Oh hurrah for the optimism that is January. After doing a little bit of reading from the Forks over Knives cookbook given to me at Christmas, I decided to go full-on vegan with a plant-based diet this week. I sat down and explained what I was going to do with the kids and they (somewhat reluctantly, at least at first) agreed to go along with it. For the entire week, we are going to try our hardest to not eat any animal products.
Our first dish was Tofu Taco boats. The kids were a little squeamish about the tofu, but I got extra-firm and I pressed the water out of it and so when it was finally sauteed with onions, corn and spices it tasted fine.
Our next meal was right from the Forks over Knives cookbook – baked vegetarian ziti with faux cheese sauce. Again the kids wrinkled their noses at first.
“What’s faux cheese sauce?”
I had to explain that the “cheese” was actually made from mashed potatoes, almond milk, and nutritious yeast flakes. I know, I know, it sounds gross, but guess what? It “melted” on the ziti and it turned out to be tasty enough that not only did the kids have second helpings, but they also ate leftovers the next day. Win-win-win.
Part of eating a healthy diet is also creatively using up leftovers. Another meal used the leftover tofu from the taco boats. We placed it on greens with a smear of garlic hummus, added some sundried tomatoes and voila! A healthy vegetarian sandwich.
All of these meals are not only part of a vegan diet, but they are also part of an anti-inflammatory diet. Something everyone with Lyme disease or a chronic illness should be eating.
“So what’s for dinner tonight?” asked one of my kids as he got ready to leave the house for school.
“Tonight is going to be Corn Chowder.”
“Oh yum!”
My kids have gone from wrinkling their noses to eagerly anticipating what they know will be a tasty meal. We’ll definitely be working our way through more vegan recipes – even when it’s no longer January.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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