Raw coconut pie filling/pudding

Meat of 1 young Thai coconut
Water from 1 young Thai coconut
2 dates
1 tbsp chia seeds or chia gel
1 banana (I prefer frozen)
Blend it up! Eat it as is for a pudding or pie filling or you can freeze it and it takes on a sorbet texture.

Banana Milk

I've been enjoying this recently. It's super easy to make especially if you're like me and keep frozen bananas handy =]

1 cup raw almond milk (or store bought, or whatever type of milk you prefer)
1 frozen banana (non-frozen is okay but it's much more delicious if you use a frozen one)
Stevia to taste (or whatever sweetener you like)
Cinnamon to taste (optional)

Blend and pour!

Oprah's vegan challenge, other peoples recipes

I'm pretty sure that a lot of the vegan bloggers out there watched the Oprah episode yesterday about the 7 day vegan challenge. If you didn't watch it, you probably heard about it. I'm torn with how I feel about the episode. I think that the exposure for veganism is great. So many people have seen that episode-and will see it- who didn't even know what a vegan diet was. This is great. And the fact that Cargill allowed cameras inside their factory farm is huge. People need to be able to see where their food comes from. There was good information on the episode from Kathy Freston about the vegan diet. That's what I like about the episode.

Now what I wasn't so fond of was the fact that Cargill didn't allow everything that happens to be shown. If people are going to eat meat then they should know exactly how it goes from being a live animal to a steak on their plates. But maybe that's just how I feel about it. I also wasn't very fond of Michael Pollan's input on the show. I have read Omnivore's Dilemma and I found it extremely informative. But I would appreciate it if Pollan wouldn't go on Oprah and advocate meat, which is exactly what he did. Yes he eats meat, and yes that's his personal choice, but he says that he only eats humanely raised meat from small farmers. I wish he would have clearly stated this on the show. He did mention the plight of small farmers and how they need support but he didn't go so far as to talk about his own personal choice to only eat meat from these types of farms. Instead, he talked about how some meat in the diet is fine which will lead viewers to think that Pollan is saying the fast food hamburgers they've been eating are fine. This is also my very personal opinion but Kathy Freston takes an extremely welfarist view on animal rights while I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I'm not to the extreme that some militant activists are, but I'm definitely not a welfarist. So when Freston said that eating meat was alright, it irked me. I know that the general public responds well to acceptance and I understand why Freston takes that approach, but you can express your views on animal rights and veganism without preaching or being pushy.

Still, it's about exposure, so I'm happy that Oprah aired this episode.

The other day I made some more of Averie's No Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls with High Protein Option. I've been avoiding peanuts and peanut butter though so I used homemade almond butter instead. Delicious!

I also made another recipe from a blogger. I made the Pecan Spice Delight Cookies from Kristen's Raw. I shaped these into balls as well and stored them in the fridge like I do the cookie dough balls. These were really good! They would have been great for a raw dessert option over the holidays.

I've been attempting (again) to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. I feel a lot better when I do and find that my digestion is easier. This has resulted in me drinking a lot of smoothies. Delicious! I'm trying to work towards eating mostly raw foods but the weather here makes it hard and the fact that we don't have organic produce. It is very limited. We have a wonderful farmer's market during the spring and summer but the selection disappears once winter is here.

Oh my...

I've come down with the flu. The doctor has ordered me off of school and work this week until Monday 1/24. I haven't been this sick in years. The illness I had last month was nothing compared to what I have now.
That combined with the fact that my mom made me a lot of food to live off of before I became sick to help with my busy schedule has made it to where I don't have anything to post about. I'll be back when I get better!

Vegan iri dofu from JustBento.com

For dinner tonight, I made a recipe I've had my eye on for awhile.
Just Bento Vegan Iri Dofu
I followed the recipe with some minor modifications. I didn't use sesame oil because I don't cook with oil very often, I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce, and I added zucchini, onion, and snow peas. I served it on top of brown rice.
This recipe was successful. Very yummy and light yet filling. I didn't feel overly stuffed afterwards but satisfied.


I have been working all day for the past few days so I've been packing breakfast and lunch. It was nice to be able to cook some tonight, but it's back to packing food tomorrow.

So this is (Christmas &) the New Year...

*Sigh* I just love the holidays. I've seen family and had a pretty good time this year. It was a good end to what has actually been the worst year of my life. I was in a serious car wreck in May that has left me with neck pain and back issues. My mother's health fluctuated between bad and worse. My grandfather died in July and I battled various health concerns the whole year. I really hope that 2011 has some better things in store for me and my loved ones.

Aurora opening her present of gourmet doggy treats ^_^

Over the Christmas break I've even gotten to rest some which I really needed due to my health issues + 2 jobs + being a full time student. I'm very blessed to be able to spend this time with my loved ones and get to eat lots of delicious food. And of course I'm also blessed because my boyfriend and family always spoil me with their gifts. Here's some of the highlights:
a vintage Disney Alice in Wonderland thermos from my boyfriend.
bento box set with Alice in Wonderland drawings by a Japanese artist, also from the BF

two Hello Kitty bento boxes with HK bento accessories from my mom


Babycakes cupcake maker from my grandma


Ninja blender and food processor from my mom

I'm so excited to try the bento and kitchen stuff out!
I'm actually working 4 p.m. until midnight on New Year's Eve which kind of sucks. My boyfriend is at home alone and I was supposed to go out to eat with my family, but my job got in the way of any celebrations. To cheer myself up, I've been thinking of some things I want to happen in the new year.
For my New Year's resolutions/intentions/wishes/hopes, I want to:
1. Utilize my bento boxes and accessories as well as the wonderful cookbooks I got for Christmas
2. Actually use the Ninja and Babycakes and not let them collect dust in the kitchen.
3. Be more considerate of those close to me. Usually I'm almost too considerate of others but the rough year I had made it to where I was in a daze and wasn't always aware of how I was acting or the feelings of others.
4. Graduate in May. I'm supposed to and only health problems stand in my way. If I can push through them, I graduate on time and can continue on with life.
5. Address my health issues more vigorously than I did this year. I had a hard time with everything that went on in my life so I wasn't able to focus on taking care of myself as well as I wish I could have.
6. Find a better doctor if mine continues to be a pain.
7. Be true to myself and not hide my feelings or pretend for the sake of others.
8. Stand up for myself.
9. Learn to relax! Take things in stride and not be such a worry wart!

I'll leave you with some pictures from our Christmas meal (yes, there is lots of meat in the picture. My mom and I are the only vegans in a family of wannabe carnivores).
I had roasted veggies, lentils, saffron rice, green beans, corn, and homemade dark dark dark chocolate vegan fudge for dessert =]

Happy New Year!!!

Columbus trip

I recently went to Columbus, OH to finish my Christmas shopping. As I've said before, Columbus is only 2 hours from me and has a lot more to offer than my city. I went to Easton mall and got a lot accomplished but it was a grueling weekend of walking tons and shopping til I dropped. I ate at P.F. Chang's while I was at Easton (I always do when I visit) and was severely disappointed this time. I found out from my waitress that their tofu has wheat germ added to it. This makes very little sense to me and since the tofu is no longer gluten free, I couldn't partake in it. So instead I got the Buddha Bowl off of the GF menu which came to me as a big bowl of steamed broccoli. It had a couple mushrooms and carrots in it, but it was mostly broccoli. I love broccoli but I didn't want a whole bowl of it. I got the GF soy sauce on the side and dipped the veggies into it. The brown rice was also undercooked so it was kind of hard and chewy. It was a very bad experience.

I also ate at ZPizza. They have Daiya cheese and GF crust. I ordered mushrooms, zucchini, black olives, and artichokes as my toppings. This is what my pizza looked like:


You can't tell from the picture, but they didn't really cook the veggies and mushrooms. Despite this, the pizza was pretty good. The crust was better than expected. Not to bash ZPizza since I appreciate them offering Daiya and GF crust, but I have had a much better GF vegan pizza in Washington, D.C. at Pete's A Pizza. But Pete's doesn't have Daiya, they carry Teese which is my second favorite vegan cheese.

I went to Whole Foods to buy specialty foods because I only have a very tiny health food store where I live. Our store carries very little and consists of 3 aisles of food and some fridges. While at Whole Foods I looked (longingly) at their baked goods and came across these cupcakes, some of which were vegan but not GF:

So cute and festive!

I also visited a locally owned health food store, The Raisin Rack in Westerville, OH which is a suburb of Columbus. They have a food bar, salad bar, complete cafe menu, and smoothies. They had a lot of GF and vegan offerings so I had breakfast here before leaving to go back home. I got a really good tropical smoothie and the food bar.

No Columbus trip would be complete without a visit to Pattycake Bakery. I've mentioned them on here before because they are completely vegan and have GF offerings. I absolutely love them and so do my non-vegan friends and family! While there I picked up some of their Marry Me Blueberry Muffins (not GF) for family and my boyfriend. For myself I got a Buckeye Bar, Cranberry Almond cookie, and raw truffles. Delicious!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas. I get to see all of my family and my boyfriend is a wonderful gift giver. This is my favorite holiday and time of the year. I've already been watching Christmas movies that I love, such as The Year Without Santa Claus. I'm a sucker for claymation =]