The Minimalist Vegan

My seven-year-old nephew, Isaac, loves to eat meat. His favourite meals are chicken schnitzel, barbecued sausages and toasted cheese sandwiches.

Isaac’s parents have explained why his Aunty and Uncle don’t eat meat, and he’s accepting of our values, sometimes even protective! However, he’s open as long as we don’t come between him and his meat.

So when Isaac comes over for sleepovers, it’s a battle to get him to eat our food. We’ve tried pasta with a simple tomato sauce, tofu scramble, spinach stew, baked vegetables, potato curry. You name it.

One thing he’ll always happily eat is Maša’s pancakes, because, vegan or not, which kid doesn’t love pancakes?

Knowing our food struggles with the little guy, we thought we’d take him out for dinner one time. We went to our favourite vegan Asian restaurant, which has a large selection of mock meat dishes.

Maša ordered the Eggplant Hotpot, and I went with the tofu satay sauce with rice. Isaac was to decide what meat dish he wanted to order. At least so he thought. In the end, he went with the “beef” Massaman Curry, which I thought was an excellent choice. / Read More »

How many of us could answer this question if someone asked us “What is your way of life?”

I wouldn’t imagine many people would have an answer, understand it or stumble their way through it. 

Many of us don’t have a way of life, well we do, but it’s not really a way. You have to choose a path in life, otherwise, if you don’t choose one consciously, someone else will choose it for you. 

This is largely determined by advertising agencies, social media and whatever other cultural trends are happening. Keep in mind that those don’t always have your best interest at heart. When was the last time you really believed that a product a large company was trying to sell you was for your own benefit and not for their back pocket? To be someone, companies believe that we need to own this thing, we need to buy their brand. By owning the brand, you are representing their tribe. The tribe that was created by them and made you want to feel a part of it.  / Read More »

I remember experiencing appealing brands for the first time in elementary school.

One of my closest friends always wanted the best of the best brands. He would only wear Nike shoes, he loved to talk about TAG Heuer watches, and his dad worked for a Lexus car dealer, so of course, we never heard the end of that!

My older brother is also into expensive brands. Often quoting his premium Diesel jeans or Hugo Boss suits.

Admittedly, I was also quite severely drawn to brands, and I still am. I remember when I bought my first Spalding basketball. I loved this ball because I knew it was the same brand used in the pros. Playing with this Spalding, made me feel like I was Michael Jordan every time I stepped onto the court.

This brand of basketball to most was insignificant. But to me, this ball meant everything. It shaped my identity and gave me optimism. And to the credit of Spalding, that’s the point. / Read More »

How often do you take lunch to work with you? Every day, once a week or maybe a couple of times a month? I’ve really tried to implement this in our household but was always falling short because I’d be planning on taking dishes that would just take way too long to prep. Sound familiar?

This is how this Mediterranean pearled couscous salad came about. I’d been keen to try pearled couscous for years but never really knew what to do with it or if it was an ingredient I’d be able to find easily. I managed to get my hands on some in a local bulk store a few months back and thought to experiment. It seemed like the perfect ingredient for a cold salad that would be easy to take to work or school. / Read More »

A lot of folks associate minimalism with decluttering. We define minimalism as the process of identifying what is essential in your life and ruthlessly eliminating things that are non-essential.

But once you’ve paired down your things, commitments, relationships, to create space for the things you care about, there’s a crucial step that follows, saying no.

“The real power of minimalism lies in what you’re prepared to say no to.”

Saying no, against your natural urges to not feel like you’re missing out, is the greatest challenge.

In our adolescence, many of us were consumed with the thought of having people say yes to us. We didn’t want to feel left out in school. We wanted our peers to like us. So when confronted with the thought of saying no now, it almost feels counterintuitive.

Luckily, I’ve discovered a nice little hack to make saying no a breeze. Let’s get into it, shall we? / Read More »

For the first time in months, I went to Woolworths, which is the largest supermarket chain in Australia (Americans, think of Walmart). I was on a mission to find organic tofu which was unfortunately wrapped in plastic—but we were willing to make the compromise this time around.

I quickly grabbed the tofu and took the opportunity to browse the isles to see if there were any new vegan products. As I was looking, I couldn’t help but do some people watching.

I saw lots of interesting things as I was essentially judging my local community. There were young adults in gym wear buying lean meat and pre-packaged chopped vegetables. I saw mothers with trolleys filled to the brim with packs of juice boxes, Wonder White bread, dairy milk, caged eggs, the list goes on.

It was quite horrifying to watch folks buy products that are not only harmful to the planet and animals but also to themselves. / Read More »

I’ve been trying to get into the habit of experimenting more with desserts in the kitchen, and this Peanut Butter Caramel & Chocolate Slice has certainly motivated me even more!

It’s smooth, rich, sweet, and balanced. The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is not one that you can really fail with. When I first thought of making a tart, I didn’t think that it would be this hard. Hard because it was impossible to find a pan that was not non-stick or aluminium! When you know that they are unsafe, even if you use it every now and then, I didn’t want to bring that into my home. I also called around my local charity stores thinking they might have one, but apparently, it’s a rarity, as most people that buy them, hold onto them or dispose of them if the non-stick wears off or the dish is no longer doing what it’s meant to do.  / Read More »

We came into the world empty-handed and will leave the world empty-handed.

In our lifetime we have a finite amount of resources at our disposal. Let’s make it count!

At the time of writing this article, I’m living in Canberra, which is the capital city of Australia. It’s an incredibly wealthy city with high levels of disposable income.

However, like many rich cities, most of this money is spent on shit we don’t need. Even worse, we spend money on products and services that do more harm than good. / Read More »

Ever since we embarked on the minimalist journey over three and a half years ago, I’ve created this ideal in my head. Asking myself “am I portraying what minimalism is?” on a regular basis.

I love minimalism and what it stands for but it’s different for everyone. Being intentional with everything in your life and eliminating the unnecessary, the clutter, and the things that weigh you down is how I define it.

One thing that I’ve had a lot of challenge with has been the aesthetic. I’m a very visual person. I like things to be tidy, clean and pretty. Having that kind of standard, I find myself spending time cleaning, tidying and resetting visual standards after use all the time. Maybe a little obsessive some might say? / Read More »