Veganizer
I feel like a new woman since cutting out dairy. Seriously.
I’ve had a lot of fun veganizing my own recipes and trying the recipes from Veganomicon.
I made a vegan version of my
Strawberry Pie
I made a whole wheat crust with whole wheat pastry flour.
The filling was a blended strawberries, fresh halved strawberries vegan sugar (still sugar but I let it slide) and cornstarch
I topped that with CoolWhip’s healthier cousin
Mallard ,who still does not like vegan food, 
… ate half.
I tried to make Veganomicon’s cupcakes.
I usually pride myself if being a fantastic baker
Not this time
Cupcake Flop
Was it the time? The preparation? The world may never know…
I spoke with Alyson about different ways to add fats into my diet since the only source of fat for me in the last 6 months has been nut butters.
I guess I just love them so it’s an easy way get my fat in. I really don’t use oil in everyday cooking.
There must be some variety though.
Choco-cadoats
1/2 cup of oats cooked in 1 cup water
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp Nustevia
1/4 smashed avocado
I’ve seen this tooling around health blogs
So I gave it a try
Wow. I may love that more than peanut butter.
However, I plan to experiment with making my own nut and seed butters soon.
In reading about minimally processed vegan food, I have come accross a lot of fantastic info on raw food.
Though the title lacks creativity, the book itself contains some great info and tasty-looking recipes
Beet Burgers
Raw Carrot Cake
Of course there is a lot more to raw food than just pink burgers and pretty desserts.
The whole concept intrugues me. In fact, I may go completely raw through pregnancy if I am to have another child.
It seems to make the pregnancy and delivery easier on the body.
I know one high-raw mama who is proof of what raw can do for vitality in general!
I can’t imagine what a raw diet must do for energy levels. Switching to a vegan diet has made me feel so much more alert and I don’t even drink caffeine anymore. The only caffeine I have is the cocoa in my oats once in a blue moon.
Sharing what I have learned about health has become such a positve force for me.
Mallard and Snuff had a family birthday party to attend (I had to study for exams)
I sent a simple pasta salad.
1 box of whole wheat noodles cooked until aldente
one package of organic tomatoes
two chopped bell peppers
and about 2/3 of a bottle of organic Italian dressing
I mixed it the night before and put it in this vintage tupperware that my grandma gave me when I got engaged
I can’t help but laugh when I look at it. But the concept of the lid design actually works!
When I press the center of the lid, the sides latch. Go 1973!
I also made this vegan bean dip
I have kind of unofficially decided to incorporate more raw foods and eventually become high raw vegan.
But I have had some Amy’s meals and burgers in my freezer for months that need to be eaten or given away.
Amy’s All American Burger
Ezekial bread
Kale
Nayonaise
Organic Ketchup
yum.
I’m pretty sure I can get Mallard to eat some of the dinner meals when he is “hungry but doesn’t know what he wants”
Hey girl!
Glad your vegan lifestyle is working out for you! I would never have thought to put avocado in my oatmeal, but I bet it is delicious! I love avocado so much! And you had not tried Sunbutter until now!?! OMG, it’s ridiculously good! The only downside is that when I do eat it, I eat too much! DOH!
I love how colorful your menu is! As for dairy, I just wrote a post about NOT giving up dairy. I love my Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and regular cheese too much. Most of the research I have done on figure competition diets says to cut it out during prep, and I’m trying to hold off cutting it out until the competition date gets closer. We’ll see. However, when I do, I am going to make it a point to write down how I feel sans-dairy to see if it make a difference in my body like it has yours. Way to be intuitive!
I totally understand how good it feels to give up dairy. I feel so much…cleaner and lighter. I guess those are the only words to describe the feeling really. But I’m sure you know what I mean.
~Amanda
does the sun butter taste anything like pb? i’m scared of it! hehehe
I also cut dairy back out and feel MUCH better AND just tried Sunbutter LOL! I don’t like it as much as PB but that’s good. I can control myself with Sunbutter
Have you tried cooking your veggies in coconut oil? That’s a good way to get some fats in, or avocados.
I love sunbutter! At fist I thought it was weird but then it grew on me
Yum, Sunbutter is good, have you ever tried Cashew butter? It’s my favorite. It’s easy to make homemade too, just blend some cashews into a fine powder and add a little bit of oil, nice and creamy! Yum! Glad you’re feeling better without the dairy, it’s amazing what a difference than at can make. I tried going raw a few months back, but I missed cooked foods too much! I was never quite satisfied with an all-raw diet. I’ve tried to strike a balance now by going “raw” till lunch and then cooked from then on out. It works well for me, you’ll have to post if you find any good raw recipes…that’s what I had a hard time finding. ( :
i’m happy to hear cutting out dairy is helping your insides! that’s so great to hear, and i’m loving the rest of the vegan eats! they look delicious!
and i have that sunbutter but i feel like it needs more salt…maybe it’s because i’m practically made of salt. haha.
You know I’m drooling over those desserts! Raw desserts are the best, though I think it is next to impossible to eat just one Date at a time (or is it just me?!), totally nature’s candy
I’ve always wanted to try sunbutter. Glad you hear you are finding something that works for you and you are feeling great!
Those desserts look yum!
Try avocado and banana on sandwich, oatmeal, oatbran…
I am pondering going a week of being a vegan….giving up yogurt would be really hard for me!
WOuld you like to do a guest post on your philosophy?
You’ve become vegan on me Jenna! I didn’t know this!! Well, good for you, if it’s making you feel better. I have thought about giving up dairy but instead of giving it up I decided to cut my intake down. I do more soy milk and yogurt, and only one real dairy source each day.
What a great idea to add avocado to your oats. I’ve loving that. Like you, I typically get about 90% of my fat from nut butters! The rest is from oil, ice cream (ok, another dairy source!), and sometimes olives and cheese (hehe, more dairy! But this is rare).
I love Amy’s brand of foods. SOOOO GOOD!
Absolutely! The only concern is that it is ever-evolving lol
Haha I had to laugh when I read your first line. YEAH I FELT LIKE A WHOLE NEW WOMAN GIVING UP DAIRY AS WELL!!! When i decided to go vegan, cutting out dairy was sooooooo damn difficult for me. Obvious ones like milk, yoghurt, ice-cream, etc were easy to give up, but butter was so hard! Butter’s in practically all baked goods. But I’m glad I’m totally over it!!
Your raw food looks awesome!! Recipe for the donut hole please!! I’ve been making raw food for my family too. They’re amazed that raw food actually tastes so good. I think that once you get into eating raw, your tastebuds will be cleansed and cooked food starts tasting kinda odd and funny to you. At least, that’s how it is for me. Sometimes cooked food tastes downright disgusting. Or maybe I just buy from really bad stalls.
Keep up the raw food recipes!!
Hey!
I just found your blog and am loving it so far!!
A great beginner raw food cook book is http://www.rawrose.com I just took her 2 week raw chef certification and it was amazing!! The recipes are simple and delicious!! I think you can order the cookbook online!!
I was 100% raw for those 2 weeks I took the course and felt amazing. Now I just try to be raw as much as possible. (with out traumatizing my VERY non raw hubby to be!) haha
anyways, great blog, I look forward to reading more!
Jess