Tag: vegan living by danielle

Recipes, Uncategorized

Mexican Quinoa Salad

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Vegan Mexican Quinoa | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 1/2 cup vegetable stock (or 1 1/2 cup water with 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp salt)
  • 1 can of corn, drained
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes (with jalapeños if you like spicy!), drained
  • 1 can of your favorite beans (chickpeas, kidney, or black beans), drained
  • 1 can of olives, halved
  • 1/4 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 lime, juiced (approx. 1 Tbsp of juice)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (1 Tbsp dried cilantro)
  • Between 2 – 4 Tbsp red wine vinegar to your taste
  • 1 avocado (optional)

Directions:

  1. Put dry quinoa and stock, or water and spices, in large saucepan over high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to simmer when the pot is boiling and cover.
  3. Let quinoa cook for a total of approximately 15 minutes, or until all kernels are open and fluffy. Stirring is not necessary or recommended. Best results come when the lid is left on during the whole cooking process.
  4. Once quinoa is thoroughly cooked, move it to a bowl. Refrigerate to cool if desired to serve salad cold.
  5. While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, prepare remaining ingredients.
  6. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  7. Add quinoa to the large bowl and mix well.
  8. Serve cool or warm and enjoy!
  9. Option to top each serving with sliced avocado and a whole, fresh cilantro leaf.
Recipes, Uncategorized

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

veganlivingbydanielle

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (could substitute water, but stock is much more flavorful; low-sodium stock highly recommended)
  • 1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 cup red onion (about 1/4 of a larger onion), chopped
  • 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 med cucumber with the seeds removed, diced
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • juice of 1/2 lemon (roughly 1 1/2 Tbsps)
  • juice of 1/4 lime (roughly 1/2 Tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup kalamata, green, or black olives (optional – depending on your taste), halved

Directions:

  1. Put dry quinoa and stock in large sauce pan over high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low when the pot is boiling and cover.
  3. Let quinoa cook for a total of approximately 15 minutes, or until all kernels are open and fluffy. Stirring is not necessary or recommended. Best results come when the lid is left on during the whole cooking process.
  4. Once quinoa is thoroughly cooked, move it to a bowl and refrigerate to cool.
  5. While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, prepare remaining ingredients, and mix in a bowl.
  6. When quinoa has cooled, combine quinoa with remaining ingredients and mix well.
  7. Serve cool and enjoy!

 

It is the season for barbecues, picnics, and grad parties. I highly recommend doubling this recipe to bring to these events! It is definitely a real crowd pleaser. Also, quinoa and chickpeas have a good amount of protein for you, so it’s definitely a good thing to bring with you to picnics to be sure there is a vegan option for you that has a substantial amount of protein.

I like to take a bit of it with me as my lunch, or serve a few scoops on the side of dinner!

Lifestyle Tips, Uncategorized

How to Go Vegan

veganlivingbydanielle

Hi everyone!

I’ve found that many people I talk to about my vegan lifestyle say that they unsuccessfully have tried going vegan starting from a diet that includes meat and other animal products. A drastic change like that is not always sustainable.

Here’s a secret…transitioning your diet to 100% vegan does not need to happen in one night! If you try to cut out 100% of animal products in one shot, you are more likely to become overwhelmed by the change, be unsuccessful at sustaining the change in diet, and actually suffer from withdrawals from the certain foods. (Yes, animal products can be addicting. Read about it here and here.)

A tip to help you stick with your changes is also to keep a journal of the reasons you are choosing to go vegan, and do some research on other benefits to cutting out animal products to add to your list!

  • animal welfare
  • health benefits
  • environmental impact
  • workers rights
  • and more!

Here are some suggested steps to help you ease into a 100% vegan diet:

  1. Try a few vegetarian or vegan recipes a few times a week. I recommend not going too far off from foods you normally eat, and avoid too many products that are substitutions. Many people make the mistake of expecting veggie burgers, chik’n nuggets, and plant-based cheese to taste exactly like the real thing.
  2. Dedicate one day a week to going completely meatless. Increase the number of meatless days as time goes on. Do so with caution, if you reintroduce meat after abstaining for a long period of time, it could lead you to gastric distress.
  3. Another option to begin the transition to vegetarianism is to start by eliminating all but one type of meat, like chicken or fish.
  4. Once you’ve cut meat out of your diet, eliminate dairy. If necessary, you can allow yourself one dairy product like cheese or milk, or only allow yourself this dairy product on a certain day of the week. I also advise caution with reintroducing dairy after abstaining for a long period of time, as this could could lead you to gastric distress. (Let’s be real, should your food really cause you to get sick if you haven’t been eating it for long periods of time?!)
  5. At this stage, you will find that eliminating eggs will be relatively easy compared to the other foods.
  6. After removing eggs, you can focus on avoiding other foods that are commonly forgotten like honey, gelatin, whey, casein, lard, some red food coloring (cochineal, carminic acid, or carmine), some sugars, and some confectioner’s glaze just to name a few! When in doubt, Google! Also, check my post on some of my favorite Vegan Lifestyle Apps for some really useful apps.

My point is, go easy on yourself! Make this lifestyle change work for you. Don’t get caught up in labels and making extreme changes. Little changes add up over time and will make a difference for the animals or environment no matter how small!

How to Go Vegan | Vegan Living by Danielle

xo,

Danielle

giveaway, Lifestyle Tips, Uncategorized

T-Shirt Giveaway!!

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T-Shirt Giveaway | Vegan Living by Danielle
Win a t-shirt from peta2 through Vegan Living by Danielle!

1. Follow IG account @veganlivingbydanielle

2. Share this post on IG

3. Tag 3 friends in the comments on IG!

🌱T-shirt size: small

🌱Bumper Sticker size: awesome

🌱Sorry international followers! Only open to US friends.

🌱Ends Sunday, May 21 at 11:59 pm EST.

🌱Winner will be selected the following day and notified by IG message.

 

Good luck!!

 

xo,

Danielle

Recipes, Uncategorized

Tortilla Pizzas

veganlivingbydanielle

Tortilla Pizzas | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup veggie ground crumbles (found in the same section as veggie burgers)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 2-3 baby bella mushrooms
  • 4-5 black olives
  • 1 handful of spinach
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce
  • 2 medium sized tortillas

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the cookie sheet in the oven to warm it for quicker, more even cooking.
  2. Slightly warm the veggie crumbles in a small pan on low heat with olive oil, garlic, and oregano, stirring occasionally. Don’t over cook it now, because it will cook more in the oven and you don’t want it to be dry!
  3. Slice the mushrooms and olives, chop the spinach, and set them aside.
  4. Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and place tortillas on the sheet side by side so as little of the tortillas are overlapping as possible, if at all.
  5. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the tortillas, leaving a little room around the edges for crust. We don’t want too much sauce or the tortilla will not cook evenly. 
  6. Add toppings evenly over the pizzas.
  7. Place cookie sheet back in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch for the edges to be a golden brown, you might not even need 8 minutes! 
  8. Remove cookie sheet from oven and use a spatula to take the pizza off the sheet and put it on a plate or cutting board to cut into 4 or 6 pieces per pizza!

Makes 2 tortilla pizzas.

If you’re like me and like to dip your pizza in ranch or some type of dressing, I recommend the vegan dressing: just ranch. You can find it at most Target stores!

Enjoy!