Welcome to the VeganCoach.com newsletter focusing on everyday vegan advice. The Golden Banana Newsletter is dedicated to assisting you with your everyday vegan cooking and nutrition questions.

You may have noticed a break in the newsletter action last month. Things were craaaaazy busy around here with preparations for our 12th year at Burning Man, working diligently on my upcoming book Get Sauced With Sass, answering your emails, updating my website and blog, and trying very hard to secure some good deals on products I think you, my beautiful reader, will love (stay tuned).

There's an interesting smattering of questions this month, including what vegan substitutes to use when baking a cake, and a topic that seems to be on the minds of many of you: vegan weight loss (and more importantly, weight gain).

Hope you enjoy this issue of The Golden Banana, which is actually created by you and the questions you send me. Do you have a question, comment, or something else you'd like to share with our growing community of Vegan Coach fans? Please don't hesitate to fill out the form on my Contact page. I look forward to hearing from you. :O)

It is my sincere hope that the information I provide on my little website VeganCoach.com assists you in being the healthiest Vegan you can be.

Wishing you a beautiful day! :O)
Sassy

PLEASE NOTE: For an easy-to-view version of this newsletter, or past issues, please visit the VeganCoach.com Backissues Page.

As a Vegan Nutritional Consultant I assist my clients by examining their current diet to figure out areas that might need more attention. It’s nice to have someone you can go to for advice that's YOU-nique.

If you...

• want someone you can call on to take your hand and walk you through the maze of vegan diet and nutrition information that you are constantly bombarded with;
• need someone who can answer all your questions about how to create a successful vegan diet plan with patience and understanding;
• simply don’t have the time to figure out which foods are best for your unique nutritional needs and vegan weight loss plans;
• want to spend your time doing what YOU love instead of spending hours on research;
• have limited special knowledge about food or nutrition -- but you're ready and willing to learn more...

...then working with me, your very own personal Vegan Diet and Nutrition Coach, may be just what you need.

For more information about this service, please visit the Vegan Diet and Nutrition Coaching page.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Get *SAUCED* With Sass!
• Vegan Tip of the Month: Change of Season? Time for a cleanse!
• Vegan Substitutes for Traditional Cake Ingredients
• Vegan Weight Loss
• Is Nutritional Yeast Gluten Free?
• RECIPE OF THE MONTH: Vegan Rice Millet Loaf
• Sassy Recommends: Cultural Vision: A Memeplex for the Cultural Evolution

Get *SAUCED* With Sass!

How To Create Delectable
Meat-Free, Dairy-Free and Egg-Free Vegan Sauces
WITHOUT Recipes!

You may be wondering: "Sass, where the heck IS Get Sauced With Sass?"

First, I'd like to thank you for your patience. This project has taken me much longer to complete than I expected, for various reasons I won't go into right now for fear you'll fall asleep right there at your computer.

But the good news is that it has now entered the final stages of completion. I think you'll feel it was worth the wait. Thank you very much for your patience. :O)

As the weather turns chilly across the U.S., it signifies that it's time to "clean your pipes" of all the stuff you crammed in there all summer long.

Those Tofutti Cutie ice cream sandwiches, mounds of yummy macaroni and potato salads, and maybe a few summer parties complete with drinkie-poos and crunchy snacks tossed in for good measure were DAAAYUM fun, but now it's time to give your intestines a good sweeping to prepare for the holiday rush of MORE goodies you'll be shoveling in.

Jeff and I will be partaking in our quarterly Dr. Natura's Colonix Cleanse. It's such a simple cleanse, that it's hard to resist. You wash down a few capsules when you wake in the AM, followed by a delicious-tasting and very-easy-to-swallow fiber drink, and at night you relax before bedtime with a very calming tea (that also helps you to fall sleep quickly and easily).

Perfection, especially for those who are new to internal cleansing.

But what kind of results can you actually experience using this cleanse? Most people (Jeff and I included) notice an increase in energy, flatter tummies, and smoooooth bowel movements.

"Do I have to "fast" or change my diet while doing a cleanse such as this?"

The answer is no. This cleanse is simply added into the mix.

If you're feeling sort of bloated or your pants have gotten a little hard to button, this is the way to go.

And of course, the cleanse is vegan.

Wishing you a beautiful autumn that's filled with warm sunshine and cool breezes. And gorgeous golden bananas. :O)

Dear Sassy,
My son is getting married, and my gorgeous new daughter-in-law is a vegan and also she does not eat wheat. I am making the wedding cake which has 3 tiers. The middle one is going to be the wheat-free vegan lemon cake.

These are the ingredients I'm hoping to use:

• Unsalted butter
• Golden caster sugar
• Eggs
• Plain flour
• Self-raising flour
• Zest of 4 lemons, juice of 3

Can I just use an egg replacer and vegan sugar to "veganize" the recipe? And if it is this simple will I be able to freeze the cake?
-- Nancy S., Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Hi Nancy,

Congratulations on your desire to make a vegan cake for your fabulous daughter-in-love. :)

There are more substitutes you'll have to make. And it might not be very easy, I'm sorry to say. But it's not impossible!!!

Unsalted butter

Butter is not vegan since it's made with cow's milk. You'll need to find a butter substitute that's NOT made with dairy. I use Earth Balance which is a non-hydrogenated product made with oil. You can also use a soy margarine.

Golden caster sugar

Caster sugar is a refined sugar that is a cross between table sugar and confectioner's sugar. Its light color will stay intact after baking.

Golden caster sugar is an unrefined cane sugar in which the molasses is still intact. (An example of this type of sugar here in the U.S. is Sucanat.) Because of this, the flavor is more complex. Golden caster sugar will turn a darker shade after baking. Golden caster sugar is vegan.

Eggs

As you suggested, use an egg replacer. You're most likely familiar with the powdered stuff that comes in a box? It's a great substitute, but might I recommend you use Flax Eggs? They make for a very moist and delectable cake.

Here's how to make them:

Flax Eggs

• 1/3 cup flax seeds
• 1 cup water

Grind flax seeds in a blender or food processor. Slowly add water and blend until it produces a gooey mixture.

This makes 6 flax "eggs". Refrigerate unused flax eggs in refrigerator for up to 6 days. (Be sure to clean out blender immediately or the flax goo will turn to cement. Seriously!)

Plain flour
Self-raising flour

You'll need to look for wheat-free flour if your daughter-in-love requests no wheat. I'm no expert on wheat-free baking, but you may be able to find answers to which flours to use at:

Food Allergies

Eating With Food Allergies

Living Without

Yes, your cake should freeze beautifully. I recommend wrapping it in plastic wrap, then waxed paper, then aluminum foil. When I was married to my first hubby, I froze the top of my wedding cake like this, and 1 year later it was MORE MOIST than the day we got married. The marriage didn't last, but MAN the cake was good. :O)

Dear Sassy,
In an effort to inspire your readers who want to go vegan but aren't quite there yet, I have something to share which may help.

Since I have become vegan I have lost 8 pounds, most of which was belly fat. I am down from a size 7 to a size 4. I have lost inches off the waistline (no more love handles). I've also said bye-bye to heartburn, which was a constant annoyance. I have invested in several awesome and easy vegan cookbooks,so my husband is going along with the program without a problem.

Thanks so much for your website, because it gave me the jumpstart to achieve this. A loyal Vegan Coach fan,
-- Denise H., Redding, California

Hi Denise,

Whoo-hoo! Congratulations to you on your fantastic vegan success story. I truly believe that veganism is a little weight-loss gem that most people simply do not consider, mostly because it could mean a drastic change to their current diet. (Most never stop to think that, in an effort to lose weight, they've likely been making drastic changes to their current diet for years which usually causes their weight to yo-yo. They try something new, lose the weight, fall off the wagon, gain the weight back, try something else. Around and around and around. It can be QUITE discouraging.)

But you've discovered one of the best benefits to "going vegan" -- weight management.

Denise, I'd like to take this opportunity to focus on the topic of vegan weight loss AND weight gain, because it's an issue that seems to be on the minds of many vegans.

I receive emails from those who have gone on a vegan diet, lost weight, and then somehow started to gain the dreaded weight back again. Oy! I feel the pain! The same exact thing happened to me before I lost the weight for good.

Most changes to a diet provoke a weight loss. I can go on a cabbage soup diet and lose weight. The challenge isn't in losing the weight as much as keeping it off. Therein lies the challenge.

For those who have lost weight on a vegan diet, and then gained it back, consider the foods you've been consuming. Is there a chance you've been happily munching away on pre-packaged foods, such as faux meats and cheeses? Just because they're vegan, doesn't mean they're healthy -- or non-fattening.

So how do you keep the weight off, and bring (and keep) your body to a health sustaining place?

It's very simple.

Eat whole foods.

When you focus on consuming vegan foods in their whole food form, such as veggies, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, etc., in balanced proportions, most people lose the weight and keep it off.

A whole food diet is the focus of VeganCoach.com. There is a lot of information packed into my little website that can be most helpful. I recommend starting with the Vegan Cooking Guide Tutorial, which will help to explain how to use much of the information you'll find within the pages of the site.

Also, be sure to check out the Everyday Vegan Food and Nutrition blog for some whole-food dishes I whip up in my kitchen for hubby Jeff and I. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the blog page for a list of headings that can help you narrow your search down, such as Main Entrees, Side Dishes, Soups and Salads, etc.

Denise, I'm so proud of you and wish you all the best on your vegan journey. Trust me -- it just keeps getting better. (Especially when you begin to look younger than most people your age.) ;O)

Pssst...VeganCoach.com VIPs,
Share your vegan success story here.

Dear Sassy,
I became vegan a month ago, and I also have Celiac disease so I have been gluten free for some time. My question is about nutritional yeast. I really don't know anything about it. Does it contain gluten? If so what could I use as a substitute?
-- Andrea, Evans City, Pennsylvania

Hi Andrea,

Nutritional yeast does not contain gluten as long as it's nutritional yeast which has been grown on a medium of beet and sugar cane molasses.

Read more about it here.

"Primary-grown nutritional yeast is grown on mixtures of beet and sugar cane molasses. After it is grown and the fermentation process is complete, the yeast is harvested, washed, pasteurized, and dried at a high temperature. As a result, this yeast is guaranteed to be free of the Candida albicans strain of yeast. It contains no gluten."

Andrea, I recommend Red Star nutritional yeast which is grown in the proper medium. If you need a source, then click here:

Nutritional Yeast

Best wishes. :O)

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Here's a mouthwatering dish that is created almost entirely from whole foods. I've been making it for years -- it's scrumptious.

You'll note that you must use pre-cooked brown rice. So this is a dish that I, personally, make when I have cooked brown rice on hand and it's what I recommend to you also. To make the rice AND the millet AND the loaf is waaaay more work than I care to do at any given time.

To make millet: Add 1 cup millet to 2 cups boiling water. Cover, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed. Uncover and stir.

• 2 carrots, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos, or Tamari soy sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 2 cups cooked millet
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/4 cup bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 cup nutritional yeast

Saute carrots and garlic in oil and Bragg's (or tamari) until carrots are tender. Set aside 1/2 cup of tomato sauce. Mix cooked rice and millet together, add all other ingredients to rice mixture, blend well. Mold mixture into lightly oiled loaf baking dish. Cover top of loaf with the tomato sauce that was set aside. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Happy cooking!

SASSY RECOMMENDS...

With the current state of our world, including areas such as our environment, politics, economics, and health, it's easy to wonder how the heck we got ourselves into this predicament.

There is a fantastic book I'd like to recommend to you that ties it all together. Could it be that our entire culture needs to be examined?

That's what my beautiful hubby Jeff (and official VeganCoach.com taste-tester) discusses in Cultural Vision. Jeff takes you on a trip through how our culture evolved, and moves us along through our evolution to our current point in time, including the topic of veganism and how it relates to our current cultural situation.

Here's a little tidbit to whet your whistle:

"For hundreds of millennia, thousands of tribal cultures have thrived throughout the planet, each possessing a unique Vision, derived from thousands of years of evolution. With their deep ties to the world around them they experienced a communion with life, which offered a spiritual sense of overwhelming interconnectedness with the land, the plants, the animals, and each other. But one culture evolved to dominate all others, and linear history was created.

"Now a new reality has been built over the former surface of the planet, not only altering the biosphere, but also what is available for us to interact with and relate to. We struggle with the meaningless daily rote duties of our jobs. We live sequestered lives in houses and apartments, cut off from our neighbors, woefully uninformed in a sea of trivial information. Unprecedented resource extraction and energy consumption is heralding a great mass extinction of plant and animal life, the likes of which has not occurred in the last 65 million years.

"Cultural Vision exposes the ancient roots of these challenges as it reveals a new direction for the future of humanity based upon cooperation, true human values, and cultural diversity."

This book is not only illuminating, but beautifully and sensitively written.

Faaaantastic job, my sweet! :O)

Click here to learn more: Cultural Vision: A Memeplex for the Cultural Evolution

That wraps it up for this edition of The Golden Banana newsletter.

VeganCoach.com has been created to help YOU. To contact me with questions, comments or suggestions, please fill out the form on my Contact page.

Thanks! :O)
Sassy