As the popularity of What the Health rises, I’ve seen a lot of my friends on social media discussing their desire to stop eating meat. I personally didn’t watch, because I prefer using my valuable online TV watching hours watching Suits, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce and The Incredible Jessica James. However, my younger sister challenged me to going plant based for 30 days and i thought, "why not? I need to eat some veggies anyways.” So here I am, vacillating between vegan and vegetarian meals but not committed enough to the lifestyle to call myself either.
My biggest intiative was figuring out what to eat. Majority of my adult life is figuring out what to eat, so adding dietary restrictions just adds to the conundrum. I noticed a lot of vegan meals involve tofu and I knew I didn’t want to eat a lot of soy (horrible for your hormone balance). I checked out Pinterest, but majority of the posts involved soup. Which…..Texas. So of course, I took to the blogosphere for food inspo. So if you’re ready to dip a toe in the vegan waters or just simply want to find a more delicious way to eat your veggies, these bloggers will get you right.
Brown Vegan
First, props to her for getting this premium domain name. What I like most about her is not only does she provide delicious recipes, she also speaks to various lifestyle challenges that come along with adopting a vegan lifestyle. I plan to try her Fire Roasted Chickpeas and Rice recipe when I finish this blog post because rice is life. She also has a podcast so you can listen to her on the go.
Sweet Potato Soul
I really love her post about 15-minute vegan recipes, because some days I’m legit in my feelings because I have to cook far more than I was previously used to cooking (hello Skinny Pop I love you!). She also has a delish series of Soul Food Sunday recipes and real food like Vegan Banana French Toast that your family thought you’d have to give up forever.
The Vegan Nigerian
So, you may or may not have noticed that I’m Nigerian. With my raising, a meal wasn’t a meal unless if a meat was included. Now, part of cleaning up my eating is learning how to enjoy the meals I’ve always loved without meat (or large dose of palm oil, but that’s a different story for a different day). I appreciate Tomi for doing the legwork for me.
Blacks Going Vegan
This website is filled with information that is customized to us as African Americans. They even have a Vegan Popeye’s Fried Chicken recipe. (Disclaimer: it has more ingredients/steps than I’d like and it includes soy creamer. But if you decide to make it and want to invite me over, my lazy hungry self will not decline.)
Sistah in the Raw
I wanted to include at least one raw vegan. (If you were wondering, Google and Wikipedia describe a raw veganism as follows: A raw vegan diet includes raw vegetables and fruits, nuts and nut pastes, grain and legume sprouts, seeds, plant oils, sea vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and fresh juices. You know…eat more veggies, ditch the soy.) She has a great amount of flavorful, African and Caribbean inspired dishes. You def should check out her curry recipes.
www.sistahintheraw.wordpress.com
Hopefully, you enjoy this new food adventure! Enjoy your veggies.
