What about soy? Aren't you concerned about phytoestrogens in soy?

These are two of the many questions I often hear from people when they learn that I'm vegan. So allow me to put the soy fear to rest. The common fear is that soy has a negative effect on hormones.

Is soy a requirement for the vegan diet?
It's a myth that when we adopt a vegan lifestyle, we get a congratulatory kitchen stocked with soy products. There is no vegan membership requirement of a heavy dependence upon soy. Believe it...

Our culture has a distorted relationship with pain, death, and grief. We’re taught to fear it, push it away, and put it in a box “over there” for someone else to deal with.

Refusal to accept that life includes discomfort, death, and grief is one of the primary roots of ageism (wrinkles remind us that one day we’ll die), racism/otherism (someone who’s different might kill us), anti-veganism (vegans acknowledge that animals have to die for people to consume their...

One of my coaching clients recently asked about the common misconception that only vegans are susceptible to a deficiency in vitamins like B12 and D. Right after that session, no fewer than three friends asked me the same question! It must be in the air, so I'll share it with you too.

The truth is that with depleted soils and indoor lifestyles, pretty much everyone needs to supplement with these two essential vitamins.

Vitamin B12
According to Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina,...

With garlicky herb notes and a beautiful green color, this dressing will encourage everyone to eat more veggies. Serve as a dip or dressing and watch the earth candy disappear!

Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing
By Allison Rivers Samson

Makes: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups unflavored, unsweetened non-dairy milk
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 large ripe avocado, pitted and flesh removed from skin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2...

Sure, you can buy Annie’s Goddess Dressing in stores—but why not use more pure ingredients and save money by making it at home? A perfectly delectable mixture of creamy and tangy, this dressing can instantly elevate any salad to a heavenly state.

Sesame Goddess Dressing
By Allison Rivers Samson

Makes: 1 1/3 cups

Ingredients
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup raw tahini (sesame butter)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sunflower or safflower oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1...

I still remember the last time I apologized for taking too long to return a friend's call, bemoaning my “ridiculously busy schedule” (formerly one of my favorite phrases). He stopped me and said rather matter-of-factly, “It’s not that you didn’t have the time. Calling me back just wasn’t a priority for you.” 

All at once, I felt guilty, ashamed, and relieved.

It was true. He wasn’t my priority. And it wasn’t personal.

We all know that...

Have you ever thought there was something wrong with you or that you're somehow broken?

I have. And for most of my life, I believed it. That was until several years ago when my teacher gave me a whole new perspective.

She said that culturally, we swim in polluted waters, and we have been conditioned by the culture to see the cause as ourselves or someone else.

But when a fish who is swimming in polluted waters gets sick, we don't first say, "Oh that fish, there's really something wrong with...

Have you ever tried steel-cut oats? Years ago when I first tried them, I wasn't impressed. They were undercooked and unpleasant. All that's changed now. Get ready to turn your breakfast world on end with a new kind of oatmeal that's satisfyingly chewy, healthy, and delicious.

More "whole" grains than oatmeal, steel-cut oats are oat groats that are simply cut, while oatmeal is whole oat groats that have been steamed and rolled. The quicker they cook, the more processed they are.

Most people...

It's a hot afternoon here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And it's only May. Please summer, please...let spring have her way with us just a little longer?

The heat inspired me to make a deeelish vegan mocha milkshake and share it with buddha.  You want some too? See how to make it below.

Homemade Vegan Mocha Milkshake
By Allison Rivers Samson

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups ice
1/2 banana (frozen is great, but not necessary)
1/2 cup coconut milk
3-4 tablespoons strong...

There's a big problem lurking in one of our most intimate rooms and it’s depriving many couples of harmony. Once and for all, it's time to put to rest the “Great Toilet Paper Direction Debate.”

Years ago, a couple shared with me that this was one of their biggest and most long-standing fights. To me, the answer was so obvious that I couldn’t believe my ears. Since then, I’ve discovered that toilet paper direction is so controversial that there are a shocking...