To the New Vegan . . .

Recently, I have been approached by more and more people who are interested in adopting a vegan lifestyle for themselves and for their family. (That’s a good sign! Awareness is the first step!) A good portion of their requests sound like this person's email: “Due to my husband’s health problems, we have decided to become vegans. I’m the one who does the cooking in the family. I am, however, at a loss for how to begin.  What do I buy? What do I not buy? How do I plan meals around a vegan regimen of eating? How do I make the dishes? And would you please share some recipes with me that I can begin with?” I am so very happy to share this information that has been shared with me over the past 36, almost 37 years, that I have been a vegan. (One caveat: I am not a doctor, and I don’t have a degree in nutrition, but I have remained acutely aware of research, and continue to be an avid student of nutrition and the healthy body. This blog, as all blogs are, is only my opinion. And one more thing: I trust my intuition, and as the medical community fluctuates back and forth, warning me of the dangers of certain foods or eating regimens, and then rescinding those warnings, I stick with my knowledge from trusted members of the health community and my intuition … and in retrospect, my intuition has been very accurate!) For example, at this posting (October 2013) I am 62 years old and my latest cardiac calcium score was “0” Yes, I said “zero”. My latest bone scan showed that my bone density is exceptional, I do not catch colds or flu. My blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. is within optimal range. I say this, not to brag, but to demonstrate that a vegan lifestyle pays off – for the vegan and for the planet. And if you are wondering if there is “any hope” for a person who has “bad” or borderline and worsening  results on their tests, never fear. (Check out, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Nutrition-Based Cure,  by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. M.D.)  Many years ago, my husband had an executive physical at Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, supervised by Dr. Moriano, Bill Clinton’s former Whitehouse Physician. After extensive testing, results in hand, she read him the riot act.  She told him that his numbers were borderline, his weight was too high, and if he continued the way he had been, he was headed toward serious, life-threatening health problems. He listened, and has her to thank for the changes he made. He returned for a second executive physical the next year. They called him the “poster child” of health improvement. He credits Dr. Moriano with successfully delivering a wake-up call and saving his health and, his life. His numbers had normalized to within the healthy range. He is a practicing vegan today, and cannot see himself ever going back to an unhealthy lifestyle. So, there’s my proof that bad health factors can be reversed.   There are so many vegan blogs and websites. I encourage you to surf the web and find the ones that you wish to follow. If you like my blog, know that I am delighted to answer your questions to share knowledge, and to exchange ideas with you. (As teenagers often say, “No haters, please.”) I hope that this blog brings some light to your quest.

 

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: This blog is not a substitute for professional advice. Make sure you check with your doctor before beginning any new health regimen. (Besides, if you keep your records of test results, it’s always great to see the “Before” and “After” differences.)  I hope you can find a GOOD doctor -- one that keeps up-to-date with “cutting edge,” latest research. If your doctor belittles what you say, and/or doesn’t listen to you, you may be in need of finding a doctor who understands.  My husband and I have a great doctor who listens.  I found him by searching the internet and making an appointment for both of us, then listening to what he had to say and observing if he was really listening to us. You will know when you have found the right doctor.  Suzanne Somers, author of 24 books on health and medicine, named a “health pioneer” (by Oprah Winfrey), “crazy smart” (by Dr. Mehmet Oz), and, personally,  my hero for her relentless work in bringing the truth to the public about bioidentical hormones, and other health issues, says the following: “At present, our medical schools are teaching fifty-year-old medicine. Every disease and every condition has a pill attached to it. If you look around at our senior generation, you see for yourselves that they are not doing very well on all the pills they have been given over the years. It’s a cruel hoax: they trusted and they believed that medicine knew best.  We get confused because we have been raised to believe doctors are supposed to know everything. That’s a lot of pressure for your doctor …. Doctors are good people we hire to take care of our bodies. But they are not in charge of our bodies…that is our responsibility…. Empower yourself with information about how your body works: it will allow you to discuss your health intelligently with your doctor.” (from Author Interview, “I’m Too Young for This!”, Life Extension, p.59)  

 

 

So, here goes, my opinions and  humble response to the question –

“Due to my husband’s health problems, we have decided to become vegans. I’m the one who does the cooking in the family. I am, however, at a loss for how to begin.  What do I buy? What do I not buy? How do I plan meals around a vegan regimen of eating? How do I prepare the dishes, and how do I make the dishes inviting and delicious? And would you please share some recipes with me that I can begin with?”

1.       First of all, relax.
The human body is a true miracle. Recent science has discovered that, armed with the proper nutrients (and none of the “improper” ones, ) the body has an amazing ability to repair itself, and it is pretty good about reversing a lot of long term damage that was formerly believed to be permanent.  Mother Earth’s Bounty is at your feet!  You will find, as many vegans attest, that your taste buds begin to wake up. (My husband used to say to me, “Wow! I used to hate butternut squash, any squash!  But, this tastes so good!” Actually he gave me the credit for being such a good cook, when it was really Mother Earth that provided all the flavors. They had always been there – it was just that his taste buds were waking up.) It’s important to keep trying vegetables and fruits that you thought you didn’t like, because you may find that you’ve changed your mind. Becoming a vegan brings about a change of paradigm, a positive change. You begin to look at the world differently.  It takes a little bit of effort in the beginning, and then it just becomes part of your identity once a little bit of time passes. One thing I know for sure: you are doing something wonderful for someone you love, and for yourself. You are not only extending quantity of life (It has been estimated that a vegan lifestyle can extend a life thirteen plus years), you are extending quality of  life. It’s the ultimate act of love you can give. For me, the actual number of years that I live is not important, but it is rather the quality of those years that is most important to me. If medical science can extend my life by ten years with pills and machines, but I spend those years in terrible discomfort, I gain nothing. But if being a vegan makes last ten years of my life much more livable, much more comfortable, that is important to me. T. Colin Campbell says that, wholistically considered, in some cases, illness may be as much as 98% determined by diet.

“There is also evidence from human subjects, which you can read in depth in The China Study, that supports the idea that the foods we eat and the nutrition they provide is far more important in determining cancer than our genetic backgrounds. Population studies begun forty to fifty years ago show that when people migrate from one country to another, they acquire the cancer rate of the country to which they move, despite the fact that their genes remain the same. This strongly indicates that at least 80 percent to 90 percent – and probably closer to 97 percent to 98 percent – of all cancers are related to diet and lifestyle, not to genes.” (p. 129, Whole, T. Colin Campbell)

     You haven’t said exactly what health problems your husband has, but I can probably guess what problems exist, because they are the same problems that exist with anyone who eats the Standard American Diet (appropriately abbreviated SAD – and most of what “standard” Americans eat is truly sad). His problems probably stem from one or more of four major effects of eating animal products. (Animal products include animal flesh: mammals, birds, fish – in essence, any living thing that has a face or could be somebody’s mother; animal products: anything extracted from or coming from the body of the aforementioned animals: lactation fluid of cows and other mammals, ova from birds and other animals, honey or pollen stolen from bees, etc.) 50% of Americans have heart disease at an advanced enough stage for it to be diagnosed. By this time, an “event” has usually triggered a trip to the hospital or to the doctor’s office, and the heart disease is more advanced.  We know that the number of people suffering from heart disease is much higher than 50%.  Autopsies done on children who have died in car accidents, show that, in recent years, heart disease is detectable in small children. Your husband may or may not have diabetes, or may suffer from what doctors label as “pre-diabetic” syndrome, insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes type 2. This means that his body is not utilizing (i.e. it is resisting) the insulin that is produced and the glucose in his bloodstream is climbing uncontrollably.  Pharmaceuticals add (synthetic) insulin, but the root of the problem keeps causing the same situation, meaning you are no healthier, you have probably just added several side effects, for which more pills with more side effects are prescribed. William Davis, M.D. in his book Wheat Belly, warns against the diet prescribed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for sufferers of diabetes. “Years ago, I used the ADA diet in diabetic patients.  Following the carbohydrate intake advice of the ADA, I watched patients gain weight, experiencing deteriorating blood glucose control and increased need for medication and develop diabetic complications such as kidney disease and neuropathy.” He is telling us not to trust an American health-related institution!  Dr. Davis is very brave.  He is risking the big-pharma - medical - insurance cartel going after his license. I may be wrong, but I would guess that Davis is not a vegan (yet!), but he does devote a few words to us, in reference to a gluten-free diet. “Vegetarians will, admittedly have a bit tougher job, particularly strict vegetarians and vegans who avoid eggs, dairy, and fish. But it can be done. Strict vegetarians need to rely more heavily on nuts, nut meals, seeds, nut and seed butters, and oils; avocadoes and olives; and may have a bit more leeway with carbohydrate-containing beans, lentils, chickpeas, wild rice, chia seed, sweet potatoes and yams. If nongenetically modified soy products can be obtained, then tofu,  and the fermented forms of soy, tempeh, and natto can provide another rich source of protein.” (I had to look up “natto” because I have never eaten it. I understand it’s pretty nasty smelling and tasting, but is supposed to be very healthy.) He also does not mention the radically changed nutrient composition of legumes and seeds that have been sprouted. (Soaked for a few hours.)  (For informations on sprouting, see Steve Meyerowitz’s books, including:  Sprouts, The Miracle Food, Sproutman’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook, and Sprouts The Miracle Food, as well as Sprout Garden, by Mark M. Braunstein.)  If one were to do a little “medical equation,” it might look like this: high blood pressure + insulin resistance + abdominal obesity + cholesterol abnormalities + tendency towards increased clotting = metabolic syndrome, or Syndrome X. Actually, the  guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the American Heart Association (AHA) state any three of the following constitute Syndrome X:

·                     Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference of 102 cm (40 in) or more in men and 88 cm (35 inches) or more in women. For Asian Americans, the cutoff values are ≥90 cm (35 in) in men or ≥80 cm (32 in) in women

·                     Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.

·                     HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.

·                     Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.

·                     Fasting blood glucose of 100 mg/dl or above.
(From: http://www.medicinenet.com/metabolic_syndrome/article.htm)

Dr. Davis has not blamed meat for diabetes, but, many other health experts have. T Colin Campbell, in speaking of the rapidity of effects of a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet, says, “The speed at which most nutritional benefits appear when switching to a WFPB diet is jaw-dropping. Diabetics must be monitored from the very first day they adopt the diet, so their meds can be reduced as the diet takes effect.  Otherwise they’re in real danger of having their blood sugar drop low enough to send them into hypoglycemic shock.” (p. 17, Whole, by T. Colin Campbell, kindle version) Another doctor who speaks of this is Dr. Gabriel Cousens who in the DVD, Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, carefully monitors the participants, and lowers and removes a multitude  of prescription medications. He also has a book about curing (yes “curing”) diabetes.  In my opinion, anyone with diabetes needs to get this book. (There Is a Cure for Diabetes, Revised Edition: The 21-Day+ Holistic Recovery Program by Gabriel Cousens M.D., Sandra Rose Michael PhD DNM and Brian R. Clement PhD NMD (Apr 9, 2013) I read the earlier edition a few years ago, cover-to-cover, not because I had diabetes, but because I wanted to prevent ever having it. It’s a heart-breaking illness that steals your personality – your thoughts, your memory, -- your health,  and eventually your life. )  Search Amazon for the plethora of Dr. Cousens’ books. (Conscious Eating, Rainbow-Green Live Food Cuisine, etc.) They are all treasures.

 

Or, your husband may have been diagnosed with “the C-word”.  The statistics are staggering:

One in three woman, and one in two men will get cancer in their lifetime.

(From: http://www.forecancerresearch.org/cancerfacts.aspx)

Is there a pill that everyone can take that will cure all of this, make everything bad go away?  Sorry, the bad news is : NO.

Now the good news: I cannot say this any better than T. Colin Campbell, in his new book, Whole. He asks the reader to imagine that the Whole Food Plant-Based way of eating (WFPB) were a pill:

“Just how healthy is the WFPB diet? Let’s pretend that all its effects could be achieved through a drug. Imagine a big pharmaceutical company holding a press conference to unveil a new pill called Eunutria. They unveil a list of scientifically proven effects of Eunutria that includes the following:

·         Prevents 95 percent of all cancers, including those “caused” by environmental toxins

·         Prevents nearly all heart attacks and strokes

·         Reverses even severe heart disease

·         Prevents and reverses Type 2 diabetes so quickly and profoundly that after three days on this drug, it’s dangerous for users to continue to use insulin

 

“What about side effects, you ask? Of course there are side effects. They include:

·         Gets you to your ideal weight in a healthy and sustainable fashion

·         Eliminates most migraines, acne, colds and flu, chronic pain, and intestinal distress

·         Improves energy

·         Cures erectile dysfunction (that makes the pill a blockbuster success all by itself!)

 

“Those are just the side effects for individuals taking the pill.  There are also environmental effects:

·         Slows and possibly reverses global warming

·         Reduces groundwater contamination

·         Ends the need for deforestation

·         Shuts down the factory farms

·         Reduces malnutrition and dislocation among the world’s poorest citizens”

Unfortunately for the pill-poppers, there isn’t a pill like Eunutria that will eliminate all or most of the health problems we human beings have.

Fortunately, this can actually be accomplished with a Whole Food Plant Based eating regimen. Just recently, Tom Hanks appeared on a talk show, confessed that he had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and was told by his doctor that he didn’t have to be diabetic. All he would have to do was to change his eating habits, add a little regular exercise and get down to a lower weight. When Tom Hanks was asked what he was going to do, he said that he guessed he was going to have diabetes!  (You can’t fool me, Tom Hanks. You are too smart for that! That was funny, BUT, you have set a bad example for the rest. You lost weight for Philadelphia and Castaway. You’ve done it before and you will do it again. By the way, you look suspiciously thinner as of late! Have you adopted a vegan diet? Hmmm.)

2.       Know your motivation. Remind yourself every day WHY you are doing this. Read the statistics on the longevity of a vegan. Read the results of real, non-biased  studies on the beneficial health effects of a Whole Food Plant Based Diet. (Remember, the companies that want to sell you expensive pills that only mask the symptoms and never cure the disease will only fund and publish the research that serves their profit margin. Can you imagine the profit loss  that a cure for cancer would cause to Big-Pharma, the foundations, hospitals, etc. that deal with cancer? Another thing I always keep in mind is that the pharmaceuticals are huge advertising investors in the media, as well as in lobbying in Congress. Television, radio, internet, newspapers, and other forms of media must not anger their major investors by preventing research which adversely affects the profit margin of these major investors. So, be careful, and do not believe everything you hear or read. Also, there is no benefit for the pharmaceuticals in researching a natural substance, because you can’t patent Nature. If their goal is to increase profit, why would they ever research something natural?)
 
Dr. Joel Fuhrman, in his book Eat to Live, states:
“Remember, long-term vegans (strict vegetarians who consume no dairy or other foods of animal origin) almost never get heart attacks. If you have heart disease or a strong family history of heart disease, you should consider avoiding all animal-based products.  To quote a respected authority, William Castelli, M.D. director of the famed Framingham Heart Study in Massachusetts:

‘We tend to scoff at vegetarians, but they’re doing much better than we are. Vegans have cholesterol levels so low, they almost never get heart attacks.  Their average blood cholesterol is about 125 and we’ve never seen anyone in the Framingham study have a heart attack with a level below 150.’

“The research shows that those who avoid meat and dairy have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. The data is conclusive: vegetarians live longer in America, probably a lot longer.”

(From Eat to Live, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, pp. 91-92, Revised edition, 2011, Little, Brown and Co.)
On a YouTube lecture by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, I heard him say that vegans that eat nuts and seeds live even longer than vegans who don’t.

3.       Begin with a simple approach. Mother Nature is magnificent!  Everything we need to be healthy is provided on plants and trees by Mother Earth. It is all natural, colorful, alive and none of it is made in a laboratory! It is all grown naturally.  I have heard it said many times that our DNA structure is a 99.7% match with that of the chimpanzee’s DNA structure. Chimpanzees and gorillas are vegans. They eat leaves and flowers and the fruits of plants. They are healthy and muscular and they never eat meat. Elephants and hippos are also vegans.  They have magnificent muscles and strength. So, don’t worry about knowing all the answers to the questions immediately. Many years ago Frances Moore Lappe wrote a book entitled Diet for a Small Planet.  The book warned vegans and vegetarians that they needed to structure a diet that combined the eight essential amino acids (the essential building blocks of protein that the body cannot produce on its own) in the same meal. Because I am a 36-year, almost 37-year vegan I remember the old days of making sure that I had eaten a grain and a legume in each meal. Later, Frances Moore Lappe published an updated edition of her book, stating that the body stores amino acids for years ( I believe it was five years.) and as long as you keep eating foods with those essential amino acids in them, the body will pull from its own stores when needed. So, if you buy that book, make sure you get a recent edition. The gorillas, and the chimpanzees, the elephants and the hippos cannot read books, and yet, eating from Mother Nature’s Bounty, they are perfectly healthy. How can you start simply? When I am asked, “What can I read,” “How can I get started? I am a bit overwhelmed with all of the information out there and I don’t know where to begin with cooking a vegan diet. I am sure that you are no stranger to vegetables, even if you recognize them because you have passed them by so many times in the store. Think vegetables, fruits. Begin by preparing a rich, flavorful salad at every meal. Make those greens, deep green, and leafy! Include as many colors as you can in your salad: green, purple, red, yellow, orange, etc. – each color has its own special contribution of nutrients. Dr. Joel Fuhrman says that salad should be the main course of the meal. Regardless, start figuring out how many vegetables you can eat raw. You are eating living food.  It is alive with enzymes that replenish your body’s supply. “FACT: Enzyme production in adults drops 13% for every 10 years we age. For example, a 70-year-old has only 25% of the enzymes present in a 20-year-old, resulting in failing digestive system that absorbs too few nutrients. Without enzymes, breakdowns start to occur. Our body becomes overwhelmed. We age, not just because another year goes by, but because we no longer have the key enzyme controllers that keep us vital.”
From: (http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/enzyme-supplementation#axzz2hjKtCi23)
Live food, eaten raw or heated at 105 degrees F. or below contains living enzymes. If food is heated beyond that temperature, the enzymes are destroyed. Enzymes are responsible for a myriad of functions in the body. A lot of vegans strive to eat at least half of their food raw, and the other half cooked. Some achieve 75-25, and there are some who achieve  100% raw. Even if you cannot conceive of ever going 100% raw, promise yourself that you will always incorporate a variety of raw food in every meal. When you are ready to go beyond a rich and luscious salad, start searching for raw foods cookbooks which teach you how to make eye-pleasing, mouth-watering raw dishes. At this point, you will long for a high-speed Vitamix blender.  It makes superior green smoothies, and soups, and does not extract the fiber from the fruits and veggies, the way a juicer does. When you add just enough fruit, and maybe a little stevia along with greens and other veggies, it will look green, will nourish you ,  but also will taste fruity. If you add blueberries to the mix, it will look purple, it will be “green”, and it will still taste yummy.  It’s a great way to start the day with lots of nutrients. The book Green Smoothie Revolution  and the book Green for Life, both by Victoria Boutenko, will give you many recipes and ideas, as well as a basic knowledge of why raw foods are so vital. Then, you will probably begin to wish for a food dehydrator – more about that later. As far as keeping the cooking process simple, my approach is to avoid frying foods.  For cooked foods, bake instead.  The key to “spiffing up” dishes is to learn to make some of your favorite sauces, vegan style of course. My husband loves Sriracha sauce, so I flavor a small amount of eggless mayonnaise with a teaspoon of sriracha to put on burgers, breaded cutlets, and in sandwiches. Vary your homemade salad dressing for your salads.  Eat to Live has some great recipes for some different salad dressings. Serve seitan cutlets or chickpea cutlets with mushroom gravy (Vegan Vittles). Becoming a confident vegan cook is as easy as learning a new recipe once or twice a week, building up a pantry of supplies and eventually acquiring a few appliances that you may not already have, such as a food processor, a high-speed blender (Vitamix), a dehydrator (Excelsior is the best), etc.

4.       Beware of vegan junk food, vegan processed food. T. Colin Campbell, and Joel Fuhrman, among others, warn of the danger of fractionated elements in food.  When you consume an extracted part of a whole food, the body does not use it the way it would if it were whole, and with its integral parts. Fructose that has been separated from its source operates very differently in the body than its whole counterpart contained in a piece of fruit. Processed vegan food is still processed food.
 

5.       Do not listen to “external static” about the vegan diet. There has been so much incorrect hype over the years about the “dangers” of a vegan diet, that it has become comforting for people who don’t want to go to the trouble of changing their eating habits to think that they don’t have to change the way they eat. You may also hear comments such as “I used to be a vegan, but my health deteriorated so much, my doctor told me I had to stop.” (This person ate only canned tofu party cocktail franks.) Or, perhaps you might hear, “I tried to be a vegan once, but I really felt bad, so I stopped.” What no one told this person, is the uncomfortable feelings that were initially experienced were the result of the detoxification period that might come before feeling fabulous rather than from the vegan food.  You may immediately feel wonderful from a vegan diet, but there is a small chance that if you are a heavy flesh eater, your body will need to rid itself of toxins. Promise yourself the determination to get past a detox period, if it happens.  If you want to combine a change in diet and lifestyle with education and a spa-like stay, and can afford it, check into Gabriel Cousens, MD, and the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. (http://www.treeoflife.nu/) If his courses are even one tenth as wonderful as his books, they must be miraculous. The purpose of his center, as mentioned on his website is “The Tree of Life was founded by Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H) to support and inspire holistic lifestyle through education and experience. The center's spiritual guidance, lifestyle education, and medical programs are complemented with panoramic mountain views and 100% organic, live-food that have drawn guests from over 100 countries since 1995.”) He is also featured in a DVD about the miraculous health changes that come about as a result of a raw diet, entitled Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days (2009) I bought it with a companion DVD entitled, Raw For Life: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of the Raw Food Lifestyle, which are both available on Amazon.com. Do not fool yourself into thinking that these DVDs are only about getting rid of diabetes.  Diabetes is just one of the things a living food diet can CURE.
 

6.       Prepare yourself for confrontations about your diet. Give an extremely brief, illusive answer to “Why are you a vegan?” when asked this question at the dinner table. People will feel very uncomfortable with a sincere, complete answer. For some reason, talking about this brings up actual anger by others at the dinner table, and will accomplish nothing – or worse. This is a forbidden topic that is culturally taboo. Deep down, people feel guilty for killing animals, and this guilt gets a bit twisted and surfaces in them as the thought that you think you are superior, which is not true. If you think about it, why would we hide “processing plants” (a.k.a. slaughterhouses) out of sight, instead of making them a visible part of our civilization if there wasn’t something wrong about what we do behind those walls?  Why does it feel so much better to take school children on field trips to farms where they can see their food being cultivated and harvested, instead of to slaughterhouses where their “protein” is “processed”?
One of the most common comments I hear about soy from people is: “Oh, you shouldn’t eat soy. It’s dangerous.” All of this falderal is based on a single study which showed how “ominous” soy is. (We must question who funded the research and whom it might benefit!) It’s interesting that word gets around about a scary research result, but the other thousands of research results are left undiscovered.  What I do understand from several of my nutrition mentors is that it is best to stay as close as possible to the original source, and fermented is even better. This means tofu, tempeh, and natto. There are a lot of warnings to stay away from soy protein isolate.  It’s used as a filler in many processed foods – vegan and otherwise.) “This is a concentrated dose of isolated soy protein that has mega amounts of IGF-1, which is highly unhealthy and a tumor and cancer promoter.” (p. 124, My Beef With Meat, Rip Esselstyn.)  Yesterday, I opened the latest edition of Life Extension magazine. In an article I skimmed very quickly, the subtitle, “Soy May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk,” stood out. I quote,” The results of these studies have now been released and while ignored by the mainstream media, the startling findings indicate that breast cancer risk can be nearly cut in half if women consume more soy…. One recent study showed that postmenopausal women who ate a Western style diet, high in meats and sweets, had nearly twice the risk of developing estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, compared with women who ate traditional Asian diet high in soy and vegetables…..Isoflavones derived from soy have shown promise in providing natural protection against multiple types of cancer… and many practitioners of integrative medicine …now believe that consumption of soy and isoflavones can reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis….Because animal studies have shown that a diet high in soy and genistein [a soy isoflavone] can protect against breast, colon and skin cancers, it seemed reasonable to think that soy could also help prevent human cancers, and in particular breast cancer.”  This section of the article was followed by the subtitle “Meat Increases Breast Cancer Risk”. (For all of the footnotes citing the specific research, please see the article, “Enjoy Estrogen’s Multiple Benefits” Life Extension, November 2013, p. 42 – 53) Another common question is, “Where do you get your protein?” As Joel Fuhrman M.D. says, protein is everywhere in food! Romaine lettuce has protein. Dr. Fuhrman and team tried to put together a plant-based diet that was deficient in protein – and they couldn’t do it!  I love this quote by John Robbins which assuages the fear of insufficient protein that has become ingrained in American society..  (Read any and all of his books that you can get your hands on.) “Human mother's milk provides 5 percent of its calories as protein.  Nature seems to be telling us that little babies, whose bodies are growing the fastest they will ever grow in their lives, and whose protein needs are maximum, are best served when 5 percent of their food calories come as protein.  How hard is it to get 5 percent of your calories from protein? Not hard at all,....If we ate nothing but wheat, (16 percent protein), or oatmeal (15 percent) , or even pumpkin (12 percent protein), we would easily be getting more than enough protein.  In fact, if we ate nothing but the common potato (11 percent protein) we would still be getting enough protein.  There have been circumstances when people have been forced to satisfy their entire nutritional needs with potatoes and water alone. Individuals who have lived for lengthy periods of time under those conditions showed no signs whatsoever of protein deficiency.  This fact does not mean potatoes are a particularly high source of protein.  They are not.  But what it does show is the contrast between how low our protein needs really are, and how exaggerated are the beliefs most of us have come to accept about them.” ---John Robbins.

T. Colin Campbell suggests a carbohydrate-protein-fat mix of 80%-10%-10%.  Too much protein can tax the kidneys and age the body. At 62, I can remember, years ago, the concern Americans had for the Ethiopian starvation/drought crisis. The “medical media” painted it as “protein malnutrition.” I still remember the word they used for protein malnutrition – “kwashikor.” Sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it? It turned out that they were truly malnourished, but it was simply a lack of calories – starvation --not protein malnutrition. T. Colin Campbell also writes of this misunderstanding in his book, Whole.

7.       If you do the cooking for yourself and a new, perhaps less motivated vegan, make sure you make lots of “comfort food,” vegan style of course, so that there is never a feeling of deprivation. You can do that by starting with three vegan cookbooks with simple recipes for down-home comfort food, vegan style. When asked which cookbooks to buy, I always recommend three to start:
--Vegan Vittles: Down-Home Cooking for Everyone by Jo Stepaniak (Feb 28, 2007) I actually have this one, but also use the earlier edition : Vegan Vittles: Recipes Inspired by the Critters of Farm Sanctuary by Joanne Stepaniak and Suzanne Havala (Jan 1996) This fabulous book has my favorite recipes for things like Mushroom Gravy,  Eggless Mayonnaise, Vegan Sour Cream and many more. It answers all the blank spots of what to substitute for dairy and other animal-based recipe ingredients. For example, if you miss meatloaf, try the “Neatloaf” recipe.
--Cooking with PETA: Great Vegetarian Recipes for a Compassionate Kitchen by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  Like Vegan Vittles, Cooking with PETA has the answer to comfort food, vegan style.
--Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (To me, this book is what Betty Crocker was to flesh-eaters.) It is the standard for great, easy-to-follow recipes, and a number of extremely helpful tips, such as “Eggplant: To Salt or Not to Salt?” and “The Key to Great Guacamole”
One thing I did for my husband was to always include an element of the meal that looked like an protein – Chickpea Cutlets,  Seitan patty with Mushroom Gravy, etc. He thinks that my seitan “T-Bone Stayks” are the greatest! He cuts out the  T-Bones from cedar planks for me with a saw.

8.       Understand that most standard recipes are easily veganized. With the three cookbooks mentioned above, it is easy to veganize any recipe. If you are dubious about doing this yourself, and you want to go beyond simple, comfort food to elegant, impressive vegan conversions of  recipes, you may want to buy Veganize This!: From Surf & Turf to Ice-Cream Pie--200 Animal-Free Recipes for People Who Love to Eat by Shagrin, Jenn, who does the veganizing for you! Is there a recipe that you think you might miss now that you are a vegan? Do a Google Search for “Vegan” in front of the name of the recipe. Almost always you will find a recipe. There are multitudes of creative vegans out there in the ether(net) who have veganized almost every dish ever imagined!
 

9.       Make it a priority to gradually begin to inform yourself about the science of the vegan lifestyle and its health benefits over a carnivorous lifestyle. (You will begin to see that the deception of the mainstream media is a “thin veneer” that can be easily peeled back. Nowadays, there a so many books on the market that speak the truth. Look, and you will find.  My latest reads in the past few months  have been:
My Beef with Meat: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet, by Rip Esselstyn, 2013 (with recipes) Rip tells it like it is, in plain language that you can use to explain why you are a vegan.
Eat to Live, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (with recipes)
Super Immunity: The Essential Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease-Free, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (with recipes)
Whole, by T. Colin Campbell (with recipes) (Campbell is author of The China Study, and coauthor of The China Study Cookbook)
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Nutrition-Based Cure,  by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. M.D. (with recipes) (Rip’s Dad!)
There are thousands of blogs and websites about the vegan lifestyle.  They are brimming with delicious vegan recipes.
No More Bull, by Howard F. Lyman, with Glen Merzer and Joanna Samdrow Merzer (with recipes) Mr. Lyman was sued along with Oprah Winfrey by the “beef overlords” for letting it slip that they were feeding cows to cows.)
Post Punk Kitchen is a website based on a cable television show which aired between 2003 and 2005, cohosted by the authors of Veganomicon. http://www.theppk.com/  (They have lots of good recipes.)
Make sure you look up David Wolfe’s website, www.davidwolfe.com as well as his www.LongevityWarehouse.com and Longevity Now Conferences. His programs, websites, videos, etc. are brimming with cutting edge information, recipes, products, books, etc. (I love his book Superfoods.
Beyond that, just do a Google Search for “Vegan Blogs”, or “Vegan Websites”.
Before you travel, check out Happy Cow (www.happycow.net ) or one of the other websites that list and rate vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants around the world.
Don’t forget to read up on the amazing nutritive value of sprouts with many delicious recipes, by Steve Meyerowitz, and Mark M. Brownstein.
For daily inspiration, read, Vegan’s Daily Companion, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (author of The Joy of Vegan Baking and The Vegan Table.
What about some more names of  vegan cookbooks? I promise I will write down every vegan cookbook on my shelf (in the U.S., now, and later in Mexico) and put it in my blog soon, with comments.

10.   Be compassionate with friends, acquaintances, and family who are not vegans, but also begin to identify with those from “a different, vegan crowd.” (No, I’m not telling you to dump all your present friends and family.  I’m just saying that it is much more comfortable to share your food experiences with someone who understands the vegan lifestyle. This can be easily done by internet. It is comfortable to be able to talk/write about your vegan lifestyle with other vegans. There are multitudes of websites and blogs.  Become familiar with some and follow them. Most blogs will give you an option to be a “follower” and every time a new posting is published on the blog, you will receive an email notice. Most cities and towns have organizations, conferences, and ‘fests” dedicated to the vegan lifestyle.And, for how to handle questions and comments from non-vegans, read, Vegan Freak, by Bob and Jenna Torres.

11.   Every day, remind yourself of the benefits of the relatively small effort it takes to stay with a vegan diet. Although there is no pill that will take away all your health concerns, there is an eating regimen that will.

12.   Beware of “nonvegan wolves in vegan sheep’s clothing.” Did you know that there are even ingredients that legally may be omitted from the ingredients label on the product? Also, some ingredients have confusing names. “Natural flavors” may be animal ingredients.  Anything with the word “casein” (or derivatives) has a fractionated part of milk in it. One ingredient which is actually extracted from the anal gland of beavers and muskrats and is used to make food creamier is called castoreum. (One article I read called it “beaver butt juice!”) If you see any one of these words: carmine, cochineal, carminic acid, E120, in your ingredients, you have crushed female purple beetles in your food! (Yummy!) It supposedly takes 70,000 beetles to make one pound of this red dye that is used in foods such as red applesauce, and in other products, such as cosmetics and shampoos. ( From The Vegan Wolf – “Ingredients to Avoid”   http://www.veganwolf.com/animal_ingredients.htm ) Vegan Wolf is a great source for information.

13.   Recipes – there are some recipes already on the blog.  And, I promise to put more! Please sign in and email this blog with requests for recipes, and if you sign up to be a "follower" you will be notified of new posts as they appear on the blog.  I will be happy to share my recipes with you, and would love to hear comments, as well as answer any questions you may have.

14.   A few last items –

·         B12: It is said that centuries ago, mankind got their Vitamin B12 (responsible for many vital neural functions and health) from dirty plants that were not washed or not properly washed.  Today we are very concerned with hygiene and we wash off all of the dirt. So, to remedy that, vegans have to take a B12 supplement. (My doctor recently alerted me to the fact that methylcobalamin is superior to cyanocobalamin, so I have switched to the methyl- form of B-12.) Or, if you are one who hates supplements, add the cheesy flavor of Red Star Nutritional yeast, that is fortified with B12.

·         Read up on oils. There are healthier oils and not-so-healthy oils in the store. Dr. Fuhrman warns about using a lot of extracted oil in your food. Understand that he is not saying that you shouldn’t have any fats in your food. He’s just saying try not to eat a lot of the extracted form. When you see his recipes in the second half of his book, you will see that he has incorporated whole sources of fats. For example, he uses raw cashews ground up in a food processor in salad dressings.

Read up on the smoke point in the oils you do use when cooking. The smoke point is the temperature at which the oil begins to “come apart,” or degrade, and causes serious threats to your health.  Some oils have a higher smoke point, and can withstand hotter temperatures without turning into “bad” oils with dangerous  elements. Avocado oil has a smoke point of 520 degrees F. Olive oil has a lower smoke point. Canola oil has a high smoke point, but I would recommend researching the hazards of Canola oil. I’m amazed that many health food sources recommend it, when its reputation and history is not that “squeaky clean”. In the November/ December 2012 issue of Well Being Journal, (Originally published, In Healthy Ways Newsletter, Vol. 9 No. 2, “Canola Oil: Is It Healthy?” http://www.coconutresearchcenter.com/hwnl_9-2.htm ) Bruce Fife, N.D. tells the history of Canola oil, which is a hybridized, genetically modified form of rapeseed oil, which has been reduced to 1 or 2 percent erucic acid. (It is illegal to sell oil with an erucic acid content above 2% in the U.S. There is no such thing as a Canola plant. (Canola is an acronym for “Canadian oil low acid”) Rapeseed plants (in the mustard family) were fed to cattle during WWII, and the cattle developed serious heart problems and went blind! I am not sure if I like the idea of consuming an oil that at a higher percentage would destroy my heart. Wouldn’t it happen at a slower pace with a smaller percentage? In his writings, Bruce Fife says that erucic acid is associated with cardiac fibrosis,  a thickening of the heart wall that leads to valve dysfunction and heart failure. It produces free radicals and causes rigidity in blood cell membranes. I’m not sure that I agree with the idea that a little bit of poison is acceptable. Bruce Fife’s article says that the negative effects of erucic acid are observable in canola oil with as little as 2% erucic acid. He also states that many of the so-called “benefits of Canola oil are destroyed at lower cooking temperatures, even though the smoke point of Canola oil is higher than most oils. For example, it becomes mutagenic at lower temperatures just like other oils. It is purported to be high in Omega 3’s, but Omega 3’s are “very delicate and highly sensitive to heat”

Another article, (“Why Canola Oil Is Not A Health Food,” by Kristen, http://www.foodrenegade.com/why-canola-oil-not-health-food/ )

·         Something to think about for later. As you settle in to a vegan lifestyle, you begin to feel better.  It is more than just a physical feeling, because you are giving your body the best kinds of nutrients; a vegan lifestyle surpasses a healthy lifestyle, and becomes a compassionate lifestyle; adopting a vegan lifestyle gives you  a  feeling that you are doing the right thing for the planet, and for other innocent creatures that occupy this planet with us. "Animals are God's creatures, not human property, nor utilities, nor resources, nor commodities, but precious beings in God's sight. ... Christians whose eyes are fixed on the awfulness of crucifixion are in a special position to understand the awfulness of innocent suffering. The Cross of Christ is God's absolute identification with the weak, the powerless, and the vulnerable, but most of all with unprotected, undefended, innocent suffering." —Rev. Andrew Linzey

A little more than a year ago, my husband and I got a puppy. She, too, is a vegan. I make all of her food, kibble and soft food, and I supplement her food with all necessary nutrients. She is the third vegan dog I have raised in my life. The first two far surpassed their longevity projections.  If you become interested in providing vegan nourishment for your dog(s), you may want to check out my blog www.vegangreatdane.blogspot.com –it explains what veganism is all about for  dogs and provides recipes and links to other sites.

 

·         Because you are a vegan, by your lifestyle alone, you have already contributed a great deal to the planet,  society and posterity.  Your carbon footprint is tiny compared to flesh-eaters. I remember reading that in a year, a meat-eater eats food equivalent to agricultural use of 4 or 5 acres of land, a vegetarian, equivalent to 1/2 acre, and a vegan equivalent to 1/4 acre.  

 

·         You can share the following with a vegan-curious friend:

 

·         If you are afraid to go “all in” at once, that’s okay. . . . go slowly. Start with a vegan meal one day per week for several months, or a year.  Then go to two days per week, then three, until gradually, you’re there.  It’s truly painless. . . .

“If you reduce your meat consumption by only 20% (six meatless days a month) the energy saved will be equivalent to switching from driving a sedan car to a hybrid vehicle.” – quoted  from a Daiya Pizza box – Turtle Island Foods

 

Congratulations on your healthy, compassionate choice. You make a difference, in many, many ways, for yourself and for the world.

 

 

My Husband's Transition to Vegetarianism

I always find the perspective of a new vegetarian very informative and insightful. My husband became a strict vegetarian almost two years ago. I asked him to share his perspective on his transition to vegetarianism.

"My transition from meat eater to vegetarian was gradual, and took several years. I convinced myself that eating vegetarian was not a moral choice….only a health choice. For several years, I categorized myself as a “flexitarian”, who ate vegetarian at home, but was perfectly happy to eat poultry or fish when eating out. It was only after I had spent several months eating only vegetarian, that I was finally able to see the issue more clearly. I hadn’t planned to go that long eating only vegetarian…it was more coincidental than by intent. It was then that I ordered a restaurant meal with chicken, and I had the oddest experience. As I ate the chicken, I felt a vague feeling of disgust. I had never experienced that before. I finished the meal, and have not tasted meat since. I later realized that it was only by stepping away from meat completely, even if only for a couple of months, that I was able to fully realize the immorality of consuming killed animals when perfectly acceptable plant based alternatives existed. It was as if a veil of fear or ignorance had lifted, and I was finally able to see what was really involved in eating meat. It was as if I had been blind my whole life, and suddenly was able to see clearly for the first time. I certainly don’t judge anyone else for choosing to consume animals. I completely understand how society….even our own families…trains and conditions us to not see the horror of killing an innocent creature that is part and parcel of the meat industry. There’s even a certain element of fear involved. I was actually afraid of eating a totally vegetarian diet. The thought of having to give up those delicious cuts of beef, pork, poultry and fish was actually scary to me. I even joked with my wife about never going “cold-turkey” (pun intended) to a vegetarian diet. What I have learned, is that sometimes you have to step back completely from an activity, and observe it from the outside looking in, before you can truly understand and appreciate all aspects of that activity. When you gain that independent perspective, you may be shocked at what you suddenly are able to see and understand clearly for the first time."

A Conspiracy of Silence

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." Pythagoras, mathematician


"In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought." Isaac Bashevis Singer, author, Nobel Prize 1978


The other day I viewed the video, “Savent-ils que c’est Noël?” (“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c6qCby5ujM emailed to me by L214, a French website, http://www.l214.com/ (Link for the video is also on this site.) Later, I was talking with my husband about the blind eye most of our human culture turns towards cruelty towards animals, when he spoke of the concept of “a conspiracy of silence.” This term has been used in several historical settings before, but I felt it was aptly applied to the human attitude towards the pain and suffering and death of slaughter animals. I asked him to define what he meant, in reference to this connotation, and he said the following:

“If people thought about the pain and torture and suffering that slaughter animals must endure, they would be compelled to change. The conspiracy exists in people not talking about it, refusing to talk about it if it is brought up. They know, but want to be kept in the dark because they are afraid.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity." He is right. As babies, we are not responsible for the pureed beef from the baby food jar that is placed on our tongues, but once we know, we are responsible. Once we understand what is being done to those animals, every time we buy a product of that torture and death, we are complicit in the crime, the evil, complicit in every death of an innocent animal. By buying the pristine meat package wrapped in cellophane, we are complicit. By wearing the tortured skin of an animal on our bodies, we are complicit. By turning the other way, either visually or psychologically we participate in the evil of every torture and every death. Because we “don’t want to know” or because we choose not to see does not take that complicity away.

I emailed a copy of the French video to friends, Joaquin and Efigenia, who live down the street, and their response was brilliant. Their response was, “Do WE know it’s Christmas?” I couldn’t have said it any better.

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." Thomas Edison
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. --- Jiddu Krishnamurti

New Year's Resolution

New Year’s 2008 approaches, and I find myself with only one resolution on my list. I will buy no product that causes or contributes to cruelty to animals. This means I will not only buy vegan food and clothing products, but also I will buy no products that have been tested on animals. In 2008, I will be responsible enough to make sure that a product, any product, I buy does not come from a company that is cruel to animals. (This is easy. All I have to do is go to www.peta.org for their lists of companies that do and do not test on animals.) On the the PETA website you will also find videos of what actually goes on before a cruelty product arrives in the store. Turning a blind eye to this does not mean the cruelty, abuse and suffering aren’t happening. If you turn a blind eye that means you condone all of it. “Attachment to being right creates suffering. When you have a choice to be right, or to be kind, choose kind and watch your suffering disappear.” (Dr. Wayne Dyer)
My hope and prayer is that everyone has (and keeps, ) the resolution on their list to end participation in cruelty towards animals. There are beautiful synthetic leather and fake fur products, nutritious vegan food products, quality beauty products, and environmentally safe cleaning products on the market that do not test on animals, that do no harm. “Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty... Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”--Albert Einstein
"All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?" -- Buddha
If you’re not sure what kind of resolution to make for 2008, www.PETA.org has some great suggestions for resolutions and lists of ways in which you can keep those resolutions. http://www.peta.org/feat_resolutions.asp
So, during 2008 (and beyond), I will walk a new path. I will not buy a product from companies that are cruel to animals.
“Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again. Wanderer, there is no road-- Only wakes upon the sea.” Antonio Machado y Ruiz

A Very Happy Vegan (Pre-) Thanksgiving Day

Today, Thanksgiving Day, I won’t be cooking dinner. My husband is going to take me out to dinner at our favorite, local vegetarian restaurant (Secret Garden Restaurant, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico) where the meal will be lovingly prepared by our friends, the owners and employees of the restaurant. Yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving Day, I made a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for five. (Recipes Follow.) This meal took the same, and in some instances, less time to prepare than a meal with animal flesh or other animal products and it was as, or more, delicious. CNN presented a news feature today about a family whose members compete every year to get the biggest turkey for Thanksgiving. The winner was pictured sitting in the back of a truck with his arm around a 72-pound turkey, acting as if they were “best buds,” instead of executioner and prisoner. That turkey was, most certainly, slaughtered for today’s Thanksgiving meal. As school children, we make figures of turkeys out of brightly colored construction paper. As parents, we teach our children that Thanksgiving Day is a day of gratitude, of love and friendship, of communion and compassion. Exactly where is the point in our thinking, our logic, where this all breaks down and becomes insane? At what precise point, understanding that we have been steeped in suffering and death almost from birth, does the individual conspire in the cover up and downplay the suffering, the taking of a life, the needless slaughter? More importantly when are we going to be honest when we talk to our children about Thanksgiving turkey and tell them that the roasted flesh that sits at the head of most Thanksgiving tables, ready to be carved, was more than construction paper,-- it was a living, breathing being with a right to its own life? Most importantly, when we are remembered, generations from now, wouldn’t we prefer to be remembered as the compassionate ones who climbed out of the insanity and took a stand, each one of us, in our own way, to stop all the suffering rather than as the barbaric ones who ate the flesh of another being -- an innocent being that had been held prisoner, horribly and violently mistreated, and then finally died a miserably frightening and painful death, all at our hands? It doesn’t have to be a violent revolution. It can happen peacefully one person, one family at a time, by the choices we make when we purchase food. We can vote with our wallets, and with our hearts. All of Mom’s recipes, remembered lovingly, can be easily translated into vegan alternatives that are just as tasty and, most importantly, will contain life and love, instead of death. We must not be so afraid to stop eating suffering and death. In the words of Cardinal John Henry Newman, “Cruelty to animals is as if man did not love God. . . there is something so dreadful, so satanic, in tormenting those who have never harmed us, and who cannot defend themselves, who are utterly in our power.” Isn’t it time for us to not just say we are enlightened and compassionate, but rather to truly be so? Wouldn’t it be less hypocritical?
_____________________________________
Our Vegan (Pre)Thanksgiving Menu:
Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup (with Sour Creamy Cashew Sauce), Whole Wheat Kalamata Olive Bread, Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy, Vegan Roast with Mushroom Gravy, Steamed Zucchini and Red Bell Pepper julienne strips (with Sour Creamy Cashew Sauce), Dutch Apple Cake


Recipes Follow:

My favorite Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup
Make about 12 cups of vegetable stock, flavored/cooked with several slices (15-20) of peeled ginger (remove slices before using).
In a soup pot, heat: 3 TBSP olive oil
Add, sauté until juice is released: 2 small/medium onions, chopped
1 tsp. salt

Add, and cook until soft (if necessary, add a little vegetable stock):

4 cloves garlic
1 TBSP cumin seed, toasted and ground
2 tsp. coriander seed, toasted and ground
4 tsp, grated or finely minced fresh ginger root
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (less, if preferred)
(optional: 1/8 tsp. nutmeg)

Add, bring to boil, then simmer until carrots are very tender (20 – 30 minutes):

4 lbs. carrots (about 14 cups), peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tsp. salt
8 cups veg. soup stock
Using a processor, puree the mixture a few cups at a time, placing pureed mixture into a different pot.
Add: 1 cup orange juice
Some or all of the remaining stock to thin to desired consistency
Garnish with Sour Creamy Cashew Sauce, chopped cilantro, a few sunflower seeds.
Makes a big pot of soup. If serving 2 to 4 people – just cut recipe in half. Like many soups, this soup tastes even better reheated the next day. Or, make earlier in the day to let flavors merge.

Sour Creamy Cashew Sauce
Combine in processor or blender:
1 cup cashew butter (You can make this yourself by putting cashews in the processor until they turn into cashew butter. Be patient, it takes a few minutes in the processor for it to turn into butter. You will need more than 1 cup of whole cashews to make a cup of cashew butter.)
4 to 5 TBSP lemon juice
Salt
About 1 cup of water (add gradually)

If you make this sauce ahead and need to reheat it, only warm it. If it begins to clump – put it back in the processor to break up the clumps. (If necessary, add a little more hot water to create preferred consistency.)

Mashed Potatoes
12 potatoes ( I used Yukon Gold), peeled and sliced thinly (1/4-inch slices)
6 small or 4 large garlic cloves, minced finely
8 TBSP olive oil
1 cup plain soy or rice milk
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook potatoes, covered in water until very tender. (Bring to boil, then simmer) (About 30 minutes)
Drain and return to pot. Add oil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Mash mixture. Add enough soy/rice milk to bring mixture to preferred consistency. Serve immediately.

Quick Mushroom Gravy
6 TBSP whole wheat pastry flour
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP olive oil
½ tsp garlic granules
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I use Crimini or Portobello mushrooms)
¼ tsp black pepper
Toast (and stir!) the flour in a saucepan until browned and fragrant. Remove from heat.
Combine soy sauce, oil, and garlic granules, add gradually to the flour while whisking (fork or whisk) until smooth.
Cook over medium heat , stirring constantly until mixture thickens and comes to boil. Add mushroom slices, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly until mushrooms are heated through. Season to taste. Serve at once.


Vegetarian Roast -- Several are available, ready to heat, at the health food store, or, for ideas on this, go to http://www.peta.org/ look for “Celebrate a Vegetarian Thanksgiving,” and then “Faux Turkeys” section, also for thousands of recipes, do an internet search for “Seitan Roast,” Tofu Roast,” “Vegetarian Thanksgiving Roast,” or “Vegetarian Thanksgiving Alternatives.” Or do a search for Vegan blogsites. http://www.bryannaclarkgrogan.com/ has a recipe for a vegan roast in her Thanksgiving recipes.
Kalamata Olive Whole Wheat Bread – made in my bread machine, with ¾ cup Kalamata olives added
Dutch Apple Cake – made with Egg Replacer, which is available in health food stores and some enlightened grocers.