Our long-time project finally came true! We managed to raise enough and make a donation to our favourite animal sanctuary – Dara Farm Sanctuary! It sure took us a long time to make this little project come true, but now it is over. We definitely …
We want to be here more for animals. One way we can do our part is to donate our time to the voiceless. Dara Farm Sanctuary fundraiser is here! 🎄🎄🎄Tis’ the season to give and so we are having a community fundraiser sidewalk sale this …
After three and a half months of living on hiatus, it seems most suitable to break the long silence and share what we have been up to!
Dear you who you just stumbled to this small corner of our big world. Our website, where we mostly write about sustainable living, animals, and vegan food. Or you who you have been coming back and seeing no action here. Yes, we have been gone for a while, but not far at all. We just moved from our desks to the kitchen. The laptop was replaced with a stove.
Ever since we started our home-cooking vegan food business, which mostly concentrates on vegan snacks and dried fruit chips, we had literally no time for writing. That doesn’t mean that we are not coming back. We may, but only time knows. The situation on our Mother Earth is not getting any better, so there are really urgent articles to write. But as urgent it may be, we also need to support ourselves to make the ends meet. As for you, so for us, the current world order has introduced many life changes. So more than ever it is important that we follow our passion and make a living on what we know the best – vegan cooking.
Cooking is not the only thing that matters a lot. We love freedom, we love liberty and animals. This is why we try more to fight for our rights. Not only of the human brothers and sisters but also non-human brothers and sisters. We want to do more for the voiceless, for those who are caged, who are trapped or abused daily. The fight for animal liberation will never end. This is in our blood and in our hearts. We love animals and there is no place for animal abuse in our world.
If you do love animals as well, please consider taking the steps in your life, where you harm them the most. The easiest is to become vegan. If you are not quite ready this year, then please start freshly on the new year. Veganuary is taking place every year. This is your chance to start with a change. If you stop eating animal products, you will notice soon that your dog or cat is not much different from a cow or a chicken. They both have a right to the best lives. Just one is keeping you company and making you happy. While the other is meant to keep far away from you and feed you. They all should be free and not serve us, especially not sacrificing their lives for our taste buds. Living cruelty-free is good for animals, good for the planet, and good for you.
Choose a compassionate living and start with eating no animal-derived foods. We are here to help you. We can help you out with a consultation, we can cook for your Christmas meal and we can become your friends. Help us to help animals by ordering special items from our Vegan Very Much Shop. You can find some fundraising food items made only using plants. We will donate the 50% as promised to a lovely animal sanctuary called Dara Farm Sanctuary. They are a cruelty-free, vegan living organization run by two guys. We have some other great ideas, how we can support them in the near future. Keep checking back and remember all lives matter.
Yours,
Eve and Kerly
This is not our average post, but a short and quite sharp and straightforward announcement! Visit our shop while supporting our fundraiser! We are so happy to announce that our Very Very Much Shop is finally open for business! To start it off in a …
Do you celebrate your vegan anniversary? Is this even a thing? Yes, it is! And it even does have it’s special name – veganniversary!
You have made a wonderful decision of going vegan. Good for you, we applaud your decision. But what’s next? Let us share some simple tips to help you!
Pat yourself on the shoulder for making that amazing decision. Summer is the easiest time to start your vegan journey. The new beginnings are sometimes hard and full of challenges. Let us direct you through the obstacles, which may arise. Please take a look at our short to-do list after making a decision when transitioning to a plant-based life. Please know that this list is in random order. You will find what is more important to you, so you can tackle that first. If you have anything else to add, please let us know, we would love to update this list.
*Start clearing your pantry, fridge, and freezer – read the labels and take all out which is not made of plants. But please do not trash the food. Look for donation options via community fridges, food banks, especially if you have lots of unopened products. If you have opened items and feel comfortable giving them away, please put everything in a box. Put it on the curb, or by recycling collection areas and your food will find a new home fast.
*Plan your meals – in the beginning, it may hard to find what to eat. That’s why you should have ideas for the first weeks. Find inspiration from Elephantastic Vegan.
*Tell your friends and family about your decision on going vegan – tell them your story. Add whatever you want to share with them, now when you are on your plant-based journey. Perhaps sharing this link from The Spruce Eats helps them to understand you better from the eating perspective.
*Educate yourself constantly – read more. Follow vegan news, check new recipes, visit vegan forums – the vegan community is there to help you.
*Meet other vegans – post on Instagram, follow fellow vegan websites, reach out in your neighbourhood groups – the people you meet there will always offer you support and help to answer your questions.
*Ask help from us – we are always here to help people transitioning to vegan and share personal tips on their righteous path.
We will break these points to separate articles and help you find more information behind all these suggestions. So, please check back weekly to find more information.
It may not be easy in the beginning, but which beginning is easy ever? So stay true to yourself. Remind yourself of the reason for you going vegan. Think of the values, the lives of the animals in whose death you are not participating, and of what it means to you. We are creatures of habits, we can change if we want to, it takes time, but it can be done!
Welcome to the wonderful vegan family!
Do you need anything? Just ask. Mutual aid is based on asking and helping each other’s goals come true! Get to know more about it below.
As luck has it January is known as Veganuary. Therefore it is very easy to try to be vegan for a month! Our three tips will help you!
Keto is referring to a diet that is low in carbohydrates but high in protein. While originating as a medical diet, its popularly is associated with weight loss.
The Key Dough was established at the end of 2019 in Toronto, Canada by Julie Sullivan. Vegan Very Much met the friendly and kind owner at the Cabbagetown Farmers Market in October 2020. During our nice chat with CEO Julie Sullivan, we introduced our work at Vegan Very Much, and our interest in reviewing vegan companies to our readers. As November was No-Buy Month, we were unable to purchase the tempting but healthy treats. Julie kindly offered that we choose a pack of Key Dough cookies (made from The Key Dough Mix) each, so that we can try and review them for our readers.
The opportunity to interview the founder of this fairly new establishment and share it with you is thrilling. Since we like food, we like to always explore this field. We hope you learn something new and purchase from The Key Dough. We can’t wait to hear about your first impressions.
Kerly tried them first with herbal tea in hand. Her first impressions are as follows:
It’s really good! Very rich…I love the texture. It is so….thick!”
She devoured it, albeit, mindfully savouring each rich, tasty bite. After eating the healthy cookie, she exclaimed: ”That one is all I needed!” This is a big compliment coming from this sweet tooth. She felt that it has scratched her itch for something dessert-like, although it was not very sweet. The added plant satisfied the brain!Â
Just a quick explanation of science, the brain has receptors that attract glucose. Without this glucose, the brain cannot functions. Carbohydrates we consume concert into brain-powering glucose. The Key Dough’s One Mix cookies contain complex carbohydrates and fat, which was responsible for our feeling of well-being and satisfaction after eating just one each at first try.
On the contrary, sugary cookies require you to keep eating to feel satisfied. To lead a healthy addiction-free life, as it relates to sugar, the Key Dough health cookies are a way to go! They are keto-friendly as the clever name suggests. The denseness due to the added plant fat is good for weight loss, as fat burns fat!
”Oh wow, the texture is nice. I agree that it’s very rich. Is that coconut oil? Wow, it’s very dense/ heavy, so I can see why you’re satisfied after just one!”
Still, I thought I would eat the other one, because I couldn’t stop, but also had just one. I must point out that this is very rare in our vegan household!
Note: We e-mailed the following interview questions to Julie Sullivan at The Key Dough.
We didn’t alter any part of this interview except for grammar check. We added our own Vegan Very Much comments to create a conversational read, as interviews are. Julie’s answers are in italics.
We asked The Key Dough to ”please put an asterisk* beside your favourite questions.”
I’m a dreamer, I see possibilities. I thoroughly approach life with a detective’s sense and all the why’s. On a much smaller scale, when I started the Keto Diet and prepared sweets weren’t readily available – I had to make or bake them myself and I have always loved being creative in the kitchen. I was in a one-year business certificate at Ryerson, where I took my very first marketing class (at 29), still figuring out what to do with my life and having had the entrepreneurial dream many times before, I saw an opportunity that I was passionate about.
VVM: I can definitely relate to being a dreamer, which makes it impossible to settle for just any job when you know you’re capable of so much more. I also attended Ryerson, and at the time. My course mates would sneer at the business major because we saw ourselves are opposites, fast-forward, multiple Social Workers have left the field, including myself, to pursue entrepreneurship.
It is wonderful that Julie took the step to attend Ryerson School of Business, it is important to invest in yourself. Interestingly, at 29 years old, she was in her Saturn return. Have you heard of this? Saturn is a slow-moving planet that takes 28-29 years to return to where it was at your birth. At 28-29, Saturn confronts us to make moves that will better our lives; to grow up so to speak. Even without knowledge of this astrological phenomenon, many people we know have married, left their 9-5 jobs (including Kerly at 29 years old), had a baby, or even divorced.
I wish I had a road map or guidebook specific to the GTA and the food industry and I intend to create something for entrepreneurs of the future.
VVM: This is a great idea! When we start a business, we look for examples of how to make it the best. It’s a great way to give back and answer the questions that were left unanswered for you.
It’s a lot of work and I think it takes a certain kind of person, but if you’re willing to work hard and are that type of person (passionate, creative, a self-starter) – then go for it because, in the end, nothing else will suffice.
VVM: This is true! It’s much easier to go to work and get a paycheque even if you do the bare minimum. What is not easy is, investing our whole self into a business, working harder than you ever have, and not make any money initially… If you are currently getting a paycheque from your job, pay yourself first and save as much as you can to bring your well-researched business idea to life.
I decided to make our prepared cookies entirely plant-based because, before Keto, I was a pescetarian from my early twenties onward. I know how bad factory farming is for animals and the environment so I wanted our brand to be as considerate as I could make it.
It took longer and they cost more – but we searched long and hard, high and low to find our biodegradable packaging.
VVM: As environmental low-impact vegans, we are concerned with ingredients and packaging. We’re glad that The Key Dough took the environmental and animal impact of our food choices into consideration by making The Key Dough prepared cookies, vegan! We hope that the future sees all companies making all their products plant-based, therefore cruelty-free, without sacrificing taste.
This is a good question. We feel like we’ve been welcomed into other communities more than creating our own thus far. Where I met you was at the Cabbagetown Farmers Market, a group of local independent food growers and producers. I use a shared-kitchen full of food startups.
I have found the keto community on Instagram to be hugely supportive. People love this diet – because it works. I feel way better on it. So it’s a genuine community of people living their lives passionately through food. The Keto community is the best. I have also had a ton of support from friends, family, and my co-workers (our earliest testers). Our retail partners are part of our community as well as our suppliers.
In the building I live in, my neighbours were my first employees and believers. They saw this thing blossom from the ground up and for that, I will be forever grateful. It’s the little guys in the beginning, who believe in you when you have nothing that is the true stars. They made all this possible. I should mention RISE Asset Development too. My first loan provider is funded by U of T’s Rotman School of Business and a CAMH partnership. There I met Steve – who was foundational in believing in me from the start, who helped me believe in myself and led me to Zain, my very first official mentor ever.
VVM: There’s so much here to comment on. It is heartwarming that many people believed in The Key Dough from the start, from friends, family to coworkers and business networks and loan provider. The journey of establishing The Key Dough illustrates the fact that community is key in any endeavour- united we stand, divided we fall.
I think The Key Dough Mix is the place to start. Since Covid, we have seen people bake and so we pivoted to an all-purpose sweet mix. You can use it for cookies, muffins, pancakes, or pie crust.
VVM: Being creative in the kitchen is a great stress reliever, we cannot wait to try these mixes. We’ve already requested it at our local Healthy Planet!
Sugar is a carb so if there’s one thing we recommend, it’s lowering your processed sugar intake. The stuff is junk. It makes you feel like crap. It provides no nutritional value and it’s addictive. We want to provide a low-sugar option without sacrificing taste. It’s a healthier cookie without sacrificing flavour.
VVM: We agree, sugar is more addictive than cocaine! As adults, we have to make choices that benefit not only ourselves but our dependents. The Key Dough’s cookies that we were reviewing were very tasty without being overly sweet. The fat content from seeds and coconut oil made them very satisfying- hence the reason why we had just one each with our herbal teas. Try it for yourself- you can be healthy and have tasty treats!
Comment from Julie:
Loved these questions, ladies. Really made me think and get clear on what we’re doing. I honestly teared up in the community part because we’ve had an unbelievable amount of support throughout this journey. I can’t wait to see the article – link me!
Have a great week,
Julie.
Our interview with Julie Sullivan, founder of The Key Dough was mind-opening. We learned a lot, and are happy to share it with you. You can take many gems from the answers that the company provided, whether you are currently keto or not. The Key Dough cookies are 100% plant-based and are a good addition to any vegan lifestyle. If you are vegetarian or pescatarian, you can enjoy the full range of products.
Currently, you get the chance to request The Key Dough products at your local health food stores!
Here is the link!