Vegan & Dairy Free Cheese Sauce

I've been living with a mystery illness for some years now and I've noticed that one thing that significantly helps me is changing my diet. The BIGGEST improvement came when I excluded all dairy from my diet. Actually, when I eat dairy I am instantly stick to my stomach and end up suffering for days. SO despite cheese being my favourite food in the entire world; seriously my ULTIMATE FAVOURITE thing to eat is CHEESE; I really had no choice but to cut it. I'm sad ... I'm happy to have some relief, but it still makes me sad. Then a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted a recipe for Vegan Cheese Sauce and I was extremely intrigued. I went out immediately and got all of the necessary ingredients. I got home and made the sauce right away, I was SO excited! It looked super creamy and cheesy, I was pumped! BUT does it taste like cheese? Unfortunately, not quite. It's definitely got a cheese texture and taste sort of cheese-like, but it's not the real thing. That being said, it is DELICIOUS! And since I can't eat the real stuff I'm definitely thrilled to have an alternative. :) 

Now I know what you're thinking, that meal pictured certainly doesn't look vegan! Well, it's not! I wholeheartedly understand why people become vegan and wish I had the will to take that journey myself but I'm not there yet. At this stage of my life, I was more interested in the dairy free aspect of the "cheese". These burgers you see above are homemade using 100% lean ground beef, brown gravy, mashed avocado, bacon, and of course the vegan cheese! We also added green leaf lettuce, red vine tomatoes, and mayo! They were AMAZING!!!! 

Ingredients

2 C. potatoes, diced large

1 C. carrots, diced large

1/2 C. water

1/3 C. olive oil

2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. lemon juice (fresh is best!)

1/2 C. nutritional yeast flakes

(The yeast flakes ARE REQUIRED. 

They are what makes it creamy and slightly cheesy tasting.

You can get them at health food stores.)

1/4 tsp. onion powder (opt.)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder (opt.)

dash of cayenne (opt.)

ANY other spices you think might be tasty!

(This is going to make Vegans cringe but ... 

adding a couple drops of bacon grease makes it EXTRA delicious.)

Instructions

Boil the potatoes and carrots until soft.

Blend potatoes and carrots together along with the rest of the ingredients 

on high in blender until the cheese is extremely smooth. 

I use a food processor.

Store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

This cheese will melt just like real cheese!

Take it out of the fridge, "nuke" it for about 30 secs, stir, and it's back to amazing!

This recipe was adapted from Vegan Yumminess. :) 

Toronto Portrait Artist @ Art Maze Exhibition in LONDON, ENGLAND!

Art Maze Exhibition

By Exhibit Here

At the Historic

Oxo Tower Wharf

Bargehouse Gallery

London, England

Dec 16th - Dec 20th 2015

Private Viewing: Dec 16th 2015

I am so very blessed to have had this incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience. In December 2015 I created a special series "Bejeweled Beauties" inspired by UK based women specially for the "Art Maze" Exhibition being curated by Exhibit Here and displayed in the historic Oxo Tower Wharf in London, England. I'd shown my work in London twice before but this time would be extra special. On December 13th I flew 8.5 hours from Toronto to London to set up and see this exhibition in person. As a humble full-time artist the cost of the trip was quite the challenge but thanks to some space on my loan, my incredibly supportive husband to be, and my supportive fans who purchased my 2016 Art Calendars, I was able to make this dream a reality. :) 

Some of my fans may already know that I'm an avid traveler but what they may not know is that I am constantly cursed with travel nightmares. In my dreams I loose my luggage, I miss my plane, a ship I'm on is sinking, my belongings are thrown into deep water, a tall building I'm in starts to fall over ... and on and on. Why do I have these dreams? Your guess is as good as mine. Although I suspect some of it is due to flights having lost my luggage TWICE while travelling alone. Because of all this I never travel with luggage. Never. I fit everything I'll need, in this case for almost three weeks, into a school bag (back-pack). I'm not a typical girl that needs a ton of fashionable outfits, a set of makeup, a hair straightener, and whatever else many women feel is the requirement. I survive on a couple of comfy outfits which I wash in hotel sinks as I travel, some mascara and blush, a brush with hair ties and clips, and I purchase some necklaces as souvenirs as I go along which I love to wear while I'm still traveling. So generally packing light wouldn't be a problem ... but this time I also had to bring my artworks. Storing them in luggage was too risky! I couldn't invest so much into this trip only to have the flight loose my artworks. So I planned to make small 8" x 10"'s on paper and frame them once I arrived in London. The plan seemed like a good one until I arrived in London on Monday Dec 14 and had a real heck of a time finding a store that offered frames. In the end I did find a store that specialized in frames but was quickly informed that 8" x 10" wasn't a usual size in the UK. Thankfully they did have 4 available in two different styles so all worked out in the end. 

The day after was quite the challenge as we were required to set up our artwork ourselves at the Bargehouse Gallery. Thank goodness the curator, Leila Bibizadeh, had her father there to help me because drilling holes into brick walls is something I simply physically could not do. I am so very grateful for his help. I also had the help of a new friend Katrina Steinman (who is also one of my "Bejeweled Beauties") and after set up was complete we went out and had a lovely dinner. :) 

The Private Viewing on Dec 16 was a two hour long whirlwind! I had the pleasure of meeting of all my "Bejeweled Beauties" in person as well as their family and friends. I also had a brief chance to meet some of my fellow artists which I'd come to know through social media. I cannot express just how grateful I am to everyone who showed me support that night. It truly was a night I will never forget. My only regret is that I didn't have enough time to chat and get to know everyone. But you never know! I may get another chance to make my way overseas in the future. 

The video above outlines my entire experience and shows all of the photos I'll be posting below!

I'll also be posting an Album on my Facebook Page which will contain MORE PHOTOS! :)  

Brittany Firmi-Kuehn

Lucy Houston

Bindiya Bhudia

Veronica Martynyshyn

Imogen Grant

Chandni Bharadia

Caitlin O’Sullivan

Katrina Steinman

Myself with my "Bejeweled Beauty" Lucy Houston and her lovely Mother Linda Millington.

Myself with the gorgeous curator and owner of Exhibit Here, Leila Bibizadeh.

 See more photos of this Art Series HERE!

*^* Bejeweled Beauties *^*

"Bejeweled Beauties"

December 2015

Mixed Media And Gems

On Mixed Media Paper

8" x 10" / each

$425 CAD / each

£250 GBP / each

Back in the Fall of 2015 I was invited to take part in a special exhibition "Art Maze" being held at the historic Oxo Tower Wharf in London, England. I had exhibited in London twice before but this time would be very different. The curator Exhibit Here required all Artists to be present in order to install their work in the gallery. After seeing pictures of the unique venue I KNEW I had to make it to this one in person. With my passport quickly renewed and some money freed up on my loan I was soon purchasing flight tickets for a trip of a lifetime! Seeing as the trip was going to be rather costly for a humble full time artist I knew I had to take full advantage of the experience and create a series specially for this show. I put out a call for UK based beauties, seeing as the exhibit would be in London it seemed right to celebrate the women living in that country, and I was surprised to receive many submissions. Originally I only planned to create six new pieces but these eight women really inspired me so I took on much more than I could chew. Luckily with early mornings, long nights, and full work weekends I was able to finish the series just in the nick of time, the day before my flight to London! 

Watch the video of the Exhibition HERE!

Using watercolour paint, pastels, pencil, acrylic paint, and real acrylic gems and gold/pearl mica, I hoped to celebrate each unique women's beauty by staying true to their facial features while at the same time giving each women the opportunity to feel incredibly glamorous! We are so often bombarded with glorious images of stars, models, and royalty but are rarely given the chance to feel like we're among them. I wanted these women to feel like stars, to feel like royalty, for at least one night during the Private Viewing or whenever they look at the portrait. Because in my eyes they are all just as beautiful and glorious and the women we see in the media. 

For some close up images of each artwork please continue scrolling!
To see ALL of my close up images please visit my Facebook Page where I'll be posting a full album very soon! :D 

Brittany Firmi-Kuehn

Lucy Houston

Bindiya Bhudia

Veronica Martynyshyn

Imogen Grant

Chandni Bharadia

Caitlin O’Sullivan

Katrina Steinman