Year 2016

Hello to every single person all around the world! It is the end of 2016 which just went by so quickly. I can still remember gathering Easter presents way back in March, and then also seeing the movie Allegiant as well with my best friend Erin. This year was a good year, and had great beginning as well, but was very sad at the end of this year...
Now to get on with business, here are some highlights that happened during the course of this year:

• The brand new app Pokemon GO was released this year, and was a huge success. People can now get the app on their phone, go outside and walk around to either hatch an egg they received from a PokeStop, or battle at a Gym, or walk with a Pokemon and do so much more on the app. People who always watched the anime show and played the Pokemon trading card game, can now finally be their own trainer and go out and be the very best...like no one ever was! (I am one of them!).
• The Pokemon Sun and Moon game was released in November 2016, and this game is set in the Alola region.
• Donald Trump won the US Presidential Election this year.
• ABC Family officially changed their name to FreeForm in January this year.
• The two-part play titled "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was released as a book for Harry Potter fans to read in July this year. This book seemed to be one of the highly anticipated books to read this year.
• In September, Disney announced that the popular ride titled "The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror" will have it's last day in January 2017, and will be replaced with a "Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT" ride in summer 2017.
• Captain America: Civil War was a critical and a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion, which made this film the highest grossing film for 2016, as well making this film the 12th highest grossing film of all time. This film also is the 4th highest grossing superhero film of all time.
• In March, a suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Lqbal Park, Lahore killed 75 people and injured about 340 others with a militant Sunni Islamic organisation, claiming responsibility for targeting Christians celebrating Easter.
• In June, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.
• In August, the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• The terrible news of a gorilla by the name of Harambe was fatally shot in an attempt to protect a 4 year old boy, who had fallen 12 feet into the enclosure of Harambe.
• Clearwater Marine Aquarium released 29 sea turtles in 2016.
• Dunkin Donuts opened for the first time in South Africa.
• Starbucks opened in South Africa for the first time.
• This year, there was a reboot of the well-known Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls. To celebrate the reboot, there was an online app that allowed you to customize your very own Powerpuff girl - or boy - on the Internet and share your avatar with your friends or on social media.
• Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar Award for Best Actor.

2016 Deaths:
Sadly, this year seemed to be the year of quite a few deaths. All these talented and outstanding people passed away this year. Here are some of the people who sadly passed away this year:
David Bowie; Curtis Hanson; Harper Lee; Garry Shandling; Ken Howard; Anton Yelchin; Alan Rickman; Leonard Cohen; Garry Marshall; Doris Roberts; Prince; Robert Vaughn; Kenny Baker; Gene Wilder; George Michael; Carry Fisher and Carrie's mother, Debbie Reynolds.
It is tragic to hear and see such fantastic actors/writers/singers pass away...it is truly sad, and my heart goes out to every single one of these talented people's family and friends. I am truly sorry for your loss.

A few of the talented actors/singers/writers who passed away in 2016.

This year, a good couple of movies were released this year that were all fantastic to see, and some of the movies you had to have watched on the big screen in 3D. Here are some of the movies that were released this year:

Finding Dory; Suicide Squad; Indignation; Alice Through the Looking Glass; Pete's Dragon; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Fallen; 31; The Secret Life of Pets; Allegiant; Deadpool; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Jungle Book; Zootopia; Captain America: Civil War; Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice; Doctor Strange; The Legend of Tarzan: Passengers; The BFG; Ghostbusters; Miss Peregrine's Home for the Peculiar Children; Moana; Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them; Independence Day: Resurgence; Ice Age: Collision Course; Max Steel; Jason Bourne; Sing; The Magnificent Seven; Warcraft; Storks; Angry Birds; Bad Moms; Trolls; Now You See Me 2, and the list does go on and on.
The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $166 million in the USA and in Canada on this movie's opening weekend, which is the 8th biggest opening of all time, which is ahead of the movie The Dark Knight Rises at $160 million. The film had a worldwide opening of the amount $422.5 million, which the film also stands as the 2nd biggest for Warner Bros. and the 4th biggest of all time. This film also had an IMAX opening weekend of $36 million,which is the 3rd biggest openings ever, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World.
Suicide Squad was a box office success, grossing at $325.1 million in Northern America and a worldwide total of $745.6 million, against a budget of $175 million. Despite the negative critical reception and a lower-than-expected box office, the film was a highly anticipated movie by the audience (I was one of them!). Margot Robbie's performance as the character Harley Quinn, was praised and was a star-making performance, with critics eager to see more of her character in future films. The film grossed $745 million worldwide, which made this the 9th highest grossing film for 2016.
Finding Dory was a critical and a commercial success, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making this film the 2nd highest grossing film for 2016, and the 4th highest grossing animated film of all time. This film also became the 1st Pixar film to cross this worldwide mark since Toy Story, which was released in 2010. This film also became the highest grossing animated film opening of all time in North America.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them received positive reviews from critics, and grossed $747 million worldwide, making this film the 8th highest grossing film for 2016. This film was also considered as one of the most highly anticipated films for 2016. The film worldwide, grossed $219.9 million during the opening weekend of this film.
As of December, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had grossed $358.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $295.2 million in other countries for the worldwide total of the amount $653.9 million.

Some of the movies released during 2016.

Also, a good couple of music albums where also released this year, here they are:

David Bowie-Blackstar; Lacuna Coil-Delirium; Rachel Platten-Wildfire; Amaranthe - Maximalism; Skillet-Unleashed; Tarja-The Shadow Self; Panic! at the Disco-Death of a Bachlor; Charlie Puth-NineTrack Mind; Elton John-Wonderful Crazy Night; Daughtry-It's Not Over...The Hits So Far; Ronan Keating-Time of My Life; Simple Plan-Taking One for the Team; Anthrax-For All Kings; Charli XCX-Vroom Vroom; Asking Alexandria-The Black; Babymetal-Metal Resistance; Stitched Up Heart-Never Alone; Nick Jonas-Last year Was Complicated; Locnville-Taste The Weekend; Billy Talent-Afraid of Heights; Britney Spears-Glory; Lindsey Stirling-Brave Enough; Soilwork-Death Resonance; Epica-The Holographic Principle;  Idina Menzel-idina.; The Agonist-Five; Korn-The Serenity of Suffering; Lady Gaga-Joanne; Michael Buble-Nobody but Me; Bridgit Mendler- Nemesis; Metallica-Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, and the list goes on and on.
All these artists I have mentioned are all super talented. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you listen to these artists mentioned, as their music is incredibly amazing!

Some of the music albums released in 2016.

I know this band may not have released an album this year, but the band Bullet for my Valentine released an incredibly fantastic single out this year titled "Don't Need You", and this song is really a good listen.

Here is the video to their official music video for the song below:


Another band, Motionless in White, released a brand new single titled "570", which was also released for a music video, which you can view below:


The Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil released their new album this year "Delirium", as well as released a new music video titled "Delirium", and you can view the music video below:


Lacuna Coil also released a Christmas song titled "Naughty Christmas" which was released in December this year, and the band also released a lyrics video for the song. You can check out the lyric video below:


The duo Locnville released their album "Taste the Weekend" in June this year. They have released a music video titled "Cold Shoulder", which you can view below:


Amaranthe released their new album titled "Maximalism" in October this year. In the same month, the band also released a music video titled "That Song" which can be viewed below:


The Christian rock band, Skillet, has released a new album In August, as well as a music video titled "Feel Invincible", which you can view below:


On a more personal note:
This year, I decided to do something with my body and instead of having mostly, sugary and fatty foods this year, I have decided to become a lot more healthier and started doing exercises. I have become a lot more health conscious.This year, I decided I needed to be more healthier, and taking extra care of what I put into my body. There is the old saying "What you put in is what you will get out", and the other saying "You are what you eat". At first, I didn't know where to begin, what workouts to do, what I was capable of. I literally had no idea what to do first. The day I decided to get more fit and healthy, my mother told me about a lady who has written books about workouts and nutrition, and told me this lady had started a group, in April, called "Lucy's Squad", where you can follow 4 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts everyday. This lady's name is Lucy Wyndham-Read, who is a YouTube trainer, and who posts real-time videos on YouTube with workouts for the "Lucy's Squad" group to do. At first I was a bit uncomfortable doing these workouts, but after about a month or so, I started to actually enjoy these workouts, and everyday I looked forward to a new workout all the time- and I still do! The truth is, I started in May with Lucy Wyndham-Read's 100 rep workouts, and after this challenge, I started taking on more challenges as the days went by. One thing I noticed is that whenever you start to do workouts, take a Before and After picture, to help you. You do not need to show anyone your photos if you don't wish to, it is simply for your own benefit, and to see how far you have come since you started your fitness journey.What is so amazing about Lucy Wyndham-Read's videos is that you can do them absolutely anywhere - no gym required! I considered maybe going to a gym, but it turns out you don't really need a gym to do Lucy's workouts. I am also proud to be apart of "Lucy's Squad" as I have been featured in 2 of Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube videos, and that is a goal achieved for me! In November, there were workout challenges, but Lucy Wyndham-Read also posted about eating clean (This is when you eat whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy proteins and fats). When I became a vegetarian, I taught myself to read labels. This is a great tool to use because it is always good to read the food labels as you can see what you are consuming into your body. Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me to enter a competition called "USN Face of Fitness". Although I didn't make it to the top 32, that didn't put me down or make me feel upset. This actually motivated me more to keep staying as fit and as healthy as I can be. I also go running at least once a week, and Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me with this as well as I feel more confident now to go out into the outdoors and go walking/running. Walking/running can help you a lot and what is nice is when you go in the outdoors, you can have a beautiful scenery to look at. I workout 5 days a week and the 6th day is a walking/running day.
Lucy Wyndham-Read is a fitness expert and is Ex-Army, and has more than 20 years experience in health and in fitness.
Another person I have discovered who has a blog about nutrition and wellness is Caralishious. Caralishious is an entrepreneur and wellness consultant, and a nutrition blogger who dedicates to balanced living through the nourishment of the mind and the body. Caralishious has blogs that show you how to optimise your health and well being with her delicious recipes and her blogs about how to practise self love toward yourself, like how to love yourself for who you are and build a good self-esteem for yourself. I discovered Caralishious when I purchased the ice-cream, and I discovered this ice-cream was actually healthy for you and is completely vegan. I then went onto Caralishious website and I spent quite a while reading her blogs about health and how to build a good self-esteem. The recipe's on Caralishious website are also healthy for you as you use organic products and whole foods to make the meal dishes. There are recipes for dinner, lunch and breakfast time, as well as if you are on-the-go and need to make something quickly. What is great about these recipes is you know it is healthy for you and you don't need to feel guilty eating these food dishes as they will be fuel for your body, and I am sure your body will be happy to have these foods.

Left: Caralishious, a wellness consultant and entrepreneur.
Right: Lucy Wyndham-Read, Ex-Army, YouTube trainer and a fitness coach.

The products I have used that have helped me stay fit and healthy is USN products - mostly the protein shakes - and Herbex products. Herbex is a definite must look at if you want loose weight. USN products, to me, are more for body building, but the products do work. Herbex products is more natural products as some of their products contain a formulation of 4 herbs which help assist with weight-loss, increasing your metabolism and burn calories. I have used the USN Phedra Cut Lipo XT, but it didn't work out for me, I use Herbex products now, and I feel it has helped me with weight-loss and has helped me keep fit. I also mostly drink water nowadays - plus the Herbex fat burn concentrate drink - and I stay away from the soda drinks and fruit juices when I can as they do contain sugar.

Photos of me during my progress of getting into a healthier lifestyle in 2016.

Last year, I was told that I can adopt a cat, and I have the most beautiful and precious kitty cat in the world! Her is name is Eevee. I decided on this name because it fit her perfectly. She is such a beautiful cat and I love her so much! We also welcomed a new dog to our family, and he is...Emmet the pug! We also have another dog by the name of Leo who is an awesome dog as well! Our animals really are good animals, maybe a bit energetic at times, but they are all good animals.

Left: My beautiful cat Eevee.
Middle: Emmet the pug!
Right: Leo.

This year marks 3 years being a vegetarian for me, and it feels good! I consider myself 85% vegan as the foods I make myself are vegan, it is only when I visit people's houses that I may eat vegetarian food there. Also, the restaurants I go to cater more for vegetarians than vegans, but I do hope all the restaurants will cater for vegan people soon.

What annoys me though with regard to this lifestyle, is that sometimes on restaurant menu's or at some event, there is absolutely - and I mean absolutely - nothing for people who don't eat meat. This isn't good as some people don't want animal meat, or someone is allergic to dairy, and at these events or restaurants, they have nothing for the people with food allergies. This doesn't happen often, but at some places this does happen, and it does annoy me.
One other thing while on this subject, it is always good to help the environment, regardless if you are a vegetarian/pescatarian/vegan or whatever you are. There is indeed, only so much one person can do to help the environment and animals. A person cannot do absolutely everything to help the environment, but that person is doing something by maybe not using a car to go to work, or by not consuming any animal products, or by being an activist. These are all great things to do, and keep doing them if it makes you happy, but remember...there is only so much one person can do to help out.
Lastly, if you are wanting to go vegan, then you should maybe take on the Veganuary challenge in January where you are completely vegan for the whole month of January. It is amazing to do as you can explore with food and see what meals you can make up. You can also enjoy vegan ice cream for the summer times. Fry's Food has recently released quite a few new flavors of vegan ice cream. Another person who has created a healthy and vegan ice cream is Caralishious. Her ice creams tastes super delicious and they are healthy for you as well.

This year I also read all 6 books of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, as well as the whole trilogy of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, plus the book Four: A Divergent Collection. All I can say is...I did not know what I was missing out on. These books were highly addictive, and I could not put these book down! I had to know what happened right up until the end. It was like when I read the Harry Potter books. It is un-put-downable - if that is even a word. After I heard about the movie Allegiant and that it was out in cinemas, I decided to start reading Divergent, the first book, and I absolutely loved the book. It took me not even a week before I finished this book, and then it was onto the 2nd book Insurgent, and then finally, Allegiant. The 3rd book was sad at the end, and I did cry a little, but I did enjoy these books, they were definitely a good read. I also went onto reading Four: A Divergent Collection book, and even this book I just couldn't put down. My absolute favourite Divergent series books had to be both Insurgent, as well as Allegiant. My favourite book from the Mortal Instruments had to be the 6th book, City of Heavenly Fire. I will definite be re-reading these books over and over again. The same goes for the Harry Potter books as well. I am glad to have read all these books, and I still have to finish the Peary Jackson books plus all of Cassandra Clare's other books, but it will be done.

Left: Me by the Allegiant poster, about to go watch the movie. (Photo by Erin Kennedy).
Middle: My two favourite Divergent series books, Insurgent and Allegiant. (Photos by Erin Kennedy).
Right: Me with my favourite Mortal Instruments book, City of Heavenly Fire.

For those of you who would like to check out Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube channel, as well as her social media pages, you can check them out below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LWRFitnessChannel
Official website: http://www.lwrfitness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LWRFitness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucyWyndhamRead
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucywyndhamread
And for those who would like to view Caralishious website, as well as her social media pages, you can check them all out below:
Official website: http://www.caralishious.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caralishious/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/caralishious
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caralishious

For those of you who would like to know more about Bullet for my Valentine, Lacuna Coil, Motionless in White, Skillet, Locnville and Amaranthe, you can check out their social media pages:
Bullet for my Valentine:
Official Website: http://www.bulletformyvalentine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BulletForMyValentine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfmvofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfmvofficial/
Lacuna Coil:
Official website: http://www.lacunacoil.it/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lacunacoil/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacuna_coil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacunacoilofficial/
Motionless in White:
Official website: http://motionlessinwhite.net/?frontpage=true
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motionlessinwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIWband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miwband/
Skillet:
Official website: http://www.skillet.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillet/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skilletmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skilletmusic
Locnville:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Locnville/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Locnville
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locnville
Amaranthe:
Official website: http://amaranthe.se/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmarantheBand/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amaranthemetal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amarantheofficial

For those wanting to know about Herbex, you can check out their website below. Herbex also has amazing workout routine's to follow and they do indeed have amazing products to choose from,a nd so much more on their website:
Official website: http://www.herbexhealth.com/
Here are their social media pages as well below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbex1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/herbexhealth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbexhealth

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this blog! I do promise I will try as much as I can to post more blogs next year and try to work more on my blogs next year!
2017, we are all ready for you, and we cannot wait to see what the year hold for us! I am pledging to be a lot more healthier and to do a lot of workouts I really enjoy doing! I just know 2017 is going to be THE YEAR I will get a whole lot more fitter, stronger, and healthier! Bring it on 2017!
Thank you everyone!
Have an amazing New Year!!!

Goodbye 2016! I will definitely be doing a lot of workouts and being as healthy as I can be!
A photo of me with my Body Toning for women book by Lucy Wyndham-Read.

GOING VEGAN FOR 1 MONTH:

Majority of pictures taken from the Veganuary website and Facebook page.

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone! I do hope you have had a fantastic kick start to the new year already. Can you believe we are nearly finished the first month of this year already?

Now...to get on with business, this month I have taken on the Veganuary challenge, along with many other people around the world who had signed up and are also taking part in the challenge.

For those of you who do not know what Veganuary is and why everyone is talking about it, allow me to explain it to you: Veganuary is a combination of Vegan and January together, hence Veganuary. This means you go completely vegan for the entire month of January. Veganuary is chosen in January because it will kick start your year of being a vegan for the rest of the year, if you feel the vegan lifestyle is perfect for you. Another amazing part of taking the Veganuary challenge is that you can enter competitions throughout the month and who knows? You might win yourself some vegan products!

There is a Facebook group called “Veganuary” where you can see what everyone who has taken the Veganuary challenge, is up to with regard to what they are eating, their thoughts they’d like to share with the group, some recipes they’d like to share along with many other subjects with regard to veganism.

 

The amount of people worldwide who signed up for the Veganuary Challenge.
Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page.

The best advice I could give you is to go onto www.veganuary.com and there you will find different recipes, the humane myths about the animal industry and also myths about being a vegan. Some of my absolute favourites on the Veganuary website are what foods are accidently vegan, the vegan food essentials, the vegan eating out tips and the vegan label reading guide. They are all a huge help!

Ever since I become a vegetarian a few years back, I learnt to read the food labels on every food I purchase as this doesn’t only show if there are any dairy/egg/meat products in them, it also helps you to see what you are putting into your body.

Picture stating the truth about being a vegan and the website underneath.
Picture credit taken from the Veganuary website.

Another amazing fact about Veganuary is that they have launched different versions in other countries to help people who are in those countries, to see what they can purchase in their own country, besides the products that are available in the UK.

 

Veganuary has launched an SA version, among other versions worldwide.
Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page.

With regard to eating out at restaurants, it is not impossible to have vegan food. All you  have to do is email the restaurants you mainly go to, then tell the restaurant that you are vegan or you are taking the Veganuary challenge , then ask the restaurants what they have that is vegan. If you are in a rush or you didn’t plan on going to a restaurant or you go to a restaurant you have never been to, look at the restaurant’s menu and see if you can subsidise the meals.

It is also important that you find out what the fries are cooked with. If the fries are cooked with sunflower oil or vegetable oil, then you don’t need to worry. If the fries are cooked in beef fat or palm oil, avoid ordering the fries, but most restaurants cook their fries in sunflower or vegetable oil nowadays. Just make sure before you order.

Unlike other countries, here in South Africa, restaurants mostly cater for vegetarians, but if you want to subsidise foods, just ask your waiter or ask for the manager to help you. Hopefully the waiter and/or manager will help you out and not look at you with a blank face. Some restaurants are vegan friendly and they do have vegan options on their menu, but if there aren’t any vegan options on the menu, just see what you can do to subsidise the meals you are looking at. You might not be able to subsidise the meals as it will confuse the waiters, but ask the waiter/manager if you can subsidise meals.

For people who are either living or visiting South Africa, you can go to these following restaurants/take-away places as they are vegan friendly:

Knead (Ask which bread options you can have as some bread contain animal protein)

PLANT (100% vegan take-away and sit down restaurant)

Portobello road (Has quite a few vegan options)

The Hungry Herbivore

Call-A-Pizza (ask for tofu instead of cheese)

Crush Fresh Food Cafe and Juice Bar

Osumo

Raw & Roxy (100% vegan)

Nu Health Food Cafe

Simply Asia (Scroll down until you reach the VEGETARIAN section. There are vegan options to)

Woolworths cafe (can substitute vegetarian meals to make a vegan meal)

PS: The best way to find out which restaurant/cafe is vegan friendly, download the Happy Cow app and you can see which restaurant/cafe is vegan friendly that is closest to where you are.

Mushroom Burger that is on the menu at PLANT restaurant.

Number 409: Hed Phad Med Prik Phao at Simply Asia.

Here are some tips for people who can make a vegan dish in their own house (This helps if you are eating on a budget):

• Look around your house, see what you have, gather all foods you have that is vegan. 
• Put all the food together or mix different foods and make your very own unique dish.

PS: You need to research veganism and know exactly what foods you can eat and what you must stay away from, aside from the obvious. This is very important as some people just switch to a vegan lifestyle, but have no idea what the lifestyle is.
Animal by-products do contain vitamin B12 and protein, which many people say vegans will vitamin B12 and protein. This isn't true, protein is found in many products such as tofu, which is high in protein. Here are a few foods that contain protein as well: Peanut butter, peas, almonds, lentils, soy milk and baked beans.
As for vitamin B12, this is truthfully a bit harder to consume for vegans, but luckily you can get substitutes such as: breakfast cereals, soy milk, vegan cheese, soya burger and nutritional yeast.
Also see what vegan foods you can buy as supplements or substitutes to get your daily nutrients in your system.

One of the best vegan food sources that will help you with your vegan lifestyle would be Fry’s Family Food. Their food is 100% vegan, and some of the foods are high in protein as well. I can guarantee you now you won’t taste the difference between Fry’s Foods compared to a dish which contains meat. An example would be you won’t taste the difference between a Fry’s Food Family curry pie to a normal meaty curry pie. They look the same, except the one is helping the animals to survive!

You can find out what different products they have here:
www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/product-category/our-food/

For January 2016, I am 100% vegan, and it feels good! After January I would then become about 85% vegan, which means cooking my own food with vegan ingredients, but if I really cannot help it, I would then eat vegetarian foods should I go to a restaurant or someone’s place. This is what I would call a flexetarian. I know that is not a word, but this word means I eat either like a vegan or a vegetarian.

The reason most people go vegan is because of the cruel treatment that the animals have to go through so people can have meat on their plate. I can understand way back in the day that people went to kill #1 single animal and make leather out of that animal and also eat that animal, and use every single bit of that animal to make whatever they needed to, but in today’s world, we have exploited this fact and have made slaughtering houses where millions upon billions of animals get slaughtered, and the worst part of all this, the meat is wasted and thrown away! An example of meat wastage would be if you gave a plate with meat on to a child and the child doesn’t want that meat or if you have meat in your fridge and the meat goes off, you then throw the meat away. In my eyes, I see that animal dying for no reason; he/she was slaughtered just to get thrown in the rubbish bin.

It isn’t just meat we have to worry about getting thrown away; it is also food wastage that is a huge problem! Try to avoid food wastage.
The animals also are aware of where they going when they go to get slaughtered. There has been articles stating animals try to escape the trucks they are crammed in to avoid being slaughtered. Also, the slaughterhouses can be contributing towards destroying the environment due to the gas fumes etc.

 

A picture stating a fact about chickens.
Picture credit taken from the Veganuary Facebook page.

If you want to be 100% vegan, it doesn’t just mean not consuming meat, eggs and dairy products, it also means to wear and use vegan products/items. If you consider yourself a hardcore vegan, don’t wear fur, wool or any other animal skin/coat. Also, if you wear make-up, use products that are cruelty-free and don’t wear make-up that is not cruelty-free. You can find many faux/artificial fur and fake leather at many shops, and you can also see which companies sell cruelty-free products by going onto the http://www.leapingbunny.org/ . If you’re in South Africa, you can go to http://www.bwcsa.co.za/ to see what products you can buy that is cruelty-free, and if you want to see which shops sell animal skins and fur, which you would want to stay away from, you can go to www.furfree.net

Top left: Beauty without Cruelty logo.
Bottom left: Fur Free SA logo.
Top right: Leaping Bunny logo.
Bottom right: Veganuary logo.

Here are some recipes I made during the month of January:

Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:

Rolled oats – about half of the jar size. Do NOT fill up the entire jar! (I used Woolworth’s rolled oats)

Alpro soya chocolate drink – enough to cover the rolled oats.

1 tbsp maple syrup (I subsidized and used maple flavoured syrup)

1 tsp ground flaxseed (I used Nature’s Choice ground flaxseed which you can purchase from a health shop)

Method:

Combine all ingredients into a jar and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, you can put soya yoghurt or put berries or whatever you wish on top of your overnight oats and that's all there is to it.

Overnight oats in a jar pictured above.

Curry with salad:

Ingredients:

Fry’s Food Family curry pieces

Various vegetables (I used McCain stew mix + chopped potatoes)

Oil (I used coconut oil)

Boiled water

1 Banana or coconut cream
Anything you wish for a salad, but make sure it is vegan.

(The quantity of ingredients depends on how much you want.)

Method:

Put oil into a pot and add the vegetables in the pot until it starts to heat up.

Add Fry’s Food Family curry pieces.

Add boiled water and allow food to simmer, but stir every now and again until the vegetables and curry pieces are soft and ready.

You can add either banana or coconut cream in the food and stir until food is ready.
SALAD: The salad is optional, and you can add whatever you wish to your salad. I had the following: couscous; cucumber; tomato; kale and peppadews. The quantity depends on how much you want to have.

Optional:

You can add sweet chilli sauce while the curry is still cooking for flavouring.

Add maizena if the food looks too watery.

A plate of curry with a salad.

Salad sandwich:

Ingredients:

1 Grated carrot

1 -2 leaves of kale

1 tsp Hummus

1 tsp Couscous

2 -3 Tomatoes

2 -3 Slices of cucumber

2 slices of toasted bread

Method:

Place hummus on the toasted bread, and then add in this order onto the sandwich: Cucumber, tomatoes, grated carrots and then the kale.

Add the other slice of toasted bread on top of the salad and that’s all there is to it.

Optional:

You can even add grounded flaxseeds onto your salad, which will add Omega-3 in this meal.

Pictured above is a salad sandwich.

Easy Peasy Banana Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

1 – 2 Bananas

3 – 4 Blocks of vegan melting chocolate

Chopped nuts– quantity depends on how much nuts you want. (I used chopped raw cashew nuts)

Method:

Cut up 1 – 2 bananas and place them into the freezer and leave them for about 2 hours.

After about 2 hours, take the bananas out of the freezer and blend in a blender until it forms a creamy texture.

Place banana ice cream into a bowl, and start to melt your vegan chocolate in a pot (you can also melt your vegan chocolate while you wait for the bananas to freeze).

Place melted chocolate on top of banana ice cream, and then add the chopped nuts.

Pictured above is the Easy Peasy Banana Ice Cream

Salad with tomato saucy pasta paste:

Ingredients:

2 -3 Slices of lettuce

4 -5 Olives

Spices (Pick any spices you want, but make sure it is vegan)

3 -4 Tomatoes

3 – 4 Peppadews

2 -3 Slices of cucumber

2 – 3 tbsp Tomato saucy pasta

Method:

Place the ingredients in this order into a bowl: Lettuce, tomato, peppadews, cucumber, olives, tomato saucy pasta and then the spices.

Pictured above is the salad with tomato saucy pasta.
This recipe was put together by just looking around the house and seeing what was available to have.

Fruit salad with granola cereal:

 Ingredients:

 Kiwi fruit

Grapefruit

Orange

Pineapple

Sweet Melon

(The quantity sizes of these fruit depend on how much you want.)

Blueberries – to sprinkle on your plate.

5 -6 tbsp of Granola cereal

Method:

Slice the fruit and put all fruit on a plate.

In a separate bowl, put the granola cereal in the bowl.

Put the bowl onto the plate (or don’t) and enjoy!

Truthfully I didn't make this exact dish in the picture above, but this is what it would look like when you make your fruit salad with granola cereal.

Vegan burger with salad:

Ingredients:

Vegan burger patty (I used Woolworth’s vegan burger patty)

1 tsp Couscous

2 – 3 Slices of cucumber

3 – 4 Tomatoes

1 – 2 leaves of kale

1 tsp Hummus or about half an avocado (I used hummus)

Method:

Fry or heat up the vegan burger patty or however you would like to heat up your patty.

Before placing the patty on the roll, first spread hummus or avocado on the roll, and then you add the patty to the roll.

You then add the kale, cucumber, tomatoes and couscous to your roll.

The salad can be your choice, excepting no meat/dairy/egg products. You can add foods such as lettuce, more tomatoes, quinoa and much more variety of foods to your salad. You can even make a fruit salad instead, or just the burger.

Pictured above is the vegan burger patty with butternut and a potato on the side.
Perfect if you go camping.

I can honestly say going completely vegan for 1 month is really not hard. I thought it would be so difficult, but actually, it is pretty easy. It is exciting as well because you can try different food techniques and explore with your cooking. It really is a load of fun to see what you can come up with!

Just think: If everyone in the world took part in the Veganuary challenge, imagine how many animals we will be saving and how much we would be helping out the environment as well!

If you would like to know more about Veganuary or you maybe want to contact them, here is their official website, along with their social media pages:

Official website: http://www.veganuary.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Veganuary

Facebook Veganuary Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/veganuary/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAreVeganuary

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareveganuary/

I thank every single person who took the time to read this blog!

I do hope you gained some information about this blog and will maybe try out these recipes I have shared, and maybe for those of you who haven’t yet, will take on the Veganuary challenge next year!

I appreciate every single person for reading this blog and taking the time out of their busy schedule to read this blog, it means so much!!

Thank you again to everybody!