Vegan 101 - Part 1

This blog post was just taking shape when I received a message from a Vegan Iowa reader seeking advice and resources to get started with her lifestyle change. The timing could not have been more perfect! Her questions helped to shape some of the information included in this post. 

Are there any local resources or people to consult with when changing your diet?

YES!

Balance! Don't lose your balance and keep at it!

Where do I start? This three-part, Vegan 101 guide is a compilation of information, tips, tools and resources to help make the transition to living vegan a little easier. This particular blog post will focus on nutrition.

I’m including a disclaimer here to say that I am not a professional nutritionist. My primary goal, in sharing the information and resources below, is for you as a reader to seek out professional advice on nutrition. However, I have read extensively on nutrition and have improved my own personal nutrition immensely by taking steps to increase nutrient dense foods in my diet.

The reader who emailed me expressed she was feeling sluggish and had a lack of energy. This is a common side effect of making a dramatic change to what your body is using to fuel itself. Think detox! Your body is ridding itself of the chemicals, hormones and antibiotics ingested when eating factory-farmed meats and drinking homogenized milk. This sometimes lasts a few weeks, and it is really easy to fall back to eating these products to relieve the sluggish feeling. As your body is detoxing, fight back by pumping yourself full of nutrient dense foods like spinach, sweet potatoes, flax seed, chia seed, bananas, cocoa, and blueberries. It might help to add a little extra vegan protein powder to a smoothie to help give you a boost in the morning.

One of the ways to make sure your body is getting the primary nutrients it needs is to keep a food diary. There are a few food diaries you can use as apps on your phone. I use My Net Diary. This tool tracks the protein, fiber and vitamin rich foods your body needs, and gives you a status update on what you have consumed. In this way you know from the beginning whether or not you are consuming enough protein, etc.

Food Diary Apps:

My Net Diary (free download on an iPhone)

www.FitDay.com

There are tons of misconceptions about being vegan. There are ways to make sure you are getting your B12 intake, Iron, Omegas, etc. Personally, I love root vegetables like organic carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes. One of the natural sources of B12 is in the soil where they vegetables spend their time growing. When I had my B12 tested last it was higher than most people who are NOT vegan! My doctor and I were both a little surprised.

So as you sort through information and begin to change your diet, here are some local resources and books that you might find helpful:

Burt Family Food Services – Iowa City/Cedar Rapids

Just getting started on a vegan diet and trying to figure out what to eat? Look to Chef David Burt, former owner of the Red Avocado in Iowa City, for fabulous food! Nutritional counseling is available by appointment. Burt Family Food Services specializes in weekly meal plans, available in single and double portion sizes. 

Some of the most amazing vegan food you will ever eat will be available at your fingertips each week. Chef Dave uses nutrient dense foods and balances out grains, greens and proteins in his meals. If you are new to being vegan, this is a great way to SEE wholesome vegan meals and what types of foods go well together. I have a meat-eating friend who chooses the weekly meal plans as a way to simply add healthy food to his diet. This very affordable option is just $40 for single portion sizes or $80 for a double portion.

Chef Dave also teaches vegan-cooking classes at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, and at New Pioneer Co-op in Coralville. I took the Vegetarian Sushi class a few years ago and it was a lot of fun!

https://www.facebook.com/BurtFamilyFoodServices

http://burtfamilyfoodservices.com 

burtfamilyfoodservices@gmail.com

Fork in the Road – Des Moines

Sheree Clark provides one on one nutritional counseling as well as group led classes for people looking to change their lifestyle. Sheree is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York. With the knowledge of what makes your body tick, Sheree has been providing educational presentations to the community for years. Her classes are fabulous and I highly recommend the juices and smoothies class for anyone just getting started.

http://fork-road.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ForkRoad

Visit a Farmer’s Market

Look for vendors who use organic or traditional growing methods. There are some vendors who are not certified organic because of the long, expensive, tedious process of becoming USDA Certified. Fresh organic produce really does make a difference.

Join a CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups thrive on YOU! A CSA is the perfect way to get the seasons best farm fresh produce on a weekly basis.

Local Harvest has a complete listing of Farmers Markets, CSA’s and much more. You can search by your specific city or region.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Dr. Jason Bradley, ND, DC, DABAAHP, FLTCHP, MA

Dr. Jason Bradley practices out of Washington Street Wellness Center in downtown Iowa City. Visit Dr. Bradley to look at your body’s nutritional balance and make sure you are getting what your body needs to be healthy and active. He has experience in working with patients who are vegan, raw vegan, gluten free, etc.

Dr. Bradley is the first person I have worked with who actually HELPED me through stress and anxiety in a natural way. After some blood tests, I discovered my Cortisol hormone was highly elevated, and that my Vitamin D levels were well below what is considered the “low range.” These two nutritional levels being so far off balance in my body, were likely the main reasons I was experiencing anxiety and depression. After one month of adrenal support and Vitamin D, I felt an amazing shift in my energy and everyday mood.

Washington Street Wellness Center

319-466-0026

Dr. Jason Bradley

General Practice Traditional Naturopathy

Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement and Balancing
Acute and Chronic Pain Management

Certified First Line Therapy Provider

Board Certified, American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine

DNP Candidate, Excelsior/ Frontier School of Nursing Medicine, Community Family Practice (May 2013)

American Society for Nutrition - Professional Member

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists - Professional Member
American College of Lifestyle Medicine - Professional Member
American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine - Professional Member

Institute for Functional Medicine - Professional Member

ACA Council on Nutrition - Professional Member

Association for the Advancement of Restorative Medicine - Professional member

From My Book Shelf:

Thrive and Thrive Foods, Brendan Brazier

These books have great information on combating stress, dealing with adrenal fatigue, and identifying nutrient dense foods for your body. Brendan has developed some great recipes and tips for Vegan athletes. The information is helpful whether you are athletic or not.

http://myvega.com/

Vegan With a Vengeance, Isa Chandra Moskowitz

This is my favorite cookbook of all time. As proof, my favorite recipe pages are covered with food.

The Completed Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize it! Foolproof methods for transforming any dish into a delicious new Vegan favorite, Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman

Look for more information coming soon!

~ Vegan 101 - Part 2: Stock Your Vegan Kitchen

~ Vegan 101 - Part 3: Recommended Vegan Websites and Other Tools

Plenty of *Vegan* fish in the Sea?

Dating for the first time in six years has been one big gigantic belly flop. Ouch. 

 

Wading through the options of meeting someone, then finding someone interesting, and trying to see if you are compatible as something more than friends…Well, it sucks. 

This time, I have a part of my lifestyle that is scary to some people… I’m Vegan.

They say there are plenty of fish in the sea, but there are not very many vegetarain fish swimming around out there. 

 

I know, to you reading this vegan blog, it is not a scary thing at all. BUT, to top it off, I am single and vegan in Iowa, the pork capitol of the world. Iowa is full of hunters, fishers and farm raised, meat and potato boys. There are tons of guys here who live outside beside their BBQ in the summer time and put mounds of cheese and bacon on their burger. Personally, I really don’t care what someone else eats. (That’s right! Eat whatever you want I don’t care.) However, people seem to care what I eat. And my opinion of what they are eating. In the long scheme of things you would think this wouldn’t matter much, but it does.

To make wading through the dating pool even harder as a vegan, the bar scene sucks. Plus, working in an office full of women, landed me a gigantic 0 for eligible bachelors at work. When I complained to a friend about the options and responses I got on the dating sites, the first thing she asked was, “Did you write that you were vegan? You should take that off.”

REALLY?!  Of course I don’t put the fact I am vegan on my dating profile! I did for a while, and it didn’t help. In fact a guy holding a gigantic fish in his profile picture messaged me first thing, and I wondered if he had even read my profile? I may not care what a guy eats, but vegans do not think dead animals are attractive.

Yes, the girl who runs a vegan blog does not write that she is vegan on her dating profile.

Come on, it’s Iowa people!  

I’ve found that introducing the fact that I am vegan to people is much easier in person. I can tell them face-to-face; I really don’t care about the fact that you are eating steak, served with a potato, which which is lathered in sour cream and cheese. I’m not out to change or judge what a person eats, just trying to find someone who doesn’t care what I eat! (This may not be true of all vegans/vegetarians, but true for me.) People have different reasons for changing their lifestyle, mine was primarily health related.

It would be great and perhaps much easier to meet someone who is vegetarian or vegan. However, that isn’t really the main thing I am looking for in a guy. I did put some work into this search option. I found several vegetarian dating websites, none of which were helpful. 

One site had a whole seven eligible people from Iowa. SEVEN. There were four gay men, two women and an older man in his sixties. Not very helpful at all for a straight-laced young lady. There is one site that asks whether you are vegetarian, vegan, etc. However, this is not an option you could use to search for people by. Why does the site even include it as a question if you can’t search by it?!

I have only found one man who included the fact he was vegan in his dating profile here in Iowa. (Outside of Iowa you will find thousands of eligible vegetarian and vegan bachelors ladies, here not so much.) He was a very nice guy, but we were looking for different things. *sigh*

So what is a single, vegan girl to do? 

For my own profile, I’ve settled with writing that I love cooking delicious healthy organic meals.

I am creative so I had to think outside the box on other ways to meet guys. Using our savvy social media skills, a friend and I created a Vegetarian group on Facebook. We were hoping it would help connect us with single, veg friendly men in Iowa. Of course after a month, this great idea helped to connect us with 40+ vegetarian women and two married men. Don’t get me wrong; the Facebook group has grown and is a great local resource. It just didn’t help expand our pool of eligible, veggie eating bachelors, like we thought it would. (It was a good try though Steph!)

Add to the list a family who can't wait for you to have a baby, and well... Family opinions do not always help. Last week on vacation my brother and sister in-law told me I needed to lower my standards. Wanting to find a match who is stable mentally, physically, and financially, is apparently too much to ask. My sister in-law told me I needed to find a MUCH older guy, and maybe someone who fit 2 out of the 3 categories. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue. Okay, how about someone who is not morbidly obese, has a job, and isn’t crazy. I’m really not that picky, am I?

Maybe I am a little picky. After all, this is the man I am looking to spend my life with - Someone to create joyful moments with while exploring the world - Someone to start a family with me and we will live happily ever after. 

So of course I am going to look for certain things in Mr. Wonderful. In fact, I admit to taking a lot of time looking at other people’s profiles and wanting to help them re-write their descriptions. I am just a really nice person, or maybe this comes from the HR part of my old job. I had to sort through tons of resumes, and didn't call the candidates who couldn’t spell or write complete sentences. 

Some of the men with horrible dating profiles are probably great guys. They just don’t know how to write in English.

Seriously! There are people claiming to have college degrees and their dating profile is written out like a text message. I HAVE to be going on more dates than the guy who can’t write a real sentence. Not that I have perfect grammar. In fact, I hate grammar. Comma splices are my downfall. It was the hardest class I took in college and I squeezed by with a C. However, it is important, and you should at least try to pretend you know how to form a sentence.

My friends and family have had a few laughs with me at some of the dating profiles we have found online. The pictures are what really get me. Guys pose with their shirt off, flexing their biceps, holding their phone up to the mirror for a picture with their dirty shower showing and raggedy towels hanging in the background. It makes for a good giggle session.

So here are my online dating profile tips for the guys, and hey ladies maybe some of these will help you too. I made the original list a while ago, but have included a few updates.

Make a good first impression!

Yes, this means you need a good picture of yourself.

• A good clear headshot is a must. If you do not have a good headshot ask a friend or co-worker to take a picture of you.
• Make sure you are wearing clothes and are not standing in front of a mirror when said picture is taken.
• If you insist on taking a profile shot of your body – make sure you have a body people would like to see. Otherwise, you are simply grossing people out.
• If you have no friends or co-workers to take a picture of you, then PLEASE use Photoshop or some other form of photo editing software to thoroughly erase the image of your ex-girlfriend/wife/one nightstand from your profile picture.
• Smile. If you are trying to be serious in your picture it may come across as looking, sad, angry, pathetic, or many other expressions that may not be intended. Just smile.
• Shave, comb your hair and put a dab of cover up on your zits.
• Do not use a group shot as your main photo. Which person are you??
• A secondary photo of you in a group or showing you doing something you love is great.
• If you are athletic then show this, but PLEASE keep your clothes on.
• Try to find a picture where you are not holding a beer, or two beers. Also avoid shots of you sitting at a table full of empty beer cans. This is not attractive, although you may have had a lot of fun the night the picture was taken.
• That picture of the gigantic fish you caught may be cool to you and they guys, but I don’t know any woman who has ever been attracted to a gigantic fish. Leave that picture for later.
• It is fine to put pictures of yourself with your nieces and nephews, etc. Just state in the picture that it is your adorable spoiled nephew so the viewer knows you are good with kids.
•  DO NOT include pictures of your own kids in your profile. Yes, there is a difference between nieces and nephews and your own kids, and this matters. My friend who is a single mom particularly hated this while she was dating online. She thought it was disgusting and at times creepy that guys were putting pictures of their kids in their dating profile. And if a single mom is turned off by guys including pictures of their own kids, then yes men, most ladies who don’t have kids are also likely turned off.
• One guy had a picture of his ex-wife after delivery with him posed next to her holding his newborn baby. I cannot fathom what made him think this was a good dating profile picture. And in the back of my mind would almost like to see the reaction of his ex when she found out he posted that picture of her in the delivery room online in his dating profile.

Write your description in English…PLEASE!

• Unless you are Spanish, in that case, please message me in English with your description interpreted for me to understand.
• Going back to Rule #1 – Make a good first impression.
• R u sure u want 2 impress me w/ur stupidity or lack of education? Or the fact youdontknow howtousethespacebar?

Read a profile thoroughly before messaging someone

• If a person mentions they are vegan in their description and your profile picture shows you hunting or eating ribs do you really think you are compatible?
• If a person says they do not drink or only drink occasionally and your profile picture shows you with a beer in each hand – you may not be the best match.

Only message someone whose profile matches what you are looking for...

A spin off from Rule #3, but serious advice. If you are looking for a one-night stand and the person you message has written down they are looking for a relationship - don’t expect a response to your message AND don’t message a second time!

Be truthful about your body type

I won’t expand very far on this one – only that your picture usually ends up telling the truth so – go back to rule number one.

You need a Car

• Unless of course you are super eco-conscious, in this case, talk about your eco-friendly life style in your profile. This way potential mates understand why you don’t have a car and that you love biking and obviously are in shape and healthy (see picture tips).
• Otherwise, the question naturally arises, how can you afford to take someone out on a date if you don’t own a car?
• Yes, one of the primary questions Plenty of Fish asks is if you own a car.

Be realistic – life happens

It is understandable to wish for a life without drama. However, I don’t know anyone who actually has a drama-free life. So writing in your profile that you do not want drama, simply tells a person that you don’t know how to handle stressful situations, or that you do not know how to avoid the people who drag you down. No one openly admits to being a drama queen – so seriously, be realistic. If by drama, you mean you do not want someone who has 10 brothers and sisters and 50 nieces and nephews because that is stressful; then write that you are looking for someone from a small family.

Be honest and open – but not too honest

You don’t need to share all of the lessons you learned in past relationships in your allotted 2,000 word profile description. Please do share some of your hobbies and things you enjoy doing in your spare time. Are you a musician or artist? Do you like going to concerts, or are you a symphony person? These are great descriptive things to share.  

BUT if you have not dated in a while or are just testing the waters…this is not exactly attractive language. No one wants to be someone’s rebound person, and since this is a first impression – remember rule #1: Do you really want to tell someone you are rebounding before you even have a conversation with them?

There are plenty of fish in the sea, so dive right in…

Just remember to come up for air, and try to be a little more patient than I am.

I Was a White Knight...Once

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So, when a friend asks you to write a review of their book, you should read it right away. Don't delay! Don’t procrastinate and let those little things like…life, moving homes, losing your job, or getting lost in a steamy romance novel, distract you from what is really important; reading a friends creative work. That is my lesson learned! This is a long overdue review of, I Was a White Knight…Once: An Uncommon Memoir by Nathan Timmel.

Timmel is a good friend, professional comedian, and an excellent writer. Having followed his blog for quite some time, I knew this would be a great book. However, I was surprised at the candor and openness he displayed in writing his memoir. If you have ever sat and wondered, “Am I the only one who has held onto a crazy doomed relationship like this?” Or, if you have ever sat and listened to a comedian and wondered, “Where the hell does he get this stuff?” Then, you are the perfect person to pick up this book and settle in for a great read. Nothing is held back as he bares his soul in reflection. Somehow he manages to make you laugh in one sentence then he draws you into the frustration and anxiety experienced in the next part of his story. Timmel takes you through his growing up, his parents divorce, crazy stalkers, horrible relationships; this book has it all!

Intermingled in the tale of his upbringing, you will hear stories from a different side of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Timmel has traveled numerous times overseas to entertain our troops to help lighten their heart and mind, if only for those moments; doing his part to support the troops. It is different reading the perspective of the war from someone who steps into the active war zone for brief periods of time in a totally different role. He ends up being witness to active attacks, dizzying helicopter rides and real moments of emotion with those he encounters.

I’m not one who regularly reads memoirs and this would not be my normal choice in reading material. In fact, I admit to reading this purely because it was Nathan. I’ve seen him perform numerous times, and love how his routine has changed and grown over the years. He is one of the best comedians I have ever seen and so I wanted to read his book out of curiosity. As a reader, you get sucked into the emotion and realness of his story. Sitting in my reading chair, I was giggling to myself through parts, rolling my eyes at his crass nature and shaking my head in wonderment. I challenge you to pick up this book and promise you will enjoy it whole-heartedly, just as I did.  

Purchase your copy of I Was a White Knight…. Once: An Uncommon Memoir on Amazon.

And check out Nathans blog and upcoming performances at: www.nathantimmel.com

PS~ In case you were wondering, Nathan is a vegetarian so he earned his spot on this blog.

Save that Fruit!

Okay, so I love buying lots of fresh fruit because it looks delicious and is tasty this time of year. However, I am not always great at eating it before it becomes overly ripe. I end up with browning bananas, bruised apples, and berries that do not look quite as appetizing as the perfect shiny new ones. Faced with the high price of organic fruit and loathing letting it go to waste, I have found a few ways to save that fruit!  Here are some time and money saving tips to take care of your fruit.

Freezing is a great solution for bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Make sure you wash your berries and trim any spots that may be worrisome. Peel the browning bananas and put the fruit into a zip lock freezer bag or other freezer container. Frozen fruit is perfect for morning smoothies. If you have lots of fruit you can portion it out into a few days worth of smoothies with a mixture of bananas and berries in each Ziploc. 

Eating a healthy vegan diet means making sure you get enough fruit and vegetables in your day. When the season is right and your organic favorites go on sale buy them in bulk! Why pay $6 for a pound of organic strawberries* when you can get them fresh on sale during the summer, and freeze in all of those delicious nutrients for later.  I’ve had some fun bagging up an entire case of fresh delicious peaches for freezing. They make for great winter cobblers and crisps. If you do this, make sure you put a date on your frozen goods.

Ripe berries also make for fabulous sauces ~ Strawberry Shortcake is one of my favorite summer time treats. Preparing the sauce is really simple. Clean fruit, slice it up, sprinkle some sugar, let it sit, and wha-la you have berry goodness. 

Apples and pears are delicious when baked. If your fruit is a little bruised, go ahead and cut out the brown spots and make dessert! Here is my quick and easy apple or pear dessert solution:

Baked Apples or Pears

1-3 Pieces of fruit halved

½ cup water or apple juice

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

1.     Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Wash and prepare fruit, slice off any bruised areas. Cut in half and core center.

3.     Place fruit along with ½ cup of water or apple juice in a shallow pie pan.

4.     Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over fruit. You can leave out the sugar but I find it helps create a “syrup” that is great over the baked fruit.

5.     Bake for 40 minutes until fruit is soft

6.     Serve hot over soy ice cream or alone with the juice drizzled over the top

Do you have a favorite way of putting your fruit to good use? Please post other ideas and recipes in the comments section!

*Always buy organic strawberries, this is one of the top fruits you want to spend the extra money on for the organic label.

http://www.naturalnews.com/032173_strawberries_pesticides.html

Zuppa Tuscana – Veganized

My favorite lunchtime treat was always soup, salad and bread sticks at Olive Garden. I could eat endless bowls of Zuppa and basket upon basket full of bread sticks. So after reading through tons of recipes online, I have figured out how to make my favorite soup VEGAN! I promise this dish delivers flavor and will satisfy any hungry soul! Enjoy!!

Zuppa Tuscana!

5-6 potatoes – cut into small squares

4-6 cups vegetable broth (I use 3 cubes of vegetarian broth and water)

1 cup chopped onions

2-3 cloves of garlic chopped

2-3 Cups of chopped greens – Kale or spinach

1 package Italian tempeh (Upton’s Naturals or season your own sausage style tempeh)

1 can coconut milk

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP Italian Seasoning

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Boil potatoes, onions, garlic and spices in vegetable broth until potato is soft. Add tempeh and coconut milk and let simmer ten minutes. Add chopped greens and simmer another ten minutes and wha-la! Delicious and wholesome tasting Italian soup!

Quinoa Fruit Salad

This year for Easter I had a few friends over for dinner.  One of my friends enjoyed the dish below so much she had seconds and thirds and took home a container of leftovers! I love rocking a vegan dish that satisfies a room full of carnivores

Ingredients

1 cup of quiona

1 ½ cup water

2/3 cup slivered almonds

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2 small apples – finely chopped

1 blood orange

2 TBSP sugar or agave nectar

1 tsp cinnamon

1.    To prepare quinoa: 

     Soak grains for 5-10 minutes and rinse well (this helps to remove the small outer rim that can sometimes make quinoa bitter). Heat water to boiling and add quinoa. Cover and turn heat down to low. Steam for about 15 minutes. It will cook up and look similar to rice - the water should be completely evaporated.

2.    Prep other ingredients while the quinoa is cooking.

3.    Once quinoa is ready, add fruit, nuts sugar and cinnamon.Stir ingredients together.

4.    Squeeze the juice from the blood orange – this provides flavor and a bit of color. Stir well to incorporate juice.

5.    Refrigerate and serve cool! Enjoy!

Cheers!

Protest Iowa Ag Gag Bill - March 1, 10:30 am

Are you as angry as I am about the new "Ag Gag" bill passed by both the house and the senate here in Iowa yesterday?! I cannot believe in a state that has one of the worst reputations for puppy mills and huge factory farming of animals that we would silence and punish people trying to help bring animal abuse to light. 

Take Action: Silent Protest organized by Mercy for Animals

Des Moines Capital, Thursday, March 1

10:30 am - W. Mall of the Capital Building, corner of E. Grand and E. 9th st.

Details from Mercy for Animals:

A Silent Protest will be held outside of the Capitol building in Des Moines, against this dangerous and secretive "ag-gag" law.  We are looking for as many people as possible to attend our protest tomorrow, Thursday March 1st.  We will be meeting at 10:30 a.m. on the West Mall of the Capitol building, at the corner of E. Grand and E. 9th.  

We ask everyone to please wear all black.  We will provide signs and be wearing tape over our mouths and blindfolds over our eyes to symbolize what these bills do  - they prevent people from speaking out and exposing factory farms, and they prevent society from seeing what goes on behind the closed doors.  

This ag-gag law will make it a felony to take a video or photograph of a factory farm, or do any kind of undercover investigative work like MFA does - which often result in criminal convictions, corporate animal welfare policy changes, the advancement of animal welfare laws, and heightened public awareness about cruelty to farmed animals.

This is the first ag-gag bill to pass in the U.S., and would set a dangerous precedent for other states to pass them as well. Currently, nine other states have ag-gag bills pending. Doing a demo would likely garner national media coverage as this would be the first passage of such a controversial, precedent-setting bill.

If you or any friends and family you may have interested in attending the protest, please call or email Kenny Torrella, Chicago Campaign Coordinator at 773-971-3895, kennyt@mercyforanimals.org

Feel free to post about this on Facebook to get the word out.  http://mercyforanimals.org/events.aspx?state=other 

We appreciate your time and support!

Sincerely,

Krystina Tucci