Is going vegan easy? Plan ahead

I am home all day with two small children and I have decided that the key to sticking to our lifestyle choice is to stock the house with vegan choices that I want to snack on or fix for dinner. The kids always want snacks and it is easy to just grab what they have and snack on it as well but it isn't always the best choice for me. Our oldest loves cheese. She always loves cookies too as well as goldfish! Yum! I try to keep vegan snacks like veggies or oatmeal raisin cookies that I make to satisfy my snack habit.
The first thing on my list when it comes to sticking to the vegan diet is plan ahead. Plan ahead when you are leaving the house so you aren't tempted by fast food or forbidden snacks. Also plan ahead if you are going out to eat. Look up the menu on line and read through it for vegan options before you get to the restaurant. That will give you a better idea of the options they have. Some parts of the country are easier than others to find good vegan options!
Just keep in mind that you made this decision for ethical reasons or for health reasons and you can stick to it and be satisfied with a little planning!


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Quick and easy vegan cookies

I have a little play date to go to tomorrow and I need some quick and easy cookies that kids will like. Before we adopted the vegan lifestyle I made Pillsbury funfetti cakes and cookies all the time. Everyone loved them. What is not to love?? So I still had a box in the pantry so I read the box and the ingredients are processed and full of sugar but there aren't any milk or eggs in the mix so I used Ener-g egg replacement and canola oil and voila! You have vegan cookies to take to a friends or just for a quick dessert when you have company!
Enjoy!

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Vegan appetizers with hummus

One of the big challenges when you choose the vegan lifestyle is to eat at other people's houses or at restaurants.
We were invited to a BBQ Saturday night so I volunteered bring some snacks. I made a very quick batch of hummus and doctored it up to look impressive. I added a teaspoon of minced garlic to the center after putting it in a cute bowl and then I chopped some Roma tomato and placed it in the center as well. I serves with sea salt organic pita chips and everyone loved it plus it gave us something for us to snack on that we were sure was vegan :)
Enjoy!


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Vegan Veggie Paella

I love Seinfeld!! Love it! So on one older episode George mentions that his mother made 'all this paella' and what is she going to do with it! Jerrys parents had just cancelled on Estelle so she had a ton of paella and no one to eat it. So...this sparked my my curiosity and I decided to find out what paella was and to make it.
So I found this Quick Vegetarian (Vegan) Paella and it is yummy!! This make a huge batch and is good for left overs and may even be better warmed up the next day

Ingred:
2 T olive oil
2 c chopped onion
2 c chopped green pepper
1 c mushroom
2 garlic cloves minced
3 c uncooked quick cook brown rice
2 c vegetable broth
1 c water
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 c chopped tomato
1 c frozen green peas
1/2 c pimento stuffed olives chopped
2 T chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts drained and coarsely chopped

Heat olive oil over med-high heat and add onion, pepper, mushroom and garlic and sauté 5 min
Stir in rice and next 4 ingredient (through the thyme) and bring ton a boil
Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 min
Stir in tomato, peas, olives, parsley, pepper and artichokes.
Cook 3 min or until rice Is tender and mixture is throughly heated
Garnish with parsley

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

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Vegan spaghetti with meat sauce

Tonight was a good spaghetti and meat sauce kind of night
This is something we had often before we went vegan so I quickly found a way to adapt the old recipe to our new eating habits
The first thing i do is use Ronzoni Garden pasta made from veggies and then I chose a vegan sauce like Meijers organic sauces and I add my own touches. I get Meatless Crumbles and fry them in olive oil and garlic and add them to the sauce with some fresh mushroom and basil. Then I let it simmer for an hour or so. This give a jar sauce a good home made taste. I serve over pasta and add some soy cheese.
One of the main things I did when I decided to convert the whole family was try to find ways to make the same meals we were accustom to but with vegan substitutes. That way it was not so hard for my family to get used to. Luckily we like trying new dishes and i have purchases a few vegan cookbooks and I try about two to three new recipes every week. It has really made a huge shift in how we few food. It seems like an adventure!

Enjoy!


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Vegan applesauce cake

Tonight I tried a new recipe for an applesauce cake and it was great!
One of the things I have found about vegan cooking is that the baked items are not nearly as good as they were with real eggs. I have tried a ton of egg substitutes from flax seed to Ener-g. I know there is a ton of chemistry involved in cooking so I am still working on getting the baking down. But this applesauce cake is a recipe that was created for the regular population and I made it vegan by simply using soy butter. It was great warm right out of the oven. I added blueberries to mine because I had a ton from the grocery today but if I was going to make it on a regular day i would put raisins in it and you could always add nuts. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Ingred:
1/2 c soy margarine
1 c sugar (I used 1/2 raw sugar, 1/2 white)
1 c applesauce
1tsp baking soda
2 c flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c raisin

Cream the margarine and sugar, then add applesauce and mix well. Then stir in remaining ingredient and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 min and enjoy nice and warm!!


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