#it isn’t only vegans who use agave

[actuallyinvisibleninjah]

I posted 3,874 times in 2022

That's 1,752 more posts than 2021!

97 posts created (3%)

3,777 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@kitawolf12

@aliwonderland

@bixbythemartian

@fire-fira

@milomeepit

I tagged 236 of my posts in 2022

#nicholas cage - 4 posts

#unreality - 4 posts

#oh - 4 posts

#but like - 3 posts

#animal death - 3 posts

#food - 2 posts

#this is directed at facebook - 2 posts

#murder - 2 posts

#violent - 2 posts

#horror - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 65 characters

#and those words should be picked by the community that needs them

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

A vegan person who buys from companies that are burning down large chunks of the rainforest for farming, is going to be less environmentally friendly than a person who buys everything they eat, including beef and chicken, from small local farms. Vice versa, someone who is eating vegan and actively conscious of where their food is coming from, avoiding fad-products like quinoa and agave, and getting the protein in their diet from like, beans they bought at a farmers market, is going to have less of a negative environmental impact than someone who’s buying fast food produced mega corporation burgers everyday day. You can be plant based and environmentally conscious, you can eat meat and be environmentally conscious. You can be gluten free, keto, paleo, whole food only, whatever and be environmentally conscious. But just being whatever thing doesn’t automatically make you so, you have to actually learn where the food available to you is coming from and make responsible choices based on facts about specific things not generalizations, and you should not assume that someone isn’t trying to be environmentally conscious based off a one word description of their diet.

4 notes - Posted April 8, 2022

#4

I don’t know why it works but if your noodles are boiling over and you just drop a little pad of butter in there it stops. I’ve never tried this without it working.

5 notes - Posted May 13, 2022

#3

Actually I think Thomas Sanders *does* owe content to the people paying him money under the assumption it would cause content to happen more frequently. Like if you say “support us so we can create more” and then you end up creating less, that’s at best a mistake that Thomas is making that negatively impacts his fan base. At worst it’s a lie to get people to give him money. I don’t really think he’s doing it on purpose but I explained the situation to some of my friends and they went “huh, that sounds almost like a scam” and it kind of does. Does Thomas owe me content? No, I didn’t pay him for it. But there’s quite a few people who I do think at the very least he owes an apology to.

6 notes - Posted March 11, 2022

#2

There is a website called Caredash, that is advertising itself as a way to find mental health professionals. It works with betterhelp. My mom is a therapist. Her name is listed on this website without her permission, and there is no way to schedule an appointment with her through this site. If you attempt to schedule an appointment with her the site will tell you that they were not able to match you with her, and then will recommend you some other therapists in the area that they receive a commission from for signing you on with them. They appear to be doing this with every mental health professional they can find on the internet. This is really fucked up.

12 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My favorite part of Our Flag Means Death is the way that *trying to kill your friend* is treated. Break ups are absolutely way more serious than attempted murder here. Saying something problematic like “sewing is women’s work” is about equally serious to attempted murder. It’s a bit of a red flag and we probably need to talk about it before it gets out of hand.

12 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[daffodilhorizon]

thinking about when i read Das Kapital how Marx was just like Uhh so animals are just lifeless tools basically, the same as how the Bourgious want to treat the proletariat btw like it’s right there it’s literally right there the animals are literally just our comrades who lack speaking ability and have different physical forms than us They can’t be commodities because marx calls commodities “things without power of resistance”, but living animals have to be dehorned and chained to be forced into those pens. they chained the animals first to make them worker slaves, how can you ignore the parallels? They don’t care if you’re living or dead, human or nonhuman, child or adult, they will find a way to exploit you. Actual quote from Das Kapital: “That in fact the vampire will not lose its hold on him “so long as there is a muscle, a nerve, a drop of blood to be exploited” Wow, literally exactly what happens to animal bodies over and over he describes how the cheapest labour (”unskilled”, women’s, childrens) must be used for capitalists to wring the most $ from their investments in the means of production but somehow ignores the cheapest slave labour of all, that of nonhumans And since capital can only be accumulated via exploitation, that means by DEFINITION every single animal product is unethical and should be avoided, because it’s made with the very worst exploitation. Are you really a communist if you’re reinforcing the suffering instead of stopping it? This isn’t a case of being forced to buy a good to live. This is a choice of buying something (more expensive than beans, i might add) the World Health Organization tells you to avoid because it’s a health risk and came at the cost of immense human and nonhuman suffering, including literally death. “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony, of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole” - Das Kapital Stop supporting Animal Corpse Profiteers. Actual medical experts agree corpsemeat is a carcinogen and most people are actually lactose intolerant, yet these companies are so powerful they just hide all the science. They hide the fact that 77% of our agricultural land is being used for just 18% of calories from animals. We could reforest the earth and start healing our habitats, but that wouldn’t be profitable to them. They hide that their corpse farms produce twice as many emissions than crops do for human consumption. They hide that farmers have legal exemptions to bestiality laws because what they’re doing to animals is legally rape otherwise. They hide the fact that they place polluting animal farms in sacrifice zones, which are mostly marginalized areas. They pretend honeybees need help, when the honeybees are actually the ones crowding out much more efficient native pollinators like native bees and bats. They lie and say vegans are somehow destroying the agave plant when people have been using agave for tequila for far longer than agave has even been marketed to vegans as a plant based sweetener. They even paper over the fact that they’re destroying indigenous protected amazon rainforest for meat capitalists and taking away actual human homes to feed you dead bodies. And instead of pushing back, “communists” believe these corporate propaganda! From companies whose explicit goal is simply to take more money from your pockets regardless of the cruelty or pollution involved. Communists should know, the only thing companies care about is Capital. And yet, you’re literally giving them money instead of hitting them where it hurts.

#i don't think most other communists actually read theory #tw: rape

[everythingpuddle]

I think the biggest issue with a lot of mainstream veganism is the lack of understanding towards other cultures? A lot of indigenous people hunt still but that’s far more sustainable than what we (at least for me as an American) practice with the meat industry. Same with poorer countries where food may be limited or where meat is considered more luxury than an everyday commodity. The same can be said of animal byproducts. A farmer in India milking his one solitary cow to provide sustenance for his family is worlds away from the dairy industry here in the US. I think it’s important to consider that the ways that we in the developed world/the west view and practice meat and animal byproduct consumption is very different from what the rest of the world does and the ways where our consumption of common vegan alternatives (ex agave instead of honey) harm other countries. Even within the US, veganism isn’t achievable for many due to poverty, health restrictions, or even people who have histories of restrictive eating disorders. I’m vegan and I think it’s the best choice for me given the privilege I have within my community, but I don’t think it’s fair when I see other vegans push that onto other communities.

Most vegans aren’t asking indigenous people to go vegan. (I don’t think I’ve encountered anyone but trolls doing that).

Seriously, the problem is factory farming. Not hunting, whatever my personal feelings about that is.

Factory farming produces the vast majority of meat for the world We can go into the ‘what abouts’ but honestly that’s just a way to deflect from the actual point. Whenever people bring up ‘what about people who live in the Arctic circle??’ it’s never from someone who actually cares about life there - they just don’t want to talk about their own situation.

I really hate this argument because it’s almost never made in good faith. It always comes from someone in the same economic situation as me who absolutely could go vegan with minimal effort but are making excuses.

I also don’t think that people realise the conditions that animals are raised and slaughtered in. There’s a lot of misunderstandings over how animals are treated during their lives and how they are killed. Seriously, most people have never thought about what happens to male chicks or that cows have to be repeatedly impregnated to keep producing milk.

It’s not fair to push veganism onto other communities? Maybe. But it sure as shit isn’t fair to gas pigs to death or dump chicks into a blender as soon as they’re born.

So no, I’m not asking indigenous people to go vegan (although the Native American vegans I know on twitter who ask you not to use their culture as a pawn in arguments please), and I’m not asking your hypothetical Indian man with his hypothetical single cow to go vegan. I can’t speak for them, and neither can you.

What I am asking, however, is why aren’t you vegan? Because that’s the only worthwhile discussion the two of us can have about this.

#asks #anon #vegan #veganism #I hate this particular argument #I am assuming anon isn’t trying to troll me #but this is what trolls say when they want to be cunts #also #it isn’t only vegans who use agave #and being vegan doesn’t mean that you eat it either #most I know just use maple or golden syrup

[acti-veg]

Why do people making all these posts about "vegan leather" call it that instead of pleather?

Calling it pleather would be an acknowledgement of the fact that their criticism only applies to a very specific type of plastic faux leather. By referring to ‘vegan leather’ they casually make the claim that all vegan leather is plastic, which they probably know full well isn’t true. The existence of sustainable leather alternatives like pinatex, cork, bark, pineapple fibre, hemp etc. is unhelpful to their argument so they just refer to ‘vegan leather’, as if it were a descriptor of plastic and not just an umbrella term to describe any leather-look item which is not made from animals.

Besides, most of these posts are not really about attacking plastic use, they’re about attacking vegans specifically, and the term ‘vegan leather’ is more useful for that. This is despite the fact that plastic faux leather was fairly obviously not invented for us, and that most people who buy it aren’t vegan. In fact, I’d say it’s highly unlikely that the people making these posts don’t own at least one clothing item made from/with plastic.

This is nothing more than an excuse to  dismiss us as hypocrites, just like their fake concern for crop pickers is, just like quinoa, soy, agave, almonds. These sorts of points aren’t raised out of any real desire to advocate for change in the vegan community, they’re just a an exercise in finger-pointing to make themselves feel better about their own consumption. There is no way that the tends of thousands of people relogging those posts are all just completely unaware that any other vegan fabric exists.

#ask #vegan #fabrics #leather #pleather #vegan leather

[adorpheus]

It’s so weird to me that people on this site still think quinoa is specifically a “vegan food” that only vegans eat, and that vegans eat it all the time, like we’re all over here just stuffing our faces with quinoa every meal and using it as a replacement for everything.

Were any of you guys actually around when quinoa went mainstream in the early 2010s? It was mostly white fitness/wellness industry people who brought quinoa into public consciousness. Because quinoa is a complete protein that contains all nine essential amino acids, fitness pros often touted it as better than brown rice if you want to build muscle. It’s also more expensive than other grains like rice, so I’d argue that it was mostly affluent fitness/wellness people that chose to start eating it. And I assure you, the vast majority of fitness pros are NOT vegan (I was a fitness instructor before lockdown and have been in the fitness industry for years).

That being said, quinoa has significantly declined in popularity over the years, partially because it tastes like shit, and also because people became more aware of the ethical implications of how it’s harvested (though supposedly ethically sourced quinoa exists, I wouldn’t know if it’s legit because I don’t eat it). Most vegans are painfully aware of the unethical practices involved in not just quinoa production, but other foods like chocolate and palm oil. Yet people on this site are still screeching about THE VEGANS AND THEIR SLAVE LABOR QUINOA!

Are you eating chocolate this holiday season? Unless you go out of your way to buy fair trade chocolate (which isn’t always legit), you’re definitely eating cocoa processed by literal child slaves. All of the big chocolate brands (Nestle, Mars, Hershey) use slave labor cocoa. What kills me even more is how Tumblr spent the 2010s whining about vegans and their quinoa/agave/whatever, while simulaneously worshipping Nutella to the point where it was a meme and people were peddling Nutella themed art and earrings and shit. Yeah, Nutella - the product that contains both cocoa AND palm oil - two ingredients that have just as much baggage as quinoa.

Y’all have brain worms and vegans are living in your heads rent free. I’ve been seeing this quinoa shit on my dash for ten years and I don’t know any actual vegans that eat it - or anyone who regularly eats it in general, because it’s kind of a niche food in “the west”. Even to this day, it’s still mostly the affluent fitness/wellness crew that seems to like it. Maybe just worry about yourself instead of obsessing over what vegans do idk

#personal #Veganism #quinoa #vegans #food justice

[easyveganbreakfasts]

Vegan Brownies

You won’t believe how delicious these vegan brownies are! They’re incredibly fudgy, moist, and chocolatey. Plus, they’re so easy to make!

And they’re also a little bit healthier than most brownie recipes. The tahini doesn’t only add a lot of nutrients, it also gives them an awesome texture and taste!

Chocolate heaven, here I come! I topped the tahini brownies with some melted chocolate and chopped cashews. Soooo good!

These vegan tahini brownies are also pretty addictive. I mean who could say no to vegan brownies with chocolate chips AND melted chocolate on top? Definitely not me! Haha!

I made these for a little get-together with some friends and they couldn’t believe they were vegan. They were gone sooo fast! 

Making vegan brownies isn’t more complicated than making regular brownies. All you need is one bowl, a baking tray, and of course your oven. No mixer needed!

What You Need For These Vegan Brownies

all-purpose flour

almond milk

brown sugar

agave or maple syrup

cocoa powder

baking powder

natural vanilla extract

ground flaxseeds

unsweetened apple sauce

coconut oil

vegan chocolate chips

tahini

cashews

dark chocolate (make sure it’s vegan)

cashews

As always, you can find the full ingredient list and the recipe instructions in a separate, printable recipe box at the end of this post.

How To Make Vegan Brownies

The recipe is super easy and the brownies are ready in a little over half an hour! 

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

STEP 2: Make the flax egg: Grind one tablespoon of flax seeds in a food processor or use store-bought ground flax seeds. Add 3 tablespoons of water and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes.

STEP 3: Then make the batter: Combine all ingredients (including the flax egg) in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Lightly grease a baking tray (10″ x 8″) and pour in the batter. Spread evenly.

STEP 4: Put two tablespoons of tahini on top of the brownie batter and swirl with the tip of a butter knife. Sprinkle with the chopped cashews and bake for 25 minutes.

STEP 5: Let the brownies cool down in the baking tray. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on the stove top. Drizzle on top of the brownies. Cut them into 12-18 pieces, depending on how big you want them. Enjoy!

Why Applesauce?

The applesauce makes the vegan brownies super fudgy! I used unsweetened apple sauce for my vegan brownies.

Why Tahini?

The tahini adds a lot of richness and it gives the brownies a deeper flavor, which we really love! And it makes the vegan brownies so fudgy!

Besides, it’s super healthy! It’s high in healthy fats and it’s a great source of iron and other vitamins and minerals.

And don’t worry the brownies won’t be bitter at all and you can’t really taste the tahini.

How To Make A Flax Egg:

Soaked flaxseeds, also called flax eggs, are probably the vegan egg substitute I use the most. You can use them for all kind of baked good: vegan brownies, cakes, cookies, and even pancakes.

Combine one tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water. Stir well and let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. One flax egg equals one egg.

You can either buy flaxseed meal or make your own at home. To do so, you could use a high speed blender, a good food processor, or a flax mill.

I usually just use my blender and pulse for about 3-4 times. It’s super easy!

If you‘ve got some leftover flaxseed meal, just store it in an airtight container in the fridge and you can use it for your next flax eggs.

More Vegan Brownie Recipes You Might Like: 

I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU GUYS!

I hope you like these vegan brownies as much as we do around here.

If you give them a try, I’d love to know what you think about them. Just leave me a comment and a star rating below. Your comments really make my day!

You like my recipes and want to see more? Then follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest! 

Sina

Vegan Brownies

These vegan brownies are incredibly fudgy and SO chocolatey. Plus, they are a little bit healthier than most brownie recipes.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vegan brownie recipe, vegan brownies

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Servings: 12 brownies

Calories: 303kcal

Author: Sina

Ingredients

For the vegan tahini brownies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup agave

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds + 3 tablespoons of water)

3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

2 1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/2 cup tahini

For the topping:

2 tablespoons tahini

1/4 cup chopped cashews

1/2 cup dark chocolate, melted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Make the flax egg: Grind one tablespoon of flax seeds in a food processor or use store-bought ground flax seeds. Add 3 tablespoons of water and set aside to thicken for about 5 minutes.

Then make the batter: Combine all ingredients (including the flax egg) in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Lightly grease a baking tray (10″ x 8″) and pour in the batter. Spread evenly.

Put two tablespoons of tahini on top of the brownie batter and swirl with the tip of a butter knife. Sprinkle with the chopped cashews and bake for 25 minutes.

Let the brownies cool down in the baking tray. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on the stove top. Drizzle on top of the brownies. Cut them into 12-18 pieces, depending on how big you want them. Enjoy!

Notes

For the flax egg, you can either buy flaxseed meal or make your own at home. To do so, you could either use a high speed blender, a good food processor, or a flax mill. I usually use my blender to make a bigger batch and I pulse for about 3-4 times.

These brownies freeze really well. Let them cool down completely after baking and then transfer them to freezer bags. You can store them in the freezer for several months. 

I haven’t tried to make these brownies gluten-free. However, I think you could just a store-bought gluten-free flour blend instead of the all-purpose flour. I’ve done this with many other baking recipes and it worked just fine. 

Nutrition

Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 188mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1% | Vitamin C: 3% | Calcium: 18% | Iron: 19%

Rate the recipe!If you like this recipe, please leave a good rating! This will help other readers.

from http://easyveganrecipes.info/vegan-brownies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vegan-brownies

[thesustainableswap]

Trying to Stay Zero Waste in Disney World.

So in case you haven’t seen my last posts which I’d scheduled due to my holiday - I’ve been on holiday! I have just returned from Orlando and am settling back into life in France. I really wanted to make sure my time in the USA was filled with as little waste as possible due to the fact I already caused a lot of carbon emissions due to my flights but I will tell you now, it was not easy. America’s system does not make it easy, especially when on holiday. I have a lot of concerns about America’s plastic usage and single use items as well as many concerns about their food system (but I’ll save the food thoughts for a separate post.) Let’s jump right in.

Before we even talk about America we need to start with the plane journey. Virgin Airlines make an announcement right before the flight takes off expressing that they are hoping to change to a more sustainable service on board and asks you to reuse your plastic cups whenever possible. Was this advice good advice? Not really. I had a qwetch bottle onboard and asked them to fill that up when they came round offering drinks which they did, but they still gave out plastic bottles of water with meals. Their cutlery was also plastic and they would give out new plastic utensils for each meal. Myself and my partner kept the plastic cutlery to reuse on the plane and will continue to use it in the future, but maybe airlines should consider reverting back to traditional cutlery and then washing it after each flight. I imagine this still isn’t a perfect scenario due to the energy that would be used to clean thousands of pieces of cutlery but I think it’s better than adding more plastic to landfills across the globe.

Then we landed in America. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. The door keys are plastic but I have never known this not to be the case. My only thought here is that potentially hotels could begin a system where each room has it’s own door key(s) that have to be returned at the end of the holiday for them to be reused. I think there is most likely a system like this in place somewhere, just not in Universal or Disney World, so I kept my door key as a souvenir as they make new passes for new guests anyway.

The next morning we headed down for breakfast. We were staying at Portofino Bay Hotel in Universal for the first three days. I (stupidly) ordered an iced peach tea from the Starbucks on the premises and was given a plastic straw. I kept this plastic straw and still have it now two weeks later. I will continue to keep it so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill or in our oceans. I did put the plastic cup in a recycle bin on the premises, though you may remember from one of my previous posts that only 9% of plastic has ever been recycled since its invention so unfortunately I don’t have high hopes for that cup.

My partner ordered oatmeal from Starbucks and they were nice enough to swap out cows milk for coconut milk but every single topping was individually wrapped in a plastic bag. I was honestly shocked. The raisins had their own bag, nuts had their own bag, agave syrup had its own bag... It was really ridiculous.

The biggest thing that got to me though, and I’m kind of loathe to say that because I feel like there are more important things to be annoyed about, but the biggest thing that got to me were the apples. I love apples, they are one of my favourite fruits. For some reason in America they are individually wrapped in cling film. I genuinely don’t know why. By the time we moved into our next hotel (The Yacht Club at Disney World) I was so frustrated by this that I asked a member of staff why they were individually wrapped. His response was:

‘They’re wrapped in plastic to prevent the spreading of germs when people touch them because they don’t have a natural skin like bananas.’

This only frustrated me more, but I’m not about to shout at someone who doesn’t control the food & health laws in America. Though, I will just say this in case anyone needs to hear it: Apples do have a natural skin but we eat it unlike  bananas and oranges where we peel the skin off. I know that might be rocket science to some, but the American food system is really broken and some people might not know that apples have a natural skin like every other fruit does. I don’t know what the food education is like in the US. I do know the entire holiday that it was way more expensive for me to buy fruit than sweets  - that’s a huge problem. In regards to germs spreading, that’s why we wash our fruit and veg. Everyone should be washing their fruit and veg. If you’re reading this and you don’t, you should be washing it. Even if it’s wrapped in plastic.

Finally, trying to avoid plastic water bottles was hard. I’ve already mentioned I had my qwetch bottle with me but within a week I couldn’t use it because the tap water in Florida caused a serious level of limescale build up that wouldn’t wash out from my bottle. I had checked online prior to the holiday if tap water was safe to drink in Florida and it is meant to be, but the water is prone to contamination so I’m assuming it’s hard water (which surprises me because wasn’t Florida built on natural springs?) So unfortunately in the second week of our holiday we were buying bottled water. Disney, like Universal, do have bins specifically for plastics and cans though again, I’m not confident that the waste is ending up where it should.

I also brought a metal cup with me because Epcot was celebrating their ‘Food and Wine Festival’ where they showcase food and drink from around the world. Disney also supply you with refillable cups at the beginning of your holiday. It’s a good start, but it could definitely be improved. There are stations around the hotels and parks where you can refill your cups but they are not easy to find or marked down clearly on a map. For example, when we ate in Pandora (Animal Kingdom) there was a refill station where we could fill up our own cup, however we didn’t think this was something we could do at quick service food locations because when we ate at Galaxy’s Edge (Hollywood Studios) we had brought our cup and found no refill station. It needs to be more clear on the map where the refill locations are in each park and around the hotels. On top of this, whenever we asked for a drink (like hot water for tea) they would then refuse to put it in our reusable cup - instead giving us a standard coffee cup, saying we could pour it into our cup if we wanted to which, if you ask me, defeats the point of the reusable cup.

The one thing, however, that went right for us was cutlery. We had brought our own cutlery with us as well as keeping the plastic utensils from the plane. We never had to ask for single use cutlery in the parks and we were never told by a member of staff that we couldn’t use it (unlike the reusable cups). So, this was a good point. Though, thinking back on this post as I’m writing it, it seems like the only good point I have.

Overall, it’s almost impossible to stay zero waste in a location like Disney World. It seems like they have a lot of health and safety regulations and fear of germs, meaning that they would rather individually wrap everything and refuse to refill your cup than try any other option. The recycling bins around the parks do seem like green washing. I really doubt that the plastic bottles that find their way there are being recycled. It’s frustrating, because I’d hoped these two big companies who earn millions each year would be doing better. Disney did offer more paper straws with drinks unlike Universal who only seemed to have plastic, but overall they are both pretty bad when it comes to waste.

As a final thought, Disney do have a lot in their parks about conservation. In ‘The Seas’ (Epcot) and around Animal Kingdom. There is a website where you can learn about their conservation fund and all they are doing ‘to meet [their] long-term goal of attaining “zero” net greenhouse gas emissions.’ They’re protecting forests, planting trees, safeguarding owls, restoring streams and trying to keep ecosystems intact. These are all great things. So, I would have hoped considering all this, that they would be providing less single use items in their parks. The more I research large companies, the more I feel like they are using their money to carbon offset which, as I touched on in my post about sustainable travel, does not seem to change anything. Nor does it stop the amount of waste being sent to landfill.

So, too long, didn’t read? Short answer is no, it is not easy to stay zero waste in Disney World or Universal. At all. Full stop. My next post will be a part two to this but talking about how easy it was to find vegan or vegetarian items and the general quality of food. So,

Until next time!

The Sustainable Swap.

#Disney World #Universal Studios #sustainable #sustainability #sustainable travel #Sustainable blog #sustainable blogger #blog #blogger #greenwashing #zero waste #single use #plastic #plastic freedom #carbon offset #conservation #USA #America #Virgin Airlines #Planes #Waste #Plastic waste #Apples

[dietsauthority]

25 Indulgent Dairy-Free Recipes You Need To Try

Whether you are just one of the approximated 30-50 million Americans that experiences lactose intolerance or you're attempting to prevent milk as a method to boost your overall health and wellness, the adhering to 25 indulgent dairy-free recipes will certainly make you eagerly anticipate meal time!

Why Would Someone Ditch Dairy?

Along with far better digestion wellness, dropping milk has been connected to a variety of health and wellness advantages, such as improved sinuses, clearer skin, and also enhanced energy levels. Some researches also reveal going dairy-free could strengthen your bones. I recognize that violates every little thing you probably discovered as a young kid since milk is referred to as a wonderful source of calcium. According to a 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal, scientists who complied with more than 100,000 people in Sweden over a duration of 20 to 30 years discovered milk drinkers really experienced extra total bone fractures and also hip cracks. This isn't the only research study to reach these findings.

What Is Dairy Exactly?

By interpretation, dairy products are foods and drinks that are made from the milk of mammals, such as cows and goats. Popular dairy items consist of milk, yogurt, cheese, as well as butter.

So what about eggs?

For some reason, individuals enjoy to glob eggs into the 'dairy' category. Eggs are not a dairy item and could most certainly be included in a dairy-free diet. That's terrific information given that eggs are a remarkable resource of healthy protein, healthy fats, and various other nutrients that benefit the body.

Recipes

Dairy-Free Breakfast Recipes

1) Healthy Yogurt and Granola Parfait - As I just mentioned, yogurt is normally a no-go when you're eating dairy-free. However, much like exactly how there are dairy-free milk alternatives, there are additionally dairy-free yogurt choices. A few of them consist of soy yogurt, almond yogurt, and also coconut yogurt. In this dish, the developer layers coconut yogurt in between fruit, hemp seeds, as well as chia seeds! It takes just minutes to toss together and is an easy grab-and-go breakfast.

2) Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats - Overnight oats are incredibly simple to prepare, you can consume them on the move, and also they're loaded with healthy components. To make your own, all you have to do is load a Mason container with oats, fluid, some add-ins, and garnishes. Pop it in the fridge overnight as well as the flavors will fuse together by the morning. No cooking required. This specific recipe is loaded with healthy protein and also fiber that will certainly assist maintain you really feeling full for longer. And also, making use of either almond or coconut milk maintains this recipe dairy-free approved!

3) Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins - Are you someone who delights in baked goods for morning meal? If so, these cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins are a must-try. They're bursting with flavor and also are extremely damp, many thanks to the coconut oil and pumpkin puree. If you're viewing your sugar consumption, you could constantly avoid the outer covering of cinnamon sugar!

4) Banana Muffins - These banana muffins are dairy-free, gluten-free, and also refined sugar-free. Bananas and coconut flour include the mass, chia seeds work as the binder, and numerous various other active ingredients (like honey, vanilla, and also cinnamon) develop a durable flavor.

5) Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Banana Pancakes - No issue what age you are, pancakes are constantly an enjoyable breakfast food. Since they're normally full of gluten-laden flour, milk, and butter, it's rather fair to claim that pancakes can make your palate desire to do a little dance. However, the same can not be stated for your midsection. With a few straightforward component swaps, pancakes are in fact simple to healthify. Take this gluten-free as well as dairy-free dish. Utilizing bananas, oat flour, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, and also a couple of other components, a tiny stack of these pancakes is really a guilt-free breakfast!

6) 3-Ingredient No-Bake Cereal Bars - Are your mornings typically as well frantic to appreciate a sit-down breakfast with the family members? No concerns! Whip up a batch of these no-bake cereal bars on Sunday night so you have a nourishing on-the-go option during the job week. With simply three ingredients - a grain of your choice, peanut butter, and also a liquid sugar of your option - it does not obtain any simpler compared to this!

7) No-Bake Cranberry Coconut Energy Bites - Cranberries, walnuts, oats, coconut shreds, as well as flaxseed are all held together by almond butter and also pure maple syrup. Simply roll the ingredients into little spheres, pop them in the fridge to establish, and appreciate them on the move. Each bite offers a strike of healthy protein, vitamins, minerals, and also craveable flavor.

8) Instant Pot Coconut Yogurt - Yogurt is a terrific morning meal or snack choice given that it's packed with real-time societies, Also Known As probiotics, that benefit the gut. Did you recognize that researchers connect the gut to nearly every function in the human body?

9) Dairy-Free Frittata With Spinach and Tomatoes - Many times, frittatas are made with some dairy products to develop that light and also cosy structure. It's really not required. This dish uses eggs, coconut milk, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, and also some type of meat (if you comply with a vegan or vegan diet regimen then simply leave the meat out). Pop your mixture in the oven for a few mins and dig in.

10) Environment-friendly Vegan Healthy protein Healthy smoothie - Green smoothie mixes are loaded with nutrients that sustain general health. When you throw some plant-based healthy protein into the mix, also much better! This dish asks for a range of superfoods - spinach, chia seeds, hemp seeds, almond butter, and banana. And also, maintaining with the dairy-free motif, the maker used bitter almond milk instead than lactose-filled cow's milk. A few days add natural sweetness to the drink, but if you need more you could constantly press in a little bit of raw honey.

Dairy-Free Lunch/Dinner Recipes

11) Cauliflower Fettuccine 'Alfredo' - This super light vegan alfredo pasta sauce is made with cooked cauliflower, olive oil, and spices! A little dietary yeast gives it a nice cheesy flavor. It's a win on taste and also win on texture. If you do not desire to offer it over pasta, pour it over a bed of rice or use it as a veggie dip.

12) Dairy-Free Mac N Cheese - It is feasible to ditch dairy products and enjoy mac n cheese, you just need to obtain creative. The 'cheese' sauce in this dish freezes well so you can conveniently double the recipe and also place fifty percent in a freezer-safe container. Simply heat it up when you prepare to dig in again.

13) Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches - Potatoes, carrots, onions, cashews, coconut milk, and also dietary yeast typically aren't normal 'grilled cheese' ingredients, yet the end result really tastes a great deal like your childhood years preferred grilled cheese sandwich.

14) Mushroom as well as Kale Pasta - Cashews are used as the base of a creamy sauce that will make you absolutely ignore celebrity in standard lasagna. With just 30 minutes to prep and also an additional HALF AN HOUR to cook, it's most definitely worth a try.

15) Avocado Quesadillas - Cheese quesadillas are fantastic. Pass on. But so are avocado quesadillas. Along with the remarkable preference, this Mexican-inspired meal is actually quite healthy and balanced. Avocados are filled with healthy and balanced fats and healthy proteins that nurture the body in more ways compared to one.

16) Dairy-Free Pesto - While pesto isn't really normally considered as a 'milk food,' lots of dishes do ask for parmesan cheese. While dairy products pesto is excellent, it actually doesn't require celebrity to please your palate. This dish celebrates simplicity with cilantro (you can likewise use basil), olive oil, garlic, want nuts, lemon juice, as well as a little salt and pepper. Once you work up a bowl of this delicious pesto, use it as a dip, spread, pasta sauce, or dressing.

Dairy-Free Dessert Recipes

17) Raw Chocolate Cake - Most of the times, abundant and also indulgent cakes include full-fat milk and also butter. Of program, I can not fail to remember the frosting, which typically has, even much more, milk or cream and also butter. But it doesn't need to be in this way, and this cake verifies it! One bite of this Raw Delicious chocolate Cake by the famous Jamie Oliver and also you could be misleaded right into thinking it's the actual deal. Sweetened with Medjool dates, honey, as well as raw cacao, it's extremely wonderful without using any refined sugar. For the frosting, coconut oil, agave, honey, and even more cacao are placed on display.

18) Delicious chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake - Making a dairy-free milkshake is way less complicated compared to you might even recognize. All you need to do is exchange out the routine cow's milk for a nut milk. In this dish, the designer used almond milk, however you can use hazelnut milk, coconut milk, and even rice milk if you choose. Given that numerous refined chocolate items do contain dairy, this dish makes use of chocolate powder.

19) Healthier Dairy-Free Cheesecake - This dish is a lightened-up variation of standard cheesecake with a 3rd of the calories as well as sugar ... and no dairy. It combines dairy-free lotion cheese with coconut yogurt, vanilla remove, a sugar, lemon juice, as well as a little corn starch. You will certainly need to cook this set, but it's still very simple to whip up!

20) Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake - This recipe is excellent during Fall as well as the colder winter season months. Something about the combination of pumpkin as well as cinnamon simply makes this much healthier dairy-free cheesecake taste like comfort.

21) Yellow Cake Donuts - I'm not going to sugar layer this - there is a great deal of sugar in this dish. While donuts aren't something you'll want to consist of in your day-to-day diet regimen, they're definitely an enjoyable reward from time-to-time. If you're trying to find a dairy-free version of your favorite yellow cake donut after that this dish is perfect for you. Instead of milk, the dish requires unsweetened coconut milk, instead of butter, it includes healthy and balanced avocado oil.

22) 3-Ingredient Double Delicious chocolate Mousse - The structure of whipped coconut lotion is absolutely amazing. So it's not surprising that by adding a little powdered sugar as well as cocoa powder you would develop an outstanding dairy-free mousse.

23) 3-Ingredient Dairy Free Fudge - This is the ideal no-bake reward. Utilizing coconut milk, confectioner's sugar, as well as dairy-free chocolate chips, this treat will take you about 10 mins to make and it's sure to excite a crowd.

24) Edible Cookie Dough - Is it just me or is there something addictive concerning cookie dough? It's a lot more lip-smacking great compared to a baked cookie! The only problem is - given that many cookie recipes require eggs, the raw dough isn't all that safe to eat. Enter this edible cookie dough dish. Simply make sure to use dairy-free delicious chocolate to maintain this recipe entirely devoid of dairy.

25) No-Churn Dairy-Free Ice Lotion - I yell, you shout, all of us shout for dairy-free-ice-cream! A bowl of this smooth and also creamy treat is made from coconut milk, sugar, as well as simply a touch of powdered gelatin. A few doses as well as you could be fooled right into assuming it's the actual deal!

#diet #diets that work #grapefruit diet #health and wellness #high fiber diet #lemonade diet #low glycemic diet #low sodium diet #scarsdale diet #soup diet #vegan diet #wellness

[corashadow-blog]

Vegan PSA

So I’ve only been vegan for 3 weeks, so I am by no means an expert on this sort of thing, but I have discovered a few little tricks which make veganism better for me.

First off (and hear me out) Marmite. Marmite is incredible. I know loads of people hate it (they’re wrong by the way), but even if you don’t like it, that doesn’t stop it from being incredible. You know all those vegan recipes which tell you to add nutritional yeast? You know what I’m talking about, and every time you see it you want to kill the person who wrote it because WHY would I have nutritional yeast lying around?! Well this is where Marmite comes in... Marmite is yeast extract, so it has all the benefits of nutritional yeast (get those vitamins kids), but a lot easier to find and also really tasty on toast! I add Marmite to all sorts of things - soup, stew, bolognese, chilli, you name it, if it’s saucy I’ve already put Marmite in there. It also works as a seasoning because it tastes very salty, so if you add a teaspoon of Marmite to all your tasty vegan meals you won’t have to add as much salt either. I personally have no problem with salt - I love it and add it to everything, but I know a lot of people try to avoid it so there are bonus points for you guys here. Right, thats probably enough about Marmite (or Vegemite, or yeast extract, whatever you want to call it) - I promise I’m not sponsored!!

Next up we need to talk about baking. I haven’t delved into vegan cakes yet, so that can be a post for another day, but cookies I have done. SO... I have a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are phenomenal, but not vegan so I decided to veganise them. Its super easy to make most cookie recipes vegan and here’s how: 

Butter - this ones pretty self-explanatory, just replace butter with vegan butter

Oil - we’re rolling here, you can replace butter with a flavourless oil (sunflower, vegetable, rapeseed, etc) if you want, but if you have vegan butter I’d stick to that

Eggs - there are a lot of vegan egg replacements, but the easiest two are apple sauce and bananas. Just replace one egg with 4tbsp of apple sauce, or mashed banana. This is especially good if you have some bruised or black bananas that you don’t want to eat. Apple sauce doesn’t change the flavour of the cookies at all so if you’ve got some funky flavours going on I’d use that. Bananas do lend some of their taste to the cookies, so they’re perfect for chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies - it ends up like a banana bread cookie.

Honey - you’ve got quite a few options when it comes to honey depending on the flavour you want. Agave syrup is always good and has a slightly floral taste like a lot of honey, but you could also use golden syrup if you just want the sweetness, maple syrup if you want something with a little edge, or treacle (molasses) if you want a dark, fruity flavour.

Milk - again self-explanatory, use your favourite vegan milk - cashew milk is my favourite, but you could use any - soya, rice, oat, almond, hazlenut, whatever - just remember that each may have a slightly different taste which might impact the flavour of the cookies.

I think that’s about it for making cookies vegan, but if I’ve missed anything feel free to ask!

General vegan cooking isn’t too bad either once you get the hang of it. I made vegan mac’n’cheese the other week just using vegan substitutes for all your usual mac’n’cheese ingredients and it was really tasty and creamy. If you do have nutritional yeast (I use this one) then add a bit of that to the cheese sauce and it will taste more like the real deal. Coconut milk is a staple for curries, and you can also get blocks of compressed coconut which you add water to and it creates coconut milk, or coconut cream if you add a little less water. If you don’t have vegan butter you can use any oil to make a roux for sauces or gravy. I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t tell you about Quorn fishless fingers, becaus honestly they are the love of my life. I have been vegetarian for 5 years, but before that I loved fish fingers, and I only recently found Quorn fishless fingers and they are incredible. They taste pretty much exactly like normal fish fingers, and I never liked fish, but fish fingers don’t really ever taste like real fish unless you buy really fancy ones. Just try them, they’re amazing and I promise you wont regret it. I don’t know if you can get any other fishless fingers, but I would definitely try them if I could find them!

Meat substitutes aren’t really my thing - Quorn mince can go away, or any other type of fake mince - I’m really not interested. I use mushrooms (which I hate by the way) to bulk out chilli and bolognese, because if you chop it small enough you won’t notice or taste it. The only vegan mince I’ve found that I like is soya mince. It looks like cardboard and you buy it dry like pasta. I don’t follow the instructions on the packet because honestly I didn’t realise they were there the first time I used it, and now I’ve seen them I think my way is better. Just chuck it into you bolognese or chilli or whatever and it absorbs the liquid and takes on the flavour of whatever sauce you put it in. It’s basically just a flavour sponge, but it has nutritional value so if you’re lacking in protein I highly recommend. Lentils also exist, and I add red lentils to a lot of pasta sauces if I feel like I need the extra protein.

Lets talk soup... I love soup, and vegan soup is really easy to make, if there’s honey or cream or anything just use the substitutes I’ve listed above. I’m gonna go ahead and say it - thick soup is better - this is a fact. You might disagree, but honestly you’re just wrong at this point. If you want to thicken up your soup there are a couple of things you can do. First off you could make a roux, then add the soup to the roux slowly, then as you boil the soup it will thicken up. This is an okay idea, and I like using it for dahl and other curries as well as soup. Next thing you could do it crack open a can of chickpeas, drain and rince them, then add them to your pot. This is my favourite. If they’re in there for long enough you can’t taste them, they are a great source of protein, and as soon as you blend your soup it’s as if they weren’t there, but you have a lovely, thick, hearty soup. 

Pies. Right so you could make your own vegan pie from scratch, or you could just buy one from Pieminister as a treat, because let me tell you; those things are delicious.

I think thats all I’ve got on veganism at the moment, but if you want any more tips or advice, just let me know. I will obviously keep you updated with my vegan ventures and let you know of any cool new things I find! Lots of love

#vegan #veganism #veganfood #veganbaking #psa #veganpower #plantbased #soup #baking #pie #advice #veganadvice #marmite #vegemite #yeastextract

[healthbetold]

The Legacy of a Civil Rights Icon’s Vegetarian Cookbook

Adrian Miller, the author of Black Smoke: African American and the United States by Barbecue, recalls how holidays like Juneteenth always meant celebrating with food for his family. “We went to the public festivities in the Five Points neighborhood, Denver’s historic Black neighborhood. At these events, the food celebrated was grilled, usually pork ribs, huge smoked turkey legs, watermelon, and red drinks. ”

For many black Americans, barbecue and soul food mean victory. Cooking techniques passed down through the generations testify to the strength and persistence of black culture and cuisine. But with the celebration comes the consideration of the health effects of meat, sugar, and fat. In parallel with the Soulfood narrative, there’s another story that links nutrition with liberation, and one that features an unlikely hero: a prominent black comedian whose 1974 book full of plant-based recipes has influenced black diets to this day.

My darling copy of the book. Shea Peters for Gastro Obscura

I grew up on Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin ‘With Mother Nature in my Memphis home. I even took it with me for my first semester at Tennessee State University. The campus was surrounded by fast food and soul food restaurants, and I used Gregory’s book many times for nutritional advice. I also made recipes from his website, such as the “Nutcracker Sweet”, a fruit smoothie made from a mixture known today as almond milk. Today, many years later, I live in Brooklyn and still consult the book. The same copy that I saw for the first time on my mother’s bookshelf – with the cover depicting Gregor’s head with a huge chef’s hat with fruit and vegetables – now stands alone.

Now considered one of the greatest stand-up comedians in history, Dick Gregory was shot up after appearing on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar in 1961, a segment that almost never happened. Gregory initially turned down the opportunity because the show allowed black entertainers to perform but not sit on Parr’s couch for interviews. After his refusal, Parr called Gregory personally to invite him for an interview on the Tonight Show’s couch. His performance was groundbreaking: “It was the first time that white America got to hear a black person not as an actor, but as a person,” Gregory said later in an interview.

Gregory was particularly adept at using humor to present the black experience at a time of heightened tension and divisions in the United States. During a performance early in his career, he quipped, “Segregation isn’t all bad. Have you ever heard of a collision in which people were injured in the back of the bus? “

Gregory speaking to a crowd in Washington DC in 1963. Michael Ochs Archive / Getty Images

“He had the ability to make us laugh when we were probably crying,” said US agent and civil rights activist John Lewis in an interview following Gregory’s death in 2017. “He had the ability to answer the whole question of race, Racial segregation, and just racial discrimination where people can come together and deal with it and not try to hide it under the American rug. “

But Gregory didn’t just fight racial inequality in comedy clubs. He also used his voice to campaign for civil rights at protests and rallies. After Gregory held a rally with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had directed, he developed a relationship with King. (Gregory’s close ties to leaders like King and Mississippi activist Medgar Evers eventually led him to be a target of FBI surveillance.) “Freedom Summer” from 1964 and after a rally on the last night of the Selma March Montgomery in 1965.

For Gregory, who became a vegetarian in 1965, food and nutrition were inseparable from civil rights. “The philosophy of nonviolence that I developed during my involvement in the civil rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. learned, was initially responsible for changing my diet, ”he writes in his book. “I had the feeling that the commandment ‘You shall not kill’ applied to people not only in their dealings with one another – war, lynching, assassination, murder and the like – but also in their practice of killing animals for food or for sport . “

Gregory with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after the comedian won the 1963 Southern Christian Leadership Conference Merit Award. African American Newspapers / Gado / Getty Images

In Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet, he combines black liberation with health, nutrition and basic human rights. Gregory knew all too well the socio-economic barriers to healthy eating: growing up poor in St. Louis, he had limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. In his book, he states that readers may not always have the best resources, but they may have the best information. Each chapter serves as both a hunt group and a manual, and offers everything from basics about the human body to lists of foods that are good sources of certain vitamins and minerals.

Thanks to Gregory’s longstanding collaboration with nutritionist Dr. Alvenia Fulton offers the book healthy recipes as well as natural remedies for common ailments. In the chapter “Mother Nature Medicare” you will find recipes from party food (“golden shower”) to headache cures (a mixture of tomato, celery and onion juice). For those looking to gain weight or lose weight, the Dick Gregorys Weight-On / Weight-Off Natural Diet chapter includes dairy-free milk recipes and weekly meal plans.

Gregory’s culinary contributions are not just a footnote in his already eventful life, but have made up a large part of his legacy. Cliff Notez, a musician and multimedia artist from Boston, has been vegan for four years and represents much of Dick Gregory’s philosophy. “I think he’s definitely one of the few black intellectual writers who is frank [spoke] about veganism, vegetarianism, ”says Notez.

Gregory with Dr. Alvenia Fulton, one of his nutritionists. Bettmann / Getty Images

Although a lot has changed since 1974, there are still barriers to a healthy, plant-based lifestyle. As Notez points out, “inner-city communities can make it harder to become vegan” due to persistent food deserts. Meeting these challenges is a new generation of black culinary leaders who carry on Gregory’s legacy of empowerment through education. As the head chef at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, Bryant Terry directs programs that focus on the intersection of food, poverty and activism. A celebrated chef who has published several vegan cookbooks, Terry also cites Gregory as a strong influence. In an interview with the AARP, he described Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet as “one of those groundbreaking texts that inspired me to think more about these topics and to invest in my personal health and wellbeing.”

Eating has always meant more than just health. “Food plays a very important role,” says Adrian Miller. “Eating food is something we all have in common that helps create a welcoming space where people can come together and have difficult conversations.” Dick Gregory knew that food had the power to fuel change. In his book Dick Gregory’s Political Primer, he writes: “I have personally seen in recent years how purity of diet and purity of thought are interrelated. And if Americans really care about the purity of the food that gets into their personal system when they learn to eat right, we can expect profound changes in that nation’s social and political system. The two systems are inseparable. “

Dick Gregory died in August 2017, but amateur chefs can still celebrate his legacy by preparing one of the recipes from his book. Here are two of my favorites.

Nature’s champagne is just as elegant as real champagne. Madelynne Ross for Gastro Obscura

Nature’s champagne

Adapted from Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet: Cookin ‘With Mother Nature

Makes 1 liter

3 cups of pineapple juice 1 cup of cucumber juice (see how to make cucumber juice here) 1 teaspoon agave syrup (simple syrup can be substituted here) 1 teaspoon of orange juice Ginger ale

Put the juices and syrup in a shaker with ice cubes. Shake the mixture, then strain the liquid into a glass over crushed or pelleted ice. Stock up on ginger beer for a tangy alternative to champagne or alcoholic beverages.

Gregory’s recipe “Always in the Soup” is refreshing and hearty. Madelynne Ross for Gastro Obscura

Dick Gregory is always in the soup of the Health Power Uplift

Adapted from Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet: Cookin ‘With Mother Nature

2 medium-sized tomatoes, sliced 1 cucumber, sliced 1 medium-sized pumpkin, diced (e.g. kabocha, honey nut, butternut), without seeds 1 bunch of kale (spinach can be substituted) 1 bell pepper, diced (yellow or orange) 1 avocado, sliced 1 small onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic (you can cut whole or thinly) 1-2 cups of filtered water (add one and then see how watery your soup is after mixing) 2 tablespoons of honey

Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a blender or food processor. It can be served cold or warm.

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source https://healthbetold.com/the-legacy-of-a-civil-rights-icons-vegetarian-cookbook/

[acti-veg]

it's my birthday and one of the first things I read was how vegans are wrong about honey and child labour quinoa and all that, and honestly I'm so tired of this stupid discussion I can't even believe it is a discussion. how is opposing animal cruelty even a debate I'm just.... so mad and tbh really sad people I like think this. it makes having friends i feel i can trust really hard. i don't feel i can trust anyone who thinks eating animals or their products is ok.... happy bday to me i guess

Happy birthday for yesterday, anon. This is the issue really - they know full well that they cannot mount an effective argument against the idea that we should not be unnecessarily harming or exploiting animals. There is just no way to argue ‘we should be able to harm animals for fashion/taste/convenience’ and not sound like the bad guy. 

Instead, they try to paint us as hypocrites, or try to represent animal products as the ‘lesser of two evils’, as they did with quinoa, agave, as they do with crop pickers and vegan leather. Ignoring the fact that their diet requires even more labour than ours, that quinoa isn’t harmful, that agave isn’t the only honey replacement and that there are plenty of sustainable vegan materials that aren’t plastic. It’s just their way of trying to justify their own decisions by pointing the finger at ours. I know it is frustrating, but remember that these arguments have more to do with them and their guilt than us and our behaviour.

[tootyfrootycasbooty]

Hey, Vicky. Something's been on my mind. So I recently decided to cut out animal products as a gesture of sustainability and kindness to animals, but I've seen a lot of vegans who are shitty to poc or have no respect for cultural tradition/money concerns/personal choice. I specifically remember you complaining about vegans as being obstacles in social justice a long time ago and I was wondering if it was possible to be both? Is that a stupid question? Any tips on how to stay in my lane?

oh d00d this got long so here we go. it is defo possible to be both, i believe, and it’s not a stupid question i think it shows that you already have the self awareness to avoid going wrong in many places!

i do believe it’s possible to be vegan and have a well rounded, wider dedication to intersectional social justice, it’s the ideal of course! i wouldn’t say as a blanket statement that vegans are an obstacle to social justice, but 8/10 vegan activists i know irl couldn’t give two shits about institutionalised racism, antiblackness, racial profiling and brutality against poc by police, a literal nazi uprising in 2017.......to name a few things that they dont just stay silent on, but sometimes stay wilfully ignorant and uninformed about them because they literally don’t care about issues outside of their white vegan bubble?

anyway, here’s the thing, everyone should reduce their meat consumption and strive to change the meat industry because it is much more sustainable, even if you don’t do it out of kindness for animals. if you’re serious about activism and shaping a better future, you cannot go on ignoring the impending doom of climate change, habitat destruction, and environmental collapse. going vegan can be a great step towards environmental consciousness! not always. sustainability isn’t just about the natural environment, it is the global ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. this means give fair support to the workers in ~less developed countries~ who are farming your vegan products, it’s not putting such a huge pressure on those workers that they live in poverty to enable your lifestyle, and making sure you don’t, from a privileged western position, monopolise resources that locals rely on to live. 

i think if you’re going to be vegan you have to be as diligent in knowing how the humans behind your products are treated (underpaid workers, particularly poc in bad working conditions) as you are in knowing you aren’t consuming animal products. it’s recognising that sometimes, vegan alternatives aren’t necessarily good for the environment, using the agave nectar as the obvious example, where it’s encouraged that you support independent local beekeepers instead! also a big thing is not preaching to cultures you know nothing about, because a lot of communities in other countries do consume meat and animal products in a sustainable way. they only consume what they farm themselves and often their livelihood depends on selling/trading their animals. not every pocket of the world is an important crutch to the mass meat industry, and going vegan is not a fair expectation to force on them when they have completely different lifestyles, cultures, traditions, and access to resources. taking a sustainability view on it, it’s very unfair to force restrictions on cultures and communities that don’t have a substantial negative impact on the environment and global sustainability, because they’re the ones who suffer most from the carbon footprints of other countries like the US and China

tl;dr - always strive to be educated, understanding, and conscious before trying to ‘convert’. make sure you always have information about the bigger picture, about how veganism cannot be considered in a vacuum separate to colonialism, racism, ableism, classism/finance, white supremacy (in the way that white people alleviate their moral guilt while exploiting poc, and gave a sense of superiority from it). i dont want to put ppl off being vegan i think it’s a great and very difficult lifestyle choice, and i truly do wish i could be vegan (my body will shut down and i still havent recovered from being vegetarian lol), but it’s not for everyone and doesn’t have to be for everyone!!! going vegan doesnt automatically make you ignorant, and of course there are poc vegans and ppl who arent wealthy or middle class that are vegans, and there are many vegans who really do make an all-round effort in social activism outside of veganism. BE AWARE OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF UR BUBBLE AND FIGHT FOR EVERYONE’S STRUGGLES, BECAUSE HUMANS DESERVE YOUR LOVE AND CARE AND SUPPORT TOO, NOT JUST ANIMALS

#gjgyjj #hhkhjkjhk #hghgjh #jjlkk #hhhnjk #sj #if a single vegan comes into my inbox after this and is even the slightest bit rude #im going to delete ur pissbaby msgs straight away #Anonymous #ask and you shall receive

[whatstheherb]

Two birds, one stone. Or better yet, one dish.

Adrenal Fatigue & Acne. Yep, they’ve both got 3 things in common. Hormonal imbalance, stress & inflammation. All sounds pretty common, right?

So, Adrenal Fatigue. What is it and why do so many of us (especially in the service industry in NYC) have it without knowing what it is?

Adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe a list of nonspecific symptoms, such as body aches, fatigue, nervousness, sleep disturbances and digestive problems. The term shows up in popular health books and on alternative medicine websites, but isn't an accepted medical diagnosis (surprise, surprise).

Your adrenal glands produce a myriad of hormones that are essential to life. The medical term adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) refers to inadequate production of one or more of these hormones as a result of an underlying disease.

Signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency may include:

Fatigue

Body aches

Unexplained weight loss

Low blood pressure

Lightheadedness

Loss of body hair

Skin discoloration (hyperpigmentation)

Adrenal insufficiency can be diagnosed by blood tests and special stimulation tests that show inadequate levels of adrenal hormones. Unnecessary supplementation can be harmful, so it’s imperative to see a physician and have them run proper tests to determine your adrenal status. 

Alright, now that we’ve got all that the FDA wants us to say out of the way.... let’s talk about how simple foods like Brazilian nuts & Black rice can provide our diets with the necessary minerals & vitamins to reduce inflammation & hormonal imbalance within our bodies, which lead to more severe & chronic issues.  Think, thyroid gland - produces a vast range of important hormones in which your whole body benefits by maintaining its healthy function. Ever notice the increase in how many people, especially women, are experiencing thyroid dysfunction in recent times? Even medical diagnosis & treatment have almost been at a loss for many of the dysfunctions arising with the thyroid gland in the last 5-10 years. This tells us what?

Searching for the silver bullet to the symptoms of a long-standing problem, won’t make your ACTUAL problem sit down. Or better yet, leave.

Integrative/Complimentary/Alternative medicine have all been looked down upon by the medical community, when it should be embraced & INTEGRATED (Tell Bill Nye I said “what’s good?”). What we make a habit of putting into our bodies surely comes to the surface when our body is coming undone or losing alignment. It’s hard to pinpoint what works and what doesn’t when it comes to diet, unless you put in time & consistency. I will admit that 2 Brazilian nuts & a cup of OJ first thing in the morn’ definitely gives me an immediate immune system boost that I feel almost instantaneously, but that can’t be the end all be all of course. This has to be consistent. & Homeopathically would be best (micro-dosing). 

Raw Brazilian nuts are exceptionally good for your health. In many ways, their benefits are due to their high content of the mineral selenium. Selenium is essential to a variety of very important processes within the human body. We must consume small amounts of it on a daily basis in order to stay in good health. Raw Brazilian nuts make for one of the most delicious ways to get your daily fix of this nutrient. They’re also almost the only way for vegans to get this element as other food sources of selenium are fish, shrimp, beef, and turkey. Fortunately, unlike with animal sources, the mineral from the nuts doesn’t break down during cooking (which is awesome since I roasted these babies before tossing ‘em in the salad). 

Food To Live’s statement on the importance of selenium in Brazilian nuts: “Note that some whole grains also contain selenium. However, they lose over 60% of its originally meager content during the processing. Brazil nuts are, without a doubt, the best plant-based source of the element. In order to stay healthy, an adult should consume 55 mcg selenium per day. Considering the level of it in these extraordinary nuts, eating two pieces a day would get you the necessary boost. Selenium is so important for the general wellbeing because it’s an extremely potent antioxidant. In fact, this particular element is necessary to ensure the function of enzymes directly responsible for removing toxins from the body. It’s very wise to combine your Brazil nuts raw snack with foods rich in vitamin C, because these same enzymes are responsible for the recycling of this element. Therefore, selenium enhances the antioxidant effect of vitamin C. The other vitally important function of the mineral that makes eating Brazil nuts regularly a smart idea is its effect on the thyroid gland. Another enzyme that contains selenium is affecting the transformation of a thyroid hormone T4 into T3, which is more active. The hormonal balance within a human body is extremely delicate, and once it gets out of alignment, the negative effects can spread to every system. Therefore, you should always do your best to maintain this precarious balance. Leading a healthy lifestyle and eating a well-balanced diet are the best ways to go about it. Studies indicate that eating 2-4 Brazil nuts a day is perfectly safe, as this ‘dose’ doesn’t carry the risk of selenium overload. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the maximum safe level of daily selenium intake is 400 mcg.”

As an acne treatment, selenium needs to work synergistically with Vitamin E & Zinc. Selenium helps treat acne through protecting other antioxidants, increasing the body’s overall antioxidant levels which are proven to decrease inflammation that contributes to acne. Considering the powerful capability of selenium to increase antioxidant effects, it makes sense that this recipe including Brazilian nuts also included Black rice (packed with Vitamin E & anthocyanin). While whole grain red rice and brown rice also contain beneficial antioxidants, only black rice contains anthocyanin (a blue, purple or red flavonoid that helps to repair damaged cells and promote the growth of new and healthy cells while giving protection against free radicals). I use both black and white rice for the rice water in Aliensauce’s Alien Dew Toner, for all of these reasons. Anthocyanins and other polyphenols help the human immune system to work more efficiently against all type of infections & modulate inflammation - decreasing primary and secondary tissue damage. Primary being the damage generated by the immune response itself, and secondary being the damage caused by the original injury.

Now finally, the recipe which I acquired & tweaked a bit from the same company from which I purchased 2 lbs of raw Brazilian nuts, Food To Live. Along with the sesame oil used in the dressing, the black rice & Brazilian nuts were stars of this dish as all of the ingredients synergistically worked to provide the minerals & vitamins necessary for healthy hormonal balance & nutrient supplementation -- leading to radiant skin, a strengthened immune system & overall energy boost. Adrenal fatigue & acne, who?

Brazilian Nut & Black Rice Salad:

1 cup black rice (cook according to package instructions)

10 mushrooms of your choosing (sliced)

3 tablespoons of fresh coriander roots (sliced)

½ brown onion (diced)

1 handful fresh baby spinach

1 handful fresh basil leaves

1 handful coriander leaves (chopped)

1-2 handfuls Brazil nuts (roasted)

1 fresh jalapeno (sliced with the seeds removed)

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon agave

½ tablespoon lime juice

¼ teaspoon ginger (minced)

1 clove garlic (minced)

½ jalapeno (minced, seeds removed)

Sesame oil (as much as necessary)

Instructions:

Cook the rice. To do this you need to rinse it thoroughly, bring to a boil, and cook for about 30-40 minutes. The length of cooking depends on the type of rice you use. You should consider rinsing the rice after it’s cooked to remove any leftover starches.

Cook the onion in a pan, then add the mushrooms and cook until they soften. Use the kind of oil you prefer. When cooked, set the mushrooms and onions on a paper towel so that the extra oil drains off them.

Mix the dressing ingredients in a blender or just whisk them together in a bowl.

Mix all the ingredients together into a delicious salad. You can serve it topped with noodles, either cold or warm.

The Mahi Mahi, I simply seasoned with salt/pepper/cayenne, dusted with paprika/flour & pan-seared in grape seed oil & savory/thyme butter (also all full of antioxidant properties).

Because, healthy and delicious belong together. Don’t they? Of course they do, now let’s hit all the birds.

<3, Sasha Anniyah 

#Brazilian nut #black rice #selenium #antioxidants #anthocyanins #vitamins #minerals #skincare #adrenal fatigue #acne cure

[sleepingclimb]

roses sugar & hopeless for the first ask meme; penthouse, roses & sparkling water for the luxury asks; peach shortcake, taiyaki, three-color dango, rilakkuma pancakes & match parfait for the sweet asks

roses: what does love feel like to you? describe it!

Warm and familiar, like very, very, comfortable and safe.. but still exciting and fun and new, if that makes sense. 

sugar:  favorite pet names? (baby, sweetheart, etc.)

I LOVE THEM ALL TBH.. my faves are baby/babe, honey, my girl/boy (or really just ‘my’ anything lol), pretty/beautiful, flower, and my faaaavveesss are like princess/your highness when they're used in like.. a mocking way lol 

hopeless:  do you believe in ghosts?

Mmmm I wouldn't say I believe in ‘ghosts’  but yeah something I just wouldn't use that word/exact concept. idk how to describe but there's something 

penthouse: what would you consider your dream home? describe it.

I would like to have a really big house, near a city and in a beautiful area. I’d like to be surrounded by nature/not have like superrrr close neighbors. Maybe living near the water somewhere idk.. My family is more wealthy and we live in a big house right beside the water so I’m just accustomed to that, but I’d like to live like that, just not in the middle of nowhere like rn lolol

roses: If it had to be winter, autumn, spring or summer for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Def Autumn, because you can have summery nice like 17c days, and also like -10 wintery snowy days! Autumn is so versatile and pretty I loooovvee it. 

sparkling water: what are your top three songs for the summer?

I cant actually remember what I was listening to this summer... but usually Bad Bad Hats music reminds me of summer/all their songs are summery n nice. also anything by the Beach Boys or Francoise Hardy is my anthem lol

peach shortcake: is there someone who you want to get closer to?

I would like to grow closer to lots of people in my life rn, I have a hard time opening myself up to people/getting closer to people though. I only really let people see 5% of me usually lolol, I’d like to change that.

taiyaki: talk about your first love

I could talk ab like kindergarten crushes or smth but I dont really remember/care ab those.. My first actual love that I will prob remember forever is way too embarrassing to talk ab here though 

three-color dango: something you are looking forward to

This weekend I get to go hang w my friends in Winnipeg and go shopping! and I get to eat really nice food and buy bubble bath and cute clothes and just yeaaaaa everything. also I can't wait to grow closer w my friends and make more new friends and move out and start uni and just everything idk life is exciting 

rilakkuma pancakes: your dream breakfast

I want fresh fruit and lots and lots of really cold/frozen blueberries and a smoothie and some like granola/cereal w vanilla soy milk or like a really nice smoothie bowl or smth! or waffles/pancakes w vegan whipped cream and berries.. or curry and rice which isn't a breakfast food but honestly.. who can stop me lol. also I love freshly baked buns and tea/coffee idk I really can't choose ONE meal forever.. probably a blueberry smoothie bowl w granola and fresh fruit like I always have when I have time in the morning lol I’m a simple dude. 

matcha parfait: a few of your habits

I need to stare in the mirror for like 4-5 hours a night, never have a ‘normal’ bath/a bath without essential oils or tea leaves or bubble bath or smth, I always twirl my hair or fix it/play with it/check up on it, I always bounce/shake my leg, I will pick the petals off the roses in the yard, and then bring them in and eat like a ‘salad’ w them LOL i don't know if that's weird or not but some of my friends said that it was so who knows, they tase rlly good and sweet. also I put honey/agave in the water I boil rice in like every single time I make it while we're on the topic of food lol