Run, don't walk!

Over the holiday weekend we tried 2 new non-dairy ice creams...and really, all I can say is Wow! First we tried Coconut Bliss coconut ice cream in Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge flavor, then Tempt brand hemp ice cream - Vanilla Bean flavor. The vanilla bean tasted almost exactly like regular ice cream, especially with chocolate syrup on top! Today I had to go to the store, and I picked up Coconut Bliss brand, Vanilla Island flavor - and OMG, it's beyond amazing. I had tried the original non-dairy ice creams made out of soy and rice that came out a year or so ago, and was unimpressed...give these new treats a try - you will not be disappointed!

:) yummy!

one possible future

Thank you Steve "Jedi" Clark!

"I don't know how they could continue to eat meat after they've seen what cows go through on their way to becoming a hamburger...I love animals, I have had dogs all my life, and really, a cow isn't so different. I just decided I didn't want to eat anything that has a face anymore. I believe that cows have feelings and families and experience love, and we shouldn't be eating them with ketchup and mustard and a slice of cheese."

from the book Go Further, which is also a great documentary

Woody Harrelson's eco website is http://www.voiceyourself.com/site/home/

wonderful, wonderful news!

My daughter and mother are coming to see me! We'll all be together the first weekend of June! *happyhappyhappyhappyhappyhappy*

:)

Imagine...

Imagine for a moment your own version of a perfect future. See yourself in that future with everything you could wish for at this very moment fulfilled. Now take the memory of that future and bring it here into the present. Let it influence how you will behave from this moment on.

~Deepak Chopra, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success"

I am imagining my perfect future, living with my wonderful man in beautiful central California in a pretty little cottage with a garden near the sea & the redwoods...working to save animals every day...living close enough to my daughter to meet up for lunch or something fun any time we want...

For Mother's Day

Yesterday I spent some time thinking about all the beautiful mothers who do not get to care for their babies; who feel the fierce love mothers do for their children, even before they are born, but have their babies taken from them...

and I sent out as much love as I could to them.

Below, a post from Farm Sanctuary, in honor of those suffering mothers:

After having the honor of knowing these sows, it is painful to think about what their lives were like at the factory farms they only narrowly escaped when the Mississippi River overflowed. But we must think about it because Mango, Rosebud, Nikki, and all the other bright, passionate, loving, and sensitive gestation sows rescued in Iowa are not anomalies in their ability to feel so deeply, and they need us to tell their full stories and show the world what is at stake when factory farms treat sentient creatures like commodities. Every day on factory farms, sows like Nikki and the rest are confined inside 2-foot-wide gestation crates with concrete floors. They cannot turn around, or lie down comfortably. In fact, they can barely move. They are artificially inseminated by hog industry workers and left alone in solitary confinement to carry their babies for a term of 114 days. After giving birth to up to 17 piglets, a number that the pork industry continually pushes to increase, they nurse their babies through the bars of farrowing crates, minimally larger than gestation crates, unable to touch their newborns – let alone experience the kind of tender moments with them that we’ve seen here. After 10 days, the sows’ babies are torn away from them while they watch helplessly, and the cruel cycle begins again. These sows are treated as nothing more than piglet breeding machines.

The love between the sows and piglets that we witness during our observations is remarkable, especially in the moments after the piglets wake from naps and run to reach their mothers’ faces, grunting excitedly into their ears as if to say, “thank goodness you’re still here!” One of Rosebud’s babies, Pepper, is so thrilled to see his mother when he wakes that he sticks his entire nose into her ear.

Nikki gave birth to a litter of piglets while seeking refuge on a levee during the massive Midwest floods of 2008. She built them two nests and taught them to hide from strangers. Nikki now shows off her mothering skills at our New York Shelter, along with other sows rescued from the floodwaters.

Sometimes

When I think of you

I am filled with so much love

That my heart aches and

Splits into a million pieces

Of humble gratitude

~Julia Butterfly Hill

i found a cool blog / website

with an equally cool give-away going on:

http://www.choosingraw.com/spicy-thai-salad-and-my-first-raw-giveaway/comment-page-3/#comment-1951

the food over there looks amazing!

Vegan Nachos - 100% Awesome!

Last night we made The Most Awesome Nachos Ever...all vegan :)
Can't believe we didn't take pics...next time, for sure.

In order, from bottom of bowl: low-fat tortilla chips / rice cheddar cheese / vegan green chile fat-free refried beans, heated up / picante sauce / freshly pressed garlic / freshly chopped lettuce / freshly chopped tomato / freshly chopped avocado / Tofutti brand vegan sour cream

The picante sauce & beans were on the spicy side, so didn't add jalapenos.
Wow. Just, Wow.
!!!!!!

Ok, in other food news, I'm SO EXCITED that tomorrow night we're going out to eat & I'm finally answering the call of my long-time craving for veggie loaf with mushroom gravy - mmmmmmm. And I'm gearing up for the Adventure Cleanse over at Crazy Sexy Life...it kicks off May 11.

You'll laugh, you'll cry...

ok, I laughed so hard I was crying, and couldn't breathe. Please do yourselves a favor and watch this (except you, J...it requires sound!)

Good News for Seals!

Check out today's wonderful news for seals - there's hope!!!

Click the seal pic for a cool page on seals :)

Adventure Cleanse Update!

http://crazysexylife.com/2009/adventure-cleanse-tune-up-act-stocking-your-pantry-fridge/
aka, eat all the "bad" stuff this week ;)

A lovely celebration!

We had a wonderful evening yesterday, celebrating love! Got dressed up and went to India's restaurant - truly amazingly delicious food! And immaculate service. Happiness!

Ok on the health & nutrition front: I found a new cookbook at Border's last week that I bought so I can appease J's sweet tooth: "Babycakes", a vegan, gluten-free & mostly processed-sugar free cookbook of amazing-looking baked goods by the Babycakes bakery in NYC. Can't wait to get started! We tried a few new things over the weekend: almond butter from Living Tree Community, which is prepared in a special way; nama shoyu, which is raw soy sauce, and Quite Cheesy kale chips, which are crazy-amazing-good and truly taste cheesy. All 3 were wonderful! We ate brown rice, sauteed mushrooms & asparagus for dinner Saturday night, and used the nama shoyu as a dip for the asparagus. Yummy! I soaked pecans overnight and made a really nice raw "porridge" Sunday morning from my Cafe Gratitude cookbook "I Am Grateful"; it featured pecans, apple, strawberries, coconut milk, vanilla & cinnamon. J. added toasted flax crackers with melted almond butter & a drizzle of raw honey, and voila, a truly lovely "raw" breakfast! I also made a batch of almond milk, which I am currently enjoying in a smoothie I made for Monday breakfast. Next up I will try making ice cream using the rest of my almond milk & some frozen strawberries, and I have recipes for a dill & hemp dip and vegan nachos in the lineup. :) I'm super-excited!