Well, it is Christmas eve here in Australia! My extended family has just arrived, and my mum, sister, aunties, and cousins are cooking up a storm getting ready for our Fisher Family Christmas Extravaganza. Four days of non-stop of celebration! Those of you who have been following me for a while may remember that I celebrate Christmas every second year with my mother’s extended family, and every other year with Scott’s family in America. Scott just arrived yesterday for his first visit to Australia, and I can’t wait to show him all the sights and have him meet all of my beloved friends and family. He is sleeping beside me as I type this, catching up on some much needed rest before the festivities begin. He has a lot of names to... Keep Reading

For those of you readers who are not vegan, today is your lucky day! I have a special Christmas treat for you. It has been a long time since I have posted a non vegan recipe on the site. But it is Christmas, and I wanted to share a recipe that will appeal to absolutely everybody. My dear friend, Karen Morgan from Blackbird Bakery, one of the most accomplished, brilliant gluten free bakers I know has created a decadent chocolate holiday creation just for you. Yes! One of my favourite companies, Green and Blacks sent me some of their gorgeous Fair Trade Dark Chocolate to play (I use their vegan cocoa powder all the time) and because it wasn’t vegan I couldn’t use it. So, Karen came to the rescue. I sent her the chocolate, and she whipped... Keep Reading

I just arrived in Australia for my month-long vacation, and it is so wonderful to be home with my family! I spent the last few days in L.A creating some new allergy free recipes I could make with my niece, Alexandra this holiday season, and we have already whipped up a batch of this vegan pumpkin pie ice cream to share with everybody on Christmas day. This super easy recipe is a delightful nut-free alternative for people unable to use almonds, cashews and pecans this holiday season. I know that coconuts have now been officially classified as "nuts", but for the purposes of this recipe, I am referring to tree nuts.  I tried a few variations of this ice cream, and this blend yielded a rich creamy consistency and light flavour. I will... Keep Reading

Well, we are definitely right in the thick of party mode now! Scott and I have been skipping all over NYC with our Santa hats on spreading the Christmas cheer. We have attended all manner of holiday parties hosted by friends and colleagues in NYC. Some companies are SO creative!  A highlight would have to be the Audible "CandyLand" themed party. What a blast.  On the opposite coast, I hosted a humble holiday party in L.A;  and in preparation for feeding 30 people, I decided to give my new Breville Risotto Plus a workout, in order to leave more room on the stove top and in the oven for the rest of the food! Whilst preparing the meal, I realized that I had never posted a slow cooker recipe on the site. A fact my mother (a passionate slow... Keep Reading

I want to talk today about the importance of supporting companies that not only produce healthy products made with organic whole foods, but who also employ ethical Fair-Trade, NON GMO business practices, and are not owned by the giant food companies. I post a lot about this on my facebook page, but it occurred to me that I had not really discussed it here on the blog. After the devastating corrupt defeat of Prop 37 in California, the law that would have required transparent food labelling of genetically modified ingredients, I am even more determined to raise awareness about prudent purchasing decisions. We want to enjoy wonderful products, but we also want to be responsible stewards of the planet, by spending our dollars with... Keep Reading

I had an absolute blast last week under the guidance of rawkstar celebrity chef Michael Vincent, attending the "Essentials Of Raw Cuisine" Weekend Intensive Cooking Class at Matthew Kenney Culinary in Santa Monica with my delightful sidekick Lauren Felts from The Holy Kale.  This 12 hour course covers A LOT! Talk about bang for your buck. This class is AWESOME! What a fantastic weekend experience for a friend, or better yet, an AMAZING experiential gift for that special someone in your life. They still have a few openings for the last class on December 15th and 16th, so if you are in L.A check it out!  You can study with Matthew Kenney Cuisine in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Miami, and soon ONLINE. They are currently filming, and I... Keep Reading

Well, Thanksgiving is in three days, and we are all planning our holiday menus. Scott and I are spending Thanksgiving in NYC with our dear friends Kat and Wayne. We are all attending the famous Candle 79 Vegan Thanksgiving feast, and we are SO excited! So, here is my last Thanksgiving recipe for this year, and I wanted to celebrate Way Better Snacks today!  As I posted last week, I am thrilled to be one of their new Brand Ambassadors. Way Better Snacks are seriously the best tortilla chips I have ever tasted! AND they only use sprouted, NON-GMO, natural ingredients that are Gluten Free, Kosher, and free of additives and preservatives.  Now these chips are fabulous as a snack on their own, served with homemade dips and spreads, or as... Keep Reading

I threw this simple alkaline vegan holiday dish together last Christmas with some simple fresh ingredients that were on hand at the house, and the results were spectacular. The dish was a huge hit, and I have been saving them to share for these holidays! I served these at our Thanksgiving potluck last weekend and they were a sensation. Instead of using canned soup, cream, butter or other toxic flavourings you find in so many holiday green bean dishes, this recipe is light with a refreshing tang.  The delicious aroma when you sauté the garlic, almonds, and lemon juice makes you salivate, and I have been caught eating the mixture off the wooden spoon before it even reaches the green beans! You really could serve that as a side topping,... Keep Reading

No self-respecting Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a truckload of delicious creamy mashed potatoes. I absolutely love them! It is a special treat for me, as I don’t eat potatoes on a daily, or even a weekly basis. Following a mostly alkaline vegan diet, and being susceptible to candida, I eat them sparingly. When I do eat potatoes, I always eat red skinned potatoes, the only potatoes allowed on the Body Ecology Diet, an anti-candida immune boosting regime that successfully helped me rid myself of years of overgrowth of yeast. So, for those of you “B.E” folks this recipe is for you! Instead of using tons of cream and butter, or even vegan butter spread like Earth Balance (which IS fantastic with potatoes by the way) I prefer... Keep Reading

Our Le Creuset Holiday Giveaway is proving to be very popular. I can't wait to see who wins $720 worth of Cherry Red pieces to use for the holidays. I will announce the winner on Dec 11th, so good Luck! Until then, I will continue sharing some fabulous vegan holiday recipes I am making at home with my Le Creuset cookware. As I mentioned when I posted the Spicy Roasted Candied Maple Pecans earlier this week, I was inspired by Bryant Terry’s Thanksgiving menu in the holiday issue of the Vegetarian Times to add some candied maple pecans to a vegan version of my mother-in-law Sandra Hanes’s orange cinnamon sweet potato mash. The results were spectacular, and I had to share the recipe with you. The original recipe contains cream, butter,... Keep Reading