Fat Free French Fries

Everybody loves French fries. These are so simple to make and 100% guilt free! Potatoes by nature are a fat free plant based food. We are adding no oil to these just seasonings and they come out just as crispy and delicious as traditional deep fried French fries!

Hope this recipe is as simple as it looks for you. Its a cheap easy meal you can prepare any time!

 Ingredients:

Potatoes

garlic powder

onion powder

chili powder

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Steam potatoes for about 10 minutes

2. Let potatoes cool down, cut them into the shape you want your fries to be.

3. Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl and add all the seasonings in the bowl.

4. Toss potatoes in seasonings until they are evenly coated.

5. Place potatoes on a large baking sheet lined in foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure all potatoes are laying flat and not piled on top of each other.

7.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes flipping potatoes half way into cooking time.

8. Serve with ketchup or any vegan sauce of choice!
~Peace begins with your plate~

Green Bean and Brocoli Casserole

I honestly never gave green bean casserole a chance until after going vegan and getting creative in the kitchen. I just assumed it was a dish I would not like lol.  That is so far from the truth! It is actually one of my favorite comfort foods to make nowadays. I put my own twist in it by adding broccoli because I just really like broccoli and thought it would be a great addition in this dish. This meal is creamy, savory, and all those things you look for in a dish like this.

 Ingredients:

3 cups of fresh green beans

2 heads of broccoli

2 cups of sliced mushrooms

1/2 of an onion

2 cups of vegetable broth

1 cup of non dairy milk

3tbs of soy sauce

1 cup of flour

garlic

salt and pepper

crispy onions

Directions:

1. Cut the ends of green beans and rinse. Also cut the broccoli into small pieces and rinse that as well.

2. Steam green beans and broccoli for about 10 minutes to soften.

3. Season with salt and pepper and set to the side.

4. Dice onions and wash off mushrooms

5. Sautee onion and mushroom and garlic in a large pot with about 1tbsp of water. Cook on medium heat until onions are translucent.

6. Add flour, milk, and broth to the pot and stir vigorously to make sure all the flour is blended. You should have a creamy sauce. If its too thick add more broth, if too watery add more flour. It should be a thick gravy consistency.

7. Add soy sauce salt and pepper to sauce.

8. Add broccoli and green beans to the sauce and mix everything making sure all the vegetables are coated.

9. Put everything into a large baking pan and bake covered at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes.

10. Let the casserole cool down for about 5 minutes and then top it with crispy onions.

11. Serve and enjoy!

I promise you will enjoy this casserole. Here it is pictured with mashed potatoes and gravy and tofu. Feel free to adjust seasonings however you like too. Sometimes I add Cajun seasoning or some red chili flakes. This is good as a side dish or your main course either way it will fill you up!

Mango nice cream with blueberry sauce

Mangoes are one of my favorite fruits, actually it is my favorite fruit. Nothing better than a juicy ripe mango! I also enjoy them frozen and blended up. This recipe is not quite your traditional smoothie bowl because we are keeping the consistency much thicker closer to an ice cream. Top it off with this sweet blueberry sauce and any additional toppings of your choice and you have a healthy dessert you can enjoy any time of the day! For this recipe you will need a high speed blender!

Ingredients:

2 cups of frozen mangoes

small handful of frozen blueberries

3 pitted dates

1 cup of coconut water

1tbsp of coconut sugar

raw cacao bites

Directions:

1. Put mangoes in blender with about half a cup of coconut water and coconut sugar.

2. Blend on high until everything is blended to a smooth creamy consistency. Adjust amount of water and mangoes as necessary.

3. Place mangoes in a bowl and set aside in the freezer.

4. Add blueberries, dates, and enough coconut water to just about cover the fruit.

5. Blend on high speed

6. Remove mangoes from freezer and pour blueberry sauce on top.

7. Add sliced raw cacao bites and any other vegan toppings your heart desires!

8. Enjoy!

Sauteed Kale and veggie sandwich

If you need an idea for something to take for lunch at work or just a quick meal to fill you up when you don't have a lot of time you can never go wrong with a sandwich. Here is one of my favorite go to meals when I want something good but don't have a lot of time!

Ingredients:

2 slices of whole grain bread

Kale

mushroom

onion

cucumber

tomato

jalapeno

hummus

Directions:

1. Saute kale, mushroom, and onion in a little bit of water until onion is cooked down to your liking.

2. Slice some cucumber, tomato, and jalapeno

3. Toast bread

4. Add your favorite hummus to both slices of bread and then stack sandwich with sautéed kale mix on one side and the cucumber, tomato, and jalapeno on the other side and combine slices.

5.  If you want to give the sandwich a extra boost instead of toasting the bread in a regular toaster put the sandwich together grab some cooking spray and toast the sandwich in a skillet for about 2 minutes on each side.

You can use a variety of veggies to make this sandwich so use whatever your heart desires! Pair this with some chips or soup and you have a complete meal.  Again don't overthink veganism it is no more difficult to create meals than when you were a meat eater unless you make it that way!

~Peace begins with your plate~

Falafel and vegetable curry

If you're into Indian food then you will enjoy this quick simple curry dish. Its loaded with vegetables and goes great with my falafel recipe. Took me a while to figure out how to perfect my falafel but I think I finally got it down! You will need a food processor or a high speed blender for the falafel.

Ingredients:

(falafel)

4 cans of chickpeas or you can soak and cook them yourself

1 cup of fresh parsley

1 lemon

1 cup of flour

salt and pepper

garlic

cumin

2 flax eggs

(vegetable curry)

Brocoli

carrots

peas

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

mushroom

1 yellow onion

1 can of diced tomatoes

coconut milk

dairy free plain yogurt

curry seasoning

turmeric

garlic

salt and pepper

thai chili seasoning

 pictured above is before baking

after baking

Directions for falafel:

1. Rinse chickpeas and place in food processor

2. Roughly chop parsley and add that in food processor as well and blend until there are still some chunks but its mostly smooth

3. Place mixture into a large mixing bowl

4. Add flour, juice of lemon, seasonings, and flax eggs and mix thoroughly

5. Preheat oven to 375

6. Line a baking sheet with foil

7. Use your hands to roll the mixture up into the shape of little balls and place on baking sheet

8. Bake for 40 minutes flipping balls around half way through

9. Allow to cool so they firm up and then serve.

Directions for curry:

1. Dice all of the vegetables and place them into a large pot with about 2 cups of water and allow the veggies to steam for about 15 minutes

2. Add salt and pepper to the veggies

3. Add can of diced tomatoes and continue cooking for about 5 minutes

4. Once all of the veggies are steamed to your liking add about 1 cup of coconut milk depending on how creamy you like your curry

5. Add the rest of the seasonings to your liking and allow curry to cook on medium high for about 10 to 15 minutes

6. Turn down heat and let it cool down for about 10 minutes

7. Add about 2 tbsp. of yogurt to curry and mix through. If you want it creamier add more

8. Serve over rice of your choice!

Add a couple scoops of hummus or some naan breed and you have the perfect meal! You can always switch up the veggies adding in more or removing the ones you don't like. Sometimes I even add potatoes, chickpeas, or tofu to the curry if I want a heavier meal. Also feel free to skip the yogurt if that's not your thing, its really up to you! Like most of my meals this dish has no added oils and is low in fat so dig in!

Cheesy Kale Chips

Kale is one of the most nutrient dense greens that you can put into your body. Any way that you can get greens in get them in! This snack is savory, cheesy, and addicting and the good thing about them is they are raw and clean so you can eat as much as your heart desires. You will need a dehydrator to prepare these as a raw snack but they are oven friendly too!

Ingredients:

1 head of kale

nutritional yeast

salt and pepper

sriracha powder

Directions:

1. Rip kale of the stem and into chip like sizes

2. Place kale into a strainer and thoroughly rinse and drain

3. Once dry place into a large mixing bowl

4. Add approximately 2tbsp of nutritional yeast, sriracha powder, salt and pepper and shake in the bowl until all the kale is evenly coated with seasonings. Season to your liking you can always add more

5. Lay flat in a dehydrator and let dehydrate for 1 to 2 hours

6. If you don't have a dehydrator put them in oven on 275 degrees for about 20 minutes

7. Enjoy!

The

Spaghetti

I could eat spaghetti just about everyday. Pasta is one of my favorite foods but before I went vegan I always had to eat it in moderation or just not eat it all because as a meat eater you are taught to believe carbs are the devil. I would literally eat a big greasy beef patty w cheese, bacon, and mayo, but cut out the bun bc that would make me fat lol. Once I switched over to a high carb low fat vegan diet I never thought twice about eating carbs and trust me they will not make you fat! Pasta, rice, potatoes etc. are all naturally fat free foods. Carbs don't make you fat, fat makes you fat!

Ingredients:

1 pack of spaghetti

2 jars of spaghetti sauce

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 onion

1 pack of mushrooms

2 tomatoes

1 pack of meatless crumbles (optional)

salt and pepper

garlic

Italian seasonings

Directions:

1. Boil pasta and set aside

2. Add 1 cup of water to a large pot and turn heat to medium high setting

3. Dice peppers and onions and add to the water with salt and pepper

4. Let everything steam with a lid for about 10 minutes

5. Add mushrooms and diced tomatoes and steam for another few minutes

6. Add spaghetti sauce and mix thoroughly

7. Mix in meat crumbles and allow them to cook through

8. Add garlic, Italian seasonings and stir

8. You can add the noodles to the sauce or serve the noodles and then top with sauce!

As you see this recipe is very simple. Not too much different than traditional spaghetti with meat. I think the idea of vegan food sounds a lot more complicating to most people than it has to be. Just about any of your favorite dishes you can veganize simply by removing the meat and the dairy. In 2016 there are several different brands of vegan meats and vegan cheeses you can choose from or you can always skip the processed foods completely and just get straight to the point with veggies. Don't overthink it, play around with different types of vegetables and personalize the spaghetti to your liking just as you would traditional spaghetti. There is no wrong way to do this!

*Peace begins with your plate*