My little speaking tour

Back in February, I spoke to Heartbeats For Life, a group of people interested in preventive heart health and Dean Ornish's lifestyle program. I talked about women and heart disease and the importance of diet and exercise. As a result, I was invited to present to Oasis, an educational program for older adults. I'm also giving the talk on Sunday to the Rochester Area Vegetarian Society.

Yesterday, I went to Oasis to present the talk. I guess the brochure made me sound like this would be a good presentation, as I had a full audience. Everything that could go wrong did. My computer wouldn't boot up, since unknown to me there had been an update to the system last week and all the logins were wiped out. So, here I am, standing in front of an audience of 40 people, and I can't present my slides! To burn time while one of the staff members tried to hook up a computer system that I could use, I introduced myself, and offered to answer questions about women's health and heart disease. Slowly, the questions came in, enough so that I could ad-lib until I had a functional computer that would run my slides!

First I discuss women and heart disease. That gets lots of interested looks and questions. Then I talk about obesity and how Americans are getting fatter since we eat badly and don't exercise.

And then I talk about vegetarian diets. Blank stares. More about the Ornish diet, how vegetarians live longer and are healthier. More blank stares. Then about dairy and the myths behind it, that milk doesn't reduce osteoporosis. Continued blank stares.

And finally, I get to the topic of exercise and cardiac rehabilitation, and it looks like my audience is now with me again. I finish and answer several audience questions.

In all, I'm not so sure how well it went. I had some positive feedback afterward from some of the participants, but I wonder what some of the others were thinking. Maybe the vegetarian stuff was too much? Perhaps it challenged too many preconceived notions, particularly the dairy part? The dairy industry has its hooks so far into the American public that milk is necessary for bone health, and yet there is no single study that shows that increased dairy consumption reduces osteoporosis. In fact it's the exact opposite -- countries with the most dairy consumption have the most osteoporosis.

Perhaps if I give the talk again to a non-vegetarian group, I'll tone down the vegetarian/dairy stuff a bit. I'm not sure. I'm very interested to hear what people had to say.

Indian Lunch

For lunch, I made chole, along with some some paratha bread and samosas that I picked up at the Indian grocery store yesterday. Now I have all the energy in the world to go rollerblading... let's hope it doesn't rain!

What to do with Chick Peas

Herself75, my dear sorority sister from college, wants to know what to do with chick peas. Oh, I could go on all day! You can make hummus, a veggie stew, cover with spices and bake in the oven as a snack, or use in place of meat in recipes.

Or, here are a few older posts from this blog that use chick peas:
Chole
Veggie Stew (use chick peas instead of cannelini beans, as they're very similar)
Chili

Enjoy!

Vegan Pizza from Two Paisans

I found myself craving pizza, and I've been dying to try out Two Paisans' vegan pizza. Yes, a pizza place in little 'ole Rochester with a vegan menu. Here it is, with Follow Your Heart cheese, seitan, spinach, and roasted red peppers. I finished off the whole thing, with a mango and a brownie for dessert.

Grilled Tofurky Sandwich

Whole wheat bread with Tofurky, avocado, sliced tomatoes, and a little Vegenaise (vegan mayonaise), placed in a sandwich griller, and voila!

Good Tempeh... finally!

The secret to tempeh is to boil it for about 45 minutes. That softens it and gets the bitter taste out. Then I sauteed an onion and some frozen broccoli in my wok with canola oil, then some Sesame Garlic sauce, then added the tempeh to cook for another 5 minutes.

Primetime Live Tonight

Tonight (Thursday) ABC's Primetime at 10 PM is scheduled to air a segment on Compassionate Consumer's undercover investigation of the conditions hens endure at Wegman's Egg Farm, a battery cage operation.

Vegan Food in Israel

This is from the buffet at Village Green (see the next post down). From upper left, there's sweet potatoes, tofu, couscous, eggplant and mushrooms, brown rice, and some sort of veggie medley. There was plently more on the buffet too.



Here's a typical Israeli salad bar meal. I have hummus, a tomato stew, cabbage, and a whole wheat roll. This is a meal that you can probably get at any salad bar or gas station in Israel.


Even El Al Airlines takes good care of the vegans! This is my breakfast on the plane -- a potato blintz with roasted eggplant and zucchini, some cold veggies, a whole wheat roll, some fruit, and vegan vanilla pudding.

Village Oasis

That's me (in the yellow) and some people from my group that I talked into coming with me to Village Oasis in Jerusalem, a vegetarian restaurant. It's fairly informal, with a buffet setup. The food was really good. Whenever I travel, I always make it a habit to eat at one vegetarian or vegan restaurant. Happycow.net or vegetarian-restaurants.net are great sources for veg travel.

Ani Tivoni

That's how you say "I'm a vegan" in Hebrew. Similarly to in the states, they understand that it's more than just being a vegetarian, but still aren't sure if I eat fish, dairy, etc., so it still usually requires explaining.

Needless to say, I'm back from Israel. It was a terrific trip. And, from a vegan perspective, I ate very well, so well that I'm afraid to hop on the scale. Traditional Jewish cuisine is either milchik (milk and dairy) or fleishig (meat), and the two are not mixed. So, if I go to a milchik restaurant, I'll know the soup isn't made with beef broth, and if I go to a fleishig restaurant, I'll know that the ice cream is dairy free. And, hummus, falafel, and pita are abundant, which I could absolutely live on.

Also, I did some awesome running -- along the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, by the Dead Sea, and through the hilly streets of Jerusalem while strange men yelled stuff in Hebrew to me that I didn't understand and I somehow avoided being hit by cars, car doors, or angry rushed Israelis.

Huge thanks to Mary Ruth for keeping the blog running in my absence! Mary Ruth, I hope you'll continue to post occasionally when you have a chance.

Leftovers from Dinner Out

The three of us went to dinner with friends last night. These are our leftovers and probably close to what VeganDoc is eating on her trip. Kevin says the leftovers are making the kitchen smell, so this is likely what I will have for lunch today. Among other things, we had pita, hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, cabbage salad, the pomegranate stuff, stuffed grape leaves, rice pilaf and some other grain (maybe bulgar) pilaf with chickpeas. I apologize for any spelling errors.
I set the containers out to take a picture, and Sami must have thought she was still hungry:)

Greetings from Israel!

Hi everyone!!!!!!! I am blogging live from a kibbutz (communal farm) in northern Israel.

I am having an amazing time here. It is incredibly easy to be a vegan traveller here -- even easier than in the U.S. There's tons of falafel and hummus, and Israelis are big on salads, fruits, and veggies. So I'm eating well, perhaps too well.

Mary Ruth, thanks again so much for filling in!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was a little hectic and dinner ended up being cereal at 11:30 last night. I also had trail mix on the way home from work, so I wasn't starving. I could eat breakfast all day. The pictured cereal is Trader Joe soy and flax clusters (which has honey, so some vegans may want to avoid) with soy milk. But, I will eat anything that does not cost more than $3 a box, has a good amount of protein and fiber, and does not have any weird colors (Kevin eats Fruity Pepples - disgusting!). I hope everyone else out there had some great Mexican food yesterday. By the way, Sam is 9 months today. I can't believe it!

Easy Dinner

Last night's dinner was born out of a desire to use up some left-over edamame and red wine. I would have much rather put the red wine in a glass and drink it, but I am still nursing the baby, so I'll wait for that. Someone brought the wine to a dinner party and it was not finished. So, I sauteed some red onion, mushrooms and zucchini in a little oil, added a can of diced tomatoes and about a cup each of edamame and wine, and reduced it while the pasta was cooking. Other than chopping the onion and zucchini, this can be made with one hand. That's what I look for these days:)

Vegan Cheese and Marshmallows

What did I do to deserve Kevin taking me to lunch two days in a row? I'll assume it is a sign of his love, and not that he could not get a better date:) Well, we have not been cooking vegan dinners for the last couple days (we also eat cheese and eggs), so here is a picture of my lunch yesterday. It is an avocado and soy cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts and dill spread from Tierra Cafe, a little vegetarian place within walking distance from our offices. The key to a good sandwich is the bread, and this is yummy bread. I am not a huge advocate of soy cheese, but this is good. Maybe the difference is that it is not melted. Anyone out there have a favorite soy cheese? I think VeganDoc likes FollowYourHeart. We have FollowYourHeart market and restaurant out here. I like the restaurant, but I think the market is overpriced (though they used to be the only place to get vegan marshmallows here). By the way, does anyone know where to get good vegan marshmallows? We have been ordering them from PETA, but they aren't the best.

Lunch Out

Yesterday for lunch, Kevin and I went to Skew's. We try to only go to vegetarian restaurants, but we needed something quick and in walking distance. Skew's is nice because you can get any of their burritos, bowls, etc. with tofu instead of meat. Pictured is the Aloha Bowl with rice, tofu, salad and pineapple. Kevin had the BBQ burrito, which has BBQ tofu, mashed potatoes, corn, black beans and veggies. I made something similar last week, but in a shepherd's pie. I used Gardenburger BBQ Riblets, corn, zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes topped with garlic mashed potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes.

On an unrelated topic, does anyone have any good ideas for Mother's Day?

Thanks VeganDoc

Thanks for the warm introduction, VeganDoc. Hope you are having a great trip! If you are checking in, let us know how its going.

I think I am in a different time zone than most of your readers, so I thought I would post last night's dinner first. But I forgot to take a picture. So, here is a picture of the baby waiting for breakfast. Anyway, last night we had "meatball" subs: Whole Foods vegan meatballs, sauteed mushrooms, zucchini and tomatoes with a little Newman's italian dressing on a french roll in the oven for 12 minutes. It's fast, and I can make it with one hand if the baby does not want to play by herself.

Did anyone participate in the immigration rallies yesterday? I did not, because work was crazy. But, I have friends and family who did. I have never seen as many people as were marching through downtown L.A. yesterday. I am on the 47th floor, so I could see the crowds and hear the chanting. I love it! I think it is a worthy issue, and regardless of your views, it is great to see so many people voicing their opinions (and having an opinion, for once).

Introducing.... Mary Ruth!!!

I'm going to be unable to blog for a little while. Mary Ruth will be posting some amazing food and stuff in the meantime.

Mary Ruth is my brother's girlfriend, and mommy to their adorable 8 1/2 month-old Samantha. She's also a heck of a cook, an attorney, a yoga buff, and a tax guru. All in all, she's a renaissance woman, and I'm honored that she's agreed to blog here.

Curried Lentils

A month or so ago when I was raving about Starport Foods' Garlic Sesame Glaze, I e-mailed the company to tell them how much I love the stuff. I expected maybe some corporate form letter response, but instead I got a personal e-mail from Cheryl Tsang, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Starport Foods!

She tells me that not only is she a vegan, but all Starport Foods products are vegan as well! In addition, she sent me a recipe for Curried Lentils, and I *finally* got around to making it tonight. This lentil curry, which uses their Coconut Curry Sauce, turned out awesome! I followed the recipe below, with the exception of the Thai chili pepper (because I'm a big wuss when it comes to hot stuff) and I didn't blend the liquid at the end (because I'm too lazy to wash my blender):

1 sweet potato, cubed,
2 russet potatoes, cubed
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 Tbl minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chiopped
1/2 c. red lentils, rinsed
1 red Thai Chile pepper
1/2 c. Starport Coconut Curry Sauce
2-1/2 c. water, boiling

Cheryl says: "Saute all of the items (except the sauce and water) in a pan that has a lid for 3 min. Add Coconut Curry Sauce and water, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low and cook for 20 min. After cooking time, I removed 1 cup of mixture and blended it, then returned it to the pot as a thickener. My lunch guest ate her curried lentils over rice. I had mine in a bowl, like soup."

Awesome. Thanks Cheryl!

At Work Munchies

This is what I'm bringing with me to work today. I have organic celery and peanut butter, pineapple, and edamame (soy beans in pods). Also, I have half of an Alternative Baking Company cookie -- I ate half yesterday, and saved the rest for today, since each half of a cookie has 240 calories. And, finally I have an easy-to-prepare lunch entree, just in case there is no vegan option at our noon teaching conference.