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Correction on the (typo) temp for the pumpkin pie post ...
2007-11-26 06:47:00
That should be *325* to *350* F on the temp for the pumpkin pie, not 425-450. Sorry!
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In the spirit of Thanksgiving ... Chocolate "pumpkin" pie
2007-11-26 06:35:00
Okay, I just "invented" this. Don't know if anyone else has done it but don't think so.I've been playing with a way to try and make chocolate pie without a lot of starch. Knew I could do one with a chocolate pudding base, but too much refined carb for me w/ cornstarch.Then one day I'm plopping together my standard ever-so-easy pumpkin pie (which I make a lot), and I stopped and thought, "What if I just put some cocoa in the filling?" So I did and oh, drool. It's luscious and chocolate and you can't even tell it's pumpkin (even though I very much like pumpkin). So don't be fooled. This is lusciously decadent but oh-so-good for you. ;-)First the standard recipe:Crust:2/3 cup oat flour (plain old rolled oats whirred in a blender, dry, till finely ground)1/3 cup flour (I use whole wheat)Drizzle (canola) oil (~tblsp.)pinch saltIn a medium bowl, blend everything together with a fork till well mixed. Dump into sprayed 8x8 square or nine-inch round pan and tap to distribute evenly a...
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Ambivalent vegetarians
2007-07-10 21:46:00
There?s an article today in MSNBC?s health section on one semi-vegetarian?s quest to reconcile her craving for meat with her knowledge that the animals who become that meat suffer terror and pain in the process.Of course, that?s a conundrum, and no doubt it?s an issue that every human who gives this any thought at all faces every time s/he picks up a fork, especially if you?re someone who struggles with the need for some meat despite the desire to be ?purely? vegetarian. (As a vegan who has utterly no desire or craving for meat myself, I nonetheless struggle with this too, somewhat, because of the meat I feed my kits.) But, here?s the thing (and I know this may likely offend some people at first, so bear with me for a moment). I don?t doubt that we would not question a natural predator?s need to kill a gazelle, for example, be it feline or canine, in the necessary pursuit of food. That gazelle may very well experience some pain and terror in the process, but short of exterminating t...
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On grilling out veggie style
2007-07-04 20:38:00
If you?re like me, you?re making the rounds at various barbecues during this Fourth of July holiday. Although this is a perfect opportunity to have your occasional foray into meat eating if you?re a part-timer or dabbler, veggies have to give it a little more thought.If you?re a lazy vegan like me, you probably just pop into your grocery and snag a four-pack of veggie burgers or ?Not Dogs? to take along so you can grill out along with your meat-eating comrades. Just slap them on the grill and then slather with fixings as usual. (If you don?t want juices from meat-based burgers to ?contaminate? yours, wrap them individually in tin foil first or have the host do yours first, before the others.)If you?re a little more creative, try a tofu-based shish kebab; take it with and have your host grill it for you. (You?ll likely have meat-eating friends salivating over your plate if you do this, too.) Simply prepare a block of tofu for grilling by freezing solid, thawing completely, then rinsi...
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Before you ?go veggie? (or try to), get rid of the junk
2007-06-28 23:12:00
Maybe you?ve put on a few pounds and want to see if going vegetarian part time will help you pare down a bit, or have just decided that you want to be healthier.Whatever your reason, you might want to take this in stages and get rid of the junk food first, before you go veggie. Why? In my opinion, if veganism isn?t quite for you and you?re one of those folks who needs ?just a little meat? to feel satisfied, you might end up reaching for the chips to help take care of increased hunger pangs. And it?s also often true (as it was in my case) that even if being vegetarian *is* for you, you?ll feel ?hungrier? at first on a vegetarian diet than you do on one with some meat in it. In that case, it?s not really true that you feel ?hungrier,? only that it?s a lighter way of eating and that feeling full feels different as a veggie than it does as a meat eater. Until you get used to it, though, you?ll likely be eating more, so it should be healthy food and not junk.Finally, junk just isn?t good...
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Getting along in a non-veggie world: ?Eat before you go?
2007-06-27 05:36:00
Let?s face it, we veggies are in the minority when it comes to society in most parts of the US, if not other parts of the world. Whether you?re a lazy vegan like me or are a bit more stringent in your views, it usually comes to pass that at some point, you?re going to be in a situation where you?re flying solo as a veggie; some of your comrades probably won?t even know that ?vegetarianism? does not embrace chicken as a food (ever have someone say, ?Oh, you don?t eat meat? Okay. Well, we have chicken. Do you eat chicken?? Um ?).Most of the time, family and friends are probably perfectly willing to prepare something special or you can bring your own, but if you?re at a company gathering or someplace you can?t check ahead to make sure you can get something substantial for dinner, eat before you go (at least for me, half a baked potato and some canned green beans just won?t fly for an entire evening). Not so much that you?re stuffed full and not at all hungry, but enough so that if all ...
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More on satisfying our sweet tooth safely
2007-06-25 23:58:00
As one commenter pointed out in a previous post, stevia has not been approved by the FDA as a sweetener and its safety not established by them. Normally, I would agree that this might give me pause, but my own research shows that stevia has a history of use thousands of years old. You may not be able to drink a gallon of it a day ;-), but used in moderation and given its safety profile historically (if not on the FDA?s radar), I would wager that it?s as safe to use as sugar, especially given the health benefits reducing your intake of sugar can bring. Fructose too can be a good substitute as the commenter pointed out, and so can other natural unrefined sweeteners like turbinado sugar and molasses. To be honest, I used saccharine (sparingly) in beverages if they needed sweetening with limited use of sugar for cooking and baking until I found stevia, with a brief dabble in fructose (not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup); Nutrasweet gave me headaches, so I never used aspart...
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The history of lazy vegan cooking
2007-06-25 23:02:00
This is a repost from my original website about how I got started with "lazy vegan" cooking. :-) Thought it might be useful to those who hate to cook but would like to stay away from convenience foods as much as possible. It's cheap to eat this way, too; I spend about $40 a month for my grocery bill, up from about $30 before the gas price hikes, and there's no special shopping involved.***Last week and again this week, I dragged out my two big crockpots, assembled my ingredients, checked to make sure I had a sufficient supply of clean, portion-sized freezer containers, and set the crockpots to burbling in the kitchen with entrees of chili, split pea soup, lentil soup, and refried beans, two entrees at a time. I did it with a minimum of mess and effort, hands moving surely and almost automatically through the processes of chopping, measuring, rinsing, and boiling; when the crockpots were ready to simmer away unattended, I set the temperature just right, and didn?t have a single, bo...
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Hate cooking and want convenience? Try a bread machine and crockpot
2007-06-25 05:34:00
Even if you hate cooking, you can still do largely ?from-scratch? cooking, depending on your particular set-up, and rely only occasionally on convenience foods. Although convenience foods are wonderful, they do produce a lot of garbage and can be hard on the environment because of this. To balance things out and rely on packaged foods less often, invest in a crockpot.I hate to cook myself, but I?ve gotten around this by using my crockpot and bread machine to keep me in homemade, ?whole foods? dinners on what boils down to about four hours? work a month. Whether you?re a full-time or part time veggie, the crockpot can be your best friend. For vegetarian folks, bean and legume-based soups and stews make a hearty meal with very little work. If you?re a meat-eater, you can also plop in some beef chunks in there or even do a pork roast and potatoes. Many sites online now have specifically crockpot-based recipes. Another machine I can?t do without as a lazy vegan is my bread machine. In ...
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Want to cut back on sugar and still be ?sweet?? Try stevia
2007-06-23 20:19:00
Even if you watch your diet religiously, you might still have a sweet tooth. I do, and try to fulfill it with healthy foods instead of ignoring it altogether. I used saccharin for several years, but of course it leaves a funny aftertaste and there are doubts about its safety, so I switched back to using sugar and just tried to be as sparing with it as possible.Then I discovered stevia. This wonderful herb is actually slightly caloric rather than completely non-caloric, but is something like 600 times sweeter than sugar so that you can use very little. It does not promote tooth decay and in its unrefined form can even help stabilize blood sugar and act as an anti-fungal. Its unrefined (liquid) extract tastes very much like black licorice, so I only use it in coffee and tea, not in cooking.The refined stevia has no health benefits to speak of but tastes exactly like sugar, in my opinion. It?s very, very sweet, so must be used sparingly and mixed very well in whatever you?re using it i...
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Are you really vegan (or should you be) if you crave a lot of fake ?meat??
2007-06-21 20:19:00
Back when I became vegan more than 20 years ago, Vegetarian Times had articles in it all the time about what it ?really? meant to be a vegan, asking questions like, ?If you think meat is so terrible, then why do you even want the ?pretend? stuff?? There were kind of two camps: the ?purists,? who thought it was silly and made one a bit of a traitor to squash soy-based, artificially flavored, ultra-processed gelatinous mush into the shapes of the very ?dead animal? foods one purported to disdain, and the folks who just wanted guilt-free burgers as close to the real thing as possible without having to think of the poor dead cow who might otherwise have sacrificed its life for that burger. I have to admit, this has never been a particular quandary for me. I never liked meat (actually, it made me rather ill) and was very relieved to find out that I didn?t have to have it. So eating an artificially flavored soy-based substitute has never held particular attraction and I?m fine with unadul...
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The Mutual Menu blog
2007-06-20 23:15:00
This isn't a post per se, only a note that there's a great blog at http://mutualmenu.blogspot.com/ called "Mutu al Menu ." Brian and Joselle are a "mixed" couple (one vegan, one omnivore/"trying veganism") who bring those particular challenges to light; I sort of touched on this issue in one of my articles, but didn't address it nearly as thoroughly, so I hope you'll give them a look. Plus it's another platform for more great discussion between veggies and omnis. :-)Best,Kim
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If you?re vegan, you can?t be overweight ? right?
2007-06-20 21:21:00
I read something the other day online that declared, to paraphrase, ?It?s impossible to be overweight if you?re vegan!? Now, I?m as keen as anyone to get someone to go vegan if they can, but I had to laugh at that. As much as I would like to woo someone with this phrase, it?s not quite true. Plain and simple, you absolutely can make poor (vegan) food choices that will render you overweight. And yes, you still have to exercise even if you chow down on beans and rice instead of steak. It?s true that it?s probably a little harder to be overweight if you?re vegan; after all, if you eat even a moderately healthy diet, you?re getting a lot more fruits, veggies, and fiber, and a lot less fat, than someone who eats a meat-centered one with few fruits and veggies. One of the reasons it?s easier to gain weight in general with the typical meat-based diet is because meat has no fiber at all, so this makes it much more calorie dense than a veggie-based one. The fiber in the veggie-based one also...
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Vegan is as vegan does ? and then there are our pets
2007-06-19 22:44:00
Okay, here?s a conundrum I bet any pet owning, animal loving vegan or vegetarian goes through. If you?re like me, you live a life as free as possible of animal products, do the vegan diet, keep a watch on animal cruelty and try to avoid products that do animal testing, etc. You just don?t want to support that kind of thing, so you don?t. You?re feeling pretty proud of yourself for your anti-cruelty, anti-meat position. Yep, doing just fine. Until ??Meow.? Your beloved feline baby wants dinner, so you reach into the closet for some Meow Mix, or get a can of food out of the cupboard. Stop. Now, think about this for a minute. Just *where* do you think this stuff comes from? Pressed tofu and dried carrots? Nope, folks, it?s MEAT (or more accurately the leftover junk thereof euphemistically called ?byproducts? on the label), that nasty stuff you thought you?d so carefully (and maybe with just a touch of superiority) excised from your life. Well, think again.Plain and simple, even if you...
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More on ?to be or not to be? vegan
2007-06-19 04:30:00
There was a comment posted this morning on yesterday?s blog that got me thinking, and I thought I should give the ?to be or not to be ? vegan? ;-) question a bit more attention.First, let me make it clear that I would positively love it if every human on the planet could jump on the vegan bandwagon tomorrow. It?s better for the environment, it saves massive energy resources, it?s kinder to animals, etc. If any of us here have been vegan or vegetarian for any length of time, we know our own reasons for doing it and one or more of them are likely at least a variation of those. (Of course, this raises other issues, such as how we animal-loving vegans would feed our carnivorous ? and domesticated ? kitties especially without the meat industry to help us, but let that be a topic for another post at some point.)But it?s not just that I think it?s unrealistic to think that everyone will become vegan with some education and perhaps a little pushing. I do think it?s unrealistic, actually, bu...
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That jiggly stuff called ?tofu?
2007-06-17 20:30:00
Okay, so maybe tofu as usually represented by the uninitiated should be called ?tof-ewww,? but really, if you prepare it right, it?s delish. (It?s also expensive for this lazy vegan?s price range, so I don?t use it much, only as an occasional treat, but anyway.)If you really, really don?t even want to try it, it?s okay. You have plenty of options out there, like TVP, that taste much more like meat without any preparation or at best minimal preparation. But if you?re just curious and do want to try it, don?t be put off if you don?t like it as it is right out of the package by itself. I don?t, either. So what?s it good for?If you want to use it as a meat substitute in something like a stirfry or casserole, take the block of tofu you got from the store and stick it in the freezer overnight, in its original packaging. Then take it out, thaw it completely (usually takes a few hours, depending on the size of the block), rinse it thoroughly, and squeeze the extra water out. This will chang...
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Easy ways to go veggie ?part time?
2007-06-17 07:04:00
If being a vegetarian full time isn?t for you, you?ll still help the planet (and yourself) a lot if you do some minor ?veggie? tweaks here and there, not too much. You don?t even have to actually replace a complete meat-based meal with a veggie one, ever, unless you want to. How?s that for easy? Just figure out, roughly, how much meat your family eats in a week, then start slow. Cut back your meat intake the first week by about 10%. (BTW, your digestive system will thank you, too, if you go slowly, as will those around you. :-) As healthy as a vegetarian diet can be, you?ll have some trouble adjusting to it if you go too fast and you?re not used to all of that fiber and bean sugar, which can cause major gas and bloating.) Do it without changing the flavor of your meals by replacing part of the hamburger in your meatloaf or burger patties with mashed kidney beans, textured vegetable protein, or lentils. Or serve a tasty stir-fry made with your family?s favorite veggies over rice, and...
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What if everyone can?t be vegan?
2007-06-15 19:48:00
I understand what those who push for veganism for all are going for, but I don?t agree with it for a few reasons. First of all, IMO, this thinking assumes that everyone physically *can* be vegan, meaning they don?t need animal protein or meat. That?s just not true; yes, most people probably can be, but not everyone. Why? For most people, the liver can produce all the cholesterol you need by itself; you don?t have to actually ingest cholesterol in your diet. (And yes, despite its evil reputation, you do need some cholesterol to produce certain hormones, avoid osteoporosis, etc.) No plant food actually contains cholesterol, only animal-based foods. My father has this condition; if he doesn?t eat some every day, he?d literally be dead, because he would be getting no cholesterol in any form. Small group of people, I admit, but still there.Second of all, I don?t think any of us fully understand the fine workings of the human body (and I?m no doctor, for sure) enough to say that *everyone...
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How do you handle ?militant? vegans and vegetarians?
2007-06-15 05:37:00
Okay, this might seem an odd thing for a fellow vegan to say, but I don?t like it when other vegans/vegetarians think *everyone* should be vegan/vegetarian, or even worse, if they become confrontational to try to ?persuade? others to adopt their point of view. I realize this is a relatively small group of people, but I?ve seen it happen a few times and it usually makes me cringe in embarrassment. Unfortunately, every so often when I tell someone I?m a vegetarian (I usually don?t say ?vegan? in general company just in passing anymore because too many people are unfamiliar with the term and at least once in the past have thought it means I?m part of a peculiar religious sect), they?re afraid I?m going to start to lecture them on the evils of meat eating right there on the spot. That?s too bad, not just because I think it?s unfair to them, but because I think it makes it harder to connect and work together to make some positive changes happen that could help us both. For instance, curr...
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To food combine or not to food combine
2007-06-14 09:23:00
One of the things that always ruffles me a little is when I hear folks say that you have to be ever so careful to get so-called ?complete protein? or risk wasting away from malnutrition if you want to be vegan or vegetarian. They make it sound so hard! But is it really?I can say that in 20-plus years of being vegan, I?ve never, ever given a thought to ?food combining? or ?complete protein? versus ?incomplete protein,? and I?m fine and healthy. If anything, I worry less about meeting my nutritional requirements than I?d imagine most meat eaters do; my diet is utterly mindless and driven solely by hunger cues, for the most part. Although it does take just a bit of diligence to keep junk food at bay (because I?m a sucker for a potato chip just as much as anyone is), I have to say that I don?t think I?ve ever even given a thought to getting my ?five a day? servings of fruits and veggies or enough fiber the way the government is now on the horn about for the average citizen. And as long ...
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Do ?mixed marriages? work?
2007-06-13 06:26:00
Let?s say you?re what is affectionately known as a ?veggie? (or maybe just taking a bit of a dabble in it, to try), but your significant other or mate isn?t and has no interest in even giving it a go. How do you handle it then? Is your relationship doomed unless one of you ?converts?? In my experience, no. Know what? Not a single one of my three serious post-vegetarian relationships has had both of us meandering along the veggie trail. It?s a road I?ve traveled solo in every case. I will say that it worked for me because except for wanting an SO to cut down on meat consumption for health reasons (not eliminate), I didn?t care that my partner wasn?t vegetarian, and I wasn?t set on any children I might have eventually had becoming vegetarian, either. The only adjustment we made was that each of us did our own cooking; handling raw meat is a very squeamish experience for me and I just couldn?t even if I?d wanted to, but since I also hate to cook in general, this worked out fine and I w...
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That pesky fiber requirement
2007-06-12 06:48:00
There?s a commercial on TV that I see once in awhile that advertises one of those ?fiber in a pill? supplements, supposedly meant to help fiber-starved Americans get their daily allotted requirement of 25 grams a day. It cracks me up. It shows a woman continuously chewing on a broccoli stalk, a carrot, and a bran muffin as she moves through her day, working hard (and failing, natch) to cram what she needs into her mouth before the day is up. The message is, ?Who has time to get what you need?? And although those fiber-pill makers would have you think otherwise, the answer is, ?You do? ? with very little effort (and much more cheaply and nutritiously than you can with a pill). Plain and simple, you do not have to continuously nosh on broccoli (without cheese sauce, raw, and as bland tasting as possible) to strain for your fiber requirement, and you don?t have to be vegan or vegetarian, either. Incorporate just a serving of beans or legumes into your diet a day, and you?ll get a good ...
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Veganism or vegetarianism and ?effortless? weight loss/maintenance
2007-06-11 06:29:00
In my previous post, I discussed some of the benefits to the environment that going vegan or vegetarian even part time provides. Committed environmentalists will see the merit in this, but a more immediate and personal effect you might not have considered is that becoming vegan or vegetarian (even partially) is a wonderful, nearly effortless way to help control your weight.With something like 60% or better of the US population overweight or obese, it?s clear that the country has a chronic health problem it needs to address. Of course, the biggest reason for this explosion in obesity is our lack of activity, coupled by a dependence on refined foods, fast food, and high sugar intake. But what if, at least to start, you could ?have your cake and eat it,? too? If you just replaced a high-fat meat-based meal with lots of refined carbs three days a week with a veggie-based one, you?d save yourself anywhere from several hundred to a thousand or more calories a week, boost your fiber intake...
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More on what it means to be a "lazy" vegan
2007-06-10 01:39:00
When it comes to being a ?lazy? vegan, I?m not just talking about cooking. Certainly, I love being a ?lazy? vegan in part because I can have a positive impact on a lot of things without even trying. I love the positive impact it has on the environment (without my even trying), love that it?s a cheap, nutritious, and simple way to eat so that it doesn?t strain my budget (again, without my even trying), but it?s not just that. I?m also talking about being ?lazy,? or more appropriately, laid back, really, about my vegan lifestyle. In other words, I don?t necessarily think everyone should be a vegan. ?What?s that?? you say. Yep, I don?t. See, just like I think I need to be a vegan to be my healthiest, I think some people need just a little meat. I do think we eat too much of it (in America, at least), and we could do ourselves, the environment, and the animals themselves a big favor if we ate less of it. We also need to change our commercial meat production practices in a major way, to ...
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The ramifications of being vegan and its impact on the environment
2007-06-09 01:15:00
With the recent popularity of Al Gore?s ?An Inconvenient Truth,? people are talking continuously about global warming and its dangers. Right now, of course, the focus is on developing alternative sources for fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and this is imperative. We can and should be developing alternative energy sources for homes, cars, places of business, etc. Take Brazil, for example. It runs entirely on its own biofuels; although these fuels are not wholly ?clean burning,? they?re cleaner than fossil fuels are. The U.S. can certainly jump on the same bandwagon; we won?t be dependent on foreign energy sources for our fuel, either, if we can literally grow our own. But if you want to do something now to favorably impact the environment (given that the U.S. is not yet in full swing with biofuels even if individual citizens would like to be), did you know that if you?re vegan or vegetarian, you are already reducing the impact you have on the environment? And even if you red...
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The Lazy Vegan Blog
2007-04-10 04:01:00
Hi, everybody:Well, I'm venturing into the land of bloggers, with this first Lazy Vega n -related blog. I'm doing this in part to get my own creative juices going again. As you know, The Lazy Vegan was originally meant to be a weekly newsletter, which ran out of steam relatively quickly because, as I've said, I truly hate to cook. So while I can occasionally post a recipe here and there, once I ran out of my stash of "tried and true" recipes, I felt like I really didn't have much else to talk about. Hence, the long delay in between newsletters. I appreciate everyone's posts asking me where I'd gone and I have always intended to make the newsletter a regular thing once again.I posted to the newsletter in February, because in fact, I did have a recipe to post, but it's not likely that newsletter postings from here on out will have many recipes. However, I want to use the blog for an ideas exchange with you. Is there anything you would like to talk about or know about that ...
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