*Dear reader, this is an open letter to filmmaker Travis Mathews. Its intent it to initiate discussion as well as introduce you to the important work of this amazing filmmaker.

Dear Travis,

First of all, please let me congratulate you on your third installation of  In Their Room London. I have not seen the two prior, but I will most certainly be looking to find them soon. I wanted to say thank you for showing an honest, very intimate, and sincere portrayal of the vulnerability of gay men. Your film invited us into a space all too familiar, yet so strange, risky, and confusing. We are all searching for love, for honesty, for touch, for support, for a big spoon, for a little spoon, for someone to breathe ever so slightly on the back of your neck, for a fuck, for a rush, for a moment. We are searching for the things we lack, the things we desire, the things we missed out on, the things we want to be, and the things that will never be again. You, and the boys in the cast, are remarkable men and I thank you for sharing your stories with us.

I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss some aspects of your film and the follow up, Interior. Leather Bar, that evening at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2013.

First: Nudity, Censorship, and Imagining the Gay Man  

In the Q&A session after the films, an audience member asked about your use of graphic images, nudity and sex. In my opinion, he seemed to have missed the mark on the point of the film. He himself was advocating for further censorship to permit for a wider reading of your work, arguing that while the messages were poignant and important for a larger audience, the film self-limiting because of the nudity and sexual scenes.

I think you really illustrated in your response the importance of not limiting your work to the idea of catering to the masses. We live in an age where images and portrayals of gay men have become so twisted, fake, and mainstreamed. From gay men washed as “normal” or gay men painted in florescent pink, we are constantly inundated with these falsities that help construct our own views, feelings, and insecurities about being a gay man. Your movie exposed the reality of our deep rooted and constantly reinforced vulnerabilities and insecurities when it comes to sex, image, relationships, and intimacy.

I have never seen, on screen, gay men in such a vulnerable state as in your film. It filled me with such a pain and a rage. I think gay men would be stronger as individuals if they took the time to see films like yours. It gave us an intimate look into about how we currently look for love, touch, a fuck, that moment, that feeling, that desire. It takes a look at how we struggle to find meaning in ourselves, often through our transient sexual relationships with strangers. There is no possible way to censor honesty, and I thank you for making me feel a part of something through your film.

Second: Interior and saying no to NOrmal

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s new anthology, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? For me, the central message was more of a poignant question: Why are we trying so hard to be like straight people? Why are we giving up on the “queer” identity and identities that were built so strongly by our LGBT ancestors?

(This is mainly to give my readers context) Franco directly addresses this point during Interior via a discussion with the protagonist Val, a character wrought with insecurities, judgment and fear. A confused soul, Val tries to understand Franco’s mission in this project. Franco uses sex as the protagonist in his own thesis to explain to Val that the way we have been conditioned and socialized has rendered us utterly mind-fucked in terms what is and what isn’t right,  what is OK and what is perverse. Franco is visibly pissed off that society, and all its foot soldiers, have taken control of his mind and trained him and others to think a certain way about gay men, and especially, gay sex. He argues that what is “normal” is a construct, and a dangerous one that makes us scared of the different and the queer.

In other words, I applaud the film’s reaction to, in my opinion, the normalizing of gay men, gay sex, and gay relationships. I think that the message of “if we are more like them, they will accept us more” is lazy and problematic.

Lastly: Technology, Cruising, and a Loss of Gay Culture?

I thought the pairing of your film and Interior was interesting from a historical and cultural perspective. My friend who joined me lamented on the way home how technology has basically superseded the necessity of more subtle indicators of the cruising culture, such as the bandana codes. A leather culture enthusiast, he worried that gay men have completely forgot their cultural history. While I agree with him that an appreciation and knowledge of cultural history is very important, this is not a “gay man” issue, as cultural history is often lost on many. However, I think the pairing provided an opportunity to look at how important the historical cruising culture was, particularly, its various intricacies and what it meant to be gay at a time where the nuances of “In Their Room” were completely unavailable.

Thank you again for your films and your work. I’ve become an instant fan.

I encourage everyone to go and see both films whenever they become available in your city. Also, please visit Travis’ website .

Cheers,

Kyle

Weekly classes

Taking specific classes can help be a motivator for individuals with strict schedules. Try finding a kickboxing class, spinning class, yoga class, swimming class or even a skating lesson that can be given a time slot in your hectic weekly schedule. If you treat it as a commitment just as you would a language course, a job or an art class, you will be letting yourself down by not going once every week. The classes won’t usually run any longer than an hour and a half which is about the amount of time you would otherwise spend in a daze with one hand in a bag of chips and the other hitting refresh on your Instagram feed.

Proximity

Really commit to doing some research. Ask your neighbors, friends, or Google which gym is closest and most convenient for the area you live or work in. For me, the trouble has always been getting my act together to get to the gym or yoga studio. Once I’m there I always find myself wondering the same thing “why don’t I do this more often, I feel great!”

Nutritious meal plans

You are what you eat. I’m a huge advocate for healthy eating. I’m a health food junkie who spends hours a week surfing the web for new tips on healthy eating, new ingredients to use, preparation methods and what have you. As soon as my roommate and I got on our morning smoothie kick I immediately felt inclined to revamp my lifestyle. Starting the day with a healthy smoothie, followed by a lunch and dinner that involves nutrient-rich foods like quinoa, kale, avocado and veggies, it’s hard not to want to cleanse one’s body completely. In this spirit try to cut back on things that have been weighing you down (whether physically or emotionally) like drinking and chocolate.. Well… they say dark chocolate is good for you so I wouldn’t bother cutting that out!

There are a ton of wonderful food blogs out there to help you set a meal plan for your week – here are my personal favourites: http://101cookbooks.com/ and http://mynewroots.org/site/recipes/

Try this Kale Market Salad for lunch!
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/kale-market-salad-recipe.html

FF Group support

F words are key this month: Fresh, Fruit, Fitness and Friends.
Get a group of friends together, friends who are equally as excited about new goals and getting healthy and kick starting the post-New Year (everyone knows January is a write-off ). A couple of friends and I have set a list of limitations on ourselves: attend hot yoga a minimum of five times a week, eat healthy, NO SWEETS (unless it’s dark chocolate which is basically broccoli’s sister vegetable, right?), cut back on drinking, cut back on coffee (latte’s specifically) one a day instead of four and drink tea to fight the urge, cook more often, eat out only at healthy restaurants (generally those of the vegan or vegetarian variety).

These pals and I even started a little Facebook group amongst ourselves to get us in the spirit and to help motivate one another. Here we plan to share recipes, restaurants, and any fresh activities that we might be interested in with one another.

If you really want to challenge yourself perhaps commit to doing a cleanse?

If you get hooked on your new healthy living kick, that’s great! Keep it up all the way until the summer (when you can hop on your bicycle again) and you’ll be wearing those short shorts with stride!

A few fitness spots in Montreal to help you get a head start on your research:

Le Gym Concordia http://athletics.concordia.ca/campus/legym.shtml

This is a great location for anyone who works downtown. I think it may even have the cheapest membership in town for students at 60$* for 3 months.
For everyone else:
Alumni 120$*
Public 150$*

*And its an additional 25$ for an hour with a personal trainer to help motivate yourself with a session or a series of sessions – This is a useful service! It can prove very helpful to actually understand how you should be doing certain excercises to ensure that you don’t hurt yourself. The trainers will work with you to create an individual workout plan that suits your need for washboard abs, a tight butt or whatever else you might be going for. Its also helpful to force yourself to touch base with someone with the progress you’ve made — it’s like doing your homework on time because you know your teacher is checking in class the following day!

 
Centre Père Sablon http://centresablon.com/conditionnement-physique/gym/

The best deal here is their 1 year plan priced at 40$ a month which gives you access to their overall gym facilities. Pay an additional 30$ a month for one year and have access to weekly classes such as boxing, kickboxing, aerobics, etc.

YMCA http://www.ymcaquebec.org/en/ys_quebec/discover/

Westmount, Stanley, Parc, The YMCA has a number of locations across the city and is by far the best deal in town. They offer a variety of memberships from group, corporate memberships, to family memberships. Access to the pool is always a plus for any gym but the Y offers memberships that allow you to access additional features at an affordable cost (features such as scheduled classes, private training, life saving courses, additional passes for your guests, etc.)
student 40.25 access to all pools classes incl.

General 60 access to all loc pools classes

**NOTICE the St. Viateur location closed down temporarily but is reopening!

Moksha Yoga http://montreal.mokshayoga.ca/classes/schedule/

If you’re not one for Cardio you might like to try yoga…hot yoga. Moksha is my personal favorite and will be where I will be spending my Fresh February days.

At 110$ a month (and a contract for one year) membership includes class access, and discounts on products. Students get this membership at 100$ a month, which is quite the deal considering the fact that a pass for 10 classes costs 75$! If you’re not sure whether or not hot yoga is your thing try Moksha’s One Week Unlimited introductory special at 20$ (includes one extra class when you make an eco friendly move by returning the card).

How would you like to attend yoga for (almost) free? Moksha also offers this really great things called, The Energy Exchange Program, which essentially requires you to work a four hour shift each week in exchange for unlimited access to classes.

Get involved in your own yoga community, or in other less fortunate yoga communities. Check out this article written by Melanie on the efficacy of practicing yoga in the community of Bhopal in India. Melanie shares the efforts of a Leeds yoga studio that is fundraising for the ongoing recuperation process of the Bhopalis people since the tragic 1984 pesticide leak.

When you’re trying to adhere to a lighter fare lifestyle, it can be challenging to find a restaurant choice that won’t leave you feeling gluttonous, nevermind-I’m-not-coming-out-tonight, full feeling. Tacos (when well-executed) can be a great option for a healthy meal that is equal parts fresh and equal parts satisfying.

Montreal is getting on the taco bandwagon in a serious way. Starting with Grumman 78 Tacos and now with the opening of Maïs in the upper Plateau, the city can now be added to any foodie’s taco map. Since it’s opening, news has spread about the wait time for a table at Maïs – but don’t let that deter you! I had a great time and the wait only enhanced the overall experience. Once we put our name and number on the list, we were able to cross the street over to Sparrow where we enjoyed a couple of drinks to help work up our appetites, the perfect way to start any evening!

Well worth the wait time, Maïs offers a great atmosphere. With its community style seating plan, its open kitchen concept, and fun staff, it provides the perfect amount of warmth and comfort with a traditional taco shack feel. The best part is that everything is made from scratch on order and you can taste the freshness with every bite. Again, we were warned by our server that this makes for a slight wait but once our appetizer and drinks were on the go we didn’t have a moment to check our watches before our delicious meal arrived.

My date and I started with the ceviche (the epitome of a fresh dish) followed by a series of tacos: fish tacos, squash and fresh cheese tacos, black bean tacos and they were all fantastic. The margaritas topped the experience; with the drink menu offers an extensive selection of cocktails and more importantly tequilas to choose from.

We left feeling entirely satisfied, ready to take on the night and the weekend of Nuit Blanche festivities. Definitely a great spot for a date night or a dinner among friends! I will be making a trip back very soon and I already know exactly what I want to order.

Up this week we have the (insert adjective here) Nicki Minaj! I allow you the opportunity to fill in the blank in this case, because I find it depends very much on the day/my mood/how many shots I’ve done how I feel about Miss Minaj. Today, it is early in the morning, and I’m a little on edge watching this video. Any way you slice it, this song is ultra-catchy and fun, and for my video response, it’s ultra slow and folk-pop-y. So, swing over and refresh your memory with the original here:

And then head over and check out my cover here:

I’m thinking in the future of re-creating some aspect of the video – in this case, those LASHES. Next time. Also, please feel free to suggest things you’d like to see covered below in the comments – I’ll try (just about) anything once!

Have a fantastic weekend – until next time!

Up this week we have a little Katy Perry for you – this record always makes me think summer, and after this wintery week I am dreaming of beaches, dance parties and guilty-pleasure pop tunes. So to warm up your Friday afternoon, we have Katy’s Teenage Dream, matched up with the cover I recorded this morning on my couch.

Have a listen to the original here:

And then swing by my cover here:

Bon Weekend!

For this week’s MVV, we’re transporting you back in time to a land of sheer, glittery body suits, space-age Pan Am uniforms and the days when Brit was a little less batty. Or maybe not. Then we’ll transport you to now – the land of stripped down acoustic versions, with (unfortunately) a little less rolling around on the ground looking like a sparkly fairy in heat/having a really sexy seizure. (Sorry, it just doesn’t seem to work for me the same way – can’t figure it out!)

So, check out the original here:

And check out the acoustic cover here:

And if you have any suggestions for things that you’d like to see covered/have come across something cool on the internet, leave a comment and we’ll do our best!

Until next time!

Dim Sum is kinda like the Chinese version of Tapas but way more fun. Bite sized portions of Chinese dishes are served on small plates or in steam baskets that are carted around the restaurant and selected for eating as they pass your table. As a kid I remember my mom putting up with us in public long enough to bring us to Dim Sum once every blue moon, but before this weekend it had quite literally been at least five years since my last cart flagging experience.

Firstly, Dim Sum (especially if it’s your first time) is in my opinion best done in a group of 4-6. Don’t wait until you’re starved to show up as there is most often a wait time of 10-20 minutes before a table will be ready. Once you’re seated you’ll notice that you won’t get a menu, nor a waiter. Bussers are around to clear tables, bring you sauces and tea/water while multiples members of the wait staff circle the restaurant with carts. Different carts carry different foods, ranging from rice and fried noodles to dumplings and spring rolls. As the carts circle, the wait staff will call out the food that is on their cart, most often not in English, but will clarify with you if you ask politely. Plates such as dumplings are portioned off into sets of 2-4 and normally range between $2 and $3.50. This is where your group of 4-6 people comes in. You can pretty freely try anything because even if you take a bite and don’t like it, there are other people at the table who will probably enjoy it, and there will be another cart heading your way in moments that might carry something more to your taste.

Waiters cart around dishes at Restaurant Kam Fung.

But if you have no waiter and the food is self-serve, how do they charge you? Well, on each table there will be an upright placard with pricing boxes, and as you are served from a particular cart, the waiter will check off which price that item was, and you will be totaled out at the end of your meal. One of the benefits of this is that it allows you to freely try the foods while still being able to track the cost of your bill throughout. Between the four of us this weekend our bill was $40 after a nice tip, so about $10 a person (we didn’t stuff our faces but we had about 10 dishes).

Dim Sum is a great way to spend Sunday brunch with friends or family. The array of dishes means that there will be something for everyone while still giving ample opportunity to try something new. The atmosphere isn’t on the quiet side so there’s no shame in making it a fun and chatty meal. It’s an inexpensive way to enjoy something new and I mean how can you argue with having shrimp dumplings for breakfast? That’s right, you can’t.

 Peace, Love & Dumplings
- S.

Reflecting on how running salvaged my life, I have realized the significant relationship between my mental and physical health. In my darkest moments, I felt so dissociated from my body. Not only did I feel emotionally detached from my corporal well-being but my mind was also at odds with what my own health would look like. Critical of normative notions of physical health, due in part to my participation and subscription to radical body politics, I had foolishly though understandably reasoned that physical fitness equated a submission to the hegemony of normative body types. I rejected the idea that as a man, I should be strong and viewed this as supportive of what society demanded of my body. This was not only developed by my social relationships within my community but also my exclusion and consequent resentment of the cult of masculinity throughout my life. My relationship with my body could be described as a tension between my desire to be attractive and my rejection of the strength and physicality associated with masculinity. Seroconversion brought to the fore the damage that this tension inflicted on my body, mind a spirit. The subjection of my body to medicine, tests, examinations and its assault by the virus brought about a surrendering of myself to weakness; I came to view myself as diseased, even fantasizing my own pathetic demise. Through years of drug abuse and alcoholism preceding (and intensifying with) my seroconversion, my mind too began to betray me. The relegation of body to a mere vessel, one that had so often betrayed me, brought about long periods of darkness in my memory.

I could no longer recall conversations, evenings and entire weeks; my commitments to myself and to my friends were lost, and I considered them to be collateral damage in the shitstorm that I assumed would be my end. Confronted last summer with one of many horrible, embarrassing and hazy nights, which culminated in the worst version of myself surfacing, I knew that I needed to reclaim what was mine alone. I altered course, changed pace, and realized the value of small steps in my own recovery.

A bit of background first.

My first encounter with running was as a child (a younger child) being forced into soccer. That lasted 6 years until I hit puberty and decided I didn’t feel like running around a field while suburban moms drank long island iced teas in lawnchairs cheering for their babies and forcing sliced oranges down their kids throats at half time. So sticky, so messy. I believe my exact words to my father were “take a good look at me in this uniform, cause it’s the last time you’ll see me in one.” He took it well, so I applied similar tactics to cubs and hockey and cross country and was finally rid of weeknight practices and could spend my time on important matters such as playing Nancy Drew computer games, writing thriller novels inspired by the Pelican Brief (which is still my favorite Julia Roberts movie) and watching the X-Files with my mom.

My first uncomfortable encounter with so-called “physical health” was, as with many baby queers, also my first encounter with shame, guilt and eventual resentment of the wolfpacks of childhood (that so often color the adult lives of the heteronormative monolith). Fortunately my family was not quite as American Beauty-crazy as that of many around me and my mom was perfectly content to have me all to herself.

Enter puberty-

My parents got really into running around the same time the rest of the white middle class suburbia did… sooo, 1998? Fortunately for me they would go for their long runs together on Sundays, leaving me alone with the computer. To this day, the smell of cut grass reminds me of looking for naked pictures of Brad Pitt on the Internet. As my parents explored the opportunities presented by long strides and heavy perspiration, I entered the world of the hyper-telephoto lens and deep voyeurism, and I retain trace levels of these heady days when my heart rate doubles at the sight of screen captures of celebrity skin. Also falling into this category is the highly coveted adolescent glimpse of teenaged Adonises, localized versions of celebrity worship, found in your very own racket club change room. Through the enviously and covetously charged post-workout sightings, I built an image of that which I lacked, that which would always reject me.

In turning away from physicality, I turned toward pursuits for my mind, initially exceeding in school, I soon came to tire of the self control demanded of me by my own desire to be the best and set about ways of coming undone at the seams. I graduated high school with boyfriend and a new desire to get fucked up all the time. Moving away to school I made myself one of the stoners I have always found so sexy. Having found a crowd I thought liked me, I was happy for the first time in a long time, not realizing that they liked a built version of myself, armed against the pain which openness had brought me so often in the year before. And while I was away from the restraints of home, Victoria, BC, was not (for me) a place to stretch my gaybie wings. Having colossally fucked up my academic year, lost all my friends (in what seemed like a self-fulfilling prophesy and a story for another time) and with my heart in shreds from my first love lost, I moved home with my sights set on Montreal for the next year.

In my first months in Montréal, I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of cosmopolitan life that my desire for excitement was quelled and my loneliness was drowned out by the sensory rush that city life offered. But soon my old hunger for the validation that my earlier life lacked crept into my mind. Back into the rabbit hole, from which I could only surface long enough to know that conditions, my conditions, had yet to change. Recently I’ve been reading about the modern need for hyperconnectivity, conditioned by porn, drugs, television, film, advertising culture and fashion, converging to generate an oversaturated canvas against which our lives are compared, and by consequence seem unsatisfying. During this time, I wanted so badly for my life to be in Technicolor, and so I colored it in with as much living as I could find. I never missed a party, a joint, a bump, a line, a drink, a drink, a pill, a drink, a line, a line, a sunrise. And it was fun. I had a blast.

When I learned that I had seroconverted it was another moment that I had almost come to expect. I want to make clear that I did not chase after the virus nor did I view it as some tragic inevitability stemming from my lack of self control and devaluation of life because I think these are easy traps of the HIV/AIDS narrative created in negotiating the realities of serodiscordance by both poz and neg people. I similarly reject the idea that I was somehow victimized in seroconversion. Not only is victimization dehumanizing of the so-called perpetrator but it similarly dehumanizes the so-called victim. I think the most empowering thing we can do is own what is ours, our bodies and minds, our pasts and presents. I see this all so clearly now but that summer I still lacked the lens necessary to focus my situation.

What I will say about this moment is I began to shy from the over saturation of life and instead used my old tools to mute the colors that began to drown my view of the world. What I failed to recognize at the time was that I was beginning to find a group of people who I trusted and loved. In the year that followed I drank differently, partied differently, I felt alone and betrayed and trapped in a body that was dismantling itself. The loss of control over my person, my submission to the clinical structure, my dependence on pharmaceuticals to stay alive and powder, booze and pills to remain numb buttressed the wall between my mental and physical self. Blacking out nightly to the point that I could almost find it funny again, and to this day cannot remember large periods of nocturnal time; Morning after morning I was reminded of the former evening’s events by friends who withheld what would be too hurtful for me to know.

It is hard to say how exactly I decided to start running except to say I was a runner all along. Running from the traps of my body and the tricks of my mind. What running (in the literal sense) gives me is a reprieve from reality. I am moving through space faster than the one step-per-step we are allotted. What I needed was the mourning period I never permitted myself to have. I needed stillness and time to consider, reflect, feel pain, feel regret and allow myself to be as hurt as I was. Both in body and mind, I had endured the bitter licks of life, as so many others feel, and worse than I (I am aware), but I required a space in which I could be safe in my pain. Drugs, alcohol, parties and boys had failed to provide the comfort, which in that moment of change I realized was only mine to give.

So I ran up that hill everyday. I hacked the shit out of my smoke clogged lungs, my coke stuffed tubes, my shit filled bowels and my polluted veins. And everyday, as though I were baring offerings to a temple, some of the burden of my past was lifted. My heavy heart began to lighten. Physically the strain lessened, my muscles, though sore, were stronger. So too was my mind, and whatever version of spiritual being there is in me. It took nine months to regain the courage I once had to challenge myself, feeling like maybe the odds were stacked in favor of my ability to run toward. In May I decided I would run a marathon. Initially I had wanted to run the New York City marathon, I think now that fate was on my side (as that marathon was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy’s recent devastation), though at the time I discovered I was too late to register and settled begrudgingly for Montreal. I took charge of my schedule, my eating, my sleeping, my mental expenditures and told myself that my only certainty was September 21^st, 8:00AM, I would be on that bridge. I think now, that I should have known this cheat in life, it is after all so obvious, but through focusing on one thing and one thing alone, I checked more boxes that I had been able to in years of struggling to check them all at once.

In accessing my own potential to change course, I realized the agency my body afforded in my narrative of physical and mental health tasting the first feelings of the freedom I had felt after seeking it blindly for so long. I not only embodied what I feel is the opposition to my biopolitical self, but I simultaneously was able to mentally wrestle my own image of myself and my health from those negative constructions I formed in the grungy change rooms of my high school gym. Running at last, keeping pace with myself. I know that this is not, nor could it be, nor would I want it to be, the narrative of health for everyone. People find health in happiness and happiness outside of conventions of health and personal existential freedom in all and any combination therein, but what I hope this stirs in at least a few, is the radical possibilities that accompany the struggle to access new trajectories and healthy strategies of balance, of mind and body, and more so, the journey toward reconciling the two.

I guess I’ll start by addressing the recent controversy associated with quinoa farming and the ways rich white peoples’ demands for copious amounts of quinoa has driven up local costs of quinoa for South Americans:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

The article was making the rounds on facebook, and I’m pretty sure if your facebook news feed is as socially and globally conscious as mine is, you’ve already seen this article. As a proud McGill University International Development Studies alum, I am certainly aware of the plight of third world farmers and their disadvantages in the global market, unfair economic policies and the overall exploitation millions of people experience to harvest and produce the foods us greedy fatties love to stuff in our faces. I’m an extremely strong advocate of Fair Trade practices (although the movement itself has its own downfalls). Indeed, quinoa can be farmed in North America so why not support that as well!

But my problem is with trendiness.  Caring about quinoa farmers has become just as trendy as quinoa itself. I have a serious issue with thousands of hipsters tweeting and facebooking “Sorry vegans! Looks like your love of quinoa is evil for poor Bolivians!” from their laptops and smartphones that were also—surprise surprise—BUILT ON THE EXPLOITATION AND OUTRIGHT TORTURE OF OTHER PEOPLE!

Practically everything we enjoy in the Western World is delivered to us via the oppression of others. Last month, we chose to focus on quinoa.

http://www.arbitragemagazine.com/general/tech-gadgets-fuelling-mass-rape-congo/

I’m not saying any of this is sensationalistic. This shit’s real, and it’s real serious. But don’t just jump on the bandwagon and hate on quinoa when the phone you’re hating from is “fueling mass rape in the Congo”. We all need to be more responsible consumers, with the clothing and technology we buy and the farming practices we support. It’s difficult to not be a hypocrite when you’re protesting at Occupy Wallstreet with a Starbucks in your hand. Even if it is in a reusable mug. We’re all hypocrites; at least we can try to be conscientious and caring hypocrites.  We have to try and find a consumerist balance within our own lives that enables us to enjoy ourselves without suffering (too much) from the massive guilt of being lucky and privileged. We have to care for our own health and well-being just as much as we care for the health and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants. Okay?!

Now time to talk about food!

I’m OBSESSED with Quinoa. Quinoa is one of the world’s most perfect foods. It contains all 8 essential amino acids and is not fattening, just filling. Quinoa is so healthy and delicious that it should be consumed frequently. There is white quinoa, red quinoa and black quinoa. Served warm, quinoa can be soft and mushy, like rice or couscous, and served cold, quinoa can be fresh and crunchy! So versatile!

Cooking quinoa is a breeze! All you need to do is pour your quinoa into boiling water (1 cup quinoa: 2 cups water) simmer uncovered until all the water is absorbed, stirring once in a while. I often boil my quinoa in chicken or veg stock instead of plain water because it just gives it a bit of extra flavor. But this isn’t necessary.

Here are 4 very different ways to enjoy 1 cup of cooked quinoa:

Quinoa Panzanella Salad

In a bowl or on a large dish, toss cooked and cooled off red or white quinoa, with chopped cucumber, chopped red onion, chopped cherry tomatoes and herbs (basil, mint or parsley) in some lemon and lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cut a nice loaf of whole wheat bread into large cubes. In a small frying pan, drizzle some olive oil and turn the heat up. Throw in the croutons and toss in the oil, frying for a few minutes until the bread is nice and crunchy but still a bit chewy.Add the bread to the salad and toss well.

Serve and enjoy!

Get Skinny Quinoa Lunch Salad

First, make yourself a little vinaigrette using some good olive oil and a tiny bit of sesame oil, some cider vinegar, a drizzle of soya sauce, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Cook your quinoa and let it cool down significantly. In a small frying pan, toast some sunflower seeds lightly for a few minutes…make sure they don’t burn. Chop up some green scallions and rinse some sprouted mung beans (you can buy these or you can sprout your own mung beans by soaking them for 3 days, refreshing the water every 12 hours or so!).

Mix everything together well in a bowl and the stir in your dressing.

Store in a tightly sealed container and the salad will keep for days! It makes a great work place lunch—it’s so filling it’ll keep you going all afternoon!

* This was my basic recipe but there’s a whole world of other things you could add to yoursalad: avocado, peas, spinach, almonds, etc. If you aren’t vegan you can add some crumbled feta or some parm…the possibilities are endless!

Quinoa Mushroom Risotto

While your quinoa is simmering put some olive oil  into a frying pan, when its hot, add one sliced red or yellow onion and slow cook it for about 10 minutes on medium heat until it starts to caramelize. Then, add a teaspoon of brown sugar and a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and stir, let everything cook for a few more minutes.

When the onions are ready, add them to the pot of cooked quinoa and give everything a big stir. Cover to keep warm. Then, add a bit more olive oil to the pan and toss in mushrooms and asparagus and sauté until they’re cooked and soft. Add some salt and pepper and then mix everything in with the quinoa and onions.

For an extra flourish, top with some toasted pine nuts!

Mediterranean Chickpea Chili

This one’s a hearty and flavorful vegetarian supper that will satisfy even your most veg-skeptical friends.

Cook your quinoa and keep it warm. In a medium sized soup pot, heat up about 2-3 cups of veg stock. In a large soup pot, warm up some olive oil and add some celery, garlic, one chili pepper and onions (all chopped). Heat until they’re warm and somewhat soft and cooked down.

Using an immersion blender or a food processor, blend up the contents of the pot so that it’s a bit smoother. You can also leave it chunky. Up to you!

Add the veg stock to the pot, add one can of rinsed chickpeas, chopped tomatoes, green olives and spices (I used saffron, oregano, salt pepper etc.) You choose!

Bring to a boil and then lower–let simmer for at least 15 minutes. You can cover and let simmer on very low heat until you’re ready to eat.  The longer it simmers, the more flavorful it will be!

Here’s the best part, before serving, you can cut some halloumi cheese into little “croutons” and fry with a bit of oil in a frying pan.

Serve with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon or lime!

For more delicious quinoa recipes, check out the quinoa category on my cooking blog, What Would Jaishree Do?

Who doesn’t love a great cover – am I right? Hearing one artist’s take on another artist’s song can give you a whole new appreciation for said song. We’ve decided to take a fun new direction with MVV, by posting a song and then an acoustic version of it – sometimes scouring the far reaches of the internet, and sometimes mixing a Manhattan and whipping one up ourselves. This week I’m posting an acoustic cover of LMFAO’s ‘I’m Sexy and I know It’, as I feel it does serious justice to this track. So give the original a listen, (because you haven’t already heard it a million times) and then let Noah show you how it’s done!

The Original:

The Cover: