What Do Vegans Eat, Chapter 3

Brunch/Before Workout

Pita French Toast, Apple slices, Coconut Water

Lunch/Dinner/After Workout

Leftover Carrot Soup from last post. Topped with daiya cheese and filled with kale. :) 

Breakfast

Cacao Protein Shake

(Strawberries, Pineapple, Mango,Cacao Powder, Amazing Grass Orange Dreamsicle, Almond Milk, Water)

Lunch

Tempeh Tacos in organic hard shell and sprouted soft shell

Dinner

Potato soup from scratch (Before roasted)

Recipe Below!

Roasting with almond milk

Note the brown coloring for recipe below! 

Dinner

I wasn't that hungry so I had a half cup with no toppings.

Dessert

But I was craving ice cream...

 I had a bit more than a half cup of Chocolate Chip Cherry Soy Ice Cream (Trader Joe's Brand)

I placed the 1/2 cup measuring spoon near to show you exactly how much it was. :)

 Potato Soup Ingredients

Level: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

• 3 cups finger potatoes (the baby yellow ones)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cups vegetable broth 
• 1/2 cup almond milk 
• 12 oz/1 box silken tofu 
• Few tablespoons Earth Balance,Whipped
• Your favorite spices (I used Onion, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, salt, sugar, sage) 

1. Chop veggies in Vitamix. If you don't have one, finely chop them all by hand. 
2. Roast veggies in pan with earth balance and spices until soft and browned. Half way through, about 7 minutes, toss in the almond milk. This will help them soften up more quickly. 
3. As veggies soften and gather all their flavors, make a pot of vegetable broth. I used two cups water and two vegan vegetable broth cubes. You can also use a boxed broth, but I suggest a fresh one for better flavor.
4. Throw the broth and tofu into the blender. Taste your veggies to make sure they taste amazing and soft, and then throw them in the blender too. 
5. Put your Vitamix on HIGH and blend until creamy! (About 2 minutes) 

    Serving size 1 cup 

Tempeh Tacos

Level: Super Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes

• 1/2 package tempeh (4 oz) 
• 2 stalks green onions 
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance
• Pico De Gallo 
• Pepperoncinis 
• 1/2 Avocado 
• Organic Corn Shells (Trader Joes)
• 1/2 Cup Daiya cheese (or however much you want)
• Spice Blend: Chili powder, onion powder, garlic-pepper, salt, cayenne 

1. Heat skillet with Earth Balance. 
2. Crumble tempeh into pan. 
3. Add spice blend and cook until browned and crispy. (About 5-7 minutes)
4. Heat up soft taco shells if you like those, or place hard taco shells on a plate. 
5. Fill with hot tempeh and top with whatever you like. The onions, salsa, peppers, cheese, and avocado are what I used. 

These are a bit more calories than I thought...but totally worth it! Tempeh has a lot of fat and protein, but it is all from vegetables so it is the "good fats" you hear about. Enjoy! 

Cacao Shake Recipe (Chocolate Pre-workout shake) 

I got the nutrition labels by creating recipes on Livestrong.com 

Instead of posting the entire shake recipe here, I linked you to the website to show you how it's done. I LOVE it! 

Thanks for checking out my series!

What Do Vegans Eat, Chapter 2

Dinner: Trader Joe's Veggie Gyoza, Sprouted corn quesadilla with Daiya and Green Onions

Dessert: Coconut milk, strawberries, mangos blended with chocolate chips on top

Breakfast/Pre-workout: Berry Slim Juvo, Strawberries, Mango, Pineapple, Ice, and Almond milk

Breakfast/Pre-workout: A serving of orange flavored Amazing Grass, with tons of good stuff in it!

Lunch/Dinner: Tempeh Tacos on Sprouted corn tortilla

Green Onion Carrot Soup

 I was craving carrot soup and knew my Vitamix would make things easy, so I decided to make it today for brunch.

Chop

Saute

Make a broth

Add in silken tofu and spice

Blend veggies, broth, and spices 

Top with Kale 

Enjoy with crackers and Earth Balance!

(Almost)Fat-Free Single-Serving CUPcake 

Carrot Soup Ingredients

• Half bag of baby Carrots
• 2 Green onion stalks
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup silken tofu 
• 2 cups veggie broth 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Single Serving Cake Ingredients

I have to give credit to Vegan Heartland for making up this recipe, but I changed it up today to fit my tastes and diet. :) 

• 6 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 4 tbsp apple sauce
• 3 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Half handful of chocolate chips (about 10, leave these out if you want to keep it fat-free)

Mix everything in a coffee mug and microwave for 3 minutes. 

I love frosting on my cake and, well, can't really eat it without it so I made this: 

• 1 tbsp Whipped Earth Balance Spread 
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla 

If you don't want it to melt on your cake like you see above, wait for it to cool. If you're like me and want it NOW, then dollop it on and dig in. Beware though! It will burn your tongue if you don't blow on it! 

So what do vegans eat? This is my diet for the past two days. Easy, healthy, meals. I forgot to throw in a Luna Bar I had while out shopping yesterday, so count that in too. Taking pictures of my food not only documents what I'm eating, but shows other people that vegans eat yummy stuff too.

As you can see above, I don't really eat Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. More like a brunch, linner, and dessert...or a pre-workout shake and a meal later. Today I had the carrot soup, crackers, and cake. I may snack on some sugar snap peas later, but that will be the end of my meals today. Hope you are enjoying this as much as I am! 

Edit: Jan.22.2012: I made the mug cake again today. I used a half packet of stevia instead of the sugar, 2 Tbsp apple sauce, and a 1/4 of a banana. I sprinkled 1 Tbsp of chocolate chips on top after it was done and put the frosting on top of that. So yummy! Chocolate-banana flavor mmm! 

What Do You Eat?

When I tell a friend or family member that I am vegan I usually get the question, "What do you eat then?" It amazes me how little the general population knows about food and exactly how much of it is in fact vegan. I say I eat everything the earth makes, everything grown from the ground. All the un-boxed, unprocessed, fresh produce, whole grains, nut milks and cheeses; some special products like Daiya cheese and Gardein meats, if I'm ever in the mood. Most don't understand this and will ask things like, so do you eat bread? Do you eat peanut butter? What do you have for dinner.

These questions have inspired me to take photos of my daily meals and drinks/shakes to show exactly what a vegan noshes on. This will be a series of unprofessional, non-set up meals that I eat everyday. So don't mind the pictures, as they will not be food-styled, correct lighting, or edited. Just straight up, the answer to your question of, "What do you eat?"

Quinoa- Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Maple Drizzled Tempeh (Tastes like bacon bits!) 

Frozen banana, mango, pineapple, strawberries + Can of coconut milk =

Good enough for breakfast, Sweet enough for dessert

Silken tofu, Kale, Green Onions, Daiya Cheddar= Scrambled Cheezy "Eggs"

Yellow Miso, Silken Tofu, Green Onions, Soy Wrap

It was so good for breakfast, I made more for dinner!

Pre-Workout Shakes

I know that eating "real food" is way better for you than shakes, but before and after workouts are an excuse to Vitamix it up. When I wake up, I want to workout as soon as I can, to then shower and get on with my day. So instead of cooking french toast, enjoying a hot bowl of miso, or toasting some whole grain waffles, I throw a bunch of stuff in my Vitamix and get going.

Todays shake includes:
4 Tbsp Vanilla Hemp Protein
1 Scoop Juvo Slim  (Raw whole foods shake)
1 Scoop Amazing Grass Orange Dreamsicle Greens
1 Banana
1/2 cup frozen pineapple tidbits
1 cup almond milk, soaked with chia seeds
Water, enough to make it drinkable and not scoopable

This makes about 3 cups total.

I have one before the workout and the rest after. Since I'm drinking the nutrients and not chewing them, they are delivered to my body faster as I exercise. And I don't get side cramps from eating and then working out, or as most people know the rule "Wait 30 minutes after you eat to swim." It works for any exercise.

The contents of my shakes daily will always have:
1 part Juvo-carbs for cardio
1 part protein-for strength training
1 part amazing grass-for high energy
1 part milk
1 part water
1 part juice or fruit-more carbs for cardio and flavor

I used to think that people who drank protein shakes were gym rats and all those stereotypes that you think of when you say protein shake. But after I started drinking them for this past week, I remembered how I got so fit before. I would drink this Green Drink by Paradise Greens (It's not as tasty as what I have above) and use it to replace 1-2 meals a day. Add an hour of P90x to that, and you'll lose fat faster than you can count while building muscle.

Last year I only did P90x and then Insanity. Now I am combining them into a hybrid workout. P90x is mostly strength training videos at a slower pace. It's weights, reps, and a little bit of kickboxing. Insanity is an intense cardiovascular program that shapes up your heart and body by slimming it down and burning tons of calories. When paired together, every part of your body is being challenged, from your heart to your toes. (Talk about X Yoga! That is hard work!)

So I'm building muscles with P90x, and losing lots of calories and fats with Insanity. If I'm brave enough I'll post a picture sometime of my results. Feel free to comment with any questions below!

Miso Yummy

Classic Comfort. A warm bowl of soup on a cold wintery day always hits the spot. Or even on a sunny day, it still hits the spot. Miso soup is not only yummy, it is great for you. It's loaded with health benefits, low in calories, and can replace butter in certain recipes. I topped my brown rice with some miso paste the other day and was in heaven. It has this creamy feeling in your mouth like butter, but is low in fat and full of flavor.

I was craving miso soup the other week and bought a tub of mellow-yellow miso paste. (It's the flavor you get at most sushi places; AKA my favorite.) Ever since I bought it, I've had miso every day. My saying of late has been, "A bowl of miso a day keeps the doctor away." When you read the link of benefits I gave up above, you will agree.

Why Blog It?
I wanted to blog about miso soup because it is incredibly easy and quick to make, fills me up, and tastes delicious. I thought others could benefit by knowing it is amazing anytime of the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you're trying to lose weight, definitely pick up a daily habit of a bowl of miso. Replace a meal with it to cut down total daily calories. Since it is soup (water) you will feel full and the miso paste satisfies your salty-fatty cravings.

Versatile
You can put anything you want into it! I put firm tofu because I like the bite, but most recipes call for soft/silken tofu. I put whatever veggies I have on hand in it, but keep it simple by only choosing one. Right now in my fridge, I have leftover miso soup of white onions, garbanzo beans, and firm tofu.
I like it with thinly sliced zucchini, green onions, and my soy nori sheets. I may spice it up with some  dried fenugreek or any other herb I'm in the mood for. Best of all recipes is just miso paste, nori, and green onions. Simple is always best.

Pair miso soup with brown rice, a half sandwich, or a side of steamed veggies. Yum!

Things I've Paired Up With Miso Soup
Daiya Cheese Pita- I used my George Foreman to heat a 90calorie pita up, put some cheese and avocado in the middle, sandwiched it in half, and closed the grill. Five minutes later I have a delicious sandwich to go with my soup. I dipped it in smoked chipotle hot sauce.

Brown Rice Pilaf- Simply steam some brown rice, add minced carrots and peas, and top with a teaspoon of miso.

Other Things To Try With Miso 
Miso Sandwich- Top toast, pita, or tortilla with miso and tahini. (Saw this on Whfoods.com) I'm trying this tomorrow!

Miso Dressing- Add miso, rice vinegar, olive oil, and spices to make a salad dressing.

Miso Dip- Combine with your favorite vegan cream cheese for a tasty cracker dip.