Favourite Friday

Place

I've been to a lot of places over the years, abroad and in the UK, but the place that I would say is my favourite is Dalyan, Turkey. I have already posted pictures before, but I want to dedicate today's post to it.

Dalyan is a fairly small town on the south-west coast of Turkey, near Marmaris and Fethiye. It is most famous for the beach, İztuzu Beach, which provides a breeding ground for loggerhead sea turtles yearly.

İztuzu Beach

It is such a tranquil place due to having a river flowing past the town and being located near the beach and a large lake. Boat is the common type of transport for locals and each journey is breath taking.

Köyceğiz Lake

It is becoming a well known tourist area, which is good and bad. It means more jobs for locals, but more crowded in peak seasons. I have stayed in May, June, September and November. For me the best time was November as the season was over and it was just filled with local people. It was peaceful and quiet and I could experience the town for it's true self. 

Beautiful storm clouds in November

The local market is great for fresh fruits and vegetables. You can see orchards around the town where they grow citrus and pomegranates and most hotels have a banana tree or two! It's always great to see where your fruit is growing.

Banana tree!

My favourite thing about Dalyan are the Lycian rock tombs. Stunning, iconic and thought provoking this is why people come.

Lycian rock tombs

Until next time Dalyan, keep on being awesome!

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Signs

Do you believe in signs? Do you think that when certain things happen it is a higher being telling us something?

I lost my job today. As much as a shock as it was, it came from nowhere, I can't help but feel like it was a sign.

As part of my ever changing life, I've started talking to God. I attended church as a child but decided I didn't believe in God when I was a teen. I contemplated believing during my final year at Uni, but I've never given it much thought until recently.

I do believe we have a purpose. I'm still searching for mine, but I do take the event that happened today as a sign that it definitely isn't working in finance!

I just need to take some time out now, sort out my travel plans, studying and working on fixing myself so I leave the UK whole with no baggage.

There's always a positive in any negative situation. Now I have the time I've been asking for to sort my travel plans out!

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Waking up

I wish that the world would wake up quicker than it is doing. This is where I should probably wish for patience too!

This weekend someone said 1% of the population of the UK is vegan and over 1% of USA is vegan too. This seems like such a small amount. I know that it is probably a major achievement, but it seems to small that it is close to insignificant. 

If each person was even a fraction more open minded then I reckon here in the UK we'd see that percentage increase faster. Although it is so difficult to be that (open-minded) because we are force fed all of our information from birth, school, college, etc that most people fail to learn for themselves and I believe that this is what has caused so much closed mindedness. 

If children went to an abattoir on a school trip, 99% of them would come back and demand to be vegan. In fact, if most people went to one I would bet that over 80% of the population (if not more) would cut eating animal flesh right out of their diets. People are used to pre-prepared meat with fancy packaging and reassuring bullshit that the animals were grass fed or free range blah blah blah. Just because they got to roam around in a field for 2-5 years when they could live until they are 15-20 years old, is that fair? Really? 

I find Neil Robinson's website interesting. If you scroll down it tells you the amount of animals that are slaughtered in the time you have been on his website. It is sickening. If only people took the time to care.

If only people started waking up sooner...

Jennifer x

Try it Tuesday - update

Distiller update

Today I want to post some photos of my distiller and let you know what's been happening with it.

I got it last week, cleaned it out and set it on a cycle. The instructions said the first 2 litres should not be drank, so I didn't drink it. The second batch should have been OK, but it had a weird musty taste. I used that to wash my fruit and veg with. The third batch also tasted musty, so again I didn't drink it.

I was losing hope and thought that it might be because I bought the plastic container and not the glass container. Thankfully Steven was able to help me. It turns out that I should have soaked the carbon filters overnight and instead of using one I should use two. I think it had about 4 or 5 cycles before the water started to taste normal.

During these cycles the scum on the bottom was just disgusting. I cannot believe that we drink it unknowingly and willingly!

Here are some of the pics

How disgusting are these!

I am doing an experiment tonight. I had been drinking the filtered water at my work so I want to distill it and see how it compares with water straight from the tap (the photos above are with tap water from Merseyside, you can definitely taste chemicals in it normally).

Tempted to buy a distiller now? I got mine from here with cashback from Quidco.

Currently nothing to report health wise. I have only been drinking it for the last 2-3 days.

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Persimmon pudding

I've mentioned my love of persimmon pudding before and no doubt I've told you how to make it, but wow, if you've not tried it you're missing out.

I had it for breakfast this morning, which has been my best meal all day (lunch and snacks have been bananas).

All you need to make it is some persimmons (Sharon fruit), cinnamon and a blender.
Cut the fruit in half, scoop out the flesh, add 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon and blend.
Super easy, super quick and super yummy!

This is where I keep my fruit at work :)

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday

Raw meet-up

This weekend I went to a raw vegan meet-up in Manchester. It was my second visit and it was a really good turn out! The food was amazing, not only did we have lots of fruit, smoothies/juices and salad, there was a lot of creative dishes there including dehydrated crackers, raw pizza, chocolate balls and "naked" chocolate bars.

Wow.

I filled myself up and mixed everything. As much as I loved the food, the food combining made me feel very tired! In future I will be more selective and careful about my choices. The dishes were fantastic though and I hope to try some more in the future.

I met so many new people it was great. Everyone has different backgrounds and experiences and I really enjoyed hearing their stories. It's always refreshing to meet like minded people and it makes me feel more "normal" and confident in my choice to be raw vegan.

I recommend joining Meetup to see if there area any groups to join in your area. It's a great place to connect with others who have similar interests.

Jennifer x

Shoptastic Saturday

What I bought this week and how much it cost

Today I got up at 5.30am to go to the market in Liverpool. I don't mind getting up early on Saturday, my body clock has adjusted to this time with work, I get up around 5.30-5.45am. In fact, I love shopping for my food so much that I actually cannot wait for two weeks to pass (I go fortnightly).

My purchases today were:

Fruit

Bananas - 2 x 17kg £7.50 each = £15

Satsumas - 66 fruit £7

Sharon fruit - 28 fruit £2

Veg

Plum tomatoes - 5kg £5 (there are cheaper ones, but I am happy to spend money on what I think will last and what I fancy at that moment!)

Cucumber - 12 small £4

Red peppers - 5kg £4

Celery - 14 stalks £5.40

Spinach - not sure! £4

Total spend = £46.40

Top to bottom: celery, red pepper, plum tomatoes, bananas, spinach, sharon fruit and satsumas
My phone needs a clean!

The spinach was delivered to the shop by mistake, so today is the only time I've ever seen it and probably ever will. So I will probably visit the Manchester market for that and some exotic fruit. I went last Friday, but forgot my camera so I didn't make a video, however it is on my to do list. You can find the market in Manchester here. It is bigger than Liverpool and sells more exotic fruits and veg because of the greater Asian population. 

Have a great weekend everyone! If you have any questions leave a comment below :)

Jennifer x

Favourite Friday

Favourite green

Friday is my favourite day. End of the working week, 1pm finish, 2 days off ahead. I love it. On Fridays I will share some of my favourite things.

So you all know my favourite fruit is Sharon fruit (another variety of persimmon), but I don't think I've mentioned my favourite green. This is a new favourite. Thanks to Steven for introducing me to it, it's now one of my cravings and greens of choice.

May I introduce savoy spinach!

It has a great flavour, is very appetising and it's so good for you!

If you've tried it you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, then get out there and buy it!!!

250g Spinach contains the above vitamins and minerals

I'm currently chomping on it now. Early night as I'm going to the market tomorrow and hopefully I'll get my hands on a huge box of this!

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Purpose

Before I saw this image I was already aware that I do not want a conventional job. I am not prepared to work for another until retirement age, to make them rich whilst I count down the hours to freedom and daydream about what I will spend my pennies on. To have 25 days plus bank holidays and weekends to live MY life.

After I saw this image I am stand firm in my decision.

How can we live on Earth, surrounded by other planets and stars and potentially other life forms and accept that life is about having a set education system, followed by working to pay off a mortgage, car, holiday, etc and then reproducing so that our children can do the same?

Well the above is how I have been brought up to view the world. I guess everyone has a different experience, but I think I have described the general path most western countries are expected to follow.

I don't know what my purpose is, but with my recent changes I can feel it might be revealed to me soon. Until then, I am going to save as much money as I can, try to have fun, eat well, sleep well and keep dreaming.

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Love

I wish that I can love myself. 

To feed myself well and live with positive thoughts and actions.

To be able to wake up everyday and just be.

Be.

Jennifer x

Try it Tuesday

Try drinking distilled water

So, as part of my wonderful time spent getting back on raw I was drinking distilled water. There is a lot of flack on the internet about how bad it is for you, but after trying it out and reading more information I bought myself a distiller.

It really does taste different. It removes all of the chemicals that our water is filled with. We should be getting the minerals from we eat, not what we drink.

Part of the reason why I bought one is because I really dislike buying so many bottles of water and then putting them in the recycling bin. Also, I do not like drinking tap water because it is filled with chemicals and the water to my house tastes like chemicals.

I recommend you try it. Taste the difference. 

I shall post an update when I receive it and have used it for a while.

Love

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Make a simple salad

After breaking my resolution to be raw and binging on cooked starches for nearly 2 weeks I was very fortunate last week to spend time with a wonderful person who has helped to get me back on track and no doubt will support me trying to break my cycle. 

As I am living with two carnists who eat a lot of processed foods it's really easy for me to get my hands on something bad (like bread) so I am going to keep my food simple and spend as little time in the kitchen as possible!

That leads me to this simple salad.

Prepared by Steven this salad is so simple (well perhaps not the sauce, but the sauce was really a bonus).

1 head of iceberg lettuce

1 head of celery

1 cucumber

5-10 tomatoes - I guess it depends how much you like tomatoes

Half a lemon squeezed

Shred all ingredients using a mandolin and top with lemon juice. It was so tasty.

I am going to be keeping my salads really simple from now on. I will add peppers and mushrooms as and when I please and I've been told to limit my use of spring onion and herbs, so they will be on my plate every now and then.

I just want to say how great it feels to have someone make some food for me :) 

I hope you're all keeping it healthy.

Jennifer x

Soulful Sunday

Pocketful of Sunshine

I am feeling GREAT! I've had a huge release of oxytocin since Thursday because I have had so many cuddles. It's such a wonderful feeling to have someone close.

I've been spoilt. 

Ripe fruit, delicious salads, pure water, powerful words, music to reminisce years gone by, movies to warm the heart. 

I've also enjoyed being the cause of someone's laughter, smiles and making them feel more "normal" again.

I feel like a cloud has passed over and the sun is breaking out from behind it. Perhaps I have found my muse again.

Jennifer x

I'm back!

Welcome back!

I posted a Q&A video on YouTube about being raw. I wasn't having a good hair day, but I wasn't really trying! I'm going to post some more videos, but I would be grateful for your suggestions on what you want me to talk about.

The week before last I enjoyed reading The Host. At just over 600 pages I gave myself 2 weeks to read it, but as I wasn't blogging or going to the gym I had extra time to read so I had it finished just after a week. I think this is my greatest achievement in terms of reading. In 2012 I set myself the resolution to read more. In the first month I read 2 books and then reading took a back seat for a while. Over the last 6 months I have read the most books in my life and my imagination is totally fuelled.

The one thing that stood out for me in this book from a vegan perspective is that basically another species took over Earth because of the violence man inflicted on the world (each other mainly), but they still ate animals. The author is clearly not a vegan and never thought about animal cruelty when researching and writing this book, so that disappointed me.

I guess I should have used my extra time to study TEFL, but pleasure always gets in the way of business.

I took a break from the gym as I was just feeling so unmotivated. I do not like my gym at all. It's too small, the men occupy most of the weights and I feel intimidated when I use them and there are not enough classes. So, I started going at 6am, day 2 and I feel great. I have more time at home in the evenings.

I gave in to my cooked food cravings. I kept imagining eating a massive pile of brown rice, or mashed potatoes, or (thanks to Freelee) chips. I am still vegan, high carb cooked vegan and after an awful experience this evening eating cooked food, I shall be back on raw tomorrow. My body is definitely not enjoying this at all.

And that leads me to Freelee's video. I urge everyone to watch it and to share it. Make others aware of the shit they are eating. To be honest I am not sure I trust any processed food, even vegan processed food. We don't know what is in it unless we are there watching everything. Which is another reason I want to go back on raw so much (although unless it is organic we don't know what shit they're spraying/coating it with either).

Now I have spare time in the evenings I will have to start studying, make videos and liven up this place more :)

Free hugs for everyone!!

Jennifer x