My apologies for the
long time between posts...as with all of us, things have been busy, busy!
So...I've
been on a bit of a culinary adventure of late. A couple of months back I
decided to try to go Vegan for 6 months (to start with, hopefully!) to support
my son in his journey, and to try to ramp up my health level a few notches
;) It's been a
rocky journey, to say the least ~ somewhat successful, with a few deviations along the way, but more on that in another
blog...
Firstly, I want to
talk about some basics. I've been asked so many questions about what
constitutes Vegetarian & Vegan etc, so thought I'd include a little
clarification here. There is some contention about the term ‘Vegetarian’, but
for the purposes of this blog (and in keeping with my experiences) I’m going
with this ~
Vegetarian: Eats no meat, chicken, fish etc. and
has a diet of foods derived from plants, (including grains, legumes etc.) with
or without eggs, dairy products or honey.
The contention is around eggs and/or
dairy products, so the stricter definitions are:
'Pure' Vegetarian: eats no
eggs or dairy.
Ovo-Lacto
Vegetarian: eats plant foods plus eggs and dairy products.
Lacto
Vegetarian: eats plant foods and dairy products.
Vegan: Eats and uses no animal products whatsoever. This includes all dairy,
eggs, honey and many breads. Furthermore, most Vegans won’t eat products or
foods that have harmed animals in their production. For example, palm oil,
which if not produced via sustainable sources, is usually sourced from third
world countries, and is responsible for vast devastation to the forests and
orangutans. (so many products that have vegetable oil in them use palm oil, so
beware, even if you’re not Vego!). Find out more about palm oil
Vegans also don't use or wear animal
products – eg: leather shoes.
Now that we’ve
cleared that up…
I have to say, that
after a great deal of resistance about the whole vegan thing (see my Introduction blog), I’ve been slowly getting more excited about it lately. Being such a ‘foodie’
makes it so hard to let go of some of the non-vegan delights that most of us
love – namely cheese (ohhhh parmesan, where art thou?) - but slowly, slowly
I’m changing my mind and also finding alternatives that kill my cravings. I’m
not a big fan of ‘fake’ cheese and meat products, mostly because they are
usually so soy-heavy and don’t taste fantastic. Though I have found a few tasty
morsels of late that defy the norm (I’m creating a list, which I’ll share with
you all soon).
So I’ve gotten back
to basics. Meaning simple products, great vegies, yummy grains &
pasta’s, and beautiful beans. Yes…I said beautiful beans ~ I’ve started
compulsively collecting pretty beans ~ it’s beginning to get embarrassing…but I
mean, just check out these beauties and tell me I’m crazy…
 |
| Beautiful Black Turtle Beans (such a great name!) |
I'll be writing a bit
more about the ‘mechanics’ of our overall diet and the reasoning behind
our choices sometime soon (my son & I have similar, but different
reasoning), but in the
meantime I thought I’d share a very, very simple recipe that is an amazing
snack, breakfast (with toast) or dinner (if accompanied by rice, pasta or quinoa).
It’s so quick and full of goodness…simple yumminess at its best. And perfect
when you too are busy, busy J
Super Quick Vego Medley
Ingredients ~ serves 2/3 for a snack (Or 1 if you have teenagers haha!) or
2 for a meal with rice/pasta
I
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped
I
A couple of cups of chopped mushrooms
I
1 small red onion or a few spring onions
I
1 – 2 handfuls of pine nuts (to taste)
I
1 – 3 cloves of garlic (optional, but highly recommended)
I
A handful of chopped parsley
I 2 tablespoons of good olive oil
I Salt/Pepper to taste
Just heat up your pan or wok on high, add oil and wait for about 30
seconds. Add all the other ingredients and stir-fry for 5 minutes, until the
mushrooms and the onions have a bit of colour, then serve. Told you it was simple, didn't I?
You can make it a bit 'fancier' by adding any or all of the following: grated lemon rind/ a handful of
spinach/ some smoked paprika (oh, smoked paprika is heavenly).
This snack is so full
of goodness, and will keep you going for hours…enjoy!
And finally ~ I'm looking for some input...
What kind of recipes would you like to see in this blog in the future? Any particular topics you'd like me to explore? Just let me know in the comments section below. And don't forget to sign up for email notifications for when I post.
looks gorgeous x
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