Dissapointing Vegans

There seems to be a trend lately of people giving up on veganism. It's really dissapointing :(

I don't give a crap what anyone else eats, it's your body not mine. However I've been following certain blogs for a while now and at least 2 of them have started not just eating dairy but meat too! Under the idea of 'listening to your body' basically saying if your body craves meat then it's ok to eat it.
I'm begining to think the people didn't really grasp what veganism is in the first place. I mean come on now..what the fuck?!

Personally I don't buy into the veganism for health idea, veganism is no more healthy than a balanced omnivore diet. For me being vegan is an ethical choice, always has been and always will be!
How these people can believe so strongly in the cause and then turn their backs to the suffering they know is happening is just so dissapointing. So it's ok for an animal to suffer and die in misery so you can enjoy some chicken wings after training..what a crock!

I read recently that Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel have turned their backs on veganism too. Was gutted to read that Natalie Portman gave up on veganism since she became pregnant, which promotes the myth that it's unhealthy and considering the campaigning Natalie has done over the years for PETA (a company for another blog post!) it's just a giant slap in the face.

I guess I just don't get it. I've only been vegan for just over a year but I can't imagine ever going back to eating dairy let alone meat. I'm not out to make everyone in the world vegan, far from it. It has to be a choice and you have to make it for yourself.

There is a lot more I could say on this subject but I'm having a hell of a long day & the headache that turned into a migrane on Sunday night is still kinda lingering so I'm going to leave that here....for now.

Moan bloody moan

Well, where to begin.

The vegan baking demonstrations at the Food Festival went really well. I was a little bit nervous but as soon as I started speaking my nerves melted away & I just got on with it. EVERYONE loved the cakes and lots of people took my recipe/vegan info flyers. Some people asked questions..some about the baking, some about being vegan and even one guy asked if I missed bacon sandwiches (I don't).
So I was really pleased with how it went but later in the evening I was struck down (how dramatic) by a migrane. I'm never sure what brings them on and luckily I maybe get 1 a year but when a do boy are they a wopper!
Not only did it last all night but I had a migrane 'hangover' for the next 2 days. It was horrible and the worst part is there is nothing that seems to help. I just have to lie in the dark and try my best to sleep it off which is damn near impossible. So lame.

In other news, I started a cleaning job this week. It's both good & bad...it's only an hour a day (but I have to make up an extra 45mins over the 6 days I work) which is fine but not really earning enough to relax a bit from, if that makes sense plus I won't get paid for 5 weeks!!! ugh, it's such a boring tale I can't be bothered to blog about it. Point is I have to wait 5weeks to get paid & only doing 6.75hrs a week means I'm not exactly going to be rolling in cash by the time I get paid.

So, with this in mind, I've been feeling a little bit down about being out of work & having no money. Every day I keep hoping I'll get some good news but every day..it doesn't happen. Which brings me to todays tale of woe.
I almost had the opportunity to Bout next weekend. I've been training since November and I've scrimmaged quite a few times & I feel totaly confident about doing it but wanted to check with my co-director because I really value her opinion & wanted to hear her thoughts.
.....she basically said I'm not quite there yet. I'm not ashamed (or maybe I am) to admit that I got upset. I could tell he wanted to say oh go on then, but I didn't want to guilt her into it. I wanted her to say yes! go for it, but that didn't happen.
I know I'm not far off from the bouting stage but it's so frustrating. I think I just wanted something good to happen, something I could look forward to.

When it comes to roller derby I love it...like REALLY love it, even more so I really love coaching the team and if I'm honest I'm starting to feel like even that is being taken away from me. Which is almost more upsetting because I know I'm good at it.
We've had a hockey coach get involved with our team and while I know we'd be fools to have turned down his offer for helping coach, I can't help but feel a little usurped. I feel like we only have 2 hours to train a week and he takes up valuable time. It's all useful stuff he's teaching us but it's not derby. I'm so aware as I write this that I would so selfish and petulant but I can't help but just feel a little redundant sometimes.
So today when I was feeling a bit down about my unemployed status, having a cleaning job that is barely paying me anything and the one thing that could have cheered me up...well, just wasn't on the cards.
I hate feeling so bloody useless. Like I'm no good at anything..can't get a job, not good enough to bout, I feel like I'm a good coach but ..pah! I'm so fed up I don't even want to finish this sentence.

Oh it's all a bit moany moany isn't it?
I've been trying so hard to stay positive in the face of all the bad situations but my patience is wearing a bit thin.
I just need something good to happen...I know it will, eventually but sooner rather than later would be good.
I don't like to leave things on a down note on here so I'll leave this with a great quote I saw today.

"My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot"

Says it all really.

Night xxx

Can cake really make everything better?

So, I didn't get the job.
I was really quite upset, but 2 LARGE glasses of wine helped to ease the pain. The woman who called me to let me know how the 2nd interview went said that it was nothing personal and if there were 2 jobs she would give it to me (pah! whatever) BUT I had no previous charity experience & would be in charge of a lot of people, something I'm not used to (but was willing to do) UGH...must move on.

So this morning, I anticipated that I would feel crap so first thing I did was exercise. I finished day 7,level 2 of the 30 Day Shred then went straight onto No More Trouble Zones...was glad I did it, although I thought it was going to melt - the wether was hot yet rainy. Perfect weather for.....a storm!! Which kicked in not long after I finished my workout.
I did some washing, cleaned the kitchen, did a lot of job hunting (back on the horse as they say) and baked a cake.

 Was pretty sure i'd screwed up the frosting...I'm not ashamed to say I shed a few tears when I thought I had. The damned stuff was a bit too watery, I was sure it wouldn't 'set'.

But hey-presto! after some time in the fridge..it was fine & actually tasted pretty good. I used a new recipe I found online..not my usual triple chocolate cake recipe.

After cake, I went back to job hunting. So depressing...I need to find something..anything ...soon. I know I will but am feeling kinda defeated today.
Onwards and upwards as someone said, and as my Dad would say 'Don't let the bastards get you down' so it's with steely resolve that I carry on the job hunt....and probably a bit more cake.

xoxox

It's all about cherry pie..

I make the best goddamn cherry pie....no really, I do!

Now, I know it may not be the best looking pie..I'll give you that BUT it tastes amazing and of course it's vegan and nothing goes better with cherry pie than a scoop of ice cream. I chose the raspberry flavour of Swedish Glace one of the best vegan ice creams out there and just a squeeze of some dark chocolate sauce.

I have decided to share with you lot out there...if indeed anyone does read this, which I doubt but it's a great sweet shortcrust pastry & so simple to make. So here you are :

Vegan Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

125g/4½oz Plain Flour 

55g/2oz icing sugar

55g/2oz soya margarine

Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl and add the soya margarine.

Use your fingertips to rub the fat into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of margarine remaining. Try to work quickly so that it doesn't become greasy.

Bring the mixture together to form a dough, adding extra flour if the mixture is too wet, or some water if too dry, a teaspoon at a time.

Wrap the dough in cling-film and chill for 10-15 minutes before using.

See? simple and so tasty!

I remove the stones from the cherries, sprinkle sugar over them & then pop them in a pan on the hob, medium heat & wait till he cherries have softened & the sugar has melted creating a lovely sweet syrup. This is your pie filling..lovely :)

Whack it in the oven at around 150-180degrees & bake for 25-30mins then hey presto - a delicious cherry pie baked with your own loving hands.
* serving suggestion : have it Twin Peaks style & enjoy a slice of pie with a nice hot cup of coffee.

Short but sweet

Sunday is Roller Derby training day for me....and as far as I'm concerned Derby is the ONLY reason to get out of bed early on Sunday - can I get an amen?!

We had a guest hockey coach go through a few hockey drills with us and it was really good fun. It didn't leave us with a lot of time afterwards so we went straight onto some scrimmaging goodness. Our girls are ROCK HARD! I am so impressed and proud of each and every one of them.
There was some excellent agressive skating going on, every week their confidence grows and it's really great to see. There are times when I notice that my own skating skills are falling behind because I've been coaching but when I see how far our girls have come along in the last couple of months I know it's been worth it.
My moment will come...as someone from the Derby world once quoted (she always seems to say what I need to hear)
"Never let anyone discourage you about how great you're becoming! There's nothing about a caterpillar that says I'm about to be a butterfly!" 

Had a HUGE bowl of vegan chili and was naughty and may have eaten a few too many tortilla chips with it...but c'mon..what is chili without tortilla chips? a bit bloody dull! But I didn't eat as many as I used to and technically they weren't Doritos (I'm a recovering Doritos addict - 2months clean) so i don't feel too guilty about it.

The rest of my evening includes some crochet (it's the new rock 'n roll) and possibly a movie a bit later. I can't quite believe it's 8pm already! Today has gone so quickly...amd so glad there's a bank holiday tomorrow....ahhh I lie in awaits :)

Until I write again.....
xxxx

Nurse! She's out of bed again

Well,here I am, day 3 of my week signed off. Am uncomfortable, bored & fed up. BUT, it has been nice to actually get a decent nights sleep (thank you modern medicine) but these meds I'm taking means I keep falling asleep, so I'm losing days, which is urreal to say the least.


I've been doing my best to keep up with Roller Derby Business, our website looks the shit! I can't wait for it to go live, fingers crossed it'll still happen by the end of this week. Next week at the latest.
I also have some very exciting news which I've not written about or even told anyone about yet..not sure why, I guess I just don't want to jinx it.

It's not even all that amazing but for me it's a really BIG deal. I'm booked onto a coaching course in May, it's over two weekends and if I pass ( which I'm going to try my hardest to do) I'll be a qualified skating coach..how cool is that?! It means that I can get paid to teach how to skate. Now obviously all this sort of stuff isn't going to happen over night but it's a start and I'm so excited about it. Am nervous as hell about it too..what if I fail? It costs a lot of money to do this course & i'll feel awful  if I don't pass. Am hoping my enthusiasm and passion for roller derby will get me through. Am so glad I'll be doing the course with the other Director of our Team, I am so lucky to have met her. She gives me the confidence to do what I kinda think I can do but she's there to give me that push.
So at least I won't be alone on the course...it's daunting but am sure it'll be a lot of fun too.

On a totaly unrlated topic, how GREAT are onion bagels? I mean, how have I lived on this planet for 30 years and never tried one? I've had plain bagels before, they're ok..nothing to get excited about. Then one day the supermarket ran out of brown pitta bread - can you imagine?! and I was stuck....what to dip in my hummus ( sometimes chopped veg just won't do) so I splashed out on some onion bagels. Am now jonesing for more..MORE! They're great..a little too more-ish though..much like my new addiction of slow roasted tomato hummus. It's borderline orgasmic..esp with an onion bagel.

How, can you tell I'm still on some strong meds..this blog is all over the place & is taking so long to write because I keep misspelling things and typing too fast creating gibberish etc

I've been dying to do some more crafting recently, I've been pretty lax about it, alhtough witha fucked up neck, theres not a lot I can do. I tried doing a bit of crochet the other day but my neck just couldn't hack it, never realised how much I look dow when I do it. I love crochet, but can really only makes, hats and leg/arm warmers. Love making hats though..so quick, so easy. I need to splash out on some new yar (yarn - being vegan means I won't use real wool only acrylic so calling it yarn - although an americanism, sounds better that saying wool coz then some smart arse will come out with the old.."but you're vegan" - blahhh)

Speaking of vegan..at some point i'll have to update this blog so I can put up some link to some awesome vegan blogs and some awesome roller derby blogs too...they are out there & they are good :)

so enough of my drugged up rambling...it's been real.
peace out

xxxxx

P.S as I previewed this blog I noticed that I really need to start adding some pics to these ramblings, don't you think? otherwise it's like really a bloody essay..and a farily boring one at that. Right..next time there will be photos!!