Tag: vegan

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Eco Eats

Bye Bye Eggs! 2 Healthy Vegan Breakfast Choices

breakfast-recipes-options

For most people, breakfast means eggs. This is why a lot of new vegans get completely lost in the morning. I mean, you can only have cereal and almond milk so many times before you get tired. There are a lot of reasons to go vegan, from animal welfare to religion. But even if you and your family are not completely vegan, there are a couple of good reasons to start eating vegan meals once in a while. It will really reduce your carbon footprint, and you don’t even have to completely change your lifestyle. Just a couple of meals a week. If you want to feed yourself and your family a healthy, egg-free and completely vegan breakfast, you can try these recipes.

vegan-french-toast-breakfast

1. Vegan french toast

That’s right, you can make french toast with no eggs or milk. And it will still be delicious. Being vegan doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some breakfast classics. You will need your favorite bread, around 4-5 slices, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or your favorite non-diary milk, 1/2 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and any topping you like. Mix all the ingredients (except bread and toppings) in a large, shallow bowl or pan and place in the fridge for 20 minutes, to activate the mix and get the right consistency. Grease and preheat a griddle with medium heat. Dip each slice of  bread in the mix (both sides) so it soaks it up and place in the griddle. Cook until golden brown, carefully flip it and keep cooking until both sides are golden. Plate and top with coconut whipped cream, fresh fruit, maple syrup or any other topping you like.

2. Savory vegan chickpea pancake

If you are not one for sweets but will still like to enjoy one breakfast classic, try out this savory vegan pancake. You will need 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion, 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper, 1/2 cup besan, chickpea flour or garbanzo flour. 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. First, preheat a skillet over medium heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Add the water and whisk until there are no clumps. You really want to get some air bubbles in the batter. Stir in the chopped vegetables and spray some olive oil in the skillet. Pour the batter and cook for 5 minutes until you can easily slide a spatula underneath it. Flip it over and keep cooking until lightly golden. Serve on a plate and top with hummus, avocado cream, salsa or your favorite tipping.

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Eco Eats

Afraid of Going Vegan? How To Start Eating Less Meat

meatless-diet-vegan-vegetarian-salad

There are a lot of reasons to eliminate meat from our diets but it can be an intimidating prospect. It doesn’t matter if you want to go vegan or vegetarian for health reasons, because you care for the environment, because it aligns with your moral beliefs or any other reason, it can still be a confusing and scary thing to do. If you are looking to ease into it, you can try these non-drastic ways to cut down on meat.

rice-and-beans-meatless-diet

1. Stretch ground beef with rice and beans

If you are going to use ground beef for anything, you can cut it down with rice and/or beans. The meaty flavor you crave will still be there but you will be consuming only a fraction of the meat you usually would. Rice and beans are quite filling and cheap too, so this measure can be really good for your pockets as well as your diet.

2. Add chopped mushrooms to your pasta sauce

There are lots of delicious pasta sauces that call for meat and it’s hard to give up pasta. The good news is that in almost any meat-based sauce, you can replace the meat with chopped mushrooms and nobody will even notice. Mushrooms have a similar chewy texture and they will soak up the flavors of the rest of the ingredients in the sauce. Delicious pasta, no animal products. It’s the perfect dish.

3. Make your bacon count

Everybody loves bacon and it’s one of the hardest things to give up when changing your diet. You don’t have to give it up just yet, but you can really make it count. When making any dish that includes bacon, cook it first and leave the fat in the pan. Use the fat to cook the vegetables and other ingredients in the plate. This way, you can have a dish with only one strip of bacon and make it taste like it’s packed with the delicious stuff.

4. Eggs for lunch and dinner

For some reason, eggs are regarded as a breakfast food by almost everyone but you don’t have to restrict your egg dishes to the morning. Eggs are full of protein so they are great to have for lunch instead of a deli meat sandwich. If you cook them right, they can even be a fancy addition to your dinner plate. Besides, breakfast for dinner is always great.

5. Use vegetables with different textures

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome when phasing meat off your diet is that feeling that something is missing from all your meals. It’s like the dish is not complete unless it has some form of meat in it. Satisfy those cravings by combining many different textures in the same plate. Crunchy onions, soft potatoes, tender broccoli and leafy kale feel very different in your mouth.

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Eco Eats

Things You Should Know Before Going Vegan

vegan-diet-vegetables-basket

Love them or hate them, the world is anything but indifferent to vegans. Admiration, contempt, snide comments, jokes, moral outrage and, above all, misinformation start flaring up every time the world “vegan” is mentioned. If you are thinking about cutting off all meat products off your diet, here are some things you should know.

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1. It’s not for everyone

There’s no shame in trying it out for a while and deciding it’s not for you. There’s no shame in going back months or years later and try it out again. Becoming a vegan is a pretty big lifestyle change, especially in a society that is still so “meat-centric”. And it doesn’t matter how you choose to eat, your choice is not the “right” one for everybody else. Vegan or not, you should still respect other people’s choices (and make sure they respect yours).

2. There are exactly three jokes about vegans, and you will hear them all the time

Everybody is going to think they are being super clever when they tell you that your food is what their food eats. And they are going to expect you to laugh when you hear the “how to find a vegan in a dinner party, don’t worry, they’ll tell you” joke for the millionth time. And every time food of any kind is mentioned, you will hear some variation of “steak is better than your food”. So get used to it. The jokes can get annoying, but most people are genuinely trying to get a laugh and not judge you. Laugh it off, change the subject and expect to do it again at the next dinner party.

3. You will feel an odd sense of responsibility

Whether you like it or not, as a vegan you will be sort of an ambassador for all veganhood. And you will probably not realize it at first but as time goes on you will start to notice that your actions affect how the people around you perceive not only you, but all vegans. And as much as you try to avoid it, you will find yourself trying to act a certain way to “prove” that you are not the stereotypical vegan, or that not all vegans are the same. You will probably hold yourself to a higher standard than before, which is fine. As long as it doesn’t get out of hand, of course. Remind yourself that you are still human, you are still your own person and you are allowed to be less than perfect all the time.

4. You will feel lonely sometimes

When you are trying to find one single dish on that menu that does not contain meat or cheese, when you are munching on the side salad at that dinner party, when you are debating whether to accept an invitation to eat out because you don’t want to make a scene… Sometimes you will feel very alone in the way you eat. And in those moments you will probably feel more tempted to cheat than any other time. But you are not alone. The Internet is a wonderful place and it will help you connect with other vegans to keep you strong in those moments.

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Eco Eats

How Veganism Doesn’t Necessarily Help The Planet

vegan-food-delicious-nice

Well, I was a meat eater. I simply felt fed up one day and upon watching the acclaimed documentary ‘Food Inc’, I decided to slowly cut down on my meat intake. The first reason is because I felt disgusted at what mass production is doing to animals. But also, because I noticed how slowly, my vegan and vegetarian menus were making me healthier and more energetic. They also made me lose weight and I needed that, because of health reasons. I was proud of helping out the chain by being a week vegetarian. But then I started to flirt with the idea of becoming a full blown vegan.

vegan-food-delicious-nice

I did the research and there is no good source of information. One party claims is the best thing you can do for the earth, while another says “this is bull, you need to eat different foods, because you are also helping to destroy the earth”, then someone else claims “well, then become a fruitarian, I’m healthy and I only eat fruits”. But then a doctor claims that those fruitarian’s insulin receptors go insane after years of eating just ONE group of food. Many have released videos online claiming that veganism made them put on weight, made them depressed, anxious and as time went by, their blood tests spoke for themselves: veganism and fruit based diets DO not help your diet. And you end up with bad colon issues because you’re digesting huge amounts of veggies or fruits.

vegan-food-delicious-pyramid

I tried to avoid preachy vegans telling me that my diet HAD to be vegan, how else would we restore the equilibrium of animals living with humans…but that got me thinking. We never had that equilibrium. Hunting is what we did when we were not civilized and organized and food wasn’t mass produced. While I do agree with the fact that animals cannot be tortured and confined to those unhealthy living conditions just to murder them mercilessly, I do not agree that veganism is the ONE way to go. Particularly Raw veganism. And in a farmer’s words, here’s why:

vegan-farmer-cool-story

 

The point I’m trying to make is that sometimes, diets and lifestyles change and it’s OK. Do what works for you, and your values. Do what works for your body. If raw veganism doesn’t do the trick for you, then don’t force feed your body with huge amounts of raw food. Eat cooked veggies! Eat fruits! Eat meat! Eat what makes your blood test results shine, and your energy boost! Whatever you do, keep reading and try to filter so many preachy messages online that seem to confuse us all. Be happy and healthy and enjoy life!