TOMS vegan shoes

In 2006 I was introduced to TOMS shoes by my (and Kate’s) all-time favorite band HANSON.

Hanson has been working with TOMS shoes since the company started up. For every pair of shoes they sell, TOMS gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. ONE-FOR-ONE. every time you buy TOMS a kid in Africa gets shoes. Done deal.

Hanson lead mile long, bare-foot walks before every show for several concert tours to raise awareness of the children in need “Would you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes even if they didn’t have any?” Hanson also donated a dollar for every person who participated in The Walk. They walked along side fans, walked enough miles to go around the world (TWICE) and donated money for medical care, education, drinking water, and shoes!

Why is this on a Vegan blog?

VEGAN SHOES!!!

It’s so hard to find a great pair of vegan shoes. It’s not so hard to be mindful of the things we eat, but sometimes we just don’t think about what is in the soles of our shoes.

 

TOMS vegan shoes contain no animal bi-products. They even have organic shoes. I have owned classic TOMS and vegan TOMS and they are both super super comfortable. TOMS shoes are pretty much single-handedly responsible for this shorty being finally ok with her height enough to wear flats 🙂

Now you can benefit yourself, animals, the earth and an awesome charity all in one pair of guilt free shoes! I have been wearing TOMS for years and I can’t say enough about them. I love them, I want to buy every style they come out with. This post was inspired by my catalog that just came in the mail!

Please check out TakeTheWalk.net

and TOMS vegan styles

“Take The Walk is about giving you simple tangible ways to take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and poverty in Africa. A small donation, the purchase of a pair of shoes, the download of a song or simply taking a one-mile walk.”

One bad thing about being vegan

One bad thing about eating vegan and adding new foods to your diet: FARTS!

Pictures of My Four-Legged Children

Just one of the many reasons why I have decided to go vegan… I love animals!

Lexi is a 5 year-old Bernese Mountain Dog. She is one of the sweetest dogs in the world and loves EVERYONE, including her brothers and sister.

 

This is Napalm, our 5 year-old reddish-orange Tabby. Tim named him, not me! He certainly lives up to his name. When he is hungry, he loves to knock over everything on our night stands. Every day, Tim finds his alarm clock in his trash can.

 

Linus is our 4 year-old, double-pawed, shy boy. He generally likes cats more than people, but loves when Tim and I give him belly rubs. He has the cutest little face!

 

This is our 14 year-old Miss Gladys. We adopted her when she was 11 years young. She is my snuggle bug… and she LOVES to talk!

 

This is our clown, Schroeder, who is almost 3 years-old. I found him at an ice cream shop when he was just a kitten. The staff told me he was a stray and since the shop was on a very busy road, I brought him home after giving them my contact information. Even after letting the humane society and police know that I had found him, no one came looking. I’m glad no one did, because he is such an amazing cat!

~Kate

Vegetarians at the Olympics!

I love watching the Olympics, especially the summer Olympics! I like following the athletes and getting behind a team. I love watching people accomplish what I would have previously considered super human feats of strength and endurance.

This year I also love how vegetarian athletes are blowing meat-free myths out of the water. I don’t want to hear that vegetarians aren’t strong, can’t build muscle, or don’t get enough protein!

Vegetarians are performing well at the Olympics and have been for a while. I read up on some famous vegetarian/vegan Olympians online. Here are a few of my favorites from the 2012 games and past games.

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Lizzie Armitstead won Britain’s first metal of the 2012 games for her performance in the cycling road race.

She has been a vegetarian since age 10.

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Dylan Wykes is a 2012 Canadian long-distance runner.

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Known as the ‘Seaweed Streak’ because of his vegan diet, Australian swimmer,

Murray Rose won four Olympic gold medals in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics.

He was a vegan from from childhood.

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Bode Miller has won five Olympic medals, including gold in Vancouver in 2010.

He was raised as a vegetarian on an organic farm in New Hampshire.

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Carl Lewis, American track and field athlete,

won 10 Olympic medals, 9 of them gold. Vegan since 1990

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Ronda Rousey was the first U.S. woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo in 2008. Vegan.

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Hannah Teter is a vegetarian and also a gold and silver Olympic medalist for snowboarding.

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Credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/30/lizzie-armitstead-vegetarian-athletes-olympics-2012?newsfeed=true

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/30/lizzie-armitstead-vegetarian-athletes-olympics-2012?newsfeed=true

Blast from the Past

Kate and Kerri – 2004

Marathon Month!

Kate and I have just agreed to the challenge of writing a blog post everyday for the month of August!

This month we plan to post more recipes, write some restaurant reviews, write about nutrition, and tell some personal stories.

What do you want to read about? I’d love some feedback.

-Kerri

What To Do About Cookouts

So far my family has tried to be accommodating about my new vegan lifestyle. Mike’s sister, Beth, has gone out of her way to cook me meat free sauce at a family pasta dinner, and at her barbeque she grilled veggies before the meat went on the gill (so thoughtful). However it is ultimately up to me to make sure there are vegan options.

Mike’s youngest sister, Sarah, graduated from high school this year, and the family celebrated with a pool party cookout. Most cookout food is just grilled meat, and if there is a veggie it’s mostly mayo potato salad, or bacon fat beans. I decided it would be best to bring something to ensure I didn’t spent the day eating empty hot dog buns just in case.

I had a few cucumbers from my CSA and not a lot of other ingredients, so I decided to make cucumber salad, and to bring enough for everyone. That way when everyone eats it and tells me how good it is I can see the looks on their faces when I say “and it’s vegan too”. So congratulations to Sarah for graduation high school, and congratulations to me for whipping up an awesome summertime side dish!

Cool Cookout Cucumber Salad:

notes:

• I didn’t measure any of the ingredients, just keep tasting it til it’s awesome.

• For milk I used Almond Breeze original unsweetened almond milk, but you can use whatever milk you have handy

• A lemon could be used instead of the lime. I only had limes at the time and it ended up pairing quite well with the cucumbers believe it or not.

• I used about 4 cucumbers, for variety I cut them all into small chunks but not uniform size, just smallish.

• I also varied how much peel I left on each cucumber, this added dimension to the flavor, look, and texture of the dish.