April 2012
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Product review: UliMana raw vegan chocolate...
Remember that 1998 episode of South Park (I’m so old) when Chef told his students to enjoy his chocolate salty balls? The world grimaced, laughed, and I have a hunch that chocolate balls and certain pornographic film sales increased exponentially.
Twenty years later, how is the market for chocolate balls? Are they still culturally relevant? Do they still taste amazing? If you’re a...
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Guest Product review: Coconut Secret coconut...
In the raw food recipe world, ingredient substitution runs rampant. This is partly because food dogma varies among raw food enthusiasts. Want less sugar in your date-agave smoothie? Substitute stevia! Afraid of bananas? Use banana extract and Irish moss to get a hint of banana flavor without all that weird banana mushy mouthfeel! Want a gluten-free alternative to sprouted wheat? Try buckwheat!...
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Guest Product Review: Living Tree Raw Almond...
There’s something timeless and wonderful about the taste of almonds that no other seed or nut butter could ever match. But hot dang, that ish is expensive! Anyone who’s bought almond butter recently knows that there’s quite a significant price jump between peanut butter and almond butter ($5 to $10 sometimes!), and an even greater price gap between roasted and raw varieties of...
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Guest Recipe: Chocolate Smoothie!
This smoothie is one of the most delicious, creamy, filling and energizing drinks I’ve ever had. It’s inspired by Cafe Gratitude’s raw chocolate smoothies that blew my mind when I first had them. I could literally drink 3 or 4 cups of this and not get bored—it would just make an amazingly delicious meal!
The recipe requires a 1-2 hour wait because you have to pre-soak...
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Cookbook review: Eat Raw, Eat Well, by Douglas...
When Vegansaurus gave me the chance to review Douglas McNish’s new cookbook, Eat Raw, Be Well, I consented enthusiastically and chomped at the bit until it arrived. I love making raw, vegan, gluten-free food (obviously) that isn’t too complicated or hard to prepare. In my opinion, overly intricate raw food cookbooks do more harm than good for the aspiring raw food chef. Sure, the...
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Recipe: Vodka cream sauce!
This recipe is inspired from watching Jersey Shore. I like what I like and I’m not going to apologize. If Snooki can make vodka cream sauce, from scratch, for her roommates without burning down the house, I imagined that I could make a vegan version! And you know what? I was right! We all benefit from my choice in television programs.
I have a version of this same recipe completely from...
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Party in Sacramento on Saturday for the animals!
This Saturday, April 28, from 3 to 6 p.m., the adorable Never Felt Better Vegan Shop (we love them!) is having a Spring Gala & Turlock Hen Rescue Art Show with Silent Auction! Sponsored by Little Monsters Pet Care (run by the lovely and vegan Beth Marshall!), the event looks like it’ll have AMAZING silent auction goodies. I want it all! All of it!
Come fight me to the death for it and...
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How to, yo: Caramelized onions!
In my recipes, I talk about caramelizing onions a lot! I always do it, because I like the depth of flavor it adds to food. I remember when I first started hanging out in the kitchen,* learning how to cook, I was like, “Hey, what’s the difference between caramelizing onions and burning them?” No one could give me an answer I liked. I think it’s the difference between...
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Be on TV and eat free vegan sandwiches on Friday...
Okay, fame whores and people who love free shit (you should all still be reading): Ike’s SFSU is going to be on Vegan Kitchen TV on Friday, April 27, with free vegan samples from 3 to 4 p.m. Ike himself has kindly invited us all down to eat, drink and GET DISCOVERED! All right!
I’ve heard some rumors that Ike is serving non-vegan food to vegans, and that’s not true. He uses...
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There may now be slightly less bear-murdering in...
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Product Review: Stephen James Organics Bars and...
Stephen James Luxury Organics sprouted nut, seed, and superfood bars taste great, but the best thing about them is the super cute packaging. A chiseled half-naked cartoon man adorns the Berry Bar, inspiring vegans everywhere to eat more berries and do more push-ups.
All of the bars are crunchy, and the flavors range from very good to excellent: The Beauty Bar and Berry Bar were my favorites,...
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Paul Shapiro presents: Big Ag is lying to you...
It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay!
Reuters has a good piece on HSUS’s new FTC complaint against the National Pork Producers Council for its grossly misleading claims related to animal welfare in the industry.
Speaking of misleading, you may be amused to see the enormous shifting that Kreider Farms (the battery egg producer HSUS recently investigated) is doing.
And speaking of...
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Which Times reader makes the best case for ethical...
Remember that contest the NY Times announced last month, calling on readers to “Tell Us Why It’s Ethical to Eat Meat”? The quintet of white dudes have chosen their finalists, and now you can read their six top essays and vote on which one makes the best case for (or against!) ethical meat.
I’ve quoted the best part of each one below, for your giggling/eye-rolling/cheering...
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Two new vegan restaurants in Oakland! Woohoo!
This is all basically second hand information and I’m no journalist (FOOLED YOU!) so I’m leave it up to you fine people to check it out and let us know what’s up! Deal? Deal!
Okay, lez go:
1) Nature Vegetarian Restaurant, 1116 Franklin (between 11th and 12th), (510) 238-9688. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It opened sometime in last few weeks and it’s possibly all vegan....
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Product Review: Parmela Vegan Parmesan Cheese!
There’s a new vegan parmesan cheese on the market and it’s g-d glorious! It’s called Parmela and there isn’t much info on their website but that’s cool, I got your info because I’m good at internet sleuthing. Want proof? Become someone I’m sexually interested in and in minutes I’ll know your great great grandma’s middle name and what color...
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SF SPCA starts new campaign against puppymills and...
The SF SPCA has a new anti-puppymill campaign and it’s pretty cool so far, and they promise more cool stuff to come! They’ve partnered with ad agency BBDO to create this great fake puppymill ad. I know some nice BBDO people in their New York office; this is the same agency that ingeniously autocorrects monkeys out of their writers’ scripts.
This campaign was inspired by some...
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Earth day is on Sunday: let's talk reducing,...
Another year, another Earth Day! I like to look at Earth day as a New Year’s of sorts — I examine the steps I’m taking to reduce my carbon footprint, and also try to make new resolutions, then revisit old ones I’ve let slide. For instance — when I buy coffee, there is no reason I should ever come out with a paper coffee cup and plastic lid. I have travel mugs! I made...
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8 best fake meat sandwiches in SF?
It’s a day of lists and of linking to weeklies! SF Weekly has up this list of the Top 8 Fake Meat Sandwiches. Agree? Disagree? Want me to stop linking to top whatever lists? WELL FUCK IT IT’S FRIDAY.
[Rhea’s sandwich! delicious!]
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10 best vegan-friendly restaurants in LA! Let's...
LA Weekly just published a list of the 10 best vegan-frendly restaurants in Los Angeles. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Want to road trip down this weekend to try them all so you can tell them what they got wrong on Monday? Arguing on the internet is literally THE BEST. [Chicken and Waffles from Flore Vegan heeeeyyyyy!]
Seriously, I love LA. Like Randy Newman before me, I am a fat white...
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Product Review: Coracao raw vegan chocolate!...
The first time I saw Coracao at the Saturday Berkeley Farmers’ Market, just a few blocks from where I was living at the time, my heart melted into a puddle of love. Peeking from behind the brown and pink awning was Daniel, a handsome fellow with bright skin and a sparkle in his dreamy eyes. “Would you like to try some raw chocolate?” he asked, as if that were a question. From...
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How to, yo: Cashew Cream!
In my recipes, I use cashew cream a lot! It’s soy and gluten-free, which I think is important when cooking and eating on a vegan diet. Gluten and soy are in EVERYTHING! I need a break. Plus, some of my friends have allergies—nobody gets left out when I’m cooking.
Here is my basic cashew cream recipe. We’ll come back to this one a lot in the future, when I post my recipes...
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Guest Product Review: Taste Nirvana Real Coconut...
When it comes to food miles, I’ve met some staunch locavore vegans in my day—we’re talking people who would rather risk prosecution sneaking into their neighbors’ yards to forage than buy non-local produce at a store that shipped it overseas. Remarkably, no matter how hardcore, I’ve noticed a surprising trend among those who identify as locavore vegans and raw...
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Guest Product Review: So Delicious No Sugar Added...
So Delicious, the brand that has long satisfied many vegans’ ice cream cravings, has come out with a new line of no sugar added vegan frozen confections with erythritol as the primary added sweetener.
Why is this important? For one thing, after working for nearly two years at The Tree of Life, a raw vegan retreat center and holistic health facility, I learned from the vegan medical staff...
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Paul Shapiro presents: Everyone hates the Humane...
It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay!
Reuters put out a powerful story today about our work that states “no activist group is more loathed by the agricultural community than the Humane Society of the United States,” and quotes the Farm Bureau as saying “It is HSUS and its issues that truly deserve our attention because of the threat they pose to our society.” We’ll take it.
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Remembering the Turlock chickens: Watch a video...
Remember the Turlock Hens? Silly question, of course you do. How could you forget feeling like your heart was literally being ripped out of your chest after reading the story of the 50,000 chickens left to starve in California’s Central Valley?
Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary has begun an online petition drive through Change.org. The petition is asking for the prosecution of Andy Keung...
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Clif Bar chocolate sourcing update: still vague
Earlier this month, we told you about how our beloved Clif Bars are being shady about disclosing where they source their cocoa. We hope it’s not from child slaves, but we don’t KNOW, you know?
Since then, some of our awesome readers have sent them inquiring emails, and reported back.* I’ll share what they heard below, but bottom line: Clif’s doing a lot of stuff that...
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"Is Veganism for Everyone?" A New York Times...
You guys, the NYT is all over veganism lately. We’ve made it! Or is this a rehash of every other “fad diet debate” the media have ever had? Let’s decide together.
Today, Room for Debate asked some people* to discuss veganism and YOU. (Not “you,” of course, everyone else who isn’t vegan.) Repping for the vegans are Rip Esselstyn, hot-stuff author of The...
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WatchToday Abby Bean tipped us to the story of a rooster who spends his days outside Gus’s Fried Chicken restaurant in Collierville, Tenn. Everyone thinks it’s so funny! “He runs this place!” exclaims the titular Gus. People have called the local Animal Care and Control out of concern that the rooster will be hit by a car. He’s like their mascot!
Why do patrons of a fried...
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Product Review: Vegan Real Bar
Saw hello to the Real Bar! It’s my new best friend. It’s a “whole food alternative energy bar designed to deliver delicious, pure, instant fuel for active bodies.” I saw these bars at the Union Market in Carroll Gardens and my first thought was that I really like the packaging, right? They have a non-vegan bar but then right next to it was the vegan bar! I’m a sucker...
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Is going vegan a "challenge"? Totally, says the...
Tara Parker-Pope took to the Well blog to have a brief chat about adopting a vegan diet. Is it easy? (NO.) Is is awesome? (NO.) Is it full of surprising pitfalls including “tastebud-shocking” and “expensive” substitutions, and “condescending” friends and relations? (YES, DEFINITELY.)
Here’s the thing, TP-P: The benefits of being vegan far outweigh the...
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Yelp adds new vegetarian filter, but it's not...
True story: Laura started Vegansaurus when Yelp kept taking down all her reviews. Their loss, the world’s gain.
That said, Yelp’s still one of the best parts of the internet. And now it’s a little better. Kind of, maybe.
The site’s introducing a new kind of creepy-smart filter. Along with “Open now” or “Good for lunch,” you can now selected...
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Escaped cow gets sanctuary!
Aww, his poor ears! Effed.
This is Mike Jr. He escaped from a slaughterhouse in New Jersey on April 10. Eventually, he found his way to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Here’s the story:
[Mike Jr.] eluded capture for hours and even waded into the Passaic River (yuck!). Police used vehicles to ram into the calf in an effort to bring him under control until a tranquilizer gun could be...
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Product Review: Casa Martinez Nopal Salsa!
You all know I got into vegan blogging for the free stuff, so when Casa Martinez offered to send me some of their “fresh, all natural vegan” salsas to sample, I said, Yes please.
A little while later, I received this jar of Nopal flavor. It’s cactus. I love cactus! Tequila! Mezcal! Delicious! Jarred salsas aren’t my favorite salsas, but who am I to turn down free vegan...
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Go to Sacramento next Tuesday (free...
This is from the good people at HSUS! There’s still time to plan this into your schedule so please come to Sacramento to help bears and bobcats!
Just a reminder that on Tuesday April 24, one of the biggest animal protection bills of the year, Senate Bill 1221, is up for a vote in committee. This bill would prohibit the cruelty of bear and bobcat hounding—an unnecessary and unsporting...
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WatchRescue piglet and dog are bff! Try not to die! How cute is the piglet climbing on the dog? Hilar! Poor guy though, he was pretty roughed up in that one picture. Wait, you mean pigs used for food aren’t treated well? Stop the press!
Let’s pretend they didn’t name the pig Mu Shu and just watch the pup try to keep up with the giddy piglet. To think, that cuteness could have been...
