Vegans don't just think about food, you know. It's an on-going search in an animal-consuming world to find vegan-friendly, ordinary, everyday products that other people take for granted. Say ... cosmetics, for example. I know, I know, vegans aren't vain like omnivores. (:D) Vegans go forth unwashed and natural, never worrying about finding a shampoo that leaves their hair full and shiny, or the right shade of blush. Well, smack me with an organic tomato but I worry about those things, and more. Call me shallow, but sometimes I feel a little pale, and need some color. And I want my ultra fine hair to have some body. I'm going to share my favorite vegan cosmetics of the moment. I've been using Zuzu Luxe blush, eye shadow, and foundation powder and I really like them. The blush and powder are very natural — goes on smoothly and is never weird or cake-y. The shadow (vegan and gluten-free) comes in cool colors that are beautiful. I've got silver (vixen) and deep mauve (dusk) and both are either subtle or more dramatic depending on how much you use. I prefer a natural look on myself because I'm much too shy to draw attention to my appearance. I'm not trying to look dramatically different or "made-up," — just add a little evenness and color to my complexion. Though I'm pretty conservative when it comes to my own makeup, I appreciate verve and daring in others, and there are lots of gorgeous colors in this vegan collection. (Don't forget to seek out vegan/cruelty-free brushes, too. I love my Eco Tools blush and eye shadow brushes, though I wish the eye shadow brush were smaller. The kabuki is a different brand that I can't remember the name of.)
I've also been enjoying Aubrey Chamomile shampoo and conditioner. The consistency of the shampoo is a little weird — kind of gelatinous and loose — and it doesn't suds much, but it does leave my hair clean and shiny. The creamy conditioner seems to leave my hair with a good amount of body.
If you want other ideas for the most super pure cosmetics and bodycare products, look at Kristen's Raw blog. She's much more picky about her bodycare products than I am. She thought the Aubrey shampoo was a compromise, and I respect her opinion. (I did try the Morrocco Method products she recommended, and the shampoos and conditioners absolutely did NOT work for me, but I love the spray-on styling products.)
Full disclosure: I did not receive samples, compensation, or encouragement of any kind.
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Takeout happens
Sometimes cooking is just not going to happen at our house, and takeout seems like the only option except for going hungry. This happened to us recently, and our takeout restaurant of choice, a vegan Chinese establishment, was CLOSED for vacation. Our second choice (which is sometimes our first choice) was a vegan Thai restaurant. I ordered several appetizers and one entrée, and you can see in the photo that they all looked pretty good. I don't know what went wrong in their kitchen that night but everything was horrible. I nearly gagged on the gooey doughy vegetable dumpling, and the tofu satay was a strange, florescent yellow color and nearly tasteless. The broccoli was rubbery and nasty and the rice, gummy. Horrible.
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Vegan omelet #3
Vegan omelet #1 was a disappointment to me but I vowed to try again. I had a lot of omelet mix to use up so I tried a second version and then a third. I'm skipping right to the third because it was the best one so far. This one had asparagus and seitan inside, and leftover artichoke-and-zucchini tomato sauce on top. Plus it had a dollop of pickled jalapeños and carrots.
It was good but I'm still not a true fan. There's something about the texture I don't love. I can't get it dry enough, and it reminds me too much of the kind of eggs I would never eat — moist ones.
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July 4th family dinner
We had the whole family over for a July 4th dinner but most of the food was stuff that's been on the blog before so I didn't photograph it. The dessert, however, was a little different. I wanted to make something unexpected, and I think the guests were surprised. I made peanut butter s'mores with Amaranth graham crackers, Dandies marshmallows and bittersweet chocolate chips. I spread a thick coating of peanut butter on the bottom crackers, then sprinkled them generously with chocolate chips. The Dandies went on top of the chips, then the top crackers were put in place. The s'mores were all next to each other on a plate, and stored, covered, until dessert time. Then the plate went into the microwave for about 1 minute to melt everything before serving. The treats were nearly gone when I remembered to take a picture.
Here's the reaction of one of the guests. By the way, I also served fresh local organic blueberries to balance the food groups. :D
I had one little problem. The Dandies were all stuck together in their bag, and I ended up grabbing wads of marshmallow blob from the bag. This was the first time I've had Dandies. Have you had this happen?
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Birthday shirts
My husband recently celebrated a birthday, and he received some vegan-themed t-shirts from Andrea's Tees Etc. (He also received a Lost t-shirt but so what.) It's hard to see in the photo but the t-shirt above is covered with "Vs" with the word vegan in purple. He wanted a vegan t-shirt but he's a little shy so it had to be just a tad subtle. (If you click on the image you'll be able to see it bigger.)
This shirt is rather self-explanatory.
And here's a pink butterfly shirt just for the little s'more-eater. She gets things even when it's not her birthday.
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Awards and stuff
I've been honored to receive an award and other recognition for the blog, and I'd like to express my gratitude. From Kiersten of Vegan Awakening, I received my second sunshine award. Thank you so much Kiersten; you made my day! (I just love reading Kiersten's blog — it's filled with not only great cooking ideas, but honesty and thoughtfulness about life's issues — both difficulties and joys.) Especially here in Seattle, sunshine can be very scarce! I'd love to give this award to all of the wonderful blogs I read. Each one brings sunshine into my day.
Also, I'm honored to have this blog included on two "best of" lists, 100 Best Blogs for Healthy and Delicious Recipes and Top 50 blogs for Eating and Cooking Healthy. Check out the lists for blogs you may not yet be familiar with.
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