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Vegan for a Week

I am inviting you to try going whole food vegan for a week.

Throughout our challenge I will offer daily blogs, vlogs, Q&As, recipes or videos in order to keep you motivated and prepared for what’s ahead. I will either share recipes, my what I eat video or Q&As, plus blogs or other content so that we can stay on track and get healthier.

A week is not a long time at all but going vegan for a week can give you a sense of accomplishment and will power that you may think you didn’t have within you. Any small positive change to your diet can have a beneficial effect on you and prepare you to either modify your diet towards a more plant based diet or it can potentially inspire you to keep going.

My goal for the week is to show you how easy it can be to eat vegan. I will focus on giving you tips and food option for things you can simply prepare with whats in your fridge and pantry already.

I will give you suggestions for condiments and fruits and veggies that you can buy on your next shopping trip as well as easy ideas on how to throw a plant based meal together.

Laura will share with us her soup recipes. Tina will share some of her meals and desserts. Between the three of us you should find enough inspiration to keep you going.

I will show you my free flow massaged salads and buddha bowls which are so easy to make yet so filling.

Tips on making this work:

  1. DRINK plenty of WATER. I generally drink 2-3 liters a day. In winter I count my herbal and tea lattes as “water”. In summer I tend to make a lot of lemon water and I count that as “water” as well.
  2.  Make sure that you do go shopping and you buy whatever is in season, on sale, local and appealing to your senses. Get enough fresh fruits and veggies that can last you and your family for a few days and get some back up frozen fruits and veggies. I always have frozen blueberries, strawberries, bananas, green beans, corn, peas, okra and spinach in my freezer in case I run out of fresh produce. Right now there is an abundance of fresh apples, grapes, corn, pumpkins, cabbages, greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, oranges, plums, roots, onions and garlic so stock up on some of these.
    fall produce

    KABOCHA, POMS, PASSIONFRUITS, APPLES, AVOCADOS and JUJUBES

Get some rice, millet, kabocha pumpkin, potatoes or pasta as your carbs.

Stock up on one or two… or three varieties of beans or lentils.

Get some tofu or avocado if you can. Either one of the two can work as a dressings base. I like the sprouted silken or firm tofu by Wildwood. It is sold at trader Joe’s and Whole foods.

Get some almond or coconut milk unless you make your milk from fresh nuts.

Get at least one or 2 varieties of nuts and seeds that can go so well in salads and bowls. I like sesame, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds … and all other nuts 😛

3. Buy some fun condiments.

If you do not consume salt – good for you. But if you are used to a saltier flavor then make sure to get tamari or soy sauce, hoisin sauce, maybe pickes and mustard which can come in handy for dips and dressings.

Also get some lemons and vinegar as your acidic recipe component. Also be brave- I tend to get pomegranate molasses, philippine tamarind based marinades and BBQ sauces that I can use whenever I need to spice things up.

Get some dates, molasses, maple, palm sugar or other sweeteners.

Have fun with the spices– I love curry, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, sumac and aleppo pepper; chipotle or other hot spices are fun as well.

I always always always have a few hot sauces on hand- some gourmet hot sauces can add so much flavor to an otherwise boring meal. I generally have 2-3 types of vinegar on hand. If I see a fancy type of vinegar for an OK price I definitely pick it up as it can really open up a recipe. Right now I have apple cider vinegar, coconut vinegar and pear champagne vinegar (which is so so good).

Ketchup for the ketchup fans can be a good pantry addition.

Nutritional yeast – optional.

 

All these items are optional but I do find them to be essential in a plant based household. You can really simplify your recipes and stick with the few condiment items you love. Sometimes a dressing made out of 4 ingredients can be phenomenal. That’s the case with creamy cashew dressing which requires only cashews, lemon, salt and garlic. The results are oh so good.

The bowls and salads I intend to make will give you flexibility so as long as you have some leafy greens (kale (also in the brassicas) or lettuce is best), some brassicas (cabbage or cauliflower), some veggies (carrots, beets, mushrooms, etc) ; some potatoes, pumpkins or rice ; some sort of canned or dried beans and some nice dressings ingredients you can come up with a different bowl every day.

You can always modify the dressing so that it fits your taste buds and the ingredient availability in your area.

The massaged salads I have been making are the bomb! If you have never massaged your veggies 😛 then you (and your veggies obviously) are in for a treat lol “spa style”

Let me know if you have any specific questions and ideas in the comments bellow and lets get ready to get this challenge going.

Everyone will be sharing their recipes and photos on BEAUTIFUL YOGIS GROUP so hop on over.

Love

 

 

 

 

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