Previously we ran two articles featuring vegan casseroles. During cold
winter months, it’s worth sharing these recipes again. Enjoy!
Comforting
Casseroles
Peggy Rynk shares recipes including: Oriental Noodle-Vegetable Bake,
Broccoli-Cauliflower Bake, Baked Burrito Casserole with Mild Enchilada Sauce,
and more
Creative
Casserole Cuisine
Debra Daniels-Zeller offers recipes for Country Shepherd’s Pie, Garbanzo
Lasagna with Roasted Eggplant, Barbecue Black-Eyed Pea, Yam, and Corn
Casserole, and more.
Many of you may be putting on extra pounds during this stressful period.
Lack of exercise in some cases is adding to the problem. The Vegetarian
Resource Group previously published a weight loss article in Vegetarian
Journal by VRG’s nutrition advisors Reed Mangels, PhD, RD and Chef Nancy
Berkoff, EdD, RD.
This article was written to provide suggestions for vegans, or people who
are interested in following a vegan diet, who want to lose weight. The weight
loss plan is designed for non-pregnant adults. If you have a medical condition
such as kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure, please
consult your health care professional to make sure these ideas will work for
you.
Included in the article is a chart titled “Lowfat Foods To Meet Your
Nutritional Needs.” You’ll also find a sample menu plan, as well as lowfat
vegan recipes including:
The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to
Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA
and Canada.
Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found
here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php
To support the updating of this online restaurant guide,
please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate
Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide (Note: Due to
the COVID-19 pandemic many are doing take-out
and/or delivery now):
Bread
+ Roses, 302 Main St., Hyannis, MA 02601
Bread + Roses is a Cape Cod bookstore café where you can
enjoy coffee, food, and a good book. The menu consists of smoothies and bowls,
pastries, soup, burgers, tenders, buffalo wings, and more.
C4Eats,
2003 Harrison St., Hollywood, FL 33020
Located in downtown Hollywood near the Hollywood Boulevard
and ArtsPark at Young Circle, this small, bright vegan soul food place offers
sustainable, seasonal foods with hours that aim to be accessible for most
lifestyles, using organic & pesticide free ingredients whenever possible.
Alongside healthy fresh-made juices, they have pancakes, waffles, or a sausage
breakfast sandwich in the morning, then come back for a burger or vegan fried
fish for lunch, and come back again for fried chicken or pineapple glazed ham
with sides including greens and mac and cheese for dinner. You can eat at a
counter in house, at benches outside, or take your food to go.
Get
Hype, Central Market House, 34 W. Philadelphia, Lancaster, PA 17401
Get Hype offers delectable, crafted cuisine such as BBQ
jackfruit ribs, sweet potato mash, collard greens, shortbread, and more.
Mush Wings, 405
N. Walker Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Mush Wings offers the kickin chic’N sandwich, pizza and
wings specials, parma and buffalo, and other dishes.
The Plant Vegan Food Truck offers salted caramel banana
nut pudding, delectable sandwiches, real lemon cake, vegan chikn tacos, steak
fingers, and more. They have excellent customer service, a convenient location
with outdoor dining, and is highly recommended by the locals.
Popular entrees include a thick protein-infused Belgium
waffle with a pinch of cinnamon and a Philly-style cheeze steak with crumbles
and sautéed portobello mushrooms and onions. Sweet potato tacos and a country
breakfast with potato hash and scrambled JUST eggs are available during
Saturday and Sunday brunch. A kid’s menu is also available and includes a
burger and tenders. Sweet Mustard also offers pre-made individual holiday
meals.
Sweet
Peaces Veggie Bistro, 300 E. 1st St., Flint, MI 48502
A year-round vendor at the Flint Farmers Market, Sweet Peaces
is a small vegan restaurant that prepares flavorful food kits, ready-made deli
meals, and other international dishes with ingredients from small gardens and
local, sustainable farms. The menu is revised daily for customers to try a
diverse range of in-season dishes, such as Thai broccoli rice, African peanut
stew, samosas, and more. Even those with a sweet tooth will be surprised to
find several veganized bakery goods, like cinnamon rolls and chocolate chunk
cookies. In addition, many of their dishes are sold in mini jars as meal kits
to store at home and enjoy when ready. Next time you visit the Flint Farmers
Market, don’t forget to try a dish, pick up a meal kit, or indulge in brownie
bars from here!
The
Vegan Marie, 274 NW 54th St., Miami, FL 33127
Enjoy vegan food in the heart of Little Haiti. An example
of a previous plate included legumes, buckwheat, veggie patties (breadfruit +
quinoa + seamoss), boiled sweet potato, plantain, pikliz, a side salad, and
avocado.
Have you ever noticed that the label on a package of rice or
dried beans says that the serving size is ¼ cup? Who eats a ¼ cup of rice as a
serving? I decided to dive into the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
regulations about labels to find out the reasoning behind portion sizes on
grains and beans.
According to the FDA’s website, “By law, serving sizes must
be based on the amount of food people typically consume, rather than how much
they should consume” (1). Information from national surveys are used to set
label portion sizes for everything from bagels (a serving is 110 grams) to wine
coolers (12 ounces) to ice cream (2/3 cup). Of course, if a package is a
single-serving container, the serving size must be the entire bottle even if it
contains more than the portion size set by the FDA (2). For example, if the FDA’s serving size for
soda is 12 ounces and a bottle of soda has 20 ounces, the serving size for that
product would be 1 bottle (20 ounces).
The FDA has designated 45 grams of dry product or 140 grams of
prepared product as the serving size for grains such as rice and barley and 35
grams of dry product as the serving size for dried beans (3). Food companies
are required to use a common household measurement like cups or tablespoons on
the label and cannot just indicate how many grams there are in a serving (2).
Thus, food producers must decide how to express 45 grams of dry grains or 35 grams
of dry beans in terms of cups. Based on what I’ve observed, it’s common to use
1/4 cup of dry product as the portion size for dried beans and dry grains. Some
companies do specify 1/4 cup (dry) but if they don’t, you’re safe to assume
that if a quarter cup is listed as a serving, it’s likely to be the dry amount
of the product. Some packages also include a statement along the lines of
serving size: ¼ cup (makes ¾ cup prepared) but manufacturers are not required
to do this.
If you’re trying to use the food label to figure out how
many calories (or carbohydrates or other nutrients) are in a dry grain or dried
bean that you’ve prepared, you have a few options.
You could only prepare the amount that is
identified on the package as the serving size – for example, 1/4 cup of dry
brown rice – and see how much this makes when you cook it. Is that the usual
amount that you eat or will you need to make more and then increase the
nutrient content from the package accordingly?
You could prepare the amount you usually make,
perhaps 1-1/2 cups of dry brown rice, then determine the amount of cooked rice
that this makes and back calculate to see how much cooked rice would result
from 1/4 cup dry rice. Additional calculation could allow you to determine how
many calories or nutrients are in the portion you eat.
You could contact the manufacturer and politely
request that they include a “prepared” amount on the label and inquire what
that amount would be.
Ideally, in my opinion, FDA would make it easier for
consumers who prepare foods from scratch and require food companies to use
serving sizes that would be more meaningful than 1/4 cup of (dry) brown rice!
2. FDA. Food labeling: Serving sizes of foods that can
reasonably be consumed at one eating occasion, reference amounts customarily
consumed, serving size-related issues, dual-column labeling, and miscellaneous topics:
Guidance for industry. 2019. https://www.fda.gov/media/133699/download
“EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION, BEGINNING JULY 1, 2022, A MANUFACTURER MAY NOT SELL OR OFFER FOR SALE IN THE STATE A COSMETIC IF THE MANUFACTURER KNOWS OR REASONABLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THE FINAL PRODUCT OR ANY INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT OF THE FINAL PRODUCT WAS DEVELOPED OR MANUFACTURED USING ANIMAL TESTING THAT WAS CONDUCTED OR CONTRACTED BY OR FOR THE MANUFACTURER OR ANY ENTITY THAT SUPPLIES, DIRECTLY OR THROUGH A THIRD PARTY, ANY INGREDIENT USED BY A MANUFACTURER IN THE FORMULATION OF A COSMETIC ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2022”
Every issue of Vegetarian Journal we
review books. Recently we took a look at The
Vegan Friendly. This 304-page book offers a wide variety of recipes
including Breakfast Burritos, Toaster Pastries, Sushi, Yellow Tofu Curry, Spicy
Udon Noodle Soup, and Ice Cream Cake.
Vegans need to use vitamin B12 supplements
and/or foods fortified with vitamin B12.
People, possibly including lacto and lacto-ovo
vegetarians who eat few animal products often need to use vitamin B12
supplements and/or foods fortified with vitamin B12.
A recent study (1) adds to our knowledge about vitamin B12
and supports the U.S. recommendations that older adults (those 51 years and
older), whether or not they are vegan, use supplements and/or fortified foods
to get their vitamin B12 (2).
In this study, which was conducted in Ireland, 15% of older
adults had a condition called atrophic gastritis. People with this condition
produce low amounts of acid in their stomachs. Acid is needed to separate
vitamin B12 from protein so that it can be absorbed. The vitamin B12 in
fortified foods and supplements does not require stomach acid for absorption.
Not surprisingly, those older adults with atrophic gastritis were more likely
to be deficient in vitamin B12.
Another issue related to vitamin B12 is the use of a
category of drugs called proton pump inhibitors. These medications are used to
suppress stomach acid and to treat conditions like reflux and ulcers. Because
these drugs reduce stomach acid, they also reduce vitamin B12 absorption. In
the study from Ireland, proton pump inhibitors were used for more than 6 months
by more than a third of older adults. Those taking higher doses (more than 30
milligrams daily) had a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Although older adults using vitamin B12-fortified foods 5 or
more times a week were at lower risk of developing a deficiency of vitamin B12,
some older adults using fortified foods, especially those with atrophic
gastritis, were at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. This may be because of the
relatively low amount of vitamin B12 used to fortify foods in Ireland.
Vitamin B12 deficiency in older adults has been associated
with depression, confusion, dementia, poorer bone health, and heart disease (3)
so it is important that older adults are aware of the need to get their vitamin
B12 from supplements and fortified foods.
That’s where vegans come in. Many of us are aware of the
need for vitamin B12 supplements; we know which foods are fortified with
vitamin B12. We can share this information with older friends and family
members who should be using fortified foods and/or supplements as their main
source of vitamin B12.
1. Porter KM, Hoey L, Hughes CF, et al. Associations of
atrophic gastritis and proton-pump inhibitor drug use with vitamin B-12 status,
and the impact of fortified foods, in older adults. Am J Clin Nutr.
2021;114(4):1286-1294.
2. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board: Dietary
Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Vitamin
B-12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press, 1998.
3. Porter K, Hoey L, Hughes CF, Ward M, McNulty H. Causes,
consequences and public health implications of low B-vitamin status in ageing. Nutrients.
2016;8(11):725.
Each issue of Vegetarian Journal
includes a column titled Vegan Action. The recent issue features Scott Williams
who runs Camp4Real in Virginia. Williams engages kids with not only healthy
exercise but also healthy, plant-based diets. Read the article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2021issue4/2021_issue4_vegan_action.php
Due to the generosity of an
anonymous donor, The Vegetarian Resource Group each year will award $20,000 in college
scholarship money to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted
veganism/vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Vegetarians do not
eat meat, fish, or fowl. Vegans are vegetarians who do not use other animal
products such as dairy or eggs.
One award of $10,000 and two awards
of $5,000 will be given. Entries may only be sent by students
graduating from high school in spring 2022. Deadline is February
20, 2022. We will accept applications postmarked on or before February
20, 2021. Early submission is encouraged!
Applicants will be judged on having
shown compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful
world through a vegan/vegetarian diet/lifestyle. Payment will be made to the
student’s college (U.S. based only). Winners of the scholarships give
permission to release their names to the media. Applications and essays become
property of The Vegetarian Resource Group. We may ask finalists for more
information. Scholarship winners are contacted by e-mail or telephone. Please
look at your e-mail.
The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on veganism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics, and world hunger. We have been helping health professionals, food services, businesses, educators, students, vegans, and vegetarians since 1982. In addition to publishing the Vegan Journal, VRG produces and sells a number of books.
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