Thursday 12 January 2012

becoming vegan-well sort of...



Being married to a vegan man has definitely changed my life. Have I become a vegan? No, but I did definitely change my diet a lot. When I first moved in with my husband, I still ate meat, eggs and dairy products;however that all changed with time. I found that I had to trow away some of the food that I would buy because I didn't eat it fast enough (e.g. milk, eggs and cheese) so I tried soy milk and I actually liked it a lot. I then found different types of fake cheeses that I actually enjoy as well (especially daiya for fake mozzarella for my lasagnas and tofutti for my cream "cheese"). As for the eggs, I was never a person who loved eggs to start with so that wasn't a big deal for me. The meat was a bit of a challenge. When it came to eating meat products, the problem wasn't that I had to throw it out, it was that I became lazy to cook it for myself. So it would stay in the freezer until my parents came to visit us and my mom would bring us some food that she made. It was my mom who would say that I need to use it or else it will go bad so slowly I stopped buying meat. Only once in a while would I buy frozen shrimps because I love them. So in summary, after living together for 4 years I now do not have any meat, egg or dairy products in my household but I will eat meat or fish when I go out for dinner with my friends.

Some of you might think that I am crazy to have changed my diet lifestyle, but to be completely honest, I actually enjoy it because I love food and have discovered great ingredients that I would have never tried and I love to try new recipes. Even my mom and grand-mother, who were very hesitant about me changing my food intake (and still are at times), are supportive and make recipes that my husband can eat. They have even admitted that they have enjoyed eating new foods. That is one of the reasons that I love my family so much. They will always support me even when they do not agree with me. I'm so lucky in that perspective. I love you guys!

So you may wonder what does a vegan eat anyway? Please do not be like one of those people who thinks that being vegan means salad all day long. That even annoys me! Throughout this entire process of me blogging, I will share with you my recipes, snacks that I just LOVE, amazing restaurants and great bakeries. By the way, for those of you who are very health conscious and are careful with the sweets you eat, did you know that vegan sweets are just as good and healthier for you? Less calories, less sugar, less carbs, less fat  and guess what,  absolutely NO CHOLESTEROL!!!

Should I share with you now or later? I have to share now! If you live in Toronto, there are some amazing bakeries that you have to try! We LOVE LOVE LOVE "Sweets from the Earth", they make everything from cakes, to cookies, to breads, cupcakes. They even made our amazing wedding cake that everyone loved. "Bunner's Bakery" is also very good especially if you have celiac disease as they bake everything gluten free. "Live on Chocolate' is also Amazing and whenever we are near Thornhill we always make sure to stop by the "Vegan Danish Bakery", sooooo yummy. 'Bloomers Bakery" is also very nice and if you are feeling even more adventurous, try "Rawlicious" or "Rawaura", I promise you will love it!! Another one I have to share with you is Urban Herbivore in Kensington Market. It's not a bakery but they make amazing baked goods like sweet potato and date muffins (with sweet potato chunks), apple cranberry muffins (real apple, not pureed), banana chocolate bread and gluten free baked goods as well like their chocolate pie (I'm salivating).  Ok, enough of sweets for today.  How about if I share with you what I had for dinner last night? My mom's amazing spaghetti.

When I was young all I wanted to eat were those raviolis and chef boyardis (is that how you spell it?). My mom didn't want me to eat those because they are unhealthy for you so she started making her own spaghetti recipe and she has become so good at it. 



1 onion
2-3 garlic
loads of mushrooms (cremini or portobello)
2-3 celery
3-4 large carrots
2 green peppers
2 large zucchinis
2 small cans of tomatoe puree
15 Italian roma tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp hot chili flakes (optional, you can add more if you like more spicy)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp fennelseed powder
1 tsp italian seasonings
 

  1. cut all your veggies
  2. heat up you big pot and put some grapeseed oil
  3. put the onion, lower the heat to minimum/medium heat and heat until transluscent
  4. add the garlic and celery until a little tender (3-5 minutes)
  5. add the carrots (3-5 minutes)
  6. add the peppers and zucchinis
  7. add the tomatoe puree and the tomatoes
  8. add all the seasonings and let boil on low heat for at least 30 minutes, don't forget to stir and Enjoy!

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