Vegan Hope

Please keep in mind, that most of these dishes can be used for SEVERAL days. I make a large pan of tofu scramble and it will last about a week! And I’l do a few differnent things with it to mix it up.

Also a few things to keep in mind, if you are wanting to lose weight, or get your insulin resistance problems in check:

1. Fiber is your friend. Add beans where you can, add high fiber veggies to anything that you can! It’s easy to mix in!

2. Ground flax seed is a great way to get those good oils. Add ground flax seed to smoothies, salads and sandwiches. It adds a nice nutty flavor.

3. Water! Drink your water, you need to flush junk out of you. Go get a Britta filter and I use a water bottle to make it easier. If you don’t like the taste of water add a tea bag, lemon, or even some frozen fruit to it.

4. Eat breakfast like a king! Make your biggest meal breakfast, and your lightest meal dinner. If you just sit around after dinner your body won’t be doing much burning of calories. Learn to eat bigger breakfasts and smaller dinners.

5. Start taking vitamin B12 – it’s an essential one for the vegan diet.

6. MOVE! After your meals go on a short and easy walk, get your blood flowing. Even if it’s 10 minutes, it will do wonders to get things moving.

7. Get some good recipe books! My favorite is “Eat Drink and Be Vegan” also try “The Vegan lunch box”, “The Vegan Table” “Vegan with a Vengeance” the list is kind of endless – if you have a vegan recipe book that you want to recommend please leave it in the comments!

8. Ditch negative people. Do whatever you can to ditch the people who would roll their eyes if you told them you were trying to go vegan. I found out that I could even block updates on my facebook page.

9. Avoid tempting places. Do not walk down aisles in the grocery store that have all the junk you used to eat! Try to avoid eating out right now. BUT if you have to, there are lots of options. If you need help, e-mail me! I will even call the resturant and ask what you can eat. Yes, don’t think you can get away with any excuses with me

10. Write it out! Start an online journal, write out what you are feeling! Start connecting with others who are healthy, who want to be healthy, and who have a healthy state of mind. The internets are such a great place because even if you live in an area where it is hard to find other healthy folks, find community online! We vegans don’t bite, and there are a lot of people that would love to help you out. I’ve had so many positive expierences in going vegan, on of which has been meeting some really encouraging people!

Day 1

Breakfast:
Tofu Scramble on whole grain tortilla *note tofu scramble is something you can play around a lot with! I add all sorts of things to it. It’s a great way to get in beans as well!
Optional: non dairy sour cream mixed with some kind of hot sauce. (My husband like it heated up just a little, it is kind of like spicy cheese!)

snack:
piece of fruit and some nuts

lunch: TLT on your favorite bread , a piece of fruit
Easy TLT – Get some tempeh and pan fry it in some olive oil. Put it on bread, add tomatoes, lettuce and vegan mayo. You can also add other veggies and sprouts!

snack: Tortilla chips and salsa

dinner: Coconut lime chili over elbow macaroni (brown rice if you can) This is my FAVORITE chili!
dessert: (try to not eat after 8pm) soy ice cream and fruit

Day 2:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with dried fruit and a little non dairy milk. Toast with nut butter
snack: soy yogurt and fruit
lunch: hummus, cucumber, sprouts sandwich
snack: Pita chips and leftover hummus
dinner: Pizza! There are a lot of vegan pizza recipes out there. This one is a great one!
dessert: a banana milkshake!  – So easy. Frozen banana and about 8 oz. of non dairy milk. No need to add sweetener really.

Day 3

Breakfast:
A smoothie – green, or protein smoothie. – There are a bunch of ways to do this. You can also use a green smoothie mix. Try different smoothie mixes – I personally like the “Vega” brand . But I also have enjoyed simple vanilla soy protein mix. I just add 8 oz. of non dairy milk, a frozen banana and sometimes blueberries .
Toast with peanut butter or with tofuti cream cheese and natural jam
Snack: A piece of tasty fruit!
lunch: chicken-less chicken sandwich with veggies, mustard or veganaise side of pita chips. *Look for frozen varieties of chicken less chicken patties – check ingredients though!
snack: brocoli with spicy hummus.
dinner: Italian night! Pasta (brown rice) with tomato sauce and lots of veggies – if you can find meatless meatballs or meatless meat crumbles add those into the sauce.
easy garlic italian bread – (bread, garlic, earth balance buttery spread) stick in the oven!
dessert: banana blueberry coconut oatmeal cookies with non dairy milk
Day 4

Breakfast: Breakfast bean burito – You can just use your leftover tofu scramble, and add some more beans to it! Wrap it in a tortilla and call it a day.
snack: Kiwi strawberry salad – just slice up some kiwi and strawberry and a little balsamic vinegar.
lunch: cucumber tomato pinwheels with veggie soup

Pinwheels:
thin sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, sprouts, vegan cream cheese, tortillas.
spread cream cheese on a tortilla, layer with veggies. wrap tight and then slice. For best results, wrap in plastic wrap put in the fridge take it out for lunch the next day and slice it up (it will stick a little better).

snack: cashew raisin trail mix
diner: Lentil Tacos
dessert: 2 chocolate chip cookies with non dairy milk

Day 5

Breakfast: cereal! with bananas blueberries and non dairy milk.
snack: whole grain bagel with vegan cream cheese or a nut butter
lunch: haystacks
*Take baked tortilla strips, pile on black beans, kidney beans, fajitas spices, tomato with chili, avocado and a little vegan sour cream.
snack: apple with cinnamon
dinner: Jambalaya with spinach salad.
dessert: non dairy ice cream

Day 6

Breakfast: green smoothie! sliced strawberries with cinnamon and ground flax seed.
snack: carrots, celery sticks and nut butter.
lunch: pasta salad
snack: trail mix
dinner: Veggie Pad Thai
dessert: cookies (oatmeal or chocolate chip!)

Day 7
Breakfast: Banana Pancakes with banana topping syrup
snack: popcorn with sea salt and olive oil
lunch: falafel pita pocket
snack: grapes and nuts
dinner: Lemon Garlic pasta and big spinach strawberry salad with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts.
dessert: vegan rice pudding

Okay – so for some of you this is really ovewhelming! Keep in mind this is just to show the variety that is possible. I do the same breakfast almost every morning! You can save ALL of these and use it the next day (or days) for breakfafst lunch and dinner. There are ENDLESS vegan recipes! You could eat a different meal every meal for months with out having the same thing. The most common misconception about going vegan is that it is boring… NOT the case! I love cooking, and going vegan has been the most fun I have ever had in the kitchen. It’s like a new fun expierement every day! Have fun with it.

And for those of you who really hate cooking, or have to eat out a lot – tomorrow I will be posting the 7 day easy vegan plan that includes eating out and quick meals.

All you vegans – please link to recipe books, recipes, and add any other advice about going vegan. Remember back to the early days when you were just starting – what things would have you loved to know?