Boyfriend's Ink

Joe tattooed my boyfriend today. It was my Christmas present to him... that's to my boyfriend, not to Joe!!!! Joe got vegan jellies instead ;) The lyrics are by Music Machine. No explanation needed :)

New Ink!

Here's a picture of my new tattoos by fellow vegan and rescued lurcher owner, Joe Deegan... I was almost 6 hours under the needle and was ready to scream at the end - but it was well worth it as you can see!

I'm so happy! :)

There's my Gerry on the left, and a cute girlfriend for him on the right.

Vegan Inking!

Take a look at tattoo artist Joe Deegan's website. All his inks are vegan... and he owns a rescued lurcher!  I simply love his work, which was brought to my attention by the lovely tattooed beauty Glauce... budding journalist and vegan cupcake-baker extraordinaire :)  Beautiful stuff!!

An Award!

Wowzers! I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award over at Tea & Sympatico and have to post 7 random facts about myself and re-award 7 more bloggers. So... here goes!

1. I only work part time and hardly have any money as a result, but keep putting off finding a new job because I love having so much spare time. It's far more important to me, to be doing the things I love, than to be working and earning money! Then again... some things I love are impossible to do without money. It's a Catch-22.

2. I am always hungry. I'm never satisfied. I always think about food. This is not a good thing when you're trying to stay slim!!!

3. There are very few people in this world who I can tolerate without getting majorly pissed off with after about a day. I can imagine I am a really annoying person too though. As a result I have very few close friends! I think I prefer my dog to most people.

4. My new love is my iPhone, I am just obsessed with the Instagram and Hipstamatic photo apps. I adore photography and have an account over at Redbubble which is really good fun. Although lately I'm using my iPhone way more than my Nikon D80, just for the fact that I take my phone everywhere I go and hardly ever have my big camera on me. Or maybe it's pure laziness...

5. Which brings me nicely to the fact that I am probably the laziest person I know. I can procrastinate all day, I could sleep all day. I start things and never finish them - especially when reading books, trying to follow up on ideas, or trying to keep up with a blog. However, that said, I am an extremely productive person when I do get my ass in gear. I'm excellent at organising and prioritising, so am a real quick worker when I need to be and always finish tasks super quick and super thoroughly when I put my mind to it.

6. There's nothing better than discovering new, amazing music. My new favourite band has to be Health, and my other favourites of all time have to be Black Dice, Holy Fuck, and Liars. I hate questions in quizzes like "what song sums up your life?", "what lyrics best describe you?" or "what is your favourite song of all time?". How are you meant to choose? That is ridiculous. The reason I never got an iPhone in the past was that they didn't make one large enough to contain all my favourite music - so how do you expect me to choose one?!

7. I have a few fears: Earwigs creep the hell out of me, I am extremely scared of dying before I get to do and say everything I want to do and say, and I get very panicked if my routine is disrupted in any form. Yes I'm rather OCD, I like to plan, I like to know what I'm doing, where I'm going, who I'll be with and what I'm eating well in advance of whatever occurrence is approaching... it's just one of my many idiosyncrasies!

I tag:

Identity V
Pixie Rose Dresses
Vegan Crunk
Maple Spice
Tofu Vegan Zombie
Vegan In Brighton
Vegan But Not Scary

Although I can imagine you guys have already done it...
I have done a similar one in the past too, but hey they are FUN!

Survey Thingumy...

1. What is one food you thought you’d miss when you went vegan, but don’t?

Definitely cheese. I didn't think I'd miss meat much as I love meat substitutes, but I thought cheese would be something I'd be craving all the time. I used to love sitting down with a chunk of brie on some crackers and dipping it into warm vegetable soup... but I really don't miss it at all! I prefer pizzas without cheese (with refried beans instead) and I love tofutti cream cheese on crackers with cranberry sauce at Christmas and melted cheezley on pitta bread. I don't know how I used to like that smelly, salty stuff before!

2. What is a food or dish you wouldn’t touch as a child, but enjoy now?

I pretty much used to like everything as a child... but dark chocolate has really grown on me, as well as things like dates and prunes.

3. What vegan dish or food you feel like you “should” like, but don’t?

Since I was a kid I've hated raisins, sultanas, currants and rhubarb. So anything with those in is a big no-no for me. I never used to like bananas and was convinced I was allergic to them for about 28 years of my life! However I discovered I was ok when I ate one a few years back but I still don't like them in their raw fruit format, only mixed into baking and desserts. Also, I got pretty sick after eating tempeh not so long ago. I used to love the stuff but now I can't even bear the thought of it.

4. What beverage do you consume the most of on any given day?

I am really bad at drinking water. I really just don't like the taste of it. So I'd say coffee is what I usually drink, especially on work days! However whiskey may come a close second ;)

5. What dish are you “famous” for making or bringing to gatherings?

I am not famous for any dish I don't think!

6. Do you have any self-imposed food rules (like no food touching on the plate or no nuts in sweets)?

I like to eat desserts with a teaspoon, and sometimes I leave the best thing on my plate until last :)

7. What’s one food or dish you tend to eat too much of when you have it in your home?

Bagels with vegan nutella! I try not to buy them very often nowadays...! I'm also a big sucka for crisps and marzipan :)

8. What ingredient or food do you prefer to make yourself despite it being widely available prepackaged?

Pretty much everything. I love cooking from scratch as it always tastes so much better, but sometimes I'm just too lazy to do that, so I make do with the prepackaged stuff. Homemade soup is just THE BOMB though, but sadly I'm just way too lazy to make it all the time. Hmm, this reminds me - I really need to make some winter stews again soon!

9. What ingredient or food is worth spending the extra money to get “the good stuff”?

I don't really ever spend huge quantities of money on any groceries. I just try to find the best quality foods at the best prices possible! Asian and Indian markets are a real gem when it comes to this. However, that said, I do love to shop in gourmet shops from time to time but mostly won't buy something if it's extortionately priced. Although I do spend a long time sourcing the best alcohol, there's no compromising there!! ;)

10. Are you much of a snacker? What are your favorite snacks?

Yeah I snack all the time! I prefer to eat small portions throughout the day than eat big meals. I find it keeps me ticking over throughout the day. Nakd bars are my favourite snacks, or a toasted bagel, dried wasabi peas and broad beans, or some soya yoghurt. NOM!

11. What are your favorite vegan pizza toppings?

Definitely pineapple, refried beans, gherkins, sweetcorn, onions and BBQ sauce. Sliced seitan sausages are great too!

12. What is your favorite vegetable? Fruit?

It's impossible to choose one of each. I'm more of a veggies person than fruit though. I love butternut squash, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, roasted peppers, onions and courgettes. The fruit I like most are raspberries, melons, pineapples and mangoes.

13. What is the best salad dressing?

Balsamic vinegar, or just plain salt and pepper.

14. What is your favorite thing to put on toasted bread?

Pure sunflower oil spread, raspberry jam, blackcurrant jam, peanut butter or vegan nutella.

15. What kind of soup do you most often turn to on a chilly day or when you aren’t feeling your best?

Sweet potato and butternut squash, lentil, carrot and coriander, creamy broccoli or chunky vegetable. I love all soups!

16. What is your favorite bun flavour? Icing flavour?

Coffee, hands down!

17. What is your favorite kind of biscuit?

I love bourbon creams, hobnobs, pink wafers and anything homemade from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

18. What is your most-loved “weeknight meal”?

Lentil or textured vegetable protein bolognaise with spaghetti is a favourite comfort food of mine. Or vegetable thai curry. Then again pizza is good too!

19. What is one dish or food you enjoy, but can’t get anyone else in your household to eat?

Aubergines! Everyone else seems to hate the texture.

20. How long, in total, do you spend in the kitchen on an average day?

Probably a couple of hours, if I'm not super busy.

P.S. IT'S NEARLY CHRISTMAS, GUYS! WAH-HOOOOOO! :-D

What's the Story?

I'd love to know how everyone who reads this blog became a vegan, a vegetarian, a raw foodist, or simply why you choose to eat the way you do (I'd even like to hear from you if you're an omnivore and maybe choose to eat meat and dairy from a traceable source).

I first heard about veganism through music. I was into a lot of hardcore and straightedge bands during my postgrad degree in Bristol university (many of which I can't even remember the names of now seeing as that was about 10-11 years ago!) and through that way of life I began to research more and more into the vegan lifestyle. My current partner at that time was a vegetarian, and we decided to go vegan together, not just for the animals and the environment, but for our health.

Being a vegan in Bristol was great - it was a very vegan friendly city, with lots of good health food shops and options for eating out and even veggie and vegan fairs (see below). It was also handy that my partner was a pretty good cook and enjoyed making anything from caramelized onion tarts, to sushi, to curries, to salsa dips. Back then I had absolutely no interest in cooking, so he did almost everything... not that I was lazy or took him for granted, I think he just enjoyed it, and when he was vegetarian I used to do all the cooking, so it was a welcome change of roles.

This lasted nearly two years, then I moved to Ireland. Back in 2003, "vegan" was not very well understood or catered for here in Dublin. I went from having copious amounts of health food shops with a wide range of dairy alternatives, to virtually having nothing. Even the local supermarkets didn't stock soya milk or butter back in those days. I was also so busy all the time that I had no time to search for ingredients and cook from scratch, so my diet slipped back into vegetarianism, then eventually pescetarian (a vegetarian who eats fish)... and finally... omnivore. This continued for a while. I was constantly on my bike, riding, travelling, and eating on the go.

However, in January 2008 I decided I had to do something about my diet. I was larger than I wanted to be, and although still very fit and energetic, I knew I could do a lot better for myself. This is when I began researching more into organic, low fat and vegan foods again. I was never really thin as a vegan the first time around - just because you adopt a vegan diet doesn't mean you will lose weight as there's a lot of vegan junk food out there, and you can still overlook portion sizes - so I didn't do it to become skinny, but more because I knew it was better for everyone and everything on this planet as well as for myself.

Dublin was also beginning to recognise vegetarian and vegan diets more and more, and there were health food shops springing up all over the place, as well as eateries to cater for people with coeliac diets, lactose intolerance, etc. Supermarkets now also had dairy free sections, so replacements and other ingredients were so much easier to come by, without having to go to a huge effort to travel somewhere further afield and haul everything back with you.

... So, I began by cutting down my dairy and my meat slowly. I didn't miss milk or butter or eggs at all, but I found I still wanted to eat cheese. I cut out meat until all I was really eating was raw fish (in sushi and salad) and cured ham. Eventually I managed to cut out cheese, fish and ham completely but can definitely say that it was much easier to cut out dairy from my life than it was to cut out meat. For most people, it's the other way around, but believe it or not, eating dairy always made me feel strange seeing as we're the only species that takes the milk from another animal, and the only species that drinks it after infancy. I always thought that was a bit strange, and then realised that when I did actually eat too much dairy I felt a bit sick, bloated, heavy and often had a stomach ache. It took me a while to become vegan again, so much so that I have no idea of the exact date of when I became vegan. It was a gradual process that involved a lot of research into animal cruelty, a great deal of learning about cooking from scratch, and re-discovering the benefits of the lifestyle. I think this is maybe why my choice to be a vegan is working this time: instead of going head-on into a hardcore vegan way of life, I've taken the time to educate myself about it and my body has thanked me for it. I've re-adjusted my tastebuds and no longer desire to go back to eating the way I used to. And, as a nice beneficial side-effect to becoming vegan and eating healthily (AND exercising) I am now a size 6-8, rather than a size 14-16, and have, at last, found my natural, comfortable body shape.

I am the first person to admit though, that I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, I slip up. Sometimes knowingly, other times totally obliviously. For example if a friend goes to a special effort to cook something for me and hasn't understood fully what my diet entails, and includes a small bit of dairy, I won't ever throw that back into someone's face. I'd still eat it (as long as it wasn't covered in dairy!) and would inform them for the next time what to do differently. Then there are times when I'll be out somewhere and I'll see something and I'll crave it, especially if there is nothing else around, and I'll very occasionally allow myself to have it. I don't see the point in denying yourself something all the time. I would, of course, not want to eat a steak or an egg or a lump of cheese, but if something you really have always loved has some small amount dairy in it, I have no problem with treating myself, if it's something I cannot make myself or get an alternative to elsewhere. I'm not sure what other vegans will think of this, as everyone has a different approach to veganism and where to draw the line. I know that I do my best 99% of the time with my diet, I don't buy leather, and don't wear or use animal products (unless they are old items of my own, or sometimes recycled from a charity shop), do not use any cosmetics tested on animals or with any animal ingredients, and I cycle everywhere. I know that I do my part for the environment, animals and my health, and I think that if everyone does their best then that is what counts. There's no point in having a go at someone for something they don't do... we should appreciate people for what they do do.

So, go out and have fun with your food. Experiment, learn how to cook, explore new ingredients. Make little adjustments one at a time. A vegan lifestyle is definitely very healthy - don't listen to peoples' bullshit about how you need to eat meat and dairy in order to survive, because you don't! If you even just adjust your lifestyle to eating organic and free range products, including more fruits, vegetables and pulses, and trying a few different types of milk it will all make a bit of a difference. If everyone just changed a couple of things in their lifestyle, the world, its inhabitants and your own bodies would be so much better off. You don't need to become a full-blown vegan to make a difference.