Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 154

kind newbies: meet andrea

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Andrea started her vegan journey in early September. Here's what she says about it so far:
 
"I have been a vegan officially for 1 week and in that time I already feel more energetic and less moody. I did not even wait to finish your book to convert. Everything in there is just broken down so that it speaks to all levels. I recently underwent 2 spinal surgeries and a hysterectomy. All in less than a year. I was told I have issues that will cause kidney functions to fail and that was that. No other 'this can help or that would work'. I had gained about 30 pounds and I knew I needed a change. I am hoping that eating better will allow my body to heal and to get my nerves back on track to correct the issues I have with my kidneys. This is a big deal for me...I have children and I want to see them grow up and be successful.
 
When I started to read your book I thought...dang... I LOVE animals...have always wanted to try to do the best for them. Why am I still eating them? Secretly I knew about the garbage they give them. I know they have bad lives… so why am I here still participating in the horrible treatment? I had no answer...and that was it.
 
My husband is a great man and is taking this journey with me and with no argument!!!. I know that my 3 kids are going to school and will eat what is around but slowly I think as they get a little older they too will participate in a kinder diet."
 
Andrea thank you so much for sharing the beginning of your vegan journey with us! Keep us posted on your and your family's progress.
 
Everyone please welcome Andrea and share any tips or advice you have for her in the comments below.

More Kind Newbies:

Meet Laura

success story: sarah reverses her freshman 15!

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Kind Lifer Sarah recently shared how she shed her freshman 15 by adopting a kind diet. Check it out:

"I started college and I quickly gained the freshman 15. From all the naps we always took in our dorms to the girls' night ice cream movie parties the weight found it's way to me. I worked out 3 times a week and became depressed; I had constant headaches; I was always taking naps and I was breaking out like I never had before. When I transferred colleges I became best friends with two vegetarians and they introduced me to the lifestyle as well as your book. I watched the documentary Earthlings and cried the whole way through and never looked back. I felt cheated all through life that no one told me the truth about what I was eating I wasn't angry as much as just hurt. I became vegan cold turkey. I'm a 6-month vegan and I have never been happier! I have incredibly clear skin which I never thought would ever happen; all of my acne scaring is gone. I haven't had a headache since I first detoxed and became vegan and best of all I lost all my freshman 15 weight and look better than ever. My life is truly changed for the better and I've even co-founded a vegan/vegetarian club at my college. My 2 vegetarian friends and I are spreading the word to everyone!"

I'm so happy for you Sarah! This gets me so excited I can't stand it!
 
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!

More Success Stories:

Zena Heals Her Relationship With Food
Angela Keeps MS at Bay
Justine's Dramatic Weight Loss
Carol Overcomes Depression and Loses Weight

keep those vegan lips healthy with hurraw! lip balm

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It's officially fall Kind Lifers and that means it's time to stock up on Hurraw! Lip Balm. There's no better way to keep those vegan lips healthy in the coming cold months.

As always Hurraw! Balms are 100 natural handmade with organic and raw ingredients and even better they smell divine!

Add a slight red tint with the Black Cherry or Cinnamon Balms. Check out the real Vanilla seeds in the heavenly Vanilla Bean Balm. Or treat your lips to a Green Tea or Chai Spice Balm. Don't forget the sun's rays can still be pretty strong in the winter months so be prepared with the Tangerine Chamomile SPF 15 Balm. And once the sun sets follow the natural light rhythms and lull yourself to sleep early with the deeply moisturizing and soothing Moon Balm.

Stay tuned for the new Earl Grey Tea flavor coming soon! And be sure to check out all of the fabulous Hurraw! Lip Balm flavors HERE.

This post is proudly sponsored by

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delicious sunday dinners

Every Sunday my husband and I go to the farmers market. And then we come home and cook! Here are a few pictures of recent meals we made from our farmers market goodies.

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What farmers market dishes have you cooked recently?

More Food Stories:

Vegan Oktoberfest
Sugar-holics Anonymous
Incredible Cruciferous Veggies
Summer Travels With the Spork Sisters

words of wisdom

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What are your favorite inspirational quotes?

More Inspiration:

Ari Solomon on Kindness
Farm Sanctuary's Marathon
Fable of the Porcupine
My Amazing Friend Tevia

kind classics: how to pack a healthy lunch that your kids will actually eat

Now that school's in full swing I thought I'd share this one from the archives...enjoy!

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I found this great article on Girlie Girl Army and thought I'd share these tips with all you kind moms!
 
How to Pack a Healthy Lunch that You Feel Good About and Your Children Actually Eat!

Lunches are such a tricky thing…on one hand all of the children are comparing what they got in their lunchboxes and do you really want them to be the ones with the lame lunch?. And on the other hand you want to send them off with something nutritious to fuel them through their day that you feel good about and that they will eat! If this is your conundrum read on!
 
Most Mom's Lunchbox Criteria are that the lunch must:

Be quick and easy to pack.
Be healthy and include fruits and/or vegetables.
Contain foods kids will actually eat.

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This Insulated Cow Lunch Bag pvc-free/ ethically made and 30 is a perfect way for your kid to explain why s/he doesn't eat animals!

Some Healthful Hints to Improve the "Lunch Box Battles"

Get your kids involved in the shopping and/or preparation and ask what they like. Take them somewhere like Whole Foods or your local healthy grocery shop and let them pick out some healthy options for their lunchboxes. Spend some time in the produce section and let them experiment with some different fruits. If your child normally only eats apples try the cherries if they are in season! Buy a few mangos a box of strawberries or some clementines. These make healthy delicious lunchbox additions as well! Encourage them to make their own decisions as to what they want to try- whether it is a new type of drink or treat. They will be much more likely to embrace it if they have chosen it. Do not and I repeat do not take them to a big grocery store where the aisles are lined with potato chips and cheese puffs!
 
Buy a lunchbox that is easy to use and that your child likes!

My children use the Lands End ones but there are many other fun ones to choose from these days! One of my favorite companies is Laptop Lunches which has fun bento box style lunchboxes and also a wide variety of fantastic lunchbox ideas!
Include multiple colors & textures into their lunches.

When we are at a restaurant we like a variety of colors and textures on our plates and kids are like that too! Pack a soft sandwich crunchy carrot sticks and creamy vegan yogurt for a satisfying combo. For nursery age children cut their sandwiches into shapes and make fun things like 'ants on a log' celery filled with vegan cream cheese topped with raisons.
 
Include condiments in their lunchboxes!

Condiments are not just for grown-ups and children love love love to squirt and dip things. You could include hummus or ranch dressing to dip carrots into ketchup for a tofu dog or even maple syrup to dip a grilled almond butter and jelly sandwich into- yum!
 
Leftovers are great for lunch!

Get out of the 'grilled daiya cheese and pb&j thinking' and be experimental with what you include. Did you have grilled tofu the night before? Then wrap up the tofu in a wrap! Have pasta the night before? Include that too! You will be surprised how much more your children will enjoy their lunches and eat them!   Lunch boxes don't have to- and shouldn't- contain the usual sandwich every day! If you do pack a sandwich vary the bread- serve it on whole wheat one day a wrap the next a pita the next and try to add vegetables such as lettuce and tomato when you can.
 
Last but certainly not least remember to always pack a treat!

When your child opens their lunchbox you don't want them to be the only one without something to look forward to! So make sure when you are at the grocery store with them that they pick out something that is delicious but not high in sugar high fructose corn syrup and saturated fat! I keep a variety on hand and just vary which one I throw in their lunchboxes.
 
Below are some specific ideas for you:
 
"The Cheat Sheet"
 
Main Course choose one:

PB&J with a twist- use almond butter & banana grilled on a whole wheat served with a side of agave
Smart Dogs- in a bun or rolled up  with vegan cheese in a tortilla
Vegan Cheese Quesadillas on corn tortillas with a side of salsa
"Perfectly Healthy" Veggie Pancakes recipe below- cook it the night before & serve at dinner then heat it up in the morning and pack it the next day these also freeze well
Avocado & tomato sandwich
"Mexican Sushi" see recipe below
Vegan chicken nuggets with organic ketchup for dipping

Snacks choose one:

Fruit- bananas apples oranges clementines cherries or grapes
Vegan Yogurt-  choose one high in acidophilis and low in sugar
Carrots sticks with hummus for dipping
Celery sticks filled with vegan cream cheese
Dried fruits no-sugar- raisins apricots bananas papaya or mango
Trail mix no-sugar- try one with Goji berries for iron and Vitamin C
Veggie Booty Roberts American Gourmet
Spelt Pretzels
Organic "Cheese" Crackers by Eco-Planet
Treats every lunchbox must have a treat right!?!
Organic animal crackers
Newman's Own "oreo" cookies
Late July peanut butter crackers

Some snacks via Vegan Girl Next Door

Drinks choose one:

Always pack them a big bottle of water in a bottle of their choosing as well and encourage them to drink it throughout the day! Opt out of the sports drink route unless you find some without added sugar!
Honest Kids- fun squeeze packs comes in Tropical Tango Goodness Grapeness or Berry Berry Good Lemonade
Apple & Eve All-Natural Apple Juice box
Vruit Carrot Apple Juice   box
R.W. Kudsens Spritzers- Lemonade Red Rasberry or Grape can- they think it is soda!
Vita Coco Coconut Water box
Good Old-Fashioned Water!

Good luck and good packing! Do you have any great  tips for packing kids' lunches?

More Parenting Stories:

Breastfeeding 101
The Continuum Concept
Fatim's Superhero Baby
Kind Cuties

guest blog: missi pyles vegan quest - day 1

Earlier I introduced you to my friend Missi Pyle and her new vegan blog. She stayed at my house while I was away and tried out a vegan diet.

Here is her blog about Day 1 of cooking veg:

Day 1

By Missi Pyle

My father who thinks tofu is a Japanese couch that turns into a hard bed that no one should ever sleep on had his first ever vegan meal the other night at Real Food Daily. He had the Tofu Salisbury Steak. He is going deaf and missing half a toe. So it's hard to say how he really felt about it. He ate most of it and shrugged his shoulders. He then tasted my tahini dressing. He swished it around in his mouth a few times gross then simply said "yum."

Promising!

The next day Meredith and I decided to venture into Alicia's cookbook. Knowing we had Frank as our only real taste tester. We decided on something that could invoke yet another of his signature yum's - Waffle Sausage and Cheese Paninis. Because we knew at least the waffles would be actual waffles.

We had a side salad of collard greens and pine nuts and raisins.

Frank sat and sweated while we got our vegan cooking on.

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First we fried the soy sausages put them on a cutting board cut them up and gave some to Lacey the 14 year old vegan dog. Then we stirred together some vegenaise yummy apricot jam thyme and pepper. We toasted the waffles put the jaminaise sauce on them and added the fake sausage sundried tomatoes arugula and fake mozzarella. The flavor was actually insanely good even with the fake mozzarella. Which I am not sure I have fallen in love with just yet.

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We finished the collard greens and sat down with a still very sweaty Frank.

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And the meal was pretty darn delicious. We made it 2 whole days. Only 28 left to go.

More guest Blogs:

Ari Solomon: On Kindness
Lea Michele: Horses
Desi Bartlett: Mommy & Me Yoga

guest blog: missi pyles vegan adventure!

I met Missi while shooting a kids film called Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker in England just after I was married about six years ago. She was so good as Mickey Rourke's sidekick! We spent a nice bit of time together in the Isle of Man and tons since. I have so much love for her - she is one of the funniest people I know – sincere warm and lovely too.

Anywho Missi stayed at my house while I shot Gods Behaving Badly in NYC. She's not a vegan but she tried it while she stayed at my house and she started a blog about her new vegan adventure.

Here is the first entry:

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Vegan Adventures in Wonderland

By Missi Pyle

I sold my Beachwood Canyon bungalow in LA and moved to Montana last year to make a family with a bear man in a geodome on 20 beautiful acres. I had high hopes. But my ovaries have not cooperated and now I am close to broke. After eleven months of failing at trying to get acting jobs by putting myself on digital video with my flip camera propped up on 2 end tables and a foot stool in the living room of said geodome wearing nothing but my blue "business" suit jacket and underwear and sending said video to my agent in LA via the satellite internet which I think is run by a team of oxen i.e. it's slow I have decided I might need to move back to LA to get a job.

So when my friend Alicia Silverstone who is beyond lovely one of the greatest famous people I know really listens and is genuine and a good friend asked me if I wanted to move into her place while I look for a place and while she shoots a movie in NYC I said YES! She lives in a beautiful 2-story house with hard wood floors a heated pool and at least a half acre of woodsy madness. It's like Alicia in Wonderland.

Anyway. My little sister Meredith who is 25 and a recent graduate of OCU in the masters musical theatre department decided she wanted to move to LA to follow her dreams. So I a recent graduate of getting the hell out of Los Angeles have moved back to Los Angeles with my younger skinnier less bitter half sister into Alicia's vegan home.

I am not a vegan.

I have always wanted to be a vegan. When I dine with Alicia I eat vegan and choose not to wear my favorite calf length brown leather boots I've had resoled 3 times and secretly hope we drive her Prius with the cloth seats and not my vintage '06 Lexus with the grey again leather seats.

So when I moved into her house last month with my little sister who practically grew up on a cattle farm I asked her if she wanted to be vegan with me while we stay here and cook recipes from Alicia's vegan cook book. She thought it sounded like a fun adventure. We are Pyles. We love adventure. So here we go. On our vegan adventures in wonderland!

Stay tuned!

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Thank you Missi! This is part one – I'll be posting part two soon!

More Guest Blogs:

Dr. Joel Fuhrman: Cruciferous Veggies
Christina Pirello: Agave Oy Vey
Lea Michele: My Guilty Pleasure

have you tried caf gratitude?

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Café Gratitude is a San Francisco-based vegan restaurant that recently opened its doors in LA at the corner of Melrose and Larchmont.

When I was in San Francisco I tried the chocolate espresso cheesecake – it will blow your mind! Their key lime pie is also amazing. One time I was at my friend Laura's house for a little gathering… they'd had Café Gratitude's key lime pies flown in from San Francisco! Now that Café Gratitude is in LA there's no need for that but that's how good it is. You must try the espresso chocolate cheesecake - it's insane! And the key lime pie too.

I haven't had much of the savory food there but the macro bowl in San Francisco was the best. The place is always packed and they have the nicest friendliest staff. Anywho if you're in LA or SF I recommend trying it!

Have you discovered any great new restaurants lately?

More Restaurants I Love:

My Favorite Restaurants in Detroit
My Delicious Dinner at Jean-Georges
M Cafe's Vegan Benedict
The Best Veggie Burger in LA

success story: carol overcomes depression and loses weight

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Kind Lifer Carol recently shared her success story with me about overcoming depression and getting the added bonus of weight loss when she switched to a kind diet. Check it out:
 
"I am going to be 50 next month and am starting to have some health issues. I was a yoyo dieter through my 20's and 30's and in my 40's. I just decided to give up and stay overweight! I have a beautiful niece who has been a vegan since she was a teen so I don't know why it never occurred to me to give it a try! Something you said on "Oprah" made me order your book and after reading it I decided to try a vegan diet for 30 days.
 
I am on day 14 and decided that I am going to stop counting the days because I am never going back to the unkind way of eating! I don't ever remember feeling so amazing in my life!! One of the best benefits is that I have always struggled with depression and I have always known that it is some kind of chemical thing in my brain. Well I have not had any issues with that since day 1 of going vegan! My head is clear my blood pressure has dropped and my stomach feels so good after a meal instead of yucky after every meal.
 
I am so grateful to have started this way of eating. Oh and as a bonus the weight is coming off and I am eating what I think is a lot of food! I'm loving your recipes! Thanks again for your book this site and your inspiration!"
 
I'm so happy for you Carol! If any of you have a success story you'd like to share private message me or post your story to your profile and "like" it. I may feature you on the homepage of The Kind Life!

More Success Stories:

How Margie Quit Smoking
Monica's Weight Loss and Newfound Confidence
Kim's Newfound Health
Debi Beats Menopause and Stomach Pain