Vegan restaurants continue to open in Baltimore, Maryland (home of The Vegetarian Resource Group)! Wild Heart Bistro is located in the Belvedere Square Market near the Senator Theater. Food options include make-your-own salads or wrap, bean burgers, falafel and deli sandwiches, desserts, as well as breakfast items such as bagel sandwiches, pancakes, and oatmeal. See: https://wildheartbistro.com/

Coming soon is Koshary Corner that will be serving vegan Egyptian food in RHouse located in the Remington neighborhood. Another newcomer will be BMore Vegan Joint housed in Lexington Market. Finally, Chihuahua Brothers will soon be serving up vegan tacos in an historic building that was once home to the Little Tavern restaurant in the Waverly neighborhood. See: https://chihuahuabrothers.com/ They will be located down the block from Red Emma’s another vegan restaurant that not too long ago reopened after their relocation.

The Vegetarian Resource Group has compiled a list of Senior Independent Living, Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Other Senior Facilities in the USA that will accommodate vegetarians and in some cases vegans. This is a work in progress and if you know of any establishments that should be added to this list, please let us know. Our goal in this project is to persuade senior establishments to offer more vegan options on a regular basis. Sometimes by just asking you put the thought on their radar. We were successful in doing the same thing 20 years ago when we urged college campuses to add vegan options.

You can find the entire list here: https://www.vrg.org/seniors/senior_vegan.php

To support this type of project, please donate here: www.vrg.org/donate

Each issue of Vegan Journal we review vegan products that we especially like. In the latest issue, we did a review of Actual Veggies Burgers. These burgers are a quarter pound each and yes, made with vegetables!

Read the product review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue1/2023_issue1_veggie_bits.php

Information on this company can be found here: https://actualveggies.com/

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

By Anna Markulis, VRG Intern

I tried Linda McCartney’s vegan gingerbread cake recipe from her cookbook, Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen. Linda McCartney’s animal rights activism throughout the 1970s and 1990s inspired a generation, and her legacy continues today through her timeless vegan and vegetarian recipes. Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen contains simple and delicious vegan breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes that remind us of home.

Her gingerbread cake recipe drew my attention as my grandmother would make it for me every autumn, so I was excited to try it out myself. I don’t have much experience with baking vegan desserts, so I was nervous about how it would turn out and whether or not I had the ingredients I needed. To my surprise, I had everything the recipe called for right in my kitchen:

The first step was to oil an 8-inch cake pan and preheat the oven. I decided to use a heart shaped pan which worked perfectly fine too! As a vegan substitute for eggs, I mixed ground flaxseeds in warm water and set them aside while I prepared the rest of the dry ingredients and plant-based milk. Next, I creamed vegan butter and sugar (vegan) in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer. After the sugar and vegan butter was thick and fluffy, I incorporated the flaxseed and water mixture, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and almond milk until it was well combined. I then drizzled in the molasses and mixed until it was fully incorporated into the batter. The recipe says to warm the molasses, but room temperature worked for me!

At this point, the oven had finished preheating, and it was time to bake the cake! I poured the batter into the pan and put it in the oven for 35 minutes. The recipe suggested 35-45 minutes, but my cake was done after 35. I took it out, let it sit for about five minutes, and then I flipped the cake onto a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes.

The gingerbread spices filled my kitchen, and my family was so eager to try it. After it had cooled, I cut a piece and drizzled maple syrup on top. The cake was so bouncy, moist, and the perfect amount of crispiness on the outside. My family members could not believe it was fully vegan, and they quickly came back for seconds. The flaxseeds helped bind the batter so well, and I was so happy with how it turned out. Overall, this recipe took only about an hour, and it was so easy to make. I am looking forward to trying more vegan recipes from Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen! To purchase the book and try over 90 plant-based recipes, go to: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/linda-mccartney/linda-mccartneys-family-kitchen/9780316497985/

Each issue of Vegan Journal we review vegan products that we especially like. In the latest issue, we did a review of Nature’s Path’s No-Sugar Added Granola. Available in two flavors: Almond Butter Vanilla Granola and Mixed Berry Granola.

Read the product review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue1/2023_issue1_veggie_bits.php

Information on this company can be found here: https://www.naturespath.com/

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

Breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, or an anytime snack! This simple recipe by Leslie Gray Street will come together in a snap and please any crowd. Toss together chopped vegetables like mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and red onion, with shredded hash brown, and flavor with smooth cashew cream and salsa. Everything goes on one sheet pan and after 25 minutes in the oven, your meal is ready to garnish and enjoy! Easy enough for a late night snack. Tasty enough to serve to brunch guests.

Go to this VRG video at https://youtu.be/MgFyjYKAUd0

More videos at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvSyCToa_i9fA4D5CLCAFWw
https://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

Each issue of Vegan Journal contains the Scientific Update column which includes reviews of recent scientific papers related to vegetarianism. The topics in the title of this post are included in the latest magazine here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue1/2023_issue1_scientific_update.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

gravy photo by Rissa Miller

Every issue of Vegan Journal includes a column called Vegan Cooking tips written by Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD. In the latest issue, Nancy shows you how to easily whip up a variety of vegan gravies.

Read the article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue1/2023_issue1_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

For IRAs, you must take your first Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) by April 1 of the year after you turn age 72, regardless of whether or not you are retired. (In the past, this was earlier.) Your second RMD must be taken by December 31 of that same year. And each year thereafter, you must take your RMD by December 31.

These distributions are generally included in your taxable income. Any distributions made through December 31 will be taxed in the current year. For this reason, many IRA holders choose to take their first distribution by December 31 of the year they turn age 72. Required beginning dates for RMDs from an employer plan vary depending on plan rules.

Generally, you can distribute up to $100,000 each year directly from a Traditional IRA to qualified charities, such as The Vegetarian Resource Group. This qualified charitable distribution (QCD) can count toward your RMD and won’t be included in your taxable income. You can start QCD at 70 1/2.

This is not specific or personal tax or legal advice, for which you should speak to your financial advisor. Here is IRS information: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/reminder-to-ira-owners-age-70-and-a-half-or-over-qualified-charitable-distributions-are-great-options-for-making-tax-free-gifts-to-charity

Each issue of Vegan Journal we review vegan products that we especially like. In the latest issue, we did a review of Vista Hermosa’s Authentic Tortillas. These tortillas taste homemade!

Read the product review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue1/2023_issue1_veggie_bits.php

Information on this company can be found here: https://www.vistahermosaproducts.com

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php