Tag Archives: diet

Fiber- Can We See the Forest for the Trees?




Kitchen Scrap Veggie Broth

If you’re like me, the taste and expense of store-bought vegetable broth is just not something you want to deal with, and broth can seem like a crazy undertaking, with millions of ingredients and a long time, but once you get in the habit you’ll be glad you did.  The control over your flavors, for different kinds of soups or applications is benefit enough, but you’ll also be producing less packaging waste AND stretching your groceries for every last little penny.  Who knew onion skins would become your most treasured kitchen commodity?

It works like this: you go through your week, chop an onion here, smash some garlic there, and various other veggies in your travels.  Save them, and especially the skins, the seeds, and the leaves.  Have veggies that have gone a little limp or are a bit too near the end of their life?  Put em in, they’ll boil down to flavor and the solids will be filtered out! Put all these unwanted scraps in a gallon ziploc bag and keep that baby in your veggie drawer until its full (up to 7 days) combine it with a broth bag, cover with water and BOOM broth.

Here’s one such example (its big, you can make 1/4 size no problem!):

6 mushrooms (and stalks from 5-7 more)20160302_105553 Continue reading Kitchen Scrap Veggie Broth

Vegan Options at Restaurants Project

My goal: To help all/many more restaurants have at least one vegan option on their menu!

Submit this letter, or modify it for your own uses!


Suzannah Gerber

(412) 901- 1216

contact email

Dear (Restaurant Name Manager/Owner):

Have you considered offering vegan options on your menu?

I am a part-time vegan chef and plant-based diet Medical study researcher and consultant at INOVA, and I would like to offer my assistance to you, at no cost, to help develop vegan options for your menu that integrate stylistically with your restaurant and use all or mostly ingredients you already purchase.  In addition to vegan options, I would be happy to help you consider allergen-sensitive items to accommodate gluten free, soy and nut allergies as well.

Why should you have vegan items on your menu?

Veganism has become very popular over the last few years, and is gaining in popularity.  Celebrities like Beyonce, and politicians like Bill Clinton, publically support the vegan diet.

Plant-based diets help treat health issues such as heart disease, chronic pain, and obesity. Nationwide campaigns such as “Meatless Mondays” speak to an interest in alternative diets.

Vegans and Vegetarians have meat-eating friends and family, and look for restaurants that accommodate everyone.  The choice for a group of 4-6 with 1 vegan is a restaurant with at least one or two vegan options on the menu.

Why is this consultation free?

My goals are to increase the amount of nutritionally balanced vegan food available, and to educate vegans about what locations can serve them.  Personally, I would like more options when I dine out with my non-vegan friends! Also, as a vegan chef, I would love the opportunity to work with restaurants with a variety of needs, culinary techniques, and restrictions, to learn how to make vegan food available to the widest possible audience.

By adding vegan items to your menu, you will open your doors to a new population of customer, a population who will happily promote the existence of your restaurant simply for offering vegan options. I will show you the many vegan websites that list and promote restaurants with vegan options, and personally help your restaurant get onto these lists.

I look forward to discussing adding a tailor-made vegan option to your menu!

Suzannah Gerber


Help others see the bigger picture, one restaurant at a time!

Vegan Lifestyle versus Plant-Based Diet



