Vegan in Volume is published by The Vegetarian Resource Group and has been greatly received by people working in the food service sector, as well as those that enjoy throwing parties in their own home or simply cooking in volume. This book by Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD offers 125 vegan recipes serving 25. It also offers a lot of helpful advice including A Fast Course in Vegan Nutrition, The Mechanics of the Operation, Food Safety Pointers, and a section on Vegan Ingredients.

The quantity recipes greatly vary depending on the audience you’ll be serving. Nancy includes recipes for breakfast such as Lots of Grains Pancakes and Peachy Keen Breakfast Crumble. A section for kids serves up Squiggly Noodles and “Not-Meatballs.” For dinner parties and elegant dining for adults try French Onion and Olive Tart and Eggplant “Caviar.”

You will also find quantity recipes for special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, bar/bat mitzvahs, communions, and more. Enjoy Watermelon Gazpacho, Spicy Bean Cakes with Fruit Salsa, Curried Vegetables with Polenta, and Sophisticated Poached Pears. Next, move on to college campuses and try Vegetable Tagine, Two Alarm Four Bean Chili, Jumpin’ Veggie Jambalaya, and Gooey, Chewy Peanut Butter Bars.

Grab and Go Fast Food recipes include Sweet Potato Burgers, Cold Noodles with Peanut Sauce, and Fragrant and Fast Tofu Sandwich. Un-Hospital Food items include Orange and Wild Rice Salad, Sweet Potato Soup, New England Baked Beans, Eggplant Lasagna, and Cinnamony Baked Apples. And a section for senior citizens includes recipes for Chesapeake Corn Chowder, Southwest Tomato Rice, Pasta with Vegetable-Marinara Sauce, and Homestyle Molasses Cookies.

Vegan in Volume can be purchased from The Vegetarian Resource Group Book Catalog: http://www.vrg.org/catalog/

The next time you prepare pasta at home and want to try a new sauce, find some creative recipes in Jacqueline Dunnington’s previous Vegetarian Journal article called Super Sauces. One of these sauces will certainly make your next pasta dish special: Spicy Sauce, Rosemary-Mushroom-Walnut Sauce, Thai Style Lime Shallot Sauce, Indonesian Peanut Satay Sauce, Seared Spanish Onions in Tomato Coulis, Four Peppers Sauce.

Find the recipes here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2000mar/2000_march_super_sauces.php

Subscribe to Vegetarian Journal here: www.vrg.org/party

Black and pink vegan ballet shoes for children and women from Cynthia King Dance Studio can be purchased on this website: https://cynthiakingdance.com/veganballetslippers

Find vegan dance shoes for women and men on the following website by searching under the word vegan, as well as make your own custom shoes: https://www.veryfineshoes.com/

Dance Vegan offers a wide variety of dance shoes for men and women: https://www.dancevegan.com/

Ethical Wares out of Wales, United Kingdom, offers vegan dance shoes for men and women. See: https://www.ethicalwares.com/footwear/dance-shoes/

Vegan Pointe Shoes from Australia can be purchased here: https://grishkoshop.com/NextCategory/en-US/P209/vegan-pointe-shoes

International Dance Shoes out of the United Kingdom offers vegan options: https://grishkoshop.com/NextCategory/en-US/P209/vegan-pointe-shoes

In an earlier blog post on vitamin B12 for older adults, I wrote that “vitamin B12 is poorly absorbed from eggs.” Thanks to a reader who pointed out that a recent study found that vitamin B12 absorption from eggs is higher than was previously thought. This study used a different method to examine vitamin B12 absorption than has been used in the past. Despite this finding, it’s still recommended that those 51 and older use vitamin B12-fortified foods or a vitamin B12 supplement to meet most of their vitamin B12 requirement rather than relying on eggs or other foods with naturally occurring vitamin B12.

Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Vegetarian Resource Group has an extensive section of vegan information in Spanish on our website. This includes recipes, nutrition information, articles, and more. See: https://www.vrg.org/nutshell/information_in_Spanish.htm

Citrus fruit is readily available this time of year. The Vegetarian Journal articles below offer a wide variety of vegan recipes featuring citrus fruit.

Citrus Magic, by Debra Daniels-Zeller, provides recipes for Blood Orange Salad Dressing, Chipotle-Citrus Tofu Marinade, Raw Kale and Avocado Salad with Lemon Dressing, Tangerine Dream Cake, Broiled Grapefruit, Zesty Lemon-Mustard Dip, Parsley Rice with Carrots, Lime, and Pistachios, Orange Oats and Cranberries, and Grapefruit, Apple, and Avocado Salad with Satsuma Vinaigrette. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2013issue4/2013_issue4_citrus_magic.php

Another article by Debra Daniels-Zeller titled Lighten Up with Citrus offers Orange Buckwheat Porridge with Toasted Pecans, Guacamole, Creamy, Spicy Black Bean Soup, Cabbage, Carrot, and Raisin Salad with Citrus-Tahini Dressing, Orange-Almond Dressing, Citrus Baked Tofu, Lemon-Kale, Caramelized Onions, and Basmati Rice, Lemon-Banana Cashew Cream, Kumquat-Cardamom Coconut Pudding, and Lime Granita. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue1/2005_issue1_lighten_up.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, visit: www.vrg.org/party

Please book mark and use this link. Eligible shopping will support our vegan education and activism. http://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-1279034

About Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

It’s a November afternoon so even though it’s only 5 pm, the sun has set and it’s getting dark. We arrive at our campground for the night. Hungry from a day spent hiking, we want something more than the trail mix and fruit we had for lunch. With headlamps on, we light the camping stove and get ready for a quick dinner. In less than 15 minutes, we’re enjoying curried chickpeas and couscous with a side of carrot sticks (peanut butter optional).

My husband and I recently rediscovered the joys of camping. We’re car campers so don’t have to worry about the weight of ingredients. Since we’re often far from grocery stores, we bring all our food with us. We rely on an ice chest to keep food cool the first day or two. After that, if the weather is hot, we rely on canned vegetables. In cooler weather we bring vegetables that will keep even without refrigeration including cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and tomatoes. Ideally, if we were gone for more than a few days, we’d restock with fresh vegetables and bread.

Since we’re already heating up the stove in the morning to make tea, we have hot water for oatmeal for breakfast. We’ve found that bagels last several days and are good for breakfast or lunch with nut butter.  Homemade muffins (make before trip) also last for several days and are good for breakfast and snacks. Cold cereal and granola are other breakfast possibilities. We bring individual aseptic packages of soymilk or other plant milk since we’re not able to refrigerate them after opening. Leftovers from the night before also make a fine breakfast.

Lunch and snacks are packed up and ready to eat on the road or trail. We don’t want to spend time cooking mid-day, so we usually have a food bag that goes in the car with nuts, dried fruit, crackers, crispbread, fresh fruit, peanut butter pretzels, and cookies from home. We may tuck in a jar of nut butter to spread on fruit and crackers or reconstitute a powdered refried bean spread in the morning and bring it with us.

I do some prep before our trip to make dinners simpler. I measure and package the amount of lentils, pasta, or couscous that we’ll need for a meal, so we’ll know how much water is needed. I also make spice mixtures ahead of time and put ingredients like cooking oil or soy sauce into a smaller container.

Here are 5 simple dinners we’ve enjoyed.

Ramen Noodle Soup with TVP and Marinated Cabbage Salad: I start the cabbage salad before doing anything else. The cabbage is finely shredded using a sharp knife and tossed with a mixture of olive oil, onion powder, dill, salt, and pepper I brought from home. Squeeze the juice from a fresh lemon over the mixture, toss and let stand while making the soup. For the soup, bring water to a boil and add a couple of packages of ramen noodles, some dry TVP, a small can of mushrooms (drained), and a can of water chestnuts (drained). Cook until the noodles are tender. I try to find lower sodium ramen and even then, find that half a packet of seasoning is plenty even for a couple of packages of noodles.

Italian Stew: Combine a can of drained white beans; a couple of potatoes, diced; a couple of zucchinis, sliced; and a can of diced tomatoes. Stir in a seasoning mix brought from home that includes oregano, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Nutritional yeast can be added for a cheesy flavor. Cook until potatoes and zucchinis are tender, adding water as needed to prevent sticking. Serve with whole grain crackers.

Curried Chickpeas and Couscous: Start by cooking the couscous. Put instant whole-wheat couscous in a heat-proof bowl. Heat a pot of water to boiling. Add boiling water to the couscous, using a ratio of 1-1/2 parts of water to 1 part of couscous. Cover the bowl of couscous with a plate or a towel and let stand while you make the chickpeas. You can use the same pot you used to make the couscous. Combine a small can of tomato sauce with a can of drained chickpeas, and some water. Stir in a spice mix from home that includes cumin, coriander, turmeric, and onion powder. If you’d like, finely diced potatoes can be added to the chickpea mixture. Cook, simmering gently until hot throughout and, if potatoes were added, until the potatoes are done. Serve over couscous.  

Pasta with Baked Beans: Begin boiling water. Once water is boiling, add small pasta of choice and cook, stirring frequently until pasta is done. Drain and add a can of vegetarian baked beans. Heat gently, adding a little water as needed to keep pasta from sticking. Carrot sticks are a nice addition to this meal.

Curried Red Lentils and Couscous: Before leaving home, combine 1 part red lentils with 1 part of instant whole-wheat couscous and some curry powder. At camp, bring 4 parts of water to a boil and add lentil mixture. Lower heat to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until lentils are done. Add water as needed to prevent sticking. Stir in a can of green beans or mixed vegetables, drained in the last few minutes of cooking. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, The Vegetarian Resource Group each year will award $20,000 in college scholarship money to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted veganism/vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or fowl. Vegans are vegetarians who do not use other animal products such as dairy or eggs.

One award of $10,000 and two awards of $5,000 will be given. Entries may only be sent by students graduating from high school in spring 2019. Deadline is February 20, 2020. We will accept applications postmarked on or before February 20, 2020. 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/vegetarian 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.

For details on the contest, see: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Nothing beats soup during the winter and Peggy Rynk’s previous Vegetarian Journal article Hot, Hearty Soups for Cold Winter Days offers a number of recipes including Italian-Style Vegetable Soup, African Peanut Soup, Potato-Green Pea Chowder, Beans and Franks Soup, Easy Lima Bean Soup, Curly Kale, Corn, and Tomato Stew, plus more.

Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue1/2005_issue1_soups.php

Also, please subscribe to Vegetarian Journal by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php