Life As A Veggie

Nail art + upcoming tutorials.

DIY

7:30 PM
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Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.

1:27 PM
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Bucket list #4: Tour through Greece!

7:00 AM
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Bucket list #3: Learn sign language.

Bucket list

8:00 AM
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How to make vegetable milks! (The simple and easy way).

milk

When you are lactose intolerant, trying to go vegan or just think cow's milk is too unhealthy for you to consume, you usually try to find a healthier alternative, and the first thing that pops up most of the time is vegetable milk. Vegetable milks are milks that are made out of vegetable, like grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. I'm gonna be posting the two with the easiest ingredients to find here in Venezuela, which are rice and oats.

As I have heard from many vegans I have had the pleasure of speaking with over time, sometimes the thing about some commercial vegetable milk brands is that they are enriched with sinthetic vitamins and minerals or are made out of GMO veggies, and it is no secret that no good comes from GMO's or sinthetic stuff.

So, we go for the safe, homemade stuff. You're gonna need a few things for this (Besides a trip to the supermarket):

Blender
Measuring cup
Mason Jar or Thermus (For storage)
Medium sized bowl

For the Oat milk you'll need:

One cup oats
Three cups water

Instructions:

First off, you're going to have to soak your oats. You need to soak them for at least 20 minutes. After that, rinse them and wash them to get off any oat slime that might have apeared during the soaking.
Place the oats along with the three cups of water in the blender and blend for about 30 seconds.
Strain the oat/water mixture through a cheesecloth, store in a mason jar and enjoy!

For the Rice milk you'll need:

One cup of brown or white rice (Brown would be the healthier choice but the milk will probably be thinner)
Four cups of water
Sugar, stevia, agave syrup or any other sweetener of your choice.

Instructions:

First, you put the rice and the water on the stove and cook the rice until it's really soft.
Put the rice and the water in a blender.
When the rice is completely blended, strain it through a cheese cloth,
Put it in a mason jar or thermus (It has to be an airtight conteiner since rice milk picks up odors from other foods), add whatever sweetener you prefer and store in the fridge.

As always, I hope you liked this post. It is wonderful to share these things with my readers. Stay tuned for more posts and stay awesome!

7:00 AM
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Bucket List #2: Vegan macarons!

Bucket list

The day I discovered Aquafaba I realized I had a higher chance of going back to Miami than finding any kind of chickpea in Venezuela. This miraculous liquid that made most of my wildest dreams come true (Vegan lemon meringue pie, vegan lemon meringue cupcakes, puffy and light vegan yellow cakes, perfect brownies, amazing VEGAN MACARONS) was pretty much nowhere to be found and I after much thought I found myself asking my mom for permission to use the ONLY CAN of chickpeas we had left in the house for a little aquafaba experiment. I was planning to make something simple: Vegan meringues. I thought to myself "Well, If there are people that manage to make them with hand mixers, I can totally pull it off with the kitchen aid!". So I opened my can of chickpeas, put the aquafaba in the kitchen aid, ate half of the chickpeas and began to mix that motherflecker in medium speed for about 5 minutes, then high speed for about 10 minutes. I added powdered sugar, set them on a baking sheet and baked them according to instructions. This was my result:

My meringues totally sank. I ended up with these little sugar cookies that no one ate because they were soooooo sweet! Sadly, I had to throw them away.

Even though my first aquafaba experiment was an utter fail, I really hope that someday I'm able to learn and succeed in vegan macaron baking. Have any of you seen macarons? Those things just yell "Eat me! I'm as delicious as I look!". I've never had any, but gosh if I ever got the chance to use aquafaba ever again I would totally try and make macarons. So, if any of you lovely readers are anxious to see a vegan macaron in the making, check out this video Step-by-step Vegan Macarons and this webpage Vegan Macaron Troubleshooting so you can bravely face any problems you might encounter in your vegan macaron baking adventure! Happy baking!!

*So, this is my second Bucket List post. I'll be doing a ton of them but not precisely in order so I might make a random post between each part of the Bucket List. AND those amazing macaron pictures aren't mine. Just sayin'*

As always, thanks a ton for reading! Stay awesome!

7:30 AM
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Bucket List #1: New York City.

Bucket list

As some of you know, I live in Venezuela. Yeah, that really beautiful, warm country in South America with a bad management problem. Certain circumstances have made it extremely difficult for me to travel, but do I let that stop me? NO! One thing I've come to understand in my very short life is that things change, situations change, people chance, etc. I force myself daily to think in a positive manner, even though it gets a lot harder whenever I'm outside in the real world. When you go outside and see mostly misery, hunger, poverty, etc; all those good thoughts you managed to work up slip away like water between your fingers. The real challenge is keeping them and thinking about yourself and your dreams. That's the reason for a new post series I thought up: My Bucket List!

I have always been a dreamer, I want to do amazing things with my life, I want to help animals and people alike, I want to travel, I want to cause a change in the world, I want to give myself completely to what I believe in. Most of all I want to be a really old lady and feel super awesome because I did everything I wanted to do. One of those things is to visit New York City. These are the things I need to do when I go:

Walk hand in hand with my boyfriend through Central Park.
Ride the subway.
Visit the Empire State Building.
Visit the 9/11 Tribute Center (I was living in the States on september 11, 2001 and I've always felt deep respect for everyone who was involved in that tragedy.)
Steal a cab from someone who needs it more than me (How I Met Your Mother Reference)
Visit the Statue of Liberty.
Drive across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Visit the American Museum of Natural History.
Eat as many vegan cheesecakes as I can!

Obviously when I get there I'm gonna do more things, but just with these I would feel accomplished! I hope I get to do all of these things someday!

Also, I'm a huge Suits fan, so everytime I listen to the theme song I immediately think about NYC. You can listen to it here:

So, where would you guys and gals love to go? Share your comments on the comment section below! As always, thank you for reading! Stay awesome!

8:00 AM
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Blog revamp + Life update.

Life update

Hello there! Remember me? Legend says I used to post on this blog. Well, wait no more! I am back! With a really interesting life update. This year has been extremely amazing. I finished my career last month, now I'm an attorney (Frick yes!). I am extremely satisfied, since I got to finish my career at 21, with a post-graduate course and with a job. Oh yeah! This young lady finally (and after months searching) HAS A JOB. A real job! And it's not only A JOB, no no no. It's an amazing job at an amazing international Law Firm. When I started my career I thought that speaking english would do me no good but turns out I was wrong! It got me a fantastic job at a fantastic firm that is currently giving me training for international legal practice. Just when I didn't think things could get any better, I got a chance to be an english teacher at an up-and-coming national project. So that's pretty awesome too. Oh! And my big sister is getting married, so THAT'S FRICKING AMAZING AND I'M SO SO SO SO HAPPY!

I've actually felt a bit overwhelmed at all of the good things and opportunities that life has been throwing at my face lately. Literally, so many things are going on that I feel unable to focus. So, to clear my head and help myself out I've started a clean eating challenge, I spoke to a nutritionist about my eating habits, I started working out and meditating every day. I figure that things might not always stay this way, so I am doing the best I can in most aspects of my life to be able to find myself and give myself support in case I need it.

Since so much has been going on, I decided to come back to my little personal space in the internet and keep track of things. Consequently, I revamped this whole blog to fit a changed-and-grown-up version of me. I loved the background from the moment I saw it and changed everything to match it. I feel it's much more classy than my last background; which was also awesome but a bit too colorful now that I think about it. Besides, who doesn't love vintage roses? They're so pretty! So, since this is kind of like a new beginning for my blog, I'm gonna be making a list of posts to keep it active and to keep myself motivated.

As always, thank you so much for reading! And remember, stay awesome!

8:00 AM
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2014 Book list and reviews.

book list

So, I'm back guys. I couldn't let the year end without posting again, could I? This year was pretty amazing, and unlike most recent years, I actually managed to get most of my 2014 new year resolutions done. One of them was to read a book a month. This year, I made a book list with every book I read, and guess what? I read 19 books (I'm a total overachiever)! I used to love to read before I got to college (And books got too expensive). Las year I decided that I would make reading new books a challenge, and boy did I come through!

I have fallen in love this year, I have cried, I have laughed and I have felt scared thanks to the amazing books I had the pleasure to read. I discovered new things, I learnt a ton about history and much much more! So, here goes my book list, I absolutely loved it and I hope you guys love it too!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: This is the first saga I finishd this year and it was by far the best nest to Heroes of Olympus. I absolutely love it and recommend it *-*

The Lightning Thief.
The Sea of Monsters.
The Titan's Curse.
The Battle of the Labyrinth.
The Last Olympian.

The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan: 10 times more badass than Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This saga was so many levels of amazing I can't begin to describe it.

The Lost Hero.
The Son of Neptune.
The Mark of Athena.
The House of Hades.
The Blood of Olympus.

The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan: Cool book, cool stories.

Looking for Alaska by John Green: I actually read this right after reading The Fault in Our Stars so I didn't have so many feels. Still a good book though.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: This book turned me into and emotional wreck but I love it. I wouldn't read it for a second time though. My feelings would break.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Cool book, I don't think it was amazing but it was definitely entertaining.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K.Rowling: It was an amazing ending to the first saga I ever read. Cried tons at the end. Super good *-*

Wallflower Series by Lisa Kleypas: These books are amaziiiing and romantic and beautiful and incredible and SUPER DUPER AWESOME *-* Only for +18 people though.

Devil in Winter.
It Happened One Autumn.
Scandal in Spring.
Secrets of a Summer Night.

So, this was my 2014 book list.

There are some others I left out because I'm not done reading them yet, but I guess I'll add them to my 2015 book list haha.

I hope you guys liked it.

If you have any comments or recommendations leave them in the comment section.

Thanks for reading!

5:22 PM
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Tips to have a successful rescue and not die while trying.

adoption

This is the moment when I get philosophical. Brace yourselves.

I believe, as I said in a previous post (Not sure which one), that there's always a defining moment in our lives. It's different for everyone, but it's usually when we decide that we just HAVE to do something. In most animal rescue cases, we decide we just can't leave an animal on the street. We see that poor little creature, with those sad eyes and dirty fur and we just think "I can't leave it there. I just can't. My mom is going to kill me" or something along those lines.

At first, we don't know what to do, we don't know if we should hold that animal with our bare hands or where to put it. You just kinda grab it but you can't put it down. You feel responsible. You feel as though you just made a commitment to that animal and you just can't let it go. You start thinking about who might want it, you worry about how you're gonna be able to get someone to adopt it, how long it will be with you, and you just kinda panic a bit.

My goal is to help you out when that moment comes. Of course, my journey was a bit difficult considering I never really knew what to do or anyone to give me advice. So, I'm gonna make a small list with some of the things experience taught me. So, that being said, let's begin!

TAKE IT TO THE VET: This is the most important thing on this list. DON'T GO HOME AFTER YOU RESCUE. GO TO THE VET. Specially if you have other pets at home. You don't know what kind of disease your rescue might have and it might need medication or some sort of treatment. I can't stress this enough. GO TO THE VET. If you do have pets and were not able to go to the vet straight away, put the animal in a bathroom o a place where it can't have immediate contact with your pets. Trust me on this one. I learnt this the hard way.
Give it food and water: Alright, important thing number two. You don't know if the animal you rescued has had anything to eat. For all you know, perhaps it hasn't eaten in days. So, it's important to hydrate it and fill up that tummy. Food and water will help them get more energy and recover if they have wounds. Animals tend to be grateful, specially strays. Since the treatment they usually receive is made up mostly by abuse in many forms, you can expect them to be grateful for food. Thing is, you have to be careful. You don't know if that animal has a problem with people getting too close to their food or something. Best thing you can do is serve them some food, leave it on the floor, and watch their behavior. Give them space, they don't know what's going on.
Check for fleas, ticks and injuries: If you didn't get the chance to stop by the vet and went straight home, you're gonna have to do the checking. Look for an old eyebrow tweezer and run your hand through the animal's hair (Most of the time it's easier when you rescue dogs. I wouldn't try to touch a cat's tummy at the very least). Check the ears, between the toes and the tummy first. These are usually places you can find a lot of little bloodthirsty (and disgusting) bugs like fleas and ticks. You have to be careful when removing the ticks. You have to grab them as close to the skin as you can and pull up with even, steady pressure, careful to not break the mouth parts. If they do break and stay in the skin, don't panic, just let it heal. If you find the animal has any injuries or myiasis. If it does, a trip to the vet is gonna be absolutely necessary.
Deworming and Vaccines: When you go to the vet, the first thing you're probably gonna have to hear is that the animal needs to be dewormed and vaccinated. This is very very important since there are tons of parasites that could be harming that animal and preventing him from becoming that healthy, adoptable, beautiful animal someone will fall in love with, and, in case someone decides to adopt, it's a guarantee for you that the animal isn't going to get sick with the disease you vaccinated it against.
Bathing (Dogs): I say only dogs because obviously cats are much much more delicate. The don't like to be handled around a lot, and they don't like getting wet. Put those two together and it might not be the greatest idea ever. After the vet, you should give that little angel a nice bath and let it rest. They'll feel a ton better, and bathtime is ideal to check if there are any fleas or ticks left.
Last but not least, putting it up for adoption: The last tip. If it's your first time it's not all that easy to find someone who will adopt. You have to turn to social networks. Most animal welfare organizations have Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts where they put the dates of their events. Look for an adoption event near you and take your rescue when they are absolutely healthy. When you are there, don't let it come in contact with other animals or step on places where other animals might have been. You don't know if everyone has been as careful as you have with their rescue's health and you don't want your rescue to catch something. You should also post the animal's photo on social networks like I explained in this post Stray animal rescue and Social networks: Tips for posting and sharing information.

Remember, you can't just wait for someone to do something. You are that SOMEONE! You are the person that can make a difference. We are all agents of change in our world. If doing good things was easy, the world would be a very different place. Since it's not, we have to be brave enough to do something to make the world a place worth living in. We might not see immediate results, and things might not go as planned, but we have to think that everything we do and everything we say is an opportunity to inspire people, to help them understand, to open their eyes to one of the many cruel truths people refuse to see.

I hope you awesome readers liked this post. I really hope it help you out and gives you that little push you need to help out stray animals. Stay tuned :)

11:25 PM
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Nail art + upcoming tutorials.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.

Bucket list #4: Tour through Greece!

Bucket list #3: Learn sign language.

How to make vegetable milks! (The simple and easy way).

Bucket List #2: Vegan macarons!

Bucket List #1: New York City.

Blog revamp + Life update.

2014 Book list and reviews.

Tips to have a successful rescue and not die while trying.

Stay tuned on Twitter!

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Stay up to speed on Instagram!

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