My 4 Go-To Vegan Meals | Lazy Vegan Style | Q&A

Question: What are some of your grocery staples and go-to meals? I'm going shopping in a few and really need some ideas as to what I should get for my home. I need all really easy ideas because I don't really like cooking. Thanks!

Answer: I consider myself a "lazy" vegan, so a lot of our meals are super simple.

If I didn't have to cook for my family, I would probably eat cereal, veggie wraps & vegan ice cream all day. lol #realtalk
 

My 4 current lazy go-to meals are...

*Tacos with black beans, salsa, lettuce and tomato or tacos with Beyond Meat crumbles

*Fried rice using leftover rice, onion, peas and carrots

Recipe

*Stir-fry with vegan sausage, bell peppers, onion, carrots, seasoning (served with rice)

Recipe

*Spaghetti with marinara sauce and fresh basil 

Recipe

All of these meals take less than 30 minutes!

Some items that are usually on our grocery list: green leafy vegetables (like kale, spinach, romaine lettuce), carrots, bananas, almond milk, potatoes, rice, bell peppers, beans, mushrooms, garlic, onion & avocados.

I did a podcast episode with more details about our grocery list here 

I hope this is helpful!

I'll just post this video....

...since I was listening while writing this post.

Have a fab day!

Chickpea Salad Sandwich Recipe | Lunch in under 15 Mins

I used to love tuna sandwiches with mayo, diced eggs, onion, salt & black pepper.

Since starting this journey, chickpea sandwiches have been an amazing replacement.

If you need a really simple lunch this week, this sandwich with a fresh fruit and vegetable is perfect. My kids love it! It takes me about 10 minutes to put this meal together. Plus, it's delicious and filling.

Instead of using conventional mayonnaise (who contains eggs), you can use Vegenaise or Just Mayo (my new fave) to replace it. I also found a recipe on Fablunch if you prefer to make a homemade version of mayo. 

Because I'm random...

Remember this episode of Martin? The one when Ms. Geri threw his last meal on the floor in the bus station and declared....

Let me know what you think once you try the recipe (full instructions below).

Chickpea salad sandwich

by Brown Vegan

Prep Time: 10

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Ingredients (6-8 Sandwiches)

• (2) 15 oz chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon relish (sweet or dill)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ cup vegan mayo (Just Mayo and Vegenaise are good brands)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• 8 Hamburger buns

Instructions

Grind chickpeas in a food processor for a few seconds (you can also use a potato masher if you don't have a food processor). Transfer to a bowl and mix in all the remaining ingredients. Serve on a bun with lettuce/fresh spinach and tomato.

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Watch me make the recipe in this video....(starts at 45 seconds)

4 Quick Breakfast Ideas | 10 Mins or Less

Like I mentioned in this blog post, we usually eat the same breakfast every day for one week because it saves time and money.

Plus this is how our life was before we started this vegan journey. I gave you some breakfast ideas in that post, but wanted to quickly write this one to share 4 breakfast meals that take less than 10 minutes (some less than 5) to put together.

*Vegan yogurt with fruit & nuts-

There are many options out there for yogurt - almond, coconut and soy are just a few (almond being my least favorite).

Vegan yogurt brands:

So Delicious    Whole Soy & Co

Silk soy yogurt      Almond Dream

Amande almond yogurt     Stonyfield Farm O'soy yogurt

Serve your yogurt with fresh fruit, roasted nuts and a sweetener like natural maple syrup and/or dates, if necessary.

*Cereal

Click here to see a list of vegan-friendly cereals

Unhealthy (but vegan) breakfast cereals are here 

Serve your cereal with a plant-based milk like almond, soy, hemp or coconut

*Smoothies - always so simple and filling- here's the recipe for the pic below

If you prefer to start your morning off with some greens, here's an easy smoothie formula for that:

3 cups of greens (spinach is an awesome start since you don't taste it) + 2 cups of liquid (almond milk, juice or water) + 1 cup of fruit (frozen is great) = simple green smoothie

You can serve your smoothie with toast or a bagel

*Oatmeal- this one of my go-to breakfasts for our fam

Instead of conventional butter, you can use Earth Balance vegan margarine or coconut oil.

Also, use raw sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup and dates to sweeten your oat instead of white sugar

Add in fruit and nuts of your choice to give it some variety.

Breakfast has been on my mind a lot lately because I feel as though it's the easiest meal to immediately start your vegan journey with.

Have you started with a vegan breakfast yet? leave me a comment below.

Evolve Restaurant- DC | Vegan While Out

I met up with my girl Monique for soul food and conversation at Evolve restaurant in DC last weekend.

The food and atmosphere is on point! 

I know this sounds random....but I love vegan restaurants with a bar.

Not just because I like to have a sip (I do lol) but because there's this misconception that veganism is boring, too strict and not a lifestyle that you can do long-term.

Being a vegan is as fun as you make it!

Evolve has a sports bar feel, so I like that people can come to the restaurant for a drink, watch the game and then order some vegan wings to go with it.

This was my first time at their DC location (even though I eat their food at DC Veg Fest). 

I ordered vegan fried chicken, macaroni & cheese and garlic kale salad.

Oh and cherry vegan cheesecake for dessert....

#fatveganlife

I wish I took more pictures but I wasn't planning to do a blog post, so I ran my mouth the whole time.

I have no regrets. :-)

I don't have the recipes for the food I ate at Evolve but I do have a vegan fried chicken recipe here; kale salad recipe here & and a vegan macaroni & cheese recipe here.

Enjoy!