Dear (((EveryBit))) Readers,
It’s December, YAY! A very special month, we celebrate Christmas (my favorite holiday ever!) and another year comes to an end.
We once again find ourselves making the traditional New Year resolutions, and one of the most common resolutions is losing weight, which creates the perfect opportunity for me to talk about the weight loss benefits linked to vegetarian diets and explain a little bit about the different types of vegetarian diets. It is also the perfect time to share a mouth-watering and cruelty-free “Holiday Turkey Roast” recipe. We all get very emotional during this time of year, our hearts warm up with happy memories, Christmas Carols and movies, we gather with family and friends and feel the warmth of love and joy all around us. We should take this opportunity to think about the well-being of animals. Just like us they also suffer, they feel pain and fear, so why not have a Christmas REALLY filled with love and compassion and try a vegetarian cruelty-free Christmas dinner instead of the regular one? A Glance at Vegetarianism: In this issue I’m going to explain the different types of vegetarian diets and talk about the weight loss benefits linked to such diets.
There are two major types of vegetarian diets: lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (which allows for dairy products and egg) and the vegan diet (which is typically plant-based and with no animal products at all).
When you switch to a vegetarian diet you lose weight automatically thanks to the consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. These foods are all high in fiber which is a factor associated with lower body weight. Plant-based foods usually have fewer calories and more nutrients than animal-based products, so they also aid weight loss. Quote of the Month: “People eat meat and think they will become strong as an ox, forgetting that the ox eats grass”.
Recipe: “Vegetarian Holiday Turkey Roast” – The perfect option to substitute the regular turkey, it’s DELICIOUS and it has the same texture and flavor, it is also WAY easier to prepare and serve and you don’t have to worry about uncooked and raw parts.
The brand I prefer is “Quorn”, you can find it at Whole Foods and some Publix stores as well, it costs around $ 6.99. Ingredients:
Quorn Meatless Turkey Roast
1 big onion or 2 small onions
4 garlic cloves
2 measuring cups of red or white wine (I prefer red wine because it adds a nice color to the meatless turkey)
1 handful of sliced black olives
6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
12 Baby Potatoes
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of sweet peas
1 Ziplock bag
Directions:
Remove the meatless turkey from its plastic packaging and put it inside the Ziplock bag. Chop the onion, mince the garlic and put them inside the bag together with the sliced olives. Add the wine and then the powdered seasonings (garlic/onion/curry), the salt and the bay leaves, zip the bag and shake it well so all the seasonings you added will be completely mixed.
Preheat your oven to 375 F, pour all the contents of the Ziplock bag into a roasting pan and bake it for one hour, I like to open the oven every 20 minutes and use a spoon to baste the turkey with the seasoned wine lying around it, it keeps the turkey moist, seasoned to perfection, and it gives your meatless turkey the perfect color!
Add the potatoes, the chickpeas, and the sweet peas 20 minutes before you reach the total cooking time, I like to place them around the turkey, they go perfect together and they also decorate the dish.
Et voila! Your delicious and cruelty-free holiday roast is ready. Make sure you have your favorite vegan gravy at hand because you just can't separate these two.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
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