Transitioning to Plant Based Diet

Cutting dairy and animal protein, exploring vegan, and experimenting with raw led to frenzy-research, buying, and preparing. Vitamix and Excalibur joined the appliance family overpowering Kitchen Aid mixer and barely nodding to coffee pot.

Twenty-two jars, four bowls, a fifty-five gallon Coleman, and countless green storage bags joined two four feet industrial shelves.

Five new cookbooks, a cookbook holder, Pinterest, and a blog gave me unlimited learning opportunities and hours and hours of study. What did I learn?

Less is best. Simple is underrated. Eating a raw plant based diet eliminates cravings, therefore learning to make nuts into cheeses and fruit into ice cream, and nuts and soy into meat proved unnecessary. We no longer crave meat, want cheese, or need dessert. If I want a nut, I eat a nut and it does not have to taste like anything but a nut. Really!

I appreciate all the wonderful chefs and cooks who pour heart and soul into new ways to make old recipes, but for me, for now, I will keep it simple.

To your health,

Claudia

Meal Planning

Meal planning is more of a challenge than I anticipated since my VEGAN quest began.  I do not eat  just VEGAN, but healthy, organic, whole grains, no dairy, limited gluten, no pasta, no bread, no sugar, and so on.  I have so many wonderful cookbooks and recipes and links to VEGAN sites, but alas, learning how to pair veggies is a challenge.

My morning always is Kimberly Snyder’s GGS (Glowing Green Smoothie) and lunch is always a salad for hubby and usually a wrap for me.  Dinner is where I get lost.  No fruit for dinner, so I have whole grains and veggies.  I need to work in protein, so legumes or nuts.  Then color is vital, cannot have everything brown.

Then I have hubby who has a list of non-negotiables from the veggie bench, which eliminates a few hundred choices.  Who knew vegetarians ate so much broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, avocados, cauliflower, cooked greens, and brussel sprouts?  When I settle on a new recipe I like , I often realize I do not have the right greens, grain, or spice.

No one said this overhaul in nutrition would be easy, but I was never prepared for how comical it is!  I am sixty-something and starting over in a kitchen that once was so familiar is funny!  Now I want to throw everything out and buy recycled colorful colanders, knives, cutting boards, and bowls and I do not even know what to chop, slice, dice, juice, blend, freeze, bake, broil, or eat raw!  Who cares, as long as it is fun and pretty, right?

I will have this down soon, and you will too.  Let us not get discouraged, we are BOOMERS and we have proven we can do anything!

Blessings,

Carecia