For a simple to prepare meal, try this no fuss Potato Cauliflower Curry recipe

Makes: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

6 Cups Potatoes - Peeled & Diced
1 Cauliflower - Cut
1 1/4 Tablespoon Turmeric
1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
3 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
1 1/4 Tablespoon Salt
Sugar (desired amount)
3 Tomatoes - Chopped
2 1/2 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Garam Masala

Directions:

1) Fill a crockpot with the ingredients.
2) Cook on low for five hours.

Make your own delicious vegetarian Masala Vermicelli

Makes: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

4 Cups Vermicelli - 2 cups
8 Cups Water
5 Peppers (any color)
2 Cups Peas
1 Cup Chopped Onion
Salt (desired amount)
1 Tablespoon Ginger Paste
2 Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Garlic - Crushed
5 Tablespoons Oil

Directions:

1) Boil water in a pot. Add vermicelli & salt.
2) Add remaining ingredients to pan & stir fry.
3) Strain most of the water out of the vermicelli.
4) Combine ingredients in pot & simmer on a low flame for 7 minutes.
5) Serve!

Here is a recipe for Vegetarian Teriyaki Wrap

Makes: 1 Serving

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup White Rice
1 Cups Water
1 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Spanish Onion - Chopped
1/2 Red Pepper - Chopped
3/4 Cups Teriyaki Sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teapsoon Ground Black Pepper
2 whole wheat tortillas

DIRECTIONS:

1) Boil water in a saucepan. Add rice.
2) Saute vegetables in teriyaki sauce.
3) Strain rice & stir into vegetable mix.
4) Add remaining ingredients, including sauces and salt.
5) Stir until vegetables are soft.
6) Serve in a tortilla.

While many people lament the nutritional disadvantages of a poorly planned vegetarian diet, few stress the health advantages of adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet. In this article, I will cover the major three nutritional advantages of becoming a vegetarian.

The first major advantage of a vegetarian diet is increased heart health. Vegetarians, on average, consume more nuts (often as a supplemental form of protein). Nuts contain “good” fats, such as omega-3 and omega-6. This promotes good heart health by reducing “bad” cholesterol and unclogging arteries.

In addition to nuts, vegetarians also consume more soy milk (often to replace milk), which reduces “bad” cholesterol and has been linked to good heart health.

The second major advantage vegetarians enjoy is increased skin health. In addition to consuming larger quantities of nuts (which contain healthful oils), vegetarians tend to consume more fruit and vegetables, which are rich in essential vitamins, including A and E, which are linked to good skin health.

Fruits and vegetables also contain high amounts of fiber, which helps flush toxins out of the body, further contributing to better skin health.

The last health advantage vegetarians enjoy is an increased natural consumption of antioxidants.

Antioxidants are foods that help prevent cancer by destroying free radicals. Vitamin C and Vitamin E, two strong antioxidants, are commonly found in vegetarian meals.

Vitamin C can be found in berries, tomatoes, citrus fruit, kale, kiwis, asparagus and peppers.

Vitamin E can be found in wheat germ, seed oils, walnuts, almonds, and brown rice–all foods that are commonly a part of a well-balanced vegetarian diet.

So what does this all mean for you as a prospective vegetarian?

It means the popular mythology about vegetarian diets is false. Not only can a vegetarian diet be nutritionally sufficient, but it can also affect better skin health, prevent cancer, and increase your heart health.

Do you have a strict vegan to entertain, who has a birthday or celebration coming up that traditionally calls for cake?
If you’re not familiar with vegan dietary practices, you might not know what vegans do not eat. Even worse, you might have no idea how to replace what they do not eat.

But don’t worry. In a few short paragraphs, I’ll explain exactly what you need to make the perfect cake for your vegan friend or relative. And best of all, no one will be able to taste the difference.

Let’s start with what strict vegans do not eat. They do not eat eggs. They do not drink milk.
They don’t eat certain types of sugar. They don’t eat butter. And they don’t eat frosting.

Eggs can be replaced by “EnerG Egg Replacer,” which you can purchase at many grocery stores. The box will explain how much replacer to use per egg.

Cow’s milk can be replaced by organic rice milk, which doesn’t contain any animal byproducts. You can buy rice milk at your local grocery store, too.

Many vegans do not consume sugar, either, because it is often whitened by animal bone char. You can avoid sugar that is whitened by bone char by purchasing “unbleached” sugar, sugar in the raw, or beet sugar. There are some cane sugars, too, which were not whitened using bone char, but they hard to distinguish from others, unless you know the exact name brand.

Strict vegans will not eat food made with butter, either. If your cake recipe calls for butter, you can simply replace it with margarine or vegetable shortening.

In addition to butter, sugar, milk, and eggs, strict vegans also will not eat dairy frosting. If your recipe calls for frosting, you can look for a similar flavor of “non-dairy” frosting or you can make your own, replacing butter with margarine.

And there you have it: an ingredient replacement key for your vegan cake. Simply follow the key, replace vegan -unfriendly items on your recipe, and your cake will be perfectly fit for even the strictest vegetarian!

Makes: 25 Servings

Ingredients:

18 Oz Flour
1/2 Lb Sugar
1 Tablespoon Evaporated Milk
Or Rice Milk
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/3 Tablespoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs (Or Equivalent Amount
Of Egg Replacer)
3/4 Cups Water
4 Bananas - Mashed
3 Oz Butter

Instructions:

1. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly.
2. Combine wet ingredients & add butter.
3. Add mashed bananas.
4. Beat all three mixes thoroughly. Heat, remix,
and blend as needed.
5. Mix all three in a large bowl & then add
resulting batter to a greased pan.
6. Bake until golden brown.
7. Remove & cool on a rack.
8. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Russett Potatoes - Diced
1 Cup Water
1 Teaspoon Dried Parsley
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 White Onion - Sliced & Diced
1 1/2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Rice/Soy Milk
4 Celery Stalks - Diced
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Saute vegetables with oil in a saucepan
for up to 5 minutes.
2. Remove vegetables & add to a large pot with water.
3. Boil water & add spices.
4. Stir.
5. Cover with lid & simmer on a low flame.
6. Serve when vegetables are soft.

What Is Vegetarian Cheese?

Vegetarian cheese is cheese that is not curdled with rennet, an enzyme that occurs naturally in animal stomachs. Most vegetarian cheeses are curdled with either plants, fungi, or bacteria.
Vegetarians who do not consume cheese with rennet generally choose not to because it involves slaughtering animals to extract the enzymes.

Vegetarian cheese is hard to distinguish from cheese made with rennet. This lack of distinguisability often forces vegetarians who are ethically-opposed to harming animals to consume cheeses that contain rennet.

Even though more cheeses are being made with vegetable rennet, it is usually impossible to spot the difference, unless the package is clearly labeled “vegetarian cheese.” Recently, some grocery stores have started doing this to aid vegetarian shoppers, who would not otherwise be able to distinguish the difference between the vegetable and animal rennet cheeses.

In addition to eating cheeses made with vegetable rennet, there are more alternatives to eating regular cheese. Vegans, for instance, do not consume cheese at all because it is an animal byproduct and subsequently requires animals to be caged and suffer. Many vegans, however, do consume cheese substitutes.

Chreese (www.chreese.com) is one of these substitutes. Chreese is an all natural, non-soy, cheese replacement that requires substantially less natural resources and energy to create than cheese with rennet.

And chreese is just one substitute. There are a number of other all natural alternatives you can find at local organic and health food stores. If you are a vegetarian and you don’t support animal suffering on your behalf in any capacity, you may also want to consider adjusting your dietary habits if you consume cheese made with animal rennet.

To reiterate, you have three basic options: you can look for grocery stores that label vegetarian cheese; you can purchase vegetarian cheese online; or you can purchase cheese alternatives online or at your local organic or health food store.