six vegan soups

In the last shivering hours before October ends and we say hello to World Vegan Day and World Vegan Month, I give you six vegan soups that all will delight any tastebud.

Comfort food at its best and fairly easy to make, all of them. Not sharing any recipes in this post (put I’ll be happy to do so if anyone asks). And to be honest I mostly wing it when it comes to something as simple as a lovely soup. No specific measurements. Just focus on a few ingredients and spices.

The ’soup’ above is a wonderful, mild but flavourful red noodle curry with tofu. So satisfying, so delicious.

Here we have a hearty soup of ren lentils and carrots. Onion, garlic, coconut milk and just because I had them in the fridge airfryed already - tofu.

Sweet potatoe and carrot soup. And a little amount of red lentils, garlic, onion and vegan iFraiche. 

Potatoe leek soup. Garlic and iFraiche again.

Mushroom and leek soup, with some dairyfree cream added at the end before I mixed it.

And just in time for Halloween, pumpkin soup. Also added was oven roasted carrot, onion, garlic and a little red lentils for texture. A tin of coconut milk before blender.

Next plan is making some green soups. And possibly Ukranian borstj.

And one favourite of mine, root veggie soup (potato and carrot, onion, garlic) with vegan mince and strained tomatoes. So. very. good. So. very. moreish.

Hope this left you inspired to make a really great vegan soup and celebrate this fabulous month!

Do you have any favourite soup? Care to leave a comment about it?

the joy of blue faux fur 2024

 

A cosy, preferably colourful faux fur of great made to last quality has been high on my wish list for many many years. For various reasons I have never find one that ticked all my boxes. Until now. It’s blue and I love it.

And it’s second hand (but obviously hardly, if at all, used). Which is another great box that has been ticked with this dreamy purchase.

The story of this blue beauty began this spring, when I first spotted it at Swedish second hand site Tradera (where I make most of my second hand buys and sells).

The photos then definitely showed a pretty grey/brownish faux fur coat. Brand my favourite one, Marimekko. And I knew it screamed my name, even if I had wanted a colourful faux fur coat the brand equals quality and long lastingness, and a more neutral colour would of course mean my colourful shawls and scarves would have a perfect background to play with.

Still, it felt weird to invest in a fluffy winter coat at the brink of summer. I also felt the price was tad high for second hand, even though I fully realise the original price of a Marimekko coat of this kind would have been conciderably higher. But we all enjoy a good bargain, don’t we?

After a few months of no sale, the seller put the price down. And I was just about to put a bid in, when someone snatched it just before my eyes. Bu hu hu ad finitum.

So imagine my surprise and delight when the coat was again listed in September!

But as the new seller/previously snatched it before my eyes buyer had used both the photos and text from the original buyer, I got a bit suspicious. Asked for new photos and description.

Promptly I got photos of this BLUE not grey/brown coat, saying she had been very surprised when she got it as the photos clearly showed a different colour. The word ’dark blue’ in the original text isn’t something you notice. And why the seller wasn’t more open with the photos being very misleading colourwise is just plain weird.

The type of misleadingness that can give bad reviews.

That said, I didn’t hesitate a second when I saw the perfectly gorgeous colour. And I even managed to get the price down a bit more, w/out being offensive. Well done me! 

And it turned out to be even more gorgeously perfect when it arrived. It’s so fluffy, oversized and with a really clever button mechanism. Love the quality and attention to details, as usual when it comes to Marimekko.

And I’m not even the least bit paid to say this.

The wait for my perfect faux fur coat has SO been worth it.

Once upon a time I always said that my favourite colour was pink, followed by red. But if I’m honest my wardrobe has never had many pieces of those colours in it.

I still concider green (especially apple green) my favourite colour, and I do have a few pieces of that in my wardrobe.

However, if I’m honest, the colour I’m subconsiously drawn to regularly is blue. I’m not sure if that has any deeper meaning, but in Sweden the blue political block is conservative and generally stands for quite the opposite of my values, and sense of decency so I guess I’ve never been comfortable in admitting that blue might be a favourite colour of mine… Which of course is ridiculous. Blue is a lovely colour, with a wide range of hues. That’s it.

And now a few words on the most surprisingly fact of all about this blue faux fur-post - it’s the third blog post in three days in a row. Shocker. 

I don’t know how many years have gone by since that happened. But quite a lot of them I suspect. Maybe writing more regularly posts can be a sign of me being a year older, wiser, albeit more jaded but also brimming with things to share. The good, the bad, the inspirational.

Not sure yet. But don’t be surprised if there will be more vegan food inspiration posts soon, as World Vegan Day and month will arrive on November 1.

Also, I do take joy in every little kind comment left here. I haven’t replied to any forever though, and that’s not because I am unappreciative it’s simply because Blogger/Google has not ’allowed’ me to log in and reply or comment. And to try and possibly fix it has not been on top of my mind in this world and life of mine.

So to everyone concerned; 

thank you, thank you, thank you! 

💚💚💚

the beginning of max 5

Early in October I got an email from Sweden’s largest environmental non-profit organisation Naturskyddsföreningen (of which I’m of course a member) - Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC).

They had launched their latest campaign Max 5. Ie buy no more than mx five new produced garments during a year. That’s the limit to what the world can handle. (It does not include under garments or socks, but no need for most of us to go bananas with that either.) 

Long long gone are the days when I bought a lot of newly produced clothes. And for as long as I can remember it has been slow fashion made to last. 

Still the only sustainable fashion is second hand and has already been produced.

If my memory serves me right I think it has been said that we already have enough clothes produced on this planet to last for 15 generations. Which is gobsmackingly crazy.

I don’t want to be part of this crazy unsustainable circus that is the fashion industry.

But I still find quality clothes and fun, colourful (duh) design intriguing and irresistable. And a wonderful way to express myself in creative ways.

But I don’t exactly NEED new clothes in my wardrobe. I can mix and match plenty with what I already have and love.

So for the year to come I will settle for max 5 new pieces in my wardrobe. (Of which one will definitely be a pair of casual trousers, I have already set my eyes on.)

The very last thing I bought before I sign this (voluntary) agreement (no police will fine me if I step out of five of course, but I will certainly punish myself with shame), was this wonderful slowfashion Marimekko denim skirt.

It’s produced in a much more sustainable way than regular denim (one of the most water intensive/wasteful industries there are) and is made from 80% organic cotton and 20% recycled cotton. The Unikko print (my favourite pattern) makes it even more special.

I got it as an early birthday gift for myself, and I have already used it plenty and with much delight.

As it is a unisex garment it isn’t really made for curvier bodies, but it does look great open over a t-shirt too. And going up a size means it would be ridiculously large over shoulders and have too long arms, so I’m fine with curve flaw.

It goes superbly with that blue organic cotton skirt I got past spring.

In fact that skirt has already been my most used garment this year. It’s lovely. And it haz pockets. Of course.

I got myself another top notch piece of clothing prior to my birthday too. But it’s second hand, and there’s a little serendipituous story behind it, so it surely deserves a post of its own.

To come. Or to be continued. That is the question.

💙

happy birthday to me 2024

 

With a lot of unexpected unpleasantness and problem solving lately I continue to feel jaded and tired. Not very birthday mood-ish.

Life is a constant struggle. 

And somehow the rewards are few and far apart.

No matter how hard you work for positive change.

With yet another year added to my life (and one year closer to death), that is my dispiriting and realistic conclusion of life in general.

But I still wish for peace on earth. And more kindness. 

Peace as usual begins on your plate and so does kindness. 

I also fevereshly wish for Climate Action NOW - which coincidently also has a lot to do with what you put on your plate… 

As far as wishes for myself as a multipotentialite individual looking for a positive change in my professional life, well, my search description from earlier this year pretty much still sums things up! 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/piaktw_newjob-communication-vegan-activity-7182965401008357378-RyY6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

(And no recruitment frauds does not count as great news…)

Come on Universe, and make an October birthday gal extra happy, will you!

october 4, 2024 - a day of many meanings

 

October 4 = Kanelbullens dag - Cinnamon Bun Day, it may be a Swedish tradition, but it’s such a lovely day so after all these years I hope it has spread far and wide in 2024.

This year I baked my vegan cinnamon buns myself again. They turned out lovely. 

Unfortunately I burnt a finger pretty badly on hot pearl sugar. Fingers crossed it’ll heal well.

My recipe for vegan cinnamon buns you can find here on blig if you hit the search button.

October 4th is of course also World Animal Day. And as always, if you claim you love animals you do not eat them in any way or form. Going vegan is the only way to stand on the right side of history. For the animals, for the planet, for your health.

And last but not least, October 4 is also All Animal Saints’ Day in Sweden. Today I remember these two (and all those 🐱🐱 who went before them), Pelle and Zigne, father and daughter. 

Amazing characters. Lovable tykes. Much loved, forever missed. ❤️💔

I will however never forget or forgive the nastiness the Swedish authority Länsstyrelsen (The County Administrative Board) put us through after Pelle escaped from the garden and fell sick, during the pandemic in 2021. 

I never got to say goodbye. I was put through hell, based on lies, by the shoddy Swedish legal system, but I won the appeal in the end. With great help from a friend. 

(The trauma and the story I blogged about during the time it took place, 2021-2022. So if you didn’t read about it back then, search for it in blog and you will find.)

But I’m certain Länsstyrelsen happily put other pet owners through similar hells regularly, just because they can. Never mind the real animal abusers, the factory farms and alike. Pet owners are such easy targets. It’ll tick statistics boxes for the authority.

That ordeal and that pitiful, heartbreaking ending has forever tainted the pure joy of having lived with and loved Pelle for 16 years.

And Zigne passed away in cancer in 2021, on October 13. Only a few weeks between the 💔 diagnose to her dying (just 9 years old). It went so rapidly, I still can’t fully grasp it three years later.

On Alla djurhelgons dag today, I remember the loss and the trauma that followed. Living with pets means you will have to brace yourself for the loss that will eventually come. 

The trauma that followed in the loss of Pelle is something that you could never, in your wildest nightmares, have expected. It has left scars for life. And not scars I feel has made me a better human. But they will remain a part of my life forever.

I wish it wasn’t so. 

But I’m blessed for having them in my life for all those healthy, happy, joyful years together. And for that I am grateful.

By for 2024, October 4.