A few weeks ago vegan author, Kathy Freston posted two extremely well written articles on the Huffington Post. "Vegetarian is the New Prius" and "A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths" . The Prius one makes a persuasive case that meat production is harming the environment and contibuting to global warming. The Truths article addresses common objections to going vegetarian or vegan. They both generated a lot of attention. The Prius article was re-posted on AlterNet where it received 422 comments!
   For her latest article, One Bite at a Time: A Beginner's Guide to Conscious Eating, Freston offers suggestions for die-hard meat-eaters who want make the transition to a vegetarian (or mostly vegetarian) diet. "Let's face it: If you've been eating meat all your life, this sort of a change can be daunting even just to think about, let alone act on,"  she writes.
   Her suggestions include: Give up the little animals first; If you can't give up one particular animal product, give up all the other ones; Don't sweat the small stuff.

If you are new to vegetarian cuisine check out our:

• tips and suggestions on what to eat
• making basic vegetarian meals
• shortcuts to vegetarian cooking
• Links to weekly meal plans

Recipe Zaar
33,000+ | Nutrition info | Change servings | Flag recipes | Many photos
Huge vegetarian section and vegan section (8,900+) of recipes submitted by users.

VegWeb.com
9,000+ | All vegan | Flag recipes | Some photos
More than 2,000 vegan recipes for just about any occasion.

Raw and living food diets include fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, and sea vegetables. Food is eaten whole or processed by juicing or dehydrating, but never at temperatures over 116 degrees F. This preserves their enzymes and nutrient values. Most raw foodists soak/sprout nuts, seeds and grains before consuming them.

Whole foods need to be eaten fresh for the best flavour and nutrition. Natural foods contain no chemical preservatives, so their shelf life is shorter than for refined products.

It is also important to develop good shopping and storage habits to reduce needless waste. According to a recent study, almost half of all food is wasted in North America!

For healthy vegan alternatives to breakfast foods that rely on dairy and eggs, check out these great ideas for starting your day. We have delicious recipes and tips for toast, cereal, granola, muesli, hot oatmeal, apple pancakes, miso soup, tofu scramble and more.

Or treat yourself at a local vegetarian restaurant. See our new Toronto Vegetarian Brunch & Breakfast Guide for a complete list of Toronto places that serve brunch or breakfast. If you don't live in Toronto, do a Google search for "vegetarian brunch" or "vegan brunch" plus the city's name.

Eggs are an optional part of a vegetarian diet. Eggs are a rich source of protein, vitamin B12, and other nutrients. Some specialty eggs contain omega 3 fatty acids (a good vegan source is flax).

Many vegetarians object to the way birds are subjected to horrendous conditions on factory farms. Packed four to a cage, female laying hens are so overcrowded and stressed that they will aggressively peck each other. The industry responds by amputating their beaks without anesthesia shortly after birth. Feces drop on them from the stacks of cages above; they suffer from severe feather-loss, and brittle bones from calcium loss.

Organic free-range eggs are a solution for some people. But all egg production methods result in the male chicks being killed at birth because they can't lay eggs. They are usually gassed, crushed or suffocated.

Others choose not to use eggs in their diet due to health concerns. Eggs are loaded with cholesterol – about 210 milligrams (70% of the U.S. daily value) for an average-sized egg. Eggs  contain about 4.5g of fat, of which 1.6g is saturated. Calorie-wise eggs are 75 percent fat, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrate. [Source: CalorieKing.com ] Note: eggs are often eaten with high-fat foods such as cheese (in omelets), or fried with bacon and sausage, boosting the meal's fat content further. Because egg shells are fragile and porous and because conditions on egg farms are crowded, eggs are the perfect host to salmonella bacteria – a leading cause of food poisoning.

Two summers ago, I spent several weeks doing some medical research in a small town in Costa Rica called Tres Rios. As a vegan, I was initially somewhat disconcerted to discover that the Ticos had, for the most part, no concept of vegetarianism. However, a "casado" consisting of beans, rice, salad and fried plantain with a slab of beef or chicken on top, was universally available. Once I managed to convince the concerned locals that I really did not want the beef or chicken and that I honestly was happy without an egg or a piece of cheese instead, I was able to survive quite comfortably on the local cuisine.

The following tips can save you hours in the kitchen. Save time during preparation and shopping – learn which convenience foods to have on hand, and how to put your freezer to good use. Learn quick cooking methods such as steaming, using fast grains and pastas, making extra, not over chopping, and more.

Here are some suggestions for preparing a delicious and satisfying vegetarian meal.

Veggie Challenge participants weigh in with some of their favourite and least favourite foods. Favourites include: Pesto spaghettini. Rice pasta rotini with tomato sauce, Spicy hot and sour Chinese soup with cabbage and tofu, and Fruit smoothies. Least enjoyed were: veggie wieners, tofu pudding, and wheat grass.

ExtraVeganZa:
Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm
July 2006, by Laura Matthias
   Colleen's favourite easy meal from the book is Quick Noodles with Miso Lemon Tahini Sauce. Other delicious recipes include: Tofu Baked in Almond Mint Cilantro Sauce, Sweetpepper Coconut Corn Chowder, and Chocolate Chunk Lavender Cookies.
     Other excellent cookbooks that can be ordered from Amazon include:  Vegetarian 5 Ingredient Gourmet, How It All Vegan!, The Garden of Vegan, a Dolce Vegan!: Vegan, and Livin' Made Easy.