Due to the generosity of anonymous donors, The Vegetarian Resource Group each year will award one $10,000 and several $5,000 college scholarships to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted veganism in their schools and/or communities. Entries may only be sent by students graduating from high school in SPRING 2026

We will accept applications emailed or postmarked on or before FEBRUARY 20, 2026. Early submission is encouraged.

Applicants will be judged on having shown compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful world through a vegan diet/lifestyle. Payment will be made to the student’s college (U.S. based only). Winners of the scholarships give permission to release their names to the media. Applications and essays become property of The Vegetarian Resource Group. We may ask finalists for more information. Scholarship winners are contacted by e-mail or telephone. Please look at your e-mail.

If you would like to donate to additional scholarships or internships, go to www.vrg.org/donate

Applications

For information on applying, visit: https://www.vrg.org/student/scholar or call (410) 366-8343 or email [email protected].

This contest is sponsored by The Vegetarian Resource Group/Vegan Journal, PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

I was squatting down in front of a bin in the bulk foods section of a local store, when someone asked, “What are you making with that?” He was curious about the TVP chunks that I was scooping into a container. I told him that I planned to use the chunks in a curry sauce with cauliflower. More questions followed – How do you cook TVP chunks? What else can you do with them? How do they taste? Do TVP chunks have protein? We chatted for a while. Afterwards, I kept thinking about TVP chunks, a product I use every few weeks.

TVP is made from defatted soy flour which is made into a paste and formed into different shapes like strips, chunks, and flakes. The shapes are dehydrated. I often use the chunks in recipes in place of seitan strips or cubes or instead of diced tofu. Since the dehydrated TVP chunks are shelf stable, they can be kept on hand to use anytime.

To rehydrate the TVP chunks I put them in a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. I let them sit, covered, for about 10 minutes and then drain off any excess liquid. Rehydrated TVP has a fairly bland taste. Some recipes call for soaking TVP chunks in hot broth, instead of water, to add flavor. Since I usually use them in highly flavorful sauces, I don’t find it necessary to use broth for soaking.

According to USDA’s nutrient data base, an ounce of dried TVP has approximately 125 calories, 17 grams of protein, 1 gram of fat, 11 grams of carbohydrate, and 6 grams of fiber. TVP supplies iron, zinc, and some calcium and by itself, is low in sodium.

Here are 10 ideas for dishes that include TVP chunks:

1. Make or buy a curry sauce, heat it, and mix with rehydrated TVP chunks and steamed vegetables of your choice.
2. Barbecue TVP chunks – combine rehydrated TVP chunks with a commercial or homemade barbecue sauce and heat on the stovetop or in the oven or microwave. Serve on a bun or over cornbread.
3. Make a flavorful brown gravy and add rehydrated TVP chunks and pre-cooked stew vegetables (e.g. carrots, potatoes, turnips, and parsnips). If you are looking for a good gravy recipe, Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD has lots of ideas. If you want a good stew recipe, see the Seitan Stew in this article and replace the seitan with rehydrated TVP chunks.
4. Rehydrated TVP chunks are great in a stir-fry! Add them along with longer cooking vegetables like onions and carrots so they can soak up lots of flavor.
5. TVP chunks can be add to your favorite soup recipe or canned soup. If adding them to a soup recipe, you can skip the rehydrating, as long as they are in a hot liquid in the soup pot for at least 10 minutes. If you are adding them to canned soup, either heat them in the soup or rehydrate the chunks before adding them to the soup.
6. Sauté rehydrated TVP chunks with sliced peppers and onions and spices and wrap in a whole-wheat tortilla or serve in whole-wheat rolls.
7. When you make fried rice, add rehydrated TVP chunks. Here’s an easy recipe for fried rice.
8. Mix rehydrated TVP chunks with Chocolate Mole Sauce (see the mole sauce recipe in The Savory Side of Chocolate from Vegan Journal).
9. Make Chef Nancy Berkoff’s Hungarian Sauce, add sautéed mushrooms and onions, and rehydrated TVP chunks and serve over cooked noodles or other pasta.
10. Try a shepherd’s pie. Combine rehydrated TVP chunks with leftover cooked vegetables, add some gravy, top with mashed potatoes and bake until hot.

photo from Freepik

In a Vegan Cooking Tips column that previously ran in Vegan Journal, Chef Nancy Berkoff said breakfast in a mug can be just one part of your morning meal, sipped leisurely during an early morning class or meeting; or it can be a gulp-able meal unto itself, taken on the dash.

Here’s some of her delicious combination suggestions:

Creamy Smooth: ½ cup fruit-flavored soy yogurt, ½ cup vegan milk, ½ banana, 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon thawed orange juice concentrate

Harvest Apple: ½ cup tofu or plain vegan yogurt, ¼ cup applesauce, 1 Tablespoon thawed apple juice concentrate, ¼ cup vegan milk, sprinkle of cinnamon

Potassium Plus: carrot juice, ¼ cup orange juice, ½ banana

Sunny: ½ cup orange juice, 2 ounces pineapple juice, ½ banana or 2 ounces of tofu or vegan yogurt, 3 ounces strawberries, 1 Tablespoon wheat germ

Ginger-Peachy: ½ cup sliced peaches, ¼ cup orange juice, 2 Tablespoons carrot juice, dash of maple syrup, dash of ginger

Apples Plus: apple cider blended with applesauce, apple juice concentrate, raisins, cinnamon

Banana Split: hot or cold milk blended with banana, berries, pineapple, cocoa powder (or chocolate syrup)

What the Bunny Knows: carrot juice blended with banana, celery, wheat germ, ­­orange juice concentrate

Read the entire column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2013issue2/2013_issue2_quick_breakfasts.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the US only: https://www.vrg.org/member/

Each issue of Vegan Journal (published by The Vegetarian Resource Group) contains a wide variety of vegan recipes. You can search through our recipe index here and find something new to prepare at home: https://www.vrg.org/journal/CookingAndRecipes.htm

photo from No Whey Chocolate

Are you looking for places to purchase vegan chocolate for Valentine’s Day? Here’s some online sources that sell vegan chocolate:

Coracao Confections (vegan chocolates) https://www.coracaoconfections.com/

Dallmann Chocolates (vegan chocolates) https://dallmannconfections.com/collections/vegan-chocolates

Divine Chocolate (variety of vegan chocolate bars) https://www.divinechocolateusa.com/collections/valentine

Lagusta’s Luscious (variety of handcrafted vegan chocolate) https://lagustasluscious.com/

Lake Champlain Chocolates (wide variety of vegan offerings) https://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/seasonal-chocolates/vegan-valentine-chocolates

No Whey Chocolate (vegan and kosher) https://nowheychocolate.com/valentines-day-chocolate/

French Toast

Several of us recently enjoyed a fantastic meal at P.S. Kitchen on West 48^th Street in the Broadway section of NYC. The vegan food was delicious and the service was great.

Mac and Cheese

P.S. Burger

Some of the dishes we sampled were Maitake Wings, Truffle Fries, French Toast, Breakfast Platter, P.S. Burger, Thai Chicken Sandwich, Savory Steak Marsala, and Mac and Cheese.

Breakfast Platter

Savory Steak Marsala

For more information on P.S. Kitchen, see https://www.ps-kitchen.com/

Also, visit VRG’s Guide to Veggie Restaurants in the USA and Canada here https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

Because the standard deduction has been raised to over $16,000 for individuals and over $32,000 for married couples filing jointly, some people may lose the advantage of deducting all their charitable donations, since their itemized deductions won’t exceed those amounts.

So for donors who are over 70-1/2 years old, they may want to use the Qualified Charitable Distributions. The QCD is a distribution from an individual retirement account directly to a charity, such as The Vegetarian Resource Group. The distribution from the plan administrator directly to the charity counts toward the donor’s required minimum distribution for the year, but the charitable donation is not included in the donor’s adjusted gross income. Note that you can do a QCD at 70-1/2 before you are required to take distributions.

Others may use a donor-advised fund. Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are accounts where the donors can advise on where and when to distribute funds. Donors claim the charitable deduction in the year the money is transferred to the DAF even though the funds have not been given to the final specific charities. This allows donors to consolidate several years of charitable gifts into one year for their income tax returns. For example, married donors who usually give $3,000 per year to their favorite charitable organization can create a Donor-Advised fund, deposit $21,000 in it for a current year tax deduction, and then distribute $3,000 per year as annual gifts in future years. For example, here is information about a few Donor Advised Funds.

https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/philanthropy/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund.shtml
https://www.schwabcharitable.org/public/charitable/donor_advised_funds
http://programforgiving.org/charitable/pages/home.jsp

This is not legal or tax advice. You should speak to your legal or tax advisor.

To donate directly to The Vegetarian Resource Group, go to www.vrg.org/donate

Recent topics brought up include:

– Does anyone have experience eating vegan while on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Did you pack a lot of your own snacks and such? I know the basics will be available but just wondering if it’s a struggling vegan situation or a nice culinary experience.

– Congress Approves Changes to the National School Lunch Program That Could Make it Easier to Get “Nutritional Equivalent” Plant Milks

– Learn about which vegan milks qualify to be used in the National School Lunch Program in the USA

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VRGparentsandkids is intended to be a group that offers support for families raising children on vegan diets and for vegan kids around the world. We envision it as a place to get advice about a wide-variety of topics: pregnancy, birthday parties, school lunches, Halloween, non-leather apparel, cruelty-free products, summer camps, and more. Please use it as a place to share your wisdom, seek advice, or just find a sympathetic ear. The goal is to offer support.

Consequently, any profane, defamatory, offensive, or violent language will be removed. Feel free to disagree, but do so respectfully. Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs will not be tolerated. We expect that posts should relate to vegan diets and lifestyles. The Vegetarian Resource Group reserves the right to monitor all content and ban any user who posts in violation of the above rules, any law or regulation, SPAM, or anything otherwise off topic.

Please share this information with any veggie families that you know! Thanks.

photo from Karelyn’s Vegan Beachside

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: www.vrg.org/restaurant

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide:

Flatbelly VEG, 1020 Bethlehem Pike, Erdenheim, PA 19038

Focused on health, Flatbelly Veg aims to eliminate as much processed food as possible such as oil. Some of their items are even inspired by customers. They offer several Sandwiches like Pesto Chikn’ Guac Melt Panini with vegan smoked roasted chikn’, romaine, onions, guac, and melted vegan cheese on toasted sunflower panini bread, or Reuben’s Cousin Ruth–the famous Reuben sandwich’s “healthy” relative featuring grilled portabella mushrooms, peppers onions, romaine lettuce, house made seitan deli slices, melted vegan cheese, and sauerkraut on Jewish rye; the name alone is bound to bring a smile! Besides Salads and Mac and Cheese, they have Nachos and Quesadillas. Another of their Sides is Chick Pea Curry with Basmati rice, peppers, onions, tomato warm coconut curry sauce, and their blend of Indian herbs and spices. All listed as gluten-free, they offer Bowls like Teriyaki Chikn’ with vegan smoked roasted chikn, Basmati rice, and romaine. Avocado Toast showcases house made guac, radishes, house-made hot honi drizzled almonds, cantaloupe micro greens, and tomato herb sauce on toasted Jewish rye. They also serve Wraps such as Carrot Tuna with cucumber, pickle, vegan cheese, vegan mayo, romaine, tomatoes, and herb sauce. There are green or fruit Smoothies too as well as Avo Chocolato–blended avocado, cocoa, chocolate almond or oat milk, banana, and strawberries.

Gorilla Eats Sushi, 6334 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92115

They offer a large menu including Nigiri Sushi such as red Tuna Nigiri with house Wasabi relish. Classic Roll examples are I/O Yam Roll: Tempura sweet potato and avocado and Philadelphia Roll featuring cream cheese and smoked vegan salmon. One of their many Specialty Rolls is Rio Roll with cucumber, avocado, house-pickled red onion, cilantro, vegan shrimp tempura, and vegan crab mix with sweet and sour Ponzu sauce. They have various Hand Rolls too. Besides sushi, they serve appetizers such as Seaweed Salad, Panko Tempura Fried Avocado with spicy mayo and vegan eel sauce, Stuffed (Shiitake) Mushroom, and more. You might quench your thirst with Kimino Sparkling Juice imported from Japan, in flavors like Yuzu (Lemon), Ume (Plum), Momo (Peach) and others.

Ingrained, 108 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60654

Snack Attack? Ingrained hopes to inspire joyful nostalgia through gluten-free and refined sugar-free treats. Though their selections change daily, here are some examples. Happily, ingredients are listed on the menu. Customers are encouraged to order ahead because items sell out quickly. Some Savory Sides include Basil Pesto (spread) and Lentil Kale Pesto Soup. Among their most popular items are house-made Cashew Ice Cream Bars. Some possibilities are Banana Bread Toffee Tiramisu Bar, with toffee-covered, moist espresso infused banana bread replacing ladyfingers, stuffed in house-made vanilla “mascarpone” cashew cream sealed in “gooey” toffee, melted cacao stripes, cacao nibs, and la Colombo espresso bean dust. Italian Gelato Shop Bar showcases a vanilla cinnamon protein base covered in strawberry balsamic Jammie sorbeto with freeze dried crunchy strawberries, raspberries, pistachios, and swirls of their pistachio maple sea salt gelato topped with cinnamon pistachio swirl and salted raspberry pieces. Pineapple Ginger Cheesecake Bar features pineapple gingerbread vanilla date protein truffle crust filled with dried: pineapples, ginger, banana, fresh pineapple juice, dates, Vermont maple, walnut butter, ginger, cinnamon, a layer of gingerbread cookies for a “chewy” center crowned with whipped vanilla bean coconut cashew cream. Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake Bar has brownie chocolate protein date cake crust, vanilla ice cream, and cashew crème. The center aims for a healthy version of the namesake’s molten chewy cookie brownie layer followed by Chocolate Cake Batter Cacao Ice Cream Cashew Crème with a house-made chocolate frosted top. They offer many Cookies besides their Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. A couple are Gingerbread Molasses–cashew butter-frosted, blackstrap cinnamon gingerbread cookie and Moosetracks featuring chocolate chip cookies covered in peanut butter, house-made dark mini Peanut Butter cups, and melted chocolate. One of their many Cake options is Salted Caramel Banana Toffee Cinnamon Crumb–banana bread swirled with English toffee butterscotch “goo” and cinnamon coconut sugar crunchies baked into toffee butterscotch cake, cashew whipped cream, English toffee, banana bread truffle, and cinnamon sugar dust.

Karelyn’s Vegan Beachside, 318 Seabreeze Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32118

The owners hope you’ll “…meet your new favorite comfort foods” at Karelyn’s Vegan Beachside. For Starters there’s Fried Green Tomatoes, seasoned, Waffle Soul Fries or their loaded version with grilled onions, cheese sauce, bacon bits, and their signature soul sauce, Heavenly Mac and Cheese and continuing the celestial theme—Onion Halos (AKA Rings). Karelyn’s Chef Specials include OG Lions Mane Chick’n sandwich with vegan mayo and pickles on a toasted brioche bun or the very popular Soul Food Fantasy featuring crisp fried Chick’n wings, mac and cheese, kale ginger salad, and cornbread. Kev’s Famous Cheesesteak showcases house-made steak grilled with green peppers, onions, melted cheese, and mayo on a toasted Philadelphia hoagie. They offer many Burgers—some with crisp onion chips, BBQ sauce, vegan bacon, smashed avocado, and more. The Islander Burger is a plant-based patty, sweet plantains, vegan cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, and their Soul Sauce on a Brioche bun. The Soul Bowl Angel Wings features crisped oyster mushroom ‘chicken wings’ with your choice of sauce over seasoned, waffle fries. The Healers Bowl combines kale, shredded carrots, purple cabbage, sunflower seeds, and a zesty ginger dressing. Their very popular All-Day Brunch offers Southern fried Chick’n and Waffles with strawberries, and maple syrup. They also have Mushroom Beverages and Root Beer Floats. For Dessert, besides Banana Pudding and Strawberry Shortcake, there’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Aunties Carrot Cake crafted with crushed pineapples and vegan cream cheese frosting. Some of their Hand-spun Milkshakes are Cookies and Cream, Kev’s Favorite—Oreo cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough bites, and peanut butter drizzle, and French Toast Milkshake with French toast pieces, maple syrup, and a hint of cinnamon.

The Dirty V, 301 Glenwood Ave., Ste. 103, Raleigh, NC 27603

Choose between burgers, hot dogs, chik’n, waffles, mac n’ cheese, salads, shakes, and desserts!

Tropicups, 2525 Shallowford Rd., Ste. 100, Marietta, GA 30066

Family run Tropicups creates Desserts and Custom Cakes with classic flavors as well as Caribbean flare. Besides being vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free options are available. At the storefront, they offer Cupcakes, Muffins, Brownies, Lemon-Blueberry Bars, Blondies, and Trifle Cake Cups—layers of cake, frosting and fruit spreads. For Cakes, choose 4” or 6” with one layer or two. Some selections of Classic Flavors are Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Carrot with vanilla frosting, and Cookies and Cream with chocolate cake and cookie and cream frosting. For a taste of the Tropics, you might step aboard the Booze Cruise–Caribbean black rum cake with red wine, dried fruits, and vanilla frosting. Or take a Vanilla Vacation with vanilla cake and lemon frosting. Carrot Carnival is crafted with vanilla-frosted carrot and beet cake. Coconut Caribbean combines coconut cake and coconut frosting. Banana Beach features banana cake with vanilla or chocolate frosting. They also have soft serve, coffee, hot chocolate, and mocha.

Have you ever wondered if an ingredient listed on a food label is vegan or not? The Vegetarian Resource Group has an online guide to food ingredients that lets you now whether a specific food ingredient is vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, typically vegan, typically vegetarian, may be non-vegetarian, or typically non-vegetarian.

You can search through this guide here: https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

To support this type of difficult research, please consider making a donation to The Vegetarian Resource Group: vrg.org/donate