Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Oprah go veg!

Bub is in bed after a lovely play date with his 'girlfriend' Layla. A cup of tea and a little break, time to switch on a bit of Oprah, (a guilty habit I occasionally indulge) and guess what? she is doing a show on conscious eating. She is discussing the film, Food Inc, Alicia Silverstone has just been on and she is mentioning another great vegan hero, Kathy Freston. Although Oprah treads very gently when encouraging people to re examine the food choices they make, I am grateful that she has the sense to focus on these issues. Her capacity to influence people is astounding and unparalleled, so the more shows like this, the better, now if only she would go veg, millions would follow!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Lunch is Served.

Yesterday I had a cooking frenzy, when you have a baby you never seem to stop steaming, mashing and freezing vegetables. Now that Jasper's taste buds have started developing, he is beginning to get a bit fussier and I can no longer throw three vegie's together and serve it up. This is both exciting and frustrating. I love that I can introduce more variety to his diet, different legumes, grains and vegie's but frustrating because of his more discerning palate, he will let me know immediately if it isn't too his liking. Imagine a baby sized Matt Preston peering at you from under bangs of newly grown hair.

So for lunch today he had a lentil and vegie mash up, a recipe taken from Annabel Karmel's book 'Feeding your baby and toddler' I do recommend this book to new mum's as it does have some great ideas for recipes but I warn you there is an overflow of meaty dishes which you can alter or just ignore.


I followed this with some homemade apple and cinnamon puree.. mmm yum, he loves it! For breakfast I often give him some apple or pear with some quinoa (the super grain) or amaranth. Fortunately he loves to eat.

For myself I delved into my Alicia Silverstone's new cookbook, 'The Kind Diet,' and made Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms, Leeks and Peas. It was quite yummy, however I did add some parsley, the more greens the better and a bit more salt. It just needed a little more seasoning for my liking. If you exclude the wine, which I did you can offer it to your older bub or child as well.



Oh and I grated some yummy vegan cheese over the top. I will tell you more about 'The Kind Diet,' once I have finished reading it but so far I love it. It is full of accessible, credible information about where your food comes from and the impact foods have on your body and of course on animals and the planet.

Enjoy
Liz

And so I begin...

Hi there and welcome to my blog. My name is Liz and I am mother to a very feisty, almost 9 months old baby boy, Jasper. I have started this blog with the aim of sharing my journey into vegan motherhood with you. I intend to share recipes we like, products we use, causes we care about, books and movies we love, as well as information I find useful to help my family live a healthy, cruelty free lifestyle. I think it is important to have respect for all living beings and to find ways to reduce your footprint on our planet.

So a bit about me, I was born in Sydney, Australia where I currently reside. Most of my career has been spent working as an actor, a singer/songwriter, a writer and a freelance journalist and now a full time mum. I do writing when I can fit it in, a bit of editing here and there and the occasional interview.

I had a regular column with Vegan Voice Magazine and have also written for Natural Health and Vegetarian life. As well as articles on veganism/animal rights/women's rights and short stories for other magazines. I have a degree in communications, spent 3 years at acting school, have travelled and have worked in almost every type of job imaginable. I have a wonderful husband, two cheeky cats - Virgil and Karma, my gorgeous boy Jasper and a house full of bulging bookcases.

I intend to post as often as possible, to post loads of photos of yummy food and if you aren't vegan, to inspire you to give it a go. It really is the most peaceful, rewarding, healthy and compassionate way you can live your life, as it isn't just a diet but a lifestyle. I look forward to sharing my stories with you and to hearing yours.

Enjoy

Liz