Eating on-the-go and being vegan/vegetarian is getting easier every day, especially if you think outside of the box. Chain restaurants such as Chipotle, Moe's, Mellow Mushroom, and Panera have multiple options. At Chipotle you can get the veggie bowl, taco or burrito filled with black beans, brown rice, salsa, lettuce, corn and guacamole. Mellow Mushroom is super veg-friendly, offering vegan pizza, hummus, tempeh/tofu hoagies, and more. At Panera, they offer the Mediterranean veggie sandwich (hold the feta if you're vegan) and a cup of veggie or black bean soup. 

Native Sun is a great option for prepared organic foods. Check out their deli case, salad bar (San Jose locale), hot bar (Baymeadows locale) and sandwich boards for the veg goods such as portabella sandwiches, red lentil cakes, vegan Bahn mi, and so much more! 

Ethnic food is always a great option. Hala Cafe (several locations) and Mandaloun on Baymeadows offer hummus, tabouli, veg grape leaves, lentil soup, and spinach pie. Masala Indian Restaurant on San Jose Blvd. has Aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes), Chana masala (spicy chickpeas), samosas (peas and potatoes in a fried pastry shell), and pakora (battered and fried veggies) which are all spicy and delish! 

Jason's Deli on Southside is becoming more organic and veg-friendly. Create your own hummus and veggie sandwich or choose from the loaded salad bar. California Pizza Kitchen is a nice spot at St. John's Town Center for a little slower lunch or dinner date. They have smashed pea soup, white corn guacamole, tuscan hummus, and an eggplant pizza and broccoli pasta dish that can be made vegan. 

Extra tip: For the times you're out and about and hunger strikes, keep a bag of trail mix, a banana, or granola bars to munch on. The more people become veg and request alternative food choices, the more effortless it will become for all of us to eat well. Keep asking for what you want- healthy, happy food!

Those who know me well know that I have a sweet tooth. After consuming a meal with any type of sugar, or carbohydrates, I am known to sneeze approximately three times - in a row. My father also does this, and his father did as well. My mother used to say it was a pleasure response, but after years of doing it and paying attention to what I ate when I sneezed, I surmised the cause was carbohydrates. Carbs, how I love you.
 
In a quest to reduce calories and hopefully lose weight, I developed a sordid love affair with an evil substance known as aspartame, and her name is Equal. (queue scary noises) Equal was my best friend. When I needed a blonde and sweet coffee, she was there for me. Three of her to be exact. Her little blue packages fit so nicely in my purse for those silly restaurants not willing to put it on their tables. When I wanted to have a sweet glass of mango iced tea, Equal was right along there with me. Her delicate crystals cascading into the amber colored fluid, commingling with the ice cubes. I used so much Equal there were times I would need to extract some from the workplace until I had a chance to get to the store.
 
There are so many reasons not to use artificial sweeteners like Equal and her twisted sister, Splenda. The first reason is the word: artificial. Don't even get me started on their distant cousin - Sweet n Low. These are simply chemical concoctions that have no nutritional value and fool you into thinking you need something sweeter than sugar actually is. Not to mention these chemicals undergo a great deal of animal testing before released to the market. That reason alone should be enough to stop using these products.
 
I am currently in Equal detox and have replaced my three-a-day addiction of the little blue packets with a delicious, natural and organic syrup known as agave nectar. Agave can be used in so many ways, in coffee, tea, on pancakes, in granola and even to glaze roasted carrots. If you want to give a dish or dessert a caramel (which contains milk) or butterscotch type taste, try using brown rice syrup.
 
Some of you may be on the stevia band-wagon, and there's nothing wrong with that, so long as you are actually using stevia. There are some products out there that purport themselves as stevia, but they aren't really pure stevia. One in particular comes in a green and white packet and is manufactured by Coca-Cola and Cargill. If you dig stevia, use her straight, raw or organic. Stevia in The Raw tastes pretty darn fine in my mango iced tea.
 
Not long ago, I learned that regular old sugar was not vegan! The type of sugar you probably have in your pantry is actually processed using animal bones. This is part of the refining process for cane sugars. Once I learned this, I never bought those dixie crystals again. Whole Foods sells a vegan sugar that comes in a plastic zip lock bag. When I started using it, I noticed I did not require so much of it in a recipe. It also smells fabulous when you open the bag. I never noticed that sugar had a 'smell' but it does. If you cannot obtain a product that specifically states it's vegan, you are always better off choosing an organic option over the standard bag of sugar.

This is a recipe I created by combining two different pancake recipes from the cookbook Vegan Planet. I made the recipe years ago, but ever since then my husband has perfected it. He wakes up on Sunday mornings with our son, and together they make a big batch of blueberry-banana pancakes for all of us to enjoy. We refrigerate the remaining pancakes, and reheat them in the toaster for multiple breakfasts during the week.

This recipe is for 10-15 pancakes because it lasts us all week. You can half the recipe for a smaller batch.


Dry ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 Tbl. of organic sugar

2 Tbl. baking powder

dash of salt

dash of cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

Wet ingredients

2 1/2 cups almond milk

5 strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

1 banana

dash of vanilla

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Cook on medium heat (this is the ONLY time we use a non-stick skillet)

When bubbles come through and they are golden brown, they're ready!

Top with Earth Balance buttery spread and maple syrup.

Enjoy!

When I was a kid, I was required to drink milk with dinner. Sometimes it would be in a white milk glass mug so I would try to fool my Dad into thinking it was already gone, so I could have a sip of his Pepsi. My Dad never fell for my trick and told me to finish my milk. Then there was the food on my plate. There was usually a tough, brown piece of meat that I was expected to eat. I remember it having little taste and was very tough. The only logical way in my mind to eat this was to smother it in ketchup. Also on my plate was a smattering of vegetables, usually from a can. Peas or spinach. Both naturally tasted salty and I liked that.

As a teenager, I worked at a grocery store and became exposed to all kinds of foods, and not all of them good for me. The store usually smelled of freshly fried chicken and french bread. I regularly visited the bakery to get cookies, and often took snacks home to enjoy, things my Mother would not buy. I remember feasting on a bowl of ranch dip and potato chips thinking it was probably one of the yummiest things I'd ever eaten.

A few years later I had had enough of living under my parents roof, and rented my own apartment. The freezer was not frost-free and was so full of ice I could not pack it with groceries or get the ones out that I already had in there. In my newly found freedom, I relished the fact I could buy any sweetened cereal I wanted, so I had several boxes on hand. Dinners often consisted of cereal and milk. On nights that cereal would not do, I walked to the local sushi joint.

Living on my own, I tried all kinds of foods, things my Mother never would have served. I developed a serious love affair with Mexican food. And Chinese food. And pizza, pepperoni of course. I used to snicker when ordering an "eight inch Italian" at a local sub shop, stuffed with processed meats like salami. I loved it all. There was a tiny voice in the back of my mind telling me, "you probably should not eat meat, you love animals" but I quickly thought of something else and ignored that voice.

Fast forward several years later and I'm in a great relationship with a wonderful person. One day we took a trip to the bookstore and I was perusing the diet book section, looking for that next quick fix that would forever solve my weight problem. I stumbled across a book called, "Skinny Bitch." At home I was on the couch, loving the funny way this book was written, telling me "if you want to lose weight, you need to exercise you lazy shit" I laughed and enjoyed the honest no holds barred way the writer wrote the book. Then I got to the chapter about animals.

I was totally unprepared to read this chapter and to this day I believe this book has forever changed my life. The book told of the incredible cruel ways animals are treated and eventually killed, just to end up on our plates. I was especially moved by how pigs are treated. It told of how pigs are beaten with heavy pipes to submission, how workers cruelly abuse the animals. Workers find amusement and pleasure by slicing off their snouts, ears and tails while still alive and laugh when they respond in screaming pain. It made me mad. It made me feel ashamed to be a human being, and it made me cry. I looked up and told my partner, "I don't think we can eat meat anymore."

This is just my story. There are so many reasons you should consider taking the No Meat March challenge. Not only will you be doing good things for your health, and the animals, but there are tremendous effects on the environment. Enormous amounts of water, electricity and food is used to raise animals for their eventual slaughter just to end up on a dinner plate. More meat is consumed than ever before because of "improvements" that have been made in the meat industry. These improvements include the use of antibiotics and hormones. These chemicals become part of the animal, and eventually part of the humans that eat the animals. It's no wonder that so many kids are developing sexually at earlier and earlier ages. I was one of those kids. It was terribly painful and embarrassing to go through. When we get sick, people take antibiotics that sometimes don't help because of all the antibiotics that are already in the foods we eat. So we wonder why we are needing stronger and stronger antibiotics to fight off infection. You hear of people getting food poisoning, from things like salmonella and e coli. This bacteria is from feces that make it into the food supply. And it's not just the feces from one cow, it's from many. In an effort to 'clean' the meat before it is displayed at the store in a pretty package, it is dipped into toxic chemicals like ammonia. Do you want to eat ammonia? Chicken feed is often laced with arsenic. We are feeding unnatural foods to animals to make them fatter so is it any wonder that we are a nation struggling with obesity?

Giving up meat for an entire month may seem extreme, but think of it as a challenge. You will be amazed how much better you will feel, how much less you spend at the grocery store and how easy it really is. Don't be like me and ignore that little voice for years, take action now to forever change your life and make a difference in the world and the earth we are leaving for those of tomorrow.

I love spring, it might be my favorite season. Spring means open windows, gardening, blossoming flowers and trees, and open-toed sandals. Spring is a time of renewal. What better way to renew yourself than to make a change in your eating habits that will literally change your life and the lives of so many animals. Take the No Meat March challenge!

Make the commitment to eliminate meat from your diet for one month, which is only four weeks, a mere 31 days. You can do it! You will be amazed at how much better you will feel removing meat from your diet. Check your cholesterol before and after the challenge and check the numbers for yourself. Not only will you be doing something good for your health, you will be doing good for the environment. Bringing meat to your dinner table takes an enormous amount of resources and has a huge carbon footprint.

While you're doing the challenge, you'll notice that you will be spending less money at the grocery store, and the garbage can in the kitchen won't smell! If you need meal ideas check this website for easy, satisfying meals that will make you wonder why you didn't do this sooner. You might even decide to become a vegetarian full-time.

If you're already vegetarian, try going vegan. I used to think I could never give up cheese, and then I did. It's been months since I've had cheese and I don't miss it. I'm having so much fun learning how to cook all sorts of vegan dishes, that I've never given a second thought to cheese. I've even had a rockin' pizza at home and also in an area restaurant that is 100% vegan and is AWESOME.

You can enjoy unbelievably good vegan desserts that are just as good as any other dessert you've had. I know because I have baked them. For example, I've made chocolate frosted brownies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies and a 'cream cheese' frosted carrot cake. I have always had a sweet tooth and I would not be able to be vegan if this weren't true. Keep checking our website for the recipes on these scrumptious slices of deliciousness.

I've lived in Jacksonville my whole life, and I only recently started going to the Farmers Market on Beaver Street. It's now one of my favorite places to go. You can get massive amounts of fresh produce for cheap! I just picked up a bag the size of a pillow case full of spinach for only $4. Perfect for making green smoothies, and also cooking. You'd end up spending $40 for the same amount of spinach at the neighborhood grocery store.

We are here to support you through this challenge and we applaud you for taking the first step!