Category Archives: Vegetarian

Mar 31

Well At Least I Tried It

I’ve almost completed my third month of being a vegan, and I’m trying to branch out and try new things. We have more and more vegan items popping up at our local stores, and if they fit my budget, I throw them in the shopping cart. Some of the things that I have tried, I’ve liked. Some of the items that I’ve tried, I really haven’t liked. I thought I’d review some of the items, and see if you’ve tried them and liked them more than I did.

Again, this is not a sponsored post, I made zero dollars from my blog. It would be awesome to get paid doing this though, because then I could buy more yarn.

Well, at least I tried it… But I’m not a fan.

I’m always looking for snack foods that I can grab and go. I’m still hungry all the time, and I don’t always want to cook. I picked up these Vegan Quinoa Sticks in hopes that I would like them, but I really didn’t… They seemed to lack a lot of flavor, and they were a bit greasy. I made some mashed avocado, to try them with, and that did help a bit.

I think these come in a few other flavors, so if you’ve tried them, let me know if you liked them.

Yves Kale & Quinoa bites are a staple in my fridge. They are easy to throw together for a filling vegan meal. Well I went to get them at the store, Yves Vegan Falfel were stocked in their place. I have wanted to try Falafel, so I decided to give it a shot.

Dangit! I just wasn’t a fan of it… Maybe I would like them if they were homemade. I’m going to try and make them from scratch, because the seasoning was a bit strong.

I didn’t let them go to waste though…

I decided to shred them up, add some taco seasoning, and make vegan tacos!

It made perfect taco filling, and even fooled the family. I couldn’t get them to try it, but they all asked why I was eating regular tacos.

So I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Falafel, but my goodness the Falafel Tacos were unreal!

So if you have tried this brand of Falafel, let me know if you liked it. If there happens to be another vegan brand that you like better, let me know about it too.

Well it is Saturday, and the kids have cleaned out the kitchen of everything edible again. I am off to the stores today, and maybe I’ll find some more vegan goodies.

Mar 15

February’s Veggie Meals Part 3

Here’s the last of the vegan meals from February. It was a good month to be a vegan.

My Mom brought me some tasty vegan goodies for my birthday. She brought me some delicious Flax Milk, Chocolate Almond Milk (my fave), and some Vegan Mozzarella.  I was a little nervous about trying out vegan cheese.

So what do you do with vegan cheese?!? I topped off some vegan pizza with it. And it was pretty good. It was the first time I had anything cheese related for well over a month and a half. It tasted a bit different, but I did like it.

I try to keep rice or quinoa cooked and ready to go in the fridge. It makes a quick lunch.

It also makes a quick dinner for when I really don’t feel like cooking another meal.

Just in case you were wondering, this was my breakfast. Pico de gallo stuffed Avocados! YUM!

 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Pasta is always a delicious dish.

Well, I still had a bit of vegan mozzarella to use up, and I wanted to hack another recipe. I was craving cheesy potatoes, and I thought I could veganize them.

It was a gooey-cheezy-success!!!! I made cheezy vegan scalloped potatoes with broccoli.

They were so insanely delicious, I ate the entire pan.

I finished up the month with some delicious homemade Veggie Lo Mien.

I have really enjoyed the last two months of vegan eating. I’m sticking with it through March. This month I’m making peace with vegan foods that I was too scared to try (or cook) and eating more fresh fruits.

 

 

 

 

 

Mar 13

February Vegan Meals part 2

Sticking with my vegan meals was very easy to do in February. I made a few new dishes, and baked some bread too.

Snack lunch is always a winner!

One thing I’ve missed is the convenience of sliced bread. I make all mine from scratch, so that way I know they are completely vegan. I made bread for myself at least once a week, but when it comes to the family it is about four times a week.

Well, I couldn’t find my favorite Kale & Quinoa bites at the store, so I decided to try and hack the recipe and make them myself. I made a big (really big) batch of lentil and quinoa base. I rolled half of the mixture into “meatballs” and the rest went into a Lentil loaf.

The not “meatballs” were awesome on Spaghetti!

As for the Lentil loaf, it was delicious aside mashed potatoes, and roasted Brussels Sprouts, but it made an absolutely amazing Vegan McRib!

Or as my plant-based brother named it the NicRib!

Oh my goodness! This really was fantastically delicious! I think you could serve the carnivores this dish without a single grumble.

I can’t get enough of my homemade vegan mac & cheese. I haven’t gotten the kids to try it just yet, so more for me.

Just when I think vegan mac & cheese is my favorite, then I made homemade vegan French-bread pizza, and that’s my favorite.

For my birthday, I made some super trendy Avocado Toast. It is really good. I also had a cup of coffee with Almond Milk.

James took care of dinner for my birthday, and that is a little tricky for me… We don’t have a lot of vegan options here for take-out. I called up Hot Wok, and they made some steamed veggies that were delicious!

I even ate all of the mushrooms. Which I usually don’t do, but my tastebuds have changed so much since going vegan, I couldn’t resist them.

Vegan Nachos are tasty, and clean out the veggies in the fridge!

Snow Peas were on sale at my favorite store, so that made for a very fast lunch.

I’ll have up part three of this post soon. Right now, I’ve got to go and make lunch.

 

 

Mar 10

February’s Vegan Meals part 1

Since I’m sticking with veganism, I’ve got to break up my foodie posts, or else there will be way too many photos. All I seem to be doing lately is taking a  bunch of food photos, I guess that’s due to the fact that I’m constantly hungry.

Here’s the first part of my tasty vegan meals from February. I’ll have the other two posts up soon.

Tostadas with Homemade Chips and Salsa

Avocado with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The snack of champions!

Vegan tacos loaded with Avocados, and a bit of sliced avocado on the side.

Trying something new, Falafel and fresh veggies for lunch.

Snacks… Quinoa sticks with smashed Avocado.

Falafel and Roasted Cauliflower with Baked Sweet Potato.  I made some vegan dinner rolls for good measure.

Vegan “Mac & Cheese” one of my very favorites!

Vegan “not tuna salad” on vegan sandwich bread. I made the bread from scratch, and it toasted up beautifully.

Falafel Tacos. This dish even fooled the family.

Homemade Vegan Muffins. This batch was Cinnamon Oatmeal.

I’m going to have to make another batch of these soon. They were really fantastic.

Homemade Vegan Frenchbread Pizza. I really love this dish too.

And now I’m hungry again.

Feb 19

Veganuary Success!

When January rolled around I decided to participate in the Veganuary Challenge. It seemed like a good idea to me, and all you had to do was pledge to go entirely vegan for the month of January. Here’s where and why I decided it was time to go vegan…

I have been a vegetarian for quite a while now, but back in December I decided to take the month off and just eat whatever everyone else was eating… I ate ham, chicken, turkey, put cheese on everything that I could, drank iced coffee with actual milk, ate way too many sweets, and even indulged in take-out chicken nuggets.

And you know what?!? I felt like complete crap!

I had terrible stomachaches, brutal migraines, moodiness, zero energy, and I was sick with a non-stop cold/allergy symptoms all month long.

I started reading about the Veganuary Challenge on twitter, and I thought this would be the change that I needed.

I have tried to go vegan in the past, but I haven’t been successful. The longest I’ve ever made it was five days. This time I decided to start weaning myself off about three days before the challenge began, I reduced my cravings for all things dairy, slowly.

I enjoyed one last dairy-filled meal, chased with a handful of Lactaid.

Day one, I got to work… I had menu planned for most of the month, but I still hadn’t realized just how much extra I would be cooking.

I pretty much live in the kitchen anyway, but this was getting a little crazy. I was cooking regular meals for the family, and snacks, and breads, and desserts, and then I had to make everything for me too.

It took me about two weeks to get a system down that worked for me. I cooked ahead whatever I could. I also made Sunday my vegan baking day/veggie prep day/make a bunch of grains to have on hand ready to go day.

While I was trying out new foods and recipes, I was also sneaking them into my family’s meals. The kids were a little surprised when a lot of their favorite foods were either already vegetarian, or even vegan. Everybody was pretty good about trying some new fruits and veggies, and my kids love all of the vegan snacks that I was finding. I couldn’t keep them out of the vegan chocolate chips.

During that second week was when I really started to notice that my stomach no longer hurt. I hadn’t had a Lactaid in forever, but I was really starting to feel physically better. My aches and pains in my joints were lessening, and I hadn’t had a migraine.

I had also cut back to just one Dr Pepper a day. I no longer craved soda when I stopped eating all of the processed foods and take-out.

By the end of the month, it was just normal…

Breakfast, lunch , dinner, and snacks, all plant based, no big deal. I was also growing more and more aware of using what I had on hand, and preventing food waste where I could. I really loved the meals too. I didn’t have a bad meal all month!

I was feeling so good that I decided to carry on into February.

So, I don’t have boundless energy, and I’m not running marathons, but I’m feeling so much better. I now only have to take one allergy medication, where I was taking three. I no longer need to take Lactaid, Tums, or Pepcid for my stomach issues. I have had a few headaches (hormonal and flu), but they have been easily treated with ibuprofen.

I had a check-up with my new Doctor, as I am still experiencing a lot of exhaustion. Good news I lost ten pounds, but my bloodwork needs to be repeated after March. My lipids were high, and she wanted to see if there is a change once I’ve been vegan for a while.

She also suggested to me that I stick with it, and remain vegan for the next six months.

So here I am fifty days later, still completely vegan! I’m pretty proud that I accomplished my goal for January, and I’m going to stick with it. I am going to work on further improving my health, and work on that exhaustion. I have really enjoyed switching to a plant based lifestyle, and I’m carrying on as long as I can.