Here's How to Be Vegan At Cookouts This Summer

It's that time of year again!

Fireworks, sticky weather, family, beaches, & good food!

I used to feel so awkward at cookouts. I would stand around with my fruit salad while everyone else chowed down on ribs, hotdogs, and potato salad.

It's crazy how when you go vegan, you realize just how much meat, dairy & eggs are in so many dishes while eating out.

With that said, over time it does get a lot easier at cookouts.

Here are some tips to make cookout season a little easier:

• Bring a delicious dish to share (also so you're guaranteed to have something to eat lol). Don't feel like you have to bring up the fact that your dish is vegan. Just put your bowl down with the rest of the food and let them enjoy. :-)

• Eat before you go and after you leave - I'm the queen of hitting up Chipotle on the way home from any social event. You can also stash nuts, fruit, and seeds in your car to hold you over until you get back home.

• Try to see social events as an opportunity to connect...NOT eat - Sometimes I struggle with this one. For most of us, cookouts are just as much about the food as it is about spending time with family and friends. Try to see these occasions as being more about connecting with family and friends and less about the food. I know this is easier said than done, but it gets easier after a while.

• Feel like sipping on a cocktail or three (I ain't judging!)? Check out barnivore and see which of your fave beer/wine/liquor are already vegan.

• Don't preach! Just chat with those who want to know more (and people will) in the most loving way possible. Try not to get defensive when someone has a sly comment. It happens! *sigh*

Enjoy your cookout season!

Easy Vegan Meal Planning Tips for Dinner

I know how overwhelming it can be to plan all your vegan meals for the week.

In this video, I share some tips on how to save time (and hopefully some coins) in the kitchen.

Recap of the tips:

• Veganize your favorite meals — Love spaghetti? Use vegan crumbles instead of ground beef.

• Save time on grocery shopping and cooking by using services like Instacart (someone else can shop for you) and Purple Carrot (use discount code “brownvegan” to save $30) will eliminate some of your overwhelm.

• Be open to experimenting in the kitchen and expect to fail a bit too!

• Use Pinterest, YouTube and cookbooks from the library for recipe inspiration.

• Keep a list of all the recipes that worked well, so you can refer back to them when you get too busy to look at Pinterest or YouTube for inspiration.

• Theme your dinners — Taco Tuesdays, leftovers on Saturdays, pasta on Wednesdays, etc.

• Plan for leftovers, so you don’t have to cook daily.

• Establish 3-5 go-to meals that take less than 30 minutes to cook.

Resources mentioned in the video:

• Brands that have vegan crumbles (to replace ground beef): Beyond Meat & Gardein

• My t-shirt is from https://www.healthywholealive.com/hwa... 20% of the price will be sent to the Evangelical Church of Liberia who is committed to feeding hundreds of children in need. Support this dope cause!

• Evernote is the free software I mentioned to clip and save recipes

Yes, Vegans Can Eat Scrambled Eggs! | JUST Egg Review & Demo

I'm finally trying the vegan JUST Egg!

In the video below, I test out the product in scrambled eggs, cheese eggs, and french toast.

I purchased 2 bottles for $7.99 (each) from Wegmans.

Check justforall.com to find out where you can purchase the vegan eggs in your zip code.

Resources mentioned in the video:

• The french toast recipe was adapted from here

• Violife vegan cheese

Have you tried it? Share your thoughts!

I QUIT Being Vegan Last Year

In this YouTube video, I talk about my vegan story (started back in 2010), struggles with being vegan in 2018, insecurities about not having the life & relationships I want (yet), and being held back by shame. ⁣⁣⁣

I have to admit, I almost didn’t post this (or this podcast episode with more details). ⁣⁣⁣

It’s so hard to come to terms with your life not being where I want it to be...BUT releasing my truth is a part of my healing.⁣⁣⁣

This level of candor will help me do the REAL work necessary to help myself and others have the lives we’ve always wanted. ⁣⁣⁣

I truly appreciate all of the love & support I’ve received over the last several days. ⁣⁣⁣

I have THE BEST audience on the internet. I’m overwhelmed by the kindest emails, DMs, voice memos & videos.⁣⁣⁣

I still have so much work to do, but I’m up for the challenge. ❤️

FYI: I’m still a vegan. I just want to share my story because I have a feeling I’m not alone.

My Honest Review of Imperfect Foods

Last year I saw Plant-Based Brotha do an unboxing from a company called Imperfect Foods.

His haul looked great, so I checked out the company’s site and was drawn in by its mission to reduce food waste in the U.S.

“FACT: 20 billion pounds of fruits and veggies go to waste on farms every year, oftentimes because they don’t live up to the cosmetic standards of grocery stores.””

Even though I was interested in trying Imperfect Foods, I didn’t place an order because the service wasn’t available in the DC area yet.

This changed a couple of weeks ago when I saw an ad on my Instagram feed for Imperfect Foods and placed my first order.

Here’s a short video of me opening my first box…

Recap of my experience:
*I ordered a small box and paid $13 (including shipping) for a variety of produce - check out the video to see everything I got. They offer mixed (fruit & veggie) boxes, fruit only and vegetable only boxes. Since this was my first box, I did save about $6 on my order.
*I customized my box with organic and conventional produce to fit my meal plan for the week and paid about 30% less than the grocery store on “ugly” produce. I’m so glad they allow you to customize your order, because I didn’t want to receive a lot of stuff I wouldn’t eat (which is counterproductive if the purpose of the service is to avoid the trashcan). As you can see in the video and pictures, nothing about these produce are ugly.

*I loved that I received a text message when my driver was in route to drop off my delivery. It even included a map to track the driver.

Overall, this was a dope experience! They have an option to set up weekly or biweekly auto deliveries.

I plan to use the biweekly option going forward.

Of course, you can skip boxes and cancel at any time too.

I know Imperfect Foods isn’t available everywhere yet, but have you used them, or a similar service?

P.S. When I posted about Imperfect Produce on Instagram and used the #cookingugly hashtag, they donated 5 lbs of produce to a local food bank. :-)