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Mar 5

The Importance of Art Education

We have all had to make sacrifices during these times of economical challenge. I make my food at home, I take fewer road trips, I clip coupons (go here for a coupon for 8th Continent Soymilk!) But one trend I have been noticing is the cutting of the arts in education. I worry at times that maybe some people don’t understand the vitality of the arts for developing children. The following excerpt from newhorizons.org helps illustrate the importance of arts education:

“Always among the highest expression of every culture, the arts teach us much about every historical period through its literature, visual arts, music, dance, and drama. Today it is recognized that to be truly well educated one must not only learn to appreciate the arts, but must have rich opportunities to actively participate in creative work. The arts are languages that most people speak, cutting through individual differences in culture, educational background, and ability. They can bring every subject to life and turn abstractions into concrete reality. Learning through the arts often results in greater academic achievement and higher test scores.”

Not only do the arts help develop a child’s imagination, creative thinking skills and expression skills, but they also teach tolerance and expand horizons to different cultures that a child may not otherwise learn.

But why? Kinderarts.com helps us understand:

  • It’s been proven that early exposure to visual art, music, or drama promotes activity in the brain.
  • Art helps children understand other subjects much more clearly—from math and science, to language arts and geography.
  • Art nurtures inventiveness as it engages children in a process that aids in the development of self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self-motivation.
  • Participating in art activities helps children to gain the tools necessary for understanding human experience, adapting to and respecting others’ ways of working and thinking, developing creative problem-solving skills, and communicating thoughts and ideas in a variety of ways.

These are not just opinions, these are facts.
We here at 8th Continent Soymilk recognize the importance of art education. That is why we are giving you the opportunity to give back to your favorite K-12 school and in doing so, help develop your community to become fuller, richer, and more cultured.

All you have to do is go to our site, draw a sun, and submit it. The top voted 100 suns will win their selected schools $1,000 in art supplies. We encourage kids to participate too! Also the winning art may be featured on 8th Continent’s new packaging!

Make sure to re-post, blog and share this article, because the more suns your school has, the more chances it has to win!

Please help keep the arts in our schools!

Can you think of other reasons why the arts education is so important? Leave a comment or let us know on Twitter or Facebook.

Ready to draw? OK, ready, set, sun!

About 8th Continent Soymilk

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Feb 23

8th Continent Soymilk has a New Look!

Today is a big day for 8th Continent Soymilk!

We have new packaging coming! Not only does it look great and fresh­–but it also allows you to be a part of the design process.

We want you to participate for a chance to have your art printed on the actual package. Also, your artwork will be entered to win $1,000 in art supplies for the school of your choice. $100,000 total will be given away, so 100 schools will benefit.

Go here to check out the new packaging and to draw a sun of your own! Now you can make art to give art back to your community.

For those of you who have children make sure to download a poster to put up in your school and get everyone involved! The more submissions we have from your school the better chance they have to win! Share this on Facebook and Twitter to have friends vote for your sun.

And who knows? Maybe you will see your sun on our package the next time you go grocery shopping!

About 8th Continent Soymilk

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Feb 16

Vegan Jewish Apple Cake! Nomlicious.

I was fortunate enough to link up with Savvy from the Savvy Soybean- an up and coming blogger who has amazing recipes and a personality to match!

Check out this awesome Vegan Jewish Apple Cake that is easy to make and impossible to resist! Ms. Savvy- take it away!

Vegan Jewish Apple Cake

Hey there! Savvy Soybean here, veggie food-lover and digester of all things yummy in NYC. I love baking vegan, so when dairy-free extraordinaire Lopez asked me to whip up my favorite recipe with 8th Continent Soy Milk, I knew just the thing.

You see, I’ve been a bit overzealous in my fruit purchases lately. Crates of tangerines, bunches of bananas, bogs of cranberries… I like to think it’s motivation. I also like to think I can eat it all. But 99% of the time I wait too long and end up with something even better: bananas mushy for banana bread, plums soft for muffins, and apples just a day too ripe for anything but Vegan Jewish Apple Cake.

That’s right, I just called vegan apple cake “Jewish.” My grandmother would patsch me over the head. Butter, bread, brisket: that’s Jewish cooking in a nutshell. But as Bob Dylan once sang, “the times, they are a-changin’,” and we need to smarten up about what we scarf down. I found this super healthy recipe on Vegan Verve, an animal rights blog, and toyed with it to my liking. I pulled back the sugar, cut the cinnamon in half (a little goes a long way) and, of course, used the delicious 8th Continent Soy Milk as my dairy-free alternative.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp flax meal
  • 6 Tbsp water
  • 3 medium red apples
  • 1 1/3 cup sugar (I use the raw stuff)
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • ¾ cup canola oil
  • ¼ cup 8th Continent Soy Milk
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 cups unbleached flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.

Whisk together flax meal and water. This’ll act as our nutritionally packed egg substitute.

Combine flax mixture, applesauce, soy milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: cinnamon, flour, and baking powder.

Peel and slice 3 medium sweet apples. Slicing them now will save you from preserving them in lemon juice to prevent from browning, but that’s also an option if you’d like to get it out of the way first.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the apple slices. Mix until the apple slices are evenly distributed.

Pour mixture into a generously greased loaf/ bundt/ cake pan and place in preheated oven.

Cooking time varies depending on the depth of your pan. I baked mine in a deep oven-safe casserole dish, so the baking time was 1 hr 10 min. Check at about 40 minutes and do that toothpick test. This recipe generally takes 50 minutes to bake, and approximately 3 minutes to eat.

The two beneficiaries of my baking, my roommate and boyfriend, exclaimed the highest praise I could receive: “It doesn’t taste vegan!” They loved the moist, cinnamon-y cake and chunks of warm apple. They were also delighted to hear the recipe wasn’t all that unhealthy. And you know what? If my Jewish grandma had a bite, she’d go mashugana… in a good way.

About Ms. Savvy and The Savvy Soybean

Savvy moved to New York in the summer of 2007 and she, just like most new New Yorkers was intimidated by the Big City.

In the winter of 2007, Savvy decided to take the plunge into vegetarianism. Her blog is a wit-filled fun-loving site about places you can eat veggie in the Big City- without going broke! She also posts some amazing recipes like the one above. Check her out! The Savvy Soybean has been one of my favorite blogs I have come across to date!

And as you all know- you can keep in touch with me, Lopez and 8th Continent Soymilk on Twitter and Facebook as well!

Happy eating you beautiful people you.

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Feb 10

Cupid’s 8th Continent 12 Days of Valentines- Day 4

Valentine’s Day is ALMOST HERE!!! EEK! Only 4 days left and Cupid and I have been giving you ideas, recipes, romantic outings and all!

So you probably have your gift bought, or made. Good job friend!

Did you make or buy a card? Yes? Yes! You are on top of it!

Now, you think you are finished? Oh don’t be so naive! This is one of the most important, if not THE most important part of giving a gift on Valentine’s Day. What are you going to write in that card?

If you are like me, and well, most everyone that exists, emotions may be the hardest thing to really express. Don’t you worry dear friend! We are not going to leave you hanging this close to the finish line. We are here for you all the way through this holiday of love! Check out the following. First we will start off with some charmingly nerdy love quotes and sayings, and then we will get into the serious tear-up, heart-beating, happy-sobbing, lovey-dovey sayings to fill your card, and hearts with that special feeling.

LOVE FOR GEEKS

  • You changed my world, without even needing the source code.
  • I know you would never <br /> my heart.
  • You are the dot com to my perfect domain name.
  • I RT you just so I can see your Twitter handle twice.
  • Do you understand when I say that I less than three you?
  • Baby, you and I go back to Beta.
  • Today I changed my Twitter password to your name.
  • www.youandi.com/forever
  • I don’t poke just anyone on Facebook.
  • On Twitter I @ you instead of DM you because I want everyone to know our love.

EYE-ROLLING LOVE

  • “To The World You May Be One Person But To One Person You May Be The World”
  • “Without you, I have nothing. But with you, I have everything.”
  • “I cannot show you I love you. Time will show you I love you.”
  • “Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control.”
  • “Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”  Franklin P. Jones
  • “I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.” Roy Croft
  • “To be your friend was all I ever wanted; to be your lover was all I ever dreamed.”
  • “Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.”  Irish wedding toast
  • “I put your name in a circle instead of a heart because hearts can be broken but circles go on forever.”
  • “Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.”
  • “You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” Dr. Seuss
  • “There is no land so distant, no hole so deep, no fear so great that love cannot find us there.”
  • “Trying to explain how much I love you is explaining how water tastes- completely impossible.”
  • “Do you love me because I am beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?” Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella
  • “Other men have seen angels, But I have seen thee, And thou art enough.” G. Moore
  • “If I am pressed to say why I loved him, I feel it can only be explained by replying: ‘Because it was he; because it was me.’” Montaigne
  • “I have said nothing because there is nothing I can say that would describe how I feel as perfectly as you deserve it.” Kyle Schmidt
  • “Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place.” Ice T

Are you going to use one of these? Which one?

Have any more you want me to add to the list?

Make sure to leave your suggestions in the comment section or you can hit me up on Facebook or Twitter!

And if you have found the perfect thing to say, but still don’t know what to make/buy/do… then you obviously haven’t read the posts that I have been writing to count down the days to Valentine’s Day!

Check them out:

Day 12- Make a pop-up Valentine’s Day card!

Day 11- Make a heart-shaped Vegan Chocolate Cake!

Day 10- A DIY project to make “U Complete Me” Pillow set!

Day 9- My music picks- both a pro-love and anti-love playlist!

Day 8- The Perfect Valentine’s Day presents from Etsy!

Day 7- Perfect Vegan recipe for Penna alla Vodka!

Day 6- Forget the material things! Do something sweet with your Valentine!

Day 5- Easy and Tasty recipe for Vegan Chocolate “Ice Cream”!

Sara Lopez

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Feb 9

Cupid’s 8th Continent 12 Days of Valentines- Day 5

So we have figured out by now that either you or your loved one drinks 8th Continent Soymilk. First let me say, good call!

Secondly I want you to ask yourself- why? Is it because it tastes SO awesome? Or because of lactose intolerance? Or maybe you are a vegan or have dairy allergies or want to keep a gluten-free diet! Sometimes it is difficult to prepare a meal or sometimes even harder- a dessert- when keeping all of these things in mind.

But don’t you worry! For Valentine’s Day my friend Annette Ooyevaar over at Veg Web hooked us up with an awesome and simple recipe that is vegan and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 box 12 oz. Mori Nu Soft Silken Tofu, do not use low fat, do not drain
1 12 oz. bag vegan chocolate chips, melted on low heat and cooled
1-2 Tblsp. Vanilla – you can use whatever flavor you like
1 cup 8th Continent  Soymilk

Directions:

Put the tofu in a blender and process until very smooth.  Add the melted, cooled chocolate and process until well combined, you will have to stop and scrape the sides of the blender.  Add the 8th Continent Soymilk and vanilla and process until well blended. Pour into a covered container and chill until ready to use.

Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer directions.  This makes a lot of tofu ice cream mix so you may only be able to freeze part of it.  I use my Donvier, which is really easy, I have ice cream in 15 minutes without ice, salt or a lot of cranking.  My family loves this recipe and it can even be made with melted high quality white chocolate.  Enjoy!

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Need more ideas for Valentine’s Day?

Make sure to check out the other Countdown to Vday posts as well!

Day 12- Make a pop-up Valentine’s Day card!

Day 11- Make a heart-shaped Vegan Chocolate Cake!

Day 10- A DIY project to make “U Complete Me” Pillow set!

Day 9- My music picks- both a pro-love and anti-love playlist!

Day 8- The Perfect Valentine’s Day presents from Etsy!

Day 7- Perfect Vegan recipe for Penna alla Vodka!

Day 6- Forget the material things! Do something sweet with your Valentine!

My little buddy Cupid and I will continue to count down the days till Valentine’s Day! So make sure to come back and connect with my on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date!

Recipes

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Feb 8

Cupid’s 8th Continent 12 Days of Valentines- Day 6

I have been teaming up with Cupid to count down the days until Valentine’s Day and provide you with great gift ideas, recipes, playlists and all! But so far I haven’t discussed my favorite thing to do on Valentine’s Day. I know you are all thinking the same thing- isn’t it obvious what two people do when they are alone, in love, and want to share something with each other? Forget the material things, the things you can eat and purchase. The most romantic thing to do on Valentine’s Day is share an experience. Here are a few ideas that will ensure this will be the most romantic Valentine’s Day that neither you or your significant other will forget!

  • Make a playlist that includes songs that remind you of a time you spent together and explain each one. Cuddle up and let the bands or singer/songwriters do the talking for you! A great site to use for this is Grooveshark. You can find just about any song on there and save your playlist- and it’s free!
  • Go get a couple’s massage together. This is a perfect way to relax. And afterward I can assure you will be in that light-headed romantic refreshed mood!
  • Read your Horoscopes for that day and do something based on each person’s fortune.
  • Do a photo shoot! There is no need to have a professional photographer when you have each other. Capture some artsy shots of your hands intertwined, or of that smile that has left you intoxicated for the other person. Or take a picture of that cute freckle she has on her shoulder blade. Or a picture of that scar he got on his knee from when you two went hiking together. Sometimes we forget to appreciate the small special things that truly matter. This is a great way to let the other person know you do not take them for granted and you appreciate them and your experiences you have shared together.
  • If you are where there is tons of snow- play King/Queen of the mountain! The snow plows have officially cleared the streets and there are bound to be piles near you. Let yourselves be kids again and have a cute competition on who can get to the top first, or who makes the best snow angels. After that you can make a wonderful cup of hot chocolate and giggle away reflecting on how silly you both just were.
  • Spend a couple hours together writing romantic ideas on separate slips of paper. After you get a total of 100 romantic ideas on 100 pieces of paper, then fill a jar with them. Every Sunday, from this day on, alternate who picks one and has to implement it by the following Sunday — at which point the other partner will pick a new romantic idea and have a week to follow through with it. (courtesy of The Fun Times Guide)
  • Cuddle. It is simple, cost efficient, and couples don’t do it enough.

Have any more ideas that I have missed? Make sure to include them in the comments section!

And if none of the above suit you, no worries! You can take a look at some of the posts I have already put up, or you can come back here in the following days because I will be continuing the romantic countdown to Valentine’s Day!

Day 12- Make a pop-up Valentine’s Day card!

Day 11- Make a heart-shaped Vegan Chocolate Cake!

Day 10- A DIY project to make “U Complete Me” Pillow set!

Day 9- My music picks- both a pro-love and anti-love playlist!

Day 8- The Perfect Valentine’s Day presents from Etsy!

Day 7- Perfect Vegan recipe for Penna alla Vodka!

Have any ideas for future posts and gifts for Valentine’s Day? Help a chica out! Hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let me know. In other words, spread the love. :-)

Sara Lopez

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Feb 6

Cupid’s 8th Continent 12 Days of Valentines- Day 8

Oh my goodness! Only eight days left!?!

What are you to do? Well, I have offered you crafts, recipes, playalists, and you still don’t know what to do?!? Shame on you.

What is the best way to solve this problem? Buy something from someone else who does make things with their hands. This sounds like a job from my friends at Etsy!

I have gathered the cutest most nauseatingly adorable pieces of art, jewelry and clothing from some of my favorite Etsy artists. Since these are all handmade unique things, you may want to act fast, quite often there is only one of each item made.

Just click on the picture and shop away!

Love Suits You

Hearts and Stars Necklace

Unicycles

I love the Way You Love Me

Better Loving Through Chemistry

Do What You Like (Love)

Love Like the Bunnies

Love is Spoken Here

Love and Be Loved

You are My Deer

Graffiti Love

My Heart

Warm Your Heart

Wear Your Heart on Your Coffee Sleeve

Fishing For Love

Mending Your Heart

Love You Deer

Still haven’t found what you are looking for even after seeing all of these awesome items? No worries! 8th Continent Soymilk and I want you to be all set for the big day of love, so we will continue to give you ideas until Feb 14th!

Have you shown your love yet on Facebook or Twitter? You should, it is that time of year.

Also Check out the other ideas I have posted so far!

Day 12- Make an awesome pop-up Valentine’s Day card all out of recycled materials!

Day 11- Make a delicious heart-shaped vegan chocolate cake!

Day 10- A great DIY project-  “U Complete Me” Pillowcases.

Day 9- The perfect Playlists! One for pro-love and one for anti-love!

Sara Lopez

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Feb 5

Cupid’s 8th Continent 12 Days of Valentines- Day 9

As we all know- nothing sets the mood on Valentine’s Day like an ice cold cup of 8th Continent Soymilk and a sweet supple playlist or mixtape to convey precisely the idea you are trying to express. And let’s face it, singer songwriters always seem to have those jaw-dropping, drool a little bit, wish I was on a date with that person type of traits.

Below, my buddy Cupid and I put together the perfect playlist to compliment you candlesticks and chocolate fondue!

YES! Are you in the mood?!? No?!? Oh, I see, you are one of those proud single people like me who want to enjoy their rebellious fine-by-myself attitude on a Hallmark Holiday. Don’t think we forgot about you! Nod your head and pump your fist to the below playlist, chug your 8th Continent Soymilk without wiping off the soymilk mustache because honestly- what do we care!?
We are not here to impress a significant other. We enjoy our independence! Well, at least until we have a partner. :-/ And until then- listen to the music!!!

Did I miss any songs? What songs do you listen to to celebrate your love? Or celebrate the fact that you don’t have to put up with love?
Leave your suggestions in the Comments section and you may just end up on my Valentine’s Day playlist.
You can also post a song to my Facebook or Tweet me a song!
Come back tomorrow for another day of our Valentine’s Day countdown!

Sara Lopez

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Jan 14

Lopez’s First Time…

It was just one of those days…

I woke up and trudged down to my kitchen. I saw a plethora of amazing cereals that would have been the perfect pick-me-up I needed to get my mind active and provide me with the sustenance and energy that I needed to open my laptop and get some serious work done.

But then I thought better of it; we had dairy milk in the fridge. I wanted to eat my cereal SO bad, but I knew there would be consequences if I coated my bowl full of healthy breakfast food with milk. I had experienced it before:

The gas

The bloating

The thought that would be running through my mind for hours: “Oh man, I should NOT have eaten that.”

So I did what any sane cereal loving person would do- I poured the bowl and turned the faucet to as cold as it could be and proceeded to eat my cereal with water.

No, it was not the same. But the cereal was beckoning to be eaten- and my stomach was growling threats of hunger. I left the house that day, semi-satisfied, and spent a good part of the morning wondering if I would ever be able to indulge in the easiest any-time meal again: cereal.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull it off for long. The cereal/water concoction was NOT cutting it. So later that evening, after work, I went to the grocery store to find a replacement breakfast food for my beloved cereal.

At that time in my life I had no idea I was lactose intolerant… I didn’t even know what it meant. For all I knew lactose intolerance could be a contagious flu that you could catch while taking public transportation. (It is not by the way.)

So I wasn’t even aware that there were dairy milk substitutes sitting right next to the dairy milk that I had learned to steer clear of.

I also had other issues with dairy milk. The thought of drinking a liquid from another species… well honestly? It grossed me out!

Walmart wasn’t very busy and if you have gotten to know me at all- online or in RL- you know that I am not necessarily a shy chica.

I went right up to one of the blue-vested associates and asked:

“I can’t drink milk because it hurts my tummy, but I love cereal. What would you suggest to replace cereal altogether because my water and cereal diet plan is not working for me.”

“Have you ever tried soy milk?”

“Ummm… what? Isn’t soy a plant? How can it make milk? Is this a joke? You obviously are mocking me or something… that’s not very nice.”

She motioned for me to follow her.

Little did I know this short, jolly woman of not many words would show me a whole new solution to a problem I didn’t even know I had.

“Most people who are lactose intolerant drink dairy milk substitutes… like soy milk.”

She pointed to the soymilk section and disappeared like some Phantom of the Opera scene.

8th Continent Soymilk was not the first soy milk I ever tried. And maybe that is why I was still hesitant after trying another brand.

But I refused to give up.

I went back again and with each trip I bought a different kind of soymilk:

Fat free

Light

Chocolate

Every brand you could think of and every flavor they had in stock.

The day I tried 8th Continent Soymilk, I knew I had found the match for me. It was like coming across the perfect profile on a dating site I never knew I had signed up for.

Ever since, not only have I been able to eat my cereal, but I have been able to enjoy it.

Thank you blue-vested jolly Walmart woman of not many words- you will never know you gave me the gift of cereal chowing back, and lots of other foods for that matter.

I’d like to think this is the moment my soy-venture began.

Sara Lopez

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Dec 17

The Perfect Vegan Holiday Entree!

The holiday season is a time for giving, a time for appreciation, but most importantly- it’s a time to gobble down on some good eats!

Being vegetarian during this season is hard, being a vegan is practically torture… So I have put together the perfect holiday entree that even the non-vegan carnivorous crowd will love!

I made yam encrusted Portabella mushrooms, Foodswing’s Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and a vegan cream spinach.

Follow along with me and make it for your family! It is delish and the whole meal takes just 30 minutes to make!

Go here to check out Foodswing’s! It is an amazing Vegan restaurant in Brooklyn that made the best food I have ever tasted! Not only that- but they provided me with this awesome recipe for Foodswing’s Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Make sure to join my Facebook Fan Page to keep up to date with my adventures and any new recipes and videos!!!

Recipes Sara Lopez

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