I left a comment here at the NYTimes blog...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01brod.html?src=me&ref=homepage
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
For the Pet Lovers
I just read this article recently in the New York Times and thought I'd pass it along. I have written to the author, Jane E. Brody regarding my obvious concerns about Rx foods for pets since I purchase two different kinds...I'll let you know what she has to say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01brod.html?src=me&ref=homepage
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01brod.html?src=me&ref=homepage
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Gimme a Good Dog!!!
I know its been a while since I’ve been on here and for that I apologize, but I have been dealing with Joanne and her digestive issues. Let’s talk about that another time, shall we?
With the Memorial Day just nearly upon us and the summer grilling season ahead of us, I just had to write this post.
Today I’m here to discuss hot dogs. Yeah, I know what your thinking…I’m vegetarian, so why would I talk about hot dogs here? Well, they are one of the only meat items that when I smell them cooking, make me salivate. I think it’s mostly the smoky scent that does it to me, but regardless, I can smell a hotdog and get a craving that I can’t squash till I have one or two with all the fixins’!
I often get the impression some of the blogs I read that vegetarians aren’t supposed to have cravings for meat-like products. The idea is that we gave up meat, so we shouldn’t want to replicate that by using products that have flavors and textures similar to ground meat, burgers, chicken and hotdogs.
I beg to differ with those people. Vegetarians don’t always give up meat because they dislike the taste and texture. Some of us give it up because of moral and ethical reasons regarding factory farming. That’s for another column; maybe another blog. Some give it up to be more friendly to the earth or even for health reasons.
For a lot of years, vegetarians didn’t have many options than to make their own veggie burgers and loaves and a vegetarian hotdog was heresy.
It took a while, but there have been some true advances in how textured vegetable protein has been processed. TVP is basically soy. From tofu, tempeh and miso, to other meat-like proteins such as seitan and mycoprotein made with mushrooms has been worked into palatable sources of meal item staples for those wishing to get the high protein with less fat than red meat.
Joanne and I have used all of these products and when I get the craving to enjoy veggie hotdogs, my go-to brand has always been Morningstar Farms.
I’ve tried Tofupups, and Soydogs, but Moringstar Farms has always been the brand that had a texture most like a hotdog and a bit of a resistance when you bit into them that was similar to biting into the actual casing of a hotdog and getting that snap. It was truly a mouth-feel for me, besides the flavor.
On a hotdog roll with fried onions, coleslaw, relish, ketchup, mustard, cheese, sauerkraut, guacamole, salsa, broken taco shells, meatless bbq (made from TVP) and any other number of great toppings and I’m set. With a side of baked beans and mashed potatoes and some watermelon for dessert and I’m a happy girl.
However, this will be a sad, sad summer for me. It seems Morningstar Farms has discontinued their America’s Original Veggie Dogs!
I took a gander and wrote them in April. Much surprised that I received an email back, I was grateful for the explanation. I thought you’d enjoy seeing their response here:
May 4, 2010 10:31:40 PM, kellogg@casupport.com wrote:
Hello Rose,
We know this answer may put us in the dog house, but we have discontinued our Morningstar Farms® Veggie Dog products including Morningstar Farms® America's Original Veggie Dogs, Morningstar Farms® Corn Dogs, Morningstar Farms® Mini Corn Dogs, and Morningstar Farms® Corn Dogs Made with Natural Ingredients. We know we have lots of big fans of these products.
This situation was not a decision we made due to poor sales, but rather due to our inability to secure an appropriate manufacturing facility to produce them on an ongoing basis. Veggie dogs are not made using the same technology as our other products so we relied on another company to make them for us. It is difficult to make the choice to discontinue a product, as we know it is always someone's favorite.
We value your business and would love for you to try our Morningstar Farms® Veggie Italian Style Sausage. They are great for family grilling! Or if you prefer a hot dog, we suggest Worthington® Veja-Links® vegetarian hot dogs. (Worthington is part of the Morningstar Farms family). This is a canned product and is readily available at most natural food stores.
Thank you for contacting us. Please join us on Facebook, where we post the latest information about Morningstar Farms, including inspiring recipes and an occasional coupon!
Best of health,
Mark A. Suriano
Consumer Specialist
Consumer Affairs
Ok, so it’s not poor sales, but an operations issue. I understand, but if a company as big as Kelloggs can’t find a way to manage the production of this product we’re all losers. Although I’ve never seen it anywhere to be able to try it, It makes me wonder about the canned product in their ‘family’ and where that gets produced. Will that also be pulled from the shelves in the near future?
They offer me an option, but who wants a hotdog out of a can? Ok, maybe astronauts or campers and maybe even our vegetarian armed forces, but why can’t a company as enormous as Kelloggs find a way to make this work.
I can’t possibly be the only person who really enjoyed these TVP hotdogs, can I? I think not!
Well, I’m going to start a Facebook page to see if we can get Kelloggs to bring these back! It worked for Betty White, didn’t it? She was on Saturday Night Live all because of Facebook and it could even work for Carol Burnett…let’s see what it can do for the Morning Star Farms America’s Original Veggie Dogs! Look em’ up in a few days and sign up!
What is that Margaret Mead quote? Never under estimate that a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Ok, so veggie hotdogs aren’t changing the world, but it’s a start, right?
With the Memorial Day just nearly upon us and the summer grilling season ahead of us, I just had to write this post.
Today I’m here to discuss hot dogs. Yeah, I know what your thinking…I’m vegetarian, so why would I talk about hot dogs here? Well, they are one of the only meat items that when I smell them cooking, make me salivate. I think it’s mostly the smoky scent that does it to me, but regardless, I can smell a hotdog and get a craving that I can’t squash till I have one or two with all the fixins’!
I often get the impression some of the blogs I read that vegetarians aren’t supposed to have cravings for meat-like products. The idea is that we gave up meat, so we shouldn’t want to replicate that by using products that have flavors and textures similar to ground meat, burgers, chicken and hotdogs.
I beg to differ with those people. Vegetarians don’t always give up meat because they dislike the taste and texture. Some of us give it up because of moral and ethical reasons regarding factory farming. That’s for another column; maybe another blog. Some give it up to be more friendly to the earth or even for health reasons.
For a lot of years, vegetarians didn’t have many options than to make their own veggie burgers and loaves and a vegetarian hotdog was heresy.
It took a while, but there have been some true advances in how textured vegetable protein has been processed. TVP is basically soy. From tofu, tempeh and miso, to other meat-like proteins such as seitan and mycoprotein made with mushrooms has been worked into palatable sources of meal item staples for those wishing to get the high protein with less fat than red meat.
Joanne and I have used all of these products and when I get the craving to enjoy veggie hotdogs, my go-to brand has always been Morningstar Farms.
I’ve tried Tofupups, and Soydogs, but Moringstar Farms has always been the brand that had a texture most like a hotdog and a bit of a resistance when you bit into them that was similar to biting into the actual casing of a hotdog and getting that snap. It was truly a mouth-feel for me, besides the flavor.
On a hotdog roll with fried onions, coleslaw, relish, ketchup, mustard, cheese, sauerkraut, guacamole, salsa, broken taco shells, meatless bbq (made from TVP) and any other number of great toppings and I’m set. With a side of baked beans and mashed potatoes and some watermelon for dessert and I’m a happy girl.
However, this will be a sad, sad summer for me. It seems Morningstar Farms has discontinued their America’s Original Veggie Dogs!
I took a gander and wrote them in April. Much surprised that I received an email back, I was grateful for the explanation. I thought you’d enjoy seeing their response here:
May 4, 2010 10:31:40 PM, kellogg@casupport.com wrote:
Hello Rose,
We know this answer may put us in the dog house, but we have discontinued our Morningstar Farms® Veggie Dog products including Morningstar Farms® America's Original Veggie Dogs, Morningstar Farms® Corn Dogs, Morningstar Farms® Mini Corn Dogs, and Morningstar Farms® Corn Dogs Made with Natural Ingredients. We know we have lots of big fans of these products.
This situation was not a decision we made due to poor sales, but rather due to our inability to secure an appropriate manufacturing facility to produce them on an ongoing basis. Veggie dogs are not made using the same technology as our other products so we relied on another company to make them for us. It is difficult to make the choice to discontinue a product, as we know it is always someone's favorite.
We value your business and would love for you to try our Morningstar Farms® Veggie Italian Style Sausage. They are great for family grilling! Or if you prefer a hot dog, we suggest Worthington® Veja-Links® vegetarian hot dogs. (Worthington is part of the Morningstar Farms family). This is a canned product and is readily available at most natural food stores.
Thank you for contacting us. Please join us on Facebook, where we post the latest information about Morningstar Farms, including inspiring recipes and an occasional coupon!
Best of health,
Mark A. Suriano
Consumer Specialist
Consumer Affairs
Ok, so it’s not poor sales, but an operations issue. I understand, but if a company as big as Kelloggs can’t find a way to manage the production of this product we’re all losers. Although I’ve never seen it anywhere to be able to try it, It makes me wonder about the canned product in their ‘family’ and where that gets produced. Will that also be pulled from the shelves in the near future?
They offer me an option, but who wants a hotdog out of a can? Ok, maybe astronauts or campers and maybe even our vegetarian armed forces, but why can’t a company as enormous as Kelloggs find a way to make this work.
I can’t possibly be the only person who really enjoyed these TVP hotdogs, can I? I think not!
Well, I’m going to start a Facebook page to see if we can get Kelloggs to bring these back! It worked for Betty White, didn’t it? She was on Saturday Night Live all because of Facebook and it could even work for Carol Burnett…let’s see what it can do for the Morning Star Farms America’s Original Veggie Dogs! Look em’ up in a few days and sign up!
What is that Margaret Mead quote? Never under estimate that a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Ok, so veggie hotdogs aren’t changing the world, but it’s a start, right?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Shopping Cart Hell
Ok, I know this may not be an explicit food blog post, but we all have to eat and where do we get a lot of our staples? At the grocery store, right? I know, I know…lots of you out there utilize farmers’ markets and CSA’s and try to eat and shop locally, but you can’t get cat food and toilet paper from a local farm stand, right?
I enjoy grocery shopping. Be it at a farm market, grocery store, big box store or Chinatown or Little Italy. It is fun and exciting thinking of things to make or discovering a fruit or vegetable in season that I’ve missed for nearly a year or finding that obscure ingredient I just have to try.
However, there is one thing that really gets me and I have to get this off my chest. Forgive me for taking my soapbox out!
I am such a stickler for taking my shopping carts back to the storefront or the cart return and fume when I have to move a cart to park my car or see them strewn all over the parking lot. I push that cart through puddles, rain, snow and around vehicles in reverse just to put it somewhere safe.
My car is 14 years old and I purchased her new in 1996. For her age, she’s a wondrous vehicle, but has dings all over her. I’ve noticed dents on her as early as when she was two or three years old and I know its from parking lots where people are just plain lazy about putting carts away. Just because I have an older car and she has a few dents and dings doesn’t mean I value her any less than someone who spends $80,000 on the Mercedes parked next to me.
About three weeks ago Joanne and I pulled into a parking lot and she always backs in, so her door was next to the driver’s door of the car next to her. Two women were coming out and saw us back in. They were putting bags and kids in their car. The driver finished up and was able to simply pull forward since nobody was parked in front of her.
She took the cart and placed it between her car and ours right at Joanne’s door and started to get into her car and just happened to look over at us. I made a motion and with the windows up said, “Don’t even tell me your going to just leave that cart there,” and she realized Joanne wouldn’t be able to get out!
The woman backed out of her car door, turned around and took the cart over to the cart return, shaking her head.
I was nearly flabbergasted by the lack of common courtesy and thinking she could just leave the cart there without thinking about the consequences for others.
Was it me? Was I being unreasonable to expect her to complete her shopping experience by not leaving the cart right next to our car?
It is this sort of behavior that makes grocery shopping a very unpleasant experience. What do you think? Do you put your cart in a safe place? Do you have the same issues as I do and do you have any stories to share?
If you are a cart-leaver…sorry for the rampage. Oh, wait…no, I’m not. I ask that you change your evil ways and help us all save our cars from the dings of shopping cart hell!
I enjoy grocery shopping. Be it at a farm market, grocery store, big box store or Chinatown or Little Italy. It is fun and exciting thinking of things to make or discovering a fruit or vegetable in season that I’ve missed for nearly a year or finding that obscure ingredient I just have to try.
However, there is one thing that really gets me and I have to get this off my chest. Forgive me for taking my soapbox out!
I am such a stickler for taking my shopping carts back to the storefront or the cart return and fume when I have to move a cart to park my car or see them strewn all over the parking lot. I push that cart through puddles, rain, snow and around vehicles in reverse just to put it somewhere safe.
My car is 14 years old and I purchased her new in 1996. For her age, she’s a wondrous vehicle, but has dings all over her. I’ve noticed dents on her as early as when she was two or three years old and I know its from parking lots where people are just plain lazy about putting carts away. Just because I have an older car and she has a few dents and dings doesn’t mean I value her any less than someone who spends $80,000 on the Mercedes parked next to me.
About three weeks ago Joanne and I pulled into a parking lot and she always backs in, so her door was next to the driver’s door of the car next to her. Two women were coming out and saw us back in. They were putting bags and kids in their car. The driver finished up and was able to simply pull forward since nobody was parked in front of her.
She took the cart and placed it between her car and ours right at Joanne’s door and started to get into her car and just happened to look over at us. I made a motion and with the windows up said, “Don’t even tell me your going to just leave that cart there,” and she realized Joanne wouldn’t be able to get out!
The woman backed out of her car door, turned around and took the cart over to the cart return, shaking her head.
I was nearly flabbergasted by the lack of common courtesy and thinking she could just leave the cart there without thinking about the consequences for others.
Was it me? Was I being unreasonable to expect her to complete her shopping experience by not leaving the cart right next to our car?
It is this sort of behavior that makes grocery shopping a very unpleasant experience. What do you think? Do you put your cart in a safe place? Do you have the same issues as I do and do you have any stories to share?
If you are a cart-leaver…sorry for the rampage. Oh, wait…no, I’m not. I ask that you change your evil ways and help us all save our cars from the dings of shopping cart hell!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
FREE or LO-COST EATS ON TAX DAY!!!
Check this site out for some yummy things you can try today...
http://eater.com/archives/2010/04/14/tax-day-deal-feed.php
http://eater.com/archives/2010/04/14/tax-day-deal-feed.php
Monday, April 5, 2010
Peeps, Peeps, Peeps!! Everywhere there are Peeps!
When I was in college at Cedar Crest College (OMG! This is my 5-year graduation anniversary! Where's the time go?) there was Peeps Week where students set up these dioramas and there was a competition. It was big enough that they held it in the gym! No, really...the gym! As a life long learning student, I never had the time for such stuff...but, know had I been in school as a traditional student, I'd have taken part.
You have to check this stuff out!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/03/29/ST2010032904380.html?sid=ST2010032904380
And
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/peeps-diorama-street-food-vendors-easter.html?utm_source=Serious+Eats+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b1e1faefd7-Serious_Eats_Weekly_Newsletter_April_5_2010&utm_medium=email
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