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The Farmacy Juice and Tonic Bar

It’s hard for most of us to get too excited about a juice and smoothie bar, but maybe that’s because most of them aren’t as satisfying and exciting as they could be.

The Farmacy Juice and Tonic Bar, in West Asheville, is appropriate for vegans, raw foodists, those who are gluten-intolerant, or any health-conscious person who also wants to enjoy their meal. They offer juices, smoothies, “super smoothie meal replacements”, raw soup, tonics, and shots. Their smoothies feature such exciting ingredients as chia seeds, coconut yoghurt, cacao, mesquite, spirulina, lavendar, and all the fresh fruits and veggies you’d expect. They also have something I’ve only been able to read about but have always wanted to try: Rejuvelac, as made famous by Dr. Anne Wigmore of the Hippocrates Institute.

Judy and Carl, who operate The Farmacy, do things differently than most places. For instance, you get a coconut water chaser with your wheatgrass shot. And they’ll first bring you a taste of your smoothie so you can ask for changes before they pour it. They are also wonderful, positive, interesting people who enjoy getting to know their customers.

Prices are extremely reasonable and we’ve never been unhappy with our order. Give them a try any Wednesday through Saturday, inside the West Village Market at 771 Haywood Rd. in West Asheville.

Other than bee pollan and honey, there is nothing on the menu that vegans need to look out for.

Once a week or so, I go out for a fancy coffee drink. For a while, it was a soy latte, or almond milk latte if it was available.*

During a visit to Firestorm Cafe in Asheville, I ordered a latte and the girl taking my order suggested I try a “vegan breve”. She explained that a regular breve is made with half-and-half. The VEGAN breve at Firestorm is made with almond milk and coconut creme. Of course I agreed to try that instead and it was the most delicious coffee drink ever, by far.

I like the breve so much that I started drinking them 3 or 4 times a week. I’ve had to consciously limit myself to only one per week. “Breve Friday” I call it.

As far as I know, Firestorm is the only place in town that serves vegan breves. You have 2 options. Their “Coconut Creme Breve” is listed on their menu. It’s what I described above but also has syrups in it for flavor. I hate syrups in my food, so I specifically ask for a vegan breve without the syrups. Or I should say, I used to ask for that. Now I just tell them “I’ll have the usual.”

* Note: Those who have known me for a long time, know that I used to really eschew coffee in all forms, so this may seem like an odd statement.  What can I say – life takes weird turns sometimes.

Blynk Organic

I wound up spending more time at the Southpark Mall in Charlotte today than I had planned. Way more. So of course at a certain point I got hungry for lunch. In desperation, I visited the food court thinking maybe there would be something that passed for edible food, but I was not optimistic.

Walking past all the crappy fast food, probably scowling without realizing it, I spotted a little booth hidden way at the end called Blynk Organic. Holy crap, that sounded promising! And then, written in chalk next to their soup of the day, “vegan and gluten-free”. I could not believe it.

I got a soup and salad combo. The soup was a simple Indian chick pea dish they called “Taj Mahal”. The salads are made to order from a variety of organic vegetables (as are the wraps and sandwiches). I had mixed greens, cucumbers, chick peas, marinated eggplant, and tofu.

Honestly, it was one of the most satisfying and delicious meals I’ve had in months. And I got it in a shopping mall. That’s amazing.

Recently, several people have contacted me through my website, thanking me for my great video and requesting recipes. You have the wrong Vegan Girl.

I don’t have a video, unless you have seen the one of my cat walking around, or the one of me trying to play Auld Lang Syne on the mandolin.

I’m thrilled that someone out there made such a powerful video about veganism that has inspired so many people to try it. I wish I could take credit for it, but I cannot. I encourage you to look more closely at the video and see if you have the correct URL.

Update: The consensus is that www.vegan-gal.com is the site you might be looking for.

Gregory

Gregory, my old friend, when you first appeared it was as though you’d always been with me. Now that you’re gone, I don’t know how I’ll ever let another in.

Gregory, my sweet boy, when you first left it was as though you’d never been here. Now it is as though you haven’t really gone, and at any moment I will hold you in my arms again.

Chelsea Clinton

Everyone’s been abuzz about Chelsea Clinton’s $3 million upcoming wedding to a NY investment banker. And I could not have been less interested….until NOW that is.

Turns out that Chelsea Clinton is….VEGAN? Wow. And gluten-free to boot. Her wedding will feature a vegan, gluten-free menu with an option of grass-fed beef for those who just can’t stand to go one day without eating dead animals.

Way to go, Chelsea. Save a piece of cake for me.

Check out the full story on ecorazzi.

Just ask this squirrel. He’ll tell you.

Squirrel on a hot day

Rocky in his younger years

About 4 years ago, my cat Rocky was euthanized after about 2 years and $20K worth of veterinary visits, hospital stays, expensive tests, injections, pills, liquids, special food, vitamins, and subcutaneous fluids. I didn’t realize at the time that it would add up to so much effort and money just to have the same end result. Every new treatment came with the promise of “fixing” him. It always seemed as though if we could just get past this one thing, he’d be back to normal. Whatever “normal” had become.

In retrospect, I realize that every new treatment brought with it a new set of side effects and problems and none got to the heart of the problem. And every new test seemed to come back with a similar inconclusive result: “It could be [some innocuous problem] or it could be cancer. We’ll try some Clavamox.” It was so predictable that it became a running joke in my household.

After Rocky died, I changed my whole approach to veterinary care for my remaining 2 cats and dog, all of whom by this time were fairly elderly for their species. I have followed 3 new rules fairly religiously:

1. If he isn’t bleeding or in pain, he doesn’t go to the vet.
2. If the treatment offered will not fix the problem, but will only mask some symptoms for a while, I won’t do it.
3. If the expensive test offered only has the potential to find a problem that can’t reasonably be cured, I won’t bother getting the test.

Gregory at 14+ years old

About 2 years ago, my beloved cat Gregory started losing weight. He had always been 11-12 pounds (and not overweight) and now he was down to 9. Then closer to 8. After a couple of vet visits I was already starting to see the familiar pattern at the vet’s office emerge. “It might be diabetes, cancer, or maybe just an infection. We could run some tests…..” I had the basic blood tests done, to make sure there was no immediate danger. There wasn’t. The vets, as usual, could not tell me why he was losing weight. They offered various tests that each cost between $300 and $500. All the same tests I’d had done on Rocky that always produced inconclusive results.

By this time, Gregory was at least 14 years old (true age unknown but I took him in as an adult cat in 1995). I accepted that he was a very old cat and would die one day soon, as we all do. I reminded myself of my 3 rules, and resolved to buy him the best food, and give him absolutely the best life I could give him for the time he had left. As it turns out, that time lasted until July 8, 2010 at 4:12pm. Last Thursday.

His quality of life was very high up until maybe a month before. He became quite thin and his back legs were getting wobbly and weak. He suddenly began drooling when he drank water and rather gross-looking saliva was pouring into his water bowl. At that point, I brought him to the vet, thinking he might have an infection in his mouth that could be “fixed” so that he could continue on a little longer. The vets found nothing conclusive, but gave him Clavamox anyway thinking he might have a gum or tooth infection. His teeth really needed to be cleaned but he was too weak to be anesthetized for the cleaning. Gregory continued on with his happy life even with the drooling and the muscle weakness.

Gregory in his last few months

Last Thursday, at the age of (at least) 16, he quite suddenly took a dramatic turn for the worse. He was so weak he couldn’t walk without falling over. He drank and ate a little bit, but mostly could only lay on his bed. I assumed (hoped) that this was the day he would let go, since his quality of life was seemingly gone. I spent the day with him, scratching his chin and listening to him purr. I helped him get to the litterbox or readjust his position when he struggled to get up. I fought the urge to take him to the vet, determined not to make him spend his last day on Earth in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar place with strangers. After a long day of waiting, Gregory began to get a bit fitful, pushing his paws against some force that I couldn’t see – this lasted for several minutes. Then he calmed down, took several very deep breaths, and then died.

Just like with Rocky, Gregory lived about 2 years after his health began to decline. But unlike Rocky, he wasn’t burdened with hospital stays, poking and prodding, and side effects. Vet care for his final 2 years was under $1000. I would have happily paid $20K if it would have fixed him, but I don’t believe it would have. You can’t fix mortality.

Do I have any regrets? Yes, I do have one. I wish I had gotten Gregory’s teeth cleaned again while he was still well enough to handle it. I worry that his tooth and gum issues hastened his decline and made his life a little less enjoyable. That is the only one though. Gregory was just about the luckiest cat in the world. Spoiled, happy, and truly loved by many many people.

Idli Sambhar Chutney (not my photo, and not from Swad but looks just like theirs)

I spent the afternoon in Greenville today, and as I always do before going to another city, I checked out in advance what my lunch options would be. Happy Cow pretty much had one restaurant choice for me, not including grocery store hot bars.

I like checking out all vegetarian restaurants anyway, and authentic Indian food can be hard to find, so we decided to give it a try.

First, let me get out of the way that the food was absolutely great. I ate a lot of Indian food in high school at homes of friends and I’ve been lamenting the fact that I never seem to get that same experience in restaurants. Particularly the fact that I can never find idli on the menu. Well, I found it today and it was just as I remember, along with sambar (like a soup) and cucumber chutney. I also ordered a vegan “tomato omelet” made with lentil flour. In all honesty, it was not much like an omelet at all, not even a vegan one, but it was incredibly tasty even so. It was a little thinner and crispier than you would expect from an omelet.

But more importantly, being in Swad was just a wonderful happy experience. It is clearly a family restaurant with the owner also being the chef, and his son being the waiter. When I asked what had no dairy in it, the chef personally came to my table, asked if I was vegan, and then told me everything on the menu that I could have, which was almost everything.

He seemed genuinely delighted to have me there, and made a point of mentioning that the entire restaurant is vegetarian and the cooking equipment never touches meat of any kind, or any eggs. The owner is a lifelong vegetarian.

I was so very full when I finished my meal. But when the owner so enthusiastically came back to my table to give me a free cup of lentil soup and rice to try, I had to say yes. And it was delicious. I wish I could remember what it was exactly.

The people there were so genuine. I really felt as though I was a guest in their home and they were serving me the best they had to offer. I absolutely will make this a regular stop any time I’m in Greenville.

Swad is located at 1421-A Laurens Rd. in Greenville, SC. Open Mon-Sat 11AM-9PM.

Covered litter box

I’ve had my beloved Gregory for almost 15 years now. He came to me as an adult so I don’t know how old he is. But he’s clearly at the end of his life. He’s frail and he has poor balance and I don’t think he sees very well anymore.

A few weeks ago, Gregory started doing something he has never done in the entire time he’s been with me. He started peeing and pooping on the floor. It became a regular part of my morning and evening routines to clean up some disgusting mess that he’d left for me.

I’ve accepted that Gregory is ill and that he will likely not be with us for much longer. But this new symptom I simply could not accept. I brought him to the vet, but they could not account for why he would be doing this.

The flash of genius came when I saw Gregory trying to do figure 8s around me one morning at breakfast. He really couldn’t make those tight turns anymore and he practically fell over when he tried. I looked at him and I looked at the litterbox, and realized, he probably can’t turn around in there anymore!

I removed the lid. No more accidents. The problem was immediately resolved and has not resurfaced in 2 weeks.

If your geriatric cat is peeing outside the litterbox, quit torturing him! Take the lid off.