Feeling Lazy? On Pinterest?

Trying to keep up with the vegan lifestyle but all your dishes are already dirty? Or maybe you dont have time to fix a homemade meal for class? no problem!

Thank your stars for my favorite places on the internet: The Laziest Vegans in the Word. All you need now is a little exrta money, and a pinterest account.

The account has a great variety of boards filling every store-bought craving you could have, from candy, to ‘meat’ and suppliments with no animal bi-products. The creator is from Omaha, so if you find yourself in that area you can also check out the vegan-friendly resturants on the Omaha board.

Need more inspiration? check out some other great boards at Post Punk Kitchen,  Good Looking Vegan Recipies, and Great Vegan Boot Hunt (if you’re looking for accessories!)

Yotopia Frozen Yogurt

A Local Business with Something for Everyone

Yotopia seems to have something for everyone. Next time you are struggling to satisfy a group of picky eaters (i.e. your family) take them down to the self-serve frozen yogurt shop.  That way, if anyone complains about how their treat turned out, they only have themselves to blame!

Recently I talked to Veronica, Yotopia’s co-owner, about her new frozen yogurt store located on Clinton next to the Ped Mall in Iowa City. The Virginia native reflected on what her first year of business has been like and how the business always aims to serve the surrounding community.

Here’s our one on one interview:

Interview With Veronica

Veronica also took the  time to show me some great flavor combinations depending on what you’re craving, check out the slideshow by clicking the featured combinations shown below.

Also, check out how Yotopia became what it is today along with how they plan on keeping customers coming back in the timeline below…

View Timeline

 

A journey of viral activism: Pink Slime

Over a year ago, Jamie Oliver aired an episode on ABC showing families what their children are consuming at school, home, and also in many fast food restaurants. Pink slime has caused an outcry from food safety advocates for YEARS but is just now getting major airtime by the mass media.

But thanks to the rise in popularity in social media sites like facebook and twitter, the ugly name for ‘lean, finely textured beef’ managed to cause such a reaction out of meat-eaters in the last month that processing companies are now going bankrupt over boycotts.

But is Pink Slime really the evil in the meat industry that consumers should be concerned about?

As misinformation and passive activism reveal the dark side of the power of twitter this year.

One has to ask…is Pink Slime the next #Kony2012?

Look through my Storify contemplation and make your own judgements.

Vegan Friendly Resturants in IC

Iowa City is one of the few places in Iowa that vegans can actually find a good amount of places to eat out while still looking forward to something more appetizing than a salad. Here are some of the best places to check out in the Iowa City/Coralville area! I picked out ten of my favorite vegan-friendly restaurants that are a must to try out.

Variety gives you freedom, which doesn’t come easy on a vegan diet. On the list, you will find some places that are more for the adventurous herbivore, like Masala (pictured above) and Fairgrounds. These places are fully vegetarian and offer many vegan options.

But if you are going out with friends or family that don’t want to venture away from the classics, you’re not out of luck in Iowa City. Shorts (pictured below), for example, makes fantastic handmade burgers and everything from the meat to the brew is from Iowa. Luckily, vegans dont have to turn down this great eatery thanks to a yummy black bean patty burger made any way you like it! check out the menu here.

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Check out the interactive map of the restaurants with short reviews here

Growing Your Own Herbs/Vegetables: Part 1

There are numerous great reasons to start growing your own produce, and with a little planning and research, it is easy to start up your own garden on a small budget, even with little to no space in your apartment/house. Many fresh herbs, for example, can be grown indoors next to a sunny window.

Many cities also now offer community garden plots as well if you are low on space/want to grow larger produce. Iowa City has information about it’s community garden on it’s government website, the plots offer tons of space (10 feet by 50 feet) and cost only $20-25 a year! So take advantage of the early spring and get growing!

Get into Veganism: Post Punk Kitchen

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Mini Loaves

I have found the mecca of Vegan-centered cooking sites: Post Punk Kitchen!

Post Punk Kitchen was started by a New Yorker named Isa Chandra Moskowitz who started out creating short vegan cooking shows. Less than ten years later PPK is  one of the top vegan cooking sites with several orginal cookbooks under the brand’s belt.

The site is well designed and updated often with new ideas and recipes for the vegan lifestyle. The sites features everything from baked goods (like the popular chocolate chunk mini loaves (shown above), to flavorful dinners, like Tamale Shepherd’s Pie.

The recipes might be beyond beginning cooks, but they offer a great variety of tasty meals you have never heard about. Which is great when you are in the mood to try something new, and on a restrictive diet.

Cookbook available at Post Punk Kitchen

They also have great gift ideas in their online shop and recipe books! check them out here

FOOD MATTERS DOCUMENTARY REIVEW

“This documentary examines the current state of America’s food supply, and suggests that the over-industrialization of food production is making the nation sicker by the moment. The documentary analyzes the proliferation of chemical additives in “natural” foods, looks at the relationship between the lack of nutrients in the American diet and the nation’s rising health care costs, and offers tips for system detoxification.” ~ Carly Wray, Rovi

I could not sum up this documentary (available on Netflix Instant) any better. Basically, this documentary gives viewers a harsh perspective on the idea “you are what you eat” in pointing out the general lack of nutritional education of the public as well as the medical system.

The interviewed experts dole out a typical argument that people need to move away from meats (as it’s protein value is overshadowed by the body’s difficulty  to break down and digest it) and focus on more raw vegetables. But the the documentary takes an interesting turn when it makes a case of how many minor ailments could be cured with optimal nutrition and vitamin supplements.

The major conflict in this idea is that the medical industry seems to ignore nutrition and vitamins in both the training of medical professionals and advice to patients. But this revelation in the film also reveals a lot of bias from the experts interviewed. Some had revealed that they had be burned by the medical community in their research being denied, studies stating that vitamins are dangerous and so on.

All in all, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Food Matters is not the word to live by, but rather food for thought.

GREG BLACK ON IMPROVING NUTRITION ON CAMPUS

View slideshow here

UI College of Public Health and Residence Dining Halls collaborate in recent UChoose initiative

Greg Black, Director University Dining, has been working on creating a healthier meal for students since returning from a 1994 convention on healthy eating at Harvard. Since then he has been working with the UI on healthy delicious options for students. This includes a larger amount of vegetarian options along with implimenting a new university initative called Uchoose that was announced just last year.

PINTEREST FOR ‘LAZY VEGAN FOOD’

Love pinterest?

Hate busy nights where you just do not have the energy to make vegan food?

No problem!

Even though I want to support eating fresh, home-cooked meals as often as possible, and feel my best when I eat less processed food, I tend to fall short of my aspirations during busy weeks. That is why it is still important to have a great go to pinterest user to follow when you have too many dishes in the sink to properly cook anything.

 

Vegan Chocolate, Snacks, and Frozen food are my my favorite boards from the user, follow them here!

 

Interview with eric creach: local vegan and store manager of New Pioneer Co-op

 

Transcript of audio:

 

Jules: As a Vegan of 11 years and the store manager of New Pioneer Co-op, I recently called up eric creach for his advice on adopting a meat-free lifestyle in Iowa City, here’s what he had to say…

 

Jules: What is your opinion on some on the fence or debatable non-vegan foods? Like honey for example?

 

eric: I have often described my choice this way: if it can fly, swim, or run away from me I don’t eat it. And I personally don’t consume honey because if I try to take bee’s honey they would sting me.

 

Jules: What about some foods like conventional sugar that are known to be processed using bone char?

 

eric: Oh yes, well, less than 20% of sugar producers use that process anymore. If I use sugar at all I use evaporated cane juice.

 

Jules: So I recently turned vegan, what advice would you give to people that have adopted this lifestyle?

 

eric: I feel everyone needs to eat more green, leafy vegetables.  But I challenge vegans to…to… look less towards the process. We can get our protiens from nuts and seeds to a certain extent. Try everything and learn.

 

Jules: What would you say is your favorite restaurant that you can still eat at in Iowa City?

 

eric: Thai Flavors, on Burlington, they make som tom, which is a meat alternative, som tom was used to fool the emporeors of china,  the buddist monks found great ways to make mock chicken.

 

Jules:  Well that’s really all the questions that I have for you, I really appreciate it!

 

eric: Sure, If anything else comes up shoot me an email, I will send you an email back.