Raw Day

I was feeling the need for a little cleansing a couple of weeks ago and I decided to try a day of raw food. This was my first attempt at a totally raw day, so please excuse the amateur attempts!

Breakfast was a "Black and Blue Smoothie" - blackberries, blueberries, half a banana, the juice from one orange, and a little bit of water. I also had a pear for a mid-morning snack.


The night before I had bought all these fresh vegetables, and for lunch I ended up just making a sort of impromptu salsa/guacamole. This was carrots, pepper, onion, and avocado. It was really good! I would absolutely make this again for a dip. Then I used this as a filling for kale wraps:
For dinner I found this recipe for Raw Zucchini Alfredo and tried it out. I didn't love it, but it good and it was definitely satisfying.


Especially when I followed it up with these Raw Cookie Babies, of which I ate, like, ten. There goes the cleanse... ;)

Thanksgiving Yum!

This was my second veg Thanksgiving, my first as a vegan, and also the first that I made an effort to enjoy myself and step it up in the kitchen! I indulged an amazing meal of Field Roast's Celebration Roast, roasted sweet potatoes, beet avocado salad, asparagus, cranberries, crusty baguette, eggplant spread, fresh hummus, pumpkin pie, and chocolate peanut butter cups. I now weigh an extra thirty pounds, but I'd have to say that it was worth it.

I was super impressed with the Celebration Roast. I already love all of Field Roast's products (umm, Smoke Apple Sage sausage hello), so I knew that I couldn't go wrong trusting them with my holiday satisfaction. The roast was delicious, had that satisfying-hearty-chew, the flavor was amazing, and there were plenty of leftovers for sandwiches. In fact, I've been surviving off of leftover seitan sandwiches for the last three days and they've been awesome.

The other recipe I was really happy with was the Pumpkin Pie from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I thought it tasted better than regular pumpkin pie, it was sweet and delicious and made with fresh, real ingredients. I used the Pecan Crust from the same book - it left a little to be desired, but overall I thought the pie was great.

How was your Thanksgiving? What were some of your favorite dishes?

Happy ThanksGiveaway!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I hope you are all stuffed to the point of bursting and happily dozing on your couches. I apologize for not posting this past week, I've been super busy preparing for today's big dinner! Ok, well, I've spent some time cooking...when I wasn't in the kitchen I was either taking Broken Golf Cart shots with friends or sleeping off my hangovers. But anyway...

I'm kicking off the autumn-to-winter holiday season with a ThanksGIVEAWAY!!! What? Another giveaway? Is she crazy? No...just Crazy Rumors! I am giving away a Crazy Rumors Festive Collection Gift Set - three fantastic vegan, cruelty-free lip balms in Peppermint Twist, Pear & Peppermint, and Pineapple & Peppermint! Perfect for keeping your lips nice and smooth in the upcoming cold weather, or even more perfect to pass on to a friend as a gift!


There are three ways to enter the ThanksGiveaway and you are welcome to enter in all three ways! Just leave a comment on this post and:
- ...tell me what you're thankful for this year.
- ...tell me a fun and creative gift you're giving for the holidays.
- ...go to my twitter and RT the ThanksGiveaway, then leave a post letting me know!
*Please make sure you separate each post so you can be counted three times.*

Stay tuned for Thanksgiving photos and recipe reviews! Happy holidays!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Babies

In honor of Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness (and because I wanted some yummy dessert), I made a batch of CCV's healthful, delicious flavored fudge babies. Katie has been inspiring so many people to whip up all kinds of these date-based goodies - fudge babies, macaroon babies, chocolate chip cookie dough babies, chocolate covered strawberry babies...the options are endless! I opted for the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Babies and they are awesome! They really do taste like oatmeal raisin cookies! But healthier! So easy to make - dates, cashews, oats, raisins, cinnamon in a food processor. Done. Yum!

Basted in Blood

The first time I heard the song "Basted in Blood," I just about died laughing. On the Thanksgiving 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live, Sarah McLachlan and "Cinder Calhoun" (aka Ana Gasteyer) stood up for the turkeys on Weekend Update with Norm McDonald, singing their original anti-T-day song. I have been searching everywhere for a video archive but to no avail - however, I have found the MP3 and spent, like, two hours trying figure out how to put it up along with the only photo I could find! So you better enjoy this. (kiiiidddiiing, I hope you enjoy it on your own!)

Happy Week 'Til Thanksgiving!!!

*Once again, to avoid any confusion, this is only the song played on top of a photo! So sorry!*

Johnny Depp is PEOPLE'S Sexiest Man Alive 2009!

This post has nothing to do with vegetables or cooking, except for the fact that I want to eat him with a spoon.

This post is to rejoice that my boyfriend (aka Johnny Depp, duh) was named People's Sexiest Man Alive 2009!!! As if you had any doubts. Psh.

Maple Roasted Harvest Veggies Over Rice

I was craving a bunch of different things today: brown rice with raisins, maple veggies, and squash. Weird combo? I decided to throw all these things together and find out. The result was a yummy autumn sensation, a dish that was healthful and filling. It was also super easy to throw together and was on the table in 40 minutes. At the table I tossed in some sauteed spinach and the combination of the savory and the sweet was awesome.

I'm really bad about measuring food - especially when throwing together my own recipes - so these are approximations. If you're cooking and you feel like you need a little less cinnamon or a little more salt, by all means, do you what you think is best! There are no mistakes in the kitchen! (Unless you burn it down).

Maple Roasted Harvest Veggies Over Rice

• 2-3 cups chopped Butternut Squash, Turnips, and Yams (I just used the Harvest Medley package from Trader Joe's and chopped up the pieces a little)
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
• 1/8 cup Earth Balance, melted
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• Salt to taste
• 2-3 cups Brown Rice, cooked
• 1/4 cup Raisins

- In a big bowl, toss veggies with maple syrup, cinnamon, non-dairy butter, and salt. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes on 400 degrees, or until pieces are tender
- Toss rice with raisins in bowl.
- Lay veggies on top of rice.
- Stuff your face.

Book Review: The Kind Diet

I've been a fan of Alicia Silverstone ever since I was not allowed to watch Clueless at sleepovers. Thanks to "The Kind Diet," I've been able to have my own personal conversation with Cher herself and listen to her awesome, silly, truthful, laid-back, eye-opening opinions on food and the veg lifestyle. The book is about one-third information and guidance, while the rest is a creative cookbook that features yummy recipes - like the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups I made for Halloween!

Silverstone discusses three stages, "Flirt" (for those courting a veg lifestyle), "Vegan," (me now, basically), and "Superhero." Now, I really really want to be a Superhero, although I'm a little intimidated because I haven't even heard of half of the ingredients listed. However, just like stepping into veganism, I think there are some experiments involved, getting used to new ways of thinking and cooking, and lots of eating to do.

But I will say, I absolutely love Alicia's way of assuring us that food is meant to be enjoyed and savored, yet we are not supposed to be perfect. She admits to having her moments with dairy, but it's those moments of imperfection that keep us on our cruelty-free diet in the long haul. Love her, love her ideas, love her attitude, love the book.

Why Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell?

I hate talking about bathroom issues. But I'm making an exception. Because, come on... I think it's time we discuss. Eating asparagus? Sexy. Your pee afterwards? Not so sexy. In fact, it's just silly. Every time I eat asparagus, I'm reminded by it later and I can't help thinking...what the hell is up with that? I finally did a little research to come up with a straight up answer once and for all.

It seems like there are a few different theories out there, but the one that sounds truest to me has to do with sulfur. Asparagus contains mercaptan, which is actually a sulfur compound. When you digest asparagus, the mercaptan is broken down and thus releases the sulfur. However, studies say that there is a certain gene that allows this breakdown, but not everybody has it. So about 20% of the population experiences no funky business post-asparagus.

Now, everyone I have ever shyly discussed the matter with has admitted to smellyasparaguspee. If you are one of the lucky missing-geners, raise your hand loud and proud!

That being said, eat your asparagus. It is super super super good for you. It is chock-full of vitamins k, c, a, b, folate, fiber, and has minimal calories. Steam it, roast it, bake it, toss it, fry it, just put it in your diet! And when you head for the bathroom later...just laugh. Because, how ridiculous is that? Seriously. It's kind of funny.

Yogavive Apple Chips Giveaway WINNERS!

Congratulations to Michal, Jess, and Yo Soy,
the winners of the Yogavive Apple Chips Giveaway!
Winners will each recieve 5 boxes each of the delicious snacks, courtesy of Yogavive.

(Michal, I'm having trouble finding your e-mail address - please e-mail me at sexyveg@gmail.com so you can get your chips!)

Thanks everyone for your jokes, they were fantastic! Check them out on the post for a laugh :)

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Attention, Campers. Lunch has been cancelled due to lack of hustle. Deal with it.

If you know what movie quote the title is from, I will love you forever AND an give you an extra entry in the Yogavive Apple Chips giveaway. '90s kids unite!

Thank you so much to Kittee at Cake Maker to the Stars - first of all, she did an incredible job of hosting Vegan MoFo this year! And second, I just received a Primal Strip from her giveaway. Primal Strips are seitan-based snacks that are a great vegan replacement for jerky (they do also have gluten-free options.) The one I got was Teriyaki flavored and delicious! Check out Kittee's blog and find Primal Strips online at the Vegan Store or Vegan Essentials.

I also want to give a shout-out to Katie at Chocolate-Covered Katie. She is currently hosting a charity drive called "Operation Chocolate Covered Kindness," and every click on her blog contributes money to a charity called The Enough Project. How fantastic, right? Visit her blog, click around on her pages, browse her recipes, and help a great cause!

In personal news, I ran my first 10k on Sunday! The upside is that I FINISHED (!), the downside is that I came away with a stress fracture. I'm stuck in a boot for 4-6 weeks! If anyone has any experience with stress fractures and has some good advice as far as care, exercise, and mental sanity goes, please let me know!

I think my Vicodin just kicked in. Whoa.

Goodnight, Chipmunks!

My Crush on Dr. Oz Continues

Wow. My "mini-crush" on Dr. Oz is officially blown into a full-out... normal-sized crush (I wrote "love affair fantasty," but, um, that's really not what I'm going for. I respect the man, come on.)

Anyway, you may remember when Dr. Oz gave Rocco the cowboy a 28-day Vegan Challenge (my original post here). Rocco was a meat-eating machine and in the 97th percentile for heart plaque. When he asked if it were a reversible condition, Dr. Oz said yes, and thus came the Vegan Challenge.

Now, Rocco is back! 28 days later and meat-free, his medical stats will rock-o your world! (Sorry. Pun opportunity. It just happened.) Check out the video below to see how he's doing.

Again, I don't think that this is complete vegan perfection (for example, the giant gallon of milk in his fridge), but any vegan mass-media is good vegan mass-media. Stepping stones! Inspiration! Good food! Sexy exciting lives! Pass it on!

Click here to see "Rocco Returns" on Dr. Oz!

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Adopt-A-Turkey

Last month I sent in my sponsorship to Adopt a Turkey at Farm Sanctuary and she arrived this week! Bubbles, a gorgeous turkey who lives at Farm Sanctuary New York, is my living, breathing, loving Thanksgiving turkey. I received a color photo and a sponsorship card in addition to the peace of mind that this big, beautiful bird will be running around with her friends on November 26th rather than lying on somebody's table.

While this is my second veg Thanksgiving, it is my first time sponsoring a turkey - but I look forward to making this my new yearly tradition! I encourage you to join me and hundreds of others in this new peaceful custom. There are six amazing birds to chose from on the web site, and sponsorship is $25. Farm Sanctuary is an amazing organization and I highly encourage you to check it out!

I actually put my photo of Bubbles on my mom's vanity so she could see it when she woke up in the morning. The next evening she said, "I love Bubbles, she's so cute. Thank you!" I said, "thank you for what?" "For giving me Bubbles!" "I didn't GIVE you Bubbles! I just wanted you to see it!" "What? I took her to work!" "WHAT?! YOU KIDNAPPED BUBBLES?!?!?!?!"

So while you are protecting your adorable turkey from becoming dinner, make sure you protect him or her from your friends and family as well - they are all going to be jealous of your beautiful ALIVE bird and want their own!

Visit www.adoptaturkey.org

Check out Ginnifer Goodwin, this year's spokesperson for Adopt-A-Turkey!

We're Back, We're Bad, and We're Giving Away!

Whew. I spent the last few hours doing some major CPR on the site and it is revived with colors, images, and a little extra sexy for good luck!

As I mentioned last week, I won the Yogavive Apple Chips giveaway from Shelby at Vegreenist. Well guess what? The amazing people at Yogavive have offered for Veg is Sexy to do an Apple Chip giveaway as well!


Yogavive Apple Chips are the perfect sweet, light, healthy snack. Each bag contains one Fuji apple and only 35 calories! Flavors range from original, caramel, cinnamon, strawberry, and peach. They are truly delicious and a fabulous treat!

THREE lucky winners will each receive FIVE BOXES of these awesome apple chips. To enter, comment on this post and leave a joke. Whether it's lame, funny, silly, knock knock, doesn't even make sense - just make us smile! :)

Why did the apple go out with a fig?
Because he couldn't find a date!

Winners will be chosen at random next Friday the 13th (ooh!) - so post away and good luck! And thanks again, Yogavive!

Bad News and Good News

The Bad News: Oook, Blogger. I tried to give you a few days, but something totally funky happened with my images. I did some investigating and it looks like they are completely wiped out. While I am super upset I am trying to stay calm, and I think I've found a way to prevent this from happening again in the future. In the meantime I have to go through now and re-do what I can! Please bear with me for a few days while I fix the site. If you interested in what happened, or are or have or maybe will experience the same problem, check out this site.

The Good News: I'm doing a giveaway!!! Stay tuned in the next couple of days :)

E-mail Change!

Due to a sudden influx of crazy e-mail spam, I have changed my blog e-mail address to sexyveg@gmail.com - please take note! Thanks so much!

Recipe Review: Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet

I went to visit a friend at school for Halloween weekend, and since I've learned never to visit somebody's house without bringing a gift, I decided to make a little Halloween treat. The recipe of choice? Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet!" This recipe is a WINNER!!! Super easy to make, few ingredients, and they are deliciousdeliciousdelicious! Better than Reese's cups, especially because they are homemade and you can brag that you made them with your own two hands. Everyone will love them! I have not yet finished the book itself, but so far I adore Alicia and everything she has to say.




The "Gold Digger" and the Flapper enjoying their vegan Halloween goodies!