Halloween Treat :)

Hey guys I hope you all had a great Halloween :) I wasn't going to trick or treat this year because 1: I'm too old and 2: I'm trying to lose weight. But after everything I ended up taking my mom's friend's daughter out and so, I did end up getting a fair bit of candy and more importantly, chocolate. 

I was so proud of myself though because I only ate 2 1/2 pieces of chocolate that day!! This was a very large accomplishment for me and so far since, I've done good. But I got to thinking... I should do something different with all this chocolate and candy cause I don't really want to just pick at it day by day... That would take a long time. So I froze most of it but some of it I saved and decided to make... Da da da daaa!! Halloween popcorn squares!! Like rice crispie squares but with popcorn :) so here's the recipe I invented and am sharing with you. They are of course meant to be dietary so if that's not a concern for you, feel free to use as much chocolate and candy as you like. Halloween Popcorn Squares:

Makes 15 decent sized squares

Ingredients:-1 bag (250 g) of marshmallows minus 6 marshmallows -1 80g bag popcorn-300-400 calories worth of chopped candy and chocolate-1 tbsp butterSpray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray or butter it. Pop popcorn and remove un popped kernels. In medium pot, melt marshmallows and butter on low heat, stirring till smooth. Carefully not to burn! Fold in popcorn and chocolate/candy pieces. Press into greased pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.



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 I made 15 fairly large squares :)Calories per whole batch: 1470Each: 98 

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 
     You know, I never think of fall as being a season I like all that much. It's rainy, dreary, boring, cold, lame. But this year, for reasons unknown I got really excited.I think it's actually the lack of usual rainy, grey fall weather home to Vancouver that has sparked my longing for everything fall. I've become particularly obsessed with pumpkin, cinnamon apple, and other fall flavours. I've also adopted a lot of browns, pumpkin/squash oranges, and deep reds into my wardrobe. My most recent excitement however has been over thanksgiving dinner. Aaaaah!! Nothing says fall like a harvest vegetable medley, some squash, potato mashies, turkey, and a big dollop of cranberry sauce! Not to mention the most important aspect of thanksgiving dinner... Pie. Diet friendly pie that is of course! Pumpkin pie. Apple pie. Pear pie. More pumpkin pie! Is there a person in the world who doesn't love pumpkin pie? Probably. But that person is beyond doubt crazy or seriously confused. Especially if we're talking about such a healthy diet friendly pumpkin pie. Here is a picture of my apple pie, pear-cranberry pie, and a few of my pumpkin tartlettes.

So now I will explain to you my pumpkin pie endeavor. 

Step 1: obtain a massive pumpkin. 

Honestly, $5 for a 15 ounce can of pumpkin?! No way man! So one day I decide to buy a pumpkin from superstore so I get off the skytrain near the store and I wander this way and that and after wandering in each direction for about 15 minutes I realize... There is no superstore here... I got off at the wrong stop, fancy that. I finally figured out google maps and I get off at a new station which happens to also be the wrong stop so I had to walk 5 looong blocks in my high heeled boots to get there but I did get there in the end. And so with my temper steaming I buy my huge pumpkin and bus home then walk home 7 blocks with a huge pumpkin in my arms. That was sort of awkward not to mention hard on the back but in the end, I ended up with a very satisfying extra large pumpkin sitting in my kitchen. 

Step 2: purée the pumpkin. 

This, was harder than you would think. First, you must chop the pumpkin which is... Difficult. It involved hacking it open with an axe. I left that to my mom ;) Then, you have to steam/boil it which is fine, not too much trouble there. Next, you need to peel it which is very bothersome and painful if you don't let the pumpkin cool very long. Which of course I didn't. LASTLY you need to purée it and since I only had a very old blender to do that with , it was quite the ordeal. The result however, was 6 cups of leftover pumpkin purée, two large pumpkin pies, and 8 little pumpkin tartlettes which I am very proud of. 

Step 3: baking!

This is the fun part :) if you're interested, I followed a "hungry girl" recipe :

It turned out great with the following adjustments: 

Crust: 

-I used 1 1/3 cup fiber 1 cereal and 8 graham crackers

-I didn't have light whipped buttery spread so I just used 3 tbsp normal butter and it worked well 

Filling:

-I only put 2/3 can evaporated milk (8ounces)

-In place of 3/4 cup Splenda I used 1/2 cup Splenda and 1/4 cup brown sugar

-If you don't have any pumpkin spice use 1/2 tsp each ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ground cloves

-add 1 tbsp of cornstarch, trust me it makes for a really good texture

So there's my new favourite pumpkin pie recipe. It has 130 calories per piece (1/8 of pie), a ton of protein and a ton of fiber! Great for breakfast :D  The texture is really nice and dense and you honestly CANNOT tell that the recipe is low cal. I know Americans and other cultures celebrate thanksgiving later so hopefully this will still apply to some ppl but even so, there's always Christmas.  

local fresh and tasty!

Hi everyone :) how is everyone today?

Today was a legendary day, it was the day I got my first real taste of local and fresh produce. 

     I finished my 2nd ballet class and I was supposed to have contemporary class but recently I've had a strange lump on my foot that hurts whenever I do much continuous movement; so I decided not to do the class. Now, I've been dying to go to one of my local farmers markets but every time I end up with somewhere else to be. So here I was with lots of extra time and I thought: "I should hit a farmers market!" so I googled my local farmers markets hoping there was one open on Wednesdays and turns out there was! So I went to an ATM, pulled out $20 (this turned out to be very difficult and embarrassing as it was my first time using one of those things and the guy kept having to help me :-/ I'm glad none of you saw me!) and hopped on the bus that took me to the Market. Turned out it didn't open till 3 so I read my book (Real Food, you should read it its really informing and interesting) in the park it was situated at, which just so happens to be filled with drug addicts and homeless people; people were looking at me a bit strange but you know. Finally it opened though and I started making my way along the aisle looking at all the fresh produce. Everything from cabbage and beets to blueberries and currants. In the end after much contemplation (keep in mind I only had $20 with me) I ended buying some local peaches, apricots, sweet raspberries, and pink currants. I'd read in my book that industrial peaches were incomparable to local ecologically grown peaches so I figured I'd put her words of advice to the test. Under usual circumstances I find peaches (supposedly ripe ones) not all that tastefull or sweet. Well. My friends. That was the absolute juiciest, sweetest, tastiest peach I have ever had in my ENTIRE life! I just HAD to blog about it. It just so happens that I had already eaten a peach today (an industrial one) that was pretty good and enhanced my view on peaches but thinking back, that peach was not nearly as good as the local one i got from the farmer's market. It was primarily the juiciness that was so different although the flavor was also much sweeter and better all around. 

     The difference between industrial and local, fresh produce is that industrial produce is not picked ripe because it would never survive the journey to it's far away market. This downgrades the taste and texture as well as the nutritional content. In fact most of industrial produce is picked green and ripened artificially. For example, tomatoes are picked hard and green and the ripened with ethylene gas. This is why industrial produce does not develop the same complex taste and luscious texture. Whereas fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables are picked during their prime state of ripeness allowing their flavors and other traits to fully develop to create the ideal, most vitamin rich fruit or vegetable the plant can give us. 

     There is also the difference in soil and breeds of plants and how it is grown that makes industrial produce inferior also in terms of nutritional content. Fresh and mostly organic produce is grown on healthy, nutrient rich, fertile soil which gives the fruit more vitamins and antioxidants (who wouldve thought?!); whereas industrial crops are grown on sterile soil and sprayed with pesticides which are not only poisonous, but damage the antioxidants and vitamins in the crops.

     This is all why I've decided to try eating more fresh and local crops. I learned most of this from that book I mentioned before: Real Food by Nina Planck. I really do recommend you read it because it is actually pretty interesting despite my presumptions. Anyways, make sure you hit your local farmer's market sometime soon, I promise you won't regret it!

bye for now :)

Like they haven't had enough... animal testing :(

     Hey guys, so I know I haven't posted anything for a looooong time... sorry :-/ Don't worry! Im back now. For now... :P
In any event, I was out with my friend a few days ago and we were having greek wraps downtown. we got to talking about animal cruelty and now I'm sort of depressed... The reason? Because now I have to buy expensive makeup and hair stuff!!! She told me about how makeup and hair products and whatnot is tested on animals. Don't think I'm stupid, I knew a lot of things were tested on animals but I thought it was just along the lines of you put some blush on a bunny and if it gets a rash you know you did something wrong. Am I the only one who made this assumption? My guess is not. Either way I am sorry to inform you that that is completely WRONG. 


     Ex: The draize test (tests for eye irritation)for shampoo:
In order to test whether or not a shampoo will damage your eyes, a producer will strap down an albino bunny (albinos are apparently good for this purpose since they dont blink that much), clamp it's eyes open and squeeze shampoo in the bunny's eye. Ouch, we all know how much getting soap in our eyes hurts. Is it done? No. They leave the bunny there writhing in pain (as much as it can since it is strapped down) for about 2 weeks. Sometimes the poor bunny snaps it's neck from trying to break loose. The bunny's eyes crust over and it eventually dies. 
What is even the point of this? I honestly have no idea. The things our species does makes me feel sick sometimes. I don't know how people like this sleep at night, I honestly don't; knowing they're responsible for the pain and death of so many animals.


Here's a few links for more info:


http://e-infopages.com/2012/behind-the-untold-scene-animal-testing-is-an-awful-and-horror-research/
http://www.care2.com/causes/cosmetic-testing-on-animals-aint-pretty-plus-how-to-shop-cruelty-free.html



A few extremely sad pictures...














Fortunately (unlike meat), they're are many companies that are animal testing free; and although they're more expensive I think that all of us should make that sacrifice (come on its probably only a starbucks drink's worth of money extra!) to promote these companies that actually have a conscious.

A few animal testing free (GOOD! buy them!) companies are:
MAC
Aveda
Avalon
Crabtree and Evelyn
Beadheads
St. Ives
Giovanni
Kiss My Face
Tommy Hilfiger
Victoria's Secret
Alvera
Milani
Burt's Bees
Revlon
Almay
E.L.F




Ones that Do test on animals (BAAADD!!! stop buying themm!!):
Cover Girl 

Clinique
Maybelline 
Max Factor 
Rimmel
L'Oreal 
Johnson and Johnson
Olay
Sally Hansen
Pantene
Clairol (includes aussie, herbal essences, daily defense)


Yes that list is depressing... those happen to include practically ALL the products I use... next time i buy makeup though I'll be going cruelty free! I hope you guys will too.

Oh and by the way, household products do the same thing... Arm and hammer, colgate, you name it.


till next time

Food Animal Cruelty: Dairy

     Hi everyone :) sorry I haven't written in a while; I've been relatively busy with my life, doing this or that. It's amazing how time can be swallowed up so easily without you getting much done. So today I thought I'd venture out on a completely different subject than my last posts have been about. If you've read the title I'm sure you can guess what it is. Food animal cruelty. This, in my opinion is one of the most atrocious deeds being done by the human race. I wouldn't say THE most, but quite surely one of them. Let's hold up a second. When you guys eat your meat, are you thinking "I'm eating an animal right now", or more "I'm eating meat right now"? Probably the later right? Well let me ask you this, how many of you ventured to think "If this was an animal... how was it raised?" or "I hope this cow had a nice life"? Probably not as many of you. I know I didn't really think about that very much when I was eating meat. So now let me ask you this. How do YOU think modern farm animals are raised? On pastures right? The cattle grazing in the fields, chickens squawking around pecking at the dirt, the little pigs rolling in the mud crying "oink oink! oink oink!". WRONG! Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong WRONG! If that were the reality this world would be such a better place! However, the harsh reality is that for the vast majority, it is not like that whatsoever. At least not in most countries especially North America. I've been told that England and other parts of Europe are much better at this whole humane animal treatment thing and I am so jealous that their country is so much more advanced when it comes to that. I've even read than parts of Europe refuse to trade meat with the US because their treatment is so unethical. So what is it that makes North America so undignified when it comes to food production? Read on my friends.

    There are so many different food animals I could talk about here. Pigs, cows, chickens, eggs, dairy, turkeys, goose, veal, sows, dogs, fish, shark, horse, the list goes on. But obviously I'm not going to talk about all of those so I figured I'd focus on Beef, Dairy, Chicken, Eggs, and Pork since those are most common. They may be a bit long so I'll just include one in each post for now. Here we go...

The Dairy Disaster:

I thought I'd start with dairy cows because they sort of lead to other cattle products. Dairy cows have one of the worst lives possible for a mother. The poor mothers are confined to minuscule stalls their whole lives; they are kept impregnated year round in order for them to continue producing milk. They are milked everyday by a machine which as you can imagine is quite distressing and not to mention creepy. Once their calves are born they're almost immediately torn away from their mother (usually 1-2 days after birth) in order not to "waste" her milk. The poor calves are crying for their mothers in distress; the males will eventually become either veal or normal beef meat, but the females are destined for the same fate as their poor mothers. Cows usually live for about 10-15 years but a dairy cow in a modern day factory will only live to be about 2 or 3 because by then their body is so lacking in calcium they can barely support themselves. The average cow is lame, suffers from ulcerations, laminitis, or rotten hooves from standing in their own waste all their lives. They also commonly have twisted stomachs, torn udder ligaments, pneumonia, or bacterial infection in their teats causing puss to be expelled along with the milk. Some disgusting, undignified, horrible, inhumane creatures also known as a few producers, will attempt to actually cut the teat off, in order to continue milking. Here is a picture of a cow with a teat infection taken at a livestock auction.

And here is a picture of cows being milked by machines at an american farm.

    Unfortunately that is not the extent of the horrors for a dairy cow. Let me take you to the livestock auctions. It's hard to believe that the people who handle these animals are actually human and not monsters in disguise. All sorts of animals you find at livestock auctions, the majority are in the most horrible of condition possible and yet they are still mistreated. People twist their tails to the point of fracture (dont ask me why), motivation to move comes from being electrically prodded, not to mention they're beaten a tremendous amount. I've had the misfortune to read that female cows often have a gloved hand shoved up their vaginas to check for pregnancy. How horrible is that? Can you even begin to imagine what that would be like? These cows are basically being subject to extreme mistreatment, torture, assault, and even what you would call sexual assault! I don't know about you but I am ashamed that my country, of which I am for the most part proud to be apart of, takes part in such practices on a daily basis! I was appalled when I read of how the milk I consume is produced.

Not to mention how they are normally transported for up to 3 WEEKS without provisions or weather protection. And maybe the most horrific part of all: slaughter. Here is a brief overview of how they are slaughtered:

Slaughter: (of dairy, beef, and veal)

-stunned with a stun gun which would be great... HOWEVER, this is 5-10 % of the time not effective enough to render

the cow unconscious

-throats slashed to bleed out (some are still conscious while they are being bled out)

-some cows don’t die before hock cutting, and are literally cut to death piece by piece

-”downed” cows are dragged with hooks and/or chains as they are unable to walk

-an average slaughter house kills 250 cows a day

    Horrific isn't it?

    Now I have a confession to make. I don't eat meat but, I myself do actually drink dairy milk that is produced like this, each time I do I feel really terribly guilty but I can't help it for now. The problem is this: soy milk and almond milk is so dang expensive! It's not that I'm cheap it's just that I can't afford to be buying almond or soy milk, or ethical dairy milk for that matter, when it's over $4 for 2 litres! So that's why I took it upon myself to try to raise awareness about it, so that at least I'd be doing something. Even if you guys aren't going to convert to ethically produced dairy milk or other kinds of milk; I really hope you will try to do something about it nonetheless. Even just telling your friends about it is good! Or you could even venture to send a letter to your provincial/national agricultural minister like I did. Either way, I hope I at least taught you guys something. 

If you seek more information you can visit any of these sites:

http://www.cetfa.com/

http://www.chooseveg.ca/animal-cruelty-canada.asp

http://www.veganpeace.com/index.htm

    Stay tuned for my next post which will include the story of another desolate animal commonly found on our plates. Bye for now.

                                         -Morgan

Crocheted Toque/Beanie

    Good morning everyone! I'm in a right good mood today because guess what?! I got my first ever comment just a few hours ago! Thank you to Cosmo Dk! You've made my day! Haha that rhymes! Alrighty, So yesterday I posted a mini crocheted heart pattern. Today I thought I'd post another pattern, this time for a very simple and easy crocheted hat. This is just a basic toque/beanie. You can add decorations to it like the little hearts you might have made from my last post. Or you could crochet up some little flowers, or just simply add stripes by changing the colour here and there. This might be great to crochet as a gift for someone for Valentine's day, it only takes a few hours. :) After finishing the hat I decided I wanted a stripe so instead of taking some of the rows out and changing colour I just wove in a green yarn through the holes of a row twice and the effect is pretty good. Here's a picture of the end result:

Size:
It should fit an average teenager or adult's head. I will add an optional round for those of you making it for someone with a slightly larger head (this will come after R6).


Materials: 
-Bulky yarn, a 6 or 7 wpi. 
-10mm crochet hook
-Tapestry needle (big fat sewing needle)


Stitches and abbreviations:
ch: chain
sl st: slip stitch
sc: single crochet
st: stitch


Instructions:
R1: Ch 5, sl st into first chain to connect. Ch 1.
R2: Work 10 sc into the loop, join with a sl st into the first sc of round. Ch 1.
R3: Sc in same st, *2 sc in next st* repeat from * to * until end of round. Ss into first sc to join. Ch 1.
R4: Sc in same st, *1 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st* repeat * till end of round. Join. Ch 1.
R5: Sc in same st, *1 sc in next 2 stitches, 2 sc in next st* repeat * till end of round. Join. Ch 1.
R6: Sc in same st, *1 sc in next 3 stitches, 2 sc in next st* repeat * till end of round. Join. Ch 1.
This is how big it should look by now, you don't actually want it to be as big as the top of your head because it will end up too big. Maybe try finding a knitted toque that fits you and see how big the top is before the decreases started. However, for a larger size, continue with the row in brackets. 

(For larger size: Sc in same st, *1 sc in next 4 stitches, 2 sc in next st* repeat * till end off round, join, ch 1. If it is still not large enough, add another row but this time do 1 sc in next 5 stitches and 2 in next. This should definitely be large enough if you are using a Bulky or Super Bulky yarn.)
R7: No single crochet in same st! Now all you're going to do is 1 sc in every st around, join, and ch 1. 
R8: Repeat round 7 until hat is desired length. Cut the yarn leaving a 3' tail and pull it tight. Weave in the ends with the tapestry needle and you're finished! Yay!


Try making one for your partner or spouse for Valentine's day! Till next time!
                                             -Morgan

Crocheted Valentine Hearts

    Hey guys :) Its been a while. Sort of :P a week or so maybe? Well, I've just been busy reading this new book I got and crocheting little heart clips for my little cousins out on the East Coast. So I was going to give you guys a how-to for a simple toque/beanie pattern, but I figured since it is getting close to Valentine's day, why don't I teach you guys how to crochet little hearts instead?! They're pretty quick if you know how to crochet the simplest stitches. So here's the pattern:

Materials: 

-yarn: you can basically use anything, worsted weight is good if you want a sort of thick heart, but if you want a nice delicate and lacy looking one you could even use embroidery floss/friendship bracelet string.

-crochet hook: for worsted weight use no less than 4.5mm; for anything thinner, use a four, or if you're using embroidery string a 3.5 is good for a nice lacy look.

-tapestry needle (just a thick needle with a big eye)

stitches:

sc= single crochet

dc= double crochet

tc= triple crochet

ss= slip stitch

ch= chain

st= stitch

Pattern:

Start: Tie the yarn onto your crochet hook, ch3, ss to first st.

1: Working into the loop, dc, tc, dc. 3 sc, tc. 3 sc, dc, tc, dc; next ss into the loop, pull the yarn out and tight, next cut leaving a fairly long tail (about 3' long). Weave the ends in with the tapestry needle, or if you're going to attach them to something like clips, you can use the tail to sew it on with. And you're done! This is what they sort of should look like after you're done:






Hope you guys enjoy that, make some for a friend or family member for Valentine's Day! :)
Until next time!
                                         -Morgan <3


P.S.
Happy Valentine's day! <3