Perhaps you or your children are stuck at home right now and looking for something fun to do. If so, consider viewing the previous winners of The Vegetarian Resource Group Video Contest. See: https://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

This Cinnamon and Potato Pancakes recipe from Chef Nancy Berkoff is a great way to use up extra potatoes and a terrific way to put a new spin on pancakes!

Cinnamon and Potato Pancakes from Vegan Meals for One or Two(Makes 4 pancakes)

Vegetable oil spray

2 cups frozen has brown potatoes, thawed (or cooked, leftover hash browns)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups prepared pancake batter

Spray a large frying pan with oil (or lightly oil the pan). Add hash browns and cook until crisp. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Divide the potatoes into six separate stacks in the pan and pour ½ cup pancake batter onto each stack. Mix each stack with the batter, right in the pan. Cook until each side is golden brown. Serve with syrup and sliced fruit, if desired.

Note: If you have a leftover baked potato, you can slice it and use it for hash browns.

Many schools are closed now due to the coronavirus. Here’s some veggie-friendly games for young children:

Veggie Memory Cards https://www.vrg.org/family/memory_cards.php

Veggie Counting Game https://www.vrg.org/family/memory_cards_math_game1.php

Many of us are now stuck at home due to the coronavirus. Food supplies may be limited; however, if you have a package of tempeh and a few other ingredients you can make this easy Sloppy Joe recipe from Conveniently Vegan.

Quick Sloppy Joes

(Serves 5)

Serve this dish over a whole wheat bun or over a baked potato.

Small onion, chopped

2 teaspoons oil

Two packages tempeh, grated

2 teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon salt

6-ounce can tomato paste

2 cups water

Sauté onion in oil in a large frying pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add grated tempeh and stir-fry for 5 minutes longer. Reduce heat, add remaining ingredients, and simmer 5 minutes. Serve warm.

This game from The Vegetarian Resource Group is good for both kids and adults. See: https://www.vrg.org/game/

Whether you’re home alone or with your children, these two puddings from Simply Vegan are easy to prepare and enjoy during these difficult times.

Chocolate Pudding

(Serves 3)

1½ cups soymilk

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup cocoa powder

Whisk all the ingredients together in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until pudding thickens. Remove pot from stove. Chill for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Note: Double the recipe, pour into a vegan graham cracker crust and chill before slicing.

Karen’s Creamy Rice Pudding

(Serves 8)

2 cups pre-cooked rice

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup raisins

½ cup slivered almonds (optional)

3½  cups soymilk

Mix all the ingredients together in a pot. Simmer until mixture begins to thicken (15-20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from stove and serve hot or cold.

Each year The Vegetarian Resource Group holds an essay contest for children. SUBJECT: 2-3 page essay on any aspect of veganism/vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is not eating meat, fish, and birds (for example, chicken or duck). Vegans do not use any animal products. Among the many reasons for being a vegan/vegetarian are beliefs about ethics, culture, health, aesthetics, religion, world peace, economics, world hunger, and the environment.

Entrants should base their paper on interviewing, research, and/or personal opinion. You need not be a vegetarian to enter. All essays become the property of The Vegetarian Resource Group. DEADLINE: Must be postmarked by May 1, 2020 for current year of judging.

Previous winning essays and complete details can be seen here: http://www.vrg.org/essay/

On a recent road trip, we arrived in Tucson, AZ ready for Mexican food. Fortunately for us, we found Tumerico. Tumerico, located near the University of Arizona campus at 2526 E 6th St, is a mostly vegan restaurant with a menu that changes regularly.  The day that we ate there the menu included a Pad Thai Veggie Bowl, spicy Adobo Tacos, Ropa Vieja plate, tamales, and a mole bowl all of which came with rice, beans, salad, pico de gallo, and cashew crema. You could add queso fresco (soft cheese) and order either vegan or vegetarian tamales; otherwise all dishes were vegan.

We tried Cuban Tacos, the vegan Tamale Plate, Viva la Mexico Tostadas, and the Mole Bowl. The tacos were filled with jackfruit and had a garlic-cilantro sauce. The tamales were my favorite – with a moist texture and a blend of spices that was tasty but not fiery.  The tostadas were lovely and featured crisp tortillas spread with guacamole and pesto, topped with beans, and served with a drizzle of cashew crema. The mole bowl had a mixture of vegetables and beans in a mole sauce with tortillas on the side.

The food was so good and the idea of a changing menu so intriguing that we hoped to go back. Alas, Tumerico is closed on Mondays and only open from 10-3 on Tuesdays. It’s open for breakfast/brunch, lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday.

For information on Tumerico, go to: https://www.tumerico.com/

For a guide to veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada, visit: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

In the last issue of Vegetarian Journal, we reported on a U.K. study that found that vegetarians (including vegans) had a higher risk of a kind of stroke called hemorrhagic stroke and of stroke overall than did meat eaters. A recently published study from Taiwan also examined stroke rates in vegetarians and found that vegetarians (did not eat meat or fish) had lower rates of hemorrhagic stroke and of stroke overall than did nonvegetarians. The authors of the Taiwan study note that their vegetarian subjects avoid alcohol whereas the British subjects were more likely to drink. Since some studies show a higher stroke risk with higher alcohol consumption, the researchers theorize that the British subjects’ alcohol use could supersede protective effects of their vegetarian diet.

Chiu THT, Chang HR, Wang LY, Chang CC, Lin MN, Lin CL. Vegetarian diet and incidence of total, ischemic, and hemorrhagic stroke in 2 cohorts in Taiwan. Neurology. 2020 Feb 26. [Epub ahead of print].

New York State and California have passed laws that hospital patients must be able to have a plant-based option at each meal. The final text of the California law states “(c) For the purposes of this section, “plant-based meals” shall mean entire meals that contain no animal products or byproducts, including meat, poultry, fish, dairy, or eggs.” The New York law states “plant-based food option” means a food or beverage that is free of animal products and that has nutritional value comparable to the non-plant-based food option that it replaces. These laws appear to be using “plant-based” to mean “vegan.”

The non-profit nutrition organization Oldways has made it simpler for hospitals to serve vegan meals. Oldways has created the Plant Forward Plates Healthcare Toolkit that features more than 40 recipes scaled up to 100 servings, therapeutic meal plans, nutritional analyses, and food-ordering guides. After reviewing the menus and recipes, all of which are vegan, The Vegetarian Resource Group has endorsed this useful tool.

The Plant Forward Plates Toolkit fee is being waived to encourage hospitals to make 2020 the year they add healthy and delicious plant-based meals to their menus. To download a free copy, visit https://oldwayspt.org/pfp