALLY hard to get the breaks off. Then the next challenge was getting the bike into the Prelude. Yep this would happen the first day we don't have the Jazz!

So I took Tony to Freo hospital. It was almost deserted being so early, so we managed to see the triage nurse pretty quickly. She put a big bandage around Tony's head holding it all together. Eventually we managed to be taken through to see a Dr. She was quite young and I got the feeling as Freo is a teaching hospital she was still learning to an extent.

I'm not usually squeamish and have a pretty strong stomach. I was watching her irrigate the wound and wash it out, I even watched her poke a needle in and around the wound to deaden it. It wasn't until she was sticking her fingers right inside the wound to feel Tony's jaw bone to see if it was fractured that I started to feel hot and a bit icky. I had to sit down at that point, but I was OK then.

I could see Tony was getting very fidgety just wanting it all to be over. We eventually got the x-rays done, and then the Dr came back to give him 7 stitches. He also had to have a tetanus needle just to be safe.

So at last we were done and took him home. I set Tony up on the day bed with all the remotes and made him some breakfast. Looking at him now all stitched up he looks like he's been in a bar brawl. His pretty face is fairly messed up, as well as both his hands and knees poor love.

Well it will just take time now I guess to heal, and lots of hugs!

The most romantic song evera!

From a brilliant show ' The flight of the Concords'

It's been a week or so...

...and so far being vegan has been fine. I haven't felt deprived, I haven't felt like I am missing out on anything, I've just tried lots of new and interesting foods and recipes.

I have however been surprised by a lot of peoples negative reaction. I guess ignorance is bliss. It's easy to be derogatory when you know almost nothing about a subject. When I have more time I'll write more about that.


Interesting new food stuffs so far:
-tempeh
-millet
-kale
-vegan cupcakes
-butter beans
-gluten free pasta
-sprouted grain bread
-rice milk
-home made sour dough

Best vegan recipes so far:
-Mexican millet ....sooooo good!!
-Rosewater and pistachio vegan cupcakes

Most expensive vegan ingredient:
-virgin coconut oil (tasty though!)

Easiest vegan dinner:
-tempeh and veg udon noodle stir fry with cashews.

I sold my car!

Finally! I managed to sell my car. I didn't get as much for it as I had originally hoped, but I think sometimes you just have to cut your loses and go with it. At the end of the day the credit card interest this will save me will probably even out the extra money I would have got if I held out for another month or two.

So part of the 'deal' I cut was to get it serviced for them before they take it. Seeing Jane's husband Mike can do it for me cheap that's fine by me. So it will be interesting to see how we go being a one car family. I'm sure like anything it's just a matter of getting used to it.

We are becoming a bit of a hippy household when I think about it. Between me becoming vegan, going down to one car, cycling to work and carbon neutralising the car we have (on the to do list). I honestly feel like Tony and I are doing our bit to help our world.

Worth the wait

I have just removed a large loaf of organic white flour sour dough bread out of my oven. It has been 5 days in the making, but look magic and hopefully worth the wait.

So firstly you make what they call the 'starter' it takes 3 days of fermenting to get to a stage where you can use it. Then you make the 'sponge' this sits for a further day to day or 2. After that you finally make the dough. It has to rise and rest for an hour, you 'knock it back' or kneed it again, and another rest time and more rising. Then finally it's oven time! You know it's cooked when you can smell fresh bread and if you knock on the loaf it sounds hollow.

I will enjoy this a lot tomorrow with my Mum's homemade strawberry jam, or her apricot jam. Yummy!!

Happy Anniverary!

Today is the day that Tony and I have been 'together' for a year. This time last year was when we went on our first date. I remember the day like it was yesterday really. Tony picked me up from John St where I was still living at the time and drove us into Freo. We had beers and pizza at little creatures, then he came and hung out with me when I was door bitching at Mojos. Our date lasted 12 hours, so I think we were off to a good start.

Today we plan on having a lovely relaxing day in each others company. So far I've made Tony breakfast in bed, and later today we're going to the movies, followed by Tony making his first ever vegan dinner for me. Can't wait! :)

Mega shop!

The cupboards were a little bare after my non-vegan food clean out, so today after spending a lovely half a day with Mags I hit the food shops!

Coles in Fremantle has an amazingly large array of health foods and vegan friendly alternatives. I bought soy yogurt, vegie sausages, various types of tempeh, some silken tofu, soy milk, rice milk and also a number of interesting grains such as quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), millet and amaranth. All extremely healthful grains with far more nutrients than your average wheat and rice.

After that I wanted to buy some really good fresh veg, buying organic where price wasn't too crazy, and also buying local when I can. So I headed south of Freo to 'Peaches' a fabulous fruit and veg shop. They have an amazing array of organic food stuffs, not just fruit and veg but all kinds of stuff. Their fruit and veg is amazing too, everything is so fresh, I think it must be due to their high turn over. They also have labels on all the fresh produce to say what part of the world it comes from.

So now my cupboards are absolutely chockers full of all kinds of yumminess!

My vegan kitchen

So this afternoon I cleaned out the kitchen of any non-vegan food stuffs. I was really surprised that there was very little I had to get rid of out of the pantry. The fridge had a few more things, but again not too much. The freezer contained the most vegan unfriendly food stuffs.

So I bundled it all together and took it to Jane's place. Good thing for me she'd just had a fridge and freezer clean up so had enough room.

The only things left in the house now are milk, an almost empty box of chicken tenders and a few bits of chocolate. I left the milk for Tony as I know he likes cereal and milk in his tea. At this stage I don't expect him to give those things up and they won't bother me if he eats that stuff in front of me. The chicken tenders he has promised to eat in the next few days then not buy any more. The chocolate Tony has hidden from me and agreed to not eat it in front of me.

So tonight's dinner was satay vegies with brown rice and nuts. It was super-turbo yum!

Here's the secret to my satay sauce:
chunky peanut butter
tahini
sweet chilli sauce
soy sauce
minced garlic
minced ginger
any kind of jarred curry paste

a bit of this a bit of that, some hot water to make it runny and hey presto! yummy satay sauce!