THE VEGAN NEWS

SPRING 2007

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In This Issue:

• Recipe(s)
• Vegan Product Review
• In the Veganic Garden - Gardening News + Garden Diary
  
• Some Foods Rich in B17
  
• Tips for Reducing Waste 
  
• Web Sites
• Book Review(s)
• The Wildlife Database  

Spring Recipes

Tacos With Chili Beans

Source:

Ingredients

• 175g mixed beans (already cooked)
  
• 1 Tbs. tomato puree
• 125-150ml water
• Chili powder (to taste, approx. 1/2 Tsp.)
  

1. Place all of the ingredients into a small pan. Mix well, then cover the pan with a lid and bring to the boil. Gently simmer the beans until properly heated through and the sauce has thickened up, stirring occasionally. (Approx. 10 minutes.)
2. Spoon the mixture into warmed taco shells and serve with a mixed salad.
   

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Spring Product Review(s)

This gluten-free, vegan bar has no added sugar, being made from bananas, dates, sultanas, sunflower seeds and almonds, that are blended together and sweetened with apple juice.  This tasty 42g snack bar costs around £0.50 and is available in some large supermarkets and from Holland & Barratts.

Produced by Vital Minerals, this organic, whole food bar is made from dried fruits, oats, apricot kernels, flax, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, millet and carrot powder and is sweetened with apple juice and malt extract.  On testing, I found it to be a nutritious, pleasant-tasting, moist, chewy bar, which contained nice crunchy bits that give it an interesting texture. Providing both essential fatty acids and fibre, these bars make an excellent meal replacement for when you are on the go or haven't got time to make up your lunch box.  Ten x 80g bars cost £14.95 (although they were on special offer for £14.20 at time of writing). The bars can be purchased online from Credence at: http://credencegroup.co.uk/zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2.

A revitalising tea that's composed of a mixture of Chinese herbs, including Siberian ginseng root, cadonopsis root, panax ginseng root, hibiscus, cinnamon, licorice and cloves. Designed to invigorate and restore natural inner energy, a box of 25 tea bags costs about £1.69.  This tea has a pleasant, somewhat smoky, clove or cinnamon-like flavour.  And oddly enough I've found that I do seem more lively since I started drinking this tea. I keep leaping out of bed full of enthusiasm on dark mornings, although not sure if this is a real, coincidental or merely psychological effect! However,

A new product, available from Yaoh since January 2007. These nutritious shakes contain raw protein, phytonutrients and fibre and are lactose, dairy and gluten free. Choose from Chocolate, Amazon Acai Berry (not tested) and Berry Pomegranate flavours. The Chocolate Shake contains organic fairly traded chocolate and ramon nut and was rather scrumptious with a thick, rich, creamy texture and a not quite chocolate mocha flavour - a sort of a cross between chocolate and toffee maybe. It was tasty, yummy and rather irresistible! The Berry Pomegranate shake had a similar thick, creamy texture, but tasted of berries instead. It perhaps wasn't quite so irresistible as the chocolate one, but nevertheless had a very pleasing flavour. These shakes are very easy to make - just mix the packet contents with soya or another non-dairy milk.  I simply whizzed mine up in my blender with some home-made soya milk and a few partly-defrosted slices of frozen banana.  Quite filling and could be used as a meal replacement, snack or just as a delicious, special treat.  They cost £2.35 for a 30gm packet, or £21.95 for a 454g packet + P&P. Order online at the YAOH site, or phone Yaoh on 0117 9239053. For more information on Nutiva products visit the Nutiva web site (USA).

Gardening News

Some Foods Rich In B17

• Apple Seeds
• Alfalfa Sprouts
• Apricot, Cherry, Peach and Plum Kernels
• Berries (Blackberries, Cranberries, Gooseberries, Raspberries and Strawberries)
• Brown Rice
• Flax Seed
• Walnuts
• Watercress

Tips for Reducing Waste 

• Make good use of your local council's recycling facilities: Newspapers/magazines, cardboard, paper, books, phone directories/catalogues, glass jars/bottles, food/drink cans, plastic bottles, garden waste, greeting cards, empty aerosol cans, aluminum foil, textiles, shoes and batteries can usually be separated out from your normal domestic rubbish and recycled.
  
• Try to buy food and other goods that have minimal packaging. Better still grow some of your own food!
  
• Recycle your Christmas cards by using a scheme such as the one run annually by the Woodland Trust where card recycling collection bins are placed in branches of Tesco & WH Smiths throughout January. Better still reduce the amount of cards you send in the first place, perhaps by sending electronic e cards intead. Alternatively, don't send cards at all and donate the money to charity instead.
  
• Compost your fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, paper, cardboard, grass cuttings and annual weeds, adding some comfrey and/or nettle leaves to activate the compost heap. Woody prunings do not tend to compost well, but can be recycled by using your local council's garden waste facilities, if you do not own a shredder.
  
• Collect up autumn leaves and use them to make leafmould.  (Don't add them to your compost bin.)
  
• Any unwanted items that are in good condition can be recycled via your local Freecycle network.
  
• Alternatively, donate furniture, clothing, shoes, unwanted household items, knitting yarn and books to local charity shops. However, if you are regularly throwing away items that are in good condition, then consider buying less in the first place in order to avoid doing this. You could then donate some of the money you save directly to the charity instead.
• Buy recycled goods instead of new ones wherever possible!  For example use recycled paper and buy second hand clothing/furniture/household items from charity shops, car boot sales and second hand dealers. Don't forget to take some used plastic bags with you when you go shopping, to avoid asking for new ones!
• Unwanted books could be given to charity shops, jumble sales, or offered via Book Hopper.  It may also be worth trying to sell them via Amazon UK or a second hand book dealer.
  
• Buying Christmas and birthday presents for other people often creates waste.  Don't try to second guess what other people would like. It's often better to give them a voucher or some cash instead and let them choose their own present.  However, even doing this can cause unnecessary waste as most of us own more possessions than we actually truly need already. Offer any unwanted presents you do receive to charities for use as raffle prizes, or donate them to charity shops. They could also be given to friends, but do ask them if they want them first!.
  
• Avoid SALES!  Going to sales often works out more expensive than paying the full price for the items that we truly need because it is difficult to resist the temptation to overspend on non-essential bargain items.  This also avoids using lots of new plastic bags and avoids the crush and queues too!
• Buy reusable bags (like the ones mentioned in the product review section above) and carry some around with you so that you can avoid using new plastic carrier bags.
• Adapt items you already own and use them for other purposes rather than throwing them away.
  

1. Unwanted nappy bucket with a lid? Sterilise the bucket, then use it as a composting bucket for holding your kitchen fruit and vegetable peelings, emptying it into your composter when it's full.
   
2. Large plastic water/fizzy drinks bottles can be sawn in half horizontally. Each bottle makes two cloches for placing over and protecting young seedlings and plants from the weather and slugs. (Remove the bottle top.)
   
3. Unwanted baby bath? Can be used to make a small garden pond.  Dig a hole and sink the bath into the ground, then add some mud and fill with rainwater. Add your own frog spawn, if available. Similarly, old washing up bowls can be used to make a small marsh by the pond. (Note: A sterilising tablet can often be used to clean up stained, old washing up bowls so that they can be used in the kitchen for longer.)
4. Plastic toy boxes - I use the mesh sort with holes in for storing apples and tomatoes in.  Large, solid boxes make ideal recycling storage boxes for newspapers, glass jars etc.  Large boxes with lids can be used to store things in attics, or for storing bulky food items.
   
5. Glass jam jars with lids - These can be reused for storing food in the freezer, jam making, etc. Big jars like coffee jars are also useful for storing food in and can be used as sprouting jars.
   
6. Photographic film pots - These small, black plastic pots with lids can be used for storing small seeds in.
7. Old carpets (not with foam backs) - Can be used for mulching in the garden.  They are ideal for clearing ground of weeds rather than digging the weeds out. Large, flattened cardboard boxes can also be used for this purpose too.
   

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Other Interesting Web sites

The first part of this clearly-written book describes a revolutionary, scientifically proven nutrition-based treatment for coronary artery disease.  This low-fat, plant-based, nutritional programme was originally developed using 24 patients with advanced coronary artery disease, all of whom had been told by cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic that nothing more could be done for them.  Twenty years later after following this nutritional programme, nearly all of them are still alive.  The original  12-year study of these patients, which involved taking cholesterol measurements and follow-up angiograms, showed that their arterial disease had been arrested and in some patients was even significantly reversed,  the reversal ranging from 10% to total reversal. (Photographs of the coronary angiograms are included.)

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