Seven months vegan and going strong! I told Joe the other day that he was the second best decision I ever made. First is accepting Jesus into my life and the third…choosing to go vegan. I honestly think my entire health/eating journey has led up to this point and I’m so happy with the choice to eat solely plant-based foods (except for some honey here and there). I’ve learned a lot about food and nutrition over these last few months and have really enjoyed figuring out how to make our favorite dishes vegan and discovering new foods in the process. Below is what I ate today (Saturday). I hope it can inspire new meal ideas and help you see how delicious vegan food can be!
Breakfast: I had some dairy-free yogurt (this cashew milk-based yogurt from Forager Project I found at Whole Foods) on top of two oat cookies I had made a while ago and stuck in the freezer. Then added sliced bananas, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, flax seeds and agave syrup. You’d never know it was dairy free. So good! Another easier-to-find dairy free yogurt is the So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. I’ve seen them at HEB and Sprouts in Austin. They make unsweetened versions as well as flavored, sweetened ones which are really good. I also buy the Silk brand soy yogurts for Enzo on occasion. I’ll usually mix in some flax, chia or hemp seeds into his for an extra boost of nutrition. His fav is the peach-mango flavor. There is added sugar in the flavored kinds, so I try to limit these.
Snack: I almost always keep a stash of trail mix on hand. I simply throw a bunch of different nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, raisins and dairy-free chocolate chips (I like the Enjoy Life Foods brand) into a container and keep it in the fridge. When I need a quick snack or pick-me-up, I can grab a couple of handfuls. Enzo likes eating this as well. Especially the chocolate chips!
Lunch: I usually eat leftovers for lunch as I don’t want to spend time cooking something different for lunch each day. Everything I ate was something I had previously cooked. I had some chickpea quinoa patties I made the night before over a bed of baby kale (I bought a HUGE bag from Costco). I’ve been really trying to incorporate a large amount of greens into my diet each day. I also had some roasted white potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots along with diced avocado, tahini sauce (tahini mixed with a little maple syrup, salt, pepper and water) and some store-bought hummus. Delicious and really filling. I also had a few of these dried apricots I picked up at Costco. They seriously taste like candy. So good!
Snack: I don’t always have a morning and afternoon snack but today my body needed it. I had a super juicy mango and an apple dipped in Nuttzo butter. A friend got me hooked on Nuttzo butter a while ago. It’s a mix of roasted cashews, roasted almonds, roasted Brazil nuts, flax seeds, roasted hazelnuts, roasted chia seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, and Celtic Sea Salt, all organic. Costco carried it for a while and stopped so I hadn’t had it in a long time. Then they got it back and I’m hooked again! If you like crunchy peanut butter, definitely give it a try.
Dinner: It was Joe’s birthday and he wanted pizza. Enzo helped me make a whole-wheat pizza crust and we topped it with fig jam (can make your own or buy it), roasted butternut squash, spinach and homemade cashew mozzarella cheese. Check out my recipe here! I usually don’t make my own vegan cheeses but since it was Joe’s birthday, I guess you could consider that a special occasion. 🙂 I made this recipe. I’ve actually seen fresh vegan mozzarella at Whole Foods though I haven’t tried it yet. You could also sub any brand of vegan shredded mozzarella cheese (Follow Your Heart brand is the best tasting in my opinion). Such a yummy combo, I recommend trying it! I had two pieces of this pizza and a big salad of spinach, baby kale, black olives, marinated mushrooms, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds. I topped it with a super simple dressing I had made that was in the fridge. It’s a mixture of olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I really don’t buy salad dressings any more except for dairy-free ranch for Joe. I eat salads almost every day and keep this homemade version on hand as much as possible. If I don’t have something ready, I’ll simply squeeze some lemon juice and drizzle some olive oil over my salad.
Dessert: I usually have a small dessert or snack before bed. Since I’m nursing, my appetite is still a little higher and unless I have a really big dinner, I’ll be hungry in the middle of the night without eating before bed. My go-to snack is usually some kind of cereal with either almond milk or dairy-free yogurt. But since it was Joe’s birthday, Enzo and I had made cupcakes. I made this Funfetti recipe though my cupcakes didn’t look like the picture. The sprinkles I got disappeared once cooked and you couldn’t see them. But they were still delicious! I bought a jar of vegan vanilla frosting and it was sooo good. Enzo seriously woke up at 6 a.m. this morning because he wanted a cupcake. This kid! 🙂