Now for some vegan recipes that I use regularly. The first is basically a vegan taco. At first it started as a tostada with 1/3 of a can of vegetarian refried beans spread over it, and green taco sauce spread over that, just a dollop (I prefer La Victoria’s Mild Green Taco Sauce). Then I microwave it for 40 seconds. Then I put sunflower seeds and sliced olives on top. I like the olives cold or room temperature. Then this recipe morphed into me breaking up the tostada, putting refried beans and taco sauce on top, nuking it, then adding sunflower seeds and olives, and mixing the whole thing together. Sometimes I use one jumbo taco shell or two regular sized taco shells instead of the tostada. Yummy.
Other variations on the above recipe are to replace the taco shell/tostada with hash browns. Southern style, the cubed hash browns. I take a serving out of the freezer, put it in a bowl with a teaspoon or so of water, and microwave it for 40 seconds. Then I mix in the beans and taco sauce, and microwave it again, 40 seconds. Then add sunflower seeds and olives. Sometimes I replace the olives with a serving of corn or french cut green beans. Using a broken up taco shell with corn and beans is quite good. The two corn ingredients work well together. Sometimes I use vegan salad dressing instead of taco sauce (in which case I add it after the microwaving).
Another easy taco idea is to microwave refried beans, then mix them with salad dressing, then put them in taco shells. A variation of that is to microwave pinto or black or garbanzo beans, then mash them and mix them with salad dressing, and maybe some nutritional yeast, and put them in taco shells. Sometimes I make this and only use one taco shell, and leave the rest of the bean mixture to be eaten with a fork.
Next up mashed potato recipes. I take a serving of instant mashed potatoes and mix it with 1/3 of a small can of peas, 1/3 of a regular sized can of garbanzo beans, and a little green taco sauce, then microwave it for 50-60 seconds. It makes a nice mild breakfast. Plenty of protein. Any type of bean could be used. A recipe I’ve been thinking of trying is mashed potatoes mixed with a serving of Loma Linda Vege-Burger
One of my favorites is half a package of GoGo Rice
A nice hearty salad idea is to top salad (from a bag) with a chopped up vegan Boca Chik’n Patty and salad dressing. The chopped up chik’n patty also goes nicely with green beans and sunflower seeds or sliced almonds (found in the baking section of stores).
Another nice breakfast idea is whole wheat toast covered with natural peanut butter, topped off with unsweetened applesauce. Yuummmmeeey.
Another sort of snack or small meal idea is to take a Loma Linda Big Frank (or other vegan “hot dog”), microwave it (30 seconds works for me), slice it in half length-wise, spread Italian dressing on it, then sprinkle it with nutritional yeast. And eat with a fork. I’m not big on hot dog buns or hamburger buns (too many carbs).
Back when I was more into carbs than I am now, I used to toast whole wheat bread, spread vegan margarine on it, then mustard, then slice up a vegan hot dog and make a sandwich. Or whole wheat bread with a veggie burger. It’s hard to find whole wheat buns that actually seem wheaty, so I just used whole wheat bread for that. Plus I think bread was cheaper than buns if I remember.
That’s all the vegan food combos I can recall at the moment. They are ideas for one person, but can certainly be multiplied for more people.
‘Til next time. ~Me.
says it helps with depression. Every herb has other effects, however, and blessed thistle is also an appetite stimulant. It gets the digestive juices going. I could tolerate that for a while, it was mild at first, but the effect grew. Like it was building up in my body. I became so ravenously hungry I’d feel like I was starving right after I ate a meal. I stopped taking it, and my appetite returned to normal. Another effect is that it is energizing, so I took it in the morning instead of the evening, and that worked well. It also is a liver cleansing herb, which made my skin clearer and healthier looking. Less acne, less blotchiness, etc. It made my skin somehow smoother. Other liver cleansing herbs have that same effect on me (yellow dock, burdock root), so I still have that nice side effect. But the excessive hunger thing made me stop taking this one. I even bought a tincture so I could take a really microscopic dose, but I didn’t have the patience to try it. That might work, though, taking a smaller dose.
~Me.