While growing up in the 1960s and '70s in Gary, ice cream seemed to be at the center of our lives.

I am not kidding you. It was there at every birthday party, of course, but it was also one of the more coveted items in our home of four children.

It was right up there with the various Hostess treats my mom had taken to freezing in a futile attempt to keep us from inhaling them before they could be packed away in our lunch boxes.

Ice cream was one of the few foods in the house we were not supposed to partake of on our own. Rather, we were supposed to wait for those glorious evenings when, unannounced, my mom would reach into the freezer and gift us each with a carefully sliced portion of the frozen wonder.

It was served sliced, of course, because the type of ice cream my mom typically bought was Neapolitan, which featured even rows of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Each of us was to share in equal portions of all three flavors.

Yet someone in our family was clearly violating this policy, as was made clear by the frequent breaches into the coveted chocolate row. But I digress.

All these memories came flooding back to me last week when while I came across the new Breyers non-dairy (almond milk) ice cream at the Meijer store in Michigan City.

What a find. Sure, there have been other brands of tasty non-dairy ice cream available for many years. But I have come to pass over them as they are served up in small pints at prices that surpass the more familiar and heart-warming quart-and-a-half sizes.

I grabbed one of the Oreo-flavored Breyers and then grabbed a second carton just in case this was a fluke that would never be repeated. I do live in Indiana, after all.

Racing home, I dug deep with a scoop, breaking with family tradition of cutting with a knife. I then topped it off with a vegan caramel sauce and savored the moment and memories.

I also reflected on how it just gets easier and easier to eat and otherwise live as a vegan, even here in Indiana.

The best part? Those little vegan chunks of Oreo cookies were scattered freely throughout the ice cream. No more having to put up with strawberry and vanilla to get at the chocolate.

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Vegan in the Region: Ice cream memories come alive - nwitimes.com (blog)

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If you want it, someone is going to make it happen. These vegan sex toy accessory companies will make your sex life a whole lot more guilt-free and more animal-friendly.

According to Meika Hollender of Sustain Natural Condoms, Everyone is thinking about the ingredients in their food and their makeup, she told The New York Times, but no one is thinking about the ingredients that go in the products they put in the most intimate parts of our body.

More: BDSM sex tips for "vanilla" couples, no red room needed

Vegan options for sexual accessories are becoming rapidly more popular, especially for people who have already adopted a vegan lifestyle. Companies like Sustain want to make sure that consumers are putting healthy products into their bodies, and that means a more environmentally friendly list of ingredients. How do we know what is friendly and what isnt? Phthalate-free and cruelty-free are what you should look for when shopping for items, sexual or not. Phthalates disrupt hormones, and are a type of chemical used in plastic.

As we know, vegan sex toys and vegan condoms are on the market, but what about BDSM or kink accessories? The BDSM community is inherently connected to leather, latex and rubber where can customers seek out alternatives as vegans?

Peace activists run the show at The Vegan Sex Shop, which strives to bring veganism to the mainstream. Cuffs, floggers, collars and other fetish items can be found at this shop, with 6 percent of the profit going toward a charity of your choice. A favorite item is the gorgeous Rapture five-piece stainless steel restraint set($199) with a locking neck collar, wrist cuffs, and ankle shackles. Gags, silicone rope, hoods and paddles can all be found in the shop. The best part is that you dont need to read over the ingredients or materials used you already know its all vegan.

More:Dating Apps May Not Be the Best Way to Safely Start Practicing BDSM

Kink and BDSM involve a great deal of communication and trust between partners. Ethical Kink provides dialogue, articles and information about having a risk-aware and consensual experience. They believe that kink gear that is made with animal products is anything but consensual and have set out to provide alternative products. How consenting are people working 80+ hours for below-the-poverty-line wages? How consenting are the cows in the leather industry? they say on their website. Most of their products are made from recycled or reclaimed materials. A favorite is the Pocket Flogger(9.99), which you can keep stored in your bag, pocket or even on your key chain for a quick session with your sub.

Stockroom initiated their own vegan BDSM line called Vondage in 2016, which includes collars, leashes, cuffs and lingerie. The lines products are made up of vegan microfiber which is free of animal products, yet retains the sensual feeling of traditional leather. Stockroom has been around since 1990, making this a 27-year-old business with quality toys and accessories. The Vondage head harness with muzzle($64) is made from 100 percent vegan leather and is absolutely stunning a definite buy for kinksters looking for reinforcements.

More:BDSM Is a Form of Therapy for Me

Being vegan isnt only about your diet. Its a complete lifestyle alteration. You mind where everything from how your clothing to your deodorant is made, so it makes sense to want to have vegan options in the sex toy department.

By S. Nicole Lane

Originally published on HelloFlo.

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These BDSM Companies Will Help You Keep to Your Vegan Lifestyle - SheKnows.com

Some vegan and raw food bloggers believe that menstruation is unclean and a curseand that we'd be better off without periods at all.

"If it's so unhealthy for me to go through a period of not having my period, then why did I feel so amazing?" In a YouTube video called "How I lost my period on a RAW VEGAN Diet," vlogger Freelee the Banana Girl tells her 700,000 followers about something occasionally experienced by women who've made a big change to their eating habits: the disappearance of her period.

She says that within a month of starting a "100 percent raw vegan diet," her periods stopped and only returned after nine months, but much more lightly. But instead of being a little worried, as we might expect, she was stoked.

"I still believe that, largely, menstruation is toxicity leaving the body," she explains in her controversial video, which saw heavy criticism from some viewers and eating disorder charity Beat. "So a lot of people are having these heavy, heavy periods and painful periods because they have a toxic body or have a toxic diet."

Instead, Freelee believes a light periodor "mega light," in her wordsis a healthy one, and that uncomfortable periods are "not natural," and down to a fatty or "toxic" diet.

"At the end of the day if you're having a heavy period, if you're having a painful period, then get on a 100 percent high carb raw vegan diet as soon as you can." Her video has attracted over 395,000 views since it was uploaded.

Watch: The History of Birth Control

Missing your period oncelet alone for nine monthsis rarely considered a good thing by doctors unless you're looking to get pregnant. Stress, polycystic ovary syndrome, obesity, and sudden weight loss are among the assortment of cited reasons that a woman might stop experiencing what's usually considered a normal reproductive process.

But a handful of vegan, raw, and clean eating bloggers claim that using your diet to achieve a sporadic and light periodor one that's completely nonexistentis healthier and more natural.

"Many girls who lose their period often worry and try numerous things to get it back," writes Miliany on her blog, RawVeganLiving."It's often advised that to get your period back, you should stop exercising and eat more calories and incorporate more plant-based fats in your diet.

"What if I told you that everything you were taught about menstrual cycles was a complete LIE?!"

Read more: The Strange History of the Extremely Low-Carb Diet Fad

Through Freelee and Miliany espouse different theories, they both come to the same conclusion: that modern society has sold women the idea that menstruation is healthy and that periods are better lighter or halted altogether by adopting raw and vegan diets.

I reached out to Miliany, who told me that she believes "a non-menstruating body indicates the body is clean."

"If a woman or young girl decided she wanted to stop menstruating or lighten up her heavy periods, then I would recommend a raw foods diet to help them with that," she says. "The industry has done a great job of brainwashing too many women into thinking that if they do not get their periods on a monthly basis, that something is wrong with their body and hormones."

However, Dr Jackie Maybin, a clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Edinburgh, warns against changing your diet in an attempt to alter your menstrual cycle.

"It's difficult to recommend a strict vegan diet without investigating hormone levels and endometrial health in these women," she says of bloggers like Freelee and Milliany. "It's likely that the complete absence of periodsamenorrheaindicates that ovulation is not occurring and could have a significant negative impact on reproductive health."

In comments reported by the Daily Mail, eating disorder charity Beat said of Freelee's video: "Although taken out of the new diagnostic criteria for anorexia as it excludes men, amenorrhea has in the past been used to diagnose anorexia nervosa. Being at a low weight and restricting intake for a significant lengths of time can have other serious side effectslow blood pressure, osteoporosis, organ failure, infertility, restricted growth among others."

Freelee the Banana Girl in her video about losing her period on a raw vegan diet. Screenshot via YouTube

For other bloggers, there is an almost quasi-religious connection between periods and clean eating, the diet turned lifestyle that can sometimes tip over into a form of disordered eating known as orthorexia.

A raw food blog titled RawforLife exemplifies this attitude, asking: "If we were all living natural [sic], in a 'Garden of Eden', without pads, tampons, tissues (or even clothes?), would we all be running around dripping blood all over the place for a few days a month?"

Despite being posted eight years ago, a post called "Periodsthey may be normal but are they healthy?" continues to be one of the site's most shared and commented on pieces today.

"The main aim of this article has been to challenge the prevailing view of periods as 'healthy,'" a raw food blogger called Debbie writes. She claims that menstruation could be a symptom of living a non-raw vegan lifestyle: "Perhaps periodsthe pain, the blood flow, PMT were rightly named a 'curse'a curse on us for falling short of living how we are meant to live physically and psychologically."

This idea comes up regularly among these bloggers: that women hundreds of years agoand animalshad or have lighter periods thanks to a plant-based diet.

Maybin, however, says that these claims have little basis in medical fact. "It's true that women previously had fewer periods; approximately 40 in their lifetime, versus about 400 for modern women in developed countries," she says. "However, I think this is unlikely to be due to a vegan or plant-based diet, but because these women were either pregnant or lactating for most of their lives."

Freelee and Debbie did not respond to comment (Freelee started a new ASMR-themed YouTube channel in April). But when asked directly by followers, they both refute the claim they're encouraging women to stop their periodsthough regardless of their intentions, their influence is clear.

While Debbie's comment section is packed with breastfeeding mothers and those on the cusp of the menopause deliberating these ideas, Freelee's is dominated by young peoplesome teenagers as young as 13thanking her for inspiring them to change their diet.

"The medical industry certainly doesn't tell us the truth," writes one under the "How I lost my period on a RAW VEGAN Diet" video. "Trust your fellow humans, not outdated tradition, disease and corporations who spread lies."

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But Maybin warns that a very restrictive diet or excessive exercise can also lead to a condition called hypothalamic hypogonadism. "In menstruating women, the brain sends signals to the ovaries to produce hormones to regulate the endometrium. This results in ovulation and, if pregnancy does not occur, menstruation.

"In hypothalamic hypogonadism, the body assumes a state of stress and shuts off the signal from the brain to the ovaries. This reverts the body to a pre-pubescent like state, where pregnancy is not possible as the ovaries temporarily shut down and menstruation does not occur.

"If this state is maintained long term, women can have problems due to low estrogen levels, e.g. risk of loss of bone mineral density and osteoporosis."

While she says that not enough research has been done to know exactly what effects diet can have on menstruation, it makes sense that a "healthy balanced diet"i.e. one that does not excessively restrict certain food groupsis good for all women and their periods.

Despite the risks, these blogs remain popular, including a new video uploaded by Freelee in September: "If you've got heavy periods, that's not normal," she says in the clip, which has been viewed almost 250,000 times. "That is not as healthy as you can be."

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The Vegan Diet Bloggers Who Think Periods Are 'Not Natural' - Broadly

Published time: 13 May, 2017 17:33

UK-based car manufacturer Bentley is looking into innovative custom-made non-animal materials for its interiors, to try and satisfy peak trend vegan customers, the companys design director revealed.

You cant sell an animal-containing product like a Bentley, with 20 leather hides, to someone with a vegan lifestyle, Bentleys Director of Design Stefan Sielaff said at the Future of the Car Summit in London this week, according to Auto Express.

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Weve been talking to these customers, in California especially, and theyre asking us what we can give them. We do a lot of custom-made and coach-built solutions, in conjunction with our colleagues at [coachbuilder] Mulliner, and therefore we want to satisfy these customers because they are the peak of a trend.

The Crewe-headquartered company, which has been a subsidiary of German conglomerate Volkswagen AG since 1998, plans to utilize several materials that have not yet entered the mass market.

We will shortly present a Bentley with a vegan interior; itll give you a luxury sensation but with a different way protein leather, mushroom leather, jellyfish material, said Sielaff.

While protein leather, or pleather, is already commonly used for upholstery particularly by cheaper car brands mushroom leather, made from caps of the fungi, and reportedly soft and possessed of anti-bacterial qualities, is only being produced by several start-ups. Translucent jellyfish leather has only been to manufacture several individual pieces as proof of concept, though technologically there are few impediments to producing more.

Bentley is one of the most expensive car brands in the world, with the cheapest model in the 2017 range retailing for upwards of $180,000, with interior and technical customizations capable of shooting up the price up by tens of thousands of dollars.

The company, founded in 1919, is not the first to trumpet vegan-friendly models. Last year, the upstart US electric car manufacturer Tesla earned the PETA seal of approval with its first vegan interior, though it restricted itself to using only synthetic leather. Several of the German car giants also offer similar options.

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Mushroom & jellyfish leather interior: Bentley eyes producing Vegan-friendly cars - RT

Exporting vegetable-focused V Street to D.C. may be just the opening salvo for Philly restaurateurs Richard Landau and Kate Jacoby, who tell Eater they may also export experimental sandwich shop Wiz Kid to the area.

The vegan power couple behind award-winning Vedge last month announced plans to bring their global food bar, V Street, to the Apollo development on H Street NE in late 2017. Bringing fast-casual sibling, Wiz Kid, along for the ride appears to now be on the table.

Were all about making people rethink vegetables, Jacoby said. You can do anything under the sun with vegan. Korean street tacos, Chinese food.

Set to debut June 1 next to the flagship V Street, Wiz Kid puts a vegan spin on Philadelphias iconic cheesesteak, loading its potato rolls with shredded mushrooms, seitan, fried onions, pickled pepper relish, and rutabaga wiz. Additional menu items include the KFT (Korean fried tempeh sandwich), and a Reuben with sauerkraut, pickles, tomato, and caraway.

Wiz Kids concise menu has been teased inside a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia while its brick-and-mortar location gets up and running. Landau confirmed that hes in talks to plant additional Wiz Kids into one or more Whole Foods in the District, though he declined to discuss specifics.

There is interest down there, so we will see. We dont want to get too far ahead of ourselves, said Landau, adding that their D.C. debut has been years in the making.

V Street is the dressed-down sibling to Philadelphias Vedge, considered one of the top vegan restaurants in the U.S. (Landau was a semi-finalist in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category at this years James Beard Foundation Awards).

Landau said D.C.s V Street will have an expanded noodle bar section, with the capability to whip up twice as many (four to five) noodle dishes as its predecessor. He billed the dan dan noodles featuring five spice mushrooms, zucchini, and red chile-sesame sauce as a destination dish. Another hit: the zaatar grilled corn with zhoug butter and grilled tomato, as well as charred broccoli salad with togarashi, burnt miso mayo, and fried rice.

The D.C. location will also be bigger, accommodating up to 65 patrons; theres even an opportunity for patio dining. Were in a narrow, little Colonial Philadelphia town home, Landau said of the existing space. In D.C. were working with new construction.

Having just returned from Vietnam, the duo is full of ideas they got while snacking on the street. We arent trying to reinvent falafel or anything just get inspired by great flavors and capture the soul of the street, Landau said.

The original V Street just nixed lunch service and is moving to a dinner-only model. The plan is to replicate those hours in D.C., with dinner nightly and brunch on weekends.

We hear brunch is a big thing in D.C., said Jacoby.

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Vegan Sandwich Shop Wiz Kid Could Join V Street in D.C. - Eater DC

Thursday, May 18th: Vegan Eats

Healthy juice and bountiful bowls and treats to top it all off.

Updated: 10:43 AM EDT May 12, 2017

Veganism is a growing lifestyle and not eating or using anything with animal products can be tough. We found two local businesses that say not only can vegan eating be delicious, it can also look almost too beautiful to eat.

There is a comeback of old fashioned board games in this world of technology. We aren't talking Monopoly, today's games are stopping the spread of disease and build medieval European Towns and they play them all at The Granite State Game Summit.

On Fritz Wetherbee's New Hampshire: Potatoes Come to Effingham.

For more information on tonight's stories:

Milk & Honey Juicery + Caf Manchester, NH (603) 420-9308 http://milkandhoneymanchester.com/

Hippie Cakes Vegan Bakery Raymond, NH (617) 460-7065 https://squareup.com/market/hippiecakes

Granite Game Summit http://www.granitegamesummit.com

Hosting this week from:

SkyZone Trampoline Park Manchester, NH (603) 413-3533 https://www.skyzone.com/manchester

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Thursday, May 18th: Vegan Eats - WMUR Manchester

Hollywood vegetarians and vegans are starting to perk up and take notice of Cruciferous, a quiet newcomer to the massive strip mall at the corner of Fountain and Vine. The spare dining room is doing something you dont see often around town: finer dining vegan food, from housemade almond ricotta to an elegant pea risotto that has all the makings of a dish youd find at places like Kali, Crossroads, or Baroo and thats a very good thing.

Cruciferous is named for the brassica family of vegetables, including cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. Indeed those ingredients play major parts in the trim menu, which runs a scant nine dishes and hovers at $14 for most plates, with nothing over $18.

The signature dish is likely to be the General Tsos brussels sprouts, a crunchy, saucy take on a familiar flavor profile. The casual dish actually won in the best savory category at this years Vegan Street Fair, and word from the waitstaff is that it gets dropped at just about every table, every night.

The rest of the shareable menu is mostly made up as slightly larger versions of what youd expect to see as side dishes in other restaurants: a Caesar salad from The Garden Of Farm, a bread and butter plate using house baked bread and almond ricotta. You can even sub in gluten-free bread for a couple bucks more.

A tableside smoked cauliflower comes with heavy swipes of cashew cream cheese

But there are a few decidedly surprising dishes, like a whole head of smoked cauliflower, carved tableside over a couple heavy swipes of cashew cream cheese and dashed with a bit of pistachio oil. Theres a touch of heat, smoke, and nuttiness, and the tableside prep is a nice touch for a strip mall place that serves shrubs and sodas from stemless wine glasses. The white tablecloths and candles are already here, the wine license is hopefully coming.

Cruciferous only soft opened last week for reservations, and started taking walk-ins on Wednesday night. The restaurant is the work of Marie Chia and partner Shane, who previously ran pop-ups under the names S+M Vegan and Blind Tiger Dining in and around San Francisco. Now theyve partnered up with Doomie (of Doomies Home Cookin next door) to offer a lighter alternative to the vegan big macs and other comfort fare hes most known for.

The kitchen is also an entirely collaborative one, much like Scratch Bar up in Encino. Prep and line cooks run dishes and bus plates, and theres a 20% equality charge added to every bill, with no option to tip further.

For now, Cruciferous runs Wednesday through Sunday, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., though you may see those hours expand down the line. Much like previous strip mall hits such as Kato or Baroo, theres something surprising about the place something you, predictably, wouldnt expect just from glancing inside while walking past. With a lean on quality produce, relatively low prices, and tons of housemade vegan options, its easy to see Cruciferous growing into something even more special soon. And with Doomies next door and the new all-vegan Cocobella Creamery anchoring the end of the strip mall, Hollywoods got a secret new vegan restaurant row to explore.

Cruciferous 1253 Vine St. #8 Los Angeles, CA

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Find an Elevated Vegan Dining Experience at This Low-Key Hollywood Strip Mall - Eater LA

Were living in the future. Were rapidly approaching the historical moment where well be able to buy sustainable vegan meat grown in a lab. There are cars that can parallel park themselves(do kids who have these cars still have to complete the dreaded parallel park on theirdriving tests?). There is such a thing as 3D printed cauliflower crusts. And thanks to the rise in the popularity of takeout delivery services like Seamless, Postmates, and Grubhub, we can order our food delivered right to our door even if that restaurant doesnt have their own delivery service. We can literally order vegan pancakes on a Saturday morning without getting out of bed ortalking to another human being on the phone. Thank you, technology!

Our food habits are also evolving. Now more than ever, consumers are paying attention to whats in their food, where it comes from, and shopping with their values. Highly processed foods are falling out of favor and Americans, in general, are eating less meat and dairy. A recent report released by Grubhub that details the healthy eating habits of Americans in 2016 reflects these changes. According to the data, the company saw a 58 percent increase in the number of vegan food orders placed in just one year. While the vegan diet didnt top Grubhubs charts in terms of the most popular healthy food habits, it was preceded byjuice cleanses and the raw food diet both of which are typically vegan.

What does this data say? For starters, it reinforces that meat and dairy arefalling out of favor with consumers. One-third of Americans now identify as flexitarian, choosing to leave meat off their plate more frequently. Milk consumption has been steadily declining by 25 percent per capita since the mid-1970s. Meanwhile, the plant-based meat and plant-based milk markets continue togrow. The plant-based milk industryhas grown by 250 percent in just five years while the market for plant-based meat substitutesis estimated to grow to $5.2 billion by 2020. Not to mention, more restaurants are making it easier than ever to order plant-based.

Theres no denying that the future of food has arrived and its vegan. And with takeoutdelivery services like Grubhub, you dont even have to leave the house if you want to try to cut back on meat and dairy.

Theres no doubt that this is fantastic news but if you like to cook, check out the Food Monster App, which is available for bothAndroid and iPhone. With over 8,000 vegan recipes (and over 10 new recipes added daily), youre going to find something you love!

Image source: Grubhub

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This Stat From Grubhub Totally Disproves Eating Vegan is 'Hard' - One Green Planet

Judge John Hodgman on the Vegan Lunch Spot New York Times Dallas writes: My friend Andr and I are professors in Illinois. For the last three years, I have organized a teachers' discussion group that meets over lunch at a vegan cooperative. Andr does not like the food, but it is difficult to find a place ...

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Judge John Hodgman on the Vegan Lunch Spot - New York Times

It appears all the vegan doughnut makers turned away by Pips Original Doughnuts last year now have new job prospects. Doe Donuts hung up its open sign on May 7 at 8201 SE Powell Blvd., and within four hours, it had sold out of 1000 doughnuts. Portlands first vegan-dedicated doughnut shop clearly had to step up production, with flavors like powdered matcha and the signature Golden Child, featuring ganache and ornately topped with chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, and gold pearls. But also because this is Portland, where anything involving veganism and fried dough will assuredly attract lines.

With prices ranging from $2.75 to $4, Doe Donuts sits closer to the gourmet side of the doughnut world. According to the website, the entirely animal-free shop uses Organic, Fair Trade, and Non GMO ingredients when possible, and it also works with many local food artisans, from Eugene's Glory Bee, to Townshend's Dr. Brew Kombucha and Stumptown Coffee.

Carly Sitner and Crystal Wegener own Doe Donut, and the partners met while working at an organic grocer, which is actually where Sitner made her first doughnuts as a way of attracting more customers. What started two years ago as two doughnut flavors served on Sundays only is today Doe Donuts.

Sitner and Wegener come with experience, too. Sitner has been baking for more than 13 years in locations across the U.S. from restaurants to wholesale. An Oregon native, Wegener graduated from culinary school with a degree in baking and pastry management.

Doe Doughnuts is now open early and frying every day except Tuesdays. The hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Note the shop is not a gluten- or nut-free facility.

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Portland's First Vegan Doughnut Shop Is Open and Frying - Eater Portland