Blackstrap molasses is the concentrated byproduct of sugar production obtained from the third boiling of the sugar syrup. One would think molasses to be unhealthy given that it’s a sweetener, but it has a surprisingly dense nutritional profile.

Just one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses contains over 10% of the US Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of manganese, copper, calcium and potassium and contains ~15% of the US RDA of iron.

Drizzle it on hot cereal, use it in baked beans, pumpkin pies, and gingerbread, or just add a teaspoon or 2 to your non-dairy milk to up the nutritional value (particularly calcium).

More information about health benefits of blackstrap molasses can be found on the World’s Healthiest Foods.

When you’re on the road, be it for work or pleasure, it can be difficult to find an independent coffee house near you that offers free wi-fi and that soy latte, or mocha you’re craving. Enter Starbucks.

Ubiquity is perhaps Starbucks’ greatest advantage — they’re everywhere and, luckily, they always offer soy milk, albeit for an extra charge.

Now, with the purchase of a pre-paid Starbucks Card, you can get 2 hours of free wi-fi daily, and bypass the soy milk (and syrup!) surcharge on your latte and mocha orders. The card also allows you to get unlimited free refills on regular coffee and, when buying a pound of beans, a free 12oz. beverage. Starbucks may not be your first choice coffee stop but, in a pinch, it will definitely do!

[via Goatless]

Glenny’s has brown rice, cane juice sweetened, certified organic and vegan, marshmallow treats to upstage those preservative-laden, high-fructose corn syrup sweetened, non-vegan Rice Krispies treats offered by Kellogg’s.

In looking at the list of ingredients for Glenny’s brown rice marshmallow treats, you’ll find that it’s not only significantly shorter than that for Rice Krispies treats, but it doesn’t contain a whole list of cryptic chemical compounds, and nearly every ingredient is prefaced with the word “organic”.

As the VeganBits website points out, junk food, vegan or not, is still junk food, but I’m still glad to see a classic “kiddie” treat available on the market that can be strategically whipped out to show your favorite omnivores that being vegan does not mean living a life of ascetic deprivation.

Buy them online at Glenny’s in vanilla, chocolate, peanut caramel, or in a variety pack.

Hat tip to Vegan Family Living for making us aware of their existence!

Now there are services like Spud! (California), Greenling (Texas), Natural Direct (Illinois), Organics To You (Oregon) and My Personal Farmers.com (New York), who will deliver your share right to your home. A notable difference, too, is that the above-named service-providers seem to be distributors rather than individual farms — they buy from local, organic farms — and redistribute the bounty into the subscriber’s share box. But, this isn’t necessarily a negative: subscribers seem to have more flexibility in what they order and, in some cases, with what frequency.

So, here is another option for discovering and sharing in the freshest produce currently in season! Comments, suggestions and ideas for working through share contents are very, very welcome!!

[via LifeHacker]

Use it as a condiment on rice, in stir-fries, on salads, garlic bread, tofu scrambles, and roasted potatoes; nutrition-charge your popcorn; add it to gravies and sauces (1/2 teaspoon per 1 cup liquid); add a teaspoon in each cup of flour or meal used in baked goods, make a yeast cheese for your vegan pizza or lasagna, use it in place of parmesan cheese, or add it to your cat or dog’s food “to help eliminate fleas and promote a healthy coat and good general nutrition” (“Yeast Meets West,” Sundance Natural Foods Online).

Take note that not all nutritional yeasts are fortified with B-12.

It contains dark chocolate, olive oil, ground espresso beans, and optional vanilla extract and caramel, orange, or raspberry flavoring. Easy to make and delicious! Visit Runner’s World for the recipe.

[via Runner's World]

If you haven’t seen the VeganYumYum food blog yet, it’s definitely worth a visit. It has some of the best food photography I’ve seen so far AND the recipes sound absolutely mouth-watering.

This picture (and recipe) was the inspiration for today’s theme: Sunday brunch. Without further ado, here is this week’s Sunday Brunch recipe round-up:

• Lemon Maple Scones with Vegan Clotted Cream [via VeganYumYum]
• Vegan French Toast Kebabs [via VegFamily]
• Cinnamon Buns and Tofu-Spinach Frittata [via My Sweet Vegan]
• Vegan Omelette [via Fatfree Vegan]
• one of the easiest tofu recipes ever [via illustriousbeans' flickr photostream]

For further inspiration, you can also view a flickr slideshow of amazing vegan brunch photos.

If you have a favorite brunch/breakfast recipe, leave it in the comments. We’d love to hear about them!

Yummy summer frozen fudge bar goodness is currently available at your local Trader Joe’s. Even though we’re always on the lookout for vegan goodies at Trader Joe’s, we somehow overlooked their Soy Creamy Fudge Bars. Luckily, my older sister spotted them and brought some to us over Mother’s Day weekend. They are creamy and delicious and sheer joy on hot days like today.

It also turns out that Trader Joe’s recently published a list of most of their vegan products. The Vegan Product List is available as a PDF document at http://traderjoes.com/Attachments/Vegan.pdf. Look for the Vegan logo on their products.

To kick things off, here’s a tip on discovering vegan restaurants with the added bonus of having visual previews of the food.

I recently discovered the Vegan Restaurant Guide, a flickr group which encourages members to post pictures of their vegan meals from various restaurants around the world. Folks are also encouraged to include opinions of the restaurant and to note locations and websites (if applicable). It’s still a small group, but it seems like it could really blossom into a useful resource.

Other interesting vegan-related photo groups on flickr are:

* Organic Vegan
* VeganYumYum Food Porn
* vegan with a vengeance (and friends)
* Vegan Cupcakes
* Vegan Lunchbox
* Vegan Foods – bought or homemade

Get inspired and be inspiring. If I’ve missed one of your favorite vegan-related flickr groups, please add them in the comments.