So I finally had vegan sushi.  Sushi/sashimi, the non-vegan version, was something that Jane and I adored.  And we knew, that like with pizza, we wouldn't find the vegan versions nearly as satisfying.  So we've avoided the stuff.  On our last trip to Shojin (our favorite vegan restaurant), we had the caterpillar roll, and a mushroom sushi roll.  Oh  My  God!!!  It was heaven.  Honestly.  I know that people are always saying how good vegan sushi is, but really folks, if you're in Los Angeles, head on over to Shojin and order the caterpillar roll, you won't be sorry.

I should have a picture for this post because not only was it amazingly good but it was beautiful too.

Shojin

Hours:
Tuesday thru Thursday, Sunday
11:30am - 10:00pm

Friday, Saturday
11:30am - 11:00pm

Address
333 S. Alameda St. Suite 310
(Little Tokyo Shopping Center 3F)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213-617-0305

I know I'm pushing this place, but you're not going to find it unless you look for it, and it's worth looking for!

If you enjoyed this post, you may get Vegan Bits by email or RSS feed!

Last year was our first year as vegans, and we struggled with what Halloween candy to hand out to the neighborhood kids.  The candy marked "vegan" was much more expensive than the regular candy, and we didn't want to spend the extra money on people who wouldn't appreciate it.  On the other hand, we didn't want to support the non-vegan industry with our purchasing dollars.  So we wound up buying bags of pretzels and boxes of raisins.  I'm sure the kids really appreciated that (sarcasm), but we don't get many trick-or-treaters anyway...

This year, Jane's come across Peta's list of vegan candy, and while none of these candies were our first choice when we weren't vegans, there are more than a few to choose from (and they won't break the bank).

• Airheads taffy
• Atkins peanut butter bars
• Blow Pops
• Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
• Charms lollipops
• Chick-o-Sticks
• Cracker Jack
• Cry Babies
• Dem Bones
• Dots
• Dum-Dums
• Fireballs
• Goldenberg's Peanut Chews
• Hubba Bubba bubblegum
• Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
• Jujubees
• Jujyfruits
• Lemonheads
• Mambas -- check for gelatin
• Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
• Now and Later
• Pez
• Ring Pop lollipops
• Smarties (U.S. Brand)
• Sour Patch Kids
• Super Bubble
• Swedish Fish
• Sweet Tarts
• Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
• Twizzlers
• Zotz

Caveat:  Occasionally vendors change their recipes, so make sure to read the labels.  You know what to look for -- casein, egg whites, gelatin, lard, pepsin, rennet, stearic acid, urea, whey...

Vegan Essentials also sells some vegan candy, and Amy, over at the VegCooking Blog has a few recommendations too (sorry, her contest is over).

Or, if you'd like, you can make your own.  But this is probably something you won't be handing out, especially to the kiddies you don't know.  Last year, Melisser of The Urban Housewife, came up with a recipe for vegan candy corn.  We haven't tried it (yet), but I've been jonesing for some candy corn.  So maybe, when Jane reads this, she'll feel kindly disposed towards me and try this recipe.  Especially since she wasn't here when I was in the throes of the flu.  (I know, I'm a bad husband for trying to guilt her into making me candy.  But hey, it's worth a try!)

Finally, if you have kid(s) and your kid comes home with some non-vegan candy... Jane remembers her mom sorting her haul and being quite ruthless about it.  She'd wind up having to bring in more than half of the candy to the school collection for the childrens hospital in her neighborhood.  If your kid comes home with non-vegan candy you might want to consider donating it to the hospital.  Or, if that isn't an option, you can always bring it to the office and fatten up your co-workers.  But if you take away some candy, you should consider giving something back in return... either a toy they've been wanting; a coupon to get out of a chore or more; a movie coupon; a coupone for an extra hour of television or internet time; or a coupon to stay up late one night.  It's a good way to teach that there are more important things than sweets.  (Remember, we don't have children, so take our advice here with a grain of salt.)

If you enjoyed this post, you may get Vegan Bits by email or RSS feed!

So I had the flu, or something like it.  It's ironic, because they're offering the flu shot at my office this week.  Alas, it's a little too late for me. So, here is my tale of woe.  I dropped Jane off at the airport on Friday night.  She was taking a weekend trip to San Francisco to visit a few of her girlfriends.  As usual, my wonderful wife prepared food for me; first there were the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon, then there was a monster batch of Jane's hummus, and a pot of home-made miso mushroom soup.  We also had loads of fresh veggies and salad fixins in the house, so I was good to go.  That is, until I got home from the airport.  I'd been sneezing a bit during the day, but I have allergies, so I figured something was irritating me.  By the time I got through the door Friday night, I already knew better.

And by Saturday morning, I could barely drag my butt out of bed, never mind getting myself into the kitchen to "prepare" food.  I don't really remember much about those next few days, except for alternating between the bed and the couch.  And eating apples and pretzels.  As a side note, the apples were amazing.  We found a new variety, Sonya, which is a cross between Red Delicious and Gala apples.  If your grocery store carries them, you should give one a try.  They are probably our new favorite.

I followed Jane's orders and drank a ton of water, both hot and room temperature.  Unfortunately, the soup didn't quite agree with my stomach.  I also steamed myself in the shower a number of times to open up my lungs.  It helped.  But I was sick!  I knew I had an intermittent fever on Sunday, but I didn't really think much of it.  When I finally dug out the thermometer I had a fever of 102.5  I considered going to the doctor on Monday, but I couldn't really focus and didn't think getting in the car would be a good idea.  I took an aspirin and went to sleep.  My fever broke  just before Jane came home.  Tuesday wasn't awful, but today is really the first day I actually feel good

Anyway, that's my excuse for not writing over the last few days.  I hope it's better received than "the dog ate my homework."

If you enjoyed this post, you may get Vegan Bits by email or RSS feed!

Everywhere you look, products are labeled "green."  Most of the people Jane and I are friendly with seek to leverage their spending as part of a commitment to improving the environment (or at least, helping to stave off disaster). We jokingly refer to this as middle-class guilt.  Marketers are, of course, aware of this trend in consumer thinking and seek to exploit it.  I recently heard a term which describes this practice quite well... "Greenwashing."

The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, for example putting an image of a forest on a bottle containing harmful chemicals. Environmentalists often use greenwashing to describe the actions of energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters.  -- Source Wikipedia

This can also hold true for the issue of animal welfare. We've all seen egg cartons labeled "cage free," and you know what that means!

Cage-Free:As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as "cage-free" are uncaged inside barns or warehouses, but generally do not have access to the outdoors. They have the ability to engage in many of their natural behaviors such as walking, nesting, and spreading their wings. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing. -- Source HSUS

We should be saavy consumers. The EnviroMedia Greenwashing Index suggests that we look at a companies website and look for information on their environmentally sustainable practices.  They also suggest running an internet search using the company name and "environmental."  This should indicate if there are any serious concerns against that company.  This can also hold true for those of us looking to purchase products that are animal-friendly, simply replace "environmental" with "animal welfare."

As our dollars seem to be buying less, I'm sure most of us want to make sure that when we spend a bit extra to do something good for the animals or the environment, that extra money is actually benefitting those causes!

If you enjoyed this post, you may get Vegan Bits by email or RSS feed!