Ready-to-eat meals: GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals

GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals

Ready-to-eat meals: GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals

What you think about ready-to-eat meals? Do you much love cooking or ready meals? If you answer is: ready-to-eat meals, then, this article can be great for you. Thes are  GoPicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals. 

GoPicnic's gluten-free and vegan ready-to-eat meals, combined in one convenient variety pack. Six delicious, nutritionally balanced, all-natural ready-to-eat meals in handy picnic boxes. Just grab a drink, spread out your GoPicnic, and let your taste buds come out and play. No refrigeration, preparation, or wicker basket required! 

Your GoPicnic Tasty Favorites variety pack includes two each of the following gluten-free and vegan GoPicnic meals: Hummus & Crackers, Black Bean Dip & Plantain Chips, Sunbutter & Crackers. The foods in all-natural GoPicnic meals contain no trans fats, no added MSG, and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Each meal contains five individually-wrapped food items, plus utensils as required. Your day is full. And you’re on empty. 

- GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals go anywhere you go. No refrigeration or preparation required, just open & enjoy!

- Enjoy a variety pack featuring two Hummus & Crackers, two Black Bean Dip & Plantain Chips, and two Sunbutter & Crackers meals

- Each meal contains five individually wrapped food items; Pack of six meals

-Gluten-free, vegan, all-natural; less than 500 calories per meal; No trans fats, HFCS, added MSG, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives

- Great for lunch at work, on the road, at school, on a plane, or on an outdoor adventure!

IF YOU WANNA BY THIS SIX PAK, CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW

What is Soy, and why you must use Soy in your food?

Soy are a good source of protein
for vegetarians and vegans

What Is Soy?

You may have heard about soy foods in the news, including claims that soy prevents diseases such as cancer and heart disease. So what's the story on soy?

Soy, a versatile bean, is found in foods like soy milk, soy sauce, miso (soybean paste), tempeh (which is kind of like a soy cake), and tofu. Soy is also sometimes added to foods like breads, cereals, and meat products, and used as a meat substitute in vegetarian products such as soy burgers and soy hot dogs.

Foods that contain whole soy are a good source of protein for vegetarians and vegans because they provide all the amino acids — a type of nutrient — that people need to stay healthy. (People who eat meat get all their essential amino acids from animal products.)

What Are the Benefits?

Many Americans have added more soy to their diets because of increased availability and scientific studies that have shown that soy may offer health benefits, including lowering blood cholesterol and reducing the risk of certain cancers.

Past research suggested that soy protein could significantly lower levels of LDL cholesterol. But when the American Heart Association (AHA) reviewed the latest research, they concluded soy does not directly influence heart health.

The real health benefits of soy might lie in its nutritional content and the fact that people often use soy foods as a replacement for less-healthy foods. Soy foods are a great source of protein and contain other important nutrients, such as fiber, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids. Foods containing soy protein are also a healthy alternative to meats and other animal products that contain cholesterol and saturated fat.

Soy in Your Diet

Soy milk, soy burgers, and soy snacks are available in many supermarkets and specialty stores. When selecting soy foods, be sure to check food labels to be sure that the food is a good source of soy protein and is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and added sugar.

If you're interested in eating more soy, introduce it into your diet gradually. And remember that the key to good health is to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods without focusing too much on any one food.

article source: Kidshealth Mary L. Gavin, MD;

Special Dietary Issues for Vegan and Vegetarians

Special Dietary Issues for Vegan and Vegetarians

Special Dietary Issues for Vegan and Vegetarians

Do to the exclusion of some food groups from the diet, there are some key nutrients that may be hard for a vegetarian to receive from their diet. This is of a concern for vegetarians because if the body does not get enough nutrients then deficiencies and health problems will begin to occur. The following are the nutrients that vegetarians need to pay special attention to in their diets.
 

Iron:

Iron is an essential nutrient used in the body to form hemoglobin, which is responsible for carrying oxygen to the body’s cells. There are two different types of iron heme (found in animal foods) and non-heme (found in plant-foods). The non-heme iron that vegetarians consume is harder for the body to absorb. One way that you can aid in the absorption of this non-heme iron is to eat foods rich in vitamin C with each meal.

Protein:

Protein plays a key role in growth, the maintenance of body tissues, building red blood cells, and synthesizing
hormones. The most common source of complete proteins the body needs is animal products. Vegetarians can get complete proteins from a few sources such as soy, milk and eggs (if included in the diet). If there are no sources of complete proteins, vegetarians can still meet their daily recommended intake of protein (45 g for women & 55 g for men) by eating a variety of foods that contain incomplete proteins. 

It used to be thought that in order to get all the necessary proteins needed in a day, but recently this has been debunked. It is important that you consume complementary proteins (that is proteins that are by themselves incomplete but when mixed with other incomplete proteins become complete) throughout the day, but you do not need to mix certain foods together at meals to achieve this. By eating a variety of protein rich fruits and vegetables throughout the day you are sure to get all the complementary proteins you need to make up the necessary proteins for your body.

Calcium:

Calcium is also involved in normal blood clotting, muscle and nerve functioning, and hormone and enzyme secretion. The main source of calcium in the U.S. comes from the consumption of dairy products. If you exclude or limit dairy products in your diet you will have to turn to plant sources and calcium fortified foods in order to get the needed amount of calcium. It is recommended that adults intake about 1300 mg of calcium each day.

Vitamin B-12:

Vitamin B-12 is needed by the body for normal red blood cell formation, makings DNA, and nerve function. The problem for most vegetarians is that this nutrient is only found in animal foods. Vegetarians who consume dairy products do not need to worry because they will get enough vitamin B-12 from these sources. Other vegetarians and vegans need to include products that are fortified with vitamin B-12 in their diet daily

Zinc:

Zinc is important for growth, tissue repair, and energy production. The main place that zinc is found is dairy products and eggs. For individuals who exclude dairy and egg products from their diet, some sources of zinc may include: bran, legumes, tofu, seeds, nuts, wheat germ, zinc-fortified cereals, lentils, and green vegetables. Caution must be used when taking supplements that contain zinc, because if they contain more than 100% of the RDA there is a risk of toxicity.

Vitamin D:

Vitamin D plays a major role in the absorption of calcium from the digestive tract as well as incorporating calcium into our bones and teeth. There are few actual foods that contain significant amounts of vitamin D. The main sources are fortified milk, egg yolks, and liver. Vegetarians and vegans who do not consume these products can get vitamin D from fortified soy milk products and sun exposure. Direct exposure to the sun activates your body to make its own vitamin D, but there are other risks involved with too much sun exposure.

5 Tips To Maintain A Healthy Vegan Diet

5 Tips To Maintain A Healthy Vegan Diet

Being a vegan is becoming trendy these days. More and more celebrities are jumping on the vegan wagon to promote their own lifestyle or on behalf of animal charities. Many people believe that going vegan and buying foods labelled suitable for vegans are automatically healthier than other foods. But do you really know what is contained in those dairy-free cookies or those vegetarian sausages? 

Regardless of whether or not it contains animal-based products, most pre-packed and processed foods that contain a long list of ingredients are unhealthy. What a lot of health conscious vegans are unaware of is that extremely unhealthy additives designed to mimic the original flavours and textures can be found in many vegan-friendly products.

For instance soy-based sausage and meat-free pies are typically marketed as being a healthy alternative for people trying to avoid meat-based products. But soy-based meat substitutes are not only loaded with highly-processed soy, which typically comes from genetically-modified (GM) soybeans, but they are also filled with other flavouring and preservative chemicals like modified starches, various derivatives of monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial colourings (to make them look like actual meat), synthetic vitamin fortifiers and other chemicals.

Processed foods aside, some vegans tend to indulge in vegan 'junk food' such as doughnuts, cookies, milkshakes, cakes, chips, candies, chocolates etc. These days you can get tons of vegan versions of your favourite desserts or snack on the market. Better still, the internet is overflowing with vegan recipes of indulging, not so healthy vegan foods. So you can make loads of them and eat to your heart's content. Just because they are vegan does not mean they are to be eaten as part of your daily meals. Careful planning and discipline is the key to stay healthy.

So here are 5 tips to maintain a healthy vegan diet

1. Eat unprocessed foods. Make sure you mix in some raw with cooked food.

2. Cut down on oil and vegetable fat during cooking or on salads. Steam your vegetables instead of frying.

3. Eat smaller portions as overeating will put on the pounds and make you unhealthy in the long run. You will gradually get used to eating smaller portions and actually take time to savour the taste. It is alright to indulge in your favourite dessert but take smaller mouthfuls.

4. Do not overcook your food as minerals and vitamins will be lost. Choose foods rich in iron, vitamins and minerals to substitute for meat products.

5. Cut out sugar especially refined. If you have to use sugar, go for raw. Replace sugar with maple syrup or agave nectar in some recipes.

For optimal health, stick to unprocessed, whole foods. Raw or cooked.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Begreen_Dee

For more vegan tips, go to: The ultimate vegan guide

Vegan Food Reducing Cholesterol

Vegan Food Reducing Cholesterol

Vegan Food Reducing Cholesterol

Why do these regimens produce such rapid and substantial improvement in coronary disease? Substantial reductions in LDL cholesterol no doubt play an important part. The modest reductions in saturated fat and total fat intake recommended by the American Heart Association tend to reduce LDL cholesterol by just a few percentage points – not more than about 5%. In contrast, the Pritikin/Ornish regimens typically decrease this risk factor by about 20% or more.

Very-low-fat vegan diets are extremely low in saturated fat – the type of fat which tends to raise serum cholesterol by inhibiting the liver’s capacity to manufacture receptors that remove LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream. Such diets also tend to be low in saturates relative to total fat intake – in other words, they have a high unsaturate-to-saturate ratio; this is important because the level of saturated fattyacids in the liver will reflect not only the absolute dietary intake of these compounds, but also the proportion of total dietary fat which they represent.

In addition, the fact that vegan diets are essentially cholesterol-free (plants don’t manufacture cholesterol) contributes significantly to their cholesterol-lowering efficacy. In the population as a whole – most of whom are omnivores - each 100 mg increase in daily cholesterol intake translates into an increase of only about 2.2 (mg/dl) in serum cholesterol – barely more than a 1% increase in most people.

However, this increase tends to be notably higher in people whose baseline dietary cholesterol intake is quite low – most notably vegans; as Dr. Paul Hopkins notes, “modest amounts of cholesterol added to a cholesterol-free diet would be expected to most efficiently elevate serum cholesterol". Dietary cholesterol also raises serum cholesterol more efficiently in people who are lean12 – which most long-term vegans are. Furthermore, since vegans tend to have quite low serum cholesterols, a given absolute increase in serum cholesterol has a larger impact percentage-wise. So it is clear that the virtual absence of cholesterol in strict vegan diets contributes quite meaningfully to their favorably low LDL cholesterol values.

You should be aware that flesh foods somewhat lower in fat or in saturated fat than red meats – for example, poultry and fish – are just as high in cholesterol as red meat is. With respect to eggs – a rich source of cholesterol (about 250 mg per egg) that is rather low in saturated fat – some recent studies conclude that egg consumption in moderation does not increase the cardiovascular risk of non-diabetics. Vegans should be aware that these studies examined populations that contained few if any vegans, and that this result therefore cannot be presumed to apply to them – and almost certainly doesn’t. 

The protein content of vegan diets also contributes to a reduction in serum cholesterol. For decades, it has been known that if you feed rabbits diets featuring any of a number of plant-derived proteins – in comparison to diets that are identical in every respect save that they feature animal protein – their serum cholesterol levels will be decisively lower on the plant protein diet. Though a number of these studies made use of soy protein – inasmuch as soy protein isolates are readily available – other types of plant protein were comparably efficacious in this regard. The mechanism responsible for this effect has never been clearly pinpointed, though the fact that plant proteins tend to be somewhat lower in certain essential amino acids – and thus are considered of “poorer quality” – is thought to be of key importance.

These rabbit studies were the inspiration for the original efforts by Dr. Cesare Sirtori and colleagues to lower elevated cholesterol in humans by feeding diets high in soy protein. These studies compared low-fat omnivore diets (featuring lean meats and reduced-fat dairy products) with virtually vegan diets high in texturized vegetable protein (a soy product). To insure that the studies tested the impact of protein per se, the diets were designed so that the quantity and type of dietary fat were nearly identical on the soy and omnivore diets; total protein intakes also remained nearly constant. 

The researcher found that, when the patients switched from the omnivore diet to the soy-based diet, total and LDL cholesterol dropped by about 20%! Although the low-fat omnivore diet contained a small amount of cholesterol, theoretical considerations, as well as a study in which the soy diets were supplemented with cholesterol, indicated that absence of cholesterol was not primarily responsible for the dramatic fall in blood cholesterol during the soy diets. Subsequent similar studies, often enrolling subjects whose initial cholesterol was less elevated, often did not see such dramatic results, and it became clear that soy-based diets had their greatest impact on patients with high cholesterol.

A “meta-analysis” (a statistical analysis which lumps together the results of many comparable studies) of 38 controlled studies of soy protein diets concluded that, on average, both total and LDL cholesterol fell by about 20 points on the soy diet (corresponding to a reduction of about 13% in dangerous LDL cholesterol). It is important to note that these studies compared omnivore diets with vegan diets that happened to be high in soy products. They did not show that you could simply add some soy protein to your omnivore diet and achieve marvelous improvements in your blood fats – contrary to the expectations of many consumers who are now being hustled to buy soy products. 

Nor am I aware of any evidence that adding soy protein to a relatively low protein vegan diet has any important effect on serum cholesterol. Furthermore, the common assumption that the isoflavone content of soy protein concentrates was largely responsible for the cholesterol-lowering benefit appears to be dead wrong – Sirtori recently assayed the texturized vegetable protein used in his initial studies and found that it was essentially devoid of these phytoestrogens! The obsessive focus on soy and soy isoflavones ignores that fact that virtually all plant proteins are associated with low serum cholesterol in rabbit studies.

Thus, while texturized soy protein products can come in handy if you want to eat a vegan diet while pretending to be an omnivore, there is no strong reason to expect that vegan diets in which other types of plant protein predominate will not have a comparably beneficial impact on LDL cholesterol. (As we shall see, regular consumption of soy isoflavones may indeed provide some valuable health benefits – albeit reduction of serum cholesterol is not one of them!) One theory regarding the favorable effect of plant proteins on cholesterol levels is that plant proteins tend to provoke less insulin secretion (and greater secretion of a competing hormone known as glucagon) than animal proteins do.

While this is unlikely to be the whole explanation – the quality of dietary protein can influence liver metabolism in more direct ways - it is clear that high insulin levels have effects on the liver that would tend to increase blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, including an increase in the level and activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for cholesterol synthesis. Insulin secretion can also be moderated by choosing whole foods with a relatively low glycemic index. The Pritikin and Ornish clinics have always emphasized the importance of whole foods and have discouraged use of added sugars. When Dr. David Jenkins and colleagues – progenitors of the glycemic index concept – put healthy young men on two strictly controlled diets that differed only in glycemic index, serum cholesterol was about 15% lower during the low-glycemic-index diet. 

Thus, a number of interacting factors contribute to marked cholesterol reduction on an optimal vegan diet: a very low intake of saturated fat, the absence of dietary cholesterol, the characteristic impact of plant protein, and a low glycemic index. In the long run, a substantial reduction in body fat (we’ll discuss this later) often amplifies this benefit.

A classic study provides insight into the magnitude of the benefit achievable when such a diet is consumed in the long term. Back in the 1970s, Dr. Frank Sacks and colleagues from Harvard did a survey of macrobiotic vegan communes in the Boston area. The people in these communes work in a range of ordinary jobs in the outside community, but get together to share their meals communally. The macrobiotic diet which they practice is low-fat, whole-food vegan, but they don’t put any strictures on salt, and they try to keep fruit intake low, their calories coming chiefly from whole grains (especially brown rice), beans, and fresh vegetables. Some members eat fish once or more a week. Of particular note is the fact that they ban all wheat flour products, and don’t use added sugars – thus eliminating the chief sources of high-glycemic-index carbohydrate in the American diet.

Thus, aside from the facts that they don’t discourage salt and they minimize fruit intake, their dietary practices are highly consistent with my recommendations. You may be aware that a total cholesterol level over 200 is considered in the “danger zone”, whereas a cholesterol below 150 is thought to be extremely safe. Sacks found that the average total cholesterol in these Boston communes was 126! In contrast, a group of control subjects drawn from the Boston area, matched by age and sex to the commune subjects, had an average cholesterol of 184. The fact that most of the people in the commune were under 30 certainly contributed to their exceptionally low cholesterol readings – but the handful of commune residents over 40 had an average cholesterol of only 146.

Also of note is the fact that the triglyceride levels of the commune members were also low, averaging 59 (mg/dl) as compared to 86 in the controls. (As we will see, this is an intriguing finding given the fact that the macrobiotic diet is extremely high in carbohydrates – and high-carbohydrate diets are said to raise triglycerides!) Some members of these communes use occasional eggs or dairy, and Sacks found that recent consumption of these foods did indeed correlate with higher cholesterol levels. Sacks reported the case history of one commune member who evidently was genetically prone to high cholesterol.. 

After 18 months at the commune, his cholesterol was 123. He then left the commune for 6 weeks, at the end of which time his cholesterol had shot up to 219. He returned to the commune, and after 3 weeks his cholesterol was back down to 116. Evidently, having “bad genes” does not mean that you have an inexorable date with the coronary care unit! The effortless leanness of these vegans no doubt was an important factor in their low blood fat levels – their average skinfold thickness (a measure of subcutaneous fat) was only about one-third that of the control subjects. We’ll return to this important point soon.

Sacks is not the only investigator to have noted the highly favorable blood fat levels of free-living American or European vegans. One of these described a vegan diet as “a model for risk reduction”. Evidently, the exceptionally low cholesterol levels enjoyed by rural Asians – and their virtual freedom from coronary heart disease - are not just a function of semi-starvation, chronic infection, or good genes, as some might assume.

article source: Low-Fat, Low-Salt, Whole-Food Vegan

Mark F. McCarty NutriGuard Research, Inc. Second Edition: December 2008 

Vegan recipes: Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Makes 12 to 18 squares

Necessary ingredients

- 2 cups crispy rice cereal, crushed
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons nondairy butter, such as Earth Balance, melted, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup nondairy semisweet chocolate chips

Cooking Method

Generously oil a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the crushed crispy rice cereal, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup of the nondairy butter, and vanilla. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan. 

In a small saucepan (or double boiler), melt together the chocolate chips and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Spread the chocolate mixture over the top of the peanut butter mixture. Set aside for 1 to 2 hours to set. 

From The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
www.compassionatecooks.com

Some nice tips for tasty vegan cooking

Some nice tips for tasty vegan cooking

Some nice tips for tasty vegan cooking

This is a chapter with notes on how to make food tasty, interesting and varied. Some of them are notes on general cooking, some on meal planning and variation, some on making leftovers interesting. 

Use oil well to maximize flavor

 

It is the oil in foods that carries much of the taste, and that gives much of the satisfied feeling after eating.

If you skimp too much on your oil, you will probably find your cooking unsatisfying and not very tasty. It does no good to cut down on oil in cooking and then be craving fatty foods like milk and cheese to compensate. While you don’t need to use large amounts of butter or lard as in some older cookbooks, you can use a reasonable amount of healthy oils like olive or peanut, or some butter for flavor mixed with canola to make it lighter, and come out with food that is very tasty, satisfying to eat, and healthy for you.

Part of the reason you need to allow for sufficient oil is that good soups, stews and sauces, depend on this cooking ‘secret’ - get your seasoning flavors, your spices and your condiment vegetables like garlic, ginger, onion, bell peppers and celery, cooked in the oil before adding the flavored oil to your cooking water or sauce. 

That’s the reason why the usual meat-based bean soup and bean recipes use a ham hock, bacon or sausage to cook with - they are all sauces of strongly flavored salty oil. That is also why most oilfree soups are so bland, and why spices that are just thrown into cooking water for soups are often flavorless.

Sauteing Onions

Cook onions very slowly and they become smooth, sweet and rich tasting. Cook them on a higher flame and they are less sweet and have more of an edge, sometimes with a slightly scorched taste. The tastes have different uses. The rich, sweet taste is good for rich soups, stews and gravies. Onions cooked more quickly with more of an edge are good in tomato sauce, and with stronger tasting veggies and beans, especially with Mediterranean style spices. 

Cooking grain with oil

Adding the oil and spices to grain before it is cooked, gives a milder, subtler and more pervasive taste than if oil and spices are added after the grain is cooked, where the flavor coats rather than permeating the grains. 

Varying tastes and textures

In meals with more than one dish you generally want the tastes and textures to complement rather than be too similar. For example, a rich wet stew is best complemented by a dry grain dish. Or, a very spicy rice dish could be complemented by a sweet and smooth tasting soup or stew, or vice versa. 

If you think of tastes as being in 5 major categories - salty, sweet, sour, bitter, pungent - it’s a good idea not to have the same taste dominant in all your dishes - so, a spicy sour stew with a sour cabbage salad and rice cooked with lemon juice would not work. 

Salty or sour dishes are complemented by mildly sweet dishes - and grains and most vegetables and beans are basically very mildly sweet. 

Salty and sour in the same dish intensify each other - you will see them together often in the recipes. Using lemon juice or vinegar in your cooking lets you use less salt. Salty and sweet tend to complement or balance rather than intensify each other. A little bit of sugar added to a dish with a primarily salty taste, like soy sauce, will mellow and smooth out the flavor a bit. 

Hot dishes, those using peppers or chilis,are best complemented by bland grain dishes, and by smooth creamy side dishes like yogurt.

Varying Leftovers

This becomes very important when you are cooking ahead a lot, and making stews or rice dishes to last for 3 to 5 days. Here are some suggestions.

· Vary the side dish. If you have a bean and vegie stew, have it with plain rice one day, with toast another day, over rice another day.

· By the 3rd day, vary or ‘perk up’ your leftover by adding a little extra seasoning - a little extra salt and lemon to make the taste a little sharper often helps. An extra touch of cayenne or pepper can also liven it up. Or, add a garnish like seeds, nuts or grated cheese.

· For a rice and veggie dish you can make a half-new dish by sauteing some veggies with spices and adding the leftovers to that. A cold rice salad can be turned into a hot rice and vegetable dish with a little extra oil, cooked onion and spices.

· If you cook ahead with whole beans, say for a stew, make enough beans that you can keep some of them plain, to be mixed in vegie and rice quick sauteed dishes.

· Keep an interesting bean dip around to have as a snack with bread, or as a complementing side dish with a plain grain dish.

· When you make rice for a meal, cook your rice plain and make extra, so that you have it available as an ingredient to stir into a fresh dish.

· If you are planning a week’s worth of meals, make Tuesday or Wednesday your ‘Eat Something Else’ day as a change of pace, and do a quick cooking meal with a convenient food like mock duck, or pre-cooked beans with rice and veggies with a different spice pattern.

Pasta also makes a good change of pace. You might also consider having a soft cooked cereal like cream of wheat or rice, either sweet like a breakfast cereal or cooked with soft vegetables and spices.

· Use a topping, dip or relish as a side accent to vary the taste of dishes.

Expand your thinking about appropriate foods, especially for breakfast or dinner. For instance, I often like to start the day with a vegetable soup for breakfast, and cooked cereal makes a onderful and warming quick dinner.

article source: Charles Obert / LBVeg

Top Five Tips for Raising Vegan Babies and Children

Top Five Tips for Raising Vegan Babies and Children

Top Five Tips for Raising Vegan Babies and Children

When we were looking for a quality theme for the process today, we ran into this great article that you want to publish it in its entirety. These are referred to as Crystal Hansen. Crystal has been vegan for fifteen years, and is currently raising two young boys on a plant-based diet. She shares some of her favorites vegan baking recipes at [http://www.bestvegancookierecipes.com].

All articles you can read below.

  

1) Know the appropriate health requirements: Realize that a vegan diet can meet all of your baby and child's nutritional needs, but only if it is done correctly. All newborn babies get the greatest benefit by nursing from their mothers. When that isn't a possibility, soy formulas work for many infants. You may have to contact individual companies if you have questions about whether a soy formula is completely vegan. 

Make sure to note that there's a big difference between soy formula and soy milk. Feeding an infant soy milk or rice milk as a substitute for breast milk or infant formula does NOT meet all of a newborn's nutritional requirement, and has even led to some tragic deaths.

Older children often thrive on fortified rice or soy milks. Silk soy milk, for instance, contains 50% of the RDA of vitamin B12 per serving (which can be challenging to incorporate into a vegan diet). It's also a good source of calcium and protein. Then of course, make sure your kids are getting enough protein through nuts, beans, and meat substitutes, and don't forget the whole grains, healthy fats, fruits and veggies!

2) Find the right pediatrician: All pediatricians are not created equal. Before your child is born, speak with several pediatricians to find someone you feel comfortable with and trust, and make sure to ask them how they feel about a vegan diet. Doctors who are open-minded and have up-to-date knowledge about nutrition will recognize that vegan diets can be nutritionally sound, and often healthier than diets including Happy Meals. They can also be a great source of information for how to keep your child healthy if you have specific questions about vegan nutritional guidelines.

3) Enlist supportive caregivers: If you're a working parent, you may have to search for an understanding daycare provider who will make a valiant effort to stick with your child's vegan diet. Most often, it works best for everyone involved if the parents of the vegan child provide all meals and snacks. Usually, daycare providers are more willing to work with parents who make it easy, and don't demand that they learn all of the ins and outs of veganism. 

Mistakes may be inadvertently made (for example, my two-year-old once grabbed a meatball from another child's plate and took a bite), but if your daycare provider recognizes that this kind of thing is a problem, and tries vigilantly to avoid it, things usually work out fairly well.

4) Substitute treats: When your child is going to a birthday party or encountering classroom treats, bring a vegan substitute. Your child will probably want to feel included, and being a vegan most definitely doesn't have to mean being left out of the fun! Each quarter, I give my son's kindergarten teacher a bag full of Alternative Baking Company cookies, Fruit Leather, and crackers.

Around Halloween, or other "candy-heavy" holidays, I give her some extra treats (such as Mambas) and let her know how I'd like my son to deal with getting non-vegan candy. (If his teacher is unsure about whether a treat is vegan, she usually sends it home in my son's backpack and lets us decide.) 

Work with your child's teacher to find a system that works for you. Most teachers will be willing to work with you. Also, when you're going to family parties, bring fun snacks and treats that your child will be excited about. This doesn't always work out perfectly, but with a little extra planning and effort, eating socially with non-vegans doesn't have to be awkward, and it doesn't have to make your child feel deprived.

5) Complain with composure, and know your facts: If teachers or grandparents give your child a non-vegan treat, your first reaction can be anger. I've been in that position before, and it's a natural reaction; however, explaining to the person how important veganism is to you and your family can be helpful. For many people, being vegan is about more than a diet. It often encompasses spiritual beliefs and personal ethics, and these things deserve respect in any situation. 

In the case that you've explained that, and a teacher has been repeatedly unwilling to work with you, take your complaint to the principal. Most problems can be resolved with more understanding. Keep in mind that veganism isn't well understood by everyone, and some people will even think you are harming your child by feeding them a vegan diet. In this case, information is your best asset. The more evidence you are able to provide skeptical grandparents or teachers on the benefits of vegan living, the better.

Some people have concerns about phytoestrogens in soy mimicking estrogen and causing hormonal imbalances. If you have those concerns, speak with your pediatrician, or simply cut back on the soy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Crystal_Hansen

Vegan recipes: Turkey-Lurkey’s Teriyaki Tofu

Vegan recipes: Turkey-Lurkey’s Teriyaki Tofu

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- 1 1/2 pound firm tofu
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 or 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
- 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 10 bamboo skewers

Cut the tofu into strips about 1/4 inch thick and 3/4 inches wide. Place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Sprinkle with the soy sauce. In a cup,mix together the nutritional yeast, onion powder, and garlic powder, and shake the mixture over the tofu strips.

Bake for 15 minutes, then flip over, and bake for 10 more minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Brush the baked strips with the teriyaki sauce and olive oil, then thread on the skewers. Heat under the broiler for 5 minutes.

Do not allow to burn. Serve on a bed of brown rice or with toothpicks as hors d’oeuvres.

I cooked this recipes from Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey. United Poultry Concerns. If you wanna buy this book, click on the picture below.

Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey. United Poultry Concerns

Quick Vegan Glossary

quick vegan glossary

 

Quick Vegan Glossary

Vegan: People who choose animal-free foods are vegans. Vegan foods are free of animal products including poultry, red meat, dairy, eggs, and fish.

Nutritional Yeast: Flavorful golden flakes or powder give a delicious cheesy taste and texture to gravies, sauces, casseroles, and salad dressings. Sprinkle on pasta and soups like parmesan, use for breading, whip with vegan buttery spread or vegetable oil in mashed potatoes, and add to stir-fries. Nutritional yeast is non-leavening and does not cause yeast infections.

Seitan: High protein food made of wheat gluten with a meat-like texture. Seitan is sold in many food stores in oven-ready and ready-to-eat forms, and is the grilled, baked, and sizzling “meat”in many vegetarian entrees. Like stirfried shitake mushrooms and grilled Portobello mushrooms, seitan makes giving up meat a lot easier that you think.

Tempeh: Highprotein, somewhat meat-like food with a nutty flavor made from fermented soybeans. Delicious cubed or thinly sliced in stir-fries.

Tofu: This versatile soybean product and meat replacement can be breaded, marinated, stir-fried, and baked in many different ways. A good source of protein and calcium, tofu (also called bean curd) absorbs the flavors of sauces and spices. 

It can be found in just about any supermarket in 1-lb packages ranging from extra-firm for meat-like textures, firm or soft for vegan scrambled eggs, and silken textures for puddings, mousses, pumpkin and cream pie fillings.

Vegan food pyramid - video explained

Vegan food pyramid

 

Vegan food pyramid - video explained

If you hate to read all the information on the Internet about Vegan food pyramid, then we're for you have a great video. This is a video explaining the Vegan Food Pyramid, which is for all of us on youtube by a user Inga A. Enjoy!

Vegan recipes: Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Ever

Vegan recipes: Macaroni and Cheese

 

 

 

 

 

Vegan recipes: Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Ever

When it comes to vegan cooking, then this is one of the easiest and best recipe for macaroni. It's easy and quick to cook, and the flavor is fantastic. If you are a beginner vegan, then this is the ideal meal for you.

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- 1 1/2 cups plain soymilk

- 1 cup water

- 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce

- 1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast

- 1 tablespoon paprika

- 1 tablespoon garlic powder

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 3 ounces firm tofu

- 1 cup canola oil

- 1 1/2 pounds macaroni noodles

- 2 teaspoons mustard (optional)

Boil water in a big pot for macaroni noodles. Put all other ingredients in a blender to create the cheeselike sauce. Once noodles are cooked, drain and put in a baking pan and pour sauce over the noodles. Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy – about 15 minutes.

Growth and development of vegans and vegetarians...

A well-planned vegetarian diet is considered to be adequate for all stages of the life cycle including infancy,

childhood and adolescence (American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada, 2003), but epidemiological data on growth and development in vegetarians are still sparse. Recent data on 390 lifelong vegetarians in EPIC-Oxford (Rosell et al. 2005a) show no significant differences in height in men or women, or in age at menarche in women, between lifelong vegetarians and those who became vegetarian at age ‡20 years.

Obesity

Studies of Western vegetarians have consistently reported that vegetarians have a lower BMI than comparable non-vegetarians, with differences in mean BMI of about 1 kg/m2 the proportion of vegetarians who are obese is correspondingly lower than that among non-vegetarians. The reasons for this difference are not well understood, but may include differences in the composition of the diet such as a higher fibre intake and a lower protein intake. 

Follow-up of body weight among 21 966 individuals in EPIC-Oxford shows a mean body-weight increase of approximately 400 g/year overall, with nificantly lower weight gain in vegans, but not in vegetarians, than in meat-eaters (Rosell et al. 2005b). Despite these consistently-observed differences in BMI between vegetarians and non-vegetarians, obesity is common among some populations that follow largely vegetarian diets, such as Indians living in the UK and in India.

CVD

Plasma cholesterol Studies have consistently reported that total plasma cholesterol is lower in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians, e.g. by 0.61 mmol/l in the Health Food Shoppers Study, 0.43 mmol/l in the Oxford Vegetarian Study and 0.39 mmol/l and 0.35 mmol/l in men and women respectively in EPIC-Oxford (Key et al. 1999b). 

The effect of a vegetarian diet on plasma cholesterol is dependent on the exact composition of the diet, particularly in relation to saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and have shown that a vegetarian diet including a portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods such as soyabean and nuts reduces serum LDL-cholesterol substantially more than a control vegetarian diet. Hypertension 

The main diet-related determinants of ypertension are high salt intake, obesity and excess alcohol consumption (Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, 2003). Some early studies have suggested that vegetarians have a lower blood pressure than similar non-vegetarians, with differences of 2–10mmHg in systolic or diastolic pressure (Beilin et al. 1988). 

However, analyses of blood pressure among 11 004 men and women in EPIC-Oxford indicate very little difference in blood pressure between vegetarians and meat-eaters (£1 mmHg); blood pressure was observed to be 2–3mmHg lower in vegans than in meat-eaters, largely associated with the lower BMI of the vegans (Appleby et al. 2002). In this study the very small differences in blood pressure between the dietary groups would not be expected to cause a detectable difference in rates of CVD.

Growth and development of vegans and vegetarians

IHD

Collaborative re-analysis of five prospective studies, each including a large proportion of vegetarians, has shown the mortality from IHD to be 24 (95% CI 6, 38) % lower in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians. Results published subsequently are similar; a death rate ratio of 0.75 (95% CI 0.4, 1.37) in the first analysis of EPIC-Oxford (Key et al. 2003) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.41, 1.18) in the extended follow-up of the cohort in Germany. 

In a case–control study among Indians in Bangalore the risk for myocardial infarction in vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians has been reported to be 0.81 (95% CI 0.46, 1.43; Pais et al. 1996). Law et al. (1994) have estimated that a reduction in total serum cholesterol of 0.6 mmol/l would reduce mortality from IHD by 27%; therefore, the observed differences in cholesterol between vegetarians and non-vegetarians of approximately 0.4 mmol/l would be expected to reduce mortality from IHD by approximately 20%. 

The observed difference in mortality of about 24% is therefore of the magnitude that might be predicted from the difference in serum cholesterol. The lower BMI of vegetarians would also be expected to cause a small reduction in mortality from IHD. Stroke The main known risk factor for stroke is high blood pressure. 

The only data on stroke mortality in vegetarians comes from the five prospective studies, pooled analysis of which shows a death rate ratio for stroke in vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians of 0.93 (95% CI 0.74,1.17; Key et al. 1999b).

What is vegan?

What is Vegan?

If you want to get better acquainted with Veganizm, then it is definitely the best way to do this article how is been published on page Vivausa. This is definitely everything you want to know about the Vegan lifestyle. Therefore it would be rude to one such item not to publish in its entirety. The complete article can be read below.

Veganism is...

Good for you

Research on vegetarians (including vegans) shows them to have lower rates of heart disease, besity, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, and possibly some cancers. It also reduces the chance of food poisoning. And of course you avoid all the hormones and antibiotics that are pumped into animals raised for food. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian and vegan diets are healthy and beneficial no matter what your age:

“Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals.”

American Dietetic Association; Dietitians of Canada. Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: Vegetarian diets. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003 Jun; 103(6):748-65.

 

Good for the animals

If you’re already a vegetarian you’ve undoubtedly helped reduce animal suffering, but the dairy and egg industries are no picnics for the animals involved. Cows must be repeatedly impregnated for the production of milk, and their offspring may be sent straight to the slaughterhouse or reared for veal or milk, or sold for their flesh. Calves are often taken from their mothers immediately after birth, leaving both cows and calves to mourn the broken maternal bond. Both male and female calves are kept in confinement, unable to move freely. If raised for veal, males will be slaughtered after only 4 months, while female calves will likewise be kept strictly confined until they are able to produce milk. 

Then they are turned into milking machines. Cows’ udders are often infected and swollen from the abuse of growth hormones and multiple milkings every day. Dairy cows are killed at about five years of age and sold for ‘low grade’ products such as burgers, sausages and other processed foods. Their natural life span would be at least twenty years. And as for typical (battery cage) egg production, since only the females lay eggs, 100-150 million day-old male chicks are killed every year, many suffocated in garbage bags. The industry average is less than one-half square foot of space per bird — less space than a sheet of paper! They have the tips of their beaks cut off to prevent feather pulling caused by the intensive confinement. 

These poor animals live with barely enough room to move for up to two years until their egg production goes down. Then they are either killed or forced into molting. To induce a molt, egg producers take away food and water from the birds, forcing them into another egg laying cycle. Chickens and turkeys raised for meat fare no better — they are crammed by the thousands in sheds, some with no windows. Breeding has caused them to grow at an incredible pace, one that their bodies have a hard time catching up to. Turkeys have the tips of their beaks and some toes cut off. Chickens have been known to be boiled alive during the slaughter process. And the label ‘free range’ does not mean cruelty-free; in fact, free range hens live in very crowded conditions, have the tips of their bills cut off, and are slaughtered no differently than conventionally raised animals.

Life for pigs on factory farms is dreadful too! Over 80% of pigs who are raised for food (like sausages, hot dogs, bacon and ham) live their lives in sheds thick with the overwhelming smell of urine and feces. A mother pig (sow) is forced to give birth in a tiny crate where she cannot walk or even turn around. This is also where she will spend her pregnancy. She moves between these two small crates for four to five years until she is killed. The piglets spend their lives in squalid conditions until at six months they are shackled by one leg and have their throats slit.

Billions of sea animals are caught each year. Those fish who are still alive by the time they make it to the decks of fishing boats have one of two fates. Either they are allowed to suffocate to death or they are disemboweled with a gutting knife. In addition to this, countless other sea creatures are caught in fishing nets and discarded as by-catch.

Good for the environment

Treating animals like food factories has a negative impact on our water and air. Vast expanses of wilderness are converted to pastureland, resulting in a loss of habitat for countless species. Commercial fishing of the oceans has decimated the aquatic environment. Shrimp nets, which are dragged through the water, catch everything in their path — thousands of sea turtles are killed this way every year.

A branch of the USDA kills wildlife, such as coyotes and bobcats, to protect farmers’ livestock. The factory farming industry is creating environmental problems of its own. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dairy farms have created an environmental crisis in California, the number one dairy producing state. In fact, California alone produces an astounding 30 million tons of manure each year. 

The EPA states that a single cow produces approximately 120 pounds of wet manure per day. Estimates equate the waste produced per day by one dairy cow to that of 20-40 humans per day. Manure lagoons designed to contain livestock waste can leak or spill over into waterways, contaminating our drinking water. Pig farms with 100,000 animals produce as much waste as a city of a quarter-million people; but the pig farms have no wastewater treatment system. Pig waste often spills into nearby rivers, sometimes killing many thousands of fish.

 

Good for the planet's people

Every day, 840 million people around the world, including 200 million children, go hungry. But much of the world’s grain harvest, 40%, is used to feed livestock, not people. U.S. livestock alone consumes about one-third of the world’s total grain harvest, as well as more than 70% of the grain grown in the United States. In fact, the more a cow is milked, the more grain concentrates she needs. High quality foods such as wheat and soy, which could be fed to humans, are being fed to animals. On average, you can get about five times as much biologically available protein from eating plant foods directly as you can from using them to produce meat.

A slaughterhouse may be the worst workplace in the U.S. The workers are poor and often illiterate or unable to speak English. They are treated almost as callously as the animals dying by the billions in those same facilities. The pay is low, turnover is high, and injuries and illnesses are frequent and often severe. Turnover rate at all processing plants runs close to 100% per year. Increasingly, both slaughterhouses and factory farms are located in poverty-stricken areas. Factory farms tend to be located in predominantly non-white, low-income areas.

Vegan food

What is a Vegan anyway?

So, now that you’re convinced that veganism is a beneficial lifestyle, you’ll want to know what it involves, won’t you? One thing it doesn’t involve is deprivation and martyrdom — there really is no need to sit around munching your way through a head of lettuce and feeling sorry for yourself (unless, of course, you REALLY like lettuce). Ask any vegan what they eat and they will look at you in astonishment. The foods available are so varied, so tasty and so easy to prepare, it’s a miracle that we do anything other than eat! (Truth be told, some of us don’t!) Now we aren’t saying you won’t miss a few things at first - cheese and milk chocolate are always the hardest to kiss goodbye, but there are vegan alternatives available, so don’t despair.

What's the difference between a Vegetarian and a Vegan?

Well, a vegetarian simply does not eat any dead animals, or parts of them. So this means no meat, poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc.), fish or other watery creatures (like shrimp and crabs), or any by-products of these animals, like gelatin or animal fats. This also means eating only ‘vegetarian’ cheese, as some cheeses are made using rennet (taken from the stomachs of calves — yuck!).

A vegan will not eat any of these either but will also strive to avoid all animal products to avoid partaking in the exploitation, abuse, and slaughter of animals. This includes eggs, milk, cream, yogurt, cheese and anything that contains these products or derivatives of them. Vegans also avoid honey, because bees are frequently killed during its production, and finally, a vegan will not wear wool, leather or silk, or use personal care and household products that contain animal substances or are tested on animals. In fact, a vegan won’t eat, wear or use anything that comes from any animal, dead or alive. Cane sugar is sometimes processed through bone char so some vegans avoid eating it. If you’re interested in finding out which products definitely do not have bone char, please see www.VeganProducts.org/sugar.html.

Sounds like a lot to remember, huh? To begin with, you will feel like you need to be reading every label in the cupboard, looking up things like ‘lanolin’ in your dictionary and trying to remember why you decided to go vegan in the first place! But it does get easier — and no one will blame you if you make a mistake! We all do. Just take things at your own pace and remember why you’re doing this, for yourself, the planet, and animals.