Holiday Vegan Mushroom Gravy (video)
Christmas dinner just wouldn’t be the same without that thick brown yummy vegan gravy! No Turkey needed! Use this to tope your seitan turkey, and your mashed potatoes! Don’t forget the Christmas wine!!! This is recipe I have been making for YEARS, and now you lucky folks are the…
Candice’s Favourite Things: Maca
Maca Me Sexy!
In the constant search for a healthier body, I made a choice a few months ago to incorporate a few more super foods into my diet. We Superwomen deserve super foods do we not?
One that has stuck out more than the rest has been the increased amount of maca in my diet. Changes my…
Candice’s Favoutite Things: Spirulina
“So, like, how do you get your protein?” We have all heard this annoying phrase, maybe one too many times in our vegan lives. Well here is another answer you can give along with beans, lentils and seitan!
Spirulina is a fresh water algae; a form of bacteria that has more…
Is your Booze Vegan?
If you are anything like me, you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or Sangria in the courtyard. But did you know that not all booze is vegetarian or vegan friendly. Naturally, my first reaction was one of sheer panic, but never fear my thirsty friends; thanks to a dear friend of mine, I am able…
What Are You So Afraid Of? Fear and How to Conquer It…
In the past couple of days I have forced myself to be aware of my inner dialogue and who I am being as a person today. I have become very emotional lately when it comes to my career and the goals I have for my future. I find myself putting off what is important because I have a fear of…
Weekend Workout – Get Fit in The City With Eva Redpath: Jock Yoga
Michael Decorte’s Jock Yoga is hard as Eff! But SO WORTH IT! It just proves that Yoga isn’t just a relaxing stretch, it can be very challenging and a fantastic athletic workout. I will be doing these three poses in my living room this afternoon.
Join me! Tweet me a pic of you…
Eating Commandments
These days, people are finding that eating has become a complicated task. There is confusing health advice floating around, unhealthy food that claims to be healthy and poison disguised as your favorite fruits and veg. Eating is a right and a necessity and we shouldn’t have to spend…
Thought of The Day: Today I Am Thankful
It is not happy people who are thankful, but thankful people who are happy.
Candice’s Favorite Things: Wheatgrass Shots
Wheatgrass, a name we all know and often fear. Just say the word to a close friend and see what happens to their facial expression. Something similar to a post-lemon-sucking pucker will overcome their usually quit lovely face. Yup it tastes like ass, even I will admit that. So why do I continue to take my 2 oz green shot morning after morning? There are many reasons, too many to share in one daily blog, so I will summarize with colourful commentary.
Wheatgrass cleanses the blood, organs and gastrointestinal tract of debris (aka poop). Anything negative, you are feeling usually stems from something off in your gut. So keep that sucker clean. Get a colonic, drink your wheatgrass and eat food that doesn’t suck.
This green shot of yuck stimulates metabolism and the body’s enzyme systems by enriching the blood. Blood is in you to live. Blood loss equals life loss, so doesn’t it make sense to keep that vampire bait flowing healthy, and flowing well?
This is our wheatgrass juicer… it’s fun to play with
We live in a world surrounded by crap. Crap in the air, crap in our food, crap on the Television. And to make matters worse we drink like fish, and get high like birds. This magical tonic strengthens our cells, detoxifies the liver and bloodstream, and chemically neutralizes environmental pollutants.
I believe in grass as food and medicine! Drink it! Life is about prevention not, patch up. You take shots of tequila when you go out don’t you? Plug your nose, and shoot it!
Thought of The Day: Smile, Don’t Slobber
The world will continue to move whether you decide to join in or not. Smile, You’re Beautiful!
Thought of The Day: Smile, Don’t Slobber
The world will continue to move whether you decide to join in or not. Smile, You’re Beautiful!
Thought Of The Day: Dear God, I’m Scared
This month I left my job to pursue my dream of teaching all of you the ways of a Happy Urban Vegan. Leaving your job when you have no money and no plan is scary. But I woke up one morning and thought to myself. I WANT THIS! I said a little prayer asking for guidance and guidance told me to commit myself to this dream 100%. So here I am. Every morning I wake up with a little fear, but I say a quick prayer and my mind is put at ease. No matter who you choose as your God, ask for what you want out loud. It will find you.
xo Candice
Thought of The Day: A Day Without Laughter…
The little tramp, Charlie Chaplin. Making viewers smile and laugh with a clumsy disposition and a funny walk for years to come. What a genius.
Children laugh about 400 times a day, adults laugh less than 10. There is something wrong with this ratio. Imagine living in a world where every person, big or small, child or adult laughed an average of 400 times a day. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful place to live?
Take some time today to stop and laugh. Take some time to think about something funny a loved one did, a childhood memory of your most infamous prank, or simply Google a cat video. Whatever it is that makes you smile. Stop and spend some time doing that today. See what happens to those around you when you begin an impromptu laughing fit… are they laughing at you? Maybe… But they are laughing so your job here is complete. 
Stay silly,
xo Candice
10 Things No One Tells You About Sex
By: Ryan O’Connell
Published on Thought Catalog
1. It is possible to occasionally sleep with your friend without it turning into some big ol’ thing. Why is there such intense debate about this? Why did Hollywood have to poop out two identical movies that explore this STRANGE and TWISTED phenomenon known as, “friends with benefits”? “OMG,” a fearful woman screams. “Is it true? Can you REALLY sleep with someone and not want to have 10,000 of their babies afterwards?” Yes. Friend sex is tricky but it can work on a case by case basis. I would just advise that the person you’re boning not be your best friend and that you only have sex sporadically. There. Bingo. Now you can sleep with most of your friends!
2. Sex isn’t always hot. Sometimes it’s sad and sometimes it’s angry and sometimes it’s embarrassing. Sex comes in a variety of flavors and “hot porn sex” is just one of the things that’s on the menu. To be honest, messy sex is often more interesting than garden-variety porn sex. It’s easy to emulate what you’ve seen on TV. The real challenge comes from making sex personal and uNiQuE to the individual.
3. Sometimes you will feel overwhelmed with emotion and want to cry during sex. That’s okay. You’re not crazy. There’s just a dick inside of you. We’ve all been there.
4. There are certain sexual experiences that leave a nasty mark and, in most cases, the mark doesn’t go away until you sleep with someone else. The best cure for a bad sexual experience is a good one.
5. People don’t always get more interesting when their clothes are off. They don’t magically become nicer or more understanding. Sometimes a person is actually the worst version of themselves when they’re naked.
6. More people would like to have sex with you than you might think. If you’re ever in doubt, you should just assume that someone would be okay with seeing you naked.
7. While it can be good to take a break from sex, don’t be gone too long. Otherwise, you risk becoming legitimately terrified of sex. The thought of experiencing that kind of intimacy with someone is, all of a sudden, totally bone-chilling and you can’t remember how you ever did it. And that, my friends, is how six months of celibacy can quickly turn into two years.
8. Sex is the reason why you’re taking a cab to this douchebag’s apartment at 4 a.m. Sex is the reason why you bought those $200 jeans. Sex is the reason why you ordered a salad instead of a burger. Sex is the reason why you’re still dating this person, even though you know you’ll never be able to love them. See that? Therein lies the difference between sex and love. Sex drags things out that should’ve been dead a long time ago. Love, on the other hand, kills everything quickly.
9. It is possible to have really good sex with someone, love who they are, get along with them during daylight hours, and still never want to date them.
10. The person you lost your virginity to won’t always mean something to you. And that’s fine. They really don’t need to matter. Their one job is to make you not a virgin anymore and then send you on your merry way. 
Read more at http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/10-things-no-one-tells-you-about-sex/#Q02sVto33RHiMRzK.99
Thought of The Day: Being right isn’t always the right thing…
I’m a Taurus. Big surprise there, is anyone shocked about this revelation? No, probably not. I am loud and creative, loyal and honest. But I am also stubborn as fuck. My way is usually the right way. Every time. Even when I am not right, I’m right. Yup. Stubborn and bull headed, always have been.
Recently, I have been teaching myself to listen more. Even if I don’t agree. It is amazing what you can learn if you just shut the fuck up for a second and listen to, or even consider someone else’s opinion. I have given up arguing and debating my peers and loved ones. Because no one else cares if you’re right but you. Right?
You can still be right, by letting someone else feel as though they are. Try it
Candice’s Favorite Things: Sweets From The Earth Spiced Carrot Cake
I am absolutely obsessed with this Carrot Cake! I have been to The Big Carrot 4 times this week to get my fix. This super moist, super spiced, super rich Carrot Cake is the best Vegan Carrot Cake I have had yet! The BEST after work dessert to go with my Vino.
At first I was feeling guilty about my daily need for cake, but then I realized that a) They use Organic Carrots and b) That its the first ingredient on the ingredient list… this means that it has more carrots than any other ingredient, more than flour, more than sugar! WOo HOoo!
This magical cake is topped by the only thing better than the cake itself… vegan Cream Cheese Frosting. This frosting is sweet, yet tart and tangy like a regular cream cheese frosting. But what I really love about it, is how light both the icing and the cake are.
In two words.. Simply Divine. I need me a lifetime supply. And so do you.
I’m Taking a Trip In My Mind: The Poor Mans Vacation
If you were to ask me what my deepest desire is. I would tell you that I want to see the world.
Before I could walk I was travelling in an airplane. This happens when you’re an Army Brat of sorts. As a curious child I grew up to become a curious adult. I would watch movies and read books about faraway places and decide at a very early age that these were the places I would see before I died. I wanted to know what the people were like in the places I dreamt about. I wanted to know what they ate, how they celebrated, what they did for fun. I wanted to learn their traditional music, songs and stories. I have a been carrying this list with me from apartment to apartment and city to city. Marking off each magical place as I take it in.
Like most entrepreneurs or working folk, a vacation can sometimes be on the top of the list of desires, but in the back of our minds in terms of priorities. We are too busy to go away and relax, we have bills to pay, and often find ourselves caught up in a world of iphones and networking. This is where I am at in my life now, financially, I’m fucked. I just left my job without really thinking about it, to pursue my dream. Time, technically I have tons, but realistically I have a career to nurture… long story short.. I am not going anywhere anytime soon.
So what do I do to feed this obsessive need to travel? I take mini vacations and create an experience out of what I have in my own backyard…I have lived in Toronto for almost 3 years now. I leave my apartment to go to 5 main places. Work, the grocery store, the health food store, my favourite bar, and the yoga studio. That is about all I have time for in a week. Looking at this list, sure I go places… but I have stopped exploring my own city!
After an evening of listening to french accordion, drinking wine and whining about how long it has been since my last trip to europe, my man asked me if I wanted to go do work in The Distillery District instead of at the office. Not knowing what it was I said sure without thinking too much about it and went to bed. Little did I know I had a mini Europe down the street from my flat! The atmosphere was divine, the coffee fantastic. My brain went from Canada ti Europe immediately and I pretended I was walking the streets of France. We had shots of mayan chocolate at the chocolatiers, and admired art walking hand in hand as though we were tourists. It really got me to thinking about how little I explore my own surroundings. Here I was, visiting France with nothing other than my imagination and a few older looking buildings. I created my own happiness by doing what children do every day.. PRETEND! Why do we give up this form of play as we age? Just be and do who and what you want! why not?
Happiness is a choice, you can whine about the vacations you are not taking, or go explore. You can complain about the money you are not making, or be grateful for what you have.
So I challenge you all to go explore something new, find out what has been hiding in your backyard all along. Take a weekend away my renting a friends cottage or stay in a hotel downtown. Just because your wallet is on a budget, doesn’t mean your experiences have to be. You are in control of creating your own experiences. Life does not just hand them over.
Thought of The Day: Sit With It
Sit with it. Some times life hands you a gift, good or bad, it is a gift. And what you decide to do with that gift is up to you.
So sit with it. Meditate. Go for a walk. The answer is staring you in the face. Just reach out and grab it.
5 Years Ago I Made a Promise to Myself…
Earlier this week Meghan Telpner shared her creed on her blog, “Weird over boring. “ I love this.
In high school I was pretty odd. We didn’t have much money so I wore weird, second hand clothes, some of which I made myself. I had horrible acne, frizzy hair, read a lot of books, and wrote poetry. I was shy and kept to myself. I was too nervous to say how I really felt about anything for fear that my views would come off as weird or strange. I didn’t need to give the kids any ammo. I knew how they felt about me. Being the real me would just make matters worse. I had a couple good girlfriends, but for the most part, people just thought I was “weird.” My family confirmed this accusation. My sisters were just as weird as I, and my parents… well let’s just say, having your mom show up to collect you from a party, with the fury of a bull was far from “cool”.
But what is cool really? When I was younger, cool was the group of girls you remember from high school all wearing the same outfit, walking, talking and smelling the same way. But as I developed into who I am now, I realized this was not true. Cool is the strong female in her daring outfit, with the awesome personality and the ability to do what she wants, when she wants and not give a damn what anyone else thinks. Do people think she is weird, probably. But I would much rather be that woman… wouldn’t you? To me, that woman is my mom. What a fireball. This woman does not care about what anyone thinks. She just does, says, and dances to disco with her kids, the way she wants. It is her life, and you are just passing through. I always admired this. I remember my mother consoling me after a boy broke my heart and saying, “one day, someone will just see the smart, beautiful girl I see, and he will love each quirky thing about you.”
About 5 years ago (wow, how time flies) I decided, that I was sick of shoving who I really was, to the back of my mind. I love to paint, and wear colourful and unique clothing. I love to play Abba and jump on my bed in the morning, and then chill out and write with Jim Morrison serenading my every thought. I love to dance in the street for no reason other than the fact the song playing in my headphones is so friggen good that I can’t help myself. I LOVE to talk to strangers, the stranger the better. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than just taking off on an unplanned adventure, without preparation or plan.
5 years ago I made a vow to myself that I would be as far out of my comfort zone as possible 98% of the time. The day I made this promise was the day I started to live my life.
Are you living the most satisfying, full life you possibly can? Have you made a promise to yourself lately?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M SICK?! 3 Forgotten Ways To Take Care Of Your Body
Poor Sick Candice
I eat organic fruits and veg, I juice, I work out. On paper this looks like the profile of a very healthy individual. Someone with a strong immune system and zest for life.
But alas, here I am sick as a dog. I woke up this week with a stuffy nose, my immediate thought was OH MY GOSH I haven’t been sick in years! 3 years to be exact. Count em, 1-2-3!!!! Everyday the symptoms got worse. I wash my hands regularly and am doing everything I can to remedy myself by the book. Or am I?
Evidence would show that I am doing everything correctly right? But until today I didn’t realize that lifestyle has just as much to do with it. Am I taking time for myself? Nope. Am I relaxing ? Double nope. Am I at the very least getting 8 hours of sleep a night? Absolutely not! Hmmm this might have something to do with my new found illness, coming on string each passing day. I havent slowed down despite this drop in immunity. I have been just been pushed harder and harder.
Use it or lose it is saying I live by, but clearly my body has been used and abused. It time take it in for a tune up. To slow down and take a look under the hood, read the owner’s manual and do what’s best for it. This sore throat, stuffy nose, no voice and headache wont take care of itself. So it’s time to slow down and take advantage of this wake up call.
So this month I am committed to the following:
Take more time for myself. No, not by blogging or come up with recipes, but by doing something great for myself. I used to paint! And read! And travel! And clean my apartment! It’s time to tune in to my hobbies and take care of my home again.
Sleep. I have always been guilty of this. A night owl since I was a child, I have always had trouble sleeping. I developed this ” sleeping is a waste of time” mentality. I work till all hours of the night than curse my early mornings. No more. That’s it, that’s all. I will now plan my schedule around my 8 hours of sleep every night. Boom!
Relax. If Frankie tells you to do it then, do it! It’s no wonder I can’t sleep! I’m too wound up every minute of every day! How can I expect my body to fall asleep naturally if I am a human energizer bunny?! Therefore, I am dedicated to relaxing for at least 1 hour everyday. This means no work! No phone, and no checking emails. Period. Just me and my wine and a book or a movie, or getting a massage, or a private yoga class, or … Mmm now I’m day dreaming.
Have you made any commitments to yourself lately? Let me know in the comments or tweet me!
