How to Plan Vegan Meals When Meat is No Longer the Center of the Meal

It took me a little bit of time to understand how I should plan our meals without meat being the center of it.

Before starting this journey, I always saw dinner as:

Meat + Vegetable + Starch + A piece of fruit (ocassionally) 

The idea of not having chicken, steak or fish as the center of a meal left me wondering what to put in its place.

How the heck should you plan delicious and filling meals that you family will actually eat without the meat?

Think of it like this - protein aka "what most of us think of as meat" is still the center of your meal. You will now replace the beef, chicken & seafood with a plant-based alternative that is better for you. 

Once you start a vegetarian or vegan journey, the meat portion of the meal is now tofu, tempeh, quinoa, eggplant, vegan sausage (like this brand), vegan chicken or taco meat made out of walnuts.

This shift can seem overwhelming, but I promise it will get better as you start meal planning for your family.

To put it in perspective, here are 5 different vegan dinners with protein still being the center of the meal:

Lentil Soup with rice and a side salad - lentils are the center of the meal and is a great source of protein

Vegan Fried chicken, mac & cheese & steamed broccoli vegan chicken (this one is a Gardein soy product) is the center of the meal and is a great source of protein

Taco salad with pico de gallo, guacamole, romaine, vegan sour cream and cilantro The "meat" in this taco salad is made out of walnut & sun-dried tomatoes; which is the protein center of this meal

BBQ tofu, rice & broccoli - Tofu is the protein center of this meal 

Chili, vegan Texas toast & steamed vegetables or a side salad - Kidney beans is the protein center of this meal 

As you can see, you're still following the meat + vegetable + starch formula but in a more compassionate, plant-based way.

It's all about shifting your mindset and seeing where the protein is in your meal.

 

Here's a chart with several more plant-based sources of protein

Pic Source

I hope this is helpful!

How to Eat More Green Leafy Vegetables

It doesn't have to be all or nothing to get started on eating a more healthy and compassionate diet.

Even if you're not ready to go vegan, you can still start to crowd out some of that meat, dairy and eggs with more leafy greens and other vegetables.

Eating more green leafy vegetables reduce your chances of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and aids in helping your immune and digestive systems.

The 5 tips below will work for anyone, no matter how busy you get.

 

Tips on How to Eat More Greens:

Skip the french fries for a side salad while dining out - This is a hard one for me, but I always feel so much better eating my veggie burger with a side salad instead of french fries. Check to make sure the server skips the croutons (which usually contain diary) & cheese and ask for a vinaigrette instead of a creamy dressing. 

Throw some greens on your veggie burgers and sandwiches - You can use spinach, any type of lettuce or/and massaged kale and throw on as many greens as you can handle.

Blend up some greens - A smoothie with a handful of raw greens is an easy way to bulk up your vegetable intake. Make a quick one with strawberries, frozen banana, liquid (water, juice, almond milk) and fresh spinach, kale, collards, or swiss chard for breakfast. If you've never had a green smoothie, start your green smoothie journey with raw spinach. You don't taste the spinach at all. Check out green smoothie recipes on Simple Green Smoothies Instagram 

Add an extra green leafy vegetable to your dinner plate - Even if you're still eating meat, eggs, and dairy, you should add an extra vegetable to your dinner plate each night to help crowd out some of those dishes. Keep it simple by steaming or sautéing some spinach, collards or bok choy and season it with salt, black pepper, etc. Or you can massage a bowl of fresh kale with a little olive oil and lemon juice and then toss with a little red onion and nutritional yeast.

This salad has spring mix, tomatoes, avocados and red onion 

Snack on a daily salad - I know. I know. You probably already think most vegans eat just salads anyway. I promise this isn't true! I just think salads make for an awesome snack. Make a large bowl early in the week and pack it up to snack on while at work. This is sooo much better than hitting the vending machine every day.

I hope these tips are helpful!

Eat those greens, yo!

 

How do you get more greens into your diet? Leave me a comment below

It's Okay to Be A Vegetarian FIRST

I was talking to someone a few weeks ago and realized one of the main reasons families have a hard time transitioning to vegan life is because it's too much of a leap.

It can be pretty difficult to jump from Chick Fil'A to fried tofu & kale salads overnight.

That's a fact.

The missing link is being a vegetarian first.

I was a vegetarian for 2 years before becoming a vegan, so I don't know why I didn't really think to encourage this for other families.

In fact, when I was a vegetarian, I didn't even think I would start a vegan journey (since I tried before and it didn't work).

I just want to give you permission to do what works best for your family. Don't discount the progress! There's so much power in making gradual changes.

 I believe making gradual changes will lead to a long-term vegan life.

 Even if you commit to eating more vegetables daily, it's a step in the right direction.

Spring mix, cucumber, red onion, tomato & avocado. I used an oil and lemon dressing

In this latest video, I give you 4 tips on how to transition to more plant-based meals. Click below to watch....

Tips to move forward:

• Replace your butter & milk with plant-based alternatives - This is a easy change because you won't notice it too much. Instead of conventional butter, use Earth Balance or one of these options. Also, for plant-based milk you can use soy, almond, coconut or hemp milk for cereal and cooking.
• Add an extra vegetable to your plate or commit to a daily salad like the one above - This will help crowd out some of the foods you shouldn't eat
• Do some research - Watch a few documentaries (Vegucated is a good one) and read some books (Sistah Vegan & Diet for A New America are good ones)
• Commit to Meatless Monday - Your family is more likely to embrace this small change opposed to feeling overwhelmed with being vegan overnight.

Be gentle with yourself and open to new experiences and I promise you'll make great strides forward.

You've got this!

My Simple Advice for Dealing with Picky Eaters

You know the deal...

After a long day at work, you put together a simple meal that you're positive that one will actually eat.

You spend 35 minutes throwing down in the kitchen, put his plate down on the table and he declares....

"I'm not eating this. Where's the chicken?"

The struggle is so real! The picky eaters rule the world and we just live in it.

It can be your husband who side-eyes anything with beans in it or your pre-teen who refuses broccoli - no matter how well you season it.

I know this life too well.

Elijah (my middle son) is my picky eater.

His pre-vegan meal of choice was chicken nuggets and french fries...that's about it. He wouldn't even eat anything that was touched by a vegetable (or even fun stuff like macaroni and cheese).

Looking back, I realize I was a big enabler...

I wasn't the most confident about my cooking skills and since my mom never made multiple meals for me (I was her picky eater lol), I wanted to make the vegan transition easier for him.

I would plead with him, make something else, or run out and grab him a separate meal. 

It was exhausting.

His favorite line was, "Don't put it on my plate because I don't want to waste your time." *sigh*

Here's my best tip for dealing with a picky eater... DON'T!

I'm so serious....

• Do yourself a favor- make only one meal. Make it simple. Make it delicious and make it vegan. I promise your picky eater will not starve if they miss that one meal. They will always find at least one thing to eat on their plates...even if it's just the bread or strawberries. Let them catch up on the next meal. Even if they don't like a certain food, continue to put it on their plate. Exposure is sooo important and I believe this is one of the reasons Elijah started eating vegetables.
• Be open to experimenting with vegan version of their favorite foods. I made Elijah vegan fried chicken and used Gardein crispy tenders for his "meat" fix.  Make a list of their favorite dishes and get to work veganizing them! 

Elijah has grown to like vegetables over the last several years.

Here are some pictures of him eating my seaweed salad a few months ago....

Elijah still doesn't love everything (he will probably always be a picky eater) but he has come a long way. I'm so happy about his progress!

I made a video with him a while ago, and he gave some great tips on how to handle picky eaters in your own family.

Check it out here....

My Favorite Vegan Cheese Brands

After posting this picture from Busboys & Poets on Instagram & Facebook...

Nachos!

A photo posted by Monique (@brownvegan) on Jun 27, 2015 at 12:57pm PDT

I got a few questions about my favorite brand of vegan cheese.

This was my face when I started eating vegan cheese back in 2010...

In fact, it took me 2 years to acquire a taste for it. lol 

My best advice for eating pre-packed vegan cheese is to go into it as a new experience.  

Don't expect it to taste exactly like conventional cheese.

Think of it this way, if it tasted exactly like conventional cheese, everyone would already be eating it.

Also, most vegan cheese is great when mixed in with other ingredients - like in this lasagna recipe. 

Here are Four of My Favorite Vegan Cheese Brands:

Field Roast - This is my fave vegan brand (we love their sausages and hotdogs) and they didn't disappoint with their chao slices. Our fave is the cayenne tomato (used it in this video) This brand is made out of coconut and does contain soy

Heidi Ho - I had this cheese with nachos at a conference and it was amazing! It's made from cashews and vegetable puree and doesn't have a lot of yucky ingredients. Also, the owner, Heidi is cool as hell. :-) This brand is also soy and gluten-free

Miyoko's Kitchen - This.cheese.is.everything. For the first time since becoming a vegan I feel like I finally have a vegan cheese that I can eat with crackers and a glass of wine. This is a nut-based cheese and is so worth the extra money. 

Daiya I wasn't a fan of this cheese until recently... It's a perfect example of all of the right ingredients but lacks in the "taste like cheese" department. It melts, stretches and is great on grilled cheese with avocado, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. It is also nut, gluten and soy-free and is the most accessible brand out of the 4 mentioned.

This sandwich using Daiya cheese is perfection!

If you're not interested in pre-packaged vegan cheese, you can also make your own out of cashews like in this Alfredo sauce and queso recipe.

I haven't tried this cashew cheese recipe (or this one) but they look great.

Back in my early YouTube days I made a video about how I was able to slowly eliminate cheese from my diet.

Check it out here...