So what DO you eat?!?!

Many people assume that when you make the transition to vegan you leave behind all the tasty and delicious food that you once loved. I'm here to tell you folks that it is quite the contrary! Not only do I enjoy all of the foods I did before, my meals are now even better tasting and much MUCH healthier as well. I had someone ask me if I was going to eat ants now since it seems I couldn't eat anything else. Well you know smart-ass Amanda had to reply, "No because ants aren't vegan, DUH!" The trick of the trade is just learning to substitute. You have to be willing to take some risks and not everything is going to come out perfect(unless you follow a recipe, but even some struggle with that!), but that's the glory of it. You get some balls, you experiment, you try new things.

Let me just first explain how my family eats in general. I call myself a vegan, but at the same time I like to think that I not only follow a vegan diet, but a whole food plant based diet. What does that mean? Well, it means that we like to eat natural(usually organic) foods that haven't been processed or heavily refined. We consume fresh vegetables and fruits everyday, whether it be alone or in a smoothie. Plant foods are composed of complex carbohydrates that sustain energy and provide fiber, which no animal product can do. They contain zero cholesterol and are very filling. We try to eat as much raw produce as possible, but it's hard for Miss Annabella to gnaw through certain hard fruits and veggies with only her 2 bottom teeth. We always have fresh organic bananas on hand and whatever organic fruit we can get from our grocers.

Cutest two teeth I've ever seen!!! 

We don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup in it or any artificial sweeteners. We don't use white sugar, especially because it isn't vegan. It may come to you as a surprise that something so small and simple as sugar isn't vegan but it's true. And nasty. Sugar companies buy a foul product called Bone Char and use it as a decolorizing filter in order to make white sugar white. So not only is white sugar processed in a nasty way but really it is just stripped of everything. Instead we use Sucanat, which stands for SUgar CAne NATural, which is sugar that has retained it's molasses and is not granulized like most white and even brown sugars. It is sweeter, lower on the glycemic index, and a healthier option. We also use Agave nectar, and GASP honey!!! I know know, some may say blasphemy but my beekeeper is organic, gentle, groovy and she happens to be my baby's GG and my MaggieMom(hi Maggie!). She doesn't abuse her bees, and doesn't steal their honey. We love to go over in the summer and watch the bees just zoom around the property.

This is Sucanat! 

We eat a lot of whole grains in our house as well. We do love our breads, pitas, and tortillas but I try to limit the refined grains and stick with the healthier options such as brown rice, whole wheat couscous, rolled oats, you get the picture. I'm getting a bread machine soon thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, which will be amazing because as much as I do love hand making bread(sometimes) it will make things much faster and cheaper to make bread when we do actually need it. I do use pasta sometimes, always the whole wheat. I mean c'mon how could I live without my vegan mac 'n' cheese?!?!

I use some meat substitutes in meals, such as GimmeLean sausage, Tofurky Italian Sausages and hot dogs, and some Morningstar patties. In all reality I usually make meals with these ingredients maybe once or twice a month, for two reasons. One, these products are a bit more expensive than substituting the meat with say beans or mushrooms and two they are definitely a processed food. I love love love making breakfast burritos with the GimmeLean Sausage, and the vegan hot dogs with vegan baked beans are amazing too!

What I do use a lot of is BEANS! BEANS! And again BEANS! I love those little suckers. I use a lot of black beans(hello black bean burgers....MUST.STOP.DROOLING.ON.KEYBOARD.) kidney beans, and assorted white beans. They are an excellent source of protein and have lots of fiber. I do buy canned, but I'll admit I would love to start making them at home. The soaking process "scares" me a bit, because truthfully I can be lazy sometimes. But I promise I will do it someday. I usually buy canned organic beans, at least if the non-organic can says they use an additive to retain color. Great bean dishes include red beans and rice, bean burgers, chilis, tacos, and just a simple bean filling in a lettuce wrap!

I said on my, But where do you get your protein?! post that I use tofu as well. It is such a versatile product and I use it weekly. My tofu scramble breakfast burritos, smoothies, chocolate mousse, stir-fry, and much more all feature tofu. I encourage everyone to just collect differing recipes that include tofu and try away. We also love TVP, textured vegetable protein, as a meat substitute. It is basically just a dried vegetable protein that you re-hydrate with water or vegetable broth. It is excellent for chilis and sloppy joes!

Our favorite brand of TVP!!! 

I've covered pretty much everything.....NOT!!! How could you even begin to believe that. If there is one thing you should know about me and food, it's that I love my sweets. Sure I try to be a good little girl and get my sugar fix from fruit, but I'm only human. I want  NEED my chocolate. Most grocery stores now carry chocolate chips that omit all the dairy that usually consumes the chocolate. There is also carob chips, which is a powder kind of like cacao but without the caffeine. I do enjoy soy ice cream and coconut ice cream as well. I adore chocolate almond milk, especially in my home-made version of Planet Smoothie's Chocolate Elvis!

Now I do think I covered most everything for now. I love to eat, I don't deprive myself, I eat a shit load of food and I'm still loosing weight. The way I feel is just so hard to put into words. I'll do a post sometime about all the amazing ways that I have benefited from this lifestyle, but it's ta-ta for now this mama's got some ice cream calling!