vegansaurus!

Need a post-Café Gratitude job? Check out the Tree of Life in Arizona  »

Our pal, Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown, is possibly the nicest person we know. She just wants everyone to be healthy and happy! She rocks the raw vegan lifestyle like a boss, but you know, a totally peaceful and nice boss. To that end, after reading the unhappy news about Café Gratitude closing its eight Northern California locations, she wrote us with the following offer:

The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, a raw vegan retreat center located in Patagonia, Ariz., run by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. is currently hiring for volunteer and paid positions in the 100 percent organic, live vegan cafe, in the natural dispensary, videography and I.T. department, veganic garden, and other areas at our center, and would love to extend an invitation for Café Gratitude employees who will lose their jobs due to the closing of all Northern California locations to apply to join our team.

Working at the Tree of Life includes many benefits, including all organic, raw, vegan meals included, access to yoga classes, an InfraRed sauna, pool, hot tubs, daily meditation and regular qi gong, access to our gorgeous scenic facilities and more. Click this link to find out more about opportunities, and for information on how to apply for open positions.

Thanks so much, Sarah! Please don’t steal all the awesome raw vegans away to Patagonia!

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food.

Book about holistic health for ladies wants to hear your story!  »

Courtney Pool and Sarah E. Brown are writing a book on holistic health for lesbian and bisexual women (and their fans!). We are fully supportive of this awesome endeavor and thought maybe some of our readers might be into helping make the book even more amazing! Because you’re all beautiful and special and the best and lesbians or friends to lesbians. If you’re not, get the fuck off this blog!

Now, I’ll let Sarah E. Brown take it away with the details:

One of the purposes of the book is to shed light on connections between sexuality and our relationship with food and health. Our book, which we are currently in the process of writing, will discuss how coming out being a woman who loves women (or other non-normative sexual orientation) relates to body image, gender identity, emotional eating, veganism, our relationship with eating in general, and other aspects of health, including spiritual health and relationships. Our goals are to help women empower themselves through awareness, self-inquiry, and learning self-acceptance. We also will highlight how plant-based diets can help promote self-kindness as well as kindness for animals and the planet.

We want to include stories, anecdotes, and insights from other women who love women on these topics. Below is a list of various subjects women have written about in relation to being a non-heterosexual woman:

• Body image, eating disorders, emotional eating, eating issues around coming out, self-acceptance, etc.  
• Veganism and Sexual Orientation
• Animal rights and LGBT rights and human rights
• Sexual Orientation and Spiritual Health
• Benefits since switching to a plant-based diet
• Being vegan in a relationship (where just one of you are, or where both are)

These are just some ideas, but mostly anything along the lines of eating and sexuality as well as all levels of health (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual) and sexuality are within the scope of our work. We’re looking to keep each contribution under 300 words. We’d be happy to print your first name in the book, or, if you’d prefer, you can be completely anonymous. Thank you so much for your contributions! We hope to help a lot of people with our stories. Please email sarahbrown70 [at] gmail [dot] com to submit!

Guest interview: Krisanga Cowen of Vivapura!  »

I have a history of awesome vegan roommates (see: Vegan Myths Debunked creators Jonathan and Ivory). My new roommate here in Patagonia, Ariz. is the awesome Krisanga Cowen. Krisanga (far right) took a break from grinding sprouted raw nut butters and making coconuts delicious to tell Vegansaurus readers about how much he loves promoting a health-conscious, plant-based lifestyle through Vivapura, the vegan superfoods company he co-owns here in Patagonia. Here’s the skinny on this fit and loving veg guy and his approach to incorporating superfoods in a plant-source diet! Hope you enjoy!

Vegansaurus: How did you get into veganism?
Krisanga Cowen: My best friend since kindergarten Todd got me into the Smiths. At 16, we dyed our hair blonde to look like Morrissey and kind of idolized him. In 1985 Smiths came out with “Meat is Murder.” That song opened our eyes to what actually goes on in this country and factory farming and how animals are mutilated. We went vegan overnight. Later, I read John Robbins’ Diet For a New America, and I actually went to vegan restaurants, which I’d never done before. I studied with yogini Kali Ray for seven years on and off, taking classes [and] workshops, [being] among other teachers, and really admired her way of eating plant-source-only, mostly live, all-organic foods for health and yoga.

How did your previous business, Cocopura, which sold only coconut products, become Vivapura, which sells an extensive line of superfoods?
I had one product in four different sizes: coconut oil. My quest for developing more products was moving to Patagonia in 2007, renting a 6,000-square-foot warehouse. I met Chris Whitcoe, and he and I were both master’s students. I had connections for superfoods. I had just built a commercial kitchen for coconut products and I started selling gogi berries and Incan berries and nori sheets and Monukka raisins, basically out the back door. I mainly sold to guests and people working at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. That’s how Vivapura was born.

When did Vivapura officially take off?
We formed Vivapura in September 2008, and got into Whole Foods and other stores in 2010, in addition to our online and in-store sales. The idea behind Vivapura was to create raw vegan products that haven’t been seen or available on the marketplace—unique, hand-crafted products like coconut crème that’s stone-ground, our chaparrel coconut oil, our soaked and dehydrated nut butters…. Sourcing products that are heirloom varieties that are unique to different regions of the world. Styrian pumpkin seeds are only grown in Austria in that region, and heirloom variety of pumpkin seeds that are robust and GMO-free and high in zinc and protein and chlorophyll. Our products were designed to be eco-friendly, vegan, non-GMO, and delicious. We hope Vegansaurus readers will enjoy them! 

Is most of the Vivapura team vegan or vegetarian?
We support local people and give them a voice inside our company…we open a space for people to transform. A lot of people become vegetarian or vegan after working with us; we accept the mainstreamers and teach them about gogi berries and how to eat vegan and feel great on superfoods. We expose people to ways not to need processed foods, in a healthy, supportive environment where your voice matters and is taken into account for decisions the company makes. That really impacts an individual. They shift, grow, expand and become more open and expressive. Naturally, that often leads to vegetarianism or veganism.

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food.

Guest recipes: maca magic desert dessert smoothies!  »

While summer temperatures soar, it’s great to cool down with refreshing chilled smoothies for a hearty breakfast or brunch. Recently reunited with my culinary muse and partner extraordinaire Courtney Pool, I have been inspired to throw heaping tablespoons of maca into recipes. She doesn’t seem to mind, bless her raw vegan gorgeous heart.

Maca adds a caramel-malt flavor, which is well combined with ingredients like indulgent cacao, protein-rich hemp seeds, omega-3- and bulk-adding chia seeds, and alkalizing superfood powder Vitamineral Green. Experimenting with local, fruity accents like strawberries or other berries can add color and texture to round out your delicious, nutrient-dense meal.

Here are the two latest recipes I have created. Hope you like them as much as my muse and I have. To make, just put all ingredients in a blender and combine. Enjoy!

The Cacaoinator
Sort of sounds like an Arnold b-movie, right? If Arnold had any sense, he’d be downing the cacaoinator instead of eating his words on national news.

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Chia
1 Tbsp. Vitamineral Green
1 to 2 Tbsp. Cacao powder
1 to 2 Tbsp. Maca
1/2 cup Pumpkin seed milk
Ice

Optional
3 tsp. Hemp seeds
Lucuma (to taste)
Stevia (to taste)

Garnish
Brazil nuts
Bee pollen

Strawberry maca elixir
The secret is in the garnish! Chopped raw cacao paste or raw cacao nibs or bars, bee pollen, plus strawberries make this super-decadent. You can also garnish with mint, or any other type of berry or superfood.

This smoothie is best enjoyed with a friend or lover.

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Chia
1 Tbsp. Cacao powder
1 Tbsp. Hemp seeds
1/4 cup Almond milk
1/4 cup Pumpkin seed milk
1 to 2 Tbsp. Maca
Stevia (to taste)
Ice

Optional
Lucuma (to taste)
Bee Pollen (garnish)

Garnish
Chopped cacao paste or raw cacao bars
Fresh strawberries

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food.

Guest recipe: raw vegan cake!  »

Wow, raw vegan cake! Just in time for my roommate Ivory’s birthday! You may know Ivory as the woman from the “vegan myths debunked” video. This cake takes minutes to make and can be enjoyed on any occasion! Feature in this photo is a member of the Spinto Band, Thomas, who enjoyed the cake! He is currently recording with vegan Jonathan Mann, also of “vegan myths debunked” fame. Yay vegans. Yay raw vegan cake!

Ingredients
1/4 cup chia seeds
Sea salt
2 Tbsp. raw cacao powder
8 to 10 dates
2/3 cup raspberries
1 cup walnuts
Stevia to taste
Water

Instructions
Blend walnuts with Stevia in a food processor or high-powered blender. Mold into a pie dish or pan. Blend chia, water, dates, cacao, salt. More chia will make more of a pudding texture. Add to top of walnut crust. Place raspberries on top. Keep in fridge until ready to enjoy!

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food. Thanks, Sarah!

Guest recipe: raw kelp noodles with spirulina  »

Kelp noodles are a fabulous thing; they soak up all the sauces you put on them, are low density, and taste awesome. Enjoy this cheese-like flavor combination of spirulina and olive oil: It’s an algae party in your mouth and tummy! My friend is a Spirulina Junkie living in Arizona. In order to feel less like I miss her, I make tons of spirulina kelp pasta. This recipe is a great way to get into the stuff—if you close your eyes, it tastes like mac ‘n cheese!

Ingredients
Spirulina
Kelp noodles
Raw wakame (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt or Braggs liquid aminos

Instructions
Soak kelp noodles and wakame in water. Rinse. Add other ingredients. Prepare to enjoy and cover your pucker in green! Yum.

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Queer Vegan Food. Thanks, Sarah!

BrownTown’s vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, fat-free blueberry muffins  »

Raw desserts are rad because they’re often naturally gluten-free. Gluten can really suck if you’re intolerant to it, and many, many people are. I usually love raw grub, but once in a while the warm, satisfying chewiness of a cooked muffin really hits the spot. Here’s a recipe I made up today that incorporates gluten-free flour and eschews soy, a common allergen. The recipe happens to be sugar-free, fat-free, and tastes really awesome. 

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour 
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder 
Pinch sea salt
Liquid Stevia (to taste) or other sweetener
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce 
2 mashed ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)
1 1/2 cups almond milk (or another nut milk)
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix almond milk and apple cider vinegar, let sit for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix in other wet ingredients (including bananas) to the milk/cider. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, put in muffin tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, checking until fork comes out clean. Enjoy!

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post! Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and follow her on twitter! Thanks, Sarah!

Guest recipe: Raw vegan cherry Jell-O!   »

Raw vegan Jell-O. This is just a recipe, there is no witty/tedious intro. Enjoy!

Ingredients
12 ounces frozen or fresh cherries
Handful Irish moss
Sea salt, to taste
Stevia, to taste
Xylitol (optional, to taste)

Instructions
Soak the Irish moss overnight. When it’s all plumped up with water, Vitamix the shit out of it with a little bit of water until it’s an even, gooey consistency. Then, add frozen cherries, Stevia, sea salt, and Xylitol to taste. Chill in the fridge for a couple hours. Enjoy!

This is Vegansaurus raw correspondent Sarah E. Brown’s latest post, a slightly different version of which originally appeared here. Read more by Sarah on Vegansaurus, and visit her personal blog, Spiritual Hipsteria. Thanks, Sarah!