I’m short on time, as I’m off to visit my family in Chicago, so I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. Because Alternative Outfitters completely and totally rocks, i’m going to giveaway one of their master creations.

Nice, huh?

The I Heart Veggies T-Shirt.

This cute vegetarian t-shirt is an American Apparel 100% baby rib cotton and is fitted, so it’s recommended that the winner (maybe YOU!) pick the next size up. These tee’s run small!

Ok. To enter to win this baby, do any of the following:

1. Leave a comment below and tell me: What you’re doing for Christmas this year? If you don’t celebrate it, that’s cool. Tell me what you’re doing anyway.

2. Tweet about the giveaway, and dude! please use the hashtag #groovyvegetarian

That’s it. Tell your friends and get your entry in.

T-shirt giveaway ends on Wednesday, December 30th  at midnight. Winner announced a few days later here, via email and Twitter. ***RULES: Open to US residents only older then 18 with a valid email address and winner has 48 hours to respond. Prize will be given in the form of an Alternative Outfitters or Amazon gift card.

Good luck!

Who Has The Best Vegetarian T-shirts? Alternative Outfitters That's Who! [Win One] is from groovy vegetarian

image via WikiMedia

Vitamin C is found in plenty of vegetables and fruits, and is laced in many a food entree. So this isn’t particularly hard to get in our diets.

Since there are many sources of Vitamin C, we wanted to get to the bottom of the top fruits and veggies containing it, the one’s with the highest milligrams per serving. For our research, we paid a visit to the trusty and reliable Nutrition Data for the goods.

Now on to the list. Below are our picks for the top 10 vegetarian sources of Vitamin C.

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources of Vitamin C

1. Guavas (377 mg of Vitamin C per 100 g serving) >pictured above<
2. Green Peppers (49.6 mg per 28 g serving)
3. Red Peppers (45.6 mg per 28 g serving)
4. Broccoli (81.2 mg per 91 g serving)
5. Kiwifruit (68.2 mg per fruit)
6. Oranges (97.5 mg per 165 g serving) note: Orange peels also have a significant amount of vitamin C!
7. Strawberries (89.4 mg per 152 g serving)
8. Persimmons (16.5 mg per 1 fruit/25 g serving)
9. Peas (58.8 mg per 98 g serving)
10. Papayas (86.5 mg per 140 g serving)

Do feel free to share your BEST vegetarian sources of Vitamin C in the comment area, as we totally love to hear your super creative ideas.

Just hit the comment are below. Cheers!

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources Of Vitamin C is from groovy vegetarian

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources of Calcium

1. Kidney Beans (1 cup has 263 mg of calcium)
2. Black Beans (1 cup has 239 mg)
3. Sesame Butter (1 tablespoon has 154 mg)
4. Tofu (1/2 cup has 125 mg)
5. Almonds (1 oz. has 81.5 mg)
6. Arugula (1 oz. has 44.8 mg)
7. Kelp (1 oz. has 47.0 mg)
8. Brazil Nuts (1 oz. has 44.8 mg)
9. Spinach (1 oz. has 42.8 mg)
10. Chinese Cabbage (1 oz. has 26.0 mg)

It’s really easy to get way more than your daily allowance of Vitamin C with a typical vegetarian diet. Calcium is a bit more challenging, but there’s still a lot of good sources.

The 411 on Calcium

Now that you know WHERE to get it, what is the deal with this mineral? Why do we need it? Well, Calcium is good for strong bone health, healthy muscles, pearly whites, a healthy heart, blood clotting, normal nervous system activity, helps regulate many body functions and some say this dynamite mineral is even good for losing weight. (via MSNBC)

And we need on average 1,000 mg of calcium daily.

Supplements?

I would really like to hear from any readers who are taking a Calcium supplement or pill to make up for any loss. Please share with us below in the comment area.

A big thanks to NutritionData.com for the great nutritional information, and also thanks to TofuForTwo.net for the rocking black bean soup image.

Now stay tuned for our next article, which will cover the top 10 vegetarian sources of Vitamin C, you can follow on Twitter to get our updates.

Top 10 Vegetarian Sources of Calcium is from groovy vegetarian

1. First tell your friends about it or get your family involved. This way it’s more fun.

2. It’s alot easier than you think. Going meatless is not about sacrifice but about creative meal eating.

Foods to Try:

• Pizza (easy choice – pile on delish but healthy veggies, such as spinach broc cauliflower mushrooms tomatoes and exotic cheeses)
• Pinto Bean Burrito’s
• Chickpeas in Yellow Rice (and green beans)
• Black Bean Burgers (homemade is best, but store bought is fine too)
• Whole Wheat Bow Tie Pasta (with your face sauce)
• Sweet Potato and Spinach Lasagna (yummo!)
• Mexican Kidney Beans and Rice Enchiladas (so good)
• Any recipe from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog
• For dessert – try to get a hold of some fresh seasonal fruits, then sprinkle or dip in chocolate (kids will love it)
• Champagne (celebrate with a glass of the bubbly stuff)

Veg out today and feel free to try something totally new, maybe that scrumptious vegetarian recipe you found last month on Recipe Zaar that you didn’t get a chance to make. Try it tonite.

AND NOW, A RANT

Why do some people get all bent out of shape when the mere mention of not eating meat is addressed? The reactions don’t add up. I don’t get it. If you visit that link and scroll down to the bottom to the comments area you will notice two asshats signed into the site specifically to leave those two lame ass comments. One mentions he is happy the UPS man arrived with his Omaha steaks and the other idjit took the time for this lovely commentary,

Eliminating meat from one’s OWN diet is a *choice* adults are entitled to make. There is no such entitlement allowing some to make that choice for others, and CERTAINLY no right to force others to comply. God didn’t give humans our twelve pointy teeth for leaves, and I for one intend to keep using them for their natural purpose as long as I have them.

I see this time and time again on various sites and blogs. People (who probably normally don’t even comment otherwise), FEEL THIS ABSOLUTE NEED to shout out that they don’t want to be forced to not eat meat, and in the process show supremely ignorant they truly are.

No one is forcing anyone to do anything. I read that article and nowhere is the writer forcing and or demanding that people go vegetarian. It is a choice, like any other. And one that cant be forced. I didn’t become a vegetarian, because someone FORCED me to. I did it of my own free will.

If you see an article or site or blog that is of a vegetarian nature and you don’t want to stop eating meat, why are you there? Why do you bother leaving dumb, inappropriate and completely unnecessary comments on said articles. Go to meat.com instead

Is it because you know that killing millions of animals every year, excuse the fuck out of me, correction BILLIONS of animals every year for your precious Omaha steaks has given you a guilty conscience? Yeah, i think that explains the anger and BS that comes out of asshats like the two in the article above.

RANT OVER

Visit the official Meat Out website for a brief history of the day, more recipes ideas and to see how others from around the globe celebrate.

Happy Meat Out Day! (and happy spring)

image via Nature Muffin

25th Annual Meat Out, 2 Asshats and A Rant is from groovy vegetarian

5 Cool Trivia Tidbits About Tomatoes!

1. Tomatoes used to be thought of as being poisonous, because a toxic alkaloid is found in the stems and in the leaves.
2. The cooked tomato contains lycopene and considered a preventative food for prostate cancer.
3. Outside of Valencia, there is a small village that holds the Tomatina Tomato Fight. Spain’s most popular festival, held each year.
4. When you’ve gone without watering your tomatoes for a few days, then you try to hurry and catch up in watering, it will cause them to crack. The inside will soak up the water, getting nice and plump, but the outside will not be able to stretch fast enough to catch up with the inside.
5. The first Tomato soup was made in 1872.

Don’t forget to answer below the question.

“What is Your Fave Way To Cook and Eat Tomatoes”?

5 Cool Trivia TidBits About Tomatoes is from groovy vegetarian