1) Recipes: I found lots of great whole plant based cooks on youtube. The ones I like, are all unique. Jill Mckeever sings and includes her entire family when preparing her easy to follow recipes. Then there is High Carb Hannah in her tiny home in Arizona and her husband Derek who always has to taste what she cooks and rarely gives her ten (men!!). Hannah does not only have recipes but also recommendations where to eat when out and about. If you can't find a vegan restaurant like Veggie Grill, my favorite one in San Jose, you can order a bean burrita al fresco (without cheese) at Taco Bell, a burrito bowl at Chipotle, or a vegan farmer's market sandwich at Togo's. There are options out there although, in my opinion, nothing beats home cooked meals. You just know what is in there. No hidden fat traps. Potato Strong on youtube has the best veggie burger recipes and a great pancake recipe with bananas. Chef AJ loves to cook in the I-pot which I plan to buy soon. Jill Dalton, the Nutritarian, follows Dr. Fuhrman's plant based diet recommendations which is slightly different from Dr. McDougall's starch based diet which I prefer. However, her recipes are just as good and easy to cook and made a killer chocolate cheesecake following her vegan recipe.
2) Speaking from junk food. This was one lesson I had to learn. Not everything vegan is good for me. I have to make sure I eat whole plant based. Most of the pre-made vegan stuff at Whole Foods has hidden fat traps. Most fake sausage or pizza is made with oil. I spend so much time on reading ingredients and rather don't buy it than taking fats in I don't need. I learned so see the good stuff like Ezekiel bread and buns or my Forager cashew-ghurt for my morning muesli. These are basic items of my everyday food. Still, Potato Strong showed me a recipe on youtube for a banana milk which has less fat than my yoghurt and which can replace it when I don't have it handy. Even healthy food like avocados, nuts, or soycurls contain fat and should only be eaten occasionally if you want to lose weight or reverse your diabetes.
3) Silicon bakeware is another miracle item I don't want to miss anymore. I do not use oil and don't grease my bakeware which is a problem unless you use the silicon version of a bundt cake or a muffin form. Let it cool a few minutes and whatever you make slides out easy when you push the form out. I love my copper pan for sauteing onions, mushrooms and vegetable and use a silicon baking sheet to roast taters in the oven. There is really nothing I cannot prepare whole plant based without grease and animal products. It is a never ending learning experience. I love it. Did you know that you can prepare a cheese sauce with aquafaba, the water in the chickpea cans? Did you know that nutritional yeast tastes like parmesan? Did you know that there is oilfree hummus available? Did you know that alkaline free cocoa is better and that cocoa wonder is the only fat free cocoa powder that is on Dr. McDougall's approved item list?I learn and learn and learn new things about food and how to prepare meals.
4) My granddaughter Addy and I have big plans. We want to start our own youtube channel cooking whole plant based recipes. I already started the channel: The Tater Cowgirls and if you could subscribe to it, that would be wonderful. Watch out for the first live cookshow! I will post on facebook!
Now, have a good day y'all, will chat with you again soon!
