vegan 101 girl

Pumpkin Seed Pâté

2015-01-11T17:06:00.003-05:00

I’m baaaaaack. Yep, that’s right, after taking a few months off from the blog, I’ve decided to rejoin the blogosphere. We have sooo much to talk about!

I’ve been jamming out to this, blissing out with this, and feasting my eyes on this.

Lately I’ve gazed at art here, been ice skating, watched professional glass-blowers do their thing (and I’m taking a glassblowing class with my partner next month!), spent weekends giving straw to cold, outside dogs, visited family for the holidays, and of course, I’ve been cooking and baking up at storm.

I’ve been working my butt off at my day job, and this week I actually celebrated my 1 year anniversary of working for the largest and most amazing animal rights organization in the world!

My 24th birthday is in five weeks, so fingers crossed that I get this for my birthday!! It was hinted to me, after I hinted to them what I wanted, that several family members might pitch in and get this for me. You all will be the first to know if I do!!

Speaking of gifts, here are two fun kitchen/food things that I have been wanting and finally got for the holidays that I’m sure tofu lovers and Earth lovers will appreciate. A tofu press and reusable grocery produce bags.

Finally, I was really struggling health-wise last Fall, and I’m still trying to get back on my feet. For a while, we thought I had something wrong with my heart, but after months of tests, it turns out it seems that I just have a heart murmur, which lots of people have (my partner actually has a heart murmur too! We’re twins!). I was diagnosed with an inner ear disease called Meniere’s disease. It basically just means I get a lot of random, severe episodes of vertigo/dizziness and have tinnitus (ringing in my ears). The cause is unknown and there is no cure, I can only manage it with motion sickness meds and anti-nausea meds, which I haven’t used at all. Anyone who knows me will know that taking any kind of medication makes me very anxious and I prefer to find all natural remedies to my ailments. I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s disease (a genetic form of hypothyroidism that lasts my entire life), and I have a goiter!! I was super against taking medication for this, and spent months testing and retesting my thyroid levels with blood work, but I only got sicker. My doctor explained the pretty awful long term effects and how meds are unavoidable and would actually probably make a lot of the sickness I’m feeling go away. I finally buckled down, sucked it up, and went for it. I’ve been taking the lowest dose possible daily for a few weeks now. The first week I didn’t feel so great, but I think that was because of how anxious I was about taking it. Now that my body is starting to get used to it, I’m starting to feel a lot better. Oh, and my top wisdom teeth came in (I’ve already had my bottoms out), ugh, but I have yet to get them removed because this happened at the height on my health issues and my doctor wouldn’t clear me for surgery.

Okay, enough babbling about depressing crap, let’s get to the good stuff.

I actually created this recipe and took these pictures last Fall, right around the time when things were starting to “fall” (lol) apart for me. Hey, you gotta have a sense of humor, even when things get rough, right?! I’ve been holding on to this recipe for months, knowing that I would be back to blogging in no time, and finally, today is that day! Spread this pâté on toast (I like to use this gluten-free bread) and crackers. It also makes a great dip for chips and raw veggies. You could even go all out and use that leftover pulp you’ve had in the freezer to make your own crackers, like I discuss in this post on making almond milk and what to do with the leftover almond pulp.

Pumpkin Seed Pâté
makes 1 cup

1 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked 4-6 hrs (I use these)
1 tsp tamari (or soy sauce if you aren’t gluten-free)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (you could try white vinegar, though I never have)
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt, or to taste
Black pepper, to taste
1-2 tbsp of water or olive oil
Optional, sun-dried tomatoes
Garnish with paprika and/or red pepper flakes

Drain pumpkin seeds using a mesh strainer.
Using a food processor, blender, or whatever you have to blend in, (I use this nifty immersion blender that comes with some cool attachments, one being a neat blending container) blend pumpkin seeds by themselves for a few seconds, until coarsely chopped.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until desired consistency, adding water or oil as needed. I usually use about 1 tbsp of water.
If you are feeling fancy and have extra time, try adding chopped sun-dried tomatoes. I honestly haven’t tried this, but I have a feeling it would be good.
Garnish with paprika and red pepper flakes.

This recipe is so freaking easy and once the pumpkin seeds have soaked, this takes less than 5 minutes to make. So what are you waiting for? Go to your kitchen right now and make this. Immediately. It has a very distinct taste, almost like an artichoke dip, but not quite, and is super flavorful. The only bad thing about this pâté is that it is so addicting, that you will eat all of your appetizers before your guests even arrive. Oops!

Tofu "Egg" Salad Sandwich and Maple-Buffalo Cauliflower: A Guest Post from Alessandra Seiter of Farmers Market Vegan

2014-08-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all! So I'm sure you've noticed that I've been away from my blog for a while. Between work and my health being a bit of a roller coaster lately, I've been a bit preoccupied. I do have an exciting post for you all today though! I'd like to introduce you to Alessandra Seiter of Farmers Market Vegan. A brilliant vegan blogger and activist, Alessandra and I first met in Italy in a vegetarian cooking class while studying abroad. I never would have guessed that years later we would be reunited in the world of vegan blogging. I was incredibly honored when Alessandra asked me to write a guest post for her blog, and knew immediately that I had to have her presence on mine as well. Without further ado, I present Alessandra and her detectable Tofu "Egg" Salad Sandwich and Maple-Buffalo Cauliflower (ummmm holy crap, that sounds freaking amazing!!!). Thank you Alessandra, so much, for sharing this incredible culinary genius of a meal, and for being such a powerhouse activist.

Three years ago and a continent away, Lindsay and I bonded as the only two vegans attending a vegetarian cooking course at a culinary academy in my aunt’s longtime home of Florence, Italy (to which I just recently had the immense pleasure of returning!). Little did I know that, once we had cut our final strand of homemade pasta and bade each other and the rest of our classmates goodbye, Lindsay and I would virtually reunite in the vegan blogosphere. After noticing an informative and well-written post on the Main Street Vegan website, I did a double-take upon viewing the contributor photo: “Oh my goodness gracious, is that LINDSAY?!?” A “hey, remember me?” email quickly confirmed my suspicion, and the result of our catch-up exchange you’re now reading!

The vegetarian cooking class through which Lindsay and I met.

Looking back on myself when I first met Lindsay, I see a very different person than who I am today. Aside from progressing in more conventional ways such as enrolling in college, I’ve also come a long way in healing my previously fraught relationship with food and understanding my identity as an activist (read all the details here!). After freshman year of college introduced me to a multiplicity of societal oppressions that existed among the speciesism that had first kindled my activist flame, I found myself seeking to combat not only the exploitation of non-human animals, but also such harmful “isms” as capitalism, colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, neoliberalism, homophobia, and more.

Me and my vegetable garden in my hometown of Madison, WI.

Today, I seek to work at the intersections of these various oppressions – still focusing my energies in the animal rights movement, but remembering in theory and practice that the liberation of non-human animals will not come without the liberation of oppressed humans (and vice versa). With these intentions at the forefront of my activism, I serve as co-president of the Vassar Animal Rights Coalition (VARC), as intern and contributing writer at the multimedia hub of animal activism known as Our Hen House, and as the blogger behind my humble corner of the internet Farmers Market Vegan. When not writing, blogging, or organizing campus events, I enjoy cooking and baking, practicing yoga, and biking.

One of the recipes that I’ve most enjoyed cooking lately is a Tofu “Egg” Salad Sandwich accompanied by Maple-Buffalo Cauliflower. In deep adoration with all things sandwiches, maple syrup, vegan mayonnaise, and big bold flavors, these concurrent recipes adequately serve as my kind of comfort food. They also showcase the enormous positive leap that I’ve made in my psychological health in regards to my relationship with food, as many of the ingredients in these recipes sat on my past list of “taboo” foods despite their truly nourishing potential. I hope you’ll find these recipes as fulfilling – mentally and physically – as I do.

Huge thanks to Lindsay for featuring my post on her fabulous blog! Check out her post on my blog, Farmers Market Vegan, at this link. I’d also love it if you connected with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Tofu “Egg” Salad Sandwich
Serves 4

14 oz (1 package) firm tofu, frozen and thawed
1/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
2 tbsp fresh dill, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup vegan mayonnaise (Organic Vegenaise & Just Mayo are my favorites)
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp onion powder
¼ tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 slices whole-grain sandwich bread, toasted (gluten-free if necessary; I like Ezekiel sprouted grain breads)
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced into quarters

In a medium-sized bowl, crumble the tofu. Add the rest of the ingredients except the bread and avocado, and mash everything together until well-combined.

Mash one slice of avocado on each of four pieces of the toasted bread. On each of the remaining pieces of bread, spoon a quarter of the tofu salad. Sandwich one piece of avocado toast on top of each of the tofu salad toasts. Serve with Buffalo-Maple Cauliflower (see below).

Buffalo-Maple Cauliflower
Serves 2-4

1 medium head cauliflower, trimmed and separated into smallish florets
1 ½ cups red hot sauce (such as Frank’s or homemade)
2 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, place the cauliflower florets. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the hot sauce and maple syrup. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the cauliflower and stir until well-coated.

Place the coated cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, or until tender and nicely browned.

Chips N' Salsa Bean Burgers

2014-05-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day to remember those who have died serving our country and a day to gather with family and friends to munch on all-American food. In honor of this special day, I have decided to finally share with you all my favorite bean burger recipe. I have been experimenting with different ingredients in bean burgers for years, never quite perfecting it. Last summer, I finally had my eureka moment. My twist on the traditional bean burger recipe was born on an evening when I was actually feeling quite lazy and wasn't in the mood to experiment with adding an assortment of condiments and spices. I decided to just toss in some salsa for the flavoring and leftover crushed tortilla chips instead of flour or breadcrumbs in with the beans. Plain corn tortilla chips turned out to be the best bean burger binder I have ever used. The burgers bind perfectly together and don't fall apart or get too mushy while I'm making them into patties. Salsa in turn, ended up being the best flavoring I've ever tried in bean burgers. I freaking love when the simplest, easiest recipe ideas turn out to be the tastiest!!

Chips N' Salsa Bean Burgers
makes 4 patties

1 15oz can pinto beans
1/2 a medium-sized yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup salsa (I like to use medium spicy, original Pace or Herdez)
1 cup plain corn tortilla chips, crushed (I use Green Mountain Gringo Original Tortilla Strips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Mash beans in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Add diced onion, salsa, and crushed chips. Mix well.
Using your hands, form into 4 patties and place on baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Flip the patties.
Bake for 10 more minutes.
Serve immediately with your favorite burger toppings.

If you have leftover salsa, try making a sauce for the burgers using 1 part salsa to 1 part vegan mayo. This combo also double as a great salad dressing!

What are your favorite foods to eat with family and friends on Memorial Day?

I have shared this on Healthy Vegan Fridays :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

2014-05-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

Right now my partner and I are obsessing over the following TV shows, in no particular order: Hannibal, Orphan Black, and Game of Thrones. We are also giddy with excitement for the upcoming finale season of True Blood premiering next month. Why am I telling you this? Because late night TV watching tends to spur my recipe development juices into action. Last weekend we were about to watch an episode of Hannibal when we both simultaneously were hit with the uncontrollable need for something sweet.This recipe was sent straight to me from the vegan sweets gods. I whipped it up in a matter of minutes and it was oh so good.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

1 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp flour (whatever you have on hand should work, I used Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour)
heaping 1/2 cup peanut butter (or even more if you really like pb! I use creamy, salted, unsweetened.)
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate chips with a double boiler, stirring constantly. I'm too cheap to actually buy a double boiler, so my poor person method is to boil a pot of water on the stove and hold a small sauce pan with the chocolate chips over the boiling water. This method works like a charm! (Of course you can also do it the quick and dirty way by just microwaving the chocolate chips in a bowl. I suggest setting your microwave to 50% and only putting them in for 10 second intervals, stirring in between until fully melted.)

While the chocolate is melting, pour the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Once the chocolate is fully melted, add to the bowl. With lightning speed, mix very well. This stuff hardens pretty fast, so you have to move quickly!

Once the fudge has become a heavenly blob of goodness, pour into a pan or square container and use your hands to press down to your preferred thickness. Cut into squares. These are best kept in a container at room temperature on your counter. I would not advise keeping them in the fridge, as they will become rock hard, I learned this the hard way! It's not a super big deal, you just have to wait a billion years for them to thaw and you are forced to stare longingly at your tasty morsel unable to eat it yet.

What's your fave TV show right now? Comment below and let me know! Hehe, I just rhymed :)

Oh, and I shared this on Healthy Vegan Fridays!

Raw Peanut Butter Cookies

2014-05-04T21:22:00.002-04:00

I have been feeling really inspired and motivated lately. I read a lot of vegan food blogs and in the past few weeks, I've just suddenly felt ready to take the next step and get serious about my blogging and photography. I recently bought a new lens for my camera and this weekend I decided to buy a tripod and some new photo-editing software. I've been casually putting content up on this blog for a few years now, but now I finally feel ready to commit to the blogging world and become a "real" blogger.

These delicious raw cookies have been something I have been wanting to share with the world for a really long time. I keep a binder of all my blog ideas and this recipe has been at the top of my list for quite some time.

Raw Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup almonds

1 cup dates

1/2 cup peanut butter (I use creamy, salted, unsweetened)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a food processor, grind up the almonds as finely as you can. (see picture below for example)
Add dates and pulse for a few seconds, then add peanut butter and pulse a few more times.
Add the rest of the ingredients and run the food processor until everything is well-mixed together and becomes a crumbly, doughy blob.
Using your hands, form small cookie patties. Alternatively, pour and press into some kind of container and cut into squares. Cookies should be kept in the refrigerator when not being gobbled.

This recipe was shared on: Pure Ella

Miso Soup with Rice Noodles

2014-03-30T12:54:00.000-04:00

I recently rediscovered miso soup after ordering some for lunch at work a few weeks ago. I had completely forgotten how warming and nourishing a big bowl of miso soup was. I have had the same tub of miso paste sitting in my fridge for a few years now, for the occasional teaspoon put into a soup or sauce for extra flavor. Well let me just say that after that soup for lunch, I ran home and knew I had to make some for dinner. and then for another dinner. and then for another. That 3-year-old tub? It's now gone, because I have made this soup about a billion times over the past few weeks.

My take on miso soup includes rice noodles, because I wanted to turn it into a filling meal I could serve alone at dinnertime. Feel free to exclude the noodles if you are just looking for some warming broth to slurp. I also included tofu as an optional add-in. I personally never put tofu in this soup when I make it, but I know a lot of people like tofu in their miso soup. So go ahead, tofu it up!

Miso Soup with Rice Noodles
Serves 2-3 people

6 cups of water, plus more for cooking the noodles
3 TBSP miso paste
1/4 cup dulse (or any other kind of seaweed)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
3 whole scallions including white parts, sliced
4 oz of mushrooms, I like baby bella or shitake, sliced
8 oz of pad thai rice noodles
Optional: 1/2 block of firm silken tofu, diced into 1-inch cubes

In a large-sized pot, bring the 6 cups of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a second, medium-sized pot, cook noodles according to the package.
Once the 6 cups of water is boiling, turn heat down to a very low simmer and add miso paste. Let that dissolve for about 2-3 minutes and then add the dulse. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients, except for the noodles. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then add the cooked noodles. Heat through for 1 minute.
Eat with chopsticks (if you are not a klutz like me!).

Vegan101Girl Goes to (and Comes Back From) China! Part Three

2013-11-22T12:56:00.001-05:00

Click Here to Read Part One of Vegan101Girl Goes to China

Click Here to Read Part Two of Vegan101Girl Goes to China

Rice Noodles and Veggies with my Simple Brown Sauce Recipe

For the third and final post in my living in Beijing series, I am talking about cooking and grocery shopping in Beijing.

For the two months that we lived in Beijing, Steven and I cooked almost all of the food we ate. We quickly learned that the restaurant food in Beijing was incredibly unhealthy, oily, and not at all vegan. We love cooking and cook almost all of our own food at home in the US anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was a relief to cook our own food really.

Rice (you can't really find brown rice in Beijing) and Veggies with my Simple Brown Sauce Recipe

For breakfast, I ate plain rice cakes with peanut butter on them and a banana each morning. For lunch, we ate whatever food the school provided us with. Learn more about that here. For dinner, we cooked either rice noodles and veggies or rice and veggies, with our special sauce that I created our first night of cooking in our apartment in Beijing. If you are feeling particularly naughty and unhealthy, cook your vegetables in a tbsp of peanut oil, which comes in gallon jugs in China.

Lindsay's Simple Brown Sauce

½ cup Soy Sauce or Tamari if you are avoiding gluten

2 tsp Brown Sauce

1-2 tsp Garlic Chili Sauce

½-1 tsp Sesame Oil

Mix all ingredients together and pour over rice/noodles and vegetables and mix it up well. Play with the amounts of each of these ingredients to figure out what tastes best to you.

Someone ripped open this orange, ate a few wedges and then put it back.

Oh the grocery store! The grocery stores in Beijing are so weird! First is the produce section, where people will eat pieces of fruit for sale, and then leave the rest for another person to finish eating. In the aisles, there are about 4 aisles of ramen noodles, 4 aisles of gallon jugs of oil, several aisles of packaged dried meat snacks, and of course, don’t forget the weird flavored chips and cookies.

One of the many aisles devoted to Ramen Noodles

One of many aisles of cooking oil

Another aisle of oil

One of the aisles devoted to meat snacks

Shrimp Flavored Lays Chips

Cucumber Flavored Lays Chips

Fish Flavored Lays Chips

Chicken Flavored Lays Chips

"Sweetie Barbecued Pork" Flavored Lays Chips

Fish Soup Flavored Lays Chips

An assortment of fruit flavored Oreos - strawberry, lime, banana, orange, pineapple, etc.

Next week, I will not have any new posts up. Instead of working on my blog, I will be spending a week up in Norfolk, VA with PETA working on some projects with them. I am very excited, and I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it when I get back!

I also wanted to throw out there that I know I never wrote about my experience at the Main Street Vegan Academy in NYC and I plan to have a post about that soon. I also promised a giveaway for Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s new book Whole, and I promise that is still happening too.

‘Til next time, have a wonderful cruelty-free Thanksgiving!

Vegan101Girl Goes to (and Comes Back From) China! Part Two

2013-11-19T13:19:00.001-05:00

Click Here To Read Part One of Vegan101Girl Go to (and Comes Back From) China!

Me at The Summer Palace

In Part One, I talked about some of the struggles Steven and I faced trying to live healthfully in Beijing. Now, to cheer you all up, let’s look at our favorite restaurants in Beijing.

First let me say that Air Canada has the best vegan airplane food. I have eaten a lot of absolutely disgusting vegan airplane food that has made me very sick. Air Canada did a decent job and served us edible, not horrendous food. I would recommend Air Canada for long flights where you will be served several meals. Our flight from Toronto to Beijing was 13 hours and they consistently served us decent meals.

One of my Air Canada meals. Quinoa and veggies, with a side of beans and a cookie.

As far as restaurant going goes, during the week, we eat breakfast at home, lunch was provided at our school, and we cooked dinner at home every night. Once a weekend though, we would venture out to a different vegetarian restaurant for lunch. Let me just say that all the vegetarian lunches on the weekends were better than our weekday lunch. We ate white rice, onions, and cabbage pretty much every day during the week at the school.

Typical lunch provided by our school. White rice, onions, and cabbage.

Living in the big city of Beijing did have its benefits. There were several vegetarian (and even a few vegan!) restaurants spread out across the city. Unfortunately, we lived on the outskirts of Beijing so getting to these restaurants was a weekend day trip (it takes a good 2 hours to get from one side of Beijing to the other).

We tried a lot of different vegetarian and vegan restaurants. Some were great and a few were not so good. We ended up with two favorite restaurants where we were weekly regulars and three others that were decent that we would go to occasionally. I found all the vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Beijing on www.happycow.net. For directions to any of these and for a more complete list of veg restaurants in Beijing head over to Happy Cow.

Here are the vegetarian and vegan restaurants that get the vegan101girl seal of approval!

The Veggie Table

Southwestern Bean Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and amazing coleslaw.

The ultimate winner of the vegan101girl seal of approval!!!! This restaurant was a light in a dark place and our savior when we were really struggling. We went here every weekend after our 2 hour Chinese lesson. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without this place. The Veggie Table was like a little slice (get it? cause there's a picture of a pizza below?) of home.

Pizza, the crust is not gluten-free. I scrapped the toppings off. It was worth it. They were yummy...

This restaurant is all-vegan and serves international (meaning American) style food. We tried almost everything on the menu and it was all good. The most incredible yummiest dish was the Southwestern Bean Burger. I ended up getting this burger every weekend and thought about it all week long.

Side Note: Many items on the menu are not gluten-free. When in doubt of what to get, please get the Southwestern Bean Burger (it will change your life and knock your socks off all at the same time!) and just skip the bun if you are avoiding gluten!

Chili Spaghetti (not gluten-free). My boyfriend eats gluten.

Curry

Lentil Soup

Hummus (a bit on the oily side and didn't quite taste like hummus). Good, but not quite there.

Also be sure to try the lemonada drink which is a lemon/mint slushy thing. Oh my gosh. So good. Their chocolate peanut butter milkshake is also very good. So are their fresh pressed juices. And their hard cider. For heaven's sake, all their beverages are awesome!

Cranberry Juice and Apple Juice

Chocolate Peanut Butter "Milkshake"

Lemonada. A delicious lemon mint drink.

Jing Lian Zhai off Hepingli Street

This is our other favorite restaurant. It is vegetarian. It has a big picture menu which is great. We would regularly get fried lotus, bamboo, or the pumpkin soup. All delicious.

Fried Lotus. Very Yummy. Probably not very healthy...

Bamboo. We love bamboo and ate a lot of bamboo while in China.

I think these are Chinese Sweet Potatoes.

Pumpkin Soup

An unfortunate example of ridiculously oily vegetables. Never ordered this again. Asparagus and mushrooms.

Xu Xiang Zhai near the Confucian Temple and Lama Temple

There are a bunch of vegetarian restaurants around the Buddhist Lama Temple (including The Veggie Table). This is a Buddhist-vegetarian restaurant with a big buffet of yummy vegetarian food. They have a large assortment of fake meats that are pretty good. The seating at this restaurant consists of these long giant tables, kind of cafeteria style, but much prettier. Be prepared to possibly sit right next to friendly vegetarian strangers.

Vegan, gluten-free Tiramisu cream thingy...in a dirty glass. Oh well. It was tasty.

My plate after scavenging the buffet.

Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant

This vegetarian restaurant is a bit tricky to find. It was totally worth the millions of years it took to find though. It has a nice atmosphere and the food is great.

Bamboo and veggies.

Vegan Hut

This all-vegan restaurant is also a slight challenge to find. It is all vegan though, so if you’re sick of possibly eating meat or dairy everywhere else you go, it’s worth finding. The food is pretty good. Sadly, I can’t find my food pictures from this restaurant. Sorry!

Golden Peacock

This restaurant is not vegetarian, or really even veg-friendly. In fact, there was nothing all that great on the menu, except the most delicious pineapple rice ever! I wouldn't recommend specifically seeking this place out, but if you happen to be in the neighbor, I would definitely pop in for some crazy good pineapple rice. This is the address: 16 Minzu Daxue Beilu, Weigongcun, Haidian District.

Pineapple Rice

There is one vegetarian restaurant that I DO NOT recommend. It is called Fairy Su and it is right next to the Lama Temple. The food is incredibly greasy and made me pretty sick.

Part Three of Vegan101Girl Go to (and Comes Back From) China will be out in a few days. I will be writing about what we cooked at home for dinner every night and what grocery shopping in China is like.

Vegan101Girl Goes to (and Comes Back From) China! Part One

2013-11-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

Climbing the Great Wall

I know, I know, I have some explaining to do. In my last post, I told you all that I would be living in China for a lot longer than two month, but unfortunately, life had other plans.

The Summer Palace

Steven and I moved to Beijing, China in August and returned to the US in October two months later. Life in China was very very hard. It makes me sad that we decided to leave, but it was the right thing to do.

The Forbidden City

Several things happened that caused us to come to this decision. First, I got incredibly ill in China and was missing a lot of work. I was having horrible fevers/chills/sweats and the smog and air pollution was making me congested, I was having trouble breathing, and I couldn’t stop coughing. The air was unhealthy to breath and my lungs and throat constantly hurt. At one point, I had to go to the hospital. I was taken to the international wing, where I ended up standing in line for a doctor next to the jazz singer Patti Austin! So insane!

The smoggy sky is almost the same color as the fireworks smoke in the middle of the day.

Anyway…

It was also impossible to be vegan or gluten-free in China. Seriously, I had no idea. It was literally not possible to be vegan or gluten-free. There is no word in Chinese for vegan. We couldn’t even eat tofu, because in China, tofu is not seen as a meat substitute, it is seen as just another type of meaty texture. Tofu in China is cooked in meat juices/fat/lard.

The only tofu we ate in China. It wasn't until afterwards that we found out tofu is cooked in meat juices.

On top of that, Beijing is known for its wheat products (of course) and everything had wheat in it. Restaurants could not comprehend our request that our food be vegan and this always ended with us being told they could only serve us plain white rice with bok choy or cabbage.

Pretty much every restaurant told us that this was the extent of their vegan cooking.

The worst part was that all the food in Beijing is DRIPPING with oil. It was honestly disgusting. I took a lot of restaurant food pictures, but I’m too embarrassed to show you all what we had to eat. It was really frustrating, because many of the vegetable dishes would have been really healthy if they hadn’t been drenched and drowning in a lake of oil.


Mushrooms and Bok Choy dripping in oil.

Eggplant and Green Beans sitting in a lake of oil.

Health is so important to me and between the disgusting diet and the polluted air, my health morals felt totally compromised and that made me very uncomfortable and anxious.

We were also having a lot of problems with our company that we were working for and the apartment we were living in. The company was being dishonest and lying to us about things. We were also witnessing some terrifying and inappropriate behavior at the school we teaching at.

All these things were just too much. My passion is in veganism, healthy eating and living, animals, and the environment. That was all gone there. We were unhappy and unhealthy, so we made the tough decision to come home and start over from square one. We are now in the process of finding jobs that are meaningful and fulfilling and healthy.

With all that bad though, there was some triumphant vegan good! Stay tuned for Part Two where I review and tell you all about the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Beijing.

Our favorite bean burger from a VEGAN!! restaurant in Beijng.

Easy Almond Milk

2013-07-30T13:04:00.002-04:00

Before I get to today's easy almond milk recipe (I'll give you some ideas for what to do with the pulp too!), I have one crazy announcement and another exciting announcement. Actually, they are both pretty exciting.

The insanely crazy one is that in two weeks I will be moving to Beijing, China for one year with my boyfriend. We will be teaching Kindergarten English in a school in Beijing. Because of this new job in this new exciting location, I am guessing that I will not be blogging too often. The good news is I will still do posts for this blog and for one year my blog will be Vegan 101 Girl Goes to China! I hope to have posts about being vegan in China and what that's like, as well as restaurant reviews, and how to use Chinese ingredients that are unfamiliar to most of us in the United States.

The other exciting news is that next week for my last blog post, I will be doing a book review and giveaway as a going away present to you all. This isn't just any book though, it's Whole by T. Colin Campbell and Howard Jacobson. I will give more details next week, but basically this is The China Study Part II and Campbell does not disappoint! So be sure to subscribe to my blog so that you can get an email about when the giveaway goes live!

Okay, now that we have taken care of business, let's get to making almond milk!

After soaking 1 cup of whole raw almonds overnight, drain them and put them in a blender with 3 cups of fresh water. Blend on high for about 1 minute or until completely smooth.

For this next part you are going to need a nut milk bag. This is the only recipe on my blog that requires a special kitchen tool. You can't use a strainer or cheesecloth for this, it just doesn't come out the same. If you want it to be like the almond milk you buy in the store, you must purchase a nut milk bag. Fortunately, they are pretty darn cheap. I bought mine for $4 at High Vibe, a raw foods store in NYC that I went to while I was training to become a certified vegan lifestyle coach. Nut milk bags are super easy to find on the internet and you can probably find them in health food stores as well.

Now that you have your nut milk bag, in batches, you are going to pour your almond/water mixture into the bag and strain it into a glass container that you will use to store your milk in. As you strain, hold the top of the bag in one hand and use your other hand to squeeze down the bag, almost as if you were milking a cow. When you have gotten all the liquid you can out of the bag, remove the pulp and place it in a separate container to use for another recipe later. Repeat this whole process with all of the almond/water in the blender.

Once all of the milk has been strained, finish by adding sweetener. I add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup. Keep it refrigerated and it will stay fresh for up to 5 days.

Almond Milk

Yield: about 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole raw almonds
3 cups of water (plus more to soak the almonds in)
small pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Place 1 cup of almonds in a bowl, cover with water, and allow to soak overnight.
Drain the almonds and place in a blender with 3 cups of fresh water.
Blend on high for about 1 minute or until completely smooth.
Using a nut milk bag, strain all of the milk into a glass storage container or jars.
Save the pulp in a separate container.
Stir in the salt, vanilla extract, and maple syrup into the milk.
Enjoy a nice big glass of fresh almond milk!

What about the pulp?

Well, there are a million and one things you can do with the pulp (and probably more than that!).

Use it to make crackers and cookies - google almond pulp recipes and you will find tons of recipes
Just like with juicer pulp, put small amounts into breads, loaves, muffins, and cakes
Put small amounts into smoothies or stirred into oatmeals
If you have more than you know what to do with, save it for later by freezing it in the freezer

Mostly recently, I made this cracker recipe using the almond pulp leftover from making almond milk. These crackers were super yummy and easy to make!

What's So Wrong with Cow's Milk?

2013-07-19T16:08:00.000-04:00

Hold on to your seats folks and allow me to spew for a bit (well for a long bit). Today I want to discuss with you the problems with drinking animal milk. Some of this very long spiel comes from a paper I wrote back in my college days, so sorry if it starts to get boring. Just get through it all, and I promise you will feel enlightened.

First of all, I want you to think about something. We are the only animal species in the world that continues to drink milk after we have been weaned from our mothers, and that's not all. Not only do we continue to drink milk, but we drink another species milk. No other animal drinks another species milk. When you really think about it, you have to admit, it's a little icky. It only sounds normal to us now, because we have been doing it for a long time.

The importance of drinking milk has been embedded in American Culture for generations. Billboards, commercials, health class textbooks, and more promote the necessity of milk in our diets. Why is it that we need milk? Well, we’re told that it’s calcium that we need from milk. Calcium can be found in a variety of foods such as leafy green vegetables, beans, nuts, and tofu. We can easily get our daily dose of calcium from these non-dairy foods, so why is milk so important? Where does drinking milk come from? Most importantly, if we need milk, then why do some of us get sick when we drink it? The book A Biography of the Continent Africa, by John Reader, explains just why it is that we started to drink not only milk, but the milk of another animal.

The first art showing the use of animals for dairy was dated to be around 6000 years ago, though Reader states that, “it can be confidently concluded that the knowledge of milking and dairy production was already well advanced and widespread by then,” (Reader 171). Dairy was particularly important, because it could be consumed when other food was scarce. It could also be stored and saved or even sold. Milk’s main purpose though, is to nourish infants and give them essential nutrients needed to successfully develop and grow. The absorption of calcium in milk helps to harden and grow soft bones. Once a child grows to a certain point though, the milk is no longer needed. The reason that we continue to drink milk after infancy is because of how our ancestors thousands of years ago would drink milk because they had to in order to survive. Limited food sources left them with an inadequate diet. The change from food gathering to food production is the root of this dilemma (Reader 172).

Drinking milk from livestock helped malnutrition and nutrition deficiencies. Food production was mainly of grains that were low in calcium and iron, and also often stopped calcium absorption (Reader 172). This caused malnutrition, especially in pregnant women and children. This cycle of malnutrition would continue as children grew up and had their own children who were also malnourished. So milk became the primary reason for keeping animals.

It is important to note though, that humans have become the only mammals who are able to continue drinking milk after infancy. Our gene which enables lactase production is not shut off after infancy (unlike all other mammals) and we can drink milk into adulthood. Some people though, cannot digest lactose. According to Reader, “The undigested lactose accumulates in the large intestine, where it ferments,” (Reader 174). This causes a person to get sick. This was first discovered in the 1960’s when people of poverty-stricken countries complained that the milk volunteers were giving out made them sick. Studies soon showed that 70 percent of black Americans are lactose intolerant, while 85 percent of white Americans can consume milk (Reader 174). In the book, Reader says that, “lactose tolerance and intolerance could be a measure of difference between ethnic groups,” (Reader 174). Another study proved this when it was discovered that 80 percent of cattle-herding Tutsi can drink milk and 80 percent of agriculturist BaGanda cannot. This study led to more research showing that lactose intolerance was actually normal worldwide and that, “Functional levels of adult tolerance to lactose have been recorded only among northern Europeans and white North Americans, and nomadic pastoralists in Africa,” (Reader 175). Almost 100 percent of non-pastoralist Africans are lactose intolerant. Blacks in North America are mostly descendants of slaves from West Africa, who were mostly non-pastoralists. This explains why many black Americans are lactose intolerant. Only those whose descendants were pastoralists will be able to consume dairy, because they were the ones who had cattle to provide milk when all other food was scarce.

The lactose tolerance gene is dominant so that if only one parent can drink milk, all of their children will be able to drink it (Reader 175). So, the ability in humans to drink milk after infancy can only increase throughout populations. Even though lactose tolerance is growing across the world, and can only continue to grow, this doesn’t mean that we should consume dairy. Our bodies are not built for drinking milk after infancy. The milk that females produce after giving birth is meant to give infants who cannot feed themselves, large amounts of important nutrients to kick-start the growing process. Once the child is capable of eating solid foods, they no longer need milk. The only reason that we are able to digest milk is because our ancestor had to to survive. We are no longer trying to survive in the Sahara, so we no longer need milk to keep us alive.

We might not need it, but the #1 thing I hear from people about going vegan is “well, I could stop eating meat, but I could never give up milk”. Let me tell you why my friends, because there actually is an explanation. Casein is a protein in milk and when it enters our bodies it becomes casomorphin. Yes, I said morphin; casomorphin is in fact an opiod. The dairy industry is drugging you. Milk is addictive so that babies will want to nurse and keep nursing and stay healthy. The problem is that we keep drinking it after we are babies. Here’s the scary part, according to Victoria Moran in her book Main Street Vegan:

Human milk has only 2.7 grams of casein per liter. Cow’s milk has 26. And because it takes, on average, ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese or ice cream, you’re looking at a lot of casein and the resultant casomorphin. “In these quantities,” says functional food consultant Kerrie Saunders, MS, LLP, PhD, “it becomes a multiplied opiate addiction, and it can feel like opiate withdrawal when someone tries to get away from cheese and ice cream. People experience headaches, depression, digestive abnormalities (gas, constipation, diarrhea, cramping), anger for no apparent reason, and cravings that are extremely difficult to deal with, as with any opiate addiction.” (110)

Now consider this. Contrary to what most people believe, milk is actually linked with health hazards, not health benefits. Milk has been linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Yes, that's right, I said osteoporosis. But weren't we all taught in grade school that milk builds strong bones and that we need it for calcium? Well listen to this. Milk, like all animal products, is acidic. Very acidic. Normally when we think of acidic foods, we think about things like lemon juice right? Well, inside our bodies, lemon juice is the opposite of acidic. For more on the health benefits of lemon check out my post on lemon water. Anyway, our bodies do not like acidity, disease thrives when a body is too acidic. When acidic animal products are ingested, our bodies attempt to neutralize the acid. This is done by pulling calcium out of the bones to buffer the acid from the animal products. So while there is calcium in milk, more calcium is pulled from the bones to buffer the acid from the milk then is gained from drinking the milk in the first place.

On top of that, let’s not forget about recombinant bovine somatotropin. rBST is a growth hormone injected into cows to increase their milk production. Studies show that this growth hormone increases the level of the IGF-1 hormone in the cows. IGF-1 is believed to be connected to tumor growth in people. Countries all over the world have actually banned rBST, but of course it has not been banned in the United States.

And if all that wasn’t enough for you, remember the animals. We grow up thinking that cows naturally produce milk year-round and that they need to be milked and are happy to be milked. Not the case folks. A female cow is artificially inseminated over and over for her entire short life until she is “spent” and can no longer produce a profitable about of milk. She is then sent off to the slaughterhouse to become cheap ground-up meat, such a hamburgers.

She is impregnated about once a year so she will lactate all year long. Ever thought about how the milk you are drinking comes from a pregnant cow with raging hormones?! As soon as her calf is born it is taken away from her. Baby calves never get the chance to get the essential colostrums from their mothers’ milk that we all know is so important for infants. If it is a female calf, she will become a dairy cow. If it is a boy, it will be sold for veal. Calves sold for veal end up in small crates where they cannot move for their entire life. The prevention of any exercise keeps their flesh white and tender because they are unable to build muscle and that is seen as most profitable. They are killed when only a few days to a few weeks old.

While naturally, cows can live for about twenty years, most dairy cows are considered “spent” and sent to slaughter after about four years. Throughout their short confined lives, they often succumb to mastitis (an udder infection) or become lame because of the machines that milked them, because their bodies cannot handle the growth hormones they are given, because of stress, because of having child after child taken from them, and because of being confined.

Okay, had enough? Me too. I know this was long, but sometimes, things have to be lengthy in order to get a point across. If you stayed with me through all of it or most of it, thank you and congratulations. I hope you feel even just a little bit enlightened and more able to make the decision about whether to drink milk or not.

For more information about drinking milk, dairy cows, and animal cruelty check out:

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy, PhD

Eating Animals by Jonathan Saffan Foer

Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran

www.peta.org

And of course, my complete list of vegan resources.

Be on the lookout for my next post which is the part II of this post. A much happier post about how to make an easy milk alternative: almond milk from scratch and how to make recipes with the almond pulp left over! Thanks for reading!

The Power of Lemon and the Benefits of Drinking Warm Lemon Water

2013-07-01T12:44:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite new things to do in the morning is drink a warm glass of lemon water. After 10 minutes of meditation and before I eat breakfast, I squeeze at least a half a lemon (or the whole thing if I'm feeling adventurous!) into a glass of warm water and drink it down. The water should be purified. Try not to use bottled lemon juice, only use organic (if you can) fresh lemons. I also like to use a straw when I drink lemon water because the daily consumption of lemon juice can potentially erode the outside layer of tooth enamel. Use a sustainable glass straw if you can!

Why warm water?

Warm water is great for digestion and flushing toxins from our bodies. It is easier to digest warm water since our body and stomach temperature is quite high. It makes breaking down food easier and it also stimulates bowel movements.

Now back to the lemon!

What can lemons do for you?

1. They have lots of vitamins and minerals. We all know that lemon has vitamin C. Vitamin C is good for the immune system and helps keep you from getting sick and helps you recover when you do get sick. Vitamin C is also great for skin and for clearing up blemishes. Lemons also contain other vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin A, B vitamins, and copper. Calcium plays a role in bone hardness as well as blood clotting, muscle relaxation, nerve cell message transmission, and several other body functions. Potassium maintains fluid balance in cells and also plays a role in muscle contraction. Copper helps build hormones and protein metabolism. Vitamin A is important for eyes, bones, teeth, and the immune system. Lastly, lemons contain 6 of the 7 B vitamins, all of which help with various bodily systems such as, the digestive system, nervous system, energy metabolism, and skin.

2. Lemons are an alkalizing food. While they might be acidic outside the body, on the inside they are alkalizing. Sickness and disease occur when our bodies are in an acidic state. Lemons help to balance our pH levels and lower acid levels in our bodies. Lemons are also antibacterial.

3. They help with digestion and with flushing toxins from the body. Lemons also help with stimulating bowel movements. They help loosen and flush bad stuff from our bodies. Lastly, they help with digestion problems such as feeling bloated after a meal or heartburn.

My other favorite way to use lemons besides in warm water is on my face! I have pretty bad acne scars and I recently started using lemon juice on my skin to lighten the scars. It seems to be working fairly well. Every morning when I get up, I splash some water on my face, pat it dry with a towel, and then squeeze some fresh lemon juice onto a cottonball. I wipe the lemon juice all over my face and it works as a great toner. Lemon juice does make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, so be sure to protect your face when you venture out into the sun! For my full daily all-natural skin routine, look for a post in the next few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the power of warm lemon water!

The Best Vegan Food and Restaurants in Asheville, NC

2013-06-04T14:38:00.000-04:00

I don't usually share pictures of myself on this blog, but so much has been going on lately, I had to share just one. I haven't posted anything on my blog since March and I am so sorry for that! At the end of March I was hospitalized for a rupture in my abdomen that caused some internal bleeding. It was a rough month, but I am doing great now. Then in May, I graduated from college and that was incredibly surreal. A week after I graduated, I moved out of Asheville, which was really hard. I am seriously going to miss my beautiful, eclectic home of Asheville, NC. As a tribute to one of my favorite places in the world, where I was lucky enough to live for four years, today I am writing about all my favorite places to eat yummy vegan food in Asheville, NC. Unfortunately, because the food is so good, I usually wolf it down so fast that I forget to take a picture (some of the pictures I am using instead are down right terrible, and I sincerely apologize for this!), so you will just have to go to Asheville to see how amazing all the food looks!

Plant

Plant is all-vegan and a little more upscale. I went here for every birthday and special occasion celebration. The menu changes, but there is always some sort of risotto, which is what I get every time I go because it is sooooo good! The picture is of a slice of blackout pie and peanut butter crackle ice cream that I had when I went with my family to celebrate my graduation.
www.plantisfood.com

Rosetta's Kitchen

Rosetta's Kitchen is like healthy comfort food. My favorite is their house-made veggie burger and their sweet potato fries. They are mostly vegan, though they do have cheese in a few dishes, but everything can be "veganized". They have two locations, one downtown and one on the UNCA campus for easy access for college students.
www.rosettaskitchen.com

Laughing Seed Cafe

This all-vegetarian restaurant is located on the adorable cobble-stoned Wall Street. Everything is good here, but I go for the raw spinach-pesto manicotti. It is filled with cashew ricotta cheese that is literally to die for.
http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com/

Veghead

Veghead is an all-vegetarian drive-thru fast-food place. It is like healthy fast food...and it's really good. My favorite is the avocado hummus wrap, but they have everything from a korean bbq tempeh wrap to thai cabbage slaw.
www.vegheadsasheville.com

The Hop Ice Cream

All of The Hop's ice cream flavors are homemade, including their large selection of vegan flavors! The flavors change every week and they have a lot of very unique flavors such as strawberry basil.
http://thehopicecreamcafe.com/

Mela

Though not an all-vegetarian establishment, this restaurant is the best Indian in all of Western North Carolina. They have a huge vegan selection and my favorite time to go is during lunch when they have a big buffet that is, in fact, mostly vegan.
http://melaasheville.com/

Salsa's

This restaurant I do have a picture for, of my favorite entree: the pom-pom-pom. This Mexican-Carribean restaurant is located downtown and is also not all-vegetarian. Everything can be veganized though, and everything is oh-so good and full of flavor. Their secret? That wooden bowl in the picture was hand-carved by the restaurant owner's cousin in Puerto Rico.
http://www.salsas-asheville.com/

Nine Mile

Nine Mile is also not all-vegetarian and is also Caribbean food. Everything on the menu can be made vegan and is incredibly flavorful and full of spice. I love the "more fyah!" entree. It is located in Historic Montford in the heart of North Asheville.
http://ninemileasheville.com/

Cafe Kathmandu

This Himalayan restaurant fits right in with all of the unique cuisine that Asheville provides. It is mostly vegetarian and like Mela, has a delicious lunchtime buffet with lots of vegan options.
http://cafekathmanduasheville.com/

Noi's Thai Kitchen, Thai Orchid, and Thai Basil

So there are a million awesome Thai restaurants in Asheville and of all of them, these three are my favorite. Noi's Thai Kitchen holds a special place in my heart because this was me and boyfriend's go-to takeout place that we ate at almost every week for four years. I love the food, the atmosphere, and the people there. My favorite dish is the horapa with tofu. The picture above is of the sweet and sour entree at Thai Orchid, another delicious restaurant that is located downtown. Thai Basil is also downtown and offers an array of lovely Thai dishes as well. As with all Thai and other Asian restaurants, be sure to ask if fish sauce is used in the sauce of the entree you want and if so, see if it can be substituted with something else.
http://www.suwanasthaiorchid.com/
http://thaibasilnc.com/
(Noi's does not have a website, but here is their menu)
http://www.allmenus.com/nc/asheville/131264-nois-thai-kitchen/menu/

Urban Burrito

I have no idea why the logo is being weird and not going right under the name, but anyhow, Urban Burrito is the perfect poor (and vegan) college student eatery for a nice big burrito. There is nothing like a giant veggie burrito to make your day.
http://www.urbanburrito.com/

Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company

This place is no less than awesome. What is better than vegan pizza and vegan beer? Pretty much nothing. They also have all sorts of other food and, the best part, a $3 a ticket movie theater in the back that plays all the movies that have recently left the big theaters, as well as some weird movies haha (but what would Asheville be without a little weird?!). The walls of this restaurant are full of cool murals like the cantina scene from Star Wars. This is a great casual place to take your non-vegan friends and family.
http://ashevillebrewing.com/

Lastly...
Be sure to check out The Chocolate Fetish for some vegan peanut butter cups and French Broad Chocolates for an assortment of delicious vegan chocolatey treats, like their vegan truffles.
www.chocolatefetish.com
www.frenchbroadchocolates.com

If you need a health food store, Greenlife has you covered, as does Earthfare and the French Broad Food Co-op.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/asheville
https://www.earthfare.com/
http://www.frenchbroadfood.coop/

Well, I hope by now you are planning your amazing trip to Asheville, NC. While you are here, don't forget to climb a waterfall in Pisgah National Forest, shop in the eclectic shops of downtown, hop on an historic red trolley tour, walk through the gigantic Biltmore House, and of course get a massage at the Grove Park Inn!

Homemade All-Natural Yoga Mat Cleaner

2013-03-15T22:49:00.000-04:00

So I have been doing yoga casually on and off for years, and only in the past few months have I gotten pretty serious about doing yoga. I have been practicing for at least an hour a day almost every day for the past few weeks and I feel so great!! I even invested in some really good quality yoga gear. A Manduka PROlite mat (in my favorite color purple!) and some awesome yoga attire from Beyond Yoga and Spiritual Gangster. I soon realized though that along with a lot of great workouts comes a lot of sweat and stink. I had all the gear, but no way to clean it! Instead of going out and buying some fancy, expensive mat cleaner, I decided to make my own.

Here is my simple, all-natural yoga mat cleaner recipe. This recipe also works as a great all-purpose cleaner for around the house and for other exercise gear!

You will need:

1 cup of white vinegar
3 cups of distilled (or perhaps filtered) water
about 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil (tea tree oil is known for having antimicrobial properties)
other essential oils such as eucalyptus if you want (I didn't add any)

Pour all ingredients into a used spray bottle (such as an empty and cleaned-out Windex or stain remover bottle) and shake well.

Spray down your mat and let it sit for a few minutes. Then wipe it down with a damp cloth and then let it air dry. Don't forget to do the other side!

That's it! Your done! Now go clean that stinky mat of yours!

SNL and Justin Timberlake Promote Veganism!

2013-03-11T17:15:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, Saturday Night Live was hosted by the multi-talented Justin Timberlake. While the entire show was hilarious, there was one particular skit that was a cut above the rest. Now I might be slightly biased here because I am a vegan who actively promotes veganism, but I am pretty sure that the Bring it on Down to Veganville sketch was the best sketch ever aired on SNL. You can check out the whole clip here. Enjoy!

Steven the Vegan: A Children's Book Review

2013-03-11T16:44:00.000-04:00

So as you guessed, life is crazy right now. I wanted to get a post up today though about a new children's book that promotes veganism. There are so few vegan books that are geared towards children, that it is so exciting and refreshing when a new one comes out. Author Dan Bodenstein and illustrator Ron Robrahn have created an absolutely adorable book called Steven the Vegan, about a boy named Steven who takes a class field trip to a farm sanctuary. When his friends find out he is vegan, Steven uses the opportunity to teach his friends about what veganism is and where meat, dairy, and eggs come from. Steven explains to his friends why he chooses to see all animals as his friends and in the end, some of his friends even decide that they too want to stop eating animals.

Steven the Vegan is written with a gentle, loving, and positive tone, enlightening children about where animal products come from without scaring them with harsh picture or negative language. Steven the Vegan focuses on the teaching of Steven's friends in a loving way about not eating animals, and doesn't judge or guilt those who do eat meat. Steven's compassion for the animals is an important part of the book's lesson, showing children the importance of being kind and loving to all animals on our planet. The book shows animals in a cute and adorable light, which keeps the book fun and entertaining for children.

Another important element, is that it shows vegan children how to explain to their friends what it means to be vegan and why they choose to be vegan. This is so important, because there are so many stereotypes and misunderstandings of what being vegan means, and sometimes those with diets that differ from the norm end up being bullied. It is essential for children who are vegan to be able to comfortably and confidently explain their diet choices to others.

This book is the perfect mix of adorable fun and an important educational opportunity for children. I would recommend this book to any and everyone (hey, is there anything wrong with being in your twenties and still enjoying a good educational picture book every now and then!?). This book is a great chance for parents to empower their young children about veganism, where meat comes from, and how to tell their friends. Happy reading!

You can find the book through this link to amazon.com.

Healthy Cookie Dough Dip

2013-02-01T21:19:00.002-05:00

I wish I had invented this recipe, I really do.

Picture from the website with the original recipe

I came across it on pinterest (of course) several months ago, but forgot all about it, until tonight. It randomly came to me tonight, begging me to make it. I caved, and let me tell you, I'm so glad that I did. I had just finished eating a dinner of vegan macaroni and cheese from VegNews (which by the way is the most incredible vegan macaroni and cheese recipe of all time!! Here's a link to the recipe.) and was totally stuffed. I decided to make it anyway and I only have one thing to say: mind blown! It has a bean base, which sounds really scary, but it's not, I promise. I got into the whole beans in desserts thing about six months ago when I made a birthday cake for a friend who requested a flourless dark chocolate cake (that will have to be a whole other post!). I used black beans as a base and it was awesome! I have been using nuts as a base for desserts for quite awhile, but now I have added beans to my repertoire as well.

The cookie dough dip that I made (Ignore the embarassing difference between the awesome photography skills of Katie who invented this recipe and my terrible photographs, I am working on my photography skills and getting a better camera)

Anyway, going back to this recipe, all I can say is that it is awesome. This recipe has a lot of different options for how to make it. As far as what I did, I used chickpeas. I used just 3 tablespoons of maple syrup as a sweetener (I also thought about using a cup of dates instead if you want to make it as healthy as possible). I used 2 tablespoons of flaxmeal and not oats. I used peanut butter as my nut butter. Lastly, I did not have to use any milk alternatives.

So without any further rambling, I present to you the Healthy Cookie Dough Dip recipe. Thank you so much Katie for developing this great recipe!

Vegan Hot Chocolate

2013-01-25T18:17:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I know what your thinking...what happened to you?! I know, I disappeared for a while...almost six months. I've been crazy busy with life. What's important is that I'm back and I have a hot chocolate recipe for you that will blow your mind. It is super easy to make, only takes a few minutes, and is perfect for the winter weather we've been having.

For One Serving of Hot Chocolate You Will Need (though who am I kidding, we both know you will want more!):

1 cup of rice milk (or your preferred milk substitute)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
about 1/2 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine the rice milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and heat on medium for about 5 minutes. Once it is hot, add the cocoa powder. Stir it up and drink immediately! I won't tell anyone if you make another mug. ; )

The Truth About Protein

2012-08-14T19:01:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone! So first off, I have some exciting news...I am officially certified in plant-based nutrition through Cornell University and the T. Colin Campbell Foundation! Woot! Second of all, I am now a Vegan Nutrition Expert for Diet.com. I will be writing a blog for them on their website, but will of course still be writing on this blog as well. My wrote my first post today for Diet.com. It was about protein. If you want to check out the site you can click here to be directly over to my first blog post on the site! Otherwise, here is the same post about protein:

It might be hard to believe, but it is actually very easy to get enough protein from a whole food plant-based diet. Protein is an essential nutrient. The estimated average requirement for protein is 0.5-0.6 grams of protein per kg of body weight, which is 4-5% of your total calorie intake per day. The recommended dietary allowance for protein adds two standard deviations to that to cover individual variation, making it 0.8 g protein/kg body weight, or 8-10% total calories. This means that an average size woman of 132 lbs. needs 48 grams of protein per day and an average size man of 154 lbs. needs 56 grams of protein per day. A whole foods plant-based diet easily provides enough protein to meet these requirements.

Protein has long been linked to human progress and civilization, and it is largely believed that animal protein is of higher quality than plant protein. Animal-based proteins have a higher biological value, meaning they are more efficiently utilized than plant-based proteins. Animal protein has a similar amino acid profile to humans. Plant proteins are not complete proteins, because they do not have a similar ratio of essential amino acid like animal protein does. This is a good thing though; we want our protein intake to be low with some amino acids. Incomplete protein consumption does not promote cancer. It is when protein is "completed" that cancer promotion can occur. A higher biological value (like that of animal protein) means faster growth rates, including faster cancer growth, earlier menarche, and more breast cancer.

It is not possible to consume a mostly animal protein diet and consume only 10% protein. Most meat contains about 50% protein. The meat would have to be mostly fat to not contain so much protein and eating mostly fat isn't something you want to do either. It is difficult to keep eating meat with a mostly plant-based diet because a plant-based diet will give you all the protein you need and any meat consumed would be giving you excess protein that would be harmful to your body. There is no need to combine protein or even eat certain plant proteins together. Supplementing with animal-based proteins would displace complex carbohydrates and antioxidants and add unnecessary protein and fat.

Consuming more than 10% protein of your total calories has been shown in numerous studies to actually harm the body. One study with rats injected with carcinogens showed that tumor growth could be turned on and off with the amount of protein being given to the rats. When 20% of total calories were protein, tumors grew, but when given 5% protein, tumors stopped growing and would actually reduce in size. After 100 weeks, all of the rats given 20% protein were dead, while all the rats given 5% protein were alive. Interestingly enough, when tested in research studies, plant protein, even when consuming over 20% of total calories, does not promote cancer development. It is only animal protein that seems to induce cancer development when more than 10% of total calories is consumed.

The point is that we need to stop worrying about how much protein we are getting, and start focusing on where we are getting our protein from. Plant protein is proving to be a better source of protein than animal protein. The key to getting enough protein is to simply eat a variety of plant-based foods. As long as you are doing that, you will always be getting enough protein. After all, a powerful silverback gorilla eats only plants, and no one worries about if he is getting enough protein!

Source:

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD

Breakfast Bars

2012-08-01T19:51:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! I found a delicious recipe for raw breakfast that I thought I would share with you. The only thing that I changed in the recipe was I used gluten-free oats. Happy Eating!

Sunday Baker's All Natural Breakfast Bars