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Veganism from the Latino's Perspective.

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@UrbanAccents Kabob Kit Made Easy

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I like making veggie kabobs whenever I get a chance. I have made them with @Gardein Home-Style Beefless Tips but sometimes I just want the veggies. My only problem is that sometimes, I want to have a different flavor with my kabobs and I don’t know what spices to mix together. Last week while I was purchasing some items in Marshalls, I came across these kabob kits from a company called Urban Accents.

Urban Accents Kabob Kits

I decided I was going to buy them and test them out with some veggies. The kit comes along with pre-blended spices and skewers. The directions are pretty easy; soak the skewers in water if you are going to grill them, add 1/2 cup of vegetable or olive oil, marinade or put over the ingredients you are going to use for the kabobs.

I decided I was going to try the Spicey African Grill Kit Fiery Peri Peri & Garlic Spice. I marinated the veggies and about an 1/2 hour later put them on metal skewers and into the oven. We purchased a metal skewer kit so we wouldn’t have to soak the skewers. And since I don’t grill much, I used the oven. I put the kabobs on at 350 degrees  for about 20 minutes and made sure that the veggies were cooked.

 

You can not get any simpler than that. This particular blend is fiery and spicey so if you like heat you will like this one. For myself and my mate it was too fiery. What I should have done was look on the website for any additional ingredients to add to veggies. It does say to add additional lime juice to cut down on the heat.

I will be trying the other blends, Mediterranean and Teriyaki, within the next couple of days to see how they taste.

Have tried @UrbanAccents products?

What other spice companies have pre-blended spices that you like?

Listening to Our Bodies

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In most occasions we live our lives ignoring many alerts we receive. How many times did we miss a stop sign or almost ran a red light. In a world where we are bombarded by information and so many alerts and distractions from our contacts, devices, and various communication channels it is difficult to listen to key alerts from our bodies.

Our culture especially in Puerto Rico where major pharmaceuticals established themselves to do experiments on the people around them it is very common to listen to our bodies and quickly fix it with a pill. I know so many people that get a light headache and quickly run to have an aspirin to take it away. Not only in Puerto Rico but in many places the quick fix is more important than finding the root cause of why the headache was started. The main reason i became vegetarian was that my body had been alerting me of not consuming meat or seafood and I just did not want to listen. I remember I use to have killer heartburn and on many occasions I was offered pills to relieve it. It was not until I decided to do a detox of eating no meat for a few weeks that I realized that many of the symptoms I was feeling where tied to my consumption of meat.

Just a few days ago I was getting a headache pretty often and I started to worry. But the main thing I did I started thinking what I was doing that was probably causing the headache. I realize that every time i vacuumed the house something I have to do almost every day due to our four legged son Juanga’s excessive shedding I would get a headache. So I decided to quickly start using hearing protection and instead of popping aspiring to relieve it.

On many occasions it is just a matter of taking away the root cause of the problems This applies in life or in our eating habits. I stopped eating meat it took away the heartburn and I started using hearing protection and the headaches stopped.

What things are you doing to relieve something before analyzing what started it?

Make sure to listen to your bodies alert system we are very privileged to have it for a reason?

 

Any other situations similar to mine that you want to share?

by wildxplorer

5 Reasons that are Keeping me From Being Vegan?

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I have been vegetarian since 2006 and for the last few months I have been analyzing  and thinking of becoming Vegan. Living here on the island and being extremely busy sometimes has kept me away from being vegan. I am going to list the main reasons that have me from becoming vegan and I want your thoughts on it:

1. Limited Supply of Fresh Vegetables and Fruits

I live on an Island that its agriculture is torned to bits. The dependence of Puerto Rico on external food sources in the agriculture field especially for fruits and vegetables gives me very few options of fresh and good fruits. I have to say that in many occasions I buy vegetables or fruit at Costco and if I am not careful enough they are already going bad. Not only are they more expensive because everything is brought in by boat but I waste of my money.

2. Limited Variety of Vegetables and Fruits

There are fruit carts in many places but most of the time they are carrying the same fruits and vegetables which can make preparing different meals a bit difficult. Most of them are more inclined towards having what most of the people buy and I don’t blame them because they have to make a living and not as many people around me are as big fans of vegetables as I am.

3. I love Ice Cream

One of the main reasons I have not gone vegan is because I am in love with Ice Cream. I love Ice cream so much it is probably one of the less healthier items that I consume very often. Given the fact of the high diabetes in my family I think this is the easiest one to overcome as much as I will miss it at the beginning.

4. No Options when on the Road

On some occasions we feel like eating out. Sadly Puerto Rico has no Vegan options in most of the restaurants and fast food places. Even restaurants claiming to be vegetarian might not have a vegan option. I have been to restaurants claiming to be vegetarian to find out that they ran out of vegetarian options for the day (clearly these restaurants are more focused on making money than serving there key customers).

5. Many of the Vegetarian Proteins Contain Egg or Dairy

Given the lack of previous options many vegetarian proteins contain egg and milk which once again cuts down on the only other options we have to create meals.

So those are my 5 reasons why I am not vegan. Can you think of reasonable and practical solutions to helping me move to becoming vegan?

What recommendations do you have?

 

 

photo credit by norwichnuts

Vegetarianism Shouldn’t Mean Lunching on Chips and Soft Drinks

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In my college days (circa 1980 when there were few vegetarian options outside the health food store) I went so low as to order a cheeseburger without the burger at McDonald’s. Another time, during a ten-hour bus ride in Mexico, I ate a lettuce and tomato sandwich on Pan Bimbo. More recently, I saw nothing wrong with eating only whole grain rolls for both breakfast and lunch. My rationale was I hadn’t eaten a donut in about 20 years, and a whole grain rool was low in sugar, low in fat, high in fiber and filled me up. So what if there were no colors of the rainbow on my plate?

After nearly 40 years as a vegetarian, I became a vegan. I swore off dairy and eggs, and cut back significantly on the carbs. At about the same time, I was diagnosed a pre-diabetic, and saw how my sugar level would spike with even small amounts of carbs. While I was never an arrocera, eating a pre-packaged vegan rice and vegetables entrée at one sitting suddenly became a bit too much for my sugar level.

So, finally i believe i follow a healthy vegetarian/vegan diet. I pay more attention to proteins as well as green and orange vegetables. I am very strict with my diet. Maybe that’s why my eyes bulge – sometimes with disgust, other times with envy – when I see what others consume. I realize everyone has a different body chemistry, and most don’t have to watch their calories, sugars or carbs. But speaking as a former carboholic, when you fill up in those areas it’s doubtful you’re getting your share of vitamins and minerals.

Unfortunately, my shock observing others’ plates often carries over to fellow vegans or vegetarians. Granted, everyone chooses a plant-based diet for personal reasons. I understand why people choose the easy route, and munch on French fries, tortilla chips, cookies and pasta. However, if you’re going to make the effort to go plant-based, it’s not all that much harder to choose healthy options. It may take a bit more time to prepare your own homemade foods and snacks and take them everywhere you go, but there are plenty of short cuts to make it worth the effort.

As an ex-carb addict, I created the following vegan, diabetic-friendly healthy recipes. Because of the high fiber content, don’t expect these to be light and airy or anything similar to what you’d find at your neighborhood chain grocery store or panaderia.

Recipes

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS (yield: 12 small muffins)

ingredients
1 c. raw unsalted almonds
1 c. rolled oats
2 T. flax seeds
½ c. shredded unsweetened coconut
½ c. whole wheat flour
1 ¼ t. baking powder
¼ t. baking soda
1 ¼ t. cinnamon
½ t. ground ginger
1 ½ c. shredded carrots
½ c. coconut or almond milk (preferably unsweetened)
1 t. vanilla
1 T. agave
1 T. oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a muffin pan with muffin liners.
2. In a food processer, grind the nuts, flax seeds and oats, stirring periodically, until a thick flour is formed.
3. Put ground ingredients into a large mixing bowl and add the remaining dry ingredients, and mix.
4. Add shredded carrots and remaining ingredients, and stir well.
5. For those with a sweet tooth, add more agave, and/or a grated apple to the mix. Non-diabetics can add raisins.
6. Spoon into the muffin pan.
7. Bake about 30 minutes, until a toothpick or knife can be inserted and come out clean.

VEGAN PUMPKIN BREAD (yield: two loaves of bread)

Ingredients
3 ½ c. flour
4 t. baking soda and ½ t. baking powder
1 t. each of nutmeg and clove
1 ½ t. cinnamon
2 T. ground flax seeds
Pinch of ginger
¼ c. agave
2/3 c. oil
1 can pumpkin
2/3 c. coconut milk
2/3 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 345 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients
3. In separate bowl, mix oil, milk and pumpkin
4. Combine moist ingredients into dry mix. Fold in coconut and walnut pieces.
5. For modifications, use ½ c. sugar/splenda mix instead of agave, or substitute 1 c. oatmeal for flour.
6. Pour into two oiled bread pans and bake for about 50 minutes or until knife can be inserted and removed clean from center of loaf.

Help with choosing Vegan Ingredients – VeganIsEasy App

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Becoming vegetarian can be overwhelming given all the rules you have to follow. If you are like me and did not pay attention at the beginning to the ingredients that where in everything, I thought I was vegetarian while I was still consuming meat byproducts. A good example was my favorite soup French Onion Soup. I guess I should have taken my guess on the French part since France’s cuisine for the most part is not vegetarian or vegan friendly.

I had this soup a few times and it was the only thing giving me an food reaction. I looked at the ingredients and saw that it is made either with beef or chicken stock. The same thing happened to me with Miso Soup. Since it had Tofu in it, I thought that made it vegetarian. Needles to say that Miso Soup is made out of fish stock.

There are many ingredients that are added to food that look vegetarian friendly. This is a good reason to create a series of items that look vegetarian friendly and they are really not.

I found this App VeganIsEasy for the Iphone that can help you determine what ingredients are vegan friendly.

It divides them in Vegan, Possible Vegan, and Non-Vegan.

It also provides a list  of Vegan Friendly Booze items such as beer and wine. It also uses the Vegan, Possible Vegan, and Non-Vegan. With a detailed list of which items satisfy the vegan needs.

Do you guys know of any other vegan friendly apps for smartphones that can make everyone’s life easier?

I think that it is great to see so many apps helping us choose the vegan and/or vegetarian friendly ingredients.

Download Vegan Is Easy App from itunes

first photo credit by Augapfel

 

CTO aka Chief Taco Officer

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Photo MikeHipp

Since it is Cinco de Mayo and we somehow manage to all be Mexicans on this day, I thought it would be great to share a recipe for your Cinco de Mayo parties. At VegLatino we know the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo isn’t to get inebriated on libations of the margarita kind.

I asked our friends on Twitter and Facebook what are some veggie inspired Cinco de Mayo recipes and here is what they said:

@icaoberg : Tofu chorizo and cheese dip of course.

@IsasBread : A Mexican Pizza-Black Beans and mango salsa as a pizza topping. Peace n Loaf.

@Dolcezza305 : I used to make a bangin veggie wrap. whole wheat, tofu with goya adobo, black bean hummus, hot sauce, lettuce, tomato, and carrot

@ChicaVegan : Throwing a whole vegan event : @VegCincoDeMayo

Folks will be eating lots of spicy food that they may regret in the morning. So here is a simple recipe from the CTO or Chief Taco Officer.

Ingredients

1 Can of Loma Linda Vege-Burger
1 Box of 18 taco shells (any brand)
1 Packet of Taco Seasoning
2 Garlic cloves. 1 for the Vege-Burger Soy Mixture and one for the Topping
1 Tomato
1 Red Onion
1 White Onion
1 Green Pepper
1 Can of Corn
2 scallion stalks

1/2 teaspoon of lime juice (fresh or from concentrate)
3 leaves of Cilantro chopped
2 tablespoon of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup of Water
Vegetarian Soy Cheese
Salsa

Dice the garlic clove and toss it in the pan with Olive Oil. This should be done in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Put the Vege-Burger mixture in and all of the dry ingredients from the Taco Packet Mixture or Your own Spice Mixture.

Since the Vege-Burger mixture is already brown in color, you don’t need to cook it too long. Sautee all ingredients and add 1/2 cup of water. Put on simmer and cook for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally, tasting to add more salt or dry ingredients, and making sure you still have some of the liquid in the mixture.

While the Vege-Burger mixture is cooking, chop the tomato, garlic clove, green pepper, red onion, white onion, scallion, and cilantro leaves. Add the lime juice and canned corn. Mix and set in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to vegetables.

Assemble your tacos to your liking. The recipe shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.