Give It Up For Health

One thing that truly amazes me since going over to the dark side of the whole-food plant-based diet, is the ease with which I have given up cheese. Believe me, I was right up there with the cheeseaholics of the world. Once I started on it, I couldn't stop. Sometimes a selection of cheeses was my appetizer, main, and dessert! But when I adopted the WFPB diet, I just quit, and that was it. Don't ask how; I just did. I have tried some of the vegan cheeses from Trader Joe's but nothing has struck me as all that tasty. It certainly hasn't compared to the "real thing". I see recipes for vegan cheese crop up a lot, and always think I must give it a shot, but haven't seemed to be able to find the time yet. In today's hunt for vegan recipes I came across a posting about vegan cheese and the recipe sounds good and the writer sounds confident of it's tastiness. What's more, she sounds like she used to be just as big a cheeseaholic as I once was too, s

My current whole-food plant-based diet (WFPB diet) started because I had high cholesterol and my doctors had for several years urged me to start taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs called "statins". I have always wanted to avoid taking medications for things that I had heard others had resolved by dietary choices, so I always resisted, made some minor modifications to my diet, and even became a "fishatarian" who also ate dairy and eggs. Although not eating meat did seem to put a ceiling on my total cholesterol numbers, they were still high, and gradually creeping higher. We actually need cholesterol in our bodies. It's an important part of the cell walls that gives them permeability and fluidity. Since it is such an essential part of our cells, it should be no surprise that our bodies make cholesterol, but few people are completely aware of this, and that it is made in the liver. The incidence of high cholesterol to the point that it causes vascular dise

Vegan desserts can be just so yummy, and when they're CHOCOLATE vegan desserts, then I'm doubly interested. One of the quickest and easiest vegan chocolate desserts that I have learned is essentially an avocado sweetened with dates and enhanced with a splash of vanilla. When left in the fridge for about 2 hours any avocado taste is completely gone and your friends, vegan and non-vegan alike will have no idea that the base is avocado. Vegan Chocolate Pudding/Mousse (serves about 4) Ingredients 1 large avocado 2 Tbsp of raw Dutch-method cocoa (I buy this organic variety from Amazon ) Approx 8 pitted dates Splash of vanilla Water Place all the ingredients except for the water in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add water a little at a time if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Place into a covered container and refrigerate for approximately 2 hours. Serve with fresh fruit and/or berries. Note: If you taste it immediately upon making it, you will be a

Craving something with a very naughty name but vegan nonetheless? Vegan blogger Angela is daring enough to use a trademarked product from you-know-who for one of her recipes. If you can give up the animal protein, but just can't bring yourself to give up the assocations that come with a name like "egg McMuffin", then here's Angela's recipe for you. Vegan Egg McMuffin recipe

One thing that can stump us newbies to whole-food plant-based cooking is salad dressing, especially if we are trying to use little to no oil. Here is a lineup of 15 vegan salad dressing recipes for you to try. Some use oil; many don't. 15 vegan salad dressing recipes

While my primary motivation to adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet was my personal health, I am 100% against factory farming for several reason. First, factory farms are incredibly cruel to animals which are crowded into small spaces, a situation that causes mental distress to the animals, and also causes them to live in their excrement (aka "shit and piss"). Second, because of the overcrowding of the animals, disease is rampant among them and they have to be fed antibiotics on a daily basis to keep them alive long enough to grow big enough to be sent to slaughter and someone's plate. Third, sick animals in close quarters being fed antibiotics breeds "super bugs", or "drug resistant bacteria" which can cross the species-barrier to human beings. These super-bugs are carried on the contaminated meat, eggs, and dairy products that are destined to be food for humans. Birds and pigs get the 'flu just like humans do, and we have recently had sev

There was a time not all that long ago that I would never have imagined I would be a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. But all of us have no doubt had the experience of changing course on something. Over the last few years I had slowly but surely progressed to the point where I referred to myself as a “fishetarian” or “pescetarian” - a lacto-ovo vegetarian (a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy products), who also ate fish. My core motivation was a vague notion that it was better for my health, along with concern for animal welfare and a distaste for “factory farming” practices. Last September when I went for my annual physical exam my cholesterol levels came back bad. Progressively over the last ten years, even though not overweight, I had seen my numbers creep up through “borderline” to the point where I was slightly beyond “borderline” and my doctor was the third one to urge me to start taking statin medications. The doctor used some formula to calculate my risk of a heart attack

One of the biggest challenges we all face when we make the decision to "go vegan or vegetarian" is what to cook. We grow up and learn to cook in a world that is completely centered on animal protein. Just take a look at any regular meal at there and you'll see what I mean; literally at the center of it all will be animal protein of some variety. So we start out having to learn to cook all over again. That's when you discover there are a whole lot of resources out there for delicious vegan recipes. I have a foodie friend that takes turns with me hosting each other to dinner. Although a totally committed animal protein cook, she is amazed by the vegan meals I prepare when it's my turn. If you are new to vegan cooking and eating vegan, you too are about to be amazed at the delicious meals you can make. There are lots of cookbooks out there, but let's start off with the online stuff. Below is a list of Facebook pages that I keep an eye on for recipes. When I see