My food folder has filled up with
photos so it's time to share what I've been eating in the past year (or bothered to take photos of!)
Burgers!
So easy and super versatile! I either purchase vegan patties from my local supermarket (and I live in non-progressive town :p) or you can easily google patty recipes :) I still make my cashew sour cream once a week and this goes on lots of things including burgers and pastas and wraps
For Christmas, I got inspiration from my Australian vegan foodies fb page and made a roast :) I simply bought a vegan roast from the supermarket and then did some fancy stuff like smoother it in stock and Rosemary, wrap it in spinach and encase it in puff pastry
How cute are the puff pastry stars! I did steal the whole idea from the group and I think (hope!) Christmas was a food success!
A pineapple tofu dish.
I've gone through some poor weeks and in that time I've gotten to know lentils and tofu and rice really well :p Down the road they sell pineapples from their farm for $1 and tofu and rice is cheap - so it's doable to eat delicious things on the super cheap! Just need to find what produce is cheap in your own area and make it work!
Then there are the "treat yo self" moments! It's funny because not being able to buy junk food all the time and having to go out of my way to source delicious junk has definitely been beneficial for my health and when I do get something like a delicious doughnut (or two!) it's such a good treat moment!
A new discovery this year was chickpea "tuna"! It's a pretty good substitute and just takes a little fiddling around to get some good flavours :) Vegan Mayo and red onion are obviously key :p On the mayo note, I can definitely recommend veganaise! I also use, mustard, pickles (and juice), salt and pepper + lemon juice.
This year from my vegan foodie fb page I learnt that burger rings are vegan! Your health may not appreciate this but another discovery (for us Aussies) was the Coles brand dark chocolate - eep so good!
I made a black forest cake - also not great for your health but pretty!
Another tofu and rice dish, this time with capsicum and shallots and toasted sesame seeds. This year I've fallen in love with sesame oil + soy sauce + toasted sesame seeds! Super easy and filling meal
A vegan lasagna, I think this is a good dish to bring to friends/family that are meat eaters as it doesn't step too far away from comfort zones and hey it's delicious :)
More tofu! My favourite way to cook tofu is put some oil in a cast iron pan, get it really hot, have your strips of tofu cut and ready to go, pan fry each side until crispy and add some soy sauce last minute to get some flavour and more of a golden crust! I think I actually stole that from James Aspey's FB page :P After cooking the tofu I usually sprinkle over the top some sesame oil or just let the tofu soak into the other flavours of the dish.
Some more, treat yourselves!
For my birthday Ben and I took a road trip to a vegan bakery (the giving tree at Kingaroy) and I can only say good things about the place :) :)
The best kebabs in Brisbane, from No No's Redhill. Sometimes it only takes a simple question to see if a place can make something vegan for you!
I'm also stoked that the sunny coast got their own Moo Free Burgers!
This year I'm still loving pasta, trying out some new flavour combos, above is roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, spinach and capers :)
Above is a butter cauliflower curry, I made using this recipe. I want to try and master this dish and get the flavours 100% perfect, I don't think I've got the knack just yet!
And wraps are always an easy option for me!
Its been around two years since I became vegan and the one word that comes to mind, two years on is...EASY (the lifestyle just keeps getting easier). When I first started, it was hard. I felt like someone yanked away all my favourite food and left me with some unappealing dregs. I look back and kind of laugh about how I felt, not because it wasn't valid or a reality at the time just because now I eat such an amazing variety of foods (which I love, I just previously wasn't aware of). I often get asked “why did you go vegan?” and before answering I'll make sure to give people an out. I ask them, “are you sure you want to know?” I might even give a couple of outs, before I start talking :P It's a subject that puts people on the defensive, perhaps they feel like I'm imposing my own values upon them and they need to justify their own values to me or point out how my own values are wrong because they don't match theirs. It rarely ends in a great way.
For 30 years I ate meat and animal products which honestly didn't align with my values (I was happily in denial) but being vegan definitely does align with my values and thus it's easily one of my top, positive, life changing decisions. Not only have I noticed my health dramatically improve (diary didn't agree with my gut) I also rarely get sick any more (and I used to get sick a lot!) I also find myself being way my thoughtful and compassionate to animals which makes me feel good about myself, which makes me a happier person (my big life goal) *breathes out!* I'm sharing my story because if it wasn't for others sharing their journey I would still be eating the same food I did for those 30 years not knowing there was this other way I could live and I could be even happier for it :)
Always so inspirational. I tried to go vegan because like you it would align with my values so much more. Then I run into the issue of.. then should my pets go vegan as well? And then the problem with meeting up with friends (will I be an unnecessary burden to them??) and then of course traveling (will I be able to find vegan spots and be able to resist the temptation of eating non vegan foods while traveling?) -- someone once told me to don't do it cold turkey and switch over little by little. I don't think I've really given it a fair go to transition.. so many things for me to do (film photography, wood workings, going vegan) and the hardest part is just starting.
ReplyDeleteJane, it's so amazing you even tried, I have no doubt you will get there :) The pets things for me is purely an individual decision but my own viewpoint, is that I chose to go vegan and I didn't choose this lifestyle for anyone else. I know you can buy vegan petfood but I honestly don't know too much about it. Travelling I found to be a bit tricky but I do know of people who eat meat whilst travelling, again an individual decision but not one to beat yourself up about. There are quite a few potential roadblocks but I found the easiest thing for me was to watch the doco Earthlings (over on youtube). Actually when I say watched, I think I made it through about 5 minutes :P I personally switched over little by little and definitely wanted to give up at the start because I found it really hard but I'm super glad I didn't. You could even just give one day a week a try at the start, find some dishes that you really like to eat :) The start IS hard because you have spent your whole life used to this one way of eating but it will get easier easier! Also if you follow a vegan group in your area, if you're on fb, you'll get loads of ideas. Or maybe there is a set group for vegan Korean food (yum! maybe I should hunt one down too :P). Number one tip is don't beat yourself up, the fact that you have even contemplated is amazing and it's totally okay if your journey is a long one :) :)
DeleteWow this all looks soooo good! I'm going to have to visit this page again when I'm looking to make a new vegan dinner. <3
ReplyDelete:) Some nights I'm definitely guilty of drawing a blank and have to go through my own recipes or search online!!
DeleteI relate so much to everything you have written! I was vegetarian for many years before I slowly became vegan 4 or 5 years ago. I gradually eliminated different foods from my diet, so it didn' t feel hard, but still there were some favorite things (like some sorts of chocolate or cheese) that I thought I'm going to regret. But animals deserve this really small sacrifices and they deserve so much more. And, same as you, I discovered new foods that I love. I really like your blog, I' m always glad when posts by you appear in my feed! Anca
ReplyDeleteAwww thank-you so much for your super kind/thoughtful message Anca! A big part was coming to terms with how little sacrifice you need to make and in turn how huge an impact that sacrifice can make for another life! I know I'm just parroting what you said but it's such a good point!! :) :)
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