The Twelfth Day of Christmas - Do not go gentle into that good night!

Oh it's Christmas Eve! I've always loved this day. As a child it was the most magical of days that I'd wait for and count down to until it was here. We'd get the Sears Wish Book sometime in November and I'd pour over those pages picking gifts for everyone in my family - usually starting with my mom and grannies, then I'd hit the toy section and wish and hope and dream.

I feel especially warm and fuzzy seeing these old images. It was such a time of wonder and possibility and that hopeful excited feeling lives on in me today. Most especially this Christmas. By all accounts, this year is anything but traditional. I'm not at home in Saskatchewan. I'm not with any members of my own family. There won't be a turkey or eggnog or chocolate. You might be wondering then why I feel so positive?

I'm squirrelled away in a beautiful cottage in the snowy woods of Ontario with He Who Shall Not Be Named and his mama, and both of them are indulging me, letting me make my giant homemade tofu-turkey from scratch along with my gluten free stuffing. We've made gluten free, sugar free, vegan fudge {which as gross as that may sound to some, it's pure heaven to me} and the dog could not be happier. And if I could make one wish this Christmas, it would be that every person who read this blog post would consider trying  - if not the whole of Veganuary by going Vegan in January - at least doing one day meat, egg and dairy free. That one tiny action would have the hugest impact.

And for those of you who are taking the plunge with me in the new year, let's ring in our Twelfth Day of Christmas with a bang and --

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night!

Once the new year hits and we all return to work, or back to school or whatever our routines may be, there are going to be people who look at us sideways when we skip the cheese tray, don't order our regular old latte, or give the chicken salad a miss at lunch. Contrary to what the title of this post says, I'm not suggesting that you come out swinging and say I'm a vegan and all 'a y'all suck for eating meat. I don't want to shame anyone, make anyone feel guilty or bad for the choices they make, but nor do I want us to become the subject of ridicule.

Once people hear that you are choosing a plant-based diet, they are going to hit you up with questions; the first likely being WHY? Why would you do that to yourself? Why make eating such a chore? Such a bore? etc. If you're making an ethical choice, you might get that lame-oh loser response of: Vegetables feel pain too. Or Animals were put on this earth for us to eat.

The trick is to be prepared with some ready answers. I for one like using humor.
So I'd say something like - I don't like cheese because I'm a curd-mudgeon. 

The key to making the transition as easy as possible is to know why you're doing it. Did you watch the documentary film What The Health or Forks Over Knives and realize that eating more plant-based meals just makes you feel better? Share that knowledge with people, or suggest they check out the film. Incidentally, THIS is a great spot to go for tips on making the transition from the folks over at Forks Over Knives.

You don't have to get into it with people at all if you don't want to. My beloved He Who Shall Not Be Named went vegan and never told anyone besides me about it. When we went out for dinner with friends, he'd look for salads, grains and veggie dishes that he could eat and if pressed he'd just say I don't eat dairy and people simply assumed he discovered that he was lactose intolerant. Most folks tend to be very accepting of health or allergy issues and will leave the subject there. 

If you know you're going out for a meal, try to scope out the restaurant ahead of time to be sure that they have options for you so that when it comes time to order you're not caught without a choice. Or if you know that at the office staff meeting they always serve cup cakes, you could offer to bring them in and then swing by the vegan bakery on your way to work and pick up a vegan version. In Toronto we're so lucky to have a place called Bunners, a fab bakery that makes solely gluten-free AND vegan baked goods.

We are incredibly lucky to be living in a time where people are waking up to the joys and benefits of living a plant-based lifestyle so we have foods at the supermarket, restaurants, and food shops that provide lots of options.

Another thing I'd suggest is to seek out others eating a plant-based diet so that you have a buddy to share tips and tricks with.

One of the best things I found when I first started blogging about The 30-Day Method was that I was writing about trying to stay on track for that 30-Days, I found other people just like me giving it a shot. We built up a little community and shared the joys and difficulties of adhering to the program and being accountable to this new lifestyle shift. I'm hoping to do that again here.

So if you can't find people in your local area, you can come here for support and encouragement or to commiserate with on the various challenges of being somewhat different in your world. I remember how hard it was to keep up with a daily workouts when most of the people around me were not working out at all. I was told I was acting like I was in a cult or that I'd been brainwashed and I expect that this next undertaking may bring on more of the same, but I'm not afraid. I know why I'm doing this. And I know that there are one or two of you out there who are doing it too and together we're stronger. We can make our world a better place, a healthier place -  and a safer, more compassionate place.

Stick with me, girl. I got your back.

I'll be prepping my tofu to make my vegan turkey tomorrow - so watch this space to hear how that went. And if you're interested in the vegan gluten free sugar free fudge lemme know, I can post the recipe here for that as well. It turned out brilliantly!

Wishing you all a very happy healthy holiday season and I'll see you on the other side!

xoxo
Shan

The Eleventh Day of Christmas - A day in the life.

Hey there again my beauties. We're nearly there! Nothing doing but Christmas dinner, a boxing day binge-fest and then coasting 'till the new year and those pesky resolutions kick in, hey?

Since I've taken the pledge to go vegan earlier than anticipated and the idea behind these twelve days of Christmas was to help anyone who wanted to transition with me, I thought it might be nice to share...

A Day In The Life Of A New Vegan

So what the hell does a vegan eat, anyway? You're gonna get that a lot if you switch to a plant based diet. I'm certainly no expert. In fact I'm winging it and more or less figuring things out as I go, but I can give you what a recent day's meals were like and include the super easy recipes for you to try yourself. And as you move towards incorporating more veggies and grains into your diet as you replace meat, eggs and dairy, I'd suggest stepping outside of your square. Don't be afraid to try new things or even things that you've had in the past and didn't like. 

Our taste buds do actually change over time. Check out this great article about why and how this happens. It will actually encourage you to bust out that jar of sauerkraut or those brussel sprouts and give them another go if you've tried them in the past and decided that you didn't like them. It really can work in our favor as we shift into new foods territory.

I happen to love simple foods, I'm just lucky that way. So my "day in the life" menu might not tempt you, but I'm hoping it inspires you to see that everyday ordinary foods that you already eat can be made vegan with very little effort.

So breakfast for me is almost always a smoothie. I add a ton of great ingredients so they're filling and delicious but also super easy and quick which is what I need as I'm flying out the door to grab the subway to the studio on a work day.

I like to change up my smoothies from day to day - but my building blocks are always 1 1/2 cups of nut milk and protein powder. I like Almond, cashew or coconut milks personally and I always go for the unsweetened. Because I add fruit, I don't need the extra sugar of a pre-sweetened beverage. Next I add my vegan protein powder. I've been using Sun Warrior for nearly two years since He Who Shall Not Be Named went vegan. It's the best. High in protein, great taste and only ingredients that I can pronounce so that's a win.

I need to stay full until lunch and in the writer's room, you never quite know when that's going to come, so I make sure to add fat. This is dealer's choice and I'll pick the fat depending on the fruit or other vegetables that I might add. My go to's are almond butter, peanut butter, coconut oil, MCT oil, or a half an avocado. Following that I add the whole foods.

When I'm not in the mood to experiment, I keep it simple with 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries and a half a banana. That's it. Done. But sometimes I'll swap out the banana for a few sweet cherries. OR I'll ditch the berries and add an apple to that banana plus a dash of cinnamon. I also love to add in things like cacao powder, maca, or tiger nut powder. These add minerals and lots of sweet flavor. You get the idea - wing it and see what you invent.

Now because I'm only about two weeks into this vegan thing I don't have a staple go to lunch but the one I had yesterday was da bomb! So simple, quick and easy. I mashed an avocado onto some gluten free toast and topped it with crunchy veggies. Yum.

Isn't it pretty?

My dinner was a Rustic Pasta recipe from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone and I served it up with crusty garlic bread {not pictured.} and a glass of red wine. So delicious and again - nothing fancy. No weird or hard to find ingredients. This idea that being a vegan requires all sorts of strange exotic hard to find or expensive to buy food is a myth. I bet it was invented by the meat industry. Lol 

Anyway - this was dinner and because it was so fantastic and I definitely plan to make it again, I'll post the recipe below in case you want to try it.

Alicia Silverstone's Rustic Pasta Recipe.

 INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb gluten free pasta - your choice. I used spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions thinnly sliced
2 garlic cloves
2 celery stocks sliced diagonally
1/4 cup tamari
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt (or powder)
1 head of cabbage thinnly sliced
5-6 tbsp vegan marinara sauce (I used store-bought)

 DIRECTIONS
Boil water and add pasta with salt. Cook to package instructions but keep it el dente
Drain and rinse well
Meanwhile, heat oil in a very large skillet on high. Add onion and cook for about 7 minutes until soft then add garlic and saute for 3 more minutes. Until everything looks golden.
Add celery and saute for a minute or two, stir in tamari, garlic powder, then add cabbage and saute for about 4 minutes. Mind your heat.
Reduce to simmer and cook 5 minutes longer.
Add your cooked pasta and marinara sauce to the skillet, toss together and cook over medium high heat for another minute or two and serve.

I added micro greens to my bowl after I served. I love that bit of green in there and it gave the dish a nice extra crunch.

I hope you get to try some new recipes and enjoy the adventure of doing something new. It feels good to take charge of our health while doing something great for our planet and the animals.

Love,
Shan

The Tenth Day of Christmas - Activate

Oh la la, we're into the double digits. Including today, there are only three days left in our twelve days of Christmas. How are you feeling? You ready? Done the grocery shop? Wrapped the presents? Cleaned the house? It seems that there is so much to do this time of year, who has the time to be an activist? And why would we want to? We've got enough on our plates with work and family and a million other obligations. It's stressful just trying to find time to squeeze in a quick workout am I right? I know I'm right. But I also think it's important that we don't just accept the status quo, so let's talk about that today, on The Tenth Day of Christmas...

Tis the season to ACTIVATE the ACTIVIST in YOU!

In this golden age of social media, making change is easier than ever. You can reach a worldwide audience, you can speak out for what you believe in and stand in your truth. But as easy as that is, it's also easy to fall into this false sense of being an activist. You see a post that calls out some jerk for his boorish behavior, you hit like - how 'bout stop the use of fur in fashion, hell yeah, hit like - or get rid of the name Washington Redskins already for fuck sake - like again, maybe even one of these posts gets you to "repost" it. Then you feel better about things because you feel like you "did" something. 

Hey man, I'm guilty! I can spend 20 minutes on IG, hit like like like like like like like and think - wow, I've done some good today. But really, what have I done? I call this activity "slacktivism" because I think I'm being an activist but I'm not. Not really. 

This year, I wanted to make a New Year's Resolution that might actually have a chance of not only sticking, but of making some kind of difference, so I signed up to go vegan in January with the good folks over at Veganuary. But as I began to dig beneath the surface, I realized that I could be doing more. There's shit going on in the world that just ain't right. I feel it in my gut, in my heart and soul. I feel like any one of us, if we listen to that little quiet voice that comes from within, will remind us that once we know the truth, we simply cannot go back to the status quo. I get that for some of us, that means never wanting to learn the truth. If we don't see the violence or hear the cries of animals, we don't have to make the change. We never have to rock the boat. But I am asking you to be brave. To open your eyes and not only rock the boat, tip the fucking thing!

I mean what if Rosa Parks decided to ignore her little voice? It would have been much easier for her to just do as she was told. But when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Alabama, she was fired from her job, she received death threats, and her life became harder, not easier. Yet she could no longer remain quiet about what she knew to be wrong. We may think we've come a long way since the civil rights movement of of the 50's and 60's, but women still do not hold the same rights as men in several countries around the globe, gay marriage is still not widely accepted. There is more work to be done.

If we're still living in a world that too often sees women and gay people as less, what chance can farmed animals possibly stand if we remain silent?

Now I'm not saying you need to go out there and get arrested for stealing animals from cages, or for protesting farm auctions. I don't want to see you take violent or dangerous actions. I don't plan on getting arrested any time soon if I can help it. But we can be activists by making choices with our dollars because at the end of the day, profits are the only thing that big corporations care about anyway.

It's because people spoke up that companies like Michael Kors, Jimmie Choo and Gucci are stopping the use of fur in their fashion lines. It's because people demanded to have beauty products that are not tested on animals that big companies like L'Oreal Paris, Maybelline, and Lancome are researching methods of testing products which don't involve animals - read about it here. We're not there yet, but we're making strides in the right direction.

We can have a major impact on our world by what we put in our shopping carts. By spending our hard earned cash on ethical foods and products, we are awaking the activist within us. 

If you've elected to take the vegan challenge, want to become a vegan or have switched to a plant based diet and now want to extend that change into the rest of your life, there are so many fantastic brands and designers that make cruelty-free stuff. Hell you can even use this new lifestyle change as your excuse for a shopping spree come boxing day.

How bout I get you started. Looking for a fantastic new winter parka? I got you covered, noble reader. And if you think I was fussy when it came to food, I'm ten times worse when it comes to fashion. I've been searching for years but had a very strict list of things my jacket needed to include. First and foremost it had to look good. {sorry, still vain} It had to have a faux fur hood that didn't look like crap. Why do so many vegan parkas neglect their hood design I ask you? It's one of the most important features in my humble opinion. I also wanted my new coat to be wind resistant and waterproof of course, because when snow melts it becomes water - duh. And last but certainly not least, I needed warmth. No sense looking good and having a fabulous hood if I was still going to freeze to death. And oh yeah, last thing, it couldn't be $700. I needed an affordable jacket.

In my research I found many options for vegan jackets - but none of them had everything that I wanted. Still there were some great choices like:
Vaute  came up a lot and they are beautiful, but no furry hoods.
Wully was another brand I almost went for - awesome looking coats but bit of a wimpy hood. However, if you're not a hood girl, I bet you'd love these.
Noize may have been a real contender if I hadn't found the coat I ended up buying. Maybe next year tho, because they have a fantastic looking collection.
Hoodlamb would have been my first choice had I been able to get it in Canada. These jackets have all the bells and whistles and look the absolute bomb! If you're in Europe this may be the coat for you.

But for this Canadian girl, I went with a parka that was made in Vancouver Bristish Columbia. Entirely vegan. Lined with premaloft and great up to -20! {-4 for my American friends} It's windproof so feels extra warm in the windy arctic temperatures where there are no trees to block the breeze. Are you dying to know what it is?

It's the Golden Bancroft Vegan parka by TNA (Aritzia) and I love it.

And look at that hood! Omigod it's so amazing. And there are tight extra long cuffs at the wrists. It's brilliant. I'm so happy. The more items that we select that are free from animal products, the more companies will make them.

Imagine that, you can be a real activist without ever leaving your house, just jump on the old google machine and do a bit of shopping. Activate and be powerful.

The Ninth Day of Christmas - What's your rotation?

I had some serious thinking to do today about the post for The Ninth Day of Christmas, because as passionate as I am about the abolition of the exploitation of animals, I sort of feel like I've been talking about it ad nauseam and I don't want anyone to feel disheartened by the state of the world at present. {confession - I am disheartened. I've learned the word speciesism and we suffer from it big time} It's an entire rabbit hole I could very easily get lost down. 

No, this post needed consideration because I had to stop and think {feel my way into} why I wanted to write these twelve days of Christmas leading us through the holidays and into my bold new choice to turn to a plant-based diet in January via Veganuary. 

I chose to do it partly because I wanted company on this new journey, but mostly I decided to do it because I needed to keep myself accountable to be sure I wouldn't back out. What I hadn't counted on was there being a small part of me who's hoping that by writing about this change in my life, I might be able to inspire at least one other person to also make the change. {and now that feels like the biggest reason, because...}

It's estimated that by going vegan, one single person will save 198 animals in a year, and two people making the change would save 396 and so on. I have no idea where these statistics come from but I read it here. 

So today, I was left wondering... If I want to help you or someone else make this {I'm just gonna say it} gigantic decision, was there a way to make it easy for you? Why yes there is. Welcome to The Ninth Day of Christmas...

Identify Your Personal Dinner Rotation

I'm a nerd. I love making lists. I love reading stats. I'm into doing frivolous research and digging up little known facts. I'm a writer. We live to procrastinate and doing "research" is one of the best ways that I know how to do that. Why do you think this post is coming out so late? I was looking shit up, noble reader.

Guess what I've discovered? Turns out that the majority of us rotate our way through about nine recipes.  If you're anything like me, you're both fussy and lazy which is a bad combination when it comes to making dinner. Thank the good Lord that someone invented Foodora or I might have starved to death this past year. But seriously, think about it. I bet you have your go-to's. And you have variations on what gets slipped into the rotation depending on the season, am I right?

Omigod, it's so weird for me to be talking about cooking. The last thing I am is a food blogger. Well actually, it was pretty weird for me to write about an exercise routine back in the day and in fact, being a blogger was odd to me back then too. Now I just put all sorts of stuff out into the world from my little corner of the interwebs. So lemme get back to the post at hand would ya? Geez. 

Ima talk about what we make for dinner and how we can build on what we already do, so making this lifestyle shift won't feel so effin' foreign.

According to one study I read, it said many people are put off trying new recipes because they think the ingredients will be expensive or making new dishes will be time consuming. Maybe we're dealing with fussy eaters who are reluctant to try new things {again in my case that would be me}. Whatever the reason, they say most home chefs revert back to the recipes they know and love.

Let's take a moment to think about what our favorites are. I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of the one dish meal, especially in the winter. Things like hearty soups, stews and casseroles. In the summer I'm all about enormous salads with millions of toppings. Back in the day - I was all about the stuff. If I was having ice cream, it wasn't real ice cream unless it had tons of stuff in it. Now I'm off sugar, I feel the same way about my salads. Don't just gimme lettuce. I'll give you my worst WTF face. Lettuce simply isn't salad in my book. I need crunchy bits like radish, nuts and seeds, and cucumber. Soft bits like tomato and avocado. In between things like sprouts, micro greens and tortilla strip thingies. I love me a Shan salad.

Anyhoo - some of my favorite {read: super easy, fast, and one dish} meals include a North African Quinoa Paella, sounds complicated but it's not. Indian Dahl with Rice, whatever's in the fridge soup, baked potato with a - you guessed it - shit-ton of toppings like black beans, butter and cheese. RECORD SCRATCH! What the hell am I gonna do now that I can't have butter and cheese on my baked potato? It's cool - calm myself. Deep breath. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Your favorite meal might be a shepherds pie and you might be thinking that very thing. What the hell am I gonna do if I can't have ground beef. Chill! We got this. You can get a very good ground round and I'd bet you barely notice the difference. I once made tacos for my sister's family and they all said they had to have ground beef. I was vegetarian at the time so I said sure, no problem. I think proceeded to make the tacos with ground round and feed it to them. They seriously didn't know the difference. It was brilliant.

I may never find the exact right substitute for my cheese {I guess Daiya makes a pretty good one} but I love love love Earth Balance.

Throw some 'a that on the old jacket potato and top it with black beans and salsa and voila, totally simple easy fast and new favorite go-to.

So what are some of your old faves that you can make plant-based? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

I'd also like to encourage you to take some time this holiday season, if you're lucky enough to have time off, to browse through some new recipes and see if you can't experiment a little bit and maybe find some brand new faves for going green in the eighteen. Once again, my most tried and trusted ladies are Ella, Angela and Alicia, but that's just a launching pad. Use the old google machine to see what you can find. Loads of amazing chefs who cook all foods will also have some vegan choices for you if you dig.

Tonight, I'm making Alicia's rustic pasta with garlic bread. And you can bet your ass it's vegan gluten-free babies.

Here's to your sparkling health and happiness on this, the ninth day of Christmas and into the eighteen.

Love,
Shan

Oh, and don't forget the animals...

The Eighth Day of Christmas - Mourn our losses

Happy hump day my lumpy lumpersons. 

Have you been counting down the days on your advent calendar to when the big guy comes down the chimney? I tried doing that until He Who Shall Not Be Named got ahead of himself on his Moo Free Calendar!

This just proves that you don't need dairy to have a good time or to celebrate with the traditions you grew up with. While I've been a staunch cheerleader of making the change to a plant-based diet and I am firmly committed to doing so, that doesn't mean that sometimes it won't pinch a little like new shoes... which brings me to the subject of our Eighth Day of Christmas --

It's Okay to Mourn Our Losses

I think going plant-based is going to be the best decision I have ever made and I'm so grateful to those who've come before me and made it so easy and accessible. People like Alicia Silverstone, Kimberly Snyder, Ella Woodward, and Angela Liddon, just to name a few. {More on that in a moment}. But at the same time, don't think for a second that I believe it's going to be a cake-walk. 

It's true, just about everything we love that's animal-based does have a plant-based alternative, but they aren't all going to be exactly the same though are they? Things we grew up with and have sentimental attachments to. Things that, as adults, helped get us through the afternoon slump at work. Or maybe it's things we've made with love to serve to our family and friends because the pleasure it gives them makes us so happy. 

I think the trick is creating new traditions, discovering new favorites, and letting go of the old attachments. But I don't think that means we can't miss them and even feel sad in the saying good-bye to them. Is that crazy? Is it weird that I'm sad that I can no longer have my instant foamy milk drink? It always made me feel good. It was how I started each morning in the writer's room these past few months. It was a warm treat on a cold day. The perfect thing to finish off a nice meal. And I am trying to create alternatives but they don't hold a candle to my old fave {not yet anyway}. 

I know I'll get over it. I was the biggest chocoholic on the planet and I managed to say good-bye to sweets. One of my favorite foods on the planet was perogies and I haven't tasted one in nearly two years since going gluten free. I know I'm made of sturdy stuff. Even though I still crave them on occasion, I quit smoking because I knew it was better for me, better for those around me and better for the planet. {Air quality and all that}.

Choosing a plant-based lifestyle is so much better for the animals. Whenever I want to cave {I know, it's been all of a week and listen to me whinge and moan lol} and have a bit of cheese or my foamy milk drink I just have to think of this...

A baby calf being reunited with her mom. And just look how she follows Melvin through the field. Exactly like a dog {or even a little kid} would do. Then my choice makes so much sense. But that doesn't mean I can't feel a bit sad. We all have our thing...

For you it might be your bacon and eggs. If that's the case, go check out Esther The Wonder Pig or check out some baby chicks chirping in a meadow and know that you've saved their lives with your choice. But still, allow yourself to miss the things you loved. I'm sure we've all dated a person who we knew was wrong for us and even if the relationship stunk and we were happy to be free of it, that doesn't mean that we didn't miss some aspect of that person. The good news is that we got over it didn't we? We got over our high school crushes, or the bad boy, or that god-awful spiral perm. We evolve. We move on and we need to apply those life skills to this next big shift in our lives. Then one day, a month, a year, or a decade from now, we'll look back and say - Can you believe we used to eat animals? How barbaric!

But on a final note, I wanted to share an interesting fact with you - A whopping 79% of Vegans in America are women according to this post. It's a terrific article, you should read it. When Donald Trump was elected as the American president - he accomplished one terrific thing... He united women. We came out in droves to protest his presidency. And as mentioned in an earlier post - for all the shit and abuse Harvey Weinstein has hurled upon women - as they came out of hiding and spoke out against him, these brave women empowered other women to speak out. And get a load of Time Magazine's Person of the year!

This bears posting again because I think it's really important. Women are taking over the world! We are rising up. It's a time of reckoning. And if the majority of vegans are women, well then, it's only a matter of time before compassion rules and we create a world where all animals have rights and are loved and treated with care rather than as a commodity.

To that end, I've saved the best for last.

Allow me to circle this back to the fat man coming down the chimney. We all know Santa Claus and we're excited for his arrival in just a few more short days. But how about we talk about Mrs. Claus for a moment? What do you think she gets up to this time of year? If you think she's stuck in the kitchen baking cookies, think again. You know that saying that behind every  great man, stands an even greater woman. {Or something like that} Well check out this story of Christmas directed by Oscar winning director Tom Hooper - and even more impressive is the fact that the person who helped make this story possible is my beautiful and very talented friend, set decorator, Sophie Phillips. She gliterally {glitter and literally, never gets old!} brought the Claus home into being! Check it out.

Get your almond milk and vegan cookies ready!

I'm so proud. Proud to have such talented female friends. Proud that someone saw Mrs. Claus for who she truly is. Proud that Alicia, Kimberly, Ella, and Angela are leading the charge toward a healthier happier planet. Proud of myself for finally getting the memo. And so hugely proud of all of you who've chosen to join me on this journey into Veganuary. If you haven't yet taken the pledge, don't hesitate to do so. You still have loads of time. Let's do this together.

With all the love in my heart.
xoxo
Shan

The Seventh Day of Christmas - Make it easy on yourself

Guys! We are getting so close to Christmas and this is the first year in about five that I do not have to work. There is writing to do of course, but no one is expecting a script off me first thing in the new year. It's a miraculous feeling to know that I can just play, and come here and spend time with you! I really have missed you.

I'm in transit to a cottage at the moment so this may be a little shorter than usual. Or maybe not. You don't know. You'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Are you planning to do anything special with your holiday? Will you get a holiday this year? I hope you get a chance to relax and enjoy some down time, pleasant time with loved ones, and generally care for yourself in whatever way suits you best. For me, that means getting ready for my full on transition to vegan this January. So let's talk about that a lil bit shall we? Here on the Seventh Day of Christmas --

Make It Easy On Yourself

You know one of the reasons I had resisted going plant-based for so long is pure laziness. I had this idea in my head that being a vegan was going to be so much work. Add to that most of the plant-based alternatives to the foods I loved - like burgers for example - seemed to contain gluten if you're buying them pre-made. Well who the hell has time to make every last thing from scratch? I know I sure don't. It's not like I haven't tried. In fact, I've made some delicious brown rice kale burgers in the past but you've got to have an evening to do it. {Okay full disclosure, maybe it doesn't take that long, but I'm super slow and if I was a rapper my rap name would be Lay-Zee. I just don't wanna do it.} Good news, if you choose the right grocery store, they have options. In fact, one of my favorite burgers are Sol Original. We've been eating them for a while now as He Who Shall Not Be Named is a long-time vegan and I'm a gluten-free girl so...

Def check these babies out. Love them with some salty fries. See you can even have junk food as a vegan. Cool right?

Hey, I get it we're all busy. I bet you parents out there barely have time to change your minds, never mind get your kids to change their eating habits. You impress and amaze me every day. 

I don't know how you do it. What I do know, is that as a full time writer - I leave home at 8am, commute out to the studio lot where we have our writer's room - work all day, often times through lunch - then commute home, by the time I get back it can often be after 7pm. And you know me, I gotta get my workout in and I am not a morning person yo, so that happens as soon as I get home. Once I hit the showers, it's after 8pm. The last thing I want to do is get in the kitchen and make a whole vegan meal from scratch. {Honestly, I'm sure it wouldn't take that long, and it won't once I learn a few new tricks, but for now, let's just go with it?}

I found a solution. It's called the Green Zebra Kitchen. Bless and praise these guys. They create weekly meals that you can pick and choose from, they make everything for you, and then they deliver it to your door. Alls you gotta do is pop it open and serve - or in some cases like their amazing curry, you heat it up for 5 or 10 minutes. And the best part is, they are totally gluten free and vegan, so there's no thinking involved. I think for a living, I don't want to have to do it in the kitchen. Please don't kill me for saying that Chef Emery. 

I love it and I've not looked back since doing it. I'm betting if you let your fingers do the walking on the world-wide web, you could find a person or company who does this in your neighborhood for those extra busy times too. There is no reason we have to sacrifice our health or the life of an animal to eat well. But just to get you started the good folks over at Peta have put together this List. Honestly? It couldn't be easier.

That lame old excuse of I don't have time, or I'm too tired, or it's too complicated just doesn't hold water any more. If you decide to try an at home food delivery place I'd love to hear what you think. And if you love them, share the link in the comments so anyone else looking might give them a shot too. Let's support these kinds of chefs and businesses who are making the world a safer place for animals and a healthier place for humans and let's leave the piggies in the field and off our plates.

I hear they make amazing pets. I mean, just check out Esther The Wonder Pig. Maybe when it's time to get Rama a little brother or sister, we'll get a pig instead. Can you imagine? Lol.

Love you,
Shan

The Sixth Day of Christmas - the animals

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty darn surprised that I'm still here on day six - the halfway point in our Twelve Days of Christmas - the Vegan Special. Or maybe you're not even reading this, could be you're just hitting delete when you see me in your in box. Sorry. But... Even if that is case, I'm still doing it for myself. I need all the help I can get. 

Now, as we inch closer to the deadline of January 1st, when we've agreed to go green for the eighteen - or go vegan in January (veganuary} I thought this might be a good time to talk more about...

Love The Animals

I've written a bit about the cows and how mamma cows cry for their babies and babies really need their moms. Milk sucks dude. For the happy reunions of some rescued cows, go take a look here.

And if you want to see something truly special, watch and listen to this mamma pig singing to her babies. Pigs are my absolute fave. They are so smart and talented and sweet and adorable and awesome.

In case you haven't got what I'm driving at yet, animals - all animals - have feelings. They bond with their young, they respond to kindness, they suffer when they are abused and none of them want to be caged up, starved, beaten or slaughtered any more than you or I want to.

Some people find it hard to believe or simply refuse to acknowledge that "farm animals" have desires or can think for themselves. But they do. They're just like our pets. I don't know if you have a pet, but I have a dog. His name is Rama and he's super smart - so smart he can do math. If I put three cookies in my pocket and only give him two - he knows damned well that three minus two equals one and that there's another cookie in my pocket. He's very food motivated. But he also has feelings.

Two and a half years ago when we were moving across the country from Vancouver to Toronto, we drove. We decided that we'd take the quicker route and go through the United States which meant that we had to cross the boarder. When we stopped at the gate, the guard decided that he wanted to pull our truck apart and question us. Separately. It was pretty intimidating. And the first thing they did before we even got to the building? The took Rama away from us and put him in a cage.  I have never heard my dog howl and cry like that before. He was so worried and scared and I did not want to leave him any more than he wanted to be left.  How the hell do you think a baby cow or baby pig feels when it's ripped away from its mama? it doesn't just go along like la la la. No. It fights to say with her, it cries and gets very stressed out.

If I'm at the door putting on my boots and coat and Rama thinks I'm going for a walk without him, he is at that door trying to push his way out so he doesn't get left behind. But he doesn't even bother getting up when he senses that I'm going to work or off to get groceries. He knows the difference.

Do you honestly in your heart of hearts believe that an animal does not know that the worst is happening when it gets loaded up to slaughter? Wake up! Of course it knows. And at that point, do you really think it matters whether it was on a so called "happy sustainable grass-fed" farm or not? Hell no. Most cows can live to be as old as twenty, but if they're caught in the system as a beef cow - happy farm or not - they're lucky to live to the ripe old age of two. It's time to remove our blinders.

I want to remind you of something that I was reminded about when I listened to Gary Yourofsky speak - he said when we were little kids, animals were our friends. We loved them. We gravitated toward them. Why the heck do you think our parents took us to petting zoos instead of slaughter houses? If you put a two year old kid in a cage with a live bunny rabbit and an apple - they are going to eat the apple and pet the bunny. We have been trained to turn off our compassion for animals. We have been brainwashed into thinking that they don't matter somehow. Or that they don't have feelings. Why is it that we put some animals on the stove and others we rescue? What's the fucking difference? Sorry but I'm still quite raw and very passionate about this.

Let's do better. We can do better and we must. 2018 is going to be the year that together we shift the paradigm toward compassion, dignity, respect and love - for all animals!

xo
Shan

The Fifth Day of Christmas... Be kind, to you.

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas, I'd like to share a special message with you today.

Be Kind to Yourself

That's it. Sounds so simple, but it's not. If you're anything like me, you might be a perfectionist, you might be a little too hard on yourself sometimes, you might beat yourself up for past mistakes. As I said earlier, I'd been feeling overwhelmed and sad and angry with myself for not taking the time or making the effort to educate myself about the animal agricultural industry sooner. I was kicking myself for not making better choices - for being thoughtless and selfish.

But I needed to remind myself of Shamandment number six, no being a hateful meanie to myself. 

I half wondered, if you've been reading along and sharing this new journey toward a plant-based life, maybe you needed a reminder too?

So with that in mind I'd like to share a message from actor, author and activist Alicia Silverstone from her book The Kind Diet.

In it, she says: 

Be kind to yourself. I know that I said up front that staying away from all animal products is important in order to feel the full impact of the diet - and that's certainly true - but at no time is beating yourself up an option. Changing a lifetime's worth of habits can be challenging: if you fall off the wagon, just get back on. No drama. No guilt. Being vegan is a journey, not a destination. It's a gentle awakening of the heart, mind and spirit. You'll see that there is no punishment here, just the beautiful reward of feeling better and better everyday. 

As you continue (or in our case, embark) on this journey - 4 weeks and beyond - you will experience amazing changes. Some will come quickly, some slowly, but eventually meat's hardness will melt away, leaving your body and heart soft and open. You will begin to feel more deeply. Compassion will flow from your core toward all other living beings. This is the most amazing gift of eating a plant-based diet - feeling the sacred connectedness of all living things.

Last week, when I posted on IG that I was going to participate in Veganuary the lovely and generous Kay Meghill reached out with a very helpful suggestion. She said, don't try to do this all at once. Be easy with yourself. Try giving up one food a week until January - let go of eggs one week, milk the next, then cheese and meat etc. By the time you get to January, you'll be ready.

I think that's a fantastic suggestion. If you have fish or meat in your freezer, don't throw it out. Use it up. Scramble those eggs, make your latte or cappuccino with the last of the milk. Enjoy it and then let it go.

I have a guilty pleasure. It's a nescafe instant cappuccino drink. 

I love me a foamy milk drink! Luckily I can get coconut milk or almond milk everywhere I like to go for an espresso based drink - except at home. I don't have an espresso maker or a foamy milk drink machine so I drink this instant foamy delicious cup of heaven. Unfortunately, it does contain milk so it has got to go. I needed a plan.

Before I ran out, I picked up some Starbucks instant coffee packets. I like starbucks out in the world, so maybe I could get used to their instant coffee at home.

I tried it out and added a bit of almond milk. I wish I could say it was the perfect substitute, but it was terrible. Yuck. But I'm not giving up.

I made it a second time in a bigger cup, and I mixed it half boiled water, half almond milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I also added a teaspoon of coconut sugar. And to my surprise it was drinkable. I suppose with continued exposure, I will learn to love it. I had to step outside my square here tho because I'd given up sugar and do not want to slide back into my sugar addiction. But I made myself a deal - if it means saving a cow from certain suffering, then Ima have the teaspoon of natural coconut sugar. It's the lesser of two evils. I'm not going to beat myself up over it is what I'm saying here. Because that's today's theme, be kind to yourself.

Like trainer Tony Horton says: do your best and forget the rest. {I am just full of quotes today.}

I'd love to hear what switches you're planning to make or ways in which you'll cope without your favorite animal-based food or beverage. Leave me a note in the comments below.

Have a beautiful day.
xo
Shan 

The Forth Day of Christmas... One person matters!

So here we are on The Forth Day of Christmas! If my math is right that means only eight days until Christmas Eve. You'd think that since my Bailey's is off the menu and my mashed potatoes won't be whipped with pounds of butter and milk I might be less enthusiastic. Surprisingly I'm actually quite eager to try my hand at making my own Tofu-Turkey this year. Tofurkey was my absolute fave, but since going gluten free {and feeling a million times better for it} I haven't been able to eat it. On holidays like Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas I'd have fish instead. Now I feel pretty shit about that. Fish deserve love too. 

Even though I have taken the pledge to go vegan in January or - Veganuary - I've started early. As this will be my very first vegan Christmas I want it to be extra special so I've done a bit of browsing on the old world-wide-web and I found this dandy of a recipe that I want to try. Yessirree Ima make a tofu turkey. If it's an epic fail, you'll never know because I'll take it to my grave. If it's a delicious success however, you won't be able to get me to shut up about it and I'll likely even post photos. Watch this space.

In the mean time, great news! I took the pledge for Veganuary on December 9th and it was pretty much the next day that I stopped dairy, eggs and fish. {I was already meat free and have been for over 25 years, yikes it might even be closer to 27 or 28. Let's just say over 25 and leave it there, but I digress} 

The news I wanted to share is that with that one simple move - I dropped 2.5 pounds. That's 1kg. Bonus ladies, you can go vegan for vanity! Lol. I think I was carrying the fear, pain and suffering of millions of cows (milk & cheese), chickens (dead baby boy chicks because of my eggs) and fish (because I was murdering them, duh). 

Dear animals, I am so sorry I didn't go vegan sooner. {I saw that on IG today as well as learning that in the UK alone 40 000 000 male chicks are slaughtered every year so people can eat eggs. That's 40 MILLION dear reader and that's just the UK! And just in ONE YEAR! I'd hate to think what the numbers are worldwide. They estimate it to be about 6 BILLION! Please stop eating eggs}

So this leads me to the our topic for The Forth Day of Christmas.

ONE PERSON MATTERS!

One person. You, yes you. You matter because you can effect change. You can lead by example. You can show everyone how happy, healthy and beautiful you are by how you move and what you consume. Conversely the reverse it true. If you never exercise, eat Burger King and ding dongs all day long - you too will be an example, albeit more of a bad one.

So you think, why should I give up milk? How on earth will I ever drink my tea without it? Me not drinking milk isn't going to stop the dairy industry.

Okay fair point, about the industry not about your tea. Try coconut cream for goodness sake. You choosing to no longer purchase milk, cheese, eggs, meat and fish will not bring these industries to a grinding halt with one quick trip to the market, but imagine this. Imagine if you stopped and your mom stopped and your kids stopped and your neighbors, coworkers, cousins, your followers on IG, Twitter, Facebook, every Hollywood celebrity, every banker, lawyer, doctor, checkout clerk, bartender, massage therapist, veterinarian, truck driver, garbage guy, mail carrier, dry cleaner and chef... you get the idea. If each and every single person on the planet stopped buying these products, that would put a stop to these industries. Then they'd have to start growing lentils and peanuts instead of piglets, they'd have to raise chickpeas not chickens, fish for seaweed instead of seafood. We could change the world, one person at a time.

So why don't we take a moment to see some of these "one persons" who are making radical shifts as we speak. My first stop... Derek Sarno over at Wicked Smart. 

He and his brother - {see, if you go green your sibling might too, then your parents and so on and so on} - are vegan chefs and I applaud what they are doing. They make wicked awesome plant-based food. It's simple, it's healthy and it's delicious. He's proving that one person can make a difference by not serving sad dead animals to their customers. 

One of the things I showed you earlier in our previous days of Christmas posts, was a wonderful reunion between a rescued dairy cow and her baby, after having had countless babies stolen from her immediately after giving birth, she finally got to keep one. But somebody had to make that happen. Or a few somebodies - So lets talk about Ellie Laks Weiner and Jay Weiner over at The Gentle Barn. 

That's Dudley! I am so in love with these folks. Please take a moment to pop over to their website, watch their videos and get involved.

As I started watching these documentaries about going vegan and I had my eyes opened to the truth behind the animal agricultural industry, I found it hard just being in the world. Truly.

It sounds so dramatic but I am a ridiculously sensitive person. I found myself crying as I was thinking of the suffering that was happening all around me with every breath I took. I literally broke down crying on the sidewalk mid-week. I woke up in the middle of the night, just horrified by all I'd seen and learned in such a short about of time, in fact I'm crying as I write this to you. It's so wrong and so sad and can feel overwhelming and altogether hopeless. I felt I had to do something, I mean more than going vegan. I wanted to quit my job and move to the country, buy a farm and create a sanctuary.

Well, that's not my dharma, that isn't what I was put on this earth to do. My gifts and talents lie elsewhere, and besides I wouldn't know the first thing about rescuing a chicken or pig or cow or how to house them or what to feed them, but there are people who do know and who are doing it. So I spent an entire day looking them up, watching their heroic rescues and happy endings and their endless fights for good. And something miraculous happened. I began to feel a bit better. Don't get me wrong I still want to go and shoot smack some people in the head for all the abuse they inflict on innocent {and especially new born} animals, but it helped to know that other people felt the same way and were actually doing something positive about it. Violence is never the answer people, no matter how much we might want to rip someone's arm off, shove it up their ass, then reach into their mouths to shake their hand after seeing what they do to baby calves, their mama's and all those innocent little piglets and day old chicks. No? Just me? Well me and Rosa from Brooklynn Nine Nine - that was her line! Ahem, clearly I'm still a bit angry. And I should be. So should you. We all should. But knowledge is power.

So let me get to my point! There are these fantastic people who go into these houses of horror and save these innocent creatures and give them refuge, food, shelter, and most of all loving kindness! So I started donating dammit. I mean what else is a girl to do?

And I think for the new year I'm even going to sponsor an animal! Did you know you can do that? It's the coolest thing ever. You can give a monthly donation {it's a year commitment} and your money goes toward the care of the animal you chose and you get photos and updates and you can even go and visit! It's so fabulous. You can adopt anything. A rooster, a pig, cow, horse, even a donkey. Brilliant. Haven't you always wanted a donkey? I know I have. 

And the great news is, it's not just The Gentle Barn who does this, these guys are now safely in a sanctuary in Ireland! 

There are farm sanctuaries all over the world! So you can sponsor an animal near you and go and spend time with it. That's right noble reader - I found a link for you to find a farm near you. And if you don't have the cash to do a monthly sponsorship, that's okay. You can make a one time donation - every little bit helps. Or maybe you want to go and volunteer. I bet you can do that too. 

Here's the link - it's the Farm Animal Sanctuary Directory. Love it!

This week has been such a roller coaster of emotion. From the depths of the most powerful rage, to soul crushing sadness, to mad determination, to delight and joy and empowerment. One person really can make a difference. 

I am choosing to not support these terrible industries, no longer contribute to animal suffering and cruelty and murder. I will use my little bit of extra savings to support the people who are rescuing these animals from appalling conditions, and further to that, I am going to use the power of my voice and my writing to tell as many people as possible what is going on and give them {you} the support, encouragement and tools to do that same.

One person can make a difference. Two people together can start a movement. A huge community can create a revolution and totally change the world! Happy Saturday beauties.

xo
Shan

The Third Day of Christmas - Take the RED Pill!

Before I begin today's post --

I want to share a powerful quote by Eleanor Roosevelt and I want to ask you to be brave. Can you do that? Today's post is a bit of a toughie.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you cannot do."

Read on fearless and noble reader for by doing so, I'm asking you to...

TAKE THE RED PILL

As you may well know by now I've taken a pledge to go Vegan for the month of January. The truth is, the second I started watching some of the documentaries on my list, it was game over for me. That was kind of it. There really was no choice to make because once I knew the truth about what really goes on behind the closed barn door and behind the locked office of big pharma, there was no going back.

In fact, the only way I can describe it is to say I felt like Neo in The Matrix when Morpheus offers him a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. 

He says: "Take the blue pill, the story ends. Take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

I took the RED pill and I implore you to do the same. 

If you're anything like me, you don't want to watch animals being tortured. You know it goes on but you don't want to see it. You won't catch me watching Earthlings anytime soon. I can't handle it.

Believe me I KNOW, it's so much easier NOT to see it, but that doesn't mean that it isn't happening. It's happening. And it's happening at such an alarming rate that if people were to kill each other at the same rate we're killing animals on this planet, we'd be extinct in 17 days! Seventeen days people. That's insane.

If you want to see something really scary, just look at my face after a day of only gentle documentaries. I'm such a light weight. Gah!

So sad. So heartbroken. All I can do is take heart in knowing that I am doing everything in my power to not contribute to the carnage.

As mentioned, one of the best documentaries I have seen thus far is Vegucated it's just everyday ordinary people like you and me daring to try out a plant based diet for a mere six weeks and it fundamentally changed them. The film helped me make this choice. But there was another video I watched that spoke to me on an even deeper level and it was just one dude talking. One very passionate, dedicated activist dude, but he got through to me and I'd love for you to be brave enough to take the red pill and allow him to show you how deep the rabbit hole goes too. Well, not show you so much as use logic and reason to tell you and have you realize it for yourself.

His name is Gary Yourofsky and the video is of him talking to some students in a university lecture hall. The time you spend with Gary will not be wasted I can assure you, the man is powerful. My beautiful Sonya over at Be Love Infinity told me this was a must see and she was not wrong. Take a look here...

Listen - What goes on in animal agriculture is an ugly truth, but learning about it and educating myself was enough for me to say ENOUGH, we cannot keep doing this to innocent creatures. We just can't. And I know change is hard and scary and none of us wants to be traumatized but animals are being brutally traumatized every minute of every day of their too short lives.

That Eleanor Roosevelt quote once again...

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I have lived through horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you cannot do."

A few days ago, I shared He Who Shall Not Be Named's story about cows and the mom and pop happy dairy farm. Now I want to talk to you about eggs. Surely eggs can't be bad especially when I buy them from free range happy chickens right?

I thought this for so long. I'd pay the extra 2 or 3 or sometimes even 5 dollars for the carton of eggs that I believed had come from the happiest most well fed chickens with a good life. Don't get me wrong, if a chicken is lucky enough to land on a small free range organic farm, they probably do have a decent life, but do you have any idea what the fuck goes on before they get there?! I'm not going to show images because I can't. I will not perpetuate the violence, but Ima talk about it. Oh you know Ima talk about it. Red pill people. Red pill.

Every single egg-laying hen comes from a hatchery. I bet you can guess what happens there. Eggs are hatched en masse. But what comes out of those eggs is anyone's guess. They can be boy chicks or girl chicks. Obviously the egg industry wants the girl chicks so they can lay eggs for our breakfast. But what about the boy chicks. Ever think about them? They are born into the world just like the girls all cute and fluffy and adorable and yellow. Look.

Omigod, so cute. I just want to hold them and cuddle them. 

But what actually happens is that all these newborn little babies get manhandled to determine if they are a boy or a girl. If they are a girl they go one way and if they are a boy - well one of a few things will happen. They will be thrown live into a grinder and killed. They will be stuffed one on top of the other into a giant plastic bag and suffocated to death - slowly and painfully. How is this allowed to happen? Why is no one talking about it?

ALL HENS for EVERY kind of EGG free range or not come from a horror shit show like this. And you don't even want to get me started on the transport of the poor baby girls as they go off to begin their life of servitude! There are no "organic" or "free range" regulations on the transport of the chickens.

Truly the only thing we can do is have compassion for them. Stop supporting these archaic inhumane industries that only care about money. There is an old Indigenous (Native American) prophesy that says:

Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we CANNOT eat money.

Take a look at California...

Or what's left of Fort McMurray...

And this was after a pipeline leak in Alberta...

I won't further traumatize you by showing you the video of the starving polar bear but if you want to take a look, go here. Don't let the fake news fool you into believing that global warming isn't happening. We are killing our planet.

But the good news is, we can all make a difference by choosing to turn to a plant based diet. I'm sorry to be all doom and gloom today, but all of this information has hit me pretty hard. I'm sad. I'm angry. And I'm upset that I didn't take the time to look into this sooner. I'm furious that more of us are not furious. I'm sad that more of us are not sad, are not talking about this, are not demanding change, are not doing more.

However, my promise to you is that tomorrow we are going to explore a world in which there are people who are talking about it. Who are making a huge difference and Ima show you how you can get directly involved in spreading love and compassion too.

We must not only extend compassion to the animals, we must extend it to ourselves first.

With all the love in my heart...
Shan