I had no idea James Cameron was vegan!

Just like the title says I had no idea James Cameron was a vegan. Here is a short video of him talking about the moment he made the conscience decision to be a vegan. He also mentions Forks Over Knives which I saw and it influenced me to to take a hard look at my food choices and how that food got to my plate. Since watching FOK I've seen other documentaries like Vegucated, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, and Hungry For Change which validated my decision to eat plant based foods and beverages. Once you see how animals are treated and killed it really makes you question your diet. I also saw some undercover footage at a turkey farm that will make you sick and cry :(

Ok back to James Cameron talking a little bit about becoming vegan:

Justin Timberlake's Bring It On Down To Veganville

Last night's SNL was super funny and one of my favorite skits was "Bring It On Down To Veganville". Justin was dressed as a block of tofu (hopefully it was Non-GMO ;) and with his big Mickey Mouse hands he was singing a bunch of pop songs and Bobby Moynihan's character was trying to get people over to his restaurant The Sausage Depot. Clearly Justin was grooving and always a favorite of mine.

Check out the clip and enjoy!

Ron Finley is the Guerilla Gardner

I have to share this video with you. It's about Ron Finley who lives in South Central LA and plants vegetable gardens in his neighborhood. I know you probably think it's not a big deal but it is. He is doing something about the health problems in his hood. He is teaching people how to grow their own food and that's a big deal. So sit back watch this video and think about where your food came from.

I hope this empowers you to plant some shit! Support Ron and follow him on twitter!

Austin Veg Trucks

The Austin Chronicle wrote an article about vegan and vegetarian food trucks that I think you might be interested in. I like this list because it gives me an opportunity to drive around Austin and eat some delicious vegan food! If you are in town this week for SXSW or not take this list and use it as a guide to fill your empty belly :)

Have a Great Weekend!

Factory Farmed Animals

When I first saw the map of factory farming in the United States I was shocked. I had no idea of how much of this was going on in this country. And if you scroll down the page a little there is an animal kill counter!!! WTF! This kill counter is based off "Number of animals who have been killed worldwide by the meat, dairy, and egg industries." Chickens by far have it the worst. When I was eating animals I'd say to myself that chickens were good since eating the breast was the "white" part of the bird and that it was a leaner cut of meat. I figured that if I wasn't eating red meat (beef) that I was making a healthy choice. Looking back it was strange logic I was using to excuse my ignorance, but now I know better.

 If you are interested where the kill counter originated visit this action for animals blog They have a longer list of animals that are being slaughtered (i.e. horses, rodents, camels). Wow! I had no clue that the number of animals being killed was so high. 

To give you an idea of what animals are on the list check this out:
1. Chickens
2. Ducks
3. Pigs
4. Rabbits
5. Turkeys
6. Geese
7. Sheep
8. Goats
9. Cows and calves
10. Rodents

There is a great website called Woodstock Farms that has a lot of useful information. Please check them out and read some of their articles. There is a section called "Learn" that offers some good reading material! 

Hope this helps you in some way in your journey in life and for me I've got so much more to learn.
Thanks for visiting,
Rena :)

The Ultimate Vegan Baking Cheat Sheet

The Ultimate Vegan Baking Cheat Sheet: Many of your favorite recipes can easily be made vegan by substituting a few key ingredients. Use this list to get started…

Vegan Breakfast Restaurants in Austin, TX

Today we woke up around 6:45am and we were starving. I did a quick search and found that a lot of places open at 8am and others at 10am on the weekends. Well it wasn't even 7am yet and I found that Kerbey Lane was open 24 hours 7 days a week and it was just down the street from us. I also found out that they have a vegan breakfast platter and that you can pretty much substitute a lot of their egg dishes for a tofu scramble. So we headed down and I had the vegan breakfast platter and it was perfect. They have a good variety of vegan options so you should definitely keep them on your vegan restaurant list! This menu link is to the Kerbey Lane Cafe in central Austin on Kerbey Lane.

Here is a short list of breakfast places that have vegan options:
Kerbey Lane Cafe several locations all around Austin 

Bouldin Creek Cafe located at 1900 South First, 512-416-1602

The Steeping Room 2 locations one at the Domain and the other on North Lamar

Mother's Cafe & Garden located at 4215 Duval Street, 512-451-3994

Mr. Natural several locations: East Cesar Chavez, South Lamar, and East Rundberg

The Vegan Nom is a food trailer located at 120 East North Loop and their menu is full of delicious vegan breakfast tacos and more! 512-217-7257 and they only take cash, but if you don't have cash there is an ATM machine at the corner store and across the street.

Wheatsville Co-Op located at 3101 Guadalupe St, 512-478-2667; they don't have a menu online but they do serve vegan breakfast tacos, doughnuts from Red Rabbit Bakery, and oatmeal. It's really good vegan food that you can grab and go!

Whole Foods Market several locations and most will have breakfast options in their buffet area that includes vegan breakfast tacos and tofu scramble.

If I discover more places to eat I will update this list! Thanks for stopping by!

Oscar Party Food for Vegans!

Well it's that special time of the year that I look forward to...the Oscars! I saw this great post by Babble that has some delicious vegan food options to enjoy while watching the Oscars. It's originally from a 2012 post but it's still valid and I think I will try the golden caramel apples or the glazed vegan meatballs. Check out the full list here.

I'm also interested in seeing Seth MacFarlane as host of this years award show. I'm sure he will do just fine with all his singing, dancing, and funny voices. I don't think Seth is a vegan or vegetarian though, but that's fine I'm not hating on him. I expect him to make me laugh while I munch on some good vegan bits!