Looking for a Vegan Holiday Gift? Try PawJ Boots!

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! With the holidays coming up fast, you might be looking for some special gifts for friends and family members. What better way enjoy the  wintery season than by buying a pair of cruelty-free boots!

I discovered PawJ after my aunt bought a pair of their Ugg-like boots and fell in love with them! For those of you who didn't know, most Uggs aren't vegan and are actually made with either leather, sheepskin, or animal fur. Although there are a few vegans who won't be deterred by this, most will as part of being a true vegan means that you don't buy or wear anything made from an animal. If you are looking for, or missing, that warm, fuzzy feel of a good boot PawJ has got you covered!

My Very Vegan Thanksgiving ❤️

Hello friends and fellow animals lovers! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday and a happy Thanksgiving. As I mentioned in my Vegan Guide to Thanksgiving post, my family had a fully vegan Thanksgiving this year, and I thought I would share my experience with you!

My mom, aunt, and I spent the afternoon cooking up a storm in my grandfather's kitchen and we had a great time! It was so nice to spend time with family in the kitchen and to try out these amazing vegan recipes. I have listed the recipes that we tried below, and if you are ever looking for holiday recipes, may they be vegan or otherwise, I would 100% recommend trying these!

Vegan Sausage and Apple Stuffing by Plant Based Jane
Garlic Chive Cream Cheese Vegan Mashed Potatoes by Rabbit and Wolves 
Cashew Mac 'n Cheese by The Compassionate Dreamer (Hey, that's me!) 
The Best Damn Vegan Biscuits by Minimalist Baker
The Best Easy Vegan Cranberry Sauce by Sam Turnbull (It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Blog)
The Best Vegan Gravy by This Savory Vegan
Five Minute Vegan Creamed Spinach by Spruce Eats

My aunt also made steamed green beans, and my grandma put together an autumnal salad. It's safe to say, we had a lot of leftovers!

In addition to making these recipes, we also ordered two vegan turkeys that we prepared.  One was from The Herbivorous Butcher, and the other from The Uncreamery. Both of which were delicious, but the one from The Herbivorous Butcher was the favorite!

Promote Compassion: Adopt a Turkey!

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! Today is Thanksgiving! Although this holiday is a lovely opportunity to spend time with friends and family and share your love for them, every year millions of animal lives are lost in the process. Every year over 46 million turkeys lose their lives so that we can have a "traditional Thanksgiving". Turkeys are highly intelligent and emotional animals that bond strongly with their family members, and as all living beings, deserve to live. Did you know that turkeys purr like cats and that they enjoy listening to music?

This Thanksgiving, my mom surprised me with the wonderful gift of adopting a turkey through Farm Sanctuary in my name. Her name is Elsa and she is a beautiful turkey with an easygoing and somewhat shy nature. I already love her! My three-year-old cousin had a turkey named Anna adopted for her as well, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this holiday. And let me say, my inner Frozen Fanatic was quite pleased as well.

Farm Sanctuary runs many programs that allow us, humans, to sponsor animals. If you are looking for a way this Thanksgiving to spread kindness and save lives, then this is a wonderful way to do it! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you do something for the animals. Whether it be serving a vegan turkey, or adopting an animal every little thing counts and the animals will thank you for it! Enjoy your holiday!

Yours,
The Compassionate Dreamer

*Take the Vegan Pledge* 

Vegan Guide to Thanksgiving

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! With
Thanksgiving on its way, you may be wondering how on earth you are going to survive the holiday. Being vegetarian or vegan during this holiday can be hard, what with the interactions with family members and all the turkey being served. Today's post will hopefully help you to have a happy, stress-free Thanksgiving with as little animal suffering as possible! Even if you aren't vegan or vegetarian, this post is here for you to learn more about what you can do on this holiday to make it as cruelty-free and plant-based friendly as possible! Enjoy!

Advice from The Compassionate Dreamer

• Let the host know. If you are going over to someone else's house for Thanksgiving, make sure to let your host know beforehand of your dietary restrictions, preferences, and needs. 
• Bring a dish! Bring a meat-free or plant-based version of your Thanksgiving favorites! Whether buying something from the grocery store, following an online recipe, or coming up with something of your own, it is bound to be fantastic! Make sure to bring enough for everyone to enjoy! Show off those cooking skills!
• Prepare for the questions. Chances are, other guests are going to be curious about your dietary choices. Hopefully you won't be facing a full-on interrogation, but it is always best to make sure you are up to date, and well-informed about your diet and news in the veg world beforehand!
• Be enthusiastic of others efforts. Although it may not always be perfect, your friends and family members are going to do their best to understand you and your diet. Be enthusiastic and receptive to their efforts. The last thing you want is for them to form an unrealistic snap judgement about veganism. That will only cause you more pain in the future so remember to be patient!
• Host your own dinner! If this all sounds like absolute garbage to you and you really aren't in the mood to intrude, host your own gathering! This year, my family is having an all-vegan Thanksgiving extravaganza (more on that to come), and the best part is, you can too! There are so many amazing, and simple, vegan Thanksgiving and party recipes out there on the interwebs and in plant-based cookbooks.
• Keep the focus on family. No matter what happens, remember why you are gathered together; to celebrate and spend time with family. Keep the unnecessary "vegan talk" to a minimum and focus on spending time with your loved ones. Most of all, enjoy the holiday!

I hope that this post wasn't too overwhelming and that it leaves you feeling confident going into the holidays. If you have any questions about my personal experiences, surviving this Thanksgiving, or anything else you feel I didn't address, I would be more than happy to help you out in the comments! I am always here for tips and advice, so don't hesitate to reach out!

Yours,
The Compassionate Dreamer

Resources for you!

7 Tips for Surviving Thanksgiving from One Green Planet 

7 Tricks for Surviving Thanksgiving as a Vegan from VegNews

How to Have a Vegan Thanksgiving from Live Kindly

5 Steps to Surviving Thanksgiving from Peta2 
A Vegan Guide to Surviving a Carnivorous Thanksgiving from Selva Beat
How to Survive the Holidays as a Vegan from ItDoesn'tTasteLikeChicken Blog

*Take the Vegan Pledge*

Lola Rosa in Montréal, QC

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! I know that it's been a little while, but today I am coming back at you with another amazing restaurant recommendation in Montréal called Lola Rosa! I hope you enjoy!

Lola Rosa is local chain of all-vegetarian cafés in Montréal, Quebec. Their mission is to provide their customers with delicious vegetarian and vegan food, that will help to encourage people to reduce their meat consumption for the future of our planet. Lola Rosa provides a unique variety of comfort foods with flavors inspired by many different cuisines! They serve burgers, samosas, and burritos as well as a classic veg-friendly poutine, among SO much more!

It's World Vegan Month!!!

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! For those of you who didn't know, November is World Vegan Month and November first (today!!!) is World Vegan Day! The day marks the 75th year of wonderful The Vegan Society, and celebrates how far that the vegan movement has come in that time. It is a day that encourages everyone curious about veganism to transition to a plant-based diet, and work towards creating a cruelty-free society!

Are you wondering how can you celebrate World Vegan Month? Here are some ideas: 

• Try out a vegan cookbook 
• Go out to a vegan restaurant near you
• Commit to having one plant-base meal a day or take the 30 Day Vegan Pledge
• Hold a vegan potluck or social
• Donate to a vegan charity or animal sanctuary (maybe even take a visit to one!)
• Attend a vegetariran or vegan event 
• Learn more about veganism and what you can do to make our planet a happier, healthier place

Happy Birthday to My Cat, Katnip!

Hello friends and fellow animal lovers! Today my family is celebrating my cat's second birthday!  We have three cats (one of which I have written about in his very own birthday post!) and today is the birthday of our youngest! Her name is Katnip Everdeen (yes, it is a Hunger Games pun), and you may remember me writing about her in the past!

Katnip can be one naughty nugget sometimes, and she is filled with so much energy! She is a tortie and therefore tends to be very chatty, often enabling you to have full on conversations with her! We like to refer to Katnip as a "Halloween kitty" since her fur is black and orange and she was born so close to the eve of Halloween! Katnip's favorite pastimes are jumping on furniture, burrowing under blankets, terrorizing her chipmunk nemesis from her window perch, chasing imaginary bugs, and keeping tabs on our eldest cat, Hiro, who she loves more than anything in the world!