Easy Vegan Meal Ideas

One of my friends has decided to start eating vegan too. And she asked me for some simple ideas on what to eat... so here you go Kyrie! :)

My favorite Breakfast (I eat this almost every day)
1-2 cups fruit juice (i usually have cranberry, pomegranate blueberry, or orange)
some fruit (banana, apple or strawberries)
1-2 slices of whole grain toast with peanut butter

Sandwich & Salad
2 slices Diary free whole grain bread
Mustard (or another vegan friendly condiment
Any combo of the following...

• dark lettuce blend
• onion (sweet, red, or scallions)
• bell peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)
• tomato (i prefer roma for sandwiches)
• cucumber
• hummus
• avacado
• sprouts

You could add a meat substitute here too if your having one of those cravings for something meat like

And then I just add a salad with most of the same veggies as on the sandwich with some sunflower seeds and a yummy vegan-friendly dressing

Spaghetti
Seriously, I love italian food and will probably be doing lots of experimenting with my old favorites and substituting in vegan cheese... but spaghetti is super simple and is a great opportunity for sneaking in extra veggies.

Whole wheat spaghetti noodles

For the sauce (to keep it easy right now) buy a jar of meat-free spaghetti sauce.
Simmer it in a pan with some veggies until the veggies are tender. I like to use sweet onion, diced roma tomato, bell peppers, and grated or diced carrots.

Pour sauce over noodles and serve with a slice of toast with a smidge of Earth Balance buttery spread.

Pasta Salad
So simple and one pot can feed you for a few days.

Start with whole wheat rotini or elbow macaroni.
Add any of the following:

• corn
• onion (sweet, red, or scallions)
• bell peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)
• tomato (i cherub tomatoes cut in half)
• cucumber
• black beans
• carrots
• broccoli
• cauliflower

Then toss with some vegan friendly dressing or oil & vinegar mixed with some Mrs Dash seasoning.

Rice #1
cooked brown rice
steamed mixed veggies (just buy a bag in the freezer section)
Mrs Dash to taste
Earth Balance buttery spread

Rice #2
brown rice
black beans
corn
diced tomato
lime juice & cilantro to taste

Veggie Burrito
brown rice with cilantro & lime juice
black beans
grilled peppers, onion & corn
salsa or pico
lettuce
whole wheat vegan friendly tortilla


Snacks
Odwalla Strawberry C, C Monster smoothie (could have this at breakfast in place of the juice too)
tortilla chips & salsa (make sure to check the package of the tortilla chips before you buy them)
sliced apples with peanut butter
raw veggies
fruit
peanut butter & jelly (or fruit) sandwich
central market bruschetta veggie chips
chocolate peanut butter cups (seriously not too many... it is still chocolate!) - from "the kind diet"
vegan rice crispies - from "the kind diet"

Hello World (again)

My life has taken quite a few twists and turns in the last 6 months... From losing our duplex, getting rid of everything to move in with my mom... to John finally getting rehired, using our tax return to put a down payment on a mobile home and having to start back at square one with everything house related. I'm taking a few sessions off from school to focus on getting my house settled and in working order... and of course to get my designing business back on track.
My 2 older boys are doing great in school. Corgen is waiting for the interviews for the gifted & talented to start. It amazes me how fast he soaks up information. He's currently reading "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" and plans on starting the Harry Potter series next. His 1st grade teacher promises to test his reading level until he is ready to stop when they do end of year assessments. Damek finally got into speech therapy and it has made a difference already. He's also proud to report that he is learning how to add numbers together now... and very excited that he's learning it younger than Corgen did cause he's only in pre-k (Corgen started school with kindergarten). Merrick is doing good too... he just turned 18 months. Kinda wishing he would start talking more... instead of screaming for everything he wants, but it will come with time.He's cutting one of his canine teeth right now so he's grumpy and I really think he's hit the "terrible twos" stage. A few days ago he threw his first real temper tantrum... threw himself down on the floor when daddy said the peanut m&ms were gone and started rolling across the floor while screaming. It was funny, but annoying.
I think the biggest change I've made is that I am now a Vegan. Yep that's right... no meat, no dairy, no eggs... no processed crap or white sugar either. Yes it's a HUGE change from what i've been eating all my life, but i'm tired of looking and feeling the way that I do... so I needed to make a drastic change. Getting alot of crap from people at work about this. Guess I'll just have to deal with it. I'm already getting pretty used to just tuning them out. I feel really good... well minus the sleep deprivation thing (but that's due to work schedule and boys' school schedule, not my diet). I've already lost 4.4 lbs since I cut out meat & dairy, so I'm well on my way to being a "skinny bitch" <-- great book by the way.

Ok, enough for one post. I'll be updated the look of my blog this week (i hope). It'll be a preview of a kit due to come out atr the end of April.