Thanksgiving Success

So I made it through Thanksgiving, and it was a success!  This was the first time that I made a meat-free meal for this holiday.  Last year I did not celebrate Thanksgiving at all.  I had just lost my aunt and I was sad and not feeling very thankful at that time.  Even more, I knew that my guests were not going to be happy to have a meat-free meal, and I wasn't up to working very hard to try to please anyone. 

This year, I decided to take on the challenge, although to a small group of people. So I decided to do Thanksgiving lunch for just my husband, children and my mother. This made seven of us, which was just the right amount to try something new...Tofurky Roast!

I decided to make most of the same great traditional dishes (although meat-free) and this year instead of a turkey, we will have a Tofurky Roast. I was looking forward to making this thing that I had heard so much about. I wondered is it going to taste like turkey, and more importantly, was my family going to like it?

I bought two roasts, just because I wasn't sure how much it will make and how much they will eat. They are much smaller than I imagined. The directions said to roast with vegetable and to baste with a mix of oil and soy sauce, so I did. Let me tell you, this was much easier that cooking a turkey. There was no getting up at 5am to prepare, clean and stuff the turkey and even better...no turkey had to die!

I was really worried that my children were going to think I was crazy, but they embraced my new Thanksgiving tradition and they actually tried the Tofurky. They didn't love it, but they said it was okay and I was happy with that. Even my mother ate it and I could not believe that.  She calls our vegan food "funny food"! 

My husband loved it...yay!! I suppose since he is more used to meat-free food that it didn't not taste strange to him. He especially liked the rice stuffing inside. I also enjoyed it. With some gravy and a little cranberry sauce, it is really good.

For the rest of the meal, I made mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, pasta salad, roasted veggies, pumpkin cupcakes for dessert, and all of it with out any animal products.  My family ate all of it and enjoyed it.  Some went back for seconds and thirds. 

So my first Vegan Thanksgiving was a success. If I can feed this food to the children and my mother without any complaints, then I think next year I'll be ready to take on the rest of the family :)

The Wonderful, Edible Carrot

Since giving up animal products, vegetables have become the center of my meals, not just something to put on the side. So the way that I taste them  has changed as well. Now I taste them for how they truly taste...and I realize what I have been missing.

If you were to have asked me years ago about my favorite foods, I would  have probably mentioned something like potatoes, pasta, fried rice and of course chocolate. Carrots would have never been something that would have come to mind.  Even though I have always liked carrots, they were never something to be listed in a favorite category—only a vegetable that I liked eating from time to time. But over the last few years, my taste buds have definitely evolved and they are happy to taste the carrot! 

Before, the only way I would eat carrots is if they had been boiled or out of the can with lots of butter and salt—not anymore! Now I enjoy them steamed, sauteed, roasted and countless other ways.  But most surprising of all, I now love to eat them raw, especially little baby carrots. They make a great snack and go wonderfully with a sandwich (much better for you than chips or fries).  I recently started to carry a sandwich bag of baby carrots in my purse, just in case I needed a snack while out on the go.

My favorite way to start each day is with a glass of fresh juiced carrot and apple juice. It gives me just the kick I need to start my day.  Not only is it good for you, it tastes great and gives me such energy.  I am also experimenting with other new ways to incorporate them in my meals.  The other day I attempted to make a roasted carrot and yellow squash soup.  It wasn't bad for my first try. 




     Morning Breakfast with Fresh                                       Roasted Carrot & Yellow

         Carrot & Apple Juice                                                            Squash Soup


Now I'm not a doctor, but I truly believe that my increase in carrots has improved my vision.  I had always heard that carrots were good for your eyes; so I wondered what happened to me then...I ate carrots.  I suppose I just was not eating enough, or the right way.  For years, my vision has gotten worse with each exam; but this year my exam actually showed improvement! I have had poor vision most of my life—bound to a life of glasses and contacts.  But recently, I can feel the improvement.  I spend more time now without wearing either, and without walking into walls!

As my new way of eating evolves, so does my appreciation and taste for foods.  It's like eating foods again for the first time, like a baby with a clean palate, tasting foods the way they were meant to taste.  If only everyone could see how wonderful carrots and other vegetable acctudally taste when you take away all of the foods that get in the way.  They would definitley eat more and be more healthy.

Now if I could only get my children to find the same joy.   They still continue to pick them out of their meals.  Maybe it's the color...sometimes I feel that children only want to eat things that are lacking of any color (as if it is a sign of some kind of poison).   Although my teenage daughter does like the carrot and apple juice. I guess it's a start and I will just keep on serving them.

 A few of my favorite ways to enjoy the carrot:    

• oven roasted
• in vegetable pasta marinara
• grated on a salad (instead of cheese)
• as a snack with hummus
• sliced and baked as carrot fries
• diced in lentils
• in veggie soup
• tofu stir fry

  

  Homemade Vegetable Soup

                                                                              

Brown Rice with Lentils and Carrots

                                                             

The next thing I would love to learn how to make is Carrot Cake...so if anyone knows any good vegan Carrot Cake recipes, please send them my way! :)

Busy Vegan Mom

The last month has been very busy for me and has made it difficult to blog. The start of the new school year brought many changes and turned my world upside down…the kids went back to school, my youngest began Pre-K, I went back to work, and I began graduate school.

With all these things happening at once, it left me no time at all to even open my blog. Now that I am back in a routine (sort of), I am ready to get back to my veggie blogging. Hopefully even with my busy schedule, I can find the time to do at least one blog per week and be able catch up on all the wonderful blogs I read and follow.


Being a busy vegan is definitely a challenge! I have learned that the best thing is to try to be prepared. Since I work as a substitute teacher, I never know where I might end up working each day. And let’s face it, school cafeteria food is not exactly created for the meat-free kind. So I have learned to try to plan my lunch each night, even if I don’t know if I will be called in to work the next day. I have found peanut butter and banana sandwiches to be a great go-to lunch if nothing else is available.  Also having things like baby carrots and grapes are a great snack to have in my luch bag for when I can't leave the classroom but I need something to eat.

My new role as a graduate student has also challenged my vegan diet. My school schedule is crazy. It’s only one weekend a month, but I have class almost the entire weekend…Friday 6-10pm, Saturday 8:30am-6pm, and Sunday 8:30am-5:30pm. Given the fact that my campus is forty-five minutes away, I spend most of the day away from home. This means that I must plan for dinner on Fridays and lunch and snacks for the rest of the weekend. I quickly found that the university campus is also not thinking much about meat-free kind. Although I’m sure I could find something if I looked hard enough, I’m not going to spend all of my lunch time running all over campus to find something to eat. So once again, planning is necessary for me to get through the weakened successfully. I have found that preparing on Friday for the weekend has been very helpful.

With life taking such a hectic turn, I have not had time to do a planned weekly shopping trip. I have gone back to picking up just enough items at a time to get through the next few days. This of course has taken a toll on the food budget! It is not easy after a day of work, then picking up kids, rushing home to cook and do homework, to fit in a few hours of shopping. But this is something that I must work on. It is taking up too much time and money running back and forth to the store. So yesterday, I sat and clipped my coupons and I will be making my first planned weekly shopping trip in a few months. Again, the key here is planning, planning and planning.


Living a busy life is never easy, and adding a vegan diet to the mix makes it even more challenging. But I have learned that being prepared is the most important thing you can do to make things go smoother. It’s is definitely worth the extra planning and time. Sure it would be so easy to just give up and grab a cheeseburger on the go, but I’m not willing to compromise. I have made it this far and I don’t plan on going back. I just need to keep things organized and well planned!

Forks Over Knives...What a Great Film!

This weekend, my husband and I watched the documentary film Forks Over Knives.  This was a film that I had been excited to watch since seeing the trailer...and it certainly did not let me down.  It is definitely a great documentary that everyone, especially vegetarians and vegans, should see.

This film really gets the point across about just how important food is towards our over all health. I think if you can watch this film and not change your diet, then you just don't care about your health at all! My husband and I were just amazed at the research and the people who are living proof that a plant-based diet is the answer to so many illnesses. If we weren't convinced before, we are now!

I was surprised to see so many of the people I have learned about over these last few years in this film.  Along my way to become vegan, I have done so much research and have found so many great people that I look to for advice and information, and many of them seem to be in this film.  People like Dr. Colin Campbell, who is co-author of The China Study, which I am currently reading.  Also, there were others such as, Dr. Neal Bernard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), the reason I started my vegan challenge; Dr. John McDougall, founder of Dr. McDougall's Health and Medical Center and others I have seen along the way.

After watching this film, it amazes me that not everyone is vegan.  I also feel a bit angry!  If the evidence is so clear, why does not every doctor recommend this way of eating to all their patients?  I'm guessing there is a political answer in there somewhere.  It makes me angry because if the research is correct that milk protein is linked directly to cancer, why then does the government subsidize the dairy industry and why do we have commercials that tell us to give milk to our children because "milk does the body good?"

If there is a direct correlation between consumption of milk and osteoporosis cases, why then do they tell women to drink more milk to prevent this disease? Why not broccoli, kale or spinach?  Why do we not have a million dollar campaign asking "got kale?" It just doesn't make sense and I feel like I have been cheated out of the diet I should have been eating for the last thirty-nine years. 

I'm hoping one day it will change and we will see vegetable and fruits in commercials and on billboards on the highway.  I suppose with each person that changes to a plant-based diet, the fight will gain strength.  Maybe one day health will prevail over politics and money and the way things work will begin to make sense.  Maybe the FDA and Department of Agriculture should watch Forks Over Knives!

Forks Over Knives along with The China Study are great tools for all people, not just vegans, to help us make better decisions about our food and health.  I am so happy that there are doctors out there that are not afraid to step out and share the true information that people should know in order to be the healthiest they can be.

Now that I know this information, I will not cheat my children and I will make sure that they have all the information needed to make a good heath conscious decision about how to eat.

Easy Morning Glory Muffins

I love making these muffins. They are yummy and filled with great things such as carrots, apples, coconut, and raisins. They make a great breakfast or snack. I love to make a big batch and use them for a quick breakfast on the go...I pre pack them in sandwich bags and just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and then I'm on my way. 

I started making these muffins before the transition to vegan. So back then I of course, used eggs.  But I recently tried to make them without the egg, and they cam out just as good. 

Because of the oil and sugar, they are definitely not low calorie (I calculated around 350 per muffin).  I wouldn't have too many at a time if you're counting calories. But given the fact that they are loaded with fruits and carrots, at least they are not empty calories!

When I made these, I made a few changes to the recipe:
    
To make them dairy-free, I used ground flax seed with water to replace the eggs. 

I also used unbleached all-purpose flour (I would love to use whole wheat flour but my kids can tell and will complain).

I also left out the walnuts (because my daughter doesn't like nuts).

Next time, I am going to try with applesauce instead of the oil to cut out many of the calories...I'll post the results.

For the recipie, click here.