As a vegetarian, you almost certainly already know the disappointment involved in trying to find good food to eat at any parties you go to. You most likely usually offer to bring something for the host so that you know there’ll be at lesat ONE thing at the party that you can eat. This year, why not take matters into your own hands and host your own New Year’s Eve party – with vegetarian food all around. There are tons of wonderful vegetarian dishes to choose from. You could even prepare cards labeling some of your more exotic dishes on the buffet ( this is particularly beneficial for ethnic foods ) so people know what they are going to be eating. As a party favor, you could print a little recipe book or recipe cards with instructions on how to prepare a couple of your favorite dishes. ( Who knows, maybe they’ll make it the next time they invite you over to their house!
Though some salad munchers, particularly those that eat vegetarian for health reasons, rather than moral or environmental reasons may opt to prepare meat-based dishes to serve along side vegetarian foods, many salad munchers do not like cooking beef and will decide to test their guests with a new and various menu of vegetarian party foods.
Another nice perk of serving vegetarian food is that it can be less expensive. Though, if you go hell for leather for fresh berries and fruit ( which isn’t in season around New Year’s Eve ) or a large amount of fancy wines and cheeses, your party may not be too cost-effective. One way to cut back on the cost of the party is to substitute hearty vegetarian dishes in the place of the more expensive beef dishes. If properly prepared, most guests won’t even miss the presence of the meat. Heavy soups that are familiar to meat-eaters ( like bean chili, black bean soup, or split pea soup ) are a great choice as the tastes and appearance are familiar and the tastes mix together well even without the addition of burger or ham. When selecting these recipes, it is critical to follow each recipe punctiliously and not make any substitutions. This is important because items you may substitute into the recipes may contain animal products. Making these substitutions will result in your dishes not being totally vegetarian.
Alternately an alternative way to offer a various vegetarian menu is to make the event a potluck. However, if almost all of the guests are not salad munchers, they may have difficulty deciding what to bring and might also inadvertently include ingredients with animal products in the food. In this example, suggest what you’d like your guests to bring -’Jim, you’re making a mean guacamole, would you mind whipping that up and bring it along with some salsa and chips?’, ‘Erin, I loved that hummus and pita bread you served last summer… Would you mind bringing that along to share?’
Another important thing to remember when planning a vegetarian New Years Eve party is that it is important to make sure the guests are mindful of your intentions. This is particularly important if the event is going to be a potluck. it’s also pleasantness even if you’ll be preparing all of the food so that the guests know what to expect when they attend the party. Some meat-eaters are extraordinarily wary about trying new dishes, so be sure to have some staples out that everyone will love. Bread, fruit, pretzels, chips and nuts are great vegetarian options that are popular among ‘main stream’ dieters also.
Remember, as the host of your party, the most vital role you can play is to be certain your visitors are comfortable and having a fab time. Inspire them to get to grasp each other by helping set up new conversational partners, plan some exciting pastimes (like toasting in the New Year ‘around the world’ each time the clock hits a new hour), and confirm everybody driving home is fit to do so.
By: Ira U Collins
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Filed under Home And Family by on Nov 13th, 2010. 
As a soon to be Mommy, you are essentially walking around with another person inside you, caring for and being mindful of his or her future existence come post-pregnancy. It’s all about planning, or doing well now during the pregnancy, simply to lay out a positive health path for your child. During the 9 months before your child is born it is essential to up caloric and nutrient intake, after all you are eating for two now. Yet, if you are not an omnivore and lead a vegetarian lifestyle during pregnancy, there are particular things you should consider doing, in terms of your diet and nutritional monitoring, while carrying your precious and lively **** before birth.
The most important aspect about maintaining a healthy status for you and your baby is to monitor what you’re eating in calories, but more importantly, in vitamin and mineral content. If you keep up with eating healthfully, centering your 9 months around a varied and eclectic diet, you will be able to have a healthy weight gain and accrue sufficient nutrients to provide enough sustenance to your unborn child.
Calorie Increase
Now, although you’re eating for two, this doesn’t mean that you need to multiply your caloric consumption by two as well. All a pregnant women needs, whether vegetarian or omnivore, is an extra 300 calories per day to maintain a healthy status for her child. And since you need an approximate 300 additional calories to drive a healthy pregnancy forward, you should choose foods sensibly, specifically steering clear of fat and calorie imbued fare. Instead, select foods rich with vitamins and nutrients rather than empty, high calorie and fat-filled foods.
Gaining Your Nutrients: Vitamins and Minerals
With calorie issues out of the way, the next step is to monitor how many vitamins and minerals you’re taking in. There are specific vitamins that are essential as a pregnant vegetarian woman you should take note of and incorporate into daily eating habits. Specifically, you will need to be mindful of how much Calcium, Vitamin-D, B-12, Iron and Zinc you are consuming.
Calcium:
Eat more foods rich with calcium, aiming for 4 servings per day. Food wise, try to incorporate foods such as calcium-imbued tofu, dark leafy green vegetables, bok choy, broccoli, calcium-rich cereals and soy milk.
Vitamin D:
Here, you’ll have to rely mainly on food fortification to gain a higher level of Vitamin D. Other than making a point to sit outside and absorb sunlight -which has quite a high concentration of Vitamin D- you can purchase foods ‘injected,’ with with micronutrients (in this case, Vitamin D). Foods such as milk and cereal are the only current options for Vitamin D fortification.
B-12:
You must get sufficient amounts of B-12, yet this can be difficult because many vegetarian eats lack high amounts of this essential vitamin. Again, purchase soy milk or cereal that is enriched with B-12, or opt for a multivitamin that can be taken daily as an added nutrient supplement.
Iron and Zinc:
Iron and Zinc are extremely essential during pregnancy, especially later stages. For Iron, take supplements or ingest fortified breads or cereals. Normal foods though are also chock full of Iron, such as: beans, dark green leafy plants, nuts and seeds.
Zinc, is not an easily obtainable mineral through a vegetarian lifestyle. You will need to supplement, as well as eat whole grain products and legumes.
So, you have 9 months to monitor what you’re consuming, both for yourself and your baby. As a pregnant vegetarian woman, take the proper measures by eating nutritious foods and consuming plentiful vitamins and minerals. Do this and you’ll secure your baby’s health as well as your own.
By: E.S. Cromwell
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Filed under Home And Family by on Nov 13th, 2010.
Introduction
Pregnant vegetarians should choose high iron foods like whole grains, legumes, tofu, and green leafy vegetables daily and consume them with foods rich in vitamin C to increase the bio availability of the iron. All pregnant women, including vegetarians, should be checked for iron-deficiency anemia and consider supplementation if they are unable to meet their needs through diet alone. Now that you are pregnant you may wonder at times if your vegetarian lifestyle will impact negatively on your unborn child. First you need to understand what a healthy, well-balanced vegetarian diet should be like and for that you need to look at those nutrients you could be missing out on.
Throughout pregnancy, recommended intakes of vitamins and minerals are higher than for the non-pregnant state. With careful planning, a vegetarian diet during pregnancy can provide all the necessary nutrients you need and your baby need.
Savvy Vegetarian
Hopefully you have been following the advice on Savvy Vegetarian and are eating a great vegetarian diet!
In order to meet the weight gain recommendations for pregnancy, extra dietary energy is required. Despite compensatory mechanisms such as cessation of menstruation and increased iron absorption, the iron requirement of pregnancy is quite high and the diet needs to be especially rich in iron. All pregnant women, including vegetarians, should be checked for iron-deficiency anemia and consider supplementation if they are unable to meet their needs through diet alone. Many women in the US, both omnivores and vegetarians, do not consume diets that meet the RDA for zinc during pregnancy. First you need to understand what a healthy, well-balanced vegetarian diet should be like and for that you need to look at those nutrients you could be missing out on.
As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, my physician has recommended that I include tempeh, peanut butter, low-fat cottage cheese and eggs in my diet. He has a very realistic diet plan for vegetarians as well as vegans. Vegans and vegetarians are more diet-aware than meat eaters and generally get more nutrients as well.
If you are a vegetarian you may be wondering if it is okay to keep eating a vegetarian diet during your pregnancy.
Folic Acid: Vegetarians have an advantage over non-vegetarians since a vegetarian diet is usually very high in folic acid. These same people will often express strong doubt about the nutritional adequacy of your vegetarian diet now that you are pregnant. You can get all the nutrients you need from a high quality vegetarian diet. Becoming vegetarian is a major change, and your body is going through enough changes without the additional stress of changing your diet.
Hopefully you have been following the advice on Savvy Vegetarian and are eating a great vegetarian diet!. A good vegetarian diet has a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes i e beans, lentils, and nuts and some eggs and dairy or their equivalent.
You should be aware however, that yeast infections are more common during pregnancy and many women suffering from chronic yeast infections choose a diet that limits their intake of yeast. Being a pregnant vegetarian is completely healthy, as long as the woman maintains a balanced diet supplemented with prenatal vitamins.
Conclusion
All pregnant women, including vegetarians, should be checked for iron-deficiency anemia and consider supplementation if they are unable to meet their needs through diet alone. Historically, women have been advised to substantially increase their calcium intake during pregnancy in order to meet the fetus’s needs without compromising their own bone density. Vegetarians who consume dairy products get calcium from milk and cheese.
It is perfectly safe to eat a vegetarian or even a vegan diet when you are pregnant. Many vegetarians already consume a well balanced and planned out diet so planning for pregnancy may not take much work.
By: Ann Susan
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Filed under Home And Family by on Sep 1st, 2010.
There is no reason why even strict vegetarians cannot have fertility levels equal to meat-eating women, and there is no reason why their pregnancy and the health of their future baby should not be normal. But vegetarians must be aware of their special needs to ensure they are not compromising their chances to conceive. One of the most important things a vegetarian can do is to identify any nutritional deficiencies they may have.
If these deficiencies are identified and dealt with fertility levels should return to normal.
Vegetarians can be divided into three groups – those who eat eggs, dairy products, and plants; those who eat dairy products and plants; and those who eat only plants. This final group, vegans, obviously has the highest risk factor for having nutritional deficiencies, due to their lack of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products from their diet.
One of the main problems encountered by all vegetarians is a lack of protein in their diet. Proteins are made up of 21 different amino acids, and of those 21, 9 cannot be made in the body. They must come from your diet, or a protein deficiency will result. These 9 amino acids – known collectively as “essential amino acids” – are found in many plants. However, only a few of these essential amino acids can be found in each type of plant, so vegetarians must effectively combine foods in their diet to ensure all essential amino acids are covered. Examples of foods eaten together that compliment each other and contain good quality amino acids: beans and rice, macaroni and cheese, and corn and black-eyed peas.
The more strict a vegetarian is, the more difficult it will be to meet the recommended daily amount of amino acids. But if care is taken to consume the right combinations of foods, it can be accomplished.
Another concern for vegetarians is the level of zinc in their diets. Most people obtain the zinc in their diets in animals products. Vegetarians who wish to obtain the required zinc from vegetable sources should try to eat macaroni, potatoes and their skin, black-eyed peas, and green peas – all are good vegetarian sources of zinc. This effort should be supplemented with a daily multivitamin, since consuming the recommended daily amount of zinc through these foods alone would be almost impossible.
Something else that vegetarians need to be aware of are deficiencies in iron and vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is a problem, in particular, since it is not found in any plant food. Good sources of vitamin B12 include milk, eggs, and fortified breakfast cereal.
A good, daily multivitamin (preferably the prenatal variety) is essential for vegetarians. Consuming the required vitamins and minerals through food alone is unrealistic for vegetarians. Having said that, a diet that is balanced and varied, that contains as many of the fertility enhancing vitamins and minerals as possible, will still be of great benefit to non-meat eaters.
By: Kris Turner
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Read more on Maximize Your Fertility – Even While You Eat A Vegetarian Diet…
Filed under Home And Family by on Jul 23rd, 2010.
Lately the trend in vogue is going vegetarian and sparing thousands of poor souls the brutal onslaught at the slaughter houses, to serve as delectable dishes for the occasion and delight the appetite of the guests invited. PETA along with the fervent efforts made by many organizations has raised the awareness of the public and interestingly encouraged them to tread on the path of trendy vegetarianism or prompted them to go all vegan, despite Thanksgiving being marked out in the American calendar as a meat-influenced holiday. However, there is a subtle difference between being vegan and vegetarian. Being vegetarian means compulsorily abstaining from non-vegetarian food items like fish, meat, egg, dairy products and sometimes even excluding honey from one’s diet. While being vegan means one chooses voluntarily not to consume non-vegetarian food items like the vegetarian mass of population and being content experimenting with the substitutes offered in the market.
Since long turkey has been the centerpiece of Thanksgiving feasting, hence most vegetarians tend to feel left out on that day, but now with this new trend in vogue one needs not worry at all. Though this idea of going vegetarian is gaining popularity at a rapid pace yet for most Americans, to celebrate Thanksgiving without turkey would be similar to having birthday bash without a cake, Christmas without tree or Fourth of July celebrations without fireworks. Over the years, majority of people are found gorging on the sumptuous meals cooked for the special occasion with turkey featuring as the main attraction in the menu. While vegetarians being the unfortunate lot nibbling on the leftovers and side dishes. But off-late, vegetarianism has been on the rise, with about 6% of the American population saying they never eat meat, the figure shooting up to 10% among those aged 18-34, according to a recent Vegetarian Resource Group Harris Interactive Survey. There may be variegated reasons for people opting for a vegetarian diet. Whatever the reason may be: religious, ethical, health considerations or out of serious concern for the environment or animal rights, its true that unknowingly one is likely to receive health benefits from it. In fact a recent study indicated that one out of every eight turkeys is infected with salmonella bacteria. Thus avoiding the consumption of turkeys may not be a bad choice. Again “The American Dietetic Association” says that the nutritional benefits of vegetarian diets include lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, as well as higher levels of fiber, folate and anti-oxidants such as vitamin C and E.
This new generation of vegans and vegetarians however now has a reason to party and celebrate this festival with friendly food and resources at their display to choose from. In fact vegetarian Thanksgiving can be a glamorous affair taking into consideration that being vegetarian is now in rage for the fact that is the best way to show your compassion towards the animals as well as living healthy, keeping ailments such as heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes as well as food poisoning at bay. In 1998, growing awareness about the unhealthy conditions in which the turkeys were kept and the inhuman manner in which these were genetically engineered to grow twice as large and twice as fast as their ancestors to keep in pace with the growing demand, prompted families across North America to participate in a tradition where they adopted turkeys instead of eating them. In a way the turkeys were treated as guest of honor. More so, till date PETA, the group for animal right protection has also been consistent in its effort to prevent the slaughter of these innocent birds by featuring Thanksgiving e-cards on its websites that say “Don’t Eat the Mascot” and “Happy Tofurky Day” instead of “Happy Turkey Day”.
In recent times, in fact since 1995, America’s leading turkey alternative is “Tofurky” or in other words “Tofu-turkey”. It is the best way to satisfy the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian populace alike by offering this meat substitute which is equally appealing as their non-veg counterpart. In fact over the years, turkey has been completely bowled over by its substitute, “tofurky’. PETA supports this effort by listing out a host of recipes to choose from, including “Tofurky” roast, dumplings, giblet and mushroom gravy, tofurky wild rice stuffing and wishtix, “Unturkey”, “Tofu turkey” are all kind alternatives to real turkeys so that it is not missed at the Thanksgiving table. They are soy-based roast, stuffing and gravy that taste more often than not like the real meat. If tofurky is not your type, then one has the liberty to stick to the traditional dishes like corn, squashes, apples, nuts, cranberries, as well as favorites like pumpkin pie with a tasty crumb topping to appease your appetite. Desserts also come in all kinds of varieties wooing the vegetarian and the hard-core non-vegetarian mass alike with stuffs such as vegan pies in pumpkin, cherry blackberry and apple- cranberry-currant varieties.
This time that you plan a dinner for your vegetarian guests, you no more have to spend sleepless nights pondering what would be a good and viable choice of food items to be cooked. Your culinary art lies in preparing vegetarian food which will be enjoyed and appreciated by both the finicky children as well as by adults with more traditional tastes. There are certain tips that you can keep in mind while preparing food on Thanksgiving Day for your vegetarian guests:
Filed under Home And Family by on Jul 4th, 2010.