This week I feel compelled to put on my Swedish Chef hat, First, you take the human, then you take the chicken… Scratch the chicken, tosses the chicken over my shoulder.. Those that became vegan as a statement against the harm in using animals for food or to Support the PETA (People for The Ethical Treatment Of Animals) movement might be offended by my tossing the chicken.. No chickens were harmed in the making of this blog. The Swedish Chef is a Muppet and so was the chicken.
Sometimes people are tossed into changing their diet rapidly due to health problems. Some doctors and scientists feel that a well-balanced plant-based diet can have positive effects on things like diabetes, heart blockages, high blood pressure, edema, allergies/sensitivities..
So where do you start, mmm tree bark and weeds. Switching to a plant-based diet does not need to be gross.
From animal milk to plant-based beverages, what you choose will be impacted pending on other allergies or sensitivities. If you are able to have nuts, there is almond, coconut and other nut milk. I would say cashew but they are not a real nut, they come from a fruit. They are lumped into the same category as nuts. There are also grain beverages, oat milk, rice, barley buckwheat, soy
If you want to try to make plant based beverages yourself, invest in a good high-speed blender.
If cheese makes you weak there is vegan cheese too. If you are blessed to have some local artisan, you might find some vegan small batch choices. Many are made with nuts so if you have problems with nuts you might need to ask more questions. This website gives 175 vegan cheese choices for Canada and many in other parts on the world.
Vegan oils and fats, there is vegan margarine, I use olive oil in most of my recipes and for cooking.
For people that love marshmallows, Dandies makes large and small ones. I was also able to find some from May to I think Sept at Trader Joe’s in the USA. Here is Trader Joe’s vegan products There is this marshmallow fluff that is so good on things like the vegan brownies if you are not being watched by the spoonful!
Moving away from eggs, see the chicken came first in this blog! If your recipe calls for eggs you can use a flax meal mix and water, chia seeds with water, apple sauce, silken tofu, banana and commercial egg replacer ( people that have other food problems need to be mindful of the commercial stuff, it is a blend of different ingredients). Egg replacers recipes.
If you need a replacement for your jerkies. I have read there are some yummy jackfruit and carrot jerkies. Vegan jerky recipes.
Now if you are someone that enjoys chocolate you can still enjoy that flavor. Carob chips are yummy and you can use cocoa powder in recipes. I used to make vegan brownies for parties, many enjoyed them especially my vegan gluten-free people
Hot cocoa Use the dairy-free beverage of your choice, cocoa powder and sugar or sweetener best suits your diet If you use your non-dairy substitute you will have a vegan, gluten-free, paleo beverage that is safe for diabetics.
When I see a recipe it is an inspiration for what I do. I’m often thinking how I can modify it for people with different diets. Warning the recipe had meat in the writing, I converted it. Asian Ground Turkey Bowls
I cut carrots, red onion, green beans from my friends garden, chickpeas, red chili flakes In my recipe, I added 1 tablespoon/ 15ml of sunomono mix I keep in the fridge. I make it in my empty rice wine vinegar bottle so then when I want it I just make the noodles and cut veggies and then I have a nice salad. You can omit the fish sauce or use vegan fish sauce. To thicken it I used potato starch in place of cornstarch, I took out the sesame seed and replaced it with sesame oil. I heated all the fluid in the pan with the potato starch, then tossed in the other ingredients and served it on rice.
Making the sunomono dressing is easy rice vinegar, sugar, and fresh lemon juice, soy sauce ( on that is gluten free if you are celiac.)
If you are changing your diet, please monitor your health. Vegans can have some problems with getting enough of certain nutrients and can have problems with lowered iron. It is a good plan to let your practitioner/ doctor know you are making the changes. Having regular blood work may be part of a way to keep on top of it. These changes may affect your blood sugar and blood pressure, you may end up lowering your cholesterol. Some of the cool changes you might see if you choose your conversion!.
Please share your experiences and post your favorite vegan foods, take care and remember we are like cucumbers over 80% water, in our area it is warm again grab some extra water for yourself!
This is where it starts 