Mmmmmmm……
Asian flavors
Love to savor
Like special treat for lunch and dinner
(use chopsticks for make extra good to eat)
I eat seaweed
I eat gobo
I eat pad thai, kimchi and miso!
Asian treats
So good for eat
Make me want to tap my feet
And fill my bowl
With all lots vegetables (no meat!)
Go back for seconds
Not once or twice
But for three-peat!
Everyday I wake up and put on that vegan swag. Homemade shirts, recycled skirts, hand me down pants, yard sale shoes, thrift store jackets. Pretty much everything in my apartment from what I wear to what I sit on was purchased for under 20 bucks at a yard sale. It’s true, you cant buy everything used (underwear, socks, toothbrush unfortunately you have to buy some things new) but everything I can, I buy used. I decorate my pad with vegan swag: mellow, peaceful and full of love. That’s what vegan is. Vegan swag tells the world how much you love and care about this planet and every living thing that dwells on it.
I put on my vegan swag everyday, knowing that it carries a message, and chances are someone is going to ask me about my swag. And each time that happens, it is an opportunity to share with people how rad vegan swag is. From my vegan puppy with an organic hemp leash to my recycled vegan shoes and yard sale t shirts, it’s all about vegan swag, reducing your impact and leaving a tinier footprint. It’s not often that case that bigger is not always better, but when it comes to vegan swag, less is more. Less stuff, less chemicals, less ingredients, less shopping, less green house gases. Only buy shit new if you have to. Don’t buy shit if you dont need it. Don’t buy shit that is comes wrapped in shitloads of plastic. Get a water bottle and use it.
Stay fresh. Eat your vegetables.
1. Bike, walk, skateboard, rollerblade or run to wherever you can, whenever you can. If you drive an SUV, it better be a hybrid, or you better actually need it.
2. Always carry your own mug to get coffee or tea or whatever. Paper cups with heat sleeves are soooo last year anyway. Also, a reusable water bottle is a must, and for vegans, size does matter. The bigger the better. Mine is 40 oz. How big is yours?
3. Eliminate packaging and trash from your life. That means you better know your three R’s and how to apply them (and I ain’t talkin about reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmatic).
4. Conserve water and energy. Nuff said. Droughts and parched environments are not sexy.
5. Learn how to cook amazing vegan meals. Especially if you live in a not-so-vegan-friendly area. I have yet to find a vegan restaurant that is open past 10 pm and sometimes I’m hungry at 10:04. Or 2:30 am.
6. Use recycled and environmentally friendly products in your home. Rags, recycled tp, and Dr. Bronners. I don’t even know what a paper towel is anymore.
7. Plant an organic garden. Compost. Use it in the garden. Such a turn on.
8. Buy organic, fair trade and/or locally grown and produced food and products. Support farmers markets and small businesses, not corporate paychecks.
I learned some stuff from this sweet japanese pamphlet about bananas.
Did you know that the little brown freckles on the bananas make them more “genki”?? That’s japanese for energized healthy and full of life!!
Check out this banana! He’s genki!!
So I made some sweet organic t-shirts to show off these genki bananas…
and on the back it says…. genki banana!!!!
Eat bananas! Get genki!
Being vegan and staying this sexy requires a certain amount of preparation and planning. Stocking your cupboards with basic essentials can make a funk of a lot easier to whip up delicious super vegan meals.
Most of these items can be found at your local natural foods store, and whenever possible I buy items from the bulk section to cut down on that trash factor, cuz you know… trash sucks (click here if you are not sure why trash sucks). I am lucky enough to have two natural foods stores within biking distance, one of which also carries bulk herbs and spices. This is what i generally keep in my pantry:
Pictured from left to right, top to bottom: rice flour*, cocoa powder*, dark chocolate buttons**, raw coconut palm sugar*, cornstarch, vanilla extract*, baking powder, baking soda, himalayan crystal salt, braggs liquid aminos, lecithin granules, wild rice*, quinoa*, soba noodles*, dry chick peas*, sea kelp sheets, flax and sesame crackers*, wakame flakes, nori sheets*, flax crackers (hickory and paprika flavor, they taste like barbeque yum yum yum)*, mesquite powder*, basil*, ground ginger*, cumin*, cinnamon*, nutmeg*, 2 more varieties of himalayan crystal salt, ground dulse, yacon syrup*, brown rice syrup*, raw coconut oil*, raw agave syrup*, maple syrup*, hemp seeds*, rolled oats*, raw almonds*, raw cashews*, curry cashews*, tamari almonds*, raw brazil nuts*, goji berries*, quinoa flakes*, dried blueberries*, golden hunza raisins*, various supplements including MSM, kava kava, immune support, niacin, white willow bark, vegan b12, sea vegetables, food based multi vitamin, sun chlorella, magnesium powder, melatonin, various teas including kava kava*, chamomile*, ginseng*, rosehip*, barley.
Not pictured: dry pink lentils*, paprika*, chili powder*, tumeric*, parsley*, ground onion*, ground kelp, extra virgin olive oil*, balsamic vinegar*, e3live*
*organic
**organic and fair trade
Not all of these are what you might consider “basic” essentials, but once you start being a sexy vegan, you build up a pretty sexy arsenal pretty quickly.
Add a few perishable essentials, and get sexy.
Always keep on hand: bananas**, avocados*, oranges*, strawberries*, lemon*, lime*, garlic*, ginger root*, onion*, sweet potato*, yam*, kale*, carrots*, beets*, cucumber*, zucchini*
My fridge is rather bare, and my freezer contains only ice, and occasionally leftover nut pulp that I am saving to make granola with.
In the fridge I keep only fresh fruits and vegetables that require refrigeration, and a few other perishables like liquid chlorophyll, ground flax seeds*, nutritional yeast, tempeh*, raw miso*, occasionally a kombucha*, and freshly made nut milk*.
I don’t really believe in leftovers except for in the case of some raw items like chopped salad, nut milk, fresh hummus, and baked goods. After three days, I personally wouldn’t eat it…. Stay fresh and stay sexy….
Did you know that dogs are not carnivores? They are scavengers. They will eat what they find.
Did you know that dogs evolution and humans evolution are closely intertwined? They will eat what we eat, what we leave behind, what we drop.
Did you know that most pet food companies use the lowest grade animal products not fit for human consumption in their products? These remainders have very little nutritional value.
Did you know that in order to supplement the lack of protein and nutrients in pet foods, most companies use vegetable protein sources and synthetic nutrients because they are cheaper? Most pet food protein is vegetable protein.
Did you know that vegan dogs will live longer healthier lives on a vegan diet? The oldest living dog lived to be 28, and was vegan.
Did you know that vegetarian dogs have healthier temperaments than meat eating ones? This is due to the decreased amounts of norepinephrine in the diet which stimulates flight or fight response.
Chicken Marie, vegan all the way. The sweetest cutest and prettiest puppy ever. Be kind to your loved ones, be kind to the earth.
Sources:
-Obligate Carnivore, by Jed Gillen
-http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0209/articles/020918a.htm
-http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/03/25/vegetarian-dogs-your-questions-answered/32436/
Did you know?
60 billion animals are used to produce meat and dairy every year.
38% of all grains are fed to animals.
18% of green house gas emissions are from rearing livestock for human consumption- more than transportation.
In other words: a vegetarian driving an SUV is more eco friendly than a carnivore riding a bicycle.
Try being a vegetarian or vegan for one day a week, and help someone else do the same!
Go veggie!!
Sources:
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/animalwelfare/GlobalWarningExecutiveSummary1.pdf
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