Me Gusta Bandidas

April 5, 2010

I wrote a review on The Foundation a while back and called it my favorite vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver. But I have a new favorite, and that’s Bandidas. Maybe I’m fickle, or maybe I just became annoyed at having to yell over the usually too-loud music and tables full of too-drunk hipsters. Mostly I just love good food, friendly servers and a comfortable place to throw back a few tequila lemonades, which is why Bandidas is the new #1 on my Rad Restaurants list.

The Breakfast, veganized

Bandidas offers the best vegan breakfast in the city: tofu-butternut squash scramble with fried potatoes and yams, purple cabbage, beans, fresh salsa, and cornbread with animal faces. FMJ and I order this every time we stop at Bandidas for breakie, but we also add veggie sausage, guacamole, extra cornbread with vegan honey butter and two coffees with soy milk. This entire meal costs less than $20 before tip. Totally affordable without sacrificing deliciousness.

Bandidas is very community-focused, as this local restaurant was started by two young ladies with limited funds and experience who had lots of help from the community. They give back by making us yummy food and providing a nice place to enjoy it, but they also support a variety of community events and causes and hang the work of local artists on the walls. The waitresses are all super friendly and actually notice when you change your hair, even if your boyfriend doesn’t.

The ladies at Bandidas are all about sustainability, using compostable packaging, serving exclusively local beer and wine and buying from smaller, mostly local distributors.  They also use bikes, baskets and cargo trailers to transport their goods, which I think is equally responsible and cute.

The only criticism I have for Bandidas is that the food is strictly Mexican, and since they’re so ridiculously good at making tasty vegan fare, I wish they would expand their menu to include things like pizza, stir fries and veggie burgers. But they’re staying true to their Mexi flava, which I respect and understand, I guess.

If you’re going to Bandidas for lunch or dinner, try Dave’s Enchiladas: two homemade corn tortillas stuffed with cheese (vegan, if you so choose) and organic chipotle tofu. Or get a Wolf & Goat burrito, which boats fresh guac, purple cabbage, fresh salsa, pinto beans, cheese, sour cream and rice. Yes, all that goodness somehow fits into one burrito. But it is pretty big, so be sure to wear your stretchy pants to avoid bursting a button on your favorite jeans.

Who can resist cornbread with a monkey face? Not me.

One of my favorite things about Bandidas is their Hibiscus Tequila Lemonade. Fresh hisbiscus flowers mingle with tequila and lemonade, and it goes down way too easily. Also, be warned: a double at Bandidas is actually a triple. I like the way these ladies think.

They also have stacks of National Geographic magazines from the 70s to 90s in the bathrooms (which can be very distracting when you’ve had a few hibiscus tequila lemonades), as well as lovely table centerpieces complete with pussy willows (which I love) and pretty flowers.

Bandidas is located on the south end of Commercial Drive just off of 12th Ave, so if you want to walk off the calories you’ve just consumed in a funky neighborhood full of culture, this is the place to do it.

Peruse the menu at http://bandidastaqueria.com/menu.html.

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Posted in: Go veg, go! – 1 Comment

Always Adopt; Never Buy a Dog or Cat

April 3, 2010

What does that doggy in the window cost? The life of another animal in a shelter.

If you’re planning to add a new furry member to your family, NEVER purchase a dog or cat from a pet store. It is true that these animals need good homes as well, but by paying top dollar for that adorable pooch at your local pet store you are most likely supporting incredibly inhumane puppy mills. There are millions (six to eight in the US) of unwanted animals in shelters who are desperate for homes, and if they aren’t adopted, many of these homeless animals are euthanized.

Rescued dogs anxiously waiting for a new home

Puppy mills and kitten factories are like prisons, but these animals are treated far worse than any human inmate, and none of them deserve to be there. Many of these animals suffer from skin conditions and infections, severe malnutrition and extreme psychological distress.  Puppy mills and kitten factories are severely overcrowded with animals finding themselves locked in tiny (and very dirty) wire cages, where they are most often completely neglected and denied even the most basic medical care. These dogs and cats are forced to live in squalid conditions with no socialization or human interaction. Breeding dogs and cats at mills spend their entire lives confined to a tiny space where they are kept almost constantly pregnant and never loved. These unlucky animals are almost always killed when they become too old to continue breeding and are considered useless to the mill owner. If humans were imprisoned and routinely bred this way, it would be called rape and torture, so why do we tolerate this cruel behavior to animals? The puppy mill industry is one of the saddest examples of human greed and barbarity, and this is what you are contributing to if you buy a dog from a pet store or breeder that supports puppy mills.

Crammed cages at a puppy mill

About half of the animals that enter shelters every year are euthanized because nobody wanted them. The animals that are put to death in these shelters are most often those who are more difficult to find homes for, sometimes because of medical issues (like blindness or epilepsy), social problems (timidity or aggression) or even size (it is far more difficult to find a home for a Great Dane than it is for a Chihuahua or Yorkie). In regard to shelter animals with “social problems”, it is important to remember that most of these animals have been put through extremely stressful situations and are having difficulty coping with the trauma. Many of these animals have been abused or abandoned by their families and and have had to literally fight for their lives. Take a look at this heartbreaking video below of a dog that rescued by a very kind, patient person an hour before she was set to be euthanized.

It is very important to properly research the person or organization you are adopting a dog from, as a local rescue was recently scandalized when videos emerged showing the president of the dog “rescue” organization brokering the dogs with little or no concern for their safety and well-being. When adopting an animal from a rescue organization, it is important to check into the following points:

  • Is the animal spayed or neutered?
    - all reputable rescue organizations will either ensure the animal they are adopting out is spayed/neutered, or that the procedure is pre-paid at a trusted veterinary clinic.
  • Has the animal been adequately checked by a vet? Has it undergone all necessary procedures to become up to date on required shots and in good medical condition?
    - all rescue organizations should provide proof of required vaccinations and shots, including a medical record signed by an accredited vet.
  • Does the rescue organization require that you fill out an application and a home check be performed and approved prior to the adoption of the animal?
    - it is important that the rescue group is aware of the living situation an animal is being placed in. Many adoptable animals require a specific environment to ensure they are as comfortable as possible and will become the best companion animal they can be, so it is necessary to perform home visits to ensure each animal is being adopted to a suitable home.
  • Does the rescue provide and require you to sign an adoption contract outlining the terms of the adoption?
    -  the adoption contract should state such things as your responsibility to provide the animal with proper care, including love and attention, physical activity and adequate veterinary care, as well as an interest in maintaining contact with the adopter to receive updates on the progress of the animal, and most importantly, an agreement to take the animal back into its care if the adopter finds him/herself unable to care for the pet for any reason.

I volunteer for a local dog rescue organization, The Penny Foundation, that rescues needy dogs from overcrowded shelters and puppy mills in the US and transports them to foster homes in Canada, ultimately placing these animals in their loving forever homes.  The Penny Foundation was once affiliated with Cold Noses, Warm Beds (CNWB); however, upon learning of the shady practices of this so-called “rescue”, The Penny Foundation severed all ties with this group and is currently working to quash any kind of public association with CNWB.

I recently adopted a sweet little puppy from another dog rescue organization called Ocean Dog Rescue. I chose to adopt from this particular organization because they offered more information, including pictures and videos of each adoptable animal, along with extensive medical and behavioral info, than any other rescue organization within 500 miles of Vancouver. Actually, these dogs are all rescued in Taiwan and flown to their new homes in the Greater Vancouver area following pre-adoption screening and approval.   I also chose this organization because China has a shameful animal rights record; strays are routinely beaten, scalded, poisoned and generally attacked, and despite slight improvements in animals rights laws in recent years, there still remain dog fur and meat factories in many parts of China.

I Love Lucy

Lucy is the sweetest, smartest, cutest, most loving little girl, and like so many other needy animals looking for their forever home, she is so deserving of a loving family and a safe place to call home.

What can you do to help the homeless animal epidemic? If you are thinking of getting a dog or a cat, always adopt from a shelter or reputable rescue organization. But the most important solution to this problem is prevention: have your pets spayed or neutered to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

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Posted in: For the critters – No Comments

Madder than a Hatter for Alice in Wonderland

March 20, 2010

Alice in Underland

Tim Burton’s fantastical Alice in Wonderland was released in Canada over two weeks ago, and though I had been waiting for it to hit theatres since sometime last fall, I finally got around to seeing it. This film has been considerably hyped and long-awaited for many, and for me, it didn’t disappoint.  I’ve read a few less than laudatory reviews about this film; some critics have criticized Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter and others have complained that the story is lacking, but I couldn’t disagree with them more.

"Do you know why a raven is like a writing desk?"

Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay, and it’s no wonder I personally was so pleased with the story, as she is responsible for writing such Disney gems as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, as well as episodes from some of my favorite 80s TV shows, My Little Pony, Popples and Dennis the Menace. With 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, Ms. Woolverton created a more grown-up and evolved version of the 150-year old tale, adding several more layers and themes to the story, which may be why some people thought the plot was somewhat convoluted and discursive. This version of Alice in Wonderland, which should be considered more of a sequel to the original than a remake, was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poem, Jabberwocky, which is widely considered one of the greatest nonsense poems ever written. Tim Burton seems to be rather fond of the nonsensical, the whimsical and the impossible, so it’s only fitting that this version of the film combines two of Carroll’s greatest works to fully embrace the absurdity of life and explore the nuttier side of imagination.

The story begins with a wee little Alice – the one we all know and love –  telling her father about a recurrent nightmare of a creepy land full of loopy characters that has led the six-year-old to believe she has “gone round the bend”. Her father feels her forehead and assures she has, in fact, gone mad, completely bonkers, but fills her in on a little secret that all the best people are (mad, that is).  Fast forward 13 years later to a Victorian London where poor Alice is to be betrothed to a creepy red-headed twit of a Lord with digestive problems.  She manages to escape his proposal by chasing after a white rabbit in a petticoat, and just like in the original, she falls down a rabbit hole and straight into Wonderland. Alice is met by some of her old acquaintances from what she believes is her recurrent nightmare, but she’s unable to recall any of them or the mystical place she has found herself in. Alice does, in fact, meet all of our favorite characters from the original Wonderland, but they’re all more jaded – and in many instances insane – than the characters in the original story. However, this is no surprise, as it is a Tim Burton film, and this Wonderland (which we later learn is actually, and fittingly, called Underland) is much darker and more warped than it was when Disney took a stab at the beloved Lewis Carroll story the first time around in 1951.

I think she might have a brain tumor

In fact, the central plot and the themes of the Tim Burton/Linda Woolverton version of Wonderland are completely different from the 1951 version, as well as Carroll’s 1865 masterpiece: where Alice is a naive little girl who simply experiences (passively, the way children normally do) the mind-bending events in the original story, she is a stubborn, creative and empowered young women who is tired of living a typical life determined and directed by her family and the overly rigid British society she was born into, and also struggles with the demands of the Underland characters to save them from the Red Queen’s cruel regime; this story is primarily about self-determination and being a captain of your destiny, rather than just going along for the ride on a course that others have set you on. You go, girl.

Of course it was no surprise that Johnny Depp was cast as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, but these two played their characters magnificently and with delightful lunacy. Chrispin Glover was in true creepy form as Stayne, the Red Queen’s largeness-obsessed knave, and Anne Hathaway played the peaceful, cruelty-free White Queen quite well, though I would have made those black caterpillar eyebrows white to match her platinum mane. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were always amusing and played perfectly by Matt Lucas, our beloved Little Britain star. The casting director (probably largely directed by Mr. Burton) did a fabulous job, and made an excellent decision by casting Mia Wasikowska as Alice, the 20-year-old Australian actor who, before Alice, hadn’t played a lead role. She gave the grown-up Alice the strength, determination and dreaminess necessary for this role, and played the part like a seasoned professional.

The charming Tweedles

The special effects were impressive and the graphics were spellbinding, though I found myself forgetting that I was seeing the film in 3D. It is certainly a movie that should be enjoyed on the big screen, but unlike last year’s 3D blockbuster, Avatar, I think it would be just as aesthetically captivating if viewed on a regular screen.

Before you see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, check out this 107-year-old silent film version of the story, the first screen adaptation, for a reminder of how far film has come in the past century. But be warned: in this film, Alice is frighteningly masculine, a baby turns into a piglet, the Cheshire cat is glaring rather than grinning, and the special effects are…well, you’ll see.

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Posted in: The Art of Living – 2 Comments

In Transit

February 12, 2010

bus stop
“GOOD MOENING.” A tiny but loud Asian woman shouts at me as she waves a Metro in my face. “Oh, I’ve already got one, but thanks!” I say more cheerfully than I feel this early in the morning. She looks down at the 24 Hours in my hand, grunts, and pushes past me to the next groggy commuter in closest proximity to me. “GOOD MOENING!” she shouts even more loudly at a wrinkly old man, who I’m certain either pooped himself or had a heart attack from fright.

I round the corner to the bus stop and am met by three massive lines curving down the street and into the Skytrain station. “Fucking students,” I grumble as I take my spot in line, juggling my chai, umbrella and soggy newspaper. A middle-aged man wearing Crocs, coke-bottle glasses and a pilot hat stares at me while he picks his nose absentmindedly. I stick my tongue out at him; he doesn’t even blink, his finger still jammed incredibly far up his nostril. He probably damaged his brain that way, I think to myself.

Two busses come and go before I’m even close to the front of the line. Finally, I’m on, along with around 80 other passengers, and we all cram ourselves in while exchanging looks that say, “I’m on my way to a job I fucking detest,” and, “Sorry I just stuck my umbrella up your bum.” Amazingly, I’m able to score a seat. But not 30 seconds later the wrinkly old pooped-in-pants man walks toward me, looking desperate for somewhere to park his soiled bum. “You can sit here,” I tell him, and he looks as though I’ve just offered him a mansion and a hefty sum of money rather than a less-than-comfortable bus seat. Poor guy, I think, as I get up and watch him shuffle toward me, struggling to push through the mass of commuters who either will not or cannot budge.

I’ve got the flu, and I’m not thrilled about being packed into this bus that looks like a Wal-Mart on Black Friday. I try to meditate into a state of quiet patience so that I don’t barf all over the annoying but innocent commuters, and I think I’m going to be okay, until I look down and notice a man who looks scarily close to death rubbing his scabby face and scratching his nearly hairless head, and the young woman beside him holding a plastic bag in one hand and covering her mouth with the other while she, too, tries not to vomit.

I hear some guy pitch a fit behind me and I notice he’s dropping an awful lot of f-bombs, which piques my curiosity. I tune in and realize he’s bitching out a little old lady. “Learn fucking English if yer gonna live in Canada,” he snarls. He is the freakiest looking little prick I’ve ever seen, his eyebrows extending diagonally upward with no arch or any kind of curvature (that’s a tell-tale sign of crazy, FYI) and his greasy brown mushroom cut hair parted in the middle and slicked to the sides of his face. There is terror in his beady eyes, straight up psychosis, and he shouts, “I would learn fucking Chinese if I was gunna go to Japan! Learn fucking English, you stupid bitch!” I am appalled both by his belligerence and flagrant stupidity and I quickly think up something sufficiently bitchy and valiant to throw back at him, but just as I’m about to do so, I look back and see him stepping off the bus. The second most irritating thing about this moron behind his ridiculous bullying and just ahead of his creepy face was that I heard the little old lady reply to him, kindly, even, and her English was perfect.

I finally reach the halfway point of my commute and step off the bus, somewhat relieved, but also dreading the remainder of my trip to work. I walk into the Skytrain station and notice a new sign by the stairs with a picture above some text that is too small to read: it appears to be a pervert grabbing some girl’s ass. I get closer and realize it’s supposed to be a pickpocket pickpocketing.

Ass grab

My thoughts are interrupted and I almost throw my chai into the air as a booming robot voice hollers at the sleepy commuters, “Please keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior and immediately report it to your nearest Skytrain attendant.”

My heart rate has almost slowed to a normal pace when the robot voice returns, still far louder than it needs to be: “Please stand well clear of the platform edge and allow passengers to get off the train before you board.” Ah, the robot is British, but without the sweet accent. Rip off. As usual, more than a few people crowd the doors as they open, totally ignoring the polite robot’s requests and making it extremely difficult for people to exit the train. This pisses me off to no end, and I really don’t think it should even be necessary for a robot to remind us of things that should be common sense. Then again, I’m starting to lose my faith in the existence of Common Sense; I’m almost certain it’s a myth.

I get on the train and am lucky enough to get a seat, or so I think. At the next stop, an interesting-looking little person gets on the train. She (at least I’m fairly sure it’s a she) is short and squat but without the handle and the spout and with a bright green suitcase and a crazy hairdo. “MOOOOVE! I NEED TO SIT DOOOWN! MOOOOVE!” she hollers as she literally tosses people aside and makes a mad dash for the seat beside me. Oh shit. It doesn’t take me long to figure out that my lovely train neighbor has special needs, including the need for volume control. She looks right at me, wide-eyed and bushy-tailedhaired, and joyfully asks, “Is that one a’ dose pod tingies?” pointing at my iPod, my only means of distancing myself from the public transit crazies. “Yeah it is,” I reply, being pleasant but not offering too much. I can just tell that I don’t want to get this one started or I’ll never get off the train. “Whaddarya listening to?!” she asks, still emphatic but almost incomprehensible. “It’s Modest Mouse,” I say, with a bit of a smile this time. She’s just too hilarious, and I’m finding it difficult to be disinterested in this anomaly of a human being. “Oh. Have you hearda dat one song? It’s by dat one guy….WHAT’S DAT BLACK GUY? Not Beyonce…” she trails off, deep in thought. I hear several people giggle at this, and I’m right with them.  It’s not that we’re laughing at her in a malevolent way, it’s just that she’s fucking hilarious without meaning to be, which is kind of awesome. I reach my stop and for once I am almost hesitant to get off the train. The public transit crazies are always amusing but usually rather irritating; this one was special, and I wanted more. I reluctantly stand up, wave goodbye to my quirky transit neighbor and push my way through the group of douche bags crowding the open doors.

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Posted in: Tell me a story! – 1 Comment

Cheese disease: the true story of a recovering cheese addict

January 19, 2010
Beware the evil cheese

Beware the evil cheese

Anyone who knows me well knows about my ongoing struggle with nixing cheese from my diet. I’ve never craved any type of meat or poultry, or any other form of dairy since going vegan almost two years ago, but I still long for cheese almost daily. It was once my greatest love, and I kicked it to the curb like a bad boyfriend. Almost.

I have the occasional cheese relapse, usually in the form of greasy pizza when I’m hungover, but I’ve managed to avoid cheese about 97% of the time.

Truth be told, most vegan cheese is disgusting (usually slimy and rubbery), but I’ve discovered a new brand of vegan cheese that is absolutely delicious: the best thing since…well, cheese. It’s called Daiya, and you can get it at Karmavore in New West. (They only sell it in 5-lb, $40 bags so far, but once you try it, you’ll be glad you have so much on hand.) I’ve had it on pizza, veggie burgers, nachos, enchiladas and quesadillas, and it is incredible every time. It melts like cheese, tastes like cheese, and completely satisfies my need for cheese.  Daiya is free of dairy, trans fats, gluten and even soy, as it’s made with healthy and non-GMO plant-based ingredients. My prayers to the vegan gods have finally been answered.

Delicious Daiya vegan cheese

Delicious Daiya vegan cheese

Now, if you’re perfectly happy with your fatty, cholesterol-packed cow cheese, that’s all fine and dandy. But don’t say I didn’t warn you about the dangers of cheese when you’re sitting in the hospital with a gallstones attack, or worse, heart disease.

I found it extremely difficult to eat completely vegan while I was in Medicine Hat for two weeks last December (as one waitress put it, “This is a real meat city”), especially while staying in the hospital with my friend and her new baby, and I ended up eating more cheese than I had in my almost-two years since going vegan. I felt kind of icky, but it got worse: I actually ended up in the hospital myself.

The day I flew back to Vancouver I started to get an intense pain in my right ribs (or lung, I wasn’t quite sure which) with every inhale. It worsened throughout the day, and by evening I started to experience more prolonged attacks that left me doubled over, breathless and in tears. I was cursing the blasted hospital cot I was forced to sleep on for five nights while in The Hat, as it was the only thing I could imagine would be causing my pain. I could feel every spring in that tiny cot, and I thought one of them was likely poking into my ribs all night, causing some bruising. As usual, Dr. Blige was wrong.

The next day I struggled during my commute to work to not pass out or throw up due to the pain, but when I finally got there, my coworker could see that there was something terribly wrong with me. Once again, I was doubled over in pain and about to vomit. My two physio bosses spent the next hour-and-a-half trying to help me, but the pain was just getting worse and worse. One of my bosses thought I might be having a gallstones attack, which he said could be brought on by the unusual increase of cheese in my diet while I was out of town.

I went home and laid in bed for the next two days, trying to ignore the nagging pain in my chest. Eventually I went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor I saw sent me straight to emergency. I sat there for 5 or 6 hours and by the time someone finally saw me, the x-ray and ultrasound ward was closed, and I was told to come back the next day. (Thanks a lot, VGH.)

Cross-section of a gall bladder with gallstones - EEWWW!!

Cross-section of a gall bladder with gallstones - EEWWW!!

The pain started to subside over the next few days and the tests didn’t show any abnormalities. The doctors and I were somewhat confused, but one nice nurse told me I most likely had gallstones that had passed before the tests were performed, and were caused by a spike in cholesterol in my diet. Cheese disease.

My experience with gallstones is pretty solid proof that a diet high in fat and cholesterol is a recipe for disaster, which is why it’s important to include lots of fruits, vegetables and fibre in your diet and avoid animal-derived foods at all costs.

*IMPORTANT NOTE*

My dear auntie kindly informed me I had made an error and said the pain was in my left ribs, which would be rather silly since the gallbladder is situated on the right side of your body. The pain was, in fact, on my right side: just an oversight. Also, that nasty picture of a gallbladder bulging with stones is not real, just something to gross you out. However, the story is very real and so is the risk of developing gallstones and other icky diseases and illnesses if you consume too much meat and dairy.

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Posted in: Go veg, go! – No Comments

Blige’s kitchen: gorge-worthy guac and beertastic dill bread

January 19, 2010
Blige's kitchen

Getting my cook on

I started a new job a couple of months ago and in an office of 15 employees, I am the only vegan. And with a new job comes new people asking the same old question in regard to my eating habits and choice to be vegan: What do you eat? It never ceases to amaze me how confused omnivores become when you eliminate meat and dairy from the food equation. They seem to forget entirely about the other (far more nutritional) food groups, as though meat and dairy are the only reasonable choices and you simply cannot eat a well-balanced meal without them. My usual response is a somewhat snotty, Whatever I want. Food tastes so much better when it’s free of pain, suffering and despair.

But I won’t go into vegan eating 101, since I’ve already been there and done that with The Basics of Veganism. Instead, I’ll post a couple of my favorite (and easiest) 100% cruelty-free recipes, because I love you and don’t want you to be fat and unhealthy. Bon appétit!


Gorge-worthy guacamole:
Total time: 15 minutes

My most-declicious guacamole: I must be part Mexican

My most-declicious guacamole: I must be part Mexican

What you’ll need:

2 ripe avocados*
1/3 small tomato
1/4 purple onion
1 clove garlic
1/4 lemon
1 pinch each paprika, seasoned salt, pepper, cayenne pepper (spice to taste)
1-2 tablespoons cilantro, diced

a bowl, a sharp knife, and a fork

*the trick to choosing perfectly ripe avocados is to find the ones that are starting to turn a purplish brown color and have just a little give when squish them gently. If there are any really squishy parts or the whole thing is overly soft, move on.

How to make it:

- Slice the avos lengthwise, and gently twist the two halves in opposite directions to separate them from the pit. (Fun fact: the avocado is actually a fruit — a berry, to be precise — not a veggie. But don’t let that freak you out.)
- Slice a checkboard into each half (top-to-bottom and side-to-side), being careful not to cut through the skin, especially if you’re cradling the avo in your hand while you slice.
- Scoop the sliced-up avocado out of the shell/skin and into your bowl. Mash it around a little for fun, if you want.
- Dice the garlic, onion, tomato and cilantro as finely as possible. It’s okay to have bigger chunks of tomato, but no one likes biting into a massive chunk of raw garlic or onion, so be more finicky with these.  Toss ‘em all in.
- Cut your slice of lemon and squeeze that baby into the bowl.
- Add paprika, seasoned salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. The spice (and the lemon) is the key to excellent guac, so just start with a little if you’re scared your first time (which is totally normal), and add more as needed.
- Serve with tortilla chips (I like the blue and red ones), or use as a side for your favorite Mexican dish.

Beertastic dill bread:
Prep time: 10 minutes Baking time: 35-40 minutes Total time: 45-50 minutes

Fresh out of the oven

Fresh out of the oven

What you’ll need:

3 cups flour*
12 ounces of beer
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cane sugar
3 tablespoons FRESH  dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped (optional)
1 green onion, diced (optional)

9″ bread pan, a big mixing bowl and a spoon

*this recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but I’ve also used whole wheat and pastry flour, and they all turned out delicious. You may have to adjust the amount of liquid (add more beer, or use water) to achieve the right consistency when using flour other than all-purpose.
How to make it:

- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a 9″ bread pan with canola oil or vegan margarine.
- Finely dice your fresh dill, as well as the onion and garlic, if you’re using it. (You can get creative and use other herbs and seasonings. Throw in whatever your little baker’s heart desires.)
- In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Toss in dill and other chopped ingredients.
- Slowly pour in beer and mix well, until all ingredients are properly blended.
- Pour batter into bread ban and stick it in the oven.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bread is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, or as long as you can wait.
- Slice and spread on a little vegan margarine for extra deliciousness.
- Enjoy the smell of fresh dilly bread wafting through your home and the satisfaction of being an awesome cook.

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Posted in: Go veg, go! – No Comments

Artist Profile: Aegis Strife

December 30, 2009
Travel is dangerous

Travel is dangerous

Mario Sánchez Nevado, or “Aegis Strife“, is a mostly self-taught 24-year-old Spanish artist who creates whimsical, intricate, surreal images that often evoke an intense emotional response. Aegis Strife predominantly works with photo manipulation, but also paints (with oils and acrylics), does photography, writes poetry and sings in a band. His work has been featured in a number of different magazines and you can purchase his prints online through deviantArt, RedBubble and Artzprojekt/Zazzle.

Aegis Strife’s art is most often a metaphysical exploration of aspects of the human condition: joy, despair, love, fear, lust, longing. It often examines man’s relationship with nature, and with the supernatural realm. Some pieces are simply aesthetically captivating, but they still move you with as much force as the more emotionally charged or conceptual pieces. Using mostly digital tools, Aegis Strife creates beautiful, powerful images that look like snapshots from fantastical dreams, and sometimes creepy nightmares.

I asked Mario Sánchez Nevado some questions about his personal artistic process.

Ahead on our way

Ahead on our way

Can you tell me a bit about your process when creating an artwork?

The process I take is almost automatic. Usually I sit in front of the computer and I start doodling, and at one point or another, I “understand” what I am creating and from that moment I know where to lead my steps in that creation in particular. Other times it’s an idea I’ve had in mind for a while and I decide to start a creative process, researching information, sketching, etc. The first kind of work is more emotionally-oriented, and the second kind of work is more conceptual, but I prefer the emotional approach.  So as you can see, every piece has a different procedure. I try to experiment.

What is your greatest inspiration?

I guess my main inspiration, knowing that most of my work is emotional, is my everyday life, how I see it and which reactions it creates in my being. Also, music plays a very important role, so usually I feel inspired by certain melodies and lyrics.

freedom

Freedom

I mainly work with photomanipulation, because it’s easier and allows me to get results faster than any other media in the field of creative ideas. I can mix some photos and see if they’ll look good and fit with the concept, and if I don’t like it I’ll just throw to the can a few minutes of my time. On the other hand, if I like what I see, then I’ll spend days or weeks refining everything. I also like painting a lot, especially with oils and acrylics, but it’s hard to work that way if you want real results as an illustrator, knowing that nowadays traditional medias are almost obsolete (sadly) and more expensive (and dirty). But I also prefer to work in mixed media because the appeal of the images is stronger, at least for me.

The god that failed

The god that failed


Do you go through periods of “artist’s block”? If so, how do you deal with it?

Sometimes I have periods in which I start creating images and one hour later I close them because I think they’re useless. Knowing that I work using an automatic way of making things, experiencing a block is a completely random occurrence. It usually comes when I’ve been working in the same style for more than a month and I need fresh air. How do I deal with it? I just let the things flow. If my brain doesn’t want to create anything I just switch it off and do other things until I desire to paint something. It usually works that way.

Interlude

Interlude

How has your artwork changed over the years, and how has it changed you?

It has changed due to my will of experimentation. I don’t publish everything I do. Most of my published artworks are photomanipulations and digital mixed media pieces, but I work a lot in collages, paintings, photography, found objects, etc. Some of that work is used in digital artworks and the rest remains in my private collection. So, my artworks evolve as long as I try new methods and materials in analogical medias. It’s sounds strange but that’s the way I work :) .

I can hate you

I can hate you

My digital artwork has changed a lot since I started in 2005, because at first it was plain dark art and it has gone through periods of surreal or almost pop pieces. Every new style you work with leaves a little “something” in you that changes your style when you mix that with other themes and concepts, so it’s ever-evolving, it always changing, sometimes for good, and sometimes for bad, but that’s the risk!

Finding

Finding

Retransmission - A comment on the hypocrisy and misdirected efforts of censorship.

Retransmission - A comment on the hypocrisy and misdirected efforts of censorship.

Bottom of a lake

Bottom of a lake

See more incredible pieces at Mario Sánchez Nevado’s website: http://aegis-strife.net/wordpress/

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Posted in: The Art of Living – 1 Comment

Cruelty-free Cuteness

November 13, 2009

A lot of people believe that you have to sacrifice fashion when you adopt a vegan lifestyle, but that is simply untrue. There are plenty of high-quality, cruelty-free alternatives to leather and fur out there that don’t look like crap. In fact, some of them are rather charming. I like Forever21 because they make super cute vegan clothes with synthetic materials that won’t cost you (or a fur-bearing animal) an arm and a leg. (Not only is fur and leather inhumane, it’s expensive!)

Like this cropped faux leather jacket ($48.50):

A no-leather jacket by Forever 21

A no-leather jacket by Forever 21

And these très adorable biker boots ($43.80) and flirty taupe-colored open-toed booties ($29.80):

Biker-inspired textured faux leather boots

Biker-inspired textured faux leather boots

Sassy cut-out booties by Forever 21

Sassy cut-out booties by Forever 21

Even the belts and handbags at Forever 21 are made from faux leather or other vegan materials!

Faux fur vest from Express

Faux fur vest from Express

If you’re feeling like splurging a little, you might want to check out some of Express Clothing’s faux fur and leather jackets, shrugs and vests, like this pretty mock-fur vest made from synthetic materials that will leave you $70 poorer (after using the $30-off coupon) but looking exponentially chicer (it also comes in chocolate brown).

I’m always a little wary of faux fur, because the labels don’t really have to be accurate (check out my post on dog and cat fur), but if you have no qualms about wearing something that claims to be cruelty-free, all the power to ya. It’s probably legitimately faux, but you might want to do some research on the product before you buy it just to be sure.

Olsen Haus is a “pure vegan” company that makes some pretty irresistible shoes, but they’re a little more pricey than the vegan shoes at Forever 21, so this is another vegan company that falls into the splurge category. Even though I can’t afford most of the shoes at Olsen Haus, they’re one of my favorite vegan companies because they have material about the gruesome truth behind leather, suede and wool on their site. It’s important that people know where their purchases come from, which is why I urge you to check out the page here: http://www.olsenhaus.com/truth.html.

And now for some eye foot candy from Olsen Haus:

Balance in black and citron, from Olsen Haus ($205 USD)

Balance in black and citron, from Olsen Haus ($205 USD)

Faith pumps in grey from Olsen Haus ($215 USD)

Faith pumps in grey from Olsen Haus ($215 USD)

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Posted in: For the critters – 2 Comments

Well, at least they’re being honest

November 13, 2009
Yummy Canadian hormone meat sold in China

Yummy Canadian hormone meat sold in China

Can I get an order of hormone-packed decomposing flesh with a side of poop and extra puss?

Mmmmm. Pork intestines, beef liver and the first stomach of beef, all jacked up on hormones. Sounds delish. But who doesn’t like hormones, right? (The alcohol is for afterward, to make you forget what junk you’ve just shoved into your face hole.)

This delightful, unintentionally truthful packaging is kinda funny, but the sad thing is that it’s accurate.

Most people would probably like to believe that the beef that ends up on their plate was once a happy, healthy cow blissfully grazing green-as-grass pastures and basking in the warm sun until the end of her long, full life when it was time to take her to the slaughterhouse (or “put her out to pasture”), honor her life with a heartfelt sermon and give her an injection of some sort that first renders her unconscious and then stops her breathing, naturally and painlessly.  Others are just fine with believing cattle raised for beef is treated humanely before and during slaughter, and that the slaughterhouses follow strict health regulations and maintain a clean, sanitary environment. Sadly, this is not the case. The meat you eat is likely full of hormones, steroids, feces, urine and other nasties. The majority of cows raised for slaughter are kept in terrible conditions and lead very unhealthy, miserable, short lives.

A cow with a controlled-release hormone implant

A cow with a controlled-release hormone implant

But all prodding, beating, tormenting, branding, shackling, dismembering, scalding, skinning and decapitation aside, the meat industry is still pretty dirty. It is more profitable for factory farmers to have big cows who eat less, so cattle are pumped with growth hormones and steroids to make them bigger and less hungry. According to the Cattlemen’s Beef Association, 90% of all US feedlot cattle are implanted with controlled-release implants, which are reported to increase the treated animals’ growth by 20%, and decrease by 15% its feed consumption for every pound gained. (The implant-treated cows typically gain three pounds each day.) The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Beef Information Centre confirms that cows raised by conventional methods can be treated with growth hormones and veterinary products, and even states that cows who have become sick (and there are a lot of them, since animals raised on factory farms are forced to live in tiny stalls full of urine, feces and vomit) and have been treated with antibiotics can still legally be labelled as “organic beef”. And to give you a better gage of the scale of antibiotic use in

Gettin' what's comin' to 'em

Gettin' what's comin' to 'em

factory farms and its effect on meat-eating humans, I’d like to add that half of all antibiotics produced in the United States are used on farm animals, ultimately building up antibiotic resistance in people. And that’s not the worst of it: meat is often tainted with toxic chemicals, pesticide residues and industrial pollutants.  (If you’d like to find out more about the scary stuff that ends up in your burger, check out David Steinman’s book, Diet For a Poisoned Planet.)

You still don’t care, because “meat just tastes so good!”? Well what if I told you that consumption of hormone-infused and toxic chemical-laced meat can cause developmental problems, issues with the reproductive system, early onset of puberty and a big, fat ass?

I’m with Paul McCartney in the belief that everyone would be vegetarian if slaughterhouses had glass walls, and I also think people would stop eating meat if it was accurately labelled with all of the gross extras it contained.

The trailer below is for the 2006 film Fast Food Nation, which is loosely based on Eric Schlosser’s book of the same title.

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Posted in: Go veg, go! – 1 Comment

Ellen goes vegan and her awesome quotient skyrockets

November 6, 2009
Ellen goes vegan and shocks us all by being able to get even cooler

Ellen goes vegan and shocks us all by being able to get even cooler

Being sans TV, I am missing out on one of my favorite shows: the ellen degeneres show. If I was still able to follow Ellen and her kookiness on her uber popular daytime talk show, I likely would have already known that she recently made the switch to veganism, but unfortunately I usually get super-important celebrity dietary news a little later than most.

On her website, Ellen says this about making the switch to a vegan diet:

“I personally chose to go vegan because I educated myself on factory farming and cruelty to animals, and I suddenly realized that what was on my plate were living things, with feelings. And I just couldn’t disconnect myself from it any longer. I read books like “Diet for a New America” and saw documentaries like “Earthlings” and “Meet your Meat,” and it became an easy choice for me.”

She goes on to suggest that her viewers (and the general public) educate themselves on the significance of their dietary choices and the benefits of veganism, and also provides a link to a page on her site that lists some of the best reasons for going veg.

And for your viewing pleasure, I’ve included a video from Ellen’s website of her cooking a vegan roast meal with her personal chef, Roberto Martin. This is a totally easy meal: it’s simply a veganized version of a typical holiday roast meal using common and widely available vegan alternatives.

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Posted in: Go veg, go! – 2 Comments
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