I am in Jamaica studying abroad for 5 weeks, and as any vegetarian will tell you, traveling can be rough.
Not so in Jamaica!
Even the Jamaican fast food place, Juici Patties, have soy protein and veggie options. The fruit is fresh and I have not suffered from a lack of fake meats in my diet. The local soy milk is not all that and a bag of chips, but, fried plantains and Bulla (ginger bread with no dairy) more than make up for it. I will try and post some more later about my food adventures here, so stay tuned...

I am in LOVE. I heard "Amy's Non-Dairy Baked Ziti" a few months ago, and I have waited for it to appear in my local Whole Foods freezer case. It never happened. What I didn't notice was that they were stocking a baked ziti meal for kids!. It is so terrific (although not filling at all). This adorable mini-meal comes with a tiny piece of focaccia bread, baked ziti and cheese, broccoli and sauce, and a side dish of apple crisp, and best of all it's Gluten and Dairy free!

I am definitely writing a letter to Amy's letting them know how much I enjoy this product (while also begging them to make an adult size) and I am going to suggest that my Whole Foods carry the baked ziti bowl. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm.

So as you may have noticed, I have arthritis. My particular type of arthritis is called Psoriatic Arthritis and is similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis. Some of you may have heard the buzz around a Swedish study that discovered a vegan diet may help Rheumatoid Arthritis patients, which is amazing! Apparently RA patients are at high risk for heart attacks and strokes, and a vegan diet combined with a gluten free diet has been shown to decrease these risks significantly. While I do not have RA, I am so glad to know that researchers are starting to look at the vegan diet as something GOOD for your health, which may help dispel some of the ridiculous myths out there (like soy milk causing infertility, or the great B12 scare ::sigh::)

Just to let you veggies know, I have created another blog about my struggle with Psoriatic Arthritis, for those who are interested the link is: www.pushingthroughthepain.blogspot.com

According to www.SuperVegan.com, Casa Diablo (Portland's vegan strip club) is currently up for sale after only opening its doors a few months ago. I suppose all you Portland veggies will have to find a new way to spend all of your hard earned cash, perhaps investing in http://www.vegporn.com/ will do the trick.

I apologize for the lapse in vegginess, it has been a crazy month
in school compounded with a Spring Break and some majorly busy weekends. Excuses aside; I do have a bunch to talk about. Mainly my veggie-tastic week-
long trip to Boston.
Now, I do not have the disdain for New England that my
boyfriend has, having grown up in Connecticut, however, I have experienced the
wrath of a Providence and Boston winter before, and let's just say...they are NOT
fun. This particular week, though, the weather was wonderful (despite
one half day of rain). Along with the cooperation of the weather, I
enjoyed the company of my best friend and some of her favorite Vegan
places in Boston.
...and now it's time for the break-down....


TJ Scallywaggles: 487 Cambridge St., Allston- I had
visited TJ's on a previous trip, and they have yet to disappoint. The pizza is
great, and much more eatable than our Gianna's. They also have some amazing
dessert options, and every once in a while an all you can eat vegan pizza
buffet. AMAZING! I was slightly saddened because they ran out of vegan Baklava,
which is probably my favorite dessert in the world, but the awesome veg dude
behind the counter said he would try and make a tray up before I had to leave
Boston if I wanted to stop by in a couple of days. Sadly we were not able to,
but thank you guy for being so nice! I really do like this spot, and if you are
in Boston for even just a few hours one day, check it out.


Grasshopper: 1 North Beacon St., Allston-I am a huge fan
of the PA based bakery "Vegan Treats", and I will never stop drooling over their
selection displayed at Gourmet to Go, HOWEVER, this place has THE best vegan
cake to ever touch my palette. Try the turtle and tell me it isn't something god
herself made, I dare you. The rest of their menu is great too. I enjoy Thai, and
being able to order something off of a Thai menu without having to worry about
fish sauce is a great experience. I would recommend the Mango Thai "chicken"


Passage to India: This place is actually located at 157
Washington St. Salem Mass., and is probably my most favorite thing in Salem (in
close second was an amazing thrift store called "Witch City"). So Salem was a
bit disappointing, and granted we were there in the off season, but this
restaurant was great, They had absolutely no problem confirming that they did
not cook with Ghee, and they also cooked their Garlic Naan without the butter.
The vegetable Pakora was great with the spicy onion chutney. I had the Kabuli
Channa, which is Chickpeas and potatoes cooked with ginger and garlic. It was
great, especially off the lunch specials menu.


Veggie-planet: 47 Palmer St., Cambridge- I loved this
place. It was apparently a well known folk venue back in the day when folk music
ruled the world. Now it is this awesome hole-in-the-wall with amazingly healthy
and large portioned vegan offerings. I had a Thai peanut pizza, and my friend
had the pizza with the kalamata olives, both were great paired with their fresh
squeezed lemonade.

Herrell's: 155 Brighton Ave.,
Allston-It is an ice cream spot,but also a great little coffee joint. They have
good vegan cookies and adorably delicious little vegan tarts, plus free wifi for
those who need the hookup but try to avoid Starbucks.


All in all it was a great trip, and with the help of these lovely
eateries, along with Whole Foods, and a good rubbing of John Harvard's toe,I
managed to gain a few pounds and leave Boston with a better opinion of it than
when I first arrived.

I found this handy little food pyramid when talking with a friend about how vegans get just as much, if not more nutrients than meat eaters.

Why I am Vegan...

I have been a vegetarian for a decade now and a vegan for almost two years.While some people assume I am a huge animal rights person, I do get the occasional inquiry into why I am a vegan. While I enjoy the additional benefits of not eating animals like health and ethics it often surprises people when I explain I am vegan for environmental/economical reasons. "What does eating meat have to do with the environment?" someone might say, to which I would respond "It is pretty simple".... and it is, though it takes a bit of time to explain.

http://www.enviroveggie.com/ puts it this way

Land + Water = Crops
Land + Water + Crops = Livestock

There is not an unlimited amount of land- Fact.
There is not an unlimited amount of water-Fact.
There is not an unlimited amount of crops- Fact.
There is not an unlimited amount of livestock- Fact


By eating meat, humans are using limited resources to create crops. Then additional limited resources plus those crops are used to create livestock. Wouldn’t it make sense to just eat the crops?

The answer is yes.
In the U.S alone, more than 260 million acres of forest has been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals; farmed animals are fed more than 70 percent of the corn, wheat, and other grains grown in the U.S.; and almost half of the water and 80 percent of the agricultural land in the U.S. are used to raise animals for food.
All of this goes on while the World Health Organization calls malnutrition "the silent emergency", and says it is a factor in at least half of the 10.4 million child deaths which occur every year. Cornell scientists have advised that the U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat.
We are not only overusing our own land, but large beef companies are expanding into other countries, ravishing anything that gets in the way.
The Society for the Social Advancement of Education published an article in 2004 that stated "In Central America, 40% of all the rain forests have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years, mostly for cattle pasture. In the process, natural ecosystems, where a variety of plant and animal species thrive, are destroyed and replaced with monoculture grass."

With a vegetarian or vegan diet we can greatly reduce world poverty and also stop destroying land that is so important to our economy.

This is just a very quick summary of the basic reasons I believe being vegan contributes to creating a better world to live in. If you think about it further, a lot of aspects in the meat industry can harm our environment...

What about animal waste?
Its disgusting to think about, but you should the next time you are drinking a tall glass of water. Where does waste run off to? Into our fresh water supply. Waste spills happen all of the time, and fresh water is a resource that takes 10,000 years to rejuvenate.
What about methane?
Yes, cows give off methane. It may seem humorous talking about cows flatulence, however, when a company decides to cut down a rain forest to put in a grazing area for thousands of cows, natural bodily functions become a problem.
Here are the facts according to http://fatknowledge.blogspot.com/

Average car drives 15,000 miles a year and gets 30 mpg (my estimates, might be a little high on the mpg estimate)15,000 miles /30mpg = 500 gallons of gasoline a year * 20 pounds = 10,000 lbs of CO2 a year

Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (source)90 kg * 2.2 lb/kg = 200 lbs of methane * 20 = 4,000 lbs of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases
It's a scary thought but everyone going out there buying a hybrid would do a lot more good just giving up meat.

Then we come to disease.
Mad cow, avian flu, beef recalls... it all relates to bad business practices and the over consumption of meat. Even the recent recall of vegetables relates to improper drainage of meat factories and cattle farms in which the water systems became contaminated.

So I say it is pretty simple...

All this ,and more, is enough for me to ask "is that burger worth it?"
for me;
no it is not.

Vegan on the Go

My newest veggie addiction....

As a student at Temple University I have a few vegan options available to me on campus. There is the Hummus Abe sandwhich at The Noshery sandwhich shop on Broad St., a few falafel carts, and a couple of Korean/Japanese carts that I often frequent. It can, however, be time consuming to wait in line for these veggie friendly places, and therefore I often resort to Odwalla bars and pita chips from the bookstore. At the beginning of last spring semester I wandered into our 7-eleven (probably for a vitamin water and a pretzel, how healthy) and noticed the back shelf filled with vegan friendly options. I pinched myself...I was not dreaming. I then proceeded to grab a "chicken" salad sandwich for $3.25. It was good! I proceeded to try the rest of Moshe's brand sandwiches, and quickly found my favorite to be the seitan steak. I had not been able to stop eating these suckers ever since. I am so happy that a place like 7-eleven is stocking veggie friendly food, but apparently it is only happening in Philadelphia (or so I hear), and it is unsure how permanent the situation could be. So this is a call for all you Philly veggies to try out these sandwiches at the following locations and let 7-eleven know that you want them to permanently carry them.

Moshe's brand can be found at...

16th Street and JFK Boulevard, 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue, Ridge Avenue and Walnut Lane, and Temple University.


UPDATE: Moshe's will be adding their sandwiches to more 7-elevens! The owner of Moshe's (which I learned started with a falafel cart that still exists at 46th and 6th) was quoted as saying, "In May, we'll be expanding the number of locations where you can get Moshe's sandwiches. [The product line] will eventually be in all of them around here. "
Hooray! Now we have to see what we can do about getting similar products in ALL 7-evelens.

Vegan Shoe Guide: Philadelphia

Okay, so I have to admit I am addicted to online shopping, so I often make shoe purchases through the web. I do, however, make it to an occasional shoe or department store where I am always looking for those perfect pair of vegan boots or heels among the sea of leather and suede products ...needless to say it tends to overwhelm a veggie girl. So here are some ideas for those of you in the Philly area, and also those of you just getting into cruelty-free shoes...

First I would like to give some tips on buying vegan shoes :

1) Do not be afraid to ASK: I have found that, in sneaker stores especially, there is an online catalog of the types of sneakers a store carries that the clerk can tap into. These catalogs almost always give the materials used to make the shoes, and I have not run across a clerk yet who simply refused to check in on a pair for me.

2) Know where to look: There are 3 common places where materials can be listed on a shoe. The first is on the tongue area, the second by the heel, and for dress shoes they are often printed on the outside bottom of the shoe, so keep your eyes peeled.

3)Know what to look for: Many companies have common symbols such as:

For leather


For sooth leather


For textile (veggie friendly)



For "other materials" (this can get a bit sticky for us veggies. While this often means rubber or something along those lines, it is almost impossible to get this confirmed, so be weary)


I have been somewhat successful in buying shoes in Philadelphia, and here are some of my experiences;

DSW: 101 Rte 73 S Marlton, NJ
It is always a hit or miss at DSW, but I always find at least a few non-canvass/converse-style sneaker options here. A few brands I have run across that DSW keeps in constant supply include M.u.d.d and the occasional pair vegan Pumas. As far as dress shoes go, there are usually ballet flats or something of the sort, as long as you look at the tags you can usually find something. Of course a big issue with DSW is it also requires transportation, and seeing as I do not own a car, I do not frequent there very often.

Nine West: 1455 Franklin Mills Cir Philadelphia, PA 19154
Because this is an outlet store, it is not a guarantee that a certain type of shoe, or your size, will be in stock. In fact, your size probably won't be in stock, but when it is you will be so excited about how easy it was to get non-leather shoes at a discount. This is because they clearly write "Leather" or "Synthetic" on the outside of their boxes. The store is definitely worth checking out if you planned on outlet shopping for a day.

Target:
There has been a recent rumor that Target has been skimping on the veggie selection as of late. I have not experienced this, probably because I buy from Target online as there is a better selection. If you would like to venture out to the closest Target to center city Philadelphia head on down to 179 Mifflin St., which is in the same area of a Payless and a Marshalls if you are budget shopping.

Macy's:
Not a lot of options here, but if you search hard enough it IS possible to indulge in Macy's footwear. While, in my opinion, Jessica Simpson has not done anything consisting of great talent musically, she DOES however have a shoe line that has a few veggie options. Props to Jess. here are two of my favorite pairs that I saw on a recent trip to the Macy's on 1300 Market St.



"Midnight Stretch" for $110






"Women's Felysee" for $69.99

Payless: I am constantly buying shoes at payless, and I actually have a full review on them here.


As far as supporting small vegan businesses in Philadelphia, I sadly do not know of anyone who carries a shoe line. If you want to buy from some of my favorite online veggie friendly shops, I have listed a few below:



http://www.mooshoes.com/ My boyfriend uses this site to get his dress shoes, they are very stylish although a bit pricey. They also have a great selection of women's footwear, and are 100% vegan.

I have not actually bought shoes from http://www.veganessentials.com/ , but I have bought makeup and various other items. They have an okay selection, and they are a little better in price than mooshoes.


http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/ is my favorite place to buy vegan shoes and bags. They are always having sales so you can get some really great deals here.


UPDATE: Thanks to an anonymous poster, and my double checking, I have confirmed that Essene Food market DOES have a variety of nice vegan shoes (as well as a really great hot food bar that I highly suggest). Here is their link to the department... http://www.essenemarket.com/index.php?page=72

Portland or Bust

So, as you may or may not know, a few months back Portland Oregon opened up a strip mall made up of all vegan businesses. It already had a plethora of vegan food and clothing stores and the mall sealed the deal, making it king of vegan living. A while ago I also heard a rumor about Portland; along with being in the most beautiful part of the U.S., it holds the record for the greatest number of strip clubs per capita. So it should not be a surprise when someone had the bright idea of combining veganism and a strip club in this grande 'ol city ... and gosh darn it if this dude didn't set it up...


http://www.supervegan.com/blog/entry.php?id=999#more

Anyone for a road trip?

Good Times at the Punk Rock Flea Market

Over winter break a friend of mine asked if I would keep him company at his table for the Punk Rock Flea Market that is held twice a year in Philadelphia. I agreed, although I was clueless to just how much fun it would be.

The market itself was setup in the Starlight Ballroom , which was quite small for the insane amount of people who show up to this event. My lucky vegan self just so happened to be situated in between two of her favorite things; Vegan baked goods and a flamboyant pseudo celebrity.

The "Food Not Bombs" people kept me in constant supply of earl grey tea cookies, and the winner of Project Runways season 1, Jay Mccarroll, kept me in stitches all day. Jay is a vegetarian and we were able to talk about his line and how he chooses to be cruelty free as a designer. While we had a little too much to drink (Matt and I with our bootlegged screwdrivers, Jay with the flat Lagers he was downing), it was a great experience to see and meet some new people and talk about our similar ideas of veggie ethics.

By the end of the day I had; met a celebrity, eaten a ton of vegan goodies, made about $120, and bought some really great unique crafts, photos and a painting. I will certainly attempt to go to the next flea market, and I will keep all you veggies posted when I hear about it.

Philadelphia Eating Guide: Part II

For Part 1 Click here

Kindom of Vegetarians (Chinese) Location: 129 N 11th St
Price: Typical Chinese food pricing, $10 all-you-can-eat Dim Sum

Pros: Very delicious, very affordable Chinese food. They have lunch specials, and the dim sum is fantastic. Their mock meats are amazing, and I can not get enough of their dumplings. You can bring your own wine and have a nice meal for two, or you can bring your whole family.
Cons: It is not a particularly fancy joint

Doobies (American bar) Location: The corner of 22nd and Lombard
Price $5-6 for food, $9 pitchers of Lager
Pros: Great neighborhood bar! The owner always has something going on, whether its fundraising or gifts baskets for animals rights causes. They do not purchase Canadian products because of seal clubbing, and they ALWAYS have something for us vegans to eat on the menu. The veggie burger and pita pizza are always available, but check out the board for their daily specials. Veg items are marked in red and can range from Thai pasta salad to vegan chili. Also check out their jukebox, it is definitely a favorite.
Cons: Not many, sometimes I manage to get there when they just range out of vegan soup or hummus sandwiches, but as I said, there are always options available.

Monk's Cafe (Belgian) Location: 16th and Spruce
Price: Veggie Burger w. vegan Aoli $8.25
Pros: GREAT selection of beers, usually has a few more vegan entree options, good atmosphere
Cons: Way to busy. If you are going for dinner expect to wait since they do not take reservations. It is a bit pricey, but they have interesting beers you can not easily find in most bars.

Nodding Head (American brew pub) Location: 1516 Sansom St.
Price: $7.50-$10 for food Beer averages $5 a pint
Pros: Quite a few delicious vegan options including seitan stew, white beans and sage with pita, and of course a veggie burger. This place is owned by the same people as Monk's, but has a neighborhood feel to it. There is a dart board and a decent jukebox, and there is never a wait.
Cons: Beer is a bit pricey and rumored to not be vegan

Grace Tavern (neighborhood bar) Location: 2229 Gray's Ferry Ave
Price: $7.50 or so

Pros: Again owned by the same people that brought us Nodding Head and Monk's, this place is a tiny version of the two smashed together. It is small and smokey, but the veggie burger is good and you never have to wait (unless it's because the waitress is in the back and didn't realize someone actually came in).

Cons: The only time it gets busy is sporting events, and there is only one T.V.- doesn't make much sense to me, but whatever.

Gianna's & Gianna Jrs (American Italian) Locations: 507 South 6th Street & 106 South 20th Street

Price: $5-$15
Pros: They make a decent tomato pie as long as the person you are ordering from knows that a tomato pie is not just a pizza without cheese (which happened once to us), they also have vegan cheese pizzas and a various assortment of toppings. They have an entire veggie menu.
Cons: While the veggie menu is large, not a lot of it is all that good. Maybe it is because I never liked greasy cheesteaks before, but I would stay away from their sandwich list if I were you. Also, while their desserts are good they had some shady business with blatantly stealing the recipes from my favorite vegan bakery Vegan Treats. For shame.

Mad Mex (Mexican American) Location: 3401 Walnut Street

Price: $8-$10
Pros: Many options for us veggies, and they have a delicious tofu sour cream.
Cons: It can get busy and because it is not totally vegan you have to double check your order and your food once you get it. I had a friend order a tofu burrito and get chicken, so watch out.

Gourmet to Go (Mostly American) Location: At the corner of Broad and South St.
Price: $5-$9 per sand which
Great place to get that Vegan cake or cheesteak you've been craving. Previously Reviewed under "Veg. Spotlight"

Govinda's (Upscale: Indian, American, Italian) Location: At the corner of Broad and South St.
Price $15-$20 per entree
Great place to bring a bottle of wine and have a romantic dinner.Previously Reviewed under "Veg. Spotlight"

Horizons (Tropical/Mediterranean) Location: 611 S. 7th St
Price: $17-$20 per entree
Expensive, but the best upscale vegan restaurant in town. Previously reviewed under "Veg. Review"

Sorry for the lapse...

but I am back!