Posts - Write Vegan

What should a vegan eat for beginners: Easy plant-based recipes.

writevegan_as58sj | March 4, 2023

Are you new to veganism? Are you looking for easy recipes to create at home that is 100% vegan? So what should a vegan eat for beginners? In this post, you will get the chance to learn 100 beginner vegan recipes. What should a vegan eat for beginners? Formula answered below.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Solution: Plant-Based Recipe cookbook.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Here at writevegan, we like to have the plan to follow to get the best out of being vegan. We understand that starting a vegan diet can feel overwhelming, so we recommend following the Plant-based Recipe cookbook. This cookbook is perfect for beginners as it’s easy to follow and you won’t be left wondering: what should a vegan eat for beginners? after you’ve purchased this book, and you’ll receive amazing benefits such as:

Clearer and smoother skin
weight loss
a healthier heart
Reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
combats obesity
increased fibre intake

With all these benefits, why wouldn’t you want to start a plant-based diet? We guarantee that this vegan cookbook will keep you on track to ensure you receive all the benefits of the vegan diet plan. Once you have checked out the Plant-based recipe book, you must learn how to create the best beginner vegan shopping list. Check out write vegan’s first-ever post on creating a whole food plant based shopping list here. The post walks you through a step-by-step structure to complete your personalised vegan grocery list.

Testimonials

Tara - before and after trying the Plant-based recipe book — Tara – before and after trying the Plant-based recipe book

Tara grew up on a typical southern diet of extensive meat quantities served with fried and starchy sides. Through her high school years, she was able to keep her weight down with gymnastics and an active lifestyle, but she began to struggle with her health after the birth of her daughter. Tara was dealing with constant headaches, depression, chronic constipation, fatigue, ulcers, sinus infections, and severe PMS symptoms, as well as high cholesterol, blood pressure, and gastrointestinal problems.

After becoming frustrated with her debilitating health and the ever-growing list of pills, Tara visited a gastroenterologist. To her surprise, it was simply recommended that she switch to a diet of little to no animal products and high in unprocessed fruits and vegetables. She almost instantly lost 25 pounds and decided to find out more about what the plant-based world was all about.

This proves that the plant based diet cookbook can solve many health problems. The vegan meal plan cookbook will help you achieve similar results to Tara.

What should vegans eat for beginners? Vegan foods.

You may be wondering; What do vegans eat as an alternative to meat? Where can I get vegan protein? Well, here are the 5 most important rules of a vegan diet.

Eat whole foods (avoid packaged food)
avoid honey
Avoid all animal products (meat and dairy)
Have Vitamin B12 infused supplements e.g. nutritional yeast
Include protein-heavy vegetables in your meals, such as peanut butter and chickpeas.

This is why it is important to have a vegan meal plan to ensure you are keeping to these five rules and you are keeping healthy. However, don’t believe that sticking to these five rules means that vegans can never have a treat, click here to find the best vegan restaurants near you just to spoil yourself every now and then.

Vegan diet. What can vegan beginners eat for snacks?

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Snacks. — vegan healthy snacks

personally, my favourite snack brands are Nomo the best vegan chocolate, in my opinion, and my favourite crisp brand, Eat Real. However, try not to eat these too much or too often; they’re just a nice treat every now and then in between meals. If you want an alcoholic beverage, then I recommend doing some brand research first because “When making the product, dairy, honey, and other things are ingredients in the final recipe.” (Thrust Labs, 2023) The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to give up your favourite snacks. You can find vegan alternatives just research what ingredients they use to make vegan snacks and alcohol.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Youtube.

How to start a vegan diet | everything you need to know

The video above is excellent advice on gradually easing your way into the vegan diet. I follow vegan YouTubers such as Niomi Smart and Rachel Ama for great inspiration to make simple, easy vegan recipes, especially if I want to switch up my meal plan for the week and try something new.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? This video is a great starting point as she explains in great detail how to start the diet gradually, which I will also talk about: What should a vegan eat the first week? in more detail below. Watching YouTubers is a great way to find little nuggets of information and advice to improve your vegan meals, and it’s a great way to discover new flavours. I love in this video that she says not to focus on what can’t vegans eat, and it actually opens the door to new colours and recipes that have no cons, just benefits from all these whole fruits and vegetables that we discover and enjoy.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? My recommendations.

If you need an example to get you started with your meal plan, then below, I will share with you what my meal plan for the week is.

What should a vegan eat for beginners – Start off with breakfasts. I always give myself two options for breakfast, one savoury and one sweet. I’ll decide in the morning whether I’m craving the sweet or the savoury breakfast. Just be sure you have all the ingredients in the house before the morning so you can make both options.

My savoury breakfast is usually scrambled tofu on sourdough toast. This consists of soft tofu (note: all the ingredients I use are certified organic to guarantee all the benefits of each ingredient without any nasties). sourdough, garlic, Biona ketchup, mushrooms, turmeric, spinach and vegan cheese.

How to make:

Toast the sourdough bread in the toaster, or place the bread on a baking tray with a slice of vegan cheese. Put it on for under ten minutes to toast the bread and melt the cheese.
In a pan, saute the chopped garlic for a few seconds and then add the tofu
Mix a teaspoon of turmeric into the soft tofu and garlic,
Chop the mushroom, and you can saute it in the same pan as the tofu or separately.
Once the toast and cheese are finished, take it out of the oven and spread on a layer of ketchup.
Spread the scrambled tofu on top of the ketchup layer
And place the mushrooms on top of the tofu.
Season to taste

For my sweet breakfast, I like to create Pamela Reif’s cookie dough porridge. This consists of gluten-free oats, banana, maple syrup and smooth peanut butter. nice and simple.

What should a vegan eat for beginners – Lunch recommendations.

What should a vegan eat for beginners – My lunch recommendations get more complicated as I use a lot more ingredients compared to my breakfasts. So for my Monday lunch, I like to make a stir-fry. Personally, I like to have sweet and sour sauce for my stir-fry which I do make from scratch, but you can buy sweet and sour sauces from the supermarket again; as I have mentioned previously from above, please be careful of the ingredients that they use as some may not be vegan, or there is added nasty sweeteners that aren’t healthy for you long term.

So my stir-fry consists of the following: gluten-free rice noodles, garlic, onion, sugar snap peas, cabbage, spinach, tofu, mushrooms, red peppers, bean sprouts and carrots. The sauce consists of the following: Biona ketchup, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and sometimes but rarely, I will add some maple syrup, but the ketchup usually makes it sweet enough.

How to make:

Chop the onion, garlic, pepper, carrots and cabbage.
Saute the onion and garlic for a few seconds.
Add the carrots, sugar snap peas, peppers and mushrooms.
Saute for a few minutes
Add a little water
Add the cabbage, spinach, tofu, and bean sprouts and cook for a few minutes.
You can create the sauce in a separate pan and add it to the main ingredients or make it in the same pan as the vegetables. Personally, make it in the same pot.
Add the desired amount of tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and syrup.
Adjust the sauce to taste
In a separate pot, boil some water and cook the noodles.
Once the noodles are cooked, add them to the vegetables and finished sauce and mix them all together.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Stir-fry.

However, if the stirfry is a little too busy with ingredients, then I recommend a simple pasta recipe. I use gluten-free pasta, chopped tomatoes, vegan cheese and basil. This is super quick and easy to put together. What should a vegan eat for beginners? Pasta.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Dinner recommendations.

What should a vegan eat for beginners? My simple dinner recommendation is a loaded jacket potato. The loaded jacket potato consists of mashed chickpeas, garlic, vegan cheese, and avocado.

How to make:

Boil the jacket potato.
Mash the chickpeas and saute the garlic ( alternatively, you can add garlic powder to the mashed chickpea)
Mash the avocado with added salt and pepper. Mix vegan mayonnaise into the mashed avocado to make it more flavoursome.
Once the potato is cooked, spread the mashed avocado onto the inside.
Add the chickpeas on top of the avocado,
place a slice of vegan cheese on top of the potato
You can place the loaded potato onto a baking tray and put it in the oven for ten minutes to melt the cheese.

What should a vegan eat the first week?

To get you started on what should a vegan eat for beginners, you should start with small meals like:

cereals
smoothies
rice cakes
toast

Remember to keep it simple, and if it helps, eliminate gradually animal products from your meals during the first week instead of diving straight into it and completely removing all animal products. This is so you don’t get such a shock in transitioning to a vegan diet, and you are more likely to stick to it this way. What should a vegan eat for beginners? well, now you know.

Conclusion

What should a vegan eat for beginners? Overall I believe we have answered this question perfectly, and you now know how to start a vegan diet successfully. Firstly try out the Plant based recipe cookbook. The book has 100 recipes you can try for inspiration, and you’ll be cooking many vegan recipes in no time. They also have a vegan for beginners pdf on their website.

But don’t just take my word for it; as we know, the cookbook worked for Tara. We also learnt what are the 5 most important rules of a vegan diet? If you stick to these rules, then you know you are achieving a healthy vegan diet and gaining all the benefits from it.

You also know what snacks you can buy as a vegan, as I have given you my personal recommendations. I have also given you a small taster of what I eat as a three-year vegan, and I have given you free step-by-step instructions on how to make breakfast, lunch and dinner.

If you are still not convinced that Tara’s testimonial about turning plant-based has improved her overall health, then perhaps my other post on how vegans are healthier than omnivores, click here to check out why vegans are healthier than omnivores. You also know how to gradually ease yourself into a vegan diet by understanding a plan on what you can eat in the first week of the vegan diet.

You now know the formula of what should a vegan eat for beginners; if someone asks you; What should a vegan eat for beginners? you can tell them everything they need or send them this post. I hope you have enjoyed this post and gained much from it.

If you have any further questions, then please send me an email over on my contact page.

Also, visit my posts page to see more posts like this one.

Learn more about me here.

Links: Home, Privacy, Terms, site map, writevegan, Vegans v omnivores, whole food plant based shopping list

Vegan or meat? Why are vegans healthier than omnivores?

writevegan_as58sj | March 1, 2023

So, why are vegans healthier than omnivores? Many may disagree with this question, arguing that all diets are healthy if you eat whole foods and avoid junk food. However, my research on this topic begs me to differ. Have you noticed that vegans don’t suffer from obesity? Why are environmentalists encouraging us to become vegan? And why are there so many athletes becoming vegan? Below I will dive into the facts to answer these questions and the big question, why are vegans healthier than omnivores?

Why are vegans healthier than omnivores?

The number one selling point for why vegans are healthier than omnivores is weight loss. But there are many other reasons as well, such as:

Longer lifespan
reduces the risk of cancer
reduces the risk of stroke
reduces the risk of heart disease
lower cholesterol

So let us explore the benefits listed above and why they are so beneficial.

Vegans, weight loss and longer lifespan

In my opinion, the only disadvantages of being vegan are living in a world of humans that insist on using animal products everywhere in their everyday life and having to check what you are eating isn’t contaminated with animal products. Seeing people struggling to lose weight is a shame when all they have to do is become vegan and feel the weight drop off. Don’t just take my word for it as “A meta analysis showed that adhering to a vegan diet over three months reduced body weight by about 4.1kg (9lb) on average compared with control diets, and cut blood sugar levels.” (Gregory .A, 2022).

If you want to speed up the vegan weight loss process, then I recommend the 1 Month vegan challenge, which you can find out more following this link:

https://ddaea957dapb5zdnqjqdqmp0c2.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=healthier

The 1-month vegan challenge is to increase your well-being. From delicious recipes to products that improve your gut health, skin, sleep, weight loss and stress levels – there’s truly something for everyone interested in switching to a plant-based “vegan diet”. Is vegan healthy long-term? You will discover that it is after the one-month challenge. The product cares about your health and the environment, so you will learn the benefits of veganism on the environment and the benefits of being vegan for a month. The challenge includes many vegan recipes such as Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles, Bean Burritos, Vegan Mac N’ Cheese, Sweet N’ Sour Tofu Dishes and Much More…

It will be one of the best health decisions you have ever made.

Click here to start the challenge.

source: Food as Medicine | Michael Greger, M.D. | TEDxSedona

As explained in the video above, living on a plant-based diet can reverse disease and increase your life span. So when you become vegan, your overall health will improve. It lowers the risk of diseases because of such a high-fibre diet. “When separated from the rest, vegans had a 15% lower risk of dying prematurely from all causes, indicating that a vegan diet may indeed help people live longer than those who adhere to vegetarian or omnivorous eating patterns.” (Healthline).

Michael Greger explains the answer to the question: why are vegans healthier than omnivores?; as seen in the video above, he has an excellent book out called How Not to Die, and it explains many of the health benefits of the vegan diet and how it can prevent diseases.

This is another excellent reason to switch to a vegan diet.

Why are vegans healthier than omnivores? Well, plant food reduces the risk of cancer, strokes, heart disease and cholesterol.

Cancer affects 1 in 2 people in a lifetime, and unfortunately, for some cancers, there isn’t a cure; all the more important reason to go vegan and prevent cancer from ever occurring in your body. You would need to eat large portions of superfoods such as spinach and broccoli “In terms of cancer prevention, the nutrients found in plant-based foods — including vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber — have been shown to reduce risk of several types of cancer. In fact, eating 6 oz of wholegrain foods each day may decrease your colorectal cancer risk by 21%.” (The Regents of the University of Michigan, 2023) No arguments here about how this point answers: why are vegans healthier than omnivores?

If you stay vegan for most of your life, then it will most definitely reduce the risk of dying from a stroke. Strokes occur when the blood clots in the brain stop the blood supply from reaching certain brain areas. The risk will be effectively reduced if a vegan consumes a large portion of superfoods such as:

leafy greens like Kale and spinach
berries like blueberries and strawberries
green tea
nuts and seeds
legumes such as beans and lentils

If you can consume a good portion of these superfoods a day, then you will improve your overall health.

What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is the fatty substance in your blood developed from eating fatty foods like meat and junk food. So this is where vegans are healthier than meat eaters in the vegan vs omnivore debate. Eating whole plant-based food will reduce your cholesterol.

What is heart disease? Heart disease affects the blood flow in the heart and is usually caused by high blood pressure, which can come from a poor diet as well as lack of exercise and many other reasons. Consuming a plant-based diet will lower your blood pressure as whole foods are full of nothing but good nutrients and zero per cent fat.

If the content so far has inspired you to convert to the vegan side, but you have no idea how to start and want to know what whole food plant-based recipes you can create at home, then please check out my other blog post here where I break down my whole food plant based shopping list and how you can create your own to suit you.

What’s wrong with meat?

Why are vegans healthier than omnivores? Why is meat bad for humans? You may disagree that humans should eat meat. However, I would like to explain why meat is bad for you. Well, the human anatomy is built as a herbivore. Don’t take my word for it; “Although many humans choose to eat both plants and meat, earning us the dubious title of “omnivore,” we’re anatomically herbivorous.” (PETA, 2023) So our digestive system doesn’t need meat, and we have been sabotaging ourselves for years by believing we need meat for protein when in fact, we can get so much more protein from our plants. No wonder vegans are healthier than omnivores; they’re eating the foods that our bodies crave.

Why are vegans healthier than omnivores? Disadvantages of meat.

There are many negative reasons not to eat meat, and these negatives are many more answers to the question: why are vegans healthier than omnivores? The reasons are:

Saturated fat
damaged our environment and ecosystem
salmonella
mercury consumption

Meat causes high blood pressure and clogs your arteries, causing many health issues. Meat can also make you gain weight because of its high fat and sodium content, especially in processed meat such as sausages and bacon. These reasons seem worth avoiding, and they answer the question; why are vegans healthier than omnivores?

Conclusion – Are vegans healthier than omnivores?

We have learnt the answer to the question: Why are vegans healthier than omnivores? Being vegan will increase your lifespan and reduce nasty diseases such as:

heart disease
strokes
high cholesterol
cancer

Being vegan will increase your lifespan, and we have learnt that our anatomy is naturally a herbivore. No wonder we know the answer to the question: Why are vegans healthier than a omnivore? Being vegan doesn’t just benefit us but also the world around us; we have learnt the benefits of veganism on environment and the ecosystem. Now you know if anyone asks: Are vegans healthier than omnivores? you can show them this blog post. I suppose this post also answers the question: are vegans healthier than carnivores?

If this post has inspired you, then please check out the one-month vegan challenge to get you started with being a healthier and happier person. Check out the challenge here.

We found the best whole food plant based shopping list.

writevegan_as58sj | February 20, 2023

Do you desire a whole food plant based diet but are unsure what to buy in your weekly shop? Well, you’re in luck because that is what we are going to do in this post and below, you will find the exact formula that I use when shopping for my healthy whole food plant based diet. It will guarantee you won’t spend money on things you don’t need whilst also gaining all of the essential benefits of an entirely whole food plant based diet.

How do you start?

So, how do you create a whole food plant based shopping list? The first thing you need to know is structuring, if you can get the structure right for the week ahead, it will keep you organised and prepared for the week and no more wondering what you’re going to have for dinner tonight.

Its as simple as this, so take note:

Make a list of your favourite breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Break down each vegan meal of ingredients by swapping them with whole food plant based ingredients, e.g. beans on toast ingredients – organic, gluten-free sourdough with Biona organic baked beans.

Write down Monday-Friday, and on each day, write ‘breakfast, lunch and dinner, e.g.:

Monday

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Under breakfast, write what breakfast recipe you want each day with the ingredients. For example:

Monday

Breakfast: banana and porridge with peanut butter and maple syrup – Organic banana, gluten-free whole oats, organic peanut butter and organic maple syrup

Make sure all of the ingredients are whole food and plant based. Also, a good tip is if you know you will be home late for dinner, prepare the dinner the night before; this will help you from ordering takeaways and breaking your diet. You can do a plant-based shopping list aldi or any of your chosen supermarket.

source:https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fbetter%2Flifestyle%2F18-plant-based-foods-nutritionists-buy-aldi-ncna1154586&psig=AOvVaw3UYPMNd85xjxOhRnjhTer9&ust=1676972322435000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjhxqFwoTCJCQsu7mo_0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

whole food plant based shopping list plan

I recommend drafting a week’s food plan to fill out the above structure. If you’re new to being a whole-food herbivore, I recommend writing down all your usual and favourite meals on a normal day and then converting them to the whole food plant based diet plan. If you enjoy spaghetti on a Friday then convert all the ingredients you usually use for spaghetti into organic vegan ingredients. For example, spaghetti noodles will be converted to organic gluten-free rice noodles.

For further help on how to begin a whole food plant based diet, here’s a video which will encourage you to get started:

Can you give me a list of plant-based foods?

source: Beginners plant based diet grocery list

As mentioned in the video above you can shop for plant based foods such as:

Legumes: chickpeas, kidney beans, butter beans, lentils etc.
Fruits: Apples, Pears, bananas, kiwi
Vegetables: sweetcorn, peas, kale
Whole grains: oats, quinoa, rice

Anything that isn’t processed and is in a packet with a list of ingredients.

How do I start a whole-food plant based diet?

When I began my vegan journey I started cooking simple recipes that I have never done before. This is also a good way to change up your meal plan cause you will get bored of the same meals everyweek. I was inspired by watching Niaomi Smarts vlogs when ever she did a vlog demonstarting how she prepares her meals and just made it look so simple to me. Watching vegan vloggers is a great way to find meal inspiration for your shopping list.

Why have a whole food plant based shopping list?

Following the structure sections above about creating a whole food plant based shopping list, you can now fill them out with your own shopping list for the week. If you leave any sections out and miss the required details, your whole food plant based shopping list for the week won’t be easy to sustain.

Achieving a whole food plant based shopping list regime is a fantastic way to keep yourself organised for meals in the week ahead but also be kind to your wallet as you won’t feel the need to waste your money on unnecessary things that aren’t on your shopping list.

But don’t take my word for it, did you know that:

“Notably, however, one-third indicated they use a shopping list to “stay on budget” (33%) and “make a note of sales/coupons” (31%)”. (Field Agent, 2018).

“In our survey of 2,500 shoppers, 21% indicated they “always” rely on a shopping list, and 35% “usually,” when purchasing groceries and/or household consumables” (Field Agent, 2018).

These percentages should be higher to avoid overspending and keeping a healthy diet which also leads to a happier life—more money for you and a healthier body.

How do you buy whole foods plant based?

Shopping online. Vegan shopping suggestion

Personally, I prefer to do my food shop online. Mainly because it’s less stressful for me as I can take my time browsing without getiing in anyone’s way or them getting in my way. However, if you prefer travelling to the supermarket to shop for your organic food then I personally recommend asda for a high street supermarket suggestion as they have a small but great orgainic line for whole fruit and veg. Although, if your area has a local food market or a small business that sells loose fruit and veg then please go and support them especially during these hard times.

Whole food plant-based shopping list my recommendations.

whole food plant based shopping list fruit ideas

I have been on a whole food plant based diet since August 2020, and I have never thought of going back once. So I have a lot of experience shopping for real plant-based food, so here is a list of my recommendations:

Always go for organic vegetables. Non-organic veg are grown in insect-repellent chemicals which you to will ingest, and over time, this is harmful to the body,

“eating organic is an advantage since we know pesticides can lead to neurodevelopment issues and are strongly associated with cancer.” (UC Davis, 2019)

Use organic brands such as Biona. Organic brands will guarantee the ingredients they use are whole and organic. I love to buy Biona’s ketchup and tinned vegetables.

Buy alternatives online. HonestlyFrom my experience, I have struggled to find gluten-free, organic vegan options in high street supermarkets such as organic vegan cheese and organic plant milk. I recommend buying these online from organic shops such as Plenish and Planet Organic.

My Tips

pencils to be ready to take tips for the herbivore shopping list

From my experience, to ensure my whole food plant based shopping list is a successful and efficient trip, I need to:

Make sure I don’t shop when I am hungry. Shopping whilst hungry will encourage buying things that aren’t on the list.

Only buy the needed ingredients for your recipes on your whole food plant based shopping list Avoid buying items that are organic just because they are organic.

Write your vegan shopping list a few days before the end of the week. Writing the whole food plant based shopping list at the end of the week will keep you organised and ready for the following week.

Add and tweak your list throughout the week so it’s flexible with your routine and when you want to change up your organic herbivore meals with your mood.

Conclusion

Now, you have the formula for a whole food plant based shopping list structured for a week. You can now make your plant-based grocery list on a budget, as long as you stick to the ingredients on your list. I hope you enjoy the whole food diet shopping list as much as I do.

My next post will be about the advantages of being vegan. The post will discuss topics such as a plant-based food list for weight loss with a link to a whole food plant-based diet pdf check out that post here.

If you want a template of the week structure for your whole food plant based shopping list, send me an email here and ill email you the template :

If you need any further information on the topic discussed then please click here:

More posts are availble on my home page. My other pages: About and Privacy

Bibliography

Field Agent (2018)The Science of Shopping Lists: 10 Insights from a Survey of 2,500, Available at: URL(Accessed: 14/2/23)

UC Davis (2019) Are organic foods really healthier? Two paediatricians break it down. Available at: URL (Accessed: 15/2/23)