Vegan Hygiene

What do you use to wash your hair? I'm looking for the most natural product. I experimented with a few brands:

Green Beaver: GREAT SCENTS (lavendar and apple mint are my favourite), made lather, without the conditioner though your hair WILL turn to a matted nest of straw.

JASON: Peach scent was great, no lather, turned my hair to straw when it wanted to, some days was lush, other days resembled cardboard strands.

Desert Essence Organics: Amazing smells, minimal lather, I can't decipher ingredients but it is sulfate free, and cruelty free like the ones above.

Baking soda: No smell, no lather, gritty, felt genuinely clean, is cheap, kind of inconvenient to mix, and turn the shower off to massage, then rinse, will burn the skin around your face if not rinsed off.

Ultimately I feel the most safe using baking soda, and coconut oil to condition...if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them! I have been seeing a theme of raw vegans not wash their hair..I don't plan on going down that route anytime soon.

did you know shampoo is the result of the two words, SHAM and POO combined...

MY NEW FAVE YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

I'm in love..slightly joking. BUT actually...these guys are so vibrant, and exciting. How can you not want to try raw for yourself! They seem to follow the 811 lifestyle, it's pretty obviously working for them as their energy looks like it's through the roof, and so do some of their..muscles.

Watch their videos on their youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RawBrahs

Gluten Free Success and Rawlicious: Raw Vegan Restaurant Review

Gluten free is going amazing, and I am pretty sure your support has a lot to do with it! I feel great, and I am taking it day by day (thank you Antony, Sugar Magnolia, and Frannie). A lot of it has to do with diverting thoughts, understanding the consequences, and more importantly understanding WHY I want to remove gluten forever.

Rawlicious Cheesecake: I can't even be formal with this review, as I only tried the lemon cheesecake last wednesday night (After biology class..lamesauce). ALL I can say is that it was THE greatest raw vegan cheesecake I've ever tasted. EVER. Part of this overwhelming appraisal may be because it was my first cheesecake since being vegan (3 years), one that in addition to being dairy/wheat-free, was raw. My friend and I split one, and the waiter without thinking placed the slices on separate plates, with separate garnishes. It was perfectly creamy, and--my favourite part--NOT TOO SWEET! The crust was perfectly seeded, except I didn't like the taste, I wasn't sure what was in it, but I didn't care because the lemony upper mousse-like part was to die for..

Rawlicious

20 Cumberland St. Toronto, Ontario

M4W 1J5

416-646-0705

Price: $9 - $15 per entree/$2-$10 per dessert

Open: Mon-Sun: 11AM-10PM

yay for cell phone pics..

AGHH LOVE THIS.

These two videos are beyond a doubt my favourite youtube videos in existence. I've watched these them too many times, and each time the honesty, experience and excitement is just as strong as when I first watched them!

part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOP7Cd14C_k

part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSLJ4o7NACA

FEB DETOX.

What vice did you choose? Or still want to choose..it's only Feb. 8, that gives you LOADZ of detox time. I had chosen cooked grains and sugar, specifically wheat. I have posted sticky notes all over the kitchen that say, "NO WHEAT NO SUGAR", and they worked, until today when I had an intensely emotional incident in the morning that I totally didn't deal well with it. I went to the health food store later and bought gluten free, raw bread, had 2 pieces of that for dinner with some fresh sprouts and sunflower seed butter. Then couldn't stop thinking about the issue, and burst out into a weird craze and ran downstairs to have excuse my language. CRAP. on a stick. aka. wheat-bread. I had two pieces with agave and ran back to my room and was like, "WTFFF AMYY. What did you just do."

SOO. I'm writing about it to show you my fortress-style indestructible desire to continue with the detox. Why? Because I felt epic---(The definition refers to epic as something heroic and grand in scale or character)--without wheat and sugar in my life. I use this word freely, but trust me I really was feeling epic. I still want to feel heroic and grand so I have resolved to fight this whack crack and tell you guys about it. My first problem was that I never made a proper goal. Instead of writing, "NO WHEAT" on sticky notes, it should have been my goal. My goal is to have this out of my life. Realistically that will never happen because food does come into contact with things, people that don't eat in this way will always be present, so I think my goal needs to encompass how I deal with this as oppose to hating it, and branding it as something that should strike my heart with guilt.

Goal: Avoid wheat. (Remove emotional connection to wheat and learn to deal with situations where wheat is present.)

Symptoms of Wheat allergies, sensitivities--Check if you identify with any of these symptoms!

-bloating

-edema

-anemia

-energy loss, fatigue

-appetite increased to the point of craving

-acidosis

-dehydration

-constipation

Warming Hearty Winter Recipe #4

Pure, frothy, buckwheat mylk + "oatmeal"=BEST COMFORTING BREAKFAST EVER.

-3T sprouted buckwheat

-half cup water (I eyeballed this..start with a little less and add if you need more)

-1 heaping tsp molasses (I need iron, you can add agave or maple syrup)

-cinnamon

-1tsp liquid vanilla extract

blend (i used a magic bullet), slowly pour into crystal goblet of love, while using a tea strainer (the type that fits around the rim of a mug), and pour slowly while using a teaspoon to stir a little. In between pours, removethe pulp left over, and put into a container. After straining, you have pure, frothy, DE-LISH mylk. What are you going to do with the remainder?

Take the pulp from the container and dump it back into the magic bullet. Add a little water, one apple sliced into pieces, more cinnamon and blend. Put into a bowl, add raisins, drizzle agave, AND BAM. tastes like oatmeal, is textured like oatmeal, but it's raw--and not wasteful!

stuff tastes better in crystal goblets lol.

february aka. FRESH STARTZZ Y'ALL.

okay. people who blew their resolutions made on the eve of 2011, HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE.

This is partially inspired by 'Raw Food Rehab' and Penni Shelton who is focusing on the month of February to cleanse her system. You get to choose the guidelines to YOUR own cleanse plan. Will it include juicing? Smoothies? Fruits and or Greens? Penni asks in her video, "What are the big offenders found in your diet?" Pick anything, something simple, and remove it for a month. http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/ (watch videos in the sidebar)

This reminded me of a quote by Angela Stokes Monarch (the very first inspiration for my path to raw foods):

"What you leave out of your intake completely, without exception is the way to ultimate health."

She talks about how eating raw foods in massive quantities, 24-7 wouldn't do you any good if you are still consuming damaging food groups: Animal Protein, Diary, Refined Sugar, and Processed Starches.

If you decide to join me on the cleanse for the month of February, write down in the comment's section what you're choosing to remove for 28 days and the answers to the following!

For the month of February I am removing...processed grains.

For the month of February I will add more...greens during the day-AIM FOR 1lb!

What drew me to raw food was...the healing from asthma, clearer skin, and weight loss.

From this 28 day cleanse I want to (accomplish)...lose the desire for cooked grains and experience the benefits of this lifestyle.

more inspiration from this lovely sexy raw vegan!

ODE TO JOY of coconut pudding, and CELEBRATIONZZZ.

THANK YOU FOLLOWERS! This blog has reached 100, and I'm so grateful for your interest! There is a raw vegan restaurant, Rawlicious that opened up a second place near my school. Anyone living in Toronto PLEASE come celebrate this perfect number with me and my friends [details to come]. *http://www.rawlicious.ca/Rawlicious/Menu.html

Forecast for Toronto: Snowstorm to come overnight, currently flurry-ing, and -8˚C

Recipe of the day: 'Take me to Maui-Coconut Pudding'

-meat of one coconut-drink the water first...whilst laughing at poor Canadian drivers passing your street. MUAHAHA.

-1 ripe banana

-1tsp vanilla extract (liquid)

-1T melted coconut oil: put in a container or plastic bag and keep in hot water

BLEND. eh, voila! This is a perfect parfait topper with buckwheat/or a cheesecake base with other fruits replacing banana, AND OR. a fruit dip.

EAT THIS WHILE LISTENING TO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ1McdLKDj4&feature=related

As viewers, what other things would you like to see on this blog?