Tag: vegan

vegan proteins
Lifestyle Choices November 19, 2018

10 Sources of Vegan Protein

Lifestyle Choices November 19, 2018

If you live a vegan lifestyle, getting enough protein is something you may worry about. Although many Americans get the majority of their protein from meat, there are plenty of other alternatives for sources of healthy protein. Since World Vegan Day is celebrated in November, I thought this would be the perfect time to share 10 sources of vegan-friendly proteins. Seitan. This wheat-based meat alternative packs a whopping 36 grams of protein into every ½ cup serving. Texturally, it is also the closest thing to meats like pork and beef and can stand up to grilling and frying. However, this…

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Meatless Monday Chef
Sustainability September 17, 2018

Meatless Monday

Sustainability September 17, 2018

Exciting News! I’ve just become a Meatless Monday Ambassador! Meatless Monday is a global movement that asks people to give up meat for one day a week. By becoming an ambassador, I will work to encourage fellow meeting and event planners to think about meatless food options. Here’s why the movement is important to me: Pro-Environment Reducing our carbon footprint and practicing sustainable food practices is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Did you know that global livestock production creates more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks, planes, and trains in the world? By reducing…

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Celebrating Independence
Dietary Needs Duty of Care Meetings & Events July 5, 2018

Celebrating Independence

Dietary Needs Duty of Care Meetings & Events July 5, 2018

  How to Make it Easier for Those with Dietary Needs to Eat Safely & Feel Included As we (i.e., me and my U.S.-based readers) celebrated 242 years our country’s independence this week, I got to thinking about the words independence and freedom, how they relate to food and beverage, and what I do to promote safe and inclusive food environments. By Merriam-Webster’s definition, independence, in the simplest of terms, is “the quality or state of not being under the control of, reliant on, or connected with someone or something else.” And the definition of freedom is “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice…

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National Soy Foods Month
Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events April 14, 2017

National Soy Foods Month – Get to Know the New Soy!

Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events April 14, 2017

National Soy Foods Month – Celebrate! It’s National Soy Foods Month (#SoyFoodMonth)It is important first to note that soy is one of the “Big Eight” allergens, that group of food allergens that causes over 90% of allergic reactions in people with food allergies. While soy is a big eight allergen and should be taken seriously, statistics suggest that soy may not be as equally dangerous or consequential as other allergens, such as milk, which accounts for 80% of food allergies and intolerances, worldwide. Remember to Treat Soy as an Allergen – Because it is one The Soyfoods Association of America…

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Swirls of cooked noodle on a fork - National Eat Your Noodles day
Food & Beverage March 13, 2017

It’s National Eat Your Noodles Day

Food & Beverage March 13, 2017

Noodles: A Food Staple of Many Forms It’s National Eat Your Noodles Day (#NationalEatYourNoodlesDay). Who comes up with these specialty days, I do not know, but I’m going to go with it today. Especially since what you think of as noodles might be different than the guy next to you. According to the Oxford dictionary, noodles are made from flour paste into very thin, long strips of pasta. Once cooked, they can be eaten in soup or with sauce. When you take my friend Chef Gloria Smiley’s pasta making class, you learn that pasta is simply white flour and egg. From…

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2017-Cutting-Edge-Food-Trends-iStock-521534856
Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events January 24, 2017

2017 Cutting Edge Food Trends

Dietary Needs Food Service Meetings & Events January 24, 2017

So much can be said for the future of our industry and of food. There is too much hunger, yet food waste is a major problem. We grow field after field of crops that will feed our cars, our cattle, and ourselves, but we grow in unsustainable patterns with inefficiencies that cause massive price hikes on crops that would be affordable and environmentally friendly if they were only grown cyclically. And what about dining? We come together to celebrate, socialize, and conduct business, but the changing landscape of food laws and dietary needs has created a different environment for the…

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Matza bread for passover celebration - how to Manage a Kosher event
Religious Dietary Practices December 20, 2016

So You Are Asked to Manage a Kosher Event…What do You do?

Religious Dietary Practices December 20, 2016

How to Manage A Kosher Event In October after hearing how Bonnie had to plan her daughter’s Jewish wedding last month incorporating two different kosher practices, I asked if she would write a piece on how to plan and manage a kosher event. Below is some of her guidance.  When you plan or manage a kosher event it can be overwhelming to those who have no knowledge of what kosher means and even to those who are Jewish and were raised in a kosher home. My experience in planning a 3,000 person event for the Council of Jewish Federations for their General Assembly was…

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swiss chard + white bean grilled sammie from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes
Recipes November 17, 2016

Make Your Attendees Crave Lunch with these 12 Vegan Options

Recipes November 17, 2016

Use the Vegan Lunch Ideas for Meetings to Feed Attendees Well Over the last few months I’ve gotten quite a few emails/calls from meeting planners asking me for healthy and delicious vegan lunch ideas for meetings since the hotel, convention center and/or catering companies they are working with are not making an effort to do this for them. To top the frustration I’ve heard from planners, the stories from vegan and vegetarian meeting attendees about what they were served illustrate a lack of enthusiasm from chefs to create these meals: At an awards banquet Jessie was served one – yes, one – roasted carrot. Monica was…

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Lifestyle Choices November 1, 2016

Happy Vegan Month and World Vegan Day!

Lifestyle Choices November 1, 2016

November is off to a great start and one of the reasons is that November first is World Vegan Day. I’m not promoting we all need to switch to veganism, but I am promoting more vegan dishes in our menus. Not only will be making a concerted effort to meet the needs of our custom eaters, we’ll be opening our events to a vast and surprisingly delicious world of innovative vegan dishes. With a growing number of people turning to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, the effort to create meat-like dishes is long gone. Occasionally, we still see tofurkey, fish-like tacos,…

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