The Sweet and the Savory

  Today it was time to discuss some very important ideas and to just hang out in general. What better way to do that than at the table surrounded by mounds of fruit and delicious vegan sausage crumbles?

  The rehabbers were reunited and this time was spent planning for the future around a smorgasbord of French Toast, fruit, and a savory sausage scramble. It was epic. Lauren brought the "sausage" as a surprise! How sweet! Er, savory.
 Never having tried it before, I have to say, "Holy garbanzo beans, that was damn good."
Of course, it was tested on the non-vegans of the house. It got a big thumbs up from both members.

So we began, I stuck to the sweet and Lauren to the savory.

May I say we must be cooking gods. Just saying, we must be.

In the end, this was a really great day and meal. We finished it off by painting in the front yard. In the sun. With the outside cat, Max. Best way to digest...lol.

I can only hope for more days like this.

And meals. More meals too.

Vegan French Toast

Stale french bread loaf cut into one inch slices.
Vanilla soymilk (1 cup)
Cinnamon (a couple dashes)
Vanilla Extract (a couple drops)
Cornstarch (2 tbsp)
Flour(1/4 cup)

Soak the bread in the mixture for a few seconds on each side. Like pancakes, place in pan on medium heat until brown on both sides.

Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup, fruit, or in our case, Organic Blueberry Preserves.

  Savory Sausage Scramble

Diced potatoes (3 cups when diced)
Chopped carrots (about a cup when chopped, or two whole carrots)onion, chopped
Handful or more of spinach
Three cloves garlic, minced
Vegan sausage

Heat potatoes first in pan until soft.
Add carrots until soft.
Add onion.
Add garlic.
Add sausage, pulling it off in pieces for the crumbly effect.
Add spinach last as it is most delicate.
Spice as desired.

I had mine with a hint of ketchup :]


This truly was a Feast of a brunch. Finish it off with tea if you'd like. we did.- N

No More Squishy!

   Skinny. Thin. Insanely gorgeous. These are all attributes that people are futilely trying to achieve thanks to todays media. If you are not one of these things, then society gives the impression that you will never achieve a true sense of happiness with yourself. This is commonplace ideal in western society and its becoming a subtle message in the way many organizations are marketing Veganism.  Skinny little things loving various vegetables in very very interesting poses. Sound familiar?
  When I first became a vegan almost a year ago I told myself it was for the sake of my health and how living this way made me feel. With a family history of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and a whole slew of other things that could kill me down the road.  Then further down the road I found a commitment to animals that has kept me going. However I was not immune to the images of skinny girls that were committed to this lifestyle as well. I thought that just by eating vegan foods and living the lifestyle would magically make me that beautiful girl that turned heads when I walked in the room. Funny thing is i'm not that girl at all.

   I am a squishy vegan. I eat all the "right" foods but somehow I forgot about one important thing: Fitness. I believe that this is something that is not emphasized enough in our community. Much time is spent on food, which I don't have any real objections against, but when looking for a balance with fitness there is not as much emphasis. Its more of a footnote or even side note at best and I feel that needs to change. I don't want to be a squishy vegan, I want to be a healthy vegan in all the aspects of the word.
   Number one on the objective to being a healthy vegan is making fitness a bigger and better part of my life. I no longer want to be a vegan who eats an extremely fresh and fulfilling variety of foods and expect that alone to make me look like Natalie Portman or Olivia Wilde. I want to be active and push the limits of what I think I can do. Its taken me almost nine months to develop this outlook. Nine months to realize that there was more to the formula of healthy living then I was believing. Its like I'm having a child of an epiphany, and I do not wish for others to have to wait that long if they have not met this realization.
  I think there needs to be a shift from how we show a vegan lifestyle. Instead of showing scantily clad women for the cause, we should try showing real everyday vegans that are making the change. We should be talking more about how fitness plays a role in this lifestyle in addition to helping animals and eating delicious foods. Change always has to start somewhere, and here in rehab at least one post a week will be dedicated to this cause. Now I am warning you that I am in no way a fitness professional, and the only thing I am certified in besides eating is CPR. However, as a person on a journey for constant self-improvement I can share my experiences, triumphs and weaknesses. So today we are starting something to change perspectives, stereotypes and hopefully some lives. Let operation Rehab Fitness begin.

Epic Vegan Adventure

Twinkle Lights and Awesome-ness in Stardust

  So today was an amazing adventure for us in Rehab. We started the day off at Stardust Video and Coffee which is one of the quirkiest places in the Orlando area. Not only was I mystified and in awe of the world I was taken to as I stepped in the door; I was also blown away by the delicious vegan goodies. While observing the beautiful space, there was a whimsical charm increased by a tree and twinkle lights, I also noted the intoxicating smell of fresh baked goods. My feet carried me to the counter where they had offering for all, but I decided on the Haiku Mint Green Tea and a Vegan Blueberry Muffin. My cohort decided to try an amazing vegan strawberry scone and had a cup of Oolong Tea. Regrettably to say that these delicious treats were gobbled up so quickly that only the wrapper was left. Photographic evidence of such will be provided.

   Next on the agenda was a trip to the super rad Park Avenue CD's which is soon to become my new favorite hangout. This basically means I wan't to move into the structure permanently. It surrounded me with the sounds of some of my favorite bands and other's that I had not heard of before. Definitely a place worth checking out in the Audubon Park area.

   Next on the days agenda was heading to a little shop in the Milk district called Etoile Boutique to check out what was new and talk some art. This little gem is super brilliant showcasing vintage, local and handmade items. Also being sold there are some super cool vegan lip balms and great handmade jewelry. There are usually two little furry friends to greet you if you go on a day that the owner is in. So head on down and you will not be disappointed.

 One of the highlights for me is checking out new places that I've never been to before. The first two establishments visited today had been around for a while, but I had never visited them before. The most anticipated stop for today was the newly opened Sandwich Bar. This place blew my taste buds away. They have two sides of the menu, one for those who are omnivores and the other for vegetarians. There is also a section on the bottom marked specifically with vegan options. For starters we ordered the vegan Bruschetta which was the best one I had had to date. Then following that delicious dish I had the healthy butt sandwich which consisted of multigrain bread, in house peanut butter, strawberries, bananas and sweet agave. Sooo Gooodddd. Ah.

  After many other stops today we ended up at the one and only Dandelion Communittea Cafe. We stopped in for some Kombucha  and a sweet or two. Okay it was two delicious sweets of the vegan variety: a raspberry cuppy with chocolate ganache and a PB&J Blondie. So that ended our epic vegan adventure for the day but I assure you there will be more fun times in this rehabber's future. - L

The Big O and the Dirty V Word

     So this past week was a big one in vegan (the Dirty V word) History. Oprah Winfrey (the Big O) decided to have all the staff at Harpo and herself trying to go Vegan for a week. On the show this was chronicled along with a visit to a slaughterhouse. The two guests on the show that were featured were  Michael Pollan and the Lovely Kathy Freston. Now I am going to warn you now that I was running errands and did not get to start watching until the slaughterhouse bit, but from that point on it was clearly not the show I thought I was going to be watching. 

     Now I know that not everything in this world is going to always be presented in a just and concise way, this blog for example is biased but my agenda is not hidden. This episode was something else. Every euphemism and oxymoron possible was being used by Michael Pollan, and whenever Mrs. Freston tried to defend her remarks they belittled her. The redeeming moments that saved face for this lifestyle was the moment they asked how some of the staffers felt and the one man lost 13 pounds and was feeling better than he had felt in a long time. That is truly what being vegan is about, making a compassionate choice that you know will change your life for the better. 

    Although the episode was not exactly what I expected, it still exposed many people to a different way of living that can cause a positive change. That is all you need to get an even bigger momentum is the curiosity and exposure to make that change happen. Oprah said that she my lean into being vegan which is really better than nothing at all. She even has a vegan started kit that is featured on her website. In addition to all the Oprah Exposure, Veganism was also a clue on Jeopardy this week. So maybe the "V" word wont be so dirty in the near future, except maybe when I throw it in Michael Pollan's face. 

- L