(upbeat music)
- Hey, I'm Mei, and I have been vegan now
for a total of one whole week.
I'm super new, but I'm absolutely loving it.
Today I'm gonna be showing you guys
what I eat in a day as a brand new vegan.
- Hey, everyone.
My Name is Brandon Brown,
and I've been vegan for three years now.
What I'm gonna do is walk you guys
through what I eat in a day as a vegan.
- Hey, everybody.
I'm Rachel.
I've been vegan for six years,
and I'm gonna show you everything I eat in a day.
- [Mei] For breakfast, I'm making cinnamon quinoa porridge
with apples and strawberries.
Since I'm gonna add so much food to this,
I only used a fourth a cup of quinoa,
and I cook that with half a cup of water.
I'm just bringing that to a boil
and letting it simmer for about 10 minutes.
While this is cooking, I cut up one apple
and five or six strawberries,
and then after about five minutes,
I'm adding in a bunch of cinnamon
and half of my pre-cut fruit.
I like saving half of it to put on top after it's cooked
because it adds a little bit of freshness.
I don't know, it's really tasty.
You may need to add a little bit more water to the mix
at this point too, and then just let this hang out in there
for five minutes or until the quinoa is cooked.
I chose to make this because I saw something similar
on my Instagram explorer page.
Recently, I've started following a bunch of vegan pages
because I find it super helpful to get inspiration
from more experienced people.
This is just cinnamon apple quinoa,
but I had strawberries in my fridge
that were about to go bad,
and I thought they'd be good in there,
and honestly, they really were.
I've been getting a lot of inspiration
from recipes online and then just switching them up
to fit with the ingredients that I have on hand.
And it's been a really great way to try new stuff.
- [Brandon] For breakfast,
I'm making a healthy berry smoothie.
The first thing I like to put in my smoothies
are some strawberries that I froze overnight,
including some frozen raspberries.
Next, I'll add a little bit of apples,
and then a desired amount of chia seeds.
After I pour the chia seeds in,
I'll put a little bit of spring water in,
and then I'll blend it all up.
One thing I notice by starting my day off
with something really light instead of something heavy,
I'll have a more productive day.
I think breakfast is the most important meal of the day,
and so here's the finished product.
I like to top it off with an orange peel.
And ta-da, bon appetite.
- [Rachel] For breakfast, I'm going to make
some healthy nut and seed granola bars.
I started off by adding some natural peanut butter
to a bowl and some maple syrup.
And then I added two tablespoons of a neutral oil.
I would've normally used coconut oil,
but I actually just ran out,
so I ended up using some grape seed oil,
and that actually worked fine.
Then I just mixed it all up,
and I popped the whole bowl in the microwave
for about 30 seconds.
Then to a big bowl, I added some puffed brown rice
and some oats, pumpkin seeds, and some chia seeds
and hemp seeds, which are a great vegan source
of Omega-3s and a little bit of salt.
And then I mix that all up, and I pour it
on the melted peanut butter, maple syrup, and oil mixture,
and then combine that all again.
I really like making these bars
because they're so much healthier than buying
a store-bought granola bar.
You can control how much sugar you add
and how much fat you add.
And they're also a great zero-waste alternative
to enjoy in granola bars.
And I pretty much always have fruit first thing
in the morning as well.
This was my breakfast today,
and these bars are delicious.
- [Mia] For lunch, I made tofu scramble and avocado toast.
To start off, I'm just adding some veggie broth to a pan,
and then I'm adding about a third of a block
of extra-firm tofu.
You can use oil too, but the recipe I was using
said that veggie stock adds some extra flavor,
and as someone who's kind of skeptical about tofu
actually tasting as good as eggs, I thought I'd try it out.
After it's been heating for a bit,
I'm adding a fourth of a teaspoon of turmeric, salt,
pepper, and garlic powder,
and then two tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
And I cook this for about eight minutes.
If you find that your tofu is sticking to the pan,
add some more broth or a little bit of oil,
and you should be good.
Eggs were literally the one thing that kept me
from switching from vegetarian to vegan,
so this is gonna be a major test for me.
I'm just adding some spinach because, you know, health.
And then I set it aside to make my avocado toast.
Avocado toast has been a huge staple of my diet
for a while now, so this is definitely my safety food
of the day.
As a new vegan, I'm trying a lot of new foods,
and it's really, really fun,
but I also find it kind of comforting
to have familiar foods in the mix as well
because sometimes you just need the basics.
So I just sliced a tomato and cut up a whole avocado,
put that in a bowl with some salt, pepper,
red pepper flakes, and garlic powder, and mix that all up.
I like leaving mine a little bit chunky,
but that's all preference, so do whatever you want.
Then I toasted some bread, and piled those babies up
with avocado mix.
Then I added sliced tomatoes, sriracha,
and everything bagel seasoning, which is literally
the most amazing seasoning ever.
Please go buy it right now.
And then that's it.
I knew I would love the toast, so that wasn't a surprise,
but I was really surprised at how well the tofu turned out.
I didn't feel like I was missing out on eggs at all,
so this was a really big success for me.
- [Brandon] For lunch, I'm making vegan ramen.
The first thing I do is cut up some bell peppers,
some mushrooms, some kale, and some onions,
and then I stir-fry that.
Then I have my ramen boiling in another pot.
Some of the first spices I'll add are cumin,
a little bit of ground pepper, a little bit of red pepper,
a little bit of salt, and then I'll add a little bit
of seasoning to the ramen and stir-fry that up.
Eating vegetables on a vegan diet is super important
because you need to make sure you get all your vitamins
and minerals and so I try to incorporate some vegetables
into my daily diet at least once a day.
After that, I mix'em all together and there you go.
Voila, vegan ramen.
- [Rachel] For lunch, I made my version of a caesar salad
with some crispy chickpeas.
First I started off with some kale
that I tore into bite-size pieces.
And then I add a little bit of oil and salt,
and I just like to massage the kale really well first
with my hands, and this helps break it down,
so it's not so tough and hard to chew,
and it helps you digest it a little bit more easily.
I think a lot of people skip this step,
but I really recommend you try it
because it makes the kale way less tough
and just a lot more enjoyable to eat.
Then to a baking sheet, I added some chickpeas
and a little bit of chili powder, garlic powder,
salt, and olive oil,
but you can use whatever seasonings you like.
As a rule of thumb,
I always try to have one source of protein in each meal,
and I'm not always perfect about that.
But when you're vegan, I think it's important
to help you feel satiated and full.
For the dressing, I just eyeball the amounts.
I added in some tahini, and then I squeezed in
one whole lemon, and added in some Dijon mustard,
which gives it a really great flavor.
And then I stirred it up.
And you might need some water to help thin it out,
and you can just add that in until you reach
your desired consistency.
And then I almost forgot, but of course,
you need to add garlic powder,
which is just going to enhance the flavor that much more.
I try to eat greens every single day.
So whether that's kale or adding arugula to my wraps,
greens are a really important source of iron and calcium,
and lots of other vitamins and minerals that you need
when you're vegan.
And then the salad wouldn't be complete
without some nutritional yeast,
which is high in B12 and adds a great, cheesy flavor.
And some hemp seeds.
This salad was absolutely delicious,
and the kale actually holds up really well
in the refrigerator, so it's also great for leftovers.
- [Mei] For dinner, I'm making a kelp noodle stir-fry
with peanut sauce.
This is definitely the most experimental thing
that I'm making today, mostly because of the noodles.
I've tried to make kelp noodles before,
and they honestly turned out pretty weird,
but I'm determined to nail it this time
because they're a super healthy,
low-calorie pasta substitute, and honestly,
it'd be really awesome to master them.
The key to kelp noodles is to prep them right,
so by rinsing and soaking them in water with lemon
and a bunch of salt, they'll soften up
and loose this weird crunchy texture that they have
straight out of the package.
The lemon and salt is the most important thing.
Last time I made these, I skipped that,
and I think that's why they turned out weird.
You're gonna want to let them soak
for at least half an hour.
While those are soaking, I'm making this amazing
and super easy peanut sauce.
I'm adding a fourth a cup of soy sauce,
unsweetened almond milk, and peanut butter into a bowl
and mixing those up.
Then, I'm just gonna add in some lime juice,
about a tablespoon of agave, and sriracha to taste,
and that's it.
I'm blanching some broccoli first because it cooks slower
than the other veggies that I'm using,
so it needs to get a little head start.
And after that, ready to start cooking.
I'm starting off with about a tablespoon of oil,
and then adding in five cloves of garlic,
letting that cook a little, and then adding half an onion.
You're gonna wanna let this cook for a few minutes
before adding any of your other veggies
'cause nobody wants raw garlic and onions in their noodles.
After those have had a chance to start cooking,
I'm adding eight ounces of sliced mushrooms,
and I cook those for about three minutes
before adding in one sliced up bell pepper,
and then let those cook for about five minutes.
If you notice anything sticking to the pan
go ahead and add some oil or some veggie brother or water
to deglaze it.
This type of recipe is something I never would've tried
before becoming vegan.
I was honestly pretty lazy with cooking before this,
but all these different food substitutes
and new ways of cooking have made it really exciting
to start making new stuff.
I was vegetarian for a little over a year,
but I transitioned into veganism pretty slowly.
I stopped eating dairy about six months ago,
mostly for health reasons.
I noticed that when I stopped eating dairy,
my skin started to clear up almost immediately,
and I just felt generally better all around.
But the reason I really wanted to go full vegan
was for the environmental benefit.
I guess eventually I just realized
that there are so many other options for protein,
and so many options even just for egg substitutes
and stuff like that that it wasn't really worth
the environmental impact that I know comes
from the dairy and eggs industry.
This was definitely the most complex thing
that I made all day, but it was so worth it.
Like, seriously, 10 out of 10, would recommend.
Please go make this immediately.
- [Brandon] For dinner, I'm making one of my favorite meals
of all time, barbecue oyster mushrooms.
This is one of my favorite dishes because it reminds me
of actual barbecue.
I'm gonna start off by grabbing some large amounts
of oyster mushrooms and cleaning them off really well.
They carry a lot of water, so you want to make sure
that you squeeze them out.
Next, I'm gonna create the sauce
using barbecue sauce, agave, and a little bit
of brown cinnamon.
After I fry the oyster mushrooms on the stove,
I'm gonna dip them into the sauce
before I place them in the oven for 10 minutes.
I love this dish so much because it reminds me
of when I used to eat actual barbecued meat and ribs
and stuff like that, and it just gives me the closest taste
to that nostalgic feeling I used to get from my old diet
before I became vegan.
This also an extremely healthier alternative to meat.
On the stove, I'm cooking some quinoa and I like to add
a little bit of my favorite sauce,
a Carolina gold barbecue sauce.
It really brings the quinoa to life.
It really makes it taste really delicious.
I'll pour some in there and I'll stir it all up.
After 10 minutes, I'll take my oyster mushrooms
out the oven, put my dish together,
add a little bit of broccoli, a little avocado,
and then voila, barbecue oyster mushrooms.
Just look at that meaty, delicious texture and flavor.
This is the best vegan dish ever, I'm telling you.
You guys gotta try this.
- [Rachel] For dinner, I'm going to make some tempeh
and walnut tacos.
Tempeh is one of those foods
that I wish more people knew about.
It's fermented, so it's really great for your gut health,
and it's packed with protein.
Plus, if you don't like tofu,
tempeh has a bit of a firmer and nuttier texture,
so you should definitely give it a try.
I also add in some walnuts,
because they're another great source of Omega-3s,
and when ground up, they offer a great, meaty texture.
And then I add in my seasonings.
I have some garlic powder and some taco seasoning.
If you don't have taco seasoning, you can just use
some cumin and some chili powder, and that works great.
Then I added in some low-sodium soy sauce,
which is gonna give it a great umami, kind of meaty flavor.
And I just continue to stir it up
until it got really brown and crispy, and that's it.
We have our taco meat.
I think a lot of people are intimidated
by the idea of going vegan because some of these ingredients
might seem foreign to them.
When I first got into veganism,
I had no idea what tempeh was.
But now it's one of my favorite things to make,
and you can find it even at Trader Joe's.
This might seem weird, but I love adding sauerkraut
to tacos and pretty much everything.
It's really high in probiotics,
and adds a great pop of flavor.
These tacos are so flavorful and delicious.
And whether you're vegan or not,
I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try.
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