So it’s one thing for most ethical vegans to convert their wardrobe choices and food choices to completely vegan but for vegan women it becomes a different sort of investment to switch your beauty routine over.
I had always tried to purchase “Cruelty Free” but it’s a whole different story when you determine to purchase vegan toiletries.
When I had my beautiful princess baby in June of 2013 one thing that was highlighted for me was dental care. A blogger I read via Pinterest talked about Earthpaste so my hubby did some research and really liked the ingredients as well and we got some. It’s pricey at $7.99 a tube via Amazon or Whole Foods but the lemon flavor was delightful and left my teeth feeling smooth like I’d just been to the dentist.
It doesn’t contain fluoride which is NOT vegan and a big nasty thing maybe or maybe not linked to cancer and other nasty stuff. Well being a mama my girl gets only the best. Organic produce, good food, and vegan toiletries. So I thought sweet we are set. Well my weirdo husband decided his teeth didn’t feel “clean enough” after using it for a few months and gave up.
I was still attempting to finish my giant stash of “garden toothpaste” as my hubby jokingly calls it from Trader Joe’s so that I could make the switch. (I use their Fennel, Myrrh and Propolis toothpaste and personally I love the flavor lol…hubby says it tastes like a garden.)
Enter the glorious Vegan Cuts I had been blessed with 3 months of food boxes for my birthday last year and 3 months of beauty boxes for Christmas. I LOVE that I can eat anything in their snack boxes as its ALL vegan and that the beauty boxes are ALL vegan.
So I have tried and loved some great products because of Vegan Cuts and I think their boxes are very well priced for what you get and every month is a fun treat! Since they’re a company I trust I went looking for toothpaste and found The Dirt Now this is their direct website and I bought via Vegan Cuts and got the powder and copper tongue scraper. I believe it was much less expensive via Vegan Cuts as well.
So my beautifully packaged Dirt arrived and I was anxious to give it a whirl. Now I was only a tiny bit hesitant as it is branded as having cinnamon and orange as flavors. Both of which are flavors I am not fond of. I loved some cinnamon in my homemade apple pie and I love fresh oranges and orange juice but not things flavored with either generally. So just to be clear this isn’t a tooth paste. It is powder and you wet your toothbrush to get it on there and then brush as usual.
I have to say I really really enjoyed the flavor. It was really good. The thing that made me laugh, and this could have just been because I am somewhat obsessed with The Walking Dead at the moment, but I didn’t quite realize I had to spit and it kind of ran out of my mouth. And yes, it literally looked like I was eating dirt. So I played out the awesome zombie moment.
I have been using my Dirt paste ever since I received it and I love the way my teeth feel. I have receding gums from grinding my teeth and the exposed roots are extremely sensitive. I have noticed a big difference in my teeth not being sensitive at all. So my reviews for The Dirt is buy it. It’s yummiest tasting and leaves your teeth feeling like they’ve just been cleaned by the dentist except without any chemicals or anything unnatural. I’ll let you know if the promise of the jar lasting 6 months is accurate. Hubster and I are currently sharing it so by my guesstimate it should run out sometime mid to late December.
Check it out! If you’ve got a dirty mouth, clean it up with The Dirt!
So…I had a hankering to try Gardein’s “meat loaf” when I saw it in the freezer section. Now I have to say I made a wicked good meat loaf when I wasn’t vegan. With brown gravy and onions and it was phenomenal so I had that memory to contend with.
As soon as we put it in the pan to cook and it started heating up I smelled the familiar aroma of a meatloaf. This kind of brought me back because the smell reminded me of being a kid and my mom’s meatloaf. I know it’s no fancy meal but meatloaf and mashed potatoes was always a favorite meal when I was a kid. And when I was 11 it was the first full meal I ever made and I cooked for our extended family for my mom’s 40th birthday.
Now between memories and pure enjoyment Gardein had a whole lot to contend with. The smell hit the spot and had me waiting very impatiently to devour my meatloaf.
As soon as it was served up the smell and texture when I cut into it were just as I remembered. So the final test was gravy and the taste. Now on a scale of 1-10 I would give this meatloaf a 9. It would be a perfect 10 for me without celery. I have this WEIRD aversion to celery that I literally hate it so intensely I rarely eat anything if it shows it in the ingredients. However, every bite didn’t have celery and once I was made aware I completely removed any remnant of celery before I ate any more. I know this sounds mental but you truly cannot comprehend my disgust for celery.
So I applaud Gardein for a job WELL done and highly recommend this product to anyone who misses Mama’s yummie meatloaf. I will say this isn’t meatloaf as some friends I knew growing up ate it: with ketchup and red sauce. This is good old authentic meatloaf and it is well spent money and a fast meal to fix! Next time I might throw a side of Earth Balance Mac n’Cheese onto the plate to really get nostalgic!
I shamefully admit to devouring my meatloaf prior to taking a photo to document the beauty and deliciousness but I promise to do so ASAP as we will absolutely have this again!
If you know anything at all about me you know that I LOVE Annie Shannon of Meet the Shannons also the famous author of Betty Goes Vegan. If I hadn’t found Meet the Shannons I am not sure I could have survived year one of being vegan. Annie’s pantry checklist helped me be a smart shopper and her comfort food recipes helped me not miss any meats.
Anyway, when I finally decided to give into my quiche craving, what better source than a recipe from who I believe the be a vegan goddess!!!
So I found this recipe by Annie for quiche lorraine and decided to give it a whirl.
It wasn’t too difficult to make (I used my Kitchen Aid instead of hand rolling the dough,) and we didn’t add any liquid smoke, but somehow we messed it up. It had a funky after taste, which I have NEVER encountered when following an Annie Shannon recipe precisely. I did enjoy it as it had a great quiche like texture but we didn’t devour it like I wanted to because it had an odd taste.
I am absolutely going to try to make this again using my own pie crust recipe, (I also messed up by using butter for 8 tbsp of the required shortening which definitely affected the crust texture,) and following the quiche recipe to a “t” minus the liquid smoke.
The photos are decent and so was the quiche but I still highly recommend trying it out!!
Oh Earth Balance why do you make me love you so very much?!
What’s a better night then a night at home to watch crappy movies (well good movies in my opinion, however, the movie review will secede the product review,) eat some vegan and cruelty free Mac n Cheese and have a beer or two?! Not to mention a night alone. And by alone I of course mean a sleeping baby upstairs, and four cats sprawled out on my lap.
So as any good vegan mama would do I tucked in my precious girl and headed downstairs to make some nommie Mac n Cheese brought to vegans and lactose intolerant worldwide by the lovely folks at Earth Balance. (Who may I add make my favorite “butter,” and I have officially switched to their “mayo” after a CRAZY sale price offer I couldn’t refuse and now they make my favorite Mac n Cheese!!!) I popped open a Kona Golden Ale which is also made lovingly vegan. And may I add a super light and slightly sweet perfect summer time beer! Then I set to work on my Mac n Cheese.
First off it is AS easy to make as that blue box junk made by the non-vegan company (who I really hate now with their “kale is nasty and needs fatty death laden ranch dressing to taste good campaign” Kale is my favorite veggie. Who needs nasty ranch on it?! But I digress.) It was box to bowl in about 20-25 mins as it took mine the full 12 minutes to cook and of course you’ve got to add time to boil in. Then you add the magical “buttery spread” and I used Whole Foods organic unsweetened almond milk as my milk. The consistency is NAILED as the Mac n Cheese I remember. The taste is super nice.
Now I’ve been vegan for 5 years so my taste buds have had a chance to reset and I don’t really even eat cheese except the occasional Daiya grilled cheese when I need comfort food and my monthly treat of Kite Hill White Alder which I would eat every single day by the pound if it weren’t for the price, which this stay at home mama can’t swing! SO for me to love this stuff says a lot. I love Daiya melted on a pizza every now and then or a grilled cheese, like I mentioned but I don’t “crave” cheese.
This Mac n Cheese may have changed ALL that. Wow is it a tasty treat and the $2.99/box price tag was a gasp for me as I expected it to cost far more. So for creamy, dreamy, Mac n cheesy look no further. I have only tried the white cheddar as the regular was out but I will review the regular once I’ve had it.
I tasted a few spoonfuls of it in the “natural” state then kicked it up a bit more gourmet and added about 1/8 cup Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce and two Dorot Garlic cubes and I had some killer Marti-style Mac n Cheese!!!! Which ironically made the color look super similar to that non-vegan brand!
The “sausage” next to it is one of my favorite treats and is Tofurky Italian Sausage with sundried tomato Truly delish. And I always dip my sausage in Koops Horseradish Mustard
This dinner proved to be every bit worth the wait for my solo night.
Dear owners of Kite Hill Nut Milk Cheeses,
Can I please have you adopt me as your own? I realize this could be an inconvenience as I am married and have a baby and 4 cats but you happen to make THE most delicious Brie like cheese I have ever eaten.
I haven’t had Brie in at least 4 years since I became vegan. Even when I ate cheese it was maybe 2-3 times a year that I would treat myself to it. But I spent the $13.99 for the little wheel of White Alder and had great anticipation.
To say I LOVE your cheese is an understatement. I LOVE this cheese. It’s like crack, and no I haven’t ever had it but it’s like really good sex, shoot I don’t want to get obscene but I can’t tell you in appropriate words how much I love this cheese.
I actually allow myself one wheel per month lol. The first week of every month I buy myself some at Whole Foods. I allow myself to indulge and I eat it on the original Ezekial Bread (the orange loaf) with a light spread of Earth Balance Buttery Spread and a light spread of White Alder. Then I add on the side 4 pieces of LightLife Smart Bacon and I could literally go to heaven in a bite.
I am not sure how you have nailed the texture of the “outer crust” of the dairy brie, but you did. I’m not sure how you made the middle creamy and soft and slightly sticky like dairy Brie, but you did.
I am not sure how you have created a vegan masterpiece or why you can’t make it multiply when I open my fridge to find one more packet but I love your cheese. I do. If I could marry a cheese this would be “the one.” My cheesy soul mate.
This is the cheese that you “wait” until you get married for. Daiya is the good time cheese, the trusty one. The one you bring home to meet your parents. But Kite Hill White Alder Cheese…you ARE Prince Charming. White horse, Ferrari, mansion, pool, piles of money…satin sheets…yes. You ARE the one.
So, in closing, would you be MINE and mine alone? Seduce me with your slightly savory, oh so creamy, perfectly textured amazingly flavored cheese. Never leave me. Just promise you can stay. Forever. Oh how I love you!
xxxx
Please know, Kite Hill has in no way paid me to stalk, endorse or love them the way I do. I’m just obsessed. And please don’t get a restraining order. Because I can’t love without this cheese!!!
My cruddy iPhone pics of Kite Hill’s beautifully designed package:
So for my baby shower, I really wanted to keep everything vegan and let my friends and family enjoy some genuinely good vegan treats. Gigi’s Cupcakes in Tampa is very well known for their delicious cupcakes. Back in January I called to ask if they had any vegan options. Thankfully they did!! They said as long as I gave them a few days’ notice they could do vegan cupcakes. So we set up a cupcake tasting.
First of all, let me say that I had done a tasting at another Tampa bakery which promised me they would provide me vegan options and then delivered cakes to taste with dairy in them. Needless to say I was ill for several hours afterward. I didn’t want to get sick or waste my time at Gigi’s so I called them before the tasting to tell them about my other experience and make sure they knew what “vegan” was. Stacey and Jessica told me that they had almond milk, soy milk, Tofutti cream cheese and vegan butters. They had it DOWN! I was thrilled.
Now what Gigi’s is known for is the delicious cupcakes they have…but they are also BEAUTIFUL. I was thrilled to go to the tasting!
They prepared vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for us, as well as their pumpkin spice cupcake, and then we had chocolate avocado frosting as well as plain vanilla. We devoured the cupcakes (my mom, husband and I,) and my mom who NEVER likes cupcakes (she always complains how sweet they are or they are too dry, too moist, too “cakey,”) LOVED them. She said they were THE best cupcakes she had ever had. And that they were much better than any vegan cupcakes I had made. (well plfffff to her!) But I definitely agreed. We then were chatting about different frosting flavors and Jessica overheard us and asked if we wanted her to make us any other frostings. On the spot she made us lemon and raspberry! BOTH were phenomenal. But for a pregnant woman, citrus cravings are crazy, so I was obsessing over the lemon!
When the ladies asked us what we thought we said we’re ready to order! They did chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and then we had the chocolate with chocolate avocado frosting, raspberry frosting as well as chocolate hazelnut butter frosting (made with Justin’s Nut Butter – which is vegan. And another side note on the hazelnut is that Gigi’s didn’t have any Justin’s to use, so they let me bring them a tub of Justin’s Hazelnut Butter and they used it since it is vegan, instead of Nutella! I was thrilled just because they were going the distance to make a very happy customer! ) We also had vanilla cupcakes with: lemon frosting, raspberry frosting, their signature “Wedding Cake” frosting which is just white frosting with pink sprinkles and it is SO pretty, their signature “Birthday cake” frosting which was pink with circle sprinkles (since it was a shower to celebrate my soon to be born baby girl!)
Now let me tell you, we decided to order the mini cupcakes, which you order by the dozen. So we had 7 dozen cupcakes lol. They package them in these great boxes, that hold them very still and we had GIANT boxes of cupcakes to take with us when we finally picked them up a few months later. My shower ended up having about 30 people…and 84 cupcakes…not quite 3 per person, but hey. So we had 0 cupcakes left. EVERYONE loved the cupcakes. The lemon & chocolate avocado were two of the favorites. Raspberry was a close 2nd to the chocolate avocado. We were absolutely thrilled at these gorgeous cupcakes and Gigi’s attentiveness to their perfection! I told Stacey that we will DEFINITELY be ordering MANY more cupcakes from Gigi’s and that our daughter’s first birthday cupcakes will come from them!
So Tampabay Vegans…if you need vegan cupcakes go see the WONDERFUL girls at Gigi’s. They have vegan cupcakes DOWN!
There is something about vegans, cats and cuddles…and Daiya cheese and pizza. Amy’s Margarita with Daiya cheese was always my favorite vegan pizza ever since that came out. My default is and has always been Amy’s Roasted Veggie pizza…no cheese.
My hubby went to the theatre with my Mom because I can’t sit still that long anymore and because I am 33 weeks pregnant and it is super uncomfortable for me. So I was left to my own devices for a few hours and had to get dinner, and have a fun Sunday night. I went to Earth Origins, because they are the closest store that has multiple vegan options for dinner. I intended to get a yummie kale type salad fresh from their ‘fresh bar’ but they had already started putting that all away, and there was really only frozen options available. I started at the far end of the cooler, and saw a “Vegan Harvest Flatbread Pizza.” I thought hmmmm…what is this?! I didn’t know anyone but Amy’s and Tofurkey made vegan pizza!!! YAY!! Who is excited now?! This flatbread pizza seemed pretty plain, with herbs and spices in a tomato/marinara sauce and topped with Daiya. The entire pizza was only 520 calories AND it had a $1 off coupon. Being that it was $9.19 I used the coupon and justified my date night with myself as the excuse for the expensive pizza J
It was WELL worth the $8.19. WELL worth it. It was JUST enough to make me totally full, as a pregnant lady, and I made 8 small slices with my pizza slicer. We always use our pizza stone from Sur la Table, with breads and pizzas, that way the bottom and crust get nice and crispy. What impressed me about this pizza versus Amy’s was the taste of the sauce, the seasoning was really nice, didn’t need ANYTHING added. Then the crust was crispy, but still moist and it tasted SO incredibly cheesy. It was awesome. Just awesome. I think I have a new favorite pizza!!! So YAY for Vegan Harvest Flatbread Pizza. DELICIOUS and I WILL be having it many more times!!
After my yummie pizza my daughter did a celebratory dance and we had the wave going on in my belly. Charlie, our kitten (well, he is still small and skinny and not yet a year, though he is only a month away from being 1!) was snuggled up on my belly. The funny thing was as much movement as she made, Charlie didn’t move. He passed out…was sound asleep and his head kept bobbing up and down. It was SO adorable. We had snuggles and purrs and wonderful pizza. A great night by all counts!! (Especially since Charlie is “Daddy’s boy” who always chooses daddy over me!)
Well I am officially 26 weeks and a few days pregnant. I can’te tell you how worried practitioners and friends are about a vegan getting enough protein. I really have to laugh in hindsight, because their panic caused me to really be worried. My hubby and I use an iphone app called “Lose it” which you can also log online at www.loseit.com because prior to getting pregnant I was on the road to wellness and losing weight. We decided to ensure I didn’t gain too much weight while pregnant and to monitor my intake of food, calories and nutrition, we would continue to use the app.
Thank goodness for this app. I can see every meal, every food, every day how much of my key nutrients, including protein, that I eat. And most often it is 80-100 + grams of protein per day. I now have my ‘loaded weapon’ of proof when people ask “how do you get enough protein?” There are so many annoying things about people making assumptions when you are pregnant. Like touching you…NO it’s not okay to touch my stomach, as my t-shirt that my wonderful hubby got me says “If you didn’t put it in there, don’t touch it.” It’s odd, and rude to be honest. You don’t just grab someone because they are pregnant.
I also get a bazillion questions on my vitamins…well how do you get your DHA? I get it from the source, which is seagrass/seaweed…not from the fish that eat it. They DO in fact make really good vegan prenatal vitamins AND DHA! I get plenty of vitamin D from the Florida sunshine and the rest of the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, I get from food! It really IS possible!
I started off my pregancy strong eating loads of kale, spinach and tons of greens and salads and fruits and veggies. Then the second trimester came…and as it progressed so did my desire for carbs, cookies, ice creams, cake, cupcakes, sweets, etc. I have a total aversion now to greens really. I still love my kale & tofu that the hubby cooks up, and in fact I think we’ll eat that tonight, but I can’t stand the idea of a salad. SO…thank goodness for the Blendtec! I just make smoothies…pack in the greens then throw in my fruit and almond or coconut milk and some vegan protein powder and BAM! A healthy fruit/veggie packed snack that I can count on to give me those healthy vitmains and minerals from my greens.
I honestly think it would be much harder to eat meat while you’re pregnant. I developed such strong food aversions in my first trimester that subsided a bit in the middle of my second trimester but have come back with a vengeance. I cannot stomach the smell of any kind of burger cooking…meat, boca, vegan, etc. Enter Hillary’s Adzuki Bean Burgers which just smell like a blend of spices since they are seasoned spectacularly and are totally plant based! Delicious!
So basically if I WERE a preggo carnivore, I wouldn’t have any real protein options since the smell of everything is off putting. I am so thankful I can enjoy tofu, seitan and tempeh! And hello BEANS and quinoa and grains are also loaded with proteins and rich in vitamins. Keeping it real with whole foods is the way to go…vegan or not!
Some people have attributed my lack of morning sickness and general great healthy pregnancy to being vegan, I attribute it to a blessing. No one knows WHAT causes some ladies to get morning sickness and others not to but I am glad I didn’t deal with it. I just can’t wait for her to be born and show everyone it is SO possible to have a healthy baby that was a vegan pregnancy AND a baby that is raised vegan with a breast feeding vegan Mama!
Well since it’s been one week, and three days since I last set foot on Portland soil, I thought I should blog about the wonderful vegan delights I found in Portland that I could not find in FL. These are not ALL the fabulous things we tasted and tried in Portland, just those that I KNOW we can’t get here in FL yet, so I want to promote them and hopefully get some other local vegans interested and get them into Whole Foods here in Tampa!!!
Vegan Proteins has all sorts of protein powders and man are they yummie! Very tasty and very healthy plant based protein to get your “protein shake” after a workout or just to add to a smoothie or shake for some added protein.
Heidi Ho Veganics makes nut based cheeses. I am a huge fan of Daiya, but these cheeses aren’t just for your grilled cheese baby. They could be used on a fruit & cheese platter for wine tasting (yes please!) Or just eaten with crackers, and yes, they melt like a charm as well. We tried the Monterey Jack, Smoked Gouda & Chipotle Cheddar. I am not a fan of smoked cheeses, but even the gouda was awesome. I LOVED the Chipotle Cheddar though…just a nice spicy flavor, not too big, not fiery hot. Delish!! And man is it amazing on top of some Red Hot Blues chips…melted and yummie nachos! We also tried a straight up cheesy dip, and my Mom who is a cheese whore and eats real cheese (yuck,) loved the cheese dip. And Heidi Ho is NOT that expensive $6 for an 8 or 10 oz brick. Well worth it! They ship EVERYWHERE in the US too…so get on there and buy you some before I get it all!
Wilderness Poets These guys should be called ‘nut butter seductresses’’ because they seduced me with their amazing nut butters. They had Macadamia Nut Butter, Almond Butter, Pistachio Butter, Pecan Butter, Hazelnut Butter and MORE. These nut butters are ALL raw and vegan and they taste tremendously different than what you will find in a store, even from a Whole Foods type store. They are pricey, but so is Justin’s Nut Butter and I believe sometimes you have to indulge for something you love. Since I didn’t have really any room left to pack anything, I got two small packs of the Hazelnut butter to take home because it is THAT good.
Uptons Natural Meats Oh Uptons how I love you. There are actually not many words that come to mind aside from YUM and LOVE when I think of Uptons. Thankfully, they do sell their products online as does Food Fight! Vegan Grocery in Portland. Their seitan is awesome, texturally super close to real meat. They also have Italian & Chorizo style ground meats. Delicious. And you can order at both of these sites, OR you can buy locally if your city has Uptons available. (In which case I am truly jealous!)
Freshly Wild Super Foods offers tasty kale treats. Now for those of you just joining my blog…I LOVE Kale. Kale IS my hero, Kale is my love in the vegan world. If I were a vegetable, I would marry kale. Okay, enough of that. They have TASTY ‘original’ kale chips, which hey, those are awesome to me…I am in heaven with them. But then I tried the ‘Must Eat Mesquite’ and I am not a barbeque or smokey flavor fan…but these were UH-MAAAAA-ZING. Yes. And my hubby’s favorite were the ‘Jazzy Sweet Mustard.’ Yum yum yum!! You can order online, and purchase by the case J
Petunia’s Pies & Pastries I literally had a moment where I left my body and ascended briefly into heaven on day 1 in Portland. I was walking through the amazing Saturday market and saw this bakery booth that had ‘vegan’ on the signage. I thought okay, let’s see what they have that is ‘vegan.’ Well my heavenly moment happened while I was searching the signage on each delectable delightful treat, and realized they were ALL GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN. Okay, sit down…pull yourself UP from the floor if you haven’t. I got a pumpkin pie cupcake. Hello love in my mouth. I refridgerated it and had it for dessert that night. Even cold, fresh from the fridge, it was moist and soft and delightful on the palette. What a delightful treat!
Last but certainly not least, was Dave’s Killer Bread. Now I sure wish they had this bread at home because I tried like 12 different kinds and loved them all. ALL natural, GMO Free, NO Animal products. AND made by a guy who was a self proclaimed “Four time loser before I realized I was in the wrong game. Fifteen years in prison is a pretty tough way to find oneself…” THAT inspired me to. I believe that veganism is a second chance at helping your body! I cannot say enough good about this bread except BUY IT! J
You’re a WHAT? Does that mean that you eat cheese? But you still drink milk right? You’ll have fish though right? Those are just some of the awesome comments I have gotten from people who hear that I am vegan for the first time. My least favorite thing to hear, as it is incendiary to a vegan is “WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN?” Plants people, plants. Tofu is packed with protein, Kale, Collards, leafy greens. The amount of protein most Americans consume is far more than what we actually need. And plant protein is not loaded with fat like animal protein is. I truly wish I could just carry DVD’s of Forks Over Knives around with me, and give them out to every person who asks me these questions.
In fairness, I suppose I would ask the same types of questions since not so long ago, I was a meat eater. My cholesterol was high for a person under 40 (under 35 still thank you!) and my doctor wanted me to pay attention to my cholesterol, so I stopped eating ‘so much cheese,’ but I didn’t realize that there was cholesterol in nearly everything I ate. Eggs, cheese, milk, chicken, etc. YUCK! Cholesterol coating my arteries trying to kill me early! I never knew, until I looked, until I educated myself, how BAD my diet was.
I am not trying to say I am some body builder vegan athlete, but I am healthy. I am still losing weight, and I still want and need to lose weight, but that is a battle I may fight as long as I live. But my lab work looks GOOD. Cholesterol way down, no longer ‘high’ but on the lower range of normal. And learning how to eat via E2 is helping me to get it even lower.
I can understand people’s reactions to HOW ARE YOU A VEGAN?! But what makes me SO sad, is that people aren’t given information. They don’t go to PCRM and look at how to eat a healthy diet. They don’t have the multitude of information at their fingertips that vegans DO have. Because you really need to research how to stay healthy and eat a well-balanced, protein, and vitamin rich diet on a vegan diet. That is what I love so much about Engine 2, as much as it is truly vegan, with no animal ingredients, they are 100% plant based…so no processed meats, no alcohol, caffeine, etc. As Rip says, you can still eat BAD on a vegan diet. And for almost 2 years I did eat badly on a vegan diet, loads of refined sugar, processed foods, junk foods, etc. Now I am more conscious to live to eat AND eat to live, and to give my body what it needs, not just what I crave for a weak moment. There is no point in punishing yourself for not being 100% vegan, or 100% plant based, do the best you can, but research and educate yourself. Find out what you’re putting into your body and if you’re okay eating meat, then hey, that’s your choice. But if you need some great resources on proper nutrition:
PCRM Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. A view from medical professionals across the US on plant based diet.
PETA (I am NOT a fan or supporter of PETA due to their no-kill and pitbull policies, but they have a wealth of information on their website)
Meatout Monday provides GREAT Monday recipes that are meatless, even once a week makes a difference!
Vegetarian Times also sends you great recipes, travel help, vegetarian and vegan resources
The Vegetarian Resource Group more information than you can shake a stick at!
Engine 2 Diet all about the Engine 2 diet, testimonials, recipes, etc.
Forks Over Knives the film’s website; if you haven’t seen the film start there!
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