Posted inFood and drink Home life

I didn’t suffer in my vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner

When I became a vegetarian 57 years ago, at the age of 20, that was cause for concern among friends and family who thought I was depriving myself of an essential food group: meat and fish. That didn't make sense then. It makes even less sense now, given how many more options vegetarians have when shopping in a grocery store or going out to eat at a restaurant. We're still a decided minority, about 6%, with about an additional 4% embracing a vegan diet. For Thanksgiving yesterday, I dug my last remaining Trader Joes Turkey-Less Stuffed Roast out of the…
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Posted inFood and drink Health Home life

My wife made the healthiest main dish in the history of Christmas Eve dinners

Part of me says, "You shouldn't be bragging on Christmas Day." Another part says, "Dude, go ahead and brag -- you aren't bragging about yourself, but about your wife, Laurel." I'm listening to that part. For while the title of this blog post might seem to be an exaggeration, it accurately reflects the prevailing opinion among me, Laurel, and five friends we invited for a Christmas Eve dinner at our house last night  Well, in the history of Christmas Eve dinners is an embellishment that I added for dramatic effect. But it's true that all seven of us agreed that…
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Posted inFood and drink Health

Here’s what’s scientifically true about good nutrition

When it comes to what sorts of food are best for us, opinions abound. There's a never-ending avalanche of nutritional advice from many different sources: social media, news sites, television ads, books, and such. Often this advice isn't based on scientific facts. That's why I was thrilled to see the special issue of New Scientist that arrived in the mail recently. The cover headline: How to Eat Better: The Seven Chewiest Questions About Nutrition and Your Health. Here's the questions and a brief summary of the answers. (New Scientist is a British publication, so some spellings are different from American…
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Trader Joe’s has brought back the Turkey-Less Stuffed Roast for 2024!

Thank you, Trader Joe's!!! Those three exclamation marks don't begin to describe the joy I felt when I learned that the Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast has returned for 2024 holiday eating, after being discontinued in 2023.  In November 2023 I sadly wrote, "Bummer! Trader Joe's Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast discontinued for 2023." That post started out with: Oh, Trader Joe's, I'm so disappointed that you have put a piece of metaphorical coal in my vegetarian stocking this 2023 holiday season by discontinuing your marvelous vegan Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast -- which is the favorite meatless alternative of its kind for…
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Posted inFood and drink Salem

I’ve stopped using Grubhub and DoorDash after two restaurants asked me to

Live and learn. Until recently I'd never used restaurant ordering apps on my iPhone. Old-fashioned guy that I was, I'd phone a restaurant and call in my order. But then I decided to join the 21st century, so I installed Grubhub and DoorDash.  Not knowing any better, I figured that restaurants liked these apps. Or at least, they were okay with them as alternative ways of getting orders from customers other than their own web sites. So for the past few months I've been using Grubhub and DoorDash to order from three restaurants in south Salem that I'd gotten into…
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Posted inFood and drink

Why I prefer Chroma Coffee drops to other acid reducers

I like coffee. But the acidic aspect of coffee causes me problems. As noted below, I've tried several acid reducing products. After learning about the Chroma Coffee drops, they've become my favorite. Yesterday I received another order from the Chroma Coffee owner, Jack. As with my initial order, a handwritten note was included with the drops. Hey, you won't get that with any acid-reducing product you order from Amazon.  Jack referred to a review I left on his web site.  Pleased to find these drops I'd been using acid reducing drops from another source, which went out of business. That…
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Posted inFood and drink

Bummer! Trader Joe’s Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast discontinued for 2023

Oh, Trader Joe's, I'm so disappointed that you have put a piece of metaphorical coal in my vegetarian stocking this 2023 holiday season by discontinuing your marvelous vegan Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast -- which is the favorite meatless alternative of its kind for my wife and me. I bought several extra last year and put them in our freezer. Here's a photo of one of the last survivors of the Breaded Turkey-less Stuffed Roast purge before I took it out of the box and put it in an oven for Thanksgiving dinner. Now we're down to zero. Sob... The roast…
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Posted inFood and drink

I declare a winner in the Decaf Instant Coffee contest

For many years I was a coffee addict. More accurately, I craved the caffeine in coffee. I'm still in recovery. Probably always will be. But even though my withdrawal several years ago was difficult, I've managed to give up the hard stuff and get by with a little help from my decaffeinated friends. I'll share their photos below. One of them has become my best Decaf Instant Coffee friend. Here it is. Republica makes an organic decaf instant coffee from Arabica beans that to me tastes like brewed coffee. I just use a level teaspoon in 16 ounces of hot…
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Posted inFood and drink Home life Salem

LifeSource dumps my favorite veggie burger. I’m crushed.

It was the cheese that first set off the alarm bells in my brain. Up until then, my usual Tuesday afternoon grocery shopping at LifeSource Natural Foods had gone as it usually does.  Uneventfully. I had no clue that my vegetarian life would be upended before I reached the dairy aisle, my habitual final stop before heading to a checkout register. Glancing at my list to see what my wife and I needed there, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that something had changed in the alternatives-to-meat section. Cheese had taken over several feet of that section,…
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Posted inFood and drink Health

Metabolism myths about diet, exercise, and weight loss

Science rocks. It's by far our best way of understanding reality.  But most of us, me certainly included, often are prone to embracing folk wisdom rather than science when it comes to losing weight. I'm six feet tall and 178 pounds at the moment -- though sadly, my long-term trend (I'm 72) has been to lose a bit of height and gain a bit of weight.  Since I'd like to get to about 175 pounds and know how difficult it is for me to lose even a few pounds, I was eager to read the front page story in the…
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Posted inFood and drink Health Salem

Why eating at In-N-Out Burger is morally wrong

Today an In-N-Out Burger restaurant has opened in nearby Keizer, Oregon, sending waves of feverish delight through the taste buds of people willing to spend hours in line to buy the main food offering... dead cows. I consider this to be morally wrong, having been a vegetarian for most of my life. So my objection isn't to In-N-Out Burger itself. What bothers me is that most Americans are so uncaring about the suffering they're producing by eating meat and fish. Understand: there's a variety of good reasons to be vegetarian or vegan. It's a healthier way to go. It's better…
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Posted inFood and drink Home life

Our favorite vegetarian “turkey” is Trader Joe’s Turkey-Less Roast

Sorry, Tofurkey. Even though you're based in Oregon, where we also live, my wife and I have come to prefer Trader Joe's Turkey-Less Stuffed Roast to your Plant-Based Roast. Having been a vegetarian for 50 years, I've tried every variety of fake turkey since they became available. Back in 2006 I bemoaned the loss of a Tofurkey competitor in "Now & Zen Unturkey has flown the coop." What a Thanksgiving bummer! It looks like this beautiful creature is going extinct. Yes, this could be the last time a much beloved Now & Zen Unturkey graces our vegetarian table. I had…
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Posted inFood and drink Salem

I love LifeSource, but recent changes are disappointing

This is a "tough love" blog post, because I've shopped a lot at LifeSource Natural Foods ever since it opened way back when. Three or four times a week I go there. But changes LifeSource has been making cause me and my wife to be a bit less satisfied with the store. I readily admit that those changes probably are profitable for LifeSource. However, they go against the grain of my longtime vegetarianism -- which began about 50 years ago while I was in college. (Along with other students of a crazed Greek yoga teacher, we started the second health…
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Posted inFood and drink

How to make Crock Pot Pot with coconut oil

Knowing what my interests are, a friend just sent me a link showing how to make a cannabis edible out of ground marijuana buds/leaves and coconut oil -- with a crock pot. Since edibles and extracts can't be legally purchased here in Oregon by "recreational" users until late in 2016 (currently only those with medical marijuana cards can buy these products), this is a way to make your own.  I'll also share a video that extols the benefits of coconut oil in cannabis cooking. Put on your apron and fire up the crock pot!    
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