Five Slimming World slow cooker recipes

3 Vegan Sandwiches | HEALTHY LUNCH IDEAS

What Do Vegans Eat? Vegan Food Is Not Boring After All!

Many people think that vegan food is boring, tasteless, and does not allow for much variety. Well, they couldn't be more wrong! With veganism on the trend nowadays - vegans have more options than ever before to ensure that they have delicious food to eat and enjoy.

What Do Vegans Eat?

The vegan diet consists primarily of the following foods: vegetables, fresh fruits, whole-grains, pasta, olive oil, coconut oil, tofu, legumes and beans, soy, faux meats, faux cheese, legume patties, vegetable patties, dried fruit, soy and rice milk, soy yogurt, vegan baking (cakes, muffins, slices, brownies), salads, fresh juices, smoothies, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, vegan margarine, vegetable soups, and stir-fries. In fact, nowadays one can create a dish that replicates their favorite foods, only without meat and dairy! With the convenience of countless vegan websites, blogs and vegan recipe e-books, one should have no trouble finding a recipe to 'clone' their favorite dish or sweet treat! Indeed, vegan food never has to be boring!

Vegan Meals At Restaurants

Some people do not like to cook every meal, or they are simply too busy. Most restaurants and take-away cafes offer vegan food and meals, including Italian (tomato sauce pastas, vegetable minestrone etc.), Chinese (rice, vegetable spring rolls, vegetable stir-fry's, steamed vegetables, vegetable soups, tofu dishes), Indian (rice, dahl, vegetable coconut milk curries, lentil dishes), Thai (rice, vegetable curries, tofu noodle soups, coconut milk pumpkin soups etc.), Subway, Sumo-Salad, etc. In fact, I guarantee that you could find some vegan food options at nearly any restaurant, café or take-away shop nowadays! All you have to do is ask!

Vegan Food At The Supermarket

Since more and more people are becoming vegetarian and vegan every year, supermarkets and health stores are doing their part to keep up with the consumer's needs. This is excellent for the modern busy vegan, who often does not have the time or energy to cook every meal. The number of vegan products and brands are increasing every year, with more and more vegan food products ("vegan fast food") emerging on the shelves. This vegan fast food includes chocolate bars, muesli bars, packet chips, cereals, cookies, muffins, cakes, you name it! The modern day vegan can certainly fulfill their junk food desires (put please, in moderation!) with the availability of products available!

Vegan Recipes

There is a multitude of easy vegan recipes available nowadays to satisfy the tastes and needs of every vegan. Whether it be breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts, snacks or healthy treats - you can find an infinite number of recipes to try out. You can clone just about any of your favorite meals and foods if you locate an appropriate recipe to do so! There are many delicious vegan recipes for you to try such as scones with jam and 'cream,' 'bacon' and 'eggs,' 'cheesecakes,' 'sausage'-rolls, English muffins with 'bacon' and 'eggs,' chocolate cakes and brownies - you name it, you can clone it! Veganism has never been more fun and delicious than it is today!

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Easy Vegan Recipes For Vegetable Side Dishes on Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick Day is just around the corner so why not take a healthful approach to what you serve with these easy vegan recipes for vegetable side dishes. Celebrating with holiday parties is fun and since there will be plenty of green beer to sip on make sure to include some fresh healthful food for your event.

It's easy and cool to offer shot glasses filled with celery or asparagus soup. Asparagus soup is one of the many easy vegan recipes that you can do the night before and then after work, simply take the soup out of the fridge, fill your shot glasses and serve on Saint Patrick Day.

How about green olive tapenade on a toasted sourdough baguette? For holiday parties on Saint Patrick Day this dip can be made a few days in advance and again, just pull it out of the fridge prior to guest arrival and serve either already topped on the baguette or as one of your vegetable side dishes. (Recipe for olive tapenade can be found on page 83 in Budget Bash.)

Other vegetable side dishes your friends would enjoy on Saint Patrick Day are a cucumber salad with balsamic vinaigrette, Waldorf salad, fennel and mint salad or a cucumber and seaweed salad.

Of course, keeping it vegan and real let's not forget a bowl of edaname either cold or warm with or without salt. All of these easy vegan recipes mentioned for your holiday parties won't take much time and some can be made well in advanced, refrigerated overnight and then quickly transferred into fun and simple serving dishes as vegetable side dishes.

Roasted Asparagus Soup Recipe

2 1/2 lbs. thin asparagus, trimmed & cut into 2" pieces 
2 leaks, white & light green parts only, cleaned and finely chopped 
2 T. Olive Oil 
salt & pepper to taste 
2 1/2 C. vegetable broth 
Chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a heavy roasting pan, combine asparagus, leeks, olive oil, slat and pepper. Mix to combine.

Roast, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 35 minutes or until leeks are golden brown & asparagus are tender.

Transfer the vegetables to a blender and add the broth. Process until completely pureed, taste to adjust seasonings.

Pour soup into shot glasses & garnish with chives if desired.

Waldorf Salad Recipe

3-4 Granny Smith Apples 
2 Celery stalks, thinly sliced 
4 oz. walnut pieces or pecans chopped 
Mixed greens if desired 
French vinaigrette dressing

Cut a few slices of apple with the skin on for decoration and then peel and core the rest of the apple and cut into thin strips. Toss the apple slices in lemon juice to prevent apples from turning brown.

Add the chopped celery, apple slices, nuts and mixed greens and toss with French vinaigrette.

French Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe

2 tbs. Dijon mustard 
2 tbs champagne vinegar 
6 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil 
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in a cruet and serve with salad.

I hope you found these easy vegan recipes for vegetable side dishes fun to make for your holiday parties on Saint Patrick Day. Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun and economical to all!


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Gluten-free recipes: How to make gluten-free brownies and cake

3 Healthy & Easy Lunch Recipes (Vegan & Gluten Free!)

Weight Loss BMI

Learning weight loss BMI
BMI or 'Body Mass Index' is an index or factor that measures how much fat you have in your body depending on your height, age and if you are a male or a female.
Fat in your body carries considerable risks that are compounded when other risk factors exist such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high LDL cholesterol ('bad' cholesterol), low HDL ('good' cholesterol), high triglycerides, high blood glucose (sugar), family history of heart disease, physical inactivity and cigarette smoking.
Weight loss BMI is recommended if you have a BMI index of 30 or more or if you have a BMI of 25 or more and two additional risk factors.
Your ideal BMI index is around 20 but that is a bit tough for most, between 20 and 24 is healthy.

If you take a look at the additional risks, there are two where you can act immediately, physical inactivity and cigarette smoking, one, family history, where there is not much you can do and all the others have to do with the amount of fat in your body.
So weight loss BMI is about moving our bodies.
On physical activity you must know that to burn calories you do not necessarily have to do rigorous aerobic exercise, there are many things you can do to burn calories, your body burns calories for anything it has to do, even while we sleep, the key is to start accumulating gradually things that you like and can easily do so they become part of your daily routine and you can make healthy habits out of them.
And weight loss BMI is about losing fat.
Losing fat will take care of your BMI index, one BMI index is approximately 7 pounds of weight.
As you lower your BMI index you will substantially improve your levels of cholesterols, triglycerides and sugar in your body, one key point thought, it needs to be done in a healthy way.
Losing weight or weight loss BMI done in a healthy weight is all about not depriving your body of the nutrients it needs, sorry, no restrictive diets, none of those that ban entire food groups or nutrients.
Your body needs nutrients from all food groups, it needs proteins, carbs, fiber, vitamins, and yes, it needs fat and sugar too, just in healthy amounts but it does need its daily dose.
One reason that restrictive diets don't work is that they eliminate entire groups of foods, your body can only take so much of that and at some point it starts fighting you and we all know who wins that fight.

At the end of the day losing weight is about the net balance of calories taken (through the consumption of your foods) and calories lost (burned by your body).
So keep track of what you eat and what you burn, decrease the intake in a healthy way and increase the burning.
I will recommend to check for diet plans that suit your lifestyle and contain the foods you like, there are many out there that are not expensive and contain multiple tips and advise as to how to increase your calorie burning and many tips on habit changing, help with meal planners, recipes, shopping lists, etc.
Good luck in your search, better one in your journey!

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FIVE EASY & HEALTHY VEGAN DINNER RECIPES!