100% Vegan products from...

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An Australian shop dedicated to selling vegan products - THE CRUELTY FREE SHOP

They also have a great range of Gluten-free products, AND Notrzarella cheese, which I am desperately keen to try.

The shop is based in NSW, but they can deliver refrigerated items in an insulated box with an ice-pack included (at an extra $5 cost) Personally I think it'd be worth it (at least once) just to give Notzarella a try :)

Speaking of Notzarella, I recently contacted them via their facebook page to enquire if/when it might become available here in Victoria, they couldn't give me any dates, but they said they hoped it would be very soon :)

So check it out & pick up some awesome, cruelty-free products for yourself or maybe a vegan friend ;)

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A few products...
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(Notzarella cheese, Veg (vegan egg yolk 0_0), & Vegan Gluten-free Gummy bears!)

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Night all~

'Green for Life' a book recommendation :)

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Last night I really felt like reading a book (this is pretty odd for me, & I still can't explain it...) I took a look at our bookshelf (which is filled mostly with DVD's & clothes ':D) & I spotted 'green for life' by Victoria Boutenko, which had come with the Vitamix package we purchased a while back.
I sat down & started reading right from the start, & with each chapter I became more & more interested & amazed. This book was answering all the questions I had about diet & nutrition, & provided all the necessary information about how to drastically improve health.
It feels very much like fate, everything I was was looking for seemed to be found all of a sudden, it's an unusual & fantastic feeling.
If you're interested in reading this book, it's very affordable, & is available from both Fishpond & Amazon.
I feel like I've stumbled upon something really important, of course I won't know for sure if all this is a brilliant as it sounds until I try it, so I'm going to test the books claims on myself & I'll post my findings here.
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I hope as many people read this as possible, I plan to pass my copy around to friends & family, & hopefully it will have a positive impact on them too :)
All the best everyone~

Trying something new... Quinoa flakes! Time to make quinoa porridge \:D/

(づ￣ ³￣)づ ~do want...

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I recently decided to try adding some porridge back into my diet, so Eli & I hoped on our bikes & took a quick ride down to the local supermarket. They didn't have the rice porridge I was looking for (or the buckwheat pasta either ': /) but we searched around the health food section & came across quinoa flakes :) We eat quinoa from time to time, but we've never tried the flakes before, & having set my mind on porridge it was the perfect time to grab a pack & give it a go.

I'm so glad we did, cause they're amazing~ I much prefer them over the rice porridge, they have more flavour & better health benefits too. So if you're after some healthy, delicious, gluten-free porridge I'd highly recommend giving quinoa flakes a try.
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These are the ones we bought, they're certified organic & gluten-free : ) You can probably find these just about anywhere now days, which is pretty fantastic. I'm super happy to see shops offering more certified organic products too :D
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The porridge > > >

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How to make -
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1. Add some quinoa flakes to a saucepan & add 2 to 3 times the amount of soy/rice/nut milk. Bring the flakes to a gentle boil, then lower the heat & simmer gently for a few minutes. *(You may need to add more milk depending on how thick/thin you like it)

2. Once the porridge has cooked, stick a lid on the saucepan & allow it to sit for a few minutes. In the mean time prep some fruit, nuts, or whatever you want to add. I used some fresh granny smith apple, chopped walnuts, sultanas & topped it off with a drizzle of organic maple syrup ;)

3. Dish up the porridge, throw on the toppings, & eat like a champion!

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This is an inexpensive, super quick, super duper easy meal to make. It's comforting, it's vegan, it's healthy, & I highly recommend it :)
Change up the toppings to keep it interesting, & even mix in some flaxseed oil for added Omega 3.
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Get out there & give it a try everyone~

Going Vegan ...can it be? -Quick update-

Short answer... Yes! I am working my way to becoming 100% Vegan. No animal products at all. Dairy, eggs, honey, I'll have non of it.
The reasons why are fairly simple, I love animals, I'm rather fond of this planet, & I'm convinced that it will be a healthier existence for myself also.
Having said all that, going vegan may not work for me, but I won't ever know unless I try.
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Future recipes will all be Vegan & Gluten-free : ) & I'll be adding a new 'vegan' label, & tagging existing (& future) vegan posts to make them more easily accesible.
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I want to re-work my blog a little, & try to improve it, & I'll hopefully get started on that tomorrow.
Until then, goodnight all~
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(Sorry for the water-marked image, but it's late & I gotta get to bed :p)

Bad news: Hiatus on my recipes. Good news: The Vegan Zombie

I feel like a chump for not announcing this a bit sooner, but admittedly I didn't know it would go on for this long...

(I'm sorry Spider Man! D:)

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I'm following a strict program that has been designed by a dietitian, in the hopes that it will drastically help my ulcerative colitis, & maybe also my Gluten allergy. I'll definitely fill you all in with the results once it's all over & done with, the only thing is I'm not sure exactly how long it will take : / The program has been pretty intense & has involved fasting, followed by a strict eating plan, which makes it pretty difficult to cook anything other than what I'm allowed to eat -___- On the up-side, I do feel pretty good : )
I've been on this program for a little over a month now (hence the recipe hiatus) I'll be seeing the naturopath tomorrow, & I'm desperately hoping (although not expecting) that he'll tell me I can eat normally again [: I If that happens I'm gonna start cooking like a mad person 0_0 If not I'll just have to keep waiting...
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On to happier news! Whilst on this program I've missed food so much that I find myself staring at food all day, recipes, cooking channels on Youtube, etc. I've bookmarked hundreds of recipes & more recently I came across a fantastic Youtube channel called 'The Vegan Zombie'. In short it's a vegan guy named John trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. He travels around & cooks up a variety of vegan food & shares recipes : ) This channel basically combines two of my greatest loves, food & zombies
(I also happen to fear zombies above all other things, but I still love zombie movies, etc ???) The zombie crew have a Facebook Page, & a Website too, complete with a shop where you can get Zombie Crew totes, wristbands, shirts, aprons & more :D
***I just checked & there's no shipping to Australia though. Heartbroken :(
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Although majority of the Vegan Zombie recipes are not Gluten-free, I do plan on adapting a few to be celiac friendly, once I can cook again of course, so there's another thing to look forward to : )
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Here's one of my favourites from the Vegan Zombie-

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More good news: During my food deprived madness I also made a facebook group called Vegetarian & Gluten-free Food Ideas. I post on there as much as I can, so if you're interested definitely join, everyone is welcome : )

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All the best everyone! Stay happy & eat well.

Ja!

Random Photos: Colourful foam + Dandies arrive! :D

I've been making a lot of juices for the eating program I'm on & on one particular day the ingredients resulted in some pretty cool looking coloured foam :)

The whole time I was wondering if it would be possible to use it to dye clothes... I think it would look nice, but I doubt that all the colours would stain, they'd probably just wash right out :p
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In other news, the Gluten-free, Vegan marshmallows I ordered several weeks ago have finally arrived! :D (they were delayed due to back-orders over christmas) & ok, I can't actually eat them yet (cause of my eating program) but at least I know I have them to look forward to : )
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Foam~

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Dandies!

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Remember though that even those Dandies mallows are Gluten-free, Vegan, & generally a bit healthy than most other mallows, they are still candy, so try not to scoff too many at once :p I'm really really looking forward to trying them in some hot chocolate or s'mores 0_0 You can get your hands on some Dandies at the UPROAR Shop : )
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Take care everyone [; ) /

Happy Birthday to my Eli! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Today my partner Eli is 26, I drew up this little pic yesterday to go on his B'day card. We've been together for almost 9 years!

I hope everyone has an amazing day!

UPROAR -Cool Vegan Site-

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This site has some great info we should all be concerned about, especially if you eat meat. There are a few nice recipes & even an online shop with some great Vegan products, including candy bars, honey substitute & (my favourite) Vegan, Gluten-free marshmallows! Plus loads more ! :)
So head on over & give them some love...
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***UPROAR***
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New Minecraft Seed for 1.2.4 -Snowy Biome-

Playing around with some new seed generation in Minecraft yesterday & I found this one
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generateCoolTerrainPLZ
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It results in a pretty cool (& quite expansive) snowy biome. There is a combination of gentle slopes & mountains along with some nice (frozen) rivers & a couple of waterfalls too. On top of that this world has the most above-ground exposed coal I've ever seen. Even after collecting some wood, crafting a pick & wondering around I still managed to collected almost 30 pieces of coal on my first day with virtually no effort (probably a record for me) & there was still plenty more.
The spawn point is actually on top of a tree (which amused me) & there are mostly chickens near by. By the 2nd day I had seen pigs & cows as well, all within a fairly short distance of spawn (no sheep yet tho)
Check out some screenshots...
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 Spawn, facing east :)
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 There's a couple of these...
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 Some pretty nice mountain terrain
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 Rivers (coal) & some hills/mountains
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& one of these [: ) (no idea how deep it is)

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So if you're up for the challenge of living in a snowy biome, maybe give this one a try :)
Just type generateCoolTerrainPLZ in as your seed & you'll enter a snowy playground atop a tree :p
For anyone wondering I'm using Jolicraft as my texture pack, which you can download HERE, or visit the Jolicraft Website.

Have fun everyone ;)
...Ja!