I’m truly excited to share with you all that I’ve been nominated for a Liebster award by the friendly bloggers Alex and Ellie over at Vegan Bungalow! I’m honored by their nomination, especially because I enjoy following their blog and admire all of their yummy and creative recipes. They post a lovely variety of dishes and desserts, that are vegan as well as gluten free. Alex and Ellie’s easy-to-follow recipes feature some of my favorite ingredients, including butternut squash, lentils, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, beets, avocados, oats, almonds, and many more! I urge you to hop on over to their site and browse through their delicious array of soups, salads, sides, pastas, cookies, etc (even tacos, yum!). Again, big thanks to them for including me in their nominations!
The Liebster Award
The Liebster award is a fun way to connect with other bloggers, get to know them a bit better, and to basically spread the love (as well as spread the word) about great blogs out there! Here are the basic rules of the Liebster award:
- post the award logo on your blog
- link back to the person who nominated you
- answer the questions set for you
- nominate 10 other bloggers (preferably with less than 200 followers) and let them know they’ve been nominated
- create 10 questions for your nominees
Here are the 10 questions I was asked, and my answers:
Why did you decide to start a blog? I’ve always loved the concept of eating healthy foods to improve your skin and hair, using natural or homemade skin care, as well as modifying lifestyle habits and thought patterns to feel happier and gorgeous on the inside. A couple of years ago, I got hooked on reading blogs like Oh She Glows, Hummusapien, Happy Healthy Life, and many more, and I decided I just had to start a blog of my own! (For more about why I started this blog check out my about page or my intro post “whole beauty”)
Is there an ingredient you particularly love using? Do I have to pick just one?? I seem to use chia seeds in just about everything! I love those little buggers. Other faves would be sweet potatoes, avocados, berries, limes, beets, beans, squash, nutritional yeast, almonds, mushrooms, cilantro, cacao, coconut, and I could go on and on!
Do you stage your food and backdrop for your recipe photos? Yes, I do. I really enjoy it, although I need lots more practice! Still learning all the photography lingo and tricks, but having a lot of fun with it. My husband just bought me a fabulous book about food photography, so I’m hoping to make some photography magic happen soon (ha ha).
Tell me something fun about you. In addition to being a blogger, I’m also a CTRS, or Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. Rec Therapists use structured leisure and recreational activities to help people maintain or improve their health. I get to use my creativity to plan therapeutic art projects, games, sensory stimulation, educational programs, exercises, and even social gatherings for individuals in a long term care and physical rehabilitation center. I love working with these folks and find it very rewarding. There’s a saying among CTRS’s that we put the “Fun in Functional.” Hah…yes they are a clever bunch.
Do you eat out much? Since we had our daughter, my husband and I don’t eat out too much. We still love to get Thai takeout from one of several of our favorite Thai restaurants a couple times a month.
Do you cook recipes from other blogs? Absolutely! I love trying other bloggers recipes. It’s a great way to learn about new flavor combinations, ingredients, or dishes that I’ve never tried.
Aubergine. Good or Evil? Good! I love eggplant and add it to stews and stir fries. My husband does not share the same enthusiasm.
Is there an ingredient you’ve always wanted to try but not been able to get hold of? I just recently tried raw cocoa butter in my raspberry white hot chocolate, and I had been wanting to get ahold of some for a while. I also just recently ordered some matcha powder, so I’m excited to finally try that too! Thai coconut is another one that is hard to come by.
What’s your favorite junk food? I have a big ol’ sweet tooth, so anything in the dessert category is my weakness. I love cinnamon rolls, which is why I finally came up with my own healthier recipe.
Does everyone in your household follow the same type of diet? Not exactly. My husband decided a few months ago that he no longer wanted to eat meat, which surprised me but then again didn’t surprise me. He’s always appreciated and understood why I eat a mostly plant-based diet, and he has the same feelings about animal welfare and the environmental impact of factory farms, but he never showed any serious interest in giving up meat until he suddenly had an epiphany one day while eating a pepperoni pizza (which was his absolute favorite thing in the world). He still eats cheese and other dairy products. He also really likes packaged snacks and sweets! My daughter occasionally eats cheese with her daddy, and on the rare occasion, eggs. Right now she is a very picky toddler! I eat a mainly vegan diet, but don’t like to label myself as such, since I eat and use raw honey that I get from my uncle, and I also occasionally eat eggs that my mom brings me from her neighbor (her neighbor’s elderly father had chickens, and after he passed away, they decided to take over their care and sell their eggs, which helps them pay for their feed) I’m only boring you with this long story to illustrate that I’m pretty particular about the circumstances where I get eggs. Before this, my husband and I had decided to stop buying eggs at the grocery store because of all we had learned of conventional and even “organic, cage-free” hatcheries. I realize many take issue even with “hobby farm” or “backyard eggs”, and I acknowledge those problems (chicks are commonly sourced from factory farms, it perpetuates the belief that animals are here for our use). I also know that I can easily live without eggs, and had done so for quite some time. It’s still something I’m on the fence about, but for now, we eat them on occasion and only when we get them from my mom. I like to cook plant-based meals, snacks, and treats, free of eggs, dairy, meat, and seafood, and that is what I post here and feed my family on a daily basis. (Sorry for the long-winded answer!)
So there you have it, a little bit about me! Now I would like to nominate 10 awesome blogs that I believe are worthy of recognition! In no particular order, my nominees for the 2015 Liebster award are:
My questions for these bloggers are:
- What inspired you to start your blog?
- Do you have a favorite among your blog posts? What do you like best about it?
- What goals do you have for 2015?
- What is one of your favorite books of all time?
- What is your favorite healthy go-to dish?
- Name a food you always keep stocked in your pantry or fridge
- What is your best tip for staying balanced and fighting stress?
- If you had a whole day to do anything you wanted, what would you do?
- Do you use Instagram, Facebook or Twitter in relation to your blog?
- Do you ever make your own natural beauty products? What’s your favorite creation?
Looking forward to reading the answers and getting to know these bloggers better! Be sure to click the links above to check out all of these great sites!
Feed Your Beauty 
I love the answers to the questions! Ellie and I are divided over aubergine too, she’d eat it at every meal .. whereas it makes me screw my face up and make yuck noises! Thankyou for saying such nice things about us 🙂 Alex
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You’re very welcome! They were great questions. Funny story… I had to look up Aubergine, because even though we commonly use that term in color swatches, and I had a pretty good idea you were referring to Eggplant, I wanted to be sure we were talking vegetables and that it wasn’t a new Hunger Games character or something as I’m horribly out of the loop! Obviously! Thanks again you two 🙂
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Lol, I should have thought of that! Although the idea of a character called aubergine in the hunger games could add some much needed humour to the books/films! 🙂
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