Ava Lazar is a winner of The Vegetarian Resource Group video contest.

Ava stated, “I am 11 years old. I’ve been vegetarian for 3 years because I love animals. I made this video to show more reasons for being vegetarian.”

Here are the video scholarship winners: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

If you would like to support VRG internships or our video scholarship contest, please donate at www.vrg.org/donate
Write the purpose under comments.

VRG also sponsors an annual scholarship contest for high school seniors. See http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Two Boots is celebrating World Vegan Month by adding a special new vegan pie to their many fine vegan options for the month of November. “The Super Vegan!” builds on their extremely popular regular menu item, the “V for Vegan,” by adding broccoli and vegan ricotta to an already delicious combination of artichokes, Shiitake mushrooms, and red onions, topped with Daiya vegan cheese and a criss-cross of their two homemade pesto sauces made from sweet red peppers and basil. If that’s not your flavor, why not try one of their other regular varieties done the vegan way, with such appetizing names as “The Vegan Larry Tate,” “The Vegan Mel Cooley,” “The Vegan Night Tripper,” and “The Vegan Tony Clifton”? You may even find these vegan options available by the slice throughout the month of November, whereas you would usually only find the “V for Vegan” ready to go in the counter case.

For a list of all their locations in the USA and more details see:
http://twoboots.com/vegan-month/

Now that the weather will be turning cooler in parts of the USA, we thought some of you may be looking for new non leather boots. Here are a few options:

Alternative Outfitters: http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/collections/womens-boots
Blowfish Malibu: http://www.blowfishshoes.com/ItemServlet?navOp=category1&op=SEL&cat=67&subcat=331
Charmone: http://charmone.com/product-category/boots/
MooShoes: http://www.mooshoes.com/womens-shoes/boots.html and http://www.mooshoes.com/mens-shoes/boots.html
Pammies: http://www.pammieslife.com/
Pangea: http://www.veganstore.com/category/womens-vegan-shoes
Vegan Chic: http://www.veganchic.com/women/vegan+boots/search.aspx and http://www.veganchic.com/men/vegan+boots/search.aspx

Are you looking for non-leather belts, ballet shoes, guitar straps, musical instrument cases, watch bands, and more? If so, see The Vegetarian Resource Group’s guide to non-leather alternatives in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc.: http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/leather.php

If you are working for healthier foods in school lunches, this list of available commodities and other information below may be helpful.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fdd/USDA_Foods_Available_List.pdf

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/schoolscn-usda-foods-programs

You can receive a 25% discount off all items, including sale merchandise.

Go to http://www.lucachiara.com/

Use Code VRG25

A member Elaine Wiggins wrote us:

I really think you should know that several years ago I donated your book “Vegan in Volume: Vegan Quantity Recipes for Every Occasion” to the director of Nutrition Services at a local medical complex where I work. I received this phone call back (a long time later). He said that he had not forgotten my donation and that all along he had been working on a budget to incorporate some items from the book into their menu. He said he was really excited to do this and appreciated the suggestions in the book. Below my letter, please read the response I also received via email from one of his employees with details about the first menu items they rolled out this year.

Since that time I have eaten in their main cafeteria a few times and I am thrilled that it is becoming slowly more vegan friendly all the time. They now also serve soy milk, hummus and vegan friendly bagels, vegan energy bars, and other grab and go items in addition to salads, fruits, oatmeal, and main menu items. I am really excited that a medical organization is taking vegan interests into consideration!

Thank you so much for providing this book! I think it is a great resource for institutions and I love that the menu items are simple and easy to incorporate, and not so far out that people are turned off by them. At some point, I would like to do the same thing with the other local hospital/clinic system in my city. I think that it is very important for patients, family, and visitors to be able to maintain nutrition and ethical food preferences while visiting a medical health system. Thanks again for such an awesome book!

FROM THE FOOD SERVICE: I wanted to personally thank you for the wonderful vegan cookbook that you donated to Nutrition Services as well as to let you know that we are going to be implementing a couple of the recipes from your cookbook in the café in the next few weeks. We will have a vegan orange and wild rice salad in our salad bar which we will be having every Monday and Tuesday for at least a month. On our café menu, that will be on the 6th, we will have a vegan grilled stuffed portabella mushroom stuffed with cous cous and tomato compote that was inspired by your cookbook as well. I look forward to adding more vegan recipes, from this cookbook, to our menus in the future.

The Vegetarian Resource Group would like to thank all our health professionals, members, volunteer, activists, and donors, who are helping us to create a more vegan and humane world.

For more information on Vegan in Volume and food service ideas, see
http://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=10

http://www.vrg.org/fsupdate/index.htm

Hot Bean Spread (From Simply Vegan)
Makes 2 sandwiches

1 cup vegetarian baked beans
1 Tablespoon horseradish or more if desired
½ small onion, minced

Mash the beans in a bowl. Add the horseradish and onion. Mix well and spread on two slices of whole wheat bread. Serve with lettuce and tomato slices.

Apple “Cheese” Melt (from Vegans Know How to Party)
Serves 4

8 slices whole grain or oat bread
1 cup peeled, thinly sliced apples (your choice)
4 slices vegan cheese
Vegetable oil spray

Toast bread lightly. Place bread on a clean surface. Cover 4 slices with apples and cheese. Cover with remaining bread slices. Coat a large skillet with vegetable oil spray. Allow to heat. Place one or two sandwiches (depending on the size of your skillet) in the pan and allow to brown on one side. Flip sandwiches and allow to brown on the other side. Cut in halves or quarters and serve immediately.

Greek Fava Bean Spread (From The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook)
Serves 4

2 cups cooked fava beans, drained (approximately 19 ounce can)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh dill, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon water
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a food processor bowl. Blend until creamy. Chill and serve with pita bread, lettuce, and a sliced tomato.

Thanks to Surbhi for sharing the recipe below.

Quinoa with Veggies
(Serves 2)

1 Tablespoon olive oil.
2 Tablespoons peanuts
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
1 onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup cooked quinoa (cooked per package instructions)
Salt to taste

1. Take a pan and add olive oil. Add peanuts and fry over medium heat until they turn light brown. Take them out and keep separately.
2. In the same oil, add sesame seeds and wait until they start crackling.
3. Add diced onion and stir until soft. Then add diced bell pepper and carrot. Cook for about 10-12 minutes until done.
4. Now add cooked quinoa into this mixture and add salt to taste.
5. Top it with peanuts.
6. Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Now that we’re in apple season, we thought we’d share some delicious vegan recipes highlighting apples. Enjoy!

Sweet Rainbow Delight (from Meatless Meals for Working People)
(Serves 6)

3 apples, grated
3 carrots, grated
1/3 cup shredded coconut
½ cup raisins or chopped dates

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

Apple Slaw (from Vegans Know How to Party)
(Serves 10)

4 cups peeled, cored, and chopped Granny Smith Apples
3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
½ cup silken tofu
1 cup soymilk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon spicy prepared mustard
1 Tablespoon organic sugar
½ teaspoon ginger powder
3 cups shredded green cabbage
3 cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
½ cup thinly sliced green onion

Place apples in a large glass bowl and toss with 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar. Set aside. In a blender or food processor canister, blend the remaining 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar and tofu, for 30 seconds. Add soymilk, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, ginger, and blend for 1 minute or until smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture over the apples and toss to combine. Cover apple mixture and chill for at least 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, place the remaining ingredients, pour the apple mixture over the top, and toss gently to combine. Allow slaw to chill for 20 minutes before serving.

Apples and Lima Beans (from Conveniently Vegan)
(Serves 4)

10-ounce package frozen lima beans
3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
Small onion, finely chopped
1 cup water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Heat all the ingredients in a covered medium-size pot over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Uncover pot and continue to cook 10 minutes longer. Serve warm.

By Hana Takemoto

Great Sage is a vegan restaurant which is part of the Conscious Corner located in Clarksville, Maryland. Conscious Corner is a family of businesses dedicated to promoting healthy and mindful living by focusing on animal welfare, the environment, and community. Great Sage’s bold menu features international flavors and organic ingredients with dishes such as their French Onion Burger, Pumpkin Empanadas, and Sage’s Famous Carrot Cake. Every Thursday, Great Sage hosts a live music event to feature local musicians in the area. Along with supporting local musicians, Great Sage also supports non-profit organizations by hosting benefit days. On September 27th, 2015, Great Sage hosted a benefit day for The Vegetarian Resource Group to which they donated 10% of proceeds of the day’s sales. A fellow volunteer and I handed out our Vegetarian Journal and other literature to anybody who was interested. Several patrons visited our table with inquiries about veganism and vegetarianism, other local restaurants, and about VRG itself. People were particularly interested in the local restaurant guide, and the younger restaurant-goers enjoyed VRG’s coloring books. It was a pleasure to represent VRG that day in a welcoming and warm atmosphere at Great Sage.

See: http://greatsage.com/