so what CAN you eat? almond milk

i've gotten so much conversation and so many questions (and so many requests for recipes) on this subject - what CAN you eat as a vegan? - i figured i'd start posting a sampling of our weekly menu to share the love - and the delicious factor. i am SO enjoying this fun new hunt for recipes that rock.  i am also enjoying the empowerment and energy i feel about eating things i KNOW are tasty and are nourishing every little bit of my body.  i'm also pumped that with a few exceptions (more because they are different and not because they aren't tasty...once i get the littles to try them, they gobble up!) everyone has been onboard with the new delicious things we're eating.  i've also found that anything you loved BEFORE making the transition, you can find a delicious recipe for that very thing that follows all your self-chosen dietary rules.  it feels really good to know you are nourishing your body with whole foods from chocolate cake!!!!!

MILK: we have chosen to quit dairy during this experiment, 100% so obviously we needed something to replaced cow's milk for drinking, for cereal, for smoothies and recipes.  we've tried rice milk and almond milk and so far, almond milk is the favorite. not only is it so fast and easy to make but it is sooo yummy and soooo smooth.  you can also buy it ready-made at the store and even in some fancy/fun flavors but i think its much cheaper to make it. i've never tried the store bought version, but i presume like most things, its better homemade.  We tried plain almond milk but decided while we are teaching our palate to think differently about what "milk" should taste like we'll jazz it up a bit and are using a naturally sweetened vanilla flavored version.  The plain milk is perfectly fine in recipes/smoothies and for cereal but for drinking straight from the glass, we prefer the recipe below. 


Vanilla Almond Milk
Soak 1 cup raw, organic (if possible) almonds 8 hours/overnight.
Rinse well and add to blender with 4 cups cold water, 4-6 medjool dates (pitted) and 1t vanilla.
Blend and blend and blend and blend.
Straight through your nut milk bag (so worth the investment if you are doing this daily) or 2-3 times through a fine mesh strainer.  You will likely get some super fine floaties but they're quite tasty actually.
Chill and enjoy.

You will have a big clump of almond pulp left which you can totally add to bread recipes or add to cereal/oatmeal/salads.  Its totally edible and nutritious, just keep it refrigerated til you use it.

What else have we been eating:
Well, we cleared it all out.....all those things from our fridge and freezer and pantry that until otherwise announced are no longer part of our lifestyle.  We want to eat food that nourishes our body, eating with a purpose - for nutrition - so our bodies operate at their optimal levels to give us the most energy as well as the most disease-fighting power possible.  We've both reported higher energy levels among other benefits in the short time we've been going this route.  For now, there's no meat protein of any sort, no eggs, no dairy or cheese and no oil (not even olive oil).  At first I was a little nervous we'd be eating bland boring food and repeating the same two things over and over.....salad, beans, salad, beans. But no, I've come across so many great resources full of fabulous recipes - its actually harder to make my meal plan now because I feel like I have so many options!

***Many of the recipes will be from The Engine 2 Diet book, I will annotate as "E2 Recipe) - super easy and super healthy - and many of them are shared right here on his website, you don't even have to buy the book for the recipes if you want to give it a whirl...although i highly recommend it for all the nutritional information and health benefits outlined in an easy 120 page read. other recommended movies and reads (on my list too): the china study, forks over knives, ALL these books listed on the engine 2 website, food, inc., food matters.  they ALL have one common tune: the source and contents (or lack of toxicity, chemicals, processing, nutrients (based on how they are fed/bred), etc) are incredibly important for your health and YOU have the choice to make simple baby-step changes toward changing your health without doctors and medication.***

what we ate this week:

lots of fruit - more whole fruit, less juice - but the kids are still having half juice half water some of the day, the rest of the day its almond milk or water
lots of veggies - raw, steamed, roasted, sauteed....am loving seeing mr. little man gobbling up raw veggies dipped in hummus
lots of nuts and beans 
lots of hummus - will be trying a new recipe next week, this week was store bought
RIP's Big Bowl - (E2 recipe) i love this for breakfast with a big grapfruit on the side
Protein/Green/Berry Smoothies using No Meat Athlete's Perfect Smoothie Formula
Berry "Chocolate" Smoothie
Steel Cut Oatmeal with protein powder, raisins
Migas Especiales (E2 recipe) - typically they are made with scrambled eggs and are in a tortilla but these are made with soy and are in a warm corn flour tortilla
New York Times Black Bean Burger (E2 recipe not on website) - served on a skinny vegan bun with vegenaise (which tastes the same if not better than mayo in our opinion), organic ketchup
Carrot Cashew Soup (Vegetarian Traditions Cook Book)-oh my was it fabulous!
Amy's Kitchen Frozen Pizza (Vegan-uses soy cheese and rice crust): was tasty in a crunch
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with marinara sauce and sautee'd veggies
Mary's Gone Crackers seed crackers
Lundberg Rice Chips with sea salt & hummus (found at our grocer, not online at link)
sweet potato fries (used to toss in olive oil and salt, but found that you don't need the oil! hip hip!)
strawberry-berry sorbet (sooo easy and delicious as a dessert!) - i recommend putting it in the freezer for a couple hours before eating to get the ice-cream consistency, we just did it in the blender, no ice cream maker.

"add ins" we love for oatmeal, smoothies and baked projects:
hemp protein powder

maca powder (read about it here: http://livesuperfoods.com/maca-powder.html)

cacao nibs (read about it here: http://livesuperfoods.com/raw-cacao-nibs.html)

green vibrance powder

i really love that hummus and salsa and guacamole are on an "all you can eat" level with this lifestyle....as long as they are made with whole foods delicious ingredients and hold all the "bad stuff".

already brewing next week's meal plan and i can hardly wait to see what gem's we uncover!  am particularly excited about our memorial day barbecue pot luck on monday when we can share our tasty goods with friends.