Tag Archives: vegan

Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie

There’s no denying that when the leaves start to turn brown, and there is that little crisp in the air that, that it is time to bring out the harvest season foods! As sad as it is to say goodbye to summer, saying hello to fall comes with pulling out my favorite sweaters and some of my personal favorite flavors. In particular, this Shepherd’s Pie is a hearty, and savory, harvest season classic that comes together in satisfying textures layered with savory, sweet, and umami. Shepherd’s Pie is a standard item in many kitchens, and it is a heavily requested dish veganized. I just know you will be making this dish all fall and winter long, and you may even be tempted to bring it out in your fall and winter season holidays.

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Vegan Around The World Trip– See the world while stuck at home (Vegan Travel Diaries– guest article)

Stuck at home when you want to be on an adventure? We know the feeling! Being confined within four walls is a nightmare for those with serious wanderlust. The stress of 2020 is about all any of us can bear and that just makes the urge to get away that much more intense. When life has got you down, and you need to #stayathome, all you can do is daydream of exotic locales and foods you haven’t tried yet — and we have one way to help you escape from it…

We recently got back from a two-month Round-The-World-Trip, returning back home in the nick of time before Coronavirus shut the world down– despite the global pandemic looming, we managed to find amazing places and vegan eats that we can now share with YOU– all our fellow AND future globetrotters.

SO… GRAB SOME VEGAN SNACKS, FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS, RELAX AND ENJOY THIS VIRTUAL JOURNEY WITH US!

sydney

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Homemade Cream Cheese and Sour Cream

While we are all stuck at home and stores struggle to keep their shelves stocked, this is the perfect time to learn how to be self-reliant when it comes to your pantry staples– even the refrigerated ones!  Below are a few different options for dairy alternatives made from shelf stable ingredients so you can stock up on the bulk dry goods and get cooking to keep you going.

variety of brown nuts on brown wooden panel high angle photo
Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels.com

Below I go over a few different methods to make cultured and flavored cream cheese and sour cream from a few different ingredients to be allergen-friendly.  Dairy free options that are price friendly and delicious, simple and fast to make and a range of complexity for different levels of home cook or food science geek below!

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Vegan Businesses Affected by Coronavirus

Across the country the restaurant industry has been turned upside down with new restrictions and laws as states respond to the rapid development of the Coronavirus. Among restaurants, those that focus on vegan food items are not excluded from this and in many cases may face more obstacles to staying above water during this time when all small businesses face drowning. Restaurant owners are being forced to reevaluate their specific situations overnight EVERY NIGHT and make adjustments, and weigh the cost of staying open against the cost of closing- for their rent, mortgage, debt, staff, and communities.

Some restaurateurs were forced to make the difficult decision of closing down resulting in employees losing their paycheck, and with the dragging on of pandemic estimates, likely bankruptcy and permanent closures. Other restaurants who have decided to stay open need to suddenly shift their programs to delivery and takeout services while #contactlessdelivery has become the new model of the industry– just to be able to survive this time that could go on as much as 3-6 more months. Along with takeout and delivery, others have expanded into creating meal service packages, grocery delivery service, and sponsored food relief to at risk and in need people as well as promotions for , as well as seeking donations for their disenfranchised staff and over-burdened medical staff.   In this article we will take a closer look at a few cities, with vegan businesses and see how they are operating right now. 

VEGAN (1)

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covid-19 and the food industry

COVID-19 – Time to eat and build a plant-based future!

By now I am sure you have heard about novel Coronavirus (the cause of COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a new strain of virus related to the common cold, with global implications. As the toilet paper vanishes and grocery stores empty, it is time to explore where viruses like this are born and review the larger impacts of COVID-19 on our food system, supply chain, and future practices.

One of the biggest obstacles to our health and safety is Diet Literacy. No, that doesn’t mean which diet is going to make you thin or jacked, but it does mean that most people have no idea about the food they eat: where it comes from, who makes/grows it, how its packaged, or what hitch-hiking bugs may be along for the ride.  The following article is a compilation of insights and professional expertise I developed to send to the media and communicate with public policy officials in the first week of the US wave of the outbreak.  In an interest to bring people into that knowledge base, I have expanded upon these ideas and linked to resources at the bottom.  Please reach out for more info!

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Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

Making cornbread muffins takes a lot of the stress out of the cornbread, the smaller size cooks quicker, cracks less, and its ALMOST like an attempt at portion control, provided you eat them one at a time 😉 These gluten-free gems feature jalapeno, but I have definitely substituted for a scorpion pepper here and there when I know I am entertaining my fellow heat demons.

 

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Family Holidays – guest post Therapist Adriana Gambino

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about navigating family holidays as a vegan. When you’re vegan, and even worse– THE ONLY VEGAN– in a large family gathering, it can be difficult to find common ground when old sibling rivalries and family traditions are the stakes.

Sound familiar? Many of you are dreading this holiday season, but the good news is plant-based diets are rising, not just in prevalence but in awareness and understanding.

I want to share with you how it works in my family, and hopefully you can have a happy and a healthy with yours!

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Maitake Mushroom Steak

Hen of the Woods, also known as Maitake, is an incredible and complex mushroom, with many small lips, and has a tendency to crumble.  Pressing the mushrooms condenses the flavors, and squeezes out the natural liquid, allowing it to soak up a delicious marinade while firming the texture into a bite-perfect steak.  Joining the already meaty flavor and texture of this mushroom, the steak will brown and bring on the smokey flavors of the marinade leaving an aroma in the air and a bold flavor on the palette. This recipe is a sneak preview inspired by the recipe in my upcoming book: Plant Based Gourmet

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Jerk Jackfruit

Jackfruit looks strange from the outside– its giant and green, oblong and covered in a million tiny green spikes– but inside it is a mildly sweet fruit somewhere between a mango and an artichoke.  The young green jackfruit can be found in cans, or it can be found whole or pre-cut closer to ripe in most asian grocery stores. I always like to finish my jackfruit in a cast iron pan (I use this one from Lodge)

A little bit of bravery and a very sharp knife will cut through the thick outer skin of the whole fruit, giving you a great base that can take on many flavors from pulled v-pork to jerk v-chicken, giving you a healthy plant-based alternative to classic foods! Even better, jackfruit grows in abundance, making this a sustainable crop for local farmers year-round.

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Supplements for Vegans, pt 3 Vit D

Veganism can be great for your health, and for your family. Veganism has been shown to reduce or reverse many diseases, and more and more doctors are advocating a plant-based diet– not to mention the environmental benefit that is healthy for us all.  It’s no wonder that I find myself wondering why everyone isn’t already vegan!  

While being vegan CAN be healthy, being a junk-food vegan is also possible. For example, you could go home and eat the totally indulge-worthy Beyond Burger for every meal, and you would probably not end up with the most balanced diet ☺  And, the animals need you in fighting shape!

While there is a lot of confusion out there about nutrition in general, and for vegans in particular, with this handy guide, I hope you’ll find great ways to manage your whole-health, mostly with whole plant foods, and maybe sometimes with a very well researched vitamin supplement here and there, and the healthy food shopping list found at the bottom of each article in this series. And remember, balancing nutrition is not a Vegan problem, it’s an everyone problem, and healthy vegans are definitely better off.

Missed the first two? Jump to Part1: B12, and Part 2: Protein

Are fortified foods enough to replace supplements….?

fortified

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