Monthly Archives: December 2012

Vegan Holiday Dessert Recipes

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Brownies (egg and dairy free):

Brownies are a classic and simple treat and this recipe makes it easy for the lactose intolerant to enjoy them just as much. The recipe comes from a dessert spot in New York City.

  1. Mix 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum.
  2. In a second bowl, mix 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1/4 cup of canola oil, 1 tablespoon of vanilla and 1/2 cup of dairy-free chocolate chips.Mix both bowls together.
  3.  Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees.

Gingerbread Cookies:

Take a traditional holiday recipe and turn it vegan with this recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons coarse sugar (turbinado or demerrera or “sanding” sugar)
  • 2 cups unbleached flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup almond (or soy) milk
  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

  1. Sift dry ingredient (except sugar) into a bowl and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients, including the raw sugar and whisk or beat on medium until blended.
  3. Stir in the pre-sifted dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
  4. The dough will be quite sticky and you may need to dampen your hands to work with it. Roll the dough into little balls (about 1 Tablespoon) and flatten out to your liking.
  5. The thinner the cookie the crisper it will be – a slightly thicker cookie will yield a crunch on the edges and a slightly chewy interior.
  6. Press the coarse sugar onto the tops of the cookies and bake about 10 minutes at 350 on a greased cookie sheet.

Pumpkin Pie:

The holidays wouldn’t be the same without a pumpkin pie. Here’s a vegan version of the old standard recipe.

  1. Mix 2 cups of pumpkin purée, 1 cup of almond (or soy) milk, 3/4 cup of raw sugar, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/2 tablespoon of molasses, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, 1/3 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon of allspice.
  2. Pour filling into pie crust. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Banana Ice Cream (dairy free):

All ice cream has dairy in it, right? Well, not so, here’s some awesome ice cream made from a frozen banana.

It’s simple…freeze a banana, put it in a food processor, and that’s it. It takes a little bit of time to get creamy. But, that’s it. Add a teaspoon or so of peanut butter and just a  bit of cocoa powder (optional).

Healthy Holiday Indulgence

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This is the time of year when we get together with family and friends who are probably less aware of, and surely less sensitive to, the dietary choices we’ve made in regards to the impact food has on our overall health. During this time cravings for the unhealthy foods we’re offered everywhere we go can be a powerful challenge to our coping skills. It can also be somewhat troubling to know how to properly respond to questions (or even criticism) without trying to convert those around you.

Although we know better, we can still have unhealthy cravings. And there’s a thin line between craving and addiction (see THIS POST). It’s critical to keep in mind that healthy eating habits are an advantage, not a deprivation over the holidays. Knowing that you are choosing not to pollute your body with the toxic food ingredients that surround us all during these festive occasions will keep you on track and may even be an inspiration to others – who knows, perhaps they’ll learn to embrace these differences rather than resent them.

You gotta love the old adage, “Nothing tastes as good as health feels”, which prompts us to remember that yucky, lethargic feeling we used to get after indulging ourselves with sugary, salty, fatting, msg-laden foods.

In an ideal world, we would be surrounded by delicious, healthy, nutritious, hypo-allergic foods; especially at holiday time when everyone wants to feel their very best in order to make the most of their celebrations with loved ones. So in the spirit of the holidays, over the next couple weeks this blog will feature a variety of nutritious and satisfying plant based recipes that will help us stay on the path to optimal health and wellness.

We’ll start with these recipes, but stay tuned there’s more to come.

Appetizer – Mushroom-Almond Pate (serves 4 – 8)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup almonds, ground
  • 2 oz. (approx ½ stick of Earth Balance vegan butter substitute)
  • ½ lb. portabella mushrooms, finely chopped
  • ½ tbs. salt
  • ½ tsp. thyme
  • pepper to taste
  • ½ cup water

Directions:

  • Melt the Earth Balance, add the thyme and sauté the mushrooms.
  • Add the water and allow the mixture to season and cook off a bit.
  • When the liquid is about halved, remove from the heat add the ground almonds and puree to a fine pate.

Serve with warm pita triangles or crackers of your choice.

Lentil, Walnut & Celery Salad (serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces lentils
  • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 scallions, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • cumin to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Dressing

  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

  • Cook the lentils with the salt, cumin and a bay leaf until just tender but not too soft depending on what sort of lentils they are.
  • Drain and cool (discard the bay leaf).
  • In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients and add to the lentils.
  • Shake together the vinegar and oil and pour over the lentils.

Can be served warm or cold.

Entrée – Tempeh Bourgogne (serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • tbs. olive oil
  • pkg. (approx 9 oz.) tempeh, sliced in bite sized pieces
  • package (8 oz.) mushrooms, sliced
  • large onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup red wine or more if needed
  • 2 tbs. Braggs Aminos
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 red bell pepper (optional), cut in small pieces
  • 1 tbs. arrowroot flour or cornstarch

Directions:

  • Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
  • Add the onions and saute until semi-clear.
  • Add the chopped red bell pepper and sliced mushrooms.
  • Lightly saute the vegetables.
  • Add the tempeh pieces and saute until golden brown.
  • Add the wine, Braggs and seasonings.
  • Shortly before serving, mix the cornstarch in a bit of red wine and add slowly this to the mixture in the frying pan, stirring until the sauce thickens.

Serve this with cooked potatoes, either mashed, or boiled.

Veganism & Yoga

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Introduction:

Yogic philosophy teaches us that food is to be considered a carrier of the life force called “Prana” and is judged by the quality & quantity of the Prana it contains and by the effect it has on our consciousness.

“Sattva” is defined as the quality of purity and goodness. Sattvic foods are pure, clean and wholesome, they’re foods that are abundant in Prana and their life-giving properties leave us feeling calm, alert and refreshed.

Another word common to Yoga philosophy is “Ahimsa”, the first yama of yoga, which asks us to do no harm. Ahimsa = non-injury (literally: the avoidance of violence) and insists upon us not harming other sentient beings – animals or otherwise.

A question often asked of vegans and those who eat only a plant-based diet is “What about plants – aren’t they sentient beings too?” Well no, not exactly. Sentient beings have minds; they have preferences, desires, or wants, and there can be no serious doubt that both humans and animals have interests, including an interest in avoiding pain and suffering and an interest in a continued existence.

Sri Ramana Maharshi, perhaps the most famous Self-realized sage of modern India, was asked what the most important aid to meditation was and he immediately replied “a pure vegetarian diet.” He quoted the ancient Chandogya Upanishad (D II 26.2) that says; “when food is pure, the mind is pure, when the mind is pure, concentration is steady, when concentration is achieved one can loosen all the knots of the heart that bind us.” Vegetarianism, especially veganism, is one of the main pillars of the purifying the mind.

The Spiritual Importance of a Plant-Based Diet for Yogis and Students of Yoga:

The Hathayoga Pradipika (section 58 of the main classical Hatha Yoga textbook), recommends avoiding “ …fish and meat” In the Mahabharata, which the Bhagavad Gita comes from, the importance of not eating meat is emphasized. The body, emotions, spirit and even our hereditary expressions are significantly affected by what we eat. Sensory inputs from numerous objects disturb us in many ways, not only consciously, but subconsciously and unconsciously also. In Sanskrit the term for this disturbed condition of awareness is called Vyutthita chitta or the disturbed (literally ‘provoked’) mind. Through proper plant-based diet, meditation, and other sattvic activities, we can reduce this state of disturbed awareness and experience a state of undisturbed awareness or equilibrium termed in Sanskrit as Samahita chitta or the concentrated (literally ‘collected’) mind in which the body, senses, prana and the mind all function in harmony.

The key element to the sattvic diet is plant-based foods. Flesh foods (meat, fish and poultry) and animal products (eggs and dairy) increase the animal frequency in the body and prompt animal-like tendencies into action such as the vibrations of anger, lust, fear and even murderous impulses. The energy of an animal based diet adds to the impurities of the mind and the nervous system.

There are those that claim that flesh foods are an essential part of their natural diet and so should not interfere with the unfoldment of their higher nature. But as written by Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, in his book “Holy Science”, “Can flesh be considered the natural food of man, when both his eyes and his nose are so much against it, unless deceived by flavors of spices, salt and sugar. On the other hand, how delighted do we find the fragrance of fruits, the very sight of which often makes the mouth water?”

Flesh food and animal products promote a tamasic (dull and heavy) effect on the physical body and mind. They clog the pranic channels of the subtle body; the 72,000 nadis through which the Kundalini needs to move freely to do its spiritualizing work, and they tend to make the mind insensitive. The Manusmirti (5.49), an ancient law code of Hindu society, states, “Having well considered the origin of flesh foods, and the cruelty of fettering and slaying of sentient beings, a person should abstain from eating flesh.” It also states (6.60), “By not killing any living being one becomes fit for liberation.” Additionally the Yajur Veda (12.32) states, “You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures whether a human or animal.”

A vegan way of life actively establishes six aspects of Ahimsa:

  • (1) Compassion and non-cruelty toward sentient beings;
  • (2) Safeguarding the earth and its ecology;
  • (3) Feeding the hungry and poor;
  • (4) Preserving human life;
  • (5) Establishing and maintaining personal health;
  • (6) And inspiring and promoting peace.

Yoga, Health and a Plant-Based Diet:

Yoga teaches that a vegan/vegetarian diet is not only essential for the spiritual life, but is also the basis for good health. Not only do those on a plant-based diet live longer, they actually have (according to more than a dozen research reports) two (potentially more) times the endurance than meat-eaters and they are much less susceptible to disease and other health problems. The eating of flesh foods has been proven beyond any doubt to significantly increase the likelhood of the occurance of major chronic diseases like cardio-vascular disease, hypertension, cancer, kidney disease, arthritis and osteoporosis, just to name a few.

People who eat animal products are also at a higher risk of various viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitical infections. With flesh foods being at the top of the food chain they have about 15 times more pesticides and herbicides than plant-based foods. Animal products (i.e.: eggs and dairy) have about 5 times more pesticides and herbicides than vegetable foods. A vegan or vegetarian mother has less than 1% the amount of pesticides in her breast milk as a meat-eating mother.

Yoga and the Optimal Sattvic Diet:

The modern American equivalent of a traditional sattvic diet today consists of organic, whole, natural fruits and vegetables, seeds, grains and occasionally nuts. This diet emphasizes foods grown in harmony with nature, preferably by farmers using organic methods, planted in good soils, ripened naturally and then prepared with an attitude of love. Such foods carry the highest level of prana and consciousness. This modern sattvic diet does not include junk food, excessively spicy or salty foods, fried food, white flour, refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, saturated fats and other forms of food that unnaturally stimulate your blood sugar or agitate your mind. This diet avoids meat, fish, eggs and dairy as well. It does not include GM (genetically modified) or GE (genetically engineered) foods, irradiated foods or microwaved foods.

In summary:

The “yoga of food” is the art of selecting foods that increase the pranic forces for healing, purifying, calming and quieting the body and mind. It’s a dietary regime that energizes the 72,000 nadis so that the powerful, spiritualizing force of the Kundalini can move more freely through them, bringing us closer to the primary goal of yoga; freedom from the vrittis (tendencies) of the mind and the subsequent union with the divine.

Non-GMOs after Prop 37 (Video)

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You and your family may be on the wrong side of a bet – there are those who are working hard to see that the odds are not in your favor!

When the United States government ignored the repeated warnings of scientists (even its own) and allowed untested GM (genetically modified) crops into our environment and our food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health and wellness of all living beings and future generations were (and now are) put at risk by a technology still in its infancy.

After over two decades, both physicians and scientists have uncovered a gloom trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And ironically, when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.

Watch the following video where TV News reporter Anita Lopez spoke with longtime non-GMO advocate Jeffrey M. Smith, who sees the possibility of a silver lining in Prop 37’s shocking failure at the polls. Smith is author of “Seeds of Deception” and “Genetic Roulette”,   books that examine the dangers of GMOs.

Also, check out: NonGMOShoppingGuide.com