What Does A Vegan Eat For A Day

I have had a lot of people ask me what I eat since becoming a gluten-free vegan especially as a vegan who eats lots of raw foods.  So today I decided to document everything I eat to give you an idea.

Pre-Breakfast: Vitamin Water (16 oz)

Breakfast: Strawberry Mango Fruit Smoothie (32 oz)

Lunch: Homemade Gluten-Free Vegan Pasta

Dinner: Super salad with homemade Red Pepper Tomato Dressing

Snacks: pixie tangerines, dill flackers, and dried mulberries.

Buying Bulk

I like to think that I am a pretty "green" person.  I try to use sustainable items such as cotton napkins, limit my paper towel usage, my hubby uses a handkerchief instead of a million Kleenexes... the list could go on and on.  One thing I love doing is buying in bulk from my local Co-Op.  This area is great because you can control how much you want to buy.  Most bulk areas have everything from herbs, flours, sugars, nuts/seeds, beans, rice, honey, dried fruits, oils... the list really goes on and on.

For example today I got the following from the bulk department:
GF Flour mix
Curry Powder
Wild Rice
Split Peas
Raw Honey

What I like to do is use mason jars to store everything.  I bring them into the store with me.  The key to doing this is that you have to weigh your jar before you put your item in it.  This way the cashiers can tare out the weight of the jar and you won't pay for more than you have to.  Many co-ops also have baggies, plastic dishes and such to put your items in too.  But I find it easier and greener to bring my own containers.  The only ones I didn't do this for was for the curry powder because I didn't have a small enough item to put it in and the GF flour mix because I didn't have a container large enough for it.

What most people may or may not know about the bulk area is that prices are about 1/2 of what they would be already packaged.  Also if you use a lot of something you can generally order a 25lbs bag of something which is often even cheaper.  Another thing is if you have food allergies make sure you read labels.  This area isn't very good about labeling for specific allergies but they do have ingredients listed.

Some people ask why I like storing in mason jars.  Here's my really simple answer... because I can throw them in the dishwasher to clean them and they are ready again to be filled with bulk goodness.  I am also very careful about plastic because a lot of it starts to leach chemicals over time.  Also it doesn't last as long as glass.  I use a canning ring and top to keep everything closed which when not heated is reusable too.

I hope you all take a little tour to your co-op and check out the bulk department.  You won't be disappointed, I promise!      

Eat: Paleo Saturday

Today the hubby and I decided to eat a few less carbs this weekend.  One of my new favorite sites is http://www.paleoplan.com.  I know a few people who follow this lifestyle and the recipes looked really good so we decided to try a few out.  Now I am sure some of you are wondering what is the Paleo lifestyle and why on earth would you want to eat that type of food?  Here is a little bit from The Paleo Plan's FAQ.

Q: What is the Paleo Diet
A: The Paleo diet mimics the types of foods every person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution (a mere 10,000 years or 500 generations ago). These foods (meats, seafood, organ meats, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruits, plus some nuts and seeds) are full of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, fiber, beneficial fatty acids, and low-glycemic carbohydrates that promote good health. 


The Paleo diet doesn’t contain refined sugars and grains, dairy, trans fats, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods that often cause weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many other health problems.
Want to know more check this out!


So what did we eat?
Well for brunch we made Baked Eggs in Bacon Rings

These beauties had bacon, eggs, tomato slice, onion and mushrooms.  They were super easy to make and I got the hubby's stamp of approval.  I would definitely eat these again.  They also kept us full until about 5 pm! 

For dinner we decided to try the Paleo Beef Stew

This stew only took an hour and it is one of the best things I've ever had.  I got another stamp of approval from the hubby.  In the stew there was onion, garlic, stew meat, carrots, mushrooms, beef stalk, tomatoes, red wine, thyme, pepper, salt and savory spice.  I really recommend this one!

I would say our little nudge into the Paleo way of life was a delicious one.  I can see us adding these and a few more into our food bank.  It is really great for those with food allergies since there is no dairy or gluten and other allergies can easily adjust a recipe to what works for them.  Now time to sit back and enjoy my Saturday night with the hubby.

-Happy Eating!

Eat: Raw Apple Cinnamon Crackers

I know I've been a little MIA lately.  I have been working on starting up this business and it's been taking up a lot of my time.  I do feel I am possibly making some progress (thank goodness!).  Anyways, back to the good stuff.  Raw Apple Cinnamon Crackers.  These are really easy to make.  If you do not have a dehydrator you can use your oven on the lowest setting with the door propped open.

Ingredients:
1 C Flax Meal (grind about 1/2 cup flax seeds to make this)
1/2 C Flaked Coconut
3 Sweet Apples
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
1-2 tbsp Natural Sweetener (Raw Agave, Raw Honey, Date Paste)
Pinch Salt

In a blender (I used the magic bullet) put in 1/2 cup of flex seed and coconut.  Grind until flax is more like a flour in texture.  Pour into a large bowl.  Then in a larger blender (I used my Ninja) add apple slices, cinnamon, salt, and natural sweetener.  Blend until applesauce consistency.  Pour into bowl with flax and coconut.  Mix well.  Get out your dehydrator with a jelly roll screen.  Spread into a thin layer (1/2 inch or less).  Use a back of a knife to score the mixture into pieces.  Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 18-24 hours or until crispy.

* Note: I flipped my crackers over about 1/2 way though onto the dehydrator grid to allow the air to circulate more around the crackers.

If using an oven spread onto parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Score into pieces and dehydrate until crispy.

Enjoy!

What's In Your Food?

I really feel we are losing touch of food as something that nourishes our bodies.  We are in the age where faster/cheaper/and high shelf life is better.  I am not saying that everyone out there should want to go out there and make everything from scratch.  I know that is not practical in this day in age.  But I do think you really need to know what is in your food.  My rule is that food should not have 10,000 ingredients and if I cannot pronounce the first 5 I'm not eating it.  Watching the video really makes me sad for our country.