Vegan Taste of St. Louis. VegaDeli, Meskerem & Mayuri. Corporate Food Guidelines. Bill Clinton on David Letterman talking about his near vegan diet.

Recently we went to Taste of St. Louis, which we would never go to prior, but we knew of at least a couple places serving some vegan eats this year. The only all Vegan place was VegaDeli  which is one of only TWO vegan places in St. Louis.  It is under new ownership (the other owners have PuraVegan now!) and so they have different hours.  I think the hours may be more accommodating but Chesterfield is still a little far for us unless we are out that way.  Their food is pretty healthy and you can get comfort food like mac & cheeze (which is GLUTEN FREE!!!!)  or fresh juices and raw dishes.  It's close to the Whole Foods out that way.  You will love it!!  Also chock full of Gluten Free options.

The Crowd.

Lots of folks trying vegan food today!

Raw Pad Thai (Zucchini Noodles), Vegan Burger.

Raw Tacos.  (For the "Taste" the shell was not raw)

Vegan Sweets.  Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Bites.

This looked great be we refrained!

The Raw Vegan Pad Thai with Zucchini Noodles.  Yum!

Pumpkin Bite.  The Pumpkin Balls were divine.  I went home and made butternut squash smoothies for an entire week because I craved Pumpkin after that!

The Raw Tacos had a regular Tortilla, which was delicious.  Some sort of nut pate with avocado, tomato, & cabbage.  Yummy and not oily at all.  No guilt there. 

Good Ol' St. Louis

Meskerem Ethiopian Food.  Rumor had it that they have Gluten Free Injera (made with only Teff) upon request.  Problem was I requested to the gal who took the order but she just nodded her head yes and put regular injera on the plate. We had some miscommunication.  But.....I did ask another girl because I wasn't feeling 100% about it (that I ended up with GF bread) and she actually got a gluten free injera that was not out with the main bread.  So yes, they do offer GF but you must really make sure that is what you are getting!  The GF Injera was much darker than the normal injera.  

Cabbage.  Good but everything has a little too much oil for me (at nearly every restaurant!).  This dish is mild.

Now we are talking.....Wats.......Spicy Lentils.

Collard Greens.

The Veggie Ethiopian food tends to be Vegan. I have been told that during certain times of the year dairy is not used at all.  And who doesn't love to eat with their hands!

And Mayuri.  And Indian Joint that we have never actually been to-and with Raj's and Gokul's, there is no need.  I prefer to eat at Veggie Only places, if it is possible.  Mayuri had some Chana Masala.  My take was a nada.  Tasted like canned tomatoes and too red and watery and oily.  Hubby's take was yes, he liked it.  It was different than some other Chanas, but he was fine with it.  The flavor itself was actually okay, as it was heavily spiced.  But I am so spoiled with being able to make my own Chana Now (with "The Indian Slow Cooker" Book) that it was hard for me to accept this! 

But as I said, Hubby liked it.  So taste is purely subjective.  It wasn't his favorite though.  He LOVES Anupy's Chana!  Plus I make it oil free which fits in his super clean eating right now.

Why should you eat plants??  The video below is just one of the example of how what the government tells you to eat or what they subsidize may not be coming from their concern for your health.

From Dr. G's NutritionFacts.Org site.  Sign up for daily videos!

And a recent clip of Bill Clinton talking about his nearly vegan diet on David Letterman.

Also stay tuned for Dr. Oz this week as he will be having Julieanna Hever, author of Plant-Based Nutrition (Idiot's Guide) on his show this Friday, October 28, 2010.  Set your DVR's!

 

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition

CNN's Sexy Sanjay Gupta asks what's more radical? Eating Plants or Eating the way we do now? Gupta votes for Greens!

Get Skinny thinks that Sanjay Gupta is the Sexiest TV Doctor on the planet right now! My head spun around in sheer joy when I watched the second video where Sexy Sanjay responds to the remarks by his fellow reporter, that not everyone wants to go on a "radical" vegan diet.  Hmmm...He asks what will we consider the more radical diet years from now-will it be eating an unprocessed plant based diet or will it be the diet we are eating today.  Smooches for Sanjay when he stated it would clearly be the diet that most people are eating today.  Beans over Greens.  Bypass surgery is radical.  Beans are food!  Don't forget to tell your friends, family, and anyone who will listen about "The Last Heart Attack" show that will be on CNN tomorrow, Saturday Night.  To see the entire show right now, click on another of Get Skinny, Go Vegan's Sanjay Gupta is Saving the World Posts!!  :)  To me, this is the tipping point.  When something is on CNN, people actually believe it could be true.  Although there have been many books on these very facts, in circulation for years, many people are apt to ignore the evidence until high profile doctors actually give it a "seal of approval".  I bow one thousand bows to Sanjay Gupta today.  

On a side note.  Al Gore actually came out with some bold and ballsy (I am being so sarcastic :) statements that eating less meat would help reduce global warming.  That's great, after all of the press, after the UN stated this years ago (that meat & dairy were the #1 cause of carbon emissions), and after Bill Clinton & Sanjay Gupta were on CNN, finally he made a statement.  But coming from the man who has made "Climate Change" his life's work, I don't find it particularly brave.  It only took Bill Clinton one year on a plant based diet and he is already talking about it.  He doesn't "hide" what he eats in interviews in fear that the "Big Mean Industries" will come after him.  And his wife is still in government!  To me Al Gore has been disappointing, only because I had originally expected more from him.  I never expected that Bill Clinton, cheeseburger Bill, would actually be part of "The Tipping Point" for Planetary Health.  By eating an unprocessed plant based diet, we reduce global warming, we reduce death by cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, we reduce our health care costs, we reduce insurance costs because health care will cost less, we reduce our obesity rate, we increase the amount of people in the world that we can feed, we increase the amount of growing space for plants can be alternative fuel sources, we reduce our water consumption, and the list continues!  One millions points for Beans Today.  Zero Points for Bypass.  Beans Win!

"The Last Heart Attack" on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta SUNDAY. Sexy Plant Based Stud Caldwell Esselstyn Tells All.

This is old footage, but also on CNN & the boys talking about Plants.  Tune in THIS SUNDAY, August 21, The Last Heart Attack 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Yes, I typically roll my eyes when they have health "news" on the tely.  For one, usually it isn't "news" at all.  It's information that's been out there for years, but just now, it becomes "socially acceptable" to write about, or they can't ignore facts anymore, because technology gets information out there too quickly.  Well,  Vegan Hearthrob Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (from Forks Over Knives) will be on "The Last Heart Attack", a CNN "Presents" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  Good ol' Bill Clinton will be on, talking about his nearly vegan diet, and how it is helping to save his life.  I was so hoping that when he kept having heart trouble, that someone "high up" in the vegan world, would take him aside & tell him what's up.  That no stent was going to help him long-term.  That you couldn't "buy" your way out of heart disease.  And that's the truth.  It doesn't really matter the amount of material wealth you have on this planet, there are certain things you can't buy.  Apparently it started with Hillary (I always knew she was just a tad smarter than him) as it sounds like she enlisted the help of Dean Ornish (who is not as strict as Esselstyn on diet) while they were still in the White House.  But Bill didn't "go all the way" then-ha ha.  He didn't adopt an entirely plant based, low-fat diet.  Now, he has.  All of this stuff hitting "News" stations like CNN, which make me gag, except when I get pleasure from watching all the girls flirt endlessly with Anderson Cooper, because he's "safe"-since when do Chick Journalists just flirt shamelessly, Katie Couric style, on "regular news"??  Argh.  Makes me vomit & laugh hysterically at the same time.

An entire hour "Heart Attack Proof".


Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure

Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health


The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds


The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health

Anyway, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn is HOT HOT HOT.  They are going to talk about his claims that Heart Disease is preventable & often reversible with diet.  And that often there are NO warning signs that your heart is in trouble, until ya die.  AND, about cholesterol numbers.  There are a bunch of people out there eating raw, local butter out there, that they got from the cow chained up on their backyard patio in Berkeley, claiming cholesterol is bogus while drinking Krill Oil out of a Keg (Gag Me Ms. Fallon & Mr. Price).  Well....in my opinion it is the cholesterol test that we do currently that is bogus.  Get a VAP test done & that will tell you some shit!  Particle Size baby.  Do you have small dense particles?  Or nice, floaty, big ones?  What are ALL your LDL numbers??  I have a feeling that Dr. Hearthrob Esselstyn will blow the lid off the statin industry & IF it really saves anyone from anything.   So yeah, your number could be "normal" (according to "Industry Standards")  and you still have trouble, but is that according to a VAP test or just the normal tests they run, day in and day out, that don't give a whole lot of information.  Anyhoot, I am just thrilled that they are even talking about this.  And why is Esselstyn a hearthrob??  Well, I believe he is saving lives and it is his work (along with Colin Campbell), that is really gaining some "clout" these days.  And this shit is important.  We are in a time that people are losing their jobs left & right AND their health insurance.  So all those diabetes, heart, blood pressure drugs either the government is going to pay for OR people will have to stop taking, at some point.  OR we will all have to get a bit more educated on what we can do in our own lives so our entire lives are left in the hands of a drug company.  Or a government that subsidizes dead chicken.  ICK.  

CNN article about Bill Clinton & his plant based diet.  As far as a cheating politician who thinks with his weiner (like almost ALL of them), I am grateful that he is taking on this cause.  Of course it's the women in his family lit the fire, but he went with it.  And the guy is still trying to improve the world, he isn't on his ranch shootin' off guns for fun & barbecuing cows.  A Woo-Hoo for change!!  So small talent crush for him today.  Geez Louise, at least he was in office before tweeting.  We just had to speculate, we didn't actually have graphics!

Clip From UpComing "The Last Heart Attack" Show on CNN

August 21, Sunday.  8:00 pm ET.

Watch.

Article on "The Last Heart Attack Show" with Sanjay Gupta.  Check the link out to read about this upcoming special AND about Sanjay himself.  He has heart disease in his own family & his quest is to be heart attack proof.  They will talk about the tests and lifestyle changes you can make to keep ALL your organs happy.  I lost my grandfather to a heart attack.  He died in his early 40's and I never got to "meet" him.  He did smoke, and he did have previous heart attacks.  But most people who smoke an "average" amount don't die at 40.  His triglycerides were high.  It's not that I want to live forever, because I REALLY don't!!! I just want all the people around me, that I hold dear in my heart, to stay alive & healthy as long as possible and not to die of truly preventible diseases.

And oh, Dr. Sanjay.  Get Anupy Singla on your show next.  A match made in heaven (a food match!) as she cooks up the tastiest vegan Indian food EVER AND it is pretty "heart attack proof" as well.  Yep, Vegan Indian food full of Whole Grains, Beans, Healing Spices, Veggies.  Hmmm.....Do I see a Cooking Segment on Sanjay's "Morning Show"??  You guys all know I am already in LOVE with "The Indian Slow Cooker" book, but she is coming out with an ALL Vegan Indian book in 2012 AND rumor has it there are Dosas included.  Along with a bunch of other stuff you won't be able to live without, provided you are spicy people.  And deep down we are all "Spicy People".  We just don't all show it in public :)

The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

In this book you can make awesome heart healthy food like:

Split Urad Dal & Mustard/Spinach Greens.
Post Coming!

Ginger Garlic Eggplant

Tart Whole Pigeon Peas 

Aloo Gobi


Vegan Chana Dal