Vegan Sweets

Thanks to the internet, you can find numerous vegan recipes in many food blogs.

Vaishali, recently hosted a blog event - sweet vegan. Many bloggers have posted delicious vegan recipes. Visit the blog holy cow to see some great vegan sweets.

Thanks Vaishali for hosting, Sweet Vegan

Semolina Sweet - Rava laddoo

I recently made rava ladoo, by following the recipe in aayi's blog. I used Earth Balance natural buttery spread instead of ghee.

Rava laddoo are not only easy to make, but they also taste great.

Simple Steps to Save the Earth

I recently read a book, 50 simple steps to save the earth from global warming.

Step number 4 states, "Go vegetarian for a day"

How can vegetarian diet reduce global warming?

According to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

A vegetarian diet devoid of animal products, is the most eco-friendly diet. A plant based diet, also known as vegan diet is not only good for our health, but also great for our planet because, factory farms intensively confine millions of animals, the toll of such industrialized practices weighs heavily on the environment, depleting resources and contaminating habitats across the world. Toxins, chemicals, gases, and huge amounts of manure from these facilities pollute the soil, water, and air, causing massive environmental degradation.

To know more about vegetarian diet visit CNN website, International vegetarian union, and Science daily

To find eco-friendly recipes visit, Fat free vegan, vegan chef , and VRG

Vegan Fruit Cake

I adore fruit cakes. Growing up, I vividly remember buying fruit cake from bakeries, near my school in Bangalore. Brimming with dried fruits and nuts, fruit cakes from Bangalore bakeries were moist and very tasty. Fruit cake is also called as "plum cake" in India. Since I was not a vegan decades ago, I used to relish eating fruit cakes loaded with eggs.

Recently I saw a recipe for fruit cake in one of my favorite food blogs, aayi. I was very happy to find a fruit cake recipe which was very easy to veganize. I used soy garden natural butter spread instead of butter.

The fruit cake was delicious. I felt as if I was eating the fruit cake, from Bangalore
bakeries. I'm sure I will often make this cake.

India's Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi

To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Today is India's independence day. Mahatma Gandhi played a key role in India's freedom struggle. The principles of ahimsa - nonviolence, initiated by Gandhi was the foundation for India's freedom struggle against the British.

Mahatma Gandhi led a very simple life. Gandhi ate simple vegetarian food. Gandhi not only worked for the welfare of human beings, but he also wanted all the living creatures across the world to be happy. To know more about Gandhi visit website1 and website2 .

October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, is also World Farm Animals Day . To know more about Gandhi's views on animals, visit website1 and website2
and website3

I sometimes feel that Mahatma Gandhi would have thrived on a vegan diet if he was alive, as you can find diary-free milk in India these days. I'm sure
there will be many vegans in India, if many diary alternatives such as rice milk, almond milk, soy butter, nut butters, vegan chocolates and vegan ice cream is widely available.

Vegan Diet and Global Warming

Everyone these days is concerned about global warming. Some studies have shown that if people thrive on a vegan diet for at least a couple of days in a week, they can drastically reduce their carbon footprint. In short, vegan diet is not only good for your health, it's also great for our planet.
Read website1 and website2 to know more about the impact of vegan diet on the environment.

In western countries, you can find numerous diary alternatives and meat alternatives like soy milk, soy butter, tofu and tempeh. You can also find diary-free ice cream and chocolates in some supermarkets. In United States, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe and Health Food Superstores carry variety of diary and meat alternatives.

Vegan Blogs: Thanks to the numerous vegan food blogs, it's really so easy to find delicious vegan recipes, tips, and reviews of vegan food items. Visit blogs such as Fatfree vegan, Urban Vegan, Vegan Dad, Dinner with Dilip, and Holy Cow to get a glimpse of vegan dishes.

Vegan Magazines : Veg News is a very popular magazine geared toward vegan lifestyle. Veg Family is an online vegan magazine, filled with numerous health articles, recipes and tips to lead a cruel-free lifestyle. There is also a discussion forum where you can discuss everything from vegan recipes to vegan friendly
restaurants.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake

I love cupcakes. Recently I made vegan chocolate cupcakes from the cookbook - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. You can find the recipe for this delicious cupcake by visiting Chow website.

The cupcakes were moist and very tasty. I did a basic frosting consisting of sugar, soy milk and Earth Balance Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread. The frosting was a bit mushy, but it tasted great.

Veganomicon

Numerous vegan dishes made by following the recipes from the most popular vegan cookbook - Veganomicon, can be seen in many of the vegan food blogs.

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is brimming with so many recipes for soups, salads, and dishes made with tofu, tempeh, seitan, beans and lentils. Here are some recipes which you can try from this amazing cookbook, by visiting the website, postpunkkitchen.

Recently I made seitan, by following the recipe in Veganomicon. The taste and texture of seitan was wonderful. I also made Caramel-apple-spice cupcakes with caramel-penuche frosting. This cupcake made with tart Granny smith apples was delicious.

Trader Joe's

In my local grocery store, I get most of the vegan staples such as tofu and soy milk. But, I can't find vegan dark chocolates and ice cream.

I often shop at Trader Joe's for decadent chocolates, delicious ice cream, varieties of spicy chips and salsas.

Visit Trader Joe's website to find a store in your area.

Vegan Muffin

Muffins are not only easy to make, but they also taste great. I'm always looking for vegan muffin recipes, and I recently made Cinnamon Swirl Muffins from Susan's wonderful Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog.

If you want your muffins to be on the bland side, then this recipe is really good. I like my muffins to be sweeter, so I think I will add more sugar to this muffin recipe, when I make it next time.

Local Harvest

For vegans and vegetarians, vegetables and fruits play a major role in their diet. If you shop at supermarkets from greens to vegetables, chances are that your produce may have traveled thousands of miles.

Jennifer McCann, who blogs at Vegan Lunch Box, has come up with great tips to save money and the environment. Visit here to read that article.

Pav Bhaji( Spicy Vegetables and Buns)

Pav Bhaji is a very popular street food in many states across India. I recently made Pav Bhaji following Susan's Pav Bhaji recipe. I just used potatoes, carrots , bell pepper along with onions and tomatoes to make the spicy vegetables. I think the key for the wonderful taste of this dish is to pressure cook the vegetables until soft.

Traditionally Pav Bhaji is served with a dollop of butter, so you can use
Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread or Earth Balance® Margarine Natural Buttery Spread.

Vegan Pizza

For many years I relished eating pizzas brimming with cheese. One fine day, when I decided to become a vegan, I realised that I could no longer eat pizzas with cheese.

As a vegan I started to enjoy eating cheeseless pizzas. Recently I came across numerous vegan blogs with vegan pizzas loaded with vegan cheese. Many vegans had blogged about the Vegan Gourmet Cheese, made by Follow Your Heart.

I recently made pizza with vegan gourmet mozarella cheese, and I was surprised to find out that it tasted so much like real cheese. The pizza was delicious! I'm so happy to find a cheese, which not only tastes great but is also cruel-free.

Where can you find this delicious vegan cheese? Visit this webpage to find stores which carry vegan cheese.

Vegan Badusha

Badushas are deep-fried flaky sweets very popular in India. Growing up, I always enjoyed eating store bought Badushas, as my mom did not make these wonderful sweet at home.

Recently I came across Badushas in numerous Indian food blogs, and I decided to make it. I followed the recipe from this blog, because it was easy to veganize. I used Crisco pure vegetable oil, instead of butter and ghee. The number of ingredients required to make this sweet is less, but it takes a long time to make this sweet, since the sweets have to be deep-fried in low heat.

Vegan Restaurants

These days you can find vegetarian dishes in almost all the restaurants. And it's pretty simple to get vegan fare, if you order your pizzas, burgers and salads without cheese.

Sometimes it's nice to visit restaurants where the menu card is brimming with numerous vegan dishes.

Real Food Daily, Zephyr Vegetarian Cafe, The Chicago Diner, and Ethos Vegan Kitchen are some of the great vegan restaurants where I've enjoyed eating good vegan food. I found these restaurants by visiting HappyCow

Before visiting a new city, I make it a point to
visit HappyCow's vegetarian restaurants guide. You can also find numerous vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants by visiting VegGuide , and VegDining

Good Karma Organic Rice Divine Icecream

I'm always on the lookout for new dairy-free icecream. I recently came across, coconut mango - a delicious creamy non-dairy frozen dessert, from the Good Karma Foods, in Zerbos - a health food store in Detroit.

Coconut Mango icecream , is delicious. I felt as if I
was in a tropical island while eating the luscious
coconut mango icecream. My husband who is not a big fan of icecream
also adores coconut mango icecream.

Good Karma also has other interesting icecreams such
as carrot cake, mudd pie, banana fudge, and mint
chocolate swirl.

There are numerous reasons why everyone should enjoy
Good Karma products. Good Karma supports Green
Farming. Good Karma also donates a percentage of its
net proceeds to organizations which focus on ending
world hunger. Good Karma products are not only vegan,
but they are also organic, gluten free and trans fat free.

Visit Good Karma to find out which stores in your area sell Good Karma icecream.

If you are craving for homemade icecream, then you should visit the blog, A vegan ice cream paradise, for
numerous vegan icecream recipes.

Fruit Salad

Fruit salad sold in busy streets across India is
spicy, and tangy. Spices such as chili powder, cumin
seeds, mango powder impart zesty flavor for the fruits
in Indian fruit salad. This fruit salad is also known
as "Fruit Chaat".

Fruit Salad

2 cups 1/2 inch papaya pieces
1 cup 1 inch mango pieces
1 cup 1 inch apple pieces
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Serve
immediately, as the salad tends to become soggy after
a couple of hours.

Use ripe tropical fruits such as guava, pineapple,
banana, and grapes to make fruit salad. Avoid over
ripe fruits to make this salad, as you don't want the
salad to be soggy.

Vegans in Bangalore

A couple of months ago I visited Bangalore, and everyone I met was either a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian. I wondered why there was no huge pool of vegans, in the land of ahimsa (non-violence)- India.

I'm so happy to know that they are some vegans in Bangalore after reading this article in Deccan Herald, a newspaper from Bangalore.

Vegan Mango Smoothie

For me, summer means mangoes. Growing up in Bangalore,
I always looked forward for the mango season. I
relished eating mangoes every day for a couple of
months.

I recently made mango smoothie and it was delicious!

Mango Smoothie

1 cup ripe Mango, peeled and chopped
1 cup soy milk or almond milk
1 Tbsp almond meal
2 Tbsp sugar

Put all the ingredients in the blender, and puree it.
This can be served at room temperature or cold.

You could also add flax seeds to make it more nutritious.

Visit Indira's website for delicious mango recipes.

Vitamin B12 In a Vegan Diet

Most of the health related vegan articles always discuss about Vitamin B12, which is present only in animal based foods, such as meat and dairy products.

I have recently started to take Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D supplement, as I don't consume fortified foods every day.

If you eat vegan food, do you take fortified foods or take Vitamin B12 supplement?

Here are some Vitamin B12 articles which every vegan should read : Vegan Health , Problems associated with deficiency of Vitamin B12 , Vitamin B12 and vegan diet

5 Tips for Vegan Travelers to India

It's possible to eat colorful vegan food in India every day.
There are thousands of restaurants from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari, offering variety of vegetarian dishes.
However, you should be concerned about milk products
such as yogurt and ghee(clarified butter) in some
dishes.

The word vegan, has become synonymous with vegetarian
in India. In an Indian newspaper, I was shocked to see
many recipes with milk and milk products, which was
titled as, "Vegan Recipes". If you tell you're a vegan
in India, some people may interpret that you are a
pure vegetarian, who will not eat meat and eggs, but
will consume milk and milk products.

If you are planning to visit India, then be sure to visit websites,
Incredible india and International vegetarian union

1.Restaurants: Most of the restaurants offer
vegetarian fare. "Pure vegetarian restaurants" don't
use eggs and meat in cooking, but milk and milk
products such as cream, paneer- cottage cheese, butter
and ghee- clarified butter is used in cooking.
However, you should be able to find numerous vegan
food items in both vegetarian and pure vegetarian
restaurants. Pure vegetarian restaurants don't serve
alcohol.

Make sure not to order any dish, which has the word
"Paneer" in it. Paneer, a cottage cheese is widely
used in north indian cuisine. Most popular dishes which has
paneer are palak paneer and mutter paneer.
Also make sure not to order any dish with word
"malai". Malai means milk based cream in Hindi.

2.Supermarkets : There are numerous supermarkets
in large cities which carry array of vegan food items.
Most of the supermarkets also carry soy milk and tofu.
During my recent visit to Bangalore, I saw variety of
biscuits and cookies suitable for vegans.

All the pre-packaged food items are provided with a
list of ingredients.

3.Bakeries: Numerous bakeries adorn the busy streets
of India. You can find breads, biscuits, and savoury
snacks. However, you should question the
shop owners to confirm if the items are vegan. In
cities, most of the bakery employees can speak in
English.

4.Sweets : Most of the sweets you get in sweet stores,
everything from halwas to burfis are milk based. I was
very happy to find that one of the decadent sweet,
Kaju katli - cashew fudge, was vegan, in two of the
upscale sweet stalls. You can find the recipe for
Kaju Katli at Mumbai masala.

I also found some delicious sweets made by Haldirams
in numerous supermarkets. Most of the sweets available
in upscale sweet stalls is laden with milk products
such as ghee(clarified butter). It's really hard to
get vegan sweets in India.

5.Cafe : Numerous cafes similar to starbucks are
present in cities and towns across India. In
Bangalore, I often went to cafe coffe day. The black
coffee and the vegan shake in this cafe is great!

Barista is also very popular cafe in India.

Bangalore Photos

Bangalore is a bustling city in India. For visitors, it's possible to thrive on a vegan fare where there are thousands of vegetarian restaurants.

A Vegan in India - Vegetarian Paradise

For the last couple of months I was in India. While it
is very easy to thrive on a vegetarian fare, it was
really very challenging for me, to be a vegan in
India.

In India , vegetarian diet is synonymous with
lacto vegetarian diet. For thousands of years, Indians
have consumed milk and milk products such as
buttermilk, yogurt and ghee(clarified butter)
regularly. These days supermarkets across India are
not only flooded with traditional milk
products such as ghee, and buttermilk but also cheeses
and flavored milks.

My parents tried to convince me that "cow's milk" is
nutritious. They were shocked when I told them I don't
eat anything that has milk and milk products. They
were curious to know why I avoid milk and milk
products. I tried explaining about how cows are
treated as "milking machines". They just could not
understand the cruelty involved in producing diary milk. Everyone from my parents to siblings and friends to relatives considered me weird for not
including milk or milk based products in my diet.

My parents were worried and concerned about my health.
People in India believe that to lead a
healthy lifestyle, everyone should include some milk
or milk products such as buttermilk, yogurt or ghee in
their diet. I really wish if everyone could read, The
China Study to know about the negative impact of milk and milk
products on our health.

Once my mom made crispy dosa(rice and lentil
pancakes), which was laced with copious amounts of
ghee(clarified butter). She was so mad at me when I
refused to touch the dosas. My father once bought my
favorite sweet, mysore pak, from a popular sweet
store, in Bangalore. Of course, I could not eat that
sweet because the package said, "made with pure ghee".
In India, people shower you with milk based items if
they like you.

I gave my mom some tips to veganize some recipes. My
mom made Badam burfi and Mysore pak
Well, my parents were thrilled that I got to indulge
some delicious vegan sweets. They were also so
surprised by the fact that it is pretty easy to
veganize some Indian sweets.

Many people in India thrive on lacto-vegetarian fare,
because they associate only meat with cruelty.
An article about the modern production of milk in India.

I used to see old cows and bulls roaming about the
crowded streets in search of food in Bangalore. The
result of numerous bulls, is the result of the
thriving diary industry in India. I wonder why people
still don't associate "cow's milk" with cruelty.

Decades ago male cows or bulls were used to plough the
fields. But, these days tractors have replaced bulls
to plough the fields. Most of the bulls have no use in
Indian society these days.

People in India assume that milk producing cows
are well taken care by the farmers. As the demand for milk
is growing every day, farmers inject cows with oxytocin harmone,
so that they produce more milk.

Along with Peta, there are only a handful of animal
welfare organizations in India. So, people are not aware of the
cruelty involved in production of milk. The
consumption of milk and milk products by everyone from
children to adults has increased by many fold in the
past decade. In short, cow's milk is considered to be
gift to mankind.

For days I explained to my father about the cruelty involved in diary industry and the negative impact of livestock on our environment. I also discusses about
the positive health benefits of the vegan diet.

While I tried to convince my father that vegan diet is best for our health
,my father tried to convince me that diary milk is indeed good for our health.
He felt that if baby cows are allowed to drink all the milk the cow produces,
the baby cow will die by drinking huge amount of milk.
My father, who comes from an agricultural background,
felt that human beings were indeed saving the lives of
baby cows, by consuming some of the milk. The milkman
who gives milk to my parent's home, also told that
baby cows will fall sick if they drink more milk. I was
shocked to hear this new "theory".

I asked the milkman about the oxytocin harmone injected
to cows. He told that he injects his cows with
oxytocin harmone rarely. An article about usage of oxytocin harmone in cows.

My father somehow wanted me to get rid of my vegan
diet. He read some passages from hindu
scriptures, where cows are considered as mother.
Infact Hindu religious rituals often call for milk and
milk products such as ghee and yogurt. Even the
ancient art of Indian medicine -Ayurveda, considers
milk, ghee, butter and yogurt to be of great
nutritional value. In a nutshell, Indian culture
deeply revolves around milk and milk products.

The word "vegan" is not common in India. Pure
vegetarian, means a person who consumes milk and milk
products, but not meat and eggs. Visit these websites ;Hinduonnet
, IBNLIVE
, Hinduonet1 , and Hindustantimes
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6a34a112-ac3c-4133-9295-0c52efbd980f

India is a goldmine for vegetarian food. And millions of
recipes can be easily veganized .It is possible to thrive on a vegan diet in India.
But, you can't find dairy-free icecream and
chocolates. Most of the Indian sweets in upscale
stores will be drenched with either milk or ghee.

To know more the horrible conditions of cows in India,
read article1 and article2.