Some of the responders felt my pain, but most comments revealed my ignorance and lack of creativity on the subject. Some hinted that I might need an attitude adjustment.

Carrie C: Cooking can be rather tricky when camping, vegetarian or not…

Teresa A: I dont forget about veggie cooking, I can do it rather well camping..

There were many helpful suggestions as well about how to do camp cooking right.

Karen K: cook ahead freeze what ya can

Jennifer from NY: Sometimes when I am camping I bring along Indian MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). There are quite a few that are vegan. You can eat them straight from the bag or you can heat them in boiling water. Super easy and no cleanup. :)

I buy them at my local Indian Supermarket but they are also available at Trader Joe and Whole Foods. You can also find some on Amazon.

Reply to Jennifer: I’ll head for the biggest Indian food store in this area, and see if they have them so I can test them. Gotta pick up some mung dhal too! And I’ll check Amazon

Yoga Gurl:Interesting….never thought of that.

What about “easy” meals? But you are so good at this stuff maybe you already thought of it.

I remember I went camping long ago…we had, I think, quick rice, and chili to go on top for one meal. That was pretty easy.

It’s probably hard for you to do that, you are so used to doing everything on such a quality level. : )

Reply to Yoga Gurl: I’m into easy meals, but I admit it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of making a meal out of processed food. I’m stuck on making everything with fresh food from scratch. But if I go camping again, it’s a whole new world of instant food, I mean it!! :-)

Steve: You really need to try Mary Jane’s Farm’s line of foods. They truly are well made, organic, and could not be easier to prepare. I have no connection with them, I’m just someone who has the same issue; that of finding a way to eat healthy while on the road or camping.

Savvy Veg: I’ll check and see if that brand is available at my local natural food store or online. Thanks for the tip!

Steve: You can order them online, too! Just sayin’…

Joe F: I backpacked for 6 months after college with 3 or kinds of grains, beans, head of cabbage, carrots and grew sprouts in a baggie in my pocket. It can be done!

Catherine T: I love camping and there are loads of things you can cook – risotto, chickpea curry, beany wraps – all in one pot or a bbq. A packet of sosmix and some spices always comes in handy. You basically need stuff that can be cooked in one pot or bbq’d. Staples like pasta, rice and spices take along and the rest bought wherever you are. Eggy bread is a firm breakfast favourite in our household. Should say I love camping?

Maria W: try the camping cookbook by Annie Bell its not all veggie but its a great book lovely cover too.

Its awful seeing so many uninformed veggies struggling wiv broken up veggie burgers lol bring on the stuffed peppers thats wot i say – boil in the bag rice cooked then fill the halved peppers wiv it along wiv crushed garlic and herbs or wotever then drizzle of balasamic vin and maybe splash of olive oil wrap em in foil and stick em on the bbq.

Savvy Veg: Thanks, Maria, excellent idea! I’d use garlic powder and a mediterranean herb mix.

Now that I’ve had a chance to recover and re-group, I’ve come up with a few more positive thoughts about camp cooking:

Another cookbook (besides Annie Bell’s) that would be handy for camping is Vegan Unplugged – Pantry Cuisine Cookbook & Survival Guide by Jon and Robin Robertson. It’s a practical guide not only to surviving, but thriving in any tough situtation.

By following the Robertson’s cooking tips and hints, you can live and eat reasonably healthy out of a car, boat, tent or other temporary shelter, or cook in a motel or dorm room – and not just in an emergency. Sounds ideal for camping, right?

Cooking ahead is an option I’m a little ambivalent about. I’ve done that in other situations, such as car trips, and while it’s helpful on the trip, it’s one more big thing to do before leaving. But I can see the value and will add it to my camping prep list.

Another time saver would be dehydrated foods, like fruit & veggies, and I like the MRE idea. I’ll work on finding edible versions.

Savvy Veg: It’s clear I have a lot to learn about camp cookery, and I appreciate all your tips and suggestions. If you have time to share ideas about doing veggie camp cooking right, please send them along, or comment on this page.

Happy Camping! Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Veg

I’m not a veteran camper and far from an expert on campsite cookery. I’ve been camping maybe 10 times in my 65 years, for a total of about 3 months. However, most of my camping involved vegetarian cooking. So naturally I feel qualified to talk about it.

My camping experiences have ranged from extremely primitive: a makeshift plastic shelter on a windy beach on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island at age 21, to almost civilized: a modern campground in Florida with hot showers, washers & dryers, electrical hookups, every kind of store and restaurant nearby, even primitive wi-fi at the nature center.

That was the latest experience, 2 weeks tent camping at Oscar Scherer State Park in Dec. 2011. I don’t think that will be my last experience tent camping because I still love sleeping on the ground in the fresh air. But I hope it will be my last experience with serious vegetarian cooking while camping.

I’ve come to the conclusion that to really enjoy all the perks of camping: fresh air, hiking, swimmng, boating, watching wildlife, lying on the beach, sitting around the campfire, gazing at the stars, doing nothing, it’s absolutely necessary to spend almost no time cooking.

Let me tell you what led me to that drastic state of cooking negation, so foreign to my nature.

I love food, and normally I love cooking. It takes up a big chunk of my day, maybe 2 hours, 3 hours with cleanup, plus food shopping a couple hours a week. It’s all for worthy causes – testing and developing recipes for Savvy Vegetarian, feeding us tasty healthy food so we age gracefully and blissfully, plus a creative outlet.

Cooking is pretty easy when you have a modern kitchen with electric lights, hot & cold running water, a good stove, and lots of gadgets & applicances.

But when you’re camping, trying to eat even a stripped-down version of your usual diet takes 3 times as long and is 10 times as difficult. I’m a well-supplied (okay – over-supplied) camper, and pretty organized and energetic if I do say so, but I found myself spending most of my day in camp on food preparation.

That was because of my husband’s special dietary needs, and because I and our fellow campers are in the habit of eating well. My husband is handicapped, and this was his first time ever camping at age 69. It was great for him to have the experience, and he was a very good sport. He hardly complained at all about freezing his fanny off sleeping on the ground in a tent, and peeing in a bottle at night – we all did that, rather than stumble around in the dark.

But if he goes camping with me again, diet or no diet, he’ll eat tofu dogs and other fake meat, canned beans, ramen noodles, instant rice, bread, nut butter, instant oatmeal, pre-washed & cut raw veggies & salads, fresh fruit & nuts – because that’s what you can do in the total daily cooking time I have in mind: 30 minutes tops. There will be lots of eating out, on the way to and from the nearest beach.

And there will be no running to Walmart to buy the cooking equipment and supplies that I deliberately left at home.

This last camping trip, it was absurd. There were four of us camping. We brought 3 tents, a mini-fridge, big & little coolers, 2 power strips, extension cords, double hot plate, crockpot, coffee maker, electric frying pan, spice grinder (yes!), pressure cooker, 5 pans of various sizes, a variety of knives and utensils and dishes and other kitchen equipment. Our handy friend Ken rigged up a light on a pole so we could see to cook and eat dinner (it gets dark early in Dec, even in Florida and battery powered lanterns don’t do the job).

We were barely able to squeeze all the stuff we brought into the spacious rear seat and cargo area of a Toyota Sienna and a roof top carrier. There was no room to see out the back window of the car, we had to use the mirrors. The only reason we didn’t bring even more stuff was because we would have had to carry it on our laps for 1400 miles, or tie it behind the car.

As for the time I spent on food prep, it wasn’t that I was the only one cooking or cleaning up. Everybody did their share. It just took s-o-o-o darn long to do everything! And that was civilized camping. The only thing more civilized about it would have been to rent an RV, but I’d rather cook in a motel room than drive one of those things around.

About the time I went camping for a month on the beach on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island: we backpacked everything in with us, slept on the sand under a plastic shelter, cooked over an open fire, walked about a million miles, and I lost 10 lbs I didn’t need to lose. It was like one of those survivor shows on TV, only without the drama. I shudder to think of it, and have never had the urge to repeat the experience.

There is a happy medium to eating vegetarian successfully while camping, and I think I’ve just about figured out what it is. I’m pretty sure the secret is to forget trying to cook while camping. Maybe the next camping trip I’ll get it right, and I’ll have more time to work on my fitness and my tan, instead of spending most of the day producing food in far less than ideal conditions.

Even the most enthusiastic cook needs a holiday from the kitchen. What better time than when you’re staying at a place that doesn’t even have a kitchen?!

Message for Savvy Vegetarian:

First of all, thanks for creating the Savvy Vegetarian web site!

A little story about myself: I have struggled with weight issues most of my adult life. Recently I decided (educated myself) that there are tremendous flaws in the western diet.

When I first met my wife in college she was nearly a vegetarian, and used to have many militant vegan friends. These militants really turned me off about this style of eating. Their closed minded anger fueled rants about people and food had a tremendous negative effect on me.

Now I’m staring 40 in the face and have never been in worse shape and very overweight, bordering on obese. I have watched a couple of independent documentaries “Food Inc” and “Forks over Knives” as well as reading a few books on nutrition by doctors and scientists. They all come to the same conclusion; a whole foods plant based diet is the healthiest way for human beings to live.

So, I decided about a month ago to live as near a vegan diet as possible. No sugars, no white flour, no processed foods, no soda pop, no caffeine, no alcohol, no meat, and no dairy, no artificial dyes and flavorings. More whole grains and plant based foods minus all the bad stuff has already helped me to lose 10 pounds in the last month and a half. Internally I am feeling so much better.

I have already cooked several recipes from your web site and have enjoyed them very much. I am quickly winning my wife over, and even my 12- year old son, but am having a difficult time weaning my 7-year old son off of the sugar, and still have battles with him when it comes to eating my cooking.

Anyway thanks for making your vegetarian & vegan recipes available to those who want to make lifestyle changes in their eating habits. – Michael H.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Michael. You’re welcome. Thanks for your inspiring story! Three cheers for you!

I have a few comments about your sugar-addicted 7 year old reluctant vegan son.

Remember, a short while ago, before your conversion, that reluctant 7 year old was you! You didn’t want to know the truth until you were ready to figure it out for yourself. And he probably isn’t ready either.

Plus, it’s a lot to ask kids that age to make such major dietary changes, because their brains haven’t matured enough to follow the logic. Lecturing and forbidding just seems to make them dig in their heels.

So I suggest using the carrot instead of the stick approach, and weaning him gradually. First offer homemade treats that aren’t so full of sugar and other bad things, in exchange for his usual treats. If he’ll agree to that, check out Savvy Veg dessert recipes with him, or get a copy of the healthy dessert cookbook, Sweet Freedom. Get him involved in making the treats.

The only problem I can see with that idea is that you might be tempted to eat them! Or he might want to eat them all! So give some of the goodies to disgustingly skinny people you know. It’s the best revenge! Or a homeless shelter or something like that.

Then offer him rewards. E.G. My grandkids get a lot of candy given out to them at school (I know, it’s criminal!). My daughter has them put their candy in a quart jar, then when the jar is full, they get $5. Great motivator!

Give him a small glass of unsweetened fruit juice a day instead of pop. Real fruit juice in flavors he likes. Offer it as a reward for abstaining outside the home. It’s still sugary, but will satisfy his sweet tooth without all the horrible effects of all the bad things in pop. And it’s something special just for him. And of course, don’t buy pop or let him buy it. You have some control there.

Once he’s moved over that far from his present intractible position, it’ll be easier to nudge him along further toward eating your cooking. Try to make more kid friendly foods for him, and give him some healthy choices. Try my daughter’s weekly menu plan for kid friendly meals, and tips for getting your kids to eat more veggies.

All the best, Judith Kingsbury

Message for Savvy Vegetarian:

Hi, I just purchased a programmable Crock-Pot and am looking for vegetarian slowcooker recipes which I see your website has. Thank you!

I hope you can answer my question. It looks like slow-cooking vegetables does not take very much time….about 6 hours or so. If I’m away from home on a 12 hour day at work and I’ve left my food cooking in a crock pot that automatically switches to ‘warm’ once the veggies are cooked.

Is it a problem to have the food on ‘warm’ for those additional 6 hours? Don’t some slow cookers allow you to keep food warm for up to 20 hours? I can’t seem to find information about this on the Crock-pot website.

Many thanks. Nada O.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Nada, You’re welcome!
There are problems associated with leaving crockpots on warm for extended periods (like 6 hours)

1. The food will continue to cook even on warm, so that you get overcooked food.

2. Having food on the warm setting for a long time promotes food spoilage bacteria, so there is a risk of food poisoning.

If you can program your crockpot to turn on at a certain time, so that your food has just finished cooking when you get home, that would be better.

If your crockpot doesn’t do that, then an inexpensive digital electric timer will do the job:
Table-Top Timer with Motion Sensor & Alarm from Improvements, $24.95
Eco Plus Dual Digital Plug-In Timer from Aquacave, $19.95
7-Day Heavy Duty Indoor Digital Plug-In Appliance Timer, Dual Receptacles – White, from Westside Wholesale, $24.95

I’ve looked for these timers at big box stores and haven’t seen them. Home improvement or hardware stores could be a good source, or order online.

While we’re on the subject, another issue with crockpot cooking – lead in ceramic crockpot liners:

Intense discussion of the lead-in-crockpots topic has persisted online as far back as 2006 (that I can find). The basis is that apparently some crockpots have varying amounts of naturally occuring lead in the clay that the pot is made from (usually in China). Supposedly after some time, through heat, and the glaze wearing away, lead leaches through the bottom of the pot and contaminates food.

The most recent post I read about this issue cleared a white Hamilton Beach crockpot which was sent for testing, although there was still some doubt about Rival Crockpots.

Terminal Velocity did a lot of research, and actually had several inexpensive brands tested at a lab. They all tested lead free. Many commenters were skeptical. There was also some concern expressed about other heavy metals, like zinc. Manufacturers generally say that their products meet FDA standards for lead. Most people would prefer no lead ever in their cookware or dishes, rather than the FDA’s “acceptable levels”.

But as Pepper Paints discovered, it seems that if you want that level of food security, you gotta pay for it.

PP reviews a slow cooker and a thermal cooker, both from Supentown, priced in the $50 – $60 range, made with the same clay as the VitaClay cooker. Cuisinart crock pots also got a mention. What I like about the Cuisinart is that you can buy replacement liners and lids.

One of the signs of lead contamination is supposed to be grey discoloring on the bottom of the ceramic liner, which doesn’t scrub off. Both my crockpots have that, and I haven’t used them in 6 months, since I found out about the lead issue. I’ve kind of moved on to using a pressure cooker, but since it’s heading into slow cooker season, guess I’ll cough up the dough and test out a new and better model crockpot. Will keep you posted!

More on Crockpots and Food Poisoning from our crockpot cooking article:

“I’ve heard that there’s no such thing as ‘stomach flu’. It’s always food poisoning. So – don’t leave food sitting around in the crockpot all day on the warm setting. Nasty bacterias just love that! When the food is cooked and you’re ready to eat, turn off the crockpot. When you’re finished eating, and you want to save the rest for another meal, put the contents in a tightly sealed container, and put that in the fridge or freezer, right away.”

Guest post by Aussie Fiona Morgan, who is working on an art/veg cookbook of meatless meals.

Check out her blog, Spaces Between the Gaps, and website, Where Fish Sing for beautiful art and meatless recipes.

The sample recipes have been lifted from her blog, tested, tasted (yum!), photographed and posted on Savvy Veg.

Links to the original recipes are included so you can go see Fiona’s delightful fantastical paintings. Love the mushroom painting inspired by a Russian Orthodox Church!

How to Vegetarianize Meat Based Meals:

Sometimes you want to create a vegetarian version of a familiar meat based meal. And non-vegetarians who have to cook a meatless or vegetarian meal are often stumped about how to get past the mentality of ‘meat and three veg minus the meat’.

The bad news is that sometimes it’s just not possible. Trying to make a vegetarian version of a baked fish, for example, is just setting yourself up for failure.

However, there are many meat based meals that can be successfully adapted for vegetarians so that everyone at the table can eat the same familiar thing.

I have veg versions of spaghetti bolognese, carbonara, stroganoff, lasagna, ramen, chillie con carne, burgers, and chowder that are all usually meat dependent meals, and that my non-veg friends are more than happy to chow down on.

Let Me Make Some Suggestions:

Ditch the idea of a Western style dish. There are tasty veg sausages, veggie burgers, lentil loaves (instead of meatloaf), and meat substitute products such as TVP (use instead of mince) and various mock meats usually gluten based, BUT… it is most difficult to make a substitution success of a meat and three veg style meal.

The real variety of meatless meals is in ethnic cuisines that have a long history of meatless dishes already. Oriental, Indian, Mexican, Italian etc. Go cornicopia.

Depending on the cuisine, if you want to use a substitute for meat in a recipe you’ve found, either tofu (Oriental) or beans (South American, Indian) will generally work very very well. Sometimes an appropriate cheese is great (Greek, Italian, Indian).

I think because the meat is not the center of many of these dishes, it is a lot easier to replace or remove it than in Western style hunk-of-steak-and-unidentified-greenery-on-the-side meals.

Recipes that are defined by a flavoured sauce or soup base are the easiest to adapt. It’s a matter of recreating the taste of the sauce using plant ingredients (see the tips on umami for help here) and then finding an ingredient that gives a suitable satisfying mouth feel (texture, chunkiness, density) to replace the meat. Also, almost anything with minced meat is a breeze.

For instance, minced meat is often easy to switch for lentils or TVP, beans or even finely diced mixed vegetables (menu and recipe at the end folks). Pork mince can be replaced by diced tempeh or diced shitake mushrooms.

Tofu, in it’s many forms is an easy switch for chicken pieces. Also, chickpeas/garbanzo beans or egg can be used for chicken.

Depending on the cuisine, beef and lamb can be replaced by large mushroom chunks and wine (another menu and recipe at the end), or sometimes kidney beans and potato or even beetroot!

The trick with the heavy meat flavours is to take care of the umami. Add extra herbs, spices, fats and stock.

Seafood I usually switch out for tofu or egg, taking care to replace any brinyness with a little bit of seaweed or extra salt.

Sometimes you want a chewy texture in big chunks and this is where cheese, boiled eggs or gluten products are useful.

For a salty replacement, remember cheese, capers, olives, or a marinated tofu.

With all these substitutions, remember that taking the meat out often also takes out the source of much of the flavour.

Remember to add in extra flavour to account for this. My umami guide walks you through getting superb deep flavour in your veg meals.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to take away and try. Basically, unless you are trying to vegetarianize a slab of meat on a plate or something like a meatlovers pizza, it’s easy to make tasty substitutions for meat based meals that everyone will enjoy.

Looking for a Bit More Guidance?

Here are two sample menus - the substitutions (and taste testing!) are already done.

First is an Italian based meal where the minced meat has been switched out for lentils. I’ve had meat lovers eat this and not realise they were eating lentils until the very last mouthful. And then they didn’t care!

Italian Menu (vegan):

• Garlic Bread: French baguette sliced and slathered with butter, veggie spread or olive oil mixed with fresh minced garlic, baked until the butter melts, the garlic is slightly golden, and the bread is toasty around the edges.
• Simple Green Salad of lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
• Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese (vegan)
• Original Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps

How About a Russian Menu for Dinner? Traditional beef is switched for umami ingredients (carrot, butter and extra beetroot) in borscht soup, and in stroganoff, with mushrooms and wine.

Russian Menu (vegetarian) – serve with noodles, rice or any grain:

• Borscht Beet Soup
• Original Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps
• Mushroom Strogonoff
• Original Stroganoff Recipe at Spaces Between the Gaps

About WhereFishSing:

Artist and long time vegetarian Fiona Morgan is on a blogging mission to show people how easy and tasty plant based food can be with her food meets art project. Check out her blog for all the umami filled recipes and artwork and follow the creation of the artvegecookbook.

Healthy brown bag lunch ideas for a vegan farmer. Main dish salad recipes, wraps and soups are three of Savvy Vegetarian’s lunch ideas

Hi Savvy Veg! Love your website and newsletters.

My husband is a farmer, and often takes his lunch to the field. I would like ideas for brown-bag lunches consisting mostly of foods that he can eat on the go, as he prefers to keep working while he’s eating. (I know, a break would be good for him, but he’s a bit narrow-minded about stopping.)

He’s not as committed to the vegan way of life as I am, but he will let me pack his lunch, so I have a bit of control.

Thanks! Mary Beth A.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Mary Beth,

Thank you for your kind words – that means a lot to me.

I’m not a farmer, but I am a workaholic. I’d eat a sandwich at my computer for lunch – if I didn’t enjoy cooking, and want to live to a ripe old age. But I have a farming background, and understand your husband. Can’t waste those daylight hours!

I’m a student of ayurveda, and one of the important ayurvedic principles is to eat your main meal at lunch time. Another one is to give it your full attention. I have trouble with that because I like to read while I eat. The problem with eating while doing something else is that your attention is divided, which isn’t good for your digestion.

It would be better if your husband could focus on food for as long as it takes him to eat it – with both hands. In other words, take a short but vital lunch break. It would make a difference to his health and well being long term – if he’ll agree to try it. You said not, but I felt obligated to put in my 2 bits worth!
His lunch shouldn’t take too long to eat, or make him want a nap 2 hours later, but it should have a variety of whole foods, pack a nutritional punch, be satisfying (tasty) and energizing.

If he’s not quite as committed to vegan diet as you are, your might make him happier about the vegan food if you added some cheese or hard boiled egg to his lunch for a treat – if you can bring yourself to do it, or his diet allows it.

In case you were being literal about the brown bag, an insulated lunch bag or small cooler is great to keep food fresh.

For hot weather, I suggest a main dish salad with whole grains, beans or lentils and veggies, packed in a plastic or glass container, along with a sandwich or wrap, some nuts or seeds, raisins or dates or trail mix, fruit or juice, tortilla chips or cookies maybe. That would cover lunch and a snack if he wants one.

If he insists on eating while driving his tractor or truck, you could put the salad in a wrap, with hummus or other sandwich filling. If he’s not a salad kind of guy, call it something else. Like rice and beans.

When the weather’s cooler, a thermos of hearty soup or stew or casserole with whole grains and beans would give him something hot and satisfying to eat, along with the sandwich or wrap etc. But as I said, that would require both hands and his full attention. If he likes something enough, he may take the time to eat it even if it means stopping work for 5 minutes.

Main dish salads can be made the day or evening before, using cooked grains and beans or lentils, so they don’t take long to put together. Same with stews or casseroles, which you can fridge or freeze in serving size containers.

He could drink hot cream soup or cold smoothie from a thermos with one hand and you can sneak a lot of nutrition into those foods.

For sandwich fillings, try hummus, fried or baked tofu, seitan or tempeh, falafals, nut or bean spreads, veggie burgers etc, which you can keep on hand in the fridge. Add salad & sandwich fixings or other additions he likes. Make the bread or tortilla whole grain and substantial if possible.

Savvy Veg has loads of recipes that would work for you! Check out the bean recipes, soup recipes, salad recipes, rice, tofu and quinoa recipes. I do a lot of cross indexing, so you’ll get some recipes repeated in several sections. Those are the best ones imho! :-)

http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes.php

Since I don’t know what your husband likes to eat, I’m not sure if my suggestions will be helpful, but I hope you and he can work out a lunch arrangement that makes you both happy.

All the best,
Judith Kingsbury

Response from Mary Beth A.

Thank you so much, Judith, for your fast reply and for all your input. I will print off your letter and let my husband read it. Sometimes we take heed to things when we hear them first hand.

My father used to get off his tractor, lean against a tree, and eat his lunch — usually leisurely, followed by a 15-minute nap. He had absolutely no health problems until his later years.

I am blessed to have a husband who will eat nearly anything, so at least I’m not dealing with a picky eater.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I’ll try to find time to spend browsing more of your recipes. He and I both would appreciate some variety in what he takes.

Warm regards,
Mary Beth

Question:

I cook quinoa often and love it however the last three times I made it my stomach got very upset.

Do you think it is because I put tomato sauce on it? Never bothered me before and that’s the only way I eat it is with sauce – Gina M.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi Gina, my stomach has never been upset by quinoa, which is considered an alkaline forming food, but it has been upset by eating tomatoes, which are considered an inflammatory or acid forming food by ayurveda and other alternative medical modes.

From what I’ve been reading, tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables are alkaline in chemical composition, but are an acid forming food.

From Chi Machine International:
“There are two types of acid and alkaline foods:
1) Acid or alkaline foods, meaning how much acid or alkaline the foods contain.
2) Acid or alkaline ‘forming’ foods, meaning the pH condition foods cause in the body after being digested.

The second type is what you need to be concerned about. Lists of alkaline and acidic foods that you find online are often misleading because they focus on the first type, going just by the chemical composition of foods, rather than their effect on the ph balance of the body. I’ve seen tomatoes on alkaline food lists.

People prone to ulcers, acid reflux, IBS, arthritis, or other “inflammatory” disorders are often warned away from nightshades, which include tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant. More information about nightshades and inflammation

If you don’t usually get negative effects from eating tomatoes, this could be a temporary thing. If tomato doesn’t agree with you right now, look at it as a chance to get a little more variety into your diet.

I know it’s quick and easy to just open a jar of tomato sauce and plop some on top of your quinoa. But there are other easy-to-make sauces you could eat with your quinoa: e.g. chickpea or cashew gravy, vegan cheesey sauce, mushroom leek sauce – all found in Savvy Vegetarian’s Sauces Dips and Spreads Recipe Index

If you’re feeling slightly more ambitious, try these other tasty saucy recipes:
Veggies in Coconut Curry Sauce
Chili Beans in Vegetarian Gravy
Tofu Veggie Stir Fry

All those recipes are easy, and lend themselves to many variations. Including beans, tofu, or tempeh in the foods you eat with your quinoa ups the protein value of your meal.

We like many different kinds of stews on top of our quinoa – or rice – especially curries. Check Savvy Vegetarian bean or vegetable recipes for more possibilites.

Dear EarthTalk: I love to cook and when I have the time I make soups, stews and pasta meals in large batches and freeze them.

I use leftover plastic containers, but I know this is not good. What kinds of containers are safe for freezer food storage? — Kathy Roberto, via e-mail

Reusing leftover plastic food containers to store items in the freezer may be noble environmentally, but it might not be wise from the perspective of keeping food safely frozen and tasting its best when later heated up and served.

Many such containers are designed for one-time use and then recycling, so it’s not worth risking using them over and over. Likewise, wax paper, bread wrappers and cardboard cartons should not be used to store frozen foods; these types of containers don’t provide enough of a barrier to moisture and odors and also may not keep food fresh when frozen.

Luckily though, many other materials are suitable for use as freezer-safe storage containers, at least according to the National Center for Home Food Preparation. To qualify as “freezer-safe,” the Georgia-based non-profit maintains, food storage containers must resist moisture-vapor, oil, grease and water as well as brittleness and cracking at low temperatures, while being durable, leak-proof and easy-to seal.

They must also protect foods from absorption of off-flavors or odors. “Good freezing materials include rigid containers made of aluminum, glass, plastic, tin or heavily waxed cardboard; bags and sheets of moisture-vapor resistant wraps; and laminated papers made specially for freezing,” reports the group.

As to the leaking of unsafe constituent chemicals (BPA, phthalates, etc.) from certain plastics into foods, freezing is generally less of a threat than heating, but it is better to avoid plastics known to be problematic anyway just to be safe.

Polycarbonate plastic, marked with #7, contains BPA while polyvinyl chloride, marked with #3, contains potentially harmful phthalates. If a plastic item does not bear a recycling number on its bottom, steer clear as it may well be a mix, which classifies it as a #7 polycarbonate.

Of course, the majority of plastic containers designed for freezer use are safe and, since they can be washed and reused, are a better choice than disposable freezer bags and wraps.

For those still leery of using plastic at all, glass containers designed to withstand large temperature extremes, such as Ball Freezing Jars (Mason jars) or anything made by Pyrex—regular glass containers could break when frozen or if thawed too quickly—can be a sensible alternative.

Also, beware of loading up glass containers to the brim before freezing; some foods expand when frozen so leaving a little extra room between the top of the food and the bottom of the (airtight) lid is always a good idea.

However you store your frozen delicacies, keep in mind that freezing food may inactivate microbes like bacteria and mold but may not destroy them. According to dietician and author Elaine Magee on MedicineNet, just thawing out frozen foods doesn’t necessarily mean they are automatically safe to eat. Foods that require cooking still require cooking for health’s sake after thawing. Also, Magee recommends quickly labeling and dating any foods you are freezing to facilitate purging of potentially spoiled or tasteless food down the line.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine. Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Free Trial Issue of E-Magazine

Review by Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian:

I love Cook’s Illustrated! There’s so much fascinating and useful information in every issue.

Every serious cook, veg or non-veg, needs and deserves a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated.

I read every issue, cover-to-cover, so I don’t miss anything, skipping over the parts that don’t concern me – such as the pages devoted to meat.

It’s true that CI has a strong emphasis on meat-centered diet. After all, that’s what most people eat, including CI’s owner and staff. But guess what? This magazine is so incredible that I don’t care!

Before you set PETA on me, let me tell you why Cook’s Illustrated is great and how vegans and vegetarians can benefit from this magazine:

1. CI tests all kinds of ingredients, recipes and cooking equipment, and publish the results in the magazine. They pay for everything they test, they aren’t beholden to any corporate interests, and their test results can be trusted. Vegetarians and vegans can benefit from that as much as anybody else.

2. CI is privately owned and doesn’t have any advertising. They make money on subscriptions, books, and online memberships – and who doesn’t enjoy that? How many other magazines can you say that about? I can’t think of any!

3. If CI tells you, this is the best ketchup of the ones we tested, and this is the best microwave oven of the ones we tested, you can take that to the bank. Companies must HATE that – at least the ones not-recommended.

4. Like everything else food related in our culture, CI becomes more veg friendly all the time. They’re still stuck on the dairy and egg, but most of their recipes easily go vegan.

5. Reading CI is educational and entertaining for all home cooks. It lifts us out of our ruts, exposes us to a passion for food and good cooking, tells us what’s best and why, gives us fresh ideas, inspires us to play in the kitchen – for just over $2 a month. That’s really cheap and effective therapy!

How Cooks Illustrated Helps Savvy Vegetarian:

A few years ago, on the CI product test page, I was introduced to the love of my life, the Victorinox Fibrox chef’s knife, CI’s top recommended knife, an amazing bargain at $30!

In one issue, sometime in the last year, CI published test results for Cuban Black Beans and Rice – with meat, of course. The test info and directions were so thorough that it was easy to veganize the recipe. By the time I was done, it was a vegan Cuban Black Beans and Rice recipe, quite different from the original, but I owed the author for the idea, and for the principles discovered in testing.

In the most recent issue of CI, there were useful tips for vegans and vegetarians on pressing spinach, halving cakes horizontally, slicing dessert bars, measuring and storing various items.

In the same issue, I learned how to rescue vegetable lasagna from sogginess by sautéing the veggies first to draw off moisture. That technique applies to Savvy Vegetarian recipes Presto Manifesto Vegan Lasagna and Tofu Vegetable Quiche. The article also compared whole wheat lasagna noodles, with organic Bionature the winning brand. I second that.

That article, plus the ones on muffin making, salt baked potatoes, light as air potato gnocchi, great butternut squash soup, the cutting board review, how to prep lemon grass, were all very useful, and the recipes easily veganized.

But what got me really excited was the article about preparing really good lentil salads, which states “the key to creamy but firm lentils lies in the relationship between legume and salt”. It’s a given that firm, intact lentils are necessary for successful lentil salads.

After reading the lentil article, I knew what I had to do to get perfect lentils not only for Savvy Vegetarian recipes like Rice Red Lentil Salad, and Quinoa Lentil Salad, but also for Lentil Burgers, and Red Veggie Burgers.

If all my raving doesn’t convince you that you must subscribe to Cook’s Illustrated, I guess you’re not a cooking addict like I am. In other words, you’re a normal person with a life.

But just in case you are a total food freak and want to subscribe – I have to say, you can also get an online membership to Cooks Illustrated.com, with access to the entire database of recipes, product reviews, videos, ingredient taste tests, science tidbits, kitchen tips and step-by-step cooking techniques, all searchable and available any where any time. As a magazine subscriber, you’ll receive a discount when you join.

I’m going to go sign up for my 14 day free trial period right now!

Dear Savvy Vegetarian:

Your recipes are awesome! I am looking for a homemade vegan mayonnaise that won’t separate and is shelf stable. Can you help me? Thanks, Patti P.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice

Thank you, Patti :-)

I don’t know if there is such a thing as homemade shelf stable mayonnaise! Any homemade vegan mayo will separate eventually. After all, it doesn’t have eggs or any of the food additives which make mayo shelf stable. But if your mayo separates, you can just use a fork or a whisk to beat it together again.

Anyway, here’s a mayo recipe from The 30 Minute Vegan cookbook by Mark Reinfield & Jennifer Murray – which I highly recommend b.t.w. – read the review.

Maybe this mayonnaise won’t separate – maybe it’s just the tofu mayonnaise that separates. :-)

1 1/2 cups safflower oil
3/4 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp agave nectar (optional)
3/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.

Slowly add the lemon juice through the top while blending, until the mixture thickens.

For best results store in an airtight glass container in the fridge and use within a week.

I suggest making mayo in small quantities, like 1/2 of the recipe above, and using it up quickly.

Here are a few ways to use up your homemade mayonnaise:
Carrot Apple Salad
Potato Salad
Vegan Spinach Dip

And did you know that you can also make vegan sour cream with vegan mayo? Just by beating in another 1 – 2 Tbsp lemon juice!

All the best, Judith Kingsbury