2016 as last year is the year I hope more and more to become – and stay – vegan. In the last few years, I started my vegan research journey simply to find more healthy vegetable and legume recipes. The more I eat vegan, the better I feel, not to mention how much my awareness for animal welfare has heightened. I want to make veganism a true commitment to myself and to the other beings on our Earth.
I started out one day at a time, and here is how you can do it, too if you are struggling to go 100 percent vegan. For example, Meatless Monday is an easy commitment. So is occasionally eating vegan. The challenge is to stay a vegan day in and day out – every single meal – and do it the healthy vegan way – with an occasionally unhealthy vegan snack or meal.
A solution that works for me is to do menu planning, But, yes, there’s a but! I suck at creating a proper menu plan – you (and I) don’t want to cook three different meals and two snacks from scratch every day, not to mention the time it takes. We want a plan that is simple to follow, with leftovers for the next day and with a good combination of vitamins and minerals that make meals nutrition rich. And I want – and I bet you want, too – a plan that includes a shopping list.
Free vegan starter kit menu planners
In order to help me with this goal, I have found three free vegan planners that I have reviewed below. Let me know which one you like the best!
The good news is that there are several free menu planners on the Internet for us to use. I’ve done a search to kickstart this year for at good start at Vegan Menu Planning the healthy way. This is what I found, and more is being added.
1. 21-day Vegan Kit Menu from PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)
My all time favorite is the 21 Day Starter Menu. Not only do they have the menu kit with shopping lists, you can also sign up for a free account and make your own menus with your favorite foods.
When that’s done, not only a shopping list will be generated for you, but also the nutritional values in your meals are calculated. Doesn’t get much better than that. Get it here.
PCRM also has a kickstart program you can sign up for PMRC Kickstart (in English, Chinese and Spanish, there’s also Kickstart for India but in English)- they will send you daily emails with tips and recipes. And it starts the 1st of every month, so sign up Today!
2. “Eat This Much” is your personal meal planner and you will need to sign up for an account, which is free. When you set up your profile page you choose if you want to gain weight, maintain or lose weight, your gender, personal measure etc. you can even choose which price level your food budget is. Very cool – you also choose if you want metric or imperial measures! get it at EatThisMuch
3. PETA has a two week Vegan Meal Plan – it is a two-week sample menu. You can get it at PETA Meal Plan. Also, you can order a Vegan Starter Kit as well PETA Vegan Starter Kit
There you go, three free vegan meal planners for you to use.
Before I close I want to draw your attention to the good people at Veganuary, there’s no meal planning there but it’s so full of other fine vegan stuff that’s it well worth your time to check it out.
Vegan tapas have called to me, and I have responded. I now have a load of new vegan appetizer ideas, or vegan tapas, to share with you. Last week was “Tapa″ week here in San Juan de la Ramba, where I’ve been staying this winter. It’s a lovely small village situated in the northern part of Tenerife, Spain.
Vegan tapas are not traditional
Ten Restaurants competed on serving the most creative tapa. All the restaurants served “their” tapa and a drink for a nice price of €2.50 ($3.10). The problem for me was, of course, that none of the tapas were vegan.
So, I decided to find good tapas recipes and recreate vegan versions for myself.
Vegan tapas to try
The start of this project was to find the recipes. Here are those that I started out with:
Let’s take the dessert first – I’ve never heard of tapas for dessert, despite having spent some time in Spain. I don’t know if it’s even a thing, but vegan desserts as tapas, well, I’m all for it!
The jalapeno poppers are too hot for me, but my “tasters” love them! So, if you are into hot stuff this is for you. making sure to remove all the seeds and the inner vein helps, as well as choosing your variety of pepper.
The cherry tomatoes with watermelon are just lovely with a nice mild taste. They can be served as palate cleansers and are great for a hot summer’s day.
For the tofu triangles, I used coconut oil, plus I added nutritional yeast and served them warm – a great “snack” taste, salty!
Radicchio cups are so packed with goodness that I can eat them as a meal. These are festive party pleasers
All the vegan tapas I tried were so delicious and well worth the effort – not that they are hard to make, but tapas often need a bit of prep time. I like to make up a batch or two and they will keep for a few days in the refrigerator if they last that long.
The way Jamie Oliver cooks has always been one of my favourites; he makes it look easy and his energy is cool. What I didn’t know was that he also has a nice selection of vegan recipes.
You can find his recipes at http://www.jamieoliver.com/. Not only can you sort recipes alphabetically by date or popularity, but you can also filter your search by ingredients, kitchen, difficulty (I love that :D), course, and occasion for dish type.
I did a search for “not too tricky” and found “Briam”, which is a Greek dish traditionally eaten with feta – I made the dish with vegan feta – it was delicious and easy to make.
Teenagers are hungry all the time – being vegan or not.
The trick is of course always to have something healthy in the fridge or freezer. We don’t want it to be too expensive either.
Not only for teenagers but I also like to have something just “to grab”; it is nice not to have to cook a full meal from scratch, but just something healthy and filling.
Here are some great suggestions:
Snacks
Having snacks around has been the best way to keep us all full between meals, or instead of meals when we run out of on time. The old wisdom that snacking ruins your appetite mysteriously doesn’t seem to apply to teenagers and young adults. Try these Simple and Satisfying Vegan Snacks.
Cook in Quantity
I keep vegan taco meat in my freezer and an extra bowl of pasta salad in the fridge when possible. Label the leftover containers to make them easy to find, especially if your wayward teenagers are as bad at feeding themselves as my brother is. Pre-cooked quinoa and wild rice are also excellent in salads and wraps.
Veggie Burgers and Veggie Dogs
Veggie dogs, or not-dogs as we call them in my family, are another easy and filling food. Paired with sprouted buns and homemade ketchup, burgers and dogs are an excellent treat, especially for those less inclined to cooking. Making the veggie burgers yourself can be pretty easy though, if you have a little more time than money, and store-bought has never tasted as good to me as what I make myself.
Cooking vegan you’ll need loads of tricks to cook or at least that is how it looks in the beginning. After you have some experience it gets easier and easier; still when we find recipe with milk, honey, butter or cheese we don’t give up, we just replace the foods. I think we have all tried to make our own cheese some with good result and some with lesser result, here are some good suggestions.
1. Make Your Own Honey Replacement
You don’t have to be a bee to make your own honey. Just mix 1 ¼ cups of granulated sugar with 1/3 cup of water and you have one cup of vegan honey. Replace the honey in a recipe with an equal amount of your homemade sweetener.
2. You Don’t Need a Churn to Make Butter
Believe it or not, making your own butter is pretty easy. You just need some specialty ingredients like lecithin, coconut oil, and xanthan gum and a mold to shape the butter in. Vegan butter can be made with soy milk or for a soy-free version, try my cashew-based vegan butter. You can even make it fancy by adding your favorite herbs or using cocoa butter to make a heavenly chocolate-flavored butter.
3. Avocados Can be Used as Butter
There’s a trend going on right now for avocado toast. Just mash up some avocado and season it with your favorite herbs, spices, or even hot sauce and spread it on your toast as you would butter. Besides toast, avocado can substitute for butter in baking or in puddings. Just be aware that you will taste the avocado, so be sure it’s a good match for your recipe.
One way to save money and get your food wast at a minimum is to know how to store your veggies correctly. Nothing worse than finding veggies that either are dry or gone half-rotten.
The “secrets” are
Keep the fridge clean (use non-toxic cleaning products once a week)
– Maintain a low temperature
– Wash your produce before and after storing it
– Switch out the towels on a regular basis to make sure nothing is lingering
– Use a towel made from anti-bacterial fibers like bamboo
It is not that there isn’t loads and loads of foods and drinks at airports but it is usually not vegan, on the contrary the foods there are often processed foods with loads of salt and sugar, very unhealthy to say it the least. Yes fruits might be sold there but that’s too little to eat. Just remember if you bring along fresh fruits yourself you must eat it before landing, you are not allowed to bring fresh fruit into a new country.
DivineBagsofCells recorded this video on a layover in Oahu Hawaii.
I decided to enrich some potato mash recipes with protein this week. How can we do this? Beans are a fantastic way to add protein and extra nutrients to any dish. Then I asked myself, which beans contain the most protein? Soybean is at the top of the list. But I’m not keen on soybeans because the non-organic ones are GMO, and I can only buy from China – at least where I live in Finland. I have never been comfortable buying from a country that far away, for some reason. So, which ones are next on the list? I wasn’t sure, so I used the usual trick: Google.
Second on the list is navy beans. For you who are not familiar with that name (as I wasn’t), it’s a small white, oval bean, with the latin name Phaseolus Vulgaris.
When my significant other did the shopping list, I asked him to buy “white beans”, which is the term we would use here. He bought butter beans, which, in his defense, are also white. The protein content in cooked butter beans is 9g per 100g, so all was good with the protein content. The mashed potatoes also turned out well. My partner, who is an omnivore, loved it without noticing the butter beans. I added a few veggies and it was a healthy main meal.
Vegan traveling is becoming a popular topic these days, as the world slowly opens again after two years of a global pandemic. Traveling as a vegan takes a bit more planning, but it’s pretty easy once you think about it. Traveling also means out for a day in the forest, beach, or mountains. Go for a day hike with breaks every 50 minutes – 5 minutes breaks and then an hour’s lunch. Your body will thank you.
Check out these cool tips to keep you feeling great:
Ever since I started as a vegan it has occurred to me that more and more people are changing to a vegan diet. Yet, it also occurred to me that most people think it is hard, too hard for some. And I agree to a certain point. If you see vegan as a strict diet thing, then it is. But if you see vegan as a life philosophy, then it becomes easier.
Now for those that are not ready to grab the full vegan diet, here are six reasons to vegan for your sex drive. Admit it – you want to go vegan now!
Vegan up – Viagra not needed 🙂
So here we go
1. Smooth and Silky Skin
Feeling comfortable in the skin you’re in is necessary to boost your sex drive in between the sheets. If you’re self-conscious about your skin, you are less likely to be confident during sex. A vegan diet can help you achieve smooth, silky, and glowing skin because it contains a higher content of vitamin C — essential for collagen metabolism increasing the elasticity of your skin — found in fruits and vegetables. It’s best to opt for fruits and veggies high in antioxidants to help counteract the effects of free radicals and anti-inflammatory agents.
A diet characterized by high calories, high glycemic, high fat, and meat foods can contribute to acne breakouts, according to a 2012 study published in the journal Dermato-Endocrinology. Leucine — an amino acid found in meat — can increase skin inflammation and break down collagen and elastin. These types of diets can also increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.
2. Better Tasting Bodily Fluids and Fresher Body Odor
Going on a vegan diet can actually make you physically taste appetizing to your partner — without adding any outside substances on your body. It is commonly believed fruits such as pineapples can give semen a better flavor by counteracting the acidic taste, according to a study done by the website Pork and Gin. Six heterosexual couples agreed to have one partner eat pineapple and the other to rate overall quality and sweetness of their “sex wee” for a week. Although the findings of the study should be proceeded with caution since there was no blinding, no randomization, and no control group, the researchers found eating pineapple can make a significance difference to both the overall taste and sweetness of bodily juices.
In regard to odor, a vegan diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, will keep your body smelling fresh. A 2006 study published in the journal Chemical Senses found body odor when on the nonmeat diet was judged as significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense than meat-eaters. The findings highlight that red meat consumption has a negative impact on perceived body odor. Smelling good can lure your partner closer to you for some one-on-one time behind closed doors.
Read about the remaining 4 reasons by clicking the link below:
Check out a sexy funny “World Vegan Day” video by clicking the link below:
When we do one-day hikes, we often get hungry in the late afternoons. We like to have a meal that not only reminds us of real dinner but also gives us energy. At the same time, it has to be easy to carry and eat.
This dish is a perfect match. Serve in pita bread and you can have a healthy dinner ready in minutes.
Bulgur wheat is an excellent source of protein, low-fat and low in calories, perfect for an active person.
This recipe is a basic Tabbouleh, add your won favorites, we like
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Leafy greens
Herbs
Lemon juice
You can substitute the bulgur wheat with quinoa, wild rice or even chickpeas.
[mpprecipe-recipe:40]
Photo Credit: Alpha
I do admit, one of my weak spots is to make a menu with a corresponding shopping list. I know it is the only sensible thing to do when I want a varied and healthy diet, not to mention save money. But every time I begin just to think about it, I procrastinate. The Internet is a great place to seek help. I found a 21-day Vegan kickstart menu with recipes and shopping lists.
Not only is it useful as a kickstart kit, but also a fine program to get back to, if you fall out of your good habits. Which I tend to do after returning from a great holiday.
Each day during the Kickstart, we provide recipes and suggestions for every meal. Don’t let this overwhelm you. We want you to know there are tons of options, but you get to pick and choose how many recipes you make each day or week—and how much of each recipe you make. For those of you cooking for four to six people, the serving size of the provided recipes will be spot-on. But if you are cooking for just yourself or one other person, you may consider cutting the recipe in half or making the full amount and freezing it. We recommend trying to cook a big batch and eating off of it for a few days. This will save you time and keep you eating healthy meals. And for those of you cooking for one, check out the book.
Get the 21-day Vegan Kickstart Menu and Shopping lists at pcrm.org
Photo credit: Bruce Turner
If you, as I, want an old fashion paper book, where you can make your notes and look at photos, then I recommend “The Daily Vegan Planner: Twelve Weeks to a Complete Vegan Diet Transition“. There is also a Kindle version, yet, isn’t easy to use. Books with recipes, diagrams, charts, and workbooks can not simply be copied from the print version to the electronic version. With this book, the daily meal plan and the recipes span multiple pages, no matter how I adjust the font and the charts cannot be filled out. So the paperback is what I recommend.
