30 day vegan almost vegan challenge

Monica

Recipes to Tapin2life 30 Day Almost Vegan Challenge

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As promised here are some tasty, healthy, some all vegan and some almost vegan recipes if you need some assistance with getting started in our Tapin2life 30 Day Almost Vegan Challenge. My hope is that this will be an introduction to eating healthier in order to heal ourselves from various disease as an adjuvant or as a primary solution in addition to arriving at and maintaining a healthy weight.

As you become more comfortable cooking, my hope is also that you will begin to come up with different healthy combos of foods and pay close attention to eating in the proper order. These are some recaps of a few tips from the last post of do’s and don’ts on food combos and the proper order of intake:

  • Do not drink full cups of water right before eating your meals. It will dilute your digestive enzymes in the stomach and make it harder to digest your food. Drink at least an hour or so before and sip as you eat your meal if you must.
  • Fruits should be eaten alone- allow about 40 minutes at least to digest and never after proteins of any kind!
  • Combine Proteins (whether from animal or plant based) + Leafy Greens or Veggies like cabbage, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, kale and spinach
  • Combine a HEALTHY STARCH (brown rice, quinoa, barley, spelt) + HEALTHY FATS & NON STARCHY VEGGIES
  • JUICING is always a great way to break the fast before eating any solid food- a veggie juice is optimal. Invest in a blender if you donโ€™t have one.

Some vegan and almost vegan recipes to get us started:

Breakfast Ideas to break your 10-12 hour fast!

To break the fast start out with fruit or freshly juiced veggie drink or freshly juiced fruits. Eat or drink about 40 minutes before you plan to eat the next meal.

If you want something more sustainable skip the fruit/fruit juice and you can always make a breakfast bowl with plain yogurt and some type of oats.

Lunch ideas

Remember, eat a reasonable portion and we’re eating within a shorter amount of time incorporating intermittent fasting!

  • A light side of mushroom stuffed ravioli pasta with a veggie cashew cheese sauce (recipe posted below) plus steamed broccoli and cauliflower:
    • Buy a good brand of stuffed raviolis and cook as directed, add in the cashew cheese sauce: (soak about 200 grams of cashews for a few hours in water, drain, blend with almond or rice milk- whatever alternative you desire, season with: salt, pepper, a dash of soy sauce and a dash of sesame seed oil, 1/2 teaspoon of mustard, a few teaspoons of nutritional yeast, a dash of paprika and alter to taste as you desire with other seasonings), steam your choice of veggies and lightly season with salt and pepper and other seasonings desired and enjoy!
  • Egg salad with the works
    • (boil a few eggs ahead of time, mix in chopped green veggies: cucumbers, onions, bell peppers, garlic, add humus instead of mayo, about a teaspoon of olive or avacado oil).
  • Mushroom, walnut, cauliflower and broccoli vegan patties with a side salad of green leafy veggies.
    • Blend all ingredients together with 1-2 eggs and a bit of soy and sesame seed oil but don’t over do it with the liquid oils. You want the patties to hold together. Season as desired as you would your meat/chicken or fish. Bake about 10-15 minutes both sides in a 325 degrees F or 275 degrees C Oven. Take out and lightly fry on both sides in a skillet with olive oil 5 minutes. May be served with a side salad, avacado, a simple side of whole grain pasta or brown rice.
  • Veggie Wrap using kale leaves as the wrap loaded with all the works. If you desire, incorporate eggs or tuna and use humus as the dressing.
  • Taco Salad
    • All the fixins of the traditional taco salad but swap out your meat for the same ingredients in the veggie patty (mushroom, walnuts, cauliflower, broccoli and instead of a patty, saute in a pan of olive oil with your typical meat seasonings, chopped or dried cilantro, cumin and spice it up with a lil hot sauce!
    • In place of cheese or sour cream top it off on top with avocado and cumus!
Photo by Wendy Wei on Pexels.com

Dinner Ideas-

You can actually alternate between lunch and dinner and ideally the lighter the better for dinner. Lunch should be the heaviest meal but most of us have to ease into eating lighter in the evening as the last meal.

Photo by Ella Olsson on Pexels.com
  • Leafy Green Veggies plus Starchy Veggies like Oven Baked Potatoes and Chick Peas
  • Sauted Tofu in Sesame Seed Oil and a bit of Soy Sauce with Mushrooms, Scallions, swiss chard or kale (middle pic) with carrots and other veggies you desire. Can add noodles made from spelt flour. Avoid adding sauces like Teriyaki Sauce but if you must only a small amount (contains lots of salt and sugar).
  • Stuffed Bell Peppers or Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with a side of lentils or avacado or even starchy veggie like savory sweet potatoes (oven baked with olive oil, salt, pepper, sesame seed oil, a dash of paprika, nutritional yeast, cumin, and other seasonings as you desire).
  • Baked, lightly battered Egg Plant
    • Slice in half pieces and season as you would meat
    • (dip sliced egg plant in wet batter first- egg, almond milk or whatever sub you want, a bit of P Protein and nutritional yeast and flower if needed to make a pancake consistency wet batter, then dip egg plant in the dry batter- your choice of unseasoned bread crumbs or spelt flour)
    • Bake about 25-30 minutes (may need to flip half-way in between) in a preheated 350 F/275 C oven
    • Serve with a healthy grain plus a side of avocado drissled in olive oil and a small amount salt +pepper to season
  • Battered and lightly breaded baked cauliflower/broccoli or both. Same process as above egg plant recipe and switch out sides for salad or a healthy grain like brown rice, spelt pasta or whole grain pasta, quinoa or barley
  • Good ole’ fashioned veggie soup with spelt pasta noodles seasoned to your taste with a side salad is always a great stand by meal. Be creative with your veggies. Can add barley to your soup to bulk it up.

Others posts to come as we get started! Think of this as your starter kit and please comment back with your healthy recipes to help to encourage others to think outside the box and get more into experimenting in the kitchen. Unleash the chef in you!!!

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Monica

Tapin2Life 30 Day Almost Vegan Challenge

First of all what does it mean to be a vegan and what’s the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian diet?

Vegan- Oxford’s definitions are as follows: a person who does not eat any animal products such as meat, milk or eggs or use animal products such as leather or wool.

However, Dictionary.com says that vegan is as follows: aย vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet and a person who does not use any animal products, as leather or wool.

Vegetarian- Dictionary.com says: a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl, or, in some cases, any food derived from animals, as eggs or cheese, but subsists onย vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain, etc.

Different styles of plant-based eating

Name of dietDescription
Semi-vegetarian or flexitarian includes eggs and dairy may include small amounts of meat, poultry, fish and seafood
Pescatarianincludes eggs, dairy, fish and seafood excludes meat and poultry
***Ovo-vegetarian***includes eggs excludes meat, poultry, fish, seafood and dairy
Lacto-vegetarianincludes dairy excludes meat, poultry, fish, seafood and eggs
Vegetarian (a.k.a. lacto-ovo vegetarian)includes eggs and dairy excludes meat, poultry, fish and seafood
Veganexcludes all meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs and dairy 
Chart credit: Heart Foundation; Plant-based, Vegetarian & Vegan Diets, Lily Henderson NZRD, National Nutrition Advisor

Eating and drinking our water and food in the proper order and combinations is crucial for maximum digestion and proper nutrition. Let’s look at a few tips:

Water Intake Tips:

Water should be drank an hour or so before eating meals so that you do not dilute your digestive enzymes. If you drink water while eating your meals it should be a sip or two here and there, not a full glass.

It’s great to include fresh squeezed lemon juice in your water to aid in digestion, again, an hour or more before eating a full meal and first thing in the morning after breaking your fast.

Water intake for the average person should be at least 8 cups a day, more for men and those that exercise or stay very active, nursing and pregnant women and depending on the environment (hot or humid climates)

*If you have been told to restrict fluids for some medical reason please always consult your doctor before changing any dietary plan

Watch this short video by YouTuber Joanna Soh Official to hear how to combine foods for maximum digestion and so the nutrients can actually be used the best by the body for fuel and our health

Video credit: YouTuber Joanna Soh Official, ”Are You Eating Correctly? Lose Weight with Food Combining (5 Principles)”

To Summarize & Next Steps

  • Drink Water at least an hour before meals
  • Fruits should be eaten alone- allow about 40 minutes at least to digest and never after proteins of any kind!
  • Combine Proteins (whether from animal or plant based) + Leafy Greens or Veggies like cabbage, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, kale and spinach
  • Combine a HEALTHY STARCH (brown rice, quinoa, barley, spelt) + HEALTHY FATS & NON STARCHY VEGGIES
  • JUICING is always a great way to break the fast before eating any solid food- a veggie juice is optimal. Invest in a blender if you don’t have one.

Grocery List!!!!!

DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF TO THIS….IT’S ONLY MY STARTER LIST

Upcoming Meal Prep and Recipes

I will begin posting recipes here on the Tapin2life Blog beginning the end of next week!!!

Ideally we will rotate between one to two juice options to break the fast, a few breakfast choices and about 7 dinner options. The less recipes you start with the easier it is to complete the challenge. As you research more and find what gives your body the best results you can try out other recipes as you become more confident. Don’t be intimidated, it’s just food. You’re allowed to experiment and have fun with it!

Intermittent Fasting is Crucial!

Please see my post on this and why it is so crucial for us. We ideally would eat between a 8-10 hour window and be in a 16 hour fasting state including sleep.

Water Enema for cleansing

Before you start, to remove as much built up waste as possible- this is a huge key to detoxing our bodies and to absorbing the nutrients. The mucus must be removed for proper absorption!

This device can be bought at your local pharmacy or some health food stores, insert with a lubricant, instill 300 mL of water via the rectum, hold for about 10-15 minutes and helps to walk and massage the stomach counter-clockwise then clockwise. Release in the toilet and feel refreshed.

Start Date: January 24, 2023

Since we’ll be doing this together, let’s support one another! Let’s begin our Tapin2Life 30 Day Almost Vegan Challenge together on January 24, 2023 in order to give ourselves time to procure all of the food for various vegan and mostly plant-based recipes. Do it with your whole family for better success.

To the right, a sneak peek at one of my new recipes, Cashew Vegan Cheese on Mushroom Stuffed Ravioli with Steamed Veggies

And last but not least…keep on movin’

Always get some form of exercise and strength building in 3-4 times per week for about 30-40 minutes whether you do brisk walks, resistance bands, free weights or go hard in the gym.

Countdown, feedback and follow-up

I would be so happy to hear how you feel and your comments after just 4 days! Buy all that you can on the above list and see you back here next week to give you some tasty, awesome recipes!

***Special note: this type of diet may not be suitable for growing children. Always consult your pediatrician or healthcare provider before making any dietary changes in general, especially for our little ones. Unless you are diligent at researching your intake of foods to ensure you are getting all of the proper nutrients and minerals, a vegan or plant-based lifestyle may not be for you. It takes ongoing learning in order to have the best outcome whether young or old.

If youโ€™ve found this info helpful, please SHARE ITย ๐Ÿ’—, LIKE๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿฟย , REPOSTโ™ป๏ธย , COMMENT๐Ÿ—ฌ and YES, SUBSCRIBEโœ”๏ธย 

by clicking โ€Followโ€โ€ฆThanks so much for visiting, and please be a blessing and be blessed everyone!