Saturday, March 23, 2013

Homemade Vegan Baileys

Last weekend for St. Patrick's Day/Weekend, I had a craving for Baileys, so I decided to make my own vegan Irish Cream! I found a vegan and nut-free recipe on "oh she glows" and tweaked it a little based on what I already had in my kitchen.


Ingredients:
  • 1 can light coconut milk
  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar
  • 3/4 cup brewed coffee (I only have instant, but better coffee would likely make better Irish Cream.)
  • 1 cup Inishowen Irish Whiskey (any Irish Whiskey is fine, Jameson is the standard but the bf and I wanted to try something new for St. Patrick's Day.)
  • A pinch of salt


 1. I put the cans of coconut milk into a medium pot and whisked on medium heat. I then increased the heat to allow the liquid to boil, stirring frequently. Then I reduced the heat and let the pot simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the coconut milk became a little thicker.

2. Then I removed the pot from the hot element and stirred in the coffee, then a pinch of salt, and finally the Irish Whiskey.

4. I tried to store all of it in one mason jar but there was too much! So I found other containers to put the rest in.

I also bought vegan stout beer so I could have Irish Car-bombs for the first time, and they were DELICIOUS! 

Overall, this was a big hit with my friends and I will definitely make it again! I'll probably use better coffee, and I might try to find a recipe using something other than coconut milk, because although I like coconut, it overpowers the other flavours. Also, we noticed that the mixture separates after awhile, but it just needs a good stir. 
Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!




Sunday, March 10, 2013

Day 3: Care Canada's Walk In Her Shoes



On day 1 I ran into a problem; my step counter broke. I wore it on my apron at work, forgetting that I'm very clumsy, so naturally it got knocked onto the ground enough times to stop working. Not awesome. However, about 2 weeks ago I wore the step counter at work (attached much more safely to the pocket of my pants), and in 9 hours on a slow Monday I walked over 13000 steps.


 I figured it would be safe to assume that my steps would also be well over 8000 during my busier 8-9 hour Friday and Saturday night shifts, so I waited until today to buy a new step counter.

I didn't have to work today, so I walked around downtown for a few hours. I haven't reached 8000 steps yet, but I'm going to take the stairs to do laundry tonight (to the basement from the 12th floor, and vice versa) so hopefully that will be enough.

Why am I walking 8000 steps per day for 8 days? To raise money for Care Canada's work empowering girls, women and communities around the world to overcome poverty and adversity.Want to know what YOU can do to help? Click here to go to my personal page and make a donation, or sign up to do the walk too! Any amount helps, and donations over $10 are tax deductible!

Until next time, keep calm and step on.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Day 1: Care Canada's Walk In Her Shoes

Today is the first day of my pledge to walk 8000 steps a day for 8 days as part of Care Canada's Walk In Her Shoes. I've been awake for almost 6 hours today and I'm only at 89 steps. My day has consisted of sitting at my computer and on my couch doing homework, so it's not surprising that the number is so low. I'm hoping that my walk to work and 9 hour shift tonight will bring my steps up to 8000. I'm a server at a bar so I do a lot of walking. I will post an update tomorrow and let you know if work was enough or if I had to go up and down my building's stairs a few times afterwards to get to 8000.

Why am I walking 8000 steps per day for 8 days? To raise money for Care Canada's work empowering girls, women and communities around the world to overcome poverty and adversity. Here is one example of what Care Canada does:



Today is International Women's Day, what can YOU do today to positively impact the lives of women? Click here to go to my personal page and make a donation, or sign up to do the walk too! The event is flexible, you can choose any 8 days between now and the end of June. They will send you a pedometer, a lovely t-shirt, and give you lots of help and encouragement with fundraising.

Until next time, happy stepping!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Care Canada's Walk In Her Shoes

It's almost March 8th, International Women's Day, and the day I will begin my challenge to walk 8000 steps a day for 8 days to fund-raise for Care Canada's efforts to empower women, girls and communities around the world to overcome poverty and adversity. 



I will be posting updates from March 8th-15th so you can share this experience with me. Want to know what YOU can do to help? Click here to go to my personal page and make a donation, or sign up to do the walk too! Any amount helps, large or small, whatever you can manage would mean a lot to me, and even more to the women who live the reality of walking at least 8000 steps a day every day just to get the basic necessities for their families. Thank you.