Liebster Award!

Kate from Odd Little Vegan nominated me for a Liebster Award. Yay! Thanks Kate! I hadn't really been blogging too much before Vegan MoFo (Month of Food). However, when one of my best friends texting me asking "What the heck is Vegan MoFo?" because of my post entitled Vegan MoFo Fail (before it was edited for clarification purposes), it kind of lit a fire under my butt to come back to the blogging world. And I'm back with a bang! Making new vegan blogging friends? Multiple posts in one week? Starting a new weekly series? Can I keep it up? Find out on next tomorrow's episode of Run, VegGirl, Run!

Vegan MoFo was so wonderful this year and introduced me to a lot of neat vegan blogs and amazing, compassionate people. So without further ado, let's move on to the Liebster:



The Rules!
1. Answer the questions given and then come up with 10 new ones to ask your nominees.
2. Nominate 8 other blogs, let them know you have nominated them and put a link to their blog in your post.
3. No Tag backs.
4. Nominees must have under 200 followers on any platform.
5. You must tell all the blogs that you nominate that you have nominated them.

1. What did you have for breakfast today?


C/o Cascadian Farm

Cascadian Farm Organic Cinnamon Crunch cereal with vanilla almond milk! I usually don't eat cereal, though. Nine times out of ten I have toast or waffles with preserves.

2. Are there any foods you miss not being able to eat as a vegan?

Pretty much everything I used to eat before can be made vegan, and I was one of those weird people who hated steak and ham and bologna before I even went vegetarian. I guess I miss quesadillas with cheese that melts properly because Daiya cheese and other vegan cheeses that I've tried don't melt before the tortilla gets browned. I usually have to resort to sticking my queso-less quesadilla in the microwave to melt it the rest of the way.

3. What’s your favourite vegan take-out?

Sesame Tofu and General Tso's Tofu from the local Chinese food place. My husband and I order both and then have a little bit of each kind of tofu. I've somehow convinced my crazy omnivore man to order tofu or Veggie Lo Mein, instead of chicken or beef dishes, so that he can share his food with me, too. This has proved to be a much better situation than him stealing almost all of my Sesame Tofu, me glaring at his Sweet n' Sour Pork willing it to magically transform into Sweet n' Sour Tofu, then resorting to waving my chopstick and repeating "Wingardium Levi-tofu-osa!".

4. Is anyone else in your family vegan?

Nobody else in my family is even vegetarian. I think I shocked my family about 3 1/2 years ago when I went vegetarian, and when I went vegan about a little over year ago, they just decided to write me off as completely insane. They're all very accommodating, despite all the silly obligatory Where do you get your protein and calcium type of questions.

5. What’s your favourite fruit?

Mangos!

6. What’s your favourite summer recipe?

Grilled pineapple and BBQ grilled tofu.

7. Name 2 really awesome vegan blogs that you follow, and you think people should check out.

Only 2? There are so many great ones! If you haven't already, you should check out Odd Little Vegan because Kate is awesome, and here are two more of my favorites as well (an old favorite and a new find):

       1) I've been following Cassie over at Pretty in Pink Vegan pretty much since she started her blog. Lately she's been hard at work getting her new restaurant "Pink Noodle" ready to go, but you should have a look through some of her archives!

      2) Weird! Why Aren't You Vegan? is another one of the new discoveries brought about by Vegan MoFo. I love Lisa's sense of humor, and her interview questions to omnivores (and their hilarious answers) crack me up! Note to self: Make friends with more improv comedians.

8. Living in the middle of nowhere and growing all your own food: heaven, or hell?

Heaven, of course! I have a secret dream of someday owning an Alpaca, Siberian Husky, berry patch, and organic vegetable farm somewhere outside of Dayton, Ohio. (Not so secret to my husband who would also like to add Nigerian dwarf goats to the menagerie of interesting animals.)  Also, I used to volunteer at an awesome alpaca farm in Terre Haute, IN (White Violet Farms), so I do actually know how to take care of alpacas (mostly you have to be willing to shovel a bunch of alpaca poop).  This dream will totally come true someday!  I've seriously told my Mother-in-law to keep a look out for "For Sale" signs at an alpaca farm that is near their home in the actual middle of nowhere in Indiana.

9. Have you enjoyed taking part in VeganMofo 2014?

I actually didn't really take part in Vegan Mofo 2014, or any Vegan Mofos for that matter, but I have been highly entertained by the posts written by bloggers who participated in Vegan Mofo this year and making new blog friends!

10. Do you have any four-legged family members?

I only have one: my all-white, blue-eyed Siberian Husky Miki (pronounced like tiki), and in our household, we have made up a plethora of songs dedicated to how awesome Huskies are. Such gems as "Hotdogs, Huskies, and Hullabaloos!" and "High Five from a Husky". (Did I mention she gives high fives?) Lately, I've been unsuccessfully trying to convince my husband that Miki needs a buddy and that we need to adopt this cute little guy:



His name is Squidward, and isn't he freaking adorable?!? He's only 10 lbs., and he doesn't shed. If you've ever had to vacuum up after a Siberian Husky dropping her coat for about two weeks straight twice each year, you realize how much of a great quality not-shedding can be in a dog!

***

Since it's October 3rd and Vegan MoFo has officially come to a close, I'm going to refrain from nominating any other bloggers (especially since most of the ones I would nominate have already received Liebsters), but I hope you enjoyed my answers! Thanks again, Kate, and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Peace Out,
Elise

I'm Still Veg*n!

Dear Friends and Readers,

It's been a long time, but I'm back with a vengeance! You're probably wondering where I've been these past several months. Well, I've have some setbacks, and life has thrown a few curve balls my way. I'm still vegan, but I haven't been running for quite a while and also not cooking as much. I was super-hesitant to post anything for a while until I had good news because I didn't want to make this my complain-a-blog. Unfortunately, concrete good news took a bit longer than expected to arrive. I recently picked up swimming again to combat the non-running blues and a cure to the not-being-able-to-run issue is in sight!

A little before my last post, I started having some pain in the ball of my left foot while running. The pain got more severe in mid-February, and I haven't been able to run since that time. I went to the doctor and got lots of tests run and painful shots injected into my feet with no results and not much of a diagnosis until fairly recently. So I've been very down in the dumps and distracted trying to figure out what the heck was going on and get used to the new normal of living with the pain since there wasn't a quick fix in sight.

After several visits to my general practitioner, the x-ray and sonogram people, and two podiatrists (one not-so-good, one amazing), we've finally figured out that I have four Morton's neuromas in my feet (two in each foot). Neuromas are bundles of nerves that gather together and cause quite a bit of pain by concentrating themselves between your metatarsal bones. Some people describe the feeling as a balled up sock or pebble under your foot, but socks are much more comfortable in my experience. Lots of people develop them and they can grow larger over time depending on how you balance your weight on your feet when you stand, walk, or exercise and how much you wear uncomfortable shoes, both high heels and shoes that just don't fit your feet correctly or provide enough arch support. The condition is called Morton's neuroma, which is most commonly between the third and fourth metatarsal bones.

I'm 26 and fairly healthy, but I do exercise on my feet a fair bit. However, I do not wear heels often. Mostly just running shoes, tennis shoes, and flats at work. Apparently, it can also be hereditary. My grandma has actually had neuroma surgery three separate times. (Her story alone was enough to make me wary of surgery.) Anyway July 29th, I'm going to go under the knife for the first time in my life to have two of my neuromas removed from my left foot. (The right foot hasn't really been bothering me, so I'm holding off on that one because I'm already super anxious about surgery in general.)

Anyway, I have lots of new ideas in the works and after my surgery I'll have lots of free time since my doctor has advised me that recovery means I'm not to leave my bed or couch, except with the help of crutches to use the restroom.

For today, I'd like to share a few of the blogs that I read most frequently. Yes, I've been keeping up on my blog reading, and I hope to be more active with comments and the like soon!

First up, Bonzai Aphrodite: I love Sayward and her cute little dude, Waits, so much! I've been following her blog for about a year and a half, and I've also read all of her archives. This is one of those blogs that tells a life story, which I love. She also has lots of helpful environmentally-minded tips for cosmetics, hygiene, gardening, cooking, shopping and more. Sayward is so involved in her community and always has a million projects going on. It's so inspiring! She's also written an awesome book about raising vegan kids, which I'm sure will be a lifesaver someday...

Next, Ayinde Howell of I Eat Grass has an amazing new cooking show called "Like A Vegan"! Please, please, please visit the link on his site and watch his pilot episodes because his dishes and technique are awesome and I really, really, really want to see more of his new show! I've cooked lots of his recipes before, and they are always delicious and feature lots of comfort foods. He uses tons of spices, so his dishes are always very flavorful. Also, somehow he manages to perfect dishes from several different cultures with seeming ease. He has a new cookbook coming out in October, and I can't wait!

I'm also loving Almost Veg Girlie. She's a self-proclaimed "99% vegan", which in my book still makes her 100% awesome. I love her reviews on new foods and enthusiasm for life and shopping (both grocery and otherwise), and she does some personal heart-wrenching posts that are what keep me coming back for more. Did I mention I love reading life stories/personal journeys?

Last, but not least, Cassi from The Pretty in Pink Vegan. I love her style and her honesty. She makes lots of new and exciting dishes, but she also isn't afraid to tell you when she goes out to a restaurant or makes some convenience foods with extra love, like fresh ingredients added to vegan ramen. It's easy to relate to her, and you get lots of great ideas from reading her posts. After following her blog since its very beginning and learning about her love for Asian cuisine, I was so excited to read all about her trip to Japan this year!

Thanks to all my wonderful blogging friends, and keep on trucking! I hope to be more involved in the community again and maybe get back to running by October or November. Until then, I am

Sincerely yours,
Elise