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By Violet's Vegan Comics

Fancy a choc-ice?

By Violet's Vegan Comics

I used to love these

I used to love these

Many years ago I used to love these – choc-ices and Wall’s Feasts – but I hadn’t given them a thought for ages until my friend passed on a brilliant idea she got from The Raw Chocolate Company. I realise now that this is not a new idea, but it’s a good one so here it is:

get a couple of ripe bananas

Get a couple of ripe bananas,

some cashews, or whatever nuts you fancy,

some cashews, or whatever nuts you fancy,

and some raw chocolate

and some raw chocolate.

Plus you’ll need some lolly sticks or chop sticks or similar.

Soak the nuts overnight or at least for a few hours, then rinse them and spread them out to dry on a clean tea towel for an hour or so. When they’re a bit dryer you can put them through a food processor so that they’re finely chopped.

Melt the chocolate.

Carefully peel the bananas and chop them in half. Then lay them on a sheet of eco-friendly parchment paper and stick your lolly stick in them like so.

Carefully peel the bananas and chop them in half. Then lay them on a sheet of eco-friendly parchment paper and stick lolly sticks into them like so.

By the way, if you don’t have any chocolate or nuts you can just freeze the bananas at this stage and you’ll have a delicious ‘ice-cream’ lolly as it is.

However, if do you want the choc-ice, continue as follows:

Put the melted chocolate and the chopped nuts on separate plates;

Put the melted chocolate and the chopped nuts on separate plates;

First roll a banana in the melted chocolate,

then roll a banana in the melted chocolate,

and then in the nuts

and then in the nuts.

And pretty soon you should have a plate of nutty choc-ices to be. Put them in the freezer for a couple of hours or more.

And pretty soon you should have a plate of nutty choc-ices to be. Put them in the freezer for a couple of hours or more.

Et voila! Simply scrumptious nutty banana choc-ices! Perfectly healthy - have as many as you like - and absolutely delicious!

Et voila! Simply scrumptious nutty banana choc-ices! Perfectly healthy – have as many as you like – and absolutely delicious!

You may be vegan, you may be raw, but you’ll never miss out on choc-ices again!

😉

Look at this can

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Look at this can, and picture if you can

What it would do to Peter Rabbit’s paw.

It’s as sharp as a knife, it would cut like a knife,

And cause bad infection for sure.

This is how it goes, when someone just throws

Their drink can on the ground.

Inevitably it must, succumb to the rust,

Get dangerously jagged and unsound.

Now think of this, just think of this –

What if Mrs Tiggywinkle walked over?

What if she trod, right over the sod

Where this can was hidden in the clover?

Or Tabitha Twitchit, perhaps Mrs Twitchit,

Might be walking her youngsters to school.

Moppet and Mittens, and Tom, her kittens

Could, on this can, cut their feet cruel.

“Oh I wish,” they would say, at the end of the day,

“That the can had never been left there.”

Their feet would sting, as infection set in,

“But humans who litter just don’t care.”

The Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare

By Violet's Vegan Comics

At Raystede they rescue, rehome and provide sanctuary for more than 1500 animals each year. It is free to visit almost every day of the year and very important to their work is their educational service, used by schools in East Sussex and beyond. They also offer guidance to all ages on caring for animals.

They say: “Our Sanctuary, with its sizeable lakes, offers a safe haven for visiting waterfowl as well as for our chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. We also offer a lifelong home for goats, horses, ponies and donkeys which are no longer wanted.”

Helloo

This little person is named Sweetpea, and she is sooo friendly and gorgeous! You can see in the background the fields in which the goats can go to play.

So what do you like about me

Sweetpea again, what an adorable face!

What's that (2)

This is Toffee! Isn’t he a splendid gentleman? Here he is standing in front of the stables and next to the climbing frame.

Reeach

Toffee again – here he is trying to reach for a piece of paper I am holding. I love his beard!

Reeeach

Reach! Now he’s going for my camera.

Thats it

Mmm! Tasty. He has a lovely soft tongue, he licked my fingers.

Well hello there

Hello there! Rocky is 7 years old. He likes people and scratching.

This is Lettie - she is taller than the other goats, so she can stand on her hind legs and eat off of the trees. Isn't she so delightfully pretty?

This is Lettie – she is taller than the other goats, so she can stand on her hind legs and eat off of the trees. Isn’t she so delightfully pretty?

Rrrub

Lettie again, having a good back-rub on the side of the stable

Itchy scratchy

Snowdrop having a good scratch

This is where the goats live and spend a lot of their time.

This is where the goats live and spend a lot of their time.

POSTSCRIPT:

Sadly, while they do a lot of good for some animals, Raystede sells meat, fish, eggs and dairy in their cafe, thus paying for a lot of animal suffering and encouraging their supporters to do the same. A two year campaign of letter writing and a petition asking them to make their cafe vegan has received no response from those in charge who seem to think they are not answerable for the betrayal of their founder’s mission to make the world a better place for ALL animals.

Celebrate The Loving Hut and life in general

By Violet's Vegan Comics

The Loving Hut in Brighton celebrated its 4th anniversary at the weekend and we were there!

Before the festivities got under way, some people competed in a show of strength and stamina. Who will be the last left standing?

Then there were only 2 …

And we have a winner!!!!

Then came the Lion Dance (a form of traditional dance in Chinese and other Asian countries, in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume – so says Wikipedia.) There were 2 teams – from Brighton, in red, and from Crawley (including some of the Loving Hut staff) in white.

And of course, in spite of the fact that we are now raw most of the time, how could we not enter into the spirit of things? We had Loving Hut Burger and chips, chik’n burger and chips and Peking style with rice. Yum!

Fantastic food! Fantastic place! Fantastic people!

Loving Hut Brighton, life-affirming vegan cafe, – Long May You Continue 🙂

Oh, and as we set off for home, sadly sooner than we would have liked, we couldn’t help noticing some of the participants of the Brighton Naked Bike Ride, celebrating life in their own way. (Look away now if you’re bashful)

Raw Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Indulge yourself

Believe it or not – this is a health food! Here’s how:

You’ll need 1 cup of organic raw Brazil nuts, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed:

200g or so of pitted organic fresh dates:

3 tablespoons of organic raw cacao nibs:

1 tablespoon of organic raw carob powder (or cacao):

2 teaspoons of organic vanilla extract:

And 50g of organic fair trade raw chocolate:

1. Bung the dates into the food processor and chop/mix into a gooey, pastey consistency. Transfer to mixing bowl.

2. Now put the nuts into the food processor and finely chop into tiny bits. Add to the dates in the bowl.

3. Add cacao nibs, carob powder and vanilla to the bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork.

4. Plonk the whole mixture back into the food processor and process again so that your thick, sticky, soft, heavy mixture is thoroughly and smoothly combined. (My food processor – which is just an attachment of my hand blender – is very small so I did my mixture in two halves).

5. Now pile up your cookie mixture onto a smooth worktop and spoon out enough to make one cookie, press it flat on top with a knife and cut out your cookie. Slide a knife under the cookie and put it on a plate. Cut out all your cookies like this. I made 10 thick cookies out of this mixture, with a bit left over for tasting.

6. Then cover them in melted chocolate:

7. Then chill:

8. Indulge in your health food

Don’t forget, the Brazil nuts in these are packed with selenium, an essential trace mineral which is a powerful antioxidant that combats the damage that free radicals cause in the body, and it can improve cardiovascular health and fight cancer as well. It also plays a role in thyroid health, assisting with the metabolism of iodine and the production of critical thyroid hormones.

Just google it or see here for more info 🙂

So go on – get this health food down you!

No Fracking!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

$anti fracking$

This morning, just before the Queen’s Speech, Greenpeace activists arrived at David Cameron’s very own home and set up a fracking site.

David Cameron today used the Queen’s Speech to launch his plan to change the law. He wants to rob us of our right to stop fracking firms drilling under our homes.

To do it, he’ll have to get the majority of MPs to vote for the plan. But lots of MPs are already unsure about fracking, especially in their own constituencies.

We’ve launched an emergency petition to MPs. If they hear from thousands of their voters that we want them to vote against David Cameron’s plan, they will start to understand what a backlash they could face.

See HERE for info about fracking. It scares the hell out of me!

Click HERE to sign the petition. Before it’s too late. Thank you.

We woz ere #1

By Violet's Vegan Comics

We thought we’d keep a record of where we’d left a calling card.

See if you can spot the cards and work out where we went last Monday – and since this is the first go at this game, we’ve made it easy 😉

The pictures are numbered 1 to 6. By which picture did you first know where we were and what we were doing? And in which pictures did you spot our cards? 😀

What could be cooler than a Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics T-shirt?

By Violet's Vegan Comics

A Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics Volpars T-shirt, with front and back images! 😀

Chocolate Intermission

By Violet's Vegan Comics

We found some more! Delicious and healthy organic raw vegan chocolate by Raw Living

I chose the Hi Crunch with scrummy goji berries and hemp seeds in, and Miranda chose the White Magic fudge bar. We were both happy with our selections.

And the thing that made me especially happy to find these guys is that there was NO PLASTIC WRAPPING! NONE!!! Just like they used to be in the olden days, these treats were harmlessly wrapped in foil and paper. Well done Raw Living, we are very impressed.

So why not check out Raw Living website and see what you fancy 🙂

Can it get any better than this????

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Raw. Vegan. Organic. Ethically traded. Conscious Chocolate.

This is heavenly. So virtuous, yet so indulgent. So delicious, yet so satisfying – ie you don’t need to eat the whole bar at once, you can savour it and make it last.

And so many flavours to choose from (this isn’t all they’ve got by the way – look here) – I had to order a few to see what my favourite is …. and I’ve decided that it’s ….

… the orange! Definitely! Gorgeous! The plain is perfect for melting onto my flapjacks, but for eating on its own, the orange is definitely me favourite … although –

the mint is fantastic. Just one piece of this after a meal makes the perfect after dinner mint. Oh yes, it’s the mint, the mint is my favourite, I’m certain … but then, the goji and coconut, mm mmm, that’s gorgeous too, I love the berries mixed with the chocolate and the coconut, the different textures and flavours that go so well together. And what about the cheeky cherry? Cherries and chocolate, how could that not be a winner? Oh, I don’t know …

No, it has to be this one! The Nutty One – how could anything rival chocolate nuts? I’ve always loved nutty chocolate, it’s an old favourite, since forever. But then, the other flavours are new to me, and equally delicious so I shouldn’t give priority to ‘old favourites’ ….

There’s only one thing for it – I have to declare that I cannot choose a favourite! Where Conscious Chocolate is concerned, variety is definitely the spice of life and I will continue to indulge in them all.

I highly recommend you do the same! 🙂

EAT ORGANIC

By Violet's Vegan Comics

“You are what you eat” No 3

By Violet's Vegan Comics

“You are what you eat” No 2

By Violet's Vegan Comics

“You are what you eat” No.1

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Raw Chocolate Nut Truffles

By Violet's Vegan Comics

You’ll need:

1 cup of organic raw almonds (soaked over night; thoroughly rinsed, then spread on a clean tea towel to dry for a couple of hours)
200g pitted fresh dates (soaked for 2 to 3 hours)
1 tablespoon of raw cacao or carob powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Some sultanas
60g of raw melted chocolate

1. In a food processor/chopper/mixer process the dates and then transfer them to a mixing bowl.

2. Then process the almonds until finely chopped and add to the dates in your bowl.

3. Add the cacao/carob, vanilla, as many sultanas as you fancy, and the melted chocolate and mix with a spoon until thoroughly combined.

4. Then return the mixture (a bit at a time if necessary) to your food processor and process together briefly until you have the right truffle consistency.

5. Finally, with a teaspoon spoon little truffles onto a plate and decorate with walnuts (if you like)

Will keep in the fridge for a few days.

It’s as simple as that!

Absolutely scrummy! 🙂

Vegan Business Cards

By Violet's Vegan Comics

New business cards we have at last,

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” we say,

We just can’t wait to slip them in books

Or otherwise give them away!

Eco-printed with vegetable oil based inks on recycled paper by A Local Printer

Lentil Burger with mushrooms and leeks

By Violet's Vegan Comics

If a husband does not want

To eat his food all raw

It’s nice to give him a surprise

So he smiles even more.

***

To this end I made for mine,

A gluten-free bread roll,

Lentil burger with mushrooms and leeks,

To put into his cake-hole!

Don’t kill the world

By Violet's Vegan Comics

A New Way of Living

By Violet's Vegan Comics

So simple it’s brilliant!

Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland

Food production can be a problem for many people who have little or no access to land.

There are many who live in conditions where even a balcony is a precious space.

I have spoken before about the ways in which access to growing space can be achieved, through allotments, community gardens and the like, but here is something which may prove to be an inspiration, a new way of looking at food, both growing it and eating!

As an aspiring Vegan, (sometimes I miss the mark!) and dedicated grower and lover of all life, I have recently been converted to “Micro Greens.”

The concept is extraordinarily simple!

Seeds such as lettuce, peas, beets, etc., are sown and grown for about two weeks or less, before being harvested and added to dishes.

These Micro-Greens, it is said, contain up to 40% more nutrients than older, traditionally grown and harvested vegetables.

View original post 230 more words

Introducing Miranda

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Well, Miranda has always been here, she has always been an indispensable part of the Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics team but since she’s now set up a separate username we thought we’d better introduce her properly so that it won’t confuse anyone when they see a different gravatar coming from VVeC. Violet’s Vegan Comics would be nothing without her, no one would know it existed, so it’s time she got the recognition she deserves 🙂

Please say hello to our Miranda Lemon!

Miranda Lemon: Chief Visionary Officer of Violet's Veg*n e-Comics

Miranda Lemon: Chief Visionary Officer of Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics

You know it’s a good day when you see …

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Vegan Nursery Rhymes on Kindle

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Amazon Kindle vegan nursery rhymes

Click the pic

Vegan Nursery Rhymes is now available on Kindle!

Six popular nursery rhymes have been veganised, colourfully illustrated and made into a tiny little kindle book.

So cute 🙂

Why don’t you pop over to Amazon and take a look?

Imagine if the tables were turned …

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Violet's Vegan Comics

Click on the picture to see what it might be like if humans were the main attraction at a theme park

View original post

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

By Violet's Vegan Comics

No-Bake Blueberry Chocolate Flapjacks

By Violet's Vegan Comics

These are absolutely as good as they look! I think they’re my best invention yet!

Want some? This is what you’ll need:

200g of fresh dates (pits removed and soaked for 2 to 3 hours)

200g of organic fresh dates (pits removed and soaked for 2 to 3 hours)

125g of organic fresh blueberries

125g of organic fresh blueberries

organic raw cacao nibs

organic raw cacao nibs (optional)

organic jumbo oats

organic jumbo oats

dark chocolate

vegan organic fair trade chocolate – raw if you’ve got it

1. Drain and rinse your soaked dates and chop them in your food processor, or by hand, until they’re well mushed up and combined. Transfer them into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add your fresh blueberries and mix well.

3. Add as many cacao nibs as you want and mix well.

4. Put the whole lot back into the food processor and chop/mix it into a smooth, wet, really quite runny, mixture.

5. Return it to the mixing bowl and add oats. Keep adding oats and mixing until you have a stiff flapjack mixture. Then put the lot into a flat tin, lined with non-toxic parchment paper, and press it with the back of a spoon so that it fills the tin and is uniformly flat and smooth.

6. Put your flapjacks in the fridge while you melt your chocolate. Put some very hot water into a large bowl; break your chocolate into small pieces and put them in a small bowl; put the small bowl to float in the hot water; don’t get water in the chocolate. Your chocolate will melt quite quickly – keep an eye on it 🙂

7. Then remove your tin of flapjack mixture from the fridge and cover in melted chocolate. Chill and cut into squares when set.

8. Enjoy your gorgeous flapjacks 🙂

I know you will 😉

Smile, you’re vegan!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

I want a new hat!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

I want a new hat,

It’s as simple as that!

But I’ve got no money to buy one.

I know what I’ll do,

I’ve got old hats – two,

I’ll unravel to make a new one.

Rose shared a pattern,

A cool beret pattern,

Which I’ll use to make my new hat.

The purple from my sloppy

And the cream from my saggy

Hats will go great together for that!

Summertime!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Violet’s Veg*n e-Comics declares that summer is here!

So switch off your computer, get outside and soak up some vitamin D! I’m off to plant my tomatoes 🙂

Recycle an old shirt or two

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Here’s an idea I got from this book: Click on the pic find it on Amazon

At least, I think I got it from this one but I gave it away a while ago so I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, if you’ve got a couple of old shirts – preferably big men’s ones – lying around with nothing to do, why not cut them up and make a new apron? My husband decided these just weren’t him any more. Excellent! 😉

So, you’ve got your hands on a couple of old shirts that nobody wants – actually you could do this with one shirt but it’s nice to have contrasting patterns and colours to work with.

Cut out the back of the shirt which is going to be the main piece of your apron. If, like me, you don’t want to be bothered with hemming or edging, cut outside the seam (as shown here) and then your edge is already hemmed. Cut up to the arm pit on both sides of the back and then straight across.

It should look something like this.

Cut off the collar of the other shirt (or the same one if you prefer) – this is going to be your apron’s waistband. You only want the bit that would go around the neck, not the triangle-ish bit. Again cut outside the stitching so that you don’t need to edge it yourself.

Then you need to unpick the bottom edge of the collar …

… so that you can slightly gather the top of your apron and fit it inside the collar (now waistband). Pin it in place.

Sew on the waistband. I like zigzag but you could easily do this by hand.

Now for your design. You could cut out the breast pocket from one of the shirts and attach it to your apron. I think that’s what the book tells you to do and it does look lovely but I thought “I don’t need a pocket on my apron” so I decided not to. You could do anything you like … or nothing at all 🙂 I went with lettering.

Cut your design out of the contrasting material ….

… and pin it to your apron.

Sew it in place.

Nearly there. Now you just need ties.

I used the shirt button bands for the simplicity. They’re already stitched and you can attach them to the collar/waistband with buttons!

When I was a young child …

By Violet's Vegan Comics

When I was a young child

An omnivore diet I ate.

I wasn’t very adventurous,

The same few things appeared on my plate.

I liked to eat egg, chips and beans,

Or sometimes sausage and mash.

Occasionally I’d have fish fingers and peas,

Or maybe corned beef hash.

***

I didn’t like many vegetables,

Only peas, baked beans and carrots.

No one could make me eat my greens,

I’d never even heard of shallots.

***

My range of fruit went as far as apples,

Bananas, an orange at Christmas.

I preferred to eat biscuits and cakes and bread,

Peanuts and crisps, not citrus.

***

When I went veggie I ate lots more eggs

And cheese instead of the flesh foods.

Fat and more fat, cholesterol and fat,

But rarely increased the plant foods.

***

Now that I’m vegan, when they say to me,

“My goodness, what do you eat?”

I take a deep breath as I smile to myself

And happily repeat:

“I eat lettuce and spinach and onions and leeks,

Mushrooms and cabbage and beetroot;

Tomatoes and chard and purslane and sprouts,

Alfalfa and clover and bean shoots.”

“I eat mangos and apricots, pineapples and pears,

Almonds, sultanas and cashews;

Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries,

Dates, prunes, avocados.”

My diet today is the most varied it’s been

Ever before in my lifetime.

High nutrition I get from my living food,

Not to mention the taste which is sublime!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake

Raw vegan chocolate cake with ganache frosting

Raw vegan chocolate cake with ganache frosting

raw-vegan-pizza-recipe skinnylimitsdotcom

Raw vegan pizza from skinnylimits.com

Raw vegan lasagne

Raw vegan lasagne

Crafty Vegan

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Veganism should be happy and it should be everywhere.

You can say it loud and proud without ever having to open your mouth!

Show the world your happy veganism by writing it on your stuff!

No pattern needed for these make-it-up-as-you-go bags and pencil cases made from upcycled old jeans and shirts. Just put your imagination behind your scissors and get snipping. Then sew your designs to your background. The lettering (above) is made by sewing knitting yarn onto the material with zigzag machine stitch.

This bag is different from the others in that it has no zip at the top. Instead it has a fold-over flap that keeps your bag closed. This is easily done by taking a rectangular piece of fabric which is a little wider than you want your bag and a bit longer than three times the depth of your bag. Place a piece of contrasting material the same size (for the lining) with it’s right side against the right side of the outer fabric. Then sew around 3 sides of the two of them and turn them right side out. Tidily sew the open end together with the rough edges tucked in.

Then sew on your design(s). If you’re doing a design on front, back and flap like this one, make sure each design will be the right way up when the fabric is folded. Pin it first if you’re not sure.

Now, with your designs on the outside, fold the bottom of this piece up to 2 thirds of the way up – the last third will be your fold-over flap – then sew up the two sides (sew it inside out if you don’t want the stitches to show). You should now have a bag (minus the strap) with a fold-over flap.

So, you’ve got your bag, you’ve got your design on your bag, now you just need to cut your strap, sew it together if it’s in two pieces, and attach it. This “Smile – U R Vegan” bag is made of an old shirt and some oddments of material. The strap is the button bands of the shirt. Make sure your stitching is strong but don’t worry about neatly hemming it – I think it looks good being a bit rough around the edges. Button hole bands are good to use for this because half the work’s done for you as it’s already sewn double thickness.

And that’s pretty much it. You could have a different one for every day of the week! 🙂

Say it with knitting!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Whether it be on your clothes, a cushion cover or a patchwork blanket – you can say it with knitting!

First of all decide what you want to write. Then make a plan.

You’ll need some squared paper which you can buy or make yourself. Each square on the paper will represent one stitch on your needle. So number the squares and then mark out whatever you want to write in knitting. Once you’ve worked out how many stitches wide your whole piece will be you can cast on in your background colour, and have your contrasting colour ready to use when you come to the stitches mapped out on your plan. As you change colours you just string the other colour across the back of the knitting ready to use next time that colour is required by your plan – you don’t cut – just keep changing between colours while keeping all yarns attached until you’ve completed your design.

It’s important to make sure you’re counting from the right direction so that your writing comes out the right way round. Look what happens if you don’t:

This should read NEVER TRUST A MAN IN A SUIT but the words A MAN have come out backwards because the stitches were counted from the wrong direction – ie On your plan, on a purl row the stitches should be counted from the left and on a knit row you count from the right. Let me show you what I mean.

In this picture the purl rows are indicated in purple and the knit rows in red. When you want to produce an image or writing on your knitting you have to remember you’ll be building from the bottom right. So, if you’re following your own pattern, starting the bottom line of your words with a knit row, you need to count from the right. For example, the first stitch for which you’d use a different colour in this example would be the 21st stitch of a knit row which is the tail of the G. Then, on the next row, the first purl stitch for which you’d use a different colour would be the 6th, for the bottom of the V.

Does that make sense?

So that’s it. Be a crafty activist and make your own outspoken jumpers, hats, scarves and blankets 🙂

Oh, and if you don’t know how to knit but would like to learn, here’s a really good video to get you started:

For the right handed:

For the left handed:

Super cool vegan NUMBER 5!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Eliza Dushku!

Look at her website

Casey Affleck – Cool vegan number 4

By Violet's Vegan Comics

See him in Drowning Mona (one of my favourite films)

Cool vegan the third

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Nuvver cool vegan

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Cool Vegan

By Violet's Vegan Comics

By Barry Wax

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Click to enlarge

Also by Barry:

In Veggie Land there are two groups.

One is the veggie that grows above ground.

The other is one that grows below ground.

These veggies have had some arguments.

One group says it is better than another.

The potatoes, the carrots and the radishes insisted they were the best.

The sweet peas, green beans and squash argued they were the best.

They proposed a soccer game.

They played on my plate and scooted around with the aid of my fork.

Neither one won, because I ate them all.

********************

And here’s Barry’s place 🙂

Don’t miss out!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

I’ve said it before

And I’ll say it again

You don’t miss out

When you’re raw vegan!

Recipes adapted from Basic Formula for Nut Burgers and Basic Formula for Candy, page 147 of 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko

Raw Chocolate Cake at Infinity Foods Cafe

By Violet's Vegan Comics

It was calling to me

Like it had called me before,

But that’s ok,

’cause it was totally raw!

Infinity Foods Cafe, Brighton

Infinity Foods Cafe, Brighton

Sunday April 13th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

It’s National Scrabble Day!

We love a good game of Scrabble as much as the next person but it’s even better when you make it vegan scrabble!

Give your game a vegan theme by stipulating that all the words must be related to veganism! It’s not as narrow as you might think. You could have any word related to vegan food, to nature, to animals, to environment … anything related to veganism and the natural world, however tenuous the link. It can be a real challenge and it’ll make you laugh when you have to try to find a vegan connection to whatever word you’ve managed to make with your tiles.

Give it a go – especially today on National Scrabble Day! 🙂

Saturday April 12th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

It’s National Licorice Day!

raw black licorice date wheels

Here’s something for ya! Click the pic for the recipe.

Friday April 11th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Today, on National Pet Day, I would like to introduce the newest member of our family: Carly

Carly used to live in a small cage by herself. Her “owner” had had to go into a dementia care home and for Carly, who went with her, this meant being left alone in a small cage in a bedroom all day every day. She was never allowed out of the cage and never had been.

Finally the lady was persuaded to allow Carly to find a new home, and Birdline of Parrot Rescue was called. It was hoped that she would soon be in the company of other birds like her and would live a more meaningful, if still captive, life.

Sadly many more weeks past and Carly was still in her dull, solitary prison. The bird rescue volunteers were so inundated with needy birds (100 a week coming into their care) that they had been unable to find room for Carly.

So she came to live with us.

When we opened the cage she remained inside it for two more days, nervously peeping through the open door occasionally. But the next day she emerged. She swooped and soared the length and breadth of the room. A bit uncoordinated at first, well, she’d never done this before, but she was trying out her wings; finding out what she was capable of. It was wonderful. I assumed she would go back to her cage when she wanted something to eat or drink and intended to leave it permanently open so that she could come and go as she pleased. But she has never been back in. She went a whole day without eating and drinking rather than go back into that cage! And who could blame her?

So I put food and drink on top of the bookcase for her. When we put away the cage she relaxed, noticeably. She sings along with music played for her, be it birdsong or classical music, TV theme music or sounds from nature. She is still nervous of us but getting more comfortable I think, especially as she can perch so high out of everyone’s reach and keep an eye on us all 🙂

Usually, when we all go to bed at night, she has the living room to herself and flies around a little more before settling in a warm spot on the wireless router until morning. But last night, 11 days after arriving here, she demonstrated how skilled she’s become at flying when she glided at an angle through the slightly open doorway of our bedroom and slept on a picture frame by our bed. She clearly didn’t want to be left alone all night, and I guess she quite likes us 🙂

Birds don’t belong in cages.

Thursday April 10th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

It’s National Siblings Day!

Sometimes your siblings are the only ones listening to the out-pourings of your heart 😦

Hug a sibling today!

We Must Speak Even Louder

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Shout louder and don’t stop shouting!

Walking with the Alligators

640px-Orcas

Wild Orcas as they were meant to be, free and Hunting in the Norwegian Sea.

Picture credit: Wolfgang Hägele

Yesterday in California, more than a million voices, via their signatures on a petition, were raised up against the continuing captivity of Orcas at Sea World San Diego, but they simply could not compete with those of the owners, the local city Governments, or the faithful lobbyists who work so tirelessly on behalf of their clients.

What was at stake was the fate of the Orcas at Sea World facilities and their questionable safety and treatment.

Animal rights activists came from everywhere, along with parents, teachers and children to show their support for the

Bill AB2140 by Democrat Richard Bloom of Santa Monica, who was apparently influenced by the highly popular and widely publicized film, Blackfish.

It is reported that the Sea World lobbyist is Scott Wetch.

Naomi Rose, who is a marine mammal scientist…

View original post 302 more words

Wednesday April 9th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

Here’s your chance Marigold! 😉

Tuesday April 8th

By Violet's Vegan Comics

A time to reflect on all of the beauty of nature and all the wonderful things in life and that they belong to everyone. Become aware of all of the beauty in your surroundings. All of these spectacular gifts that we have been given are shared by all.

Raw Carrot Cake

By Violet's Vegan Comics

In celebration of …. life!

This is my modest version of Fully Raw Kristina’s Birthday Carrot Cake

I didn’t have all the ingredients on her list, nor the equipment (Vitamix and food processor) so I made do with what I had and made my own version. Making raw recipes is a great idea for children to be able to do on their own or with little supervision because there’s no hot oven to worry about and, in the case of using these manual tools, there’s no sharp blades either.

Hand-crank BL30 manual juicer with different screens and hand-crank whisk.

Hand-crank BL30 manual juicer with different screens and hand-crank whisk.

For the base:

2 cups of carrot juice pulp

1 and a half cups of sultanas

Half a cup of medjool dates

Half a tablespoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

For the icing:

1 and a half cups of raw cashews (soaked for 3 hours -or overnight- in the fridge)

Half a cup of filtered water

Half a cup of medjool dates

1 tablespoon of fresh pineapple juice

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Now, if you have a blender and a food processor, you can follow Kristina’s instructions, but if, like me, you’re making do without, here’s how I suggest you continue 😉 :

First put the carrots through the juicer and collect the pulp. Put 2 cups full of pulp into a mixing bowl.

Then take the juicer apart, rinse it and put it back together, replacing the holey screen with the smooth one. Put the sultanas, followed by the dates (after you’ve cut out the pits) through the juicer. These come out as a stiff, sticky rope of fruity goodness.

Add the mushed sultanas and dates to the carrot pulp and mix well. Your food processor is your arm and a large fork. Really get stuck in and combine that stuff! It’s not easy – I had to sit down! – but think how much you will have earned that cake when you’ve finished! 🙂

Then add the cinnamon and vanilla and mix well. When you’ve got a moist mixture with all the ingredients and flavours well-combined you’re ready to mould it into a cake shape.

Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the removable bottom of your cake tin. Then cut a rectangular piece to line the sides of the tin. Spoon your mixture into the lined tin and press it down so that it fills the bottom evenly. Place the tin in the freezer for an hour to help the cake set in this shape. While it’s setting, wash up your juicer and bowl and everything so that you can use it all again to make the icing.

Put a little fresh pineapple or lemon if you’ve got it, through the juicer (using the holey screen) and put aside 1 tablespoon of juice. Then change to the smooth screen and put your soaked cashews through the juicer (after draining and rinsing with fresh filtered water). Put the mushed cashews into your mixing bowl.

Put your pitted dates through and add the resultant sticky rope to the cashews. Mix well -and again this is going to require some effort – with a fork. Add half a cup of filtered water, plus 1 tablespoon of the juice you made and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence. Mix it all well with your fork. You will notice it’s not as smooth as Kristina’s but as long as you’ve got all the flavours well combined it will taste just as delicious. To make it as smooth as possible I also gave it a good whisk with my hand-crank whisk.

Put this mixture into the fridge and wait until your cake has been in the freezer for a full hour.

Now, this is the exciting bit where you see all your hard work come together:

Take your tin out of the freezer and carefully push the base of your tin up to remove the cake. Slide the paper off the base of the tin and onto a plate. Your cake should now be standing proudly, unsupported, on your plate.

Take your soft nutty icing out of the fridge and cover your cake. Add decorative nuts or fruits if you like.

And that’s it! 😀

Slice it carefully, and then remove each slice with a pie-slice (triangular thing) if you’ve got it, and share it with lucky family and friends. Keep what’s left, if any, in the fridge.

This is delicious and incredibly sweet – though my family says “absolutely not too sweet!”

And I can now confirm that it tastes even better on day 2, and sooooo good on day 3. After that it was all gone 😉

This looks amazing!

By Violet's Vegan Comics

I am dying to give this one a go – will my BL 30 Manual Juicer be up to doing the work of a vitamix blender and a food processor for this spectacular recipe? Well, it hasn’t let me down so far. I’ll give it a try and let you know 🙂