thank you, my non leather life!

a few days back, victoria from my non leather life emailed to ask me some questions! i love checking her blog for inspiring words (as was especially the case the other day when she mentioned a william carlos williams poem) and inspiring shoes!

i am so excited that my recorded discoveries have inspired her to incorporate more raw foods in her life!

check out the interview here!

and for some fall inspiration, this photo... representing: one of paul's favourite snacks (raw almond butter and raisins on celery, aka "ants on a log"); some of the lovely treats anne, sheilagh, and i enjoyed ON THE BEACH the other day for 3 hours in the SEPTEMBER sun celebrating anne's birthday ^_^; and... my shoes today! ha. i add shoes to this pic because of my non-leather life! i've lived a non-leather (and silk, wool, etc.) life for at least a few years now and it feels great. it definitely helps me be a more conscious consumer and i wait longer to make clothing purchases as i look carefully at the materials assembled for my goods and when i can, i support vegan companies! (or, i clothing swap/consign/buy vintage!) these shoes are by novacas, which means "no cow" in portuguese. i got them at nice shoes! hurrah!

every day, i like to think of what i'm grateful for. and today i'm grateful for having full-time work, a cozy apartment, a most amazing and inspiring boyfriend, access to organic food (and local crops!), and people all around to inspire me and be inspired by me! hurrah for connecting with like-minded lovelies across the world! ^_^

lunches to go!

i've always been in awe of those who are able to, financially, transportation-ally (? hehe), health-consciously, and time-consciously, afford to go out for lunch every day. i've rarely considered the option of not bringing food from home. but i also enjoy the lunches i make!

here are a few of my tips for healthy meals on the go:

1. making 2 lunches at a time and almost always making food at night for the next day.
i get inspired by goods i pick up at the farmers market.

2. realizing i don't need to prep all veggies and fruits has been great.  wash them before eating, if i want, and i'm good to go! plus no container or plastic around them means less weight and/or less waste! ps the salad in the container is ani phyo's chinese chickenless salad (raw food essentials) 

3. also realizing that little samples of different veggies and nuts is a super fast and satisfying "snacking" lunch. this one is raw celery, radish, carrots, and almonds. (i didn't end up needing all the fruit i brought for the day: banana, apple, pear)

4. discovering i can drink green smoothies out of glass jars with ease and comfort has been the best! great size, lightweight, re-sealable and non-plastic is crucial for morning smoothies to-go!

5. having an emergency/last minute lunch plan is great for the days that you realize you didn't make a lunch the night before or you have slept in or you forgot to go grocery shopping during waking hours. i love having some dried fruits and nuts on hand for times like these, grabbing a banana (is there a more convenient fruit?)... but these drinkme smoothies have helped me out in more than one occasion! i grab it from the freezer in the morning and leave it in my bag (in a sac to absorb some of the thaw sweat) and i can generally start shaking up the frozen bits with the thawed bits to drink some at lunch and the rest of the afternoon. the kale/orange juice/banana is my favourite. so refreshing and satisfying!

6. making salads - my favourite and most common go-to lunch. it really doesn't matter to me what veggies i have chopped up together because fresh always tastes great! i generally don't use soft lettuces as i tend to make lunch 2 days in advance. i keep kale at the bottom and if it softens up a bit, great! i love using red cabbage and radishes. and if i have avocado in there, i'm SET. a new favourite topping has been leek flower. i also love a sprinkle of green onion and/or fresh basil! super yum! i got away from using dressing last year when my containers started leaking. also, i started to consider that i was consuming too many omega3s rather than with 6s because of too many oils. i love adding traditional raw sauerkraut with my avocado for a tangy creamy loveliness. sometimes i like carrots, sometimes i like pea shoots, cilantro, parsley, cucumber, celery... it depends on what's happening in my fridge!

7.  using a nice lunch bag! this totally helps. i thought i was doing pretty well with my lil' sac i bought from ithinkso in seoul, but then one of my favourite peeps, sarah, surprised me with this lovely bag from urban harmonie on main street. i love that i can button it closed and it has a wrist strap and it's large enough to fit stacks of things and it's wipeable! and the contrasting beautiful prints? i am so proud of how pretty it is. so my lunch is pretty on the inside and the outside! thank you, sarah!

iced mock mocha

i thawed out some e3live this morning but only had enough for a shot for paul. later, i wasn't in the mood for the taste so i thought i'd do something with raw chocolate! my result is something that reminds me of when i used to drink iced cappucinos at tim hortons (more than half my life ago, ok?) and the raw cacao is definitely giving me a coffee buzz! yay! i totally needed this jolt.

e3live "mocha" and a shot of e3live (with green grapes as a chaser!)

for my blended drink, i used:

*about 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (i'm guessing! i'm pretty sure it was more than 1 tablespoon)

*1 "shot" of e3live (ie the amount i could pour off the unthawed stuff to fill a shot glass)

*1 tablespoon maple syrup 

*1/2 tablespoon lucuma powder

*1 cup unsweetened almond milk

*4-5 ice cubes (made with a stainless steel ice cube tray! the best! i love the old look and updated material! ie aluminum-free!)

it separated a little after i had it sitting out for a bit: dark green and brown swirls, not as appetizing. but stirred, it's a pretty normal looking chocolate colour! and the raw cacao is the perfect caffeine buzz for today and i can't taste the e3live! (does anyone else sometimes not like the taste of wheatgrass or e3live? today is one of those days...)

teriyaki sprouted almonds!

good luck trying not to eat these all before you take them out of the dehydrator!

what i did:
sprouted 1 cup of raw almonds (soaked in filtered on counter for 8-12 hours, rinsing a couple times a day and letting sit for another 8 or so hours without soaking water)

i blended the following to marinate the almonds in before dehydrating for a good day or so:
*a nub of ginger
*a splash of braggs (possibly?)
*a spoon of brown rice/soy miso
*a clove of garlic
*a couple dates with probably 2 tablespoons of filtered water (or more?) to soak them a bit - i figure the dehydrator is going to suck all the liquid out anyway, i don't need to stress about too much liquid!

these are uber inspired by the teriyaki sprouted almonds from organic lives - they use a sprouted chickpea miso (swoon!) and i'm sure there are other magical ingredients (*note - upon checking my link to buy them, i see they use lemon juice and himalayan salt also! yum!). but really, start with some garlic and ginger, two "can do no wrong" ingredients, and you won't go wrong! enjoy! ^_^

hair product detox!

yesterday i was lamenting that my hair seemed to be greasy or heavy even right after a wash! i don't know what the deal is, i don't use or put anything on or in my hair except shampoo, but i'm grateful for stumbling across myhealthygreenfamily's post, washing my hair with baking soda.
last night, i followed her directions - 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in 1 cup water to lather into hair and wash out and then 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar in 1 cup water for a rinse. i didn't need probably even half as much but i did the whole cup anyways.
my hair felt squeaky clean in the shower and i'm over the moon to have it super clean feeling and soft again!
i'm curious how it will feel tomorrow! it feels lighter again - in colour and weight! it's no longer dulled by shampoo build-up? it feels like when i get out of the salon chair after a wash and cut! oh and when i used to have my hair dyed - it always felt so great after that, those first couple days! (fyi, i stopped dyeing my hair a couple years ago while taking my clean sweep of chemicals out of my life)
i probably should have taken a picture of it at its weirdest and heaviest but here is today:

my happy hair!

maybe this isn't a big deal to you, but it's a huge relief to me!

i am annoyed that i still have 1/2 full bottles of my shampoo (a couple different kinds by avalon organics). can it be that i'm sick of them and so is my head? having short, fine hair like me means it takes FOREVER to go through a bottle so i think my next one(s) are going to be small bottles of super simple shampoos (organic and minus the dirty dozen, obviously) but maybe i will even start making something myself!

is there anything cleaning-related that baking soda and vinegar isn't good for? just curious!

post-yoga fruity greens with jon!

i forgot to take a photo until near the very end. i also forgot to practice yoga for 6 months!? what was i thinking? gotta get back into that routine. thank you, jon, for taking me as your birthday guest!!! i am dreaming up something indonesian-inspired for a birthday dessert for you! ^_^
anyways... this smoothie comes courtesy of 2 cups of filtered water, 6 kale leaves, 1 pear, 2 yellow plums, 2 dates, 2 dried figs and 2 frozen bananas. sweet with amazing texture!

i am currently drinking a smoothie of frozen banana, one pear (my favourite right now!), a sprinkle of mesquite and lucuma and cinnamon and a spoon of hemp seeds and spatone liquid iron with some filtered water. delicious!

a trio of smoothies.

3 cups of water, 2 apples and 2 pears and the greens (and stems) from one bunch of beets made 3 portions of this not-so-green green smoothie!

the tops of a bunch of carrots,  3 cups of water, 1 plum and a couple handfuls of frozen plums, 1 sprig of mint and 1 apple made up this smoothie for 3! 

a few leaves of kale shy of a bunch, the juice of 4-5 oranges (about 2.5 cups) and 2 frozen bananas created 3 cups of  my favourite green smoothie this week! fresh orange juice? swoon!