Tag: lifestyle

Recipes, Uncategorized

Easy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

veganlivingbydanielle

Easy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 unsweetened, unflavored soy, hemp, rice, or flax milk
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp garlic
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 medium head of cauliflower
  • at least 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s Buffalo)
  • celery sticks (optional)
  • vegan ranch dressing (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
  3. Whisk vegan milk, flour, garlic, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Avoid clumping at the bottom of the bowl by adding the vegan milk first. If you need more batter to coat the cauliflower, add equal parts vegan milk and flour to keep batter consistent. 
  4. Dip the cauliflower in the batter, coating completely.
  5. Shake the cauliflower lightly to remove excess batter before placing on cookie sheet.
  6. Bake 15 minutes until batter is a light gold color.
  7. Remove cookie sheet from oven and use spatula to move cauliflower to a mixing bowl.
  8. Pour buffalo sauce over the cauliflower in the mixing bowl and shake or lightly stir until evenly covered.
  9. Move cauliflower to a serving platter.
  10. Optional: drizzle remaining buffalo sauce from bowl over cauliflower bites. 
  11. Suggested serving with celery sticks and vegan ranch dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Lifestyle Tips, Uncategorized

Vegan Lifestyle Apps

veganlivingbydanielle

Going vegan can be tough at times, but we live in an age where information is readily available at your fingertips! Here are some apps that can make the transition easier:

  • Is It Vegan?: This app is my favorite so far! You scan the barcode of the product you’re looking to buy and it will tell you if it’s vegan or not and if it’s not, it tells you the ingredients that make it not vegan. Super handy and easy! The one downfall is that it can be difficult to work sometimes. The first time I used it I had to scan the bar code a few times before it read it correctly, but definitely worth it!
  • Animal-Free: This app I haven’t used too much yet because the scanner on “Is It Vegan?” is so dang handy. However, it is super useful for research on different ingredients that are derived from animals. It has the option to view all non-vegan ingredients, ingredients that are always derived from animals, and ingredients that sometimes come from animals but could also be vegan and derived from plants or other sources. There’s a little V in the bottom corner and it changes your view to show vegan ingredients!

More advanced vegan apps:

  • Bunny Free: I like this app for finding if products I’m interested in buying are cruelty-free. It has a barcode scanner and you can also search by brand. However, it’s not as in-depth as I like to go when purchasing beauty products. For example, Pureology is listed as cruelty-free but it’s owned by L’Oreal. L’Oreal tests on animals, so personally I wouldn’t buy from Pureology, but it has the PETA leaping bunny approval.
  • peta2: I LOVE this app!!! By simply sharing photos or posts, changing your phone wallpaper, or clicking a button to email companies to offer vegan options or stop animal abuse you accumulate points. You can then use those points to get free stuff! I earned a water bottle and a t-shirt through this app and am almost able to get another tee! If you love how this app allows you to help animals from your phone, also consider the PETA app. This app has different campaigns from the peta2 app, but you don’t earn points toward free PETA gear.

Vegan SuperHero App:

  • buycott: This app is amazing because there are a bunch of causes you can “support” on the app. When you scan the barcode of a product, the app tells you if the company supports your cause or goes against it. You can click the causes the brand you scanned supports and the ones that conflict and find out more. For example, I support to end animal testing and pro-right to know for GMO labelling; I scanned a can of Progresso Vegetable soup and it says they support to end animal testing (yay!) but conflicts with the GMO labeling. The details actually showed that Progresso donated millions of dollars against GMO labeling and buycott provides a link to source their claims. With this app I decided to put the soup back on the shelf and opt for a brand that didn’t conflict with my views.

These are just a few apps I’ve tried and like. If you have any apps that I didn’t list please share them in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

Recipes, Uncategorized

Buffalo Chickpea Salad

veganlivingbydanielle

 

Buffalo Chickpea Salad | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp of cooking oil (vegetable, olive, coconut…whatever you like!)
  • 1 can of chickpeas
  • 1/2 cup of flour (approx)
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • salad greens and other toppings
  • your favorite buffalo sauce! (just read the label of ingredients and make sure it doesn’t contain dairy as some buffalo sauce will; *vegan hack: use the app, “Is it Vegan?,” from my last blog posting! Sweet Baby Ray’s and Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauces are vegan 😛)
  • vegan ranch (just ranch is pictured, they were recently found to test on animals, so I do NOT recommend their products)
  • 1/2 of an avocado (optional – good to counter the spice, especially if you don’t find dairy-free ranch)

Directions:

  1. Heat a medium-large sized frying pan over medium heat with the cooking oil.
  2. Open can of chickpeas and drain the liquid.
  3. Dump the chickpeas in a Tupperware container with a lid.
  4. Cover chickpeas with the flour (this may not take the whole 1/2 cup).
  5. Add pepper and garlic and shake the container to evenly distribute.
  6. Put the lid on the Tupperware and shake until all the chickpeas have a light layer of flour.
  7. Dump the chickpeas in the warmed frying pan and cook until they are golden, stirring occasionally. You may want to turn the heat up to medium-high heat, but watch closely to avoid burning!
  8. Once the chickpeas are golden, lower the heat and stir in just enough buffalo sauce to cover the chickpeas. (Too much makes them a little soggy and mushy which I don’t like, but if you do, go for it!)
  9. While the buffalo sauce is warming, prep your salad veggies in a large bowl or plate.
  10. Top your salad with the buffalo chickpeas and avocado and/or vegan ranch dressing.

Bon Appetit!

Lifestyle Tips, Uncategorized

Protein Powders

veganlivingbydanielle

Hey there! If you’re looking to lead a vegan life and love fitness like me, I have some tips for you about vegan protein! Many people think vegan protein powder has to cost a fortune and is gross, well it absolutely does not have to be either of those things! Here are my ratings on just a few vegan protein powders I’ve tried that you can find at most any Target, and sometimes Marshalls/TJMaxx has it which is nice because they generally have lower prices. I included links to these all in the vanilla flavor because I think it’s the best flavor to have on it’s own, plus you can add some coffee to it in the morning for breakfast, or mix it into a fruit smoothie!

Vega Sport Performance Protein: By far my favorite! It has the most protein of their line and also has things like BCAAs, probiotics (which is good for digestion) and superfoods like turmeric. It’s also pretty low cal!

Vega Protein and Greens: Very good flavor, texture can be a little weird because of the “greens” part.

Olly Nourishing Smoothie: This vanilla protein powder is super yummy! I didn’t like it at first because I mixed it with vegan milk, but is too think. I really suggest mixing this powder with water. This is probably the yummiest of the powders but doesn’t have as much protein and nutrients as the Vega powders.

If you’re not necessarily looking for a protein shake on it’s own, but a protein powder to add to smoothies or foods try the Manitoba Harvest brand. Some Targets and grocery stores carry it, but it’s organic and the non-flavored proteins don’t have much taste, which I like when you’re adding it to food or smoothies.

Please comment below for any yummy, wallet-friendly vegan protein powders!

***Stay away from soy based protein powders if you’re consuming daily! It is not recommended to consume soy products daily and I found out the hard way. I was consuming GNC’s soy protein powder once and sometimes twice a day and got more chunky! I lost about 5 lbs when I switched to non-soy protein powder and that was the only variable I changed at the time in my diet/exercise.***

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Danielle

Recipes, Uncategorized

Veggie Tacos

veganlivingbydanielle

 

Veggie Tacos | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • taco shells
  • 1 can of beans (your choice of kidney, black, or pinto)
  • 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
  • handful of spinach
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional if you like the spice!)

Topping Suggestions:

  • guacamole or avocado (to balance the spice and replace the cheese)
  • shredded lettuce
  • chopped tomatoes
  • black olives
  • extra salsa
  • Tofutti sour cream (optional if you don’t like avocado or aren’t worried about the extra calories)

Directions:

  1. Warm a frying pan over medium heat and preheat oven to cook your taco shells according to the package.
  2. Drain the can of beans and pour into pan with salsa.
  3. Cook stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes to cook the beans.
  4. Throw in your spinach (it doesn’t add too much taste, but adds great superfood nutrients!!) and add the spices.
  5. Lower the burner to low-medium heat and cover to wilt the spinach, stirring occasionally. Now is normally a good time to throw the taco shells in the oven, but double check against the package!
  6.  Once the spinach is wilted, serve your filling in the taco shell and top with your choice of ingredients from the topping list!

Enjoy!

Vegan Pro Tip: Use taco fillings that are left over as topping for a taco salad for lunch or dinner the next day! 

Taco Salad | Vegan Living by Danielle