Veggie Burgers and Great Reads
Who wants to avoid sales? WE DO!
To be clear: sales have their benefits and drawbacks. For example, you can save money while destroying the less privileged world that produced the product. But a hidden downside of sales is that they tend to make it far easier to purchase something we don’t want. We just bought a huge case of veggie burgers, three per box. When easily reheated food like that is laying around, we find ourselves eating LOTS of frozen pre-packaged veggie burgers (and wraps, and burritos, and french fries…). This is where the power of books and reading recommendations can help a family successfully live a healthier lifestyle.
The truth is that the “sale” was actually hiding the money we lost on the purchase. It would be far cheaper to produce a superior, healthier veggie burger at home in large batches, freezing them for later. For those like us who are transitioning to a sustainable lifestyle and trying to eat outside the box, here’s a book that should help:Read Veggie Burgers Every Which Way: Fresh, Flavorful & Healthy Vegan & Vegetarian Burgers by Lukas Volger. We recently tried the ridiculously simple to make Ginger-Soy Tempeh Burgers (page 105) with one of the sauces in the back of the book, “mango BBQ”. Delicious! It brought me back to BBQ chicken sandwich days of youth. The book includes bun recipes, too, as well as side dish suggestions – and there are gluten-free options and recommendations for substitutions! It’s easy to read with clear labels throughout.
It’s often easier to see how we help each other in the material world or through emotional challenges, but far more blurry when we think of all the ways we help someone at the intellectual level. Going off-grid, or even learning to cook instead of eating fast food, takes a lot of thinking. By recommending books that have helped us along our path, we hasten someone else’s difficult journey. As late fall wraps its leaves around our houses and winter sets in, let’s share a good read or two that has helped us live sustainably, promote justice, become healthier, or make ripples in this world.
The Veganomicon is my favorite cookbook. It’s a fun read too! Since my daughter and I have decided to take our wheat allergies seriously, the Wheat Belly cookbook is my newest find. I’m finding a Gluten-free Vegan diet quite challenging. Even just Gluten-free Vegetarian is a challenge sometimes. More challenging is trying to keep carbs down to a healthy level.
Veganomican is certainly the best I’ve seen! Thanks for the reading recommendation – we’ve added it to our Resources Wiki (taken off the public radar for a few months while we significantly edit and boost its effectiveness). The holiday wiki is still available, though. Hopefully everyone will have more reading time over the holidays! And Lisa, if you want support for vegan & gluten-free, I’ve been doing this since April 2012 and would love to help!