Struggling to eat healthy

Anonymous1502

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Mar 8, 2019
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Lifestyle
  1. Vegan newbie
I am eating a lot of vegan junk and it Is making me feel very unwell.I want to eat more veg but I don't know how to make it taste good thus I don't really enjoy eating vegetables.I am also not enjoying salads either.Before being vegan I would add feta which would take the salad to the next level.I don't know how to take a vegan salad to the next level.I looked at recipes but many just require so much ingredients that I don't have.My food budget isn't too big so I am not going to spend £10+ on ingredients to make 1 dish.I tried eating humous with vegetable sticks but I am not enjoying that either.I am ok with eating fruit.The only times I incorporate any veg into my diet is if I make a pasta ( I might chop some tomato, peppers and courgette inside) Or a stair fry but even that isn't that much and I need to move away from eating so much junk and processed food but I still want to enjoy my food.Any simple recipes that are tasty, healthy and few ingredients?
 
hello Anon

Eating a whole food plant-based lifestyle is so much more than just fruits and vegetables.

Lots of rice, whole grain breads and pastas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, root vegetables, beans, legumes, lentils. There are so many amazing recipes that are just basics. Pastas with tomato sauce and add lots of greens, onions, garlic, broccoli and any other veggies you like. Make a Burrito Bowl with rice on the bottom, some tasty beans on the next level, any veggies and greens and top with a sauce like this:

(from High Carb Hannah) Hemp Ranch Ingredients


  • 1/2 C Hemp Seeds
  • 1/2 C Water
  • 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Juice 1/2 Lemon
  • 1/4 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Tsp Agave Nectar
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 1 Tsp Dill
There are lots of good recipes here on this forum and check out the "What I Ate for _______" and you can get some great ideas.

Emma JC
 
I don't know how to make lentils taste great.I mostly eat white rice, sweet potato and pasta.Thanks for your reply though.
 
I have lots of ideas for improving salads. Most of them have to do with some "special ingredients".
I keep a can of sliced olives in the frig for my salads. I also keep a little bag of cherry tomatoes. If I have leftovers from other recipes (or sometimes I make extra just for my salads), I like to add some sliced or chopped onion and/or mushrooms. Leftover black beans are great or just buy a can and keep a container of black beans in the frig to add to your salad. Garbanzo beans, too! Broccoli is also great to add to salads, cooked or not.

I have a spiralizer now and I also like to add carrots to my salads. Cucumber too.

When I bake some tofu I always make twice as much. and then save the rest for salads. Baked tofu is also a good ingredient for homemade noodle soup.

I make my own salad toppings and keep them in a container. Slivered almonds and sunflower seeds are the base. Depending on your taste you can add raisins or dried cranberries. If you can afford them, Roasted soy nuts and/or pine nuts, too. There is also fake bacon bits and some croutons are vegan.

You can also save money and make your salads a little special by making your own salad dressings. I put a link at the bottom to another thread that contains some recipes.

I like to buy the organic spring greens and baby spinach in bulk and just buy what you need. I also really like the "living lettuce" you can now get in stores. but for cost saving, there is nothing cheaper than Romaine in bulk.

you can add even more veggies to your pasta and pasta sauce. When I make a tomato based sauce (and don't forget the tomatoes count as veggies), I add sauteed onions, mushrooms, and zucchini (add some garlic too). Make a big batch and then when you are too tired to cook all you need to do is make the pasta and reheat the sauce.

I have even used the spiralizer to make zucchini noodles.

Vegan chili is another great way to have cheap and easy meals. And you can make a big pot of it and put it in small containers and freeze it.

Cuban black beans and rice has become one of my favorites. You can make a big batch and just heat it up for quick meals.

Recently I've rediscovered mashed potatoes. I made some mushroom gravy and its a good side. I made some lentil stew and poured it over the mashed potatoes. Lentil stew is also pretty easy to make. and cheap. and you can make it in large batches and freeze it.

Oh, and soups are also great. Lentil soup, split pea, black bean. All good. Cheap. Easy.

OH OH. you know what you might like. There is a YouTube channel called the Cheap Lazy Vegan. She has lots of good ideas.


 
I have lots of ideas for improving salads. Most of them have to do with some "special ingredients".
I keep a can of sliced olives in the frig for my salads. I also keep a little bag of cherry tomatoes. If I have leftovers from other recipes (or sometimes I make extra just for my salads), I like to add some sliced or chopped onion and/or mushrooms. Leftover black beans are great or just buy a can and keep a container of black beans in the frig to add to your salad. Garbanzo beans, too! Broccoli is also great to add to salads, cooked or not.

I have a spiralizer now and I also like to add carrots to my salads. Cucumber too.

When I bake some tofu I always make twice as much. and then save the rest for salads. Baked tofu is also a good ingredient for homemade noodle soup.

I make my own salad toppings and keep them in a container. Slivered almonds and sunflower seeds are the base. Depending on your taste you can add raisins or dried cranberries. If you can afford them, Roasted soy nuts and/or pine nuts, too. There is also fake bacon bits and some croutons are vegan.

You can also save money and make your salads a little special by making your own salad dressings. I put a link at the bottom to another thread that contains some recipes.

I like to buy the organic spring greens and baby spinach in bulk and just buy what you need. I also really like the "living lettuce" you can now get in stores. but for cost saving, there is nothing cheaper than Romaine in bulk.

you can add even more veggies to your pasta and pasta sauce. When I make a tomato based sauce (and don't forget the tomatoes count as veggies), I add sauteed onions, mushrooms, and zucchini (add some garlic too). Make a big batch and then when you are too tired to cook all you need to do is make the pasta and reheat the sauce.

I have even used the spiralizer to make zucchini noodles.

Vegan chili is another great way to have cheap and easy meals. And you can make a big pot of it and put it in small containers and freeze it.

Cuban black beans and rice has become one of my favorites. You can make a big batch and just heat it up for quick meals.

Recently I've rediscovered mashed potatoes. I made some mushroom gravy and its a good side. I made some lentil stew and poured it over the mashed potatoes. Lentil stew is also pretty easy to make. and cheap. and you can make it in large batches and freeze it.

Oh, and soups are also great. Lentil soup, split pea, black bean. All good. Cheap. Easy.

OH OH. you know what you might like. There is a YouTube channel called the Cheap Lazy Vegan. She has lots of good ideas.



Thank you for your advice.I don't like her youtube channel because her recipes are neither cheap or lazy in my opinion.Will look into making more soups.
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with a bit of vegan junk - but too many supermarket ready meals now accessible are making it worse. Vegan sushi, tofu, chickpeas (I eat chickpeas everyday :)). I'd say that being a pure raw vegan is hard, but you can still maintain a good balance.

Check out my blog or Instagram for some great vegan food tips and recipes.
Vegan Vibe Blog and Instagram.
 
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Reactions: Anonymous1502
I don't think there's anything wrong with a bit of vegan junk - but too many supermarket ready meals now accessible are making it worse. Vegan sushi, tofu, chickpeas (I eat chickpeas everyday :)). I'd say that being a pure raw vegan is hard, but you can still maintain a good balance.

Check out my blog or Instagram for some great vegan food tips and recipes.
Vegan Vibe Blog and Instagram.

There are days where I just live purely off processed sugar and a bit of fruit
 
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Reactions: VeganVIbe
I don't know how to make lentils taste great.I mostly eat white rice, sweet potato and pasta.Thanks for your reply though.

If there is a taste that you really enjoy then add it to whatever it is you are cooking. Example tomato - I love tomato sauce on pizza and pasta and so I add some tomato of some kind to many things, like lentils or beans, soups or "stewp" as we like to call a pot of "everything we like". Lots of veggies, onions, garlic, spices, can of tomatoes or tomato paste, beans or lentils (used canned beans or lentils if you prefer them well done, I do), and then just before eating add some chopped greens (spinach or kale) or even some frozen veggie like brussels sprouts or frozen broccoli. When serving add some lemon juice (I keep a bottle in the fridge, much less expensive than fresh) and whatever ever other spices you like. Eat with whole grain bread.

If you make a big enough pot then you can have leftovers for a few days.

There really isn't any excuse for eating just processed sugar and some fruit. There are lots of inexpensive food items that can taste delicious when combined together and many can be found at the 99P stores or Dollar stores here. Even a peanut butter and jam sandwich can be healthy and inexpensive and filling and delicious.

Emma JC
 
If there is a taste that you really enjoy then add it to whatever it is you are cooking. Example tomato - I love tomato sauce on pizza and pasta and so I add some tomato of some kind to many things, like lentils or beans, soups or "stewp" as we like to call a pot of "everything we like". Lots of veggies, onions, garlic, spices, can of tomatoes or tomato paste, beans or lentils (used canned beans or lentils if you prefer them well done, I do), and then just before eating add some chopped greens (spinach or kale) or even some frozen veggie like brussels sprouts or frozen broccoli. When serving add some lemon juice (I keep a bottle in the fridge, much less expensive than fresh) and whatever ever other spices you like. Eat with whole grain bread.

If you make a big enough pot then you can have leftovers for a few days.

There really isn't any excuse for eating just processed sugar and some fruit. There are lots of inexpensive food items that can taste delicious when combined together and many can be found at the 99P stores or Dollar stores here. Even a peanut butter and jam sandwich can be healthy and inexpensive and filling and delicious.

Emma JC

There are days where I just live purely off processed sugar and a bit of fruit

Agree with this taste thing! I add nutritional yeast to pretty much everything, because I love it. Second favourite is coconut. Third favourite is peanuts. I also love vegan cheese varieties - you can have it with bread or bagel and some salad, toms, beets or whatever you like, and that's better than sugar and fruit.

There are so many amazing resources and beautiful vegan people that you can connect with on the internet nowadays, not knowing what to eat shouldn't be a struggle.
 
Speaking of the 99P or Dollar Store - SweetSimple Vegan just put out a video called Vegan Dollar Store Cooking Challenge...

btw - in my community our Dollar Stores do not have frozen sections as they do in this video


Emma JC