RAW Food

I have been wanting to change my diet to a completely raw diet ever since I did a juice fast in Thailand last year at The Spa Resort Koh Chang (which was the most relaxing and rejuvenating holiday I've ever had). I blogged about this experience here. After you do a big cleanse like that, you only want to put good things back into your body. But, of course, over time I have gotten back into my old habits of eating too much vegan chocolate, chips, pasta, bread and other processed nasties!

The thought of going completely raw has always been a bit daunting for me and I greatly admire anyone who has attempted it or succeeded with going raw. I often scour the sites and blogs for raw recipes for that final inspiration to make the switch but I am often left wondering how on earth any of these meals will really satisfy me.

So, going raw has been a distant dream for a while. However, 4 things have happened to me recently that make me think that I could actually do it...

1. I found an amazing raw, organic choc-hazelnut slice at Organika in Noosa. I love it so much that they now check to see if it's in stock as soon as I walk in the store. haha

2. I realized that our juicer isn't broken like we thought, so I can make lots of big, filling veggie juices.

3. I discovered young thai coconuts and try to eat one most days. Today I found a great video for raw pad thai where the 'noodles' are made out of coconut meat. Yummy.

4. Yesterday I found this awesome raw cheese made from cashews, basil, tomatoes and olives, also at Organika. It is like a cream cheese spread with a beautiful, rich flavour.

If you are wondering what the hell I am going on about and haven't heard of going 'raw' before, here is a little rundown. The whole point of going raw is that you cut out any processed or cooked foods so that you are eating whole foods that are still full of all of their nutrients. As soon as you start to cook something you are beginning to destroy the vital nutrients that it provides, so the idea is to stay clear of cooked foods as much as possible. Some people call it a 'living foods' or 'live foods' diet as all of the foods are still completely live and whole. Basically, you stick to fruit, vegetables and nuts. However, you can still make things interesting if you get a bit creative and check out what other raw foodists are doing.

Many people have made it into quite a science and have decided that a food can be heated up until a certain temperature and still be called 'raw.' There are also all sorts of gadgets such as a dehydrator that works in a similar way to baking something in an oven, but it takes longer and dehydrates the food rather than cooking it. This way it is still full of nutrients. So you can make raw crackers, raw bread, raw cookies, etc. I am not interested in purchasing new equipment or making things complicated. I would just like to try to add more raw foods to my diet and try to eat mostly raw.

What I like most about the thought of going raw is the deserts! I always find so many yummy raw desserts - it is the main meal that I am worried about.

Vegan Doggies

Here at Vegan Era, we LOVE animals. That's a given. Our resident doggie is little Trudi and she is a beautiful Staffy. We rescued her from a local no-kill animal shelter when she was about 6 months old. Trudi is a happy little vegan also. She seems to be growing almost every day and is full of life and love.

Seeing how happy and healthy Trudi is, we always have people ask us how they can help their best friends to adopt the compassionate vegan diet. So we thought we'd share our experience and ideas with you.

First of all let me tell you how much Trudi LLOOVVVEESSS food. Like most doggies, food is her favourite thing. She loves toast in the mornings with avacado or left over porridge with extra milk. We met another gorgeous doggie the other day that loves soy banana smoothies so we'll have to see if Trudi likes that too. Our guess is she will love it!

For dinner, Trudi enjoys rice with vegetables and beans/lentils/vegan mince and some baked beans or some tomato pasta sauce for flavour. Trudi prefers just the canned veggies from the supermarket and she loves corn. We always make up a big batch for her so that it lasts at least a few days. As well as this, Trudi loves to mix her rice meal with some Vegan Pet doggie biscuits. She loves crunching on them!

We've heard that many staffy's are as fussy as Trudi so we usually don't adjust her dinner too much. It's funny watching her carefully remove the things that she doesn't like from the bowl, such as anything green!

Trudi also loves Vegan Pet treats such as the chocolate or peanut butter flavoured doggie biscuits. Yummy!!

When we first brought Trudi in to our home it took her a few days to get used to her new situation and she didn't eat much for the first few days. This is normal. So if you are trying to change your best friend's eating habits, please keep this in mind. After a few days your doggie will probably love the new food and you may start to notice differences such as a more gentle nature and a shinier coat.

I'm sure your happy little girl or boy will embrace the compassionate, vegan lifestyle just as much as you have!

If you have a vegan pet please let us know what food they love.

Be love : Be peace : Be vegan; Save Our Home.

Pretty Pink Vegan Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to everyone and lots of love to you! This Valentines Day I organised a girls picnic in the park with an array of vegan treats that I thought I would share with you.

To get into the valentines day spirit we had red love heart cut-outs hanging from the trees, lace cushions, sparkling pink drinks, and a bunch of girls dressed in their prettiest pink!

On the menu:
Dips including: Susan's Saucepan 'hold the cheese' pesto, Susan's Saucepan roast capsicum and cashews, Tofutti 'Better than cream cheese,' babaganouj, home-made bruschetta mix, Maggie Bear's quince paste and Wattle Valley exotic thai with cashews. With a selection of crackers and bread including Always Fresh Grissini italian breadsticks in rosemary & sea salt.

We also had a few different types of olives - some marinated in herbs and lemon juice, others stuffed with semi-dried tomatoes. A couple of the dips were at the supermarket, but most supermarket dips tend to include parmesan cheese in everything! Many of the crackers also had milk or cheese solids in them - even plain watercrackers. So I purchased everything but the Tofutti and exotic thai dips from a deli instead.

Then we had Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls and lots of them! Mum and I made these up - so easy. I have the recipe for them here.
For drinks we had a couple of different organic fruit juice mixes and some tall bottles of Tiro sparkling pink grapefruit juice.

Finally for desert, we had Bliss Balls made up by Davey. These are really easy: simply add some soaked almonds to a food processor and then slowly add dates, figs, goji berries, raisins, or anything else that will be sticky enough to mould it all together. If you are a sweet tooth you can also add some agave nectar. When it is not too mushy and a good consistency to stick together, roll up little balls and then cover them in desiccated coconut.

And last, but definitely not least, these pink raspberry vegan cheesecakes from Loving Hut at Mt Gravatt. So DELICIOUS and they taste exactly like cheesecake.
That's it! It was so nice to have a girly picnic and I have to thank all of the lovely ladies who attended - you made it such a special Valentines Day! xx

WHY NO EGG??

One of the most common questions that gets thrown at you when you mention the vegan diet is "Why don't you eat eggs?' I understand the curiosity behind people not putting them in the animal cruelty category, however I met a lady on the weekend who may be able to help you understand why.

But firstly, there is no real need for eggs, which by the way are full of cholesterol and unhealthy fats. If you are a baker, there is a product on all supermarket and health food shop shelves called "Egg Like" or "Egg Replacer" which works wonders in binding cakes. You can also use 2 tablespoons of cornflour and a little water to form a glue that won't interfere with the taste.
If you like the big breaky to fill you up on those Sunday mornings, then a cruelty free "Vegan Big Breaky" consists of things like:
veggie sausages (Mrs Flannerys, all Coles & Woolies)
baked beans
fan of avocado with cracked pepper and salt
fried tomato
fresh Turkish bread with nutelex margarine
freshly squeezed orange juice
scrambled tofu...(soft tofu..just pretend it is eggs and cook with favourite ingredients)
Here are some simple facts about where your eggs come from

RSPCA Barn Eggs are produced by housing hundreds of chickens in sheds with laying boxes around the edges. Theses chickens are stressed and confused as they have little personal space and confused pecking orders. After 18 months they do not lay fast enough and are taken to abattoirs
FARM FRESH/SUPERMARKET EGGS are laid from battery hens that live in small cages holding 5 hens each. These hens have barely enough room to turn around and their feet become painful from holding onto the metal cage beneath them . Again these hens are taken to the abboitors after 18 months
FREE RANGE are once again in sheds, but supposedly let out for some time in the day, however it is not monitored.
So you as a consumer can CHOOSE to purchase eggs, or you can CHOOSE to purchase some egg like and go for a vegan breaky. It is easy to live without them, and you don't have to contribute to the never ending suffering of our beautiful animals.

If you live in Brisbane and would like to give some battery hens a home after their first 18 months of a horrendous life, there is a wonderful lady by the name of "Monique" who is going in to the battery farms and taking as many as she can find homes for before their trip to the abboitors. Her phone number is 0419 709 729 and she lives in Banyo. Monique will be available at Brisbane's Green Earth Festival on Saturday 13th March at the City Botanical Gardens to talk with the general public.
Email is homesforhens@hotmail.com