Brene Brown - The Power of Vulnerability

"When we were children, we used to think that when we were all grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable."

- Madeleine L'Engle

I started reading Brene Brown's book Daring Greatly last week and I've become completed engrossed in her research, teachings and philosophy. So many people view vulnerability as a weakness, and in her book she dispels this myth and argues that it is actually our most accurate measure of courage. Her ideas resonate deeply with me and I can't wait to keep reading. 

In this TEDTalk she discusses her research of wholeheartedness and the power of vulnerability. Pretty incredible stuff. 

"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness"

-Brene Brown

Vegan Eats in Ottawa

Two weeks ago, Corbin and I took a little road trip to Ottawa! I really wanted to visit because my best friend Mel is moving across the world this week, and I wanted to give her a hug before she left. Some sweet friends of Corbin's also just moved to Ottawa, so the whole thing seemed like a great excuse for an adventure!

We spent a lot of time visiting and catching up with our friends, and planned a couple fun meals out to enjoy some highly recommended vegan restaurants. On the Saturday night we headed to Zen Kitchen with my friend Laura for dinner.

Zen Kitchen is a gourmet vegan restaurant that recently reopened after undergoing a change in owners. I started drooling over their vegan and gluten free friendly menu for about 24 hours before we actually arrived - everything sounded so good!

We decided on the black bean cakes and crispy mushroom appetizer to start.

The black bean cakes had good flavor, but were a bit dry. They came with a really tasty side of corn chips, salsa, guacamole and cashew sour cream which we really enjoyed. The crispy mushrooms were a hit! The dipping sauces made them even better. I wish I could eat these all the time.

For our mains, Laura had the Caesar salad (complete with polenta croutons and tofu), Corbin had the Royal Zen Burger and I got the lemon scented gnocchi. While everyone's meals looked, smelled and tasted delicious, I won the dinner round. The gnocchi was sublime. From the well cooked veggies, to the mushroom-leek cream sauce, I was in heaven. I loved every bite, especially since gnocchi isn't something I get to eat very often!

The dessert menu looked awesome, but the peanut butter and chocolate pie had caught my eye when I was perusing the menu on the drive up to Ottawa. All 3 of us decided to get it and we were not disappointed. It was absolutely delicious!! Unlike many peanut butter and chocolate desserts, this one was more peanut butter than chocolate, which I really liked. It had a great gluten free crust and was topped with coconut cream. I want to go back just so I can eat this pie again!



Overall it was a really lovely meal. The service was great and they were very diligent about my gluten intolerance, which I really appreciated! Definitely a fancier dinner out that we would normally do, but certainly nice as a treat with amazing company.

We had plans for brunch with Mel and her partner on Sunday morning and she suggested we go to Cafe My House.



I understand that they recently moved to a new location on Wellington Street West and I loved everything about the decor. It was so cute inside! Since it was a nice weekend, we scored a sweet table on the back patio for our brunch.

This was another menu I had been checking out in advance, though I still found it difficult to choose because everything sounded amazing! I started with the Cacao Latte, which was really good, though a little sweet for me.


I decided on the Chipotle BLT mostly because it had a waffle bun. Holy wow.

It was AWESOME. Also, gigantic. But so good. I loved every bite.



Everyone else enjoyed their meals and I would certainly love to go back there to try the dinner menu sometime.

Over dinner the night before, Laura had mentioned a vegan bakery where she had enjoyed the most amazing cupcake and we decided to check it out! Auntie Loo's Treats is Ottawa's first 100% vegan bakery. They have an amazing selection of cupcakes, donuts, squares and buns with a small selection of gluten free items. We had a great visit to the shop and scored some treats for the ride home.

We spent the afternoon in the sunshine at a Provincial Park and I got to give Mel all sorts of hugs. It's been awhile since we've lived in the same city, but this move is going to be a HUGE change and because she's my best friend I want the best for her. I'm so glad we were able to sneak in a visit and have some lovely time together before she left. Love that girl!

The vegan scene in Ottawa is up and coming and it's neat to try out some new places each time I visit. It was an incredible weekend with some wonderful people and some really delicious food!

Toronto's Vegetarian Food Fair 2014 - My Top Picks

Since my first glimpse into veganism back in 2009, Toronto's Vegetarian Food Fair has been the standard way I spend the first weekend in September after Labour Day. I am sad to be missing the Food Fair this year as I will be heading to Ottawa for the weekend, but if you're in the city here are the things you should definitely see, do and EAT this weekend to celebrate the Fair's 30th anniversary!!

Learn a thing

There are some amazing speakers joining the lineup this year including Bryant Terry, Ricki Heller, Terry Hope Romero and my sweet friend, Meghan Telpner. There will be lots to learn from the politics of veganism, how to ferment things and previews of all sorts of yummy recipes. Be sure to pop inside or check out one of the stages to see what's happening.

See one of my favourite local bakers in action

It's no secret that I love Bunners, so I think it's awesome that Ashley Wittig will be sharing some baking secrets in her demo. (Also maybe, samples?!) And if you miss that, check out their cookbook - I'm slowly working my way through it and LOVING it!! Can't wait to post my review very soon!

Eat tasty treats

While I've noted the lack of vegetables in previous years at the Food Fair, I enjoyed a great dinner from Green Zebra last year (with kale!!) and there is certain to be no shortage of delicious treats for you to enjoy! Be sure to check out Sweets from the Earth, Bloomers and APiecalypseNow.

Cross something off your bucket list

While you're in Toronto, you might as well check out the rest of the city and some of the incredible vegan offerings our city has. My lovely friend Lisa has put together a sweet list of Toronto's Best Vegan Restaurant Dishes to help get you started! I've only tried 28 out of the 100 so far, but was stoked to cross Boreal Gelato's Vegan Salted Caramel gelato off the list last week. Holy yum!!

The Food Fair begins tonight and runs until Sunday evening at the Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen's Quay West. Happy Food Fair-ing!!!

Vegan Mofo 2014 - Vegan Eats for Fueling Your Body

Linz and I are super pumped to be participating in Vegan Mofo once again! After last year's hummazing extravaganza of hummus, we've decided to blog a month of Vegan Eats for Fueling Your Body.

We bounced around ideas for themes for a little while, but came back to the fact that both of us are super focused on fitness right now, with my Insanity going strong and Linz training for a 10k on September 20. It also means a bit less hummus in the fridge and a little more variety, and that's really okay with me. (I think Corbin is the only one who is a bit upset as he LOVED being a hummus taste tester. Have no fear lovie! Delicious things are coming!)

We've broken down our theme into weeks, with this week's focus being breakfast. We've already blogged super tasty breakfast tacos and pumpkin cornbread waffles (in honour of #wafflewednesday) with more yumminess to come tomorrow and Friday. Week two will be lunches, week three will be dinners and the last week will be desserts and snacks. So much gluten free, vegan deliciousness!

It's also a great way to focus on my own eating and how I am truly fueling my body! I'm in 'Recovery Week' for Insanity and next week I start month 2. All the titles in month 2 involve the word 'MAX', so I'm a little scared. MoFo is also an amazing time to discover new blogs, awesome peeps and yummy recipes - which is all awesome!! I'm having fun using randomofo.com to browse through all sorts of different posts and following #veganmofo2014 on Twitter & Instagram. This all fits in nicely with my goals for September, which I posted to Instagram yesterday.



Vegan MoFo also gives Linz and I an 'excuse' to schedule cooking dates into our weeks, where we collaborate on yummy things. I'll be heading to her house after I finish this post so we can make a sweet fall-inspired breakfast for Friday's post and something tasty to kick off lunch week. Food + Friends = Fun

You can find all of our Vegan MoFo posts over on Lindsay's blog, The Kitchen Operas.

Do you participate in Vegan MoFo? Who are some of your favourite bloggers to follow during this yummy month?

Love List - August

The CNE has started in Toronto and the temperatures are getting chillier - where is August going?!? Does anyone else get those feelings that inspire you to buy new school supplies around this time of year (even if you're not going back to school?) Maybe I just love new pens and post-it notes a little too much. Other than school supplies (including a shiny new owl whiteboard) here are the things I'm loving right now:

Bloomer's
It's wonderful to see great people doing awesome things!! My friends Alex and Kelly have opened a storefront for Bloomer's bakery at Ossington and Bloor.

I've been a fan of Kelly's cookies for a long time, so it's very cool to now have a place to stop and enjoy them regularly. So far the menu consists of some amazing treats which are all vegan and some gluten free. The cafe has a great vibe and it's slowly becoming one of my favourite places to sit with a tea (& treat) and get work done. A full menu is soon to follow and I couldn't be more excited to have another stellar option for gluten free vegan food in the city. Try the zucchini chocolate chip muffin. TRUST ME.



Lovebot Kickstarter
Speaking of friends doing awesome things... Almost a year ago Corbin and I went on our Lovebot adventure which led to us going to Lovebot HQ and getting to spend more time with Matthew Del Degan, the creator of the Lovebot Invasion himself! The Lovebot team has an awesome Kickstarter happening right now for the DIY Lovebot toy. The campaign has just 11 days left to reach it's goal of $30k and was chosen as a Kickstarter staff pick. Donate and get yourself a sweet DIY Lovebot!



Getting mail that isn't a bill
I received a beautiful bracelet and sweet card in the mail last week and it made my day! I had been waiting on it for awhile (getting things from the US can be a nightmare sometimes) but there's something really charming about getting things in the mail from sweet friends in a world that relies on email and texting. I'm waiting on a sweet tank that I ordered, which will probably make it into September's love list. Stay tuned!



Recipe Testing
Lindsay and I are getting ready for another year of Vegan Mofo coming up in September after last year's hummazing extravaganza. This year we're focusing on 'Foods to Fuel Your Body' and we've got some yummy things planned! I love any excuse to try some new foods out and spend more time with one of my very favourite people. It's going to be delicious and I can't wait to see what so many other amazing bloggers will be doing for the annual Vegan Month of Food!