Without making you feel like a dummy, GirlieGirl Army homegirl Alexandra Jamieson (she of Oprah, 30 Days and Super Size Me fame) has written the one-stop-shopping book for anyone interested in making the switch to a healthier and more compassionate plant-based lifestyle.

Why we love this book: While explaining the who’s, what’s, why’s and how’s, this natural health and nutrition expert provides tips and roadmaps for beginners starting on the vegan path from every stage of life. Without preaching, Jamieson gives advice on how athletes, pregnant women, parents, kids, teens and even retired folks can make informed choices on how to transition to veganism.

Living Vegan For Dummies, available anywhere books are sold.

While providing tips for getting kids to love their veggies, Alexandra also shares how to navigate tricky social situations, traveling while vegan and lists of great snack foods for everyone to share - even meat eaters. Did I mention she also covers how to live in a mixed-household and keep your relationship harmonious when one person eats meat and the other doesn’t?

Who will love this book? Parents of young wanna-be vegans, high school and college aged kids who are experimenting with a new, exciting lifestyle, families looking at improving their collective health, soon-to-be mommies, and adults who want to avoid getting sick. That covers most Americans!

Comprehensive and even fun, Living Vegan for Dummies offers delicious and easy recipes that beginners and long-time vegans will enjoy. While introducing new, health-supportive ingredients and new combinations, these recipes can be made by even novice home-chefs.

Some of the fun information you’ll find includes:

• How a vegan diet is not only full of all the protein you need, but information on how the average American is eating too much protein and getting sick as a result.
• How to make easy, home-made pickles.
• Lists of vegan-friendly beer, wine and booze - no cow’s blood in my vino, please!
• Baked Kale chips that kids love!
• How vegan athletes can bulk up and improve their performance

Why you should care about what Alexandra has to say?

She’s educated: She is a professionally trained healthy gourmet chef, having studied at Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, and refined her techniques by cooking professionally in Milan, Italy, as well as at a variety of popular New York City restaurants.  Alex is also a certified health and nutrition counselor who studied with ground-breaking pioneers in the field of nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is accredited by Columbia University’s Teacher’s College and by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Her knowledge of nutrition has been artfully developed through years of both professional- and self-study. As the daughter of natural health advocates, Alex crafted a unique personal mission to spread the word about the power of healthy food and the astounding ways in which it can positively transform everyday life. Alex now commands a matchless repertoire of nutritional wisdom and food savvy which we are happy to be able to co-opt via reading her books (and being her friend!)

In her 2005 book, The Great American Detox Diet (Rodale), Alex offered us remarkably sane - and tasty - advice on how to detox, live healthfully and feel fantastic.  In her new book, she gives us every single bit of information you could possibly need to get rid of the crap in your diet, and start feeling and looking gorgeous.

She’s a globe trotting Mammazon of a vegan-since-inception little boy who has done it all! Alex traveled the world, visiting over 20 countries, premiering Super Size Me, an Oscar-nominated documentary, acting as a messenger for the power of holistic nutrition and healthy detoxing. Though she readily and ably shares her message with all, her passion is helping professional women enhance their ability to excel and achieve, using healthy food as a catalyst. A healthy and energetic vegan herself, Alex lives in New York City with her family. Alex has proven herself to be a wise and profound voice for holistic nutrition and healthy living, so go on, buy her dang book.

And the fact that she looks like this (below) doesn’t suck.

You can buy Alex’s books anywhere books are sold, and learn more about her (and contact her for private nutritional training) via her website: www.nutritionforempoweredwomen.com

Good morning, sunshine.  Don’t reach for that box of cereal!  Saturdays and Sundays call for freshly baked goods, for Goddesses Sake!  You worked hard all week, and you deserve a house that smells of heavenly goodies that take mere minutes to throw together. Despite our deep and abiding love for bananas, every once in a while, we have a few that don’t make it. Since a green bitch would never waste, try this recipe to make use of three very ripe bananas.  We add chocolate as often as possible but feel free to omit if it doesn’t suit your taste. You can also add any kind of nuts to these as well. We  recommend toasting them first for a more intense flavor.

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• ¾ C organic brown sugar (Editors note: You can replace agave with sugar, just add a wee bit more)
• Egg replacer equal to 1 egg
• ½ C organic crunchy peanut butter (smooth works too)
• 2 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ C mini vegan chocolate chips
• 1 TBS vegan sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. In a mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add sugar, egg replacer, and peanut butter and stir by hand or mix on low speed with a hand-held mixer. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients in three parts to wet and mix until incorporated. Do not over mix. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Scoop mix into non-stick or lightly greased muffin pan. You can get up to 12 average sized muffins or 24 mini muffins. Sprinkle tops of muffins with vegan white sugar. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Since ovens vary, check after 17 minutes using toothpick testing method.

RECIPE VIA Kathryn Hostettler, who is a full time social work graduate student, part time pet nanny, volunteer with Rogers Rescues, and vegan home cook. She won an honorable mention in the November2009 Vegetarian Times for her Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Candied Cranberries recipe. One of these days, she will get around to writing a cookbook.

Are your lighting and heating bills killing your paycheck?  If 10,000 of us cut our lighting bills by 10%, we’ll save a collective $131,604 per year.  Want the keys to saving on your energy bill? Soak up some rays - inside. Daylight saving time ended Nov. 1, and we won’t have it back for a while, so consider daylighting your home (aka maximizing natural light) for a brighter outlook now.

The Benefits:

• No messing with your biorhythms - just like jet lag, a lack of light can make you feel outta sync with the rest of the world, even depressed.
• Artificial lighting adds up to 11% of your home’s electricity use; lower your energy intake by letting in more natural light.
• The less artificial light you pay for, the more money you have for that trip to Miami Beach.

Cats have it right, always lounging in sunny spots.

Try This:

• Open your curtains and shades during sunny hours, then close them at night for better heat insulation.
• Making upgrades to your place? North- and south-facing windows are your best daylighting bet, since they let in lots of even, natural light. East- and west-facing windows provide more daylight mornings and evenings, but cause more glare and don’t help with temperature regulation during the hot and cold months. Skylights and solar tubes are great too.
• Daylighting Collaborative - go deeper to find out how windows can lower your lighting bills.
• Google SketchUp - Google’s cool new design tool helps amateur architects (as well as pros) draft and figure out the best placement of your windows, based on where the sun actually shines - and it’s free.

Thank you to (now-defunct )Ideal Bite for this wonderful tip!

What’s better than being chic & good to the earth & the animals? How about all that at 30-85% off for 2 days only!

WHAT: the Vegan. Sustainable. Sample Sale! 2 Days ONLY!

WHERE: 1133 Broadway #1020 (between 25th & 26th), NYC

WHEN: THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY. 11am-7pm on Friday, Jan 29. noon-6pm on Saturday, Jan 30.

Cash & Credit Accepted. Yummy vegan snacks provided by the Lodge/Urban Rustic

You won’t want to miss this. It’s sustainable high fashion’s killer sample sale of the season! Vegan and eco designers Cri de Coeur (gorgeous kicks)!, Olsen Haus(seriously fabulous shoes), Lara Miller (eco conscious convertible-wear clothes) and Vaute Couture (super chic vegan eco winter coats) join forces for this seriously incredible NYC conscientious sample sale with can’t miss in person only deals on their fall winter collections at the Vegan. Sustainable. Sample Sale THIS Friday & Saturday (1/29-1/30) in NYC!

Come grab a yummy vegan bite and hang with the hottest vegan/eco fashion girlies - full of style and heart!

SAMPLE DEALS (up to 85% off!):::

• Cri de Coeur: Gorgeous cruelty free kicks at a steal! Like what? Like the Sienna brown mock-croc Brooke flat boot for $115 instead of $300
• Vaute Couture: All vegan eco-conscious winter-ready chic coats 30% or more off if you buy 1 or Get 2 for the regular price of 1 (split with a friend & each is as low as $149)! (50% off for returning customers) and 100% organic cotton vegan tees for guys & girls $22 flat.
• Olsen Haus: Seriously fabulous vegan eco-conscious shoes as featured in Vogue, at more than 50% off.  Par example; ‘Charm’ peep-toe oxford in eggplant faux suede, with 3″ wood heel is now $80 instead of $225
• Lara Miller: Beautiful versatile pieces at 30%+ off including an organic cotton voile Donna dress was $242 but you can have it for $169. This great transitional dress is available in a custom print, fuschia and iron gray, and the wide straps let you wear it 6 different ways.

This is ONE TIME and FIRST TIME Sample Sale that has never happened prior, and may not happen again… so seriously TAKE ADVANTAGE!  Not in NYC?  Almost all of the vendors above will honor discount codes when you mention GirlieGirlArmy with your orders online or via phone.  See some more fantastic cruelty-free internet shopping deals here.

One of the most common comments I get from Animal Rights haters is “Why don’t you guys help PEOPLE!?  Forget about animals!”  My response usually makes it clear that the Animal Rights activists I’ve met over my years in this community are the most philanthropically giving of any group I’ve ever come in contact with. Animal Rights is a Social Justice issue, therefore those who care about animals usually care even more about humans, their rights and their well-being.  Of course, the idiots who make comments like the ones above are usually the same sort who have never volunteered a day in their lives or donated more than $10 to a charity.  That said, my animal-loving friends are (no shocker here!) those who are currently doing the most for Haiti.  Those who choose a compassionate lifestyle usually have a deeply sensitive weltanschauung that far surpasses those who choose to support cruelty.  Thank you to our GirlieGirl Army Brother Joshua Katcher, of The Discerning Brute, for sharing his favorite ways to help Haiti below;

Google has provided and easy way to help contribute to the relief efforts in Hati. UNICEF is deploying clean water and sanitation supplies, therapeutic foods, medical supplies and temporary shelter to Jacmel and Port-au-Prince and CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from CARE warehouses in Haiti. Click Here to Donate

The American Red Cross is working with its partners in the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network, including the Haitian Red Cross, and other partners to assist those affected by this disaster. You can also text “HAITI” 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross.

Help Hati drop it’s almost 900M debt to the IMF and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans! Click Here.

.

.

Consider giving to an organization that is doing recovery work right now in Haiti. Mercy Corps and Haiti Partners are working on addressing key issues such as clean water and shelter for children.  Our allies at Network for Good put together a list of organizations on the ground doing direct relief work today. With one click, you can donate to one, several or all of them.

.

.

.

.

In addition to animals being rescuers, there are animals are in dire need of assistance as well. From family pets to wildlife, they should not be overlooked by rescue workers! The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is the world’s largest alliance of animal welfare organizations. Support their effort, Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) .

.

New Yorkers! Check out SuperVegan’s Bake Sale for Haiti during Vegan Drinks on Thursday, January 28, 7-9 p.m. at Angels & Kings. They NEED YOUR HELP, NY VEGANS! Many of you have crazy vegan baking skillz, and they want you to put those superpowers to work on behalf of the critters of Haiti.  Also help, shop, and eat at another NYC Bake Sale for Haiti this Sunday, January 31! This vegan bake sale will be held from 11:30-6 at mooshoes to benefit Doctors Without Borders and their relief efforts in Haiti. There will be tons of homemade vegan goodies, including some from Babycakes and Whole Earth Bakery There will also be a raffle with loads of prizes, including gift certificates to mooshoes, Candle 79, Foodswings, Sweet Avenue Bakery, Lula’s, Tiengarden, signed cookbooks from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, and funky items from local crafters.

.

.

As with any disaster of this magnitude, animals are also suffering and in dire need of care. If you’d like to support HSI’s (Humane Society International) International Disaster Fund, which is used to help relief efforts around the globe, click here.

.

IFAW’s expert team of disaster responders is preparing for the worst. They are partnering with WSPA to mount a coordinated animal relief response. Your donation will help them buy the bandages, vaccines, antibiotics and other supplies for their mobile veterinary clinic.

Do whatever you can, from twittering an online auction of your art or photography to benefit Haiti - to buying a cupcake.. every little bit matters.  But doing nothing doesn’t matter at all.