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How’s Veganuary going for you?

How’s Veganuary going for you?

by | Jan 18, 2023 | Whole Food Plant Based

How’s Veganuary going for you?

Is it easy? 

Awesome!

🌿 What makes it easy?

🌿 Were you looking forward to trying to eat plant-based for the month?

🌿 Do you already enjoy plant-based foods and you just needed to commit to eating this way regularly?

🌿 What is your reason for being vegan for the month (or all the time if you already eat plant-based)? Is it for your health? Compassion for the animals? The environment? All of the above?

🌿 Is eating this way new to you?

🌿 What are you enjoying?

🌿 Are you cooking? Eating in restaurants or getting takeout? A combination of the two?

If it’s not easy, what are your challenges?

🌱 Are there certain meals that are easy and others that confound you?

🌱 Have you not yet discovered foods that you enjoy?

🌱 Are you traveling and it’s too difficult to commit?

🌱 Are you with family and it’s too difficult to commit?

🌱 Do recipes seem too difficult or ingredients too foreign?

🌱 Do you need more tips? Recipes? Ideas? Guidance? Support? If so, please let us know.

We have already posted a bunch of plant-based recipes with tips and suggestions in our Facebook group and have been emailing them out to our newsletter recipients. And each day this month we’ve been sharing a little dose of inspiration.

I know this post asks a lot of questions. Sometimes we aren’t aware of what’s holding us back from what we want until someone brings it to our attention. 

For me, my heart wanted to be vegan a long time ago but I had tons of excuses. Vegetarian seemed to be sufficient until I learned about the horrors of the dairy and egg industry as well as the health detriments. I remember feeling unaligned with my values by continuing to consume any animal products.

Once I was eating 100% plant-based, I actually looked forward to the foods I could eat. I don’t miss animal products at all. There are so many good options nowadays both in the supermarket and in restaurants. There are countless excellent recipes and helpful videos to walk us through the process too. 

Let us know if we can help you align your lifestyle with your values too! We are here to help.

Plant-Based? Vegan? What does it mean?

Plant-Based? Vegan? What does it mean?

by | Jan 11, 2023 | Food & Ingredients, Whole Food Plant Based

When I was in college in the 80’s, I attempted to be vegetarian. I remember reading about the horrors of the chicken industry and something clicked. I had finally made a connection between living, sentient beings and what I was choosing to put in my mouth.

It didn’t last long though. Ultimately it was easier not to be vegetarian and I went back to full omnivore. (So, if you are conflicted or finding it difficult, I GET IT!) 

After college I stopped eating red meat. (It wasn’t for health reasons as much as I had a hierarchy of animals that I didn’t want to eat, and cows were at the top.)

Years later I dropped eating fowl. Then around 2014 I stopped eating fish and was vegetarian. 

The terms vegan or plant-based weren’t on my radar. It seemed so fringe and weird and difficult. 

Then in 2018 I decided to go for it. Milk was easy to forego, though I did miss cheese. (Sound familiar?) Eggs were tough at first. I had been eating a lot of eggs because I thought my body needed the protein. I was getting a little sick of them actually and was happy to have the break. The only thing that tripped me up was desserts. Ordering a plant-based meal in a restaurant was easy enough by 2018, but what was I to do when my friends ordered dessert and I couldn’t partake? So, I was a convenient vegan for about a year. 

Then I stopped eating all dairy and eggs including desserts. I learned how to bake or find plant-based desserts when I wanted them (which is much less frequent now than in the past). 

For me, eating plant-based means ONLY choosing plant-based foods.

For other people, eating plant-based means usually choosing plant-based foods but still consuming animal products from time to time or even regularly. 

In my perfect world everyone only eats plants. There is no reason for us to harm animals or the earth for our eating pleasure. Plus, knowing what I know from studying plant-based nutrition through Cornell, a whole food plant-based lifestyle is the healthiest option. Whole food plant-based is a healthier version of eating plant-based which can still include processed foods. 

And even though we don’t discuss it too often at What’s Plant-Based Cooking Good Looking?, going fully vegan means not purchasing any animal-based products, like clothing, accessories or household or cosmetic products. It requires reading labels, but in the end, it’s worth it.

Some people watch a film and that’s it. They’re done eating meat, dairy and eggs because they are horrified by what they learn either about animal agriculture or their health.  

How did I do it? It was a slow process for me. Years! Decades! I kept justifying. Until I couldn’t justify any longer.

And now I sleep at night and trust that I am consuming the best possible foods for my health.

Where are you in the process? Please let us know what kind of support or words of encouragement you may need. We are here for you!

Is Anything Holding You Back?

Is Anything Holding You Back?

by | Jan 4, 2023 | Whole Food Plant Based

Where are you in your plant-based eating journey? Do you need ideas of what to eat? Recipes? Variety? Just to make the decision to go for it? What is your reason for even making the switch? The animals? The planet? Your health?

For me, it was a long slow process. I knew in my heart I didn’t want to eat animals, but it was so hard eliminating certain foods. It was also the societal stuff- like friends and family teasing, or asking questions that I did not have the answers to. Plus, there wasn’t a lot of good food to choose from way back when.

But then I decided to go for it and I began discovering new plant-based foods. Once I learned how to cook with some of the ingredients that intimidated me, I felt much more comfortable.

Then I attended the Cornell plant-based nutrition online program and with a bit of fine tuning to the vegan choices, now live a lifestyle that is also best for my health. I even look forward to all the plant-based foods I eat and don’t miss any of the animal-based foods I used to eat.

I want to share something from Charity Morgan’s cookbook, Unbelievably Vegan. I just got it and haven’t cooked anything yet though I have tagged a few recipes to try. She’s very cool and here are some excerpts from her introduction:

“I found myself always trying to explain my decisions and felt the frustration from my clients too. They wanted to try something new but didn’t want to tell people they were vegan or plant-based because with that statement comes judgment (which is why many people go vegan quietly).

…So the rebel that I am, I created a new category. I called it Plegan [plant-based and vegan]. It’s a term for people growing in their awareness and consciousness, making an effort to discover the healthiest and most sustainable way of eating.

… I don’t blame anyone for feeling overwhelmed or for not being a ‘perfect vegan.’ In the meantime, it’s nice to know you can keep the animal products off your plate and continue to grow in a loving, inclusive environment where you can make your own conscious decisions about your impact on animals, the environment and yourself.”

I share this with you because I like the sentiment. It’s how I feel too.  Do what’s best for you and let us know how we can help make it simpler and more enjoyable!

Veganuary is Coming!

Veganuary is Coming!

by | Dec 21, 2022 | Whole Food Plant Based

Veganuary is Coming and I wanted to let you know we will be celebrating and giving away a few prizes at the end of the month.* 

I never thought much about Veganuary since I already eat plant-based year-round. Upon further reflection, however, it’s a great way to introduce plant-based eating.  

What is Veganuary? Veganuary is an organization that encourages people to try vegan for January and beyond. Learn more here. Their website has a ton of information and recipes galore. 

For more tasty recipes, lots of support and a fun month, hang out with us at What’s Plant-Based Cooking Good Looking?! 

If the idea of eating plant-based for a whole month is foreign to you, here’s a reframe: 

Don’t think of it as what you are giving up. Rather, think of it as what you are gaining: 

🌿 A whole new repertoire of foods to try,

🌿 Recipes to cook if you are interested in cooking,

🌿 An exploration into how living a healthy plant-based lifestyle can do wonders for your health,

🌿 Feeling empowered that you are contributing to healing, not harming, the earth by the foods you consume.

🌿 And of course, the ability to sleep at night knowing you didn’t harm an animal for your food.

There’s more, but that’s a good place to start. 

Plus, it’s only one month and if at the end you decide it’s not for you, then you can go back to eating whatever animal products you were eating before. 

BUT, you might also decide that it’s not as hard as you thought. Or, you might see some improvements in your health and want to stick with team plant-based. Or you might learn about the atrocities of the animal food industry and decide you no longer wish to participate. Or, or, or… 

Yes, there is a lot of wacky information out there about what is healthy. And yes, there is a lot of misinformation about the animal agriculture industry (such as how we are lead to believe that it’s humane). 

Yet, what I hear over and over from people who are now 100% plant-based or vegan is that their biggest regret is that they didn’t do it sooner. I’m one of those people. 

Join us here for the month. We’ll be posting something every day on social and that same post will go out to our newsletter recipients. 

Plus- we are offering prizes for anyone who wishes to eat plant-based for the month. All you have to do is take photos of your plant-based meal and email to me. *We will be posting the rules for the raffle at the end of the month. Details below.

Raffle eligibility:

🌱 Take a photo of your vegan meal and email it me, with the name of the dish in the subject line.

🌱 Be sure your first name (not just your email address) is apparent in the email (so we know who is entering.)

🌱 If you send a photo in every day, you will automatically win a small prize, be entered to win the grand prize, and receive discounts on future offerings.

🌱 The top 10 people with the most entries will be entered to win the grand prize. (Something yummy.)

🌱 The top 10 people will also receive a discount on our new offerings in February.

🌱 There will be two runner-up prizes. (One of my favorite ingredients.)

🌱 Raffle will be held on January 30th and announced January 31st.

🌱 By sending in your recipe via email, you agree to receive emails from What’s Plant-Based Cooking Good Looking?.

🌱 Physical Prizes mailed early February to US addresses only. (The discounts are available to everyone.)

 Prizes:

🎁 A gift basket of some of my favorite vegan ingredients and prepared foods. (Nothing that will spoil in the mail.)

🎁 Daily entry winners: A favorite cooking ingredient plus discounts on any courses we launch in 2023

My Top 7 Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

My Top 7 Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

by | Dec 14, 2022 | Whole Food Plant Based

I’m pretty sure you can get everything cooked that you need with just a few pots and pans, a stove top and an oven. It’s the way people have been cooking for decades and if that’s what works best for you, by all means, stick with it.

However, since I cook more these days, I’ve found these kitchen gadgets to be helpful time savers in preparing healthy plant-based meals. Bonus: these items come in at various price points and could make excellent gifts!

1) I love my food processor. I have a Cuisinart because that’s what my mom has always used so it’s a brand I’m familiar with. I’m sure there are other wonderful food processors out there. My old model was kind of a hassle though. It was heavy, and getting the bowl on and off and positioned correction was often a headache. When I visited my mom last summer, she had a new model and it worked much better. I purchased one when I got home and LOVE it!

I use it for: gazpacho, homemade hummus, shredding potatoes for potato pancakes (latkes- which is only once a year, but it’s a big job), and chocolate pudding made with avocado among other recipes.

2) We’ve had a Ninja blender for a few years, and it works well. My understanding is that food processors are used for solid foods and blenders are used for more liquidy foods though sometimes either will do the job. My son makes smoothies in it when he’s home and I use it for cheesy sauces and Caesar dressing.

This model is great becasue it comes with the individual smoothie size blending cups as well as the full size pitcher.

3) Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard of an Air Fryer. My husband gifted me one and I had no idea what to do with it. Some people use them all the time and they are great in the summer when you don’t want to use your oven. I most often use it to pre-cook the tofu pieces that go into the tofu teriyaki recipe (that we shared in the group).

We also make really good French fries in it that come out crispy with just a teensy weensy bit of oil. If I ever get another one, I’d get an all in one that includes a toaster as a counter top space saver.

4) If you saw my video a while ago, you heard me wax poetic about my Instant Pot. My love for it has grown even deeper. I cook brown rice at least once a week and it is a game changer for me. Rice never used to come out right when I made it on the stove-top and it always boiled over and made a mess. Now I just set the instant pot, forget about it, and when it’s done I have perfect rice.

I’ve only made a couple other recipes in it, but my intention is to do way more.

5) I love my tofu press. Do you need one? Absolutely not. A couple of plates and some towels work too. But since I cook tofu every week, it does come in handy. And it’s an inexpensive gadget.

The old one I had didn’t work well with 14 ounce tofu blocks and required me to press down really hard to get it to engage. I just invested in a Tofuture press and it is super easy to use.

6) This is my absolute new favorite gadget. I’ve been making a big pot of hot cereal a couple of mornings each week and it always bubbles over, making a mess on the stove. I just learned of this silicone spill stopper thingie that works amazing at preventing the spillover.

It will be good for pastas too (and if I ever cook rice on the stovetop again, it would be good for that).

7) When I started cooking more, I realized that my measuring cups and measuring spoons would get used during a recipe and I always seemed to need a clean one ‘right now’.

An inexpensive solution is an extra set of either or both!

That’s it!

Do you have a favorite gadget? I’d love to know!

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