Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC (Part 5)
Asheville has an abundance of dining options including speciality places where plant-based devotees can enjoy a melt-in-your-mouth doughnut or a creamy, rich chocolate truffle, a piece of moist dark chocolate cake, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, chocolate chip cookies, homemade pies, freshly made soft pretzels, and more. Scroll through these culinary destination hot spots and then make some plans to taste the flavors of Asheville. Read more 
Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC (Part 4)
The Asheville dining scene for plant-based or vegan eaters has never been better. Years ago, I could write about the vegan options in virtually any town or city in one or two posts but not for Asheville, a city known for tolerance, compassion, and a deep respect for personal choice. It’s not that Ashevillians eat less animal products then the rest of the population (they probably eat just as much, if not more); the vegan-friendly approach has more to do with tolerance, accommodation, and a desire to please the people sitting at a table in their restaurant.
This is the fourth installment of vegan dining options in Asheville and there’s still two to go. Enjoy. Read on and taste what Asheville has to offer in plant-based dining on your next visit. Read more
Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC (Part 3)
Some people think of vegan cuisine as lots of salads or food trying to imitate other food, which is true to an extent but vegan cuisine is actually just as varied as standard American cuisine. There are healthy vegan options (i.e. whole grain, low oil, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds) and some very unhealthy vegan options (i.e. white bread, processed foods, fried foods) so choose wisely. Being a vegan doesn’t necessarily mean being healthy.
The list of vegan dining options in Asheville continues in this third posting which includes restaurants with vegan options. With the exception of one restaurant (Bean Vegan Cuisine), all the restaurants listed below cater to all types of eaters. Whether you’re following a plant-based diet or not, consider each meal an opportunity to nourish your body with the healthiest options available. Read more
Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC (Part 2)
The vegan dining scene in Asheville is hoppin’ thanks to a large group of committed chefs, restauranteurs, bakers, juicers, and talented people who want to bring wholesome, nourishing, and delicious plant-based food to Ashevillians and those who visit this western North Carolina city. Below is a continuation of the list of vegan-friendly dining options: Read more
Vegan Dining Options in Asheville, NC
Dining out is often a challenge for vegans unless you’re in a major city so my expectations for Asheville – a city of about 100,000 in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains – were relatively low although many people refer to Asheville as “the Portland (Oregon) of the South” which generally means vegan-friendly.
I thought maybe there would be a half-dozen good options but it turns out there are dozens of dining options for vegans in Asheville. What sets this western North Carolina city apart from other small cities is not the number of vegan restaurants (because there are only a few of these) but how many restaurants offer vegan options or are willing to make vegan options off menu, especially if you hand your dinner selection over to a chef with only a mandate to make the dish plant-based. Read more
Light Potato Salad
A classic summer dinner menu often includes potato salad – that traditional “all-American” (note: traditional potato salad originated in Germany according to many food historians) side dish that graces our tables more often in the warm months than any other time of the year.
Everyone has their favorite recipe (my husband is still mourning his mother’s mayo and hard-boiled egg version that hasn’t graced his dinner plate in a decade), including me who advocates for a lighter, healthier version with no mayo, very little oil (and no eggs).
At the center of the dish is the potato and it does make a difference which potato you use. The small red potato is best because it holds its shape when cooked. In addition, red potatoes have a low starch content with a creamy, moist flesh that makes it ideal when mixed with other ingredients to make a salad. Read more
The Girl Who Smiled Beads
I am here. I need you to see me. I need you to see that I am here. You, world, cannot make me crumble. I am alive. I am alive. I am alive.
Clemantine Wamariya was born in 1988 in Rwanda and led an idyllic childhood until 1994, when civil war broke out between the Tutsi and Hutu (the two main groups of people residing in the country). Clemantine, six years old at the time, and her 15-year old sister, Claire were sent to live with their grandmother in the southern region of the country but when the war spread, the two young girls began a 6 year journey migrating through seven South African countries before being granted refugee status in the United States in 2000. Read more
Where Does $100 to the American Cancer Society Go?
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) based in Atlanta, Georgia. With 6,679 employees in 2016, the ACS focused on awarding grants, advocacy, education and service. Every year, ACS files a Form 990 – a rather lengthy tax return that provides all kinds of financial information about the organization – which is beneficial to the public and donors.
Many donors often wonder “if I gave $100 to a non-profit, how is that $100 spent?” Readers will find the answer to that question and more in this post. Specifically, there are five areas covered: Read more
Brown Rice Syrup and Arsenic
If you’re the least bit health conscious, then you’re probably a label reader which also means when looking for ready-made sweets, you search for alternative ingredients to refined sugar, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup. So, when you see brown rice syrup listed as an ingredient in energy bars or other treats, you may be somewhat satisfied thinking you’re making a wiser choice. But, you need to think again because brown rice syrup has been called out for having “high” levels of arsenic – a chemical element that is often used in the production of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides (and in the feed for poultry and pigs to prevent disease). Read more
Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Cookies
What constitutes a really great cookie? Opinions differ but in my mind, a really good cookie can be soft or crunchy on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside, with a sweet and decadent flavor. In other words – a truly awesomet cookie has to have both texture and taste, whether the flavor is chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal, cocoa, or molasses.
Traditional cookies made with lots of butter and eggs pretty much hit the mark every time but not everyone wants to eat cookies made with animal products. Nor, do they want to eat cookies with artificial flavors, colors, or ingredients they never heard of. So, the question becomes: Is there a really good ready-made plant-based cookie out there? Read more
Paddock Post 