No Whey! Me too!

Elimination Diet Day Three

2012-02-26T01:54:00.000-08:00

Breakfast - home made muesli & almond milk

Glass of lemon water

Snack - carrot & apple juice
An apple

Lunch - some homemade wedges and a small bean salad

Snack - almond milk + protein powder
Bean salad
Dinner - cosmic cashew quinoa

Snack - Nothing

Elimination Diet Day Two

2012-02-25T21:50:00.001-08:00

Breakfast - home made muesli & almond milk

A carrot, apple, cucumber juice

Snack - Teaspoon almond butter & cacao nibs

Lunch - red lentil Dahl & papadums

Snack - apple

Dinner - black bean patties with a lime peanut dressing with a side of sautéed garlic Choy and cashews

Snack - 1/8 watermelon

Two cups rose vanilla tea

Elimination Diet day one

2012-02-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Breakfast - a can of chickpeas, because I felt like it

A carrot, apple, celery, cucumber juice

Snack - two plums

Lunch - two raw coffee date nut balls

Snack - almond butter & cacao nibs

Dinner - red lentil Dahl & papadums

Snack - 1/8 watermelon

A rose and vanilla tea

Elimination diet

2012-02-24T21:47:00.001-08:00

I’ve been feeling a little bit bloated for awhile, despite losing 5kgs i haven’t been feeling slim at all, I look at myself in the mirror side on and aren’t as slim as i should be, because when i first lost the weight it actually showed.

My symptoms I’d like to rid my body of:

Bloating
Sinus congestion -> headaches
So…because i love “self help-ing” Im going to be doing an elimination diet for the next 21 days! yay! Im doing it to see if any of the often allergen/imflamation causing foods are actually secretly making me feel less than amazeballs.

eliminating:

~~Dairy/poultry/meat~~ - pffft done, vegan, eassssy.
Soy - will be subbing soy milk with almond, which i just tried and will be permanantly making the switch! I’ve heard that eating Tempeh is still ok though

Corn - will be subbing corn flour for rice/besan flour

Wheat/GLUTEN - now that’s a biggy, i mean, last night I had gluten steaks for dinner.

Alcohol - Rarely drink anyway!

Sugar - Im cutting out all added sugar except the sugar thats in my almond milk, I don’t eat alot of sugar as is, but i want my almond milk!

Processed food - Don’t eat any anyway…ok except my almond milk.

I’ve seen so many blog posts complaining about how boring, horrible and flavourless this diet is, but just flicking through the recipes i could, a arge number are able to be used for this diet and are delicious, so i guess some people just can’t cook!

I look forward to the results! food photos to come!

deedle dee dee potatoes

2012-02-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

just SOME of the potatoes i dug out (while wearing a maxi dress, we need a word or "glamourous gardening"...Glardening? Glamdering?) There's still a whole bunch growing in our large dirt mound were dad threw in all these potatoes ages ago. I can't wait to grow potatos in bags so I can actually find them all!

made

2012-01-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

A new japanese cotton tote with a million pockets and a new cushion cover. woo.

Recycling is cool!

2012-01-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

Left: weekly items covered in non-recyclable packets Right: Growing your own veg doesn't require plastic!

I'll admit, I've been really naive about what IS recyclable these days. In the past however many years things have supposedly become more green (greeeenwashing) and eco friendly. well so I thought.

Up until recently I would throw pretty much all plastic packaging into the recycling bin thinking companies had caught up to the inevitable need of not creating unnecessary landfill, but I actually started looking for the recycling symbol on things and it was surprisingly vacant! My heart sank, so many basic things - We juice alot of veggies, the many bags of carrot we buy each week, yep, not recyclable, the plastic covering tomatoes, not recyclable and so on. Im going to assume the bag rolls in the supermarket are also not good for the environment.

Baaah! what's wrong these days? I know it costs more but I would totally pay for a package to be recyclable. But with that being said this year Im going to step it up!

I'm going to make a real effort not to purchase things housed in earth-murdering materials
Always take as many green bags to the supermarket
Refusing bags when retail shopping (I already do this, I bought a pair of earrings not long ago and the girl serving me shot me a weird look when i refused the large size bag for them...who need s bag for earrings, really!)
ALWAYS taking my keep cup to places I may end up drinking coffee
avoid putting vegetables in bags at the shops, they don't actually need it, I can put them in a green bag if they need protection
GROW WHAT WE EAT - that will avoid plastic! (carrots, salad leaves, silverbeet, tomatoes, zucchini, bok choi, basil, parsley etc

Silverbeet cuttoffs

2011-11-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

So the little experiment of keeping the very end of a supermarket silverbeet worked pretty well wouldn't you say!

fast forward a few months, it flourished! but As it turns out I don't enjoy whatever species of silbeet this is, tastes like dirt! I killed it :)

First raw dinner

2011-11-18T13:19:00.000-08:00

Woo milestone! finally made something raw that wasn't dessert, Raw Sushi! I made cauliflower rice which was quite good texture and taste wise, my filling was pretty boring though as i had to use what I had on hand - avocado and alfalfa sprouts. Next time I will fill it with delicious things!

I also tried out some "snacks" seeing as Im going away next week and it involves 12 hours of driving. I made Tahini Balls and Coconut fudge balls. There are only two Tahini balls on the plate because mother dearest ate the rest haha! I'm not completely sold on them, they are satisfying and filling though. The Fudge balls are quite rich and eating one is about enough, the recipe calls for pistachios but I might use pecans and walnuts next time.

The idea of eating raw is fascinating, I never would have imagined that eating uncooked vegetables and nuts could be so appealing, i'm still pretty apprehensive to try many recipes and am thinking i'll keep flirting with raw food via restaurants like Yong green, Vegie bar and Loving Hut.

One thing I have been struggling with is the idea that raw food is better, which it is, but by comparison cooked food is not, but I have to keep reminding myself that I am never going to be fully raw and that cooked food is still pretty great! I just have visualizations that all cooked food is nutritionally dead, kind of like thinking "carbs are baaaad" when they aren't.

peace!

Garden Update

2011-11-08T21:33:00.000-08:00

in order: Broccoli, italian parsley, marjoram, dill, coriander, tomato, kale, zucchini, spring onions, broccoli and silver beet

Raw Vegan Chocolate Tart (amazing!)

2011-11-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Blows, my mind. This is definatly one of those recipes that makes up for "missing out" on things, baked chocolate cake, whatever, I’d rather eat this, it's full of good fats and free from cane sugar, so you don't have to feel bad about it, unless you eat the whole thing...

I made these in chocolate moulds as well as in patty tins as I wanted to put half on the freezer and half in the fridge to see how they held up, fridge is perfect. Now I just need to buy a proper tart tin.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Tart

For the Crust

1 cup raw pecans

1cup flaked coconut

2 Tbs raw cacao powder

¾ cup chopped dates (soaked for ½ hour)

Place all ingredients in a food processor/blender and mix until chopped and well incorporated. Press mixture into a tart pan (or chocolate moulds, cookie cutters etc).

Filling

1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked in water from one to three hours, then drained

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons raw agave nectar

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until very smooth pour over the base mixture and pop in the fridge for a few hours. Easy.

Recipe adapted from this and this

urban foraging

2011-11-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Why pay for food if you don't have to! I go for a run a few times a week and part of my route is through an orhcard style public "walk" lined with Mulberries! After my runs I drive around to this area and fill a container full and take them home, so delicious! Im definatly not the only ones who do this, quite often there are groups of people who put down tarps, food grade plastic buckets, ladders and long poles and harvest loads of them, I really hope they're not selling them at the markets, but regardless, there's usually enough left around for me to fill up my containers. I always end up eating all the berries before I put them to another use, I want to make a mulberry cheesecake next time.

Another easily foraged item is dandelion leaves, there are plenty of them in the backyard hiding in the grass and are really hard to spot until they flower. I really only started using dandelion greens out of necessity one day when I didn't have any greens to juice.

something i want to start foraging for is Fennel, i've recently started cooking with it and I love it, and it doesn't seem to be common at my local supermarkets, but I keep seeing fennel like plants everywhere, out the train window in unkempt areas, along the upper banks of my local river, even on the medium strip of the highway, if this is indeed actually fennel I really want to pluck up the courage to go rip it out and use it, why pay for it, maybe the council should pay me for weeding for them.

Mushroom foraging is also on the list for next year, so my sister better watch out because Im making her come with me.

I just found this website/map called Scrumpers, people put tags on the map of where there is public plants!

babies.

2011-11-03T23:17:00.001-07:00

It has begun!

* edit* - all my broccoli heads bolted to seed so I tore them off. Now hopefully their side shoots will give me some edibles!

Cruelty Free Festival - Sydney 2011

2011-10-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Held in Belmore park across from central station, it was filled with 60 great stalls, live music, talks and food glorious food! I headed to the beer garden to grab a new cider (or two) they were trialing by Coldstream, was really good as far as ciders go but it also lead me to spend money on other things as i dazedly wandered around the stalls. I ended up buying some bamboo tooth brushes which I mentioned a few posts ago!

Ruby Fruit, what more can I say, as far as cheesecake goes, they're amazing, and that's before even consdering they are vegan. I really hope I can find a recipe to replicate thair deliciousness! Pictured: Lemon/Raspberry and White chocolate/passionfruit (which I had for breakfast this morning, YUM!)

oh I also included a photo of the ironic billboard on the public toilet at the festival, but as it happens it was covered in pro-vegan stickers by the end of the day :)

Garden progress

2011-10-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, this garden was intended to be done by spring but that certainly hasn't happened. In the past week or two I've put in lots of hard work to get it to where it is now, which is only a 1/4 of the actual area.

1. Over two days I shoveled out a ton of wet compacted leaves

2. Tilled the soil, which is heavy clay.

3. mixed in a bag of gypsum and a few bags of organic mulch

4. Planted some brocolli and silverbeet and started laying down a rock path (which dad thinks is wasting space but you have to walk somewhere!)

wishlist

2011-10-25T02:27:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a couple of things that Im crushing on at the moment

"The Environmental Toothbrush" Regular tooth brushes go into land fill but these ones are made of bamboo which is biodegradable, sustainable and doesn't pollute the environment. 12 for $36, which is cheaper than plastic brushes anyway! *Edit - Got some!*

some singlets from Vaute Couture - They make stylish vegan winter coats and tees, fair trade too!

A food processor, so I can make easy raw food. even if i didn't want to eat raw I still need one.

Melissa shoes. Jelly shoes! I used to have the most amazing clear pair of glitter sandals as a kid. I've also heard Melissa shoes smell like bubble gum!

A dog, Because ours died six months ago. They also eat scraps, and fertilize the lawn, eco dog!

hint hint Santa claus.

Oscar's Law Rally

2011-09-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

I went to the Oscar's Law rally in Sydney today, was great to see all the support for such an important cause. If you're not familer with Oscar's Law it's basically trying to implement a law to prevent people from operating Puppy farms, backyard breeding operations, and being able to legally prosecute people who are involved with mistreating these animals. For more information check out their website

There were a few stalls there including Animal Liberation, Funky Pies and Rubyfruit. I took the oportunity to buy myself a vegan cheesecake as it's not something I have access to (oven = broken). It was so amazing, I got the lemon raspberry cheese cake, seriously amazing! They sell their baked goods in Leura and the Bluebird markets in the Blue Mountains which I'll have to check out sometime!

It's always a good day when cheesecake in involved.

2011-09-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tomato plant courtesy of Zigwicks! I can't wait till we don't need to buy tomatoes from the supermarket!

Today is so beautiful, cloudless, warm. I am going to spend it weeding! purifying things is oh so satisfying. My plan is to clean up the backyard, neaten things up so as to get father dearest to get on and do some things to the back yard...progress is needed, otherwise spring is going to pass by and I won't have a proper vegetable garden and a dog will not be acquired. He needs a push to get along and put wire along the open areas on the side of the house so that future dog can't get under and chew on cables, the side of the house then needs to have a drain put in and concreted in order for me/dad to turn over the area that will be the veggie garden.

I'm also cleaning our dog bowl as a hint. Hopefully he'll pick up on it!!

anyhoo, I have so many different plants in pots, I can't wait to reap the fruits of my not so hard labour!

green power

2011-09-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Being passionate about eating my greens, can't say it's something I had ever anticipated! I almost can't express how excited the concept of eating healthy, optimally and tastefully makes me! (note: I said the thought of ....not the act... I still eat pretty average for a vegan)

I went to Go Vita in search of Jojoba Oil to use as a cleaser/moisturiser but waked out with Nutrional Yeast and a not so cheap baggy of Cacao Nibs. It was almost subconsious.. I couldn't not buy them! I blame blogs like The Fruit Persuit (my fave blog!!) and David Woolfe for making me want to try them.

I also really want to start doing wheatgrass shots, All of a sudden I just had the thought "I need green stuff, I need chlorophyl!". I don't really eat much in the way of greens in my diet, I eat brocolli and that's about it. I've bought some silver beet and celery to add to my daily carrot juices to get my intake up.

I want to feel amazing (and look amazing, I have acne I need to kick!)

I love what I have become.

2011-08-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

I love myself more now than a year ago. I'm not trying to toot my horn I'm just happy to be changing.

this time last year I was eating cheese on everything. When I would be on a "health kick" It would involve microwaving frozen vegetables and then putting cheese on top. Now I eat fresh steamed vegetables for dinner because i think it tasted delicious! My body wants it, my taste buds have been cleansed from casein addiction and I can taste my food for real!

Last year I force myself to eat "healthy" food. Im eating almond right now because i love their taste, Back in the day I thought they were repulsive, I could only eat roasted, I hate roasted now.

I cook all my food, every day, I very rarely eat products (it will usually be oreos or sultana bran)

I eat however much I want and don't feel self conscious about it making me fat because I know I'm eating good food.

My diet a year ago consisted of :

frozen wedges, frozen vegetables with cheese on top, Cheesy potato bake, Macaroni cheese, mashed potato...with cheese on top, microwaved bubble and squeak (potato yet again!), I can't think of much else!

Eggplant parmesan

2011-08-11T20:27:00.001-07:00

Made this for dinner last night and had some more for lunch today, First time eating eggplant, doesn't really have much flavour but this was delish!!!!! The sauce was pretty great.. capsicums....green olives (my new favourite thing!)

weeds and other things

2011-08-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Baby brocolli, so cute, they're slowly growing up and I have way too many.

baby lettuce...

...to big lettuce, and getting bigger

And I have taken it upon myself to get this vegetable garden going, it's not going to happen unless I get it going. Spent yesterday afternoon hoeing the top layer of soil, continuing to do that today, will then have to rake out the remaining roots, then put the soil somewhere....

weeds! hundreds of different types of weeds! what a pain, ones that spray seeds everywhere when you pull them out, ones that have bulbs that fall of when you pull them out... they're smart. Need to get rid of them naturally

Peas out!

2011-06-27T22:42:00.001-07:00

2011-06-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

Planted some broccoli seeds, pumpkin seeds and shallots today. Sun baked for awhile, without the winter wind it may as well be spring.

Now I just need some Cauliflower seeds. Zucchini would be a good idea too. How good would it be to be able to grow the majority of your fresh food.

everybody needs good neighbours...

2011-06-24T01:09:00.000-07:00

....that know how to garden. thanks Bob

books

2011-06-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

I love Book Depository.

I bought The China Study, The Kind Diet, Vegan Yum Yum & The Omnivore's Dilemma

Bob Barker

2011-06-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

I had to go see Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker docked in Cirqular Quay, pulling up to Cirq station and seeing it in the quey made me feel like a little kid rocking up to a fair or something. They SS crew are all so lovely too. I've always had the intention of joining Sea Shepherd even before the show whale wars came about but after chatting to some of the guys yesterday really made me want to do it, I want to help out too! and It would be a great way to meet some like minded vegans.

One thing I found cool was being able to smell butyric acid for myself After seeing it used so much on the show. It smells like really pungent weird cheese.

and it was sunny and warm!

2011-06-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

Until today I had never seen kale sold in Australia, perhaps that's because the last time I went to bunnings was way before i became vegan and knew of kale. How beautiful is the ornamental Kale up the top!

Today was lovely, warm and sunny (not at all like winter) and was spent gardening with mumola. She bought lavender and rosemary plants to cook in Jamie Oliver recipes and I bought garlic plants and some kale. I also replanted some rocket seedlings I had in another pot, I took them out only to realise each bunch had about 5 plants (about 50 all up)....I went mad with the seeds when I planted them originally. But that's ok because we go through salad leaves like crazy!

Now we just have to wait till the vegetable garden is ready enough to use for planting! and for spring so i can plants the copious amounts of seeds i've acquired.

The Value of quality.

2011-05-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

Something that I'm struggling to grasp right now is that quality costs more. I've grown up in a time when everything you can imagine has been mass made on production lines in foreign countries so that we pay the lowest prices. The repercussions of this is that workers are underpaid, end up with health problems from working long hours, the products are usually of less quality.

A good example is kitchen appliances. We've had 2 or 3 ovens in the past 15 years, yet my sisters's old 1970's flat had it's original oven that worked like a charm.

problem is.. there isn't alot of it around! I want to shop fair trade and vegan but I also want to look nice.

I think this is pretty good motivation to go to vinnies, and may be the thing that will make me actually step into a vintage shop!

It's going to be a long road, one that will be filled with non fair trade items like jeans (because where would I get fair trade jeans that look nice and actually fit my shape!)

anyhoo here's some inspiration that trying to be fair trade/vegan/eco is fun

Winter coats

2011-05-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

with winter approaching, well i'd say it is already here... I need a coat. I have a few coats and jackets but i don't like any of them. I have a vintage blazer, a suit jacket, a black windbreaker trench that's too small, a warm fleece trench that's daggy and an olive trench that has gone missing.....i think i left in Toorak last winter, my bad.

I've been facing a dilemma, I get really cold really easy (i can't feel my finger right now) and wool is warmer.. right? I feel like for health reasons i need a woollen coat, because otherwise i'll be more likely to get hypothermia, but that's not ok, I just need to try harder to find a nice coat!

I need a coat, and don't want to look like a hobo or hippie.

1. Vaute Couture 2. Vaute Couture 3. Alternative outfitters 4. ASOS 5. ASOS 6. BB Dakota

HURRAW - round two

2011-05-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

This time I bought - Chai Spice, Root Beer, Coffee Bean, Tinted cherry and they were soooo nice and threw in one of their new Night Treatment balm for freeeeee. It tastes/smells really nice too! i'll be buying this one again!!!

I love you Hurraw.

asian grocery loot

2011-04-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

So happy to hit up my nearest real asian supermarket, I went in just for mock duck seitan but came out with

3x Mock duck

1x mock chicken (much like firm tofu that doesn't need draining)

a mochi cake

Jelly sticks (seaweed extract)

Tapioca pearsl

a vegetarian chicken (never seen this so i'm curious)

fried tofu puffs (these were horrid, I hate spongey tofu)

yay.

Vegans Shoes!!!

2011-04-27T03:24:00.000-07:00

1. Steve Madden 2. Dotti 3. Vegetarian Brogues 4. Melissa 5. Guess 6. Melissa 7. Olsen Haus 8. Ruby Shoes 9. Beyond Skin

Vegan? Stylish?

2011-04-16T18:30:00.000-07:00

1.2.3 Big Buddha 4. 5. Tracce, 6.7.8. Matt & Nat 9. Modcloth

Took me awhile, but there are nice vegan bags that are vegan and fair trade. yay

Rats - Jessica Florence

2011-04-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Jessica Florence - Ratty photography extraordinaire! Rats are so so so lovely. I commend her for being able to photograph her rats as mine do not sit still, they are constantly climbing up poles, hiding chickpeas in my drawers etc

I love my rats:

Animal testing

2011-04-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

These are all the products I have left that I'm trying to use up from my non-vegan days that are tested on animals.

The Body Shop (owned by L'Oreal), Covergirl, Maybelline, Chanel, Revlon, Fragrances etc.

Animals were harmed, tortured, mamed and killed just so that we can buy mascara (that still stings our eyes), fragrances, concealers without having a terribly adverse effect.

If something is made with such ingredients that it needs to be tested to see how badly it will hurt us, then we probably shouldn't be putting it on our skin anyway! It probably wouldn't hurt for us all to be less self obsessed with image

unlovable creatures

2011-04-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Ants, slugs, crabs, insects... most people consider them to be phobia inducing or pests, They don't give us "puppy dog eyes" or are able to convey emotion (at least in a way that we understand) but there is beauty to be found in everything (excluding diseases and serial killers etc you get my drift)

What defines being lovable anyway? The tactile quality of someone/something, their size, the way something looks? That mode of thinking isn't right even though everyday we are told it's what matters by means of television, magazines, but if you throw all that superficial crap away beauty if what makes up a person, details, behaviors, integrity, morality, compassion.

The beauty and complexity of life

2011-04-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a cute hoodie to buy this winter as i've officially worn out al my cool weather clothes. I wanted one that was pro animal welfare so I came up with this design with my favourite quote "The taste of anything in my mouth does not equate to the beauty and complexity of life". I can't take claim for being original by using the oh so popular ribbon banner but I wanted something I could wear that wouldn't make me stand out too much.

Also any money made from sales of this design whether it be clothes, stickers, prints, bags whatever will be donated to Animals Australia, the second largest animal welfare organization. They do great work creating awareness and has a lovely community of young australians who care about the welfare of animals

2011-04-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

My food doesn't

fight for it's life

give birth

Scream

Bleed

think

cry

Milk

2011-03-28T02:44:00.000-07:00

Milk! There are so many ads pushing the benefits of drinking milk, it's good for your bones, feed it to your kids, give them cheese, yoghurt and a glass of milk every day. It's common knowledge that milk is full of healthy calcium, and that you should drink it if you don't want to get osteoporosis. But amongst the vegan circle on the net i've discovered that...

Milk contains proteins that cause your blood to become acidic, the body compensates by leeching calcium phosphate - in turn contributing to the instance of osteoporosis

So rather than happily beleive the latter because it supports my way of living I thought i'd do a bit more research into it, nothing worse than whipping out a "fact" and getting shot down.

For Milk:

Milk is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium. It has long been recognised for its important role in bone health. Nutritionists recommend that milk and other dairy products should be consumed daily as part of a balanced diet.

There is some inaccurate information around in the general community about the health benefits of milk. Changing your milk intake on the basis of these fallacies may mean you are unnecessarily restricting this highly nutritious drink.

if milk and milk products are removed from the diet, it can lead to an inadequate intake of calcium. This is of particular concern for women and the elderly, who have high calcium needs. Calcium deficiency may lead to disorders like osteoporosis (a disease characterised by bone loss). some studies have found that people who regularly eat dairy products have a reduced risk of developing colon cancer.

Many people in Australia believe that nasal stuffiness is related, in part, to how much milk you drink. However, there is no scientific basis to this theory. Milk doesn’t encourage extra mucous production. (* I have to interject that my chronic sinus problems have been almost eliminated from excluding dairy from my diet, nor have i had mucous secretions when i've becom sore throat etc) - Victorian Government

Dairy products are a good source of calcium. There are also small amounts in
other foods including breads, cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish with edible bones
(e.g. tinned salmon and sardines), tahini, almonds, figs and foods fortified with cal-
cium. If you can’t tolerate dairy products or don’t enjoy them, there are some calcium-
enriched products available such as calcium-enriched orange juice, cereals and
soy milk. - Osteoperosis Australia

Against Milk:

I typed "milk osteoporosis" into google, I expected to pages stating why you need to drink more milk but instead is was all about how milk causes it!
The body needs protein to build healthy bones. But as your body digests protein, it releases acids into the bloodstream, which the body neutralizes by drawing calcium from the bones. Following a high-protein diet for a few weeks probably won't have much effect on bone strength. Doing it for a long time, though, could weaken bone - Harvard school of public health

There are 28 amino acids in nature. The human body can manufacture 19 of them. The other nine are called "essential." We must get them from the foods we eat.

One of those "essential" aminos is methionine.

One needs methionine for many human metabolic functions including digestion, detoxification of heavy metals, and muscle metabolism. However, an excess of methionine can be toxic.

Methionine is a good source for sulfur. That's the problem. Eat foods containing too much methionine, and your blood will become acidic. The sulfur converts to sulfates and weak forms of sulfuric acid. In order to neutralize the acid, in its wisdom, the body leaches calcium from bones.Animal proteins contain more methionine than plant proteins. - Milk Information Website

My conclusion:

while i haven't done REALLY comprehensive research, the pro-milk websites generally don't provide adequate medical explanations as to why milk is the best source of protein. I even came accross a few that were blatantly dairy industry propaganda. Many of the pro milk sites were worded in a manner that reeked of subtle dairy-pushed agendas that have become the norm today.

Calcium rich foods include

Collards, Bok ChoyBrocolli, Apples, Strawberries, Beans, Soy, Almonds, Spinach, Tahini

Shopping list!

2011-03-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of moving out soon, stockpiling when my folks go shopping and generally being inspired by this, I'm going to put to paper a shopping list, because I always ending going shopping forgetting the essentials.

Essentials:
Whole Wheat flour
Dried Chickpeas,
Red lentils
Cans of beans, corn, chickpeas, diced tomato ( I must get a can opener!)
Tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, bok choy, silver beet, baby spinach, salad mix, onions, mushrooms, avocado, lemons, carrots, peas, pumpkin
Whole wheat pasta, gluten free pasta for the sister
Cashews, LSA
Coriander seed, cumin, turmeric, chili
Coconut milk
Rolled oats
Brown rice
Soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, olive oil
Tortillas
Soy milk
Nuttelex
Polenta
currents
salt & pepper

Sometimes:
Corn flour
Agave
Stevia
Sweet Potato
Basil
Pine nuts
Ogran No Egg
Tofutti
Nutritional yeast
Tasty bite bombay potatoes
Watermelon, honeydew, rock melon, capsicum

NO tofu.

I'm stoked to see how I eat since changing my diet, even mum remarked today how healthy i eat ( i was requesting she buy dried chickpeas at the time)

yaaaay! I don't eat much fruit though...

garlic oil, food of the gods

2011-03-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a bit inspired to make things, food wise. I had some garlic pizza at a place called Vapianos, really cute, melbourne style restuarant in Surfers Paradise. While the pizza was super subtle, and the only thing on the menu I could eat, what inspired me was the bottle of garlic oil on the table, I had never actually come across garlic oil before.

I LOVE GARLIC.

Oh and it had rosemary on top. My brain melted, it's my new favourite thing. I just don't have an oven that works so I can't make crispy garlic pizza with rosemary on top. But that won't stop me growing it. the oven can come later ey

but anyway what this is about it me listing what I want to make. I need to do these things:

Make garlic oil

Make my own vodka

Infuse said vodka with lychee and watermelon.

not sure what else...

favourite Foods

2011-03-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

so far, and in no particular order ...

Fried Mushroom Polenta smothered in gravy
Red Lentil Dhal and Garlic papadums
Brown Rice Salad
Oreo Tofutti cheesecake

...I need to get more recipes under my belt.

food post

2011-03-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

Agave & soy marinated Seitan with Garlic bok choy

Hawaiian Stirfried Tempeh

Red lentil dahl and garlic papadums. (FAVE!)

What a joke

2011-02-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

The television recently informed me that Milo cereal now has the Heart Foundation Tick of approval.

what the heck! Can't trust so called health organisations.

(The Heart foundation does not take into account the sugar levels when approving products, thus Milo cereal)

so not something I would feed my children (if I had any) for breakfast

2011-02-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

I want to make

homemade pizza dough with bbq marinated crumbled tempeh topped off with a squeeze of lemon juice

or maybe

I could make gozleme! some chopped spinach, homemade cashew cheese, squeeze of lemon.

Miso Miso

2011-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

MISO MISO MISO!

First time I had it I bought these little black sachets. It was disgusting (and had fish in it). Then I bought Hikari white miso, didn't love it. Then two days ago I thought i'd give it another go after overhearing Dr. Oz on tv about how its so good for you, and now I love it!! It's a bit salty, kind of like watery vegemite but it's really yum. I'm having like three cups a day

bring on the health benefits!

YoGo / Snak Pak

2011-02-18T02:32:00.000-08:00

recipe is here

Chocolate pudding (by the american definition.. I'd call it.. chocolate yoghurt)

this stuff has the same feel, texture and sensation as yo go!! it just needs some chop chips thrown in like those tubs you might have bought as a kid. for this i used So Good milk which gave my batch a soy taste so i reccomend using a really sweet one like Soy Milky (which tastes the best.. and im pretty sure is the least healthy soy milk). I might try it with Hazelnut or almond milk one day.

7/10

brown rice salad

2011-02-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

Brown rice salad, How i love thee!

(pictured here with white rice..we ran out of brown)

so so good. you have to try it, I got this recipe off my aunty, our families who live in separate states both made this on christmas. try it. really

10/10

Tofu Chocolate Pudding

2011-02-16T00:53:00.000-08:00

Tonights dessert: tofu chocolate pudding.

I used regular tofu for this and my blender recently broke so I was left to whip it with a whisk which made mine lumpy. I also used three times as much cocoa than the recipe calls for and also added dark chocolate. This would be great with silken tofu too! I also left in the freezer for too long so it's like a frozen yoghurt at the moment.

Will be making this in the future when we get a new blender!

Food Trial: Wakame & Inari

2011-02-13T23:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made a seaweed and cucumber salad and Inari.

I love these two dishes when I go out to Sushi Trains. The seaweed salad was..ok, It has perhaps too much vinegar in it. The first inari I ate was nice, the bean curd is so sweet and yum but by the second i felt like vomming. it's a shame theres now a whole bowl of the salad and 8 more Inari left over in the fridge...

Outcome: Don't think i'll make this again!

2011-02-10T01:47:00.001-08:00

The taste of anything in my mouth

for 5 seconds does not equate to the

beauty and complexity of life

~ Unknown

Vegan = Yum

2011-02-10T01:39:00.000-08:00

(What i've had in the past day or so. 1. curry udon brocolli 2. Shitake and sesame stiryfry 3. Thai red curry laksa hybrid haha)

I've met plenty of people who at hearing the words "vegetarian" let alone vegan cringe at the thought of steamed vegetables and eating bowls of tofu with chopsticks. wrong wrong wrong

I hate tofu* and plain steamed veggies.

Since becoming vegan 5 months ago i've cooked almost every day, foods i'd never had, foods i thought i could never have as a vegan, it's pretty easy to adapt anything. The food i eat now is so much more flavorful, nutritious that i ate before and every time a family member walks in the kitchen they want what I'm having.

I have to say, I eat so much better now that I've cut out animal products! it's opened my mind to the amazing variety of food that is out there. It's an odd phenomenon amongst most vegans that when they cut out animals they somehow end up discovering how to eat well in the process. I guess it's because it's not so easy to open the freezer and pantry and find something that can be microwaved.

My diet as an omnivore and vegetarian consisted mostly of:

Potato bake

Baked potato + cheese

Mashed potato + cheese and peas

Bubble and squeak (frozen)

Macaroni cheese

vitawheats + cheese +tomato

My diet as a vegan:

too varied to list! but apart from tofutti cream cheese and oreos it's all made fresh

*silken tofu is pretty awesome in things like.. CHEESECAKE!

Score - Omnivore: 0 Vegan:1

Mom, is that you?

2011-02-05T00:36:00.000-08:00

(credit)

unknown