One of the things Jane and I still crave is cow’s milk. I have a smoothie for breakfast every morning. Jane makes almond milk, and that works just fine. It’s also an effective substitute in baked goods and for general cooking, but cereal just isn’t the same. And Jane would just about kill for a shake (bad choice of wording?), so when we go to Johnny Rockets this weekend for our free vegan burger, she’s going to whine, and I will be as supportive as I can be.

So I’m doing my research in advance, and tonight I came across a post at “Go Dairy Free” that provides a list of dairy-free and vegan recipes for Mother’s Day. The recipe that caught my eye is their Ultra Thick Chocolate Shake. In the olden (pre-vegan) days, Jane would have normally ordered a strawberry shake, but we find the chocolate dairy substitutes to be the most palatable. So, maybe I’ll make that choclate shake ahead of time and take it along in a thermos. This way Jane can have a shake with her burger and we’ll all be happier.

– We’re getting ready to close down our petition to Oprah, asking her to do a piece on factory farming. If you haven’t already signed, please consider doing so. We can all work together to make a difference.

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I’ve mentioned this a few times in the past, and some of you don’t agree with me, but it seems to me that veganism is becoming more mainstream. Or, more accurately, vegan food options are becoming more readily available. A few months ago we wrote about Vegan Brownies at Starbuck’s, and Vegan Sandwiches at 7-Eleven. Today’s foray out into the web brings us news of Vegan Burgers at Johnny Rockets.

That’s right, the international chain, Johnny Rockets, offers a vegan option — their Streamliner Burger which consists of a hamburger bun, mustard, Boca Burger (soy patty), lettuce, tomato, onions, pickle, and secret seasoning. And it looks like they take “vegan” seriously, unlike other places we’ve been where vegan can mean almost anything! (Fish sauce in the dipping sauce for vegan spring rolls, egg product in buns, casein in the “vegan” cheese…) From the Johnny Rockets website:

A Note for our Vegetarian Guests
At Johnny Rockets we strive to meet the needs of all of our guests. The Boca Burger patty that we use in our Streamliner is their Original V35 and is manufactured as a vegan product. Our spec hamburger buns should not contain any dairy nor other animal-derived ingredients. Our American fries also should not contain ingredients which are of animal origin and are always cooked in 100% vegetable oil. Beef tallow, or flavorings derived from animal sources, are never intentionally added during the manufacturing or cooking process. However you should be aware that, due to the proximity of the manufacturing equipment to sources of animal protein or oil from animal sources there is the slight, though extremely unlikely, possibility that traces of these unwanted products may be accidentally transferred to our American fries during their production. For this reason, and this reason only, we feel compelled to list beef tallow as a possible (however extremely unlikely) ingredient.

Please be aware that we designate a special area of the grill on which to cook only the Boca Burger and we do everything in our power to keep the area free from other materials. We also have special color-coded turners and tongs which help to keep cross-contamination to a minimum. However due to the limited space and tight kitchen layout at Johnny Rockets we cannot guarantee that there will not be unintentional contact with some small amount of material from an item which is of animal in nature.

Anyway, if you’d like to try one on them, here’s a link to the coupon over at VegCooking.com, a PETA blog. The coupon is valid with the purchase of a Streamliner or any sandwich, starter, and drink — and only at participating locations (but I couldn’t find which locations sell the Streamliner online, so check with your local store first). It’s good through the end of May. We’ll be heading there soon, if for no other reason than to support the idea of a vegan option at a burger joint! Woo hoo! Progress! Now, if they’d just offer a vegan shake to go with that vegan burger and fries!

– We’re getting ready to close down our petition to Oprah, asking her to do a piece on factory farming. If you haven’t already signed, please consider doing so. We can all work together to make a difference.

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A few weeks ago we wrote about a new blog, Hezbollah Tofu. Their purpose, to counter Anthony Bourdain’s anti-vegan bias by creating veganized versions of Mr. Bourdain’s “masturbatory, blood-oozing recipes.” Ultimately, they plan on compiling these recipes and selling them, with proceeds donated to vegan outreach organizations in the name of Mr. Bourdain.

In April, Endless Simmer ran a poll to find out who their readers thought fared better in a square-off between Bourdain’s French Onion Soup and the veganized version of French Onion Soup. A whopping 87% of the 1,300 visitors to Simmer voted for the veganized soup!

Considering Endless Simmer is not a vegan blog, I’d say that speaks volumes. They don’t even have any vegan recipes on their site! While a full-time vegan diet might not appeal to mainstream America, it certainly seems like there is an increase in interest in eating meatless, at least occasionally.

– We’re getting ready to close down our petition to Oprah, asking her to do a piece on factory farming. If you haven’t already signed, please consider doing so. We can all work together to make a difference.

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It feels like there is something in the papers, almost weekly, to give me another reason to thank Jane for suggesting we change over to a vegan diet. On Saturday, May 3rd, Gourmet Boutique, LLC, announced a voluntary recall of 286,320 pounds of fresh and frozen beef, pork, and poultry products. That’s more than a quarter MILLION pounds of meat. The reason: the recalled products may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes which can cause listeriosis. Listeriosis is primarily of concern to newborn infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, where it can manifest as septicemia, meningitis, encephalitis, pneumonia, or gastrointestinal ailments among other diseases/conditions.

The USDA has three levels of recall, one being the most severe. This recall is a level one recall:

This is a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.

Frightening! Please make sure to pass this information along to all your meat eating friends and relatives. For additional information see the USDA Recall Release (PDF file), or you can call the company’s recall hotline at (347) 887-0083.

– We’re getting ready to close down our petition to Oprah asking her to do a piece on factory farming, if you haven’t already signed, please consider doing so. We can all work together to make a difference.

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I stumbled across a list of animal ingredients and their alternatives as compiled by PETA. This list is a great reference point, and I wanted to share it with you, we’ve added it to our vegan resources page as well.

Animal ingredients are used not because they are better than vegetable-derived or synthetic ingredients, but because they are generally cheaper. Today’s slaughterhouses must dispose of the byproducts of the slaughter of billions of animals every year and have found an easy and profitable solution in selling them to food and cosmetics manufacturers.

Jane and I feel that avoiding these by-products is not nearly as important as avoiding the animal products from which they are derived. If the number of animals slaughtered is reduced, the availability of animal by-products will also be reduced, therefore driving up the price so other alternatives will be sought out by the manufacturers. In the meantime, they are everywhere. This list, while not comprehensive, provides some information for anyone confused about what they’re reading on the labels of the products they’re buying.

– If you haven’t signed our petition to Oprah asking her to do a piece on factory farming, please consider doing so. We can all work together to make a difference.

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