SoulVeggie

Your Kitchen as a BioLab & Composting

I flashed back to two memories recently:  Dr. Greger noting that the CDC's recommendations for a safe kitchen resemble a "biohazard lab's" rules and regs, and the issue of a vegan composting.

Let me explain:  in the first place, I interviewed Dr. Greger last year and he noted that, if you are eating meat and dairy, there are many guidelines issued by the CDC (and also the FDA) to keep you from cross-contaminating, getting food-borne illnessess, and eating bad stuff.  I just LOVE the concept:  as a vegan, my kitchen isn't a "biohazard lab."  Sure, I clean my cutting boards, the counter, etc., but I don't have to worry about anything other than proper cleaning of my produce.  No meat juices; no moldy or disease-ridden dairy.  The 24 hr. flu (people, it ain't flu... it's food poisoning) won't happen here.

Furthermore, I remembered when power went out a few years ago for three days in Maryland, neighbors were freaking and couldn't understand why I wasn't worried about the food in the 'frig.  I had to point out, smiling:  no meat, no dairy, no big deal.

Recently, a carnivorous friend was commenting on my "compost bucket" outside the back door of the kitchen.  His wife has coached him on what he can and cannot put into the "passive compost pile" they have.  In mid-conversation he paused, and then said, obviously surprised, something to the effect of, "Hey!  everything you eat can go into the compost pile."

Yup... and none of it will ever be a serious biohazard, either.  A vegetarian couldn't say that.  Anyway, here are some fun links:

The FDA's "Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test?"
FDA Advice for "Mother's To Be."
FDA Advice on "Preggy Mom's Food Safety for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood"

Go Vegan!  The ultimate composting non-biohazardous environmentally sustainable, safe, healthy, and animal-friendly diet...

Give Your Mother a Hug/Call

Mother's Day is sometimes difficult for me.  My bio-mother, a marvelous woman who spoke five languages, taught school and classical piano, died on Mother's Day from breast cancer when I was around 14 years old.  Devastating on so many levels, this event led directly to my becoming vegetarian and, ultimately, vegan.  I spent years researching (no Internet then, kids) cancer and very quickly came to the conclusion that there was a direct connection between cancer and diet (thank you Gary Null for the first clues).  I got ridiculed by some family members and laughed at by so-called experts.

My research led me to experiment on myself:  let's go veg and see what happens to my mind, body, and soul (having read about so many great sages in history being veg).  My first two attempts failed, miserably.  Didn't know how to do it right.  My third, with some guidance from the veg wife of my karate tutor, was a tremendous success.  The increased energy, the lack of getting sick since then (well, two colds in two decades+), and general vitality told me what I needed to know.  It works; it's right.

How wonderful over the years to see now that so many people (and scientists, and nutritionists) have figured it out as well.  Meat is dangerous, unethical, unsustainable, unwise (and, I believe, much more so is dairy)....

GO VEGAN! 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom... I'm sure you'd understand and approve.

Eating Vegan in Afghanistan

Over at the ever delightful "Vegan Planet" blog (by Robin Robertson), she's got a "guest post" by a vegan in Afghanistan.  Here's an excerpt:

"In keeping with the Vegan Planet theme, I thought it would be interesting to occasionally feature posts from vegans around the world. My first guest blogger is Lochlain Lewis, a vegan currently working in Afghanistan. Here is his post:

Eating Vegan in Afghanistan:  We walk the short distance to the Afghan Security Guard compound for our weekly dinner invitation. Upon entering the small room most of us remove our footwear. A slender man comes in and rolls out a six foot mat on the floor. He scurries in and out carrying plates until there is no more room on the mat. It is now covered with dishes of rice, raw and cooked vegetables, falafel, meat, and flat bread. To be a good host is the mark of a good Afghan..."

[You can see a picture of Lochlain and read the full post here.]

2 Videos: Making "Carrot Juice Caviar"

Pretty kewl... "He starts with a beaker of ordinary carrot juice mixed with sodium alginate -- a derivative of seaweed -- at a ratio of 2 grams of sodium alginate to 250 grams of carrot juice (a 0.8 percent solution). He then uses a syringe to drop small beads of the solution into a bath of water with a couple grams of calcium chloride dissolved in it. The calcium chloride hardens the sodium alginate from the outside in, giving it a "skin" that holds the carrot juice inside.After rinsing in plain water, the caviar-like beads are ready to be used as a surprising garnish." Here's a link to the very short video at "Wired" explaining/showing the process.

...and over in Tokyo, at the "Tapas Molecular Bar" they have a better way to produce it greater quantities (picture at left). Check out the YouTube video here.

Live to Be 100: 9 Healthy Habits

"... For the the last five years, I've been taking teams of scientists to five pockets around the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives. We call these places the Blue Zones... people live 10 years longer, experience a sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease and a fifth the rate of major cancers... How do they do it?...:

1) Move naturally -- be active without thinking about it...

2) Cut calories by 20 percent...

3) Plant-based diet....

4) Drink red wine (in moderation)...

5) Plan de Vida: determine your life purpose. Why do you get up in the morning?...

6) Down shift -- take time to relieve stress. You may have to literally schedule it into your day, but relaxation is key...

7) Belong / participate in a spiritual community...

8) Put loved ones first / make family a priority...

9) Pick the right tribe -- the people surrounding you influence your health more than almost any other factor. Be surrounded by those who share Blue Zone values...

Sound too simple? Remember, simple doesn't mean easy... Research has shown that if you can sustain a behavioral change for six weeks, you should be able to sustain it for the rest of your life..."

[Full article here and below.  "Blue Zones" website here.  Go low-fat vegan!]

On the Taste of Fat

I remember when it was the taste/texture of meat I missed.

I remember when it was the taste/texture of cheese I missed.

I remember when it was the taste/viscosity of milk I missed.

Yet, all that has diminished over the years as I went vegan (27 years veg, last 7 vegan).  They are no longer emotional or "taste" addictions and I eat healthy and happy without those odious products.

So, when I tell people that I no longer miss the taste and viscosity of fat, or added fat recipes, why is that so difficult to understand?  Dr. Esselstyn, author of "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," told me in an interview  over a year ago that I'd lose the desire or taste for fat after some 12 weeks.  I tried what he recommended.  It worked.  I don't crave buttery muffins, fat-infused stir-fries that could be done with water or wine, or vegetables fried in fat.  I don't miss the taste of fat, and that this same fat threatened my health, is gravy.  In the interview I focused directly on the "well, in moderation?" issue... read his responses and judge for yourself.

So here's the challenge:  try it.  Go for 8 to 12 weeks without added fat in your vegan diet.  Give it a try and see if it works for you.  You CAN lose your desire/addiction for added fat.  Worst-case scenario, you can't deal with it, nice try... and most likely, you can and you'll be heart healthier as a result.

Can giving up added fat be any harder than going vegan? If you've the discipline and determination to "go vegan" than why not try the next step?

Go low-fat vegan.... live longer, healthier, and happier!

Mad Cowboy Newsletter #62 Available

Here's a direct link, the intro, and the table of contents for the latest free Mad Cowboy e-newsletter.  Enjoy! Mark
------------
Howdy!  Welcome to the 62nd issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.  We're proud as peacocks to announce a new DVD from Howard:  "A Mad Cowboy Lecture: 2007."  More details below!

Due to all the material about the HSUS investigation/video and meat recall in "Mad Cow Info Round-Up", we've suspended the "Avian Flu News" section for this edition.  But, as you read further, you'll learn about Peak Soil!, Edible Estates, more studies on the disease preventative effects of veggies and fruits, and newly deceased Earl Butz's legacy to our country's food production "system."  Continuing: PETA's announced this year's "Proggy Awards," Bob Barker has made an amazing gift to further studies of animal issues, there's a neat post about recession-proofing your diet, news about Michael Pollen's latest book, and don't miss the recipes from the excellent "Vegan Fire & Spice" as well as the videos of the vegetarian 2007 Nobel Prize winner's speech, Doreen the Downer Cow, the Vegetable Orchestra, and Wayne Pacelle (Pres., HSUS) being interviewed.

... as always, a tip of the hat to our new subscribers.  Y'all can read past issues of the newsletter at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/

Happy Spring and get those gardens growing!  Mark, MC editor/webmaster

***********************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00: Quote(s) from Howard
01: New DVD from Howard! Trailers OnLine!
02: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
03: Recipes from a New Vegan Cookbook:  "Fire & Spice"
04: Mad Cow Info Round-up
05: Veggies: Reducing 2 Cancers, Heart Disease, Blood Pressure
06: Peak Soil!, Edible Estates, Butz Legacy, Farm Emission Rules
07: Vegan Digital Theater Showcase
08: PETA Awards, Bob's Gift, Recession-proof Diet, Mostly Plants
09: Howard's Schedule
10: Quick Bytes
11: Closing Thoughts"

Direct Link to this Issue:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy/message/83

Non-Fat Cookies Recipes & Fat Rant (cont'd)

How many people would use a recipe that starts out: put 1,280 calories of 100% fat into a bowl... that's what you'd be doing if you are using 1 cup of [vegan] Earth Balance to begin a vegan "Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe as recently posted on someone else's blog.  That's near a whole day's worth of calories right there, hardly "balanced," and all those calories are from fat.

You have a choice:  you can be an unhealthy vegan and increase the odds that you'll get coronary heart disease (the biggest killer in our country), or you can stop adding unnecessary fat to your diet and increase the odds of living longer and healthier.  I've covered this in previous posts, so instead of belaboring it all again, here are some recipes that show how it can be done:

Fat-Free Oatmeal Cookies
Brownie Oatmeal Cookies
Bryanna's Basic Fatfree Cookie Dough & Variations
Gingerbread Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Around 50 veg'n cookie recipes (about 20 of them are vegan)

[Note: in my original post, I inadvertantly used the non-vegan Earth Balance numbers, 100 fat calories per TBL instead of 80... but, even then, the 1 cup of vegan 1,280 calories of pure fat to start, indeed... is still enough to make me "toss my cookies."  Go low-fat vegan and save your heart!]

Almost No-Fat Tofu Cream Cheese Recipe & Rant

Some people just don't get the idea of "fat as percentage of calories" versus "calories."  They often confuse (or don't care about) the difference between the two.  Products like "Tofutti Soy-Cheese Slices" and "Follow Your Heart Gourmet Cream Cheese" (the latter recently recommended on another vegan blog), generally have a very high "fat as percentage of calories" ratio.  "Follow Your Heart Gourmet Cream Cheese" as an example, also has that special ingredient, xantham gum (corn syrup slime). And get this: the Cheese is 76% organic (nope, no 75%, but 76%!)... and the xantham gum ain't organic (bummer).  This processed product clocks in at roughly 65% fat from calories.

Keeping in mind that Drs. Ornish, Esselstyn, McDougall, and Barnard, through peer-reviewed research, recommend around 10-15 percent of your calories from fat daily (thereby reducing risk of heart disease and/or reversing it as well as diabetes), it's difficult for me to get behind (a) consuming such a fatty product and (b) spending so much on it.  I remember in my earlier years leaning so much on products like these when first going fully vegetarian and/or vegan.  It's easy, fun, "tasty," and like methadone for a heroin addict... I also remember being 75 lbs. heavier then as a direct result, too.

For those understanding the heart-healthy value of a no-added oil low-fat vegan diet, here's a great "almost no-fat tofu cream cheese recipe" to try.  Believe me, if it's still not fatty enough for you, over time, you can lose that taste for high-fat.  Just takes a little discipline and patience.  Like being vegan...

"Vegan Cream Cheese (with 7 variations)

1 cup extra firm (MoriNu 1% fat) silken tofu
1.5 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 T brown rice syrup, or 1 t pure maple syrup
1.5 t low-sodium tamari
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t nutritional yeast flakes

Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes (to draw out extra moisture).  Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend until completely smooth.  Refrigerate overnight to allow flavours to blend, and thereafter store in the fridge."

[Not bad... costs around a third of the commercial brand, very easy and quick to make.  Here's the link to the full recipe with variations. Here's another a tad higher in fat calories with cashews.  When interviewing Esselstyn, he told me that after several weeks of a no-added fat (e.g., oil, and there's significant palm oil in the product above) you lose your desire for fat.  I tried it and he was correct.  Go low-fat vegan and live longer, healthier, happier, be lighter, and have more money to spend on more important things than processed high-fat vegan products.]

The Vegan Booze Directory (needs your help...)

[Boy! Now here's a useful service... it's kept updated AND is participatory.  Check it out!  Here's some snippets from the main webpage:

"What's Wrong with Alcohol:  Putting aside arguments about health, many beers, wines and other alcoholic beverages are filtered with animal ingredients such as isinglass (derived from fish) or bone char.  While the filtering process only leaves trace animal residues in the final product, the fact that animal products are used at all leaves many beverages off of the vegan drinker's shopping list.  To make matters worse, some drinks are simply not vegan by virtue of their ingredients, as cream, eggs, and even whole chickens can be added to a drink to give it a distinctive flavour or property. The trouble is, this isn't something you'll find on a label.

What can I do?:  We've started the Vegan Booze Directory to help you build a proper vegan bar, but we need a bit of help.  Alcohol, especially beer, is incredibly regional, and the odds are that your favourite brand isn't even available in other parts of the world.  Combined with the sheer number of drinks out there, it's clear that we need more than one or two people to build the list.  We need volunteers in the following areas..."

[Fellow vegans... a great cause worth volunteering for... Again, the link to The Vegan Booze Directory... now... when's that text-based iPod version coming out?  Go Vegan!]

Happy Earth Day!

Yeah, I know I usually send out something from satellites viewing the Earth on this day (having done work for NASA and knowing where the data is accessible), but this photo I shot yesterday struck me as something special.

It's a rose... still in it's pot ready to be planted when weather/time permits (click on to see larger version).  Reminded me of the Sun... you can envision the sunspots/core, the trails of coronal flares and the petals as magnetic fields.  An interesting vision and possibly indicative of a very very old saying "as is above, is below."  A fascinating time in the year when nature is kicking in big time and accelerating this far North as fast as it can.  Earth reborn.

Of course, it could also be the drugs are kicking in (yes Dad, I'm kidding).

For the more metaphysical and whimsical out there...

Happy Earth Day to all... let's hope we survive the upcoming year intact.

Best, Mark... Oh, and help save a planet and the life therein:  Go Vegan!

Hezbollah Tofu Contest of Note

It's a uniquely edgy blog that has just announced a contest, of sorts.  Hezbollah Tofu is a relatively new blog that takes on chef/author/moron Bourdain's infamous quote from his first book:  "Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.”

As such, Hezbollah posts veganized Bourdain recipes (one is getting voted on versus Bourdain's version).  Anyway, the genius behind the blog recently wrote:

"Name 5 Things cooler than a Hezbollah Tofu t-shirt.  See, you couldn't, could you?  That's because nothing cooler EXISTS.  And, right now, neither do the actual t-shirts. Here's the thing--we can't be talking such a big game and then go around wearing lame-ass t-shirts that just say something like "tofu ruullessss bacon is grooossssss" with the website address. And all the cutesy "give peas a chance" shit has already been appropriated by PETA, which, you know, we're not even going to go there. So we need something with awesome yet not in-your-face graphics and achingly witty text.  Surely you cannot expect me to do this all by myself, particularly given that my Photoshop skills begin and end with airbrushing the odd PMS zit out of a vacation photo. So I need for the brave among you to offer up your mad skills and whip up something fantastic to plaster across various merchandise..."

You can read the rest of the post here... "Fork Bourdain for charity" indeed!  Go Vegan...

"Mad Cowboy Lecture: 2007" - Excerpts & a Review

[It's finally available... the new "Mad Cowboy DVD." I've also posted two 3 min. segments from the beginning and Robert Cohen, aka the "NotMilkman" has graced us with an exclusive review of the DVD.  Enjoy!

1st 3 minutes:

2nd 3 minutes:

My apologies if the videos aren't as smooth as they could be... I had limited time and notification to pull this off. Actual footage is of high professional quality from a 3-camera shoot. The larger versions of the two segments are here:  PT01, PT02.  Hope to find time in the near future to figure out the compression issues.  Also, you can learn more about the DVD at www.madcowboy.com... and Go Vegan!]

Gardening Tips from Man Afraid of Plants

[Here's the supremely demented Christopher Walken as the indoor gardener afraid of plants and his unique solution to the problem.  Happened to watch my tape of the 04/05/08 Sat. Nite Live on Sunday with friends after a long day working in the garden... and this skit had me to tears... Walken had already done several skits (live) and clearly was tired, but just absolutely hilarious in his performance. Remember that "cactuses are dangerous...."  Go Vegan, Go Googly-eyed Vegan!]

"Edible Estates" & Growing Your Own

"......By the end of World War II, over 80 percent of American households were growing some of their own food. Within months after Victory Day this activity quickly subsided. With its demise went the widespread knowledge among most Americans of how to grow their own food... the introduction of the leisure weekend, the abundance of fresh water, the production of industrial pesticides, the availability of the lawn mower and cheap gas, and the rise of home ownership with the explosion of new suburban housing developments in the 1940s and '50s all set the stage for the unfurling of the great American lawn as we know it today. Its puritanical aspects seem suited to the Eisenhower years of good manners. Is there a connection between landscape and hairstyles?... [yikes!]

...In the United States we plant more grass than any other crop: currently lawns cover more than thirty million acres. Given the way we lavish precious resources on it and put it everywhere that humans go, aliens landing in any American city today would assume that grass must be the most precious earthly substance of all.  Yet the lawn devours resources while it pollutes. It is maniacally groomed with mowers and trimmers powered by the two-stroke motors that are responsible for much of our greenhouse gas emissions... To eradicate invading plants the lawn is drugged with pesticides and herbicides, which are then washed into our water supply with sprinklers and hoses, dumping our increasingly rare fresh drinking resource down the gutter. [more water and pesticides on our lawns than used by the entire US agricultural industry.]

Meanwhile, at the grocery store we confront our food. Engineered fruits and vegetables wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam are cultivated not for taste but for appearance, uniformity, and ease of transport, then sprayed with chemicals to inhibit the diseases and pests that thrive in an unbalanced ecosystem. The produce in the average American dinner is trucked 1,500 miles to reach our plates. We don't know where our fruits and vegetables came from or who grew them. Perhaps we have even forgotten that plants were responsible for the mass-produced meal we are consuming. This detachment from the source of our food breeds a careless attitude toward our role as custodians of the land that feeds us. Perhaps we would reconsider what we put down the drain, on the ground, and in the air if there was more direct evidence that we will ultimately ingest it...

The Edible Estates project proposes the replacement of the domestic front lawn with a highly productive edible landscape. Food grown in our front yards will connect us to the seasons, the organic cycles of the earth, and our neighbors. The banal lifeless space of uniform grass in front of the house will be replaced with the chaotic abundance of biodiversity. In becoming gardeners we will reconsider our connection to the land, what we take from it, and what we put in it. Each yard will be a unique expression of its location and of the inhabitant and his or her desires..."

[The full, spot-on, literate, history-referencing and thought-provoking "excerpt" from the book is here and below. Here's a sub-3min. "TreeHugger Video on 'Edible Estates.'" For me, this all helped conceptually soothe the tight muscles from digging in the veggie garden yesterday. If you're vegan or vegetarian and not growing some of your own food, even on an apartment balcony, you're missing out on something important.  Go grow your own & Go Vegan.]

Mom Says "Eat Your Sea Veggies"

"... sea vegetables are different forms of seaweed that are used like "vegetables" in culinary dishes... According to Chef Horton, for optimal health, "We need to balance foods that grow above the ground with those that grow below the sea." Sea vegetables offer the broadest range of minerals of any food (land or sea), and contain virtually all of the minerals that are found in the body.

"Sea vegetables are rich in iron, calcium, iodine, Vitamins A, C, K and other nutrients, and they can substantially reduce the amount of toxins found in the body," states [restaurant] owner Jeff Stanford, who has been incorporating seaweed into his diet for years. Sea vegetables are loaded with alginic acid, which binds with toxic metals (such as strontium), permitting their elimination from the body.

... sea vegetables contain good amounts of lignans, plant compounds with cancer-protective properties. In effect, populations subsisting on diets rich in sea vegetables have less chronic disease, lower incidence of cancers, and longer life spans. Western cultures are only recently beginning to enjoy the taste and nutritional value of sea vegetables..."

From "Vegetarians in Paradise:"

"... sea vegetables offer numerous health benefits and provide all 56 minerals and trace minerals our bodies require for physiological functions. These amazing foods contain from 10 to 48% protein that is similar to egg white protein, while providing the ideal ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids.

...sea vegetables have been used to lower cholesterol, decrease high blood pressure, and treat cancer. Epidemiological studies suggest it is possible that seaweeds may be responsible for the low rates of breast cancer in Japan."

[How kewl... I tend to lean on "kombu" a lot in soups (particularly crockpot-based... chopping up some as part of the base) and arame/hijiki for salads.  Sea vegetables (hey, sounds much better than "seaweed"!) have a tremendous amount of nutrients to offer to anyone, let alone, the dedicated Vegan. Original article: here (and below).  Interesting sources of information about sea vegetables recipes: here and here.  Use your "Search Engine" of choice to learn more about sea vegetables and incorporating them into your diet.  Oh, and Go Vegan!]

Vegatopia!!

"We hope you might be interested in a new website we have just launched, http://www.vegatopia.org, which is dedicated to providing an academic resource on all things vegan. It is specifically aimed at raising the profile of veganism in academia, at creating more links between academics and activists around veganism, and at providing a resource for research and debate. The website is also intended as an interactive forum, facilitating dialogue between academics interested in vegan-related research and also opening up opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between academics and vegan activist organisations and support groups.  We have already been working with some organisations within the UK, including The Vegan Society and the Vegan Organic Network, and have forthcoming articles in the magazines for both organisations."

[Howard forwarded this to me today... the site is new, but there are some exciting possibilities therein, and I urge vegans/vegetarians to contribute to their efforts. Lotsa good resources and info on the site already.  Very very promising.  Love the academic angle. Let's establish some more 'street science cred'... Go Vegan!]

Which Giant Corporation Owns Your Fav Organic Food Brand?

I saw today at a local grocery store that the previously vegan "Hain's Chicken Gravy Mix" now contains milk.  What a colossal step backwards.  But then, the quality of the ingredients to say, of Boca and Morningstar products have notably declined in the past few years (no doubt from corporate acquisition by Tobacco-related Corporations) and I wondered how pervasive this trend for large corporations to gobble up organic interests might be.  Over at the superb Organic Consumers Association website, a post that contains links to much information about whom now owns what.  Some of the highlights:

- the "All About Organics" webpage with tons of great links

- fascinating PDF chart (smaller copy below, click for larger version) of The Organic Industry in 2007

- which of "the country's largest food producer's are behind your favorite organic snacks" chart

I used to think it was great to be able to buy a meat analog, or faux cheese, despite the generally high sodium and/or fat content.  I used to think it was wonderful to buy a box of organic packets of oatmeal (when I could easily have bought the oatmeal bulk at 1/5th the cost, added some spices, and saved the money).  In general, I've learned over the past two decades, that minimizing that which you consume that comes in cans, boxes, bottles, and plastic, is not only probably healthier in the long run, but cheaper. 

People enthralled by "non-sugar" sweetners and candies, entranced by refined non-whole grains, and emotionally enslaved by the crispness of "fried" foods may not realize you can be an unhealthy veg'n. These attachments WILL catch up with you physically.  Maybe not when you're in your twenties or thirties, but eventually.  I was astounded that one blogger thought he could "agree to disagree" with Esselstyn's and Ornish's research on low-fat vegan diets and heart disease (that's like disagreeing with evolution... "I don't care about the science, my belief-structure won't let me agree with them").  Neanderthal view.  "Sorry Copernicus, I just can't see it.  The sun obviously goes around the Earth.  Now go away... let me guzzle my olive oil dressing, masticate these pretzels, and suck on xylitol mints."

Too many vegans, imho, are "too" dazzled by "Follow Your Heart Cheese" without considering the consequences (wow, it melts!  who cares about the fat and high price?), and say, Boca Burgers (costs as much as 2 lbs. of tofu or 3 lbs. of uncooked legumes).  Too many vegans "buy" into the  satisfaction of spending so much money to buy processed foods that may help them transition to being vegan, but ultimately, might be problematic from a health standpoint.  I noticed on a veg blog today that someone actually wrote "a little processed food occasionally never hurt anyone" as though that broad generalization was (a) a profound statement and (b) a substantiated fact. It's neither.

Maybe it's my age... it took awhile to get through that fake cheese and meat stuff love affair... which left me feeling lethargic and listless... a transitional phase that's like methadone to the heroin addict... more and more, I find that making it from scratch, incorporating a wider variety of grains, legumes, and fresh vegetables in my diet, is not only cheaper, but healthier and, given time, much more satisfactory to the palette.  You can rid yourself of the addiction or desire for that fat and/or sodium, just as you might have from meat, eggs, and dairy.  But, as with any addiction, you have to want to.

Besides... with all the corporate acquisitions of processed organic products, who has the time to keep up with whom owns said company and the quality of what's in their wares?

Megacorporglomerates like ConAgra aren't going to spend effort and money dominating bulk basic product purchases... no profit margin... no yearly increase in sales.  The more processed it is, the greater their profit, and the lesser the nutritive quality.   Ergo, to save money and eat healthier, we should purchase as little processed food products as possible.  "I consumo ergo sum" (I eat therefore I am?)

Whatever... my best advice is:  if you're making the big jump to a plant-based diet, why not go all the way and make it truly healthy?  Costs less, tastes better, live longer.

Robin Interviewed: Roasting Spring Vegetables

Eric Marcus of "vegan.com" has re-vamped his website and podcast.  Re-imagined as "VegTalk" Eric's 2nd podcast has an excellent audio interview (mp3) with the prolific vegan cookbook author, Robin Robertson (here's my earlier review of her latest book, "Vegan Fire and Spice").  Robin discusses her new cookbook, how to cook fresh Spring vegetables, differences in ovens, and local greens.  Be sure to check out Robin's "Vegan Planet" blog as well.  'Twill be time well spent with a superb chef!

Ode to Planet Vega

"Oh, to be back on Planet Vega
Where the soy milk rivers flow,
Glistening under the orange sunshine
That gives the TVP bushes their glow.

Where rice dream beams on mountain tops
And Cliff Bar trees stand tall,
Where tamari streams 'round seitan bends
And there is no fat at all.

Oh, to be back on Planet Vega,
And breath deep of Red Zinger breeze,
To see the rustling of wild millet stalks
And listen to the vegan bees.

Some day I'll return to Vega,
...I so miss my Planet of birth,
For now I'm stuck in Health Food Stores
Trapped here on Planet Earth."

--- Mark Sutton, 03/31/08

[I was always amused by the joke that we vegans come from "Planet Vega."  This morning, after wakening and chewing through the straps, I was thinking about doing something funny for the blog with "April Fool's Day" coming up.  The phrase "Planet Vega" popped into my head.  Crawling downstairs to pour some tea (coffee maker pre-set to make a batch in the morning) and staggering to my desk, I wrote the above poem in about 10 minutes.  Would that I had time to work on it a bit more, but this will be an aggressive few days what with digital projects as well as getting seed/sets into the ground.  So, here it is as it is and will be for awhile.  Hope it gives fellow Vegans a "wistful" smile... feel free to pass around, but please credit me and my blog accordingly.  Go Vegan!]

Tofu is Worship Word!

You, too, can make your own "church sign" for fun using the "church sign" generator.  Then there's the "I Heart T-Shirt" generator, and finally... the "tombstone" generator:

Deconstructing "Goddess Dressing"

The incredible response to my post about the "fat content" of "Goddess Dressing" and how easy/cheap it is to make your own salad dressings, begged another post about the topic.  My thanks to those who pointed out the sodium content (which I missed originally).

Here we go:  you can ignore the incredibly high fat content of "Goddess Dressing", but then there's the fact that there's 320 mg of sodium per two tablespoons as a serving (which , of course, we'd all measure carefully on our salad), which is about 1/4th of what Drs. Esselstyn, Barnard, et. al (see previous post) would recommend PER DAY... around 1500 mg.  What a great product!  Get most of your day's worth of fat and salt in one setting/salad and at a cost much higher than making it yourself by pouring this stuff on your no-fat vegetables and greens.  Sure glad it's "organic."

Oh, and then there's the "xantham gum" in the ingredients.  Anyone checked this out?  It's essentially corn syrup slime ("xanthan gum derives its name from the strain of bacteria used during the fermentation process, Xanthomonas campestris... the same bacteria responsible for causing black rot to form on broccoli, cauliflower and other leafy vegetables.  The bacteria form a slimy substance which acts as a natural stabilizer or thickener.").  Yum... pay extra for fat, sodium, and corn syrup slime.... sure glad it's all organic.

So, spend several times as much money to buy a salad dressing you can make for pennies and fat-free in minutes on your own, that has high levels of fat, sodium, and slimey corn syrup, for the "convenience"  and marvel that it's "organic."  What a winner.  "Goddess Dressing" epitomizes the unholy three that many believe is killing us with diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and dementia:  fat, salt, and corn syrup.  And this is done in the mistaken belief that it's "healthy" because it's "organic."

We, as vegans, must learn to read/understand nutritional labels, recognize the bullsh**, and do better than buying fat, salt, and corn syrup-ladden salad dressings as though they were "healthy."  Take a few minutes, do a web search, and learn to make your own.  Better yet, scrutinize the labels of the products you buy and recognize that you can be an unhealthy vegan, or a healthy one.  The corporations won't help you figure this out, you must do it yourself.  Get busy. Educate yourself.  Go vegan.  Go low-fat and HEALTHY vegan.

[Addendum:  Susan's almost-no-fat alternative (1 gram fat, 20 calories per serving, no slime, half the sodium):
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/01/susans-lite-goddess-dressing.html

Fatty Myths & Salad Dressings

It's amazing to me that people actually buy salad dressings, be they organic or not.  It costs pennies and a few minutes to make your own salad dressing bottle equivalent, and for the most part, probably healthier.  I mean, how tough is it to put spices and liquids into a bottle or jar and shake vigorously?  This issue came up recently when I noted, via VegBlogs, that over at the fine VeganTalk blog the CEO of Annie's wanted feedback on "supersizing the bottle" of his "Goddess Dressing."  Curious, I went to their website and looked into the nutritional composition of the dressing.

Wow.  120 fat calories per two tablespoons... sure, and how many people would measure two tablespoons worth?  Then, it lists the fat content of 2 TBS of the dressing at 13 grams, or "19%" of the daily recommended amount for a 2,000 calorie diet.  Drs. Ornish, Esselstyn, Barnard, and McDougall all recommend around 10-15% of your calories from fat, or if you will, no more than 25 grams of fat a day.  The Feds recommend 25-35% of your calories from fat, hence, 65 grams of fat per day.

The recommendations of Ornish, Esselstyn, Barnard, and McDougall, have been clinically shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, reverse heart disease, promote weight loss, and reverse diabetes.  How well has the government's recommendations done? in 2005: 80,700,000 Americans with one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.  It ain't an exercise issue, kiddos.  It's not genetics.

So, I noted some of the above as a comment and got the usual rejoinder thrown back at me:  not all fats are bad. Myth.  Not substantiated by scientific testing and fact.  It has clearly been shown that just ONE fatty meal decreases the elasticity of your cardiovascular system. That has been measured, it's not theory.  Sure, in one's earlier years, you can probably weather this biological impact again and again.  However, over time, it will take it's toll and exercise won't be the panacea. Some of Essey's heart-damaged patients couldn't exercise, but by following his recommendations, their symptoms of heart disease were REVERSED.

Listen:  don't buy into the misconception that added fats are okay.  I've been on the "no-added fat" diet for a little over a year now.  As Essey predicted, I lost my desire for fat after several weeks.  It works.  Do your heart a favor.  No more added fat.  At one of the all-time best recipe sites I know, Susan's posted Bryanna's amazing no-fat dressing recipe, which can easily be adapted to other styles (indeed, it's also in "No More Bull!" by Howard Lyman, and a couple of Bryanna Clark Grogan's books):

Bryanna's Oil-free Italian Dressing (at Fat-Free Recipe Website)

Finally, ya may want to read the interview I did with Essey last year.  My father had just had his first "heart incident" and I tried very hard to punch holes into the good Doctor's recommendations & research.  I brought up several common diet and heart disease myths, and he handled them with gusto.  Live longer.  Be healthier.  Go low-fat vegan!

Salads, Gardening, & Cancer

"By simply eating four or more servings of green salad a week and working in the garden once or twice a week, smokers and nonsmokers alike may be able to substantially reduce the risk of developing lung cancer, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.  "This is the first risk prediction model to examine the effects of diet and physical activity on the possibility of developing lung cancer," says Michele Forman, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Epidemiology. The data are from an ongoing M. D. Anderson case-control lung cancer study involving more than 3,800 participants... Forman's study looked at salad consumption and gardening because, she said, "Salad is a marker for the consumption of many vegetables and gardening is an activity in which smokers and nonsmokers can participate...."

"...Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women, with more than 213,000 estimated new cases diagnosed each year according to the American Cancer Society. Smoking tobacco accounts for more than eight of 10 lung cancer cases."

[Full article here and below.  Time to plan those gardens!  Go vegan...]

Project BudBurst

[Project BudBurst is not about marijuna... it's a unique program that invites people to help track progress of flowers & vegetation species and Climate Change.  Here's part of the program's description:

"Join us in collecting important climate change data on the timing of leafing and flowering in your area through Project BudBurst! This national field campaign targets native tree and flower species across the country. With your help, we will be compiling valuable environmental and climate change information around the United States. [free]: Register Now - Become a member of the Project BudBurst community! This allows you to save your observation sites and plants that you are monitoring throughout the year and for coming years. Subscribe to the Project BudBurst mailing list to receive updates and announcements about the new features added for 2008. Read about us in the News!"

[Here's a link to the site.  You can click on the picture above to see a larger picture of a little crocus flower coming through frost I took on 2/22/08... about a calendar month ahead of last year's 1st bloom. Mild winter.... Go Vegan!]

25 Money Saving Tips for Vegans

[I've been wanting to write something like this for months, but I'm constantly challenged by other projects. But, nonetheless, the following is a  part of a great list from The Urban Vegan and I've added some comments:

1. "Bake your own bread. It doesn't take much hands-on time and can save your about $3 a loaf...  [easily... you can make a 2 lb. loaf of whole grain bread for around a buck using a breadmachine... prep is about 15 minutes]

3. Cook beans from scratch and freeze them in ziplock bags. You'll have fresh, cooked beans at a moment's notice and at half the cost of canned beans. [This has been a great tip I learned years ago.  I still keep a few cans of beans around for say, making a "quick" crockpot chili or mexican-style lasagna.  Invest in a small "appetizer" crockpot and it's really a no-brainer.]

5. Make your own faux meats. If you must have faux meats, seitan is simple to prepare. Make several batches at once, and freeze the leftovers in plastic containers. [Indeed... like making bread, it takes a bit of practice, but you can make a lot quickly.  Freezing tofu in slices or cubes is also a time-saver.]

6. Pack your own lunch. ...Consider this: A basic sandwich in Philadelphia costs about $6 plus $2 if you want a drink. By those calculations, Omnim