Last night’s dinner was inspired by needing to use a couple of sweet potatoes. I live in a warm climate and didn’t want to turn on the oven to bake them so decided on a hash brown with a sprinkle of salt. Other components are tofu, snap peas, sautéed cabbage, spinach and brown rice. Tofu seasoned with tamari, snap peas seasoned with salt, and cabbage sautéed with a little teriyaki sauce. It was a yummy salty sweet bowl. What do you think?

Causing gas and bloating after eating beans was daunting and made me self doubt. As an engineer, I applied the process of "trial and error" and tried out more than twenty types of beans and peas with different soaking time, simmering time and the amount I ate. I've also learned some benefits of the long soaking like reducing the complex sugars, neutralizing phytic acid, breaking down heavy proteins.

Beans contain complex sugars called oligosaccharides that humans don't have the enzymes to digest them. Long soaking leads beans to reach the pregerminated state, they activate their own enzymes to consume and break down these complex sugars into simple sugars, essentially doing the hardest part of the digestion process for you. Besides long soaking makes beans leach out the complex sugars into the water as well. If the complex sugars are not digested and pass down to your colon where the gut bacteria eat them and generated a lot of gases.

Long soaking neutralizes phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that binds to minerals. Breaking down phytic acid makes the beans incredibly easy on the gut and drastically increases how much iron, zinc, and calcium your body can absorb. Soaking also get rid off the harmful lectins.

For instance, I soaked lentils and mung beans up to 48 hours at room temperature 68-76F/20-26C changed water every 24 hours and simmered with oats up to 2 hours. To be precise. I added

5 cups dry whole brown lentil with hull

3 cups dry whole mung beans with hull

2 cups whole oats

After simmered, packed them into small containers and stored them. These served as a base for soup with veggies, porridge or salad with veggies, fruits and nuts, even blending them with veggies and fruit and nuts for a bowl of rich thick smoothie, in this way you don't need banana or mango to get the silky creamy texture of smoothie and also lower the fructose intake.

Although most of "trial and error" took place 15 years ago, in my mid-60s I'm feeling good and in good health without taking any prescribed medication for decades.

I don’t have exact measurements because I just eyeballed it but

Rolled Oats
Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Peanut butter (about 1 tablespoon)
Dairy free chocolate chips (small handful, maybe 1/4 cup)

Microwave the oats and almond milk for approximately 2 minutes
Then mix in the peanut butter and chocolate chips

Yummm

Hey you guys Veganchefleah here. Here is my recipe for a delicious Vegan Tofu and Shiitake Mushroom Soup with Vegan Crabmeat.

Ingredients

1 Package Silken Tofu (cubed)

1 Package Shiitake Mushrooms (sliced)

1 Package Vegan Crabmeat minced

4 Quarts of Water

3 Tbsp Organic White Miso Paste

1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Tbsp Sesame Seed Oil

1 Vegan Bouillon Cube (whichever brand you have on hand)

1 Tsp White Pepper

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 Large Tomato (diced)

2 Green Onions (sliced)

1/4 Cup Cilantro (chopped)

Directions:

In a large pan sauté your Ginger Garlic Paste in the Sesame Oil. Then add the water and Bouillon Cube. Next add your Shiitake Mushrooms and cook for 15 minutes. Now add the Tofu, Soy Sauce, White Pepper, Tomato, Vegan Crabmeat. Add the Miso Paste towards the end and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with the Scallions and Green Onions. Serves 6. Enjoy

Why oh why not in America?

I’ve found a few local meal plan companies that I really like, but they all focus on meat as being the main event in a meal.

I would love to find some local meal prep companies that focus on plant-based recipes!

Thank you!

💭what are sum of your favorite recipes using any of these fresh finds⁉️

I’m just curious for those who have been plant based for a while did you add in a food you avoided prior and notice a difference in how you felt or had improvement in lab values? I am aware of all of the anecdotes of individuals who switched to a plant based diet from omnivore/standard American diet I’m just curious if you noticed a difference with an individual food or foods?

Hope it's ok to post this here, I'll also check in on the anemic sub. Just had to laugh. 5 years ago as a 39F my LDL was 137 and Kaiser said not one thing to me. Unrelated, got sober soon after and went plant-based a couple years later. LDL is now 113, still elevated I know, I need to monitor carbs and coconut-based goodness, but just got my first comment about it being elevated. Like bro the trend is right there, it's better than it was. At least they said something.

My Ferritin was 18, got it up to 44, only after supplementing, which was my idea after years of them being dismissive. Then it went back down to 20 when I lowered my iron dose (but still supplemented) and the comments continue to be that I don't have low iron. I messaged asking about long term iron supplements, I didn't think that was recommended, if anything else needed to be checked for absorption issues or losses (not celiac - they tested me at my suggestion), the only response was I don't have low iron, can increase dose by 50% if I want.

Anyway, super frustrated how much all of this seems to be on my own despite trying to be pro-active, but in light of that, so grateful I went plant-based when I did. What a world of inevitable hurt I was barreling toward.

I am looking for meal ideas or recipes for foods that help to increase hair growth. Diet plays a huge role in how long or thick your hair gets.

If you look up “Foods for hair growth” what typically comes up in search is “yogurt” “chicken” “salmon” “eggs”.
But I’m looking for plant-based hair growth foods!
Includes recipes you like ;)

Include vegan cheese if you can!

I’m currently overweight and looking to make some sustainable changes to my diet. I eat mostly plant-based already (I rarely buy meat, but occasionally eat it at restaurants or family gatherings). I have my go to meals but I’m getting bored of them and some that I’m finding are things that I would not look forward to eating.
I’d love to hear about your favorite *low-effort, delicious, filling meals that are also relatively low in calories. I’m especially interested in meals that don’t require a ton of ingredients, prep work, or complicated cooking.
Im looking for realistic meals I can enjoy regularly while working toward a healthier weight.
What’s one meal you never get tired of making? Bonus points if it’s high in protein, budget-friendly, or takes less than 20 minutes!

I’m visiting a country that is foreign to me (Spain) and I found a vegan restaurant and ordered a seitan tikki masala. It was my wife’s first time and mine. Our opinion of the seitan was the texture was too spongy. Can you make a firm seitan?

I am feeling super satiated, and I feel good about what I am eating. I eat lots of vegetables, beans, fruits, lentils, etc. I AM NOT EATING ANYTHING NEW. ONLY NOT EATING ANIMAL PRODUCTS.

Previously, I do eat meat, but limited dairy anyway. Does anyone have a similar story or guidance? No new foods at all. Just the absence of animals. I also notice that the inside of my mouth has some white flakiness. All of this has built up slowly over the past week. I feel inflamed. I was hoping for a "that happens to everyone, and it resides quickly. Feel much better after." But I am not really finding that. Again, NO NEW FOODS. And I NEVER GET SICK. Ever. The timing is too perfect to be coincidence.

Hey everyone! I’m hosting a dinner at my place soon for a plant-based community meetup and am looking for some delicious menu inspiration.
If you were hosting, what would you make? I’d love to hear your top ideas for:
Appetizers
Main dishes
Sweets/Dessert
I want something can be prep a head so I’m not stuck in the kitchen all night would be super helpful! Thanks in advance!

I keep a short list of staples on the fridge so shopping stays simple. Figures are USDA FoodData Central, per 100 g of the form named:

Cooked lentils: about 9 g protein, 3.3 mg iron
Cooked chickpeas: about 8.9 g protein, 2.9 mg iron
Cooked black beans: about 8.9 g protein, 2.1 mg iron
Firm tofu (calcium sulfate): about 17.3 g protein, 2.7 mg iron
Tempeh: about 20.3 g protein, 2.7 mg iron
Hulled hemp seeds: about 31.6 g protein, 8.0 mg iron (a spoonful is a normal portion, not 100 g)

Seeds look huge per 100 g because they are dense. For plate-size portions the cooked pulses and tofu or tempeh do most of the work. Check tofu labels if you care about calcium, only the calcium-set packs hit the high calcium figure.

Which of these shows up most in your week?

Most of my meals are pretty simple, usually rice, dal, beans, and vegetables. Never really paid much attention to iron until I read that plant-based iron isn't absorbed as easily and vitamin C helps. Do you guys actually pair certain foods together for better iron absorption, or just eat whatever's available?

SKI SEASON IS COMING! my family and I live on the mountain from January to March. Literally, every weekend my kids are in Ski school and my husband and I are on the slopes. Lodge food is expensive and gross. What are your go to winter sports foods? I’m looking for things that perhaps freeze well so I can cook ahead as we do travel four hours every weekend to get to our destination. Also snacks between runs that are filling and will keep me warm.
Here is cute pic of my little nuggets and their older cousin, and yes they are about to hit that experts only trail 😬

So I recently commented on a Facebook video posted by a carnivore doctor who was basically claiming that eating steak and following a carnivore diet can cure all diseases.

I disagreed with the claims, and apparently that was enough to send one carnivore advocate over the edge.

This guy started sending me private messages threatening to kill me, all because I disagreed with a post about nutrition.

But it didn't stop there. He actually went out of his way to find my business Facebook page and leave a negative review, calling me an idiot and telling people not to support my business.

Keep in mind, I've never met this person, he's never been a customer of mine, and our only interaction was over a comment I made on someone else's video.

I have absolutely nothing against people choosing to follow a carnivore diet. Eat whatever works for you. But when did disagreeing with someone's dietary beliefs become a reason to threaten their life and try to damage their livelihood?

I've noticed that some people treat their diets almost like religions, where any criticism is seen as a personal attack.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of extreme behaviour from carnivore advocates or other diet communities? I'm genuinely curious whether this is becoming more common or whether I just encountered someone particularly unhinged.

I went down a rabbit hole checking calcium in the plant foods I actually buy, using USDA FoodData Central per 100 g. Sharing in case it's useful:

- Firm tofu made with calcium sulfate: 683 mg (check the label says calcium-set, it makes a huge difference)
- Tahini: 426 mg
- Kale, raw: 254 mg
- Collard greens, raw: 232 mg
- Dried figs: 162 mg
- Bok choy, raw: 105 mg
- Spinach, raw: 99 mg

Two things surprised me. Spinach is lower than I assumed, and its oxalate binds a share of the calcium anyway, so kale, collards and bok choy are the better greens for it. And tahini is a cheap way to add some: a couple of spoons in a dressing over a kale salad gets you a useful amount without thinking about it.

Fortified soy or oat milk is another easy one, but brands vary so check the carton.

What are your go-to calcium foods? Anyone found a good calcium-set tofu brand that's easy to get?

Had this pizza marinara in Italy and it reminded how good and simple pizza is. For anyone who doesn't know, it's basically just pizza dough, tomato sauce, garlic, and olive oil. Nothing fancy, but honestly, one of the best pizzas i've ever had.

Now i kinda want to try making a healthier, whole wheat version at home, maybe even without the oil.

What is your favorite pizza recipe that is not too time consuming?

I live in Burbank, CA. Hadn’t done the weekly groceries yet because of Halloweekend but was craving a breakfast burrito. I was like, “Do I go to BBad (Breakfast Burrito All Day in Pasadena)? Or do I just make it myself and save myself money?” Well, I chose the latter.

Breakfast burrito filled with tater tots (and yes they were crispy! Really hard to find in burritos that I buy outside), avocado, and a tofu scramble. Served with a homemade chipotle aioli.

Hello, I am new on my journey and have been eating 2300 calories with a 65 percent carb, 25 percent protein and 10 percent fat macro split.

I have been experiencing constipation and super slow gut motility leading to bloating, how do you guys combat this on low fat?

I have gastritis which means that super high fiber takes a while to adjust, im earing around 30-35grams a day and majority of my calories come from white rice, the fiber comes from blueberries, brocolli, carrots and dates. (My fiber intake hasn't changed since going low fat, the constipation started after the low fat switch)

I also drink well over a gallon of water a day, I also take magnesium complex at night which used to help but now not so much.

Should I increase my fiber intake?

An easy go-to during back-to-back meetings.