Why don’t you use oil?

I removed oil from my diet after reading Eat to Live and immediately noticed monumental changes in my health, weight and overall wellbeing. See this blog post for more information and resources on the subject. 

Why use foods with fat but not fat itself?

I eat a low fat, no added fat diet for health. I do use wholesome ingredients that contain a little fat naturally, such as beans, wheat, cocoa and tofu, because the body does need some dietary fat to survive. (A wholly fat-free diet deprives the body of necessary nutrients). However, I don't add any additional high fat ingredients such as nuts, seeds, olives, coconut milk or avocados to my diet or recipes, with one or two exceptions. I also never use oil, butter or margarine in my recipes beyond the occasional spritz of cooking spray to prevent sticking during baking. Basically, I consider any food made with no added fats to be "fat-free" and I strive to eat (and cook) without added fats, especially oil.

Can I make substitutions to your recipes?

If you’re adding or subtracting a spice or using gluten-free flour blends instead of whole wheat flour, you shouldn’t run into problems. Changing main ingredients, however, changes everything so I generally advise against it.

I also advise against trying to de-veganize a recipe since they're created vegan from inception and changing chemistry leads to bad baking. For example I find with whole wheat flours I don't need a binder which is what eggs generally do so something in my recipe, like a banana or applesauce, is not necessary replacing anything and is most likely needed for the goodies to come out right. Why not give healthy vegan food a chance?

Do your recipes have nutritional information?

All recipes in The Happy Herbivore Cookbook, Everyday Happy Herbivore and on this website contain nutritional information. We used caloriecount.com to obtain the information provided. You can use their free tool here. 

Where do you get your protein?

All foods contain protein, even kale and bananas! Rich plant-based sources of protein include beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, peas and leafy greens. In fact, 100 calories of spinach has MORE protein than 100 calories of steak! 

What made you adopt a low fat vegan diet?

I talk about my journey to veganism, my past weight struggles and the benefits of a low fat plant-based diet in my "about me" video. You can also read this blog post, 10 Reasons Why I Love Being Vegan. 

Where do you get your calcium?

Most whole foods contain calcium, especially leafy greens like spinach, collard greens and turnip greens. In fact, 1 cup of quinoa contains more calcium than a quart of milk!

Where do you get dietary iron?

The best sources for dietary iron are actually plant foods! Soybeans, lentils, spinach, tofu, sesame seeds, kidney beans and pumpkin seeds are the richest sources, beating out all meats. Garbanzo beans and navy beans are also great sources for dietary iron. 

What are e-cookbooks? and e-Courses? Are they still available?

Before I wrote The Happy Herbivore Cookbook I sold three e-cookbooks to help support and maintain this website. The e-books were discontinued on July 1, 2010 as part of the contract with my publisher. A few of the recipes are included in the cookbook. The e-Courses were discontinued for financial reasons.

How to prevent liners from sticking

If you use liners and don't want the muffins or cupcakes to stick, you can lightly spray the inside of the paper liners with an oil spray can or simply allow the muffins to completely cool before trying to pull them off. For best results use a non-stick muffin pan.

Is agave nectar healthier than HFCS?

You can read Madhava's Agave Nectar's response to these claims here.

Any Tips for going vegan?

You can read my blog post, Top 10 Tips for Going Vegan

Do any books support your diet?

Yes! Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. Dr. McDougall's books also support a low fat vegan diet plus the Engine 2 Diet.

Do you recommend any books or films?

Films: Forks Over Knives ( the book), King Corn, Food Inc. ( the book), Earthlings, the Corporation, Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me.

Books: Eating Animals, Mindless Eating, Volumetrics, Skinny Bitch, Diet for a New America, the Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, the Great American Detox and the 100-Year Lie.

Interviews & Press

Interviews with Choosing Raw, Vegan Nutritionista, Vegan Hope and Feed Me I'm Cranky. A few of my recipes appeared in the Jan 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times and I've been featured on Women's Day Magazine's Blog (here and here) and on The Huffington Post. I also went on a virtual blog book tour after the release of my first cookbook, The Happy Herbivore Cookbook. 

Why don't you use healthy fats?

Quoting Dr. McDougall: The fat you eat is the fat you wear. The body does not recognize fat as an immediate energy source the way it does with carbohydrates. It recognizes fat as something to be stored, and it stores it. While it is true we need some fat to survive, remember that all foods, including legumes, fruits and vegetables, naturally contain a little fat. This means the body is always getting plenty of fat without adding extra. 

That said, I first removed added fat from my diet when I needed to lose weight. If I was trying to lose fat why was I eating more of it? That seemed very counterproductive. Now that I'm at my goal weight I do occasionally eat healthy wholesome fats like peanut butter and avocado, but only a little. Eating more than an occasional small serving and the weight creeps back on. 

What is whole wheat pastry flour? Can I use regular whole wheat?

Whole wheat pastry flour is much lighter and fluffier than whole wheat flour, which can be heavy and grainy. Whole wheat pastry is similar to all purpose, only it still has all it's nutrients and is less processed. 

White whole wheat usually works alright, and oat flour does a pretty good job most of the time too. Other whole wheat flours generally do not work or the results are dry and dense. Regular whole wheat flours tend to be thirstier than whole wheat pastry and much heavier and grainy. 

How do I make your recipe Gluten-Free

Gluten-free all purpose blends are generally your safest bet (see my GF flour recipe in Everyday Happy Herbivore). I've also found oat flour works pretty well. You can also try this GF substitute to replace seitan or vital wheat gluten.

Where can I find yellow miso?

I've always been able to find miso in supermarkets and even the small bodega by my apartment in NYC carried it. You can always find miso in a health food or Asian supermarket or on Amazon. If you can't find yellow, white is an okay substitution. 

What is yellow miso?

You can find my post on miso here.

What is kelp and where can I buy it?

You can find my post on kelp here.

What is the difference between instant oats and rolled oats and can you interchange them?

You can find my post about oats here.

Do you have any suggestions on what to feed skeptical omnivores?

You can find my meal suggestions here.

What is nutritional yeast and where can I buy it?

You can find my post on nutritional yeast here.

What is quinoa and what do I do with it?

You can find my post about quinoa here.

What Knife Do You Use? Knife Techniques?

I have two "knife skills" videos on YouTube "how to chop" and "how to peel frozen bananas." Read Scott's blog post (with video) about knife safety, complete with our knife brand recommendations.

How to Replace Bananas in Recipes?

I wrote an entire post on replacing bananas. Read it here.