Vegetarian Zen: Nutrition, Recipes, Cooking Tips, Natural Remedies & More For Vegetarians, Vegans, & The Veg-curious.

If you’ve listened to the show for a while, it’s no secret that Vickie’s favorite type of food is Mexican food. With her Mexican and Central American grandparents, she grew up eating some wonderful Latin food. Luckily, Latin food is VERY adaptable to a vegetarian (and vegan!) cuisine! Enchiladas are especially versatile because so many vegetables make delicious fillings and there are multiple options for sauces. In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we’re going to focus on preparing some awesome vegetarian enchiladas, all of which can be easily adapted to vegan if that’s your preference.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we’re going to discuss 8 Awesome Tips to help you organize your fridge in a way that helps you reduce waste and avoid throwing your money down the drain.

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy...and the grilling can be too! Being plant-based doesn’t mean missing out on amazing flavorful grilled foods--in fact, there are more vegetables (and fruits!) to throw on the grill than there are meats. In this episode of the podcast we’ll share eight tips for making easy grilled vegetables that will take your summer meals from so-so to sizzling.

Since vegans are folks who do not eat any animal products whatsoever, eggs are something that are not on the menu. If you’re thinking, “But wait! I know I’ve seen vegan egg dishes and baked goods! What do vegans use instead of eggs?” In this episode of the vegetarian Zen podcast, we’re going to cover that question and also talk about some popular egg replacements. Now, you don’t have to be a vegan to appreciate this episode. Some egg replacers can be a yummier and, in some cases, healthier replacement so even if you use these substitutes every now and then, you may be pleasantly surprised!  And of course, when we have topics such as this, we love to curate some recommendations from the folks in our Peas and Carrots Group (our closed Facebook Group)!

As vegan and cruelty-free businesses continue to boom, more mainstream companies are taking notice and beginning to offer more products that are considered vegan and/or cruelty-free.  In this episode, we’re going to focus on shampoos that are vegan AND cruelty-free (and no, they aren’t necessarily the same!). We’ll explain what it means to be vegan AND cruelty-free and also share seven brands that are either used by us or recommended by our ever-wise-and-helpful Peas and Carrots group!

When I say the word, “Malt”, what do you think of? If you’re like most people, you probably think of malted milkshakes, beer, malt liquor, or maybe malted milk balls.  I never really thought of malt as a healthy supplement but our guest today is a Registered Dietician who is going to give us the scoop on malt.  In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast we talk to Registered Dietitian, Jilian Greaves in-depth to Jillian about what it is and some of the benefits you can get from incorporating it into your diet.

What do you think of when you think of summer? Being from South Texas,  I think of triple digit HEAT! Then I think about ways I can keep cool. Yes, a nice dreamy swimming pool is an awesome way to cool off but a DELICIOUS way to cool off is by enjoying some creamy ice cream! But we’re not just talking about any old ice cream.  We’re talking VEGAN ice cream! Today on the podcast, we’ll be talking about some of the most popular vegan ice cream brands currently on the market as well as, getting some input from some folks from our closed Facebook Group, the Peas and Carrots Society regarding their favorite brands.

Vegan, plant-based, cruelty-free, and eco-friendly businesses have been on the rise in the past few years. When Larissa and I became vegetarians in 2013, there weren’t nearly as many vegan businesses or products. I remember looking for vegan fashion and was very disappointed at the lack of available products. Flash forward to 2019 and we seem to be in a vegan product and services boom! It’s so encouraging to see new choices popping up in so many different industries. Today on the show, we are excited to talk to Jonny Edwards, the CEO of one such vegan company, Nuzest-USA.  You may recall that we recently partnered with Nuzest-USA because we liked their products and mission VERY much! In this episode, we talk to Jonny about how he became vegan, how he became CEO of Nuzest-USA, and what trends he sees in vegan businesses.

A few weeks ago, we did a live Facebook video just to chat with folks in the Peas and Carrots Society (our closed Facebook group). One of the participants in that chat, Melissa Grove, mentioned that she uses Imperfect Produce, a fresh produce subscription service that offers perfectly good, although slightly irregular, fruits and vegetables. Because several other group members use Imperfect Produce (and we’ve been wanting to try it), and because the best recommendations for products and services come from our Vegetarian Zen community, we asked Melissa to come on the show to share her Imperfect Produce experience. She’ll also share how she uses the service as an opportunity to get more creative in the kitchen. She also provides some awesome tips for stretching the life of your produce.

June 5th is World Environment Day, a day designated by the United Nations to spread awareness about our environment and how we can protect it. In this episode of our podcast, we’re going to give a bit of history behind WED, discuss the theme for this year, and also let you know what you can do to get involved.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we talk to Lindsey White of ChickensMatter.org. Lindsey tells her story of moving from a farmer to a chicken rescuer. We’ll get to know some of her rescues and talk about her organization, Chickensmatter.org. Incidentally, this month is also International Respect for Chickens month and we think this interview with Lindsey is a great way to cap off the month!

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we’re going to discuss the documentary What the Health, which, like most documentaries on the topic of food and health, tends to ruffle quite a few feathers. We’re going to give a high level overview of the documentary and then talk about some of the arguments on both sides.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen Podcast, we’re going to discuss pea protein. We’ve discussed plant-based proteins in past episodes (we’ll have links in the show notes to some of our previous discussions about plant-based proteins) but haven’t really done a “deep-dive” into any of them. Today we’ll take a closer look at what pea protein is, learn about some of its benefits, and share what to look for on the label when selecting a pea protein.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen Podcast, we talk to Golden Apple Roundtable member Harlie Pruder about her plant-based journey to Flexitarianism.

In today’s episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast we are joined by Marly McMillen Beelman who is the founder and creative director of Namely Marly, a blog focused on providing resources for healthy lifestyles, creative living, and healthy vegan recipes. Marly just released a book earlier this month called The Everything Vegan Meal Prep Cookbook.

You don’t have to be a Bird Nerd to get outdoors and do a little bird watching on National Go Birding Day (April 27). Even if you’ve never cracked open a field guide to identify a bird or ventured out to look at birds beyond your own backyard, we’ve got some basic information to get you started.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast we chat with Stacy Ramirez who is a member of our Golden Apple Roundtable, the folks who support us through Patreon. We talk about being a "weekday vegetarian", her Reiki coaching business, and her take-aways from the book Radical Beauty by Deepak Chopra and Kimberly Snyder.

It seems that there has been a recent exodus of Vegan Youtube personalities and social media influencers and the call-out culture is alive and well.  Besides the rude and sometimes threatening comments there are a few still plant-based Youtubers who have taken to the internet to post their own videos calling out these ex-vegans. We’re not going to name names because that’s not how we roll and we don’t want to become part of the call-out culture, but we do want to take this opportunity to emphasize our philosophy at Vegetarian Zen and explain why you won’t ever hear us call out ex-vegans.

In this episode of our podcast, we are very pleased to share an interview with someone who has been a friend of mine for 10 years or so now. I met him while working in my corporate job and we’ve stayed in touch even after he left. His name is Augie Sanchez and he’s also a gardener. I’ve always known that Augie loved to garden but didn’t realize how much of a passion this was for him until reading his interview in Burpee’s Blog which featured him as the Gardener for the Month for March 2019. Today we’re going to talk to Augie about how he developed his love for gardening, some of his eco-friendly gardening practices, and what advice he gives to beginning gardeners.

There are several foods that cause a lot of controversy regarding their overall healthiness. One of these foods is the potato. If you Google “Are Potatoes Good for You?” you’ll find plenty of articles arguing each side of the issue, all citing studies in defense of their perspective.   Larissa and I believe moderation is key in most things, so in today’s episode of the podcast we won’t address the “great potato controversy.” Instead we’ll just talk about some of the known benefits of incorporating potatoes into your diet.