8th Continent Soymilk. I’ve actually never had this California brand of soymilk, that I can recall, but it’s obvious they could use some rebranding. Certainly not the most mouth-watering packaging I’ve ever seen (left). But it looks like they’ve gone a whole new direction, and as both a designer and a consumer, I appreciate the end results.

The new design, by Ben Javens, commissioned by BBDO West, is fun, simple, and colorful. Kid-friendly and classic. If I was a kid in a grocery store, I’d pull this off the shelf before any other milk because it’s just inviting. And given the expansion of vegan diets, more kids will be drinking non-dairy milks in the future, so it fits. Once I have kids, I imagine soymilk will replace the customary 1% milk I grew up with. My husband occasionally eats dairy, but he never buys dairy milk, so I don’t think that will be a hot debate between us. He seems pretty content with the soymilk I’ve been shoving down his throat the last several years. Almond milk, rice milk, and hemp milk were less successful, however. But taste can vary so much with those, that if someone recommends a brand and flavor (vanilla, original, unsweetened, etc) that they think is pretty euphoric, I’ll gladly check it out. Rice chocolate milk is pretty tasty, but I almost never buy it. I did make my own almond milk when I went raw, but to be honest, buying milk from Trader Joe’s is my preferred route. I know the calorie content, I like the taste, it’s affordable, and I can buy backups and store them in the cupboard (the ones that haven’t been refrigerated yet, of course).

Wow. What a tangent. Let’s see the new design!

Thanks to Brand New for posting an article on this, and to my husband for pointing out the article to me. Read the Brand New post here.

I have a weakness. It goes by the name Puffcorn. Or “Hulless Popcorn.” Made by Old Dutch. It’s salty and fluffy and nummy. Maybe too salty? Its got 210mg of salt per serving which is approaching half our daily intake needs. I went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up and had my blood pressure checked. The nurse read off some numbers that meant nothing to me. Systolic and diastolic… heart contraction versus relaxation. I dunno. I inquired, “Is that… good?” She smiled and replied, “It’s excellent.” Hooray! I know vegan diets can be caked in salt. Many pre-made vegan treats like veggie burgers and chick nuggets are riddled with sodium, so I was a little worried I might be wreaking havoc on my blood pressure. But, so far, so good!

Now, back to Puffcorn. On the plus side, 2.5 cups is only 170 calories. But it does contain vegetable oil, so there are 11 grams of fat per serving. Bummer. Note: 20% of daily calories should come from fat. If you can’t tell, I’m in counting mode these days. Mostly just calorie counting. And my doctor informed me that Minnesotans tend to be very low on vitamin D, so I’m focusing more on my vitamin intake. Apparently my Trader Darwin’s Vitamin Crusade High Potency Multiple Vitamin & Mineral isn’t quite cutting it. Shame!

overcast Tahoe

sunny Tahoe

In other news, I just got back from a week long trip to Nevada and California to visit family. Lots of sight-seeing, hiking, jogging, and walking around. It was awesome! I certainly wouldn’t mind living on Lake Tahoe. Funny, though, that it was actually hotter in Minnesota than in California or Nevada. And it’s still super hot here. And humid. Summer has arrived!

I finally saw the documentary Food, Inc, thanks to the prodding of my aunt and cousin. I wasn’t averse to seeing it, but I had been told that a lot of what is discussed would not be new to me. Which was true. A lot of what this documentary covers overlaps with Fast Food Nation and King Corn, and Super Size Me, but I still think it’s worth viewing. It’s well done, and they do bring some new information “to the table,” so to speak. And it never hurts to re-educate yourself, or re-emphasize why the standard American diet is so unhealthy.

Of course, some parts are certainly upsetting to watch, but, overall, it’s pretty tame compared to, say, a PETA documentary. And be warned, it does not really advocate veganism. It’s mainly an advocate for safe, natural food. They’re anti-slaughterhouses, but pro grass-fed, small farm meat production, for example.

I was fascinated by the links between slaughterhouses hiring illegal immigrants and then working with authorities to get them deported. They’re bigger slimeballs than I thought. If that’s even possible.

Now, I knew soybeans had a dark history, but I didn’t really know the extent of it. Monsanto sure has a choke hold on the soybean industry.

Food, Inc. touches a lot of bases in the food industry that are worth learning about. Like the veggie libel law, which completely goes against freedom of speech and basically says we’re not allowed to claim certain foods as unsafe. It’s unreal.

But I think the documentary ends on a positive note about the consumer’s ability to change the fate of the food industry. Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, you might wanna give it a look-see.

Ok, so Susan G. Komen for the Cure… wtf? You’re really teaming up with KFC to raise money for breast cancer? REALLY?? Well, here’s what I have to say about how wrong that is…. actually Stephen Colbert says it better (It’s about 1 min. 30 seconds in):

Lifehacker recently posted an article about a simple search engine filter that allows us to search for vegan recipes, even from sites that aren’t necessarily advertised as vegan or vegetarian: http://lifehacker.com/5531574/vegetarianrecipeus-finds-no+meat-recipes-from-dozens-of-sites

The search engine at Recipe Puppy indexes more than a million recipes, but limits itself to ingredient lists. By stripping out recipes calling for meat, the search filter now offers vegetarian and vegan recipes, from sites that aren’t necessarily focused on veggies.

A Lifehacker reader asked the Recipe Puppy crew to craft a simple vegetarian filter for their aggregator last fall, and the team responded, as that reader explained in our Tips Box. Now custom searches for recipes without meat, or without any kind of meat products, are available at two dedicated, really clean search sites. The sites, like Recipe Puppy, dig through Recipezaar, Epicurious, and other foodie favorites to find their results, and are worth keeping tabs on for when you’ve got a veggie-friendly meal to plan, or need to use up some leftover produce.

Vegetarian Recipe Search

Vegan Recipe Search

I think this is great! Sure, there are plenty of sites that cater specifically to vegan and vegetarian recipes, but this opens up the search to a much broader spectrum of recipes! So, all you have to do is bookmark this Vegan Recipe Search link and type in whatever dish you’re craving. Even a normally meat-clad dish like shepherds pie, or a normally gelatin-filled item like jello. Or maybe you want to make your own bacon. Poof! Vegan versions of all of them. Cool beans!