Suggested Reading

I decided to put a list together of my top 5 favorite books on plant based eating. There are tons of books out there that are good, these are just my personal top favorites. I find myself reading back over these when I need inspriration on what to cook.

#1 Skinny Bitch

This book is my absolute favorite. It’s less of a cook book and more of an explanation of why choosing a plant based diet is healthy. This book changed my whole outlook on my eating habits, and things I thought were “healthy” I learned really weren’t. You grow up to believe your dinner plate has to have a meat section, grain section and veggie section and this book shows you why you need to start thinking differently about how you eat your meals. This book is what got me into using Coconut Oil and it’s now one of my must-have items when I’m cooking.

#2 Skinny Bitch: Book of Vegan Swaps

This book is best for a new vegetarian/ vegan. It’s an amazing book that teaches you what brands you can trust and how to swap your normal hamburger meat with a vegan version. I say this is good for beginners because as you get used to cooking you start to make your own veggie burgers from scratch and no longer need the store bought versions. Sometimes though I still need a quick meal so now, because of this book, I know what brands to buy.

#3 Skinny Bitch: In the Kitchen

Do you see a pattern here? I’m almost done bragging about the Skinny Bitch books! This book has a lot of good recipes in it. This book is also good for beginners. It has a lot of recipes with tofu and vegan cheese you buy at a store, so it’s easier for a newbie to just buy those products and put the recipe together. I like their recipe for vegan ricotta cheese made out of tofu, it’s a good substitute.

#4 Thug Kitchen

This book has recently became one of my top favorites. Not only does it have good recipes, it’s also pretty funny. The biscuits and gravy and summer rolls recipes are good. This book also shares facts through out. More importantly, this book got me into nutritional yeast, I kept seeing the ingredient through out the book and decided to try it out. Now I use nutritional yeast in a ton of recipes and love it.

#5 The Forks Over Knives Plan

Have you seen the documentary Forks Over Knives? If not, you need to. The documentary inspired me to get the book and I’m glad I did. The soup recipes are amazing and easy. This book inspired me to get my crock pot and cook up some home -made soups. This book combines reasons and explanations for a plant based diet with tons of recipes as well. The recipe are usually pretty simple too.

 

Well there you go, my top 5 plant based eating books. I definitely suggest picking these up next time you’re at the book store.

 

Vegan Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos

These burritos are so amazing! I’ve always loved the Cheesy Bean and Rice Burritos at Taco Bell and I wanted to make a vegan version of it.  The cheesy sauce you can keep in the fridge for about a week and use it as cheese dip or to make more burritos.

First, you need to make the cheesy sauce.

Ingredients:

2-3 Carrots

1 Potato

1/4  cup Nutritional Yeast

1/2 cup Water

Dash of salt

Dash of Garlic Powder

1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon

Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil and chop up your carrots and potatos. Once the pot is boiling, add the carrots and potatos and boil for about 10 minutes.

After that, add all of the ingredients for the cheese sauce into a blender, including the cooked carrots and potatos. Blend all ingredients until it all looks smooth and like a regular cheese sauce. Put the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Now, you can start making the burritos….

Ingredients:

Cheesy Sauce

Rice

Vegan Refried Beans (look on label to avoid lard)

Old El Paso Taco Sauce

Soft Burrito Shells

Chopped Tomatos

After making the cheese sauce, start boiling a small pot of water for the rice. While the water is heating, chop up the tomato into small pieces.

Once the water is boiling, add the rice in for about 5-10 minutes. Then, in another small pot, start heating up your refried beans.

After the beans and rice are done cooking, you can combine them in a small bowl.

Now you can start putting together the burritos. Please don’t leave out the mild taco sauce, it really brings a lot of flavor to the burritos.

(My dog wanted to make an appearance in the picture 😊)

Now get your burritos shells and fill them with the rice and beans, taco sauce, tomatoes and the cheesy sauce and you’re ready to eat! Enjoy, they’re amazing!

Vegan Mac n’ Cheese

You may have thought that a vegan version of Mac n’ Cheese didn’t exist. Or, you may have thought that vegan Mac n’ Cheese could only come from processed cheesy sauce that taste kind of funny. This recipe will prove you wrong! Best of all, the cheese sauce in this recipe can be used for multiple things like cheese dip and cheese for burritos.

First, you need to make the cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

2-3 Carrots

1 Potato

1/4  cup Nutritional Yeast

1/2 cup Water

Dash of salt

Dash of Garlic Powder

1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon

You read the correctly, this vegan cheese is made from carrots and potatos and it really works together! This is a cheese you don’t have to feel bad about eating.

Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil and chop up your carrots and potatos. Once the pot is boiling, add the carrots and potatos and boil for about 10 minutes.

After that, add all of the ingredients for the cheese sauce into a blender, including the cooked carrots and potatos. Blend all ingredients until it all looks smooth and like a regular cheese sauce. Put the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Now for the actual Vegan Mac n’ Cheese dish.

Ingredients:

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Pasta of Choice ( I used whole grain penne)

Broccoli

Pepper

Bring a medium sized pot to a boil and boil your pasta for 8-10 minutes. While its boiling, cut up your brocoli.

Once the pasta is ready, drain and rinse it and return it to the pot on low heat. Mix in the cheese sauce and then mix in the broccoli.

Stir everything together for about a minute and then you’re ready to eat! Sprinkle a little pepper on top 😊

Healthy Cabbage Soup

This soup is delicious and has a lot of healthy ingredients, so you can feel good about eating it. It’s the perfect soup to make a big pot of and eat off of it throughout the week. It’s my favorite soup because the cabbage adds some crunch and it’s more filling than most soups.

Ingredients:

Cabbage

Oganic Vegetable Broth

Carrots

Mushrooms

Broccoli

Chickpeas

Garlic Powder

Sakt and Pepper

Start by cutting up your vegetables and putting them aside in a bowl to get them ready. Then fill a large pot with 2 cups of vegetable broth and 3 cups of water and start cooking on medium. Once the pot is warming up add in all your chopped vegetables, chickpeas, and spices.

Next, just put a lid over it and let simmer for about an hour. This is a very easy soup to cook!

Yellow Curry with Chickpeas

Since I try not to use tofu or fake meat in most of my meals, I wanted to try to make Yellow Curry with chickpeas. It actually turned out really well and was easy. I bought the curry sauce at Target, but if you want to make your own you can. It was just easier for me to buy it.

I love Yellow Curry because it’s spicy, but not too spicy. And I love eating it with a lot of vegetables. 😊

Ingredients:

Yellow Curry Sauce

Jasmine Rice

Brocolli

Carrots

Chickpeas

Coconut Oil

Green Beans

Mushrooms

Salt and Pepper

Start boiling a small pot if water for your rice. Start cutting up all your veggies. Then, in a medium pan, heat up your coconut oil to get it melted. Once the coconut oil is melted, put your veggies and chickpeas in and start cooking them on medium heat. I suggest covering them while they cook because they cook better that way.

Now the water should being boiling, so put your five in and cook it for about 8-10 minutes. Stir your veggies occasionally.

Once your veggies are almost cooked, go ahead and add the sauce to them.

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top. I you want to, you can also add basil leaves.

Once the rice is done. Put it on a plate and you’re ready to eat!

Vegan Creamy Mac

Sometimes you feel like eating creamy pasta, but you want a creamy taste that is cruelty-free. This is the answer to that! This recipe takes more ingredients than most of my recipes but it’s so worth it. You can make a lot of this at a time too and save some for later. Also, the ingredients like coconut oil and nutritional yeast are must have items in your kitchen so please go to your local health food store and get them, they’re amazing.

 

Ingredients:

Shell Pasta

Vegan Tomato Pasta Sauce ( I used store bought but you can make your own)

Vegan Cream Cheese (I used Tofutti)

Nutritional Yeast

Broccoli

Spinach

Mushrooms

Basil Leaves

Choped Garlic

Coconut Oil

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

Add or subtract ingredients as you wish to make it your own, I just suggest staying true to the sauce because that’s what really brings it together. If you don’t like mushrooms, don’t use them. Use the veggies you like or already have.

First, get a big pot of water boiling for the pasta. In a separate pan, use coconut oil and start cooking your veggies. While these are cooking chop up your garlic and basil because it’s best to add those toppings last. Once the noodles are done , they only take a few minutes, drain and rinse them and put them back in the pot. The veggies should be done cooking about this time too.

After you put the pasta back in the pot you can start mixing the sauce. Pour in about half of the can of pasta sauce, then add 2 spoon full of the cream cheese, and then sprinkle about 3 shakes of the nutritional yeast on top (I’m not big on measurements). Now start stirring it all together. Keep the heat on low while you do it to help it all melt together.

 After the sauce is melted and mixed together you can add your cooked veggies and mix it all together. Now all you need to do is sprinkle the chopped garlic and basil on top and mix it all together and your ready to eat! This pasta is delicious!

Easy Garlic Mushrooms

The other night while dinner was taking awhile to make, I decided to put together a quick appetizer. These garlic mushrooms were simple and tastey. Plus, there’s only 4 ingredients! You probably already have these ingredients around your house.

Ingredients:

Baby Portabella Mushrooms

Chopper Garlic

Garlic Powder

Olive Oil

Pre-heat your oven to 350. Wash the mushrooms and put them in a bowl with the other ingredients. Stir together everything and get it all in the mushrooms (you may need to add more olive oil if it’s not sticking together).

Then place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Voila! You have yourself delicious garlic mushrooms as an appetizer or snack.

Vegan “meaty” spaghetti

I love spaghetti, but if you’re like me you may miss the texture of  meat sauce with your spaghetti. One day I decided to try lentils mixed in with my normal pasta sauce I buy at the store and it was awesome! What’s good about it is that you can make a lot at a time and have leftovers.

Ingredients:

Lentils

Mushrooms

Spinach

Coconut Oil

Pasta Sauce

Soy Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

Whole Wheat Spaghetti Noodles

I didn’t put how much of the ingredients you need because it all really depends on how much you want to make.

Soak your dry lentils for 4-6 hours to help get them softer before cooking. After that, get a medium size pan and fill it with water, a tiny bit of salt and your lentils. Cook them on medium for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Once the lentils are done, drain them and try to get most of the water out. Put them back in their bowl and mix in a little bit of soy sauce to give them more of a meaty flavor and put aside.

In a medium bowl start boiling  water for your noodles. While the noodles are cooking you can make your sauce.

Next, get your coconut oil hot on a pan and start cooking the mushrooms and spinach together. After about 5 minutes drain the pan to get out the leftover oil and put the pan back on the burner. Mix in the pasta sauce and lentils and start stirring it all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the sauce should be smelling good and getting you hungry. Once the noodles are done you can drain them, put them on a plate, and pour the sauce over it. It tastes amazing all together and tastes great with a glass of wine 😊

Easy Tofu Pita

This Easy Tofu Pita recipe is something you can make for a quick healthy lunch or throughout the day. I added Annie’s Goddess Dressing to mine to add flavor, it’s delicious and one of my favorite dressings. You can pick some up at almost any grocery store,. This recipe tastes so fresh and it leaves you feeling good afterwards and it only takes about 15 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

Extra Firm Tofu- about 1/3 of the tofu

Spinach Leaves

Tomatoes

Pita Bread

Annie’s Godess Dressing

Coconut Oil

Soy Sauce

Pepper

Dice up your tomatoes and tofu into little cubes. Heat up a medium size pan with coconut oil. Once the oil is melted, add the diced tofu and start cooking. Add about about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and a dash of pepper to the tofu while its cooking. Once the tofu starts to brown and get crispy it’s done. It’ll take about 5-8 minutes to cook.

Get your pita bread and put Annie’s Godess Dressing spread on. Then add your spinach, tomatoes and tofu and you’re ready to eat!

Blueberry and Spinach Protein Smoothie

I’ve been trying to make sure I eat a good breakfast lately. Sometimes though, it’s hard to have a big breakfast when you’re in a rush, so I wanted to make a good protein breakfast smoothie. I searched the Internet to get ideas and came up with this smoothie. It’s actually pretty tastey as well as nutritious.

Ingredients:

Blueberries- 1 cup

Spinach Leaves- 1 cup

Peanut Butter (or nut butter)- 1 tbsp

Chia Seeds – 1 tsp

Vanilla Protein Powder- 1 scoop

Coconut Milk- 1 cup

Rinse off your blueberries and spinach and then put all your ingredients in the blender. I added ice to mine.

Now just blend until everything is smooth and ready to drink. I don’t like pre- making smoothies because they’re never as good as when they’re fresh so drink right away. Enjoy!