A few weeks ago, we received a t-shirt in the mail. Sandra Blum of FeelGoodTees.com asked us to review her shirt. She sent us a ladies large. Obviously, that was for Jane who was delighted with the graphic on the shirt.  It's a really nice way to get the message across.

We wrote Sandra back that we would write an honest review (good or bad), and that it would take a few weeks since Jane wanted to run it through the wash a few times to see how it held up.

The t-shirt we received is a "Long Sleeve Baby Rib Vegan Tee." This means it's one of those form fitting tees. (It's stretch cotton, whatever that means.) Jane typically wears t-shirts that are a little looser, and she usually likes an xl. So this is not a style that she'd wear, at least not without something over the top. In addition we both found the shirt to run a bit small. It got even smaller when Jane ran it through the wash. The instructions clearly say "tumble dry low" and Jane admits to not reading the label, which would account for the significant shrinkage we experienced.

So, after washing it and running it through the drier three times (cold wash / "normal" dry) we found no difference in color (it was still as black as the day we received it). Nor was there any disturbance to the graphic. To give you an idea of how much it shrank, this image is of a large t-shirt laying on top of a ladies xl t-shirt (non-form fitting). The t-shirt is designed to stretch, so it's not as small as it looks, but definitely get a larger size than you normally would. Especially if you're a bit relaxed in your laundering as we tend to be.

Overall, the shirt feels very good. Ms Blum has the t-shirts manufactured here in Los Angeles, and according to the website, they are sweatshop free (employees are paid fair wages). Ms Blum also donates a portion of her sales to animal sanctuaries and animal rights organizations.

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." -- Abraham Lincoln

For me, it's what being a vegetarian is all about. I feel good because I do good by making a difference and not just unconsciously do what everybody else does. -- Sandra Blum

FeelGoodTees.com also offers t-shirts for men and kids, and babies.

It's that time of year again here in the United States. It's the unofficial start of summer. Actually, I'm a little premature. Monday will be the Memorial Day holiday, and this weekend is when most of us break out the grill. Now living in Southern California, I have truly lost all sense of seasons. It's either warm or hot, and we can grill year round. But we will be out there on Monday, along with most of America.

I don't know what the rest of you have planned, but we're having some family and friends over. We'll be serving the traditional fare of salads, burgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob. The only difference is we'll be serving vegan fare. We'll also be grilling a bunch of portobello mushrooms and a slew of veggies from the farmers market, plus a bunch of onions and peppers, because in our opinion, they can really make a burger or dog!

We bought MorningStar Farms Grillers Vegan last week at our local Trader Joe's (they retailed for $2.89 for a package of 4 burgers). We figured we'd give them a test run tonight. They were delicious! And, we both thought they tasted like meat. Granted, neither one of us has tasted meat in an awfully long time, but they tasted like what we remembered beef patties to taste like. They smelled like meat too. And it bears repeating, they were delicious!

We don't eat a lot of the MorningStar items because they often have egg, milk, or cheese in their products. For example, the Chick'n and Garden Veggie Patties contain milk and eggs. But these burgers specifically state "vegan" on the package. MorningStar Farms even goes so far as to say "natural flavors from vegetable sources" which should put a number of people at ease. Unfortunately "natural flavors" can, and often does, mean derived from animal by-products.

If you haven't tried these yet... we highly recommend them. They're 100 calories a patty, with 12 grams of protein, 7 grams of carbohydrate, and 2.5 grams total fat.

Consumer Reports has an interesting article entitled, Healthful Burgers That Taste Good, in which they laud the veggie burger, saying that 10 of the 12 burgers they reviewed were very good. (Parenthetical comments are ours.)

CR's take. MorningStar Farms Garden Veggie Patties (not vegan but the Original, Roast Onion, and Roasted Garlic burgers are vegan) are a top choice, falling somewhere between meatlike and grainlike, and they're especially moist and flavorful. If you're looking for a meat wannabe, consider Boca All American (not vegan), cheaper than most at 96 cents per burger. Eaten on a bun with condiments, it could be mistaken for ground beef. If you don't favor a meaty taste, try Dr. Praeger's (we like the Tex-Mex burger), whose crisp vegetables and soft filling have a flavor that comes through best without toppings or bun, or Gardenburger Portabella (not vegan), which stands up to bread plus trimmings. Lightlife (as of this writing, only the Light Burger is vegan), the priciest of all, is low in flavor and high in sodium.

Surprisingly, everyone we invited was game to try a vegan meal. We expected a few people to decline because we won't cook meat here. We've found our burgers, the ones we believe might even fool or convert our omni friends. For our "meat" burger, we'll be serving MorningStar Farms Grillers Vegan. For those not looking for a "meat" taste, we'll serve the Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Burgers (our review at this link).

We don't believe in beating anyone over the head to make our point, but we believe in leading by example. Perhaps we'll win a few converts to our cause. Provided I don't burn the burgers!

Hi everyone. It's Jane writing tonight. Lane and I realized that he's hogging all the spotlight, so tonight I'm getting the byline. To tell the truth, we often collaborate on these posts. I tend to spend time in the morning researching what we'll write about (time permitting), and put together an outline, and then Lane will flesh it out.

Things were hectic around here today, so I just threw something together for dinner. As I rummaged around the fridge I found the Trader Joe's Chicken-less Strips I'd purchased in the recent past (sorry, the box got trashed, so no image). There are always onions on hand in our house, and I had asparagus spears and orange pepper. Perfect. I could make a dinner out of that. Plus we always have salad with any dinner I make.

I chopped the veggies, added a little olive oil to the pan, and sauteed my onions. When they were translucent I threw in the peppers, and after they'd cooked together for a bit in went the chicken-less strips and the asparagus. For some reason (could it be that I didn't read the package?), I thought the strips were seasoned. Imagine my surprise when I tasted the concoction brewing in my frying pan. It definitely needed something. And I had moments until everything was done. Thankfully, my pantry is fully stocked. I threw in a few pinches of sea salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and about a half teaspoon of ground ginger. It came together quite well.

Lane and I would definitely recommend this product. It has good mouth feel and seems to be very versatile. Best of all, it cooks up in moments. It took me under 15 minutes to throw tonight's dinner together. Next time I think I might try throwing the chicken-less strips in a light broth, or even pasta.

These strips might even compete with the prepared Gardein chicken products we get at Whole Foods, specifically the Vegan Chicken Sonoma Salad and Vegan Chicken Curry Salad. The "chicken" in the salads is cubed, and this "chicken" is sliced, but otherwise, the taste and texture seem to be the same to us. Since Gardein doesn't advertise where their products are sold, I'm wondering if this is a private label version packaged for Trader Joe's? Anyway, we'll be keeping this stuff on hand.

Jane was planning on making this recipe for dinner tonight. It's an Indian dish that looks rather intriguing. We have all the ingredients on hand and so I was looking forward to a new and (hopefully) delicious meal. Alas, it was not to be.

It was gardening weather out there today, which means that we spent a good portion of the late morning/early afternoon working. OK, weeding. It's time to start working on getting the vegetable beds ready. Living in the Los Angeles area, and not being billionaires, we don't have a huge plot of land to "farm." Typically I plant tomatoes, peppers and sometimes zucchini or blue beans, and once (very unsuccessfully) acorn squash. We also have a lemon tree which seems to be productive every 18 months or so. And Jane keeps an herb garden which is usually comprised of the standards: basil, dill, thyme, mint, and of course, the ubiquitous rosemary. So even though we don't have a farm, there is a reasonable percentage of our property devoted to raising produce. Unfortunately, we tend to be a little lazy once football season starts. So there is always a good deal of work to be done at the beginning of the gardening season.

After all that hard work we had some hummus and veggies for lunch. But, when it came time to think about dinner, neither of us felt like getting dressed enough to go out, and Jane didn't have the energy to try a new recipe. Instead we had Trader Joe's Vegetable Biryani with tofu, and a green salad. The Biryani was great, light and fluffy. I'm not sure how it would compare to home-made biryani, but we both loved it. Jane cooked some tofu and threw it in with the rice. It was a super-quick, super-easy dish, absolutely perfect for those nights when you come too tired to even think about what's for dinner.

	BONUS PACK! Joyoung CTS1048 Easy-Clean Automatic Hot Soy Milk Maker with FREE Soybean Bonus Pack

All I can say is wow. This stuff blows away what you can buy in the store.

Jane received a Soyabella Milk Maker for Christmas this year. So far, it's been amazing. The milks you can make are far superior to what you can buy, as is often the case when you compare fresh versus packaged. The soy milk is particularly good when it's finished and still warm, but it's still soy milk which is something we haven't quite gotten the taste for. The almond milk, however, is absolutely delicious.

In our quest for a dairy-milk replacement we've tried soy milk, oat milk, hemp milk, rice milk, and almond milk. We've found that rice milk has the best taste, but the least nutritional value. Our second favorite taste has been the almond milk, so that's what we've settled on. And we were thrilled to find the home-made version is that much better.

The process of making the milk is quite easy. First you soak your nuts, overnight is best. Then you drain them and affix the basket to the grinding portion of the machine. After which you add water to the carafe, drop the assembled grinder/top piece onto the carafe, press the mill button and let it rip. You actually have to hit mill button 3-5 times, once each time after each cycle is complete to get the thickness you'd like. That seems like something the manufacturer could fix, but it's a minor complaint as the mill cycle is only about 10 seconds. So it's not like you're getting all that far away from the machine anyway!

Cleanup is relatively easy, as long as you clean everything right away, or soak it in water. But you have to be careful not to get water into the sockets or the air hole in the top of the machine, which is also something I would suggest the manufacturer change in the next iteration of the machine. It makes cleanup a little more cumbersome than it would need to be.

Now for the finances: We pay $4.29 for a 16oz. bag of raw almonds at our local Trader Joe's, and $1.99 for a quart of Pacific Almond Milk (vanilla, unsweetened). We get six quarts of almond milk per bag of almonds. $4.29 / 6 servings = $0.715 per quart of home made almond milk.

The Soyabella Milk Maker costs under $100. Making almond milk at home costs about $0.72 per quart. At $1.99/quart the store bought milk is about three times as much as the homemade variety! With those parameters, the machine will pay for itself in a little over 75 quarts.

We haven’t forgotten about cow’s milk yet, but homemade almond milk is helping that along….