Tag: vegan

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The Unhealthy Vegetarian

tlkitchen

Reading the title, you are probably thinking ‘what does that even mean?’ Most of the time when someone says they are vegetarian or vegan you imagine them sleeping on a bed a lettuce and eating avocado toast everyday but of course it is more complex then that. There is an unhealthy side to vegetarianism and no it has nothing to do with protein deficiency.

I often reflex over my long, now 8 year journey of being a vegetarian and I can’t help but laugh at some of the ups and downs I have faced. I jumped head first into vegetarianism and though I did I little research before hand, I still had no idea what I was doing. Naturally, I made a lot of mistakes a long the way. So if the unhealthy vegetarian world needed a poster child, I am free on Tuesdays. I felt inspired this morning to write a blog post going over this topic in hopes that it helps someone while they piece together their vegetarian journey or maybe just their journey with gaining a better relationship with food, vegetarian or not.

Full Disclosure: Never forget that life is short and everything I mention are things to CAN do just things you should not do on a regular basis. Eat the cook but also have a salad 🙂

Carb Overload

When I first became a vegetarian I was hungry ALL THE TIME! It felt like no matter what I ate it was not enough and I basically replaced meat with carbs. It was bad you guys, I would eat potato sandwiches (insert shameful faced emoji). As a result, I gained almost 100 lbs in a little under a year. Carbohydrates are not bad, despite what diets try to tell you. In fact, in high school, before our ROTC Physical Training competitions they would tell us to eat a high carb dinner the night before because you body needs the glucose you get from carbs for energy. Just don’t over do it and if you find yourself hungry all the time, load up on protein instead!

Not Actually Eating Vegetables

I am not 100% guilty of this one because I am always loved my vegetables but as crazy as this one sounds I have met vegetarians who don’t eat many vegetables. These vegetarians are the ‘As long as there is no meat it’s vegetarian’ kind of people. Which….yeah, they technically are not wrong, however, it’s not the healthiest way to go about things. If you scan over your week and you had pizza, fries, pizza again, fries, veggie burger with fries and the left over pizza from night one. You might want to reevaluate your eating habits a bit. I will admit, I am a sucker for pizza, so I have to watch myself on that one. Vegetables are amazing, eat them!!!

Veggie Chicken,Veggie Burgers, Veggie Turkey, Veggie Ham……ect…

Yesterday I wrote a blog post talking about my favorite meat alternative brands click here to check it out! In the post I mentioned that though these products are amazing, they are processed foods and I would not recommend making them the primary source of your diet. They are healthier and you could be eating a lot worse but some of these products are high in sodium and you really want to be mindful of how much you eat. It’s easy to pick up a pack of veggie burgers but you can also pick up chickpeas or black beans and make a homemade veggie burger at home. Not processed, not full of salt and other artificial fillers and even healthier. With that being said, I still love meat alternative products, I still eat them, I get excited when something new comes out. It’s all about balance.

Really Only Eating Leaves

Lastly, I want to talk about not eating enough. I am guilty of overthinking about what I should be eating as a vegetarian. I have had more moments than I would like to admit, were I was eating pretty much nothing and starving my body. Not eating or not eating enough is just as bad, if not worse than over eating or eating the wrong things. Don’t eat lettuce, cucumber salads every day all day because you body will break down at some point. The world jokes about vegetarians eating only leaves but of course it is not true. Explore food, there are so many options out there and I encourage you to try them all!

At the end of the day it is all about balance! Finding the right balance for you is hard. I am still trying to find my balance and I have been in this for years now. But every year brings growth and new understanding of myself, my relationship with food and my balance. If you read this post and you realized that you have been guilty or some of these or all of these, it’s okay! There is no time like the present and never too late to make a change!

Do you have any unhealthy eating habits you want to share? Or any healthy practices you would like to share? Let’s get the conversation going, comment below with your thoughts!

Happy eating foodies!

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My Favorite Meat Alternative Brands

tlkitchen

When I became a vegetarian years ago, my eyes were opened to a whole new world of food that I didn’t even know existed. One of those worlds being meat alternatives. Back when I was a baby veggie, there were not as many brands out as there is today but that vegetarian world is growing and so are our options.

Full disclosure, you do not have to eat these to be vegetarian! At the end of the day, it is processed food and I would not recommend making them a primary part of your diet. However, they are delicious, creative and very fun to cook with! Also, I do not eat these things because I secretly crave burgers or chicken…the simple answer to why I chose to try meat alternatives is: because I want to.

I thought it would be cool to put together a small list of my favorite brands and at the end of the post I’ll show you guys a few pictures of some dishes I have made in the past using these products. So without further due first up on the list, my favorite brand:

Morning Star

I love love love Morning star and this is the brand I eat the most! My favorite product would have to be the buffalo wings! I am not a fan or the original chik’n nuggets or patties though. The best thing about Morning Star is that they are evolving so much! They have changed some of their recipes to offer vegan options (eliminating the egg whites), and now use all natural colors and flavoring. Aside from chicken or chik’n as they like to spell it. Morning Star also has burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, maple sausage (that is amazing!!), bacon and crumble (which is like a ground beef). If you are new to the meal alternative world, I would 100% recommend Morning Star as a first option!

Gardein

Gardein is an easy second for me and normally can be found right next to the morning star products in the grocery store. The thing I love the most about Gardein is the brands creativity. They go beyond veggie chicken and veggie burgers (which the original veggie burger is my favorite meat alternative burger of all time! ), they have things like pork-less pork bites, meatless meat loaf and crab-less crab cakes. This brand does not shy away from variety at all! There are still a ton of things I have not tried yet and they keep adding on new things every time I check. I will say, I am not a fan of their chicken, it’s not horrible but it’s not great. Of course that does not mean for you not to try it, our taste buds are all different, so you guys may love it!

Beyond Meat

Of course I can not do a favorite meat alternative post without including Beyond Meat! Beyond Meat to me is still considered the new kid on the block but has made a huge statement! Funny story about my first time trying their burgers: I bought a pack from the store, which I am now assuming was a bad pack but at the time I thought the brand was horrible. I smelled like chemicals and it tasted like chemicals. I couldn’t even eat it it was so bad. For almost 2 years I wanted nothing to do with this brand until I went to a restaurant one day, ordered a veggie burger, it was amazing, turns out it was a Beyond meat burger. I gave it another try at home and it was amazing! Now I love them and they have good chicken too. I love Beyond Meat’s creativity with how they package their foods and if you ever watch a documentary on how they create their food, there is an attention to detail that is truly appreciated.

I am only going to list these three brands because these are my go-to’s but I have tried many others. Some I have loved and some..not so much. I find it amazing that people have found ways to take grains and vegetables and turn them into products like this. Again, I wouldn’t eat these everyday or make them the main part of your diet but live your life and enjoy yourself because this products are amazing! As promised, below are just a few pictures of some of the food I have made using meat alternatives. Happy eating foodies!

recipes

Some Kind of Potato Stew

tlkitchen

I don’t know about you guys but I have been having some serious Fall feels lately and all I want to do is dive head first in pumpkin flavored everything, while wrapped in a comfy sweater and holding a Starbucks latte. I don’t have much longer until my favorite season comes around but with yesterday being Friday the 13th and the weather being gloomy, windy and below 80, I needed SOMETHING to help me curve my Fall cravings until that day comes. I called this recipe Some Kind of Potato Stew because it was a very random “let my grab whatever I have in the fridge” kind of crock pot meal. It actually came out amazing! It was warm, comforting and gave me just what I needed to hold me over until Fall time arrives.

What you need:

  • 1 Small butternut squash, peeled and chopped
  • 5 Potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 Yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 Medium carrots, chopped
  • 1 Large Zucchini, chopped
  • 1 TSP of salt (you can add more to taste)
  • 1 TBS Garlic powder
  • 1 TSP Cumin
  • 1 TSP Ground clove
  • 1 TSP Crushed red pepper
  • 1 TSP Paprika
  • 1 TSP oregano
  • Fresh Rosemary stalks
  • 6 Cups of water
  • 2 TBS of flour

Method:

  • Peel and chop; butternut squash, potatoes, onion, carrots and zucchini and put into the crock pot
  • Add seasonings and water and give it a good mix
  • Add rosemary on top
  • Cook on low for 8 hour or on high for 4 hours (Give or take depending on your crock pot.) You know it is done when your potatoes are tender!
  • Before serving, take a few large spoon fulls of the broth and a few of the cooked veggies and place into a blender. Add flour and blend until smooth.
  • Add mixture back into crock pot and mix well…this will help thicken your stew and give it a nice creamy texture.
  • Enjoy!