Check out the all vegan line of nail products by Spa Ritual! They have a vast collectional of colors to go with every mood. I’ve noticed how long the color lasts without chipping, which is a big deal when you like your hands to stay lovely all week long. The base coat and top coats are a must, and washing all oils off your hands before hands helps your manicure last even longer.

 

Pretty in pink!! These lovely nails were done by the best nail tech you'll find, Megan Aballi at The Nail Lounge in Costa Mesa. They have a vast collection of Spa Ritual!

 Spa Ritual’s mission statement is as follows;

Dedicated to the spa tradition, sparitual is committed to creating eco-friendly products and packaging perfectly crafted for the enlightened consumer. We use Vegan ingredients from around the world, including many specially sourced and selected plant essences that are wildcrafted OR organic. The formulations are naturally colored and free of synthetic dyes. SpaRitual is constantly monitoring sustainability issues and strives to be on the cutting edge of environmental awareness. Enlighten yourself. Be a SpaRitualist. Because we all deserve to live the good life.

 

   I can’t help but get excited over eco friendly, cruelty free beauty products like this one. You really wouldn’t benefit at all from using a brand that test on animals…or contains animal biproducts. I’ve only touched on the nail colors here, check out their website for info on all of their amazing at home spa treatments.

                                                 http://www.sparitual.com/

Orange County’s Spay Day!

Come by the Orange County Animal Care Center on February 25, 2012 between 10am and 2 pm – all spay neuter services are free for animals adopted during this event!!

For more information and a preview of some of the incredible animals at this shelter… visit their website at www.OCPetinfo.com.

 

**This is the shelter right across the street from the Block of Orange.**

Secretly Vegan Crock Pot Chilli

    I brought my vegan crock pot chilli to a Super Bowl party this year, and was pleasantly surprised with the reaction it got! I saw people loading up their burgers and hot dogs with it all day, and coming back for seconds. I am proud of being vegan, but I do recognize that there is a stigma with vegan food being bland, boring….or tasting like dirt. Try this chili and I promise you will change some minds. Let them know after they love it that it’s vegan, and better for their overall health.

 

 

2 can diced tomatoes 

1 can black beans (drain 1/2 of liquid out of the can)

1 can kidney beans (undrained)

1 chopped green bell pepper

1 choped onion

1/2 chopped sweet onion

1 bag Gardein Crumbles (you really could use any ground meat substitute….but I have tried them all and Gardein has the best texture and ability to absorb flavor)

2 tbs A1 sauce

1 tsp tabasco sauce

8 shakes of paprika

Salt/pepper/red pepper flakes to taste

** I like to pick up a chilli seasoning packet from the grocery store when I am short on time to cook that night, speeds the flavoring process up a bit.

 

This is another reason this Chilli is awesome…these are the directions….

1.) Put all ingredients into crock pot

2.) Set the crock pot to medium and go do the 187 other things you need to get done that day. At medium it usually takes about 3 hours to cook…at high it takes about 1.

 

Turkey Love

I had to share this video with you all, as it is perfect for this time of year. Share this with as many people as you can, it will make you smile all while informing you of how loving turkeys can be.

 

Oasis Cafe – Riverside’s Best Kept Secret…That Isn’t a Secret At All.

When invited to Oasis Cafe for lunch, I had no idea that we were about to be treated like vegan royalty. Don’t be fooled by the unassuming location, this place is anything but reserved when it comes to quality vegan and vegetarian food.

So…of course I am partial to my Orange County..but this place makes the drive out to the I.E. absolutely worth it.  Oasis Cafe is a family run establishment and the love that goes into this food definitely shows.

Although under some menu reconstruction, I am going to do my best to showcase the incredible food this place has to offer.

We started with a ‘steak’ wrap which about knocked me over, it was that good. The same goes for the steak burger. This ‘steak’ isn’t what you are used to when it comes to faux meat. That chewy, contrived texture isn’t there which really lets you enjoy what you’re eating. The steak may be so good because it is one of the many things made in house at Oasis. The people behind the scenes at the cafe create the faux meat  by washing the starch out of gluten, leaving only the protein to cook, season and shape.

Although the steak was my favorite - how often do you hear a vegan say that by the way ;)- the Pupusas are not to be ignored. They are a grilled corn masa filled with beans and mozzarella Daiya in the middle, so good. The last entre we tried was the portabella wrap which was again, so good. I was pretty disappointed in myself that I was out of room to keep eating part way through it!

The nice thing about the entres at Oasis is that each meal has its own tastes. So often I find that all the dishes at a vegan restaurant will look different, and have different names, but taste really similar to each other. Everything I tried here had a different taste as well as texture.

Lastly I have to note the desserts. After seeing the carrot cake and tiramasu we made sure we had a little room left to try them. All good, and of course all vegan.

After dining here I was sure I had found the IE’s hidden gem, the holy grail of vegan and vegetarian food to go. Turns out my little secret wasn’t a secret at all. Google Oasis and you will find endless positive Yelp reviews, Facebook check ins and likes, and an overall love for this little cafe.

With future plans of opening locations in Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles, Oasis is certainly on its way up. I have my fingers crossed that the OC location is the next to open, because I for sure would be a regular.

If you ever find yourself on the 91 headed east, make the trip to Oasis and see what I am raving about for yourself!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/OasisVegetarianCafe

WWW.OasisVegetarian.com (Website will be up and running soon)

Oasis Vegetarian Cafe

11550 Pierce St.

Riverside, CA 92505

(951) 688-5423

Angel’s Stadium Adds Vegan and Gluten Free Options.

I am big on the notion that being vegan really doesn’t prohibit me from doing any of the things that I love, it actually has made everything I love to do even better. I talk a lot about my cruelty free choices in fashion, and beauty products…and while I love those things very much…I also love baseball. I love being outdoors at the games, I love the energy of the fans, and I also love that it is the one sport that I actually understand. Football for me is a lot of looking around and cheering when everyone else does…but baseball, I get.

So, being a born and raised Orange County-an of course I’m an Angel fan.  A few years ago they added a California Pizza Kitchen with a chef salad which is a noted step in the right direction from hot dogs and pizza…but still not an option for a vegan or even a vegetarian. So while I love going to the games, it isn’t something where I could sit and get into some stadium food with my fellow fans…untill now.

This year the stadium debuted a welcome addition to the line up of eateries called Melissa’s Harvest. Among the vegan and gluten free options are a black bean burger, hummus, veggie dog, veggie wrap, sweet potato fries, and a market greens dish which I’m guessing was a salad. They also have gluten free nachos which would of course be vegetarian but not vegan. I went right in for the veggie dog on a gluten free bun. The veggie dog was great, bigger than the well know Tofu-pups we buy at the grocery store….but the bun was a different story. Take a thick piece of bread with a cakey consistency…cut it in half and put the veggie dog in the middle.

 Very strange.

Mind you, I ate the whole thing…so it couldn’t have been that bad. That really isn’t saying much as I have yet to meet a piece of bread I didn’t like, but I felt all too full the rest of the night. I can’t really figure out why they chose that kind of bun to go with such an awesome veggie dog. I don’t avoid gluten though so I am trying to take into account that there may be some Angel’s fans who are really appreciating the gluten free aspect of the dish.

Regardless, I can’t help but feel a little hopeful when I find something like a major sports arena offering healthier, and of course more humane, options in the food courts. If there are enough people requesting something, it will inevitably be an option. Simple supply and demand.

All in all I am thrilled to have the vegan options there and I suggest everyone give them a try next time at a game. Enjoy

27 Wrap Up

So I’ve officially been on this earth for 28 years. Seems weird because part of me still feels really young, and part of me feels like I should probably be celebrating my 60th birthday by this point. 27 was good to me, very good. I  began my second year of being vegan, found an apartment that really feels like home, stood at the forfront of many animal rights rallies, put some real elbow grease into the local shelter and got some animals into good homes, laughed (alot), got my health on track, pushed forward in my career, loved, lost, and learned to let go of a lot of things that just couldn’t come with me into my 28th year…and I did this all along side my amazing friends and family.

I rock climbed in Joshua tree this year…..

I learned how to groom a street dog so that he could get adopted this year….

I protested a rodeo with the biggest sign you’ve ever seen this year…..

I did a 5k where I ran through mud and fire this year…

I celebrated the babies in our family…not being babies anymore this year…

I got to see Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepard Conservation Society speak, twice,  this year…

Viewership of this website went from hundreds to thousands this year….

I rallied at the circus to let people know how cruel Ringling Brothers is this year….

…and I wrapped up my very last day of 27 with the Sea Shepard Conservation Society at the Sea No Evil Art Show….

 I did a lot of stuff this year, and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.