free aspen clean product swap today!

today from 1-3 at any whole foods, you can bring your chemical cleaner in exchange for one free aspenclean product. i finally got rid of my windex! it was my last chemical in my apartment! i didn't know what to do with it. aspenclean will dispose of it as safely as possible.

also at whole foods today, you can get a free produce bag from belief beyond bags when you buy organic gala apples.
also! the clerk ringing me through told me that they are doing chemical personal care product (free) swaps for their housebrand, 365. i don't think i have any conventional toiletries anymore, but it's worth a check!
happy earth day eve!

these are a few of my favourite drinks...

tonight i went to see neil hamburger at the waldorf and was so happy to see vanessa in the back room making her holistic elixirs! she is full of so many wonderful ideas and is always so great to see!
well, i am not one who really has a taste for alcohol so she mixed me up basically all of her fun liquids into one for me to try! i know there was kombucha and black cherry and aloe in there for sure. super refreshing! ^_^

and something that catherine introduced me to once when i was at her place for tea awhile ago...
goji berry tea!

don't know how i didn't think of it before but it makes so much sense. when i first tried dried goji berries, i thought they had a "tea"-like taste. and soaking them in hot water plumps and softens the berries up and the mellow "tea" taste (ever so slightly flavoured hot water) is so comforting!
paul made fun of me for saying that eating the goji berries after drinking the tea is "the best part" because it is "so much fun". sigh!

zimt easter treats!

i feel super lucky today to have gotten to sample some zimt easter treats!

i couldn't believe these were raw organic chocolates! they tasted like conventional chocolate but without the weird "filler" taste. am i the only one that feels that some vegan chocolate tastes bland or like there is some waxy thickener in it? (but then conventional dairy chocolate is WAY worse. stomach ache AND mysterious additives? ECH!) oh and i HATE it when sugar is the first ingredient in chocolate! anyways... super exciting to know that these chocolates contain all satisfaction and no filler. ha.

 ha. i really should have taken some photos sans packaging huh. but on the left there are some unpackaged chocolate coconut crisp bars! yum! i totally know the right people ^_^ these bars are smokey tasting but i totally enjoy it. i enjoy chocolate with a "bite" and "smokey" works for me too. i don't know much about chocolate but apparently the smokey tasting beans are from bali. i'm not sure where the chocolate that made the easter shapes came from. but i guess if coffee (and well anything else, really!) can taste different depending on where it's from and how it was grown, harvested, etc., why would chocolate be any different?

no-dressing salad!

i was inspired after reading victoria boutenko's updated green for life to use less oils, nuts and seeds in effort to keep a better balance of omega-3s and 6s in my life. and really, it seems so much more natural, and less processed, to not use oils or at least use them SPARINGLY.
and well, i was also inspired to not rely on oils and vinegars so much for salad when my glass lunch containers started leaking out into my bag???! booo...
so.. salad then... what do you do? and you think explaining your vegan lunch in the staffroom is already mildly annoying (*cough* "where do you get your protein?" *cough*), try not having salad dressing! what an alien!
well, anyways, today's salad was a dream. lots of ingredients but so quick to assemble. and what were my oil and vinegar type things? raw sauerkraut and avocado! YES!!!

what i used:
*a handful of cut up parsley, stems and all
*sliced red cabbage
*sliced carrots
*diced fennel
*sliced radishes
*chopped basil
*diced avocado
*sliced up raw sauerkraut
*sliced beet

this is the kind of salad that keeps me super excited about lunch. and it's really my favourite lunch ever.
whenever people say they don't have time to eat raw or whatever, i have to ask what kind of time they spend making their meals, if they do. i can't help but feel that waiting in a line at subway or going out for lunch takes longer than making one of these guys! ^_^

good friday good smoothie

today i had the privilege of green smoothie-ing it up with karl and emma! i'm anxiously waiting my vitamix parts and have been DYING to have a green smoothie again... and well, it feels like ages since i have seen emma... AND! karl has just moved here from TAIWAN!!! so there were many a good reason to do this smoothie collaboration.

this smoothie collab happened at karl's new place (with leanne and liam!) since there is a working vitamix there ^_^

today's smoothie is brought to you by:
-a papaya
-2 pears
-a handful of strawberries
-a handful of cilantro
-3 frozen bananas
-a squeeze of lemon? (correct me if i'm wrong, emma!)

no water or sugar added, just super fruit sweetness! yum!
happy good friday! ^_^

p.s. does anyone know where i can buy this amazing tea towel?! i love it!!! (*update* ahh, now that i've done some googling, i have found it! now, i just need to get it!)

second chance kale chips

jodie (@jodie54) posted an instagram of her rhythm superfoods kale chips and was raving about the texas bbq so much, i decided to give the brand another chance (unlike the kale chips by kaia - soon to be kaya - that have turned into gross weird discs! yuck!). i tried the rhythm kool ranch for the first time back in december when i found them in calgary and was not impressed.
these bbq ones, however, are super good! there seems to be more topping than kale for each "chip" but it is super flavourful and fresh-tasting and as comfort-food feeling as the bbq chips i remember!

i am even thinking i could give the ranch flavour another try! i'm grateful the bbq chips don't use cashews. that's one thing i have to be careful of when buying kale chips!

keep sharing this on facebook!

i buy organic because i believe nature knows best and i want to know what i am eating. 

if we don't buy organic now, we may soon not have the option. 

and if we lose control and power to grow our own food, who has the control and power? 

definitely not us. 

no protests or occupy movements will be able to bring it back. 

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