Your Source For Vegetarian and Vegan Hotels- Veggie-Hotels.Com

If you're looking for Vegan and Vegetarian hotels while traveling, check out www.veggie-hotels.com.

They list over 500 accommodations worldwide, including hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, and retreats, and although there aren't that many, there are way more than I would have ever expected. 

And the great thing with their website is you have options for different languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

They even have special offers like yoga/wellness packages, vegan cooking packages.  

VeggieHotels offers more than 500 hotels, B&Bs, Seminar guesthouses and health centres with purely vegetarian or vegan menus.

The criteria for a VeggieHotel are simple. Meat and fish are not on the menu. In addition, many strictly vegetarian hotels and guest houses offer additional dietary options, such as vegan and raw foods choices. Many Veggie Hotel kitchens use only organic products. On the pages of www.veggie-hotels.com you will find a wide range of purely vegetarian hotels and guest houses worldwide.

Interesting to note that the bulk of the listings are in Europe.

Veggie Hotels Facebook Page

And no, this is not an affiliate link post. Just a site I most definitely will use for future travel.

The Vegg- Vegan Egg Yolk Now Available

Was poking around my Facebook news feed and noticed something Happycow.net had posted about a vegan egg yolk. Yes, there is now a vegan egg yolk called The Vegg which is available to veggie consumers, worldwide, it seems. I eat eggs, so I'm not sure I'll try it, but for those who love eggs and refuse to eat them, this might be a nice alternative for baking.

Apparently it's a powder you mix with water and it turns a thick, yellowish yolky color. It looks kind of yucky, but if you're baking with it, who cares.

There's a list of places you can buy/order it from including some online sources, and their website lists some yummy looking recipes using the product. The website also mentions that if you buy the product between now and 2014, the company will donate 10% to Compassion Over Killing.

The ingredients for all you label lookers:

 Nutritional Yeast Flakes, Sodium Alginate, Kala Namak, Beta-Carotene

Blend contents with one liter of water. (For Vegg users who wish to not mix all at once, use this conversion: Blend 1 teaspoon of The Vegg powder with 1/4 cup water equivalent to about two to three yolks!)

I had to google Kala Namak, since I had no clue what it was. Apparently it's an Indian black mineral salt used in cooking, that actually is more grayish pink in color and has a sulfurous taste, like hard boiled eggs, hence the use in an egg alternative.  It's also apparently used in Ayurvedic medicine for high blood pressure, and is said to help with flatulence and heartburn.

However, the sodium alginate (derived from brown seaweed) might be problematic for some.

If you purchase the Kala Namak salt through Amazon, I get a few pennies. In fact if you purchase anything from any of the sponsors on the right, I get a few pennies.



Please note, I get nothing from The Vegg other than satisfaction from sharing some interesting information.

Free i-Phone and Android Apps For Vegetarians and Vegans

I was looking through my June 2011 Vegetarian Times (I know, I'm way behind) and came across a cool Smart Phone app for vegetarians. Unfortunately, most of the best apps are for iPhone and Android, neither of which I have, and this one is no exception.  I do have a Blackberry, but will be more than likely switching to a Droid come next year, so  I thought I would check around and see what other apps might be available for free.

IVU VEGGIE PHRASES: The app Vegetarian Times was touting is for those who might find themselves traveling abroad and want to make sure they're ordering tofu instead of chicken.  Created by Ashley Burton ( a self-styled "geek"), it's totally free and can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace or  iTunes. It uses the International Vegetarian Union list of "Vegetarian Phrases in World Languages" to help explain to your waiter what you can or cannot eat; in 60 different languages, to boot. It doesn't get high grades from users, but I would think it would be worth a try, for free. For Android download here. I couldn't find it on i-Tunes.

WHOLE FOODS MARKET RECIPES: With this free app, you can find a store near you, then check on recipes according to your dietary preferences, find ingredients, then make lists and email them to yourself or friends. It also has nutritional info and even how to prepare the meal. Not exclusively vegetarian, however. For iPhone only.  For more information on what the app can do, and to download for free, click here.

I-VEGETARIAN: Here's one that helps find vegetarian restaurants, though from one comment, it seems like it might need some work.  For iPhone only. Download here.

CRUELTY FREE: For those who are concerned about animal testing on cosmetics and household products, this lists about 200 Canadian and American companies that are cruelty free. For iPhone only. Download here.

BE VEGAN: If you want a free vegan recipe app, try this one. It also has news, articles, videos and other information of interest to vegans. For i-Phone only. Download here.

VEGSCAN: This app scans the bar codes of products, and is a handy way of finding out if something is vegan/vegetarian or not. For i-Phones only. Download here.

HAPPYCOW VEGINOUT: HappyCow.net, one of the best online sources for vegetarian restaurants and health food stores worldwide, has several apps, including a free one. I'm not sure what the difference is between the free version and the paid version, but here's the free one. For Android.  Download here.

VEGETARIAN RECIPES: Is exactly that, an app that lists daily recipes. For Android. Download here.

I can't vouch for any of these, although I plan on downloading some as soon as I get my Android next year. And as with most things, there are people who love the apps and others who complain, but what do you want for something that is free. The download links are from either i-Tunes, or the Android Marketplace, but you can go to their websites and search for yourself.  You might find others you like.

Sources: Make Use Of and the Internet.