Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 138
February 16, 2012
kind classics: my favorite toiletries
These are my favorite toiletries. What are yours?
Toothbrushes
-Preserve Personal Care Toothbrush
-Fuchs Duo Plus
Toothpaste
-Jason Natural Cosmetics Sea Fresh Toothpaste not the one with coQ-10 in it
Deodorant
-Naturally Fresh Crystal Roll-On Deodorant
Face Pads & Q-Tips
-Organic Essentials Brand Certified Organic Cotton Products
Related Stories:
My Favorite Beauty Products
Even Your Nails Can Be Kind!!!
Kind Classics: Natural Makeup
Is There Lead in Your Lipstick?
animal camp a book about the catskill animal sanctuary
Catskill Animal Sanctuary founder Kathy Stevens has written a book called Animal Camp about her daily life at the sanctuary. Included in her book are stories of just-in-the-nick-of-time rescues incredible recoveries from animal cruelty cases and heart-melting instances of animals showing love compassion and friendship.
This book is for any animal lover or anyone curious about how animal sanctuaries operate. It's for flirts and animal-loving / non-veg friends too.
You can buy a copy of Animal Camp here – and if you live in New York I highly recommend visiting Catskill Animal Sanctuary. You can read my blog about it here - it's a very very special place.
Do you have a great animal sanctuary near you?
Related Stories:
My Thoughts On Fur
On The Set of "Suburgatory"
What to Feed My Dogs?
This Dog Loves Baths and Belly Rubs...
February 15, 2012
my favorite chore
For my thirtieth birthday my husband gave me this great clothesline. Now instead of using a dryer I hang my clothes using recycled clothespins. It's fun I swear! I'm not gonna be able to let my children do chores that are this fun!
What's your favorite chore around the house?
Related Stories:
Our Social Activities of Late...
What to Feed My Dogs?
I'm Hatin' It
I'm Not The Only One Hatin' It
missi discovers the dairy myth
In this edition of Missi Pyle's guest blogs about becoming vegan my witty friend is faced with the age-old dairy argument we've all heard before:
Wary about no dairy? aka Fred the Dairy Fairy aka Vegan blog 6! aka rip steve jobs. Sigh
The thing about being a vegan is everybody has an opinion about it. Especially the bartender at The Buggy Whip. Who incidentally is not only a bartender but also a professional nutritionist and architect with his very own clothing line. Hmmm. I guess business must be slow. or he just bartends on the side for funzies. Anyhoo. I was waiting for Megan and Meredith at the bar and looking over the menu for something vegan to eat. They had broccoli sauteed in garlic. yum. and a beet salad. I told the bartender Fred that I'd like both but that I was a vegan and just wanted to make sure both dishes were you know vegan.
fred looked at me and shook his head. "being a vegan is not healthy." wow. thank you so much for your opionion fred. tell me more. "i am a nutritionist a professional nutritionist and if you don't have dairy from a cow you can't get enough calcium and will get osteoporosis and weak bones." and shrivel up and die? ok i get it. again thank you for your opinion. I'd still like to have the broccoli and the salad. fred stared me down cold and hard like john wayne in some vintage western. i thought maybe he'd draw his pistol on me. but no. he just tore the ticket off his ticket order pad slowly turned glared at me one more time and walked into the kitchen.
wowzers! while fred was gone. i decided to do a little googling about this whole cows milk- osteoporosis thing. on my iphone. sigh rip steve jobs... you will be eternally missed Turns out there are an ass load of other ways to get calcium. Broccoli being one of them. suck on that fred! and look at all these other vegan foods that have calcium:
i have no idea what blackstrap molasses is. it sounds painful. but dang theres a lot of options.
when fred came back he brought me my broccoli which was sauteed in olive oil and an extraordinary amount of garlic. awesome. and my beet salad covered in cheese. i just looked at him. "really fred?" do you not remember the conversation we had 5 minutes ago? is this why all your other businesses are in the shitter? fred again looked at me like i was the dumbest a hole on the planet and said. "well i guess the cook might make you another one." amazing.
he brought me back the salad with beets this time with no cheese and no salad dressing. i guess to teach me a lesson? and simply walked away. then meredith and megan arrived. meredith ate most of my broccoli. she is so cute i didn't mind. then we slammed a glass of vegan wine and took megan to the airport. which incidentally is right around the corner from the Buggy Whip. We did not take a buggy to get there.
alas. i wondered if you my best friend have thoughts on the calcium vegan conundrum. maybe you wanna share them with me? so i can go give fred the what for the next time i see him
that's for fred. not you
until then
in the words of steve jobs...
stay hungry stay foolish
ps. steve jobs gives this speech to the graduates of stanford. it is the most inspiring speech i've ever heard. I think i've listened to it at least a dozen times. it gives me hope when my heart feels heavy and i feel you know hopeless. if you have 10 minutes check it out.
For more info about calcium and why dairy is nasty check out my blog post about organic dairy here or page 34 of The Kind Diet.
What food myths were you surprised to discover?
Related Stories:
Missi and Meredith Do Vegan Texas-Style
Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Quest - Day 1
Guest Blog: Missi Pyle's Vegan Adventure!
Guest Blog: Incredible Cruciferous Veggies!
February 14, 2012
success story: erica loses 110 pounds
Erica recently shared her incredible story about how making changes to her already-vegan diet made her healthier and happier. Check it out:
"In January of 2011 I was laid off from my job. After about a week of feeling aimless I needed to feel productive so I decided to tackle the problem of my poor health. I weighed 268 pounds and though I had already been vegan for a few years I was most definitely a 'junk food' vegan and pretty much lived on French fries and cookies. I felt like I needed to take control of that part of my life since the career portion was out of my hands.
I cleaned the junk food out of my cupboards and replaced it with whole foods... fruits and veggies from the Farmers Market just a few blocks away whole grains legumes and all sorts of delicious but healthy things. I also started working out with videos and eventually joined a gym. In the first month I lost eighteen pounds and had more energy than I ever had before.
Fast-forward one year and here I am 110 pounds lighter and happier than I ever thought possible. I ran my first 5k last year and have a few more races planned for this year. I've been hired to host nutrition and fitness workshops for a physician's office. I'm also going to work on obtaining certification to become a personal trainer. I love love love cooking and if I'm not in the gym at work or with friends you can usually find me talking about food on my blog though it's not a cooking blog or scouring other blogs for the next delicious recipe to experiment with.
After
I considered myself a happy person before this transformation but I never dreamed that it was possible to feel this good and full of life and energy. I truly believe in the power of healthy whole foods and the impact nutrition and exercise can have on a person's life. My life has changed dramatically in the past year and I couldn't be more excited to continue down this path and see what this next year has in store!"
Erica! Congratulations on your weight loss and your life change.
If any of you kind lifers have a success story you'd like to share private message me or post a note to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on the homepage of The Kind Life.
Related Stories:
Success Story: Mary Sheds Over 100 Pounds
Success Story: Karly's Eye-Opening Research Paper
Success Story: Jaki Overcomes Sugar Addiction
Success Story: Kasey Improves Her Hearing Impairment
happy valentines day!
So far I've shared my Valentine's Day Gift Guide as well as some food and drink ideas for a romantic V-day. Now it's time for a brief history of the holiday! Do you ever wonder what these holidays are for? I always want to know so I looked into the history of Valentine's Day and what I found out is that no one really seems to know…
Here's what we do know sort of: Pope Gelasius declared February 14th a day of celebration in honor of Saint Valentine in the year 496. Strangely enough nothing is known of Saint Valentine other than his name and that he was buried north of Rome. Historians haven't completely nailed down how this turned into a romantic holiday but it seems that it came about in the 14th century thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporaries. Before that time no saint named Valentine had ever been mentioned as a patron of love.
Anywho over the centuries V-day evolved into the holiday we celebrate today. Mass production of Valentine's Day cards began back in the 1800s when symbols like hearts and images of Cupids became closely associated with the holiday. It's funny - I remember being a little girl in school - we all shared cards on Valentine's Day and it was so cute and sweet. Remember what a big deal it was? If you liked someone you hoped they'd give you a special card or valentine. I wish it still felt that way. As an adult it turns into a holiday with so much pressure to spend a lot of money. I wish we could all vow just to keep it simple like when we were ten or twelve – such a sweet place to be and so freeing to be able to just do whatever you want.
Now V-day is a nearly 17 billion industry crazy right?. And while it is fun to spend dollars on your significant other or friends the 14th doesn't have to cost a penny. And those non-material gifts like a cute and sweet letter bike ride together picnic photos videos etc...are the most green and often most memorable.
I remember the first Valentine's Day that my husband and I spent together. We weren't veg yet. For dessert I knew he liked pears so I made him a pear dessert. My Candied Ginger Pear recipe from The Kind Diet is an updated version of that - it's perfect for Valentine's Day! For a bunch more Valentine's Day dessert ideas check out page 179 of The Kind Diet or browse the Kind Recipe Gallery. Whether you're flying solo cooking with your significant other or hanging with a new flame I hope you have a cozy kind V-day.
How are you celebrating Valentine's Day?
Related Stories:
Kind Treats for Valentine's Day
My Valentine's Day Gift Guide
Delicious Sunday Dinners
Sunday Brunch
February 13, 2012
vegan cookie dough you can't resist
Kind Lifers like us are often looking for a new way to satisfy their sweet tooth but more often than not tasty vegan options are few and far between. Well if you like cookies and honestly who doesn't? we've got a real treat for you! EatPastry vegan cookie dough is a fantastic product easy to bake up and eat up.
Our cookie dough contains no guilt and no cruelty; just tasty goodness made with the environment in mind. EatPastry aims to provide you with irresistible vegan cookie dough to be enjoyed at any hour – day or night – baked or raw.
The couple and co-founders began EatPastry like many other journeys – confused curious and dedicated. The concept for a 'vegan world of sweet fantasy' evolved over many ideas and inspirations. Experiments did not cease until what they thought to be the best tasting cookie dough on the market was born. Although still curious and dedicated some of the confusion has diminished well at least about cookie dough!.
There are several delicious flavors of EatPastry cookie dough to choose from including Regular Chocolate Chip Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chocoholic and Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip. You can conveniently find them at Whole Foods and other fine natural markets. Print this coupon to get a 1.00 off your purchase!
If you can't find a store near you that carries our cookie dough you can order online at Vegan Essentials. Each container is only 6.69!
How would you like to win some vegan shoes to go along with your vegan cookie dough?
EatPastry is giving away a pair of their favorite vegan sneakers from Saucony as well as an EatPastry t-shirt! All you have to do to enter is head over to our Facebook page and 'Like' to enter! We'll announce the winner on February 20.
Good luck and happy kind baking!
Today's post is proudly sponsored by
a kind valentines day meal
I'm a big fan of cooking with your loved one. It's romantic fun relaxing and you're giving each other the best gift you could possibly give – nourishing yourselves. Make it a special occasion and plan a special meal together. If you want to do something really special and save money make a really intimate romantic vibe at your house and cook together open a bottle of wine if that's your thing. Enjoy the experience of creating something whether it's by yourself and presented to your loved one or made together.
Let's start with beverages. If you plan to drink wine go for organic. If you're going to open a bottle of wine here are some choices that I like:
Georges Deboeuf – Beaujolais
Bonterra Chardonnay
Our Daily Red - 8 – organic sulfite-free
Paraducci - Sustainable Red 2005 Mendocino County
Well Read Trader Joes
Or if you haven't tried my Warm Spicy Wine it's insanely delicious. Or I found this Pomegranate Cocktail if you're in a more wild and crazy mood. Before you get your mixology on check out Barnivore for a complete list of vegan wines beers and spirits.
Chocolate
For the traditional V-day chocolates try one of these great confectioners:
Endangered Species Chocolate Vegan Collection
Nicobella
Missionary Chocolate
ChocAlive
Lagusta's Luscious
NibMor
Allison's Gourmet
Rescue Chocolates
If you'd rather bake try the Coffee Fudge Brownies from my book p. 181 or these Raspberry Truffle Brownies from the Post Punk Kitchen. You can find lots more yummy desserts starting on page 179 of The Kind Diet.
Savory
I combed the Kind Recipe Gallery for some of your savory recipes and added some selections from around the web. Here are some ideas for your V-Day meal.
Tempeh Bacon Wrapped Dates from Vegan Happy Hour
Caramelized Beets from the Post Punk Kitchen
Vegan Mushroom Fondue from Jolinda Hackett
Almost Beef Wellington with Madeira Sauce from PETA
Easy Mushroom Pizza from Kind Lifer Sammi
Whole Wheat Lasagna with Italian 'Sausage' and Peppers from Little House of Veggies
If you're dining at home set the mood with some handmade soy-based candles. Etsy has a huge selection! For those of you in LA who want to go out to eat check out Elf Café Real Food Daily or M Café for yum desserts or a full meal. For a really romantic meal in LA go to Elf Café or slightly less romantic but certainly delicious RFD or M Café. For super fancy dining Madeleine's Bistro is not insanely delicious but it's fancy. For superhero dining run to Inaka. For people who want a special fancy meal go to Shima.
My hands down first pick is Elf Cafe note: it's cash only and byob. For new york Candle 79 Kajitsa Shojin is great. They serve Buddhist temple food – monk food. It's so lovely in there…romantic and special. If you order saki it comes in a precious little glass. Every plate is an experience! The ware they serve things on is lovely and the food is so simple and lovely - it's a beautiful beautiful place.
Pure Food and Wine in NYC is great. Go here to see what I order when I go there. And if you happen to be In England go to the Gate in London. For sure where I would go.
What will you be eating on Valentine's Day? Do you plan to cook or go out?
Related Stories:
Kind Treats for Valentine's Day
My Valentine's Day Gift Guide
Our Social Activites as of Late...
My Warm Spicy Wine
February 10, 2012
a sweet treat for valentine's day
It's a sad moment for many to learn that Nutella isn't vegan. Luckily this addictive chocolaty hazelnut spread can be veganized! This recipe for homemade Nutella is from Christie Matheson's book Cake Simple.
This could be great for V-day breakfast gifted in a hand-labeled mason jar or even used as a frosting for a cake or cupcakes. I haven't tried it but it looks like it could be good…enjoy!
Vegan Nutella
Ingredients
1 cup hazelnuts
12 oz vegan milk chocolate chopped
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4ths teaspoon salt
Steps
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until they've browned about 12 minutes. When they've slightly cooled peel off the skin by rubbing them with a kitchen towel – it's ok if some of the skin remains.
Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a medium saucepan over simmering water or in the microwave stirring until smooth. Allow the chocolate to cool completely.
Take your toasted hazelnuts and using a food processor like a Cuisinart grind the hazelnuts into a paste. Once you have your paste add the oil sugar cocoa powder vanilla and salt and continue to blend until smooth or as smooth as possible.
Add the melted chocolate and continue to blend well.
Strain the mixture to remove any remaining solids. The outcome will be a fairly thin mixture but it will thicken as it cools. The Nutella will stay for 2 weeks in a jar.
Will you be making any chocolate treats for Valentine's Day? If you make this let me know how it turns out!
Related Stories:
How To Fall in Love with Greens...
Cheesy Oozy Guacamole Bean Dip
Kind Treats for Valentine's Day
My Valentine's Day Gift Guide
February 9, 2012
kind classics: even your nails can be kind!!!
A while back I went to a raw food convention in Jamaica. Raw chef Juliano Brotman was giving a lecture and during this lecture he mentioned the importance of clean not toxic-nail-painted hands in the kitchen as we were using our hands for much of the preparing. He also talked about how he likes to nibble on women's hands and feet and how it's gross for them to be wearing polish. I was like "I want my fingers and toes nibbled on!". For some reason that really stuck with me and I stopped wearing polish after that.
I used to wear nail polish religiously when I was younger…like from ten on. But it's been years since I've worn it regularly. Every once in a while I have a role where it is important for the character to wear polish. And for Time Stands Still I wore red polish by Zoya everyday because it made sense for my character Mandy.
Sometimes very rarely I just get the urge to wear it too and I go for the most eco/healthy/friendly polish I can find. Even though I don't often go for polish I still love a manicure. I usually go once a month sometimes more if I'm lucky.
It's really important to not cut your cuticles! It has become common practice among manicurists to do this. It's ok if they gently push them back but your cuticles are there for a reason. They keep dirt and other gross stuff from getting into your nails and causing infection. Cutting them also makes them grow back more quickly and uglier forcing you to get another manicure sooner. It's just lazy nail work. It looks great that day sure but not for long. Have them cut your hang-nails if you want to but leave the cuticles. I have a strong dislike for hang nails…cause I can't stop picking at them.
In New York I like to go to Sweet Lily Natural Nail Spa in Tribeca for eco-friendly nail treatment!
Some nail salons use disposable supplies that you can take with you at the end of your mani/pedi. Just ask them to give you the supplies at the end instead of throwing them out. And then you can bring them back each week. I do this and I use mine for ages.
Both of these salons use Zoya vegan polishes. Zoya polishes work just as well as the toxic stuff. I avoid nail polish that contains dibutyl phthalate/DBP a substance that was banned from most nail polishes in the US in 1996 formaldehyde a carcinogen and toluene a liquid that smells like paint thinner and can cause neurological harm if inhaled…not good for you!! These are all toxins that could affect your nervous system and cause serious health problems. They are known to cause headaches dizziness infertility liver damage skin irritation and kidney damage. Toxic nail polish is basically a regular acrylic paint paint that is made with synthetic materials. It is harmful to the environment to the consumer and to the workers that produce it. Workers are around all those toxins that go into the polish day in and day out then we put it on our nails and it seeps into our bodies and then harmful chemicals are used to remove it and it all goes into the Earth. Read more at Suite101 - Toxic Nail Polish: Nail Enamel Ingredients That Harm the Environment and Your Health.
Do you have a favorite green all natural nail place like Sweet Lily?
If you want to check toxicity levels of the nail products or any product you are currently using you can visit the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. They've compiled a list of 53332 products!
Here is a list that I've been compiling of non-toxic polishes and removers. I haven't tried all of these polishes so I don't really have a favorite but I do like using Zoya and this polish remover that my part-time roommate while I was in NY and supermodel Lonneke just introduced me to called Priti. Some Earth-friendly polish removers take a long time to get the polish off but this one works really well! You just have to be patient and hold the organic cotton swab with the remover on there for like 10-20 seconds… and then take it off. It works great!!
Nail Polish
Remover
Related Stories:
Kind Classics: Natural Makeup
Is There Lead in Your Lipstick?
My Favorite Beauty Products and the Best Facial in LA!
To Acupuncture or Not To Acupuncture...
Alicia Silverstone's Blog
- Alicia Silverstone's profile
- 85 followers
