by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 31, 2014 | Recipes
It is so good for you, full of fibre
and beta-carotene, but it seems sooo uninteresting.
The taste is nice but you can’t just toss it in everything and hope for the best, can you?
Well, the answer is that you almost can!
I was searching for new ideas on how to use it. And hopefully in a kid-friendly too, and stumbled on this pot of gold: None less than 30 ways to sneak the green little leaf in your food.
All the way from Avocado,Kiwi, Spinach smoothie, to spinach, lentil, ragout.
Just be aware that the recipes are vegetarian and not vegan (most are though) so be sure to use a vegan alternative to cheese and pasta among other things, or just get inspired to use it in the dishes you already make, like I did.
Just follow the link to get to the recipes: http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/healthy-and-delicious-spinach-recipes/
by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 21, 2014 | Smoothies & Drinks
Cool as a Cucumber – this drink is great for hot afternoons and evening. Cucumbers is a great source of Vitamin B and are 95% water, keeping the body hydrated while helping the body eliminate toxins. Cucumbers have most of the vitamins the body needs in a single day.
Cucumbers are a good source of potassium. Drinking cucumber water helps your body get more potassium, potentially helping to lower your blood pressure.
Cucumbers are high in vitamin K. In fact, one cup of sliced cucumbers has about 19 percent of the recommended daily value. Your body needs vitamin K to help form proteins that are needed to make healthy bones and tissues as well as to help your blood clot properly. What better way to get this vitamin than through refreshing cucumber water?
[mpprecipe-recipe:25]
by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 17, 2014 | Vegan Main Meals
We have just had a week with loads of rain showers and today the sun was shining & it means that the forest is full of mushroom and berries. So we packed the backpack with coffee and smorgas! – we are from Scandinavia – after all 🙂 Put on our hiking gear and off we went as merry dwarfs to the forest.
On our way to the forest we did see wild strawberries and blueberries, tasted just a few, we wanted to go further away from the road before starting to have a feast in wild berries.
In the forest we were not disappointed; wild strawberries in abundance and loads of blueberries – we had to walk another hour’s time before we saw the first mushrooms “chanterelles” and picked two big handful each, enough for two generous servings of Chanterelles Stew.
We always use the same recipe, the season is fairly short, so we just make our favorite. The original recipe calls for butter and full fat cream but it is easy to replace with vegan ingredients as we have done for years by now. We serve with rye bread again we are from Scandinavia, so a natural choice. You can use the bread of your preference, only thing is don’t use a sour bread with a too sourish taste, it ruins the mild taste of the musrooms.
[mpprecipe-recipe:21]
Photo credit: the top photo “Chanterelle Cantharellus cibarius“. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo within recipe by Susanne Flø
by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 16, 2014 | Health
I didn’t turn to a vegan diet cold turkey. I turned to a vegan diet out of necessity. I was vegetarian for many years. Yet I suffered from severe heartburn and reflux. It was BAD. At times, I felt like I was having a heart attack, and the pain was so unbearable that I thought I was going to die! Yes, it was as bad as that. Medication didn’t help. So I decided to eat alkaline food only. To my surprise, I was able to cure the heartburn and reflux by switching to a 100% plant based diet. I also started to sleep better. Last but not least, I was able to do proper hikes again. I happily transitioned to a vegan diet.
Because of all the pain and nausea, it was an easy choice for me. I started to focus on my health only. Because I felt so sick, I was happy enough if I managed to cook vegan and alkaline food for myself.
I know transitioning to a vegan diet is not easy for many people – yes, including myself. So, I made this list of 10 tips for a healthy transition to a vegan diet for you. I know these tips helped me, and I hope you find them useful, too. Enjoy.
Table of Contents1. Clean your kitchen2. Stock up your kitchen3. Baby steps 4. Eat what you like5. Cut down on processed foods6. Know your food.7. Make you meals easy and fun.8. Give up dairy9. Breakfast10. Go easy on yourself.Vegan cashew cheese
1. Clean your kitchen
When you empty your kitchen of unhealthy food choices, it’s easer to focus on healthy eating choices. Go through all your cupboards and fridge and get rid of everything that’s processed or not 100% plant based.
Foods in unopned packages can be donated to your local street kitchen. Everything else goes in the garbage bin.
2. Stock up your kitchen
Time to go shopping: buy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables – this is a given. Here are items I always keep stocked in my cupboard:
- Beans – any will do, like lentils and chickpeas – I prefer dried over canned.
- Grains – I look for non-gluten types like quinoa and rice
- Tofu
- Nuts and seeds (flaxseed is #1 in my book)
- Miso (fermented beans)
- Vegetable stock (not necessary)
- Nutritional yeast (not necessary)
- Spices
- Herbs, whatever is in season
3. Baby steps
Start slowly. My suggestion is that you add foods to your diet and not remove any, to begin with. Start by eating a salad before lunch for a week, then expand to a salad before lunch and before dinner for seven days. When you eat a salad before your meal, you will, without thinking about it, eat less. In the following week, eat 50 percent less junky food per meal. Into the third week, keep cutting down until you eliminate 75 percent of the junk. Finally, by the end of a month’s time, remove everything that’s not plant based.
4. Eat what you like
If you don’t like kale now, then you will not like kale when you transion to a vegan diet. Eat the fruits and veggies you like. And try new varieties to find new favorites.
5. Cut down on processed foods
Processed foods are bad for us, because they make us addicted to fat, sugar and salt. If you buy a lot of prepared meals, start cooking for yourself. Prepping your own lunch is easy, and you can find many videos online for creating easy vegan lunches. A few videos are added at the end of this post.
Drop the softdrinks. It’s time to drink water when you are thirsty and not drink sugar. A beer or wine occationally – vegan of course – and with a meal is a nice treat, if you drink. You can find out if your favorites are vegan here.
6. Know your food.
Most of the commercial vegan products on the market such as fake burgers, meatballs, and cheese are processed foods and not healthy. Think saturated fat and excessive amino acids: these foods are often packed with highly refined oils, flours, sugars, and salts. Therefore, it’s better to indulge in these foods only once in a while. The good thing is, our bodies get addicted to what we eat most of. Be prepared! Your body will soon prefer fresh foods to processed. It’s pretty aweome when your body craves healthy vegan diet options, not junk.
7. Make you meals easy and fun.
Unless your hobby is cooking or you are a chef, I recommend you find easy and fast recipes. It’s easy to make your meals more exciting and fun, through online videos, posts, and vegan communities. I like to find vegan cookbooks to pore through.
8. Give up dairy
Now is the time to give up dairy, if you’re serious about a vegan diet. There are growing varieties of plant milks on the market. There are also vegan cheeses and dressings. During the transition period it can be good to buy those, but I do not recommended continuing to consume a lot as they are also processed. I have added a homemade cheese recipe at the end of this post.
9. Breakfast
I did a smoothie diet challenge, and now all the greens goodness is a part of my morning routine. Overnight oats is a great thing to eat, in the summer fresh fruit and bread. Quinoa bowls is another fun thing to try. If you are stuck on bread or muffins still, try making your own plant-based quick breads or muffins tht are easy to freeze and take out a serving at time as you need it.
10. Go easy on yourself.
You ate something non-vegan? don’t beat yourself up, just go back to your vegan diet immediately. Nothing bad happened, you are human. After my reflux was healed and I could eat “normal” again, I planned cheat meals, at the beginning once a week. Now I barely cheat more than once a month, if that. Remeber you are on a journey, not a race, but do remember to get some kind of exercise regularly.
Here’s an easy cheesy recipe for you:
Vegan cashew cheese
- 1 cup of soaked cashew nuts
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 60 ml / 3-4 Tblsp. water
- salt & pepper to taste
Pulse everything but the water – add the water little by little as needed.
by Michaela Kennedy | Jul 16, 2014 | Food Guide
Before we start the list, there’s a few things I would like to make clear:
We need about 1000 mg of calcium per day for healthy and strong bones, everyone does, not only vegans. As we age we need more: An intake of a minimum of 1200 mg of calcium is recommended for women over 51 years and for men over 70 years.
There is a trap; if you do not know of it, you might be eating loads of calcium but it will *not* be absorbed in your body, here goes: Oxalic acid, which is found in spinach, rhubarb, chard, and beet greens binds with the calcium in those foods and reduces its absorption. These foods should not be considered good sources of calcium. Calcium in other green vegetables is well absorbed. Dietary fiber has little effect on calcium absorption though.
Protein’s effect on calcium needs and bones remains uncertain.
To maintain strong and healthy bones it is recommended you do regular weight-bearing exercise such as walking. You will also need to keep an eye on your sodium intake because it increases the amount of calcium lost in urine (about 20 mg of calcium are lost with each gram of sodium in the diet) and higher dietary sodium is associated with lower bone density.
How much sodium do we need? Well, the answer is “we do not know exactly.” Look at these figures:
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): 2300 mg.
- American Heart Association (AHA): 1500 mg.
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND): 1500 to 2300 mg.
- American Diabetes Association (ADA): 1500 to 2300 mg.
So… there is definitely a consensus among these organizations that we should aim for less than 1500 mg of sodium per day, and definitely not more than 2300 mg.
1500 mg of sodium equals about 3/4 teaspoons or 3.75 grams of salt per day, while 2300 mg equals about one teaspoon and 6 grams of salt per day.
And you will need Vitamin D together with calcium for best absorption; the best source is the sun and you get that with a nice walk.
Without further ado let’s go to the list: (1 cup = 2.3 dl.)
1. Kale (1 cup contains 180 mg)
2. Collard Greens (1 cup contains over 350 mg)
3. Blackstrap Molasses (2 tablespoons contains 400 mg)
4. Tempeh (1 cup contains 215 mg)
5. Turnip Greens (1 cup contains 250 mg)
6. Fortified non-dairy milk (1 cup contains 200-300 mg)
7. Hemp milk (1 cup contains 460 mg)
8. Fortified orange juice (1 cup contains 300 mg)
9. Tahini (2 tablespoons contains 130 mg)
10. Almond butter (2 tablespoons contains 85 mg)
11. Great northern beans (1 cup contains 120 mg)
12. Soybeans (1 cup contains 175 mg)
13. Broccoli (1 cup contains 95 mg)
14. Raw fennel (1 medium bulb contains 115 mg)
15. Blackberries (1 cup contains 40 mg)
16. Black Currants (1 cup contains 62 mg)
17. Oranges (1 orange contains between 50 and 60 mg)
18. Dried apricots (1/2 cup contains 35 mg)
19. Figs (1/2 cup contains 120 mg)
20. Dates (1/2 cup contains 35 mg)
21. Artichoke (1 medium artichoke contains 55 mg)
22. Roasted sesame seeds (1 oz. contains 35 mg)
23. Adzuki beans (1 cup contains 65 mg)
24. Navy beans (1 cup contains 125 mg)
25. Amaranth (1 cup contains 275 mg)
Sources:
- USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 24, 2011 and manufacturers’ information.
- Photo Credit: Mike
