Tag Archives: possibility

Now on Instagram

We are now on Instragram! If you enjoy mouth-watering photos, recipes, vegan food ideas, and random lifestyle stuff follow us @ Raw Possibility

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Most of the people who follow Raw Possibility are open-minded and not vegan. They want a glimpse at what it is like to live a vegan lifestyle in Los Angeles County. Although the San Fernando Valley is considered part of LA, it is culturally and economically worlds away.

I take pictures of different vegan spots I sample while I’m out. Eating vegan outside my kitchen has become a lot easier. Out here on the West Coast, veganism is a burgeoning trend.

This last weekend, I took a trip to Mt Wilson, you know, the Griffith Observatory‘s lesser known cousin? Before heading up the winding roads to the top of the observatory, I hit up Green Earth. The restaurant is in Old town Pasadena, a nook nestled between mega-cities and still be enjoyable. The street was a bit congested and pedestrians poured over the sidewalks making right hand turns difficult. Despite the hustle and bustle of the city, we managed to slip into Green Earth.

It’s a spacious restaurant with soft music, soothing pastel colors, and attentive waiters. The people eating their, some who were alone, were snug in their booth. The restaurant appeals to you like an eclectic getaway but really it’s a refuge from the city.

The menu was pretty noble; it had variety. I automatically knew what I wanted once I flipped the first page. The chi’kn parmigiana with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans.

They undoubtedly earn the dignity of “vegan cuisine” with this dish. The green beans were cooked enough to be left raw at the center for a good crunchy satisfaction. The daiya cheese properly melted in to the tomato sauce, leaving a nutty and creamy layer of flavor on your tongue.

Then you slice into the crispy chicken, just like you did with the old fashion meals before you became vegan, and peer into the center of the patty to behold:

The inner texture of chi’kn was juicy, peppered, and triggered no thoughts of a dead animal.

My boyfriend had a mouth-watering burger with sweet potato fries. Although he isn’t vegan, he delights in the cuisine and cooks vegan dishes for us at home.

This lunch was great. The next day we went to Lotus Vegan in North Hollywood, which I talked about in the previous blog (along with the trip for dessert to YummyCupcakes).

Thanks for keeping up with the blog.

The Gentle Barn

Pictured below is a calm Santa Clarita cow! She is an enormous beauty. She lives at The Gentle Barn where many vegans frequent to groom, spend time with, and help many animals heal. The Gentle Barn is north of the San Fernando Valley; located on the outskirts of Canyon Country. It’s a wonderful experience–packed with several vegan treats like the sweet pastries sold at the entrance along with vegan hot dogs.

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I took my nieces on Sunday (the only day it’s open from 10-4pm). They screamed with joy when they saw the animals in their natural habitat.  She laid inside a barn while kids groomed her with brushes offered at the entrance.

The horses were each in stables. We bought two bags with cut carrots to feed to “Sir Lancelot” and “Spotty.” My three year old niece was braver than me. She grabbed a carrot and stuck out her hand for a horse named “Cherokee” that was more than twenty times her weight! The horses were gentle and kind. They gripped the carrots by poking their head outside the fence and puckering their lips to grab the carrot.

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We also saw donkeys, an ostrich, an emu, a llama, and so many other animals. On the upper level of the Ranch is a larger extension of the barn where more animals are kept in an open range. The Gentle Barn requires guests to attend a short ten-minute orientation.

The Gentle Barn is an untold treasure of Santa Clarita. The compassionate work the staff do at this barn transcends veganism. They help animals heal and help people heal through animals. At-risk children, special needs persons, and even educational student groups are invited to experience the barn and enjoy a relationship with other sentient beings.

Visit The Gentle Barn’s webpage to explore the depth of the work going on in our backyard.

CicLAvia

 Raw Possibility representing the SFV Vegans

CicLAvia

The first CicLAvia bike event of 2012 shut down sections of Beverly Blvd, Spring Street, and a few connectors for the LA biking community. CicLAvia is quite an experience for Angelenos who are desensitized to the profound architecture of downtown LA. There isn’t a better way to rinse off the ubiquitous blur of downtown LA than to peddle through its empty streets on a bicycle.

The CicLAvia route starts on Vermont and Beverly Boulevard; practically paralleling the Metro Red Line. If you are commuting from the San Fernando Valley, your best bet is the Metro Red Line. We parked at the NoHo Metro Red Line station and bought a one way ticket to LA for $1.50. Within ten minutes I was standing up , off my Technicolor nineties styled Metro seat, bike handle clutched in hand, ready to pour out to the car-less lanes of downtown LA.

We kicked and pushed through the stop lights between Beverly and Vermont to New Hampshire where we joined the stream of bicyclist headed towards downtown LA. The city looked so plentiful and spacious; usually it feels cramped and gritty. A car-less Los Angeles is a sight to behold and a strange silent atmosphere to experience. The bike ride felt much like protesting in public spaces on bikes. A plethora of bicycle enthusiast took the chance to strut off their quirky and innovative bikes. I heard  different bicyclist stereos bumping everything from old school to smooth jazz. Different tones of bicyclist smeared right past us while we catapulted ourselves in to a new angle of the city.

The commonalities of the bicyclist were few except that every person on a bike unmistakably looked like they were from Los Angeles County; Latin women and their children, Caucasians, Asians, african americans, and the transplanted hipsters gliding past each other for about 10 city miles.

We biked through Little Tokyo, MacArthur Park, and parts of Downtown LA. MacArthur park was a treat; I would never otherwise bike through that park. It is sketchy and highly charged with criminal activity. I prefer to stay out of that public space unless there is a huge concert or event as big as CicLAvia to calm my nerves. During the day, the park is actually  throbbing with soccer games, elote and ice cream vendors, adult men watching the homeless play a makeshift pool game with dried paper balls, and artifacts of artistic collectives doing weird activities like street theatre. The set-list of a theatrical street group was posted on the time rusted sculptures at the entrance of the park. Little Tokyo looked remarkable without car traffic. We sped through it but recognized all the bars, cafes, and restaurants that we frequent on the weekends.

Once we got past downtown LA’s kickass Spring Street, we started upward towards the steep hill that plateaus over the LA railroad station. Many people stopped here more than any other sight I biked through. The view of Los Angeles from the East LA angle is breath-taking. The skyline is a metallic blue juxtaposed by the hues of gray from the industrial underpinnings of our monolithic city. The cargo boxes were decorated with graffiti and some youngsters found their way into the concrete river.

After the bridge, we glided downhill towards 4th and Cummings where a little CicLAvia hub offered food trucks, first-aid attention, hydration (water fountains connected to fire-hydrants), and a rock climbing area. We pulled in and I almost immediately jumped off my bike to sit on the red painted curb. I hadn’t biked up a steep hill in months and it was hitting me like a bag of bricks to the head. I recharged with some falafels and a Gatorade.
After rebooting, it was back up the hill towards the metro redline station where a bunch of cyclists made a clattering noise with their bikes. Eventually, five or seven stops later, we arrived at NoHo and packed the bikes into the trunk of my hatchback.

For the entire bike ride, I felt like a tourist in my own city. I felt a burning curiousity to explore the different buildings that were unmarked and architecturally exquisite. The streets were vacant; the communities on main streets were welcoming with open shops and loud music.

During the entirety of the event, it was obvious that LA came alive with a vibrancy you can’t feel behind a windshield. CicLAvia started in Spain as a way to promote healthy lifestyles and opening public spaces to the people. Now it has migrated to the USA, opening up major megacities like Los Angeles to the public for reasons beyond commerce, capital, or profit. Only on its third event, CicLAvia is already adding adjacent routes like Olvera Street to the next event in October.