I am too excited to finally be on this loc journey! I have been natural for about 6 years and have enjoyed every minute of it, but I am at a point in my life where its time to go a step further. I love my natural hair I think its truly beautiful but I'm tired of being a product junkie and I'm tired of putting so much extra time into my hair when I could be doing other things. Never knowing whether or not that twist out was gonna come out right, constantly fighting shrinkage, spending hours waiting for my hair to dry, picking and fluffing trying to get the perfect shape, I'm over all that. I'm all about living a free minimalistic lifestyle and I just started feeling like my hair was taking over. I told myself I would loc my hair at 30 and I chickened out. I kept giving myself excuses for why I should wait the most recent one was I needed to wait until after my wedding in august, but on 4/19/17 something came over me and I immediately felt the need to loc my hair. I knew the longer I waited the longer it would be till I had beautiful mature locs and I had pushed the process back long enough. I would see people online Id been following for years and how their locs have grown to be so beautiful and I was like damn that could really be me but I keep playing! Also my fiancé started free forming his hair 6 months ago and seeing his hair transform has been beautiful. I knew that this is something I needed to do. Tomorrow I will be 2 weeks in and I feel like each day gets better and better. Yes I'm in what people call the "ugly stage" but I don't see it like that. No my locs are no where near where I want them physically but every stage my hair goes through is helping the process so I appreciate it. Right now I still have obvious 2 strand twist and lots and lots of frizz and shrinkage but its all included in the journey. I just have to be patient. My plan is to semi free form so I wont be doing any retwist I will only be separating them so they don't all congo together, I think that's a beautiful look too but not for me at this point! Right now I just spray with water and castor oil mix, let it get mist from the shower, and leave it alone. I will shampoo once a week and no conditioner just oils to moisturize. If I'm at work I pull it in a low ponytail or wrap it up in a scarf just because I don't feel like explaining my choices to all of my clients and most wouldn't understand anyway. So many people still think locs are dirty or unprofessional and all types of other nonsense its really ridiculous. I don't want my locs soaking in that negative energy! If you're interested in following my journey I will be doing monthly updates on this blog and I will do even more updates and showing pictures on my Instagram @veganhigh. This is all so new to me I'm constantly on youtube watching other peoples journey but if anyone has any tips or advice to help me through my journey please let me know!
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Mushroom Stroganoff
If you want a hearty comfort meal look no further. This stroganoff is super creamy, savory, and delicious! It was my first time making it and I was very satisfied!
Ingredients:
1 package of pasta
1 package of brown mushrooms
1/2 package of shiitake mushrooms
1 cup of peas
1 diced onion
Vegetable broth
1/2 cup of flour
1 cup of vegan sour cream
2 tbsp. of liquid aminos
garlic
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Put pasta on to boil
2. Rinse of mushrooms and saute in a splash of water with diced onion, salt, pepper, and garlic.
3. Once vegetables are soft and veggie broth and flour and whisk everything together until you get a thick gravy consistency. Adjust broth and flour as needed.
4. Add peas, sour cream, liquid aminos, and more salt, pepper, and garlic. Bring to a simmer.
5. Drain pasta and mix into the mushroom gravy mix.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Top with crushed red pepper flake to give it an extra kick. This reminds me so much of traditional stroganoff. The sour cream is optional but in my opinion it does help give the dish the creaminess it needs. This is a heavy meal so try not indulge in the whole pot!! ;)
Raw Tacos with walnut meat
I learned how to get pretty creative with raw vegan dishes when I went on a raw cleanse last month. Of all the dishes that I made the tacos were my favorite by far, even my fiancé couldn't get enough so I know I did good! Lets get started!
Ingredients:
1 head of romaine lettuce
3 cups of raw walnuts
2 cups of cauliflower
2 ears of corn
Tomato
Fresh jalapenos
1 red onion
1 bell pepper
2 tbsp. of nutritional yeast
1tbsp of liquid aminos
Coriander
1tsp of cumin
1 tsp Lemon juice
salt and pepper
sriracha seasoning
Directions:
1. In a high speed blender add walnuts, nutritional yeast, liquid aminos, coriander, cumin, salt, garlic, pepper, and sriracha, pulse thoroughly until walnuts are ground up to look like real taco meat. You can adjust season to your liking.
2. Break large leaves off of romain lettuce rinse and set aside, these will be your taco shells.
3. Pulse cauliflower into pieces small enough to like like actual rice.
4. Cut corn of the ears rinse and set aside in a bowl.
5. Dice up tomato, jalapeno, red onion, and bell pepper and mix into bowl w corn making a raw salsa mix, season with salt, pepper, garlic, and coriander.
6. Layer lettuce shells with cauliflower rice, walnut meat, and salsa and serve!
If you are on a raw cleanse or just in the mood to eat raw and need something to spice up your life definitely give these tacos a try! You will be surprised at how tasty that walnut meat is it literally taste like real taco meat and I wasn't expecting that. I topped mine with a raw ranch that I had made the night before but feel free to top it with whatever raw vegan sauce your heart desires. You could even use a bit of cashew cheese which you can find in most health food stores.
~Peace begins with your plate~
Vegan Sushi 2 ways: Spicy tuna and Tofu sushi rolls
Tofu sushi rolls
Spicy Tuna sushi rolls
When you think of sushi it usually consist of dead raw fish (yuck) but today I'm going to teach you how to make 2 different types of delicious vegan sushi that would satisfy any sushi lovers out there!
Ingredients:
1 package of nori wraps
2 cups of cooked white rice, jasmine or sushi rice are best
1 cucumber sliced thinly
1 carrot shredded
1 red pepper sliced thinly
4-5 stems of green onions
1 pack of crispy onions
1 pack of tofu
Old bay seasoning
1 package of vegan cream cheese
Sweet and sour sauce
Spicy Tuna Ingredients:
2 cups of chickpeas
2 tbsp. of just mayo sriracha flavor
1 tbsp. of chopped jalapenos
1 tbsp. of sweet relish
paprika
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Cut tofu into strips and coat with old bay seasoning. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes flipping half way through.
2. In a high speed blender pulse chickpeas until shredded resembling real tuna from can. Place chickpeas in a bowl and mix in spicy mayo, jalapenos, relish, paprika, salt and pepper until it looks like traditional tuna salad you can adjust measurements to your liking.
3. Place your sliced cucumber, red pepper, carrots, and cucumber in to separate bowls so you can keep a clean organized area to prepare rolls on.
4. Mix cream cheese and sweet and sour spice in a bowl to make a sweet creamy sauce for the tofu rolls.
5. Also prepare of bowl with water in it, and a bowl of the cooked rice, you can add a few tsp of rice vinegar to your rice if you like.
*You should have all the ingredients organized to start rolling*
6. Lay out a nori sheet and use your finger to dab some water on the end of the sheet
7. Add a thin layer of rice to entire sheet except where you put the water bc that is where your wrap will seal.
8. Add all of the veggies on to the rice being careful not to over stuff your sushi, I usually just make a thin row of each veggie.
9. Add crispy onions
10. For the tofu wraps add a row of tofu as well as some of the sweet cream cheese dip we made.
11. For the spicy tuna wraps add a row of the tuna mix.
12. Slowly start rolling your sushi together making sure all of the ingredients are being secured tightly just as if you were rolling a burrito. Roll till the end and if you need more water to seal add more.
*If your wrap tears wrap a second nori sheet to keep everything together*
13. You can eat it like this as a sushi burrito pictured below, or you can slice it up for bite size sushi pieces. I usually make 5 to 6 pieces of sushi from each roll.
Both versions of the vegan sushi are delicious and filling. Of course you can add or take away ingredients to your liking but this is my favorite combo. The flavors together create heaven in your mouth from the crispy tofu slices and the sweet cream cheese with the light fresh veggies and the spicy tuna with the crunch from the crispy onions again with the veggies it is so yummy together! There is nothing that cant be prepared vegan friendly grab some sweet chili sauce and dig in!
~Peace begins with your plate~
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