Need to do a little holiday shopping? Just feel like getting yourself a little something? Looking for some vegan essentials?
veganessentials.com

I discovered this site recently and haven’t purchased anything from it yet, though I plan to. They definitely have more of a variety than any other vegan site I’ve been to. Over 1200 vegan items, in fact. They’ve got shoes, food and sweets, body care, cosmetics, clothing, books, vitamins, home products, “companion animal” supplies, etc. All totally vegan. No animal testing.

Give it a look-see. Oh, and if you happen to test out the humane mouse traps they are selling, in the companion animal supplies section… let me know how they work. I have a fear of mice that conflicts with my vegan lifestyle (really bad experience in college where they pretty much took over my apartment-ate my food, pooped in my bed, chewed on the walls at night- and led me to be deathly afraid of them. Oh and those sticky traps are probably one of the most inhumane traps I’ve ever witnessed. Don’t even get me started…) Anyway, in case my current place ever gets overrun by mice (fingers crossed) I’d like to know that they can be humanely caught and released, by my boyfriend, far far away.

The National Diary Council has been claiming for years that eating dairy is part of a healthy diet and helps you lose weight. Well, the Federal Trade Commission finally called them on it. An article was published in The New York Times (read article here), and later in VegNews. “The FTC’s ruling came in response to a petition submitted in 2005 by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCMR), which charged that the Dairy Council was misleading the Public.” You may have noticed these dairy commercials adjusting their recommendations from 2 servings a day up to 3 servings. Apparently a ploy to increase their profits. The one study that supposedly backs these recommendations, and was deemed not enough conclusive evidence to support their claim, was a study funded by none other than the dairy industry itself. “Milk and cheese are more likely to pack on pounds than help people slim down.” -Dan Kilbourn of PCMR. PCMR is a an advocacy and research group that promotes diets that do not contain animal products. Thanks to the efforts of PCMR and the ruling of the FTC, The National Dairy Council will be removing the weight loss claims from its website, and will no longer be airing those commercials.

This is a reminder to be wary of what giant food industries, like the $50 billion dairy industry, claim. Many of them are more interested in making money than making you healthy.

prep time: 5 minutes

Ohhhh golly. This smoothie is pure heaven. And so good for you.

• blueberries
• strawberries
• raspberries
• 1/2 banana
• Very Vanilla Soymilk

So I’d do mostly blueberries to give your smoothie a lovely purple hue (and because blueberries are a superfood!), then raspberries and a few strawberries. Add 1/2 a banana, and depending upon how thick you like your smoothies, add enough soymilk to meet your needs. Blend it up until it’s super smooth. Euphoria!

Thanks Linds!

Halloween can be a tough time for vegans. Candy and baked goods galore that we just can’t have. What’s a veg to do? Well I’ll tell you. Rest easy, for there are sweets we CAN have. There are vegan candies you may not be aware of that do not contain sugar ground with animal bone, as well as recipes for baked goods. And because I’m so thoughtful, I’ve scouted out some items to help you fit in with the sugar mania that is Halloween.

CANDY
(what you can give out to the little kiddies that you can eat as well!)

• Airheads Taffy
• Blow Pops
• Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
• Brach’s Orange Slices
• Brach’s Rootbeer Barrels
• Charms lollipops
• Cracker Jacks
• Cry Babies
• Dots
• Fireballs
• Jolly Ranchers
• Jujubees
• Jujyfruits
• Nabisco Halloween Oreos
• Ring Pop Lollipops
• Sour Patch Kids
• Swedish Fish
• Sweet Tarts
• Twizzlers

***you can find more of these vegan goodies at I Can’t Believe It’s Vegan!***

RECIPES
(I tried to pick recipes that ranged from super easy to mildly complex. If you have friends and family that are cynics, let them rave over the goodness before revealing the frightful lack of animal products in them)
Gingerbread Snack Cake

• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 t. ground ginger
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/8 t. cloves
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 2/3 cup soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk
• 1/3 cup safflower oil
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 T. ginger, minced
• 2 t. vanilla

Lightly oil (or spray with a light mist of oil) a 9-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, sift together both types of flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves, and allspice, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into 9 pieces. Servings may be topped with maple syrup, applesauce, soy ice cream, or Almond Cream.

Yield: One 9-inch square pan or 9 servings. Found at Vegan Chef

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Vegan Pumpkin Pie

bryanna’s pumpkin pie filling

• 2 cups solid pack pumpkin
• 1 cup full fat soymilk
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon each: ginger, nutmeg & salt
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice OR cloves

place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. pour into prepared 9″ unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 for about an hour. make the day before serving and let sit overnight to properly set.

oil pastry

• 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 Tablespoons cold soymilk

sift together flour and salt. in a separate bowl whisk together the oil and soymilk. add wet mixture into dry mixture all at once and stir lightly with a fork. form into a ball and roll out between waxed paper. fit into pie shell. makes one 9″ crust.

Found at Bunnyfoot

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Pumpkin Cranberry Loaf

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2 cups mashed pumpkin (canned)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a large bowl, stir together pumpkin, maple syrup, apple sauce, vegetable oil and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients, mixing only until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in dried cranberries, then pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the loaf springs back when lightly pressed. Cool loaf in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf. Found at BakingBites.com

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Bryanna’s Carob Fudge

• peanut butter (or other nut butter)
• fruit concentrate syrup, maple syrup, or agave syrup
• carob powder
• chopped nuts and/or sunflower seeds
• sesame seeds
• and 1/4 c. wheat germ (or quick oats)

When well-mixed, wash off hands and leave them wet. Roll into balls, egg shapes (we used to make “Easter eggs” out of these, too) or logs, or press into an oiled pan and cut into squares or other shapes. Roll in coconut (colored, if you wish), ground nuts or ground granola.Found at Brianna Clark Grogan
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Bryanna’s Popcorn Crunch

• 1/2 c. popcorn, popped
• 2 c. shelled sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds), toasted
• 1 c. brown sugar or Sucanat
• 1/2 c. maple syrup or other syrup
• 1/2 c. molasses
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla or almond extract
• 1 c. natural peanut butter

Keep the popcorn and sunflower seeds warm on a cookie sheet or in a metal bowl in a 250 degrees F. oven. Mix the brown sugar, syrup and molasses in a greased 1 and 1/2 qt. heavy pan. Stir while bringing to a boil, then boil hard 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add the extract and stir in the peanut butter until well mixed. Pour over the popcorn and seeds and mix well. Either form into balls or spread on a cookie sheet, cool and break into chunks.

Found at Brianna Clark Grogan

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Vegan Donuts

• 2 C Flour
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons egg substitute
• 2 Tbsp water
• 3/4 C rice milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tsp oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add egg replacer + water (mixed together before adding), rice milk, oil, and vanilla, mix vigorously until well blended. Pour batter into a doughnut pan (i’m sure the mixture can somehow be rolled out if you don’t have a doughnut pan — i’m sure a muffin pan might do too). Put in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until done. Dip into a mixed sugar glaze (powdered sugar and water) or roll in a bag filled with cinnamon and sugar.

Found at Zaar

Potassium is necessary for maintaining a healthy nervous system, digestive system, heart, and healthy muscles. It keeps your blood pressure normal, enhances physical performance, maintains the right balance of water in fat and muscle tissue, and prevents excess fluid retention. The use of diuretics, some fad diets, drinking too much coffee or alcohol, consuming too much salt, and sweating a lot can all lead to potassium loss. It is recommended that you get at least 3.5g of potassium/day.

Luckily, there are plenty of vegan sources of potassium.
Good sources include:

• bran cereal
• prune juice/prunes
• tomato juice
• dark chocolate
• blackstrap molasses
• sunflower seeds
• apricots
• bananas
• cantaloupe
• honeydew melon
• dried figs
• mango
• papaya
• raisins
• raw firm tofu
• chick peas
• beans
• lentils
• avocado
• spinach
• potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• pumpkin
• winter squash
• wheat germ
• almonds

Getting too much potassium is quite rare, but can lead to kidney damage.

Symptoms of deficiency include mood swings, low blood pressure, fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle pain, and irregular heartbeat. Keep in mind that when you cook vegetables, it can deplete them of potassium and other nutrients.

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IT certifications need to recertify after a specific time period. Only SY0-201 CompTIA Security+ does not need recertify. All Cisco certification exam such as 350-050 CCIE Wireless, 640-816 ICND2 and 350-029 CCIE Service Provider expire after three years. You need to recertify your Microsoft MCTS 70-643 and MCDST 70-271 exam also.

prep time: 5 minutes

I just had an amazingly simple, mouth wateringly delicious wrap. I must share it with you. Here goes…

• fresh spinach
• fresh tomatoes, sliced or chopped
• Sabra’s Garlic hummus
• Mission multigrain flour tortilla

Heat tortilla if desired. Put a slab of hummus on tortilla. Add as much fresh spinach and as many fresh tomatoes as you want. Eat! So simple it’s scary.

Thanks Andrea!

Ever go out to din din with friends and realize there aren’t too many options for veggie lovers at this particular juncture? Fear not. If you’ve sifted through all the possible dishes you could get minus the cheese, butter, chicken, egg, etc… and nothing sounds appetizing- or you discover all you’ve got left in your meal is a mound of lettuce- don’t be shy. Speak up! Many places understand that vegans do exist in the world and there’s a chance said vegans might even dine at their restaurant. Kindly tell the waiter/waitress your eating preferences and ask if they can make you a plate of steamed veggies or something. You may end up with a surprisingly delicious dish! I’ve been requesting special meals for years and have had some absolutely delectable meals as a result. It may even be a nice relief for the chefs at the restaurant because, odds are, they serve vegetables as a side for many entr

prep time: 30-45 min.

For my co-worker’s last day she baked vegan cookies as a going away present! I was floored! I got the recipe ASAP. They are SO moist and delicious. And so fitting for the season. This recipe makes 48 cookies. wew!

• 1/2 C vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 C soy yogurt (vanilla or plain)
• 1 C canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 C vegan chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F; 175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the soy
yogurt, then stir in the pumpkin and vanilla.
3. In another bowl combine the flour through the cinnamon.
4. Gradually stir into the creamed mixture
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop dough by teaspoonfulls onto cookie sheets
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until light brown or toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool.

Thanks Natalie!

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Pumpkin seeds are a delicious snack. But I’m curious. Are pumpkin seeds fattening?

Quod cibus est aliis, aliis est venenum. What’s food to some is poison to others. So, I picked up a book recently, written by a dietitian (who shall go nameless because I’m not out to point fingers). She has had years of experience and has many degrees (M.S., R.D., C.D.N., C.N.S) so she knows a lot about nutrition. Anyhoo, I contacted her because I noticed that when she mentioned good sources of protein in her book, she did not mention any plant sources. She responded with this: “I have had many vegetarian and vegan patients in my 15 years of practice, and believe it or not, not one of them walked into my office healthy. I used to be a vegetarian myself, and became anemic within 1 year. And I have done extensive research on soy and the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, and have made educated professional and personal decisions that the protein sources derived from vegetables and legumes does not efficiently convert to human muscle and does not support regular hormonal function. Not only that, but there is a tremendous amount of research I have come across on the negative impacts of soy: http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/ as well as the benefits of the paleolithic diet: www.thepaleodiet.com. So at this point in my career, I do not advocate vegetarian sources of protein as a mainstay in the diet. That being said, I do love vegan and vegetarian recipes for healthy side dish options. I wish you all the best and continued good health, _____” Needless to say her response freaked me out a little bit. From what I’ve read, plant proteins are just as good as animal proteins- and healthier in many respects! And I haven’t had meat in 12 years and am not anemic. And as a vegan, I feel pretty good! Also, the research out about soy is so controversial right now- I know she knows a lot about nutrition, but does she know as much specifically about vegan nutrition as, say, a vegan R.D.? So my next step was to start consulting some vegan dietitians. I first went to Brenda Davis, R.D., co-author of Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet. She was at a research intervention and had limited internet access so her response was brief, but here’s what she had to say: “My guess is that the vegetarians _____ saw came to her because they were not doing well. It is unfortunate that she would discourage people from choosing a diet that supports human health beautifully, and is also ecologically and ethically sustainable. The healthiest, longest living people in the world have always been very near vegan (read Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Longest-Lived Peoples). If you look around the world, the lowest rates of chronic diseases are in populations eating largely vegan diets. In most cases, small amounts of fish or animal protein are eaten, but in rural China, it is less than 7 g per day per person. Read The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. I know of numerous extremely healthy vegan families. It is such a joy to see children who suffer only a fraction of the infections, allergies, asthma, etc. of average kids.” I next went to Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D, the other author of Becoming Vegan. “It is true that people (such as this dietitian), who have no idea how to create a nutritionally adequate vegan diet, sometimes are unaware that it can be done. It depends on her university program, but some programs could fail to include that information in a curriculum. And then it sounds like she never became updated. Of course many vegans are thriving, and look tremendously healthy, and would not have any reason to see an MD. It sounds as though she saw some who were poorly informed, and then she was unable to help them further. I do consultations for people. If this is what interests you, I will send you the details. However our book Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet covers many questions you may have very well. So you may want to have a look at that first. Many dietitians who have vegan clients (and successfully counsel them) use this book as a reference. it is a classic for this subject, and very well respected by dietitians and physicians.”

The purpose of this post is not to attack anyone. It is to give vegans a piece of mind about their health and their decision to be vegan. And I urge anyone who has information on the effectiveness of plant protein or other information about vegansim being a healthy life choice to contact me or post a comment. Any other dietitians out there – I’d love to hear what you have to say on the topic. I’m particularly curious about her claim that “protein sources derived from vegetables and legumes does not efficiently convert to human muscle and does not support regular hormonal function.”

I read in The Vegan Diet As Chronic Disease Prevention ,”The human body does not need to eat other animal’s muscle in order to build its own muscle. Neither do other vegetarians, like deer, gorillas, bulls, stallions, giraffes, and elephants… In 1907 the Yale Medical Journal published findings showing that both vegetarian athletes and vegetarian non-athletes excelled in exercise endurance over meat-eating athletes.”

I consume a lot of soy. Soymilk, tofu, edamame, tempeh, Boca Burgers, Soy Crumbles and other veggie “meats,” soy slices, soy nuts, soynut butter… the list goes on. I’ve never been one to believe that soy is evil or bad for you (though I plan to keep an eye on what the anti-soy-ians are saying)- in fact, more research is piling up revealing how good it is for you (good source of protein, cancer-fighting, heart-healthy, cholesterol-lowering, antioxidant…). But I do think it’s important to get a balanced diet. So I’m trying to substitute some of my soy for other healthy alternatives.

I’m trying out new milk products. Wild Oats has quite a variety. I bought hemp milk the other day. Hemp is a great source of omega 3 and 6. Hemp milk is rich tasting. It’s not bad but I think it’s going to take some getting used to. But then, I didn’t love soymilk immediately. And now I crave it. Supposedly it takes two weeks of consuming something before you are used to it. I also bought Rice Dream milk. I’m not gonna lie. It tastes like rice. Which is fine- but when I’m thirsty, rice isn’t generally a taste I’m looking for. I think my next attempt will be almond milk. It sounds soothing. Maybe oat milk. I love Oatscream (sold at Whole Foods), so perhaps I’ll love the milk. Here’s an article I found on some different milks, their pros and cons, and best uses.

I love soynut butter, but it might be a nice idea to branch out and try other nut or seed butters, like almond butter (my mom really likes it), hazelnut butter, cashew butter or pistachio butter. I tried sunflower seed butter. It’s a little bland, but not too bad.

I encourage you to take a closer look at the vegan foods you eat to see how much soy you’re getting. You may be surprised. And be aware that, like any processed food, highly processed soy products contain less of the original nutrients. If a large percentage of your diet is soy, try to branch out a little bit. Try more non-soy items. You might discover some new favorites!