What the Bleep are Natural Flavors?

By: Genevieve Melzer

The definition of natural flavors given by the FDA Code of Federal Regulation is:

“The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolsate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy product, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”

Wow, that is a mouthful! After reading that but not understanding a few of the big words I do however get the gist of what is being said…basically natural flavors are an additive flavor that serves no nutritional function. The Food Industry uses natural flavors as an Umbrella term for many different additives.

So why are natural flavors added? If they aren’t adding a nutritional function why are they needed at all? Food companies are using natural flavors as a way to make their food more addicting. This is just another reason why we should all be growing and cooking our own food from scratch. Processed foods are full of natural flavors even healthy looking items or ones that say “all natural” are full of weird additives and strange chemicals.

What are a few “natural flavors”?
Natural flavors can be such things as MSG, Aspartame and Castoreum (which is made from sex glands of beavers…yes I’m serious…I know horrifying)
Some natural flavors include animal matter or dairy so they are not vegetarian or vegan but are allowed in vegan and vegetarian foods. Watch out if you are a vegan or a vegetarian because natural flavors are lurking on the back of almost all packaged food items.

What can we do?
I don’t want to make anyone feel powerless; there is always something you can do to change your situation and the world.

1. Read Labels: Don’t buy anything with natural flavors, it may be difficult at first because your body will be going through withdraws but once it’s out of your system you will triumph.

2. Call the company of the food and ask for example “What natural flavor is in this vegetarian split pea soup?” They should tell you and then look it up online and see what it really is and choose if you want to continue buying that product.

3. Write a letter to the food company and express your frustration with the use of natural flavors and the fact that you will not be consuming them anymore.

4. Grow your own food, start a small garden so you know exactly what your body is consuming.
Next time you are craving a piece of strawberry cake, or a bag of potato chips take a second and consider what might be hidden in that favorite snack food and opt out for the real version of that food that could fill that craving instead.

Till we meet again trust your instincts and stay positive!

What is Nutritional Yeast?

  by: Elizabeth Beals

   Nutritional Yeast is an amazing source of vitamins, minerals and protein for vegans and meat-eaters alike. If you buy the kind that is fortified with vitamin B12, (which I recommend) then you are getting 150 percent of the vitamin B12 (based on a two tablespoon serving). How amazing is that? Vegans often get asked, "Aren't you worried about getting enough protein in your diet?" First of all, there is a good deal of debate about how much animal protein our bodies actually need. If you would like to read more about animal based protein, and how it affects our bodies, I recommend reading the book The China Study. Second, if we as vegans are eating a healthy plant-based diet, and not just potato chips and soda, then we are most likely getting all the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. B12 is a vitamin that we do miss out on; but, by simply adding Nutritional Yeast that has been fortified with B12 to our diet, we need not worry. We can have it all!

    Nutritional values vary from brand to brand but, on average, two tablespoons equals 9 grams of complete protein and provides all 18 amino acids, 9 of which the human body cannot produce itself. One serving of fortified yeast provides us with 20 percent of the recommended daily value of iron, and it is also a source of selenium and potassium. It is naturally low in fat and sodium it's also free of sugar, dairy, and gluten. In addition, because it is chocked full of the B complex vitamins, it helps your body to convert food to energy more easily, and can minimize depression, insomnia, nervousness, fatigue, trembling, loss of appetite, PMS, mood changes and irritability. Plus, our skin, hair, and nails will look great! I buy mine in the bulk section at the health food store.
 
 So, how do you use it, you ask? Well, my favorite way to eat it is on popcorn. A very simple snack or even a light meal. It has a cheesy taste and is the perfect replacement for parmesan cheese.

You will need:
Popcorn, as much or as little as you like to eat
1-2 tablespoons of oil, coconut oil gives a nice flavor, unless you are using an air-popper
Bragg's Liquid Aminos (a soy sauce alternative), just enough to lightly drizzle on the popcorn
Nutritional Yeast, use as much as you would parmesan cheese

1. Pop the corn kernels in a large sauce pan or a stock pot if you are making a lot, with a little oil. Heat the oil over a medium heat with the kernels in the pan and cover with a lid. Keep the pan moving so you don't burn the kernels. When the popping slows to one pop every 2-3 seconds, you are done.
2. Drizzle the popcorn with Bragg's to give it a salty taste and to help the Nutritional Yeast have something to stick to.
3. Sprinkle the Yeast over the popcorn and mix all together. I keep my yeast in a spice jar on the table to sprinkle on just about everything I eat. Mixing can either be done in the pot or a large bowl.

I hope you enjoy this easy snack and try Nutritional Yeast on other things. You never know until you try!

Arugula Sweet Potato Salad

By: Genevieve Melzer

Every night my boyfriend and I discuss what we want to eat for dinner, and even though we are creative with our meals sometimes we are both stumped. We always want something healthy, delicious and filling; one night I came up with this salad, it satisfied all requirements.

Arugula is one of my favorite greens. If you have never had it, I strongly recommend you try it immediately. Arugula looks and tastes kind of like spinach with a spicy undertone. It was the perfect base for my salad.

You will need:
4 cups or 2 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 cup sliced red onion
¾ cup sliced tomatoes
4 cups arugula
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 pinches of salt
2 pinches of pepper

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Thinly slice sweet potatoes and place in glass casserole dish, drizzle sweet potatoes with coconut oil, salt and pepper. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.

While your sweet potatoes are cooking, chop up the cilantro and tomatoes into small pieces and cut your onion into thin slices. When the sweet potatoes are cooked remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

In a big bowl place arugula, onions, tomatoes and cilantro, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Take about 2 cups of the salad and place on plate or bowl, next add 1 cup of sweet potatoes on top. Serve and enjoy.

This salad makes about four healthy servings and won’t take very long to make especially if you cook your sweet potatoes ahead of time.

This salad is perfect to fuel your body after a tough workout or busy day in the garden. The arugula and the sweet potatoes complement each other nicely. This salad is only dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper it shows that salads don’t have to be smothered in a creamy dressing. I believe that a little bit of olive oil goes along way especially on a flavorful salad like this one.

I hope you enjoy this salad, until next time: eat healthy, love always and save the planet one decision at a time!

Pretty in Pink Hummus

by: Elizabeth Beals

   Hummus is one of those recipes that, once you get the hang of it, you won't need a recipe anymore. A little of this, and a little of that, whatever your heart desires. I love the color of this hummus, it's so bright and vibrant, I could eat the whole thing in one sitting. It's also a great way to hide veggies from kids and adults a like. I use this hummus for dipping veggies, and also to complete my falafel salads. It also works great as a spread on about anything.

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 roasted beet, cut in half

1 Roma tomato, cut in half

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced

1 lemon juiced, about 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon tahini 

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Tools or Special Equipment:

Food processor with a large bowl.

Preparation and Procedures: 

1. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans, then place them in the food processor.
2. Add the beet, Roma tomato, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt to the food processor.
3. Pulse the processor until you have a smooth texture, adding another tablespoon of oil  if the texture is too thick. Add the additional oil while the processor is still on.
4. When you reach a creamy and smooth texture you know you're done. It's as easy as that!

Preparation Time:

 Roasting the beets will take about an hour, but if that is already done aprox. 5 minutes of prep.

Longevity:

3-4 days in the icebox, I keep mine in a glass mason jar.

Roasted Beets

by: Elizabeth Beals

Roasted Beets

     Many people pass up beets simply because they don't know what to do with them once they get them home. How do I cook with those big beautiful beets? I roast them of course! It takes about an hour, but 50 of those 60 minutes are spent however you would like because they are cooking away in the oven. I use beets a lot in my kitchen. Salads, burger patties, and even in hummus. 

Small beet next to a very small beet

Beets ready to be pulled

You will need:

Beets, 4 

Scrub Brush

Foil

8x8 glass baking dish

Oven

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Take the green tops off your beets by twisting them away from the beet. Don’t cut anything at this point. Use a scrub brush to clean the skins of the beets with a little water.

3. Wrap the beets tightly in foil, and place them in a baking dish, I use an 8x8 glass dish, but anything pan or dish will work to catch any beet juice.

4. Cook for 50 to 60 minutes depending on the size. Bigger the beet the longer the cooking time. You will know when they are done because you will be able to easily put a butter knife through the cooked beet. Let them cool for a few minutes until you are able to touch them without burning yourself.  A skill I am still working on!

5. To remove the skins, rub the beet with your fingers and the skins should easily come off in your fingertips. Wear gloves if want, your fingers will get stained. 

6. After you have rubbed the skins off, cut the tail and top off, slice, dice or leave whole. Eat and enjoy.

I keep my roasted beets in a glass mason jar in the ice box (refrigerator) until I'm ready to use them. They don't last long in my kitchen I eat them too fast, but they will however keep for about a week.

Summer Sorbet

By: Genevieve Melzer

August is the perfect time to breakout all the delicious summer fruits you have been dreaming of all year like watermelon and peaches. In this recipe we are going to take those fruits and make them into cool, refreshing sorbets.

Sorbet is a dessert that vegans and non-vegans can equally indulge in. As a vegan it’s always exciting to have a dessert on hand that is vegan and healthy. Sorbet is the perfect summer dessert because it doesn’t make you feel bloated or full, and you can still rock a killer bikini body the next day.

This recipe is simple, easy and you can make it with basically any fruit. When I first made this recipe I used watermelon, raspberries and peaches (pictured). Today I am going to use peaches, but feel free to use any other fruit you want to.

You will need:
2 cups of cut up peaches (about 4 peaches)
1/3 cup of water
2 tbsp agave nectar

Start by freezing your fruit the day before. Cut up the fruit into small pieces about 1” to ½” and place cut up fruit into a plastic bag to freeze. I suggest using a reusable plastic bag to freeze the fruit because I froze my fruit in a tubaware container and had to use a knife like an ice pick to get the fruit out the next day.

Once your fruit it frozen, place half the frozen peaches about 1 cup into the food processor. If you don’t own a food processor no need to worry you can use a blender instead. You might just need to blend the mixture longer in a blender to get it to a smooth consistency.

Now that you have your peaches in the food processor go ahead and grind them for about 30-40 seconds. Add the other half of the frozen peaches, water and agave nectar and grind/chop until entire mixture is smooth could take up to 2 minutes depending on how you like it, chunky of completely smooth.

Scoop out of food processor into a bowl and enjoy or place back into freezer until ready to serve.
Tip: It is best served right after making it.
This recipe makes about 2 cups of sorbet or 4 smaller servings, if you wish to make more just double or triple the recipe.

This recipe is simple and only takes about 15 minutes to make once your fruit is frozen. Sorbet is the perfect dessert when entertaining a group or just a way to cool off on a hot summer day.
Until next time eat, love and save the planet one decision at a time!

Why us?

We have experienced firsthand how food can change how your body and mind feel when given a diet of predominately fruits and vegetables. We both have felt so much better since we have started this vegan lifestyle and wanted to share that with you. If we can help even one person feel better than we have done our job.

Our Backgrounds

Elizabeth Beals: “Gardener Extraordinaire”

My name is Elizabeth and I am a country girl at heart that hails from Kansas via Texas only to land and plant my roots in Northern California. I haven’t always been vegan or even vegetarian for that matter. My grandpaw used to joke that he felt sorry for any man that took me to dinner because I would order the big fat steak and not the plain old burger.
I started my food journey after struggling for years trying to feel healthy and normal. In my late teens and early 20’s I dealt with a lot of intestinal pains and nausea due to a lifelong health condition called Endometriosis. I didn't understand it at the time but my diet was playing a heavy hand in what was making me sick.
Cutting out red meat was the first change I made, no more juicy steaks for me. I was amazed at how good I felt from that simple change. Soon I cut out all meat and felt even better, I was on a roll. Dairy was soon to follow and I had a hallelujah moment: Animal protein was not for me! All signs pointed to a vegan lifestyle. I was in less pain and had more energy than I ever did before when I was an athlete as a kid and young adult.

Genevieve Melzer: “Fitness/Hosting Guru”

My name is Genevieve Melzer and I grew up in Northern California. I have a degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University and although my heart will always be Nor Cal I was meant to be a SoCal girl. After college I moved down south and started to try to figure out this thing called life. I consider myself lucky because I have always known what I’m passionate about, I love to entertain people. I used to think I wanted to be an actress but later figured out I don’t want to play anyone else; I just want to be myself. That’s when I got into hosting and creating my own videos, it was the perfect way to express myself and feed my soul.
I have always been into fitness and health but I felt like my body was holding me back due to chronic stomach aches. I have had chronic stomach aches dating back to my middle school days and remember becoming a vegetarian for a year but eventually eating meat again after that. Then I really started to research and explore different eating habits. First thing I did was cut out meat and then eventually dairy and my stomach aches started to fade and go away. I was no longer having that “oh shit” moment when I needed to use the restroom immediately. So the verdict was in and being a vegan was the unanimous vote.

That's just a little bit about the two of us, we look forward to sharing our recipes, tips and experiences with you. Thanks for checking out our blog and website. We hope you enjoy Two Girls & One Organic Garden!

Until next time...eat, love and save the planet one decision at a time,

Genevieve & Elizabeth