Want to go Vegan?

Want to go Vegan or Raw Vegan?! Here are a few things to do and consider before making the choice! You NEED to do your research and be informed!
First, what is Vegan? What is Raw Vegan? Vegan simply means you do not eat animal proteins. No animal meat, including fish, and any animal bi-product including eggs, dairy and some people even choose to stay away from honey (which I think is a little extreme but to each his own!!)
Raw Vegan means you do not cook your food. Everything is pretty much made from scratch and you do not allow heat to touch your food. This protects your food from losing its nutritents. There are lots of different opinions about cooking your veggies so I will just leave it at that and you can do your own research and decide for yourself!

Here are a few reasons you may want to consider going vegan:

1) The meat industry is OUT OF CONTROL. The mistreatment and massproduction of animals is something most people don't want to think about but need to be informed of. Watch the doctumentary Food Inc for a full overview of what the food industry looks like here in th US.
2) You may have a lot of food allergies that can be relieved through eating Vegan
3) You may want to eat a more alkaline diet. Meat and dairy are VERY acidic and can wreak havic on the bodies cells and bring on disease.
4) You may just like the food!!

Either way, its a fun and humane way to eat :)

Here are a few things you need to consider or do before making the decision to become Vegan or Raw Vegan:

1) Eating Vegan or Raw Vegan does not mean just munching on veggies all day. There are TONS of creative recipes and substitutes for your favorite meals including Black Bean Burgers and Breakfast Burritos!
2) You can be vegan and still be unhealthy! There are lots of processed foods on the market that fit into the "vegan" category but they are loaded with fillers and just stuff you don't want to put into your body.
3) A vegan diet can be high in complex carbohydrates and healthy fats so you need to watch the balance of your intake with both.
4) Veggies and grains DO have protien but they do NOT have full amino profiles. You need to research and find combos to attain a full amino profile if thats what you are looking for! Beans and rice for example make a full amino acid profile!!

PLEASE do your research before going Vegan!! The best way to be vegan is to eat a variety of whole, fresh foods including: fruits, veggies, nuts, seets, legumes and grains.

Look up recipes on Pinterest or keep following this blog to get more healthy Vegan recipes!! And be sure to follow me on Facebook!!

Creamy Peach Cashew Dressing

SO healthy, SO yummy... Store it in a mason jar and you got salad dressing for DAYS!!

Recipe:
1.5 Cups raw cashews
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 peaches
3/4 cup white wine vinager

Blend in food prcessor or high powered blender until creamy and enjoy!

For more inspiration come and find me on Facebook!

For you Carrot Cake Lovers

Raw Vegan Mini Cakes with Cashew Maple Syrup Frosting... mmmmmm.
Find me on Facebook for more inspiration!

Here's how I did it:
For the Cake:
2.5 Cups Shredded Carrots
1 Cup shredded coconut
1 Cup pitted dates
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp pumpkin spice
5 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Cup trail mix (with no added sugar)

For the Frosting:
1 Cup raw Cashews (soak them while making the cake part)
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 Tbsp PURE maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice

Directions Cake:
Put everything from the cake mix (except for the trail mix), into a food processor and blend until ingredients are easy to mold into a ball. Take a cookie sheet and put parchment paper on top. Squish the ingredients into balls and then flatten them 1/2 inch thick like pancakes onto the parchment paper. Should make about 8. Put them in the fridge while you make the frosting.

Directions Frosting:
Put all ingredients from the frosting into the food processor and blend until thick and creamy. Then take out the cakes and put one spoonfull of frosting on each cake.

The cakes can be eaten right away but put them in the fridge overnight and taste the magic the next morning. You won't be dissapointed ;)

• 
  

These Salad Jars Though...

Had a go at the newest trend... SALAD JARS!!! I did mine a little different though. Instead of just doing layered salads, I made already mixed salads and used the mason jars for storage instead of plastic tupperwear (which I'm not a big fan of for lots of reasons). So here you go, here's what I did! Come follow me on Facebook for more inspiration!!

Garbanzo Bean "egg" salad

2 cans garbanzo beans

4 stocks celery

2 cups shredded carrots

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 tbs dried dill

1.5 tbs Dijon mustard

3 tbs veganaise (or regular mayo if desired)

Directions: Put all ingredients in big bowl and mix well! Store in mason jars or tupperwear.

Avocado and Tomato Caprese Salad

2 cups diced tomatoes

2 cups diced avocado

1/4 cup chopped basil

1 tbs lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Put all ingredients in big bowl and mix well! Store in mason jars or tupperwear.

Layered Veggie and Chickpea Salad

Broccoli slaw mixture (from trader joes)

Shredded carrots

Sunflower seeds

Sprouts

Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans

Chopped red bell peppers

Directions: Layer the salad ingredients from bottom of list to top in a mason jar. Put dressing in when ready to eat and shake and enjoy!

Layered Veggie Protien Sweet Potato Salad

Brown or Purple rice

Cubed and cooked sweet potatoes

Sprouts

Sunflower seeds

Shredded carrots

Red Bell pepper

Directions: Layer the salad ingredients from bottom of list to top in a mason jar. Put dressing in when ready to eat and shake and enjoy!