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Lifestyle the vegan way

Flanders Bite Back.

Let me introduce you Bite Back an awesome Flemish group of activists committed to spread awareness about animal rights and veganism. You’ll find them manifesting for animal rights in Belgian cities.

Bite Back

Bite Back

I was lucky to meet them in Antwerp last Saturday afternoon so I stopped and talked to them for a while. They produce a lot of informative material to spread awareness about the way animals are treated before they end up on your dish or on your feet. They also produce an informative leaflet on vegetarian and vegan toilteries available in Belgium.

The group is very active and will be soon demoing at a city close to you. They are always looking for activists: one good reason to improve my Dutch!

Filed under: activism, Bite Back, vegan activism, ,

Chick-peas burgers.

Easy Sunday lunch: chick-pea burgers in sweet miso sauce.

Chick-pea burgers, the macrobiotc way.

Chick-pea burgers, the macrobiotic way.

Ingredients:

– Chick peas: 3 cups

– Mineral water : 9 cups

– Onions: 750 gr.

– Carrots: 60 gr.

– Parsley

– Sea salt (no refined)

– Miso

Cook the chickpeas in water either using a pressure cooker or a conventional pan, the time and taste will obviously change. If you are in a hurry you can use tinned ones.

Cut the onions into little cubes an sauté them in some oil for few minutes. I use sesame oil but any other oil will do. After they have softened add a little bit of extra water and keep cooking for few minutes more. If you are using ceramic pots you can just cook them with a little bit of water, without oil: the taste will definitely be lighter and sweeter. think about investing in one or two of these pots: they are simply amazing. When the onion caramelize put them on one side of the pan and cook the carrots in the remain space. After few minutes make sure to cover the carrots with the cooked onions so the heat will distribute evenly to the food; dissolve the miso paste in warm water and pour it onto the pan, stir well all the ingredients and let them cook for few minutes more until some of the excess water has evaporated. When cooked add the chopped parsley.

In a bowl roughly mash the chick peas but be careful to leave some chunks in them; add the cooked vegetables and combine well all the ingredients possibly with a wodden spoon. The idea is to “cut into” the mixture with the spoon rather than mix it,; if this way of combining the ingredients is too “macrobiotic” just mix them all together as best as you can. Shape the burgers and fry them in a non-sticky skillet with a little bit of oil: around 4 minutes on each side should be enough. If the burgers are too soft add some buckwheat flour to the mixture until they hold the shape nicely.

The sauce in the picture is simply made mixing 1 tablespoon of tahini, 2 tablespoons of sweet miso and 1 tablespoon of water.

A variation, less macrobiotic version, would consist in cooking the onions and carrots with some spices of your choice: oregano, chilly, anything you like. Experiment!

I served the burgers with some steamed cauliflowers (seasoned with with poppy seeds and ume su) and stir fried courgette ribbons (I have used extra virgin olive oil).

Enjoy and feel free to experiment, make changes, add ingredients: remember that cooking is mainly fun.

Filed under: antispecism, macrobiotics, vegan cooking

Sale by Burgeois Bohème and bags by Matt and Natt.

If anyone is interested Bourgeois Bohème (UK) is having a clearance with up to 70% discount on a whole set of vegan accessories: shoes, bags, bet and wallets for both men and women. Among them but not on sale is this gorgeous bag by Matt and Natt:

Matt and Nat Yorke Black

You can also opt for the Apollo Black

Matt and Nat Apollo Black

Matt and Nat Apollo Black

or the Interpol Black

Matt and Natt Apollo Black

For those of you who still don’t know it Matt and Natt is a totally vegan design house owned and run by Canadian designer Inder Bedi committed to bring style and glamour into veganism. In Europe you can buy his creations online directly via the Matt and Natt website, Burgeois Boheme or at selected stores throughout the UK.

Looking good as vegan has never been easier.

A bientôt.

Filed under: Bourgeois Bohème, Matt and Natt, sales

Terra Plana: a step in the right direction.

Last year I asked Terra Plana why they did not have enough vegan models among their models and they promptly answered me that “they were working on it”. I took it as a standard customer response and moved on in my endless search for the perfect vegan shoes. You can imagine how pleasantly surprise I was when I saw their new Non Leather Line for men: Focus, Claudius and Newton. I like the clean, pure, slightly nerdy look design of Claudius. Go and chose yours.

Claudius by Terra Plana

Claudius by Terra Plana

£1 from the sale price of every pair sold will be donated to Greenpeace in support of their ‘Slaughtering the Amazon’ campaign. We like when good compassion design meets environmental concerns. And we need to pre-book at least one pair “asap” as they will go on sale soon and chances are they’ll be sold out pretty quickly. You’ve been warned boy!

The old equation:

VEGAN = HIPPIE

has once and for all been resolved according to:

VEGAN ⊂ STYLE, DESIGN AND TRENDY

[⊂ = belongs to]

No more lame excuse, choose Veganism.

Filed under: shoes, Terra Plana

Simple vegan eco casual: shoes for a happy planet.

Simple has a line of vegan friendly products: casual shoes and bags for people who care about the environment. The shoes are mostly made of organic cotton, hemp and jute and come in a variety of colours and style. The Men’s D-Solve – Jute & Organic Cotton is an excellent attention grabber if you ever need to be noticed:

Men's D-Solve - Jute & Organic Cotton

Men's D-Solve - Jute & Organic Cotton by Simple

For a subtler jeans look try the Men’s CARport – Elastic Lace:

Men's CARport - Elastic Lace by Simple

Filed under: hemp, organic cotton

Vegan shoes for a better world.

The idea is very simple: you buy one pair of shoes from Toms (possibly vegan) and he will provide a child in need with another pair. Simple, straight and effective way to use your purchasing power to help children in need. There is a special Vegan Line for those of you in search of their own cruelty free style. The upper part of the shoe is made of recyclabel materials like hemp and plastic bottles.

One for the funky vegan feet.

Toms Charcoal Lime Stitch Vegan Classics for men

Filed under: hemp, recycled bottles, shoes

Organic cotton and banana underwear.

Why not treat yourself to a great pair (or two) of organic cotton and weave of banana bark? They look just perfect to me! Unfortunately, I have inquired and they don’t ship the model with the order. Aussiebum strikes again.

organic cotton and banana underwear

Filed under: alternative fabrics, banana fibre, bio cotton, underwear