Helpful Links for Aspiring/Current Vegetarians

Curious as to what companies test on animals and which don't?  The first is a comprehensive list of companies that DO test, and the second is a list for those who DON'T.


http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf


http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf

Personally, I feel like I get stuck in a food rut.  For new ideas, I frequently turn to Jennifer McCann's Vegan Lunchbox website for food inspiration.  The woman is, no lie, a food genius.

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

AllRecipes is one of my favorite places to go for new and creative vegetarian recipes.  They seriously have everything!

http://allrecipes.com/

And finally, my one stop shop for finding new animal friendly beauty products (and just beauty products in general!).  Makeupalley also has forums.  I highly recommend the food forums if you're looking for new ideas/recipes, but all of the boards are amazing!

http://www.makeupalley.com/

The Vegetarian Food Pyramid

The above is the vegetarian food pyramid.  Obviously in an ideal world, this is the way we would all be eating, but is that really an option for college students? 

6 Things You Didn't Know Contained Meat (or Meat Products)

6 Things You Didn’t Know Contained Meat (or other random animal products)

1. Jell-O

I know, right?  Jell-o?  That delicious, jiggly, fruity dessert?  Ever wonder what gives it its jelly consistency?  Gelatin.  Gelatin is made of boild bones, skins, & tendons of animals.  Gelatin isn’t necessary to make Jell-o, or similar products.  One alternative is Agar-Agar, made from Seaweed. 

2. Fiber One Cereal

Another gelatin offender!  Actually…for the sake of not having to repeat myself, I’m just going to list all the items on this list that made it because of gelatin:

            -Gummy Candy

            -Altoids
3.  Twinkies

            This is actually for all Hostess products: they all contain beef fat.  I even checked the “diet” form, and sure enough- beef fat.  Why people feel the need to put ANIMAL FAT in a cake is beyond me.  There are so many other fattening substances with similar consistencies to use.

    
4. Target Brand (Archer Farms) pizza

This one totally surprised me.  I didn’t even realize I needed to be checking the label of pizzas- I always thought that if something didn’t SAY it had meat on it, I wouldn’t have to check the label.  I happened to glance on the ingredient list the only time I bought it, and noticed Rennet on the list.  Rennet comes from the digestive juices of slaughtered calves.  Disgusting, yeah? 

Even for people who aren’t vegetarians, I think it’s important to have an awareness of what you’re putting in or on your body.  Until next time! 

Food Rave: Chilean Lime Potato Chips!

I got these Good Health Natural Food Chilean Lime Potato Chips from Down to Earth in Pearl City yesterday.  I was a little nervous since they were made with Avocado Oil (I HATE avocado!), but was pleasantly surprised.

Good Points:

-Tasty as Hell

-Fairly Cheap

-Not too unhealthy (for potato chips, that is)

Bad Points:

-They're addictive.  Seriously.  I polished off the rest of the bag this morning while sitting in traffic.  Not cool, people....I included the url if anyone wants to check it out/buy.

http://www.goodhealthnaturalfoods.com/ghnf_prod/ghnf_prod_avocado_lime.html

anyway, stay tuned for my next post!