Kathryn's Vegan Breakfast

A vegan breakfast with all the fixings for a yummy tempeh burrito including, shredded carrot, beans, tomato, peppers, salsa, avocado and nutritional yeast, all wrapped in Ezekiel organic sprouted wholegrain tortillas.  A friend made this for me and it was amazing! The "ground" tempeh could almost pass for real meat only it tastes better then the real thing.

Wrap all ready to devour!

She fried the tempeh with mushrooms and onions and it was delicious!

MexiQuinoa: Why Quinoa is SO Excellenté!

MexiQuinoa

from 500 Vegan Recipes

So what's so great about Quinoa? (pronounced 'keen-wa')


Well for one thing it's pretty affordable and gluten-free, so it's safe for everyone to eat.  For all the vegans out there or non-meat eaters it's also an amazing source of protein. A ½ cup serving of dry quinoa has approximately 11 grams of protein, when cooked it's low in fat and still high in protein, nearly 9g per cup.  It doesn't end there, it's also loaded with minerals such as magnesium.


Best of all quinoa is as easy to cook as rice, maybe easier! It absorbs any flavour you add to it and it can make for an excellent comfort food alternative to potatoes or starchy bread.

Here's a great summary of quinoa's greatness: 

It provides a rich source of vegetable protein and slow releasing carbohydrates. A relative of spinach and chard, quinoa is the only "grain" considered to be a complete protein source. It contains all eight of the amino acids that are important for our health. This is especially important for vegans, because no other grain possesses the amino acid lysine which is important for the growth of tissue and their repair (source).

Sources:  
Diet Blog
Dietriffic
Quinoa Kitchen

In honour of this amazing grain-like seed I am going to challenge myself to make a new dish using quinoa every night for one week and will share it with you on this blog (September 27 - October 1).

Wish me luck!

Boxer's Diet Week 3 - Gotta Have Protein

When you're not eating meat or fish and trying to eat a low-carb, low-sugar diet getting enough protein can be a tricky one.  Where I get most of my protein? Egg whites, tofu and beans ... mmmm beans.

However, for a quick snack it is sometimes easier to eat a protein bar.  There are SO many of them out there on the market but honestly, I personally dislike most of them.  Besides lacking in good flavour most of them are loaded with carbs, fat and are so unnaturally processed and loaded with chemicals that you really don't know what you're eating!

Recently I discovered one of the best protein bars - all natural, gluten-free, low-carb, low-sugar, low-fat, vegan, with a somewhat high amount of protein - just amazing!  They're called The Simply Bar and for me they're perfect.  They are light and taste great, I sometimes eat two at a time especially before a workout cause I know I'll burn it off easily.

Besides protein bars, the other alternative is protein shakes or drinks, which again I personally have a hard time swallowing because most of them taste digusting! One brand I do like however, because it is again all natural, healthy, gluten-free and entirely plant based is Brendan Brazier's Vega brand.

I buy the small 27g packets first to see how I like the flavour, there are many flavours to choose from so I would suggest starting with the one serving packet to see which flavour you like best.

Since I am not a fan of drinking protein drinks, natural or not, I decided to be clever and make my own protein/engery bars or in this case hearts!  I used two berry flavoured Vega protein powder packs (54g total) and followed one of Brendan Brazier's recipes in his Thrive Diet book, with some slight alterations to fit my diet.  Here's the recipe:

Green and Lean Protein Heart Bars
(original recipe Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bars from The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier
- 3/4 cups soaked dates
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 54g Vega Berry flavoured protein powder
- 1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined and the mixture balls up into dough form.

2. Over wax paper, press the batter down flat but keeping a thick layer.  I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make my bars

They came out mostly dark green because of the vega powder, it's entirely plant based so although the colour may seem strange these babies taste amazing!

They also make a fantastic raw dessert (post-workout)!

Boxer's Diet Week 1 - Rainbow Lunch

For those who know me well they know that I am training full-time right now, which means eating super healthy full-time too.  My diet is high-protein, low-carb and almost 0 sugar/sodium/fat - unless it's "healthy" fat.

So in order to stick to my no-meat, no-dairy, no-gluten year I have to get a little creative. Beans are my new best-friend and I've rediscovered my love affair with colourful vegetables!

With that said here's a dish I've been typically eating for lunch this past week, I called it:

Rainbow Lunch

The Salad: Romaine greens, spinach, red cabbage, and carrots topped off with Mrs. Dash Chipoltle spice and a balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice mixture for dressing.

The Protein: Black beans, red pepper and corn (to sweeten).

This dinner is so packed full of nutrients that although it may not seem like much I feel quite satisfied after this dish and keeps me full for at least 3 hours.

I fill my plate with salad the greens salad and enjoy it with 1 cup of the bean salad.

NEXT WEEK: Why breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day!