Peanut Butter & Jelly "Pop Hearts"

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a treat to make for your own little sweethearts this Wednesday: Peanut Butter & Jelly "Pop Hearts". Start with a batch of Easy Pie Crust from Vegan Lunch Box, either the white or half-whole wheat version. Roll the pie crust out on a floured surface and cut into hearts using a 4-inch cookie cutter. Place one heart on a baking sheet lined with sprayed parchment paper. Dab a spoonful of nut butter into the center of the heart and top with a spoonful of your favorite fruit spread or jam. Spread out the butter and jam using the back of a spoon, leaving a half inch of space all around the edges. Brush the edges with cold water and top with another heart. Press the edges together and crimp all around with a fork. Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

When the Pop Hearts are cool, decorate with any favorite icing or frosting (powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice or nondairy milk makes an easy, quick icing). These can be warmed up in a toaster oven or oven, but I fear the frosting would make a mess in a regular toaster. Makes about 10 4-inch Pop Hearts.

I also showed lunchy love today with radish rosettes, a yellow heart filled with Vegenaise and dill for dipping, strawberries dipped in melted vegan white chocolate and rolled in coconut, and a bottle of vanilla soymilk.

Verdict: I love Valentine's Day; it's a great excuse to pull out the hearts and get all cutesy. Shmoo liked this version of the pb&j and ate up everything quick as a wink. I am now madly in love with the radish rosette and have been garnishing everything with them. The combination of strawberries, coconut, and vegan white chocolate is luscious. 5 stars.

Don't Try This At Home

In my recent post in praise of Hint I talked about our struggles with the Juice/Soda/Sports Drink Monster, and about how having naturally flavored, unsweetened waters on hand has helped us tremendously. Many of you wrote in to share your own struggles with sweet drinks and to offer additional healthy beverage suggestions.

I was especially taken with these Stevia Spring Water Flavors. I liked the idea of keeping a bottle in my purse to pull out at restaurants. I imagined dropping a few drops of fruit flavor into his water glass as a special treat, thereby cleverly avoiding the soda pop whine. "Ha HA!" I thought. "Take that, Soda Monster!"

Well, we were sadly disappointed. First of all, the little bottles don't come with dropper tops, so you have to buy and pack a dropper or "disposable pipette" or make a big mess trying to pour out a few small drops. Without a dropper the liquid ran down the side and made a sticky mess. Shmoo reported that the flavors were okay in the water but left a strong, unpleasant taste in his mouth after drinking.

So we're sticking with our beloved Hint, but I'm still looking forward to trying other healthy drink ideas, especially True Lemon (Update: Someone just pointed out that True Lemon and True Lime both contain lactose from milk -- this means they are not vegan, so we won't be trying them after all!) and Suzanne's Aromática de frutas. And yes, I have also tried serving fruit-flavored herbal teas quite a bit, although shmoo sees them as an excuse to hit the sugar bowl.

In the meantime, does anyone want these little flavor bottles? ("This tastes terrible, try some.") We have grape, passion fruit, and mango; the last two are unopened. Email me with your address and they are yours. Update: they're gone!

Book Update

Some of you may have noticed that Vegan Lunch Box has been on backorder these last two weeks. That's right -- our first printing actually sold out in just 3 months, far exceeding all our expectations. Thanks again to everyone who bought a copy, recommended it to their friends, and wrote wonderful reviews on Amazon.

I'm now happy to report that the second printing has arrived and all backorders will be packaged this weekend for shipment on Monday afternoon.

Yes, the delivery truck pulled up and once again our dining room, living room, bedroom, and garage are filled with lovely brown boxes. They add that special touch to our home decor and make it impossible for me to fully open my closet door. Please help me reclaim my living space by buying a copy today!

Shmoo Review: Dairy Free Made Easy

So many reasons to go vegan! Most people go vegan for their health, for the animals, for the environment, or for a combination of all of the above.

But there are also a lot of people in our midst who came to veganism due to dairy allergies. My lovely sister-in-law, for example, went vegan after discovering that her newborn daughter was severely allergic to cow's milk. When she stopped consuming dairy products she realized that they had been upsetting her own tummy for years! Vegan cookbooks and websites helped her find new recipes to replace the dairy; from there, as she learned and read more, it was a natural progression to veganism. Hooray!

So, if you or your children are allergic to dairy products, welcome! I hope you find a lot of fun dairy-free, kid-friendly ideas here to incorporate into your own mealtimes. And especially for you, I'm happy to say that Alisa Fleming from Go Dairy Free has just put out a helpful new guidebook called Diary Free Made Easy, filled with even more helpful information focused specifically on dairy-free living.

The first part of this spiral-bound book gives readers an in-depth overview of dairy products, calcium concerns, allergies, and the many other reasons why people are choosing to kick dairy out the door. For those who are just starting out, the book includes a helpful list of "survival tips" for shopping, identifying hidden dairy ingredients, eating out, cooking, traveling, and feeding children.

The chapter on non-dairy milk alternatives was my favorite; it featured a list of various non-dairy milks along with instructions on how to make your own soy, rice, almond, oat, and coconut milk at home. The recipe section includes more alternatives to traditionally dairy-filled favorites like mashed potatoes, whipped cream, cheesecake, and more.

The final half of the book is made up of a very extensive list of recommended dairy-free products and companies, including some "superstar" companies that maintain dedicated dairy-free facilities, making them ideal for those with the most severe allergies. The list includes over 2,000 products, and if you order directly from the website the book also comes with a fat envelope filled with coupons for some of them. (My mom and I had fun fighting over these; she got the one for Toby's Pâté, but I made off with the Nate's Meatless Meatballs coupon. Ha!)

The coupons and product listings are obviously time-sensitive, but Alisa plans to maintain downloadable PDFs of the product lists on her website. With all these great new products and recipes, living a dairy-free life is getting easier all the time!

Texas Roll 'Em Up

Jif Peanut Butter is hosting a Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest. One of the contestants, Terry, invited the shmoo and I to try out her daughter Julie's creation, the Texas Roll 'Em Up: a tortilla (I used whole wheat) spread with peanut butter and filled with a black bean-corn-salsa mixture.

It's a surprising combination, but Terry says "it makes a good lunch box sandwich, it packs well. Julie takes it to school everyday now. It is her favorite sandwich...We usually eat it without the guacamole and sour cream." I appreciated the fact that, unlike most of the contestants, this sandwich included a nice serving of vegetables (corn, tomato salsa) along with a hearty amount of vegan protein (nut butter and beans).

I packed the Roll 'Em Up with jicama stars, Durritas (store-bought tortilla chips with a "cheezy" topping from Ultimate Uncheese), organic purple grapes, and Dark Chocolate Love Treats.

Verdict: Shmoo thought the taste of peanut butter mixed with beans and salsa was a bit odd, but it only took a couple bites to adapt. We all appreciated how the creamy, unctuous quality of the nut butter stood in for the cheese you would typically find in a Southwestern wrap. Leftover bean-corn-salsa mix makes a great salad served on a bed of greens with diced avocado. 4 stars.

P.S. The Texas Roll 'Em Up is one of ten finalists that you can vote for online, so head over to Jif to check out all the entries and pick a favorite. Many of the entries are fun, creative and vegan-friendly. Voting ends tomorrow, so vote fast!

P.P.S. Never, never, ever would I suggest actually using Jif Peanut Butter. Stick with all-natural nut butters made without added shortening, sugar, and salt.

The Weight Watchin' Vegan Returns

My mom, Susan, the Weight Watchin' Vegan, is back today with another colorful lunch box creation. Today's lunch features a generous serving of Sweet Potato Salad (4 points) from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites.She veganized the salad by using soy yogurt in the Cilantro Lime Yogurt Dressing, and packed it with some carrot and celery sticks (free), 15 Triscuits (2 points), and one Cinnamon Raisin Gnu Bar (2 points).

About these "Flavor & Fiber" bars: my mom loves them. Each bar contains a whole heap o' fiber -- 12 grams, half an adult's daily value -- from a blend of whole wheat, oats, wheat bran, psyllium, flax, and millet. Bran and psyllium don't sound too appetizing to me, but she wants you all to know that her WW friends recently performed a side-by-side taste test, and "these taste much better than those Weight Watcher bars. They have the same points but they're better because they're all natural and aren't made with that artificial sweetener."

So there you go: another 8 point lunch with lots to enjoy! By the way, Susan was thrilled to hear that there were so many of you Weight Watching veggies out there -- thanks for all your kind words!

The Weight Watchin' Vegan

Today's lunch box comes to you courtesy of my mom, Susan, the Weight Watchin' Vegan!

Shmoo's grandma switched to a plant-based diet two years ago exclusively for health reasons. It has certainly paid off: "My cholesterol has gone down, my blood pressure has gone down, my weight has gone down, but most importantly my arthritis has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared." The osteoarthritis in her knees and joints used to make her cry out in pain just walking up the steps to her door, and she was taking medication on a daily basis. I showed her some information from Dr. McDougall on diet and arthritis, and she decided to give it a try. "Now," she says, "my arthritis is practically gone. I'm never bothered by it."

Susan is also a member of Weight Watchers, which she says is easy to incorporate into a vegan diet. "The thing I like about Weight Watchers is I can eat anything I want to. I just have to count my points. And it's easier being vegan on Weight Watchers; you can eat more [than meat-eating Weight Watchers], and if your diet is already plant-based you're more familiar with healthy foods like vegetables and you know how to make them taste great."

Today her lunch features a big serving of Aztec Salad from Fat-Free & Easy(3 points), made with black beans, corn, fresh tomatoes, sweet peppers, and red onion. On the side are some tortilla chips (2 points), salsa (free!), an apple (1 point), and a ridiculously high-in-fiber Banana Walnut Gnu Bar (2 points). "That's a lot of food for 8 points!" she tells me.

Oh yes, and let me introduce you bento fiends to the lunch box: Susan packs her lunch in a Lunch on the Go container she found cheap at Bed Bath & Beyond. It's spiffy: two small lidded containers and a flat ice pack fit just so inside a larger container. With the coupon she had it came to about $7.00 -- proof that "you don't have to spend a fortune to pack a stylish lunch." That's right, Mom's an excellent tightwad. I wish I had inherited that, but I got the cooking genes instead.

Thanks, Mom!

Vegetable Lo Mein

After writing my review of Lunch Lessons I decided to try out the authors' recipe for Vegetable Lo Mein. Boiled, drained Chinese noodles are stir-fried with carrots, celery, bean sprouts, hoisin and soy sauce (I left out the onions and added snow peas). "It is an excellent choice for the lunch box," the book explains, "because it can be eaten warm or at room temperature and extra marinating will only make the noodles more flavorful."

Most lo mein noodles contain egg, but I was able to find a package of egg-free "Chow Mein Udon" noodles at my local grocery store; Italian linguini or fettucini would also be a fine vegan substitute.

Speaking of egg, I hate to say it but almost all fortune cookies are made with egg. For many years fortune cookies were one of my "don't ask don't tell" foods; I just loved the ritual of cracking open crispy cookies and sharing our fortunes after a stir-fry dinner, so I decided not to look into what they were made of. It wasn't until I started creating lunch menus that I braced myself and turned to face the fortune cookie; sure enough, fortune cookies usually rely on egg whites to create a thin, flat dough that is flexible enough after baking to fold into shape.

But the gods have smiled on us, because the "Supreme Kitchen" has come to our rescue with egg-free fortune cookies! Yes! Each cookie is filled, not with eggs and butter, but with spiritual words of wisdom from "Supreme Master Ching Hai" (those of you in San Jose or Phoenix might recognize her name from the Vegetarian House restaurants her followers have founded.)

Alongside the two enlightening cookies are golden fried cubes of tofu packed with a bamboo appetizer pick; shmoo can toss them with the lo mein or eat them separately. The fruit today is a mix of cantaloupe balls and fresh blueberries packed with a slice of lime.

Verdict: The cantaloupe and blueberries were the biggest hit of the lunch, followed closely by the lo mein. The lo mein was delicious, but I would recommend tripling or even quadrupling the vegetables in this recipe; we wished for more vegetables in every bite.

One of shmoo's fortunes struck us as being particularly appropriate for a school day: "Be meticulous in your work; do not let other thoughts or other matters disturb you." 5 stars.

Get A Clue, Have A Hint

Oh, I love Hint. Really, I don't mean to sound like some crazed phony bloggin’ corporate-sponsored shill (although I'll gladly accept payment for my little "get a clue" slogan...clever, no?) But I really have to say I think Hint water is one of the best things that's happened to us around here drinkwise.

Here's why: like the big dummy I am, I made the mistake of introducing my son to sweetened, sugary beverages when he was still a baby. Although I almost never drink juice myself, I guess I thought sweet, sticky apple juice was just the thing toddlers had to have in those little sippy cups of theirs. Apple, cranberry, grape...it wasn't long before he was moving on to the harder stuff: soda pop and "lemonade" at restaurants ("You call that a child's size cup?!?"), disgusting blue technicolor sugar water at school and playdates. Juice every day, juice at every meal, juice in a bag, juice in a box...even my husband started complaining if juice wasn't present at every single meal.

If I could go back again, of course, I would never introduce shmoo to this terrible juice habit. I know now that juice is only marginally better than soda; they’re both essentially a mixture of water and sugar without fiber. I know all things are fine in moderation, but too many sweet, calorie-packed beverages may be part of what’s contributing to our growing childhood obesity epidemic. And, as I can certainly attest, a tiny tummy filled with a big glass of juice or soda at mealtime won’t have much room for all the healthy foods that are on its plate (But that same stomach will somehow manage to empty itself just in time for dessert. Or so it seems.)

Anyway, the damage was done. This year the situation has been made ten times worse by shmoo’s introduction to the world of "sports beverages". That’s right, the Forces That Be have taken something naturally healthy – staying hydrated while playing sports – and turned it into another excuse to stuff our children with sugar, artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, and preservatives. The whining, wheedling "please mom can I have a sports drink after practice, please, please, please?" campaign I have been listening to for the past 6 months has made me rue the day my son accepted his first little blue Propel from a teammate.

Then a few weeks ago I read an article in Shape magazine about Hint, and I practically gasped out loud. That’s it! That’s what I need to end this kid’s Gatorade Obsession! It's just water and natural flavors, period: no preservatives, no Sucralose, no bright purple dye, no calories.

Shmoo was quickly presented with his very own collection of all 8 flavors. His favorites are Pomegranate-Tangerine, Raspberry-Lime, and Tropical Punch. Cucumber, not so much. Oh, but he loves these silly little waters just as much as he did the sports drinks and sodas of the past, and I don’t cringe every time I see him suck one down. The Beverage Battle is over, and I am thrilled.

Now I’m just waiting for the 1 - 2 gallon jug sizes to come out, so I can use refillable bottles and save on plastic. But one battle at a time, I suppose…

Lightlife Coupon

The web watchers at Lightlife want to thank me for my creative use of bologna and bacon. They have sent me a link to share with you, my dear readers, for a $1.00 off coupon. Enjoy!