The Vegan Snorkeler

A Peak into an Eagle's Nest

2011-04-09T16:43:00.000-04:00

I recently discovered this amazing website that lets you take a very close look into a bald eagle's nest. Seconds before I wrote this, I saw the mother eagle feed her two little baby eagles (one and two days old). It was awesome! The camera is set up in a neighboring tree. It is a live, 24 hour feed. There is one egg left to hatch. Check it out here: Duke Farms Eagle Cam. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey is working with Duke Farms to make sure the birds do not get disturbed by the camera. So cool! Check it out!

Great Vegan Haircare Product Line, Jane Carter Solution

2011-04-04T10:00:00.003-04:00

A little while back, I was sent a travel kit filled with some of Jane Carter Solution's greatest hits. Since I haven't been traveling lately, this kit has been sitting patiently on my bathroom shelf. Spring cleaning this weekend led me to rediscover the amazing contents of this kit. Travel or not, I decided it was time to try some of these vegan and natural products.

I have color treated hair that I'm semi obsessed with keeping shiny. These products totally fit the bill. After washing with Moisture Nourishing Shampoo, I conditioned with Nutrient Replenishing Conditioner and Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner. I was really impressed with the fresh, natural and clean scent of these products. The smell isn't overpowering, it's really pretty without being perfume-y (which I love!).

These products left my hair soft and ready for the damaging heat of the blow dryer. After blow drying, I usually like to add something to tame frizz and fight fly-aways. Jane Carter Solution Nourish & Shine works fantastically for this with these natural ingredients: Shea butter, Kokum butter, Illippe butter, Mango butter, Vitamins A, D, & E, pear and grapefruit essential oils. You can also add a few drops of Hair Nourishing Serum to Nourish & Shine for extra hair strengthening. The ingredients for Hair Nourishing Serum? Perfectly vegan and natural: Pure essential oils of lemon, ylang ylang, grapefruit, tangerine, rosemary, geranium vitamins A,D,E.

I'm loving the result! My hair is soft, silky, and shiny. I can't stop smelling my hair...the scent is fantastic! It doesn't feel waxy or heavy like other natural products. I'm so excited that this product line is vegan and natural. Take a look at this statement from Jane Carter Solution:

Our products do not contain any petro chemicals, alcohols, parabens or silicones. We use certified organic essential oils to fragrance our products. Our products contain no animal by products nor do they contain any ingredients that have been tested on animals. We use plant derived ingredients and natural oils and butters. Our products are vegan safe and kid friendly, they are also kind to the planet and great for your skin.

I can't believe I waited to try these products out! I'll be looking for full size versions of these products when I run out of the travel sizes. You can find Jane Carter Solution products in Whole Foods and Target or through their website.

Cute Vegan Shoes for Spring

2011-04-02T10:00:00.002-04:00

I love the 70's vibe that's happening this spring. A wish list...

olsenHaus from endless.com, $219.95

olsenHaus from endless.com, $265

Beyond Skin from endless.com, $250

Forever 21, $14.80

Forever 21, $24.80

Forever 21, $34.80

Payless, $24.99, also in denim

Lulu's, $20

Lulu's, $32, I love that coral!

Alternative Outfitters, $38

Eco-friendly Simple shoes from Alternative Outfitters, $55

Neuaura, $135

Meal Plan Monday with a Kris Carr Influence

2011-03-28T10:00:00.001-04:00

I took a much needed internet break for a while, but here I am again with a week's worth of meals and a grocery list.

Breakfast:

I've been reading Crazy Sexy Diet, and I want to try starting my day with green juice instead of protein smoothies on some days this week. Apparently, greens help alkalize your body and contain massive amounts of chlorophyll, which is super fab for you. I'm thinking of trying this smoothie in addition to some recipes from Kris Carr:

Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder (I like Biochem)
Chocolate Green SuperFoods
Kale
Frozen Banana
Almond Milk
Maybe some almonds

I've also come to love this juice combination:

some kale
half an organic cucumber, with the skin
2 green apples
a peeled lemon
ginger root

I found this deep blue sea smoothie recipe that I'm dying to try as well.

Lunch:

Kris Carr and many other health experts recommend a lot of raw food in the diet because of the enzyme content, among other things. Your body has to work less at digesting food which frees up energy for other crucial things. She recommends an 80/20 or 60/40 goal ratio of raw to cooked. I've been going close to 100% raw for lunch with salads for months now, so I'll continue that. I like an organic salad made up of mixed greens, romaine, chickpeas, cucumbers, carrots, avocados, walnuts, and berries or chopped apples. I like to sprinkle my salads with nutritional yeast and cayenne pepper. My dressing of choice lately has been olive oil and balsamic or sesame oil and apple cider vinegar.

Dinner:

I'm thinking Buddha Bowls. Grains, greens, and beans with a yummy dressing. I bought one of those Amy's frozen vegan pizzas on sale recently, which I like to cover with vegan cheese like Follow Your Heart Monterrey Jack or Daiya Mozzarella shreds (not very raw, but whatev!). I found this lentil walnut loaf recipe that I want to try. It's also been cold recently, so I think some soup would be perfect this week.

Here the shopping list:

almond milk
organic, raw almonds
bananas
organic mixed greens
organic romaine
organic kale
avocado
organic, raw walnuts
organic cucumbers
organic celery
organic broccoli
organic green apples
lemon
ginger root
organic cauliflower
organic spinach
organic red onions
organic scallions
garlic
mushrooms

I'll probably get some of the produce today, some a few days from now. I think it's better than way because the veggies are fresher. In addition to that:

lentils
millet
quinoa
black beans
tofu
tempeh
chickpeas
vegan cheese
spirulina
Amazing Grass Chocolate Green SuperFood

I like my sweets and desserts, so I'll most likely pick up a dark chocolate bar or two for a little after dinner treat. I'd like to try Vanilla Chia Tapioca Pudding from Crazy Sexy Diet too.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse with Raw Vanilla Sauce

2011-03-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have yet to try a raw dessert that I didn't like. I usually find that they're on the expensive side at restaurants, so I thought I'd try making my own. This raw chocolate mousse was super rich, crazy chocolate-y, and so easy to make!

The accompanying vanilla sauce was a nice complement that balanced out the intensity of the mousse. I got these recipes from Raw Food Made Easy for One or Two People, which has consistently surprised me with easy, raw, vegan, and insanely flavorful food. Seriously, this is the best chocolate mousse I've ever had. It's that good! Wondering how to get that amazing mousse like consistency? Avocados! I was a bit skeptical when I put all the ingredients in the blender, but what came out was heaven! Check out the mousse tart video on Jennifer Cornbleet's webpage for the recipe and the how-to on making this amazing raw dessert.

What is your favorite raw dessert? I'm looking for more raw vegan cookbooks, so any recommendations would be most appreciated!

Green Pasta

2011-03-02T10:00:00.001-05:00

Recently, I was super hungry and short on time. I had originally bought spinach fettuccine and organic edamame for something from Appetite for Reduction, but I didn't have the patience to follow a recipe on this particular evening. Instead, I quickly cooked the pasta and defrosted the frozen edamame in boiling water. I think the original recipe I was going to follow called for pesto, which would have been great, but I opted for some earth balance, olive oil, and salt instead. So not low fat, but so simple and sooooo good. There was a nice salty buttery-ness coating everything, which is so perfect with pasta. The edamame was fun and saved this dinner from being too carb-tastic. I'll definitely make this quickie again! And, I still want to try the Appetite recipe I originally bought these ingredients for too.

Mac and Trees and Buffalo Tempeh

2011-02-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

Here's my latest Appetite for Reduction meal. I used brown rice pasta, which I'm really loving lately, and the suggested vegan cheese sauce. I topped off the Mac and Trees with the super spicy Buffalo Tempeh. I didn't quite follow the recipe for the wings exactly. I didn't have a cayenne based hot sauce so I used Sriracha instead. Holy hotness! It was almost too hot, but still really fun on top of the mild Mac and Trees. Adding broccoli to the standard macaroni was a really good idea. It just goes well. The only part that I didn't love was the cheese. I replaced the all purpose flour in the recipe with whole wheat pastry flour, so that might be the reason. It's supposed to be low fat, and I suspect that might be another reason why it didn't quite work out as well as I'd hoped.

As far as vegan cheese sauces go, I love a similar flour-based cheese sauce from How it all Vegan. It only has one tablespoon of oil, no granulated garlic or onion flakes, and less flour. The only time I usually make this version of cheese sauce is when I make the accompanying Faux Eggs Benny recipe, but I might use this recipe the next time I make mac and trees. Come to think of it, it's been a while so I think I might bring it back the Faux Eggs Benny into the breakfast rotation.

My old standby mac and cheese recipe is also from a Sarah Kramer book, this time The Garden of Vegan. It's a bit tangy from a bit of apple cider vingar (which I love), it's got protein from the tofu, and I think it's pretty low in fat besides. Next time I make mac and trees, I'll try another cheese sauce to go with it. I think it might be worth finding a cayenne based hot sauce for the next time I want to make tempeh wings too.

Next post, a fast and yummy all green pasta dinner.

Peanut Butter Waffles

2011-02-25T10:00:00.014-05:00

The other day I wrote about the return of pancakes to my breakfast plate. Today, it's all about the waffles. Peanut butter waffles from Vegan Brunch, that is. I haven't eaten cakey, dessert like breakfasts in months. I was a little worried that I'd get a blood sugar spike and then crash after eating like this, but that so didn't happen. This recipe is easy and the resulting waffles are perfect if you're a peanut butter fan like me. I topped this bad boy with some Earth Balance and a little drizzle of maple syrup. It filled me up for hours and I felt great! This won't be an every morning type of breakfast for me, but it sure will make an appearance more often on the weekends.

Orange and Red for Breakfast

2011-02-23T10:00:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I've had pancakes for breakfast. I've mostly been having smoothies for breakfast during the week and oatmeal on the weekends. I was flipping through Vegan Brunch the other day and decided I needed more pancakes in my life. I went with the delicious pumpkin pancakes. I subbed whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour. They took a while to firm up on the pan, but once they did...oh, man. So worth the wait. I slathered on some Earth Balance and drizzled a bit of maple syrup on top for a dessert-worthy breakfast. To health it up a bit, a had some bright red and organic beet, apple, carrot, and ginger juice on the side.

Next post, Vegan Brunch peanut butter waffles!

A (Mostly) Good Run

2011-02-21T10:00:00.003-05:00

A view from my run.

We had some fantastically warm days last week, and I took advantage fully by running on the boardwalk. Finally, after months of snow and ice covering my favorite running spot, it's clear! The sky was overcast, which I sort of like. There was practically no one around, mostly just me and the sea gulls. I was perfectly warm in shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and a windbreaker. It's been so long since I ran this route, it felt amazing! In fact, I pushed myself a little too far to cover my usual route too quickly. Weirdly, my hip started to get a little pinch to it when I was almost home. I didn't really think too much of it, because I was almost done and it wasn't too bad. The thing is, it got worse as the day went on. I've never experienced a hip injury, and as you can imagine, it sucks. I've been icing and resting it, and I keep hoping it will heal up so I can get back out there. There is nothing quite like the soft ocean breeze, the sound of the waves and the boards, and the feeling that warm spring weather is coming soon.

The Green Bean Cafe

2011-02-18T18:52:00.000-05:00

A selection of vegan and raw treats from the Green Bean Cafe

I rarely ever have a reason to venture to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but I did end up there last weekend. Totally by chance, I happened to walk by a great little vegan cafe on York Ave between 75th and 76th. I had an amazing coconut smoothie made with fresh coconuts and a raw tiramisu. The smoothie selection is amazing, I grabbed a take out menu so that I could replicate some of these at home. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend checking out the Green Bean Cafe!

Starting the Day with Sun Salutations

2011-02-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

As soon as I wake up, I like to start the day with a few Astanga yoga sun salutations. They stretch and strengthen, get the blood flowin', and help me wake up. There's a specific kind of breathing you do in Astanga that sort of sounds like waves at the beach. I did a LOT of these before I learned how to surf to build core and arm strength. Here's a great demonstration of Surya Namaskara A and B (Sun Salutation A and B) I found on YouTube.

The person in this video does some amazing transitions that sort of look like she's almost doing a handstand. My transitions don't look quite like this, but it is actually easier than it looks. Traditionally, you do Sun Salutation A about 5 times, then move onto about 5 Sun Salutation B's. Once completed, you move onto the Primary Series of Astanga Yoga. Since I'm often pressed for time in the morning, I usually just do a few A's and B's, then some of my favorite postures from the Primary Series.

I love Astanga! I've been practicing it for years, but the biggest challenge for me is finding the time for my practice. Waking up to sun salutations is my way of fitting some Astanga in every day. Do you practice yoga? Do you have a morning practice?

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

Photo: Oceania Island Living

There's a tiny part of the gigantic Great Barrier Reef where the coral polyps have shaped themselves into a heart. The only way to see it is by air. I am lucky enough to have gone diving and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, and I can say it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. For more information about seeing this reef, which I didn't actually see when I was there, check out this website: http://www.whitsundays-australia.com/. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Finally Running Outside Again

2011-02-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Though I love living where I do, winter is definitely not my favorite season. I'm super jealous of those of you that have been running in 75 degree sunny bliss. Here's what the sidewalks look like by me:

The snow and ice starting melting into slush, the streets were wet but not icy. I had a small window of opportunity for an outside run. I kept a gloriously slow but steady pace on wet streets in the rain. It was 34 degrees, but I was warm and the rain felt great!

My usual running spot is on the boardwalk, but as you can see it still has some melting to do. As long as we don't get more snow and ice, I'll keep to the empty beach parking spots by the boardwalk. I can't wait to be back on the boards!

Tofu Chimichurri, Cauliflower Chickpea Soup, and Baked Onion Rings

2011-02-09T10:00:00.014-05:00

Last week, I tried the Tofu Chimichurri and Caulipots recipes from Appetite for Reduction. Caulipots are basically healthier mashed potatoes. There's some boiled cauliflower mashed in with the potatoes. I didn't totally follow the recipe since I prepared it with unsweetened almond milk and Earth Balance. It was really good! I wouldn't know there was cauliflower in this meal at all if I didn't make it. The Tofu Chimichurri wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was still good and I'll make it again.

This is blended cauliflower, veggie broth, and chickpea soup with some nutritional yeast generously sprinkled on top. This recipe is based on something I saw in a magazine, it ended up being a winner! The nutritional yeast brought it to the next level.

The OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings from Appetite for Reduction were really fun! I haven't had onion rings in a while, I generally don't like the deep-fried greasiness. These bad boys were pretty easy to prepare with a fast cooking time. They weren't oily at all, just soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

I'll be trying out more from Appetite this week, I'll let you know how it goes!

Meal Plan Monday

2011-02-07T10:00:00.003-05:00

I'm copying Shellyfish's Meal Plan Monday blogging idea. I plan out most of my meals every weekend. When I go food shopping, I mostly stick to the list. It makes grocery shopping and dinner making so much easier when it's all planned out ahead of time. I pretty much use up everything I buy by the end of the week, so there's not a lot that goes to waste. The time I spend planning on the weekend really helps me eat well during my hectic and busy work week.

This week, I plan on making:

Breakfast smoothies- I'm feeling organic frozen strawberries and coconut milk this week. There's also a pear ginger smoothie recipe in Thrive that I want to try. I have hemp protein, flax seeds, and chia seeds on hand, so no need to buy my smoothie staples.

Salad for lunch-I'm on a Romaine kick lately. I have some brown rice, quinoa, and some beans I can add to it. I will be buying random veggies that catch my eye to spice it up a bit, and I already have dressing.

Dinner:

Monday-Clean Mac and Cheese with Kale Chips

I made this last week and loved it! Really, it's just brown rice pasta with kale, kale chips following this recipe, and tahini dressing from Vegan with a Vengeance. I call it Clean Mac and Cheese because it's something I could eat during the Clean detox and it has a mac and cheese consistency. The balsamic and garlic tahini paired with the crispy, nutritional yeast covered kale chips are amazing.

Tuesday-Apple Miso Tofu with Scallion Potato Pancakes from Appetite for Reduction (most of this week's dinners will be from this book)

Wednesday-Hummus and Curry Lentil Crackers from Thrive

Thursday-Spinach Linguine with Edamame Pesto from Appetite for Reduction

Friday- Buffalo Tempeh with Mac and Trees from Appetite for Reduction

Appetite for Reduction and Thrive are my newest cookbooks, I'm having some fun trying out new recipes! Most of them have been amazing so far. I'll share some of my favorites on Wednesday.

My New Weekday Morning Routine

2011-02-04T17:28:00.000-05:00

Coffee Update, four hours after last post:

Ugh...crashing...hard. Hard to concentrate. Tired, fuzzy brain. Thoughts are scattered, bad mood, cranky, snippy. I didn't expect such a strong reaction, and I don't like it at all.

Reflection, today:

Though I couldn't wait to go back to coffee during Clean, this reaction left me feeling the worst I've felt in a month. I could go back to my old ways, but why would I when it makes me feel like this? The effect of caffeine was so strong! I'm not saying I'll never drink coffee again, but I've definitely experienced a shift. I felt horrible! As a former coffee junkie, I can see that I'm officially rehabbed. What?! Yes! I'm no longer a coffee fanatic.

Instead of the coffee maker, my new kitchen appliance of choice in the morning has become my blender. During Clean, I made sure to add a full scoop of hemp protein to each smoothie. It has a taste that can be a little overpowering. Since I mostly avoided any sweetener during Clean, I decided to try a new smoothie recipe with bananas and dates to see if it would make the hemp taste mellow out a bit.

The chocolate almond smoothie from Thrive was a great inspiration. I mostly followed the recipe. I didn't use quite as much water, added a little almond milk, and used cocoa, not carob. I think I used more than the tablespoon he recommended too. This smoothie is sweetened with a banana and two organic dates, I used a little less hemp than I used on Clean, and it was perfect. It gave me a sustained energy and left me full all the way 'til lunch.

I love the taste of coffee, so I will definitely have it again (probably on the weekends, and in moderation). During the week, it looks like it will be protein smoothies for me. I'll let you know how it goes!

Coffee, Straight Up

2011-02-02T10:00:00.015-05:00

Wow, my first cup in like a month (no caffeine on the Clean Program)!

Can you just smell those beans?

Starting small, don't want to be a crazed maniac.

Oh yeah...there it is. That's the good stuff. Straight up, no sweetener, no milk.

How does it feel? Fantastic! Though my thoughts are a little scattered and I keep shaking my foot. Woo hoo! Coffee!!!

Vegan Clean Program, I'm Done!

2011-01-31T10:00:00.088-05:00

Twenty-one days ago, I started following a veganized version of Dr. Alejandro Junger's Clean Program. I drank a healthy organic smoothie for breakfast, had a whole foods lunch, and a soup for dinner. I snacked on yummy things like organic kale chips and raw organic cashews, and sometimes I had a juice for dessert.

Blended curried split pea soup from Vegan With a Vengeance

Overall, I feel really good. Three weeks later and no complaints here. I've lost two pounds and a teeny bit of body fat, and my clothes fit better. Weight loss wasn't one of my goals, I followed the Clean Program because I wanted to press restart after too many sugar cookies over the holidays. I wanted to pick up some more healthy habits, and maybe make a difference in the way I react to certain allergens.

I discovered the deliciousness of kale chips while on Clean!

The verdict? I'm really happy that I saw this through. It wasn't always easy, especially with my busy schedule. I went without sugar for the longest time I can remember. I mean, I had fruit and a bit of agave here and there, but I'm talking about straight up sugar. I feel good about that. We installed a water filter on the tap in our kitchen. I thought it would be expensive or a pain, but it was like $20 at Target and really easy to install. I drank filtered water with organic lemon throughout the day. I started skin brushing regularly. I left a 12 hour window between my last meal of the day and my first. I started my day with a healthy smoothie and usually ended it with a healthy juice. These are habits I could easily continue.

I have allergies to cats, and on Day 20, I spent some time at a house with a cat. I love kitties, and they love me. They always end up rubbing on me, and I always end up petting them (it's hard not to!). Usually, this ends with hives, fatigue, and a stuffy nose. On Day 20 and 21...no reaction. I couldn't believe it! Could it be that simple changes in my diet made this happen? I've been getting allergy shots for almost a year now, but this is the first time I haven't had a reaction in what seems like forever. The weird thing is, I was getting hives during Clean, so at one point during the 21 days I came to the conclusion that the Detox wasn't fixing my allergies. The fact that I didn't react to the cat was really awesome and surprising!

It wasn't all smooth sailin' on Clean, though. There were definite moments of frustration and hunger. If I got hungry during the day, I'd snack on a Clean approved food. I found I had the hardest time on Friday nights, after dinner. It's hard to find the resolve to say no to seemingly healthy food like popcorn while watching a movie. I would make some tea and move on, and I found my craving would pass without any drama.

Now that it's done, I look forward to sneaking in a little coffee back in my life. It's been a almost a month! The only strong cravings I had were for coffee, so I'm going to bring it back. After Clean, you're supposed to bring certain foods and drinks on the "no" list back gradually to see how you react. Since my diet was healthy to begin with, I don't think I'll see too much of a problem. It will be interesting to see how my allergies go. After coffee, I'm bringing back peanut butter, bananas, soy, then gluten. I'll definitely post updates on how it goes!

Have you ever given up coffee? How did it go?

Hop Like a Marsupial

2011-01-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

I saw kangaroos in Australia. Lots and lots of them. They are amazing animals! I took these photos at an animal sanctuary where we got to walk around with them. It was one of the coolest things ever!!!

About to hop!

Aaaaawwww....sleepy joey and mommy 'roo.

I am in awe of their body structure. So cool!

Wallaby in the sun.

I love to watch them go!

Kale Chips!

2011-01-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

Wow, do I love kale chips! I am a huge fan of kale in general, but this is my first time making them into chips. The finished product is delicate and crispy. It has a potato chip crunch, and it's so good for you!

There are tons of recipes for kale chips on the internet, but I decided to use this recipe that included nutritional yeast, sesame oil, and apple cider vinegar. It also calls for tamari, but I can't do soy during the Clean Program. Here is what I did.

-a bunch of organic kale
-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
-1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
-1 tablespoon sesame oil
-about 1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Take a large bowl and mix together the nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, salt, and sesame oil. Add small pieces (about 2 inches) of ripped kale, avoiding large stems. Mix it all together with your hands. Take the time to rub in the nutritional yeast mixture to make sure it's really evenly coated.

Put it on a baking sheet that has parchment paper on it. Bake for about 15 minutes. The end result should be crispy, you can put it in for 5 more minutes if it's not totally crisp.

I like this mixture raw too! In fact, I think it will be the basis for most of my salads this week.

Clean Program, Week 2

2011-01-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Week Two is over, and I officially have seven days left on the Clean Program. Today, I feel well rested, strong, and healthy. I feel good!

This week was a really busy one for me. I got home late, I stayed up late, I woke up late, I barely had enough time to get dressed in time for my commute let alone make a smoothie. I found myself randomly getting a strong urge for some coffee while at work, but other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing.

I skipped the breakfast smoothie on Day 11. I made up for it on Day 12 with a frozen organic raspberry, cocoa, almond milk smoothie with hemp powder and chia seeds. On most other days this week, the base of my breakfast smoothie was coconut milk, almond milk, hemp powder, chia seeds, and ground flaxseeds. I added frozen organic fruit like peaches and blueberries. They are super filling! I found that I like cold, thick drinks in the winter. I am so surprised by that! There's snow on the ground, yet I like my cold smoothie. Here's a particularly thick version, in a coffee mug.

For most of the week, lunch was not exciting since I have to cook it the night before and bring it to work, and I haven't had the time to do this important Clean meal any justice. I tried to make a lovely millet and artichoke risotto from the Clean website that was supposed to be nurtured with frequent stirring but ended up being rushed. The result was pretty blah. I repeated the quinoa, lentil, spinach mixture from last week. One definite winner this week was this meal made of balsamic glazed portabella mushrooms from Vegan With a Vengeance and saffron brown rice from Veganomicon.

This weekend I made crabless cakes, a Clean recipe from their website. It was made up of cashews, coconut flakes, celery, carrots, onion, sea salt, pepper, and kelp powder. It was suggested to serve it with mustard and sauerkraut, but I would have preferred it with Vegenaise. I'll probably make it again after the detox.

I eventually had time to heat up the artichoke millet risotto with more veggie broth, and it came out so much better. Here it is with some kale and crabless cakes.

In addition to organic honeycrisp apples, hummus and carrots, raw cashews, and raw almonds, I made kale chips to snack on. They are so amazing! I'll post the recipe I used later this week.

Dinner during week 2 was either white bean and roasted garlic soup from my last Clean post or some green juice. Here's spinach, celery, green apple, ginger, and lemon juice.

An exciting update on my allergies is when I got my allergy shots, the injection site didn't swell up like crazy like it normally does. Weird, huh? It will be interesting to see if this continues. Does this mean that coffee and gluten make me more sensitive to allergens? I hope not! After week 3, I'm supposed to incorporate the foods I wasn't supposed to eat gradually into my diet and see how I react. I'll have to think about what food on the Clean "no" list will make an appearance first. Soy? Gluten? Coffee? Nightshades like potatoes? Bananas? I'll keep you posted!

Brisbane Picture Walk

2011-01-22T00:41:00.000-05:00

When I was in Brisbane, we explored the city under clear blue skies and sunshine. Brisbane has a special place in my heart. I met friendly and down to earth people, had delicious soy lattes, found an amazing book store, and generally wandered around and saw cool things while dodging the occasional flying fox and sidestepping around a massive cane toad. Brisbane was our home base while we explored the magnificent natural attractions nearby (more on that soon!).

Watching Brisbane on the news recently, seeing some of my favorite places completely covered in muddy water, just made me so sad. My heart goes out to Brisbane. In honor of this awesome city, here is a little photo journey of my time there.

After flying in from Cairns, we checked in to our hotel and explored the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, which was nearby.

The mangrove boardwalk was really cool. It was the kind of day that was just the perfect temperature for walking.

Model shoot! This was in the background.

These birds were like the pigeons of Brisbane, they were roaming around anywhere people ate food outside. I'm used to pigeons, but these guys are huge! And their beaks! I looked it up, they're Australian White Ibis. We also saw two kookaburra right in the same spot.

We wandered over a cool pedestrian bridge and ended up in a little park that led to an amazing sculptural path covered in vines with bright pink flowers.

It seems like the perfect city for running!

Ultimately, the cool little path led us to a somewhat disappointing food court area. I ate something unmemorable, and watched in quiet horror as these giant birds jumped onto tables and tried to eat people's scraps. They're HUGE! Just as annoying as pigeons but MASSIVE! It was crazy, but this guy totally brought it onto himself because he was feeding them. Yikes.

I was almost tempted to check out the views on the Ferris wheel, but my height tolerance met it's limit for the entire stay in Brisbane because of the fact that our hotel room had an open balcony on the 30-something floor. I could barely sleep without dreaming about being on the very edge of a great height, so I had to pass.

Of course, we ate delicious vegan food there too. After working up an appetite one night, we wandered to the Queen Street Mall and passed a Japanese restaurant. We checked it out and ended up eating there. Right when you walked in, there was an autographed photo of Willem Dafoe. We were so hungry, and though we were a little out of our element (it was pretty fancy), I thought I remembered he was vegan, so we went for it. I didn't take pictures of the avocado rolls I got, but I did take these.

I don't even remember what this was, but we were assured that they were vegan. Sono is located at 202 Edward Street.

Located at 124 Boundary Street in West End, The Forest is Brisbane's answer to the organic hippie vegan establishment. Though we're not hippies in the slightest, we were more in our element in this downtown, casual place. It was more in our price range too. I didn't take food pics there because we met up with friends and I got a little shy. I had an organic and really good burger and salad. I loved being able to order absolutely anything on the menu!

This tofu and veggie combo was budget-friendly and most welcome.

We ate at City Wok on 99 Elizabeth Street a few times. They had meat dishes and vegetarian dishes, the setting was very basic, and the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Brisbane at night felt safe and was really fun. This is the outside of the casino.

Here is more information about the impact of the flood on Brisbane.

<p><a href="http://video.news.com.au/1746010898/Brisbane-to-return-to-life-on-Monday">VIDEO: Brisbane to return to life on Monday</a></p>

No Sugar Apple Crisp

2011-01-19T10:00:00.003-05:00

After the holidays and before my Clean Program detox, I decided I needed a serious break from sugar. Typically, I start the day with coffee and later have a small baked good. Sometimes it's a homemade muffin or a slice of pumpkin or cinnamon bread. One of my favorites is coffee cake. I needed something less sugary, but still sweet. I immediately thought of organic apples, since they're sweet and easily available at my favorite food stores. Apple crisps are so easy to make, they only require a few ingredients that take minutes to assemble, and they taste amazing. I started by chopping about 4 apples with the skins and placing them into an 8 by 8 baking dish.

Then, I sprinkled cinnamon all over the apples and mixed them right in the baking dish with my hands.

Now, on to the topping. I took some oatmeal, chopped walnuts, whole wheat pastry flour, more cinnamon, and a bit of nutmeg and stirred them together in a bowl.

After that, I added some canola oil and a tiny bit of agave and stirred again.

Finally, I placed the topping over the apples in the baking dish, like this.

I baked the crisp at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. I knew it was done when the smell coming out of the kitchen was amazing, the apples were sizzling, and they looked something like this.

I had a little bit whenever I craved something sweet. The crunchy walnut, the filling oatmeal, and the apple-cinnamon combination was perfect!

I will definitely make this again after I finish my Clean detox, since I'm taking a break from gluten during the cleanse. I bet this would be amazing with peaches in the summer! Can't wait to try that!

Clean Program, Week 1 Recap

2011-01-17T10:37:00.000-05:00

Week 1 is over! 14 more days to go! This past week, I began each day with a smoothie and some supplements. Monday and Tuesday I had a blueberry, coconut milk, avocado, cinnamon smoothie. Wednesday and Thursday was blueberry, almond milk, cocoa, and a little bit of agave. The recipes for these smoothies are in the Clean book. I added a full serving of hemp protein powder and about a teaspoon of ground flax seed and chia seeds to each smoothie and took my daily vegan multivitamin, omega 3, calcium, enzyme and probiotic supplements. I really enjoyed these smoothies! Friday and Saturday were more of a coconut milk, pineapple vibe that was ultimately just OK. Breakfast used to be sugary black coffee, so this is a vast improvement to say the least. I feel full and ready to face the day with these babies. No more sugar/caffeine crashes. That said, I sure do miss my coffee. When the cleanse is all said and done, I'll probably continue with the smoothies for breakfast, but I'm definitely bringing the occasional cup of java back into my life.

Lunch on the Clean Program should be whole foods and can be cooked. Early in the week, I started with a quinoa, lentil, spinach dish. I sauteed onion and garlic, added about a teaspoon of oregano, and I cooked the quinoa in veggie broth. I sauteed the spinach with garlic and olive oil, and I seasoned the lentils that I placed on top with salt and pepper.

On Wednesday, I had a salad with mixed greens, avocado, and nori with a generous sprinkling of nutritional yeast and a healthy dash of cayenne pepper. This recipe is from Thrive. I used the Vegan With a Vengeance recipe for a balsamic/tahini dressing. Yum! After my salad I sliced up some cucumber and ate it with more of the dressing. It's so good! On Thursday and Friday, I had the same salad but added a bunch of chickpeas.

This weekend's lunch was brown rice veggie sushi with no soy sauce. I didn't make this (I wish!), I bought it at a store.

For dinner this week, I mostly had butternut squash soup.

This weekend, I made the white bean and roasted garlic soup from VWAV, but I made a slight change. I added a bunch of spinach to make it green. So good!

Since I have such a sweet tooth and I'm a dessert fanatic, I usually have an apple, lemon, ginger juice after dinner. I've been adding greens and cucumber to my apple, lemon, ginger base to make them healthier.

Some other healthy habits I picked up this week include drinking water with lemon (and a lot of it!), and leaving at least a 12 hour gap between my last meal in the evening and my first meal in the morning.

Have I seen any improvements during week 1? Well, I'm super allergic to dust. For whatever reason, I decided to do a massive clean out of my house (clean body, clean house, I guess?), exposing myself to some dust. Usually, I get a runny nose, itchy eyes, and I break out in hives immediately. This week, the reaction was slower and less intense. That said, I did get hives this week. Not sure if it's reasonable to expect anything major after only one week.

The other thing is I've been going to an hour and a half hot yoga class, and I'm usually really sore and tired the next day. This week, my recovery was really fast. This could be because I've been sleeping more, maybe my muscles are getting used to the routine, but the faster recovery was great. Unfortunately, the roads around here and the boardwalk are still covered in snow and ice, so no running for me.

Though the transition from my usual diet to the Clean diet wasn't super dramatic, I did have a tough time on Day 5. I was stressed from work, and I was hungry. I was sick of the same soup and salad I kept making out of convenience, and I started thinking this whole detox idea was stupid. I then reminded myself that there really was no reason to let myself get hungry while doing this. I specifically liked this detox because you can eat real food on it. So, I went shopping the next day, had sushi and snacked on Clean-approved food before and after lunch. Now I'm totally fine.

Goal for next week: I want to make kale chips to snack on, and I'm looking for a good recipe. Have you ever tried kale chips?

Grapeseed Oil and Crazy Rumors

2011-01-14T10:00:00.040-05:00

Photo from crazyrumors.com

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some winter dry skin solutions that have really helped me out this year. I was looking for a non-waxy vegan lip balm that lasted. Well, I found one!

I tried a Crazy Rumors lip balm in the past and didn't love it. They have a line of flavors inspired by coffee, but I think the flavor I picked out just didn't work out for me. I know they're vegan and use organic ingredients, so when I recently saw a display in a store I opened up some of the testers to smell some of their new flavors. French Vanilla won me over, so I bought it. I'm not sure if Crazy Rumors reworked their formula, but I really love this lip balm now! I've been using it every day with great results. My lips haven't been chapped since I added it to the Lush lip scrub in the morning, organic cocoa butter/coconut oil at night routine.

I also figured another great dry skin solution that has totally been a life saver. I find that my favorite lotions that I use all year need to be amped up in the winter. After the shower, I've been slathering on a bit of organic grapeseed oil before I layer on my lotion. It makes all the difference! I feel like the lotion traps the goodness of the grapeseed oil right next to my skin.

What are some of your favorite vegan lotions and lip balms?

P.S. I've written about the cute vegan shoe selection at Lulu's before, Statements in Fashion is hosting a Lulu's $25 gift card giveaway until Wednesday, January 19th. You might want to check it out!

St. Kilda and Lord of the Fries

2011-01-12T10:00:00.067-05:00

While staying in Melbourne, we took a day trip to St. Kilda, a suburb just south of the city. We walked around and headed to the breakwater to look for fairy penguins. Camera poised and ready, we carefully climbed wet rocks on the lookout for these tiny birds...unfortunately, we didn't see any. Overall, it was a quiet kind of day. It reminded me of November at the Jersey Shore, most of the rides and games are closed, few people walking around, and just one or two restaurants open. St. Kilda sort of had a less seedy Coney Island kind of vibe.

The quiet streets had some fun little shops and some of the houses had Victorian architecture. The slanted boardwalk surprised me, this was my first time seeing a boardwalk that wasn't raised off the sand. Kind of weird, but cool.

It was the middle of Australian winter with temps in the low 50's F. The beach was empty, but I could see why this would be a popular destination in the hot summer months. I don't have food pictures, but we did eat at Soul Mama, a vegetarian buffet-style restaurant with beach views.

After walking around for a while, the cold sea breeze started to get a bite to it. We walked into the building that housed the St. Kilda Sea Baths, a spa, and Soul Mama. The place was expansive with a nice lounge area, really fancy restrooms, and a fireplace going. It kind of had a high end beach restaurant/ski lodge effect, and it was most welcome! Hunting for fairy penguins works up an appetite, and it gets cold in southern Victoria!

We settled in and after figuring out that we wanted the option of rice and four selections from the buffet (we had three choices: soup and salad, rice and four choices, and a bigger one that I can't remember), we ate. Overall, I was happy with Soul Mama. Some of the selections were a little plain, but their menu does change seasonally and you can definitely taste the freshness of the veggies. As always, we couldn't turn down a vegan chocolate cake, so we topped off our meal with that and headed back to Melbourne on the tram.

Earlier in the day, after finding enough change to cover the journey and before making our way to the tram, breakfast was in order. Since Lord of the Fries was right across from the train station, we decided on some vegan fast food.

You would never know that this place was vegetarian if you didn't come up close and read their sign that says, "100% veg". It was always packed with students and business people.

While their delicious fries are in the name, their other specialty is vegan nuggets and veggie burgers. On this particular day, I decided on the breaded and fried soy protein that is their chicken nuggets.

You had a choice of sauce, and I went with the "Aussie": they call it tomato sauce and vinegar, I call it ketchup. The "American" sauce is barbeque, and I definitely had that on another occasion. Sometimes you just have to go for the quick and easy food. Lord of the Fries was a really fun and economical treat for a couple of traveling vegans!

Getting Clean, the Vegan Way

2011-01-08T17:57:00.000-05:00

I ate too many white, processed, sugary foods over the holidays, and I want to give my body a rest. I'd like to press reset and maybe learn a few more healthy recipes and adopt some healthier habits. So, I'm going to follow a veganized version of the Clean Program. It's a 21 day detox plan that utilizes whole foods, avoids common allergens, and is written by an MD.

Dr. Alejandro Junger details the why's and how's of his program in his book, Clean. I thought a lot of what he wrote made sense, the only issue I have with it is that he says it's OK to eat some animals. Dr. Junger writes that organic lamb, chicken, and fish are OK to eat while detoxing, but I obviously am not going to do that.

He does have plenty of vegan recipes in the program and it's generally vegan friendly. As a vegan I'm already pretty "clean", but to faithfully do the cleanse I also need to take a break from caffeine, sugar, gluten, soy, corn, nightshade vegetables like potatoes, some fruits that are common allergens, and processed food. The diet consists of a smoothie for breakfast, a whole food lunch that can be cooked, and a smoothie, juice, or soup for dinner. You can have snacks too, if you really need them. The idea is to reduce acidity in the body, reduce the toxic load, and eliminate any possible allergens and foods that could promote inflammation in the body.

Apparently, strawberries and chocolate are common allergens. Bananas and wheat are acid-making foods, grapefruit tends to suppress some key liver functions when detoxing, and peanuts tend to have fungus on them. Corn is often genetically modified, and caffeine taxes the adrenal glands. The goal is to create a nice, gentle, chilled out state in your body so that it can heal itself.

So what can I eat on Clean? A lot of my favorite foods! Kale, quinoa, brown rice, ginger, apples, cashews, green juices, smoothies, lentils, most vegetables, soup. I think this will be a healthier, slightly amped up version of what I usually try to do.

To prepare for the detox, you're supposed to gradually eliminate some of the detox-unfriendly foods from your diet. I knew my biggest challenge was going to be my morning coffee. So, this week I slowly weaned myself off. On Monday, it was my usual travel mug full of black coffee with a scoop of organic sugar. Tuesday, half a mug without sugar. I had a giant headache. On Wednesday, I replaced my coffee with a green juice (my favorite: green apple, lemon, ginger). I was tired all day! Thursday came along, juice again. Weirdly, I wasn't tired! It was the opposite, I had all this extra energy in the morning-almost too much. On Friday, I juiced again and I was fine. I actually expected a more dramatic state of affairs. Maybe all the natural sugars in the juice helped me out there.

I'm planning out my meals now so that I can go food shopping and start full-force on Monday morning. I'm not a morning person, apparently this program will help me with that. I'm also hoping for a miraculous cure for my allergies. I tend to get hives when I come into contact with environmental allergens like pet dander, dust, and pollen.

Next week, I'll update you on Week 1 of the vegan Clean Program. In the meantime, look out for a post on vegan St. Kilda and a fabulous vegan lip balm.

Have you ever detoxed? I'm looking for yummy juice and smoothie recipes, so if you have one, let me know!

Sloppy Joes, Tempeh Puffs, and Cajun Chickpea Cakes

2011-01-07T10:00:00.007-05:00

Here are some dinner hilights from the past week or two.

Snobby Joes from Veganomicon

This is my favorite Sloppy Joe recipe. I love the fact that there's no fake meat in it, just veggies, spices, and lentils.

Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs from Vegan Brunch

Tempeh Puffs from Vegan Brunch are a fun treat. I usually stay away from puff pastry, but combined with this super savory Italian-seasoned tempeh, it's one of my favorite recipes from Vegan Brunch.

Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes from Vegan Dad

I had my eye on this recipe for a while. It didn't disappoint! Super yummy, and I will definitely make it again.

Tofu Dinner Favorites from Tofu Cookery

2011-01-04T10:00:00.035-05:00

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Since Santa brought me two new vegan books, I had to make some room on my cookbook shelves. Looking through, I realized how awesome and important some of these books are and the impact they've had on me. They took me from Slightly Anemic Teenage Junk Food Vegan that can make toast and spaghetti to Super Healthy Whole Foods Vegan that can actually cook!

Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler was one of my first vegan cookbooks. I remember flipping through this book thinking that these recipes were so unusual. Back then, I didn't cook much and I wasn't too concerned with healthy eating. If I'm remembering correctly, it was a Christmas gift from a family friend. The pictures looked so good, but recipes were so foreign to me. Could I really make dinners that looked like this? Looking back, this might have been one of the best presents ever because it was the beginning of my vegan cooking life. These days, the pages are stained and folded in evidence to the important place it has on my cookbook shelf. Here are two of my favorites:

Barbequed Tofu

Seen here with sauteed kale, this barbequed tofu is made with frozen tofu and a few other simple ingredients like black pepper, soy sauce, and peanut butter. It's easy to make and soooo delicious!

Sesame Tofu

This is one of my favorite tofu dishes ever, and I've had some crazy amazing tofu in my life. The combination of ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, and soy sauce are just perfect! Both of these dishes are baked, so they aren't oily or heavy at all. Just crispy and delicious!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T14:50:00.001-05:00

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Happy 2011! It's a balmy 53 degrees here at the Jersey Shore. Plows and front end loaders scooped up most of the snow that was blocking the roads, and now the sun is doing the rest. Yay! I could almost feel spring and longer days around the corner!

It's time for resolutions, so here are some of mine. I like to think of them more as wishes or goals because some of them are pretty out there and it's really not a huge deal if they don't happen in 2011.

1. Go to Southeast Asia. Eat Thai curries in Thailand, scuba dive, see ruins in Cambodia.
2. Surf. Anywhere really, but preferably in warm water with waves that are challenging but not completely terror-inducing. A trip to Hawaii, perhaps? Maybe Puerto Rico or Costa Rica? I don't know! I might end up just buying a wetsuit and surfing New Jersey.
3. Scuba dive. Somewhere warm, clear, and tropical.
4. Visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. I've read all the books over and over, so to have the book come to life would be amazing! Is butterbeer vegan? I don't know, but I'd like to find out!
5. Use less sugar. This is coming straight from the sugar-heavy holiday season, I've had too many cookies. Maybe use brown rice syrup and agave in place of it in baked goods.
6. Run a 5K. There's an annual Harbor Seal 5K in Seaside that raises money for the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. That sound like a good fit for me!
7. Get crafty. I want to learn how to make cool stuff like here and here. I have a glue gun, now I want to use it!

Warm Vegan Travel Wishes, Still Stuck in the Snow

2010-12-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

The Jersey Shore/NYC snow situation is still totally crazy! My car has been completely snowed in for days because of the intensity of the snow. Major highways have only now began to open one lane. There's about three feet of snow everywhere! My snowbound brain has led me to websites that show warm beaches. My restless feet just want to go to the beach and take pictures. It seems that other snowbound people have made some footpaths through the snow, so hopefully I can get up there today.

I've been on a tight budget lately, so upcoming travel is going to be tricky. I'm determined to make it work though, and dreaming is free! I have miles saved up on a few airlines, so not including airfare, these options might actually work. Since I'm surrounded by snow right now and really love the beach life, I want scuba, snorkel, and surfing experiences. Delicious vegan food and good coffee are sort of a necessity, though I have been known to do without while traveling to really cool places. Here is a random list of places I've been thinking about lately.

Puerto Rico

Kayaking in a bioluminescent bay, surfing waist to chest high waves, sipping pina coladas after scuba diving...sounds pretty good to me! There's a bunch of vegetarian listings for PR on Happy Cow.

Costa Rica

Surfing, diving, hiking, I've always wanted to go to Costa Rica!

Miami

Flights from the NJ/NYC/Philly area to Miami are pretty cheap, and I remember finding a hotel bargain in a really good area smack dab in the middle of South Beach.

Hawaii (remember, this is not including airfare)

I've been to Kauai, and to this day it's one of the best places I've ever been. Now I'd like to try out Oahu or Maui. There's gotta be some budget hotels there, right? I'll find out and keep you posted!

Blizzard at the Jersey Shore

2010-12-27T19:22:00.000-05:00

On Christmas, I went to the beach for a quiet moment and snapped a few photos. Little did I know that in about 24 hours, an epic blizzard would hit, and the entire Jersey Shore would be blanketed in more than 2 feet of snow!

The total amount of snow in my town is officially 30 inches. It's crazy! I couldn't open my back door so I climbed out a window to get to a shovel. The most shallow snow was over my knees, making it really hard to walk. Needless to say, the shoveling didn't get done. Snow drifts were intensely high, completely covering cars! Streets are completely impassable, plows are getting stuck and are being diverted to emergency situations. Thank goodness I went food shopping on Christmas Eve day! We've been watching TV, reading, drinking hot drinks, and eating yummy food. Here's an organic TLT (tofu, lettuce, and tomato) with avocado on toasted whole wheat bread.

I want this snow to melt! Here's a cool time lapse video someone recorded near here.

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas, Snorkeler Style!

2010-12-24T17:16:00.000-05:00

When I was diving at the Great Barrier Reef, I met one of the most peculiar animals. Unlike wombats and giant clams, I never knew they existed until I saw them right in front of me. They're reef dwelling, invertebrate filter feeders. They're a couple of inches long, brightly colored, sort of shy and reactive, they're...

Spirobranchus giganteus photo by Nick Hobgood

Christmas Tree Worms!

Aren't they so cool? The divemaster I was with would gently touch them and THWUMP! they instantly retracted into their tiny little burrows in the coral. Check it out in this video I found on YouTube:

Merry Christmas!

Kale Chickpea Soup

2010-12-23T17:01:00.000-05:00

I rarely make my own recipes. I substitute and change around all sorts of things from my favorite cookbooks, but start from scratch? Almost never (and salad doesn't count).

I love soup for lunch in the cold months. I had a craving for kale and chickpeas, so I put a bunch of stuff together in a pot and surprised myself by making this delicious, flavor filled and healthy soup.

Here's what I used:

-2 stalks of celery

-1 onion

-half a green bell pepper

-olive oil

-2 cloves garlic

-2 cups vegetable stock

-1 vegan boullion cube

-1 large can organic chickpeas

-a bunch of kale, chopped

-3 carrots, chopped

-1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped

-1 tsp thyme

Here's I did:

1. Saute diced onion, green peppers, and celery in olive oil in a pot until onions start to get a tad transulescent.

2. Add 2 chopped cloves of garlic and stir with a wooden spoon until the garlic gets fragrant and smells awesome. Stir in the thyme.

3. Add two cups of vegetable stock and stir.

4. Add four cups of water and one vegan boullion cube (crumble the cube as you add it). Stir and bring to a boil.

5. Add carrot and cauliflower and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

6. Add chickpeas and kale and simmer for 5 minutes or so.

I heated this up for lunch throughout the week, so good! I especially liked it with a healthy dash of Sriracha hot sauce. I will definitely make this again, and I'll try to invent new soup recipes since this one was such a success! Yay for soup making!

Happy Winter Solstice and Lunar Eclipse!

2010-12-21T10:00:00.004-05:00

In honor of the cool things happening in space, here's a photo of a moon jelly I met.

I'm soooo looking forward to longer days and shorter nights!

Cheap, Vegan, and Eco-Friendly Solutions to Dry Skin

2010-12-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

Between the windy, cold air outside and the dry heat inside, my skin and lips have been parched. Here's what I've tried and loved:

I slather a stick of cocoa butter on my lips and all over my face before I go out for a run. It gets super windy at the beach and boardwalk, and this helps seal in some much needed moisture. I prefer this to Vaseline, much more eco-friendly.

A jojoba and cocoa butter mixture-I scoop out about 1/2 teaspoon and let it melt in my hands. Then I rub it into my face and lips as a mask. It eventually gets absorbed and leaves my skin soft and happy. I don't recommend doing this right before you go to sleep unless you only use a little bit. You could wake up with greasy hair if you use too much and don't let it sink in first.

Straight up organic coconut oil-Let it melt a little on your finger, put it on your lips. Delicious, eco-friendly, and super moisturizing. I also do this with vitamin E after I use this amazing lip scrub from Lush.

The other thing that I've been doing is eating more healthy fats. I've been making some baked goods with organic coconut oil, eating avocados, and I've been taking more omega 3 supplements. This all seems to make a difference!

I'm still looking for a good, long lasting vegan lip balm though. Maybe I can mix my own with cocoa butter, vitamin E, and coconut oil. I just need to find a little jar I can re-purpose so I can carry it around with me.

Vegan and Gluten Free Cookie Sandwiches

2010-12-15T10:00:00.010-05:00

I love looking through old photos. While reliving the highlights of my life for the past few months, I came across these cookie sandwiches from the BabyCakes cookbook. I thought about this frosting recently when I noticed a container of dry soy milk on my kitchen shelf, and I forgot that I made the cookies to go along with it. This frosting is not thick like margarine based frosting, but it definitely does the job. It's not as full-on as other frostings, rather it kind of just sits back and enhances in a mellow and yummy way. The cookies were great, and together...whoa! Sweet, fun, and I don't feel a blood sugar spike when I snack on them. I love moderately/somewhat healthy baked goods! The recipe for the frosting can be found here (care of Gwyneth Paltrow) and the cookie recipe (care of Oprah) is here.

As an aside, did you hear that BabyCakes is opening a location in Disney World? Amazing!!!

I Love Purple Foods!

2010-12-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

When I saw these organic purple potatoes and this stripy organic eggplant, I couldn't resist. I had to have them!

Look at this amazing color!

I chopped and combined the eggplant and potatoes with olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, and rosemary and baked them for a while at around 375 degrees. That's mock chicken with rosemary on the side. Though the potatoes taste like potatoes, I think they're more fun when they're crazy purple!

Vegan Running

2010-12-04T18:27:00.000-05:00

Though I've maintained a gym membership for years, last summer I decided to start running for real. I went for the longest run I could handle in the humid Jersey Shore heat on the boardwalk. Though I went far, I felt like my lungs were turning inside out and my leg muscles turned into jello! Bad way to start running. I was sore for a week, and I quickly realized that the way I went about it was all wrong. Zero to 5K=bad idea. Even though I ran on the treadmill for months and felt ready to run outside, I wasn't really prepared for the difference between treadmill running and real running.

I had a busy summer, but by the time August rolled around, I was ready to start running outside again. I got an 8 week plan by googling "how to start running" and clicking on the first link that popped up. Starting out slow is the way to go! As the weeks went by, the summer humidity gave way to cool autumn breezes, the crowds parted, and the boardwalk became filled with mostly runners.

Walking back from a run in November.

Now that I'm officially a "runner", I find that I feel stronger and have more energy. These days, the challenge lies in staying warm when it's in the 30's and super windy and dark. After running outside for months now, I tried treadmill running again to beat the cold. Weirdly, I hated it. I used to enjoy running on the treadmill, but now that I'm used to the sound of the boards under my feet and the waves on the beach, the wind and the fresh sea air, I couldn't deal with the stale and boring treadmill. Outside, the yoga pants that provided enough warmth for the fall are now woefully inadequate. I did splurge on a rain jacket after a chilly rain soaked me to the core, but now I'm thinking I need running tights, long sleeve shirts, and gloves. Thankfully, most running shoes and clothes are vegan, and it's pretty easy to avoid leather or wool.

Here are some vegan/vegetarian blogs I've been reading for running inspiration:

No Meat Athlete- Matt Frazier is a vegetarian marathoner. As a beginning runner, I'm learning a lot about endurance reading this blog.

The New Me- Chrissy is a vegan runner in East Texas. I especially liked her recent post about a perfect run.

Run Fast. Run Vegan. is written by a 15+ year competitive vegan runner whose accomplishments are waaayyy beyond anything I could do or care to do, but it's cool.

Jeffrey Eggleston is another crazy accomplished runner that's vegan. A 14 minute 5K? Damn.

Healthy Ashley-She's an ironman!

Are You Sure That's Vegan?

2010-11-30T10:00:00.005-05:00

As long time readers of this blog are aware, I took a bit of a blogging break a little while back. Since my return, I looked over my email and realized that I was sent an amazing vegan dessert recipe book to review. I apologized for the delay, and I immediately fired up the stand mixer and preheated the oven.

Claire Goss's Are You Sure That's Vegan? isn't pretending to be health food, it's straight up comfort food for those of us with a serious sweet tooth. It's filled with unapologetically sugary treats such as mint chocolate chip cupcakes, pineapple upside down cake, and creme brulee. These desserts are meant to stand up to all of their non-vegan counterparts, pleasing even the most cynical dairy and egg-lovin' omnivore. There is a bright color photograph for every dessert in the book, and she even includes a photo guide to the baking tools she uses.

I decided to start my Are You Sure That's Vegan? experience with Nutty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Though my usual baking nut of choice is walnuts, this recipe called for pecans, and I'm glad it did. This sweet combination of oatmeal, pecans, and chocolate did not disappoint.

Aunt Lena's Oatmeal Shortbread was a real treat with just a hint of nutmeg and a delicate, buttery balance of truly simple ingredients that many of us already have on hand (oats, flour, margarine, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and baking powder).

The hands down favorite of the three recipes I've tried so far is definitely Peanutty Chocolate Chippers. This is the best cookie I've had in a while. This cookie is so good, that when I'm eating it I'm reminded of every good cookie experience I've ever had with every bite. It really ranks up there with my favorite cookie experience from Whole Foods in New Orleans and with Cooking at the Pacific Outpost's Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie. It has the best combination of sweet and salty, chocolate and peanut butter. You can bet that I will make these cookies when I really want to impress.

This book is far more than just cookies, though. She includes a recipe for funnel cakes, a summertime boardwalk favorite that I look forward to making soon. I also count Key Lime Pie as one of my favorite desserts ever, so I will be following Claire's very easy Key Lime Cheesecake recipe whenever I need to be reminded of my trip to the Florida Keys. This is a worthwhile addition to any vegan baker's collection of cookbooks. Download the e-book or get five free recipes here. You can also find the actual book version at Amazon.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, An Unlikey Thanksgiving Tradition

2010-11-29T10:00:00.003-05:00

In addition to the traditional mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, stuffing, and tofurky, I like to round out my Thanksgiving meal with some chocolate peanut butter pie. It's ridiculously easy to make, in fact there's no baking required. I don't even measure the ingredients! Here's what you need:

A block of firm tofu
A small bag of vegan chocolate chips
Some peanut butter, preferably smooth but it really doesn't matter
A teensy splash of vanilla
A graham cracker crust

Here's what to do:

1. Chop the tofu up coarsely and put it in a blender.

2. Add a lot of peanut butter.

3. Melt the chips is a double boiler. If you don't have one, do what I do: Put a smaller saucepan with the chips inside a bigger pot filled with boiling water. Stir the chips until they melt. You could probably melt them in a microwave too.

4. Put the melted chips in the blender.

5. Add a small bit of vanilla.

6. Blend until smooth.

7. Pour the mixture into the pre-made pie crust, let it set in the fridge for an hour or so.

Even the non-vegetarians and kids loved this pie, and it couldn't be easier.

To satisfy my love of all things pumpkin, I also make a deliciously traditional spicy pumpkin pie from Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen. It's essentially firm tofu, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and maple syrup blended together and poured in a prepared graham cracker crust. You do have to bake it for 30 minutes and let it set in the fridge for a few hours, but it's totally worth the wait.

Vegan Things I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T19:43:00.000-05:00

In no particular order...

Vegan MoFo-It has been challenging but fun to try to come up with a blog post every day of the week.
Are You Sure That's Vegan?-I was sent an e-book to review, and I had a new reason to bake lots of cookies. Review coming soon!
Tons of vegan blogs-There are so many amazing vegan blogs that are well written by sincere people, and I'm super thankful for that.
My vegan running shoes-Surprisingly, lots of running shoes are made out of entirely synthetic materials.
Tofurky-A ready made vegan alternative that I'm starting to see everywhere.
People that leave nice little comments on my blog-I get super happy whenever I get a comment. Thanks for reading!
People that read my blog but are too shy to comment-Thank you for reading too!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I can't wait to read about what you cooked, baked, and ate.

Organic Tempeh Goodness

2010-11-23T10:00:00.003-05:00

I've had a lot of delicious tempeh in my life recently. First, Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe from Veganomicon. This is one of my favorites, and it's on heavy rotation at my house. I love the spicy fennel garlic tempeh and bitter greens combo.

The other day, I had to go food shopping but didn't feel like it. So, I whipped up what I had and made this very beige but delicious meal. While the pasta cooked, I fried some onion and added garlic. Then I added cubed tempeh and covered it with veggie broth and Braggs in the pan. I let the liquid boil down and added some dried sage. Yum!

Last, another one that makes an appearance on the stove top pretty often, this is Peanut Tempeh with Noodles from Vegan Dad. Tempeh, coconut milk, peanut butter, Braggs, red curry, and coriander? Yes, please. I also added some spinach cause spinach is awesome.

Vegan Finds at the Asian Food Market

2010-11-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

I happened to be driving near an Asian Food Market today, so naturally I pulled over to check it out. Once inside, I was immediately drawn to the large refrigerated section of soy products. The prices were phenomenal, and the selection was somewhat surprising. That container...oh, let's call it a bucket of tofu, cost less than $2.00! I also got some "soy puffs" that are essentially puffy fried cubes of tofu, vegan spring rolls, vegan soy chicken, rice noodles, and Chinese restaurant tea that's a mixture of jasmine, green, and oolong. The timing was right since I'm planning on making two tofu based pies and tofu whip for Thanksgiving. The bucket will come in handy!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2010-11-19T10:00:00.002-05:00

I found a recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin bread that seemed borderline healthy on the Little House of Veggies blog. I had a lot of the ingredients on hand, and it was super easy to make. Even though I accidentally used pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin, it was super delicious. I will definitely make this again! I love pumpkin season!

Vegan French Toast and Raw Ice Cream in Key West

2010-11-18T10:00:00.076-05:00

While visiting the southernmost part of the continental USA, I had breakfast at a little place called Help Yourself.

I ordered the vegan version of their French toast and ate it outside at one of the picnic tables set up in the Florida sunshine.

Later, after walking around the quaint streets of Key West, I treated myself to Help Yourself's raw, vegan ice cream.

If and when I return to Key West, I'll be sure to go to this place again.

Gluten Free Vegan Blondies

2010-11-17T09:00:00.010-05:00

I like to tell myself that the substitutions I make in my baked goods make them almost good for me. What can I say? I have a sweet tooth that just won't quit. I was super excited when I got the Babycakes cookbook because the few times I've eaten baked goods there, they seemed kind of healthy. My first attempt from the cookbook was gluten free blondies. After reading through the ingredients and possible substitutions, I used only chickpea flour (I didn't have any brown rice flour or garbanzo fava flour) and I subbed canola oil for coconut oil. I didn't have any mini muffin tins, so I used a 9x13 baking pan instead. After I finished adding and mixing all of the dry ingredients, I realized that I used the 1/3 cup dry measure instead of the 1/4 cup I was supposed to use. Oops! Despite the fact that I mostly did not follow the recipe, the blondies turned out really good! I was a little worried when the batter tasted like sugary vanilla chickpeas, but when they came out of the oven I was pleasantly surprised. They tasted like regular wheat blondies. They were almost fudgey on the inside and crispy on the outside. I'll bet if I actually followed the recipe and used mini muffin tins, they'd be even better. It's also heartening to know that canola oil can totally be subbed for the super expensive coconut oil. I'll be making these again!

Daiya Cheese Dinners

2010-11-10T10:00:00.037-05:00

I recently bought some Rustic Crust organic pizza crust, Daiya cheese, organic tomato sauce, organic spinach, and Tofurkey Italian sausage. I made pizza, chicken parm, and cheesy sausage and pasta.

First was the pizza. The crust was good! It's not hard to make your own crust from scratch, but it is time consuming. This Rustic Crust was a healthy and quick alternative.

The spinach is hiding under the cheese.

Next was chicken parmesan with stelline organic pasta. The pasta is not whole wheat, but it is so good with some earth balance and salt!

Again, the spinach is hiding under the Daiya.

I finished up the un-sausage with some spiral whole wheat pasta and the rest of the sauce.

The Daiya and spinach made the sauce extra fantastic!

The finished product was hearty and filling.

Tofu Buffalo Wings

2010-11-09T11:00:00.009-05:00

I love tofu buffalo wings. There's just something special about spicy fried tofu and a side of tofu ranch dressing! I tried to make mine healthier by baking them, but I honestly think that if you're going to go for buffalo wings you might as well fry them. They're more fun that way! My favorite restaurant tofu wings are hands down Kate's Joint on Avenue B in NYC. They are battered and deep fried and ridiculous. Sometimes they give me heartburn, and I don't care! They're that good.

At home, I use a recipe inspired by an old Jersey shore restaurant called Veggie Works. Before they changed owners, they sold the Veggie Works Vegan Cookbook that allowed their customers to attempt to recreate some of their legendary food. The tofu buffalo wing recipe in the book essentially calls for firm tofu, Tabasco sauce, and Cajun spice mix. I added some panko bread crumbs and basically dredge the tofu slices in hot wing sauce, then dip it in a bread crumb/Cajun spice mix. I fry them until they look ready. The vegan ranch is also pretty easy. Basically I just blend silken tofu, a tablespoon of garlic powder, a tablespoon of onion powder, a teaspoon of salt, a bit of soy milk, and oil.

Cooking Set and Lotion Giveaway

2010-11-08T08:00:00.004-05:00

I've written about Skin MD Natural before, I love this lightweight lotion for its lasting effects and vegan ingredients. They get bonus points for using 100% solar power to produce their lotion. Just in time for the cold weather, the folks at Skin MD Natural are offering 20% off their products until November 30th with the discount code FALL10 during check out.

Even better, they're sponsoring a $400 Fall Into Cooking Giveaway. This includes a year's supply of Skin MD Natural and all of this:

Oval Casserole Dish size 14" x 8" x 5.25" with 3L Capacity
Oval Casserole Dish size 16.5" x 10" x 6.25" with 4L Capacity
Round Casserole Dish size 11" x 8.5" x 5.5" with 2.6L Capacity
Set of Four Ramekins size 4" x 4" x 2"
Roasting Pan with Floating Rack size 17" x 13" x 3.5" holds up to 25lbs
Kitchen Composter

There are a couple of ways you can enter the giveaway. You can sign up for their newsletter with your name and e-mail address. You can also follow Skin MD Natural on facebook or twitter, subscribe to their blog, post a link to the giveaway on twitter or facebook, or blog about it if you have your own blog.

I hope one of us wins! That would be awesome! You have until November 20th to enter.

Vegan and Eco-Friendly Boots for Fall

2010-11-05T13:54:00.000-04:00

Boot shopping season is upon us in most of the northern hemisphere. My fake Uggs from a couple of years ago are getting worn out. Even though they are so easy and warm, I'm getting sick of them. I bought these earlier in the fall and love them, but I want more options.

Alternative Outfitters, $48, also in grey

My boots have to be vegan, and I prefer eco-friendly materials whenever possible. There is an argument that leather and suede is never good for the earth, and synthetics are always less polluting. In this list, I generally consider boots to be eco-friendly when they are made from recycled products. Price is always one of the final determining factors for me, so this list basically starts with the cheapest and ends with the most expensive. Here's what my search turned up:

Not exactly marketed as eco-friendly, but cheap and vegan:

Payless is mostly vegan by default. I'm guessing from their numerous options of accidently vegan boots that it's cheaper to use man made fibers to make shoes.

$34.99 on sale, also in brown and black

$29.99. Also in purple, black, and brown

Forever 21 has quite a few vegan boots that are described as "leatherette".

Forever 21, $32.80

Alloy has quite a few options too.

$42.90, also in chocolate, black, mocha, and taupe

Sometimes eco-friendly, always vegan, a bit more expensive:

Lulu's has an amazing selection of over a hundred vegan boots, including these.

only $31!

$69

Moo Shoes has a large collection of vegan boots, including these from Madden Girl.


Moo Shoes, $89, also in tan

Sometimes you can find vegan boots in surprising places, like Victoria's Secret. They have a long list on non-vegan boots, but sometimes they carry brands like Report that use synthetics in place of leather and suede.

Report, $59

Report, $65 on sale

Colin Stuart, $99

Planet Shoes has a vegan brands section that includes a "why vegan?" link. These Jambu boots are made with partially recycled rubber.

Planet Shoes, $169, also in brown

If you look at all of their boots, you can find vegan boots from brands that aren't entirely vegan. These Blowfish wedge heels are made with faux leather and also come in black or "whiskey".

Planet Shoes, $79

Cri de Coeur is an entirely vegan company that makes shoes and other accessories.

Cri de Coeur, $150

Eco-friendly and vegan:

Bourgeois Boheme, a UK brand, has information on their website explaining why leather is never eco-friendly.

£110.00, also in black

£45.00, also in black

Beyond Skin, another UK company, offers these boots made from recycled plastic.

£159.00, also in purple

Vegan boots that are priced way beyond my reach, but a girl can dream:

Olsen Haus has a page on their site that explains that synthetic materials are always more eco-friendly than leather.

$360

Stella McCartney...cruelty free, fabulous, but so expensive.

Are you ready for this? $595

Though it takes some effort, it's easier than ever to find vegan boots these days. There are other sites I haven't mentioned yet that are devoted to vegan shoes. Ragazzi Vegan, Vegan Chic, Vickery, Great Green Shoes are some favorites. You can also search under the vegan category on Online Shoes, Endless, and Zappos.

Now it seems like the hardest part is narrowing it down to only one pair of boots!

Raw Pizza and Good Karma

2010-11-04T09:00:00.003-04:00

The Good Karma Cafe recently opened up in Red Bank, NJ. Here's what I've had there so far.

A bacon cheese Earth Burger. The burger itself was made with tofu, sunflower seeds, and brown rice. The whole wheat bun was so good. Of course, it came with vegan mayo, tempeh bacon (which was next level good), and vegan cheese. I will definitely get it again.

The first time I had raw pizza, I thought it was weird. It really does not taste like pizza, but over the years I've come to love its distinctive crunchy goodness. Good Karma's raw pizza has sun dried tomato sauce, cashew nut cheese, marinated kale, shredded zucchini and raw parmesan (probably walnuts and nutritional yeast) on raw crackers. So weird, but so good!

Vegan Fast Food in Brooklyn

2010-11-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

Recently, I found myself in Brooklyn with an empty stomach and very little time before I had to be somewhere. Thanks to my little VegOut app, I decided on vegan fast food at Food Swings. I ate at Food Swings years ago, and I thought it didn't live up to the hype. Well, I've changed my mind. Everything was filling and tasty and fun. The food came out quick, it filled me up, and I was happy VegOut told me to go there.

The Chick'n Caesar Salad was pretty filling, but I still made room for half of these potato skins and a Latte milkshake (coffee ice cream and vanilla soy milk).

Vegan Melbourne-Yummy Soy Lattes, Buddha Food, and Records

2010-11-02T08:00:00.012-04:00

When we were in Melbourne, we'd wake up, take the bus into the CBD (Central Business District), and begin our quest for caffeine. Brother Baba Budan is located at 359 Little Bourke Street. Starting the day with one of Brother Baba Budan's lattes was always a treat. Though we had a LOT of great coffee in Australia, this place was the best. The cafe is small, often crowded, but well worth the effort. The lattes were strong and whipped up with BonSoy, the best, creamiest, most delicious soy milk offered in Australia's best coffee shops. We looked forward to seeing the designs made in the froth, this leafy one was one of my faves.

After getting caffeinated, we were ready for record shopping. One of the best places to do that in Australia is Missing Link, conveniently located near the best lattes at 405 Bourke Street. When we needed a juice fix after, we'd head to Tropicana Juice Bar at 213 Elizabeth Street. When we needed lunch in the CBD, we liked to go to a little Buddhist art gallery.

The Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery can be found at 141 Queen Street. We walked by it at least twice because there really wasn't any sign indicating that it served food. When we finally did walk in searching for food, I felt silly because I'd obviously walked into a super zen, Buddhist art gallery. My hunger kept my feet moving, and I'm glad I did because tucked in the back was a tea room/vegetarian restaurant.

The waitress was always very good about pointing out the vegan options on the menu. These light and fluffy dumplings did not disappoint.

Crispy soy-something (their name totally escapes me) were a crunchy and filling protein source.

This dish included fresh bok choy, bean sprouts, noodles, tofu, and some veggie/soy mince mixture. Their food left me feeling warm, full, and ready for our next adventure.

Coffee and Cake and Vanilla Soy Delicious

2010-11-01T08:00:00.047-04:00

I love coffee. I also have a bit of a sweet tooth and love coffee cake. In my opinion, a hint of nutmeg or cinnamon goes perfectly with strong black coffee.

I have two go-to recipes for coffee cake. I go back and forth between Vegan Brunch's coffee cake (with nutmeg) and The Joy of Vegan Baking's cinnamon coffee cake. Last night, I chose to whip up some cinnamon cake. I've made it so many times, I find it doesn't take long to get a piece on my plate. In fact, I think it's pretty easy.

Here are my bowls and measuring cups, all ready to go with dry ingredients seperated from wet. Once the oven is ready, I combine the whole wheat pastry flour cake mixture with oil, vinegar, and soy milk. As soon as it's mixed, it goes directly in an 8 inch square glass baking dish. Then, I add some canola oil to the crumb topping that includes brown sugar and walnuts. I pat that on the top of the cake mixture, put it in the oven, and 35 minutes later, it's done!

Instead of enjoying this piece of cake with coffee, I treated it like dessert and added a scoop of vanilla Soy Delicious. Yum!

The Search for a Vegan Winter Coat

2010-10-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

The days are getting colder, the nights are growing longer...sigh, winter's coming. Definitely not my favorite season! I'm always on the search for cute, warm, vegan clothing to stay comfortable. Here's what my search turned up:

Vaute Couture's Kinder coat is TOO CUTE, but at $365, the price gave me pause...even with a 25% off VegNews offer ($273.75, plus shipping).

This faux fur trimmed Betsey Johnson coat is awesome ($119 at Bluefly.com), but will it be warm enough for east coast January? It's described as "mid-weight" with a polyester fill. Not sure if that will do.

From what I've read, primaloft is a vegan coat's best friend. It's a synthetic alternative to down. Have you ever seen a cheap coat filled with down? It spews feathers and pokes at you. So gross.

Patagonia's Women's Micro Puffed Hooded Jacket uses primaloft, and is covered with recycled polyester. Eco-friendly and $229.

This LL Bean Rugged Ridge Parka also uses primaloft. I like how the LL Bean website offers you three categories for viewing their coats: warm, warmer, and warmest. This one is considered warmest with a range of comfort from 10 degrees to -40. Realistically, I'm not going to be exposed to that kind of temperature range in New Jersey, $159.

This LL Bean Snowfield jacket has a comfort range of 30 degrees to -20. It's filled with polyester ThermaTEK. That should do nicely, and at $99 with free shipping, the price is right.

The North Face offers a three in one jacket at $249. The Kira Triclimate jacket has Heatseeker Eco insulation. There are a few variations of this coat, one for $199.

This North Face Whitby Deluxe jacket also has Heatseeker Eco insulation, priced at $349 (ouch!).

This fab Sparkle and Fade Faux Leopard Coat sure looks warm, though I'm guessing it doesn't do well in wet weather. $168 from Urban Outfitters.

I'm not sure what I'm going to buy yet, but it's nice to know they are so many vegan options out there!

Vegan Time Travel...A Flight to Australia

2010-03-04T16:26:00.002-05:00

Fly from New York City to Australia and you lose a day. It disappears. Twenty or so hours on one flight, and as soon as you cross the international date line...poof! You've lost Thursday. You can literally leave Los Angeles on a Wednesday and arrive 22 hours later on Friday.

Auckland, New Zealand as seen from a seat on Qantas

The experience of essentially sitting down for that long is pretty much an adventure in itself. Individual TV screens complete with hundreds of free on demand movies, TV shows, and games help pass the time. An inflatable neck pillow, eye mask, ear plugs, and a blanket helped with sleep. Though I flew prepared as usual with a stash of Primal Strips and Luna Bars, the vegan meals on Qantas were actually way better than I thought they would be. Don't get me wrong, it is airplane food, but I found it quite edible. The event of clearing your space, ordering a drink, getting the tray delivered, eating, finishing up, and waiting for everything to be collected really broke up the monotony.

Here's a whole wheat roll, canola margarine, a salad with a side of vinaigrette dressing, roasted potatoes, veggies, and roasted tomatoes and tofu.

After the epic flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, we had a long layover. We were pleasantly surprised to find the lone cafe at the Auckland airport offering soy milk. We had a shockingly delicious soy latte that hinted at the awesomeness of vegan lattes to come. When we finally arrived in Melbourne, I felt like I walked bleary eyed into a parallel universe. Yes, I was crazy jet lagged, but I oddly felt instantly at home there. It all seemed very familiar yet totally new at the same time.

I think this might have been breakfast...it's kind of a blur when you're on a plane for so long. Honeydew melon and cantaloupe, beans, greens, and mushrooms, another whole wheat roll with canola margarine, and some orange juice.

It took me a few days to acclimate to the time difference, and it took me months to mentally organize and process all of my experiences from this trip. I spent about thirty days traveling through the east coast of Australia. To say it was awesome would be a laughable, massive understatement. I swam with a shark, held a koala, almost got tackled by a flying fox, and shared some trails with a cassowary family. I gazed at glow worms in a pitch black cave and watched christmas tree worms catch some plankton. I ate ridiculously well and met people that I felt like I knew my whole life. I'm going to attempt to write about it here, but bear with me. It was a month's experience that I will vividly remember for a lifetime.

Vegan Woodstock

2010-02-20T13:14:00.001-05:00

I spent some time in the Catskill Mountains in New York last summer. The lush, wet, green forest surrounded our quaint bed and breakfast. The road to the house was twisty and green by day and pitch black at night. One of the the best parts of our trip was when it was blocked by a humungous black bear. It barely cared at all that we were there and seemed completely unthreatened by the Jeep we were in. After casually sauntering off, it disappeared into the shadows of the trees. The field adjacent to the house was frequently visited by deer, our room was shabby chic, and the pace was relaxed. This bed and breakfast didn't cater to vegans or vegetarians, but a local restaurant did.

The Garden Cafe is located on the main drag in Woodstock, pretty much right in the center of the action (which includes a bookstore, some hippy clothing stores that I walked past, and a small flea market). Downtown Woodstock is pretty tame. Some kids hung out in the little green area in front of the Garden Cafe, and some random old hippies roamed the evergreen surrounded street.

The lentil soup was satisfying, and the quesadillas were fun. The vegan cheese was stringy and drippy in a good way, and the vegan sour cream was a nice addition to the guac and salsa.

Being the avocado lover that I am, I couldn't resist it as a topping for my southwest black bean and roasted sweet potato burger. Good, healthy food that leaves you happy.

Of course, no vegan trip to the Woodstock area would be complete without a visit to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary is home to many cute and happy rescued farm animals.

My favorites were the goats. They were so cute!

The pigs were huge, sleepy, and happy.

The cows were big and serious. I guess being rescued from a veal crate can do that to a cow. My heart broke when I saw an empty veal crate on display on the farm. It's full on disgusting to think that people would force a baby cow into a tiny little crate to starve and later eat it. Elvis the Cow's story started that way, but ended happily. Overall, this was a really positive place. They offer guided tours and you can feed some of the animals. Bring shoes that can get muddy if you ever decide to visit.

A long weekend in Austin...

2010-02-11T12:24:00.000-05:00

I recently spent some time in my favorite Texas city, Austin. While I could go to the Whole Foods breakfast taco bar every day, I also sampled the delicious food at Bouldin Creek, Hoboken Pie, and Mother's Cafe. Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse is one of my favorite places to eat in Austin. It's casual and easy with zero pretension. Check out my freakin' fabulous iced coffee (two shots of espresso with chocolate over ice):

I love the little ice chips. My homemade blueberry corn oven cake drizzled with agave and served with tofu scramble and fresh fruit was ridiculous. I'm drooling with the memory!

The Predictable Breakfast is a never-fail combination of tofu scramble, toast, and hash browns. I've eaten at Bouldin a bunch of times, and it never disappoints.

There is a hot dog stand near some of the bars in downtown Austin that serves vegan dogs (I believe they're tofurkey sausages). It is open really late and is a gift from the gods when you really need to eat and it's late. Hoboken Pie is located right down the street, and worth the trek for vegan pizza. Of course, I had to check this place out since I am from Jersey! They didn't have individual slices, but I was able to share a pie. Good stuff.

Mother's Cafe also never dissapoints. This time, I had the Bueno Burger (seeds, grains, tofu, and veggies) with vegan cheese and guacamole.

The Sloppy Joe's were enhanced by some vegan cheese.

Desserts are a must at Mother's Cafe. Check out their dessert menu:

We settled for the almond mocha torte and the blueberry pie.

Vegans eat well in Austin!

A Quick Vegan Dinner in Miami

2010-01-18T14:05:00.001-05:00

With only a few hours to kill and a massive need for some shut eye before getting back on a plane, I walked bleary eyed down the boisterous and lively Lincoln Road in Miami's South Beach for the very first time. So often when traveling, when my sleep schedule is off and my blood sugar is low, I find myself pushing to see something, ignoring hunger and the need for sleep. I very rarely regret doing so, as I often forget any mild discomfort (shin splints, the need for caffeine) and completely take in my new surroundings.

This was the case recently, when I had an overnight layover in Miami. I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find in South Beach's Art Deco area and forced my tired leg muscles to trudge onward, past the glittery and teeny-dressed souls in search for wild nightlife, and onto Lincoln Road. The famed pedestrian-only road is essentially a giant outdoor mall. In addition to taking in the balmy and lively atmosphere, I was on a mission to find a bookstore that I had heard offered vegan food well into the night.

Books and Books is set in an ideal people watching location. There's outdoor seating that lets the tired traveler relax and enjoy the show. Though I breezed right past it at first, I eventually figured out that Books and Books looks a lot more like Cafe Tables and Cafe Tables on the outside. The actual book store itself is tucked away inside, and it offers a fun selection of reading materials that a book lover like me can get lost in for a while.

The menu has a vegan section that is clearly marked. The Black Bean Hummus appetizer was fresh and satisfying, and the Avocado Salsa was a great way to start the meal. The Grilled Organic Tofu and Avocado Salad with Orange Miso Dressing was perfectly crisp, zesty, and filling. It was hard to choose an entree, since the Organic Tofu and Wild Mushroom Stir Fry and the Grilled Organic Tofu Fajita Wrap were so tempting, but our vegan waiter helped with the decision. There are no vegan desserts here, but you'll probably be too full after your meal to even consider it. The rest of Lincoln Road offers you a place to walk it off.

I would love to return to Miami and properly check out the beach in the daylight. I will surely be returning to Books and Books.

A Vegan Solution to Parched Winter Skin

2010-01-09T16:15:00.001-05:00

Oh my, it has been a while since I last posted. I won't go into boring details, but my excuses relate to my computer's hard drive crashing, losing many files and photos, moving into a new house, and general busy-ness with work and life outside of writing this blog. I've been meaning to update it, but this intention inevitably gets back-burnered. It was an e-mail from Skin MD Natural and the resulting free sample that got me here today.

Arriving just in time as winter kicked into high gear, this lotion is definitely worthy of some praise. Skin MD Natural is a vegan skin lotion that can be used on your face, hands, feet, and body. It's white, scentless, and absorbs into the skin almost instantly leaving it feeling quenched and soft, especially nice in the dry heat that characterizes the indoors of just about everywhere in New Jersey in winter. I imagine this stuff would be equally excellent while sitting in an airplane, and I'll definitely be taking some with me the next time I fly.

I'm used to vanilla or ginger scented lotions that sort of sit on my skin for a little while before getting absorbed, so this was quite different for me. There is no feeling of greasiness after putting Skin MD Natural on, in fact I just put some on my hands right now and I'm sitting here typing on my brand new laptop. I wouldn't do that with my old standby hand lotion because there'd be greasy fingerprints all over my keyboard! Amazingly, this stuff lasts too. If I put my hands in soapy water to wash a coffee cup or wash my hands, the moisturized feeling does not get stripped away. Apparently, this is because Skin MD Natural is a "shielding lotion", letting moisture in and sealing out irritants. You can read a much more detailed explanation of what a shielding lotion does here.

Another thing worth noting is that it can truly be used on your face and body. I'm usually dubious of multi-purpose claims, thinking that if it's thick enough for my hands it's going to make my face totally break out. This is not the case at all with Skin MD Natural. With it's first two ingredients water and aloe, it's easy to see why. This lotion also includes vitamin E, arnica, comfrey, chamomile, and yarrow. I like the way this company includes not only a list of ingredients on their website, but also an explanation of their source and purpose in their products. Definitely worth checking out. Not sure where to get it? It's sold in pharmacies. Find a store near you here.

Check back soon for more vegan travel stories from Australia, Miami, and Austin. I'm back!!!

Awesome Travel Accesories

2009-10-13T21:34:00.000-04:00

Yikes, it's been a while. I have much to write about my summer travel adventures. I'm kind of laying low right now, settling in for winter. I'm not quite ready to dive into a whole travel breakdown, so here is a small list of some of my favorite travel accesories. They make my life a little easier when I'm on the road or on a plane.

Ear Plugs

There have been too many times that these suckers have saved my sanity. Howling kids, screaming babies, annoying old drunk ladies, I could go on and on. While they don't block the sound out completely, they muffle it just enough to let me hang on to some dignity and not completely lose it. I'm loving Holly Golightly's purple tassled ones.

Eye Mask

You could go fabulous like Miss Holly, or you could go plain. Either way, it's nice to be able to block out the sun on an excruciating day flight after you've been up for way too long and all you want to do is sleep. Also good for situations when your plane neighbor insists on using his or her reading light or when you want everyone to just leave you alone.

Eagle Creek Compression Sacs
Take a whole suitcase filled with swimming stuff, warm stuff, and other travel clothing essentials and put it in a compression sac. Close it up, roll it, it miraculously gets all squished and vacuum packed. Now you can take more stuff. Just watch the weight limit if you're confined to carry-on only.

Inflatable Neck Pillow

The non-inflatables are more comfy, but who has room in their luggage for a neck pillow? I go inflatable when I travel. They roll up nice and small when not in use. Much more effective for preventing pulled neck muscles than a rolled up sweater or hoodie.

Lush Products

Baby Face Cleanser is a cocoa butter based bar that super moisturizing and effective. It's solid and it's perfect in a little Lush tin. Carry-on friendly.

Angels on Bare Skin is an exfoliating cleanser made from ground almonds and clay for when you need something scrubby to smooth you out. Carry-on friendly (meaning no liquids to worry about).

Breath of Fresh Air Toner lets you mist yourself with freshness when your skin is parched. Also good for getting rid of the remnants of Angels on Bare Skin. Get the small size as it's the limit you can take on carry-on.

Celestial Moisturizer smells heavenly and works well in a light way. Good for all seasons and climates.

Buffy Body Butter is a body soap, moisturizer, and scrub in one. Carry-on friendly, smells good. The only con is that it tends to melt away in the shower really quickly. Sometimes I just use Aqua Mirabilis as a carry-on friendly moisturizer.

And the obvious...

A fully charged ipod, a kindle, a magazine, or a really good paperback. I suppose you could also go with a laptop, but that's not how I roll. If I can get into a good book, I barely care what is happening around me.

More soon!

Vegan in Cairns

2009-07-20T03:57:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted...busy as usual! I'm currently in Cairns, Australia. There are a few falafel places, a ton of Asian restaurants with great spring rolls and tofu dishes, and a bunch of coffee shops with soy milk. The soy lattes in Australia are some of the best I've ever tasted (especially in Melbourne, but I'll get to that some other time). I just stocked up the kitchen of the place I'm staying at with some tofu, soy crumbles, soy milk, pasta, spices, breads, fruits and veggies, and I'm pretty much set for the next few days. It turns out that being vegan here is not that hard at all. I'm taking tons of pictures, visited the reef (it was everything I thought it would be and more!), and I'm heading into the rainforest tomorrow. Will post more soon!

Vegan Key West

2009-06-09T21:36:00.001-04:00

Key West, affectionately called The Conch Republic, is a warm and easy place that is quite vegan and eco-friendly. Surrounded by turquoise water and snaky mangroves, the streets of Key West are lined with Victorian architecture, art galleries, quirky shops, rowdy bars, and mellow restaurants. We had a reservation for a sunset kayak tour, and after checking into our hotel in the old part of town we had just enough time to walk down the warm, Victorian-lined streets to The Cafe, a delicious vegetarian restaurant at 509 Southard Street. After traveling for a few hours in the car through slow Keys traffic (there is only one road that connects the Keys), I couldn't wait to relax with a delicious vegan meal. Appetizers included spring rolls with sweet chili sauce and Un-wing Dings, which was fried BBQ tofu with a side of a tahini dressing (it normally comes with un-vegan blue cheese dressing, but our waitress subbed it with the vegan tahini).

The main course consisted of a coconut tofu dish with roasted red peppers and bok choy. It was smoky, creamy, and super filling. Good thing we had a fridge and a microwave in the room we were staying in!

One thing I really wanted to try while in the Keys was vegan Key Lime Pie, and it was here that I got my chance. Tangy, sweet, and creamy, the filling and raspberry sauce contrasted nicely with the crunch of the graham cracker crust. Stuffed and satiated, we soon had to head back to our hotel, where our ride from Blue Planet Kayak Tours was waiting. We headed to a dock on a bay, and hopped into a kayak along with the rest of the tour. We paddled our way through mangroves while the sun set, spotting all sorts of creatures along the way. We saw a GIANT, red hermit crab with eerie green eyes that made it's home in a huge conch shell, southern sting rays, three different kinds of sea stars, a sea hare, sea cucumbers, and whelks.
As the sun fell into the horizon, and the water went from clear to black, we put on headlamps (flashlights that you put on your head!), and continued to paddle through the mangroves, which started to take on a spooky appearance. The grand finale of the kayak tour was on the way back to the dock, when the sky and water were completely black, and our paddles stirred up some bioluminescent plankton that sparkled through the water like twinkling stars. The sound of the paddles through the water was only punctuated by occasional laughter when our kayaks got stuck in the flat, shallow bay and the occasional splash of an unidentified fish jumping out of the water. It was an unforgettable experience.

I'm Going to Oz!

2009-06-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

I haven't even finished writing about my trip to the Florida Keys, but I am so excited about my next vacation I just can't keep it to myself any longer... I'm going to Australia!!! I'm not really exactly sure of my Australian travel plans yet, so far all I have are plane tickets.

I'll be sure to write about the rest of my vegan adventures in Florida this weekend.

Vegan Key Largo

2009-05-15T21:19:00.001-04:00

Key Largo is the diving capital of the world, or so they say in Key Largo. After flying into Miami, renting a car, and stocking up in Whole Foods, we slightly settled ourselves into our condo/hotel that was set among the mangroves and faced the Atlantic. Most of the meals we ate while in Key Largo were in our condo. However, we did venture out to Cheng Garden, a Chinese place that served a few options with tofu. The Sesame Tofu and Szechuan Vegetable Tofu were pleasant, but not spectacular. It's worth noting that there is a small health food store and a Thai place that also serves tofu in Key Largo. Generally, everything is clustered in a mini mall on the Overseas Highway.

We didn't go to Key Largo for the food, we went for the diving, and the diving was excellent. Not having much experience, I hired a guide that started calling me the turtle whisperer after I spotted two juvenile Hawksbill sea turtles! While I heard mention of a fin popping out of the water from some of the snorkelers near the boat, I didn't see any sharks or dolphins. The scariest thing was a school of about 15 shiny and gigantic barracuda hovering above the reef. Yikes! There were tons of fish including French Angelfish, surgeonfish ganging up on territorial seargant majors, and many different kinds of parrotfish and triggerfish. I saw brain coral, the biggest lobster I've ever seen in my life, and I made a silent vow underwater to never dive without my camera again.

After two nights in Key Largo, we headed to Key West, but before we did, we stopped at the Key Largo Conch House. While not a very vegan sounding name, I couldn't resist checking out this restaurant/cafe set inside a cute peachy/pink house. I had a fried potato breakfast and we got an iced coffee with soy milk and a strawberry banana smoothie to go. Both were delicious, by far the best tasting thing we had in Key Largo.

Fueled by sugar and caffeine, we headed west. The incredible shallow blue water that looked warm surrounded the road practically the whole way. We had a reservation for a sunset kayak tour so we didn't stop for much on the way...

More about Key West next! I had a long absence from this blog due to computer issues that seemed to be somewhat resolved. I also have two trips planned for the near future, one is fulfilling a lifetime travel wish, but more on that next time!

Win a Free Juicer!

2009-05-01T19:47:00.000-04:00

Looking for a way to get some more leafy greens into your life? Leave a comment on this post and you could win a free juicer courtesy of 877MyJuicer.com. From what I've read about the Lexen Healthy Juicer, it's a manual, easy to clean, lightweight and travel-friendly wheatgrass and leafy green juicer. More detailed information about the juicer (including reviews) can be found here. If you'd like a chance to win, leave a comment on this post about juicing. My personal favorite juice combination is carrot/apple/beet/ginger, heavy on the ginger. What's your favorite? Have you ever tried wheatgrass? What did you think of it? The winner will be randomly selected and contacted by May 29th. Unfortunately, this contest is open to U.S. residents only. If you are a winner, I'll need to give the people at 877MyJuicer.com your first/last name and valid email address. Good luck!

Lula's Vegan Ice Cream

2009-04-26T12:40:00.007-04:00

Vegan ice cream selections at Lula's Sweet Apothecary in NYC

I have a ton of photos from my recent vegan adventure in the Florida Keys to sort through, and I'll write about that soon. In the meantime, I finally went to Lula's Sweet Apothecary the other day. Everything is vegan at Lula's. In addition to the hard ice cream flavors pictured here (including peanut butter Oreo, espresso, chai, mango), there's soft serve chocolate and soft serve cake batter (which really tastes like cold and creamy cupcake batter). They're super generous with giving out little flavor samples. It was hard to choose, but I finally settled on chai ice cream in a cone. It was awesome. I will be going back often.

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T23:48:00.005-04:00

Harbor Seal, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Photos and food from the Florida Keys and Miami coming soon...

Akumal, Mexico: The Place of the Turtles

2009-04-10T15:05:00.001-04:00

Akumal is a short ride from Playa del Carmen, but it's like a different world. The word "Akumal" means "The Place of the Turtles" in Maya. While Playa del Carmen is a lively city on the beach, Akumal is like a sleepy little village. Both have shops, bars, and restaurants, but Akumal's draw is the laid back beach and not the night life. Home to a sea turtle sanctuary, we saw no less than SIX sea turtles, three adults and three cute little juveniles when we were snorkeling there. When I go back to the Riviera Maya, I'll definitely spend more time at Akumal.

To get there from Playa, we walked to a street with some collectivos. We managed to find one that was going south. The collectivo is basically a mini van that goes up and down the highway, stopping at various destinations, depending on where the passengers want to go. It's sort of like a cab and a bus combined, and it was way cheaper than renting a car or getting a private taxi. The collectivo was packed filled with people before we left Playa, and just when I thought we were dropping people off, more people got on. It was squishy and weird but definitely interesting, sort of fun, and cheap. When we finally got to Akumal, the collectivo dropped us off on the highway, and we had to walk to the beach. At first, it was a little confusing because there was so much construction going on. We had to go over a walking bridge, dodge some construction debris, then find this freshly cemented path:Eventually, the path turned green and shady. We stocked up on water and snacks at a little grocery store that had this wooden mermaid hanging in front of it. I love mermaids!

I had a blast shopping at MexicArte, a folk art shop filled with jewelry, ornaments, and art crafted by local artisans. The beach was calm and relaxing.

We picked a shady spot near a palm tree, rented some snorkel equipment right on the beach at Akumal Dive Shop, then swam with a barracuda, some needlefish, French grunts, a bunch of other fish, and sea turtles. What a lovely end to a great trip!

There were quite a few vegan options at the Akumal restaurants, all within walking distance of the beach. The beach bar had veggie burgers, and two more restaurants had veggie options. We settled on the Turtle Bay Cafe.

I had the lentil burger. It was deliciously smothered with beets, carrots, lettuce, hummus and mustard. Yum! All that and a deliciously refreshing limeade for about six US dollars.

I'll definitely go back to Akumal again! Now, I'm off to the Florida Keys. I'll be diving in Key Largo and taking a sunset kayak tour in Key West. More on that soon!

Delicious Vegan Food in Playa del Carmen

2009-04-02T20:10:00.000-04:00

For years I've heard that it's hard to be vegan in Mexico. My well-travelled vegetarian friends have told me that "there's no tofu or soymilk in Mexico", "there's lard in everything", and "even if you ask for something without cheese, it will come with cheese because they put it on everything". I didn't want my diet to keep me from enjoying the beaches and incredible scuba diving of the Mayan Riviera. Before leaving for our trip, I tirelessly searched the internet for vegan-friendly options. It sucks to be hungry when your traveling, so I wanted to be prepared. Armed with a list of eight possible restaurants, we confidently made our way through the heart of this fun and quirky beach town. Looking back, two places were our clear favorites: 100% Natural for snacks and light meals, and Babe's for dinner and drinks.

The first day we arrived in Playa del Carmen, we checked into our hotel and walked over to 100% Natural. Since it was so close to where we were staying, and since it offered the most fantastic fresh juices, guacamole, and some tofu options, it became one of our regular stops for the rest of our stay. Most of the seating is outdoors, surrounded by big trees. The weather was perfection: about 75 at night with a slight breeze, 85 during the day. It was a pleasure eating outside!

I loved the prices: this enormous and insanely delicious juice was something like three US dollars. My favorite juice combinations were the California (apple, lemon, orange, and pineapple juices), the Bali (pineapple, lemon, spinach, and orange), and the Oasis (pineapple, strawberry, and orange). 100% Natural also has veggie burgers and a fried veggie/noodle dish with plain silken tofu.

After dinner, we'd walk around Quinta Avenida and wander in and out of all of the little shops.I loved the architecture and laid-back attitude. Though there was no boardwalk, it sort of had a boarwalk-vibe in that there were tons of tourists walking up and down this pedestrian only street just steps from the ocean. Some stores were just crammed with affordable tourist-y trinkets. I loved the bright colors! Other stores sold Mexican art (Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera were well-represented on almost everything from magnets to stationary), and still others sold Havaianas and T-shirts. I almost bought one of these jellyfish lamps:Dia de los Muertos figurines were everywhere. This bride and groom were life-sized! The last thing I expected to find was Thai food in Mexico, but we ended up eating some sort of Thai influenced dinner pretty often. Babe's is a noodle bar. That is, they serve delicious noodle dishes and huge, cheap and delicious icy drinks. It's casual, Thai, simple, fresh, and fun. This isn't authentic Mexican food, but it was delicious, cheap, and filling. Our favorites were the spring rolls and the spicy fried tofu.

Speaking of authentic Mexican food, it was kind of hard to find something sin pollo, carne, pescado, huevos and queso. Our one night at an authentic Mexican restaurant was just OK. They put some kind of weird cheese all over the guacomole and the fried veggies and rice were just mediocre.

Prepared for the worst, I actually packed some food and made sure our hotel had a kitchen. This worked out really well, we were able to cook and save some money. Plus, it was so convenient to store last night's leftovers in the fridge, then heat them up for lunch the next day in the microwave. Breakfast usually consisted of tofu scramble or oatmeal. I brought silken tofu, tofu scramble mix, and little oatmeal packets.

There was a Starbucks right around the corner from where we were staying, and while we totally supported Java Joe's often for delicious espresso, it's worth noting that the Playa Starbucks has soymilk!

In my next post, I'll write about Akumal...land of many sea turtles and more great vegan food!

Upcoming Trip: Scuba in the Florida Keys

2009-03-29T22:50:00.005-04:00

I'll be heading off to visit the coral reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in a few short weeks. Before I go, I plan on writing more about my time in Mexico. I have more to tell about vegan options in Playa del Carmen and snorkeling with sea turtles in Akumel. Is it just me or did March fly by? Look for more about Mexico in the next few days!

Scuba Adventures in the Riviera Maya

2009-03-01T19:15:00.001-05:00

As I re-read and reviewed my PADI diver's manual on the plane, any nervousness I had about breathing 50 feet under water quickly was replaced with excitement. I couldn't wait to actually start diving! I love the ocean, and I was so happy when the realization finally sunk in that I was going to be able to explore it underwater for an extended period of time.

After arriving at the airport in Cancun, finding transportation to our hotel, and checking in, our first day in Playa del Carmen was primarily spent exploring. We walked to the beach and along Quinta Avenida, a pedestrian only street filled with little shops and restaurants. The next day, my scuba adventures began.

The ocean's currents were just too strong for novices that day, so we drove to a cenote with our dive instructor. The Yucatan is filled with cenotes, most of which are found in caves or completely underground. My first diving experience was in the Cenote El Jardin del Eden, a great place to refresh the skills I learned in a pool back home.

Part of this cenote was completely in a cave, and part of it was open. We had to stay in the open area since you need special training to dive in a cave. We saw a bunch of divers training to do just that as we were getting our equipment ready. After a seated entry off a little dock, we were ready to go under!

The water was cool but comfortable since we were wearing full wetsuits. The visibilty was perfect (though not so much when we beginners started kicking up algae when we lost control of our buoyancy a few times). It was so fun to swim by green, algae covered rocks and tree roots with these cool, silvery fish with iridescent fins. I think the peaceful sounds of inhaling through my tank, then exhaling bubbles has to be one of my new favorites. (The cenote fish photo was borrowed from http://alanformstone.com/pics/ponderosa_jun_04.html).

The next day, thankfully, an ocean dive was in order. The cenote was fun, but I wanted salt and currents and waves! We packed our group and our equipment onto a tiny little boat docked right at the each, and off we went, hurtling over the waves to Sabalos Reef and Barracuda Reef. The sun was hot, the water was warm, and I couldn't wait to go under!

It was quite a challenge donning the necessary equipment on a tiny, cramped boat. After a safety check, we sat on the edge, put a hand over our mask and regulator, and fell backwards into the deep blue. We used a line to control our descent. This helped me a great deal with some equalizing issues I was having in the cenote. You're supposed to equalize the pressure in your ears every few feet, and I found it was easier to do that when holding a rope.

Eventually, we made it to the sandy bottom and let go of the rope. We neutralized our bouyancy, making us essentially weightless and floating, and off we went to explore the gorgeous reef. We drifted by an amazing shelf filled with purple sea fans that waved back and forth in the current. We swam by corals, anemones, and huge sponges. The blue was everywhere, the water temperature was so perfect, and the peaceful bubble sound I loved had me smiling so much that my mask kept filling up with water. I'm glad they had us practice mask clearing so much!

The reef was so colorful: red, orange, yellow, green, and purple everywhere there wasn't blue. It was like floating through an enchanted alien forest. We met a big, dark lobster hiding in the crevices of the reef moving about his antennae. There was a sponge so big I could comfortably fit my whole arm inside it. The sea fans moved so elegentaly and effortlessly back and forth, slowly with the current. I heard a metallic tapping when our dive instructor spotted a beautiful hawksbill turtle, swam over to it and watched it eat. A spotted moray eel curled into a hiding spot nearby.

Eventually, the last dive was over and we followed our bubbles up to the surface. There was a scary moment when we realized we drifted so far from where we initially started, that we couldn't see the boat at all. It was just us bobbing over the waves, no boat in sight. I half thought we might have to swim to the shore, and I thanked my lucky stars that the shore was in site. Thankfully, we were spotted over the waves somehow. The tiny boat picked us out of the strengthening current, and we were returned safely to the beach.

Now that I'm officially certified, I can't wait to go diving again!!!

More turtles, scuba, snorkeling, and vegan food coming soon!

2009-02-25T22:51:00.005-05:00

I've been a little delayed in writing about my recent trip to the Riviera Maya. I'll write all about getting scuba certified in a couple of days. I miss it already! It's too cold in NJ.

Onlineshoes.com Contest Winner!!!

2009-02-17T16:38:00.009-05:00

Thank you to everyone that left a comment on my last post. We have an Onlineshoes.com contest winner! The random number generator came up with number 10, and the tenth comment was from:

Syn of the blog Vegan on Stage!

Congratulations on winning the contest, Syn!!! Please e-mail me (vegansnorkeler@gmail.com) with your last name so I can forward your info to Onlineshoes.com. Have fun shoe shopping!

Eco-Friendly Vegan Shoe Contest and a Sea Turtle

2009-02-14T13:00:00.019-05:00

I'm back from Mexico, and I'm officially scuba certified! I meet this handsome sea turtle about 50 feet under the surface of the Caribbean Sea. It was a thrilling, crazy, awesome experience that I will be sure to detail as soon as I get a little more settled back into life in New Jersey. It's weird going from gorgeous warm water and tropical beaches to winter in one day!

In the mean time, I have a fabulous contest to share with you! The people at Onlineshoes.com are offering a $50 gift certificate to one lucky reader of The Vegan Snorkeler. Onlineshoes.com offers free shipping, a 90 day unconditional return policy, and over 200 vegan shoes!

Check out the Onlineshoes.com Earth Page. Earth shoes are eco-friendly (70% recycled content) and use negative heel technology. That's supposed to help you get more toned and burn more calories while you walk while promoting healthier posture. I've worn Earth shoes before, and they really are comfortable.

If you'd like a chance to win, simply leave a comment! The winner will be randomly selected and contacted on Feburary 16th. Unfortunately, this contest is open only to U.S. residents. If you are a winner, I'll need to give Onlineshoes.com your first/last name and valid email address. Good luck!

Clear Sinuses and Scuba

2009-02-07T15:18:00.014-05:00

My Mexican vacation and scuba certification are so close I can practically feel the sun and taste the salt water. Here in New Jersey, I've been surrounded by flu and cold germs. Stuffy sinuses and scuba don't mix, not being able to equalize the pressure in your ears can result in some pretty nasty injuries. I'd like to say I've been super pro-active about taking vitamins, getting plenty of rest, avoiding stress, and drinking plenty of liquids. Real life kind of gets in the way of my best intentions, though. I have been kind of stressed, haven't been getting enough sleep, and sort of remembering to take vitamins. I have been religously using a neti pot with this amazing quick dissolving salt that has essential oils mixed with it. So far, it's been keeping my nasal passages clear! This stuff is amazing. I've been waking up sort of congested, and after using the neti pot, I'm all good. For anyone not familiar with a neti pot, it's this device you fill with warm, salty water that you use to literally clean out your nasal passages. You kind of tilt your head, stick it in one nostril, and let it out the other. It sounds gross, but it WORKS! If you've never tried it, I highly recommend that you do, especially if you've been having some sinus issues.

Hopefully I'll complete my scuba certification without incident. My next post will be all about my vegan scuba and travel adventures in the Riviera Maya! Wish me luck!

Vegan Carry-On Luggage

2009-01-19T13:28:00.016-05:00

I've been searching for the perfect carry-on bags: big enough to hold all of my stuff, small enough to still be considered carry-on, and no wool or leather. Bonus if it's eco-friendly and economical. Here's some promising options:

Made of 100% recycled polyester, the Half Mass Bag from Patagonia is on sale this week ($70).

Also from Patagonia, the MLC Wheelie ($200) is made of recycled soda bottles and can carry 3-5 days of clothes.

Land's End makes a nylon carry-on/under seat bag combination that is pretty much as big as you can get and still consider it carry-on ($250).

More affordable, Roxy carry-ons are coated cotton. This carry-on bag is $66.

This matching roller suitcase is $135, also made of coated cotton.

Sometimes you can find Roxy luggage on sale at macys.com.

Don't forget about the 3-1-1 rule for packing liquids on carry-on bags. Each passenger can fill a one quart bag with liquids in containers not more than 3 ounces. The Container Store has a reusable set ready to be filled with your favorite vegan shampoos and soaps.

New Year Travel Resolutions

2009-01-13T18:34:00.015-05:00

2009 has already been flying by! I don't know where the days are going, I've been keeping busy, busy, busy. Looking to the future, I'm planning two exciting getaways. In February, I'll be going to the Riviera Maya for some fun in the sun and to complete four open water dives so that I can finally finish my SCUBA certification. In July or August I'm (hopefully) going to Australia!!! It has been a life goal of mine to see the Great Barrier Reef since I did a report on Australia when I was in third or fourth grade. I hope 2009 is the year I cross that off my list!

Totally unrelated, but deliciously vegan, I finally went to Babycakes and tried some wheat, soy, and refined sugar free cupcakes and a spelt flour, agave-sweetened cinnamon roll. They had a "different" taste in that they weren't too sweet. I'd definitely go there again if I was in the neighborhood. While I like the cupcakes and cinnamon rolls I make in my kitchen better, there's something appealingly healthy about these treats. I look forward to their cookbook, apparently coming out soon.

Favorite Vegan Things of 2008

2008-12-31T12:43:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking about all of the wonderful things that I've experienced in 2008. I've traveled to some pretty amazing places and I've eaten some delicious vegan food! Here is a list of my favorite vegan things of the year, in no particular order:

Vegan blogs. Although I knew of their existence for a while, this is the year I really started reading them (and writing one!). It's so fun to see all of the inspiring food pics and to read about everyone's vegan experiences, whether they're product or restaurant reviews or travel accounts.

Kauai. This trip inspired me to start my blog. Though I've traveled to many cities and countries around the world, I've only recently started to vacation to tropical places. My worst fear was to get stuck on a boring island with nothing to eat. This was so not the case with Kauai, a vegan paradise!

Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. So easy, so good.

Mini coconut milk ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars from Turtle Mountain. YUM!!!

Vegan Cajun etouffee sauce. A recent discovery, I didn't even know what etouffee was until my trip to New Orleans.

SCUBA diving. I'm not officially certified yet, but I will be soon. Breathing under water is scary and awesome. I'm hooked!

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World took over my kitchen in 2008.

Humpback whales, sea turtles, and monk seals. It was an unforgettable experience hanging out with them!

I'm sure there's a billion more things I could add to the list, but I'm going to stick with this. Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Holiday Cookies

2008-12-28T12:30:00.018-05:00

I think I make more cookies in December than I do the whole year! Here are a few of my favorites:Frosted sugar cookies: I used this iced sugar cookie recipe that I found on Cooking at the Pacific Outpost. For the royal icing, I found that I couldn't use the Vegan With a Vengeance recipe because I din't have soy milk powder. Instead, I used this recipe for vegan royal icing (I found it on Vegan Nutritionista) which I believe is originally from The Joy of Vegan Baking (I really need to get that book already!). This cookie was labor-intensive. That said, it was pretty fun frosting them. Vegan With a Vengeance's sparkled ginger cookies are super delicious and very December-y. This was my favorite cookie to make and eat. It was easy and very winter appropriate. I love the combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and molasses. I found that if I left them in the oven for 10 minutes, they stayed soft on the inside, and if I left them in for 12 minutes, they were perfectly crispy.OK, so these Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter-Oatmeal cookies from Vegan With a Vengeance don't exactly scream, "happy holidays!", but they are one of my all time favorite cookies ever. They're relatively easy to make and so addictively good. Plus, when you use peanut butter, oatmeal, and substitute whole wheat pastry flour, they kind of seem healthy. Almost.

Next year I'd like to try to make peppermint bark, snickerdoodles, and sugar cookies that look more like these:

These beautiful vegan peppermint cookies are are from Vegetarian Times. For now, I'm cookied out!