Tag: vegan recipes

What I Ate Last Week as a Vegan | Holiday Weeks Make Meal Prep Easy

With Presidents’ Day this past week, I got to enjoy a three-day weekend. While I love having an extra day off from work, I also look forward to an easier meal prep that week. I typically do a big cooking marathon each Sunday to make enough food to last the week. Since I had an extra day off, I had more time to cook and less meals to prepare. I decided to make a few big recipes that would last me all week! If you get sick of eating the same thing every day, this method might not be for you. However, I don’t mind eating the same thing for a few days so long as it’s delicious!

This blog post is not designed to share how to eat a vegan diet. I am not a nutritionist or medical professional. Instead, it’s an example of how one vegan eats!

Breakfast

I began each day with homemade everything bagels. I use a recipe from Elephantastic Vegan that is surprisingly easy and absolutely delicious. Eating a hearty breakfast is a necessity for me. I usually top my bagels with peanut butter for some added protein in the morning, but you can learn more about vegan bagel toppings in this blog post.

Lunch

For lunches this week I made a simple veggie lo mein. All I did was cook whole wheat noodles, sauté a frozen vegetable mix, add in some chickpeas for added protein, and mix in some teriyaki sauce. This is a super easy meal, but it is delicious and can be customized to fit your tastes. It’s also very affordable! I got four lunches from this batch, and the total price was around $4.00.

Dinner

Lastly, I made one of my favorite meals for dinner this week, chickpea curry! I adapt a recipe from Say Yes that my sister-in-law shared with me. I don’t use ginger (simply because I don’t like it), and I add in one cup of coconut milk. I serve the curry over brown rice, and I add in some steamed broccoli to get some greens. This curry is so delicious and easy to make. I love the flavors, and that one batch lasts me about four meals. If you don’t like spicy food, this is a great curry to try.

That wraps up this past week’s meals! I would love to know in the comments if you are the type of person who can eat the same thing every day for a week, or if you need to change things up. Since last week was only a four-day work week for me, I decided to enjoy less time in the kitchen. I think you can tell keeping it simple is more important to me than cooking gourmet meals!

What I Ate Last Week as a Vegan | Easy Recipes and How I Modify Them

One goal I have for this blog, and my online content in general, is to share more about the food I make regularly as someone who eats a vegan diet. Now that I’ve been vegan for over three years, what I eat is normal to me. That being said, I know my diet can be quite different than the average American’s. I hope that by sharing an overview of what I eat, I can help to encourage others to try more plant-based foods. I started off 2020 with a pretty healthy week. It was my first full work week since before Christmas, and I attempted to slow down with the holiday treats. Here is a quick look at what I ate last week, the recipes I made, and how I modified them to fit my tastes.

What I Ate Last Week as a Vegan | Easy Recipes and How I Modify Them

Before I jump right into some of my meals from last week, I want to quickly point out that I am not a nutritionist or medical professional, and this blog post is not a guide to vegan nutrition. Instead, it’s an example of how a vegan person eats. You will not see every single meal, snack, dessert, or supplement I take in these blog posts. That being said, if you have any questions about vegan food, please leave me a comment and I will try to answer it! I am also using affiliate links to share some of my favorite food products with you, and will earn a small commission if you shop using those links. Thank you!

Breakfast

What I Ate Last Week | Breakfast

I typically keep my breakfasts quick and easy. Lately, I’ve been on a huge oatmeal kick. I use quick oats and mix about one cup with Silk Soy Milk Original (my favorite is the red carton). I cook it for two minutes in the microwave, and top with 100% Pure Maple Syrup and cinnamon. It might not look appealing, but it’s delicious and keeps me full until lunchtime!

Lunch

What I Ate Last Week | Southwestern Edamame Salad

I aim to make at least four lunches each week for Monday through Thursday that I can easily transport to work. One of my favorite options is this Southwestern Edamame Salad from the blog Yummy Healthy Easy. My mom actually discovered this recipe a few years ago and shared it with me. I modify it by using half a bag of frozen edamame instead of a full bag, and by leaving out both the black beans and scallions. The result is a refreshing and delicious salad. The recipe is about two lunches for me, with each one containing about 32g of protein. I love how easy and quick this salad is to make!

What I Ate Last Week | Mediterranean Lentil Salad

My other lunch option last week was the Mediterranean Lentil Salad from Yummy Mummy Kitchen. I’ve made this salad a few times, and it is a newer favorite of mine. I tend to use a regular cucumber instead of a Persian cucumber, a white onion instead of a red onion, and I leave out the feta cheese. This past week I even used Goya Canned Lentils, which saved me about 20 minutes of cooking time. What makes this salad so delicious is the homemade dressing, and I look forward to the next time I make it!

Dinner

What I Ate Last Week | Homemade Pizza

When it comes to dinners, I also try to make 1-2 recipes per week. One budget-friendly recipe that is extremely delicious is “homemade” pizza. I put homemade in quotations because I use a store-bought pizza crust and tomato sauce. I definitely want to try making my own dough to cut down on plastic packaging, but if you’re in a pinch this can be a great option. I top my pizza with Daiya Mozzarella Shreds, and with any veggies I have on hand. Last week, I added some baby spinach and Roma tomatoes. I can make one pizza for under $5.00, which is a huge discount from nearby pizza shops.

What I Ate Last Week | Minestrone Soup

My other dinner option last week was the 1-Pot Vegan Minestrone from Minimalist Baker. This soup is beyond delicious, hearty, and healthy. I use whole wheat pasta instead of the gluten free one listed in the recipe, but I otherwise follow the ingredients exactly. I get about four dinners out of one batch of this soup. I’ve also discovered that this soup is very freezer friendly, even though it contains pasta! I love having this soup in my recipe rotation, and have made a double batch before to have freezer meals on hand.

I hope you enjoyed this first installment in the What I Ate Last Week blog series! I hope to share my food with you 1-2 times per month. I am still trying to expand on the recipes I use regularly, so please share one of your favorites in the comments! If you would like to see what I eat on a more regular basis, please follow me on Instagram.

Vegan Recipes I’ve Tried and Loved | Fall Dinner Ideas

Happy Food Friday! Today I am excited to continue on with my series where I share with you vegan recipes I’ve tried and loved. It can be really time consuming to search for the perfect recipe online. In fact, I comb through dozens of recipes before I find one that I hope will work for me! Today I’m saving you some time and sharing four fall dinner recipes I highly recommend. Each of these recipes is simple to make, but absolutely delicious. I still consider myself to be a beginner cook, so if I find these recipes manageable, there is a very good change you will, too. Let me share these vegan recipes that are perfect for fall with you!

Easy, Healthy Vegetarian Lentil Soup Recipe [LINK]

I haven’t always been a big fan on lentils, but I definitely want to find new ways to enjoy them since they are an amazing source of plant-based protein and other vitamins and minerals. I began with this super easy soup from The Spruce. If you are new to making soup, this is a great place to start. There are less than ten ingredients, and the recipe is easy to customize as well. I found this lentil soup to be very tasty!

 

Curried Potato & Lentil Soup (1-Pot!) Recipe [LINK]

I then kicked my lentil game up a notch by trying this amazing soup from Minimalist Baker. This curry-flavored soup is still quite simple to make, but it is so flavorful and packed with amazing fall foods. I left out the ginger and coconut sugar, and used sweet potatoes and green kale. I cannot stress how delicious this soup is! I highly recommend trying this if you are looking for a unique soup that is a bit on the spicier side.

Easy Chickpea Curry Recipe [LINK]

Another curry dish that I’m loving lately is from the website Say Yes. My sister-in-law shared this recipe with me, and it is an easy dinner to whip together in a short amount of time. As per my sister-in-law’s suggestion, I add about one cup of coconut milk to the curry recipe. I did use dried ginger the first time I made this, but I’m going to skip that step in the future. I’m not a huge fan of ginger, and this dish can easily go without it and still be very flavorful. I served the curry over Indian style rice (my favorite is Kasmati from RiceSelect). I really love this dinner, and it also heats up really well for leftovers. Throw in some different veggies each night to keep it interesting!

Spaghetti Squash with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce Recipe [LINK]

Last but not least is this amazing spaghetti squash dish from the blog Lean Green Nutrition Fiend. I love anything pumpkin based in the fall, and this was a fun new way to eat it! I would describe this dish as a plant-based macaroni and cheese. I, of course, made the recipe using Nutritional Yeast instead of cow’s cheese, and I left out the red pepper flakes. This isn’t a recipe I would make all the time since it has a very distinctive flavor, but I will definitely be making it again at some point. If you’re looking for a festive autumn dish, this is perfect!

That wraps up my four vegan dinner recommendations for the fall season. I hope you discovered a new yummy meal to make! I will have another blog post very soon featuring all of the sweet treats I’ve tried lately, so make sure to follow my blog to see when that goes live. As always, if you try one of these recipes, please tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter so I can see your creation!

What is your favorite fall food? Let me know in the comments!

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Vegan Recipes I’ve Tried and Loved | Summer 2017

Happy Food Friday! This past year I’ve spent a lot of time finding easy and delicious vegan recipes online. It can take a lot of searching to get that perfect recipe, so I thought I would save you some time and share some of my favorite recipes with you! If you are looking for some simple vegan recipes that anyone will love, this is the post for you. Let me share with you the delicious recipes I’ve tried and loved this summer.

Super Easy Vegetarian Chili Recipe [LINK]

I was never a big chili fan growing up because I’ve always disliked ground beef. Now that I love beans, though, chili seemed like the perfect dish for me! This recipe from The Spruce is really easy and beyond delicious. I do not put in any of the ingredients listed as optional, but otherwise I stay true to the recipe. Plus, this chili freezes really well! I made a double batch and froze half of it so that I could have meals ready to go on busy days.

 

No-Fuss Vegan Cornbread [LINK]

Of course, I had to make cornbread to go with my chili! This recipe from Food52 stays true to its name – it really is no-fuss. I follow the recipe exactly and it comes out really well each time. This cornbread also freezes well, so if you are cooking for 1-2 people just save some of this for later! I’ve always loved cornbread, and this one is absolutely delicious.

Healthy 5-Ingredient Granola Bars [LINK]

Next I tried a breakfast food, and that is granola bars from Minimalist Baker. I’ve never made granola bars before, and this recipe made it really simple. I followed the recipe exactly, but also added in about 1/3 cup of peanuts that I had on hand. My bars came out great, but I used a 9×9 pan instead of an 8×8, so they did fall apart easily in some spots. Nonetheless, they are beyond yummy, and I love pairing a bar with fresh fruit for breakfast.

One Pot Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo [LINK]

Last but not least is my favorite of the bunch, an absolutely amazing Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo from Neurotic Mommy. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and knew right away I needed to try it. I cannot stress to you how delicious this pasta dish is! I’ve already made it twice, and I know it will be a part of my regular dinner rotation. The one change I make to the recipe is that I keep the stove on medium-high as opposed to medium-low when cooking the pasta. Otherwise, the pasta does not absorb the sauce. That being said, if you are craving some creamy pasta, you need to try this now!

That wraps up the new-to-me vegan recipes I’m loving at the moment. I hope you found this post helpful, and that you will give some of these recipes a try. I plan on sharing my favorite recipes with you every season so you can know what I’m loving at the moment. You can also follow me on Instagram HERE to see more of the food I eat on a regular basis!

Have you tried an amazing recipe lately? Please share it in the comments!