Dear vegan food,

Thank you. For nearly five years of beautiful, yummy, compassionate bliss. For always satisfying every single taste bud. For keeping my body energized and strong. For enduring the first year of trial and error as I learned how to cook you. For being patient as I tasted different kinds of you over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again until I realized I liked you. All of you. For being more delicious, more fulfilling, more comforting than any animal-based food I've ever had. For not purposely harming a single living being in the making of you. For being healthy (most of you). For always being there, in my kitchen, no matter what kind of day I've had. For loving me back by making my body smile, my heart stay open, and my mind remain at peace. I love you and will continue eating you - and only you - for as long as I can eat. That's a promise.

Love,

Lindsay

Real Men Are Vegan!

My sexy vegan husband with Paulo at
Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres. 

"It takes no great feat of strength to drive through KFC and pick up a bucket of chicken parts. It takes zero courage to pay desperate (and often illegal) workers to slaughter the most docile and defenseless creatures on earth. And hunting down a hot dog while watching the game hardly qualifies as bravery.

What DOES take strength, courage and fortitude is standing up for what’s right – even if it’s inconvenient, or means going against the grain. While many stereotypes about manhood ring false for me, some do ring true. In my opinion, real men are those who stand tall to protect the weak and defenseless. Real men choose integrity over peer-pressure. Real men don’t harm and kill others for pleasure or “sport.” Real men fight for justice and refuse to participate in the needless exploitation and oppression of others.

In other words, real men are vegan."

- from the blog, Veganism Is the Future

Comment if you are a strong, vegan man or know one who is!

Celebrating Earth Day and VegWeek 2013! Make a Pledge!

It's that time again! Celebrate Earth Day and VegWeek 2013 with a revamped KMIV post from last year.

Today, Monday, April 22nd is our 43rd anniversary of Earth Day, a day observed to celebrate this amazing planet on which we live by doing "green" acts of good to positively benefit our Earth.  Over 1 billion people all over the world actively celebrated this year's Earth Day, as shared by the Earth Day Network, with pledges ranging from planting gardens to "unplugging" for the day, from recycling to limiting water usage.

Within the past couple of years, the United Nations has been outspoken on the one greatest contributor to our global climate/environment issue: the consumption of animal products.  Some recent articles, here and here, detail the latest environmental statistics.  With the meat and dairy industries' blatant over-usage of earth's precious resources (water and fossil fuels specifically), with the devastation of rainforests to clear space for animal agriculture, with unnecessary pollution, runoff, waste and excess climate-changing gases produced from factory farms (and other smaller animal-based industries), our planet - and therefore, all life on it - is suffering tremendously.  While all of the pledges listed above are valuable in their own ways, there is one specific choice that can make the most difference: adopt a compassionate, healthful, Earth-friendly vegan diet.  And here's why!

A 2011 study conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group showed that 2.5% of the US population - that's about 8 million people - consume vegan diets, double the amount from 2009.   And along with this "market for vegan food," there's been a distinct decrease in the amount of meat, dairy, and eggs consumed, as noted in Nil Zacharius' HuffPo article.

We still have a long way to go though, and that's why we're reaching out to you to help make a difference this year - which will end up making a difference for all years to come. 

This week is VegWeek!  Running from today, Monday, April 22nd through Sunday, April 28th, this week is all about making those compassionate, healthful, Earth-friendly choices to benefit all life on our planet along with our Earth herself!  What can you do?  So many things!

1) Do you eat omnivorously?  Not sure what to do?  Start simple and try one day of plant-based meals.  Just one day.  It's amazing what even one day can do to benefit the TriVegta™ (health, animals, environment)... 

Yeah, still proud of my invented TriVegta™.

The late Oreo at Animal Acres. (Photo © Cameron O'Steen)

2) Are you bold?  Do you want to make a difference?  Take a 7-day Veg Pledge (and maybe win some cool prizes from Compassion Over Killing)!

3) Vegetarian? Go Vegan one day! Or even better: the whole week!

4) Vegan? Encourage at least one friend, family member, coworker to try any of options #1-3!

5) Human being? Well, if you are (I think that means every one of you), then please share this blog post to help spread the word about the greatest choice to save our world!

Check out COK's resources, upcoming events, participating VegWeek restaurants, and sponsors, and do your best to make every day an Earth day.

Please comment below with your Earth Day/VegWeek 2013 pledge!  Help make the biggest difference you can!

Kisses,

Lindsay and Steve

Enjoy some more of these articles on veganism, the environmental toll from eating meat, etc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-friedrich/a-sin-tax-on-meat-would-i_b_844179.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/we-can-lean-into-a-better_b_827716.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/environment-eat-less-meat-cheese-dairy-health_n_901464.html

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/meat-consumption-the-downward-spiral-continues/

Food Pics. For your Eyes, Taste Buds, and Bellies.

The past few months have brought us many delicious meals.  Restaurants in LA, raw food masterpieces in Bimini, and a lot of fun in the kitchen. Tons of pictures floating around on our phones and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... but few/none to the blog.  And that's a travesty!

So it's time to start the sharing.  There's quite a backlog.  But that'll just provide that much more yummy viewing & visual salivating.  We'll start in the WolfSmith kitchen, where Steve's been having some fun making up his own recipes:

KGB (Kale Garbanzo Brownrice Burger) - still in the making, finalized recipe to come! (It packs lots of flavor and spice! And it's green!)

Adding to the KGBs with Daiya Mozzarella and homemade split pea topping 

Stuffed Peppers! This one packs in asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, and brussels sprouts.  Definitely Nooched up, also.

Stuffed Peppers Part Deux! Got cheesy and spicy with these, adding some Daiya, hot sauce,  paprika (and possibly a bit too much black pepper).

Stuffed Peppers Part Trois! This variation has brown rice, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, topped with partially blended chickpeas.

Peter Piper picked a peck of (unpickled) peppers, then stuffed them, topped them with chickpeas, baked them, and ate them.  I hope he gave me credit for the delicious recipe.

Inspired by Jane Esselstyn's Sweet Potato Polenta Stacks (which will be featured in Rip Esselstyn's upcoming book, My Beef With Meat) at Farms2Forks in LA, I tried out my own Sweet Potato Stax, with some ketchup and cashew cream.

Sweet Potato Stax new and improved - and even more delicious and colorful and messy and fun! These feature tempeh, polenta, steamed spinach, ketchup, and cashew cream stacked between the sweet potato layers.  Yum, yum, yum.

Many more mouthwatering pictures 

(and as many recipes that go along with them) to come!

Things I love.

This. 

vegan pancakes at Cafe Gratitude in LA. 

And this. 

snuggling with winny the goose at
farm sanctuary's animal acres in acton, ca.

And THIS. 

... And THIS. 

Taking a little break.

Hey loves. 

Taking a little break from the blog, as life has led us both in different creative directions. Everything will stay up, so no worries - you will be able to get your proper KMIV inspiration where it's due. Thank you endlessly for your abundant, beautiful support, and we encourage you to peel through old blog posts if you're jonesing for some KMIV lovin' - so many goodies in there dating back to 2008. 

And not to fear - we shall be returning. Hey, Steve may even shoot over a post every now and then in the interim. Keep checking in on us. 

If you are here for the first time and new to the vegan movement, great links to start with are chooseveg.com and peta.org.

Keep rockin' on, friends.

Your grateful vegan bloggers,

Lindsay & Steve

"No animal needs to die in order for me to live. And that makes me feel good." - Howard Lyman

Repeat the Sounding Joy.

My dear readers,

One of my favorite moments from one of my favorite holiday films - The Family Stone - is when Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson are cuddled in bed, looking up at the ceiling, and she starts humming "Joy to the World." She lands on the phrase in the lyrics, 

REPEAT THE SOUNDING JOY

REPEAT THE SOUNDING JOY

REPEAT, REPEAT

THE SOUNDING JOY.

Then Luke Wilson says quietly to himself, "Repeat the sounding joy. Hmm."

I love that moment so much.

At Farm Sanctuary's Orland, CA shelter. Photo © Connie Pugh.

Mostly because, that's been the theme running inside of me for much of 2012. I've been outwardly living my inner joy for a while now, but after reading The Secret this past week (I know, I know, how did I let it pass me by for almost seven years before picking it up?), I'm totally convinced that living joyfully is absolutely the right way to go. A few things I took away from the book: 

Our thoughts are extremely powerful in helping to shape our 
world, 

Focusing and obsessing on what we don't want will just continue to bring it to us, and even more importantly, will keep us from bringing in what we do want, 

Living in gratitude, actively choosing to be happy now, and having complete faith in our pursuits - that's the key to growing and lasting success.

One of my favorite quotes from Rhonda Byrne's book is by Lisa Nichols:

"Everything that you want - all the joy, love, abundance, prosperity, bliss - it's there, ready for you to grab ahold of it. And you've got to get hungry for it. You've got to be intentional. And when you become intentional and on fire for what you want, the Universe will deliver every single thing you've been wanting. Recognize the beautiful and wonderful things around you, and bless and praise them. And on the other side, the things that aren't currently working the way you want them to work, don't spend your energy faulting or complaining. Embrace everything that you want so you can get more of it."

Now, I didn't read Rhonda's book lightly - I know that anything worthwhile takes a little time and rarely, if ever, comes the way we expect it would. But in this past year, a few magical occurrences have transpired, and the outcome of them has far exceeded what I was hoping for when I planted the seed of the goal in my heart. One came in the form of falling head over heels in love with the prospect of producing a feature film. And it's just the beginning. 

So, how does all of this apply to vegan living and our pursuit to create a more compassionate world?

Well...

I love you, Fred.

What if, instead of admonishing, criticizing, or judging someone for their non-vegan choices, we praised them for any small step they take in the right direction?

What if, instead of simply preaching the benefits of vegan living, we actively practice living the benefits and be a beautiful example to those around us?

What if, instead of only focusing our thoughts on the pain, misery, and abuse occurring at this very moment for the billions of animals in this country and beyond, we focus intently on creating positive change for them, we focus intently on the farmed animal rescues that do occur, we focus intently on our vegan movement growing person by person, we focus intently on meat consumption dwindling (it's already gone down 12% in the last five years!), and we live in that focus?

What if.

This coming year, I encourage you, my beautiful readers, every single day to choose joy. Choose positive thinking over negative. Choose to put out oodles of bliss-filled vibes out there for our world and the animals, and with that, take compassionate steps toward the kind of world you want. Which bring to mind a few quotes:

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do. -Gandhi

That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
- Willa Cather

Gratitude always comes into play; research shows that people are happier if they are grateful for the positive things in their lives, rather than worrying about what might be missing.
― Dan Buettner

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.- Henry David Thoreau

Steve with a rescued hen at Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres.

To you all - to you wonderful, compassionate readers - at the very end of the day, pretty pretty please - 

Praise yourself for any single step YOU are taking to live compassionately. Because each and every one of you are HEROES for the animals. No matter how small your action.

So get out there, encourage someone, hug an animal friend, and be a shining example of what it really means to live in Ahimsa, which is to truly live vegan. 

Thank you for being so supportive, loving, and loyal with your readership this year. Here's to a magical 2013! 

Love and vegan kisses,

Lindsay, Steve, and the rest of the Kiss Me, I'm Vegan family

A Thought As You Go Through Your Day.

Animal Acres lovin' with Fred. Photo © Joanna Wilson Photography.

"Ethical veganism results in a profound 

revolution within the individual; a complete 

rejection of the paradigm of oppression and 

violence that she has been taught from 

childhood to accept as the natural order. It 

changes her life and the lives of those with 

whom she shares this vision of nonviolence. 

Ethical veganism is anything but passive; on 

the contrary, it is the active refusal to 

cooperate with injustice."

 - Gary L. Francione

WHAT ARE SOME QUOTES ABOUT VEGANISM YOU LOVE?

IT GETS BETTER - A Post by Lindsey Frost.

Hello lovelies! 

Lindsey on her wedding day - what a beautiful lady!

Below, please enjoy a post from my friend Lindsey Frost from hew new blog, Nooch and Nuptials. A dedicated vegan, animal activist, and newly married lady, Lindsey is a necessary emerging voice in the world of vegan blogging. I am honored to have been a part of Lindsey's journey towards compassion, and I hope that this post will inspire you to keep going on your own. Take it away, Lindsey!

IT GETS BETTER 

by Lindsey Frost of Nooch and Nuptials

I think we need an "It Gets Better" campaign for vegetarians and vegans.  

Parents giving you hell about your veg lifestyle?  

It gets better.  

Friends mocking your soy consumption?  

It gets better.  

Complete strangers in the grocery store asking you about protein?  

Nope, sorry, that one's not going anywhere.

Life as a new vegetarian or vegan can be extraordinarily lonely, particularly in places outside of major metropolitan areas where the lifestyle is less understood.  Newbies are often (rightly!) passionate about sharing their new lifestyle, but many find that their enthusiasm falls of deaf ears.  It can be isolating.

When I first began leaning into a vegan lifestyle, I was braced for the worst.  You see, I had been the worst. When my friend Lindsay of Kiss Me, I'm Vegan! fame went vegan years ago, I was a jerk.  As the established host and chef for our group of friends, I had a hard time adjusting to the change.  It felt like a rejection of everything I knew - Southern food and hospitality, served with loads of butter and bacon.  Lindsay's change was scary for me, and I reacted terribly.  It's something I still feel very guilty about.

Karma, as it turns out, is a bitch.  Though I thought I was prepared to deal with the backlash when I went vegan, the fervor of some of the negative reactions from friends and family was still shocking and painful.  But you know what?  It does get better.  Over time, the people around you adjust or they don't.  You learn to live with both types, celebrating those who have embraced your changes and trying your best to love the others where they are. 

Struggling with reactions to your new lifestyle?  Here are my suggestions for getting through:

• Find Your Community: I don't know any other vegans in Chattanooga beyond my quasi-vegan parents (a story for another day), but I feel like I know thousands of vegans across the country thanks to the internet.  Blogs, discussion boards, Facebook groups - they all help.  Need some suggestions for online resources?  E-mail me!  Find people who share your values, even if they're hundreds of miles away.  

• Find Your Inspiration: I am extraordinarily lucky to call Steven Todd Smith of Ahimsa Life Coaching a dear friend.  Steve and I met almost a decade ago in New York, and even though he's now in Los Angeles and I'm in Chattanooga, he's still pushing me and inspiring me.  If I'm having a rough patch, I know I can pick up the phone and call Steve for a little veggie inspiration.  Find a person who can help you back up when you fall, and you'll be a much, much happier vegan.  

• Find Your Heroes:  My husband is an omnivore, but he's my hero.  He supports me in everything I do, gladly devours the products of my culinary adventures, and shuts down the haters.  It's crazy sexy.   A couple of nights ago, we were at dinner with family and friends when a friend of my mom's starting asking question after question about what I eat, what I don't eat, where I get my protein, what I do about calcium, etc. etc.  When the questioning started to get mean and defensive, the husband shut it down with his trademark ease and humor.  He's never cruel or angry, but he always, always protects his family.  Find someone who will stand up for you even if they don't agree with you.  

• Find Your Voice: When I first went veg, I attempted to respond to every comment or criticism with humor.  Eventually though, self-deprecating became self-defeating, and I realized that laughing everything off wasn't getting me very far in changing hearts and minds.  I then tried on intellectual vegan, scary vegan, angry vegan, and sad vegan.  None of it worked, and I just got more and more frustrated.  At last, I recalled the words of a very, very wise man.  The Reverend Forrest Church advised his congregants to "want what you have, do what you can, and be who you are."  My philosophy on sharing my lifestyle others follows a similar model: share with them what you know, feed them all you can, and love them where they are.  Find your way of telling, showing, and loving others.  

To learn more about Lindsey's blog, visit www.noochandnuptials.blogspot.com.

UNPROCESSED by Chef AJ: Book Review & Giveaway!

We're all looking for help in some way or another.  Advice from a family member or a friend.  A film to allow us to escape.  A book to shed some light on a topic or provide valuable information.

We're always looking for a new tool to add to our personal toolbelt, a new skill for our repertoire, a new resource to make sure we have everything we need for our heads, hearts, bodies, and spirits.  

My most recent resource that I added into my life was Unprocessed: How to achieve vibrant health and your ideal weight by Chef AJ.  I've only known Chef AJ for a short time but have learned so much from her, in person and through her book.  She has really worked her way into becoming one of the premier plant-based/vegan chefs and is incredibly accessible with information and recipes.  Currently, in addition to her website, Chef AJ's Healthy Kitchen, where you can sign up for cooking classes, workshops/events, and more, you can find her teamed up with The Plant-Based Dietitian, Julieanna Hever, in the fun and tasty videocasts, "The Chef and the Dietitian," where you can follow the two making recipes from soups to salads to smoothies to dinners to desserts.  It's a big delicious video experience.

So I recently read Unprocessed, and what I love about it is that Chef AJ leads you, the reader, through simple, relatable, easy-to-understand steps to benefit your mindset and journey toward eating an unprocessed, or whole-food, plant-based diet.  Starting with her very own life story - which you'll have to read yourself! - Chef AJ takes us through what easily could be your life experience or your life experience or your life experience.  Let me tell you, I was surprised to find out a lot about what's happened in her life. AJ definitely had to overcome some major obstacles in order to discover her passion, optimal health, and happiness.  Though many challenges were thrown her way, she succeeded - and the value of plant-based eating was definitely at the core of it.

After Chef AJ connects with you, as an author, as a friend, she continues on as a guide, a teacher, and a coach, breaking through the initially-legitimate (but ultimately flimsy) excuses for not wanting to or "being unable" to eat plant-based and unprocessed.  Once you realize "She's right!" and begin to think "Well, what do I do now...?" she swoops in like a superhero(ine), providing all of the basic information on why eating an unprocessed, plant-based diet is best for you - and then helpful tips on how to make it work in your life or your life or your life.  Finally, AJ opens up the vault and you get to cash in on over 100 delicious nutrient-rich and gluten-free recipes!  

That Chipotle Corn Salsa sure looks Smokey!
(courtesy of Forks Over Knives)

Unprocessed is personal, informational, fun, and so helpful in relaying how unprocessed, plant-based eating is valuable for everyone - yes, even you and you and you.  And when you're done, you can jump right in and enjoy with simple recipes that will wow your taste buds and contribute to (and not against) your health.

Here are some favorites that I've tried or that have caught my eye and will most likely end up in my tummy sometime in the near future:

Mmm mmm soup.
(courtesy of Forks Over Knives)

• Chocolate Glazed Balsamic Strawberries
• Mint Chocolate Mousse Torte
• Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
• Smokey Chipotle Corn Salsa
• Hail to the Kale Salad
• Faux Parmesan
• Sweet Potato Soup w/Cannelini Beans & Rainbow Chard
• Chef AJ's Disappearing Lasagna

That's only 8.  Which means there are over 92 more for you to enjoy. How to do that?  Well, get the book, of course!  And I'll give you a head start!  

We're giving away one signed copy of Unprocessed to the lucky raffle winner of this last giveaway of the year.  It's super simple - you may already be a pro at this - just go to the Rafflecopter widget below, sign up for free if you need to, and follow the easy directions. The more items you complete, the more raffle entries in your name, the better chance you have at winning!


a Rafflecopter giveaway