Shepards Pie

This dish is so satisfying and filling I usually make it for special events when I know there will be no vegan options and I want to bring something simple and straight to the point! Its got all the fixings one would desire when craving a nice comforting meal!

Ingredients:

1 package of store bought VEGAN dry bread dressing or bread crumbs of your choice

approx. 2 cups vegetable broth

3 celery stalks

1/2 of a sweet onion

2 cups of diced mushroom

1 red pepper

2 heads of broccoli

1-2 bags of frozen mixed veggies (peas, corn, carrot)

8 potatoes

approx. 2 cups of non dairy milk

salt and pepper

garlic

onion powder

parsley

paprika
crispy onion salad toppers (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel, dice, and boil potatoes until soft.

2. Drain potatoes, add milk, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and parsley and mash until creamy. Add more milk if needed. Set to the side.

2. In a large pot sautee diced celery, onion, half of  mushrooms, red pepper, and garlic.

3. Add veggie broth and bring to a boil then add dressing or bread crumbs and mix everything together until dressing softens, add more broth if necessary.

4. Season dressing with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. Set to the side.

5. In a large pan add a couple table spoons of water and sautee mushroom, diced broccoli, frozen veggies, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic. Cook until tender and set to the side.

6. In a large non stick baking dish add dressing and lay flat to create the first layer of  shepards pie. For the second layer spread across the sautéed veggie mix. For the third layer top with mashed potatoes and spread evenly across.

7. Bake pie for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool down before serving.

Top this meal with my delicious  Mushroom Gravy 

Although I don't get into many holidays I still make sure that I am eating good as long as I'm gonna be surrounded by people indulging in various non vegan dishes! What I'm supposed to eat the veggie tray??? Lol, yeah right! This dish has all of your favorites combined into one. Plus its low in fat and guilt free! If you give this recipe a try you wont be disappointed!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Consumerism and its effects on humanity

Well, its that time of year again. People stampeding through stores to get first dibs on the sales, spending money they don't have to show how much they love their family and friends, cars and homes being broken into just so people can get their hands on these so called desired material items. For those like myself who have completely disconnected from this idea of material belongings bringing happiness or labeling them as a "blessing", the world can seem frightening at times. Watching children rip open gifts that they do not need and being told they are fortunate to receive these things is borderline disturbing. What are we really teaching them? We are living in a world where people are judged by the physical things they can achieve more so than the content of their character. We witness this in the celebrity world as well as in our real every day lives. We will drive past another human on the road asking for food and tell our children don't give them anything they are probably on drugs or just need to get a job totally discrediting this person as a living being on this planet. Even animals display more love to their species when in need. How did we get to this point? Most people are working 40 plus hours a week not to survive but to keep up with the material things society has told us we need to have in order to fit in. What if we were spending more of that time with our loved ones and actually raising our children full time as opposed to spending it on the time clock to be able to pay someone else to watch our children so we can purchase items we really don't need for them. I know, I know, that sounds totally crazy right? Not to me it doesn't. Society has warped our minds so much that the most simple things don't make sense anymore.

Everyday we are subconsciously influenced. You turn on the TV and every single commercial is some corporation telling you to buy something that you don't need. Ads are literally everywhere. You drive down the street and billboards are plastered everywhere trying to sell you something. Social media is full of ads and people trying to tell you where to shop and what to eat. We have turned celebrities into idols and strive to live our lives as close to theirs as possible wearing whatever clothes they tell us to wear and looking however they tell us is trending. Individuality is dead. Thousands of people will line up to purchase something to look like everyone else. Corporations are feeding off of this behavior and are controlling society with it. No matter how much we have we always want more and they keep making new versions of the same shit to keep people coming back. People are spending $1000 on a phone that cost pennies to make and don't even question it.  Of course your phone is acting up before the launch of the new one. We don't question anything we just buy not realizing that our money is our time. Time we could be spending on things that actually matter. We believe blessings come in material belongings.  This is what keeps us as modern day slaves. We strive to make more money so we can purchase more things. We even look at people like they are crazy or struggling if they still have a flip phone, drive an older car, wear the same clothes for years, or simply refuse to keep buying things to keep up with society. We refuse to believe that could be a choice.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with treating yourself and your loved ones from time to time, but lets be real as a society we are over doing it and it has created a storm of problems beyond social and economic. As the demand for goods increase so does the need to produce these goods. This leads to more pollutant, emissions, increased land use, and deforestation. The average American tosses 82 lbs of textile waste each year which adds up to 11 million tons of stuff from our country alone. These textiles are not biodegradable which means they sit in landfills for at least 200 years. We are effecting the environment as well. I wont get too deep into that because that is a whole separate post.

I know what its like to be an excessive consumer because I have lived that life myself.  Upgrading phones, trading in cars, owing hundreds of pairs of shoes, needing a walk in closet just to hold my clothes. Spending an hour deciding what to wear because I had way too many things to choose from. I remember those days like it was yesterday. I'm still working to minimalize more aspects of my life. All of those things I was doing was just to solidify my status to others. Go thrifting before purchasing something brand new whenever possible, focus more on giving back to the planet than taking from it. There are enough material items in circulation for us to never have to produce more goods again.  It is this consumeristic mindset we have all been brainwashed into participating in from childhood that keeps us craving more. This behavior is a large part of what is keeping us in debt to a system designed to keep us forever enslaved by consuming so much of our time we think the idea of working less and living better is a fairy tale unless we have come into money some other way.  If you do celebrate Christmas, I encourage you to find ways to express your love to your families with things that cant be purchased. Actually sit down with them and tell them how much they mean to you and all of the reasons why you love them so much and just enjoy good conversation and quality time.

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds."



Curried Tofu with Rice

Growing up I remember my mom used to make the most delicious chicken curry and rice. I wanted to recreate that dish in a vegan version so I took her recipe and put a little twist on it. This dish is super simple to make and full of flavor. If your new to this vegan lifestyle and having a hard time deciding what to eat think about your favorite dishes you used to enjoy and figure out how to veganize it!

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

2 packs of extra firm tofu

wild rice or brown rice

1 onion

4 celery stalks

1 pack of mushrooms

1 cup of frozen peas

minced garlic

salt and pepper

curry powder

onion powder

paprika

 approx. 2 cups of vegetable broth

approx. 1 cup of spelt flour

 

Directions:

1. Drain tofu and slice into chunks the size of your liking. Coat both sides with curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika and bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour flipping half way through.

2. Cook rice

3. Dice onion and celery and saute in a large skillet with garlic for about 10 minutes. I just use a dash of water to saute.

4. Add mushrooms, peas, broth, flour, salt and pepper, paprika, and curry powder to the skillet and stir everything together until you have a creamy gravy consistency. You may have to adjust flour and broth depending on how thick you want it to be..

5. Put tofu in the skillet with the curry sauce and mix everything together. Allow everything to simmer stirring occasionally for at least 15 minutes so the flavor can marinate through the tofu.

6. Serve over rice and enjoy!

 

 

 

This meal definitely reminded me of my moms chicken curry and rice recipe. The only difference is I used tofu instead of chicken and added mushrooms and peas to make it a bit more filling. I don't give instructions on how much spice to use because I feel like that is completely up to your taste buds. You can use as much or as little as you like.  I personally just throw spices in the pan until I think its enough! Hope you enjoy this recipe!

 

~Peace begins with your plate~

 



Tortilla Soup

It is getting pretty cold outside and nothing warms your insides up like a bowl of warm, savory soup! This creamy tortilla soup will leave your taste buds very satisfied!

 

 

Ingredients:

1 pack of corn tortillas

1 yellow onion

1 red bell pepper

2 fresh jalapeno peppers

3-4 garlic cloves
cilantro

green onions

1 container of vegetable broth

2 cups of almond milk

2 cans of black beans

2 cans of corn

1 can crushed tomato

2 whole tomatoes

cumin

paprika

nutritional yeast

salt and pepper

1 pack of chipotle fields roast vegan sausage (optional)

daiya cheddar shreds (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Dice yellow onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno, and sautee with a few sprigs of cilantro and minced garlic cloves. Add salt and pepper and cook on med high heat until vegetables are soft which should be about 10 minutes.

2. Add veggie broth, black beans, corn and crushed tomato. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Dice up tomatoes and vegan sausages add to the pot with cumin, paprika, nutritional yeast and almond milk. Let simmer for another 20 minutes
4. Cut tortillas into strips and place on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Bake strips for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees.
5. Dice green onions add them to soup and bring it to low temperature.
6. Pour soup into a serving bowl and top with daiya shreds and tortilla strips then enjoy!

You can serve this soup over rice and add more green onion and cilantro to make it pretty! Also the vegan sausage and vegan cheese is totally optional so if you are looking for a healthier meal definitely skip those ingredients and the soup is still delicious and full of flavor. And as always you can adjust the seasonings to your liking I usually go over board with garlic and onion because that's what I like but by all means use however much your heart desires. I hope you enjoy this soup and it keeps you warm on a chili day!

~Peace begins with your plate~

 



Perfect Tofu

I cant lie, the first time I purchased tofu I had no clue how to prepare it. I was really scared to even try it because of the common belief non vegans have of tofu being bland, having weird texture, and just being overall nasty. I didn't even try tofu until being vegan for nearly 2 years lol and now I could seriously eat it every day. The problem is most people simply don't know how to cook it. Tofu by itself is bland and it does have a weird texture but when you cook it right it can taste like whatever you want it to! Thats the beautiful thing about tofu, however you season it that's what it will come out tasting like. If you want it to taste like chicken use the same season you would on chicken, if you want to eat it in an Asian dish, use the same season you would in an Asian dish. Its really very simple! I'm gonna show you guys the most basic and delicious tofu recipe ever!

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1 package of firm or extra firm tofu

Garlic powder

onion powder

pepper

paprika

 

Directions:

1. Drain water from tofu and remove from package.

2. Wrap tofu in paper towels so soak up the water and let it sit for at least a few minutes in paper towels. If you have a tofu press you're really in business.

3. Dice tofu up into the size of pieces you desire. I usually cut each block into about 10 rectangular pieces but its totally up to you.

4. Season each side with seasonings and place on a tray lined with parchment paper or foil and nonstick cooking spray.

5. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for about 40 to 45 minutes flipping them over half way through. You can usually eyeball it, once the edges are crisp its usually time to flip it but if you don't let it cook long enough the texture will still be soggy on the inside. When its done it will have more of a firm texture like a chicken strip.

 

 

 

 

 

You can top it with gravy for a hearty meal

 

 

 

Tofu strips tossed in buffalo sauce over a salad

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baking tofu is by far the best way in my opinion to cook tofu. I used to sautee or grill it but I felt like no matter how pretty the outside of the tofu looked the inside would still be mushy and bland. Baking it keeps it firm and makes it easier to use as a meat replacement. You can also coat it with sauce and place it back into the oven for a few minutes if you want more of a saucy tofu especially as a meat replacement in Asian dishes. Tofu is also a cheaper alternative to buying other processed vegan meats. If you can tell, I like to dip mine in bbq sauce and it taste just like chicken! Give this recipe a try and you will never look at tofu the same!

 

~Peace begins with your plate~

 



Vegan Crab Cakes

Seafood was always my favorite type of food before transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. Whenever I get the chance to veganize a seafood dish I am all about it! You will be surprised about how with the right spices and ingredients you can get that same fishy flavor and texture with out the cruelty and toxins that come from actual seafood. Remember the ocean needs the life that exist in there to maintain our ecosystem and sea animals are very much so sentient beings! Enjoy this recipe:)

 

 

Ingredients:

1 package of oyster mushrooms

1 package of shiitake mushrooms

1 can of hearts of palm

1/2 or a red onion

1 stalk of celery

4 stems of green onions

approx. 1 cup of fish fry or vegan bread crumbs

1 flax egg (1tsp of flax mill mixed with 1 tsb of water)

1 tbsp. of vegan mayo

old bay seasonings

Cajun seasonings

 

(This is how they should look before baking)

 

 

Directions:

1. Rinse mushrooms clean and place in a blender. Pulse until shredded to look like crab meat and place in a mixing bowl.

2. Pulse hearts of palm in blender as well and add to mixing bowl.

3. Chop or pulse red onion, green onion, and celery into small pieces and add to mixing bowl.

4. Add bread crumbs or fish fry, vegan mayo, and seasonings and mix together. If its too mushy add more bread crumbs.

5. Add flax egg and mix everything together with your hands

6. Line a pan with parchment paper and mold mixture into patties the size of your liking and place in the oven at 400 degrees.

7. Cook for about 40 minutes flipping them over at the halfway point

8. Allow them to cool down a bit as this lets them firm up even more and then serve with vegan tartar sauce or cocktail sauce! Below is the crab cake diced up over a baked potato topped with my homemade vegan sour cream and green onions. This was my favorite way to eat them!

 

 

 

These crab cakes taste just like the real deal! If you wanted you could even fry them up in a bit of oil for a few minutes on each side instead of baking them but I wanted to show you guys an even healthier option. I hope you all enjoy!

 

~Peace begins with your plate~



 

Month 1-6 loc update videos

Vegan Carbonara

This was my first time making this dish, even as a meat eater I never tried making my own carbonara recipe. Pasta recipes can get kind of repetitive sometimes so I decided to try something new. Usually I make my creamy sauces with a nut base but today I am showing you a low fat alternative that will give the same creamy results. Its also great for people who want to try more vegan recipes but have nut allergies. This one is for the bacon lovers;)

(mushroom and bacon sautéed)

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta of choice 

1 block of soft tofu

approximately 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast

approximately 1 cup of almond milk

1 tbsp. of tahini or olive oil

Italian seasonings

salt and pepper

garlic

1 package of shitake mushrooms

1 package of vegan bacon (I used the sweet earth brand)

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 onion

(Sauce added to mushroom and bacon)

Directions:

1. Boil pasta and set aside until time to mix in with sauce. I usually let it sit in cold water after cooking to avoid noodles sticking together.

2. In a high speed blender add tofu, nutritional yeast, tahini, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and garlic and blend until smooth and creamy.

3. Slice mushrooms and bacon into bite size pieces and saute in a pan until slightly crispy. Add more salt, pepper, and garlic to your liking.

4. Pour the sauce into pan with mushrooms and bacon and mix everything together

5. Drain pasta and toss together in the pan with the sauce.

6. Serve and enjoy!

(Dish complete)

This dish is a much healthier spin on traditional carbonara. If you want to make it even healthier you can ditch the vegan bacon but its a tasty option for those trying to transition from a meat based diet and are still having cravings. Remember pigs are our friends and they are sentient intelligent beings no different than a dog or a cat. They want to live just like you and me and all the other animals who are unnecessarily slaughtered by the millions. Give this recipe a try you will not only be doing a favor for yourself but also for the animals and the planet!

*Peace begins with your plate*

Potato Salad

Potato salad is the perfect side dish to bring to a gathering. Since summer is winding down get in as many barbecues as you can and whats a bbq with out a nice creamy cruelty free potato salad!

 Ingredients:

8 red potatoes

1 red onion

3 celery stalks

1 cup of vegan mayo

1/2 cup of brown mustard

1 cup or sweet relish

salt and pepper

paprika

Directions:

1. Boil or steam potatoes until tender when you stick a fork in them

2. Let the potatoes cool down and then chop them into bite size pieces and place into a bowl

3. Dice red onion and celery and put in the bowl with potatoes

4. Add vegan mayo, mustard, and relish and stir everything together. You can add as much or as little of these ingredients as your heart desires.

5. Season with salt and pepper and paprika.

6. Place potato salad into a nice dish that has a lid.

7. Garnish with a little more paprika pop a lid on it and let it chill until it is time to serve!

One of my favorite ways to eat potato salad is as a side to a hearty plate of soul food. Here it is pictured with collard greens, baked beans, and fried cauliflower which I have a recipe for on my blog as well. Hope you enjoy and be sure to let me know if you try this recipe.

~Peace begins with your plate~

Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy

Mashed potatoes is one of the most simple quick dishes you can make that are guaranteed to hit the spot! Here is a delicious recipe and I wouldn't feel right giving this recipe without my famous mushroom gravy recipe to go with it!

Ingredients:

8 red potatoes

 approximately 1.5 cups of almond milk

salt and pepper

garlic

onion powder

Gravy ingredients:

1 cup of mushrooms

1/3 cup of onion

approximately 1 cup of flour 

approximately 2 cups of veggie broth 

2tbsp of soy sauce

salt and pepper

garlic

Directions:

1. Boil or steam potatoes until they are soft this should take about 40 minutes you want them to basically fall apart. Drain them and put them back in pot.

2. Add salt, pepper, garlic, and onion to your liking then gradually add in almond milk.

3. Mash everything together and adjust the amount of milk for the amount of creaminess you like your mashed potatoes to have. For me its usually about 1 and a half cups maybe more.

4. Cover with a lid and keep on low heat until ready to serve.

5. For the gravy grab a large sauce pan.

6. Dice onion and mushroom and saute them in the pan with a couple tsp of veggie broth, garlic, salt and pepper until the onions are translucent. 

6. Add flour and veggie broth into the pan and whisk away. You control how thick your gravy is by adding more flour or thin it out by adding more broth.

7. Re-season with salt, pepper, and garlic and then add in soy sauce. The soy sauce gives the gravy a nice brown color.

8. Let simmer on medium low heat whisking occasionally until ready to serve!

This last picture is the mashed potatoes and gravy with tofu and green bean casserole which is also featured on my blog. This recipe is just as tasty as traditional mashed potatoes and gravy but it is going to be so much healthier for you! Definitely give this recipe a go!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Vegan Meatloaf

In this recipe I am going to show you how to make a delicious meatloaf loaded with great sources of protein and vegetables. No need to eat ground up animals when you can get even more flavor and nutrition from a cleaner, cruelty free option! I promise you will get zero complaints from this dish!

(this is before baking)

 Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked chickpeas

2 cups of cooked lentils
1 cup of walnuts (optional)

1 cup of mushrooms

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 onion

2 flax eggs (2 tsp flax mill mixed with 2 tsp of water)

1 cup of spelt flour (or whatever kind of flour you have)

salt and pepper

garlic

onion powder

rosemary

thyme

burger seasoning

1 cup of tomato sauce or ketchup

1 cup of bbq sauce
1tbs of agave
Italian seasonings

 Directions:

1. After rinsing and drying off chickpeas, place them in a high speed blender and pulse until shredded. Place them in a large mixing bowl along with the lentils.

2. Take the bell peppers, onion, and mushroom and either dice them in small pieces or if you are lazy like me put them in the blender and pulse away until they are shredded into small pieces. Place them in the same bowl with the chickpeas and lentils.
3. Pulse walnuts in blender until grounded to resemble ground beef and add to the bowl with lentils and chickpeas

4. Add onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper, rosemary, thyme, and burger seasonings in the bowl with chickpeas and lentils. Feel free to use as much or as little as you like to suit your taste buds.

5. Add the flax eggs and flour to the bowl with everything else.

6. Make sure hands are clean and use them to mash and mix all the ingredients together like you would do with traditional meat loaf. If its too dry add another flax egg and if its too mushy add more flour.

7. Grab a large baking dish and line with foil and cooking spray and mold your meatloaf into the shape you like on the dish.

8. Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees

9. While loaf is baking mix together tomato sauce, agave, bbq sauce, and Italian seasonings after the 45 minutes pour the sauce on top of the loaf and put back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

10. Remove meatloaf from oven and let it cool down for at least 20 minutes. This step is important because it gives the loaf a chance to really firm up and take the texture of actual meatloaf.

11. Slice and serve!

Here is the dish pictured with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, stay tuned because that recipe is up next! Name a better duo than meatloaf and mashed potatoes???? Hope you give this recipe a try and if you do be sure to let me know how you enjoyed it!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Fried green tomatoes

Everyone loves a good fried vegetable right? Although it may not be the healthiest way to eat your veggies it is still delicious and sometimes that's all your looking for! Its the peak of gardening season and we have an abundance of tomato plants so I had to take advantage. If you or someone you know has tomatoes in their garden definitely use them!

Ingredients:

Unripe green tomatoes

1 cup of spelt flour

1 cup of almond milk

1 flax egg (1 tsp of flax mill mixed with 1 tsp of water)

salt and pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

Cajun seasoning

Grapeseed oil or frying oil of your choice

Directions:

1. In a large frying pan coat the bottom with oil about half an inch deep and set it on medium high heat

2. In a large mixing bowl add flour, milk, flax egg, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder, and Cajun seasonings. Mix thoroughly until you have a batter like consistency adjusting milk and flour as needed.

3. Dice tomatoes into slices of your choice and one at a time coat the tomatoes with the batter and set them in frying pan. Oil should be hot before you do this.

4. Fry for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side then set them on a plate covered with paper towel

5. Try not to eat the whole tray:)

I ended up dipping them in ketchup but I'm sure they would be just as delicious with hot sauce, cocktail sauce, or any sauce you prefer! Give them a go and let me know how you like them!
~Peace begins with your plate~

Stuffed Shells

If you are looking for a filling cheesy pasta look no further! These stuffed shells will definitely hit the spot. This is a heavy meal that will not leaving you missing anything! You will need a high speed blender to make the cheese.

Ingredients:

1 package of jumbo pasta shells

2 jars of spaghetti sauce of your choice

1 cup of raw cashews or sunflower seeds

1/2 cup of nutritional yeast

1 cup of almond milk or any non dairy milk

garlic

Italian seasoning

Mushrooms

1/2 yellow onion

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper 

Spinach

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a high speed blender add cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper and garlic and blend until you have a thick cream cheese consistency. If its too liquidy add more nutritional yeast and if its too thick add more almond milk.

2. Place into a mixing bowl and mix in a couple handfuls of chopped spinach.

3. In a large pot saute diced onion, bell peppers, and mushroom. Add more Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook on medium high heat until veggies are to your preference for me that's usually about 10 minutes.

4. Reduce heat to low and add both jars of tomato sauce. Stir everything thoroughly and let simmer on low while pasta cooks.

5. Boil jumbo shells and then drain, I usually give them a cold water rinse to make sure they don't stick together. 

6. Grab a baking dish that can hold a casserole and coat the bottom of the pan with the pasta sauce.

7. Using a spoon take the cashew cheese we made and stuff the shells with the mixture and then line them up in the baking dish.

8. Pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta and cover with foil then bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool down before serving.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you want to give it even more of a kick you could add some vegan Italian sausage or meatless crumbles into the pasta sauce. Every time I serve a dish with the cashew cheese no one can ever tell its vegan. Its great for lasagna and manicotti dishes as well. Let me know if you enjoyed this meal!

~Peace begins with your plate~

12 week Loc Update!

Before the locs

Day 1

Week 3

Week 6

Week 9

Week 12

My Loc Journey <<<<Check out my youtube!

Hey guys! I figured its been a while since I updated my blog with how my locs are doing. I am still in the game and absolutely LOVING it. Today makes 12 weeks and on the 19th I will be exactly 3 months in. You can see from my pictures my hair has gone through some serious changes. Those smooth twist from day 1 are long gone lol.  I still have some 2 strand twist pattern in some areas where my hair is finer but most of the back is disappeared and I have tons of budding everywhere! I have only done 1 retwist and that is pictured in my 3 week mark. I did the retwist because I was being overwhelmed by the frizz and to just be real going from being obsessed with my hair and always having my hand in it to just letting it do its thing I got kind of bored and felt the need to do something so I retwisted.  I almost immediately regretted it because then I got the scalpy look and it thinned my locs out a lot. I am on a semi-free form loc journey which means I will do no retwist or they will be very far and few in between. I am hoping to not have to ever retwist again but I am just going to listen to my hair and do what it tells me to do. For now I just separate them everyday and that's enough to prevent them from all meshing together. I like the look of free form locs but that is not for me at this point in my life. I am loving how simple my life has become since I locked my hair up. All I do is shampoo once or twice a week with Dr. Bronners peppermint shampoo, oil daily w castor or coconut oil, and keep them separated. When I was a loose natural I had so many hair products it was ridiculous. Every week I was rushing to buy some more shea moisture or whatever products I thought I needed to achieve the "perfect" twistout.  I look back and I was doing wayyyy too much.  I couldn't even leave the house without prepping my hair hours in advance.  Knowing that I can now walk out the door in 15 minutes is priceless!

This journey for me is about so much more than just hair.  Everyone is different but for me this journey is about learning and accepting myself in my most raw form. Learning patience, letting go, and trusting the process.  Of course I cant wait for my locs to mature and I know the way it looks physically will make me happy but seeing myself transform week by week, month by month, I learn so much more about myself.  I am more than my hair.  I am more than an image. I have been living a pretty free lifestyle for the past few years and freeing myself from the hours of work and money I put into maintaining my loose natural hair has given me motivation to focus more on other things that I often put on the back burner.  I am putting my energy into things that matter. We live in a world where women are often made to feel like they need things like hair, makeup, clothes, and model type bodies to be complete. When you learn to truly accept yourself with out all the bullshit the world tells you that you need in order to be seen as attractive you reach a dangerous new level of freedom.  My locs may still be in the "ugly stage" in many peoples eyes, I don't do the beat face trend or any of the other silly shit that the world wants us to put our focus on but I feel more beautiful than I have ever felt in all my life. 

This journey has taught me self acceptance on a whole new level and I am very much so spiritually connected to my locs. They remind me of plants and nature, watching them grow and transform, watering them daily.  No one thinks anything of the tiny sprouts but everyone will enjoy the harvest. We are no different than anything else growing in nature.

Thank for following my journey and make sure to head over to my youtube channel for more frequent updates and don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe.  My 3 month update will be up soon! My Loc Journey

Loaded Nachos

Who doesn't love a huge plate of nachos loaded with all the goods? Nobody! I'm gonna show you guys a much healthier alternative to traditional nachos that are still packed with flavor and wont make you feel like your missing anything!

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips

Vegan Queso Queso recipe

lentils

pinto beans

onion

green onion

tomato

lettuce

jalapenos

salsa

taco seasoning

Directions:

1. Look back to my mac and cheese recipe to blend up the queso needed for this recipe.Queso recie

2. In a large sauce pan cook lentils with taco seasoning packet (make sure its vegan the do slip milk in certain brands)

3. Smash cooked pinto beans up to make refried beans or you can purchase a can

4. Layer the chips with queso, beans, and lentils. Make 2 layers like this.

5. Place nachos in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

6. Top with diced onion, green onion, tomato, lettuce, jalapeno, and salsa.

Load these nachos up anyway you like them! If you really wanna do it up throw some meatless crumbles in there as well! You can also load up tacos or burritos with the same ingredients. Great recipe to use if you are entertaining non vegans they will leave thinking vegans only eat grass!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Tofu and Potato Scramble

This is a great meal for any one looking for something to replace their typical egg breakfast. It is full of protein and will fill you up with out having to consume chicken menstruation! Its very simple and you can adjust ingredients to your liking.

Ingredients:

1 pack of extra firm tofu

1 medium to large potato

1/2 of a red pepper

1/2 of a green pepper

mushrooms

onion

salt and pepper

turmeric

onion powder

mustard

paprika

daiya cheddar cheese shreds (optional)

Directions:

1. Dice up peppers, onion, and mushroom and set to the side.

2. Drain tofu and press water out with paper towels.

3. Dice potato and saute in a large frying pan for about 5 minutes with a couple teaspoons of water.

4. Using your hands crumble the tofu up so it looks like real scrambled eggs and put in the pan to cook with the eggs for another 5 minutes on medium high heat.

5. Add the rest of the veggies and continue cooking until veggies are sautéed completely.

6. Add seasonings to your liking but only use a dash of turmeric because its mostly there for coloring.

7. Add 1 teaspoon of mustard and continue mixing. This is optional for color as well.

8. Add a handful of daiya shreds and stir in until they are melted.

9. Serve and enjoy!

This tofu scramble tastes so much like real scrambled eggs its insane! The only difference is this recipe is 100% cruelty free! You can serve this over toast, wrapped in a tortilla like pictured above, or served with vegan sausage and waffles. There are several ways to adjust this recipe. I hope you give this recipe a try and make sure to lmk if you do by tagging me on Instagram @veganhigh

*Peace begins with your plate*