Farm Sanctuary's LA Walk for Farm Animals!

It's that time of year again! In fact, it's been that time of year for a little over a month now!  It's time to Walk for Farm Animals!

Every year, the leading farmed animal protection organization in the United States, Farm Sanctuary, leads Walks all over the country to help raise awareness about the plight of the millions of farmed animals who are abused, confined, and lose their lives every day for the food and clothing industry.  The Walk becomes a rally, a force of good, a massive community gathering to provide a voice for these voiceless beings and help others connect more closely with their values & beliefs (especially when 97% of Americans oppose cruelty to animals).  The Walk allows an opportunity to bring a visual of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, horses all in an open, free natural environment - living, breathing, playing, thriving. The Walk opens up opportunities to raise funds that go to rescuing farmed animals, providing urgent care and lifelong refuge, and education and advocacy efforts.

We've been a part of three Walks so far, in Rehoboth Beach, DE, New York, NY, and Santa Monica, LA, CA, and are excited for the possibility of our fourth!  Overall, we're excited to raise money for such a powerful, valuable cause close to our hearts.  The Walks started at the beginning of September and will continue through the beginning of November.  Our Los Angeles Walk is coming up just next week (yeeps!) on Saturday,                                                                                      October 27th in Pasadena.

Team Kiss Me, I'm Vegan!/Ahimsa Life Coaching asks you, you passionate Ahimsa Lifers, for your support and to please help us contribute to the animals. A sponsorship donation as little as $1 or $5 is amazing, and anything beyond is absolutely tremendous.  

You can check out our Walk sponsorship page here.  Please leave a note if you contribute so we can say thank you (or not, if you like the whole anonymous benefactor thing).

If you live in or around the LA/Pasadena area, maybe we'll get to see you!  As of this post, there are still Walks happening in Louisville, KY, Atlanta, GA, New York City, NY, Sacramento, CA, Phoeniz, AZ, Austin, TX, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, Philadelphia, PA, and Tampa Bay, FL.  If you don't have one in a city near you or you just can't make it, there's an even easier way to get involved with the Sleep In for Farm Animals on November 3rd.

Since its inception in 1986, Farm Sanctuary, headed by founder Gene Baur, has paved the way for opening the hearts and minds of millions of people to true compassion.  This year, Peter Dinklage, of Boardwalk Empire and other television/films, is the WfFA Spokesperson. Please join Gene, Peter, the thousands of people walking around the country, and, of course, us!, in support and celebration of our beloved farmed animals. 

All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #7 - Live for Live: The Joy of Raw Foods Part 1

That's Live ("L-ih-ve") for Live ("L-eye-ve").

Cooking is a blast. So much fun. Mixing, measuring, creating. Beginning a relationship with your food. Pots and pans and burners. Fire. Warmth. Mmm, there's something about the process of making your food that actually makes it taste better, you know what I mean?

BUT. That's not to say that cooked food is the only way to go. Not by a long shot, mister and misses. Whole plant foods in their raw food are delicious. How much more simple and flavorful can you get than a piece of fruit or vegetable. Their original essence. Mmm, there's something about consuming a food in its natural form that actually makes it taste better, you know what I mean? (And that's not even to mention the incredibly high nutrient quality of live food.)

Whoa, I think I just love food. We can all agree that whether cooked or raw, there are tons of incredibly delicious plant-based options for you always and forever.

Last post was a yummy, cooked pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving meal. Here's a raw one to satisfy that side of things. And it comes from one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Gratitude.

I AM HAPPY: Mediterranean wrap with live falafels, zucchini cilantro hummus, spinach, red onion, tomato, cucumber, red chili pepper sauce and garlic tahini dressing on live sun-dried tomato bread

A colorful salad of mixed greens and other veggies with a flavorful dressing + a raw wrap chock full of goodies.  The meal is very tasty, very light, very fulfilling.  Live food, indeed, makes you feel alive.  There are so many fun raw/live options to our cooked favorites.  Check it out if you haven't.  Give yourSelf the gift of life in food.

I just wanted to share Part 1 with you for now.  Part 2 involves DESSERTS.  So be ready - I'm gonna ask you to make a decision.  Start thinking with your taste buds.

All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #6 - A Mini-Thanksgiving in October

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for life, for love, for freedom, for everything. Thanksgiving is about family, about connection, about community, about the bonds we have together as human beings. Thanksgiving is about food, about sustenance and nourishment, about fulfillment and variety, about health and well-being.

Why only celebrate this one day a year?  Lindsay's brother, Jon, and his girlfriend, Kate, visited us in LA for a few days, so we decided to have a mini-Thanksgiving.  Another chance to celebrate, an opportunity to, ya know, prep for the real deal in November.  Come on, let's make some food and eat!

Our mini-T-Giving allowed us to be thankful for browned seitan, sauteed broccoli & onions, a mixed mash medley of sweet potatoes, red bliss potatoes, and other small potatoes, all topped with a delicious homemade gravy.

The seitan and broccoli & onions are easy.  We boiled & mashed up the medley of potatoes, added a bit of almond milk and tahini to add to its creaminess.  Here's the gravy recipe:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3-4 cups of water
• hefty dose of poultry seasoning (can't go wrong - to your flavor liking)
• 1/2 cup Nooch
• 1-2 Tbsp of garlic powder
• arrowroot powder/water rue

Add the non-rue ingredients into a pan/pot on low/medium heat. Separately, dissolve arrowroot powder slowly in water - we did about 1 part arrowroot powder to 2 parts water - to create a rue, and pour it into the pan/pot mixture once it's warm (also slowly).  You can use flour or cornstarch instead of arrowroot, if you choose.  Keep stirring the mixture as you go, continue adding to your preferred thickness and taste.

Completing the full panoramic view of our Mini-Thanksgiving meal

We should be thankful for the delicious, plant foods with which we're blessed on this earth! Celebrate the food, celebrate yourSelf, celebrate your loved ones, celebrate your taste buds, celebrate your tummy, celebrate Vegan MoFo!


All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #5: SunCafe is all it's Cooked up to be. Here's the Raw scoop.

When I am in the mood for some delicious food, when I want a tasty treat, when I need some fuel & energy after a strenuous, grueling 10K Gladiator Run, I know I'm in good hands when I find myself in an eatery voted Best Raw Food Restaurant in Los Angeles and 3rd Best in the World (BestOfRaw.net, 2011).  There's only one place that holds that honor & title - that's SunCafe.

On their About page:

SunCafe is dedicated to serve healthy, organic, exceptional tasting meals full of vibrant flavors. We hope to change the way you think about food in general. Our restaurant doesn't fry it, kill it, overcook it, we just give you exceptional tasting food that's healthy for you!

Featuring both raw and cooked organic cuisine from pizzas to salads to burgers and sandwiches to juices and shakes, SunCafe has a fresh, scrumptious take on our favorites.  Almost every menu item has a raw option, so, depending on your mood, you can get quinoa pasta or Zucchini "noodles;" you can get nachos with baked blue corn chips or jicama slices.  Or, if you're a "best of both worlds" person, you can get them half & half, like I did.  Nuts and seeds become the creative foundation for many meals (load on the cashew cheese!), and SunCafe adds extra pizzazz with SunChorizo (spicy!) and Garlic Pecan Crumble (mouthwatering...).  

Of course, you should wash everything down with a Sweet Kale Shake or a Lemon Ginger Blast or Cacao Superfood Shake.  Which is exactly what I did.  Here's my menu (shared amongst friends and family):

The Biscuits and Gravy was delectable and very comforting.

The Sun Nachos provided the jam-packed flavor with a much lighter feeling in my belly (I totally dug the jicama chips.) Holy moly, guacamole.

The Fiesta Burger couldn't fit in my mouth until I jimmied it open two more inches.  My taste buds said thank you.

The Sweet Kale Shake soothed my mind, body, and spirit.  Only four ingredients needed to do so.  Read ingredients above.

I love food.  Food loves SunCafe.  Therefore, do I love SunCafe? Be it science, intuition, mathematical law, or yum-yum-yummy in my tummy feelings, the answer is yes.  I love SunCafe.  Now you should go love SunCafe too.  Throw in 3711 Cahuenga Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604 into your GPS and go.  Bring your appetite.  You're in good hands.


All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #4 - My Favorite Bean!

There are many types of beans.  I did not know in 5th grade, when, for United Nations Day - representing Kuwait - my group made hummus for our food to bring in, that I would fall in love with the beans we used to make this hummus.  These delicious, tasty, filling garbanzo beans.

Chickpeas.

They are my go-to.  Chickpeas in salads, chickpeas in soups, chickpeas in pasta, chickpeas on their own.  Chickpeas in their alter ego form, hummus.  Creamy, protein-packed, and fun to play with.

I love chickpeas so much that on several occasions I have dipped a chickpea in hummus.  And then ate it, of course.  I'm not the only one who loves chickpeas.

Chickpeas are so delicious, even my cat, Jumper, loves them.  He may love them even more than me.  I won't roll over for them; he will.  

What's your favorite bean?

All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #3 - But I love cheese...

I will probably post more about cheese.  A recipe with cheese.  A picture of gooey, melty cheese.  Something(s) involving cheese.

Oh, but it won't be cheese that came from an animal.  It won't be coagulated cow's milk cheese.  No rennet.  No casein.  The cheese I speak of is completely, positively, 100% plant-based.  And it's gooey, it stretches, and it's incredibly delicious.

So, since almost everyone loves cheese, we'll start small and work our way up throughout the month.  Everyone should know that you can enjoy your favorite cheesy foods - nachos, pizza, mozzarella sticks - without the cholesterol or the cruelty.  So if you're not aware of the numerous vegan cheese options, keep an eye out and just know: you're about to be enlightened.  Cheese and vegan can go together like rama-lama-lama-kadingiddy-ding-dee-dong. (or whatever.  I did Grease back in high school, it's been awhile.)

My favorite vegan/plant-based cheese?  Why, it's Daiya, of course!  Daiya comes in three flavors currently (in shreds): mozzarella, cheddar, and pepperjack.  

In addition to being casein, whey, and lactose-free (because no mammal milk is involved!), Daiya's cheeses are also free of soy, gluten, eggs, rice, peanuts and tree nuts (except coconut oil). That's a tasty way to stay allergen-free.

I used to eat shredded animal cheese right out of the bag.  I do that occasionally with Daiya.  Nostalgia, with compassion and health in mind this time around.  I mainly melt it on stuff though.  Everything.  Food, I mean.  But I guess you can melt it on other stuff too.

I love cheese.


All the best and yummiest to you.

Vegan MoFo #2: Green Smoothies!

Perfect in the morning, for a wake-me-up/perk-me-up breakfast (bye-bye coffee)!

Perfect for an in-between snack (and healthier than all the processed snacks out there)!

Perfect for you, for me, now, later, anytime. Simple. Delicious. And so good for you.  I mean,

it's GREEN.

Here's my green smoothie for the day:

• Kale
• Carrots
• Blueberries
• Banana
• Cucumber
• Coconut water
• Ground flaxseed
• Throw 'em in the Vitamix and let the green magic happen.

          = 

What's your favorite green smoothie recipes?  

All the best and yummiest to you.