Thanks to TheVegetarianSite.com for donating 10% of their August proceeds to VRG! We really appreciate their generosity.
Make sure to check them out for vegan shoes, clothing, food, belts, accessories, and more.
Julia Driggers, R.D., shares a recipe for vegan chocolate chip banana bread:
(Serves 12)
Ingredients:
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt
½ cup Vegan Butter (Earth Balance recommended)
¾ cup Brown Sugar (Use your favorite vegan variety)
2-3 Medium to Large Ripe Bananas, Mashed
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Egg Equivalents of Egg Replacer
¾ cups Vanilla Almond Milk (or other milk alternative)
1 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl cream butter and fold in brown sugar. Stir in mashed bananas, vanilla, and egg substitute. Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and stir. Add Almond Milk and chocolate chips and mix. Pour into a 9 inch loaf pan and bake 40-50 minutes or until center of bread is cooked. Enjoy!
| Total Calories Per Serving: | 260 |
| Total Fat as % of Daily Value: | 17% |
| Protein: | 4 gm |
| Fat: | 11gm |
| Carbohydrates: | 39gm |
| Calcium: | 25mg |
| Iron: | 2mg |
| Sodium: | 249 |
| Dietary Fiber: | 4gm |
Click here to view the entire version of VRG’s new lesson plan for kids about water usage.
Lesson Plan: Clean Water for Everyone Today and Tomorrow with Good Food Choices
by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS © The Vegetarian Resource Group.
Purpose: To visualize for young children how much water is used to do everyday tasks and how much water is needed to grow common food items. To graphically illustrate for children how some human activities and how food production causes water pollution. To instill in children that water is a precious resource and should not be wasted.
An integrated worksheet asks children to answer questions based on these adapted charts (numbers rounded for children):
Table 1. Water Consumed during Daily Activities (data taken from http://www.epa.gov/reg5rcra/wptdiv/p2pages/water.pdf)
| Activity | Water consumed (gallons) |
| Flush toilet | 5-7 |
| Run dishwasher | 15-25 |
| Wash dishes by hand | 20 |
| Water a small lawn | 35 |
| Take a shower | 25-50 |
| Take a bath | 50 |
| Wash a small load in a washing machine | 35 |
| Brush teeth with water running | 2-5 |
Table 2. Water Used to Produce some Common Items (Data taken from Chapagain A, Hoekstra A (2004) Water Footprints of Nations Volume One: Main Report. Value of Water Research Report Series No.16. Delft (The Netherlands): UNESCO – IHE Institute for Water Education. http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/Publications; numbers are rounded off on table children use for activity.)
| Product | Water used (gallons) |
| 1 glass of milk (200 ml) | 50 |
| 1 glass of apple juice (200 ml) | 48 |
| 1 glass of orange juice (200 ml) | 43 |
| 1 bag of potato chips (200 g) | 46 |
| 1 slice of bread (30 g) | 10 |
| 1 egg (40 g) | 34 |
| 1 slice of bread (30 g) with cheese (10 g) | 23 |
| 1 hamburger (150 g) | 600 |
| 1 potato (100 g) | 6 |
| 1 tomato (70 g) | 3 |
| 1 apple (100 g) | 18 |
| 1 orange (100 g) | 13 |
| 1 cotton T-shirt (medium sized, 500 g) | 1,025 |
| 1 pair of shoes (bovine leather) | 2,000 |
| 1 sheet of 8½ x 11 inch paper | 3 |
Click here for the entire lesson plan.
Thanks to Gretchen Chlebowski, Eric Sharer, and Julie Conry for representing VRG at the first year of Chicago Veganmania as well as VeggieFest in Chicago!
You can read more about Veganmania here: http://chicagoveganmania.
blogspot.com
and Veggie Fest here: http://www.veggiefest
chicagoland.org/
Great Sage, organic vegetarian restaurant in Clarksville, MD, is donating 10% of proceeds to VRG tomorrow. They have an amazing brunch from 10am-3pm and dinner after until 9pm. Come if you can!
Click here to check out a veggie-friendly take on the classic game of Memory! You can download a 24-card set that you can print as a fun game for kids.
Artwork by Jessica Dadds.
On our running National Restaurant Chains Poll, the top ten restaurant chains picked by our readers as most vegetarian-friendly are currently:
1. Chipotle
2. Qdoba Mexican Grill
3. Taco Bell
4. Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes
5. Subway
6. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
7. Noodles & Company
8. Moe’s Southwest Grill
9. Panera Bread
10. Baja Fresh Mexican Grill
Click here to cast your vote!
The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on vegetarianism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics, and world hunger. We have been helping health professionals, food services, businesses, educators, students, vegans, and vegetarians since 1982. In addition to publishing the Vegetarian Journal, VRG produces and sells a number of books.
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