Food Fight is a vegan grocery store that is located in Portland, Oregon. Of course it is, cuz that is all the way across the country from me Something REALLY needs to be done about Jersey’s Veg Scene, over all it is rather lame and this is very unacceptable, especially since we are the most densely populated state in the nation. Don’t know how we don’t have one of these but I want one, really bad. Established in 2003, Food Fight is an awesome concept in veg living.

Imagine walking into a grocery store knowing EVERYTHING you look at, touch and see is vegan? No need to read 7.000 labels or worry about craptastic ingredients at Food Fight. They carry everything from mock meats to vegan sweets and apparently the strip mall they are located is super vegan friendly too. With an cruelty-free clothing store and bakery all in the same place you cannot miss this when you are in Portland.

I have never been to Portland but believe it or not it is quite high on my lists of places to see in America. And stores like this are the reason, I just envision there to be a lot more vegan friendly places then there are over here. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am right, who knows. All I do know is next time you are in Portland you have a new place to go, Food Fight. If you can’t make it to Portland you can always support Food Fight by ordering right off their website, they have a $10 minimum which as we all know, this day in age, isn’t much.

Food Fight. Open Everyday From 10am-8pm. 1217 SE Stark St. Portland. Oregon. 97214.

http://www.foodfightgrocery.com/ Food Fight Homepage.

I recently looked at my vitamin and supplement bottles and realized that I have a lot of Natures Answer supplements. These vegetarian capsules are my little gems, if you have not noticed most vitamins and supplements contain gelatin a big no-no to us on the stricter end of the spectrum. Natures Answer also happens to be a pretty cool company, they are family run since 1972 and offer over 500 different products for children and adults. They are known for their liquid supplements that can easily be thrown in a smoothie and they offer tons of vegan/vegetarian options.

Its better to know who offers what before you enter a store to buy vitamins and supplements if you are a veg head cuz once you get in there it can be quite ridiculous to locate anything cruelty-free. Natures Answer offers every supplement a vegan or vegetarian could want so next time you’re looking keep an eye out for their logo.

http://www.naturesanswer.com/ Natures Answer Homepage.

Vegan Trail Mix Cookies.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour.

- 3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.

-1 Cup Shredded Carrots.

- 1 1/2 Cups Shredded Unsweetened Coconut.

- 1 1/2 Cups Natural Cane Sugar/Vegan Sugar.

- 1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats.

- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder.

-1/2 Teaspoon Salt.

- 1/2 Cup Water.

- 1/2 Cup Canola Oil.

- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract.

- 1 Cup Vegan Chocolate Chips. (Look For One With No Milk Fat, It May Not Actually Say ‘Vegan’ Though Some Will)

- 1 Cup Chopped Pecans, Lightly Toasted.

- 1 Cup Dried Cherries.

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350.

- Mix together flours, carrots, coconut, sugar, oats, baking powder and salt.

- In a seperate bowl mix together water, oil and vanilla.

- Add wet mixture to dry mixture.

- Mix To Combine.

- Fold in chocolate chips, pecans and cherries.

- Scoop batter 2 tablespoons at a time onto a baking sheet. 2 tablespoons is one cookie, gently push it all together.

- Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden.

- Cool for 2 minutes then move to rack to cool completely.

I never used the Reebok Step things at my gym until last month. Now I am hooked. After years of squats and lunges I was looking to add some more exercises to my work out routine. Since I live in a walk up, that is almost 60 steps up and down, add 3 dogs that need to be walked and the fact that the laundry/garbage/recycling/mail are all on the ground floor and you will come to see that some days I literally walk up and down those stairs 50 times. Hence the fact I NEVER step on a ‘Step Mill’ or ‘Stair Climber’ at the gym. Ha. Right. NEVER. I look at those things and cringe not cuz they scare me but cuz walking stairs all day, everyday is my norm and there is no way I am going to add another 30 minutes of stair climbing to my life. But I know the benefits of it and I know gravity is not on my butts side so I decided to compromise with the Reebok Step. All I can think of when I look at that thing is…’How 80′s is this?’ but I don’t hate cuz that little invention is a KILLER.

No only can you step, step, step your way to a high, round tush you can also use the stepper for push ups, triceps dips and ab exercises. You can actually almost do a whole work out with that one step and one pair of dumbbells. It is amazing and butt kicking. Lately I have been doing step ups with 20 lbs in each hand and side step ups also with 20′s. I do my calf’s on there too, while holding 25lbs and honestly love doing push ups on it. Since you don’t have to change equipment you get to plow through your work out with little rest so you are optimizing your calorie burn and keeping your muscles engaged and working.

There are tons of different work outs to do on a Reebok Step. There are lots of DVD’s you can do in the comfort of your own home, where you can work at your own pace. I see some for as cheap at $5 on the internet and I know for a fact you can pick up a step for next to nothing on Craigslist or even for free at Freecycle. If you can’t find them there you can always buy one for $50 at Target, that is a minimal investment for a piece of exercise equipment you can and will use almost everyday.

Now Get To Steppin’

These little guys have been used for washing for thousands of years by people in Asia and as well as Native Americans. When it comes to using this old school method in our new school washing machines the system remains quite simple. You simply take 4-5 soap nuts and place them in a little sack. Close the sack, wash your clothes with warm water and there you go, clean clothes, naturally. 4-5 soap nuts will take care of about 4 loads of laundry. The nuts will get mushy once they are done and then you can toss them in the backyard to compost. Simply natural enough right?

All About Soap Nuts…

http://www.buysoapnuts.com/how-to-use-them/ How To Use Them.

http://www.greenvirginproducts.com/Soap-Nuts_c_11.html Buy Them Here.

More and more people are living to and past 100 years of age these days, I feel like every other day I am reading about a 105 or 106 year or person. I love reading those stories about how life used to be. The heartache, the happiness, everything that life entails, I cannot imagine looking back at my life at age 100 but I hope one day that I am blessed to   Now since getting extra old is all the rage, it is being studied quite a bit so I figured why not toss out six tips on how to see a century. Everything from our weight to what we eat effects how long and how well we will live. This is what I got so far…

6 Tips To See A Century…

1- Stop Yo-Yo Dieting.

It is no secret that yo-yo dieting is very, very bad for our bodies especially for our heart. You may not think that losing 10lbs for a wedding only to put 15 back on is no big deal but it is. Losing and gaining weight can raise your blood pressure, in turn putting you at risk for heart disease. In fact studies show that people who lose and gain those same 10 pounds over and over again are 2.5 times more likely to develop kidney cancer than those who do no yo-yo diet.

2- Eat Watermelon.

Similar to tomatoes in what they offer, watermelon actually offers more protection than tomatoes do. Filled with lycopene, which has been shown to help fight cancer and heart disease, watermelon also keeps our hearts healthy with arginine. Arginine helps to keep our arteries healthy, this is especially important to women who heart disease is the number one killer of. To reap the best benefits that watermelon has to offer, eat it chilled for higher lycopene levels.

3- Cook At Home.

Cooking at home and enjoying it is a theme that many people living past 100 have in common. No matter how you slice it, whatever you order at a restaurant, even if it is the same thing you make at home, will be higher in fat, sodium and sugar plus it will also be a bigger portion. All of those restaurant meals add up over time causing you to gain weight and ingest more additives than you bargained for.

4- Eat Brown Rice.

Brown rice is a staple in many parts of the world. Those parts of the world report fewer diseases and longer lifespans. Brown rice is packed with magnesium and has 2x the fiber of white rice. Even better if you cook rice until it is al dente. The chewier texture of the rice keeps it lower on the glycemic, meaning it will not spike your insulin. Insulin spikes have been known to lead to chronic inflammation which is linked to heart disease and arthritis.

5- Stay Slim.

Almost all of the men who reach 100 are slim as are the women, there are very few obese people making it to 100 years old. By holding onto extra pounds you leave yourself susceptible to life threatening diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and even some kinds of cancer. Obesity has also been shown to negatively impact the immune system which makes you more likely to get sick. By the time we hit middle age our weight becomes a big issue. This is when those extra pounds really start to hurt us, dementia and Alzheimer’s start to form and we spend the next half of our live in misery.

6- Go Vegetarian.

The fruits and veggies that vegetarians live off of are packed with antioxidants that help fight aging in the body 24-7. The saturated fat in meat is one of the biggest causes of issues in the American diet, vegetarians totally get to miss this epidemic and keep it moving. Saturated fat in meat has been directly linked to obesity and dementia. In the places with the most 100 plus year old people, meat is not an option or is served as a side dish. You can add almost 4 years to your life for every 20 years you eat a vegetarian diet

I am all about coconut things. Water, milk, candies, soap etc. If it comes in coconut I am going to try it period. This made trying Trader Joe’s Coconut Milk Beverage a no brainer. I had only seen this milk substitute once before at T.J’s and made a mental note to try it the next time I was there, so I did and I love it. It is by far my favorite non dairy milk replacement, tt manages to be creamy and coconutty without being over powering. On top of being a pleasurable experience for your taste buds, this all natural coconut beverage is also vegan, soy-free, gluten-free and kosher.

I used this to replace dairy milk when I made pudding and the pudding came out great. I then used it again in Trader Joe’s Coffee Cake boxed mix and it worked very well. So there are no complaints from me, this stuff wins all around. Knowing that this would be used to replace dairy milk, they fortified this beverage with vitamins and minerals. And for some reason it is only $1.99 which is a price that cannot be beat and since it is self stable, feel free to stock up for future usage. This is defiantly a product you can not and will not buy only once. It comes in unsweetened and vanilla flavors, this review is based on the vanilla flavor

So if you live in So Cal you may want to check out Vegin’ Out. Vegin’ Out is So Cal’s premier vegan food delivery service. Offering home deliveries every Monday, Vegin’ Out makes and dishes out some delicious vegan meals for those of you who are too busy or simply not interested in cooking. They have several different meal plan options depending on how many people you will be feeding. A single order gives you about 9-10 meals of ready-made vegan goodness delivered right yo your door. All you have to do is throw the food in the fridge once you get home or freeze it if you plan on keeping it around for more than 7 days.

The food options Vegin’ Out offers sound DELICIOUS and from all the reviews and comments apparently they taste just as good as they sound. They use 75% organic ingredients and each dish comes with specific heating directions so you reap the best tasting, ready to eat, vegan food around. So if you are looking to make a break into the veg lifestyle, a situation like Vegin’ Out could be really good for you. It gets you running on a plant-based diet, all the while giving you ideas for recipes and dishes you can make on your own. Even if you are already a veg head, who’s going to complain about someone cooking for them? Didn’t think so

http://veginout.com/ Vegin’ Out Homepage.

Santa Fe Penne.

Kris Nations is a jewelry company that makes all of their creations from recycled metals. By working with metal refiners, they are able to use metal from an already existing supply instead of having to dig into the Earth and disrupt it to find some more. The process of mining metals can be very harsh on the environment. Mining pollutes water sources, disrupts the natural habitats where animals live and leaves us with many poor ecological situations after the fact. These are things Kris Nations wants no part of.

Making a bit of everything from necklaces to earrings, all of their jewelry is unique, beautiful and made in the USA. Anything you fancy can be ordered off of their website and they offer $6 flat fee shipping which you can’t beat with a bat. Priced in a fair fashion, Kris Nations also discounts their items for sales so keep an eye on their site if there is a piece you want to buy, you maybe able to snag it for cheaper. Another cool thing they offer is bridal party jewelry. A very personal and unique way to say ‘Thank You’ to your bridal party in an eco-friendly way

krisnations.com Kris Nations Homepage.

Circle Disco Cuff In Gold.

Pure City Vegetarian Restaurant is located in the small Hudson Valley New York town of Pine Bush. Pine Bush is really a small town and to be honest one of the last places I would have even imagined to find a vegetarian restaurant. To make it even cooler, Pure City is located right next to a health foods store which carries tons of vegan and vegetarian goodies, foods and supplies. It’s like a two-for-one

Anyways, I am a huge fan of Pure City and every time we go to visit Sandy (aka Mom) I’m like ‘Can we eat a Pure City?’ I’m sure its annoying but I can’t help it, their food is sooo darn good. Every time I have eaten there I have loved it, everything is fresh down to the homemade ketchup. The menu includes lots of Chinese and Asian inspired dishes, as well as veggie burgers, fries, nuggets and salads. They also have mochi for dessert and to be honest the mochi is the bomb so be sure to save some room for those frozen bundles of vegan goodness. I personally could eat their Sweet and Sour ‘Chicken’ every time I am there and about 90% of the time I do. It is so good, one of the best versions of Sweet and Sour I have had and trust me I have tried many different versions from North American to Europe.

Pure City is open Tuesday-Thursday from 11am-10pm. Friday and Saturday from 11am-11pm. Closed Sunday and Monday. They are located at 100 Main St. Pine Bush, New York and you can contact them at: 845.744.8888/2153. Regardless of what you order at Pure City you can rest assure that you meal will be 100% vegan with no cholesterol, no saturated fat and low in sodium. The service will be great and you will leave happy, they are not rated ‘The Best Of Hudson Valley’ for nothing

http://www.purecityny.com/ Pure City Homepage.