some ranting and an early night

God damn this has been a shitty week. Sorry Luke and family! Ugh. Won't go into the gory details though as this is obviously my public FOOD blog. So anything I say about my personal life is really an overshare, isn't it?

Yes, I zip up my hoodie the whole way

Tomorrow morning at around 4am my husband (HUSBAND), brother-in-law and I are heading out to the war memorial for the Anzac Day dawn service. It is going to be freezing cold, and I am a bit nervous because I fainted last year and had to be wheel-chaired out through a crowd of thousands. Tens of thousands, even. Fingers crossed that this year will be better!

This blog is getting so personal and so not about food anymore. Although I would like to report that my sister has gone vegetarian after she saw some cutie little piglets at a petting zoo in a shopping centre and it was the final straw for her. The petting zoo was located next to the local butcher- WHAT. THE. People just don't seem to make the connection between the living, breathing, feeling creature and the pink, clean plastic-wrapped meat. It is all so sanitized, and bloodless...I wonder if the majority of the population had to kill to eat, and get all messy, and actually take a life, would they do it?

Well, this is getting a bit morbid. My apologies (although you have stumbled upon a vegan food blog, so probably expect a bit of anti-meat industry stuff all up in here). I think I will just crawl into bed with my pounding headache and sleep it off. I am in a bit of a bad mood if you can't tell.

very tired

I spent most of today in bed alternating between reading on my eReader (I have been a mad bookworm ever since I was little) and napping. I just feel so lethargic, and daytime naps are just about the only thing getting me through at the moment!

Now, to come clean to any readers I have left: my diet is disappointingly very plain and not even terribly healthy at the moment. You could say that I am having a bit of an inspiration drought in this area (and if you said that, you would be accurate). I haven't tried out a new recipe for months (apart from a delicious sauerkraut sandwich that I invented), and I mostly just eat the same things over and over- I apologise to anybody still reading as I know that this behaviour results in an extremely boring food blog!

I would like to know how others find inspiration with food when it starts to lack? I remember that at the beginning of my vegan journey I was all about the raw cheesecakes, chia seed puddings, making my own creative snacks for work and trying out a new smoothie combination almost every day! 

Here are some snapshots of what my life kind of looks like at the moment. I have also been (finally) investing some brainpower into my assignments for my diploma, spending time with my husband, going back to work after the honeymoon, and sorting through our wedding photos. We also finished watching "Breaking Bad." It should be renamed "Breaking Jane's Heart." Poor Jesse. Poor Walt Junior. Disregard if you're not a fan of the show.

Bagels, the other love of my life

Loving being a wife

Morning chlorophyll and market trip

Hanging out with this creature

sisters

Hey y'all!

Just having a quiet girl's night at home with my sister. We are looking at "Hotdogs or Legs" on Tumblr, ate vegan "meat" and sauerkraut sandwiches, and are fooling around on the webcam. As you do.

We are both a bit grumpy because she has really dry skin at the moment and I am recovering from having two teeth extracted. Winning at life.

Hello!

Happy together

thick creamy green smoothie & going off the pill

Made a breakfast smoothie so thick this morning that I am using a spoon to eat it. It is all creamy and delicious and I highly recommend it: almond milk, water, blanched baby spinach (can't have it raw due to hypothyroidism), half a banana, psyllium husk, raw cashews, pumpkin seeds, maca powder and stevia powder. 

Green pudding

Today marks day two of my going off the oral contraceptive pill (for good!). As you can see, I have included  in this morning's breakfast some baby spinach for iron, pumpkin seeds and cashews for some extra zinc and some healthy fats to help my skin on this journey, and some maca powder to help balance out my hormones. 

I am pretty excited about going off the pill and getting my body back to it's natural state. I even treated myself to a menstruation-related gift and ordered a Lunette and some Moonpads. Boys, if you don't know what I am referring to with these (and I'm sure you don't!), do not follow the links- it might be a bit more information than you bargained for. Girls, however, check 'em out! These products are so cool- good for your body, helpful in bringing your natural cycle back in sync and really good for the environment. I cannot wait for them to arrive in the mail. Might be a while until I get to actually use them though, depending on when my hormones kick in.

i'm married! etc.

Wow, it has been almost a month since I last blogged! I really appreciate those of you who are still reading after such a long absence. I have been very busy entering into a new and exciting stage of my life.

First and foremost, I married the love of my life at the end of March! It rained on our wedding day, but it really only made it all the more magical. Words just can't explain the joy I felt seeing my love standing at the altar in his suit and tie; I think my heart nearly exploded in my chest. Having my family (and friends) there meant so much to me as well. Originally we were considering a tiny wedding in Fiji, but I am so glad we did it this way. I love my family so much. I know that I have definitely been hard work for my parents in the past, so having my Dad walk me down the aisle was something that was extremely special to me. My sister's speech made me cry.

Dad, me, Luke, Mum

The wedding was incredible, and lots of the food (including the wedding cake) was vegan! I was the only vegan there, but non-vegans happily scoffed and raved about the food as well. From what I can remember- there was a lot of champagne!- there were mini kale and tomato tartlets, vegetable rice paper rolls, tempura veggies, small bowls of lentil and cauliflower curry and, of course, the wedding cake. The cake was great (thanks Gabby!), with a traditional fruit layer on the bottom and a chocolate cake on the top. I almost made the top tier topple off because I had a bit of trouble cutting it, but all went smoothly in the end. It was so delicious that I would have happily eaten it off the ground anyway.

Husband and wife, just the way it should be

A couple of days after the wedding, my husband and I flew to the tropical paradise of Fiji for our honeymoon. I ate a lot of fresh coconuts. It was beautiful spending time together and being silly and loved-up. He is my sun, my moon and my stars.

Mr and Mrs Happy Face

The gorgeous South Sea Island

I would love to share the minutiae of our daily life and honeymoon shenanigans, but as this is primarily a food blog I am going to write about the food. Namely: I struggled over there. Big time.

In Fiji I suspect that they don't really "do" veganism. Even at the five-star resort we were staying at. I regrettably gave myself and Luke a lot of anxiety over the limited food choices, and ended up deviating from my usually-strict vegan diet. I ate ice cream, cookies and pancakes, which I would never do in my normal life for both health and ethical reasons. I know that a lot of people go on holiday and see it as a perfect excuse to eat all the unhealthy foods they wouldn't normally allow themselves to eat, but I ended up crying (on my honeymoon! The shame!) and having a bit of a panic attack after eating the junk food. I loved the honeymoon itself, and tried to relax about food, but was admittedly extremely relieved to come back home to my health food, supplements, fresh vegetables and the freedom to prepare my food exactly the way I want it.

Mother Nature is insanely, breathtakingly beautiful

Lover's legs

Now I am back from honeymoon and we have been married for exactly two weeks. I was supposed to return to work today but I have been given the week off by the dentist because I had two molars extracted on Wednesday. Ouch. I am back to the same baby-food diet that I had to eat back when I first got my braces! Plans for this week include redecorating the spare room, studying a lot, and getting back into a healthy routine.

I am a wife now! How lovely and strange. Mostly lovely.