The past few years, vegans have seen a huge growth in the availability and variety of non-dairy ice cream. Brands like Häagen-Dazs, Ben and Jerry’s, and Breyers now have vegan versions that occupy shelves in the frozen section of the store, fulfilling almost any flavor craving you might be having!
Get ready to scream—again—for vegan ice cream because Halo Top Creamery recently released seven coconut-based ice cream flavors.
I had the very difficult task of sampling Halo Top’s dairy-free varieties, and I will tell you that I enjoyed every single flavor! I’m a sucker for peanut butter, so naturally my immediate favorite was the Peanut Butter Cup. But if you’re a fan of caramel, you’re going to want to try the Caramel Macchiato and Sea Salt Caramel. Oh, and cinnamon lovers rejoice—they’ve got a Cinnamon Roll flavor just for you! The remaining flavors include, Chocolate Covered Banana and plain Chocolate.
Excited? Us, too! Use Halo Top’s store locator to track down these pints. Many stores are just starting to get them in, and they’ll eventually be available nationwide!
A few months ago, we featured Sunny and Elizabeth—two women who formed a close friendship after being connected through Vegan Outreach’s Vegan Mentor Program (VMP).
Today, we bring you a story of two families who, similar to Sunny and Elizabeth, became good friends after being introduced through the VMP. In this interview, we’ll meet both families, hear about their paths to veganism and the role the VMP played in bringing them together. Most importantly, we’ll see pictures and get the tasty details about their Thanksgiving holiday, which they celebrated together in sunny Florida!
Tell us about yourselves and your families.
Natalie Mindrum: My name is Natalie Mindrum. I work in the airline industry overseeing a real estate portfolio that includes the New York City region. My husband, Adam, is a fellow vegan, and we have two vegan kids, ages 7 and 5, and two vegan rescued canine companions, Leyla, a beagle-mix, and Stuart, a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pitbull mix.
Kristine Casart: My name is Kristine Casart, and I’m a full-time mom of three vegan kids, ages 9, 6, and 2. My husband, Tim, and I also take care of our vegan beagles Leif and Lars. I’m also very excited about this project that I just started called Mom Vegan Love. So far I have a Facebook page and Instagram. I try to show people how fun it is to be vegan.
What were your respective vegan journeys like?
Natalie: I became vegan back in 2007. I read a book by E.O. Wilson called The Diversity of Life, which got me thinking about how similar humans are to the animals on our plates. Then I saw Earthlings and the rest was history. My boyfriend, now husband, was a bit resistant in the beginning, but now he’s been vegan for nearly a decade, too—for the animals. I decided to become a mentor for Vegan Outreach’s VMP because I wanted to meet fellow vegans and I was interested in helping people who were trying to go vegan.
Being matched with Kristine and her family, who lived just a few minutes away from us, was more than what I could have hoped for from the program! It’s led to what I hope will be a life-long friendship!
Kristine: I first watched Forks Over Knives about four years ago and wanted to go vegan overnight for health reasons. My husband was not quite ready at the time, and we started by transitioning to a vegetarian diet. About 2 ½ years ago we watched Earthlings together. We completely made the connection and went vegan for the animals that day.
I absolutely love us as vegans! Getting rid of asthma, allergies, low immune systems, and stomach issues has led us to enjoy life to the fullest. Opening our hearts to live according to our core values and letting love and compassion be our guide is just amazing. Our only regret is not having gone vegan sooner.
We do feel like the odd couple on the block sometimes though, ha ha. After a trip to California 1 ½ years ago, where vegan felt so much like the norm, I felt the need to find like-minded people closer to home. Meeting Natalie and her amazing vegan family has been just what we needed. We definitely feel like this is the beginning of a life-long friendship, and we’re so grateful to Vegan Outreach for setting us up.
Natalie (left) and Kristine (right)
Kristine, you just moved from Illinois—where you and Natalie met—to Florida. Have you two been able to spend time together since relocating?
Kristine: Yes! We all celebrated Thanksgiving together last year back in Illinois. Natalie and her family cooked an absolutely amazing meal for all of us, which I still dream about. We were thrilled when they could come down to Florida this year so we could return the favor. We had so much fun!
Give us the scoop on your Thanksgiving!
Natalie: Tim and Kristine are amazing cooks! I’m always telling them that they need to open a restaurant. We felt so excited to get to hang out with them in sunny Florida and eat their incredible food. I’m still thinking about the carrot lox and blueberry cheezecake.
Kristine: We had so much fun during their stay. Feels like a dream, truly something to be thankful for!
If you could offer one piece of advice to an aspiring or new vegan, what would it be?
Natalie: Remember that veganism isn’t about your own personal purity—it’s about reducing animal suffering. In the beginning, just do your best and don’t beat yourself up if you make a mistake. Remember to be compassionate to your fellow humans too, including yourself!
Kristine: Make the connection to where your food comes from—watch documentaries. Finding out that plants have plenty of protein and the health benefits of a plant-based diet made it possible for me to finally pull down the veil and make more compassionate choices.
Just take it one meal at a time and have fun! We love Pinterest for recipes—just type in whatever you’d like to eat and add the word Vegan. There are so many delicious options at your fingertips. Sign up for a mentor through Vegan Outreach, the support and companionship is amazing.
As the Outreach Coordinators’ leafleting tours come to an end, we’d like to acknowledge this semester’s most prolific leafleters of Vegan Outreach’s Adopt a College Program.
We’ve asked each of the top leafleters to share their favorite memory from this past semester—their stories will surely leave you feeling inspired!
“The memory that really sticks out for me this semester was leafleting Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY. Not only was everyone incredibly friendly, but they were so interested in learning more about speciesism and veganism in general.
I had several engaging and unforgettable conversations with students, including one student I’m still in contact with today. I’ve given him a ton of resources, social media pages to follow, recipes, etc. He’s working on his full transition to vegan living!”
Alexis leafleted at 63 schools this semester and distributed 41,685 leaflets.
Jevranne Martel, Outreach Coordinator
“One memory that stands out was an interaction I recently had on Prince Edward Island. When I arrived in Charlottetown, I headed downtown to do outreach. I handed information to two younger gentlemen who quickly turned around to ask for more information. They were really excited to see activism happening on the island because they’d been learning more about these issues.
One of them not only wanted to go fully vegan but also wanted to get more involved and do activism. We had a wonderful, detailed conversation. I’m certain he will be an amazing activist for the animals!”
Jevranne leafleted at 58 schools this semester and distributed 32,695 leaflets.
Rachel Shippee, Outreach Coordinator
“My favorite memory is from the first day of the semester when I leafleted at the University of Iowa. I met a student, Breanna, who stopped to let me know she went vegan after receiving a Vegan Outreach booklet last year. We also had a great team of volunteers that day and handed out over 4,000 leaflets! It was a great start to the semester.”
Rachel leafleted at 33 schools this semester and distributed 39,499 leaflets.
Sam Tucker, Australia Outreach Coordinator
“My favorite day of outreach this semester was at Victoria University, in Melbourne, Australia. Vegan Outreach, Animal Activist Collective, and Truth Riders all worked together to support the launch of the Victoria University Vegans club.
We handed out 1,100 leaflets and about 30 people watched Animal Equality’s iAnimal Virtual Reality. We showed videos on TV screens, wrote chalk messages, plastered the campus with posters, fed countless students delicious vegan food, had in-depth conversations about reducing consumption of animal foods, and nearly 100 people signed up to join the new vegan club on campus!”
Sam leafleted at 34 schools this semester and distributed 55,723 leaflets.
A huge congratulations to these Outreach Coordinators and those highlighted in Part I.
And a big thank you to all of Vegan Outreach’s supporters—who directly fuel our work—Outreach Coordinators, and volunteers! Because of you, many animals will be spared a life of suffering.
Donate in honor of a leafleter today to keep their work going.
Attention vegan parents! In just a few short days, you’ll have access to a great new resource on vegan parenting—a free digital magazine!
This project was initiated by our friends behind the website Raise Vegan and will cover everything from planning for children, conception, how to handle skeptical family members, delicious recipes, and printable charts with nutritional information.
The first issue of the Raise Vegan magazine is set to release on December 15 and will be published in Spanish and English. By the end of 2018, the magazine will be in multiple languages.
During the holiday season, there’s never a shortage of events where delicious holiday-themed cookies take front and center stage. Like that upcoming holiday cookie exchange, or annual office Christmas party.
Or maybe there’s no occasion and you just want a few—ahem, or a couple dozen—delicious holiday cookies at home to enjoy all by yourself! Whatever your holiday cookie needs may be, we’ve got some tasty recommendations for you!
Move over commercially-made, bagged Ginger Snaps. Here’s a pumpkiny, soft version that’s sure to win out any ginger snap-lover’s taste buds! Try Vegan Richa’sSoft Pumpkin Ginger Snaps.
Salty Sweet Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze and Candied Pecans
As the Outreach Coordinators’ leafleting tours come to an end, we’d like to acknowledge this semester’s most prolific leafleters of Vegan Outreach’s Adopt a College Program.
We’ve asked each of them to share their favorite memory from this fall—hearing their stories will definitely leave you feeling inspired. Let’s get to it!
John Deetjen, Outreach Coordinator
“It’s difficult to pick one specific interaction—there were many things that made this semester great. It was really encouraging to hear students talking in mass about the concept of Speciesism—thanks to our new booklet.
It was also cool hearing from so many students who are very close to going vegan, and it’s great to provide them with the resources on how to do it. One student at College of Dupage even called our resources the, ‘Answer to her prayers.’ She’d been wanting to go vegan and now she is confident she can.”
John leafleted at 88 schools this semester and distributed 75,318 leaflets.
Steve Erlsten, Northern California Outreach Coordinator
“Meeting Gisella at Contra Costa College was a great reminder that some people need extra encouragement to put their compassion into action. She’d been vegetarian for about 18 months and was excited about the information in the Guide to Animal-Free Eating I gave her. By the end of our conversation, she was confident that she could go vegan and stay vegan!”
Steve leafleted at 89 schools this semester and distributed 72,304 leaflets.
Kimberly Moffatt, Outreach Coordinator
“My favorite memory from the semester was when I leafleted with volunteers at Nassau Community College. Altogether we spoke to about 20 people—students, faculty and security guards—who were either interested in going vegan or reducing their animal food product consumption. We talked to people who’d tried going vegan once and wanted to try again, and everything else in between. I told them how they could text and receive our Guide to Animal-Free Eating and explained VO’s mentor program.”
Kimberly leafleted at 58 schools this semester and distributed 35,350 leaflets.
Miguel Marrón, Outreach Coordinator
“Last week I was leafleting at Riverside City College, and I talked to a student who received a booklet from VO one year ago. She’s been vegan ever since.”
Miguel leafleted at 41 schools this semester and distributed 46,136 leaflets.
Emmanuel Márquez, Mexico Outreach Manager
“My favorite outreach moment this semester was at the Universidad Regiomontana in Monterrey, Nuevo León, MX. While tabling, I met Patricia. She learned how cows are treated in dairy farms while viewing Animal Equality’s iAnimal Virtual Reality.
After watching the 360 footage, she told me she felt good for not taking part in that system anymore. She attended a Humane Education presentation I did last semester, and after that she gave up dairy. She shared that using iAnimal made her desire to avoid dairy stronger and motivated her to keep moving forward to always eat vegan.”
Emmanuel leafleted at 62 schools this semester and distributed 47,674 leaflets.
Yuri Mitzkewich, Southeast Outreach Coordinator
“One of my favorite memories this fall was our visit to Florida Southwestern State College. We had a lot of great conversations—the interest in our message is heavy at community colleges and small universities because students rarely get information shared about veganism. That is one of the more important functions I feel VO does to spread the message about animals.”
Yuri leafleted at 85 schools this semester and distributed 70,909 leaflets.
Read Part II for another round of inspirational stories from more of the Fall ’17 top leafleters!
Donate in honor of a leafleter today to keep their work going.
This fall, Vegan Outreach released it’s newest booklet, What is Speciesism. We’ve received positive feedback from our Outreach Coordinators about the impact this particular leaflet is making on college campuses across the country.
Are you familiar with the term? Check out this 60-second video produced by VO supporter, Eric Day, to get a brief overview.
Will you help us make speciesism a well-known concept? Share Eric’s video on social media and order VO’s What is Speciesism booklet online—grab a few friends and leaflet in a public place where open-minded people roam.
Janet is the founder of Vegan Pregnancy and Parenting, the largest vegan parenting group in the world. She also owns Raise Vegan, an online resource for parents who are raising or considering raising their families plant-based. Find her on Instagram if you have any questions.
Stumped on what to buy your little vegan this holiday season? Here are some recommendations on what to wrap up and stick in their stocking or under the tree. These gifts are unique, human and animal-friendly, and will have them grinning from ear to ear.
If there’s one thing kids love, it’s making a mess and seeing their devoted parents cleaning up after them. Why not make your life that wee bit more entertaining—what were you planning on doing on a Saturday night anyway?
Bath bombs fizz, bubble, and will generally make your kids really happy until their little fingers have gone the great old wrinkly way.
Despite what it feels like now, your kids will fly the coop one day. And when they do, they’ll need to know more than how to burn water and order fries. Getting kids involved in cooking also provides opportunities for parents to explain why they choose not to eat animals.
And you never know—if the kids cook their own broccoli, they might even eat it!
We know that vegan festival season is right around the corner, and your cool little vegan needs the latest trends. Have them prepared with their not-too-aggressive, but eye-catching shirt that lets others know there’s a mini vegan activist in the works.
A quick google search will give you plenty of vegan clothing options, or you can check out Vegan Pregnancy and Parenting for some ideas. For example, the Herbivore is an awesome shirt with all the fun and animal-loving messaging.
Simple Happy Kitchen has a range of plant food stickers on their site, but my favorite is the cutout vegetable characters, such as Tomato Face and Mr. Pedro Almondvar. They’re a riot!
I’ll be scraping these off the walls for all of 2018—join me!
This little Pet Tofu is a step-up from the pet rock days and is a sure way to please your little ones. All Pet Tofus are made to order, come with their own little home, and are ready to be named and taken for daily walks.
Depending on where you live, these might be a gift that gets stored away for the warmer months. These water balloons are reusable, animal-friendly, and would be a welcome addition to bath time or the summer-time picnic.
Have more ideas on what to buy vegan kids? Leave a comment below and tell us!
Nothing will impress your holiday guests more than an entirely vegan cheese platter! Tune in to watch Kim Sujovolsky, founder of Brownble, demonstrate how to make a spreadable, creamy, cashew and chive cheese and that will make for a perfect holiday-themed platter!
Festive Cheese Platter
Yields 2 round cheeses.
Ingredients
Cheese Base
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 4 hours or overnight
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 ½ teaspoons agar agar powder, diluted in a bit of cold water
1 tablespoon water—use only if needed to help your blender run. The less you use the better
Cheese Decorations
Chopped chives
Smashed pretzels
Whole pretzels—for adding on top of the cheese
Crushed pink peppercorns
Platter Additions
Fresh fruit—strawberries, raspberries, figs, grapes, etc.
Olives
Extra pretzels
Toast points
Dried fruit—apricots, dates, dried figs, etc.
Directions
Drain the cashews from the soaking water and add them to a blender. If you didn’t soak the cashews ahead of time, place in a pot of boiling water for about ten minutes and drain.
Add the garlic powder, salt, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and coconut oil. Blend together, scraping down the sides as needed until you have a thick cream. Depending on your blender, you may need to add a tablespoon of water to help it run.
Transfer the creamy mixture to a small pot and fold in the chopped chives.
Add the agar agar—diluted in a bit of cold water—to the pot and mix.
Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let it cool slightly while you place some plastic wrap over two flat ramekins or small containers.
Divide the cheese mixture between the two ramekins, placing the mixture on top of the plastic wrap. Press it down well into the ramekin with a spatula since this will be your mold. Wrap the top with the plastic wrap.
Place the cheeses in the fridge for anywhere between 4 hours to 24 hours, depending on how firm you like it. It will still be a creamy cheese, but the more you leave it the more sliceable it will be. You can also increase the agar agar if you want an even firmer cheese.
Right before serving your cheeses, carefully remove them from the molds by pulling a bit on the plastic wrap, and then remove the plastic.
Place the extra chopped chives on a plate and carefully place the cheese over them so that they stick to the top. Turn it over and place it on your platter. Repeat the process with the second one, only this time using the crushed pretzels and smashed pink peppercorns.
Stick some whole pretzels on top of the pretzel-peppercorn topped cheese for a beautiful and festive look.
Add any additions you’d like to your cheese plate—from fresh fruit to different breads and toast, dried fruit, olives, etc.
