VegBlogger - a vegan / vegetarian blog

My Baby Turns Four

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

Today my baby turns four! I always make vegan cakes from scratch,
although until recently they haven't always turned out so good. But I've gotten better at it over the years. Or maybe the recipes I've come across have improved. Either way, our vegan birthday cake experiences are getting better.

My son, who has been vegetarian since conception (and is mostly vegan), had his heart set on a Spiderman decorated cake. I looked around everywhere and all I found was the crappy egg white topping ones that can be picked up in any grocery store. I wanted something better.

Years ago, when I lived in Michigan, I used to get these wafer-like decorated images for cakes. They looked great! So I set out on a mission to find one. I located a cake decorating place in Orlando called D & G Occassions. Wow, this place is a cake decorators dream!

And best of all, they created those edible images (custome ones!). They do it within  minutes, they are vegan, super easy to use, look great, and only cost $7.00. You take in any picture you want turned into an edible image and within minutes you have it!

His wish was a white cake with vanilla frosting and a Spiderman topping. I used recipes from "The Joy of Vegan Baking" and my boy got a vegan Spiderman cake that he was thrilled about (and it tasted pretty good to boot!).

One more vegan birthday in the books. And I am so happy to have found D & G Occassions, which will help me continue to pull off the birthday cake wishes of my kids for years to come!

Happy birthday to my little guy! :)

(Pictured: We had the cake last night because dad was going to be at work all day today.)

"Plant Based Diet" Creates Better Image

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

If there is one thing that I have noticed lately it is how many people are
beginning to refer to a vegetarian or vegan diet as a "plant-based diet." Have you picked up on this?

In the wonderful book "The China Study" you read about a plant-based diet. On Dr. T. Colin Cambpell's site here, it is all about a plant-based diet. The new guidelines from the government I wrote about yesterday (here) advise people to move to a plant-based diet.

A plant-based diet is a vegetarian / vegan diet.

So why don't they just use those words, rather than using "plant-based diet?"

Because the public has such a negative association with the words vegetarian and vegan, that using them will immediately push people away. For the majority of the public, if you say vegetarian or vegan they wrinkle their nose and start planning their next meaty meal. It's not the same response when you say "plant-based diet."

If they use plant-based diet it sounds softer, less strict and it helps to avoid all the negativity conjured up in people when they hear the word vegetarian or vegan (e.g., drilling the waiter about what is in the bun, all the PETA people taking their clothes off, cardboard-like meat substitutes, etc.).

Even though I find it a bit humorous that people are referring to it as a "plant-based diet" rather than a vegetarian or vegan one, I'm still glad they are promoting it.

This all comes down to semantics. The end result is the same - it gets people to stop (or reduce) their eating animals. And that's a good thing no matter what you call it!

Government Calls on People to Move to Plant-Based Diet

Finally, some good nutrition news from the government. In a new health report that will be coming out they are suggesting that people adopt a plant-based diet.

According to the USA Today:

An advisory committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans calls on people to cut back on added sugars and solid fats (butter, marbled meats) and to follow a more nutrient-rich, plant-based diet.

The report is based on the latest scientific evidence and was prepared by a 13-member panel of national nutrition and health experts. The public now has 30 days to comment at www.dietaryguidelines.gov.

You can read the full article here.