This is an interesting video about the importance of moving.  Even you don't have time to go to the gym, you can find ways to move around.  Here are a few examples:

- When shopping, park as far as possible from the store and you will get some steps in

Whoever says that vegan food is boring has certainly never tried vegan food.  There is such a wide variety of amazing things that you can make when cooking vegan food (even things like macaroni & cheese), plus it's healthier for you without harming any animals.

Tomorrow is my work holiday party and I volunteered to bring a side dish.  I decided to make a quinoa dish.  Quinoa is so versatile and one of the best sources of complete protein that you can get, besides being the super grain of the Incas.  The recipe I made was a Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado, and Cumin-Lime Dressing.

Today was a long day.  I'm a teacher and on Tuesdays I teach an afterschool club as soon as school's over.  In addition to that, the elementary school where I work was having an event tonight that I'd agreed to translate for (I speak fluent Spanish).  Since I had about an hour of free time after my club and before the event started, I didn't want to rush home and start cooking something.  So I decided to head to Chipotle, my favorite place for vegan takeout when I'm in a bind and need something quick, simple, and cheap to eat.

I'm so excited that Chipotle recently introduced brown rice, though I don't honestly think it's as good as their white cilantro lime rice.  Regardless, it's a better choice for me to eat brown rice, since it's lower on the glycemic index, so I got my standard veggie burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, green peppers, onions, pico de gallo (the tomato sauce), guacamole, and lettuce.  Did you know that if you get the veggie bowl or veggie burrito that adding guacamole is free?!  An extra bonus!  The next time you're in a bind, head to Chipotle for a delicious, amazing meal!

Think it's not possible to make a vegan pasta that's just like a regular cream based pasta?  Think again!  Tonight I made gluten-free creamy sage pasta and it was delicious!

The other night I was flipping through The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition by Julieanna Hever and noticed a delicious recipe for rice pudding (this is also the same book where I got the tofu recipe from).  I made it the other night, but since I had some leftover rice and was running out of my first batch, I made some more this morning.

Center for Science in the Public Interest raves about Bob's Red Mill Muesli.  The best thing about this product is you can eat raw or cooked.  Delicious either way.  Nutritious in every way.

"Originally developed in the late 1800's by a Swiss nutritionist, Muesli is a delightful cereal made from a blend of whole grains, dried fruits, nuts and seeds," explains the label of Bob's Red Mill Old Country Style Muesli.

Delightful is right, whether you microwave or boil it for 3 to 5 minutes with milk or water to make a hearty hot cereal, or you just stir it into your milk or yogurt cold.

Either way, you've got a bowl of "whole grain rolled oats, wheat, rye, triticale and
barley, along with sweet and chewy dates and raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds and walnuts tor a high energy Muesli," according to the label.

Okay. Forget that last part. When a label talks about "energy," it means "calories," not an energy boost. And speaking of calories, odds are you'll get more than the 110 that are listed on the Nutrition Facts panel. That's for a quarter-cup serving that won't even cover the bottom of some bowls.

So let's say you use half a cup and get 220 calories' worth of cereal. Don't worry. They come with 8 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and no sodium. And the Muesli's whole grains are intact, which means they'll help keep you regular (and help keep a lid on your blood sugar levels) better than whole grains that have been ground into flour. Bonus: there's no sugar beyond what comes naturally from the raisins and dates.

When Bob says "Old Country Style," he means it.

COPYRIGHT 2011 Center for Science in the Public Interest
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2011 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

In a bind over what to make for dinner?  As I was contemplating what to make for dinner tonight, I remembered that I had a package of tofu in the refrigerator, along with spinach that was about to go bad.  Looking for inspiration amongst my cookbooks (since I'm still learning to come up with creative recipes on my own), I came upon a tofu dish that incorporated spinach.  Even if it hadn't listed spinach, I would have included it in my dish!

The recipe was so simple - some chopped onions, mushrooms (which I didn't have, but you could easily substitute anything), the scrambled tofu, parsley flakes, tamari (or you could just use regular soy sauce), nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, the spinach, and I added it in some sage and chopped green onions that I had for good measure.  I could've made brown rice to serve over it, but decided to use some of my leftover Thanksgiving stuffing.

This was my first Thanksgiving as a vegan and I was so excited to create an amazing array of delicious vegan food. Did I eat a Tofurky?  Not at all! As soon as I started scouring the internet for vegan Thanksgiving recipes, I found so many that I found myself having to pick and choose from all the recipes.

A new article on MedicineNet discusses the advantage of a plant based diet.