The Minimalist Vegan

We just celebrated our third wedding anniversary, which triggered some fond and stressful memories of creating our dream minimalist vegan wedding. Would we do it all over again? Heck yes….with a few alterations from lessons learned. 

In this episode, we reflect on our value-driven minimalist vegan wedding day to share insights with listeners who are thinking of doing the same thing or to spark conversation with others who have also tried to apply minimalism or veganism to their special day. We share our engagement story and how it all came together. We also share some insight into how we dealt with push back on having a vegan wedding day. [continue reading…]

Maša and I recently made the tough decision to move in with her parents so we could save money for our move to Slovenia.

We had been renting a two bedroom townhouse in a central location for three years. We were in a relatively new area, with the property itself being about six years old.

The layout of the property was reasonably simple, sitting at two stories with lots of open space, natural light, large bedrooms and a carport.

Being suckers for a minimalist aesthetic, our colour palette included white, birch and grey. We had minimal things in the townhouse, as friends would often visit and could see that we didn’t have much.

At least on the surface. [continue reading…]

This apple, blueberry and vanilla oat bran porridge has been my go-to breakfast for a couple of months now. I love it! So easy to make and some of it can be prepped the night before if you’re short on time in the mornings. You can even batch stew the apples and have them ready in a jar in the fridge. I love to also mix it up or have a quick version of this if I’m in a hurry.

These gorgeous apples were picked by my mum and her best friend in the wild yesterday. The most delicious, blemish, bug and chemical free apples I’ve ever seen! What an incredible find. I was lucky that she brought some apples back with the leaves still intact. The photos turned out much nicer that way. [continue reading…]

Have you ever thought about how obsessed and intrigued we are with animals? This is the topic of discussion in this week’s podcast episode. We go back to how animals have played a role in our lives from the day that we are born and all the ways that they have been integrated amongst cultures and communities. We share our personal story on having a gorgeous dog and what he has taught us.

The discussion also leads us to talk about the irony of how we respect some animals more than others and how that has played a role in our society.  [continue reading…]

Is alcohol vegan? This is a question I’m getting asked more than usual. I don’t know if it’s because I’m about to turn 31 and I’m at that age, or if it’s because I’ve been a little more social recently. It’s probably a combination.

In any case, when people ask me the question, I tend to respond with my general knowledge of how animal products are used in the process of making alcohol.

You know, how egg whites are used in the thinning process for some wines. Or how the flavouring in beers could contain animal products like honey. Or the obvious—avoid using dairy milk in cocktails.

That’s my base-level understanding. I would like to know more about how alcohol is made and what role animals play in that process. I know from doing the research, I’ll probably be surprised by what I find.

I also think it’s important to recognise and help brands and companies who are trying to make ethical products. It’s an opportunity to show your friends and family some alternative drinks that still taste great, but do less harm than what they would usually drink. [continue reading…]

There are so many exciting things that have been happening here at TMV over the last few months. First, we shared with you that we’re moving to Europe later this year (cannot wait!), then that we are going full-time with TMV, also that we are launching a podcast, writing another book or two and starting a YouTube channel at some point as well. Now, that’s a lot to take in! To add to that, we have also decided to increase the amount of content that we share with you weekly. On Monday’s you’ll get a new podcast episode, on Friday’s a recipe and on Sunday’s (to go along with our Slow Sunday Mornings Newsletter) an article. So that’s three times a week for now and when we launch our YouTube channel, that will bring it up to four pieces of content a week!

Just typing that out made me feel tired! Haha no, but seriously this is all happening with complete intention and passion. We love what we’re doing and it’s so important to us to spread the message of conscious consumerism and living with less stuff.  [continue reading…]

In this episode, we talk about our love-hate relationship with social media. We dissect the history of social media in our lives and how connection through online platforms came about for us. We also discuss how as minimalists, there is this unwritten rule about being off social media and what we think about it.

Social media can be a big procrastination tool or something that can enhance your life if used correctly. Having access to this tool in your pocket or your handbag has changed the way that we live our lives every single day. It’s all in how you use it and for what reasons. We hope that you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed talking about it! [continue reading…]

In this podcast episode, we break down the power of sales and some actionable strategies to overcome the urge to spend without a reason. We also cover the resistance of paying full price for products, how we celebrate buying things on sale, how our minimalist shift changed our spending habits and how our ethical standards have changed the narrative of value.

This episode also focuses on the distinct differentiation between our wants and needs. Share with us in the comments if you think that there is a difference between the terms sale and promotion. We’d love to hear your thoughts! [continue reading…]

Why did you become vegan? Everyone has their vegan origin story, much like the superheroes. 

We reflect on our past and how it all started for us. We discuss what life was like before we became vegan, as most people aren’t born vegan, we can relate to others very easily. Tune in and hear as to how it all unfolded for us.  [continue reading…]