Just in case you haven't heard about it, I want to bring your attention to a project called Meatless Mondays. This is a movement with the goal to reduce the consumption of meat by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet. You may have seen Paul McCartney promoting this movement. Bob Harper from 'The Biggest Loser' is also a big supporter. Many restaurants and universities are supporting the movement by providing meatless meal options on their menus on Mondays. I was happy to hear that even McGill University is a participant!
They also have a great website with tons of recipes and articles on healthy eating. So check it out at http://www.meatlessmondays.com/. You can even follow them on facebook and twitter.
Did you know that more than 10 BILLION animals are slaughtered in North America EVERY YEAR?? So by reducing meat consumption by 15%, that would save 150 MILLION animals every year!! Another dirty little secret is that livestock produces 16 kilograms of waste for each 0.3 kg serving of meat. That's alot of Sh*t!! Where does it all go??
With all the blogs describing their Thanksgiving meatless feasts on Vegan MoFo, I am getting anxious to try some of these holiday meal ideas during Christmas. November is the Vegan Month of Food. This idea is the love child of the diva of the Post Punk Kitchen, and one of my favourite vegan cookbook authors, Isa Chandra Moskowitz. There are hundreds of vegetarian and vegan blogs participating in this event and tons of amazing recipes and meal planning suggestions. You can check them out at http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/.
I would love to hear about any meat free holiday dishes you may be planning.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Where do you get your protein?
When people consider veganism, they may have some questions about protein. It seems to be a common misconception that the main source of protein is animal products, namely meat, eggs, fish and dairy products. So this week's post is devoted to the topic of protein.
What exactly is protein and why is it so important to our bodies? Proteins are complex structures made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 different types of amino acids, 9 of which the body cannot produce itself, and therefore must be obtained from the diet. These 9 are called the 'essential amino acids'. Proteins make up much of the structure of body cells and are related to many bodily functions. All of those little messengers running around the body, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies, are made up of proteins. These messengers are produced by the body by assembling the different amino acids into specific configurations. So if one building block is missing, the proteins cannot be put together properly and this interferes with the functioning of the body.
All living things contain proteins. Plants, animals, even bacteria. In fact all the amino acids in animal protein originally came from plant sources. The cows get their protein from eating the grass. Fish get their protein from eating smaller fish which ate the water plants. The 10 'essential' amino acids are produced by plants and bacteria.
So how much protein do we need? That depends on several factors. We need protein to maintain our tissues. Protein requirements may increase when tissue growth is required, like when we're growing, or pregnant, or lactating, or healing following surgery. But the average adult requires 0.9 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. This is based on the US Recommended Dietary Allowance for adult protein intake. So if you weigh 61 kilograms (135 pounds) you would need to consume 55 grams of protein per day.
Just to get an idea of how much protein is in different foods, I have listed some below.
1/2 cup firm tofu 19.9 grams
1 cup cooked chickpeas 14.5 grams
1 cup cooked kidney beans 15.4 grams
1/4 cup almonds 7.4 grams
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 8.5 grams
1/2 cup mushrooms 1.7 grams
1 cup bean sprouts 3.2 grams
1/2 cup cooked oats 3.0 grams
1/2 cup brown rice 4.5 grams
1/4 cup whole wheat flour 4.1 grams
1/2 cup 2% milk 4.0 grams
1 egg 5.5 grams
2 ounces chicken 15.3 grams
2 ounces ground beef 10.6 grams
So is it definitely possible to get enough protein in a whole foods, plant based diet. But a vegan diet needs to include a variety of legumes, tofu, seeds, nuts and whole grains to reach the target protein levels. And by getting our protein from plant sources instead of animal sources, we cut out much of the fat and ALL of the dietary cholesterol and add lots of healthy fibre to our diet! So there is my little biochemistry lesson for today. If you would like to know more check out the book 'Becoming Vegan' by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.
Now here is a tasty way to get some of your daily protein requirement:
Old-fashioned Lentil Loaf from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. This is one of my favorite cookbooks. And the 'meatloaf' was totally delicious. It was great in a sandwich the next day as well. I'm planning to modify this recipe to make a Shephard's pie this week. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Look for Colleen's next cookbook, Color me Vegan, which is coming out soon. You can order signed copies on her website: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/
Cheers!
What exactly is protein and why is it so important to our bodies? Proteins are complex structures made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 different types of amino acids, 9 of which the body cannot produce itself, and therefore must be obtained from the diet. These 9 are called the 'essential amino acids'. Proteins make up much of the structure of body cells and are related to many bodily functions. All of those little messengers running around the body, hormones, enzymes, and antibodies, are made up of proteins. These messengers are produced by the body by assembling the different amino acids into specific configurations. So if one building block is missing, the proteins cannot be put together properly and this interferes with the functioning of the body.
All living things contain proteins. Plants, animals, even bacteria. In fact all the amino acids in animal protein originally came from plant sources. The cows get their protein from eating the grass. Fish get their protein from eating smaller fish which ate the water plants. The 10 'essential' amino acids are produced by plants and bacteria.
So how much protein do we need? That depends on several factors. We need protein to maintain our tissues. Protein requirements may increase when tissue growth is required, like when we're growing, or pregnant, or lactating, or healing following surgery. But the average adult requires 0.9 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. This is based on the US Recommended Dietary Allowance for adult protein intake. So if you weigh 61 kilograms (135 pounds) you would need to consume 55 grams of protein per day.
Just to get an idea of how much protein is in different foods, I have listed some below.
1/2 cup firm tofu 19.9 grams
1 cup cooked chickpeas 14.5 grams
1 cup cooked kidney beans 15.4 grams
1/4 cup almonds 7.4 grams
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 8.5 grams
1/2 cup mushrooms 1.7 grams
1 cup bean sprouts 3.2 grams
1/2 cup cooked oats 3.0 grams
1/2 cup brown rice 4.5 grams
1/4 cup whole wheat flour 4.1 grams
1/2 cup 2% milk 4.0 grams
1 egg 5.5 grams
2 ounces chicken 15.3 grams
2 ounces ground beef 10.6 grams
So is it definitely possible to get enough protein in a whole foods, plant based diet. But a vegan diet needs to include a variety of legumes, tofu, seeds, nuts and whole grains to reach the target protein levels. And by getting our protein from plant sources instead of animal sources, we cut out much of the fat and ALL of the dietary cholesterol and add lots of healthy fibre to our diet! So there is my little biochemistry lesson for today. If you would like to know more check out the book 'Becoming Vegan' by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina.
Now here is a tasty way to get some of your daily protein requirement:
Old-fashioned Lentil Loaf from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. This is one of my favorite cookbooks. And the 'meatloaf' was totally delicious. It was great in a sandwich the next day as well. I'm planning to modify this recipe to make a Shephard's pie this week. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Look for Colleen's next cookbook, Color me Vegan, which is coming out soon. You can order signed copies on her website: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/
Cheers!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Tofu - It's What's for Breakfast!
What a beautiful weekend!! It has been sunny and warm enough to almost make me think winter is not just around the corner! But we have been curled up with our books in front of the fire anyways!
Saturday night we watched the movie "Earthlings". Wow. It is an excellent film on the meat, poultry, leather and fur industries and animals used in scientific experiments and how the animals in these industries are treated. It is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. My daughter watched it with me, but it is quite graphic, and I would caution against letting your young children watch, even though it is an important message that I personally think everyone should hear. It definitely made me think about some things in a different way, and I think it opened my daughter's eyes as well. You can watch it for free at http://www.earthlings.com/.
On a lighter note, this morning we had a fabulous breakfast tofu scramble. This is so amazing. At first I thought breakfast was going to be the toughest part about cutting animal products out of my diet, but like everything else, the way we eat is just a habit. But this scramble, is so good that I will never miss eggs again! And it's as easy as making scrambled eggs!
After chopping the veggies, it took about 10-15 minutes to make. I minced 3 cloves of garlic, chopped one medium onion, some mushrooms, half a zucchini, half a red pepper, and asparagus. I added the garlic, onions, mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and sauteed them in a little margarine. Then I crumbled up a block of tofu (I used Wildwood sprouted organic tofu that had been frozen and thawed and squeezed out as much moisture as I could). Then I added this to the pan and stir fried for about 5 minutes. Then I added about a 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and some soy milk (this gives it a creamy texture). I added some cumin seeds, turmeric (this gives it that yellow 'egg' kind of colour), salt and pepper and some powdered garlic. Then I added the asparagus, red pepper and a bunch of spinach and stir fried for about 5 minutes more. And viola!
Today is my son's actual birthday (Happy Birthday Kenny Bo!!), so it was cupcake making day. We needed 25 for his class and then the rest will be for our family's birthday celebration tonight. He picked out Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World Cookbook, and they turned out smashingly. The cupcakes themselves are chocolate and there are ground up Oreo cookies in the icing. And I found the little snack sized Oreos to garnish the top. We got to lick the beaters after making the frosting and I can hardly wait to taste the cupcakes after dinner!
Saturday night we watched the movie "Earthlings". Wow. It is an excellent film on the meat, poultry, leather and fur industries and animals used in scientific experiments and how the animals in these industries are treated. It is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. My daughter watched it with me, but it is quite graphic, and I would caution against letting your young children watch, even though it is an important message that I personally think everyone should hear. It definitely made me think about some things in a different way, and I think it opened my daughter's eyes as well. You can watch it for free at http://www.earthlings.com/.
On a lighter note, this morning we had a fabulous breakfast tofu scramble. This is so amazing. At first I thought breakfast was going to be the toughest part about cutting animal products out of my diet, but like everything else, the way we eat is just a habit. But this scramble, is so good that I will never miss eggs again! And it's as easy as making scrambled eggs!
After chopping the veggies, it took about 10-15 minutes to make. I minced 3 cloves of garlic, chopped one medium onion, some mushrooms, half a zucchini, half a red pepper, and asparagus. I added the garlic, onions, mushrooms and zucchini to the pan and sauteed them in a little margarine. Then I crumbled up a block of tofu (I used Wildwood sprouted organic tofu that had been frozen and thawed and squeezed out as much moisture as I could). Then I added this to the pan and stir fried for about 5 minutes. Then I added about a 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and some soy milk (this gives it a creamy texture). I added some cumin seeds, turmeric (this gives it that yellow 'egg' kind of colour), salt and pepper and some powdered garlic. Then I added the asparagus, red pepper and a bunch of spinach and stir fried for about 5 minutes more. And viola!
Tonight for dinner I'm trying out a lentil "meatloaf" recipe from Colleen Patrick Goudreau's The Vegan Table. With mashed potatoes and some roasted Brussels sprouts from the market it's sure to be irresistible.
Is it dinner time yet???
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Happy Sushi Day
This weekend was my son's 8th birthday party. I don't know what I was thinking to let him have a sleepover party. I did this with my daughter, but having little girls sleep over is VERY different that having little boys sleep over. But, I guess you live and learn.
I have been wanting and planning to make sushi for quite a while now, and I finally got around to it on Friday! It was a smashing success on many levels. First it was fun! Second it was tasty. Third, my son helped me make it, and as such was inspired to try it!! I'm not sure it was full blown love at first bite, but getting him to actually put it into his mouth is a HUGE step!
I have been wanting and planning to make sushi for quite a while now, and I finally got around to it on Friday! It was a smashing success on many levels. First it was fun! Second it was tasty. Third, my son helped me make it, and as such was inspired to try it!! I'm not sure it was full blown love at first bite, but getting him to actually put it into his mouth is a HUGE step!
So how does one go about making sushi? First we must hunt down the supplies. This is actually the hardest part. You have to use actual sushi rice, and rice vinegar. Then you need nori papers. And to me, sushi isn't worth eating without pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. Many people assume that sushi must contain raw fish. This simply is not so. There are so many options. Just some fish free suggestions are: shitake mushrooms (fried), avocado, carrots and cucumber (cut in match sticks), and asparagus.
You can find directions to make sushi all over the place. First cook your sushi rice according to the directions on the package. Mix rice vinegar with sugar (1Tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp sugar for each cup of rice) and add to your rice. Stir it in. Then place your nori paper on a sushi rolling mat, spread rice over it, leaving an inch or so at the top free of rice (tip, this is easiest when your rice is hot). Add your stuffings in a line near the bottom, then roll it up into a log using the mat to help. Then with a sharp serrated knife you can cut your log into slices.
If you're lucky enough to have a friend who goes to Japan on a regular basis, perhaps you can get some sushi beautiful sushi plates like these (thanks Suzanne)!! Doesn't that look tasty??!! Well, it was. We stuffed ourselves.
And what birthday party would be complete without cupcakes?? In this case peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I got the recipe for these beauties from Isa Chandra Moskawitz and Terry Hope Romero's cookbook "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" (I love love love this cookbook). They were to die for. So super amazing, even the kids loved them. I didn't bother to tell them they were vegan.
My son's actual birthday is next weekend. He has already picked out Oreo cookie and cream cupcakes for me to make for his class. So perhaps I will wow you with more cupcake pictures next week!
Until then..... happy eating!
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