You've read the interviews, now read the "Best of VGP" wrap-up post. If you still need to catch up, you can find all 8 of the "Veggie Girl Power" interviews here.
Ahead, I've compiled my Top 35 Fave Quotes from the interviews, as well as a few trends and VGP faves. (I tried doing a 'top ten' but failed miserably. I love each and every quip and quote!) Check it out...
My "Best of..." What an amazing bunch of ladies I had the pleasure of featuring in my very first "Veggie Girl Power" Interview Series. The response from my blog readers was amazing! So many of you were thrilled to learn more about Amanda, Chloe, Erin, Karina, Kristen, Marilu, Rory and Sarma. I'm so inspired by what these ladies had to say, below are my picks for the best of the best trends, quips and quotes...
TRENDS! Fave Products/Brands of the VGP ladies:
* Vegenaise! (Big fave).
* Field Roast Grain Meat Co. "Sausages"
* Allison's Gourmet brand
* Dr. Cow Cashew "Cheese"
* Bob's Red Mill Flours
* Uncle Eddie's Vegan Cookies
* Yerba Mate Tea
* Coconut Water
* Hemp Products
* Daiya Vegan Cheese
Other Trends I Spotted:
* AM trend: Starting the day with pure fresh hydrating water! (Or another liquid beverage, but water was the fave)
* I Love Animals. It all comes back to the love of animals. All the veggie ladies have been inspired by their love of animals in one way or another.
* Hungry? Fave eats for dining out: Pure Food and Wine, Candle 79, Real Food Daily, Veggie Grill, M Cafe, Sticky Fingers, Babycakes, Madeline Bistro, Green, Sages, GoBo, Sublime, Dirt Candy, Sripraphai and Blossom were a few of the VGP ladies' faves.
* Keep it 'Farm' Simple. Organic Produce, Farmers Market Produce and "whole foods" always win out with these ladies. No fancy brands or packaging required. Pass the fruit bowl, raw nuts, fresh-picked veggies and whole grains please.
Who Would the VGP ladies award the VGP label (Or some well-deserved props to)... to?
Amanda: "All the women she has worked with in kitchens"
Chloe: Ingrid Newkirk, Rory Freedman, Kathy Freston, Samantha Ragsdale, Emily Deschanel
Erin: Emily Woesthoff, Babycakes General Manager
Karina: Susan of Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
Kristen: Shazzie, Angela Stokes-Monarch
Marilu: Dr. Neil Barnard, PCRM
Rory: Ingrid Newkirk, PETA
Sarma: Chloe Jo Berman
Beverage Favorites! Drink up like the ladies do, fave smoothies and juices:
Sarma: "My favorite is called Swan Greens. It’s cucumber, spinach, and dandelion greens with a little grapefruit, pear and a touch of tarragon, spearmint, and yuzu."
Rory: "A smoothie with banana, berries, hemp seed milk, and ground flax seeds."
Marilu: "I am not usually a juice/smoothie girl. I rather prefer to eat the whole fruit, because I like my body having to work on digesting the entire food."
Erin: " I like just simple pressed apples with cucumber, lemon, and cayenne pepper."
Kristen: "I love starting my day with fresh organic green juice. A favorite combination is cucumber, celery, and kale. It’s gentle and alkalizing."
Karina: "My current favorite smoothie features pomegranate juice, a frozen banana and blueberries. Sometimes with hemp milk."
Amanda: "When I do have a smoothie I usually go for something with bananas for the stress-reduction and strawberries for the Vitamin C since I spend my days trapped in a kitchen."
Chloe: "I am a carrot juice OR all greens (no apple) juice gal."
"Veggie Girl Power" Interview Quotes: My Top 35 Faves.
And NO these are not ranked, I love them all, it was hard enough choosing my Top 35!
35. "First I debate with them. I love to be right, but will accept when I'm wrong. I respond to every critical email I get. If the critics are being irrational or we can't agree to disagree respectfully, I say "SUCK IT" and carry on with my mission - which is to help animals." -Chloe Jo Berman on how she deals with critics.
34. "Go vegan. Seriously. It will change your life in the most profound, indescribable, unexpected ways." -Rory Freedman
33. "..one of my other favorites came to me from my friend Dhrumil who always tweets good quotes. “As long as you don’t forgive, who or whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind.” (Isabelle Holland)." -Sarma Melngailis, on one of her fave quotes.
32. "Have fun. Food should be about fun. .... There’s so much pressure about what we “should” be eating and what foods are going to keep us young forever, and what’s good for our skin, and what’s going to save us from cancer, and what’s going to keep our colons clean, and what’s going to save the world. Food gets treated like a medicine cabinet, or a political essay, or a dangerous substance and at the end of the day you wind up with anorexic twelve-year-olds and people hiding behind a screen of allergies and diets and fads" -Amanda Cohen's message to girls.
31. "You have one body. That’s it. It’s not a car. There are no trade-ins." -Marilu Henner
30. "..you don’t have to be a bully to be strong, and you don’t have to scream to run a kitchen." -Amanda Cohen
29. "You get what you give." -Erin McKenna
28. "The best tip I have is to listen to your own body. Try different things and try them at different times because your body could change over time." -Kristen Suzanne
27. "Compassion for animals and the desire to help them is what compelled me to write Skinny Bitch. I believed (and still do) that if people were aware of what they were contributing to every time they ate meat, they’d be motivated to change." -Rory Freedman
26. "...soy allergies are on the rise (I am allergic to soy and beans/legumes). Awareness is on the rise, however. And availability. So that's good news." -Karina Allrich
25. “It’s not going to kill you, so don’t give up.” -Amanda Cohen
24. "..listen for your inner passion. When you discover what it is, go for it unabashedly. " -Rory Freedman
23. "Be a girls girl, act out of love. And NEVER be afraid to open your big mouth and sing out, Louise." -Chloe Jo Berman
22. "To tell you the truth – LOL – I think to myself, “Oh you poor thing, you just don’t ‘get’ it.” -Kristen Suzanne on how she deals with the critics.
21. "I’m always convinced the good guys will ultimately win." -Sarma Melngailis
20. "I want to inspire creativity in the kitchen. And in life!" -Karina Allrich
19. "I don't respond. I knew going into this that there would be haters. You can't please everyone, which is why I do things from the heart and know that at least I will be happy." -Erin McKenna on how to face critics.
18. "Life is short. Make today delicious." -Karina Allrich
17. "Animals. The ethical and political reasons regarding animal rights are the driving forces behind my actions." -Kristen Suzanne
16. "When someone calls me crazy, it only boosts my confidence and determination." -Sarma Melngailis
15. "It's sad how often I have to explain what ACTUALLY goes down in factory farms to incredibly educated people - many of whom call themselves Eco experts. OY vey." -Chloe Jo Berman
14. "I always called myself an “animal lover” but ate eat meat at every single meal. When I learned that animals were confined, tortured, and slaughtered, just because I liked how they tasted—I went vegetarian in that instant. There was no way any living, feeling being was going to be tortured and slaughtered because of me." -Rory Freedman
13. "Negative comments don’t bother me because I've never minded being the odd person out or the dissenting vote." -Marilu Henner
12. "It’s always organic or I’m not buying it. That’s one thing I’m adamant about. I recognize that I can’t always have organic at restaurants, but I make it a point to have everything organic at home. In fact, when I’m at restaurants, I write on the receipt, “I’d eat here more often if you offered organic options.” -Kristen Suzanne
11. "Meat and dairy kill! A plant-based diet is better for everything: humans, animals, and the environment. " -Marilu Henner
10. "Recently someone pointed out to me that negative personal comments usually say far more about the people making them than they do about you." -Sarma Melngailis on critics who make 'personal comments'.
9. "When I’m passing someone who’s wearing fur or riding in a horse-drawn carriage and I don’t feel comfortable speaking up, I hear Ingrid’s voice in my head, “Never be silent. Say something. Anything."" -Rory Freedman
8. "When a member at marilu.com is worried about comments or criticism, I tell them to “Imagine yourself with this little coat of "Teflon" so that the slings and arrows of others bounce right off of you. Just smile, nod, and move on with the knowing awareness that you're going to look a lot better than they do in a few years! ...I’ve been smiling, nodding, and moving on for a long time!" -Marilu on the critics.
7. "YES!!! Yes yes yes. " -Sarma Melngailis on whether veg*n diets will be the majority and not the minority one day.
6. "Losing my parents in their fifties (my father of a heart attack at fifty-two, and my mom of arthritis at fifty-eight) changed my life forever. Their untimely deaths propelled me to take action and alter everything about my lifestyle. I became a student of health and my own in-house experiment after talking to nutritionists and doctors, going to bookstores and medical libraries, taking human anatomy classes, and reading over 400 books on the subject of food and health." -Marilu Henner
5. "I get so frustrated when I see people (women particularly) who spend their lives looking for the perfect shoe or perfect shade of lipstick. REALLY?!! Ladies, we are the backbone of society, we have babies to feed, nations to help, animals to speak out for. I can't stand a weak woman." -Chloe Jo Berman
4. "I always try to convey to people that with raw food, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. So many people dismiss it entirely because they think they have to turn their life upside down or it’s just too hard, and that if they’re not 100% perfect, why bother. But it’s perfectly okay to just shift. As long as it’s in the direction of better food that makes you feel better." -Sarma Melngailis
3. "If you feel it in your heart, you must go for what is tugging at you." -Erin McKenna
2. "Yes! I am totally hopeful, and with good reason. Never before have there been so many books, films, and organizations dedicated to veganizing the planet. Vegetarianism is trending higher than ever before, and it shows in the number of food products on the market, news stories, and the flood of information that’s making its rounds. Whether it’s ethically-, health-, or environmentally motivated, more and more people are making the transition." -Rory Freedman on the future of veg*n diets.
1. "The key to your life is how you deal with Plan B." You can aim for Plan A. You can arrange for Plan A. But "Plan B" is what actually happens to you. It's your resilience in being able to roll with the punches and move on to Plan B that really makes your life." -Marilu Henner
And lastly, a few of the funnier/sarcastic quotes...
VGP LOL:
Chloe says, "I could stuff my face 24 hours a day and not mind. I'm not the fasting kind."
Rory shamelessly admits, "I will be the first to admit I am a shitty-ass cook, so thankfully, my publisher hired a recipe developer to help with Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. I’ve gotta say, the mac ‘n cheese recipe from Kitch is the best I’ve ever had."
Rory, guilty as charged, "Allison’s Gourmet, Vegan Treats, and Sticky Fingers have all officially ruined my life. "
Amanda's quirky breakfast combo,
"Cereal with orange juice on it. It sounds gross, but I love cereal and hate milk so it works for me."
Marilu's kids invent the word 'rambitious' (love it), "being wife to my fabulous husband, and mom and chauffeur to my two young rambitious (their word!) teenage boys!""
Sarma's mallomar breakfast - yummy -"I also love these mallomars we make in our takeaway. Sometimes I have them for breakfast (after my juice)."
And I'll close by repeating Chloe's very Veggie Girl Power quote regarding critics, because quite frankly, it makes me smile,
"First I debate with them. I love to be right, but will accept when I'm wrong. I respond to every critical email I get. If the critics are being irrational or we can't agree to disagree respectfully, I say "SUCK IT" and carry on with my mission - which is to help animals." -Chloe Jo Berman on how she deals with critics.
Your Turn! Have a fave I didn't mention, or just want to chat about your fave quote from the list? Comment or tweet it! I'd love to hear what resonates with you guys.
About The "Veggie Girl Power" Interview. This series celebrates female trailblazers who inspire us! Featured Ladies were chosen for their unstoppable "Veggie Girl Power", aka a female with experience, wisdom, creativity, skills, heart, worldliness, passion, grace, drive, dedication and personality! Each interview question was 'filed' under one of these VGP characteristics. Read all 8 interviews, in full, here.