Veggie Burgers

These veggie burgers are kind of legendary. I'm not sure if it's because they're so tasty, or because I have built them up so much in my social circles that everyone is always chomping at the bit to try them.

In any case, the simple truth is that everything is better with cumin. And when it's mixed in with awesome protein (chickpeas) and cooks even on a grill without too much damage, it makes a burger pretty noteworthy. And did I mention that these are soy-free, also? More than you can say about pretty much all the commercial veggie burgers I've come across...

So without further dramatization (as if that wasn't enough), here's how you do it.

Embracing Happiness, Part V: Gratitude

This is the fifth post in a 7-part series that I'm calling Embracing Happiness. It's meant to document some things that I've learned over the past year and a half that have completely changed my life and led me to where I am now, to being a happier and more complete person than I have ever been before. Each piece will speak to a major skill or lesson I've learned and how that's contributed, directly and indirectly, to greater beauty and joy in my life. If you missed them, here are part one, part two, part three and part four.

It took me a long time to understand what gratitude is. I know a few people who have got it in the bag; they never seem to forget themselves, ever. And then I know people who are where I was a few years ago, where they think they understand it, but their behaviour leads me to believe that gratitude is more an abstract idea than a lifestyle to them. I found so much more peace and happiness when I was able to actually start living with a sense of gratitude day to day.

I know what some of you are thinking: “Lia, you never stop complaining about the latest bill Harper’s passing, or the latest instance of rape culture. What do you mean you live with gratitude?” And it would be totally understandable. But for me, standing up for what’s right and making sure people know about bad things that are affecting people are part of gratitude. While it seems really backwards, I’ll get there, and maybe you’ll see what I mean.

The Illusion of Independence

Today I wanted to talk about something very important to me. I call it (as the post title suggests) the Illusion of Independence.

The Illusion of Independence is something that has been carefully constructed by a lot of people over a long period of time. I would say that the start of the industrial age is probably when the first seeds were sown and it has since become a fast-growing weed that I have to beat back with a machete on a day-to-day basis.

The Illusion of Independence is exactly what it sounds like: it's the belief that we are completely independent, even though it's total and utter absurdity. Independence is celebrated, lifted up as a model of how we should try to be, and so of course we all scramble to identify as independent. Everyone from Beyoncé to the announcer on the hockey game is going to try to tell you that there is an opportunity to be independent, and you should take it.

And why am I even bothering to bring this up? Because it's dangerous to believe we're all independent. It's really, really dangerous, and for a few reasons.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Oh, I meant it, all right. When I first tasted the brown sugar icing that adorns my spice cake, I was instantly reminded of chocolate chip cookie dough. And where there's icing, there's cake. It became my mission, and now I'm happy to say: mission accomplished.

This gorgeous chocolate is the star of these cupcakes.

Say hello to the most decadent cupcakes a vegan could reasonably ask for. We're talking about a brown sugar and vanilla cake flecked with chocolate shavings. We're talking about light, fluffy coconut cream. And we're definitely talking about chunks of raw cookie dough chock full of 70% dark chocolate. It really doesn't get much better than this.

Oh yeah, and did I mention they're delicious frozen, on a hot summer's day?

Now, I'm not going to lie: they're not everyday fare, because they're terribly rich. But if you're having a bunch of friends over who think that vegan dessert is pineapple, it will be very satisfying indeed to pull these out. (My omnivore, doesn't-even-eat-sweets roommate even came back for another.)

A belt, a belt! My t-shirt for a belt!

I have a whole slew of old t-shirts that are way too big on me. So naturally, I've been turning over every stone online to find DIY projects that I can use my t-shirts for. This has yielded a few really useful things that I've been enjoying using around the house and beyond. Meet the newest additions to the upcycled family.

The mat (pictured to the right) was made from the scraps of the other projects. I'll talk more about those later. The mat came from a tutorial found here, although I modified it somewhat in that I made the base piece of fabric more into a lattice to do latch-hook-style threading of the t-shirt scraps through the holes. I wanted to be able to just throw it into the laundry, which you couldn't do with the original.

Another project (which is largely what supplied the scraps for the mat) was making my t-shirts into tote bags. I know, it sounds really, really obvious, and I was a little embarrassed that I didn't think of it myself. There are a number of great tutorials on-line, but I used this one. Then I also did a version where I chopped the t-shirt in half down the middle and made two taller, thinner bags with only one handle. I liked both styles a lot--the half t-shirt style for the size of it, and the full t-shirt style for the double handle. I do like a double handle. And I do like a smaller bag better than a larger one.

And of course, then there's the belt. Is it ever a sexy beast. My favourite part is that not a scrap of it was new. To be honest, I owe a debt of gratitude to several people on-line for the inspiration and (in some cases) actual instruction that led to this baby being born. It's really not hard, and you don't need a sewing machine. Actually, you don't need much more than a pair of sharp scissors and a t-shirt. Even the rings are optional.

So here's how I made it.