What's in Your Grocery Basket?

Becoming a vegan can be a challenging lifestyle change for many, myself included. It took me about 5 years to make the full transition from carnivore to vegetarian, then back to eating fish/white meat, and then back to vegetarian, and finally vegan.

One of the biggest challenges I faced, and one I think many people face when trying to become vegan is what to eat? Or really, what is available out there for vegans to eat?

For many new vegans, the wide-variety of foods actually available to them may seem strange, be brand new or very unfamiliar. Tempeh anyone? How about chia seeds, quinoa, agave nectar or almond milk?

Not familiar with these items? Well I am here to help you with your shopping list.  At least, I'm here to share with you what typically goes on mine.  So let's begin:


Vegetables!

photo source: Low Body Fat

Yes, vegetables.  You're vegan, so please eat vegetables and lots of them! Seriously though, you can eat all of them and as much of a variety of them as you like.  When I was a carnivore I never ate half the amount of vegetables I discovered as a vegan.  I was really missing out.

Experiment a little and try everything out there at least once.  And to help get you started, here's a fantastic list of all kinds of vegetables and plants you can enjoy!



Fruit

photo source: The Mary Sue

Fruit, to me, is mostly to be enjoyed in the Summer months.  I don't eat much fruit in the Fall/Winter simply because I live in Toronto and the Winter's here are very cold,. So that's when I like to enjoy my warm comfort foods like soups, chili and roasted vegetables.

However, I do love apples and because they keep well for many weeks (or months) at a time, I like to keep them in my grocery basket.

My advice however, if you do live in warmer climates, is to eat fruit (and lots of it!). And enjoy it, you bastards. So jealous!

How do you milk those almonds?(And other non-dairy dairy items)

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The answer: you don't.  But you do rinse, soak, grind, and strain them with water and natural sweeteners to make your own almond milk. Or you can just buy it in a carton, like I do.  Almond Breeze by Blue Diamond is a pretty common brand you will find in most grocery stores these days.  I personally like to buy Pacific Natural Foods Almond milk when I can.

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Can't give up cheese? Rice Vegan cheese by Galaxy Nutritional Foods might do the trick ... that is, trick your mind into thinking you're eating cheese.

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However, my personal favourite vegan cheese brand is daiya, simply because it's super delicious and it melts! Yes, nachos are back in play!

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If you're a fan of morning yogurt with granola and fruit, try soyogurt instead. It's dairy-free but still packed with protein.

Mains and Grains

photo source: Recipes for Rice

A perfect starter grain for nearly every dish or for just a quick meal is rice, preferably organic brown rice.  And if you are really up to the challenge, mix some wild rice into your brown rice for added protein.

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Ezekiel bread, by Food for Life, is a common staple among many vegans/vegetarians.  This naturally sprouted whole grain bread is hearty, healthier and tastier then regular bread.

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For something more filling, try Amy's California Veggie Burgers.  Did I forget to also mention, delicious! Amy's brand is a great one, because they have many great organic products.

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Can't forget the most important meal of the day. Besides enjoying options like oatmeal, fruit or toast with almond butter, another favourite of mine is cereal.  A brand I like to buy is Nature's Path, they have a lot of great organic products to choose from, including kid-friendly snacks.

photo source: Fully Nourished by Marni Wasserman

Another wonderful addition to breakfast is Chia Goodness. Just add water or add two tablespoons to oatmeal for added nutrients and protein.

photo source: wikipedia

Tempeh.  So what is it? In simplest terms, tempeh is made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans then  formed into a patty.  It cooks similarly to tofu in that it absorbs flavours easily and makes great burger patties.  A good brand to look out for is Henry's Gourmet Tempeh.

When just a snack will do ...

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One of my favourite salty, savoury snacks is riceworks rice chips - in particular, sweet chili flavour is the best.

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Another great healthy, savoury snack is Mary's Organic Crackers.  And the best part? They are gluten free!  They taste great with vegan cheese or homemade hummus.

(As a treat, here's my own personal recipe that I often like to make)

Homemade hummus

• 1-1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup of lemon or lime juice
• 1/4 cup of water (or less) depending on desired consistency
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• Sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until creamy and smooth.  Add as much water as you like depending on your desired consistency.

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Need a mid-day break, try a sweet, healthy snack bar like LARABAR.  Everything about these bars are wonderful because they are vegan, gluten-free and made raw with all natural and organic ingredients.


Websites with recipes to help get you get started:

A big part of being vegan is cooking your own meals because, let's face it, it's the healthiest way to be.  You  will always know what goes into your food and you will have a bigger appreciation for it too. Here are just a few websites to get you started on recipe ideas ...

• Fat Free Vegan Blog - my favourite place to find recipes, a blog by Susan Voisin
• Vegangela - a blog that includes some healthy recipe ideas
• Finding Vegan -  this is a great blog that showcases vegan recipes from many other blogs or sites.

For more information about Vegan nutrition visit: Boston Vegan Association or The Vegan Society


Just in case you're still not convinced that, as a vegan, you have so many food options to choose from, here's a pie chart:

Happy Shopping!

Zombies are the New Vampires ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trick or ... Treats! Good Eats for Halloween

Planning a Halloween party means planning a very wicked food menu.  But with so many creative and fun ideas out there, how does one choose ...

A dark, sophisticated feast for plenty, from Martha Stewart, delicious display or dark treats.

 A very healthy, very Halloween party platter idea: carrots, cucumber and dip shaped like a pumpkin.

Another fantastic healthy platter idea and one of my favourites, 'Mummy' dip and 'graveyard grass' veggies.

Another Martha Stewart delight, critter pita cutouts and guacamole.

And something sweet and delightfully Fall - candied apples ... and these look amazing!

 A little 'swamp' water to wash it all down.  Yum!

Moving Tip #1: Eat Everything in your Fridge

When moving it is often easier to move less stuff (well, obviously) and that especially includes food.   There is one thing I hate moving most and that's refrigerator food!  So the solution? Eat everything you possibly can in your fridge, from your cupboards, where ever, a few weeks prior to moving.  This means, avoiding grocery buying if possible and getting creative in the kitchen!

I got creative this week with left over cooked brown rice, my garlic scape pest, tomatoes, and frozen phyllo dough that has been in my freezer for longer then I'd like to admit. The dough wasn't gluten-free unfortunately but there wasn't much and I don't like to waste food if I can avoid it. 

Fortunately, the end result tasted quite good, here are the steps, moreorless:

1. I mixed about 2 cups of rice with about 1/4 cup of pesto.

2. I chopped the three tomatoes and threw them in the mix and made sure to give everything a good stir.

3. Preheated the oven to about 350F. Sprayed a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray and created the phyllo cups with the thawed out dough. No need to be a perfectionist here, just cutting the dough out into pieces and forming the cups in the tin will do.

4. Then scooped about a tablespoon into each cup and baked for about 10-12 minutes.

5. Done.  That was dinner and delicious!

I wonder what other creative concoctions I'll come up with this week, stay tuned ...

Vegan and Thriving

When changing one's eating habits, in the beginning, buying a variety of new cook books can but exciting but a bit overwhelming.  Especially when you have so many that before you realize it you are barely using them.

For this reason I try to keep most of my recipes online but I keep a core of vegan cook books that I always go back to.  One of these books is Brendan Brazier's The Thrive Diet.

I often get caught up using just one or two books or just a handful of the same recipes that I have to remind myself to go back and explore the recipes already sitting on my shelf, including some old favourites.  Like this simple, yet so delicious yam (or sweet potato) oven fries recipe (p. 243, The Thrive Diet):
 

Garlic Oregano Yam Oven Fries
 Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients
2 medium yams, chopped into wedges or sticks
2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
2 tbsp coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1.5 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tbsp basil
Sea salt to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 300F. Toss everything together in a bowl, mixing well to coat all the wedges, using your hands directly in the bowl works best.  Spread the yams evenly on a non-stick cooking sheet (or use parchment paper) and bake for about 35 minutes.  Cook them for another 5-10 minutes if you prefer them crispy.

Add some organic ketchup or BBQ sauce and enjoy!

A Picnic in the Park

Mountain goats at the High Park Zoo

A lovely weekend for a picnic and with a long weekend coming up there will be plenty more time for picnics in the sun.  This picnic was in Toronto's beautiful High Park area.

Our lunch came from The Big Carrot, an amazing shop similar to Whole Foods Market but on the east end of Toronto.  On the menu (pictured here): Vegan paella (bottom), Lentil Paté (to it's right) and Mary's raw gluten-free crackers.

Vegan Paella from The Big Carrot

Scarlet with her treats.

A picnic wouldn't be complete without a treat for my sweet - okay, no more rhyming!  We did get Scarlet something yummy and fishy to chew on, mostly to distract her while we ate our own food and so she wouldn't feel left out.

Community Garden in High Park

High Park is a gorgeous, massive, very green and flourishing park on the west end of Toronto.  Within it there is a Zoo, Community Gardens, swimming pool, tennis courts, dog off-leash area, and much more.  Plus many events like concerts and plays are hosted there.

Baby goat (I think) from the High Park Zoo

A resting Bison from the High Park Zoo

Scarlet, chillin'

A relaxing puppy? She was actually eyeballing the chipmunks and squirrels, at least it kept her distracted.

Vegetables on top of Noodles with a Side of Delicious

Rice Noodles with Pepper and Mushrooms

For the bowl:

- 1-2 cups of cooked white & black Soba Rice noodles

- 6-7 large mushrooms, chopped

- 1/2 orange pepper (any pepper will do), chopped

- 3-4 stalks of green onion

For the Dressing:
- About 3 tbsp (each bowl) of Dragon sauce

1. Sauté your vegetables how you like it in a non-stick cooking pan or use a touch of coconut oil.

2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

1. Start with the cooked rice noodles (cook as directed on package), as your base for the dish.

2. Top off with your vegetables.

3. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the Dragon sauce on top and ...

Bon Appetite!

Father's Day Food Ideas

Looking to do something extra special for dad this Father's Day? Instead of going out why not make him a lovely healthy or hearty meal on his special day or bake him his favourite loaf of bread.

Here a few things I've made in the past that could work for dad, whatever his lifestyle or taste, there's something for every dad (just follow the links or photo captions):

For the Carnivore Dad 

From my pre-vegan days, actually, it has been a year ago this month since I changed to a vegan diet.  Hard to believe I used to eat meat and cheese not that long ago.  Here are a couple of meaty ideas for the non-vegan dad:

Gluten-free crust Pizza

This pizza is hearty and pretty healthy and the bonus, it has a gluten-free pizza crust! It was made with veggies and chicken.  For a vegan option you can sub the chicken for tempah or omit it.

Butter Chicken with salad, vegetables & potato wedges

Once upon a time I made a Butter Chicken for my family with Spinach strawberry salad, vegetables and Potato wedges (pictured below).

For the Vegetarian/Vegan Dad:

For the very health conscious dad some vegan meal options are a great way to go! You can always add some light cheese options to make it vegetarian.

Rice with tomato and basil

One of my first of many vegan recipes I shared on this blog, from Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet, Rice with Tomato and Basil.

Tofu nuggets with Kale

 Perhaps if you're very clever you can trick your father into believing his meal is chicken with these Tofu "chicken" nuggets.

Vegan Quiche

 Better then the real thing and so much healthier too, Vegan Spinach Quiche - a great breakfast or brunch option for dad.

Hearty Vegetable Stew

It's Summer and hot outside but this very delicious, very hearty and very healthy Sweet Summer Stew is sure to be a lunch hit on Father's Day.

For the Raw-food Eating Dad:

For the very super health-conscious dad some raw food options (even includes dessert!)

Raw Pad Thai

StRAWberry Pie

For the Dad with a Sweet-tooth: 

For those who don't have time to go all out and make a full lunch or dinner but still want to do something 'sweet' for dad, bake some bread or cookies:

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

Strawberry Honey Bread

Oatmeal Cookies

   

What do you have planned for Father's Day?

Leave a comment, suggestion, idea ...would love to hear from you!

Better then Sliced Bread Banana Loaf

Found this amazing banana bread recipe from The Baking Bird (original recipe from Veganomicon) and made a loaf as a pre-camping/hiking/grueling rock climbing treat for me and Mike - our all-time favourite bread!

I tweaked it of course to have less sugar and more natural sweetness ...

Banana Maple Bread 

(from Veganomicon via The Baking Bird)

Makes one loaf

2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp molasses

1 cup gluten-free flour mix

1 cup spelt flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
3. Puree bananas until smooth. Add the maple syrup, applesauce, oil, and molasses, and whisk briskly to incorporate.
4. Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until all the wet and dry ingredients are combined well.
5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack or cutting board.

mmm...Muffins!

I hardly ever make muffins but when I do they got to be savory! Here are two delicious savory muffin recipes I made last week.  I got the original recipe from my cook book, 500 Vegan Recipes, but tweaked it a bit to my liking.
 

The Apple Sage muffins were so good that I think I just might make them again this weekend.  They are perfect for breakfast or brunch.

  

Apple Sage Muffins

Nonstick cooking spray

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup plain soy milk

3/4 cup spelt flour

3/4 gluten-free flour mix

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 fine sea salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp dried sage

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried apple slices, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. 

If baking a loaf: Lightly coat an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with spray

If baking muffins: Line a jumbo muffin pan with paper liners.

Combine the vinegar and soy milk in a medium-size bowl; it will curdle and become like buttermilk.

In a large-size bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and salt.  Whisk in the sugar.

Add the oil and vanilla to the buttermilk mixture.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to over mix.  Fold in the chopped apple slices.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan (or individual muffin cups).

For loaf: Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

For muffins: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool on a rack in pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it directly to the cooling rack.

Lemon Thyme Muffins

nonstick cooking spray
1 cup vanilla soy or plain nondairy yogurt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tsp pure lemon extract
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup organic cane sugar
3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix
3/4 cup spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dried thyme


Preheat oven to 350F.

If baking a loaf: Lightly coat an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with spray

If baking muffins: Line a jumbo muffin pan with paper liners.

In medium-size bowl whisk together the yogurt,  oil, extract, zest, juice, and sugar until emulsified.

In a large-size bowl, sift together the flours and baking powder.  crumble the thyme and sprinkle on top of the flour.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan (or individual muffin cups).

For loaf: Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

For muffins: Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool on a rack in pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it directly to the cooling rack
 

Happy Friday!