Cooking vegan with RawSpicebar Argentine kit!

I was sent these yummy Argentine spices from Rawspicebar, so I decided to make some Argentine inspired vegan dishes for lunch and an Argentine inspired outfit to go along (couldn't help it, this is a fashion blog after all ;) 

Rawspicebar is a spice kit subscription service that sends you three freshly ground spice blends every month ($8 a month) that have a region or cultural cuisine inspired theme. They often have chefs that specialize in that cuisine to help create the spice blends, so you get some pretty top notch blends. What I really love about these spice kits is that they take you out of your comfort zone and let you explore another world through food. You not only get to play around with new dishes but you also gain more knowledge about a place you maybe knew nothing about. 

So for this kit I got the three spice blends above- the chipotle sea salt, dark coffee and chiles and sun dried tomato pizza. When I saw the pizza blend, I was surprised at first but then after reading the description card you learn about the strong European influences- Spain colonized Argentina and they also had massive waves of immigrants from Italy and other parts of Europe, so its all mixed up! I decided to make a home made pizza with the sun dried tomato pizza blend and got to work rolling out some dough I bought from trader joes (no one got time to make dough- or maybe one day I'll learn). Here's me rolling in the dough, I mean rolling the dough haha!

There was one spice blend, the coffee chili rub that is traditionally done on steak but it is easily veganized by replacing it with a veggie or even tofu or tempeh. Rawspicebar is great because they have so many recipes on their website for each spice blend and they cater to all food lifestyles. I decided to make a salad and I thought it would be fun to use the coffee chili rub on portabella mushrooms and make a traditional Argentine chimichurri sauce as the dressing. This idea was inspired by some of the recipes I saw on Pinterest while researching Argentine food. You can actually check out my Pinterest board I put together for this post- including the fashion inspiration behind my outfit here. 

So I got to work on this dish by marinating the mushrooms. I used soy sauce, the chipotle sea salt from the kit, some thyme and the dark coffee and chiles blend. I let them sit in the marinade while I made the pizza.

Made a quick cashew mozzarella style cheese to put on the pizza. You can get the recipe I used for this here. It's basically blended soaked cashews (overnight) with garlic, some nutritional yeast, some of the chipotle sea salt, apple cider vinegar and some of my Ener-G mix which has the secret ingredient- tapioca starch that makes a gooey texture. Then its whipped on the stove until it becomes a solid form. But check out the video to see how to make this plant based cheese that is really easy and yummy and much healthier!

I put together the rest of the pizza, adding the delicious sun dried tomato pizza blend into the sauce and sprinkled some on top of everything too. I know this is a more greek style pizza but I was really craving some olives and red onions.

While the pizza was cooking, I put the mushrooms in the pan and let them simmer under medium heat. I then got to work on the chimicurri sauce. This stuff is so yum as a dressing! Its just a bunch of cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, lime juice and more of the chipotle sea salt all blended up.

And here's the finished dishes! YUMM!!!!!!! 

As you can see I was very impressed with what I made!! As someone who hated cooking a few years ago, I've finally embraced and now ENJOY IT! I owe most of that to being vegan and just really connecting with what I put into my body and how it makes me feel.

I hope you try some of these dishes out or are inspired to make something using some of these ideas. If you're interested in getting yourself a Rawspicebar kit or subscription, they are offering a $5 coupon with code feda5.

XO

Disclaimer: Rawspicebar kindly sent me this spice kit but I only accept and review things that really resonate with me and the things I feel passionate about. I was not paid for this post, and all that was written is my own words. Thanks for stopping by :)

Wild Things

There’s a wild thing that exists in all of us.It lives in our passions, in the people we love, in our subconscious thoughts, our beliefs.It’s even made a home in the darkest parts of us.But we can’t be scared of it.We have to become it.From the song #WildThings by #AlessiaCara

I heard these lyrics at the end of a song recently, and I was taken back by this part. It rang loud and clear and shook me at my core. I needed this reminder after such a draining and emotional few weeks. I'm still trying to navigate this wild thing in my soul. I find myself holding back too often. I remember my 9th grade teachers words in my yearbook .."Use that voice of yours because whenever you did, everyone benefitted." I know my fears come from the same passionate place these words do and life has taught me over and over that the more you use something the better you get. All I know is there is a deep and passionate wild thing in us all and as long as we let it out from a place of love and compassion for ourselves and others, there will always be meaning to it. And what's so beautiful is we all have our different ways of using that voice. The thing that pulls us towards certain outlets and causes. I'm grateful for this moment even in all it's uncertainty. I hope it brings change through this winter season and plants the seeds for rebellion and strength to overcome what is ahead. I pray for all around the world suffering from injustice, greed and pain. I know deep down when we come together and use our voices, so much beauty can be made. It's there. We just have to use it. So that is where I'll be this year, where the wild things are. 

P.S. I took these a while back but for some reason I just wanted to keep them to myself. Sometimes when I do self portraits, they become a part of a healing process for me and not necessarily something I want to share. This week I felt different and so here is a post <3

Details: Clothing all thrifted.
Jewelry- Zamarut Jewel
Nose ring is from Bright Designs on etsy
Boots: gifted by my friend Heidi- from Morocco

Serenity

"God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference."  Reinhold Niebuhr 

A prayer that has been on my mind as life seems to be that much more difficult to trudge through lately. Can we let go of the things we cannot change? Open ourselves up to what is out there that we are yet to know? Do we have to the courage to own up to and take steps to change the things we can? and let go of the things we know we should? I will take this time to practice serenity and calm despite the storm. 

Short and sweet tonight as I'm not sure what more to say. Not every post or every story or every anything has to have a bright side or a happy ending and that's ok. It's beautiful as it is, flaws and all just as we are! Well I guess that was a bright side anyways..I can't help it :)

XO
Feda

Thank you to Anthony for being my human tripod <3 I actually shot this look twice! First time it was much too dark and I couldn't capture the details I wanted to so I ventured out a second time. It worked out better though because I ended up styling this dress more me :)

Outfit Details:
Dress- vintage from Garment district 
Vest- goodwill- no tags no idea but it's my favorite carpet vest!
Shoes- bought last summer - had some wardrobe malfunctions with them though as they kept falling down.
Accessories all collected over the years- Zamarut Jewel, Avizeh Jewelry, gifted.
Purse- TJ Maxx a few years ago

Linking up with StyleCrone's August Hat Attack!
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Crown Yourself

"Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers." Veronica Shoffstall

To honor the expression of love for yourself is to honor the Creator of love. To crown yourself is not to think of yourself as better than, it is to honor the vessel that carries you. Loving yourself is a means of sustenance to your soul and without it we quickly lose sight of who we are. We are worthy and we carry a world within us as beautiful as we allow ourselves to express it. Decorate your life and water your soul garden. Your life is your canvas. The brush is there in your hands. You are love. 

If you follow my posts on instagram you have seen the little blurb I wrote above. If you haven't why you no follow me?? hehe 

Life has been teaching me the lesson of self love so strongly these last few months. I recently went through an accident that really created this darkness around me. It was almost tangible. It didn't feel so good. I had to go through a few months of physical therapy and still suffer from chronic neck pain due to a previous neck injury. The injury also caused me to have constant migraines..something I had not had before. I was also juggling two jobs, physical therapy three days a week and a class I was taking. Not to mention the state of the world had me completely depressed! So much senseless violence and killing in the news can really get to you. As you can imagine I was not in the best place mentally and physically. I decided after my class ended to take the next few months to focus on creating love and balance in my life again. I started working one less day at my part time job and planned on using that extra time to focus on being creative and doing things I love like dressing up and taking these pictures! I've also been taking walks outside and really retreating back into nature. I've always been very drawn to the earth, flowers and trees as it can have a healing and balancing affect on me.

This beautiful flower crown was gifted to me by a fellow blogger and style lover Tamera. She makes these stunning, stunning flower crowns and she shares them as a symbol of nurturing and owning your greatness. You can read about her Crowning Yourself mission to empower and promote self care on her blog. If you haven't checked out her inspirational blog, go go go! She has fabulous style and her posts are honest and uplifting. I'm so very very grateful she sent me this crown. Recently it has helped transform my mental state of mind.

Believe it or not this crown was sent to me last year! If you know me personally, you know I struggle with waiting for perfection to do things. It has held me back from being creative and sharing my art in many ways. Something I am committed to working on this year. so...at the time, I was struggling to piece an outfit with it. Then this week I looked at it and just started grabbing pieces from my closet and magic! It all came together! I walked down the street that evening and took these pictures. I realized the key was to not think and just do! I wrote the words at the tope of the post and shared a photo on instagram. They have been a sort of mantra for me the last few days and honestly I feel like painting it on my wall in huge letters to remind me! I will strive to honor those words and treat myself with love and kindness. Don't we all deserve that? We are beauty whether we believe it or not..we were created that way. There is nothing holding us back except ourselves from being love and expressing it through all that we do.

 Thanks for stopping by and listening. I hope that you feel your greatness and own your worth by being who you are and expressing it deeply no matter what you or anyone else thinks about it!

XO
Feda

Linking up finally with stylecrone for her hat attack!

Outfit Details:
Mostly thrifted so get out there and stop trying to buy everyone else's clothing and buy your own unique treasures that resonate with your personality and style. Thrift stores are the place to do it at! and they are great for the environment!
I found the long white overcoat in the pajama section at goodwill. It is so easy to wear and keeps you cool in the heat because it is so loose and breezy.
Tank top, mom jeans and belt were also thrifted.
The star of the show is this beautiful flower crown gifted by my fashionista friend Tamera!
Earrings were bought in Spain on my travels there many years ago.
Neck piece was gifted I think. I can't remember. Adds a touch of the southwest which I've been into lately.
Shoes are new! They are by Good Guys Don't Wear Leather and for my budget/lifestyle these were expensive and not what I'm used to spending on shoes but well worth it! I have been slowly replacing things in my closet that are not vegan or ethically made with things that are and these are a new addition. A lot of vegan shoes are not the best quality and lack originality and style, these will last me years, are well made and so very stylish. This company ticks all those boxes for me and I definitely plan to purchase from them as the need arises and if I can afford it.

#TechStyle at the MFA Boston!

I had the honor of attending the opening of #techstyle at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston last month (yes I'm super late posting this). I love fashion as a way of expression but I'm always curious about those who are pushing the boundaries of fashion and the way we interact with what we wear. I had not seen much tech infused fashion before so I was truly excited to see visually what can happen when you mix it up. Today, designers are using technology during the designing process but also as a way to create with the use of 3D printers, digitally printed fabrics and laser cutting. These are some of my favorites from the night. You can catch the exhibit in Boston until July 10th and I highly recommend a visit!

3D printed skirt and cape by Iris Van Herpen, created in collaboration with artist Neri Oxman from MIT's Media Lab.

3D printed shoes by Francis Bitonti

Specially designed for this exhibit, the Nervous System was commissioned to create this petal 4D printed dress using Kinematics. 4D printed, it uses body scans and foldable modules to conform to the body. Talk about a perfect fit!

Designer Manish Arora created this stunning bodice using laser cut technology and traditional intricate Indian craft techniques, combining old and new. Check out his collection on his website, so gorgeous!

Avant-garde designers Viktor and Rolf Haute Couture use laster cutting and digitally printed fabrics to create this disected framed wearable art!

United Nude 3-D printed shoes. Loved these!

ThreeASFOUR designers created this 3D printed stretch mesh dress based on sound waves and serial forms.

Digital printed dress by Mary Katrantzou.

Designer Ying Gao kinetic reactive garment that uses electronic sensors and dressmaker pins to create organic like movement.

Cute Circuit designed this interactive dress that you can actually tweet! Cool idea but I do not want my clothing also hooked up to the internet. I would probably get technology anxiety wearing this hehe!

If you don't know some of these fab ladies below go check them out! It was fun to be among others that enjoyed fashion as much as I do! Left to right. Kelly Rego, Samantha Ramage of A Glimpse of Glamour, Lei Ann of Lei Ann of Lei Ann Off Duty, Me!, and Cassandra Knight of Castanet. 

Samantha is the pretty lady that invited me and she runs the fabulous blog A Glimpse of Glamour. She definitely won best look of the night in my eyes <3 but I do have a soft spot for reds, pinks and roses!

If you missed it, I share some of the details of my outfit here <3 I did not have much technology infused clothing in my closet so I just did my thing but channeled the bold and daring queen of tech style Bjork.

Thanks for stopping by as always!

XO

Spring Fever!

A couple weeks ago I was invited by my friend Sami of A Glimpse of Glamour to attend the opening for the Techstyle Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. I was feeling quite daring coming out of winter hibernation, so I was in the mood to go all out. I didn't have anything to go with the tech style theme so I figured I would just channel Bjork, the queen of tech style when putting this outfit together. I also decided it was the perfect opportunity to go BOLD and wear that new blue lipstick in my collection, why not!?! To be totally honest it's not my favorite outfit just because I'm not used to the proportions of the pants but considering I didn't have a full length mirror available (in the middle of a move and never got around to buying one), it was one of my more funky outfits. I felt pretty badass and it helped release some of my color cravings I was having with spring right around the corner. Except yes, it snowed the day before! Oh New England.. 

I will be posting some pictures from the event next so stay tuned to see the creative genius that can happen when you mix technology and fashion!!! For now I hope you enjoy this outfit pairing. Photos were quickly taken outside my apartment before the event by my sweet Anthony. He did a great job for a five minute shoot!

Outfit Details:
Pom pom crown- gift- originally from Thailand
White blazer and pants- thrifted
Red button up- free people bought many years ago from TJ Maxx
Boots- gifted
Carpet purse- thrifted in California
Beaded bracelets- Sisco Berluti
Cuff- gifted
Large blue and turquiose stone rings- Avizeh
Red stone ring- Zamarut Jewel
Other jewelry- collected/thrifted
Blue Lipstick- Makeup Monsters Cosmetics in the shade Back Lash- cruelty free and vegan!

I have to give a shout out to my friend Heidi for gifting me some of her beautiful ethnic hand me downs. I'm so in love!

XO
Feda