Animal Acres' 5th Annual Compassionate Cuisine Event

Back at the end of October I attended Animal Acres' 5th Annual Compassionate Cuisine Event in Long Beach. Since that occurred right at the beginning of the holidays, I'm just bringing the coverage to you now. Thank goodness for my amazing intern Rachel for editing it!



This was my second time at Compassionate Cuisine and it was a lot like the 2009 event - same location, same setup, and many of the same vendors. I was thrilled to finally try food from the Seabirds truck (beer battered avocado was amazing!), Margo's Bark root beer was excellent, and Kamal Palace had some of the best chana masala I've ever had. My favorite vegan dessert goddesses were there: C'est La V Bakeshop and Luscious Organic Desserts - they each had some gluten-free treats that were incredible, plus some glutenous desserts I indulged in.

The event benefits Animal Acres and they had a huge turnout of hungry supporters. This was a great example of how delicious and fun vegan food can be. Hope you enjoy the video!

The Green Life is looking for a part-time Store Manager

My favorite green store in Los Angeles is hiring a part-time store manager - what a great job opportunity for a environmentalist! The owners of The Green Life are some of the nicest people I know in the eco world and I'm sure they would be fantastic employers. Plus, the store is really nice - small but packaged with great products, open and bright, and in a great part of town (Main St in Santa Monica). Check out the job description and contact Scott if you're interested. Maybe I'll see you there in a few weeks!

Social Tips: What To Do With Thai Coconut

Whenever I have a question about something, I first place I turn to is Facebook and Twitter. Often, I have an answer within minutes. I love using social media to get recommendations for what to buy, where to go, and what to eat. Since a lot of my friends have great advice, I thought I'd share it here with you in a new section called Social Tips.

Today I asked, "what should I do with the thai coconut in my fridge?" and these were the responses:

Eco-Vegan Daily Download: Peanut Butter, Yams, Celebs, & New Years/York

• Review of Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups ~ I am really impressed with their sustainability initiatives!

• Ancient Harvest quinoa/corn pasta with nutritional yeast, olive oil, peas, carrots, corn, green beans, basil, dulse flakes, paprika, and sea salt. Very satisfying meal.

• Yam rice (adapted from this recipe) ~ flavors and texture were a little off...

• Baked yams with coconut oil and sea salt ~ yummmmm!

Eco-Vegan News

• Animal Rights Conference in LA is coming up (July 2011) - register now to get the discounted rate.
• Some say Jessica Simpson is becoming a vegan celebrity, even though she's not actually vegan, her fiancé is. But, she's taking cooking classes (I wonder with who), so maybe she'll adapt the plant-based diet...
• Carrie Underwood Says to Protect Others She Will Not Cook Meat
• Alicia Silverstone is added to the list of veg celebs who are pregnant right now - hopefully this means vegans will really be taking over the world in 20+ years (just wait until I start having kids!). Alicia has some great articles on vegan pregnancy on her website The Kind Life.
• Fairmont Hotels offer vegan options ~ "The luxury hotel line has begun to include a “Lifestyle Cuisine Plus” option on their menu which targets guests with diabetes, heart disease and gluten free issues as well as those eating a macrobiotic, raw or vegan diet."

5 Eco-Vegan Things Worth Sharing from the Web:

1. Why Bees Matter ~ most vegans choose not to eat honey because we care about bees, and this is a big topic of debate. I'm honestly still not sure how I feel about the matter, especially when I read about the bee crisis. We need bees to pollinate our crops and plants, otherwise we're pretty much screwed.
2. Bring Back the Bar: Soap Flakes ~ a cool, non-wasteful way to get the most out of your bar soap. But you may not be using this if you go Soap Free.
3. Carnival cruise line is far from vegan ~ check out this sad post my friend Lindsey at Happy Herbivore wrote about her awful experience with the ship. We should all raise our voices and express our disapproval with Carnival and let them know they should serve plant-based options.
4. 5 Food New Year’s Resolutions ~ sure, it may be well past the typical time to make resolutions, but I believe you can make them any time of year. This article highlights a lot of things that I believe are crucial to the health of our bodies and the planet.
5. New York City’s Plan for Sustainability ~ it's about time one of my favorite cities in the world became greener!

Review: Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are Eco-Vegan!

I've had my eye on Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups for a while, but for some reason I never bought them. Perhaps it was the price: $1.99 for 2 small cup seemed a little steep. However, I decided to treat myself when I spotted them at Whole Foods today.

Eco-Vegan Daily Download: Nuts, Kale Chips, & Healthy Beauty

• I have to say I think the Sir Richard's review is one of my favorites that I've ever done.

• Vegan Alfredo (cashew & almond based) with Ancient Harvest Quinoa spiral pasta and broccoli. Wow. This recipe proves that you don't need gluten or soy to have a delicious vegan meal!

With Sir Richard's Condoms, Vegan Sex Has Never Been Better

If you get excited about having safe sex, prepare to be tantalized. There are new condoms on the market and they're pretty damn sexy. It's time to ditch the Trojan man and meet your knight in shinning armor. Let me introduce you to Sir Richard's, who claim they make the world's finest condoms; and I have to agree. I recommend you skip to the bottom to watch me talk about why I love sex these condoms instead of reading this relatively boring post - but it's your prerogative.  ; )

Why I'm Still Using the Original iPhone (Sorry Verizon)

For those of you who don't know, I'm a big Apple nerd. I absolutely love their products and own many of them. I know how to use almost all of their software. And one of my favorite things is when they make big announcements. Therefore I was on the edge of my seat for the past few days while waiting to see if Verizon was finally going to support the iPhone. You see, I still own the original iPhone - yes, the very first generation that came out over 3 years ago.

Eco-Vegan Daily Download: Dogs, Beauty, Revolutions, & Plastic

• A local vegan blogger in LA nominated me for a Stylish Blogger Award - how sweet! She also listed some of my favorite sites, like Babe in Soyland and ¡Yo Soy!, and I found some new blogs to follow. Thanks Erika!

• I'm managing the digital content of a dog website and they want me to green it up! The site is called Dog News Daily and I'll be blogging about how to raise an eco companion! This will be great way for me to get back into the swing of my Eco-Vegan Dog site! Stay tuned.

Eco-Vegan Daily Download: Easy Health Food, Home Solutions, & Inspirations

Here's a new post concept I'm trying on for size: a download from my brain into yours. I have so many eco-vegan thoughts swarming through my mind all day and not enough time to write long posts on each topics, so why not give you a quick summary in hopes you'll be inspired? It's kinda like a journal of what I read, researched, ate, and want to do in the future. Since I'm testing this idea out, let me know what you think in the comment section - do you benefit from reading this?

Help the World Become Healthier: Support Forks Over Knives

I've raved about the documentary Forks Over Knives many times on this blog and my social media accounts, but I just can't say enough. This is a must-see movie and it has the potential to help shift the health of the world. I've seen it almost 10 times and have watched it with friends and family, and we're all blown away by the eye-opening information and the comprehensive, powerful way it's presented.

Forks Over Knives follows Dr. T. Colin Campbell (author of The China Study) and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (Cleveland Clinic) whose research led them to similar conclusions about the profound and often misunderstood effects that food has on our health. These are the doctors who influenced Bill Clinton to go almost completely vegan. The film also features a surprising array of folks who have changed and even saved their lives by adapting a whole foods plant-based diet.

Though Forks Over Knives won't have a wide release until March, there have been several opportunities to see an advanced screening, all of which have been sold out. If you happen to be in the Portland, OR area in the next week, please go see it - your support will help the producers book it in more theaters across the country (and hopefully the world). It is playing at the Regal Fox Tower
(846 SW Park Ave PORTLAND, OR) from January 7-13 and you can buy tickets here.

Eco-Friendly Messenger Bags for Men

My boyfriend asked me if I knew of a "manly eco-friendly shoulder bag" - I was thrilled that he asked, but nothing came to mind. So I posed the question on my Facebook page and got some great suggestions worth sharing in case you're looking for one too.

 Bare Tree Apparel - made from canvas (also available in black) ($34) this is the one my boyfriend ended up buying