Eat Dance Live

As I briefly mentioned last night, my first use of Irish Moss has proven an absolute success! To inaugurate my Irish Moss experience and to use up apples I bought on specials at the health food store, I settled on I am Grateful 's I am Home Apple Pie. (For more nutritional info on Irish Moss, check out an earlier post here .) I have to admit I was kind of scared of Irish Moss at first. How I was supposed to turn a translucent tree branch-looking plant into a yummy part of my pie? I had no idea! I started by very religiously following the instructions laid out by the recipe. I soaked the Irish Moss in water for about 24 hours, and it looked... exactly the same as when I put it in there. Hrm. But it sure does look funny: All I needed was an aquarium and some tropical fish... The recipe was a little more labor intensive than most of the other raw apple pies I've made, but it was definitely worth it because it brilliantly simulated the ooey-gooeyness of cooked apple pie. To make t

I believe that there are only so many instances in ones life when one is able to partake in a truly gourmet meal. Good food, yes. Delicious food, often. But truly gourmet? I can count those times on one hand. Whether at the Courtyard in Ottawa's Byward Market in 2007, at Luke's Gastronomy in Kingston, Ontario in 2008, or at Lou Fassum in Plascassier, France, in 2009 (where a French restaurant, yes a French one , accomodated my vegan diet), those experiences were rare, but all a unique delight. Tonight, I had my gastronomic experience of 2010 at none other than the Ottawan gem, Zen Kitchen . Walking into a gorgeous heritage house on Somerset Avenue, we were immediately struck by the place's vibrant energy. It was both peaceful and energetic aside, as warm as it is classy. In terms of their ethic, Zen Kitchen boasts that they are local, organic, and gourmet, but the added bonus? They're vegan. No more do vegans have to bemoan the idea that they are stuck with bu

So I guess I made the false assumption about a week ago that buying food from a French farmers' market was cheaper than doing the same thing in Canada. Like most people who falsely claim that organic is more expensive than conventional, I got it in my head that food in Canada is more expensive than in the US or in Europe. Apparently, it is all in my head. I was gladly proven wrong this morning, when Andrew and I headed for our weekly trip to the Main Farmers' Market . For only $10 more than my parents paid in France, we picked up 100% organic and local produce for a comparable amount of food. While we did get slightly more produce in France, but everything we bought here was certified organic, so to me, that definitely makes up the cost difference! Cost aside, the awesome find of our day was this bad boy: Yes that is a mushroom bigger than Andrew's face! It's a Wine-Cap Stropharia grown from wood chips by Colin Samuels over at Jambican Studio G

After a rejuvenating trip on the Continent, I'm back and ready to start my new life in Canada for real this time! The way I've been eating over the last little while has totally justified my recent choice to adopt a more LFRV lifestyle (that being Low Fat Raw Vegan). That means a focus on living raw fruits and veggies, while treating nuts, seeds, and dehydrated goodies as goodies not every day foods. Having inadvertently followed a LFRV diet over the last little while, I've been feeling amazingly energized and happy in ways I haven't in quite some time! However, that hasn't stopped me from getting right back into the game since my return. After all, I still have a hungry monkey loving partner I take joy in feeding. First, as you may have noticed from my stay in Santorini , I've been most recently obsessed with the Santorini Salad. I loved it so much that I exported some of its main ingredients from Greece into our home. Already, I've made it twic

As a rule of thumb, and luxury goods aside, I think I can safely say that people generally like to get a deal when it comes to buying things. Clothes on sale for 30% off? Sure! A two-for-one special on a pint of strawberries? Send them my way! However, I find that our impulse and desire to save some cash comes with a certain insightful ethic, which is particularly brought to light when it comes to buying food from a person rather than from a corporation/big grocery chain. We are social animals, and therefore generally like to strengthen the bonds we have with our fellow Man. I also like to think that we are all generally good people seeking to help each other out rather than screw each other over. There is something both charming but also very rewarding about shopping at a farmers market, through a CSA , or at a co-op or some place that let's us know where our food comes from. One such place is one where we can talk to the person who cultivate Nature's bounty, where we can go h

A lot of vegans or raw foodies I know are often concerned that they won't have enough to eat when they go on any kind of trip. To make things easier, they bring their own food, make lots of pre-packed dehydrated goodies for the road, and make sure they'll be able to survive. I admit, I was like that too. On this trip, I decided I would come empty handed. No superfoods. No dehydrated goodies. Just me, my palate, and a sense of confidence that the Mediterranean is full of plenty of yummy fruits and veggies for my consumption. And it was. As I mentioned in my last post , put out a pure intention and the Universe will provide. So unlike many reviews and travel accounts that you may find on google when you type "vegan travel in Greece" or something to that effect, here is my very positive account of how it can be done! (And I believe this can be applied anywhere in the world that has some form of vegetation!) Breakies: As you've seen, breakies have always been a nice b

As I mentioned, this trip's dinners have been an amazing array of vegan (though sometimes probably "in denial" vegan) dishes. My favourites has definitely been eggplant salad (the traditional non-mayo or yogurt kind, which I've unfortunately stumbled upon a couple times) and of course those giant beans I mentioned on Day 1 . We also tried Greek garlic dip today and that may have been the tastiest garlic dish I've ever had (and I'm not a garlic person). However, my body has been asking me to return closer to 100% raw over the passed couple days so I've willingly obliged, returning to raw dinners (usually "Season Salads" made up of some variation of cucumber, tomato, and lettuce) to complement my wonderful raw fruit breakies. Today, we woke up bright and early to leave behind the beauty of mainland Greece and all its ancient magic and end our trip with a bang on the gorgeous island of Santorini. I will blog more about the place once I have pics, b