Stay current on all-things-veg by reading the Vegetarian Times’ Editors’ Blog. Check out our web-exclusive Q & A’s with passionate voices of vegetarianism, VT Taste Tests, VT Reviews (books, films, and products), and our new Pantry Raid series.
While there’s nothing quite like the woodsy smell of a freshly sharpened #2 pencil or a new notebook to motivate my thirst for knowledge, school supplies take quite a toll, both on the environment and on your pocketbook. For a head start on an environmentally responsible semester, I’ve compiled a shopping list of eco-friendly school supplies.
1. Step into the new school year with Simple Shoes' women's Satire
ecoSNEAKS (pictured above), perfect for tearing up the school yard or making a dash to your next class.
2. Most sustainable backpacks are clunky and unattractive, but the Lands’ End Eco-friendly Backpack, made from recycled plastic bottles, zips everything into two easy-to-organize compartments for a sleek look.
3. Before buying new pencils, raid the junk drawers in your house and gather up the ones you already own, waiting to be sharpened. If you still come up short, Greenciles are produced using fewer trees than regular wood pencils.
4. Printer out of ink? Remanufactured cartridges are recycled, refurbished, and refilled to fit with virtually any model of printer. Plus, they’re half the price of name brand ink cartridges.
5. Going away for school? Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore carries secondhand home goods—including furniture, dish sets, and refrigerators—perfect for a first apartment or a college dorm room. Buying from the ReStore keeps reusable materials out of landfills while supporting Habitat for Humanity’s mission to build affordable housing for those in need.
Imagine the sun’s delight when a frail stem musters the strength to poke its head up through the soil. That was my first thought when I discovered that my pumpkins, planted only a week earlier, had sprouted; their green leaves spread wide in praise of the Great Pumpkin in the sky.
In the past, too small a yard made growing this eager plant a problem. Pumpkins need ample room for their vines to stretch and tendrils to curl. Determined to grow my own in time for Halloween, I grabbed a planter box and an old step ladder for a vertical solution to the conventional pumpkin patch.
To build your own, fill a planter box with rich soil and plant seeds according to the package directions. Make sure to grow the variety of pumpkin that best suits your purpose. Traditional Jack O’Lantern pumpkins are great for carving, but aren’t the tastiest for pie.
Place the ladder in a sunny spot and set the planter box on the top tier. Pumpkin vines thrive in the sun, so before long you’ll find them spilling over your planter box. When this happens, ease them down the ladder. Use the descending steps to support your flowering pumpkins as they grow into beautiful orange bulbs.
There is a 1-pound bag of black-eye peas that has been in my cupboard for an embarrassingly long period of time. Luckily, dried beans have a lengthy shelf life, so they don’t go bad, but it’s high time I used them, if only to make room for the second 1-pound bag of black-eyed peas I bought since I’d forgotten they were there.
There are two things I use black-eye peas for: Hoppin’ John at New Year’s and a throw-together summer salad of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and black-eyed peas. This time around, I thought I’d expand my repertoire and make Persian Spinach and Black-Eyed Peas for a summer supper. The ingredients were easy to assemble [photo], the only thing was, the recipe called for canned black-eyed peas. Since 1 can of beans is equal to 1 1/2 cups cooked beans, I went ahead and cooked 1 cup of dried black-eyed peas to have enough for a half-portion of the recipe. (There’s just me eating; 6 servings would have been a little much.) This let me start seasoning them right away by adding a bay leaf and a garlic clove to the cooking water.
One hour later… Yup. Those beans were old. Relatively fresh dried black-eyed peas would have cooked in 30 to 40 minutes, but since these dried beans were really dry, it took them much longer to soften up to an edible consistency.
After that, putting the recipe together was a piece of cake. Halving the recipe turned out to be a good thing; the full-size version would never have fit in my 10-inch skillet. (I’d use a wok if I were making the full recipe.)
Final verdict: I’m in love with the cinnamon and nutmeg seasoning which gives the recipe an exotic flavor. (Typical food editor train of thought: How can I borrow that flavor combination for a future recipe?) But I was still craving more tang than the lemon juice in the recipe. The solution? Some chopped summer tomatoes and a sprinkling of feta cheese. I ate the first bowl as-is but the next meal, I’ll serve it over couscous or rice with a side of Cucumber, Walnut and Yogurt Salad.
—Mary Margaret Chappell, Food Editor
Do you have wholesome ingredients sitting pretty on your pantry shelves? Pantry Raid is a new VT blog series that'll help you clean out your pantry, clean up your diet, and save cash. Stay tuned for more inspirational uses of kitchen staples.
If you’re about to head back to college, consider adding Daphne Oz’s The Dorm Room Diet to your fall reading list. This recently updated 2006 bestseller includes easiy-to-digest info on everything from how to avoid packing on the “freshman 15” to exercises you can do in your dorm room, from a crash course in supplements to how to re-evaluate your family’s food habits. What’s new in this fall’s edition? Plenty of dorm room friendly vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes and a healthy serving of “conscious eating” knowledge.
Oz, a 2008 graduate of Princeton University comes from a lineage of health crusaders. She’s the daughter of—you guessed it!—cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz of the daily talk show The Dr. Oz Show and holistic nutrition advisor Lisa Oz, and her grandfather and grandmother were also a cardiac surgeon and a holistic nutrition advisor, respectively. But Daphne is on a mission all her own, a mission to educate youth audiences about health access and food politics in America via TV, print, web, and public speaking. She also works with HealthCorps, a non-profit founded and chaired by her father that provides after-school programs in nutrition and exercise in 50 schools across the country and blogs for Oprah.com and HuffingtonPost.com.
Q When you speak to younger audiences, you get them thinking about their food choices by asking powerful questions like “How can a bag of chips cost less than an apple?” What reactions do you typically get?
A When you pose simple questions like that one, it plants a seed that grows on its own. What’s most important is giving students action steps. They start to realize that they are voting three times a day with what they eat, voting for what our food system looks like long-term. They begin to think, “If I started asking for healthy food, then maybe healthy eating in this country might not be so difficult and I could have an impact.” The game is rigged for us, and it’s rigged so that we’re unhealthy. They see it as their chance to give back and set the country up for success.
Q Can you tell me about some of the most exciting food programs in American schools today?
A The best program out there is the Yale Sustainable Food Project. They received upwards of 300 applications for 15 spots for people to literally go and dig dirt. It’s a completely sustainable program that costs the schools nothing and supplies the school cafeteria. There are great farm-to-school programs all over the country. I think it’s the way of the future. It allows us to eat more locally.
Q What are some simple steps students can take to promote food activism in their schools?
After I leave, I’m sure they stay interested and involved, but there is no one there to carry on the movement on campus. Here’s what they can do:
1. Find like-minded students, and decide how often you want to meet. 2. Do your research; figure out if there are local farm-to-school programs you can get involved with. 2. Go into the cafeteria and talk to the people who work there. If you’d like to see chickpeas in the salad bar, ask for them. If you can avoid having to go to the upper level, usually your success rate will be high. 3. Ask for meetings with school administrators, and be sure to demonstrate that there is student interest—you could do a petition.
In high school, I put in a Fresh Samantha juice bar. I met with my principal; it was a three-month long process to bring it into the cafeteria. Within a month we were doubling our shipments, and we had our own refrigerator!
Q What makes the transition to college life so challenging for students seeking healthy eating habits and what’s you best tip for success?
The change in environment—it’s such a dramatic change in scenery that you have a tremendous opportunity to fail or to fly. It’s a complete upheaval of what is normal and regimented, and now you are in charge of what, when, and where you eat, and with whom. And you’re living with thousands of people just like you—with your peers—so there can be a lot of pressure to eat like everyone else.
Eating healthy requires preplanning. If you know you have early classes three days a week, stock up on healthy snacks like organic yogurt, baggies of a granola that’s not loaded with sugar, fresh berries or hard fruits, carrots and peppers, Soy Crisps, or even 100-calories snack packs. As my father says, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”
Q It’s great that you made a point to include vegan and gluten-free recipes in the new edition of the book. Can you share a few extra special tips for students who are heading off to college on specialty diets like these?
A That’s really when it comes down to being self-sufficient. You just can’t be 100 percent sure of what you are eating in a cafeteria that doesn’t list ingredients. That’s the reason I included the recipes. I felt a fear of going in the kitchen…these simple recipes help students realize “Maybe I can cook a lot of my meals!”
Q What can parents do to help their children maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle once they are “out of the nest”?
What your kids need most when they’re away at college is independence. This is their chance to experiment and figure out what their bodies can and can’t handle. For that reason, you have to be the constant loving and supporting person on the sidelines. You can send care packages of foods that help to crowd out the bad stuff (like walnuts and almonds or Soy Crisps) and gift cards to health food stores in the area are great! Ultimately, you should trust that if you’ve set them up with healthy habits, then all of that should come to fruition here.
—Jolia Sidona Allen, Associate Editor and Web Editor
It doesn’t get much better for a legume-loving veggie like me than going “from field to plate” with pulses, a branch of the legume family that includes beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas. I happily signed up for this summer’s media tour sponsored by Pulse Canada and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
For me, the high point was getting to taste the tender green seed fresh from the pod of a lentil plant under a sunny expanse of prairie sky. I couldn’t help but feel the connection to the soil where my feet were planted, soil that’s as much a living thing as any of us. Farmer John Bennett, our guide on the “field” part of the tour, understands that about soil. Soil health is fundamental to his commitment to sustainable farming.
As Bennett explained, pulses are a wonderfully sustainable crop. For one thing, they conserve moisture in the soil and fend off erosion. For another, they’re able to capture nitrogen directly from the atmosphere; ditching commercial nitrogen fertilizers helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, since producing commercial nitrogen requires fossil fuels. Also, unlike commercial nitrogen fertilizers, which seep into groundwater and rivers, contaminating water supplies and causing dead zones in our oceans, pulse crops create only the amount of nitrogen they need.
It’s no surprise to us veg heads that pulses can help meet people’s protein requirements without the alarmingly large eco-footprint of animal products. The big winner here is the fava bean, or as it’s know in Western Canada, faba bean, which boasts about 30 percent protein.
The sole vegetarian among the journalists and recipe developers on the tour, I didn’t need convincing that pulses are yummy. And it didn’t take all that many servings of hummus—not to mention cookies made with chickpeas and muffins baked with lentil puree (replacing saturated-fat-laden butter or worse, lard)—to convince the others.
But the sad fact is that most of Canada’s pulse crop is sent overseas, especially to India, where lentils and chickpeas are traditionally appreciated as food sources. We veggies in the U.S. and Canada have a lot of cooking to do to help America catch up. (Trying the bounty of bean, pea, chickpea, and lentil recipes on this Web site is a start.)
—Amy Spitalnick, Associate Editor
To learn more about pulses, including how nutritious and versatile they are, visit pulsecanda.com and saskpulse.com.
"Boo-licious!" food stylist Liesl Maggiore beautifies a trio of Frankenpeppers before the big shoot.
August 13, 2010
Tricks and treats of the trade were revealed when VT photographer Jen Gotch welcomed me into her home-turned-foodie-photo shoot for a look behind the scenes of October’s Easy Entertaining spooktacular, “Boo-licious!”.
When I arrived at Jen’s cozy Los Angeles abode, Latin jazz tunes filled the kitchen where food stylist Liesl Maggiore was busy cooking up whole-wheat spaghetti brains for stuffed Frankenpeppers. I asked Liesl if there were any tricks she used to create that glowing allure that beckons hungry readers towards the magazine racks. Did she buff the olives? Paint the bell peppers that perfect shade of red?
“Sometimes I use a Q-tip to wipe off a drip, or to push a piece of food into place,” she explained, glancing occasionally at the recipe printouts taped to the cupboard. “But I have to follow the recipe exactly as it’s written.”
There you have it ladies and gentlemen—the secret to visually stunning food: a Q-tip!
Soon, “Boo-licious!” recipe developer Lisa Leconte arrived with her own box of tricks, which included adorable nori face punches she found at an Asian market. After filling the bell peppers with spaghetti, little nori eyes and mouths gave each Frankenpepper its own ghoulish personality. Meanwhile, a blender of mysterious green ooze sat on the counter, its ingredients yet to be revealed.
Next, I followed Jen out back to her “prop barn” where her new puppy, Philip, guarded a treasure trove of pieces collected during her years as a prop stylist. Dinnerware, flatware, and serving pieces in myriad shapes and colors lined the barn’s shelves. Patterned textiles and ribbons overflowed from shopping bags, and decorative decals and doo-dads spilled out of clear craft boxes.
Jen pulled simple pieces to compliment the veggies’ vivid reds and greens and carried them inside to be washed and ironed. When Leisl brought the Spooky Swamp Serpent recipe to the staging table, I finally found out what that green sludge was: a slithering cheese serpent trawled through a swamp of bright green guacamole hidden by a curtain of snap pea crisps.
I was surprised by how natural Jen’s process was. Save for a single studio light that spent most of its time in the corner, her photographs relied on the soft sunlight hitting the living room window. After snapping pictures of a few different arrangements, her husband, digital tech Andrew Gotch, uploaded the photos for light retouches.
I couldn’t leave the shoot before taste-testing the leftover vegan marshmallows that made the bodies of Lisa’s creepy Marshmonsters. With a marshmallow in each hand, I said my goodbyes to the crew as they wrapped up the shoot. Outside, the first signs of fall were brewing—I couldn’t wait to taste what it brings!
—Sarah J. Montoro, Editorial Intern
For a Halloween menu that's sure to trick kids into eating their veggies, check out "Boo-licious!" in the October 2010 issue ofVegetarian Times.
I’m a huge fan of artichoke hearts—they’re great on pizza, in salads, and even by themselves. I pick up a can almost every time I go food shopping, but somehow I never seem to reach for them when cooking. Well, it was high time for artichoke hearts to be the stars of the show!
When researching artichoke-centric meals, I learned the difference between canned, frozen, and jarred artichoke hearts. Canned artichoke hearts come packed in water or brine, frozen artichoke hearts have no added ingredients, and jarred artichokes hearts are often "marinated," or stored in an oil-and-vinegar mixture. Since I had two cans of water-packed artichoke hearts, I decided to make Artichoke-Pecan Bread, which specifically calls for water-packed artichoke hearts to keep the bread moist. Another deciding factor was that this recipe didn’t require any ingredients that I didn’t already have on hand. Flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon: all pantry staples.
I took the liberty of “veganizing” the recipe by replacing the butter with vegan margerine and the eggs with applesauce. For these switcheroos, I consulted VT's Ingredient Substitution Guide. The only other time I strayed from the recipe was when it called for using a food processor to produce one cup of “finely chopped” artichoke hearts. I love my food processor, but I was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t want to locate it or clean it. (I also wanted to prove my serrated knife skills could do as good of a job as any food processor.)
When my loaf came out of the oven, I noticed that the bottom half was slightly overcooked, while the top half was a little underdone. When called upon for her culinary wisdom, Mary Margaret ChappelI, VT's food editor, said "the overdone/underdone issue comes from substituting the applesauce for eggs. While applesauce has the binding power of eggs (meaning it helps hold the flour and other ingredients together), it doesn't have the same leavening power (eggs also help baked goods rise). The denser, less-leavened batter probably got overheated on the bottom while the heat didn't make it through the loaf to the top in the same amount of time."
Chappell's solution: "I would try increasing the baking powder to 2 or even 2 1/2 tsp. (make sure the baking powder is not aluminum-based so that the cake doesn't taste tinny). That should give the batter enough rise to make it cook evenly all the way through."
I still found the bread to be delicious, though not at all what I was expecting: I thought the artichoke would have an overwhelming presence, but it was the cinnamon and the nutmeg that took “starring roles,” giving it a subtle but sweet flavor. The bread was dense, almost cake-like—something you would serve with coffee, which is what I chose to do.
I’m happy to report that my love-affair with artichoke hearts continues. Oh yeah, and the 'chokes were chopped to perfection.
—Sarah Smith, guest blogger
In addition to the scruptious Artichoke-Pecan Bread Sarah sampled, here are a few more great recipes featuring water-packed artichoke hearts:
Do you have wholesome ingredients sitting pretty on your pantry shelves? Pantry Raid is a new VT blog series that'll help you clean out your pantry, clean up your diet, and save cash. Stay tuned for more inspirational uses of kitchen staples. View comments | Add a comment
When I woke up, it was 15 minutes before I had to be at work and my alarm hadn’t gone off, none of my socks had a matching mate, and my keys had mysteriously lost themselves again. Usually the last thing I think about when I’m late for work is the rumbling of my stomach. Thankfully this morning I remembered that I had Ironman triathlete Brendan Brazier’s Vega Bodacious Berry Shake & Go Smoothie waiting in my pantry. I read the directions and was relieved that the only preparation needed was a few good shakes. No blender required!
Don’t be fooled by the soft green hue of Bodacious Berry in your glass—the result of an organic blend of alfalfa grass, kale, and spinach—the medley of creamy berry flavors taste sweet and refreshing and will make your taste buds tingle. Whether you’re hitting the trails or the cubical, Brendan Brazier's smoothie is a grab-and-go boost for maximizing your time and nutrition.
With 11 grams of protein and 2 servings of veggies, it kept me alert throughout the day and satisfied my stomach. Plus, it supplied me with a healthy dose of probiotics and essential fatty acids. From now on, I’ll try to remember to actually set my alarm before I go to bed, the first step to a healthy breakfast.
The Real Diaper Association estimates that a baby will go through about 6,000 diapers in the first two years of life. That’s a lotta trash! In an attempt to save our landfills from that burden, I’ve decided to take the less traveled route of cloth diapers. Here’s what I’ve found:
Surprisingly, there are a lot of cloth diaper choices out there, but after trying a wide range of them, my faves ended up being a brand called g Diapers. Why? First off, they have an internal liner that can be switched out. This makes for less things to wash, and fewer diapers to buy. I also love the fact that they are less bulky than all the others, and can be used with both cloth and biodegradable inserts. (I have been using the cloth inserts during the day, and the biodegradable ones at night.) Like all things, they do have their downsides. Some may find the snap-in liners a bit of a pain, and the tearing and swishing of the biodegradable liners does take some extra time.
My first-runner-up pick on cloth diapers is the Fuzzi Bunz One Size diaper, which is super soft and cute, and theoretically lasts the entire time your little one is in diapers. The downside is the absorbing insert goes under the material that touches the skin, so you’ll need to wash the entire thing every change. That’s a bulk of laundry that will add up quick. Not to mention the large initial investment of buying all the diapers.
For wipes, going reusable is a no-brainer, especially when you are already doing diaper wash. I really love Baby Kicks Washies/Wipes, which are made from hemp and organic cotton. They are just the right size, and have a fleece side and a smooth side to help you do any job right.
I also invested in a diaper sprayer, which turned out to be well worth the $45 price. It connects to the water main on the toilet, and works great to get off as much matter as possible before putting the diapers in the washing machine.
Lastly, if you have to have some disposable diapers for traveling or serious rash breakouts, try Nature Babycare. They are a completely biodegradable diaper, which technically can be composted (although most homes don’t have the capability to do this), but at the very least, these will break down completely in a landfill.
—Gabrielle Harradine, Market Editor
Gabrielle Harradine is VT's Market Editor and, more recently, a new mom. She's navigating the joys and challenges of first-time parenthood, and blogging here about her efforts to keep it healthy, green, and vegetarian. View comments | Add a comment
About four months ago, after reading of quinoa's "super food" status, I purchased a big bag of the stuff. Apparently, this was a rash decision, as I have since made myself a single serving of plain quinoa following the simple instructions on the bag. “But it’s a perfect protein!” I hear. “It’s so delicious!” That may be, but there it sat, that big, beautiful bag of quinoa, every time I opened my pantry doors.
So this past Sunday I decided to accept its unspoken challenge by cooking a quinoa-based meal. My only demands were that the recipe be A) easy; B) fast; C) cheap; D) tasty; E) vegan. Since these were tall orders, I decided to search for the perfect quinoa recipe using Vegetarian Times' recipe finder rather than relying on my own culinary genius, or lack thereof. One quick search for “quinoa” and voila! Quinoa Medley with Beans and Corn. Vegan? Check! Cheap, fast and easy? Check, check, check! Tasty? TBD.
I loved that I already had most of the ingredients in my pantry. I was only missing a lime (for garnish), which I chose to ignore, and chili powder, for which the cute guy next door came in handy. (He actually loaned me hot salt, but I decided that was close enough.) The recipe was nearly as easy to make as a microwave dish. It only required one pot and one bowl, and was prepped and completed in less than 30 minutes.
The only mishap was that the bottom layer of quinoa burned. When asked for advice on this sticky situation, Mary Margaret Chappell, VT's food editor, says, "it sounds to me like the cooking water evaporated too fast from the pot and didn't have time to be absorbed by the quinoa. This can happen if the heat's too high or if the cover on the saucepan isn't tight and lets steam escape while the quinoa is cooking. It could also be that the quinoa has been stocked/in storage for a while and has dried out more, meaning it will need more liquid to cook completely."
To prevent the dish from burning, Chappell suggests, "take a quick peek halfway through cooking time to see that there's enough liquid left. If the pan looks dry (there might even be a sizzling sound from the bottom), add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, then cook until most of it has been absorbed."
While the dish was delish solo, it looked and tasted like it belonged inside of a tortilla, so I ate my second serving in burrito form with an extra helping of salsa. For the dairy lovers out there, I imagine it would taste yummy with some cheddar cheese and sour cream.
All in all, this quinoa challenge has inspired me to get cookin' on a more regular basis…especially if it gives me an excuse to knock on my cute neighbor-boy’s door.
—Sarah Smith, guest blogger
Do you have wholesome ingredients sitting pretty on your pantry shelves? Pantry Raid is a new VT blog series that'll help you clean out your pantry, clean up your diet, and save cash. Stay tuned for more inspirational uses of kitchen staples.
There’s little time for product research with an infant around. That’s why I’m making a point to shout out these three great finds. They’ve worked wonderfully for us so far and are all oh so natural:
All Good Goop – A multi-use product that stays right next to the changing table because of how well it works for diaper rash. The lavender essential oils makes any bum smell divine.
Gabrielle Harradine is VT's Market Editor and, more recently, a new mom. She's navigating the joys and challenges of first-time parenthood, and blogging here about her efforts to keep it healthy, green, and vegetarian. View comments | Add a comment
With Veganomiconand Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, Terry Hope Romero established herself as an urban icon of culinary cool. With her latest offering, Viva Vegan!, she turns up the heat with a leap into the world of Latin cuisine. Here, the blogger (veganlatina.com), author, and kitchen maestra shares her tips for navigating your local Latin market.
Q: What do you like best about shopping at non-traditional food markets?
A: I grew up shopping at ethnic markets as a sort of hobby with my dad. I guess you just have to love grocery shopping. I do a lot of reading and researching of ethnic cuisines, so I tend to geek out when I stumble upon a variety of cardamom pod or Lebanese bread I’ve been reading up on but haven’t tasted yet.
Q: For someone who has never shopped at an ethnic food market, how would you describe the experience?
A: I’ve taken friends who never venture beyond the regular mega grocery store and there’s definitely an air of adventure about the whole thing for them. Most ethnic markets tend to be smaller than supermarkets, and products are often piled on top of one another or the inventory might be very different the next time you visit. If you see something you like and suspect you’ll be using a lot of it, it often pays to stock up.
Q: Have you ever purchased something at an ethnic market only to discover later that it wasn’t veg?
A: I’m a tireless label reader so I’m ridiculously careful about what I buy in ethnic markets and regular supermarkets, too. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for hidden lard in frozen or canned Latin products.
Q: What are your top-five favorite items the Latin grocery store?
A: 1. Dried ancho chilies: A great beginner’s dried Mexican chili. Add to basic red chili sauce or blend into fresh salsa. 2. Masa harina: For corn tortillas, tamales, or my favorite: pupusas. 3. Ají panca paste: For marinating seitan for Peruvian-style seitan skewers. 4. Panela: Grate this raw brown sugar and sprinkle over of plantains before roasting. 5. Annatto (achiote) seeds: Essential for giving that proper yellow color to rice or empanada dough.
For more tips on navigating the aisles of your nearest ethnic grocery store, pick up a copy of the July/August issue of Vegetarian Times and check out “Passport to Flavor.”
Smart Bite: Make it stick. Day 21 has arrived! Congratulations on building a healthy lunch habit. While the 21 days may be over, what really counts is that you continue to make the most of your lunch hour every day by eating healthy lunches and committing to 30 minutes of exercise.
By now, you're probably a pro at packing a healthy lunch, but rest assured that while you've completed VT's 21-Day Lunch Challenge, we would never leave you hanging without a healthy lunch recipe to try. Weather you're in the mood for a Greek salad, a yummy calzone, a hearty vegan chili, or whatever, our advanced recipe search makes it easy to find just the right recipe.
And, when it comes to staying active, we asked Professional triathlete and author Brendan Brazier to dish out his advice on making a new exercise program long-lasting. “You’ve got to enjoy it and feel good about it—the whole idea is creating lifestyle,” says Brazier. “If you are working in an office, you probably want to go off by yourself ... if you work by yourself, maybe you want to play tennis,” says Brazier. "If you choose an activity you really enjoy—weather it’s running, swimming, biking, basketball, whatever!—you are more likely to want to stick with it."
We want to hear from you! Visit the Virtual VT Lunchroom to share how you transformed your lunch life!
Smart Bite: Try an inversion. There's no better way to break up the monotony of your everyday routine than to literally "invert" yourself, or put your body upside down via an inversion yoga pose.
According to Yoga Journal's "Inversion 101," "In yoga, inversions are sometimes broadly defined as positions in which the heart is higher than the head (as in Dolphin or Downward-Facing Dog), and sometimes more narrowly defined as positions in which the feet are higher than the heart (Headstand or Shoulderstand). For simplicity's sake, you can consider poses in the first category as mild inversions and those in the second category as full inversions."
Smart Bite: Start a tea ritual. Incorporate a daily cup of tea into your lunch hour. Consider bringing a favorite teacup or mug from home and any desired ad-ins (your choice sweetener, creamer, etc.) to make the experience even more special. You could even ask co-workers to contribute to a communal tea table or tray where you can each add a different box of tea for others to try, or organize a "trick-or tea-ing" day where co-workers collect different tea bags from each other to build samplers.
