Macroveg Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas everyone!  I know it's been a while since my last post but there was no way that I was missing this post ;)  I'm back on Guam enjoying my time with family.  It's also nice to finally have time to be in the kitchen again and whip up some yummy vegan holiday food.  Tonight I kept it simple and elegant with a kabocha stew.  It was delicious and relatively easy to make.  Great for this time of season.  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday.

Kabocha Stuffed Stew

1 small kabocha

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup broccoli

2 cups sliced kale

2 shiitake mushrooms

1 tbsp kuzu

1-2 tsp shoyu/tamari

2 tsp ginger juice

2 tsp sesame oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Cut the top of the kabocha squash and remove seeds.  Peel and cube the removed top portion of the kabocha, place pieces in pot with boiling water and boil until tender (approximately 10-15 mins).  
3. Puree the cubes with 1/2-1 cup of boiling water in a blender until smooth (Tip: add the water slowly till a gravy consistency is reached).  Pour the puree back into the pot and bring to simmer.
4. Dissolve 1 tbsp of kuzu in a bowl with 2 tbsp of water.  Pour dissolved kuzu into the pot with the simmer kabocha puree and stir till it thickens.  Add the shoyu/tamari and stir well.  Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Place 1 tsp of sesame oil in palm of hands and rub together.  take hollowed kabocha squash and coat skin with oiled hands to prevent kabocha from drying while roasting in the oven.  Once coated, take a bounty and rub outside to remove excess oil.
6. Place hollowed kabocha onto pan and roast in oven for 45 mins.
7. Prepare filling by stir frying the sliced shiitake mushrooms in a pot with the remaining sesame oil.    Add 1 inch of water and boil carrots till softened.  Next add broccoli and kale to pot.  Keep adding 1 inch water to pot until broccoli and kale are softened.  Once veggies are cooked place 1-2 inches of water into pot and boil for 1 min. and remove from heat.  
8. After the kabocha has roasted for 45 mins. place the filling with the water into the kabocha and roast in oven for another 15 mins.
9. Remove filled kabocha from oven and place on plate.  Heat up kabocha puree to a simmer and then pour over kabocha squash so that it overflows over the sides of the squash.  Serve with 1 cup of cooked brown rice and some fresh corn.  Enjoy!

Feel free to eat the peel of the kabocha squash.  It's highly nutritious and one of the only squash skins that are edible.  The skin is very thin which makes it easy to digest.  Remember to always wash your veggies when it's not organic.  Wouldn't hurt to do it even if it is organic.  On Guam it's hard to find organic veggies, especially kabocha squash, but I was able to get my hands on the Environne vegetable and fruit wash which I love!  They use a surface-acting cleansing agent that is non-toxic and bio-degradeable.

Restaurant Review: Thanksgiving 2012 (Native Foods Cafe and Shojin)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  Unfortunately I couldn't cook this year because I was so busy with school but I went to some fabulous vegan Thanksgiving gatherings at two restaurants:  Native Foods Cafe and Shojin!  I was very fortunate to have my Dad visit me from Guam during this time :)  Here's my review:

Native Foods Cafe (Westwood Location)

Native Foods Cafe is the perfect place for a Thanksgiving luncheon.   You get to try their famous Native Wellington, and how often do you get to have an all vegan Thanksgiving buffet?  ;)

Native foods holds a "Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet" every year with their famous Native Wellington as their main attraction.  Seating reservations are in two hour sections starting at 11:30am.  My Dad and I took the 11:30 seating which was perfect because it was not overly crowded.  You pay $24.95/person and can head back to the buffet as many times as you like within your 2 hour seating period.  The menu looked very appetizing and my favorite part was that it had Thanksgiving classics like cornbread, green bean casserole and stuffing.  They had two buffet stations, one downstairs the other upstairs so you didn't have to go up or down the stairs at the Westwood location.

Native Wellington

At the beginning of the buffet was the Native Wellington carving station.  The Native Wellington is a puff pastry filled with savory Native Seitan, stuffing, orange-glazed sweet potatoes, kale, and herbed mushrooms, served with mushroom shallot gravy.  This was may favorite part of the meal.  Reminded me of a pot pie!  Definitely a must try!  They even sell the Wellington itself during the holiday season.   I believe there's a way for you to order it online as well.  Makes a great addition to your Thanksgiving table.  Native Foods is going to serve this for X-mas as well ;)

Cornbread

Next up were standard buffet stations like mash potatoes, stuffing, and the green casserole.  Another great reason to come early, everyone is so neat and you get first scoop.  At the end of the station are two salad bowls to make sure you get some more greens in your meal.  To top it all off you can grab some delicious Native Foods cornbread which is the same cornbread you get from their Soul Bowl entree.  It's one of the best vegan cornbreads you'll ever have.  Just the right texture with a little kick in it.  What made it even more delicious was that they just toasted it so it was nice and golden brown near the bottom and very warm.         

Dessert table 

Finally, to top off our great Thanksgiving luncheon was a fantastic dessert buffet with vegan brownies, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake.  Right when you walk into the door you see the dessert station so you're just tempted to start with dessert.  Hey, who's stopping you?   It's Thanksgiving!  ;)

Fun and happy atmosphere

 Overall, Native Foods Cafe was amazing.  My Dad (who's only vegan when he visits me lol) thoroughly enjoyed the food and specifically loved the green bean casserole.  I thought the highlight was the Wellington because it was so different and really brought the feeling of Thanksgiving to the whole meal.  As for dessert I thought the winner was the brownie, my Dad thought it was the pumpkin pie.  The staff was so friendly (look at the worker smiling in the picture!) and the atmosphere felt like you were having a meal amongst family.  Truly the air was filled with vegan love :D



 Shojin Restaurant

Main Entree:  Tempura Maitake, potato steak, mashed potato with Quinoa soy butter sauce.

Shojin Thanksgiving Menu

Next stop for dinner...Shojin!  This place is famous for having special holiday set courses.  I went here for Valentines Day once with my sister, so I definitely had high expectations from the start.  One thing that I was not so excited about was how much nightshades were going to be used in the meals (macrobiotics does not value nightshades).  As you see from the menu there's a lot of potatoes and some eggplant so I was definitely curious with how I was going to feel at the end of the night.  But hey I avoid nightshades all the time so what better occasion to indulge in some nightshades other than  Thanksgiving so lets have some fun ;)  

Detox Elixir

I started off with a Cranberry Detox/Green Tea Detox drink which was so refreshing.  It has ginger and cayenne with cranberry and green tea to help clear your sinuses, and detox your kidney and liver.  My Dad ordered one too but he found it to be too strong.  I compared it to a Kombucha drink and found it delicious but it may definitely be too strong for those who are not use to detox elixirs.

Beautiful!

Our first course was a pumpkin souop with a "Kuri" chestnut wrapped in "reckon" lotus roots.  Your first served with a big bowl with nothing but a ball in the middle (the kuri) and a lotus root on top.  You're left wondering, where is the soup?  But then out comes the waitress with a bowl of steaming golden pumpkin broth to serve fresh.  It's quite the presentation :)  The soup was creamy and delicious.  The chestnut ball complimented the flavors nicely and added great texture.

Crispy Rice Role Appetizer

Once again the appetizer was a beautiful presentation that reminded of an artist's paint palette.  However the best part of the dish was the brussels sprouts.  The crispy rice roll with konnyaku and agetofu was interesting but I didn't care for the crispy rice on the outside.  I found it to be somewhat odd and the textures seemed to clash with the smoosh of the rice paper inside of it.  If anything, this was the worst part of the set meals.

Tempura mushroom and potatoe

We finally got to the main entree which had tempura mushrooms, potato steak, and mashed potatoes.  The assembly was very formal and the waitress came out to pour the warm quinoa soy butter sauce.  The meal was filling and tasty but it had way too much potatoes for my taste.  Also I tended to avoid the sauce because I found it to be too oily.  Probably the best part was the tempura mushroom and the tempura shiso leaf on the side.  After eating the potatoes I could already feel my body react.  Felt a little heavy and somewhat tired :P

Fried Apple and sweet potato pie

Out came our dessert which was a fried apple and sweet potato pie with cranberry sauce and vanilla ice cream (which I believe is kindkreme).  Once again the waitress came out to pour the warm cranberry sauce, making the night extra special.  The dessert was satisfying.  Although I was a little afraid of the dessert being fried since I already felt that the nightshades was grounding me way too much, the dessert was surprisingly light.

Shojin is a great place to have a nice fancy meal.  It's hard to find a full vegan set menu so it's a great way to share a special night.  But unfortunately I left feeling really tired, probably from all the nightshades.  Another thing that was a slight disappointment was the absence of the Thanksgiving feel.  I loved the Japanese influence but felt that more classic Thanksgiving recipes could have been incorporated more thoroughly.  But you can't beat the ambience they serve up here, and what's really nice is that they take your picture and give it to you in a very nice handmade card with a free Shojin calendar :)

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun and I was so grateful to be able to share compassionate meals with my Dad.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I can't wait to share what I cook for Christmas this year!  

Happy Valentines Day!!!!-2012

Made these this morning!  Bake some sweet macroness for your loved one or even for yourself ;)

Macro Thumbprint Cookies

• 1 cup(s) of rolled oats
• 1 cup(s) of almonds
• 1 cup(s) of spelt flour

• 1/2 cup(s) of corn or safflower oil
• 1/4 cup(s) of maple syrup

• 1/4 cup(s) of brown rice syrup
• 1 jar of Fruit-sweetened jam of your choice


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine the oats and almonds in a blender or food processor and blend until they have the consistency of flour.
3. Pour into a large bowl, and add the spelt flour.
4. In a small, separate bowl, mix the oil, maple and brown rice syrup together.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Make 1 inch balls with your hands and press flat onto a cookie sheet.
7. Make and indentation with your thumb in the center of each cookie.
8. Fill each cookie with a teaspoon of jam.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Cool and enjoy!


Note:  If you're like me who doesn't like their cookies too sweet, just use either maple syrup or brown rice syrup.

Japanese New Year 2012: Ozoni

Happy New Year!  Time for ozoni!!! Zoom in on the brown rice mochi :D

In light of macrobiotics, I decided to pay tribute to Japanese New Year!!!  Known as shogatsu or oshogatsu, this is the most important holiday in Japan. Most businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3, and families typically gather to spend the days together.


On New Year's day osechi ceremonial foods are served, which are an assortment of small dishes in stacked bento boxes. Instead of preparing a full on osechi-ryu, I decided to prepare a Japanese soup called ozoni.   This is usually served alongside the osechi and contains mochi rice cakes.  Meaning is tied to the shape of the mochi being either square or round: a round shape portrays a precious mirror from ancient times that has no sharp corners where everything goes smooth like the rounded lines, and a square shape symbolizes its sharp corners beating enemies or bad luck. This dish gives strength, increases energy, and strengthens the blood generally or for conditions such as anemia, mental conditions, nervous conditions, and spinal cord disorders.


Ozoni


1 block brown rice mochi
1/2 cup peeled and chopped kabocha squash
1/4 tsp miso diluted in some water
Broccoli
Lotus Root sliced
Gobo/Burdock sliced
Carrots cut into chunks
Daikon cut into chunks
Chopped Bok Choy
Napa/Chinese Cabbage/kale

1. Cut the block of mochi in half and pan fry without oil until it puffs up.  Brown on both sides.  You may add a few drops of shoyu on each side if desired.
2. Boil kabocha squash until soft then puree in blender with some water until smooth and slightly watery.
3. Boil the carrots, daikon, burdock, lotus root and broccoli in 2 -3 cups of water until cooked and soft.  Turn down heat to a simmer and add bok choy and other leafy greens.  Simmer for 3-5 mins.
4. Add pureed kabocha slowly and just enough until you get your desired consistency.  Add diluted miso and simmer for 3 mins.  Do not boil.
5. To serve place pan fried mochi in bowl and pour veggie soup over the mochi.  Eat immediately.

This is the mochi brand that I love to use.  There are several brands to choose from, just make sure it is brown rice with no added ingredients.  When eating mochi be sure to take small bites and chew thoroughly.  

Macrobiotic Christmas Dinner 2011

I am so grateful to be spending Christmas back home on Guam with my family.  Guam is a day ahead so we celebrated Christmas tonight!  Here's some pictures of my macro Christmas dinner that I planned a menu for a few days ago.  Unfortunately I was unable to find corn on the cob anywhere on island :(  So I substituted with some hijiki made with carrots and onions, and some stewed kabocha squash.  My dad was a trooper and ate the same macro plate as me, he loved it and totally cleaned his plate :D  Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Yummy lentil loaf baking in the oven.  It was so delicious with so much flavor!

Couscous cake with kuzu stewed pear topping.  Sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  I can't wait to try more recipes next year ;)  Oh and I came across this very clever alternative to a Christmas tree.  I so need to give this a go one year:

The Holiday Game Plan

If this is your first holiday season as a vegan you're probably feeling some anxiety about what you're going to eat, what your family and friends are going to say, and just basically what a vegan Christmas is going to be.  Lets formulate a game plan to relieve that anxiety and just better prepare you for what to expect and how to react ;)

Round 1 

"What am I going to eat?"

If you're like me, this is the first thing that pops into your head when invited to a holiday dinner at a family/friends house.  There is no guarantee that there will be at least one vegan dish for you so you better plan on bringing something for yourself.  Best way to approach this, and to let the host know that you are vegan, is to respond in the following way: "Thank you so much for inviting me, I am looking forward to it.  I'm vegan and was planning on bringing a dish or two so I am of no inconvenience.  I can let you know in advance what i plan on bringing and would love to make enough for everyone at the party."  More than likely the host hearing that you're vegan will make THEM more anxious.  Try to relieve their anxiety and tell them that it's easier for both of you and a guarantee that you'll have something to eat that night.  Now, I'm not saying bring a whole tofu turkey, but maybe some small stuffed squash (great because it can be a meal all in itself with whole grains) and a vegetable side dish like roasted brussel sprouts, yams, or root veggies.  Just let the host know that it will be side dishes and a compliment to the already prepared food.  If you're going to restaurant or party at a hotel ballroom call ahead and politely tell them your situation and if they could prepare either a vegan dish or some steamed veggies (bring some brown rice with you to complete the meal).  

Round 2

"How will my friends/family respond to me being vegan this holiday season?"

You are going to hear a wide range of comments and questions, including some common excuses for why they themselves are not vegan.  Common questions will be:  where do you get your protein? What is vegan?  Why can't you eat eggs and dairy?  Aren't free-range eggs okay?  Why would honey not be considered vegan?  You may also encounter even more aggressive individuals who probably feel that you are trying to be "better than them."  So their first impulse is to attack.  Some of these more passive aggressive comments may be you are doing more harm than good or you should be grateful for the food you have.  Now that you know some of the common reactions that you will receive lets move on to how to respond.

Round 3
"How do I respond to these reactions?"

You are prepared.  You know what to expect, what they're going to say, and how they're going to react.  That in itself will help you.  I created an easy flow chart of how to respond based on whether it's a common question or passive aggressive comment.  Just be sure to SMILE and remember that these questions may be repetitive for you but the first for them, and that in order to practice compassion you have to be compassionate.  Don't be aggressive, be informative.  Don't be annoyed or put down, be happy that you have a chance to talk about veganism.

Final Round

ENJOY YOURSELF!!!!!!!! AND SMILE!!!!!!!!!  It's the holiday season.  You may think that being vegan will totally change this joyous event for you but it does not.  Just remember the meaning of this time of year and the reason why you chose to venture on this new journey...compassion ;)

My Macro Christmas Menu 2011

Corn on the Cob with Ume paste
Fill sauce pan with 1/2 inch water and Boil corn for 10 mins.  Spread mashed umeboshi plum or pre-made ume paste.


Kabocha Stewed Vegetables
Daikon, chunks and quartered
Carrots, chopped in diagonal chunks
Broccoli
Kabocha Squash

1. Peel and cut into squash into 1-inch chunks and put in a pot. Add water to partially cover the squash. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until tender. Remove from burner and pureed in a hand food mill. Add additional water to stew thickness. 
2. Fill saucepan with 1/4-1/2 inch water.  Layer daikon, carrots, broccoli in the that order.  Boil water and simmer until very tender and all water is gone (aprox 50 mins).
3. Add pureed squash to veggies in saucepan, add a few drops of shoy, bring to a boil and simmer for a few mins longer.

Baked Lentil Loaf
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms sliced
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
Tamari to taste
1 cup green lentils
2 cups water
1 stamp-sized kombu piece

1. Preheat oven at 350 F.  In small saucepan, add lentils and water.   Bring to boil and skim off foam.  Add bay leaf and kombu.  Lower heat, and simmer, covered, for 45 mins, adding more water as it evaporates. 
2. Stir in remaining ingredients into cooked lentils.  Press lentil mixture into lightly oiled loaf pan and bake for 20-30mins.

Tahini Kale

1. Steam chopped kale (aprox 1/4 inch strips) and set aside
2. Mix 1 tbsp tahini with water to a dressing consistency.  Add diluted 1/4 tsp miso.
3. Marinate kale in mixture and refrigerate.

Couscous Cake with Pear Sauce


2.5 cups water or apple juice
Pinch sea salt
2 cups couscous

Topping:
5-6 pears, peeled and sliced
Pinch sea salt
1 cup water
2-3 tbsp kuzu, diluted in water

1. Place apple juice or water and a pinch of sea salt in a pot and bring to aboil.  Reduce flame to law and add couscous.  Cover and simmer 2-3mins.  Turn off flame and let couscous sit, covered, for several mins.
2. Place couscous in glass pan and press down firmly and evenly.
3. To make pear sauce for topping, place pears, salt, and water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce flame, cover, and simmer for 4-5 mins, until pears are soft.  Add diluted kuzu.  Stir constantly to prevent lumping.  Simmer for 2-3 mins and remove from flame.
4. Spread topping on couscous cake and let sit in fridge to set.  Add chopped nuts on top for garnish.

Easy Holiday Treat

My good friend Karly asked me if I had any recommendations for some yummy homemade vegan holiday treats.  This is quick, easy, delicious, and practically macro if you find the right chocolate ;) 

Chocolate-Apricot Coins

Wrap them each individually them in a gift bag, or to make them extra fancy put them in those mini cupcake/muffin liners and then arrange them nicely in a tin box.  

2 cups grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips

 1/4 cup maple syrup (optional) 20 dried Turkish apricots, pounded into 1/4 inch flat rounds 

20 raw almonds, or other nut

Place chips and syrup (if you are using, i found that it does not need it so try it without first) in the top of a double boiler and place over pot of simmering water.  If you don't have double boiler place stainless steel bowl or glass bowl over boiling water and melt ingredients.  Turn off heat, cover, and let sit until chocolate melts, 5-10 mins.  While chocolate melts, use rolling pin or bottle to pound apricots to an even 1/4 inch thickness.  Dip the apricots in the melted chocolate, place a raw almond in the center, and let chill on parchment or wax paper in refrigerator until hardened.  

Eco-friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas

There are so many ways to create an eco-friendly yet chic gift wrap for the holidays!  Try out a few of these below and go green this season ;)

Use old worn out clothes or extra fabric lying around.  Or even make it a gift in a gift by using a scarf.  Place a fresh cut flower right in the center of the knot.

        

People underestimate the beauty of maps.  Now that we have GPS we hardly even use them anymore.  So break out your old maps and show your friends where you've been.

Try using old calendars and cut out fun shapes likes these leaves to use in place of a bow.

This is a great idea if you're looking to transition to a more eco-friendly foil.  Use your old foil to create a sparking xmas gift.

You can grab newspapers anywhere.  I love this bow made out of magazines.  Think I finally found a use for all those solicitation ads I get in the mail ;P

Use a reusable grocery bag as a bonus gift.  I have a few of these reusable bags for groceries. 

Unfortunately, not all stores have transitioned into a more eco-friendly bagging service.  Maybe we should do it for them by making this cute pom-pom wrap.

The most beautiful and eco friendly gift wrap is right outside your door!  Whether you're in a temperate or tropical climate, nature has gifts for you.  Plus it gives off a wonderful smell.

Additional eco-friendly wrapping ideas:

Old Music Sheets

Waxed Paper

Brown Grocery Paper Bags

Reusable Boxes

Reuseable Old Wrapping Paper

Wrapping Paper

Re-Purposed Gift Bags: The bags that new sheets come in, burlap sacks from rice, or the plastic ones from citrus – find a new use for what otherwise might be thrown away.

Compassionate Holiday Gift Guide

What better time of year to spread compassion!  Being vegan not only applies to what you consume but also what you use/wear as well.  This includes fur, wool, silk, and of course leather.  I compiled a list of some great vegan gift ideas.  Check em out!  I guarantee you'll be tempted to just buy it all for yourself ;)  

Madden Girl Kenjii Taupe Vegan Platform Pump from Alternative Outfitters

Alternative Outfitters Vegan Boutique is a great place to buy some good quality vegan shoes, bags, and accessories for both men and women.  They also added cruelty-free cosmetics and personal care items as well.  What's awesome is that they have a nice selection of boots.  You can order online, they ship internationally, or you can go to their store in Pasadena, CA and try an array of goodies for yourself.

100% soywax & metal free candles from A Scent of Scandal

A Scent of Scandal is not only super eco-friendly (100% soy wax and metal free), they have so many scents to choose from and they're named after clever and some really naughty sayings lol.  Here are some of their descriptions:

• Morning Wood:  An arousing combination of sandalwood and amber. 
• Stoner-grass:  fresh cut grass on a summer day.
• Good in bed-lavendar:  Hop in the sack with this beautiful scent of fresh cut lavender.
• Rehab-clean:  Lime, mint, and ozone get sorted out by French lavender and white musk.
• Tighty Whities-fresh laundry:  Sweet floral of jasmine and violets, hints of lemon zests and vanilla.
• What the pluck?-fresh flowers:  A blend of gardenia and jasmine with a orange blossom.
• Cougar-boyz'nberry:  An expert blend of blackberry and tart cranberry. Meow!
• '8 Inches - banana:  Big notes of banana rounded out by hints of vanilla and cream

Raw lip balm!

Hurraw Lip Balm is the perfect cosmetic gift.  They come in 16 yummy flavors, including green tea, chocolate, coconut, chai, and coffee bean.  They also just added their new line of treatment balms:  SPF 15 Sun Balm and Night Treatment Balm.  I have both of the treatment balms and they are fabulous!  I like to give balms as cosmetic gifts because then you don't have to deal with whether or not the shade or color works with the recipient etc.  But if you want more of a beauty line then Tarte makes some great vegan products.

Check out www.thekindlife.com

Give a vegan book for Christmas!  I recommend Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet."  This helped motivate me to go from vegetarian to vegan and introduced me to macrobiotics, or what she calls "superhero" status.  This book is good for people who are looking to transition to a more compassionate lifestyle.  She offers meal plans, recipes, and insight into why choosing a vegan diet is the way to go.  There's also a special section for beginners to experiment with vegan alternatives.  This book is really the ultimate guide for vegans or want-to-be vegans.  I recommend the following books as well, including one that my good vegan friend Karly gave me ;)

• "The 30 Day Vegan Challenge" - Colleen Patrick Goudreau
• "Vegan's Daily Companion" - Colleen Patrick Goudreau
• "The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics" - Jessica Porter
• "Modern Day Macrobiotics" - Simon G. Brown

Recycled leather Pipit bag from Ashley Watson.

For those who are making the transition to a vegan lifestyle, a recycled leather bag is a good way to go.  Ashley Watson  makes one-of-a-kind bags from exclusively recycled leather materials.  Because these are unique you'll see that the styles sold online are constantly changing and run out fast so be sure to nab it once you see it.  What's also really interesting is that she includes a card with the bag saying what your bag was made out of and where it came from.  My mom and sis gave me a bag from her and it was made from a used black leather jacket all the way from NYC.  I loovveeeee my bag!

2012 PETA Bunny Necklace

PETA sells a bunch of stuff to spread the vegan word.  My fav piece is their new PETA bunny necklace!  Created by Christy Robinson, this elegant and stylish necklace is hand sawn out of recycled aluminum.  It makes for a really good conversation piece.

Tiffin and bamboo utensils.

We need them for work, travel, school, you name it...we allll need them.  Why not make it eco-friendly? These products are sold online at To-Go Ware or I've also seen them around Whole Foods as well.  I have yet to get the Tiffin but the bamboo utensils I use everyday.  They are durable and very easy to clean. 

Vegan BOLD wonky mug in linen.

VeganDish by Jeanette Zeis Ceramincs are handmade and super cute.  Can't you just picture sipping some kukicha tea in this thing?  She also makes bowls and has other vegan stamp designs.

  

I love these films!!!!  I can watch them allll the time.  They just send a great message and reminds you

just how much you love animals :)  So try giving these classics out to your friends and family.  I just recently watched Forks Over Knives and it was very inspirational.  There's no images of animals being slaughtered in there so that's a good thing to tell your gift recipient if they seem a little skeptical at first about watching it.  It's just overall educating you about including more plants into your everyday diet and how it can be beneficial.

Finally, last but not least.....

Adopt a farm animal from Farm Sanctuary in someone's name.  They'll receive a certificate in the mail and a cute picture of their adopted farm animal.  Nothing can beat the gift of life ;)