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!

Chili for When It's Chilly

It seems at least once every Fall/Winter I find a great new chili recipe to make and fall in love with.  This year, its a spicy vegan three bean chili ... (revised to be healthy and vegan)


1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cans (each about 15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes with herbs, undrained
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (16 ounces) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup organic vegetable broth
1-2 tsp chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/3 cup shredded Daiya vegan cheese (optional)
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions (for garnish)

1. In a large saucepan saute the peppers, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, vegetable broth, chili powder, cumin and cayenne.

2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.

3. With the pot partially covered, simmer for 10 more minutes.

4. Garnish each serving with 2 teaspoons each of cheese and green onions.

Makes about 8 servings

Got Vegetables? Make Juice

My latest, most favourite, amazing thing to do in the morning is to drink a cup of freshly made juice! Made with wonderful, organic vegetables and fruit, it's easy and super nutritious for you.

The Juicer: A powerful little Hamilton Beach juicer that makes a very full, healthy glass of juice (about 2-3 servings) from: 1 large apple, 1 large lemon, 1 large carrot, and a large bunch of kale or spinach makes ...

The Green Machine

(kale or spinach, carrots, apple, lemon)

Another fantastic juice recipe I concocted (name still pending):

2 medium beets
1 cup strawberries
1 cup pineapple

Everything chopped, add to the juicer and blended together.  Add ice and enjoy!

So why is freshly made juice so healthy for you?  Well to learn more I visited Care2 website which had a neat little list that explained the benefits of various fruits/vegetables ... here are a few from their website:

1. Carrot: strengthens the eyes and helps clear up skin eruptions.
2. Celery: helps to clear the skin (so does cucumber juice)
3. Ginger: helps with inflammation in the body, such as arthritis and is known to remedy nausea.
4. Lemon: is excellent for counteracting a high-fat, animal protein rich diet. Helps the liver in its daily detoxification process.  It can also help to really cut the taste of those green vegetables in your juice.
   
5. Apple: helps to relieve constipation, heal the intestines, and softens gall stones.
6. Radish: benefits the thyroid gland (in small amounts and mixed with other juice).
7. Kale & Collard: strengthens the bones due to high levels of calcium, potassium and Vitamin A.
8. Plums/Prune: helps alleviate constipation and can be used for liver disease.
9. Tomato: helps restore health to the liver, and can be used to treat diarrhea and chronic indigestion.
10. Watermelon: alkalinizes the blood, and can be used to treat urinary problems, edema, and canker sores. Its diuretic properties benefits the kidney’s and bladder. Juice the rind with the flesh for a sweet, thirst quenching drink.

  

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-healing-powers-of-fresh-juice.html#ixzz1Ygelonb8

Urban Garden Update: Lettuce and Strawberry

We have colour! Our cute little strawberry finally turned red and his has a friend.

 And we have tomatoes! Very small yet but still very exciting for us.

Potato flowers, moments before we dug up the plants to look for potatoes.

Our wee little lettuce sprouts are growing up ...

And to think just weeks ago they looked like this: Week 3

 Our wildly growing mint plant; already had to cut it down once.

 Harvesting our VERY small, sad potatoes.  At least we gave it a shot!

 It wasn't a complete loss, we got one nice potato and one baby potato out of it.

Looking forward to moving the garden to their new beautiful home ... soon.

Vegetable Dinner Piled High

A vegan dish - sauteed, boiled, fried, and layered - homemade and healthy, it includes (from top to bottom) ...

• a quick and easy raw tahini lime dressing made with tahini, fresh lime juice, water, cumin, salt and pepper
• a bunch of organic and fresh kale sauteéd in balsamic vinegar
• slice of tempeh pan-fried with a few dashes of tamari sauce
• shredded broccoli lightly sauteéd in sesame oil
• Organic quinoa cooked and kept plain as the base for this dish

Birthday Dinner: Surprise, it's Vegan!

I love being part of my big family dinners especially now that I can contribute my experimental vegan dishes - well not so much experimental as they are brand new to me and to my family.  As I slowly plow through my many vegan recipes and cookbook I share with you two recent recipes.  One I loved and have already made twice and the other I liked but for the amount of work that was put into it, I will likely never make again!

Quinoa Pilaf
(Original recipe from 500 Vegan Recipes)

Cooked quinoa with shredded carrots, slivered almonds, chopped dates, olive oil, lemon juice with spices like cayenne pepper, turmeric, cumin, and salt, with a bit of shredded ginger root for an intense spicy flavour. I have it served here with a small side of roasted carrots and sweet potatoes.

Mediterranean Spring Rolls 

(Original recipe from 500 Vegan Recipes) ... Stuffed with tofu, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and spices - really pretty simple stuffing, very annoyingly difficult herb doug!

Evergreen Brickworks Farmers Market

 

One of my absolute most favourite things to do in the summer is to visit Farmer's Markets.

I love waking up super early on a Saturday morning (I'm talking like 6:45am early), getting what I need together (usually run to the market to get my morning workout in) and make my way out with my gorgeous pup, Scarlet.

I sometimes feel like we're the only ones who exist that early on a Saturday morning, it's nice. At that time the Moore Ravine is quiet, beautiful and serene.  It's the greatest path to take to get to my favourite Farmer's Market: The Evergreen Brickworks Market

What I bought ...

Local organic kale (because it's my new obsession) and Niagara organic cherries

Put them together and what do you got?  A strange Sarah-Lyn salad creation of course!

Cherry Kale Salad


3-4 bunches of fresh kale, chopped
1/2-1 cup of fresh cherries chopped (seeds removed)
1 tsp olive oil (for cooking)
1 tsp Mrs. Dash spice
3-4 fresh basil leaves chopped
1-2 tbsp of balsamic Vinaigrette
1/4 cup shopped or whole almonds (optional)

I basically mixed all the ingredients together in a pan and satayed with the olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.

I also enjoyed the cherries in a nice bowl of organic rice crisp cereal.

Moore Ravine - Beltline trail

One of my most favourite booths at the market - this woman makes the most delicious, healthy and gluten-free backed goods!

My Detox Week of Mostly Raw Eating

After finding out that my fight was cancelled and with the Easter long weekend coming up I did what any normal person would do, I ate very, very bad food! Wait, is that normal? Well, it's not my norm and I don't condone it although falling off the health wagon once in a while is okay if done in moderation... unfortunately however, I don't do anything in moderation, I turned that one day of bad eating into 1 week!

It was not good. So, to detox, cleanse and clear my conscious I decided to focus on getting back to my healthy lifestyle and having mroe fun with my raw food meals!

Food I made, ate and loved this week ...

I revisited my ever wonderful Cranberry Kale Salad and ate it two nights in a row ... mmm, kale!

I also created a new, simple yet colourful little salad topped with, what is now most favourite dressing ever, a Japanese Ginger dressing (see picture above for the salad I made).

Trio Lunch Salad
A Sarah-Lyn original recipe :)

- 1/2 a head of romaine lettuce, shredded
- 1 small or medium carrot, julienned
- 1 med red pepper, julienned
- 1 small zucchini, shredded
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes
- 1-2 tbsp of your favourite dressing

1. Place the lettuce in a bowl, as the base layer, then add the carrots, red pepper and zucchini on top, keeping them separate.
2. Add the cherry or grape tomatoes to the middle of the trio of veggies.
3. Top off with the dressing or keep it in a separate small bowl for dipping.

I like to dip each bite of veggies into the dressing, that way I get some with every bite!


For dinner Tuesday night (and again for my lunch Wednesday) I made a fabulous fruit juice drink and raw tacos for myself and a friend. We both loved it!

Hot Pink

Recipe from the amazing book Raw Food/real World:100 Recipes To Get The Glowow by Matthew Kenney

- 1 medium beet

- 1/2 medium pineapple

- 1/2 pint of strawberries, stems removed

- 1 thumb-size knob of fresh ginger

Run all the ingredients through a juicer. Enjoy!

I found the pineapple juice really cuts the taste of the beet and the ginger really gives it some spice!

If you imagine really hard you can almost convince yourself it's wine!

Lettuce Shell Tacos
Original recipe from the book The Raw 50 by Carol Alt

- 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 medium spanish onion
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I omitted this, I hate parsley!)
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 2hrs
- 1.2 jalapeno peppers
- 1/2 tsp salt (I omitted this too)
- 1/4 block of firm tofu, cut into bite size pieces (I added this for protein)
- 6 medium romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dryed

1. Cut the avocado into bite-size chunks and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Chop the onion a food processor, and then add the cumin, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and jalapenos. Process the mixture until it is smooth and creamy.
2. Add the mixture to the chopped avocado and add the tofu, mixing just enough so it's mostly covered.
3. Distribute the taco filling equally among the six lettuce leaves and then fold the ends of the lettuce together like a taco. (I folded it more like a burrito, to keep the mixture in)

For Thursday night dinner I wanted to experiment a little with the kale satayed salads I've been making and come up with this one:

Raisins and Apples and Kale, oh my!
A Sarah-Lyn original recipe :)

- 5-6 leafy branches of fresh kale
- 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 tsp apple cidar vinegar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 medium apple, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup of raisins (I used golden raisins)
- 1/4 block of firm tofu (for added protein, optional)

1. Wash, dry and chop Kale into pieces.
2. Scrub kales in olive oil then add to frying pan, satay at med-high for about 5 minutes.
3. Add cinnamon and apple cidar vinegar, mixing well and sataying for another minute.
4. Add the tofu.  Satay long enough until the kale is warm and darker green but not burnt or soupy - or until however you like it.
5. Add the apples and raisins last, remove from heat.
6. Stir just enough to mix it up and serve.  Enjoy!

Not as tasty as the Cranberry Kale salad but still yummy and filling, could add more cinnamon for a stronger spicy flavour.


I didn't want to leave breakfast out of the mix, so this morning I made this:

Raw Granola with Fruit
Original recipe from the book The Raw 50 by Carol Alt

1/4 cup raw rolled oats, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 cup raw almonds, soaked overnight and drained
Small handful of raisins, mix of yellow and brown
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Seasonal berries or sliced fruit of your choice
Raw honey to taste
1 cup of raw milk (optional)

In a bowl, mix together the rolled oats, almonds, raisins and cranberries.  Top the mixture with your choice of fruit and drizzle with honey to taste.  Add raw milk or Almond milk if desired.

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Need a coffee break? Visit i bake cupcakes blog today for my Dark Cherry Mocha cupcake recipe.

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!