• Westbrae Natural® Organic Beans are versatile, convenient and nutritious. Also called legumes, most beans have little or no fat, (except for garbanzos and soy beans), are a source of fiber & protein, & are cholesterol free.
• Transitioning toward a vegetarian lifestyle is as easy as opening a can of our delicious beans! Convenient and ready to eat, there are countless ways to prepare them!
• Organic sweet peas with no artificial flavor, color, or preservatives
• Packed in water with organic dehydrated cane juice and sea salt
• Ready to eat: heat and serve

Product Description
Right from the field. USDA organic. Westbrae Natural Vegetables provide a foundation for nutritious meals centered around vegetables, whole grains and beans. As an integral part of the vegetarian diet pyramid, delicious, versatile vegetables help you make the transition toward a vegetarian lifestyle…. More >>

Westbrae Natural Vegetarian Organic Sweet Peas, Organic, Vegetarian, 15 Ounce Cans is from groovy vegetarian

One of the problems with many commercial treats for pets is that they contain a lot of animal by-products. In some cases, this may mean that your pet is getting a higher amount of fat in the diet than you would like. Because a vegetarian dog treat is free of animal fats, the treat will not promote the accumulation of fatty deposits throughout the body. Your dog will retain a lean figure, and there will be fewer worries about being able to control and maintain your dog’s weight.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that a vegetarian dog treat is not short on essential vitamins,proteins and other supplements. In fact, the treat will actually be easier for your dog to digest, since all the ingredients are vegetable based.  Many people do not realize that natural organic matter can be an excellent source of protein, and one that contains none of the other elements that could have adverse effects on the long-term health of your pet. Look for vegetarian treats that contain a rich balance of greens, legumes, and similar vegetables,and your dog will be healthy for a long time to come.

Finding a vegetarian dog treat is not as hard as you may think. Many health food stores will carry vegetarian alternatives that are both tasty and nutritious. Local pet markets may also include a few vegetarian based dog treats that are made locally, and completely free of any preservatives. You can even go online and find several vegetarian dog treat options that are especially created for various breeds, ages, and sizes of dogs. While you will pay a little more for a vegetarian dog treat, keep in mind that you are helping to ensure that your beloved pet remains happy and healthy for a long time to come.

Healthy Organic Vegetarian Dog Treats is from groovy vegetarian

A reader wrote in:
Do you know if whole grain oat cereals are the same, better, or worse than just plain oat bran?

To answer this question and get to the bottom of whole grains, I went straight to a prestigious medical source — the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic has a whole page dedicated to just how great whole grains are and why you should add more to your diet.

image via tvol on flickr

First a definition — whole grains are any grains that haven’t had their brand or germ removed by milling. Sometimes bran or the germ are sold alone, but these do not provide the complete benefits of whole grains.

While all grains are low in fat, good sources of complex carbohydrates, and full of vitamins and minerals, refined grains cut out the nutrient-rich bran and germ. The bran contains extra fiber, essential to digestive health and the germ contains selenium, potassium, magnesium, and other vital vitamins and minerals.

Even if you know how good they are for you, it can be confusing to identify whole grains.

Sources of Whole Grains

Did you know white rice is not a whole grain? But wild riceis!

Couscous, corn flakes, enriched pasta, grits, white rice, and white bread are among the popular foods that use refined grains — avoid these. Brown rice, wild rice, whole wheat (or rice) pasta, bulgur, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, popcorn, and whole wheat bread all contain whole grains — pick these instead.

Eat lots of whole grains — it’s an easy way to improve your diet and your health!  And try to buy organic grains to avoid unhealthy pesticides and herbicides.

(A special thanks to the Mayo Clinic for its excellent and informative page on whole grains!)

Whole Grains — What's the Big Deal? is from groovy vegetarian

I’m the manager of a Texas Hill Country Bed and Breakfast that caters to vegetarians, among other visitors.

One of the most interesting things about my time here has been observing people and their dietary habits. Of course, not everyone who comes here is vegetarian and not all vegetarians eat healthy. But most people interested in nutrition find this topic fascinating, so I thought I would contribute here, to Groovy Vegetarian, the top five unexpected dietary habits I have observed while working in a food service capacity.

1. Lachanophobia: Or fear of vegetables.  Some people are so afraid of vegetables that the mere mention of anything grown outside, like a carrot or tomato, gives them the shivers and causes their faces to crinkle in utter disgust.  I once had a man need to be fed by his wife with an airplane-like motion because the omelet he was eating contained fresh, garden-grown rosemary!
2. Super High Protein for Older Women: Some people who have had gastric bypass surgery or those on Atkins type diets must have higher amounts of protein, but these types of special restrictions are not what I am referring to.  There is a segment of 50 to 60 year-old women who demand huge amounts of animal protein for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It does not matter what is served as long as the animal protein is there. The reasons they give tend to be either they are trying to maintain their strength or simply that they have always eaten that way.
3. Anti-“Healthy” People: Words like “healthy”, “organic”, and “nutritious” can be enough to make some people refuse to even taste the food.  For example, we serve Innocent Chocolate, which is some of the best tasting chocolate most people have ever tasted and it’s sugar-free and dairy-free.  I learned early on that many people would refuse to eat the chocolate if I told them it did not contain sugar or dairy before they ate it.  We once had a woman who had just complimented us on how good the food was, stop mid-chew and refuse to finish her meal.  Why?  We told her the vegetables were organic!
4. Vegetarians Who Won’t Eat Vegetables: Typically, the reason they call themselves vegetarian is because they don’t eat meat.  They still eat primarily processed foods like nachos, French fries and Twinkies.  Vegetables, however, turn them off just as much as meat.
5. Diet Soda Addiction: This is a huge problem.  There are a number of people who are addicted to diet soda and many of these people are vegetarians.  Almost every weekend we have people bring 12 or 24 packs of soda (usually diet) with them and they drink all of them during two-day stays. I’ve even seen vegetarians chug a diet soda, like it was water, everyday after a run.

The saddest part about most of these people is that they are usually somewhat overweight and when I speak with them, they complain about everything from diabetes and high cholesterol to cancer, but don’t make the connection between their health and their poor diet choices.

Editor Note: Thanxs for the interesting article, Jason.

image via culture feast

Top 5 Unexpected Dietary Habits is from groovy vegetarian

Oatmeal + Blueberries = One Happy Breakfast!

Some cool oatmeal health benefits is that it contains large amounts of fiber and complex carbs, making it a great way to get your 6 or more recommended daily servings of grains.  It also has a lot of protein and iron, to boot.  What it doesn’t have much of are sugars and fats. If you’re watching you’re weight and or fat intake, oatmeal is 100% cholesterol-free.

Another good thing about oatmeal is that its so ubiquitous — you can find it everywhere.  This means its easy to find organic oatmeal, or get your favorite kind, be it instant oatmeal or Irish Oats (my personal fav.).  If you’re making oatmeal from scratch, its an easy food to spice up, by simply adding some nuts or berries (try walnuts and blueberries — my favorite).

To recap this ode to oatmeal, see below some of the health benefits:

• Packed with nutrition
• Low in sugar
• Low in fat
• Easy to buy organic
• Easy to spice up
• Cheap
• Cholesterol-free
• Good source of calcium
• Good source of iron
• Good source of fiber (40% of your daily fiber requirement)
  
• Great with fruits (such as blueberries)
• Tasty!

Finally, one more great thing about oatmeal is the price.  Oatmeal tends to be a pretty cheap breakfast food.  And that’s something we can all appreciate right now.

Oatmeal Health Benefits is from groovy vegetarian

I scream you scream we ALL scream for vegan ice cream. Fortunately for vegans and the healthy oriented, ice cream can now be had without the guilt.

Let’s look at five delicious vegan ice cream choices…

Rice Dream

That’s right, this one is made of rice!  Entirely vegan, rice dream comes in both organic and standard varieties.

My personal favorite — Organic Mint Carob Chip

Purely Decadent

Purely Decadent, a Turtle Mountain brand, offers a large soy-based ice cream lineup, as well as a smaller lineup of coconut-milk based ice creams.  Both are entirely vegan and made largely with organic ingredients (the sugar isn’t organic).

The coconut is a bit richer tasting as it has more saturated fat, while the soy milk is a bit leaner tasting, but still a very tasty treat.

Flavor I’ve been dying to try– Coconut Milk Cookie Dough

Organic Rice Divine

I would call organic rice divine one of my top three favorite ice creams.  It has a lot of really yummy flavors that redefine ice cream into an almost gourmet experience.

Like the others, it’s organic and 100 percent vegan.  And for old fashioned types, it comes in vanilla and chocolate, as well as more exotic entries.

My personal favorite – Organic Carrot Cake (warning, this flavor may make you think you’ve died and gone to heaven)

It’s Soy Delicious

Also by Turtle Mountain (see Purely Decadent, above), this dessert is a bit different in that it’s (partially) fruit sweetened.  Personally, I think the flavors are a bit more creative than Purely Decadent’s, though fruit sweeteners take a bit getting used to.

This ice cream is vegan and dairy free.  It uses rice and tapioca sweeteners as well as fruit juice (instead of sugar in purely decadent) — so don’t get confused and think there’s no sugary syrups added.

Personal Favorite – Green Tea

Larry and Luna’s Coconut Bliss

This Oregon-based ice cream is vegan and delicious!  And if you’re looking for a 100 percent organic ice cream, this is the only one on the list.

And for socially conscious sorts, the ingredients such as vanilla which come from tropical regions are all fair trade, preserving local economies and ecosystems.

My personal favorite – Dark Chocolate

That’s our round up of some of the BEST VEGAN ICE CREAMS on the market. Did we miss something?  Let us know your favorite vegan ice cream brand or flavor!!

EDITOS NOTE: Happy TFIG! WeeHoo………ice cream in my coffee….wtf?

Friday Five: Vegan Ice Cream is from groovy vegetarian

For vegetarians with an iPhone, it’s time to celebrate, as there are a bevy of useful vegetarian apps now available from the iTunes shop. Some are more useful than others, but all are worth a look.

Let’s take a look at some of the hottest vegetarian apps for the Iphone.

VegOut
$2.99 Author: Mitchell A. Bennett

First up is VegOut, a vegetarian restaurant guide. This app has a listing of vegan, vegetarian, and vegetarian-friendly restaurants all powered by the wonderful vegetarian directory site HappyCow.net.

Cool Factor? The app uses the built-in GPS feature of the iPhone to help you locate the restaurants, and in many cases, even links to the restaurant website to help you pull up menus and plan your outing.

Locavore
$2.99 Author: Buster McLeod

The local food movement goes hand in hand with the vegetarian movement.  You don’t have to be a farmer to know what local crops are in season, you just have to use this handy app.

It features 234 fruits and vegetables with links to their Wikipedia pages and Epicurious recipes.  The App features data from all 50 states and gets updates from Twitter and GetSatisfaction to keep you up to date on the latest local food news.

Veggie Passport
$1.99 Author: Lior Weinstein

This app has to be one of the most brilliant, yet simple ideas I’ve heard of (wish I thought of this one myself).  It communicates your vegetarian needs in 33 different languages so you can express yourself to friends, dinner hosts, and waiters.  You type what you want to say in the app and it outputs text in the language of choice.

Languages include English, Arabic, Albanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese (Simplified), Croatioan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hebrew, Indonesian, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portugese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian, or Vietnamese.  That’s a LOT of languages!

Vegan Xpress
$1.99 By: Brandon Burger

Vegans often face the awkward situation of going to restaurants like Applebee’s or TGI Fridays with their friends.  This app takes the pain out of such experiences revealing surprising vegan food choices at even the most meat-centric dining chains.  The app includes over 100 popular restaurants.

And that’s not all.  It also includes a listing of junk-food, snack food, vegan beers, and vegan wine for times when you want to treat yourself.  Bet you didn’t know Skittles are now vegan (gelatin free at last!)!!  But this app could have told you that!

Vegetarian SmartList
$24.99 By: Mark Woollard

While a bit expensive for many app pickers’ blood, this app and its authors (Clan Thompson) act as the private eyes of the vegetarian world sleuthing out which foods are really vegetarian and vegan.  Over 4,399 food, drugs, personal care items, leather alternatives, cleaning supplies, and more have been covered.

The entries include extra info that will interest many, such as the presence of GMO’s, cross contamination, and whether the product has been certified organic.  With the list growing daily, this app might be worth a buy.  Just think of it as a nice cookbook.

Dirty Produce
FREE Author: Environmental Working Group

Everyone knows that pesticides aren’t good for you.  However, not all produce is created equal — some gets heavily sprayed with pesticides and mandates an organic buy, while other fruits and vegetables are rarely treated with pesticides.  This handy app helps you know the difference, with over 47 fruits and veggies listed.  A list of the “dirty dozen” — the twelve most sprayed items — as well as the “clean fifteen” — the least sprayed — are also included.

The app gets its data from U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration tests for pesticide residues between 2000 and 2007.

Food Additives
$3.99 Author: Andrew Middleweek

This utilitarian little app helps to warn you of the side effects of food additives.  Over 450+ additives are covered.  Information is given for each on potential health side effects with text and graphics.

The source of the additive is also detailed, helping you watch for animal derivatives.  And the additive’s status overseas (if it’s banned in Europe, look out) is also given,

Veggie Lovers Recipes
$0.99 Author: Karl Post

This app comes with some cute graphics, and 15 yummy recipes. Among the mouth-watering entries are Vegetarian Christmas Roast, Carrot Jam, and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash. This app keeps it simple, but may become a kitchen staple.

Vegetarian Cookbook
$0.99 Author: Web 2 Mobile Design

Boasting recipes from American, Chinese, Indian, Italian, French, Mexican, Thai, Dessert, Fast Food, and Gourmet cuisine, this cookbook will help add some spice to your kitchen.  Like some of the others, this app’s authors encourage user submission.  Send them a picture of your best recipe and a text description and they say they’ll try to include it in their next edition.

Vegan Yum Yum
FREE Author: Stewart Rosenberger

This app features the tantalizing recipes from the fabulous Vegan Yum Yum blog – all for free. If the app is anything like the blog, you will LOVE IT. New recipes are regularly added, and you can organize your favorites or search for something new.

Did We Miss Any Other Good Ones?

That’s our top 10 vegetarian iPhone apps round up. As new apps come out we will update you.

Feel free to share below any we missed, and we will include them next time.

Top 10 iPhone Apps For Vegetarians is from groovy vegetarian

I found out about PB&J Day via my twitter friend (@amiraelgan), did you know that traditional PB&J Sandwiches are dolled out to the tune of 1,500 per US child by the time he/she reaches adulthood? But the usual white bread pb&j is not terribly healthy, they are full of sugar and processed yuckiness.

THE HEALTHIER PB&J SANDWICH

But it is super easy as Amira mentions, to turn the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a healthier one. Such as using organic peanut butter (or organic almond butter) and instead of white bread, try whole grain bread and instead of jelly try honey or even a banana.

Many grocers now carry quite the shelf load of jellies and peanut butter jars, including organic varieties fortified with Omega 3 and other nutrients. There is much more than just Smucker’s out there. Try a new variety next time you’re at the grocer.

So celebrate PB&J Day with a quirkier (and healthier) version of the awesome classic.

VegFYI: Today Is Peanut Butter & Jelly Day! is from groovy vegetarian

Alicia returned to the theater for the world premiere of Time Stands Still by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Donald Margulies.

Directed by Tony award-winner Daniel Sullivan, Time Stands Still is chock full of socio-political issues yet is, in essence, the love story of two juxtaposed couples. One couple is comprised of two journalists struggling with their return to domesticity after visiting the war torn Middle East. In contrast, the other is a couple sorting through their own internal chaos.

Filled with complexity, emotion and surprising humor, Time Stands Still also features Anna Gunn (Deadwood), David Harbour (Revolutionary Road, Quantum of Solace) and Robin Thomas (Murphy Brown).

The theater is in the heart of Westwood Village and close to award-winning vegetarian restaurants including Native Foods. For an added treat Geffen Playhouse teams up with California organic, sustainable vineyards for wine-tasting on Sundays, beginning on February 15.

The show which has already started at the Geffen Playhouse ends March 15^th. For more info or to buy tickets visit Geffen Playhouse.

Vegan Alicia Silverstone Stars In Time Stands Still is from groovy vegetarian

This week Stephanie who runs Focus Organic has an eco carnival up on her blog and i had to share it with you as there are lots of good green articles to read. Please find Stephanie and say hello. This week i submitted my latest and greatest – 8 Fun Facts About Squash to the carnival so her readers could find me as well.

In the blogosphere it’s all about sharing. I hope you like the Eco Carnival and do let me know which articles you enjoyed? and if you’re a blogger which carnivals do you partake in?

P.S. Happy Monday!!!

Eco Carnivals Are Good For You is from groovy vegetarian