MY FAVE VEGAN COOKBOOKS!

Hello, dear readers. This is a pretty epic post, that, in my mind anyway, has been a long time coming! Today I wanna share my favourite cookbook titles with you. This collection is tried and true, according to my humble perspective. I get mailed a lot of cookbooks to review, and it's been this way for almost 8 years. After all my testing, behold: the best of the best. 

SUPERFOOD DOUBLE CHOCOLATE POPSICLES

Today has been a whirlwind but also super chill. I had a bunch of social plans - beach day with comfy inspiring friends, late afternoon tea with a wise lady bud, and then a date with a new person - but I woke up feeling anxious and decided to stay in my house all day. Sometimes I just need to do my hermit mode. I would confidently say it's worked out though. I got some work done (i.e. this recipe), painted more of my room white, listened to a bunch of great albums and podcasts, and I think this evening I will do some yoga and have a bath. I just had a cyber "chat" with my ex partner and it didn't totally petrify me so that's progress too. One foot in front of the other, right? I have been trying to take it easy this week because I have my new tattoos that are healing, so I can't really sweat or be in the sun. For those of you who know me even a little bit: you know that sweating and sunbathing are all I really do in the summer. So I have been actively trying to stay cool and in the shade. I miss the gym and biking, but it's nearly been a week so I can get back to 'em soon. I'm not good at sitting still.

Enough of me, though. On to popsicles.

OREO-ISH TARTS: VANILLA WHIPPED COCO CREAM with CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUST

I am back from Montreal. Hey. 

For the four-ish weeks I spent there - away from home, Jack, Dante and Blender - I remembered a lot of important stuff about myself, and realized some new things. It was a whirlwind of experiences, people, places, emotions, tastes, colours, smells. I felt overwhelmed most of the time but what else is new. I often feel overwhelmed living in my particular world because I usually think [too] extensively about everything that is happening around me (and not around me). So being in a new place WITH the same over-thinking brain took it to the next level. Meditation was more difficult than normal, probably because of this. I went on a lot of walks by myself so I could have time to ponder who I am, what I want, my relationship with the external universe, and that kind of thing. I had some pretty intense and excellent discussions with my friend's roommates; we talked about the difficulties of navigating the current world in relation to gender, race, class, location, education, etc. Besides classism, I am generally optimistic about where we are going. Obviously - or maybe not that obviously - most human groups are still routinely oppressed by societal and political structures in place, but we are on the right trail; we're just at the beginning of the hike. 

ALMOND COOKIES with SPICED APPLE SLICES

This recipe is part of a Family Favourites series hosted by Angela over at Canned Time. The theme was to veganize a recipe that you used to love as a kid and/or that your fam would regularly enjoy together. Honestly, I had trouble thinking of sweet recipes that I hadn't already veganized for my blog (like pumpkin pie, berries and whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate cake) and most of the savoury dishes I loved eating when I was little are just sooo not ideal to veganize (think Thai-style omelettes and baked salmon). There were a lot of savoury foods I ate growing up that I COULD made vegan now - pizza pops and chicken nuggets to name a couple - but they wouldn't be that healthy or simple and I'm not into spending lots of time making recipes for dinner, especially if they have more refined ingredients.. I'd rather just bake eight potatoes, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and be done with it. Seriously, my dinners are pathetically easy when I'm not writing a savoury cookbook. 

3-Day Apple Fast: Complete

Well... that was easy!

I was contemplating going a few more days this morning, but I decided against it for family reasons. My parents worry. I understand why, but I know myself better than anyone else does so I know what's best for me!

I would say yesterday was my best day. I was very uplifted, spiritually speaking; and experienced several personal insights. Physically, I had tons of energy and hardly needed any sleep. When you aren't concentrated on food, it frees up a lot of time and energy that you can focus on other things. For me, I focus it on inner knowledge, personal development, spirituality, and I do this through meditation and dreaming.

Speaking of dreams... during the fast I had pretty unusual dreams (for me) and not in a good way! They were all fairly dark and negative. I don't view this as a bad thing. Balance is always needed and 99% of the time I have great dreams, so as well as with other detox symptoms, strange dreams is one I experienced. I look at it as repressed emotions unveiling themselves and being eliminated.

The only thing I really did not like about the past 3 days was my body temperature. I was cold! I used to always be slightly cold. It got worse when I went raw for the first time. That was a year ago. Now I'm always slightly WARM! It was a great transformation. I was basically never cold, no matter my environment or clothing. Raw vegan super powers? =)
But after beginning my fast, I got cold again! I know it's just my blood going away from my skin towards my internal organs, to do some serious house-cleaning. Now that I'm eating other foods again however, I am back to normal. So nothing lost, a lot gained!
 
As gar as food goes: I began the day slowly with a grapefruit a few hours after waking (after a bunch of water of course), then some more fruit later. I know I should've stayed totally raw and quite light all day buuuuuuut  things don't always go according to plan =S 
I went over to my friends house later and ate some couscous sushi. Delicious and mostly raw so I don't feel bad. But still, my body probably would've preferred nothing. Ah well. No biggie.


I'm not sure when I'll begin my grapefruit fast, but it will most likely be soon.
As much as I'd LOVE to say "I'm gonna stay totally raw through the holidays" - I know I'd just let myself down, ha ha.
I love baking so I'll be making all sorts of delicious wholesome goodies, plus I'm sure my mom will make a bunch of vegan dishes for Christmas. I can't resist! So some serious cleansing before and after will be perfect. And at the end of the day, some whole wheat cookies and steamed veggies aren't bad for me, they allow me to share those moments with my family.

I don't think Christmas would be quite the same if at Christmas morning, my family is all sitting at the table eating our traditional cinnamon buns while I crouch in the corner, sipping my green smoothie...

It's situations like that that keep me eating a percentage of cooked food =) And it's NOT A BAD THING. I need to keep remembering that, because sometimes I get carried away with raw foodism. It's not a religion. I won't die if I eat cooked food! >.<

raw edible cosmetics & body care recipes

Yet another thing on the endless list of things I love about eatin' raw: your body care is often the same as what you eat. I'm talking about bananas, papayas, avocados, oats, coconut, almonds, and other foods. We all know these are common extracts used to scent shampoos, lotions, cleansers, etc. So instead of buying "Luscious Cocoa and Oatmeal Body Creme", or "Hydrating Mango Shampoo"... Let's just buy some COCOA, OATS and MANGOES and throw it on our faces! 

I made myself a banana/oat mask the other day actually... it made my skin glow and tasted SO GOOD. I had a bunch left over so I ate it while the mask hardened on my face. Here's some of my skin care routine at the moment (i.e. November 2011).

Moisturizer: I use raw virgin coconut oil, with some essential oils added. It is full of wonderful fats to keep my face and skin healthy, moisturized and glowing. I also use it on my hair sometimes for the same reason.

Shampoo: I make my own shampoo using Castile soap, essential oils and herbs that are good for blondes. I recommend Dr. Bronner's for soap. I don't wash my hair much anymore though, but I try to shower every 1 or 2 days... dirty hippie, I am.

 -

Deodorant: I tend not to need/want deodorant anymore... I haven't used it in a while, yet I'm always being complimented on how good I smell... I do find that the more whole foods I eat, the more I like my smell. If you do use deodorant, use one without aluminum, I recommend a crystal salt rock. It sounds weird, but it works super well. Or if you like scents, Kiss My Face products do the job.

Makeup: I don't really wear makeup anymore!? I'm too lazy and like my face as is. If you're into wearing make up, there're tons of vegan companies out there. Just look in your health food stores' cosmetics aisle.

Onto the fun stuff! Also check out my post about facial steams.

BANANA OAT MASK: 
makes enough for 1-2 faces plus a snack =)

1 banana

1 Tb almond milk

1/3 cup oats 

Blend all ingredients until it reaches a good consistency to spread on your skin. Wash face with warm water, then spread mask on. Sit or lie down for 10-15 minutes or until you want to take it off. Then gently rinse your face in warm water and pat dry with a towel. I like to put some cold rose water on right after to close my pores and seal in the goodness! 

Tonight I made an avocado mask with half an avocado, and some lemon juice. It tasted sweet, tangy and creamy and was super smooth. I could feel the enzymes working! My face was pink, shiny and glowing when I rinsed it off.

AVOCADO MASK: 
makes enough for 2 faces, plus a snack

1/2 avocado

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Wash face with warm water, then spread mask on. Sit or lie down for 10-15 minutes or until you want to take it off. Then gently rinse your face in warm water and pat dry with a towel. I like to put some cold rose water on right after to close my pores and seal in the goodness! 

ALMOND EXFOLIATOR:
makes enough for one

Handful almonds

1 t water or almond milk

Chop/process almonds into small pieces, but not flour-like, you want them to be able to exfoliate, remember. Add them to almond milk/water and rub vigorously on your face/skin.  Rinse off and put on some coconut oil to moisturize, or whatever you like. 

Watch out! This one is super enzyme-rich, so it burns a little. 


PAPAYA SEED MASK:
makes enough for 3 faces

Seeds from one papaya

Oats/Almonds

Water

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Rub on face and lie down for 10 minutes You will feel the enzymes... it can burn a little but that's good. If it's too much, however, wash it off! When you are done, wash off with warm water and pat dry. Put on some coconut oil to moisturize and seal in the cleanliness.