Trios-Pistole!!

Last Friday I set off to Northern Quebec, Trois-Pistoles to be more specific! I am spending the next 5 weeks here with 260 other University students from around Canada. Why would someone do such a thing you ask?? I have asked myself the same thing every day the past 3 days, but the reason remains, to learn French. I am here through the Explore Program which is a government funded program that promotes the learning of French by Anglifone students in Canada by providing an oppurtunity for us to travel to a French speaking area where we can only speak French for 5 weeks!

So here I am in Trois-Pistoles, the town of 3 200 people, yet it contains many suprises! 1st of all, there is a shopping mall, containing 5 stores (dollarama, Harts, Ardenes, a pharmacy, and a grociery store)!! I was so surprised that there was even a shopping mall, this is very exciting stuff! Also, the grociery stores (of which there are two!!) carry tofu, soymilk, and other fairly hippee-ish things, again the surprise!

We are on the St. Lawrence, so the weather here is pretty cold and crazy, although today was beautiful, clear skies and no rain that is. Unfortunately the food sucks, and I wish I could cook for myself, but alas the facilities are not available. I am learning to love the taste of raw tofu with peanut butter, something on a regular bases I wouldn't eat, but I need to get nutrition somewhere (I am constantly eating nuts and raisons during the day too). However, the lady that makes our food seems to be really happy to have us there to cook for.

Everyone here is super nice, both the towns people and the students, and I have met soo many people already, I can't believe its only Tuesday!! Yet being social is an extreme challenge when I can only speak French and my French is extremely limited!!!!


The picture above is of a concert I went to on my first night here, it was hip-hop-ish, but in French of course!! The guy singing is rapping, and he apparently is the mayors son. After him a group called Radio-Radio came on. Apparently they are famousish...also were very good! The concern was in an old blacksmith shop, which was pretty sweet! Well thats all for now mon aimee! this is a week late due to my shitty access to internet...but next time.

Epic Bike Ride to Guelph

Biking is fun, I love to bike around town, and even on mini-trips out of town, especially in Waterloo where we are spoiled by how close the scenic country-side is to the city. Bike for 20 minutes and you are in rolling hills farm land.

Enjoying the scenery after turning back from our 2nd wrong turn

Based on this love, a friend and myself decided to go on a long bike ride, and bike to Guelph to visit our friend for lunch. What started out happy and cheery ended exhausted, with ACHING bum muscles!!

Lynn re-fueling during our first picnic rest of the trip

Let me explain, the bike ride was suppose to be 35 KM, but after going the wrong way 3 times it ended up being 55 KM!! To make matters worse it was a very windy day, and we had to bike of 2 busy highways!! Plus, I think I now have several areas of sun-burness!! But we did get to guelph, ate delicious lunch at the Cornerstone, got to hang out with our friend, and walked half-asleep around for a while before my amazing parents picked us up saving us from having to ride all the way back to Waterloo.

We made it to Guelph!

It was fun, although slightly painful, and I DO look forward to doing it again, since next time we WONT get lost!

KW Vegan Bake Sale

About a month ago (during exam time) I randomly decided to organize a vegan bake sale in Kitchener Waterloo as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale which occurs within the weeks of April 24th to May 7th all over the world.

Jacki and I working the table

When I made this decision I did not consider how it would pan out, but it was a great event! With the help from several friends we publicized, rounded up many bakers and recruited even more eaters, all to make an amazing day!!!

Muffins, Brownies and Baklava Hanging out with the flowers

All proceeds of the bake sale are going to the KW Humane Society, and after counting it all yesterday, it totaled $419.78!!Various Baked Goods

The Bake Sale was a great success, and I look forward to it becoming an annual Kitchener Waterloo event! Thanks to everyone who made the day ROCK!

The Official Meatrix I

Food

Hey, so as I follow so many yummy foody blogs I decided to try to document the food I make/eat too! Although I have been failing horribly! We had a wonderful vegan easter dinner and I forgot to photograph any of it! Bahh, oh well, I did get a photo of a few of the left over desserts (recipe from VegNews), which were super yummy, after the dinner.

I have captured a few shots of fun times/food though, here they are:


A few weeks ago I went to guelph and we ate at Cornerstone, a yummy veg. resturant, and here I am with my wrap, I look like such a crazy hippie, I swear I don't always look THAT crazy!







This is a shot of a delicious lunch I made a few weekends ago, isn't it pretty?! Its fried silken tofu with a veggi/noodle stir-fry, YUM!




Here are the delicious desserts I made (recipe from VegNews) blending together soycreamer, cashews, liquer, oranges, and sugar, and freezing it! What more could you want?!

Hope you enjoyed, hopefully i get better at both remembering and the photo taking itself!

I love me!

Last night I spent time with me and it was glorious! I dont remember the last time i just dedicated a night to hanging out with me and not feeling guilty about not doing school work! It was great!

Even chopping vegetables had so much more enjoyment in it! There something to that concept where when we are constantly worrying about whats next that we forget to experience the moment, and the joy that every task (like chopping vegetables) has!

Not yesterday, but the day before, I also made some wonderful muffins with a little adaptation due to limited ingredients. The original recipe was from "Eating with Less" but of course I veganized it and changed it a bit based on what I had on hand. The muffins became Whole Wheat Rhubarb, Peanut Butter, Pinnapple!! Actually really good!

Why do we consume cows milk?

This has been a probing topic for me, and as I sit here, exploding from the fabulous grilled veggis/tempeh I just feverishly consumed (sorry no picture, however I really need to start documenting my food!) I ponder this dairy conundrum.

People tend to think that cows milk is a human right, we are suppose to drink it, I mean, after all, why else would cows produce it? But wait a second, why do humans produce milk? To feed new borns, that is why women are not constantly lactating, but rather they only lactate after pregnancy. Humans arn't cows, but we are both animals, and cows, similar to humans, only produce milk to feed their young. Thus to keep those cows producing the milk they have to be impreganted, and then their caves are taken away from them when they are only a few days old.

I know this may all sound a little extremist, but really, I'm not being extremist, even wikipedia talks about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle. There you can learn about the hormones that are used too!

Wait, but isn't milk needed for calcium? Again, lets evaluate this concept. Calcium doesn't appear from no where, cows get it somewhere, and that SOMEWHERE is grass and green leafy vegetables. However, with factory farms, most cows don't get to eat such yummy green things, thus the diet of the cows are fortified with calcium. So, really, as long as we eat those green leafy veggis then we are getting what we need.

Whats more, drinking cows milk can actually, potentially reduce our calcium in our bones rather then increase it. Now this surly must be a lie right? I mean, we get plummet with all those "Drink Milk" ads all the time, however...no its not a lie! Cows milk has a large amount of amino acids (acidic-ness) that your body needs to neutralize. Since calcium is a base, your body often draws calcium out of your bones to neutralize these amino acids. Plus, your bones need a lot more then just calcium, check out the msn health article http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cholesterol/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100153762! No she's not some radical vegan!

Well, I think I will end here...so next time, think twice before reaching for that cows milk and opt for soymilk, almond milk, or even oats milk instead. It helps you, the cows, and the environment!