6 Reasons Why People Become Vegetarian

While there is no one single form of vegetarianism, what all forms have in common is a lifestyle that abstains from the consumption of meat, fish, and poultry. One the more moderate end lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat both dairy and egg foods and products. On the other extreme there are the vegans who do not eat or use any animal byproduct, (i.e. meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, honey, leather products…etc.). In between these two extremes are ovo-vegetarians, who eat eggs but not dairy, and lacto-vegetarians, who eat dairy but not eggs.

The reasons people become vegetarian are many. It could be due to religious/spiritual reasons, like me with Buddhism, or for political, health, ethical, environmental, practical, or aesthetic reasons. Here’s a brief rundown. Continue reading “6 Reasons Why People Become Vegetarian”

Weekly Meal Plan – Low-Fat Raw Vegan

Complex combinations of food and raw food recipes are time consuming to prepare and extremely difficult to digest, so I choose to keep my diet very simple. I enjoy a low-fat, raw vegan diet consisting mostly of monomeals, so the following meal plan may seem a bit bland for you. As you progress on your raw journey, however, you will appreciate and even desire more simple meals. Remember, be kind to your bodytransition at your own pace.

Keeping your diet simple also allows you to spend more time and energy on other aspects of your life, such as fitness, work, and play. Many raw foodists spend enormous amounts of time in the kitchen dehydrating or sprouting this and that. Arent you relieved that you dont have to spend so much time preparing meals or loads of energy cleaning your kitchen after youve used just about every food processor or kitchen gadget you have? Continue reading “Weekly Meal Plan – Low-Fat Raw Vegan”

Broccoli Chatpata, a Healthy Way to Cook a Tasty Dish

Broccoli is very healthy in terms of nutrition. It has got vitamin C, one of the important vitamins that we require in our day to day nutritious diet. It is rich in fiber and also posses some anti cancer properties. In short it’s very healthy vegetable that’s available in market. I would say no other vegetable comes close to broccoli in terms of nutrition. This plant looks like a cabbage. Cabbage has white flower head instead of green.

May be this the reason, the vegetable”broccoli’ evokes a negative response from almost all the food lovers. At least in my experience…

We tried to grow broccoli in our garden but due to very hot summer, this year we couldn’t succeed. This vegetable does not like hot weather. Best time to grow broccoli is from early fall to late spring. Continue reading “Broccoli Chatpata, a Healthy Way to Cook a Tasty Dish”

Vegetarianism – Is it Really a Big Deal?

I have been a vegetarian since birth if I can say and so are thousands of people who were born in Brahmin community like me. In Hinduism, we are divided into different groups originally based on profession. Brahmins were typically the educated ones and were expected to teach others and were also priests. As the society evolved, Brahmins took up wider professions like minister, banker, business etc. Some say that in the Vedic period Brahmins were allowed to eat the meat of sacrificed animals. Then with the spread of Buddhism and Jainism, in order to slow down the conversions to these religions, Ahimsa or non-violence was being spread as the key message of Hinduism as well. Following this, several Hindus, especially Brahmins became vegetarian and this was not a particularly difficult change because they were only allowed to have sacrificial meat anyway and not other meat so it was not a big part of their life. This is also not to say all Brahmins are vegetarian as some remained meat/fish eaters. As far as I am concerned, I mean no harm to animals and am a vegetarian. Now, why am I talking about Hinduism, Brahmins and vegetarian? Reason is that to me it is a bit of a surprise to see people being warned about the ‘pitfalls’ of becoming vegetarian while that has been the way of life for me and for my ancestors with no second thoughts. Also a quick look at where I come from may help you understand why I am surprised. If you have ever been to India, especially southern India, you will find more vegetarian restaurants than non-vegetarian and typically the non-vegetarian ones will say so explicitly on their name board. On the contrary I am yet to come across a vegetarian restaurant in the western world where I live. Continue reading “Vegetarianism – Is it Really a Big Deal?”

Vegan Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Over the summer, I got serious about getting healthy and losing weight. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. A few minor changes, and I’ve lost almost 20 pounds since June! Yet, slowly but surely, as the holidays creep up, I have abandoned some of my healthy habits. So, in an effort to stave off the negative effects of a month of festive bingeing, I’m doing a two week health kick between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because I’m not going to have desserts for two weeks, I’ve been squeezing in sweets wherever possible; cookies with afternoon tea, good dark chocolate after dinner, and plenty of Thanksgiving pie. Breakfast is the easiest meal to turn into dessert, especially with vegan chocolate chunk muffins.

Muffins have always seemed a special occasion breakfast to me, but I am continually amazed at how quick and easy so many foods are. I whipped up these muffins in half an hour and what was an average Wednesday morning suddenly felt like a special occasion! Continue reading “Vegan Chocolate Chunk Muffins”

Vegan Chewy Overnight Oats

If you would like a heartier, chewier overnight oats, then the secret is in the type of oats you select. In this case, you should choose steel cut oats!

Steel cut oats are the least processed of the oat groat so that it retains the bran. Rolled oats are much more processed which makes for a softer or, in my opinion, mushier oatmeal.

When I first used steel cut oats in this recipe, I thought perhaps it would turn out a little too tough to chew, but then I made another version using rolled oats and hated the mushy texture. So steel cut oats for me is the way to go.

Here’s a recipe chock-full of healthful ingredients that make for a filling breakfast or satisfying meal anytime of the day.

Continue reading “Vegan Chewy Overnight Oats”

Vegetarian Celebrities Opt for Cruelty-Free Living

As it turns out, some of your favorite celebrities may also be vegetarians. Pamela Anderson, Paul McCartney, Alicia Silverstone, Moby and Andre 3000 of Outkast are among the many vegetarian celebrities who decided to stop eating meat because of the harm that factory farming does to animals, our health and the planet.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney said he was first turned on to animal rights as a child. Disney movies like Bambi and Dumbo instilled in him a belief that animal cruelty is a bad idea. He once said, “If you think of Bambi, its mum gets killed by a hunter and I think that made me grow up thinking hunting isn’t cool”.

McCartney decided to finally make the move to vegetarianism when he and his wife Linda were eating a meal of lamb and happened to see lambs frolicking in a field. This experience helped him make the connection between the food on his plate and living, sentient animals. Continue reading “Vegetarian Celebrities Opt for Cruelty-Free Living”

A Vegan’s View of Star Trek

The first passion I ever had in my life was Star Trek. That show with the silly costumes and the weird aliens contained so much intelligence that people were able to go beyond the 60’s hairstyles and the flashy uniforms to get to the message. It helped me when my parents were fighting, gave me an escape from being an isolated teen, you name it. Star Trek taught me about ethics, tolerance, etc… Many fans can relate. Star Trek fans, in fact, were my first “family”. They took me in and accepted me, therefore reducing my own social alienation and I met my first Vegetarian and Vegan friends. That was the early 90s.

Thirty years later, I am a passionate and relentless Vegan. It is my lifestyle, my raison d’etre. I consider Veganism the path humans have to take to evolve spiritually, physically, mentally. It is the only sustainable way we will be continuing on this planet. So how does Star Trek fit into this? Continue reading “A Vegan’s View of Star Trek”

The Vegetarian’s Survival Guide to Christmas

Christmas is a time of indulgence. For some this seems to be about consuming as much meat as possible. Whenever I read through Christmas cookbooks, I notice an inordinate amount of recipes that seem to include cooking every animal under the sun. So if you are a vegetarian, this time of year can be tricky for you. You may come under a lot of pressure to eat meat, or people may give you a hard time when they notice you are not eating meat. Or perhaps you are worried about what to cook or whether you will go hungry – especially if you are to be a guest in someone else’s house. These issues can be particularly tricky if you only recently became vegetarian. Hopefully the following will make your vegetarian Christmas a happy time for all.

Dealing with the pressure Continue reading “The Vegetarian’s Survival Guide to Christmas”

Vegetarian Gourmet Recipes – Meatless Makeovers

Three years ago I decided to go “meatless.” It wasn’t a difficult decision as I wasn’t a voracious carnivore to begin with, however there were a few dishes that I missed that contained meat and wondered how I was going to live without these favorites.

Rather than resign myself to the notion that these dishes could never be converted over to a meatless status, I decided to pull myself up by my vegetarian bootstrings (cotton, of course), and see if I could find a way to convert these meat-ies to meatless.

The first was my Grammy’s recipe for American Chop Suey, actually, almost everyone’s Grammy made this or some variation of it. I tried different ways but this one comes the closest:

Meatless American Chop Suey Continue reading “Vegetarian Gourmet Recipes – Meatless Makeovers”