April 23, 2018
On April 21 I visited Star Gazing Farm, which is a “haven for retired farm animals and wayward goats” in the bucolic Maryland countryside. With such a romantic name and a very clever description, how could I resist checking it out? And, as a bonus, I was able to observe the farm’s annual Shearing Day and meet some of the animals and volunteers.
April 18, 2018
With a title like Eating You Alive, you might think that this film is a horror flick — perhaps something akin to Jaws. But no, it’s a full-length documentary that provides critically-important information about the root causes of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Indeed, the only horror revealed in the film is that people are needlessly suffering from debilitating diseases. And this film explains how we can use whole-food, plant-based nutrition to beat these diseases and improve our health. So instead of eating ourselves to *death*, we can eat ourselves to LIFE! It’s a story that’s captivating, inspiring, and hopeful.
April 6, 2018
Eating out can be a challenging exercise for vegans. That’s because the menus of most restaurants are filled with dishes that contain meat, dairy and eggs – with perhaps one (very lonely!) veggie-friendly option. Fortunately, my husband and I have found that many chefs are willing to make substitutions upon request. Sometimes chefs will happily prepare a special, off-menu dish to accommodate us. But even in those cases our choices are limited, so we are thrilled to find restaurants that already offer a full selection of whole-food, plant-based nutrition. Those kind of restaurants seem to be popping up regularly now. But they are still relatively few and far between. And therefore we were particularly happy to find one of them located practically in our own backyard. Just a few miles down the road from us in northern Virginia, GreenFare Organic Cafe is an innovative restaurant that serves organic, plant-based food. So we can eat everything on the menu at GreenFare. It’s a rare treat.
March 23, 2018
It’s not hard to convince me to have dinner at Great Sage in Clarksville, MD. It’s one of the few restaurants in our area that’s completely vegan. So instead of having (at most) one or two choices on the menu per a typical restaurant, I know that I can eat *everything* at Great Sage! And, as a bonus, it’s all delicious and nutritious. It’s definitely worth the hour-plus trek from northern Virginia, especially when there is a special menu or a notable speaker. So I was quick to make a reservation when I discovered that the restaurant was offering a dinner with Dr. Neal Barnard on March 19.
March 21, 2018
On March 4, I joined a team of 175 volunteers at River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation (RRUUC), and we assembled more than 20,000 meals in about 3 hours. You might wonder: How is it possible to make a such a large number of meals in such a short time?
February 14, 2018
It’s always nice to find a vegan option when I’m visiting a restaurant with family or friends. Often there are no vegan items identified on the menu, and I have to ask for alterations to a standard menu item. Usually my request involves removing a topping, such as cheese, from an item that’s listed as vegetarian. I’m aware that there might be hidden dairy or eggs in some of these items, but I usually figure that I have come as close as I can to a vegan meal at that particular restaurant. So it’s way better when a vegan option is actually printed on the menu! You can imagine my excitement when I heard about a new vegan burger at Red Robin! My husband and I made a special trip to the nearest Red Robin to check it out. Here’s my review.
December 6, 2017
Recently I was tempted to taste the Soba Noodle Bowl offered at a local restaurant. But then I found out that it was made with chicken stock. Disappointed but undaunted, I decided to create my own Vegan Miso Soba Noodle Bowl.
Rather than using chicken stock, I made a flavorful miso-style soup from a broth created using kombu seaweed and fresh ginger. It’s relatively quick and easy to create this stock (known as dashi), and it makes the perfect base for a Vegan Miso Soba Noodle Bowl.
November 23, 2017
Yesterday, per tradition, the President “pardoned” a couple of turkeys. Those celebrated birds were named Drumstick and Wishbone. The names are a rather unfortunate reference to parts of their anatomy. Still, having been selected for the White House ceremony, those turkeys will now happily retire to an enclosure called “Gobbler’s Rest” at Virginia Tech. Sadly, 46 million other turkeys will not be as lucky. That’s the annual consumption of turkeys on Thanksgiving. And it breaks my heart to know that most of those birds lived miserable lives in large, dark sheds with up to 75,000 other individuals. Those factory-farmed animals likely never saw daylight or felt the grass beneath their feet. Instead, they waded through excrement and urine, which is known to cause painful ulcers on their feet and breasts. And the air in these sheds was probably so polluted with dust, pathogens, and ammonia that many of the turkeys suffered from painful respiratory diseases and eye disorders. It’s sad but true.
October 25, 2017
Everyone associates the colors orange and black with Halloween. But now some decorations in a new color — teal — are showing up on doorsteps along with spider webs, tombstones, and other spooky sights.
The new Halloween color is being promoted by the fine folks at Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE). Teal is the color of food allergy awareness and has been used to educate people about this serious medical condition for 20 years. The Teal Pumpkin Project® first began as a local awareness activity run by the Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee. Then it was launched as a national campaign by FARE in 2014. The purpose of the Project is to raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season.
October 25, 2017
A colorful array of artisan bowls greets everyone who attends Capital Area Food Bank’s three Empty Bowls events in the DC area this fall. Faced with a wide variety of handmade ceramic containers, each attendee’s mission is to select a favorite bowl to carry home as a gift. The souvenir also serves as sobering reminder of the people in our area whose dinner bowls are empty.
Each of the bowls displayed at the event entrance is appealing in its own way. So it can be a challenging task to pick only one favorite bowl. But that’s a First World dilemma, and it pales in comparison with finding a way to fill the stomachs of our neighbors in need.
October 9, 2017
Everyone knows that cupcakes are popular these days. I’m amazed by the number of shops that sell only cupcakes. And these treats are popular with home bakers, too. Which leads me to the subject of paper baking cups.
Here’s the deal: I would go out of my way to find IF YOU CARE Baking Cups. Because I do care. Perhaps you are wondering: Care about what? A lot of things, but in this case it’s the environment. I suspect that many vegans share my tree-hugging tendencies and would have similar concerns about using environmentally-friendly baking products. Keep reading, and I will explain.
October 9, 2017
Fall is here, and pumpkins are wildly popular. Pumpkins are a main attraction at countryside pumpkin patches and corn mazes. Pumpkins are stacked near the entrance of every grocery store. Pumpkin spice lattes are once again a guest star on the menu at Starbucks. And cartons of Good Karma Pumpkin Spice Nog are tucked in the refrigerator case at Whole Foods Market.
The colorful, orange carton caught my eye as I navigated down the aisle. I am always looking for tasty treats that also pack a nutritional punch, so I decided to give this drink a try. The first thing I noticed is that the carton says it’s made with flaxmilk. I’d previously learned about many other kinds of non-dairy drinks, but flaxmilk was a new one for me. I took home a carton, poured a glass, and became an instant fan of Good Karma Pumpkin Spice Nog. It’s rich, creamy, and contains the warm fall spices that we all love. And it’s way healthier than many other sweet treats. Read on to find out why.
September 25, 2017
Be still, my beating heart! Starbucks is offering a new vegan Protein Bowl! It features Lentils & Vegetables with Brown Rice. The label proclaims that the Starbucks vegan protein bowl contains 23 g (!) of protein and 2 cups of vegetables. And it’s Vegan Certified. I took a photo of the bowl in order to prove all of this to you.
Eating out at fast food restaurants has improved greatly for non-meat-eaters in the past few decades. I recall when the only options for someone who didn’t eat meat were generally side salads. And those salads were often little more than some chunks of iceberg lettuce, a couple of tomatoes, and a few carrot slivers. Of course, I like salads as much as the next person, especially if they contain some dark, leafy greens. But I’ve always wished for a vegetarian or vegan fast-food meal that would truly “stick to my ribs.”
September 21, 2017
Why is it a big deal to have a chef’s kitchen? Because the right tools make all the difference. Have you ever tried to remove a Phillips head screw with a flat-bladed screwdriver? While you might be able to do it, it won’t be as easy as if you’d had the right tool. And cooking in a well-designed and well-equipped kitchen is like having the perfect tool for the job.
Our 4-bedroom house in northern Virginia is a nice, modest, 1970’s-era split level. It’s got a lot to offer. It’s located in a quiet, suburban neighborhood with well-kept homes and friendly families. The community includes spacious meadows and forested trails for walking our dogs. And my husband has a long history with this house. He bought it from his parents when they moved to Arizona.
Over the years, my husband and/or his parents had remodeled various parts of the house. But until a few months ago we were using the original kitchen. Sure, some of the kitchen appliances had been replaced with newer models. Still, the “bones” of the kitchen had remained the same. The kitchen felt dark and dated. And the process of cooking meals in the old kitchen was less than efficient. So when I began to spend more time in the kitchen as a culinary student, I started to wish that we could remodel the space to better suit our needs. Thank goodness, my husband agreed. I think he had also grown weary of the de-laminating countertops, cluttered pantry, dark cabinets, and scuffed linoleum floor!