Vegan Mamas

Recipe: Roasted Root Vegetables Scented With Apple and Mustard by John Ash

2010-03-01T22:19:00.001-08:00

Two years ago at a New Year's Eve party someone brought this dish and everyone, including myself, was going crazy over it! So, just a week ago, I was at another party at this same house and the woman who had brought that dish brought a bunch of copies of that recipe. Thank God because I've tried to recreate it myself and it was never the same.

It appears to be from a magazine titled Your Organic Kitchen (pg. 194).

Roasted Root Vegetables Scented With Apple and Mustard

by John Ash

Ingredients:

3 cups apple cider or juice

1 cup fruity white wine such as Fetzer Gewurztraminer

2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons butter (obviously you can change this out for vegan butter)

4 - 5 pounds root vegetables, both sweet (carrots, parsnips, and/or yams) and savory (turnips, rutabagas, and/or celery root), peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

In a saucepan, reduce the apple cider or juice, wine, and mustard over high heat to 1.5 cups. Whisk in the butter and pour over the vegetables tossing to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place the vegetables in a single layer in a large roasting pan (s) in a preheated 375 degree overn. Roast for 1 hour or so, or until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender. Stir the vegetables 3 or 4 times during the roasting process to promote browning on all sides.

Makes 8 servings.

Black Bean and Walnut Veggie Burger - Vegetarian Times Recipe

2010-02-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Katie, at www.FreeTheMoms.com- a great website for Moms to share their truths, stories, recipes, tips and ideas and to not have to worry about being judged, which as any Mom knows, can be as big of a part of Motherhood as Mom Guilt. None of us need it, none of us have time for it and none of us should be encouraging it. We are all doing our best (which is the only reason we care when someone judges our decisions) and we all need to support each other and help each other to learn and grow without fear of judgement or failure. Wow, I had no idea I had so much to say about Mom judgement! So anyways, go check out www.FreeTheMoms.com and see what it's all about for yourself!

Here is Katie's excerpt on the veggie burger recipe she discovered (click here to read it on www.FreeTheMoms.com directly):

I made these last night and they were super easy and extremely tasty. I got the recipe fromhttp://www.vegetariantimes.comwhich has amazing recipes and I highly recommend getting the magazine subscription. Every recipe they have that we have made has been very good.

Black Bean and Walnut Burger

2 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained well

2 tsp. ground cumin

3 tsp. chili powder

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup chopped red onion

3 Tbs. canned corn

1/3 cup cornmeal

guacamole, for garnish

chunky salsa, for garnish

These burgers go together in no time, but if you want to get a jump-start on cookout prep, you can make them a day ahead. Refrigerate the mixture until about an hour before you’re ready to grill.

Purée 2 1/2 cups beans with cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper until smooth. Add rice, walnuts, onion, corn and remaining beans, and pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. (Mixture should be stiff but not dry.) Add 2 to 3 Tbs. water to moisten, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill, if making ahead. Divide mixture into 8 burgers. Dredge burgers in cornmeal. Chill 30 minutes (unless mixture has been made earlier and chilled.)

Coat nonstick pan or grill with cooking spray. Cook burgers over medium heat 4 minutes. Flip, and cook 4 minutes more, or until heated through. Garnish with guacamole and salsa, if desired, and serve.

Looking at the Beef in the Vegetarian Argument (A TreeHugger.com Article)

2010-02-03T08:03:00.000-08:00

Graham Hill, founder of Treehugger.com (an incredible source for anything to do with living a green lifestyle) is questioning how eating meat can or should be a part of a system of sustainable agriculture. A meat-eater himself, Graham recently collected some facts on how a meat eating diet contributes to both our health and our environment.

Perhaps if Graham Hill still needs some more facts, he should read John Robbins' book, "The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World".

Click here to read Graham's article on TreeHugger.com. Below are the main facts he discusses in this article:

1. Eating a hamburger a day could increase a person's risk of dying by a third from cancer, heart disease, stroke and the list goes on.

2. Billions of extra health care spending can be attributed to our meat eating lifestyles.

3. Eating meat spews more emissions than our cars, trains, and planes combined.

4. Pound for pound beef production uses at least 100 times the water of say, lettuce.

5. And, beef production emits nearly 100 times more greenhouse gas emissions than growing veggies.

6. Meat and livestock cause twice the pollution of all industry combined.

Vegan Shepherds Pie and Mashed Potatoes

2010-01-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

Vegan Shepherds Pie

I love Shepherds Pie. Here is my vegan version.

2 Boca Burgers, cooked, chopped

3 oz. Organic Tomato Paste (1/2 the small can)

2-4 Tbl. Bragg Liquid Aminos (optional)

2-4 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce (optional, yes it contains

anchovies, but I check my 3% rule when using this item)

2 Tbl. A1 Steak Sauce (optional)

1/4 c. water

½ to 1 c. frozen peas and carrots

1 can mushrooms (optional), or 1 c. fresh mushrooms, slice and sautéed

Mash Potatoes

(If you didn’t have tomato paste, you could probably use ketchup.)

Preheat oven to 450.

Cook Boca Burgers completely, then chop into small pieces. While cooking Boca Burgers, whisk tomato paste and all liquids together in a bowl. Put Boca Burger pieces back in pan and add tomato paste mixture and vegetables. Cook over medium-low and mix well about 5 minutes. The tomato liquid should be slightly thinner than ketchup. Place all ingredients in an oven safe deep sided casserole dish and top with mash potatoes. Bake for 35 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

What I love about this dish is you don’t have to be exact in your measurements or ingredients. I have made it with mushrooms and without. I have used just tomato paste, water and spices, instead of the sauces. I have used instant mash potatoes and homemade. You can make it a couple days before you want to eat it and it stores well. It also makes great leftovers. I am a huge fan of leftovers.

Mashed Potatoes (VEGANIZED!)

So I’ll be real with you… I don’t measure anything when I make homemade mashed potatoes. But I will tell you what I use and how I do it.

4-5 potatoes, russets or large baking potatoes

2-3 garlic cloves (optional)

1 Tbl. dried Rosemary

Earth Balance Vegan Organic Buttery Spread

Organic Rice Milk

Garlic Powder

Sea Salt and Fresh Pepper

Nutritional Yeast (optional)

Wash potatoes and either peel or de-eye if needed. Cut potatoes into thirds to help cook faster. Fill pot so the water just covers top of potatoes. I have found putting in one tablespoon of dried rosemary and a couple of garlic cloves into the water tastes good, but that is optional. Bring water to a boil and then leave over medium heat until potatoes are fork tender. Drain water leaving potatoes in the pot.

Generously sprinkle garlic powder (NOT garlic salt) maybe about 2 tablespoons, sea salt or kosher salt and pepper. Then scoop 2-4 big spoonfuls of vegan buttery spread and top with some rice or soy milk. Then start mashing. I have also used my Kitchen Aide and whipped my potatoes. Either way works great. Then taste. I usually have to add a bit more garlic powder and salt. An excellent addition is to add Nutritional Yeast to give your potatoes a bit of a cheesy taste. Delicious!

Recipe: Curry Pineapple Fried Rice

2009-11-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

I have tried about five different recipes for Pineapple Fried Rice and none of them have come out good at all. They have all been bland, no matter what I seem to do. BUT, I have finally made a recipe that is amazing!!

My inspiration came from this recipe I found on flickr. I combined some of the ideas from this recipe with the other recipes I had made, which were good but bland. Finally, when this one turned out bland too, in a moment of frustration I decided to pour in a ginger vinaigrette I had out and it turned this blah recipe into a super good recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 can of pineapple chunks

4 green onions - slice and separate white/clear part from green

1/3 cup cashews

1/4 cup raisins

1 large tomato

1 tbsp. of fresh ginger

3 tbsp. peanut oil

3 tbsp. curry powder

2 containers of microwaveable rice from TJ's or Costco (about 8 oz. each)

1 clove of garlic

Lastly... the awesome super ingredient: 1/3 cup of Annie's Naturals Gingerly Vinaigrette

Instructions:

Over medium to high heat, heat up the peanut oil along with the curry powder and let it simmer for about a minute. Add in ginger and the clear/white parts of the green onion and let them saute for a good minute.

Add in both bowls of rice and stir them up making sure to coat all of the rice with the oil/curry sauce. Add in Annie's Naturals Gingerly Vinaigrette and stir all together.

Add in the raisins and pineapples and about 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice and heat for another two minutes or so.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cashews, remaining green onions and tomato and serve!!

You may want to salt it too just a little bit... or salt the tomatoes prior to mixing them in.

8 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking Milk Now - Planet Green

2009-11-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Click here to read this GREAT article from Planet Green on why milk is not good for us or the environment. Below is a general list from the article of why milk is not good, but I would recommend reading the article in it's entirety.

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

2009-10-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children. --David Brenner

Animals are my friends...and I don't eat my friends. --George Bernard Shaw

How can you eat anything with eyes? --Will Kellogg

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child, as it is to the caterpillar. -- Bradley Miller

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. We feel better about ourselves and better about the animals, knowing we're not contributing to their pain. --Paul (1942- ) and Linda McCartney

I do not like eating meat because I have seen lambs and pigs killed. I saw and felt their pain. They felt the approaching death. I could not bear it. I cried like a child. I ran up a hill and could not breathe. I felt that I was choking. I felt the death of the lamb. --Vaslav Nijinsky (dancer and choreographer)

Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you anymore. -- Franz Kafka-Novelist (to the fishes in his aquarium)

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times. --Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904- )

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love. --Pythagoras (6th century BC)

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. --Leo Tolstoy

Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own. --Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal. ~Ingrid Newkirk, National Director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them. -- Samuel Butler, Note-Books, 1912

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

Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own. -- Robert Louis Stevenson

The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital. --Neal Barnard, M.D.

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" --k.d. lang

Dear Lord, I've been asked, nay commanded, to thank Thee for the Christmas turkey before us... a turkey which was no doubt a lively, intelligent bird... a social being... capable of actual affection... nuzzling its young with almost human-like compassion. Anyway, it's dead and we're gonna eat it. Please give our respects to its family. --Berke Breathed, Bloom County Babylon

We pray on Sundays that we may have light/To guide our footsteps on the path we tread;/We are sick of war, we don't want to fight,/And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead. -- George Bernard Shaw

We don't need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could. --James Cromwell

If you knew how meat was made, you'd probably lose your lunch. --k.d. lang

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses. --George Bernard Shaw

As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields. --Leo Tolstoy, author

The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion. --Mahaparinirvana (Buddhist)

I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants. -- Gandhi

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

Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay. --George Bernard Shaw

My situation is a solemn one. Life is offered to me on condition of eating beefsteaks. But death is better than cannibalism. My will contains directions for my funeral, which will be followed not by mourning coaches, but by oxen, sheep, flocks of poultry, and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarfs in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures. --George Bernard Shaw

I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens. --Isaac Bashevis Singer, quoted in You Said a Mouthful edited by Ronald D. Fuchs

Suppose that tomorrow a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth, beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals. Would they have the right to treat you as you treat the animals you breed, keep and kill for food? --John Harris (1946- )

Heart attacks... God's revenge for eating his little animal friends. --Author Unknown

Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind. -- Albert Einstein

Our task must be to free ourselves... widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. -- Albert Einstein

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. -- Gandhi

If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalist for the same reasons. -- C. S. Lewis

Among the noblest in the land - Though man may count himself the least - That man I honor and revere, Who without favor, without fear, In the great city dares to stand, The friend of every friendless beast. --Henry W. Longfellow

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral. -- Leo Tolstoy

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

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? --George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Coexistence... what the farmer does with the turkey - until Thanksgiving. --Mike Connolly

A mind of the calibre of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows. --George Bernard Shaw

It is strange to hear people talk of Humanitarianism, who are members of societies for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals, and who claim to be God-loving men and women, but who, nevertheless, encourage by their patronage the killing of animals merely to gratify the cravings of appetite. --Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nish (1844-1936)

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

But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy. --Plutarch (c.AD 46-c.120)

Flesh eating is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act, which is contrary to moral feeling: killing. By killing, man suppresses in himself, unnecessarily, the highest spiritual capacity, that of sympathy and pity towards living creatures like himself and by violating his own feelings becomes cruel. -- Leo Tolstoy

Flesh eating is unprovoked murder. -- Benjamin Franklin

I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men. --Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. --Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)

We stopped eating meat many years ago. During the course of a Sunday lunch we happened to look out of the kitchen window at our young lambs playing happily in the fields. Glancing down at our plates, we suddenly realized that we were eating the leg of an animal who had until recently been playing in a field herself. We looked at each other and said, "Wait a minute, we love these sheep--they're such gentle creatures. So why are we eating them?" It was the last time we ever did. --Linda and Paul McCartney (musicians)

"Those who, by their purchases, require animals to be killed have no right to be shielded from the slaughterhouse or any other aspect of the production of the meat they buy. If it is distasteful for humans to think about, what can it be like for the animals to experience it?" --Peter Singer

"My dream is that people will come to view eating an animal as cannibalism." --Henry Spira

In every respect, vegans appear to enjoy equal or better health in comparison to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. --T. Colin Campbell, PhD Professor of Nutrition, Cornell University (letter dated 3/29/98)

"Awareness is bad for the meat business. Conscience is bad for the meat business. Sensitivity to life is bad for the meat business. DENIAL, however, the meat business finds indispensable." --John Robbins, Diet for a New America

"There will come a time...when civilised people will look back in horror on our generation and the ones that preceded it: the idea that we should eat other living things running around on four legs, that we should raise them just for the purpose of killing them! The people of the future will say "meat-eaters!" in disgust and regard us in the same way we regard cannibals and cannibalism" --Dennis Weaver

"The animals you eat are not those who devour others; you do not eat the carnivorous beasts, you take them as your pattern. You only hunger after sweet and gentle creatures who harm no one, which follow you, serve you, and are devoured by you as the reward of their service" --John Jacques Rousseau

"The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of `real food for real people,' you'd better live real close to a real good hospital." --Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, D.C.

"When we kill the animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings." --William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of The American Journal of Cardiology

"All red meat contains saturated fat. There is no such thing as truly lean meat. Trimming away the edge ring of fat around a steak really does not lower the fat content significantly. People who have red meat (trimmed or untrimmed) as a regular feature of their diets suffer in far greater numbers from heart attacks and strokes." --Michael Klaper, M.D., Medical Director, EarthSave Foundation, Santa Cruz, California

"If you step back and look at the data, the optimum amount of red meat you eat should be zero." --Walter Willett, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, director of a study that found a close correlation between red meat consumption and colon cancer.

"Usually, the first thing a country does in the course of economic development is to introduce a lot of livestock. Our data are showing that this is not a very smart move and the Chinese are listening. They are realizing that animal-based agriculture is not the way to go.... We are basically a vegetarian species and should be eating a wide variety of plant food and minimizing our intake of animal foods.... "Once people start introducing animal products into their diet, that's when the mischief starts." --T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., of Cornell University, director of a study of 6,500 Chinese that found a close correlation between meat consumption and the incidence of heart disease and cancer.

"The thousands of people who have suffered food poisoning after eating beef will, no doubt, appreciate that their beef was aesthetically acceptable, even though it made them ill. `Lovely to look at, dangerous to eat' is not a standard that is likely to help beef sales." --Carol Tucker Foreman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture during the Carter administration, commenting on the inadequacy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Streamlined (Meat) Inspection System (SIS).

If man wants freedom why keep birds and animals in cages? Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men. -- Leonardo da Vinci

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

Men dig their graves with their own teeth and die by those fated instruments more than the weapons of their enemies. -- Thomas Moffett

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties... The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery. -- Charles Darwin

When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. -- Ingrid Newkirk

If experiments on animals were abandoned on grounds of compassion, mankind would have made a fundamental advance. -- Richard Wagner

For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love. -- Pythagoras

It were much better that a sentient being should never have existed, than that it should have existed only to endure unmitigated misery. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit for their cruelty. -- Leo Tolstoy

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. -- Ecclesiastes

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. -- St. Francis of Assisi

I have no doubt that it is part of the destiny of the human race in its gradual improvement to leave off eating animals. -- Henry David Thoreau

Your choice of diet can influence your long term health prospects more than any other action you might take. -- Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop

Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. -- Albert Schweitzer

If you have men who will exclude any of god's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewisewith their fellow men. -- St. Francis of Assisi

Basically we should stop doing those things that are destructive to the environment, other creatures, and ourselves and figure out new ways of existing. -- Moby

Plant life instead of animal food is the keystone of regeneration. Jesus used bread instead of flesh and wine in place of blood at the Lord's Supper. -- German Composer Richard Wagner

It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions. --Mark Twain

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever does. -- Margaret Mead

We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions and organs with our own, and fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain and fear. -- Robert Louis Stevenson

To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the suffering of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands (now billions) of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime. -- Romain Rolland--Nobel 1915

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. -- Thomas Edison

To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana. -- Buddha

40 years ago on the set of Gunsmoke I read the book The Holy Science. Since then I have not eaten meat. -- Dennis Weaver

Since visiting the abbatoirs of S. France I have stopped eating meat. -- Vincent Van Gogh (in a letter to his brother Theodore)

The most energetic workers I have encountered in my world travels are the vegetarian miners of Chile. -- Charles Darwin

I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom. It was my dog Boycott who led me to question to right of humans to eat other sentient beings. -- Cesar Chavez (pacifist head of the United Farm Workers)

Love animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble their joy, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness, don't work against God's intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you-alas, it is true of almost every one of us! -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them, that's the essence of inhumanity. -- Isaac Bashevis Singer

It is man's sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man. -- Dr. Albert Schweitzer--Nobel 1952

Gandhi on Vegeterianism ( Link)

We are the living graves of murdered beasts,Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites.We never pause to wonder at our feasts,If animals, like men, can possibly have rights.We pray on Sundays that we may have light,To guide our footsteps on the path we tread.We're sick of war, we do not want to fight -The thought of it now fills our hearts with dread,And yet - we gorge ourselves upon the dead. Like carrion crows we live and feed on meat,Regardless of the suffering and the painwe cause by doing so, if thus we treatdefenceless animals for sport or gain,how can we hope in this world to attain,the PEACE we say we are so anxious for.We pray for it o'er hecatombs of slain,to God, while outraging the moral law,thus cruelty begets its offspring - WAR. - Living Graves - By George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

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

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them. ~Samuel Butler, Note-Books, 1912

Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay. ~George Bernard Shaw

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

How can you eat anything with eyes? ~Will Kellogg

Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fishburger and I realize, Oh my God. I could be eating a slow learner. ~Lynda Montgomery

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer, quoted in You Said a Mouthful edited by Ronald D. Fuchs

Vegetarianism is harmless enough though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness. ~Robert Hutchison, address to the British Medical Association, 1930

Heart attacks... God's revenge for eating his little animal friends. ~Author Unknown

Fork: An instrument used chiefly for the purpose of putting dead animals into the mouth. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

If you're not vegan, you're not vegetarian. ~V.L. Allineare

For the most part, we carnivores do not eat other carnivores. We prefer to eat our vegetarian friends. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

My perspective of veganism was most affected by learning that the veal calf is a by-product of dairying, and that in essence there is a slice of veal in every glass of what I had thought was an innocuous white liquid - milk. ~Rynn Berry, quoted in Joanne Stepaniak, The Vegan Sourcebook, 1998

Nothing spoils lunch any quicker than a rogue meatball rampaging through your spaghetti. ~Jim Davis

Vegetarians taste better. ~Author Unknown

Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning "lousy hunter." ~Andy Rooney

The human body has no more need for cows' milk than it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk, or giraffes' milk. ~Michael Klaper

Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal. ~Ingrid Newkirk

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

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" ~k.d. lang

I won't eat anything that has intelligent life, but I'd gladly eat a network executive or a politician. ~Marty Feldman

I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants. ~A. Whitney Brown

A mind of the calibre of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows. ~George Bernard Shaw

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses. ~George Bernard Shaw

If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat? ~Author Unknown

There is no substitute for mother's milk. ~Martin H. Fischer

I've found without question that the best way to lead others to a more plant-based diet is by example - to lead with your fork, not your mouth. ~Bernie Wilke, quoted in Joanne Stepaniak, The Vegan Sourcebook, 1998

Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. ~Leonardo da Vinci

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other.... ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

I venture to maintain that there are multitudes to whom the necessity of discharging the duties of a butcher would be so inexpressibly painful and revolting, that if they could obtain a flesh diet on no other condition, they would relinquish it forever. ~W.E.H. Lecky

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? ~George Bernard Shaw

I just could not stand the idea of eating meat - I really do think that it has made me calmer.... People's general awareness is getting much better, even down to buying a pint of milk: the fact that the calves are actually killed so that the milk doesn't go to them but to us cannot really be right, and if you have seen a cow in a state of extreme distress because it cannot understand why its calf isn't by, it can make you think a lot. ~Kate Bush

I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw so that you are not blinded by the hypocrisy of having it processed for you. ~Margi Clark 60 Minutes, 19 September 1997

"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

As soon as I realized that I didn't need meat to survive or to be in good health, I began to see how forlorn it all is. If only we had a different mentality about the drama of the cowboy and the range and all the rest of it. It's a very romantic notion, an entrenched part of American culture, but I've seen, for example, pigs waiting to be slaughtered, and their hysteria and panic was something I shall never forget. ~Cloris Leachman

We manage to swallow flesh only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing that we do. Cruelty... is a fundamental sin, and admits of no arguments or nice distinctions. If only we do not allow our heart to grow callous, it protests against cruelty, is always clearly heard; and yet we go on perpetrating cruelties easily, merrily, all of us - in fact, anyone who does not join in is dubbed a crank. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds? ~Plutarch

It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion, and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab Notes

Vegetarianism can easily reach religious proportions. Refraining from meat on moral grounds serves to dignify feelings of guilt toward sad-eyed, furry creatures and substitutes righteousness for squeamishness. ~Bill Griffith, Griffith Observatory comic strip, 1977

To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. ~Mahatma Gandhi

A veteran USDA meat inspector from Texas describes what he has seen: "Cattle dragged and choked... knocking 'em four, five, ten times. Every now and then when they're stunned they come back to life, and they're up there agonizing. They're supposed to be re-stunned but sometimes they aren't and they'll go through the skinning process alive. I've worked in four large [slaughterhouses] and a bunch of small ones. They're all the same. If people were to see this, they'd probably feel really bad about it. But in a packing house everybody gets so used to it that it doesn't mean anything." ~Slaughterhouse 1997

I eat everything that nature voluntarily gives: fruits, vegetables, and the products of plants. But I ask you to spare me what animals are forced to surrender: meat, milk, and cheese. ~Author Unknown

For that which you savor, did it give you something real, or could you taste the pain of my death in its flavor?~Wayne K. Tolson, from "Food Forethought"

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

Would you kill your pet dog or cat to eat it? How about an animal you're not emotionally attached to? Is the thought of slaughtering a cow or chicken or pig with your own hands too much to handle? Instead, would hiring a hit-man to do the job give you enough distance from the emotional discomfort? What animal did you put a contract out on for your supper last night? Did you at least make sure that none went to waste and to take a moment to be grateful for its sacrifice? ~Anonymous

Recipe: Sweet Potato Hash Browns - Amazing!!

2009-10-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

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.

The best part of this recipe is that Jamie teaches you how to salt the tomatoes to get some of the water out of them and really enhance the flavor. The salt mostly drips out of the tomato so it's not that you're just dousing this lovely salad with salt, you are draining the salt and water out of the tomatoes prior to making the salad. It makes a HUGE difference! Ok, here it is:

Click here for the link directly to The Food Network to get the recipe there if you'd like or read below. Or go to www.jamieoliver.com to learn more about Jamie Oliver and his amazing books/tv shows.

Directions

This is an incredible tomato salad but there are two things to remember if you want to wow your guests with something so simple. The first is that you should try to get a mixture of different, tasty, local (if possible) tomatoes in all different shapes, sizes and colors. Second, the flavor is brought out by salting the tomatoes, so don't skip this bit. Some people get worried about putting this much salt on their food, but the bulk of it will drip off, leaving you with really beautiful, intensely flavored tomatoes.

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

2009-09-06T13:12:00.001-07:00

I don't think it's physically possible not to like this soup if you like tomatoes. Even all of the kids we have given it to completely approve of it and there is nothing "bad" in it.

This soup was made for me by my Mom's close friend, Jane, as a welcome home dinner after my husband and I came home from the hospital with our baby girl, Helen. I have craved it ever since.

I now have Jane's recipe and since my daughter is two and I am teaching her to learn to share, I thought it would be hypocritical of me to hoard this recipe to myself as a "secret" recipe when I could share this recipe with others and let them enjoy it as well.

Organic Heirloom Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

3-4 Tbspns. Olive Oil

2 Med. White Onions Chopped Fine

2-3 Cloves Garlic - Minced

1 Tspn. Dill

2 Tbspns. Basil Fresh

1 Tbspn. Thyme

1 Cube Butter (Substitute Earth Balance Vegan Butter)

10 - 15 Ripe Organic Heirloom Tomatoes - slice into small chunks

28 oz. of Vegetable Broth

1 Can Tomato Paste

1/4 Cup Flour

Directions:

Saute onions, garlic and spices in large pot. Add tomatoes and butter and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend flour with vegetable broth and then add to pot along with tomato paste. Use an immersion blender to blend soup until there are no lumps left. Add salt as desired.

Update On My Vegan Dog

2009-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

One thing that always seemed to be missing for me with sandwiches as a vegan is mayonnaise. It brings a moistness to a sandwich that is hard to obtain without mayonnaise. I have tried different items like Vegannaise or Earth Balance spreadable vegan butter and they are good but my favorite vegan sandwich condiment is hands down Hummus!

My favorite hummus is the Mediterranean Hummus at Trader Joe's. I have recommended this hummus to many people and people who don't even like hummus love this hummus. Second up is the edamame hummus at Trader Joe's. Again, this is a type of hummus that doesn't even taste like regular hummus.

So, here are a two variations of my favorite hummus sandwiches:

Classic Vegan Sandwich

Mediterranean Hummus from Trader Joe's

Tomato

Red/White Onion

Avocado

Spread as much hummus as you like on the bread and add as much of the ingredients as you want and you're done. Delicious!

Edamame Hummus with Avocado Sandwich (great for kids!)

1/2 avocado

1 - 2 tbspns edamame hummus

2 slices of bread - my favorite bread is Milton's Whole Grain Bread

Just spread the hummus on the bread, add the avocado and you're done.

- This is a favorite of my two year old daughter because it's easy for her to wrap her mouth around it and it's very tasty for only having two ingredients.

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir Fry

2009-07-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1 pkg of Organic Firm Tofu - previously pressed and frozen (click here for instructions on freezing tofu)

1/2 bottle of Trader Joe's Sweet Chili Sauce

1 Bell Pepper

1 White Onion

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 can of pineapple chunks

Rice or Quinoa - as much as you like to have with your stir-fry

Instructions:

Stir fry garlic and onion for about 30 seconds and then add in bell pepper. Stir fry for another minute then add in pineapple chunks, tofu and sweet chili sauce.

Serve over rice!

Cooking With Frozen Pressed Tofu ...Way More Convenient!

2009-07-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

I have found that I can just never make tofu taste like it does when I eat it at restaurants.... until now. I've tried this new method a number of times now and it has come out tasty every time.

First, I take a block (or 2,3 or 4 blocks!) of organic firm tofu and I press the whole block for an hour.

For those who don't know how to press tofu, you take the tofu and wrap it in a dish towel or paper towels and then set it on a cutting board.

I then stack about 5 other cutting boards on top of it. Some people use a number of canned goods on top of one cutting board in order to weigh it down. Whatever you need to do, just make sure the tofu is evenly pressed down between two solid surfaces.

Once it has pressed for an hour, I slice it in two by cutting through the middle lengthwise. I then cut it into about 6 or 7 strips in both directions so that I end up with little 1 inch cubes.

I then scoop all the cubes up and throw it in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer.

When I am ready to use it (after it has frozen), I just take it out of the freezer and I put it in my vegetable steamer and steam it until all the little cubes break apart and they are no longer frozen.

Then I put about a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and I saute the cubes over medium heat for about 7 minutes.

Then I let them marinate in whatever sauce I chose for a few minutes to soak up some flavor and then mix them into a noodle dish or just serve them as a side by themselves.

They are moist, not too flavored and have a nice texture! Even my husband who can't stand tofu has decided that tofu prepared in this way is edible. That alone is a big thumbs up for this method!

Another reason I like this method of preparation is that I can prepare multiple blocks of tofu at a time and then just have them on hand in the freezer. Before when I would make tofu I would have to remember an hour before dinner to start pressing the tofu. This way they're ready to just pop in the steamer and then saute!

Can You Be a Part-Time Vegetarian?

2009-06-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Woman's Day Magazine this week featured an article titled "Can you be a part-time vegetarian?" They used the term "flexitarian" which was the second time in recent weeks I've read this term for a part-time vegetarian diet.

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!

2009-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Most people assume if you're vegan that you must be "one of those people" who just can't stand to see cute little piggies and cows getting slaughtered and so you decided to stop eating meat and dairy all for sake of the animals.

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, which is a book written by a medical doctor and a naturopath. They said that dairy and meat were large offenders for people that suffered from these skin disorders and it also explained why which made a lot of sense to me. When we took JP off dairy for a year his skin totally cleared up! At one point he was off dairy but was eating a ton of chicken and his skin got really bad again.

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 is an easy read in the sense that he has easy to read facts throughout the whole book so you can start by just kind of scanning through it and looking at some of the facts and then you'll probably end up wanting to read more once you look at the scientific data that has been gathered.

The next book that I highly recommend is called The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. This book explains the findings in a 27 year (and still going!) study on different counties in China where animal protein is heavily consumed and other areas where they eat mostly plant based proteins and the staggering links between diet and diseases that they suffer/die from. Over 800 links were found and then published in scientific journals about this study. This is the largest study ever done on humans. The New York Times called it "The Grand Prix of Epidemiology".

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. This is a great guide to understanding what your body needs to function and what foods you need to eat to keep your body in top performance. It is very well written and a guide that I find myself referencing quite often.

Another book that helps with the transition, I think, is a book called Vegetables Every Day. This book has nothing to do with being vegan, it is just a cook book that has very simple and yet incredibly tasty ways of cooking vegetables. Any time he calls for butter I just substitue with olive oil.

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 Bitchand apparently they are working on releasing a new one called Skinny Bachelor about men being vegan too.

If you have any questions or comments or want any other information please let us know!

It's Tough To Eat Vegan In Disneyland!

2009-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

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?!

2009-06-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

The video below is of Tony Gonzalez making a vegan shake and explaining some of the different fruits and vegetables that he puts in his shake - all of the packages I noticed were from Trader Joe's!! Oh, I love Tony Gonzalez more and more!

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?

2009-06-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I should really call this a "review" since I'm really only talking about two types of veggie burgers but I've tried so many different types and none of them have really impressed me except for these two... so there, my review is really saying that all the rest suck but these ones are really good!

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. I haven't really eaten them since but I remember thinking they were pretty good. Monica recently reintroduced me to them again and they are even better than I remember! What I like the most about them, which I can not say the same for the Boca Burger, is that they consist of all ingredients that I would have at home... ok, well I suppose I don't have "All Natural Vegetable Gum" hanging around, not to mention I hate the saying "all natural" since that really doesn't mean shit. Just because it's natural (and what is the definition of natural?... there is no FDA regulation on that statement) doesn't mean it's nutritious or safe for you. Cheetos and Cheez Whiz can probably say all natural on their packaging so that word doesn't really mean much to me. But my point is that, for the most part, they seem to be made with "good stuff".

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

2009-06-22T21:19:00.001-07:00

My brother has recently cut back on his animal protein intake and asked me what were good alternative sources of protein. After writing him back I thought maybe it would be good to post it here. It's nothing you can't find on the internet or in a book, but it's a good reminder to me of all of the plant based foods that are rich in protein.

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!

2009-06-22T21:17:00.001-07:00

I was not always a fan of tofu, until I learned to alter its texture. I love pressed tofu. I could eat it every day. Let me share with you what I learned.

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