Holiday parties and get-togethers are the perfect opportunity to try out a few new recipes (and possibly convert some of your meat-eating friends and loved ones). Here are a few easy vegan appetizer ideas to serve up this December.

Frosty’s Falafels

Though most people eat falafels as part of a main course, I think they make great appetizers. To get really creative, stick a large toothpick through three falafel balls stacked on top of each other, add humus eyes and a smile, and call it a falafel snowman.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cumin

Directions:

• Add chickpeas, onion, garlic, and cumin into a food processor or blender.
• Blend until relatively smooth and freeze the night before or in the morning.
• The next day, add plenty of oil to a hot frying pan.
• Add flour to the mixture and mix in with spoon.
• Roll the mixture into small balls.
• Fry on all sides until dark brown.
• Serve with humus and/or tahini.

Blitzer’s Bruschetta

Another crowd pleaser, bruschetta is easy to make and goes great with practically every meal. Italian food naturally incorporates Christmas colors (and, coincidentally, the colors of the Italian flag), so you don’t have to try too hard to call this holiday food.

The toppings should be added to the bread just before serving, or else the bread will be soggy. For a more tangy flavor, vinegar can be used as a substitute for or paired with the olive oil.

Ingredients:

• Lightly toasted bread of your favorite variety
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Oregano

Directions:

• Slice bread in pieces one inch thick.
• Place a spoonful of tomatoes on top of each slice.
• Next, drizzle a bit of olive oil on the tomatoes.
• Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of oregano.

Festive Fruit

If you’re running short on time, you can whip up this Christmas-colored fruit dish in a few minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of strawberries
• 6 kiwis
• 3 red apples
• 1 package of green grapes

Directions:

• Chop up kiwis, strawberries, and apples into bite-sized chunks.
• Pairing kiwis with strawberries and apples with grapes, arrange each set of fruits into holiday shapes like stars or Christmas trees.

Jasmine is a chronic traveler scouring the world’s streets for vegetarian and vegan street food. She is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on accredited online universities for Guide to Online Schools.

Some of my fave items from Trader Joe’s…

Any new grocery store finds that make the “fave” list?

Enjoy my lisp!

…and tune in later for Nadia’s 11th (wow!) weight-loss update!

<3,

The Cranky One

Just kidding.

I recently received an e-mail from a reader asking me the simplest way to graciously host a vegan in her omni household and I wanted to share my response with you guys (should any of you ever be in the same sitch). I’ve also added a few other relevant notes that I will list first:

1. Ask What “Vegan” Means to Your Guest. It’s a misconception that all vegans have the same taboos and food “no-no”s.  Check with your pal just as you would anyone else coming to visit.
2. Ask your guest about his/her favorite meals. No point standing their wringing your hands and chanting “I will not, I repeat, will not eat tofu for breakfast, lunch and dinner!” I think you’ll be surprised to hear some of your pal’s favorite dishes (and don’t worry, we don’t all eat a ton of tofu — though I certainly could, I love the stuff!). It’s always fun to learn what others love to eat and try something new, so do your pal a solid and try recreating one of his or her fave meals!
3. Think of all the things you already eat that are vegan. I don’t know why many people tend to think that eating “vegan” is foreign to them — we’ve all eaten veggies, fruit, rice, bread, pasta, peanut butter, etc., right? Chances are you have tons of vegan things in your pantry already! It will depend on your pal, but you’ll usually want to check the back of pastas to make sure they don’t have eggs; and check bread labels for both eggs and honey (typically, those are two vegan “no-no”s).
4. Think of your day-to-day staples, and plan on having a few alternatives. Drink milk every morning? Use butter or cream cheese on your bagel? Keep a stash of almond, soy, or rice milk; or whole grain “drink.” These are great because you can keep them in your pantry (they don’t need to be refrigerated until opened). For butter, I recommend Earth Balance; for cream cheese, I recommend Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (non-hydrogenated, plain version).
5. Think Beyond the Side Salad. I don’t get why salads have to be so blah. Rinse and drain a can of black or kidney beans, add corn, jicama, cucumber, onion, etc. You can break up some baked tortilla chips for a southwest feel, add bbq tempeh or tempeh bacon. You can add cranberries and cooked quinoa with a spritz or two of lemon. You can use my deconstructed taco salad idea and turn it into a legit salad.
6. Lost in confusion? Think of your favorite meals! It’s seriously a cinch to make anyone’s favorite meals vegan! Even if your fave meal is steak and potatoes — in which case, alright, serve some grilled tempeh, eggplant or mushroom (all three have “meaty” texture) with mashed potatoes (use soy milk or veggie broth instead of milk or cream; use vegan butter). Fave dish enchiladas? Use tofu or sweet potatoes as a filling. Omit cheese or use Daiya-brand shredded “cheese.”
7. When Stumped, Imitation is Flattery. If you’re not feeling the “recreate your fave meal” tip and really want something outside of the norm to wow your vegan pal (you must be crushin’! just sayin’!), then take inspiration from vegan restaurant menus! You don’t have to buy a fancy cookbook or spend hours scouring food blogs (though it is fun, lemmetellya!); all you have to do is search google for vegan restaurants, or even take a look at the menus of my two fave local vegan restaurants: Native Foods and The Veggie Grill, for ideas!

Here was my original response to my reader:

“Ok, here’s a list of options!

1. Grab some whole-wheat spaghetti and tomato sauce. Cook as you normally would. Saute some Tofurkey brand Italian Sausage (sold at Trader Joe’s) to go on top. The sausage is vegan and AMAZING, trust me!
2. Saute diced white onion in a tbsp of olive oil until translucent, add vegetarian refried pinto beans and cook until warm. Put beans in whole-wheat tortillas, topped with guacamole, salsa, more diced onion, cilantro, and soy sour cream if you like.
3. Make either of these two pasta dishes — both are delicious! Here or here.
4. I also love to cut up a pound of sweet potatoes, mix in a bowl with one tbsp. olive oil, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper. Put in a baking dish (sprayed with Pam) and bake at 450 until soft with crisp edges. You can serve these as a side dish.
5. You can make sandwiches with jarred roasted bell pepper, avocado and spinach. Use a pesto spread instead of mayo, or use vegenaise. You could also use tempeh “bacon” slices. I love just plain veggie sandwiches with loads of cucumber, sprouts, spinach, red onion, mustard and avocado.
6. One of my fave dishes my mom makes is cooking brown rice as directed then putting it in a large saute pan and adding tomato sauce (you don’t want to over saturate, you want it to absorb, so it will depend on how many servings of rice you’ve made). Then add a can of garbanzo beans and season with salt and pepper. You can serve with my breaded sesame tofu.

Since I’m sure you don’t have all day to spend in the kitchen, my best bets are always to go with a pasta dish, sandwiches, or even buy the vegetarian chili from Trader Joe’s (canned; it doesn’t say vegan on it, but it is) and serve with tortilla chips or in a burrito.

You can serve a nice green salad with all of these meals, if you like. For breakfast, you can keep it simple by providing fresh fruit and whole wheat bagels. The bagel’s can be topped with Earth Balance vegan butter or vegan cream cheese (I love the Tofutti brand). I also have a recipe for vegan French toast here, if you’re interested. Oh, and toast with pb is always vegan!

Hope that helps! Oh! and I forgot to add that whole-wheat pita bread and hummus dip is always a wonderful addition to any meal.”

When you have friends visiting, how do  you accommodate their eating habits/lifestyle?

Tune in tomorrow for my whimsical brownie bites:

<3,

The Cranky One

I wanted to share the vegan options available at California Pizza Kitchen. I think it’s awesome that this information is so widely available these days, but it can still be hard to find compilations of all the facts in one place (i.e. nutritional stats + ingredients + allergen/dietary-restriction info.).

Vegan Options*

*Taken from the official CPK site. Nutritional info. does not take into account amendments suggested below.

Appetizers

• Lettuce Wraps (request with only wok-stirred vegetables) – 911 calories, 2g saturated fat, 2667mg sodium, 8g fiber, 36g protein (Nutritionals based on “Lettuce Wraps with Chicken”)
• Tuscan Hummus (request thin crust instead of pizza-pita bread) – 861 calories, 4g saturated fat, 1562mg sodium, 7g fiber, 21g protein (Nutritionals based on “Tuscan Hummus with Traditional Pita”)

Small Cravings

• White Corn Guacamole & Chips — 362 calories, 3g saturated fat, 759mg sodium, 7g fiber, 6g protein

Soups

• Asparagus Soup (no croutons) — 213 calories, 1g saturated fat, 1862mg sodium, 4g fiber, 8g protein (Per bowl. Cup has about half the stats)
• Dakota Smashed Pea & Barley Soup –368 calories, 0g saturated fat, 2100mg sodium, 26g fiber, 25g protein (Per bowl. Cup has about half the stats)

Salads

• Grilled Vegetable Salad — 810 calories, 8g saturated fat, 2104mg sodium, 19g fiber, 13g protein (For full size. For half size, cut stats in…half…duh?)
• Field Greens Salad (omit candied walnuts) — 998 calories, 12g saturated fat, 805mg sodium, 15g fiber, 18g protein (For full size.)

Pastas

• Asparagus & Spinach Spaghettini (request without cheese) — 1115 calories, 10g saturated fat, 2078mg sodium, 10g fiber, 32g protein (Nutritionals include cheese, so I’d assume you could know off quite a few calories and sat. fat grams with cheese removal)
• Broccoli Sun-Dried Tomato Fusilli (request without cheese) — 1287 calories, 14g saturated fat, 2368mg sodium, 10g fiber, 37g protein (Nutritionals include cheese, so I’d assume you could know off quite a few calories and sat. fat grams with cheese removal)

Pizzas

•  with Japanese Eggplant (thin crust, request without cheeses) — 991 calories, 19g saturated fat, 2808mg sodium, 12g fiber, 51g protein (Nutritionals based on eggplant pizza minus 175 calories for thinner crust; but still includes cheese. I imagine without cheese you could knock off about 200 cals and quite a few fat grams)

Sandwiches and Dessert

• Fresh Fruit (Nutritional stats unavailable, but I’m sure you can guestimate on this one!)

Other Items

• Table Bread (Nutritional stats unavailable)
• Pasta Only with Olive Oil (Nutritional stats unavailable)
• Wok-Stirred Vegetables (upon request) (Nutritional stats unavailable)

I’ve got to admit — there are not a lot of options that I would personally choose; however, that’s not because I feel vegan options are limiting, but that I feel CPK has limited healthy items in general. I don’t want to eat a pizza for almost 1k calories — vegan or not.

Bottom line: I’d opt for a half-sized grilled vegetable salad plus a cup of asparagus soup. That’s around 500 calories, 21g fiber. Not too shabby.

Do you guys research food options at a restaurant before  you go out to eat? What’s up this weekend?!

<3,

The  Cranky One

Lindsay is one of the first bloggers I began following and she cooks up a storm of amazing vegan recipes that you’ve got to try out! Here’s my attempt at blogger-to-blogger journalism (I’m the bold text, obvs).

—–

Who is Lindsay aka Happy Herbivore in one sentence? (I know this is a kindergarten ice-breaker of a question, but I like hearing the answers anyway!)

Happy Herbivore is my fat-free wholefoods vegan recipe website and my Internet nickname (or “handle” if you want to be technical). I’m an ex-lawyer turned healthy vegan chef. and apparently, I’m not very good at following directions, seeing as I couldn’t keep this answer to one sentence!

Why and when did you decide to become vegan?

In late 2006; I was motivated by the plight of animals, my health and the environmental benefits. I was a vegetarian for most of my life because I loved animals, so compassion plays a huge part in my veganism, though the health benefits are a constant reminder of why it’s so important to eat this way.

Why did you start your blog, Happy Herbivore (HH)?

Shortly after I went vegan, I read Eat to Live and switched to a low fat, whole foods vegan diet. The only problem was finding recipes that fit my new diet. Sure there were plenty of vegan cookbooks and websites around but most of the recipes used gobs of oil, fats, processed flours and other ingredients I’d just swore off. Blogs were just starting to become cool back then so I created one to log my attempt at my new diet. I started creating recipes along the way and eventually, happyherbivore.com was born.

When and how did you become such a good cook and recipe creator?

Aww thanks for such a nice compliment! I didn’t know how to cook – at all – until I went vegan. My college roommate has horror stories of the times I attempted to cook for us. I used to eat out all the time, but that wasn’t really an option on my new diet. So, I bought a few vegan cookbooks and made the recipes. Once I felt more comfortable in the kitchen, I started trying to “healthify” recipes by omitting the fat and using whole wheat flour. I would also “veganize” recipes using basic substitutions like fake meat or bananas instead of eggs. Eventually it all just sort of clicked for me and I started throwing meals together based on what was on hand. I still do that fairly often — some of my best recipes have been developed that way, but I also like to recreate dishes and try my hand at other cuisines.

Ever have any recipe disasters?

Oh my god yes. It’s funny, anytime a blog reader meets my husband they marvel at how lucky he is that he gets to eat all my food… and he is so quick to say “oh its not always great, she really misses sometimes!” and I do. The first time I made seitan it blew up — blew up and splattered all over the kitchen. I’m still scratching my head on that one. I’ve made stuff that came out bland. I’ve had bread, muffins and cupcakes not rise. I am fortunate that usually everything comes out perfect on the first try, but some recipes are sticklers and take a few tries to get right. and sometimes it’s just a major disaster that shouldn’t be repeated.

What advice would you give someone who wants to be vegan but is afraid of missing out on her favorite foods?

Recreate them! These days there is a vegan substitute out there for every itch — and if there isn’t, make it. I’ve recreated every food my husband and I loved in our pre-vegan days (including she crab soup and cinnamon buns!) and I must say, I like all of the vegan versions better. The commercial meat and dairy substitutes are getting really good too! Some are so similar it’s nuts. I had a Gardenburger BBQ riblet recently and I swear to god, it tastes just like the McRib. I’ve even fed my family fake sausage before and they didn’t miss a beat. Heck! They even have vegan marshmallows now! Life is good.

What entree and dessert dish from your extensive list of recipes would you create for the most vegan-hesitant omnivore out there? why?

The trick to feeding a skeptical omni is to give them something that’s naturally vegetarian — like a veggie laden soup or casserole. It takes a while for most people to warm up to fake meats and tofu. However, I’ve had a lot of success feeding my chickpea tacos to even the most skeptic omnis and who doesn’t like nachos? (those nachos rock). The Cranky One felt compelled to interrupt the interview with food pictures of the dishes mentioned:



If you’re looking for a more complex dish, the pan-seared portobellos are amazing (my Dad says they taste like steak). The cheesecake is a safe bet for dessert but my black bean brownies are hands down the most popular recipe.

I hear your new HH cookbook is coming out later this year! Give us the deets! What can we expect?

The Happy Herbivore Cookbook is AWESOME. It has 200+ recipes — a few recycled from the blog and past e-cookbooks but mostly new stuff. Everything is true to my cooking style of no added fats and wholesome food but the best part: every recipe is super easy to make, whips up fast and uses common, ordinary ingredients you always have on hand. No umeboshi plums, pomegranate molasses or specialty items like that — no way! It’s completely practical for any diet, lifestyle or budget. It’s also going to be full color — so get ready for some food porn.

The cookbook also ventures out into world cuisines like Ethiopian and Indian. But I kept it classic and comforting too — lots of breakfast/brunch foods, sandwiches and wraps, pasta, casseroles, one-pot meals (who doesn’t love those?), fake meat, desserts, veggie & grain side dishes, snacks and other neat stuff like “cheese” recipes! You’ll love it. I’m going to post pictures of some of the recipes on Happy Herbivore soon.

Most of us like to play “cook” every now and then, but what’s it like working on a cook book? Do any of your friends and family like to act as taste-testers or food critics?

Writing the cookbook was a lot of fun! Of course it was stressful at times — particularly as the deadline was rearing it’s ugly head, but for the most part I enjoyed it. It also gave me the chance to really sit down and work on recipes that had been rolling around in my head forever but I never actually tried. It also forced me to move out of my comfort zone and try new things, new cuisines. The only really unpleasant aspect was all the dirty dishes!

I also lost 6 lbs since I started writing the cookbook — so I guess that is a testament that my food is healthy! (and still really delish!)

As for testing, my husband Scott is my biggest critic (and taste-tester) but I also have an entire cookbook tester squad that makes the recipes and critiques them… I really couldn’t have done it without them.

Has anyone or anything inspired you to live this lifestyle, to write a vegan cookbook? Where is all this drive coming from?

My fans and supporters. Every thing I do, I do for them. Anytime someone sends me an email, tweet or comment that they made my food I feel inspired to do more… I wouldn’t be where I was today without them, without their support and encouragement. I want to share healthy, wholesome food with the world and feel so privileged to have that opportunity.

I’m also personally inspired by my fellow vegans, particularly those in the trenches that are out there advocating. A day doesn’t go by where I’m not in complete awe of another vegan and what he or she is doing to help spread veganism. Cooking is my gift, my talent — it’s how I contribute. I believe that every meatless meal matters — that one less meat-filled meal benefits the animals, the earth and my fellow humans… so if I can supply recipes to help make that happen? I’ll do it!

Thanks, Lindsay!

—-

Well, she certainly inspires me. Show Lindsay some love and check out her awesome site, Happy Herbivore!

What favorite food of yours needs a healthy makeover?

<3,

The Cranky One

p.s. I want to give a birthday shout-out to my love, Lo and a congrats to Janetha for just getting engaged!

So anyway, a friend from high school has decided that she’s going to eat vegan for lent (even though she’s not Catholic lol), and has asked my advice on how to make the switch (side note to my readers: dudes, I’m totally flattered! This chick has been vegetarian for 13 years and I’m like new to this whole vegan thing, but confidence is key, right?). So, yea, totally, I’m game to share my tips on making the switch.

First things first! Anytime you’re making a big lifestyle switch (even if just for lent!), figure out what kinda “changer” are you. Are you one of those baby steps, make a flow-chart, break out the Power Point and ladder-step-approach kinda people? Or are you a dive-right-in, give-it-to-me-straight, I-don’t-need-your-baby-steps kinda people? In between? It helps to know ahead of time to ease the switch. If you think of going vegan and gasp, “oh, but think of all of the things I can’t eat!” or one of those, “hmm, what will I eat?” kinda types matters, too. Generally, if you worry about not being able to eat your favorite foods and prefer baby steps, then you will probably benefit from using a lot of vegan substitutes and recipes for your favorite omni foods until you get more adjusted. If you’re not particularly sad about giving up  meat, dairy or cheese, then it’ll certainly be easier for you to dive right into the wondrous ocean of vegan foods. Either way, don’t expect instant gratification (as I had to remind myself in my post here about some reality t.v. chick who expected spiritual enlightenment after 3 hours of not smoking).

In honor of my friend who’s making the switch for lent, I’m going to dedicate my next few (maybe more) posts to debunking myths about vegan eating, profiling some cool vegan bloggers (or hosting guest posts from them), providing the best vegan resources out there for newbie vegans, sharing the best vegan recipes I’ve tried and pretty much learning more as I go along, and sharing with all of you. This is gonna be fun! Knowing some of my friend’s fave foods and concerns, I will definitely be posting on the following things: the best cheese substitutes (are there any? harhar), the best vegan desserts (and ice cream substitutes) and getting enough protein (inc. which protein bars and powders are vegan) aka The Protein Myth.

Since I always think it’s better to refer someone to a product after you’ve tried it yourself, I immediately felt inclined to try a cream-cheese substitute knowing that my friend likes her bagels and cream cheese. I could have saved this for a separate post, but I am too excited to share the results!

So, I went to Whole Paycheck Foods to see what I could find in a cream cheese substitute. I ended up buying some Tofutti Non-Hydrogenated Plain “Better Than Cream Cheese” and some Alvarado St. Sprouted Wheat, Onion & Poppyseed Bagels (all in the name of Blog Research, which I think should also be an extra line on our tax forms under business expenses, no?

I came home, heated up the bagel and lathered some of this “cream cheese” on.
[photo cred]

I sighed as I shoved this mess into my cranky mouth, thinking about how “Blog Research” is a tough job, but some one’s gotta do it…

hmmm…I started to feel less cranky. The texture and taste were not like cream cheese, they WERE CREAM CHEESE! The skies started to get brighter and part as an angel floated down singing some beautiful verses about Tofutti cream cheese (something about how I had been “toFOOLed”). I realized I had died and gone to cream cheese substitute heaven where they, duh, hand out Tofutti cream cheese. Philadelphia Cream Cheese — you don’t have smack on Tofutti!

Friends, please excuse me while I go lather Tofutti fake cream cheese onto everything in my pantry. Again, this is “research,” people. Research.

Hey you — yea, you! Who are your favorite vegan foodie bloggers? What are your fave vegan foods, products and/or recipes? Please share! (Oh and, uh, if you give up stuff for Lent, whatcha gonna give up this year?)

<3,

The Cranky One

Any lifestyle change is going to, invariably, be met with intrigue…and sometimes criticism. Veganism is definitely one of those changes that might be met with concern (there’s a lot of myth that vegetarians and vegans are protein and nutrient deprived) and/or met with a scoff and the question, “well, what will you eat? Rabbit food?”

I assure you that while I do love me some rabbit food, carrots and celery yum yum, etc., I also like to feel full and to eat a variety of delicious foods. Most simply, vegans do not eat or use anything that contains animal products (so no meat, eggs, dairy, etc.). It can seem a challenge to find things without animal products when you go out to eat at non-vegan restaurants (for realz!), but making your own vegan recipes at home is a cinch!  Just start with the basics:

• Whole grains — Brown rice, whole wheat pastas, whole wheat bread (Note: Don’t fall for marketing gimmicks! “Multi-grain” and “whole wheat blend” are NOT the same as “100% whole wheat”; also read labels since some breads use eggs)
• Legumes/beans
• Vegetables

Then, if you’re feeling saucy, add:

• Tempeh — Fermented meat substitute made from whole soybeans (and sometimes whole grains, too). Has a more “rugged” and meaty texture than tofu and also higher protein.
• Tofu — A meat substitute made from a bean curd made from soy milk.
• Seitan — A meat substitute made from wheat gluten.
• Nuts — Adding chopped nuts to a salad is so cliche (yet delicious).  Add chopped nuts to everything for added protein (but still watch yer calories, yaknowwhatimean?)!
• Oils — Olive and canola are the best
• Herbs, spices — Fresh herbs and spices make a bland meat substitute go from meat mockery to meat flattery.

and:

• Soy sauce
• Marinade
• Hot sauce

and voila! you’ve got a hearty and healthy vegan meal!

Some of my vegan staples & faves include:

Fried brown rice, black beans and steamed vegetables

Sweet potato enchiladas

Strawberry bread

Thai-style stir-fried tofu

Sweet potato and asparagus quiche

Corndog minis

Homemade lemon Larabars

BBQ tofu pizza

Refried bean tacos with homemade potato chips

Lemon basil brown rice

Lentil bolognese tacos with avocado and hot sauce

Black bean and yellow and red pepper tacos

Don Lee Farms veggie patty with whole wheat pita and veggies

Miso soup and avocado rolls
[photo cred]

Whole-wheat cold pasta salad

Tofu/veggie spring rolls

Whole-wheat spaghetti
[photo cred]

Don’t worry — veganism doesn’t steal away your nostalgic foods either. You can still have PB&J and many cereals (including Puffins — my fave!), just eat the cereal with soy milk, almond milk, rice milk or whole grain drink (a mix of whole grains like brown rice and quinoa).
[photo cred]

Pissed that cheese comes from animals and not the heavens above? No worries — try a cheese substitute (but keep your expectations low, let’s be real lol).  Vegan Yum Yum has a delicious-lookin’ vegan recipe for mac and cheese here.

And, seriously, let’s not forget dessert (the most important meal of the day!   Vegan desserts just so happen to be the love of my life and nemesis of my hips. My fave vegan dessert recipes are here, here, here and here. You can also check out all dessert books by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. If you want to go out for a vegan treat, visit my fave vegan restaurant Native Foods in the LA & OC area, or visit Baby Cakes Bakery in Los Angeles, CA or NYC if you’re near there.

Food News

• Corner Bakery announces “Combos Under 600 Calories” here. 600 calories is still a lot for a sandwich (calorie counts DO NOT include the side-item the sandwich comes with), but I guess it’s better than eating a salad worth 1000 calories (jeebus — these horrific salads are everywhere, it’s shocking!). Note: Not many vegetarian options at Corner Bakery and maybe a couple vegan options if you remove the cheese…

Related Posts

• Vegetarian and Vegan Resources – Recently updated
• How to Eat Vegetarian Everywhere
• Vegan Thai Dishes

What restaurant do you think needs a healthy-foods option makeover the most? I recently went to California Pizza Kitchen and found that the only options under 500 calories were a cup of their soups.  I don’t know about you guys, but a cup of soup for a meal leaves me feeling pretty deprived and cranky as hell.

<3,

The Cranky One

Uhh…is there Meat in my French Fries?

MrsMarv on Flickr here

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, how confident are you about finding food choices that suit your needs wherever you go?  If you were to order a veggie burger, would you be okay with it being cooked on the same grill as the meat? Are you confident that the sauce on your sandwich is free of meat products? Your french fries?

This is a relatively new issue to me.  After ordering a veggie burger at a restaurant and seeing it cooked on the same grill as the meat, I was rather disturbed at how non-vegetarian my meal became in the split second it touched the grill. 

After doing some Googling, I’ve found that eating vegetarian and vegan is actually quite a feat, especially in the fast food world as things like “natural beef extract” find their way into McDonald’s French fries, anchovies into dressings at Jack in the Box, and  milk (and wheat, for all you gluten-free babes) finds its way into practically everything.  Are specialty restaurants the only “safe” places for people with dietary restrictions/specific food lifestyles to eat? I’d say yes and no.  Yes, if you really don’t want to head back to the kitchen to watch your food being made or to read the labels on every drop of sauce or dressing added to your bread.  No, if you do your research beforehand and stick to really simple, fool-proof items like salads with the dressing on the side (preferably with packaged dressing so that you may examine the labels, or ask for a simple vinegar & oil blend).

Check out this site to find out if your favorite fast food restaurants have any legit vegetarian and vegan options.  If you avoid fast food like I would a bikini, then you might feel more secure in the food choices you make.  But restaurants, especially non-chain restaurants, are less inclined to post the nutritional information for their menu.  While laws in NY, CA and elsewhere are forcing chains to post calorie information, finding the exact ingredients in your foods can be daunting, especially if it’s not a chain.  My one piece of advice?  Never hesitate to ask your waiter or even the chef how something is prepared or what is in the dish you’re eying and don’t be afraid to personalize an item or go off the menu completely.  Any tips to add?

In the News

• Science Daily‘s, “Regular Yoga Practice is Associated with Mindful Eating” (8/16/09) here — Wow, very interesting!
• New Scientist‘s, “It’s True: All the Taken Men Are Best” (8/17/09) here — This isn’t necessarily health-related, but it’s very interesting that this study showed single women to be more attracted to men depicted as being in relationships than their counterparts who were depicted as single.
• New Scientist‘s, “Photos of Cake Can Keep You Slim, Say Psychologists” (8/17/09) here — The parameters of the study seem sketchy — if you show me a piece of cake and then ask me if I have plans to eat better, I’m sure I’d say “yes” and assume you thought I needed to lose weight.  Either way, interesting.  And if true, then we should all prescribe Thisiswhyyourefat as part of a healthy lifestyle makeover plan.

Give-Away?

If you’re suffering from a case of “the Mondays,” I’m offering a give-away to soothe your spirit!  In the mix:

• One bag of Feed Granola in Raisin Nut
• One Honey Stinger 120-Calorie Honey Packet in Ginger
• One Neiman’s Own Organics Super Dark Chocolate Bar
• One Neiman’s Own Organics Ginger Mints Tin
• One Honey Stinger 20g Protein Bar in Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Pro
• Five (5) Stonyfield Farm Product Coupons
• A mixed c.d. of my favorite work-out songs (which may or may not include a shameless sample or two of my band’s songs)

To enter (please submit a separate comment indicating each entry):

• Follow me on Twitter
• Link to this post on your blog
• Add me to your blog roll
• Add a comment listing your favorite place to eat or a tip on how to eat vegetarian or vegan everywhere

Give-away open to U.S. residents only and ends Thursday, August 20th, 11:59 p.m. PST. Winner announced on Friday, August 21st.

<3, The Cranky One