easy

5 Secrets For Making Quick And Healthy Vegan Meals At Home

September 1, 2012 by Veronica Grace 21 Comments

I want to share with you some more helpful hints on how cooking low fat vegan and plant based meals at home can fit into your schedule and help you on your way to losing weight without too much fuss. If you’re new to the lifestyle and want to reach your goals faster, check out my Low Fat Vegan Starter Kit which covers meals for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!

image credit: thesurvivorsclub.org

5 Secrets For Making Quick Healthy Meals At Home

1. Plan in advance what you will be eating (at least 5 days a week) breakfast and lunch and then 4 or 5 nights for dinner if you like.

Take a few minutes to write down some ideas for what you enjoy eating (that is healthy and nutritious) and what you think you can manage preparing for the week. It is very hard to stick to a healthy diet if you don’t do this crucial first step in figuring out your meal options.

2. Shop once a week on a weekend for all the food you will be eating throughout the week.

Know how many fruits, veggies and bags of salad you will need for the week and keep it on hand. If you have healthy items in the fridge you are more likely to eat them than if you have nothing around when you’re short on time and having hunger pangs. Also cleaning out your fridge regularly and keeping it organized will help you see not only what you have to work with but also prevent you from letting food go to waste by spoiling or freezing if it’s stuck at the back of the fridge.

3. Eat the same (or very similar) thing for breakfast and lunch during the week to keep things simple.

Studies have shown those who eat the same healthy breakfast or lunch every day have an easier time sticking to their diet plans and reaching their goal weight. Control temptation for eating on the go and grabbing takeout by planning in advance and eating meals you love every day during the week.

Breakfast ideas during the week: large fruit smoothie, large green smoothie, steel cut oats with dried fruit and nuts, fruit salad with toast and jam and/or peanut butter, fruit salad with coconut or almond yogurt (available at the health food store), fruit salad and a whole grain muffin etc. See my ‘Simply Decadent Smoothies’ recipe ebook for delicious ideas.

Lunch ideas during the week: large salad with fruit, vegetables and homemade nut based dressing (oil-free of course), steamed vegetables and/or lentils and rice with a homemade or low fat store bought sauce, baked potato with hummus and a side salad, homemade soup, stew or chili, roasted vegetable sandwich on whole grain bread with fruit, etc. See my ‘Comfort Soups To Keep YouWarm’ recipe ebook for hot lunch ideas.

4. For hot meals (or salads) do your cooking (or prepping) once or twice a week.

Make a big batch or double batch of soup, stew, casserole, curry etc. that you can easily pair with a whole grain such as rice or quinoa and a salad or veggies. For salads use large tupperware containers and portion out your lettuce and assorted veggies, dried fruit and toppings. Make a homemade dressing or find a tasty oil-free dressing you enjoy and have little containers to take with your salad each day. For delicious dinner recipes the whole family will enjoy I recommend my “Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World” recipe ebook.

5. Use cooking devices such as slow cookers or pressure cookers to save active cooking time in the kitchen.

With a slow cooker you can prep everything on a Sunday morning or afternoon and then by dinner time you will have a hot meal ready to eat and you can save any leftovers for meals throughout the rest of the week. With a pressure cooker you can easily make homemade vegetable broth, soup, or fresh beans in only a fraction of the time so you don’t have to hang around watching the stove for an hour while things cook.

The most important aspect to sticking to a healthy diet and lifestyle is planning ahead. Life can get hectic at times and we can feel rushed and make a lot of excuses for eating unhealthy snacks and meals on the go, but if you master the art of shopping in advance and learn how to make a few healthy recipes you like to eat every week you will be well on your way to success.

Just schedule yourself some time every week for shopping and preparing a few healthy recipes, a little effort in these areas can make a big difference to your health and not to mention your waistline…

I hope I’ve inspired you to take the next step and get back into the kitchen.

You can do it, I believe in you!

Easy Vegan Rainbow Bowl: Steamed Veggies Over Yams & Squash With Peanut Dressing

April 9, 2012 by Veronica Grace

I wanted to have a quick and healthy lunch yesterday, but I did not have any rice ready. So instead I decided to serve my veggies over some delicious steamed yams (sweet potatoes) and Kobocha Squash (Thai/Japanese pumpkin). It’s kind of Macrobiotic, it just doesn’t have rice, beans, or fermented veggies. I guess it’s like a lazy version of a Macrobiotic dish instead.

This is a nutritious and easy way to get a lot of veggies all into one dish. I’ve got broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, yams (sweet potatoes) and squash, topped with a light peanut dressing to give it some nice flavour.

Basically my Rainbow Veggie Bowl is like a vegetable stir fry, but with steamed vegetables and nothing is fried! This is an easy meal idea for you when you’re not sure what to make, but just want something that still tastes good while being healthy at the same time. It’s also really easy to use up extra vegetables in the fridge, or use a whole bag of fresh mixed vegetables like I did and then they’re already washed and chopped for you.

You can also make the peanut dressing in advance and then use it throughout the week if you want to make this even quicker.

This is the steamed yams and squash before I topped it with the veggies.

Veronica’s Easy Rainbow Veggie Bowl

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 large yam/sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 small Kabocha squash, peeled and chopped (Thai/Japanese pumpkin) or 2-3 cups frozen butternut squash cubes
1 12 oz./340 g mixed vegetables (I used broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrots)
1/2 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut in half (or other vegetables as desired)
1/2 recipe of Thin Peanut Dressing (see recipe below)

Directions:

Steam yams/sweet potatoes and squash in a medium-large pot in a steamer basket (if you have one) just until tender.
When yams and squash are starting to cook, place other vegetables into another pot with a steamer basket (if you have one) and steam just until cooked. Be sure to check on them so that the broccoli doesn’t fall apart.
Arrange steamed yams and squash into bowls and top with steamed vegetables. Drizzle with thin peanut dressing and serve!

Variations:

Use any other vegetables you desire instead of the asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower or carrots. You can also use ones like kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, Bok Choy, cabbage, onions, zucchini, etc.

Feel free to top your bowl with other goodies like seasoned tofu, tempeh, or black beans.

Kobacha squash can be substituted with Butternut squash, or even more yams/sweet potatoes if you like.

You can also serve with brown or white rice if you don’t want to use yams or squash.

(Oil-Free) Thin Peanut Dressing For Veggies

Serves 2-4

4 tbsp peanut butter
4 small dates, pitted or 1-2 tbsp of liquid sweetener of choice
1 clove of garlic
2 tsp light tamari or light soy sauce
2/3-3/4 cup water (to thin as desired)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a blender and combine. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired. Use as much or as little water as you like depending on how far you want your sauce to go.
Serve over greens or steamed vegetables.

Additional Tips:

Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 3 days.

Variations:

You can also try almond butter, or tahini if you prefer instead of peanut butter. You can also add fresh ginger or a splash of apple cider vinegar if desired for different flavours.

What do you think of my Easy Rainbow Veggie Bowl with Peanut Sauce?

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How To Cook Steel Cut Oats (Irish Oats) In a Rice Cooker Or On The Stove

January 29, 2012 by Veronica Grace 52 Comments

What Are Steel Cut Oats/Irish Oats?

Steel cut oats are whole grain oat groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into only two or three pieces horizontally. They are golden in color and resemble mini rice particles and are cylinder-like.

LivingPrepared has a good picture of rolled oats vs steel cut oats. Rolled oats are on the left, steel cut are on the right.

How do steel cut oats differ from rolled oats (old fashioned oats)?

Rolled oats a.k.a. old fashioned oats, are flake oats that have been steamed, rolled, re-steamed and toasted. Due to all of this additional processing they have lost some of their natural taste, nutrition and texture. They are just a more refined form. Most people get confused and think rolled oats are unprocessed and naturally come this way, and that instant oatmeal is the only oat that is processed. This is not quite correct. Rolled oats are still pretty processed and have undergone many treatments.

What is oatmeal or instant oatmeal then?

Instant oats are very processed compared to steel cut oats, they are pre cooked, dried and partially powdered with some flakes left. All you do is add hot water since they are already cooked and broken down. They usually come in packets with sugar and seasonings already in them.

This is why some people choose to eat only steel cut oats, or Irish oats as they are like the whole grain version of oats and the least processed.

Oatmeal Helps Lowers LDL (Bad) Cholesterol

Oatmeal is full of soluble fiber, which we know lowers LDL levels. Experts aren’t exactly sure how, but they have some ideas. When you digest fiber, it becomes gooey. Researchers think that when it’s in your intestines, it sticks to cholesterol and stops it from being absorbed. So instead of getting that cholesterol into your system — and your arteries — you simply get rid of it as waste.

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers tested cholesterol-lowering drugs against cholesterol-lowering foods in a group of thirty-four adults with high cholesterol. Oat products were among the chosen foods. The results were striking. The diet lowered cholesterol levels about as well as cholesterol drugs. WebMD

Even if you’re not eating cholesterol containing foods (all animal products contain cholesterol because only animals produce cholesterol, not plants) you can still lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol by eating oatmeal, which is helpful for some who still have high cholesterol on a vegan diet. The main reason some vegan diets don’t completely save you from having high cholesterol, is because of the amount of rich plant fats we tend to eat when compensating for a lack of meat and cheese. Salad dressing oils, battered or fried vegetables, fried snacks, vegan pastries and cakes, cookies, crackers etc. When you eat a lot of fatty foods this raises the amount of cholesterol you produce yourself, which is not good. So switching a high fat vegan meal to a low fat meal of oatmeal can make a big difference in your cholesterol numbers and health.

How much oatmeal do I need to cook for one person?

Steel cut oats can expand up to 4 times their dry size. For one person you can make about 1/4 cup for a single serving. When I’m making steel cut oats for my family, I usually make at least 1-1 1/2 cups because then there’s enough for everyone to have a satisfying breakfast. You can also save any leftovers and store it in the fridge for a quick breakfast the next day.

How To Cook Steel Cut Oats (Irish Oats) In a Rice Cooker

(For stovetop or microwave directions scroll down to the bottom)

To make your oats, you have to decide how thin you like them. I personally like mine a little thick, like in the picture, as opposed to a thin porridge, so I use a ratio of 3 parts water to 1 part oats. You can use a 4:1 ratio of water to oats if you like it thinner.

I have used several different types of rice cookers. At home I have a Zojirushi 5 1/2 cup rice cooker which has a lot of functions like white rice, brown rice, mixed rice, porridge and even a cake setting! It works awesome and I use the porridge setting for steel cut oats on it. What’s great about the Zojirushi is it has an internal programmable clock and you can tell it EXACTLY what time you want your rice/grain/porridge ready. So if you want to eat breakfast at 7 am, you set it for 7 am (in military time 07:00) and it will be ready to go at that time. Just do the process below, put the oats and water in and press start the night before and your breakfast will be hot and ready with no hassle the next day. If you’re a single or a couple they have a smaller version the Zojirushi 3 cup rice cooker as well.

I’ve also used this Hamilton Beach Digital Deluxe Rice Cooker that is great for a family on a budget, it has a white rice and a whole grain setting. I use the whole grain setting on this rice cooker for steel cut oats. It works a little differently, it has a delay timer. So what I do is set it so that it starts while I’m sleeping. If I go to bed at 11 pm and want to eat at 7 am, I would set the delay timer for about 5-6 hour delay. 5 hours for a large portion, 6 hours for a smaller portion (single size) and then it will start cooking when the delay timer hits zero and your oats will be ready for breakfast.

(Please do NOT put anything like dairy or animal products that should be refrigerated into a rice cooker overnight as this is a health risk. Only use water and dry grains when using a delay or programmed timer. So don’t add milk or cream to your oats and let it sit out all night, you can stir it in in the next morning before eating)

This is great for when you don’t have time to cook steel cut oats on the stove and want a quick breakfast.

Step 1: Measure out 1 cup of steel cut/Irish oats (or your desired amount). Pour it into a mesh strainer. Give it a rinse to clear any dust or debris. Pour it into the rice cooker.

Step 2: Measure out 3-4 cups of water (or your desired amount) and pour it into the rice cooker.

Step 3: Press the porridge/whole grain/brown rice setting (whichever setting your rice cooker has) and let it cook. It’s going to take a while to cook, similar to cooking brown rice. It should take about an hour to hour and a half depending how much you put in.

Step 4: Your steel cut oats are done and ready to season. You can add more water to thin if desired, add almond milk, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, sliced bananas, granola etc. Whatever you’d like to dress it up. This way you can control the amount of sugar in your oatmeal instead of eating the prepackaged instant oatmeal.

Step 5: Serve!

How To Make Steel Cut Oats In A Rice Cooker Or On The Stove with cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins

How To Cook Steel Cut Oats (Irish Oats) On The Stove:

Add your 1 cup of oats to 3-4 cups of water to a large pot and bring to a low boil over medium high heat. When it’s boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes and stir every few minutes to prevent sticking. Season as desired and serve.

Time saving tip: Boil 4 cups of water the night before and add 1 cup of dry steel cut oats. Stir and let it soak over night. In the morning put it into a pot and cook over low heat for 9-12 minutes until the oats are tender. Season as desired and serve. (If you use this method, disregard the method above)

How To Cook Steel Cut Oats (Irish Oats) In a Microwave:

I have not tried this method personally, but it should be really easy. Place 1/2 cup of steel cut oats into a large (at least) 8 cup microwave safe bowl (not metal) and pour 2 cups of water into it. Make sure you use a large bowl to prevent it from boiling over in the microwave. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove and stir and microwave on high for another 5 minutes. (Microwave times might vary depending on strength) Season as desired and serve.

What if I don’t have time to make steel cut oats every day?

The solution is pretty easy, just make a big batch and save the leftovers in individual portions in the fridge. If it’s for one person, multiply your recipe by 5 so you have enough for each day of the week. So you might use 1 1/4 cups to 2 cups of dry steel cut oats, depending if you’re a woman or a really athletic man. And then you cook it with 3-4 times the amount of water. Season it and then separate into containers. Then all you have to do is reheat it in the microwave the next day and add any additional water or non-dairy milk to thin it out, stir and eat. It’s a great time saver if you want to eat more whole foods, without having to rely just on instant oatmeal.

What do you think of this recipe? Have you made steel cut oats before? Are you going to try now?

80/10/10 Recipe: Grapefruit Soup With Step By Step Pictures!

December 14, 2011 by Veronica Grace 5 Comments

Grapefruit soup is an easy 1 ingredient (mono) meal you can have for a breakfast or a snack. It’s 80/10/10 friendly and fat free. They key is to use very sweet juicy grapefruits. My favourite are red grapefruits. Right now we’re in Texas for Christmas, so we are using the Texas Star Grapefruits here. They’re quite good. I wouldn’t suggest using this recipe for more sour white grapefruits.

My friend made this for me and I photographed him doing so, so you can easily see how to get an easy to eat grapefruit meal with no seeds or excess peel or skins.

For this recipe I used 3 grapefruits. 2 to cut into chunks and 1 to juice over the chunks.

(Fat Free Raw Vegan) Grapefruit Soup

Using a sharp knife, cut off both ends of the grapefruit so you can see the flesh inside. Cut away enough that you don’t have any white pith or peel left.

Flip the grapefruit onto one of the cut ends and start cutting off the sides of the peel and pith all the way around.

Now cut the grapefruit into 3 slices and remove any seeds you see.

Continue cutting into slices.

Stand up the centre piece and cut around the middle, like you would the core of an apple. Discard this piece.

Line up your slices and now cut into bite sized chunks.

Your first grapefruit is done. Continue the same process with the second grapefruit and place the pieces into a bowl.

Slice the 3rd grapefruit in half. Remove the seeds.

Using a knife or a citrus reamer squeeze the grapefruit and turn to release the juice. Alternatively you can use a citrus juicer.

Continue juicing the other side of the grapefruit.

Serve!

What do you think of this simple recipe? You can also do this with sweet oranges or pineapple. The key is to use sweet ripe fruit. Makes sure to eat this right away as the fresh juice will oxidize and go sour if you leave it out or in the fridge for a few days.

Quick and Easy Thick Plant Based Pizza Sauce (Oil-Free Vegan Recipe)

December 8, 2011 by Veronica Grace 7 Comments

FTC Notice: The post contains affiliate links that go to supporting the blog.

Plant based or vegan pizza is probably something you’ll have to make at home, depending on where you live because not a lot of places offer vegan cheese, or are familiar with cheese-less pizzas if you go that way.

I really don’t like store-bought pizza or pasta sauces, they’re full of junk and usually bland. So I make my own. I wanted to come up with a really fast recipe for thick pizza sauce that you don’t have to spend forever cooking on the stove and adding raw ingredients too. Once mixed this is ready to go on the pizza.

I also like thick sauces, because low-fat healthy pizza crusts can be a little dry and you really want to have that moisture from the pizza sauce on there. Here’s one that’s oil-free, fat-free and vegan!

Quick and Easy Thick (Vegan) Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1 small can of tomato paste
6 tbsp of water with 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable base OR 6 tbsp water mixed with 1/2 veggie cube bouillon
1 tbsp liquid sweetener (honey, vegan honey, brown rice syrup)
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp freeze-dried garlic or garlic powder
2 twists of ground black pepper
dash of smoked paprika
dash of sea salt *if desired
A sprinkle of chili flakes *if desired

Directions:

1. Open the can of tomato paste and scoop into a bowl. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine. Taste test, adding additional seasonings if desired.

2. Spread over pizza crust leaving a small gap for the crust of the pizza.

This recipe should cover up to an extra-large pizza with sauce, or several personal pan pizzas.

I had extra leftover even after liberally topping my large pizza crust. I also topped it with my special recipe of sautéed baby portobello mushrooms and onions, frozen pineapple, kalamata olives, and fresh garlic. As you can see I really like pineapple! Mine is the side on the left lol.

If desired you can also sprinkle some Daiya mozzarella cheese or other vegan cheese on it, but for a truly fat-free recipe, you can skip it.

Let me know what you think! What do you put on your plant-based pizza?

How To Enjoy Eating A Lot Of Apples or How To Have an Apple Happy Meal!

October 22, 2011 by Veronica Grace 6 Comments

FTC Notice: This post contains affiliate links that go towards supporting the blog.

So you live in a Northern climate, it’s winter, there’s not a lot of tropical fruit around, there’s not really any “ripe” fruit around, you don’t have a lot of money to spend on produce; you’re hungry and want an easy inexpensive meal.

My friends, let me introduce to you the apple. It’s quite versatile and easy to get ALL over the world all year round. They keep well, can lasts for weeks if not months in the fridge or a cold cellar.

But how do you get this apply-goodness inside you without it being a pain in the jaw and eating all those waxy peels?…

Kik Alicha (Vegan Ethiopian Yellow Split Pea Stew)

October 3, 2011 by Veronica Grace 23 Comments

I love Ethiopian food, when it’s fresh especially, but also because it is very tasty and filling as well.

Some of the dishes are very easy to make, and taste perfectly fine using zero oil. The lentil and split pea dishes are especially tasty and easy to make.

This yellow split pea stew one is my absolute favourite of all Ethiopian dishes because it is mild and savoury. I’m not one for the spicy dishes like mesir wot, but you can always add some spiciness to this dish if you desire.

Serve this Kik Alicha with injeera, rice or even Indian bread like chapati or roti for a whole meal.

Kik Alicha (Ethiopian Yellow Split Pea Stew)

Serves 2 as mains for an Ethiopian dinner

Ingredients:

3 cups water
vegetable broth as needed
1 cup dried yellow split peas, rinsed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled, and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 – 1 tsp herbamare or salt
pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place water and the split peas in large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; and cook about 30 minutes, just until tender. (Alternatively you can cook them in a pressure cooker, use a digital electric pressure cooker as it has a non stick pan, don’t do this in a metal stovetop pressure cooker as it can burn to the bottom.)

2. In a frying pan, add some vegetable broth and bring to high heat. Add onion, reduce to medium high and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add more broth as needed Add the garlic, ginger and turmeric; cook another 5 minutes.

3. Once done, add the mixture to cooked peas; stir in salt and pepper. Simmer until peas are very soft, and almost mushy about 30 minutes more. Taste test; adjust seasonings if needed.

What’s your favourite Ethiopian dish?