About

 Howdy, pardners. You’ve stumbled across my blog, Bell Pepper Girl. But wait! Who exactly am I? Well, that’s what this nifty li’l page is for. So I’ll get right to it:

1. My name is Elizabeth, but I get called Liz or Libby by most of the people I know (so you can pick which one you like better). I also have two last names – one for each parent – so that means that I can barely keep track of who knows me as what name. Very confusing.

2. See that picture? Yeah. That’s me. Can I earn back a little dignity by saying that is not my hat?

3. I was born on the first of August ’92, so that makes me seventeen. I should be finishing up school this year, but at the end of Year 10 I decided to attend a school that does the International Baccalaureate (aka IB/Satan), which they had set up as a three-year program. All this meant I had to repeat Year 1o if I wanted to go to this new school, which I did. I don’t regret it, per se, but current circumstances are putting the worth of the IB/school in general under sharp question for me.

4. I live in Brisbane, Australia, with my lacto-ovo-vegetarian mum and sister, and my beautiful gorgeous generously-proportioned cat, Tsarina. However, I frequently nip down to Melbourne for days/weeks at a time to spend quality time with my omnivorous dad and step-mum, both of whom are lovely, open-minded people. They also have a dog named Billy, who just might be the best dog ever.

5. I eat a vegetarian diet – strictly I’m lacto-ovo but prefer to eat vegan . I was vegan for about seven months and absolutely loved every aspect of it, but for varying reasons and on medical advice I am wary about placing unbreakable restrictions and rules on what I eat. Anyway, I choose to be “vegetarian/high vegan” because I’m an environmentalist and an animal lover who also happens to care for her health – I just love to eat nutritious delicious food. I aim to focus my blogging on many areas of my life (mostly related to veganism): food, travel, work, school, gardening, outings, group gatherings, activism (which I desperately want to get involved in!) writing (I want to be a journalist/novelist someday), reading and viewing. 

6. I love meeting people and networking. Thank goodness for cyberspace! I don’t bite so feel free to drop me a line and have a chat

Kay, you’ve got some basics – now on to the fun stuff!

Me faves:

DVD Collection

I love movies. I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s nigh impossible for me to pick any less than like twelve fave flicks. I have a steadily-growing bookshelf full of DVD’s that consists mostly of old school Disney/kids movies, anything with Johnny Depp, David Bowie, Gerard Butler or Peter Facinelli in it, musicals, rom coms and dramas. To name a few; I’m particularly obsessed with Labyrinth (not to be confused with Pan’s Labyrinth, though I love that too), Enchanted, The Prestige, 27 Dresses, The Phantom of the Opera, The Libertine and The Little Mermaid.

Fruit

I am a fruit bat, no less. If I didn’t love me some whole grains (and carob, and soy ice cream…) so much, I could be a fruitarian. Fruit is completely amazing to me in all its wonderful forms: fresh, frozen, preserved, pureed, tinned/canned, dried (FAVEY), crystallised, glace, on its own, in a salad, in a smoothie, on top of oatmeal/pancakes/soygurt/ice cream/toast…Basically you name the fruit and I love it (or haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll love it once I do!). Don’t believe me? Just try it. I dare you.

Bell Peppers

Over here in Oz we call them capsicums. I prefer the name “bell pepper” by far. There’s something prettier about it, you know? Anyway, these guys are probably my favourite vegetable. They’re crunchy, crispy, colourful and totally versatile. They come in a rainbow of hues – though the red is most definitely my preference. I love them raw, stir-fried, sauteed, stuffed, you name it – but my fave way to eat these nutritious li’l suckas is straight-up roasted – no condiments, glazes or even salt&peppah needed!

Salads

Hardly a day goes by that I do not crave a big heaping salad. No matter what else I may have eaten during the day, come lunchtime it’s usually a salad that I want and nothing else will do. Granted, there are days when I’ll have a sandwich, wrap, pasta, pita pizza… but these things just never truly *do* it for me at lunch. My personal fave salads are tabbouleh, shredded carrot-dried cranberry-couscous-walnut, pumpkin curried waldorf, spinach-sweet potato-raisin-chickpea, or just a plain ol’ kitchen sink hugh jass with every veggie I have on hand – plus a heaping tablespoon of hummus

Nut butters, Oatmeal, Granola, Pumpkin puree and Larabars

Oh c’mon, I’m a food blogger. This is totally a given. I am also abso-freakin-lutely DYING to try Clif Bars but I’ve never seen them in Oz. Any USA/Canada readers feelin’ generous?

David Bowie

I know I mentioned him in the DVD Collection bit, but I love him oh so much he deserves a section all for himself. I love errrthang about this guy – from his amazingly fantastic ever-relevant music to his quirky dilated pupil. I’m full to the BRIM with DB trivia and get keraazay whenever I meet a fellow fan (espesh one my age, since you know, not many 17 year old girls dig the 63 year old rock stahs, however freakin’ awesome they may be). Seriously, I love me my Bowie. I would cut off my toes to see him play live. Probably.

Shoes

I have more than a bit of a thing for shoes. Don’t get me wrong, I am totally enamored of ALL things fashion, style and beauty, but SHOES are what really do it for me. Oh yeah oh yeah. Unfortunately I seem to have this annoying habit of breaking my budget on shoes that are RIDICULOUSLY pretty… but that I can barely walk in, if at all. Ah well. Prac = perfect!

Pretty, floral, tulle, generally nauseatingly girly things

I will be the first to admit my complete and utter girly-girl-ness. I still wish I was a Disney Princess am a Disney Princess. Heck, I wish upon stars often enough to be one plus my room is decked out in all things Disney/girly/kiddie. Don’t get me wrong though, these things are balanced out nicely by my giant Rolling Stones poster, David Bowie vinyls (sans player), vintage-esque hats, very grown up looking shoe collection, and James Bond calendar

Bagels

Yeah, simple carbs rah rah rah. Whatevs, b!tches. Pass the bagels. Poppy seed, Cin-raisin, Bloobz, Plain… just gimme, okay? Unlike the humble sandwich or wrap, I am never left unsatisfied by my friend the bagel. Yeah, I call bulky, high-GI bread products “friend”.

Super Happy Funtimes Toast

This is quite possibly my favourite breakfast in the whole wide world. I sometimes use this combo of toppings in a sammich/bagel/wrap, but on toast is the best way to go. First up, I toast two slices of whole wheat bread so that they’re juuust a lil crunchy but still all soft inside. Then I spread a schmear of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese of each slice and cover that with a good slather of Mrs. Flannery’s Natural Organic Smooth Peanut Butter. On top of this I layer baby spinach leaves (stay with me here!) and then dot my toast with a few organic sulphur-free raisins. If I lost you at the spinach and your brain is telling you this combo cannot possibly taste good, lemme assure: oh, it do. If you don’t try it, you’re totally missing out!

So that’s me, on a page. I’m sure there’s waayy more – just read the blog to see what!

xo

Liz, the Bell Pepper Girl