In The Vegetarian Resource Group’s 40^th Anniversary issue of Vegan Journal, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD predicts what’s upcoming in vegan nutrition in her latest Nutrition Hotline column.

See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2022issue3/2022_issue3_nutrition_hotline.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal: https://www.vrg.org/party/

In the latest issue of Vegan Journal, Amber Murtoff serves up a wide variety of hearty salads. Enjoy preparing Grilled Peach Salad with Corn Fritters, BBQ Tofu Cobb Salad, Bacun-Kale-Tomato Pasta Salad, Zucchini Salad with Walnut Pesto, Warm Farro Salad with Fig Vinaigrette, and Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh with Carrot Falafel.

See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2022issue3/2022_issue3_salad_for_supper.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal: https://www.vrg.org/party/

photo from Matt & Nat

If you’re in the market for a vegan backpack, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a wide variety of stylish vegan backpacks available in the USA, Canada, and Europe.

The French company Arsayo offers unisex backpacks. They are designed in Paris and made from cork material produced in Portugal.

Doshi, an American company, makes a wide variety of backpacks for men and women.

Gunas offers backpacks and ships internationally from America.

Canadian company Jeane & Jax offers backpacks for women.

American company Matt and Nat sells internationally a wide variety of backpacks in several colors.

Pixie Mood ships backpacks to both Canada and the USA.

Enjoy this recipe by James Craig Thieman, demonstrated by Vegan Journal editor Rissa Miller.

See video at: https://youtu.be/1wVKxoLByOM

Get the recipe: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue3/2020_issue3_bowled_over.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

By Nadely Requena, VRG Intern

What once began as a way for Hannah Kaminsky to share her knitting crafts, her BitterSweet Blog slowly evolved into a career promoting veganism. Her website now highlights her creative vegan recipes, food photography, playful craft patterns, and includes vegan product promotions.

Kaminsky has continuously worked to create and photograph food pieces for the Vegetarian Resource Group’s Vegan Journal, VegNews, and Allergic Living, among others. She is also the author of nine cookbooks, including My Sweet Vegan, The Everyday Vegan Cheat Sheet, and The Student Vegan Cookbook. Kaminsky’s dedication to breaking the barrier and stereotypes that revolve around vegan cuisine is what fueled her to continue her freelance work for over a decade.

Growing up in Connecticut, she gained an appreciation for the arts at an early age. Knitting was an activity present throughout Kaminsky’s childhood and her family even had a dedicated crafting room in their home. While others tried to teach her the mechanics, she eventually learned to knit and crochet by following instructions in a book.

Kaminsky frequently engaged in sketching and painting, but she always felt she could never express the vision in her mind properly. Upon picking up photography, however, Kaminsky immediately felt comfortable as she could instantly express her intent.

Her urge to become vegan developed during high school as she had vegan friends and viewed them as “cool.” However, after eating bland and repetitive food as a result of not knowing how to properly feed herself, Kaminsky decided to put research into the diet. Upon discovering the cruelty present in the animal industry, she realized being vegan was something she not only wanted to do for herself, but for the world.

She often cites her parents as the reason why she was able to be successful with her diet. They had continuously expressed their concerns with her changing diet, so with the help of a dietitian, Kaminsky learned to properly supplement herself. However, Kaminsky’s parents were adamant about not preparing separate meals and it was then that her passion for cooking blossomed. It was through these realizations that Kaminsky was able to build a career for herself.

“(Cooking) became a bigger part of the blog, I started writing recipes, and eventually that took over the blog and with photos it was just a function of documenting what I was making and eventually I got more into that and that became the trajectory of my career,” Kaminsky said.

However, she acknowledges the scary instances that came with having a freelance career. From having to carve out a nonexistent niche of vegan writing and photography, living a piecemeal life, and then encountering the pandemic, Kaminsky has experienced her fair share of difficult moments pursuing her advocacy work.

Her perseverance and passion for her career has kept her afloat. Kaminsky’s unique job provides her with the variety she craves and most importantly, allows her to dismantle the idea that vegan food is too difficult, expensive, and not full of flavor.

“I want people to compare my recipes to ‘regular’ omnivore recipes and say this is a great muffin and not this is a great vegan muffin,” Kaminsky said. “I just want to show people it’s just food and maybe it’s better food. I don’t want it to be a weird thing like you need to eat vegan as if it’s a different cuisine. Everything can be vegan.”

Kaminsky continues to share her lovely recipes, exceptional photography, and knitting ideas on the Bittersweet Blog. Be on the lookout for a future cookbook coming out this August!

Blog: https://bittersweetblog.com/

Personal Website: https://hannahkaminsky.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-kaminsky-64117a72

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MySweetVegan/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bittersweet__/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bittersweet__

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

It was a happy day when my family and I stopped by The Original Plantwich sandwich shop in Glen Rock, NJ. This newly-opened restaurant has a menu filled with vegan sandwiches along with sides including hash browns and daily specials like black bean kale slaw. They also have a refrigerator stocked with grab and go dishes that vary day to day but could include overnight oats, chickpea salad, and coconut oat balls.

The Original Plantwich’s owners are super friendly and told us about their initial idea of having a food truck mainly serving sandwiches. When their current space in Glen Rock became available, they changed their plans and opened a storefront shop. They are open for take-out only but there are shady benches nearby for a picnic lunch.

My sandwich, Gone in Sixty, was simple and delicious – vegan egg and cheese on a toasted English muffin.  My daughter enjoyed the Marvelous Maple, a creative sandwich, which included vegan sausage, egg, and cheese on a pretzel bun with a smoky maple sauce. She described it as a mix of tastes that worked well together. My husband tried one of the daily specials, the TLT Dynamite, a classic featuring tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado on an English muffin.

If I were to go back, I’d want to try a PBC (peanut butter, banana jam, and chocolate chips on an English muffin) or maybe the Manipesto (vegan egg, bacon, tomato, and pesto on an English muffin).

You can find The Original Plantwich at 251 Rock Road 1D Glen Rock, NJ.

Visit their website at https://www.theoriginalplantwich.com/

To find a list of veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada visit: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

See: https://www.newhope.com/manufacturing-and-supply/retailers-whey-are-animal-free-dairy-products-natural?

The Vegetarian Resource Group has a graphic called Burrito on My Plate, which shows viewers the water footprint of a vegan versus a meat-based burrito. It takes 225 gallons of water to make a vegan burrito without tofu and 253 gallons of water to make a vegan burrito with tofu. In comparison, it takes 541 gallons of water to make a beef burrito.

The Burrito on My Plate Graphic can be seen here: https://www.vrg.org/environment/BurritoOnMyPlate.pdf

The article detailing how we came up with the numbers of gallons of water needed to produce each type of burrito can be found here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2017issue2/2017_issue2_burrito_plate.php

By Rima Ibrahim

1-2 heads of lettuce

2 tomatoes

3 cucumbers

4-6 mint leaves (or 1 Tablespoon dried mint)

1 large bell pepper (any color)

2 green onions (scallions)

2-3 lemons

2 Tablespoons parsley

1/3 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons sumac

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon lemon rind, grated (optional)

Cut up all veggies. Add seasoning and lemon juice. Mix everything together and enjoy.

Note: The traditional salad also includes pieces of bread either baked or fried for a crispy texture.

Recent topics brought up include:

– Question posted: How do you all explain why your family is vegan to younger children? Our daughters are 3 going on 4 soon and have been excited to announce their veganism to everyone. This makes me proud but I want to make sure they understand that other children who don’t eat the same aren’t “bad” or “weird” for NOT being vegan because most children aren’t making their own dietary decisions. Any thoughts or age appropriate conversation prompts to promote an accepting view of others eating habits at this age?

– Posted a review of the book Feeding Your Vegan Child that ran in Vegan Journal.

– Shared Vegan Grilling Recipes

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.