
Recipe: Curry Pineapple Fried Rice

8 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking Milk Now - Planet Green
Environmental Reasons to Avoid Milk:
1. Dairy cows produce waste
2. Let me repeat: dairy cows produce lots and lots of waste (and greenhouse gases)
3. Milk production ultimately leads to climate change
4. Milk often contains unwanted ingredients
Health Reasons to Avoid Milk
5. Cow's milk is for cows
6. Milk is actually a poor source for dietary calcium
7. Contrary to popular belief, milk may actually increase the likelihood of osteoporosis ("As explained by John Robbins, 'The only research that even begins to suggest that the consumption of dairy products might be helpful [in preventing osteoporosis] has been paid for by the National Dairy Council itself.')
8. Milk makes you fat
Famous Vegan and Vegetarian Quotes
Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. --Albert Einstein
The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion. --Mahaparinirvana (Buddhist)
I will not eat anything that walks, runs, skips, hops or crawls. God knows that I've crawled on occasion, and I'm glad that no one ate me. -----Alex Poulos
One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;" and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle. --Henry David Thoreau
Tongue - a variety of meat, rarely served because it clearly crosses the line between a cut of beef and a piece of a dead cow. --Bob Ekstrom
You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car. --Harvey Diamond
"Thou shalt not kill" does not apply to murder of one's own kind only, but to all living beings; and this Commandment was inscribed in the human breast long before it was proclaimed from Sinai. ~Leo Tolstoy
Recipe: Sweet Potato Hash Browns - Amazing!!

Sweet potato hash browns have become a staple in our house. Sweet potatoes are an incredibly nutritious root vegetable that are high in beta-carotene and complex carbohydrates. They are commonly also referred to as yams, which according to Wikipedia come from Asia or Africa. In experimenting with kid friendly ways to cook sweet potatoes we came up with this simple recipe.
Select 4-5 sweet potatoes. Depending on size of the potatoes, I average 1-2 per person. Peel the skin off. I think it effects the overall taste. Try it both ways and decide for yourself.
Cut potatoes in half length wise so they fit in your food processor. Using the grating/shredding attachment, grate all the sweet potatoes.
Meanwhile, heat up your grill on medium-high. I use a flat double-burner grill, but any size will work. I have used both non-stick and cast iron, just make sure to spray non-stick oil on either.
Pour your grated potatoes into a bowl, pour oil in and stir. Use your hands and really mix the oil and potatoes up well. You can use more or less oil as desired.
Chop up your garlic. I like medium sized garlic chunks. Garlic is a personal preference, but I think it makes these hash browns amazing.
Pour the potatoes out evenly on the grill or pan. Make sure you have a nice even thickness or layer to ensure even cooking.
Spread garlic chunks over hash browns.
Sprinkle salt over hash browns. Be generous.
Brown for 5-8 minutes per side. Flip the hash browns in large sections. Watch that they don't burn, but brown evenly. Lift a corner to look.
Some Extra Tips:
If you like garlic add more. I think the more garlic the better.
You can use your spatula to form them into flippable sizes.
Here's relativity to a batch of sweet potato hash browns. I used 7 small sweet potatoes and fed only 2 adults and two small children. It's easy to eat an entire plate of sweet potato hash browns.
Don't spread your hash browns out too thin, and don't press them flat.
Monitor the heat of the pan or griddle. If it's too hot, the sweet potato hash brown's will burn.
Recipe: Jamie Oliver - The Mothership Tomato Salad
This name couldn't be more fitting for this salad. It truly is the Mothership of all tomato salads. It is simplistic, yet so rich with flavor. Because of it's simplicity, you can also use it as a base to make so many other recipes - pastas, guacamole, quinoa, whatever you think of really. I don't use the chile when I make this recipe though, but that's just my personal preference.
If you can get hold of some dried flowering oregano then do, as it has the most heavenly flavor. Feel free to use the dried stuff that you get in a little container, but it can taste a bit like sawdust when compared to the fruity, fragrant flavor you get from the flowering variety. Oregano is also great to grow in the garden.
Ingredients
2 1/4 pounds mixed ripe tomatoes, different shapes and colors
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A good pinch dried oregano
Red wine or balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped
Depending on the size of your tomatoes, slice some in half, some into quarters and others into uneven chunks. Straightaway this will give you the beginnings of a tomato salad that's really brave and exciting to look at and eat. Put the tomatoes into a colander and season with a good pinch of sea salt.
Give them a toss, season again and give a couple more tosses. The salt won't be drawn into the tomatoes; instead it will draw any excess moisture out, concentrating all the lovely flavors. Leave the tomatoes in the colander on top of a bowl to stand for around 15 minutes, then discard any juice that has come out of them.
Transfer the tomatoes to a large bowl and sprinkle over the oregano. Make a dressing using 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, the garlic and the chile. Drizzle the tomatoes with enough dressing to coat everything nicely.
This is a fantastic tomato salad, which is totally delicious to eat on its own. It's also great served with some balls of mozzarella or some nice, grilled ciabatta bread.
Recipe: Organic Heirloom Tomato Soup

Update On My Vegan Dog

So, a small update on my dog’s recent change to a vegan diet. She was not a fan of Avoderm at all. She literally went from being the kind of dog who followed you around the house waiting to get her food and then devouring it right there in two seconds to leaving it sitting in her bowl all day until she was ready to starve and then only eating half of it. So, after we made it through the bag of Avoderm I bought a different brand called Natural Balance.
From the very first time our dog tried the Natural Balance brand she has been loving it! So, it wasn't that the other brand didn't have meat in it, it was just that she didn't enjoy the taste.
The brand I am using is the Vegetarian Dog Food which is actually vegan. In fact, I noticed on their website that it was the 2008 VegNews Veggie Award Winner. Here is what it says on the website: “Our Vegetarian Dog Food is our special Allergy Formula, made specifically for dogs prone to meat-based protein allergies. A True Vegan Formula, this special food is completely dairy free, and free of any animal-based products". They also now offer a Vegetarian Canned Formula as well.
On Natural Balance’s website they also have a way for you to monitor all of the testing done on your dog’s food. Their sites says that “As of September, 2008, we have added E. coli and Salmonella testing to our standard testing protocol which already includes testing for: Ochratoxin, Zearalenone, Fumonisin, Melamine, Cyanuric Acid, Aflatoxin, andDON (Vomitoxin).” Click here to read more.
Under the About Us section, Dick Van Patten (one of the owner's) says, "Natural Balance® was built on the premise of helping animals, and we have never nor would we ever allow any testing that would be considered harmful to an animal. We do not conduct laboratory testing on animals, whatsoever. All of our feeding trials are conducted in the animal's own environment, in conjunction with veterinarians, kennels, breeders and pet owners, to ensure that all Natural Balance® products are extremely palatable, nutritious and the best possible formulation for the health of your pet. Our feeding trials are a positive experience and enjoyable for animals!"
So, my dog is now happy with her vegan diet and I am much happier scooping out food for her now that I know that it's not a bunch of leftover factory farm animal meat.
My Dog Is Now A Vegan!
I knew that it was incredibly hypocritical to feed my dog the typical dog food meal made of the leftover byproducts from factory farms when I was a vegan. I just didn't make it a priority to make the switch for my dog to a vegan.Monica's dog, Lady (a lab mix), has had serious skin problems and used to spend her days scratching and biting herself and shedding her hair everywhere, she would even have little patches of hair missing when it would get really bad. She had tried different foods and she found (keep in mind this was before she was a vegan) that switching her dog to the vegan AvoDerm was the only food that worked!
In fact on AvoDerm's website, they say the following, "As dog lovers and experienced dog owners ourselves, we know that the condition of a dog’s skin and coat is frequently a reflection of overall health. Poor skin health can sometimes be traced to dietary inefficiencies or imbalances. Problems with the skin and coat are never just cosmetic. Symptoms such as hair loss, thinning coat, dullness, dry flaky skin, excessive scratching, thickened skin, infections, and odors can often be traced back to either a shortage or an excess of a specific nutrient. In fact, there is no more visible indicator of problems with your dog’s overall health than problems with the skin and coat. The right nutrients in the right proportions are indispensable to keeping your dog healthy... In fact, most dogs that are fed a healthy diet of AvoDerm Natural show improvement in just 4–6 weeks...we guarantee it!"
According to www.veggiepets.com, a supplier of vegetarian dog food for over 25 years in the UK, "Vegetarian diets are well known for relieving arthritis, skin and fur problems and obesity in dogs"
I also read (but didn't not the source) that "Recent research has shown that in some cases dogs are better able to maintain a healthy weight when on a vegetarian diet. Others show a marked improvement in their skin, coat or both. This is believed to be due to the fact that many dogs have undiagnosed allergies to meat, especially poultry and poultry bi-products, which are widely used protein source in commercial dog foods. In addition to skin and coat issues these allergies can manifest themselves as digestive problems, vegetarian dog food diets have appeared to aid in this area as well."
Once I started doing research on vegan dog foods so that I could better learn about making the switch, I became compelled to make the switch immediately after learning about what my dog was eating. However, it is also very important to note that you are not supposed to switch your dog to a new diet without a transition period. AvoDerm's website has a page about making the transition. Click here for the full article. Here is a portion of what they say:
"When switching to Breeder’s Choice, we recommend that you switch your pet over slowly. This is very important so that you don't disrupt your pet's digestive pattern. Changing foods will often cause vomiting or diarrhea if not done correctly. Therefore, we recommend a 5-day transition before you begin feeding Breeder’s Choice exclusively."
Vegan.org has a page all about having a "veggie dog" that has some great information, including a link (that unfortunately doesn't work on their site) to a website called www.bornfreeusa.org where you can learn what's really in your pet's food. Click here for the full article on Born Free USA.
Here are some of the things I read from that article that I found the most interesting:
"The protein used in pet food comes from a variety of sources. When cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or other animals are slaughtered, lean muscle tissue is trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption, along with the few organs that people like to eat, such as tongues and tripe.
However, about 50% of every food animal does not get used in human foods. Whatever remains of the carcass — heads, feet, bones, blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, fat trimmings, unborn babies, and other parts not generally consumed by humans — is used in pet food, animal feed, fertilizer, industrial lubricants, soap, rubber, and other products. These “other parts” are known as “by-products.” By-products are used in feed for poultry and livestock as well as in pet food".
"In the case of poultry, bones are allowed, so “chicken” consists mainly of backs and frames—the spine and ribs, minus their expensive breast meat".
I found the following statement interesting too because I had recently started putting vegetable broth in my dog's food because a friend had told me that her vet said it made the food easier to digest:
"Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying, coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids."
This is an important fact about feeding your dog dried food vs. wet food:
"Proteins are especially vulnerable to heat, and become damaged, or “denatured,” when cooked. Because dry foods ingredients are cooked twice — first during rendering and again in the extruder — problems are much more common than with canned or homemade foods. Altered proteins may contribute to food intolerances, food allergies, and inflammatory bowel disease"
The article has information on all of the pet food recalls and why they happened as well as a very intense description of all of the health problems that many of our poor pets face because of their poor diets:
"The idea that one pet food provides all the nutrition a companion animal will ever need for its entire life is a dangerous myth. Today, the diets of cats and dogs are a far cry from the variable meat-based diets that their ancestors ate. The unpleasant results of grain-based, processed, year-in and year-out diets are common. Health problems associated with diet include:hen things go really wrong and serious problems are discovered in pet food, the company usually works with the FDA to coordinate a recall of the affected products. While many recalls have been widely publicized, quite a few have not.
Though the article lists all of the recalls, I have just listed the one below that I specifically remember because my cousin lost their Golden Lab Retriever to this specific recall:
"In March 2007, the most lethal pet food in history was the subject of the largest recall ever. Menu Foods recalled more than 100 brands including Iams, Eukanuba, Hill’s Science Diet, Purina Mighty Dog, and many store brands including Wal-Mart’s. Thousands of pets were sickened (the FDA received more than 17,000 reports) and an estimated 20% died from acute renal failure caused by the food. Cats were more frequently and more severely affected than dogs. The toxin was initially believed to be a pesticide, the rat poison “aminopterin” in one of the ingredients. In April, scientists discovered high levels of melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers, in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. The melamine had been purposefully added to the ingredients to falsely boost their protein content. Subsequent tests revealed that the melamine-tainted ingredients had also been used in feed for cows, pigs, and chickens and thousands of animals were quarantined and destroyed. In early May, scientists identified the cause of the rapid onset kidney disease that had appeared in dogs and cats as a reaction caused by the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid, both unauthorized chemicals. The fallout from this recall is ongoing as of May 2007 so please be sure to check the FDA website for the most recent updates."
So, not only do I feel strongly that my dog should be on a vegan diet now, I also have educated myself that giving her the same food day in and day out with no variety and no wet food is probably not ideal either. One step at a time, but good to know and to think about.
Recipe: Tasty and Hearty Vegan Sandwiches
Recipe: Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir Fry
Cooking With Frozen Pressed Tofu ...Way More Convenient!
Can You Be a Part-Time Vegetarian?
But can we really coin the phrase "flexitarian"? Or are you really just a carnivore? What in the world is the difference between a carnivore and a flexitarian? In my opinion absolutely nothing.
Why try to call it something it's not? You either eat meat or you don't. Right? You either eat animal protein or you don't. Are people trying to coin a term because vegans and vegetarians are looked at as if they were from a foreign planet? More times than not when I tell someone I'm vegan they ask me what that is. When I explain to them what vegan is they say, "Oh that seems too hard!" But the funny thing is it's not. Yes, it takes some adjustments to your grocery shopping but once you get the hang of it it's quite easy and way more tasteful... at least when you're at home. Click here to read my experience on trying to eat vegan at Disneyland.
Women's Day gave 5 reasons for trying eatting "flexitarian":
"1. You’ll save money. Vegetarian protein sources like beans, lowfat dairy and eggs cost a fraction of the price of meat.
2. It’s naturally slimming. “People whose diets are plant-based weigh 15% less than meat eaters,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN, an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman and author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw-Hill, 2009). “For the average woman, that’s about 25 pounds less.”
3. It helps your heart. A flexitarian diet lowers your risk of hypertension because you’re eating lots of the blood pressure–lowering mineral potassium, found mainly in produce. Low in saturated fat and high in soluble fiber (which soaks up cholesterol and shuttles it out of your body), this type of diet also cuts cholesterol.
4. It protects against cancer. People who eat a plant-based diet and exercise regularly slash their risk of cancer by 30% to 40%, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
5. It’s kinder to the planet. Animal protein requires 11 times more energy to produce than grains. What’s more, raising meat uses 26 times more water than growing vegetable protein."
Review those reasons and ask yourself if they explained any benefits to the dairy and meat part of the flexitarian's diet? Why don't they just come right out and say you should be a vegan then? What are the benefits of meat and dairy consumption?
The article also says that, "flexitarianism gives you the best of both worlds: You get your meat fix and the healthy perks of a vegetarian diet". I think this statement is incredibly misleading. Why fool these flexitarians into thinking that they are going to benefit from this diet when really it includes all of the things they are currently eating?
Dr. T. Colin Campbell in his book, The China Study, states that even small amounts of animal protein can be harmful to your body.
John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution, gives an in depth, scientificly and statistically based, and medically reviewed explanation of the benefits of a plant based diet as well as the risks of being a carnivore and the profound effects on the planet we cause because of our decisions.
According to Dictionary.com, the word Vegan was coined by Donald Watson in 1944, to distinguish those who abstained from all animal products from those who just refuse to eat animal meat. Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian originated around 1950-1955, to describe someone who was vegetarian but did eat eggs and dairy products, such as milk and cheese. Flexitarian originated around 1992 to describe a vegetarian that was flexible enough to have on occasional meat or fish.
I understand this word has been around for awhile, but in my opinion there is no such thing. You either eat meat, or you don't. How much or little you eat meat should not determine whether you can call yourself a full-on carnivore or a flexitarian. It's an absurd word. It is good to look at nutrition and make choices that not only better your own health but can benefit the planet and the creatures of the planet. A vegetarian eats consciencly, a vegan eats knowingly, a flexatarian eats anything.
Click here to read the full article from Woman's Day Magazine.
Thinking About Going Vegetarian Or Vegan But Don't Know Where To Start? Read This!
I'm not saying that this isn't a huge part of it, because once you open your eyes to the way we treat our livestock in this country, it definitely does help you avoid meat and dairy for that reason alone. In fact, it's sad that if you chose to be vegan for the animals' sake your almost looked down upon as a weak individual who is unrealistic and overly sensitive. Really?
Click below to watch a video on the topic and ask yourself if this is what you would call being overly sensitive. If you don't want to watch the video, keep reading below there is more... and don't worry it's not about animals anymore, it's about humans and the state of our health...
I became vegan for many reasons - my health, animal welfare and the environment.
My husband was suffering from some health issues and through trying to help him I started reading about the issues he was having and dairy and meat were large culprits. He has very bad excema and psoriasis on his skin and one of the largest culprits for these outbreaks turned out to be dairy and meat! In fact, many infants in the US suffer from excema and I believe that removing dairy from the infant/toddlers diet can clear it all up, at least it's worth a try... and when I say "try" I mean for three weeks or more, which is how long it can take for dairy to be completely out of your system.
My husband had seen every dermatologist at the board of dermatology for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and none of them could help him with a natural way to get rid of his excema and psoriasis. They instead wanted to give him prescriptions so hard core that he would have to take a liver functionality test prior to taking them because they are so hard on your body. I just happened one night to look up excema and psoriasis in this book, Prescription for Natural Cures
The more I read about health problems and diet and disease, the more it all came back to dairy and meat.
I became vegan in 2006 and it is a hard road in a sense because so many people look at you funny and it's hard to eat out, but once you have the knowledge in your head it motivates you to keep going with it.
It is a lifestyle change. It is literally experimenting with things like rice milk until you find things to eat that still feel like comfort foods, but are healthier for you. You dont have to eat salad every day!
So, there are a few books that I would highly recommend reading. They look a lot at scientific evidence on diet/disease link trends in America as well as other countries. As well as discuss the really screwed up things we do here like our horrible factory farms and other disgusting farming practices that we standardly use here that the UK and Ireland as well as many other countries have banned for years.
The only other person that I have recommended The Food Revolution to who actually read the book is Monica, my co-blogger! She just started reading it at the end of May of this year, as you can read in previous posts, and she hasn't even finished it yet but she has already gone completely vegan as well as her three children. She said that she looks at food completely different now and she sees how it was affecting her body and her children's bodies.
The Food Revolution by John Robbins
The next book that I highly recommend is called The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
The man that wrote the book, T. Colin Campbell, grew up on a dairy farm and began his career at Cornell University in biomedical sciences trying to come up with a safe way to make pigs and cows grow faster so that we could produce meat quicker and cheaper. The goal was that by producing meat faster and cheaper we could help eradicate hunger throughout the world. We could get animal protein over to third world countries because they thought it was the lack of animal protein in these people's diets that was causing their malnutrition.
The more studies he was involved in the more it became clear that the people with the highest consumptions of meat and dairy were the ones that were dying of liver cancer, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, etc.
This book is the one that NFL Football player Tony Gonzalez read and after only the first 40 pages he had already decided to go vegan!
Another book I would recommend is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living
Another book that helps with the transition, I think, is a book called Vegetables Every Day
Also, if you are starting by trying to avoid dairy, there are a few ingredients you should know about that are actually dairy. Any time you see whey or whey protein or casein or casein protein, it is derived from dairy. Casein is the main protein found in milk that has been strongly linked to type one diabetes in formula fed babies who's formula was made with cow's milk. Also it takes dairy approximately three weeks to fully work out of your body, so if you are still feeling bloated and farting a lot it's likely not out!! Also, soy milk often makes people feel bloated too so you may want to try rice milk or almond milk if soy is giving you bother.
Another book other people have read and liked but I hear is not that scientific based, is called Skinny Bitch
If you have any questions or comments or want any other information please let us know!
It's Tough To Eat Vegan In Disneyland!
We arrived in Disneyland Wednesday afternoon and I knew I would face food challenges not only for myself but for my ever resistant boys. It's much easier to eat healthy foods when that's all there is. But who wants a carrot stick or apple when there is cotton candy, deep fried corn dogs and gigantic cookie ice cream sandwiches? Holy crap...!!!
So in my attempts to eat and not live on prepackaged fruit alone here is my journal of what I ate and where. And I used the 2% rule which if I really new what I was eating probably would resemble a 20% rule. Ouch...
Wednesday:
Breakfast: Small coffee from McDonalds with some rice milk (most of the rice milk spilled in my purse, so I had just enough for my little coffee), one hash brown and one piece of English muffin (the side without the cheese from the breakfast sandwich my son had to have but didn't eat!)
Lunch: Vegetable soft tacos with no refried beans and extra vegetables. The vegetables were delicious, carrots, zucchini, onions, bell peppers. My guess would be the vegetables were cooked with butter and the rice with chicken broth. But that's OK for now. I'm making much better decisions. No cheese, no sour cream, and no animal protein. This was at Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland.
Snack: shared a couple of bites of my 5 year old's monster rice crispy treat. (Can't we just consider marshmallows vegan? Please?)
Dinner: At the Pizza Port my 8 year old ordered spaghetti with marinara and meatballs. He ate the meatballs and we shared the pasta. My 5 year old had a huge piece of pizza and he gave me some of his crust. Kids don't like crust anyways and I love the crust of the pizza.
Normally I don't eat much pasta or bread. In fact I tend to avoid it like the plague, but it's a part of my life right now so we'll see. I prefer 100% whole wheat pasta and bread but it's not an option here at The Happiest Place On Earth.
Thursday:
Breakfast: I brought Rice Milk and TJ's version of Cheerios. I think they're called Joe's O's.
Snack: TJ's Whole Wheat Crackers or whatever they're called. I think they have flax seed in them.
Lunch: At the Farmers Market I bought the fresh fruit cup with apples, grapes, blueberries, pineapple, cantaloupe and mango, a veggie tray with grape tomatoes, baby carrots and celery. My sons and husband had corn dogs with french fries and apple slices. My sons don't like the corn breading. So they ate the hot dog and I ate their corn breading. I know, I know. There was probably egg, dairy &/or butter in the corn bread not to mention it was deep fried!
Snack: Back at the hotel room I had a TJ's Rice Noodle Bowl. It was delicious.
Dinner: I had a small garden salad with a little bit of Italian dressing, a bread stick and a kids portion of pasta with marinara sauce. Again with the pasta and bread! Oh yeah, and a huge serving of green beans but I'm pretty sure they were coated with butter. And a biscuit with strawberry jam. Is there anything else I haven't remembered?... I think that's it.
Friday:
Breakfast: Once again I had some Joe's O's and Rice Milk and coffee with Rice Milk.
Lunch: In California Adventure we ate at the Wharf. My husband always has a chowder bread bowl and shrimp Louie bread bowl and the boys follow suit. But I ate vegetable soft tacos again with no refried beans or cheese. They were delicious once again. I did however eat some of the boys bread bowl. It's sourdough. It's fine! Right?
Dinner: We went to a jungle and animal themed restaurant outside the park, where I had the worst veggie burger ever. It just didn't taste good not to mention there was an unidentifiable sauce that I didn't remember being in the menu description. Besides that being the only close to vegan option on the menu there was not one appetizer that didn't have dairy or chicken. I understand maybe the demand is low, but it sucks for me. I did have a moment of weakness with the fried calamari my husband ordered. Oh, and then there was dessert. I closed my eyes and with the shovel-sized spoon they brought out I dug in. Yes I did. I dug into chocolate brownie, a little bit of ice cream and a lot of whip cream. Again, a weakness. I'm still a young vegan with some weaknesses. And I know it. I won't kid myself. I'm sorry.
So that's my Disneyland food journal. Needless to say, being vegan at D-Land was difficult for me. There were plenty of fresh fruit options but I'm not much of a fruit eater, let alone fruit for every meal. I was hoping our one outside the park restaurant would have provided me better choices but it didn't.
However, I felt great. I didn't get a stomach ache once, which usually happens every night. We saved a little money on food because I planned who was eating what better. And maybe I will get a little more creative next trip. And then again maybe I will just bring my own food with me!
NFL Football Star Tony Gonzalez is Vegan?!
To top it off, he talks about how the acai berry is a very important part of his shake because of it's high antioxidant levels. In the video he uses Sambazon rather than MonaVie, but I've been doing a ton of research lately on the differences between Sambazon and MonaVie, as my friends are distributors of MonaVie, and I will write more once I finish my research.
This article from The Wall Street Journal entitled, "The 247 lb. Vegan",discusses how he made the decision to go vegan after reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.
Veggie Burger Review... Or Is It?
The Boca Burger Original Vegan Burger was introduced to me by Monica and my first time having it was grilled on a BBQ and then I put basil, white onion, tomato, avocado, balsamic vinegar and some crushed garlic on it. Amazing!! However, I knew that it was quite possible that it could have been the sunny, hot Sunday afternoon, the kids playing in the pool, the summer smell of a charcoal BBQ burning... maybe even the basil and balsamic/garlic that I had exprimented with that made it by far the best veggie burger I had ever eaten. So I didn't have too high of expectations when I made the next one at home in the toaster oven with just some onions, tomato and avocado on some slices of whole grain toast. Delicious again! Since then I have had many more and they have all quenched that nostalgic need for a good ol' burger on a hot summer day.
Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger was introduced to me by my Stepmom a few years back as she attempted to find edible items for me as I had declared myself vegan forever in May 2006 after reading The Food Revolution by John Robbins
Here is the ingredient list for Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger: Carrot, Onion, Stringbeans, Soybeans, Zucchini, Oat Bran, Peas, Spinach, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Broccoli, Textured Soy Flour, Corn, Oat Fiber, Red Pepper, Arrowroot, Corn Meal, Corn Starch, Garlic, Salt, Parsley, Black Pepper, All Natural Vegetable Gum.
Here is the ingredient list for Boca Burger Original Vegan Burger: Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, ,Wheat Gluten, Contains less that 2% of Methylcellulose, Salt, Caramel Color, Dried Onions, Yeast Extract, Sesame Oil, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavor (non-meat), Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate.
Wow, I must admit, after typing out the ingredients from the Boca Burgers maybe on second thought this should be titled, Eat Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burgers. I would suggest you go to Wikepedia and look up Methylcellulose, Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate and make up your own mind.
I think after reading up on those ingredients I'm going to stick to the Dr. Praeger's from now on. Also, I noticed Dr. Praeger's has a gluten free version of the California Veggie Burger too. I also looked up the Vegetable Gum that is in Dr. Praeger's on Wikipedia. It says it is derived from a number of sources, depending on what type of gum it is, but that it typically originates from woody elements of plants or seed coatings... much better!
So, there you go... try Dr. Praeger's for a nice veggie burger. I wouldn't say it tastes anything like a meat burger but it's round and you can put it on a bun!
Vegan Protein Sources
In terms of protein intake, the RDA recommendation is that 1 out of every 10 calories you consume should come from protein and exactly how much that is depends on your weight. You should be consuming approx. .5 grams per pound that you weigh so half your weight. However, Dr. T. Colin Campbell in his book, The China Study, says that Americans tend to get way too much protein in their diets and that it should be closer to about 50 - 60 grams/day, rather than the 100 gram/day consumed on average by Americans.
A common fallacy is that you need to combine proteins at each meal to make them complete. Just make sure you eat a variety of foods (fruits, veggies and grains) and you will get all your amino acids, which are what make up proteins. Soy beans are a complete protein by the way so you can eat tofu/edamame/soy milk if you are concerned you aren't eating a balanced diet and therefore not getting all your amino acids.
Ok, now on to foods...
Asparagus, broccoli and tofu are about 40% protein as a % of calories, watercress is 83% so these foods are very high in protein as a % of calories.
Beans - here are the protein amounts per 1 cup serving:
Soybeans - 28.5g
Lentils - 18g
Split peas - 16.5g
Navy beans - 16g
Black beans - 15g
Chickpeas..aka garbanzos - 14.5
Peas (fresh) - 9g
Nuts - here are the protein amounts per 100 gram serving:
Peanuts - 24.3g
Pistachios - 19.3g
Cashews - 17.2g
Almonds - 16.9g
Pine Nuts - 14g
Brazil Nuts - 12g
Walnuts - 10.6g
Pecans - 9.2g
Hazel Nuts - 7.6g
Macadamia Nuts - 7g
Coconuts - 3.2g
Chestnuts - 2g
Seeds - per 100 gram serving:
Pumpkin - 29g
Sesame - 26.4g
Sunflower - 24g
Also, green leafy veggies are especially high in protein as well.
Most of the information from this e-mail came from The Idiots Guide to Vegan Living by Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano. This is a fantastic book for anyone looking into a vegan lifestyle.
Pressed Tofu... So Good!
Here are some simple instructions:
Take one block of tofu, NOT the silken kind. I like Firm and Extra Firm. Drain and discard the liquid. Cut the tofu in half and turn the halves up on their sides with the cut sides facing you. Slice each halve into 3 equal pieces, rectangles.
Place a clean kitchen towel onto a cutting board or flat cookie sheet. Place the rectangular tofu slices on the towel. Place another clean kitchen towel on top of the tofu. Put another cutting board or flat cookie sheet on top. Then place heavy items on top to put weight on the tofu. I use the huge Costco canned foods and huge syrup bottles. I also have a huge wooden cutting board as my top board. Press for one hour.
Once the hour is up, cook your tofu. I heat my flat double burner griddle. I spray a light coat of non-stick olive oil on my griddle and then line up my tofu on my griddle. I sprinkle a little salt or garlic salt over the tofu. Cook on both sides for approximately 5 minutes on medium heat. It will turn a golden brown. Don’t burn your tofu.
The pressed tofu will have a similar texture as chicken. Tofu taste like what you cook it with. Any dish you would put chicken or steak in, try substituting pressed tofu.
Try changing different things with your tofu. I have sprinkled Taco Seasoning over my tofu and I have sprinkled sesame seeds on one side of my tofu.
My Pressing Tips
I read somewhere you could use paper towels, which I tried and didn’t like for several reasons. I don’t like using paper towels. I think they are a waste of money and not environmentally friendly. However, I do keep a roll hidden in my pantry. I am pro-cloth kitchen towels. I find the kitchen towels absorb the extra moisture in the tofu better.
And if you are wondering what brand of tofu to buy… it may truly be trial and error. I like Trader Joe’s Organic Firm Tofu. The price is perfect for my grocery budget. I actually have an entire list of products from Trader Joe’s that I love and stock my refrigerator and pantry with. That will be another blog… and freezing tofu is yet to come…
-Monica