Category Archives: Vegan Food

A guest blog by Talia Fuhrman

Free radicals suck. They are like tiny malicious sparks from the wand of a great and powerful warlock out to destroy our radiant, perfectly normal functioning cells. Over time, these little guys strike a slow, insidious blow to our overall health as well as the health of our skin.  They stealthily attack our outer beauty by causing collagen damage, skin dryness, fine lines and wrinkles.

How do these tiny microscopic molecules manage to accomplish such damage to our skin cells, you say?

It is a rather simple concept. The atoms in our bodies take tremendous pains to maintain an even number of electrons in their orbits; this helps keep our atoms stable, at peace and functioning at optimal potential.  If an atom possesses an uneven number of electrons, it will greedily snag one from another nearby atom in an effort to maintain stability. Those avaricious little guys!

When we eat processed/junk foods, spend time under the sun’s beating ultraviolet rays, or bath our skin in harmful synthetic chemicals (Think I’m kidding about this? Check out the ingredients used in conventional makeup products. Nasty!) our bodies produce free radicals. Free radicals are unstable atoms with an uneven number of electrons and when they are produced on our skin they form a damaging chain reaction that results in the premature aging of our skin and cellular damage that leads to de-beautified, dull lookin’ skin. I wasn’t kidding when I said they are on the dark side.

In comes vitamin E to the rescue! Vitamin E is one of the most powerful antioxidants with proven skin-protecting properties.  However, our bodies can’t produce it, so we need to eat plenty of vitamin E-rich foods to create the formidable outer beauty shield we seek. Studies have even shown that consuming vitamin E-rich foods on a regular basis can reduce sunburns from exposure to UVB radiation.

Now onto the exciting part of this article in which we learn how to use the beneficent forces of plant-foods to defeat those evil free radicals.

The best vitamin E-rich foods are now comin’ at ya!

1) Spinach- We’ve got a clear vitamin E winner over here! Two cups of raw spinach provides 6% of the %DV. Two cup of raw spinach is a tiny 14 calories, so this means that spinach is one of the most concentrated sources of vitamin E per calorie. Because spinach is super low in calories, we can eat a lot of it to fill up and get our vitamin E, but we won’t be consuming many calories. I adore spinach in soups, wraps, salads and even in smoothies. Now whenever I eat spinach I will think of skin that is youthful, bright and clear!

2) Tomatoes (both regular and cherry!)- One cup of cherry tomatoes is 26.8 calories and contains 4% of the %DV for vitamin E. I love tomatoes so much! Tomatoes are another highly delicious, nutrient-dense, low-calorie food. I adore roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce with garlic, basil, and other Italian spices. A significant chunk of my brain tells me I should have been born Italian given my love of Italian food, my foodie propensities and my love affair with Mediterranean culture, but I must say that it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Give me some homemade, chunky, steaming, perfectly seasoned tomato sauce over whole-wheat penne pasta, roasted vegetables and cracked pepper and I am a very happy camper. Oh and check out this deliciousVegan Roasted Tomato Soup recipe from LifeAsAStrawberry.com. I’ve been gazing at pictures of the recipe and my eyes are going wild with pleasure!

3) Swiss Chard- this exceptional, absolutely exquisite nutrient-powerhouse of a green vegetable is loaded with vitamin E as well as plenty of beta carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin K, B vitamins and much more.  As such, it is a wickedly nutritious food that will naturally make your skin look ma’velous darling. It actually has the same amount of vitamin E as spinach. Goooo, green leafy vegetables! Now the trick is to learn how to cook it to make it tasty too! In all honesty, S to the C was never one of my favorite foods, or even on the tasty side of the spectrum on my food-liking scale, but it’s so gosh darn healthy that it’s worth playing around with in the kitchen to make it taste as scrumptious as it is healthy for our tiny, nutrient-craving cells. Check out all of these AMAZING swish chard recipes that should do a superb job of adding flavorful delight to any day we choose to prepare them. CLICK HERE, CLICK HERE, your fingers tell you! You know you want to start including more S to the C in your life!

4) Sunflower seeds- these cute littl’ seeds pack 222% of the %DV in a 100 gram serving. As 100 grams of sunflower seeds amounts to 3.5 ounces or 0.42 cups, this is quite a bit of sunflower seeds to consume at one time. However, 222% is also a fantastically large percentage, so large in fact, that sunflower seeds happen to contain the most vitamin E per calorie of all foods. Wow, sunflower seeds, just wow. Way to rock the whole good for you thing. Actually I wrote a blog post about how incredible sunflower seeds are for us a little while ago. Check it out by clicking HERE and up your sunflower seed IQ! May you never look at sunflower seeds the same way again.

5) Avocados- one whole avocado contains between 10-13% of the %DV depending on the type of avocado. Florida avocados tend to contain slightly more vitamin E than California avocados, but the difference is pretty trivial. What’s not trivial? Eating creamy avocados as often as I can! I actually just relished an avocado-filled, pesto sauce-enhanced whole-wheat pita sandwich before writing this blog post. I can testify that it was pretty much the best lunch a hungry girl could ask for. And now I’ve got plenty of vitamin E cruising through my bloodstream right now too. You can also count on avocados for an wildly high number of other nutrients including many in the carotenoid family. Think beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, neoxanthin, zeaxanthin, chrysanthemaxanthin, neochrome, beta-cryptoxanthin and violaxanthin. Wow, that was a type full (as opposed to a mouth full!). While you don’t need to remember the names, pronunciation or spelling of all of these funky-named nutrients, you do need to remember that all of them work together to strengthen our immune systems, combat free radicals, promote a healthy reproductive system and even aid in the absorption of other nutrients. Holy moly guacamole, that’s impressive. To read more about the health benefits of avocados, CLICK HERE.

Clearly my next cooking endeavor will be creating a raw avocado cream pie recipe. Doesn’t the above picture look drool-worthy, knock-your-socks-off AMAZING?! It’s from KirbyCravings.com, but the recipe isn’t very healthy and is not dairy-free. Time to venture to the kitchen to make a non-dairy, healthier alternative!

And my Vitamin E runners up: almonds, peanut butter, pine nuts, hazelnuts, kale, turnip greens, broccoli, red peppers, tropical fruits such as papaya and kiwi, radicchio, paprika, red chill powder, and wheat germ. These runners up also pack a mean vitamin E punch! Leafy greens, nuts and seeds tend to contain the most vitamin E per calorie, so make sure you are consuming these foods often. The more vitamin E from real foods the better, I say!

Remember that no pill can take the place of the complex nutrient composition in real foods. Studies have shown that supplemental vitamin E offers no health benefits and may even be detrimental to our long-term health. For more information about the toxicity of supplemental vitamin E CLICK HERE and HERE.

I hope you have a delightful, vitamin E plant-foods rich week! Today is also my birthday, so happy birthday to me! I am now 21 + 5 but I think I look a solid 21 + 2 thanks to my buddies those plants.

Talia Fuhrman, the oldest daughter of Dr. Fuhrman, has a degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell University and is currently working on a manuscript of her own health and wellness book for young women. She is on a mission to help people of all ages understand that eating healthfully can be fun, delicious, and easy. A lover of cooking and writing, she understands that disease prevention must be made positively delicious! Talia has her own website with psychological musing, nutrition tips and recipes. In addition to her posts on Disease Proof, you can find her at TaliaFuhrman.com.

We’re loving Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats by Allyson Kramer. You might think that following a plant-based, gluten-free diet is challenging, but Great Gluten-Free Vegan Eats shows you exactly how to create compassionate and wheat-free recipes that are impressive enough for even the most seasoned foodie. Full of fresh and all-natural ingredients, the 101 fully-photographed, scrumptious recipes you’ll find inside prove that eating vegan and gluten-free doesn’t have to be a sacrifice, but a delight!

To win a copy of this awesome cookbook simply like New Year, New You Health Fest– the annual plant-based healthy food festival that takes place in historic, Marshall, Texas. Winner will be announced August 21st. Good luck!

A guest blog by Talia Fuhrman

I love starting out Mondays with a delicious, easy-to-prepare new recipe, don’t you? And who doesn’t enjoy a scrumptious muffin recipe that is not only moist and melts softly on your tongue, but is also bursting with nutrients and health-promoting ingredients?

I’m going to make a very immodest proclamation. I’m going to declare with the utmost of confidence that this is the healthiest banana walnut muffin recipe currently floating on the Internet. I know. I just dared to write that.

After reading the list of ingredients most conveniently found directly below the next few paragraphs, you might just be apt to agree. I do realize that at this point you are likely going to stop reading these words and skip below to the recipe because curiosity has gotten the best of you. If you are still reading this paragraph instead of the recipe, well congratulations. I venture you are not among the majority.

Now that most all of you have read the recipe (either before or after your eyes finished absorbing the words in the last paragraph), you will observe that I used a tad of whole-wheat flour (I don’t avoid gluten completely, even though I rarely eat wheat flour), you can make these muffins gluten-free by substituting oat flour for the whole-wheat flour. In fact, if you are not currently in possession of almond flour or coconut flour, you can try experimenting with other flours, just be warned that some whole-wheat flour or oat flour will be necessary because almond and coconut flour are significantly more dense and your muffins will turn out too heavy without the addition of whole-wheat or oat flour.

You will also note the use of beans, which is my not-so-secret-anymore trick for preparing oil-free muffins. Oil is normally added to cake and muffin recipes to add moister and texture, but beans do a beautiful job at doing the very same thing. And you cannot taste the beans one little bit. The nutrition 411 is that beans are far better for us that oils and so the use of beans instead of oil is just one reason why this recipe rocks. Another reason why this recipe is so cool is because it’s completely vegan and employs heart and brain healthy flaxseeds as a substitute for eggs. When a girl is determined to get creative in the kitchen, healthier substitutions for conventional ingredients can easily be found. Hello both healthy and tasty muffins!

The banana flavor and spices compliment each other delightfully and I love the addition of orange zest and cardamom. I hope you like this recipe as much as I do.

Here are some nutrition fun facts, so you can appreciate how much better for us these muffins are compared to the typical muffins found in bakeries, restaurants and grocery stores across America:

1) Low-nutrient, empty calorie foods without the beneficial presence of antioxidants, vitamins, and phytochemicals results in the buildup of waste products in our cells. When we eat conventional muffins filled with white-flour and oil, without the accompaniment of micronutrients found in plant foods, our disease risk goes up and we age prematurely (see pg. 109-115 of Super Immunity by my dad, Joel Fuhrman M.D., for more information on the health risks of consuming low-nutrient foods).
2) At 120 calories per tablespoon, all oils (even coconut oil and olive oil) very high in calories and low in nutrients → CLICK HERE to learn more about why avoiding oil is a good idea.
3) High in fiber and resistant starch, beans are a superpower food that help reduce our risk of developing heart disease and many common types of cancer → CLICK HEREand HERE to learn more about the health benefits of beans.
4) Walnuts are AWESOME for us! Like all nuts, walnuts are rich in fiber, minerals, antioxidants, and monounsaturated fats, but walnuts stand out because of their distinctively high levels of ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid. Our brains are made of omega-3 fatty acids and because our bodies can’t make their own, we need to eat plenty of omega-3 fats to stay healthy (and smart!).

Behold the recipe:

Ingredients (makes 10-12 muffins):

½ cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
10 Medjool dates, pitted
½ cup canned white beans (I recommend Eden’s BPA free canned beans)
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
3 very ripe mashed bananas
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds soaked in ½ cup water
¼- ½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
¼ – ½ cup dried cherries or raisins

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place paper muffin cups in a muffin pan.
2) Mix ground flaxseeds with water and let them sit for a few minutes until it form an egg-like consistency. Ground flaxseeds are an amazing substitute for eggs! Add pitted dates, bananas, beans, applesauce, flax “egg”, vanilla extract and spices to a high-powered blender and mix thoroughly.
3) Put aside the blended mixture and in a large bowl, combine flours and baking powder. Once the dry ingredients are mixed, add the wet blended ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix and mix some more until a nice batter forms.
4) Add dried fruit and walnuts in amounts to your liking and distribute them in the batter evenly.
5) Using a large spoon, place a few tablespoons worth of batter into each paper muffin cup. Once there is no more batter left, bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the muffins develop a golden brown color and are crisp to the touch.

Now I hope you have an appetite after these muffins are ready because they are quite difficult to avoid consuming on the spot. Just let them cool for a few minutes before consuming and rich, moist banana walnut muffins will be yours for the eating. Woohoo!

Talia Fuhrman, the oldest daughter of Dr. Fuhrman, has a degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell University and is currently working on a manuscript of her own health and wellness book for young women. She is on a mission to help people of all ages understand that eating healthfully can be fun, delicious, and easy. A lover of cooking and writing, she understands that disease prevention must be made positively delicious! Talia has her own website with psychological musing, nutrition tips and recipes. In addition to her posts on Disease Proof, you can find her at TaliaFuhrman.com.

A guest blog by Talia Fuhrman

Warning: These ooey gooey brownies are incredibly easy to eat and one bite may result in more bites and even more until you’ve taken more bites than initially intended.

This recipe is not only fantastic because these brownies are creamy and ooey gooey good, but because there is avocado in this recipe! Talk about one tasty source of healthy fats.  This recipe is actually a super tasty way to get your daily dose of healthy fats because it contains avocados and flaxseeds. Flaxseeds contain important omega-3 fatty acids that your brain requires to function properly, so eat these brownies and your brain will thank you. And rest assure, your taste buds will be satisfied too!

Ingredients (makes 12-16 ooey gooey brownies):

1 (15 oz) can black beans (I use Eden brand because cans are BPA free)
2 ripe bananas + 1 more to create banana chunks (3rd banana optional)
1/2 cup ground flaxseeds
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup distilled water
1 cup medjool dates (pitted)
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
small handful vegan dark chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Place black beans, avocado, 2 bananas, pitted dates, flaxseeds, cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a high power blender or vita-mix and blend until smooth. Make sure you’ve got a sturdy high-powered blender on your side, because a little wimpy blender is not going to cooperate with you and you will get angry and frustrated with your wimpy blender.

2) Place this thoroughly blended mixture into a large bowl and set aside. You may be tempted to eat spoonfuls of your blended vita-mix mixture and this may be unavoidable. I can speak from experience. As long as you only eat a few spoonfuls, this should not affect the final product.

3) In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and baking powder. Combine both mixtures and mix thoroughly. Cut up the third banana in small pieces and add the banana pieces into the mixture as to create chunks of banana in the final brownies (this is optional). Add chocolate chips and stir until they are mixed into the batter completely.

Spread onto a lightly-greased or parchment-lined glass baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the brownies comes out clean.

*I used whole-wheat flour to make these brownies, but oat flour or another gluten-free flour should work just as well for those who avoid gluten.

Talia Fuhrman, the oldest daughter of Dr. Fuhrman, has a degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell University and is currently working on a manuscript of her own health and wellness book for young women. She is on a mission to help people of all ages understand that eating healthfully can be fun, delicious, and easy. A lover of cooking and writing, she understands that disease prevention must be made positively delicious! Talia has her own website with psychological musing, nutrition tips and recipes. In addition to her posts on Disease Proof, you can find her at TaliaFuhrman.com.

A Guest Blog by Sharon Palmer, RD

The vegan diet has come a long way thanks to the growing list of celebrity supporters, ranging from Ellen Degeneres to Carrie Underwood. And while the old cliché that vegan eating is about as hip and tasty as munching on alfalfa sprouts and granola is beginning to phase out, a few stigmas still hold true for a lot of people. The Internet and mainstream media is rife with misperceptions and inaccurate information surrounding vegetarian and vegan diets; one of the biggest sources of misinformation surrounds the topic of plant proteins. As a Registered Dietitian who has spent more than 30 years pouring over the latest scientific research when it comes to our health in relation to food, a consensus is growing among nutrition professionals that it’s completely doable to eat a healthy plant-based diet that meets your protein – as well as carbohydrate, fat, vitamin, and mineral – needs every day. In fact, research shows that vegetarian diets are even more nutrient dense and consistent with the government’s recommendations for nutritional needs than non-vegetarian ones. Plant-based proteins may be one of the main reasons that vegans s enjoy a longer lifespan, healthier weight, and lower risk of disease.

While it’s true that most plant proteins, with the exception of soy, quinoa, and spinach are low in one or two of the essential amino acids, dietitians now know that it’s very simple to achieve an adequate intake of all essential amino acids by including a variety of whole plant foods in the diet. Legumes, soy, nuts and seeds are your best bets for protein – but whole grains and veggies contain protein too! Some whole grains, including wheat varieties, such as emmer, farro, Kamut, spelt, and wheat berries provide up to 11 grams of protein per cup. Even some vegetables contain up to 6 grams per cup cooked.
Of course, when following a vegan diet, it takes some careful planning. It’s important to focus on minimally processed foods first and to diversify your diet. The “whole” point of a plant-based, vegan diet is to reap then nutritive benefits of whole foods, including legumes, soy foods, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. It’s possible to crowd out essential nutrients, such as protein, in a vegan diet to make room for junk foods, such as snacks, sweets, baked goods, and sweetened beverages.

Try one of these five easy ways to include more plant proteins in your diet:

1. Fall in Love with Legumes. Bring home a variety of dried legumes such as chickpeas, and adzuki, kidney, black, cannellini, and pinto beans from every shopping trip to star in chilies, stews, or casseroles that week.
2. Embrace Soy, the Superfood. Include up to three servings of soy per day by choosing soy products in their least processed forms such as whole soybeans, edamame, tofu, tempeh, and soy milk.
3. Get a Little Nutty. Eat a handful of nuts – about 1 to 2 ounces – a day such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts, cashews, macadamias, brazil nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, and peanuts to gain a plethora of health benefits.
4. Eat Like a Bird – Turn to Seeds. Include these crunchy gems – such as hemp, chia, sesame, pumpkin, flax, and sunflower – into your diet every day.

You can also try one of my delicious plant-powered and protein-packed recipes, such as my Spicy Bok Choy with Noodles and Peanuts or this popular recipe below from my book, The Plant-Powered Diet. To ensure you’re getting enough protein, include servings at every meal from my Plant-Powered Protein List.

Southwestern Black Bean Quinoa and Mango Salad

The jewel-like black beans shine in this crunchy, zesty salad. Serve it with corn tortillas and vegetable soup for an easy, refreshing meal.

Ingredients:
1 – 15 oz can black beans, no salt added, rinsed, drained
1 cup cooked quinoa (according to package directions)
1 cup frozen corn
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh mango
¼ cup chopped red onion
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (or 2 tsp dried if not available)
1 small fresh jalepeno pepper, seeded, finely diced
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp turmeric

Instructions:
1. Mix beans, quinoa, corn, pepper, mango, onion, cilantro and jalapeno together in a mixing bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder and turmeric together. Toss into salad mixture and chill until serving time.

Makes 6 servings (about 1 cup each)

Sharon Palmer is a registered dietitian, nationally recognized expert on plant-based nutrition, and writer.  She has written more than 750 articles in a variety of publications.  In addition, she is the author of The Plant-Powered Diet, editor of Environmental Nutrition, contributing editor of Today’s Dietitian, and writes her blog The Plant-Powered Dietitian.  Sharon speaks around the world on the health benefits of plant-powered nutrition.  She makes her home with her husband and two sons in the chaparral hills overlooking Los Angeles.

http://youtu.be/P-AqXv3MV9Q

Yesterday, the vegan world was buzzing with the news that Ellen Degeneres admitted to eating eggs on her television show. I was hoping that when she said, “we get our eggs from the neighbors” she meant that she occasionally needs eggs for house guests that demand a frittata when staying over. Who knows? But eggs are decidedly NOT vegan. Even if you can ignore their negative health effects, you can’t ignore the fact that eggs are a reproductive product of an animal. Please watch this informative slide show from HumaneMyth.org

Although more and more schools offer dining options for students adhering to vegetarian and vegan diets (as in, dining options beyond “salad bar”), navigating a new environment with food restrictions still proves occasionally headache-inducing. But making snacks and meals at home means sticking with the lifestyle and resisting temptations to start noshing on tasty, fatty, salty bacon out of frustration. Pinterest lets that happen.

1. Quick Vegetarian Recipes by Cooking Light:

   The good folks over at Cooking Light compile a wide range of tasty eats for time-crunched college vegetarians; best of all, most of them are pretty healthy, too!

2. Raw Food Recipes by Tasha Johnson:

   For students sticking with a raw food diet exclusively or simply enjoying how they supplement more traditional vegetarian meals, this listing of some particularly delectable delights might yield something tantalizing.

3. Recipes for a Vegetarian College Student by Emily Rose:

   Like the title states, this Pinterest board features vegetarian (and a couple of vegan) recipes especially curated for meat-averse students on a time and money budget.

4. Everything Vegan by Gabrielle Rekully:

   College kids with an affinity for animal rights and a vegan lifestyle should head here for recipes, products, posters, infographics, quotes, and other media promoting the movement.

5. For the Vegetarian: Recipes & Inspiration by fitsugar:

   Vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodists alike can browse fitsugar’s enthusiastic pinning featuring recipes, cookbook suggestions, product information, and a shirtless Ryan Gosling, because this is Pinterest.

6. It’s Easy Being Green by Annie Kimberley:

   With 166 pins so far and counting, this repository for vegetarian and vegan dishes has plenty to offer a wide range of collegiate dietary, time, and fiscal needs.

7. Raw Food by Veg Writing Momma:

   Moms who want to incorporate raw food snacks and dishes into their kids’ diets might want to browse this collection for stuff to make together.

8. Quick Recipes (Vegetarian) by Lacy Jaudon:

   Compiled especially for students and student teachers, these recipes (and links to recipe collections!) work great when eating vegetarian with budget and time restraints.

9. Foodie Fun-For Vegetarians! by Allison Rogers:

   This “college girl approved!” Pinterest board features a diverse array of vegetarian-themed recipes, with the occasional nutritional, serving, and spicing information rounding things out.

10. Kale University by Suzanne Turner:

    Despite the title, Kale University doesn’t exclusively focus on the eponymous green; rather, the 906-pins-and-counting serves as a veritable library of all things vegan, vegetarian, raw foodism, health, and fitness.

11. On the Road to Vegetarianism by Jamie Searcy:

    Pinners just now starting their vegetarian journey might find this collection of resources — mostly recipes, natch — exactly what they need to never miss meat again.

12. Nutritious Vegan Spectacular by Melanie Glissman:

    Head here for both recipes and detailed information about everything the vegan lifestyle entails, particularly when it comes to the philosophies of animal rights.

13. Quinoa and Bean Recipes by Valerie Tourangeau:

    Both ingredients cost comparatively little, especially when purchased in bulk, definitely making them ideal for cash-strapped college kids. Thankfully, the grain and legume alike are pretty versatile!

14. Vegetarian by Recipe.com:

    With 64 pins and 15,734 hungry followers, this board proves a popular stopping point for vegetarians of different backgrounds.

15. Vegan food and vegan living! by Violet Williams:

    Most of the content here revolves around recipes, but every once in a while an article slips in about how to keep the vegan lifestyle rather than keep cooking for it.

16. YUMMY VEGETARIAN by Pirate Mom:

    Admit it. These might be “kid-friendly” vegetarian delights, but you know you want to give them a try, too, you naughty collegiate you.

17. Easy Vegetarian by Heather Garrison:

    If your cooking skills could use some serious improving, this recipe collection makes for a great start to gaining confidence in the kitchen.

18. Vegan Recipes & Websites by Julie Blankenship:

    Keep these resources on hand when searching for fabulous vegan-friendly eats when the usual stuff gets too boring and repetitive.

19. JUICING VIDEOS by Sam Neylan:

    Juicing can be a great option for vegetarians, vegans, and their friendly omnivore roommates to go in on together, and these videos and recipes cover all the basics. The process isn’t inherently healthier than eating fruits and vegetables, of course, but it is tasty and breaks up texture monotony.

20. That’s it Fruit – Vegan Finds by That’s It:

    Presented by That’s It Fruit Bars, this board features fun, fruity favorites and information about staying healthy and staying vegan.

21. Vegan Fashion by Official PETA:

    No matter your opinion on PETA’s practices, their resource curating information about vegan-friendly clothing and accessories makes for an essential Pinterest pit stop for animal rights activists and supporters.

22. Raw Food by Danika Carter @ Your Organic Life:

    Check out 180 (so far) mouth-watering recipes completely suitable for omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, and raw food diets.

23. Vegan Notebook by Chef Kathi – Canopy Rose Catering, Tallahassee:

    Chef Kathi pins up fancier fare than some college students might be comfortable attempting, but more adventurous types might want to give her vegan loves a go.

24. Tasty Things – All Vegan, Always by Jo Kell:

    This pinner has more than 18 years of experience with a vegan diet and 1,641 recipes pinned to the Tasty Things board; if you can’t find something to make and eat here, then we’re afraid there’s not much we can do for you.

25. vegetarian/vegan snacks by Krista Gene:

    Try some of these tasty vegetarian snacks between classes for a quick, healthy kick to keep you going until your next meal.

26. vegetarian cooking and baking by taylor fiscus:

    Stop here and sate that sweet tooth (and savory tooth, but that’s not a thing that exists) with some fabulous vegetarian baked goods and casseroles.

27. Gluten-Free MM Recipes by Meatless Monday:

    All of Meatless Monday’s boards are essential viewing, but for vegetarians who can’t process gluten, this one in particular stands out.

28. Mindful eating by Lorraine Guptill:

    Rather than recipes, Lorraine Guptill provides inspirational quotes and images for college students giving up meat and other products for animal rights reasons.

29. Vegetarian Cookbooks by Elizabeth:

    As you can probably guess from that title there, this Pinterest board features some vegetarian cookbooks students might want to pick up from the library for further reading.

30. Juicing Juicing I LOVE Juicing by Jemma Morris:

    She really loves juicing, you guys, and the recipes here for smoothies and juices to add some variety to a vegetarian, vegan, and raw food diet attest to that fact. Some are not entirely friendly to the latter two lifestyles, but that’s why substitutes exist.

31. Vegetarian Entrees by Kendra Nordgren:

    Whether hosting a dinner party or freezing for later in the week, the featured culinary centerpieces here will make even the most ardent carnivore start drooling.

32. Vegan Condiments by Melanie Nettle-Kahl:

    Flavor up vegetarian, vegan, and raw food dishes and snacks with some of these delightful condiments – including mayo!

33. Food Love: Raw Food Sweet by Stephanie Wills:

    Converting to a raw food, vegan, or vegetarian diet doesn’t have to mean giving up on enjoying rich, delectable desserts and sweet treats!

34. Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas by Two Peas in a Blog:

    Start the day off decadent and meatless with some of these tasty meals, many of which yield enough food to save for later.

35. yum * vegetarian sides, salads and snacks by Dawn Benedetto:

    When looking for quick vegetarian bites for home or out on the go, hit up this board for a diverse selection of ideas suitable for different tastes and kitchen acumens.

36. Working on my veggie skills … by Na Lucia:

    Newcomers to the vegetarian lifestyle should check out this ever-growing collection of great snacks, meals, and more to keep on going.

37. Not Hippy Vegetarian yummies! by Jamie Whitaker:

    College students living in cities with limited grocery access will especially appreciate this recipe collection highlighting largely easy-to-find ingredients.

38. vegetarian and healthy choices by Madison Hall:

    A great general recipe board for vegetarians looking for recipes that won’t place them at such a high risk for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

39. Healthy & Easy Vegetarian Recipes by Jessica Weasner:

    Since the pinner herself requests recipes that are inexpensive, and not above four servings as well, her board focusing on simple, healthy vegetarian food is absolutely perfect for college students!

40. { Vegetarian } by Ashley Armstrong:

    Every recipe featured here is suitable for vegetarian, vegan, and raw food diets of varying budgets, skill levels, and time frames.

41. Vegetarian by Jolene Oster:

    The woman behind this board specifically zeroes in on vegetarian dishes her college-aged son would enjoy.

42. Raw food recipes and smoothies to energize by Lora Lyons:

    If there’s one thing higher ed students need, it’s energy. Whip up these snacks and smoothies for a jolt to stay active and alert throughout the day.

43. Going Vegetaraian? by Donna Polk:

    Seeing as how Going Vegetarian? sports around 90 pins, chances are any young folks looking to begin their meatless (or animal product-less) journey might stumble across a few that keep them on the right track.

44. Vegetarian Thanksgiving by Shannon:

    Whether heading home or sticking with the veggo co-op for the holiday, these recipes ensure no vegetarians, vegans, or raw foodists start staring wistfully at images of turkeys and hams.

45. Freggie (fruit+veg) & gluten-free by Lily Reed:

    Vegetarians seeking a few good fruit and veggie dishes that don’t upset their gluten intolerance or allergy should consider this board an essential bookmark – even if they don’t use Pinterest on the reg.

46. Fit&Vegetarian by Natalie Sullivan:

    Perfect for college students who converted to full vegetarianism in order to keep their circulatory systems as clean and healthy as possible.

47. Vegetarian Variety by Sarah Helfgott:

    Critics often chide vegetarian diets as repetitive and bland. Critics are utterly, hopelessly wrong, as this library of gustatory greats proves.

48. Raw, Vegan and Vegetarian Food by Heather Ballard:

    It’s a smorgasbord of tantalizing treats suitable for vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodists of all tastes and budgets, whether snacking on the go or celebrating a potluck with friends.

49. Juicing by Rissa Webber:

    More juicing recipes for the on-the-go veggo college kid sharing the cost with a friend or lucky enough to carry around a little extra cash.

50. Vegan/gluten free by Amanda Leiss:

    Like the title of this pinboard states, these recipes focus on vegan recipes suitable for students with gluten intolerance issues.

     

    Originally published on OnlineDegrees.org

    
    

A guest blog by Dr. Will Tuttle

A couple of months ago, in early November, 2011, my wife Madeleine and I visited Natural Bridge State Park in the mountains of Virginia, and as part of that, we also visited the Monacan Indian Living History Village that is there. It was a fascinating experience!

The Monacans were a tribe living for many centuries in the Appalachians before the arrival of Europeans, and the display at the state park is a replica of part of one of their villages. It was staffed by several docents who were there to explain things to the tourists. We happened to arrive there shortly after a large field trip of local high school students had arrived, so there were probably 60 kids there and a male docent was explaining to them the Monacan people’s life. He was, not surprisingly, talking a lot about their methods of hunting and fishing and how they killed and ate animals for food.

As Madeleine and I were looking at some of the beautiful baskets they created, a female docent came over and we started talking about the food practices of the Monacans. There was a small plot of corn growing, and I asked her about the corn the Monacans traditionally grew and what percentage it was of their total food consumption. She replied that it was only about two percent. She told us that she is herself descended from the Monacan Indians, and that her people had traditionally set up and stayed in villages such as this one for several years, and that they would then would move to a slightly different location in the same general area, and did this repeatedly because they would gradually exhaust the local resources. I asked if she was referring to the animals who were hunted and fished, and she said no, that meat and fish accounted for less than two percent of their food. Virtually all their nutritional needs – 96 percent – came from acorns, together with nuts, berries, roots, seeds, leaves, shoots, and other plant foods that they gathered.

From what I have learned, the Monacan Indians were pretty typical of the people living here in North America before the Europeans came. Indians’ diets were overwhelmingly plant-based, as in the case of the Monacans, according to this docent, 98 percent. And yet, ironically, all the school kids visiting the Monacan Living History Village got the impression from the male docent that they subsisted primarily on meat and fish. They left the Monacan Village with a completely different message than we got, one that would reinforce their acceptance of the foods in their school lunch programs and at the local fast food restaurants, and it was in many ways forced onto them by exploiting their trust and innocence. Of course the male docent was in no way consciously exploiting the children, but was part of a process that happens inexorably—the replication of culture.

What I continue to discover is how far from reality are many of the “official stories” that we tell ourselves and teach our children. They are stories that serve a specific purpose, which is to justify the existing order, and they are passed on effortlessly and subconsciously, because they make us all comfortable in believing, in this case, that our current practice of enslaving and slaughtering huge numbers of animals for food (75 million daily in the U.S. alone) is somehow a normal and natural expression of who we are as human beings. It is no accident that we term native cultures “hunter-gatherers.”

This emphasis on “hunter” for earlier humans is chosen by the mainly male meat-eating anthropologists whose views are unconsciously filtered by their own culturally-imposed meat-eating behavior, and the deep discomfort it inevitably causes. We will and must go to great lengths to justify violent behavior, and this is an example of this.

It is long past time to question these official stories, and to create new stories that more accurately reflect the fact that plant-based foods provide us all that we need to thrive on this Earth and celebrate our lives here with wisdom and compassion. The animals of this Earth, the oceans, rivers, and ecosystems, hungry people, slaughterhouse workers, and the future generations of all living beings are certainly yearning for the day when we awaken from the indoctrinated delusions that we need meat and dairy to get adequate protein and calcium, and that the world and nonhuman animals were put here for us to use.

We are not separate from this world and from the precious web of life here. Eating the products of enslaved and murdered animals forces us to forget this, but at any moment we can question the official stories, remember the truth, and become a force for healing, peace, joy, freedom, and health for all. The ancient Lakota prayer, Mitakuye Oyasin – “All my relations” or “All are related” – reflects this fundamental human wisdom of our essential interconnectedness that is repressed by the corporate diet of death and denial.
The wisdom of the Monacan people can inspire us today if we listen deeply within and question everything.

Dr. Will Tuttle, an educator, author, pianist, and composer, presents 150 lectures, workshops, and concerts yearly throughout North America and Europe. Author of the acclaimed best-seller, The World Peace Diet, he is a recipient of the Peace Abbey’s Courage of Conscience Award, and is the co-founder of Circle of Compassion ministry. A vegan since 1980, he is a Dharma Master in the Zen tradition, and has created eight CD albums of uplifting original piano music.

Image Source: *~Dawn~*/Flickr

Just discovered these at the new Mexican grocery here in town. Yes, it’s relatively easy to bake tostada shells using corn tortillas, but  Sanissimo oven-baked corn tostadas are super convenient and totally tasty. We had some with Amy’s organic low salt refried black beans, chopped lettuce, fresh cilantro and Hell on the Red salsa last night and they were completely satisfying. They also don’t have a load of crazy hard to pronounce ingredients like most plain corn tortillas do at the regular grocer these days. Why plain corn tortillas need a roster of chemicals suddenly is beyond me. These are nice and simple.