I'm here because I thought about going vegan and I was just looking at a few options of creative foods. You guys have some awesome suggestions and I might be making my decision very soon. I think I may be trying to go vegan just to wear this shirt lol. Nonetheless I'm really down I have a lot of underlying issues that I think going vegan can help.
I will be upfront and say I am not vegan. I have many food restrictions due to medical reasons and allergies, so a vegan or even vegetarian lifestyle does not work well for me (I have tried). That said, I love reading threads like this and watching vegan/vegetarian YouTubers for great ideas on how to increase the amount of produce I eat and for recipes. I try not to eat a ton of meat (for a stirfry I will use half the meat normally called for and double the veg) and I do make vegan/vegetarian meals often (LOVE an easy veggie pasta with roasted garlic hummus as the sauce).
So I hope you all don't mind me hanging around for ideas and tricks!
Hi @Athijade Feel free to lurk or comment as you wish!
I got into this more by looking at the Volume Eating thread, in which people make meals a lot bigger by adding vegetables to them.
It's a way of eating "more" but not adding many kilojoules/calories.
Ooh, veggie pasta with roasted garlic hummus sauce. There's one for future reference! Thanks.
I'm vegan and currently doing the Happy Shape course which is a calorie controlled eating plan with lots of recipes from The Happy Pear (who are twin brother chefs from Ireland - you can check their YouTube channel).
I'm less than 2 weeks in and have already lost 3kg (6.6lbs).
They do have some very tasty recipes including soups, curries, lasagne with more recipes released as you continue the course.
I am not vegan, but I did make vegan lentil soup tonight. I highly recommend this...especially if you like huge servings of food with minimal calories (366 calories or so). It fills about 3/4 of a dutch oven, with the recipe saying that it is 4 servings. I usually end up with 6 servings, because it is also a very hearty soup.
I'm vegan and currently doing the Happy Shape course which is a calorie controlled eating plan with lots of recipes from The Happy Pear (who are twin brother chefs from Ireland - you can check their YouTube channel).
I'm less than 2 weeks in and have already lost 3kg (6.6lbs).
They do have some very tasty recipes including soups, curries, lasagne with more recipes released as you continue the course.
I love getting meal ideas from The Happy Pear. (plus they aren't harsh on the eyes)
Today I've had homemade hummus on toast for breakfast (not what I usually have but the cupboards were almost bare!)
Lunch was a slice of harrissa roasted cauliflower tart with green salad, capers and chia seeds.
My go to salad has been shredded Brussels sprouts with green apple, brown rice or quinoa, and a super simple Dijon apple cider vinaigrette.
I love a good hearty soup in the winter. I throw in a ton of root vegetables (the humble turnip is my favorite) and otherwise whatever I have hanging around.
I’ll eat seafood or fish, and the rest of my family likes their meaty proteins, so I just cook those separately and add them to their portions at the end!
Today I had fruit for breakfast. A veggie sub topped with sweet onion dressing for lunch, two rice cakes topped with almond butter for a snack, homemade vegetable soup with chickpeas for supper,and an apple early evening. Add in some tea in there too lol.
Not strictly vegan.
The bulk of my dinner last night was a toasted naan round, topped with roasted pine nut hummus, a thin slice of provolone, and fresh spinach. Could’ve done without the cheese, as I couldn’t even taste it.
My lunch was the last leftover bit of mushroom pasta: sauté garlic, shallot and onion in avocado oil until translucent, add a huge amount of sliced brown mushrooms, cook for a bit, deglaze with 2 cups water, add roasted garlic better than boullion and vegetable better than boullion for flavor, as well as sage & thyme, then dumped in maybe a half cup of orzo pasta. It formed its own brown gravy-like sauce and was delicious.
Replies
Even with all the nice new "fake meat" products appearing every time I go to the supermarket which are sometimes more than the meat alternative.
But with more of us buying them, the price keeps coming down, and they're on special a lot.
Yes, it's so cool how there is far more choice these days.
And we know loads more about food, nutrition, etc. And we can look things up that we don't know.
Had a great half-hour chat about all this with a dietitian this morning, actually!
She said I'm doing really well.
We agreed the best plan now is if I get annual blood tests for:
Vitamin D
Iron
B 12
Calcium.
All were excellent a few months ago. Been vegan now 6 or 7 weeks, I think, with no change as far as I can tell, except feeling a lot happier.
I'll get tests done on Wednesday. Stay tuned!
Yesterday I made tri-colour quinoa, firm tofu (pan-fried in sesame oil), Shanghai veg mix, with Chinese five-spice, and Szechuan seasoning.
"5-years-ago Me" would never have thought I'd be doing that.
But my brain wanted to chuck those things together that were in the kitchen.
Hi, @jbeck0433 thanks for talking about this!
Yes, it's just really cool to see ideas of foods, and how people use them together in different ways.
Hi @Athijade Feel free to lurk or comment as you wish!
I got into this more by looking at the Volume Eating thread, in which people make meals a lot bigger by adding vegetables to them.
It's a way of eating "more" but not adding many kilojoules/calories.
Ooh, veggie pasta with roasted garlic hummus sauce. There's one for future reference! Thanks.
I'm less than 2 weeks in and have already lost 3kg (6.6lbs).
They do have some very tasty recipes including soups, curries, lasagne with more recipes released as you continue the course.
Chestnut, sweet potato and cranberry falafel with an edamame & sweetcorn salad with a pita and some roasted mushroom and pepper
From this recipe, but i cheated and used cranberry sauce, and used a flax egg
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cranberry-chestnut-falafel
https://cookieandkate.com/best-lentil-soup-recipe/
Here's a few:
Brazilian Roasted Vegetable Feijoada: https://fussfreeflavours.com/brazilian-roasted-vegetable-feijoada/
Vegan "Chicken" Karaage: https://matchaandtofu.com/vegan-japanese-chicken-karaage/
Vegan Ajiaco Colombian Soup: https://veganhuggs.com/vegan-ajiaco-colombian-soup/
Vegan "Fish" Pie: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/gluten-free-vegan-fish-pie/
Moroccan Vegetable Tagine: https://www.sfchronicle.com/recipes/article/Recipe-How-to-make-Nopa-s-Moroccan-Vegetable-13508757.php
I love getting meal ideas from The Happy Pear. (plus they aren't harsh on the eyes)
Today I've had homemade hummus on toast for breakfast (not what I usually have but the cupboards were almost bare!)
Lunch was a slice of harrissa roasted cauliflower tart with green salad, capers and chia seeds.
But I'm gonna make a panini with hummus (or chickpea mash), mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, onion, cilantro and whatever else sounds good.
I love a good hearty soup in the winter. I throw in a ton of root vegetables (the humble turnip is my favorite) and otherwise whatever I have hanging around.
I’ll eat seafood or fish, and the rest of my family likes their meaty proteins, so I just cook those separately and add them to their portions at the end!
The bulk of my dinner last night was a toasted naan round, topped with roasted pine nut hummus, a thin slice of provolone, and fresh spinach. Could’ve done without the cheese, as I couldn’t even taste it.
My lunch was the last leftover bit of mushroom pasta: sauté garlic, shallot and onion in avocado oil until translucent, add a huge amount of sliced brown mushrooms, cook for a bit, deglaze with 2 cups water, add roasted garlic better than boullion and vegetable better than boullion for flavor, as well as sage & thyme, then dumped in maybe a half cup of orzo pasta. It formed its own brown gravy-like sauce and was delicious.