After reading The China Study, I was all fired up and ready to try the plant-based diet experiment. But I was used to the traditional meat + starch + vegetable dinner. Looking forward to planning a month of no-meat, no-dairy, no-eggs meals felt like peering into a dark abyss. But something toward the end of the book was useful: a man who was skeptical about the plant-based diet got one recipe from his sister, a delicious vegan chili. So he made it and he liked it. What a great and EASY first step. So that's what I did. I checked out some recipe books from the library, searched "vegan" on allrecipes.com and just made ONE meal. And then one more, and so on. Some were NOT good and we ended up eating cereal (with soy milk, of course).
The thing is, there are tons of vegan and vegetarian meals that try to substitute "regular" foods with soy milk, nutritional yeast, Boca burger crumbles, etc. (Holy expensive!) But the recipes I really ended up loving didn't feature the meat look-alikes or the cheese stand-ins. They were mostly simple beans, grains, and veggies arranged in totally delicious ways. I ended up modifying some of my old favorite recipes with beans or veggies instead of meat and loved them just as much. And eventually, of course, the cheese and sour cream and yogurt sauce definitely came back to our table and were welcomed wholeheartedly, though in moderation. And for snacks: apples! almonds! broccoli! No processing necessary.
So, enough of my soapbox. Let's talk turkey. Or, tofurkey, as the case may be.
My very favorite recipe resources:
Perry's Plate: Oh my, has she got the touch for combining normal foods in remarkable ways! And her eating habits are pretty similar to ours: not much meat, lots of fresh foods. This one is vegan and this one is vegetarian, vegan if you don't use the sauce (but use the sauce). She also introduced me to The Roasted Vegetable and The Bold Vegetarian Chef, which are great cookbooks.
Joy the Baker: Such a funny writer, such delicious food. I make variations on this one a lot.
Pinterest: Do you pin? I follow a couple of people on Pinterest who keep pinning such delicious-looking recipes that I actually say, "Stop it!" out loud as I scroll down. It makes me hungry. I am particularly excited to try this one that I pinned this morning. Here is my pinboard.
The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook: We got this for our wedding, and I have so many recipes in here that I come back to time and time again. My mother-in-law searched for it in bookstores and ended up buying it online because she liked so many things I'd made from it. Huge compliment to me, huge endorsement for the cookbook.
And a few strictly vegan recipes, if you're wanting to venture that way:
Blueberry Banana Bread (my lovely and brilliant friend Marinda really likes this blog--I've tried the bread and I'm excited to try more recipes)
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| Totally unrelated: Millie loves her shoes soooo much. And black leggings on babies! I die! |
I'm always interested in expanding my pool of recipes. What are your go-to resources for meal planning?
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4 comments:
We eat a lot of Indian food. I was given an Indian cookbook a few years ago, and I love it. The meals are very healthy. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan meals (as you might expect). Even those that aren't vegan aren't particularly heavy on the dairy or egg products. Also, a lot of the ingredients, although obscure, are fairly inexpensive. We go to Many Lands in Provo and just stock up on all the weird ingredients/obscure spices. Actually, another great thing about that place is that the "obscure" spices (if you consider coriander and cumin obscure) are WAY cheaper there than at a regular grocery store. But the clerk who works there is pretty odd.
And that was a long comment.
I'm so glad to hear of your luck. I, too, aim for the "normal" foods and don't cook things with fake-meat or soy cheese - I prefer to go without it and eat things that are for real. I use Dr. McDougall's recipes a lot - "The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook". He has a website with tons of recipes. His recipes are so simple, tasty, and fast. Black Bean Sloppy Joes are an almost weekly dinner for us. Dr. Dean Ornish also has some tasty recipes. His books are "The Spectrum" and "Eat More, Weigh Less". Sure hope you're doing well. Your kids are so lucky to have you as their mom.
You are my "Go-to" source on delicious, healthy meal planning.
Ahhh food. Way to go on eating healthy. I concur about your black leggings comment, Amelia looks adorable.
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