canadian romantic, smooth(ie)

this morning, paul said, "this smoothie is delicious!" so i figured i should post it.
and i think the winking photo card of robert dayton, aka the canadian romantic, compliments it quite nicely!

ingredients are as follows:
- 6-7 leaves of kale
- 2 packets of spatone liquid iron
- a sprinkle of camu camu
- one bosc pear
- two frozen bananas
- juice of one valencia orange
- one cup (or less) of filtered water

heirloom dinner.

on thursday night, for the first time in what seems like ages, i met up with sarah and went out for dinner! yay!
we checked out heirloom, just off granville on west 12th, which had just opened up the week before. it's an all vegetarian restaurant with many labelled vegan and raw and gluten-free options! hurrah!
we got the popcorn ($3) to start which was awesome. although i normally eat my popcorn with coconut oil and nutritional yeast just as heirloom does, the added beet powder that the restaurant uses was perfection! best popcorn ever!
i got an algae lemonade to start ($5) that i definitely have to start doing at home - e3 live with lemon and maple syrup? yum!!! so refreshing and invigorating! i think it would do me well to sip on in the mornings at work, though, maybe more so in the warmer months!

we shared the avocado fries ($7? i can't remember) and the raw slaw ($6.50? i can't remember either. oops!). the avocado fries are deep fried in a chickpea batter and served with a homemade catsup which has a strange sweet taste, at least to me and sarah. i kept using it as a dip though because the fries are drying and in my opinion, really need the dip dimension. i think they would go better with a salsa. the slaw was pretty good. sarah mentioned the sesame taste being too much. the slaw was really carrot-y and light. i appreciated the basil garnish and would have enjoyed more basil. 

i would definitely go back to heirloom to try more food. so far, the highlights for me are the beautiful space, my friend vanessa serving (and creating her amazing holistic drinks!), the popcorn, and my company, sarah! 

i'm super excited that vancouver keeps opening up new and beautiful veggie-friendly restaurants!

happy thanksgiving!

yesterday, after collecting walnuts in my parents' backyard, we sat down for yummy veggie-heavy dinner with the family.
i made matthew kenney's recipe for raw chili (a sure-fire hit, regardless of traditional "thanksgiving" tastes, that didn't disappoint!) and my mom made sure to have lots of steamed veggies and mashed potatoes and she made a cream sauce using almond milk, rice flour and earth balance. yay!

thanksgiving sunday morning green blend.

i'm at my parents' house for the weekend and i'm on smoothie duty for the mornings! i'm so excited they have been doing their own green smoothies since my last visit. and it's exciting to come for a visit and have a stock of fresh, organic yummy things to blend up!

this morning, i blended a couple leaves of kale (kale kind of frustrates me lately as there are more bugs than usual to clean off!), 1/3 a bunch of italian parsley, 3-4 stalks of red chard, 3 pears, 2 peaches, about 2 cups of water.

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...)