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!

A Day at The Cutting Veg Farm

Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to volunteer at The Cutting Veg Organic Farm with a very nice group of folks.  Start time, 6:30am - not so nice, especially since I had to be up and out of the house by 5:30am - ouch!

That is a farmer's life after all, up early before the sun, that is the best time to work on the land before it gets too hot.  Fortunately for us it was a cloudy day, still hot but with many sun breaks so it wasn't too bad.  The work was hard the body but satisfying.  You truly feel like you've put in a good days work that deserves some R&R afterward.

One of the stinkier jobs - composting.  It involved shoveling the compost into the wagon to spread over the soon-to-be new vegetable crops.

This was a real treat! There was a man on the farm growing and selling organic oyster mushrooms.  It was so interesting and weird to see how they grow!

Another very lovely treat and something I had not seen or eaten before - garlic scapes!  These beauties were my favourite thing to pick mostly because they were simple to pick and smelled wonderful.  They have a milder taste and are great for stir-fries or can be eaten raw.

Where salad greens grow, row by row, so do weeds!  This is definitely one of the bigger problems with organic farming, because it doesn't use any chemicals or pesticides there are usually more weeds to deal with and remove.  I learned this first-hand, weeding the Swiss chard beds.

Another task I rather enjoyed was tearing apart hay bails (pictured below) to mulch the winter squash beds (pictured above).

We gather, after a good, hard days work! I look forward to it all again next weekend.

Back Next Week! Recovering from Jet Lag ...

From a very funny blog: http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/2009/12/bizarro-is-brought-to-you-today-by-bill.html