Thinking of Plant Based/Vegan?

I’m intrigued by this and have been for awhile now. I have a lot of joint inflammation and would love it gone. I could also stand to loose lots of weight. I gave up red meat over a year ago and that hasn’t killed me. I feel sad about giving up dairy but I think I’m ready to give it a go.

I’m going to do more research and then give it a test run. DH doesn’t seem thrilled but he’ll make it work. I never expected him or ds to give up red meat and wouldn’t expect them to try this unless they choose to.

This is the best advice for starting out. It can be so overwhelming to learn to eat and cook a completely new way. Start with what you're already doing. We all eat vegan food. You could probably fill a week with things from your regular diet. 

I'm a vegetarian, but about 50% of my meals are vegan. I'm not super adventurous with vegetables, oddly enough. I make sure I eat a decent salad several times a week, heavy on spinach with the vegetables I do like and then focus on grains and legumes, which I love. I don't need super creative meals and a new recipe all the time.  Every now and then I'll look for a recipe with a new legume or grain - or one I don't use enough (I can get into a black bean and quinoa rut).  

Which is how I found a recipe with amaranth, but I went to copy it here for momx1 , and realized it has eggs. I'll make chia seed egg replacement a lot, but I haven't for this recipe, so I don't know how it would turn out. 

And I meant to say earlier, lesserknownpea, you look fantastic. And what's most important, you look more comfortable and happy!

Thanks for starting this thread Lesserknownpea.  As you all know I believe wholeheartedly in the whole foods, plant based diet. You've all heard me talk about it on this board numerous times. I truly need to learn how to post photos on here so you can see my transformation because as they say pictures speak louder than words. I am computer challenged and DH (who works in IT) insists we run Linex (a pro system) rather than Windows which makes things more difficult for me, but if I can get some instructions I'll see if I can get his help to post some on this thread. 

My biggest advice is don't make this more difficult than it has to be, because honestly it really isn't. The whole foods, plant based diet is actually easy to follow. There is no counting calories, measuring portions of food, balancing nutrients, keeping track of points of any of that annoying stuff. It's actually quite simple. Don't eat meat, dairy or oils. You'll get all of the nutrition you need from fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes. Eat minimally processed foods-read the ingredient label only-like whole food pasta-the one I buy has one ingredient-whole wheat flour. You can eat until you are full and eat when you are hungry. By doing this you will lose weight, and increase your health. Not only that if you continue eating this way you will do something 98% of the diets fail to do-you will keep the weight off. It's easy to continue eating this way compared to other diets because you never go hungry. The reason is because it takes very little of whole foods to fill the stomach compared to processed foods. 

My advice for anyone wanting to try this diet is to first watch "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix because it does such an amazing job of explaining everything you need to know behind this diet. If you don't have Netflix, check your local library or it's available on Amazon. Step 2. is to get the book "The Forks Over Knives Plan" because it will take you step by step through the first month. Again, check your local libary first or Amazon. This book wasn't available when I made my transition almost 5 years ago (next month) and I wish it had been. It would have made it a lot easier. Step 3. I myself really enjoy the Forks Over Knives cookbooks, but most other people do things digitally these days. The forksoverknives.com site is a great resource for recipes and tons of information regarding this diet. If you look on the top bar when you get there and click on Newsfeed you'll see a bar drop down and then click on Success Stories. Those are great to read of all kinds of people who have been through this experience and how well they did-how much they lost but more importantly how much their health improved. 

I know when I first thought about this diet I envisioned eating salad or veggies the rest of my life. I also though the food would taste bland. I was so wrong. With the recipes the food tastes amazing. Without the slimy oil covering everything up you can actually taste the true flavor of the food and it tastes incredible.  I can honestly say I much prefer the way I eat today to how I used to eat. As far as wine goes I do have wine occasionally when I go to visit my parents about every 2 weeks. 

I signed up for a 14-day free trial of the Forks over Knives plan just to get a feel for what I should be eating in one day. It seems do-able and I like that they re-purpose dinners as lunch leftovers later in the week, as that's usually how I roll.

Would y'all say that's a good way to start off? I'm not sure I can cook/prep breakfast every morning during the school year but maybe I can make some breakfast things ahead on the weekends. I'm also planning to do smoothies fo breakfast quite a bit.

I agree with your pantry list, lesserknownpea . I will add that we eat a lot of beans. I joined the Rancho Gordo bean club and have gotten some really interesting beans. I also keep tofu stocked in the fridge. DH makes the best oil-less fried tofu and I love it airfried.

This was my dinner tonight: Garbanzo "omelette" from Forks over Knives topped with left over peppers and onions from last night's fajitas and topped with some salsa all served over a generous bed of baby kale.

I would love the recipe, thank you!!!

Maybe we should post what we’re having for dinner. I’m not vegan yet but I’m heading in that direction. I’m making super easy Bean and rice casserole:
INGREDIENTS

1 cup brown rice, dry (rinsed)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 8-oz can tomato sauce (I use V8)
1 14.5 oz can kidney beans — drained and rinsed
1 4-oz can diced green chilies (optional)
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder (8 turns of grinder)
guacamole

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 (177° C) degrees.

In a 9 x 13″ pan, combine the rice, broth, beans, tomato sauce, green chilies, cumin, chili powder, salt and garlic powder. Stir well then cover TIGHTLY with tin foil. Place in oven and bake for 90 minutes {no peaking!}

When the rice and beans has finished cooking, serve on plates topped with a big scoop of guacamole!

I’m going to put this on top of some lettuce, then I’ll add defrosted corn kernels, chopped tomato and guacamole on top.

I think his carbs are too high and he could get his numbers down more if he eat less carbs. He wants to feel "full" and the carbs can do that. Like if we have rice with dinner, I always put a small amount but he'll cover the whole plate. My numbers are in range and his are better but not quit in range yet.

Pasta is not a whole food, even whole wheat pasta. It's overly refined crap food and I eat it sparingly because wheat and flour are what cause inflammation in my body and cause my joints to ache.

Other than that, I agree that a diet heavy in non-starchy vegetables is a tasty way to eat and great for satiety.

I made this yesterday. The main recipe is from BrandNewVegan. It makes a HUGE pot of soup which I freeze in portions and then have as soup, over a baked potato, over rice or over pasta as it thickens on freezing

1 bag multi beans, min 10 types of bean
4 cups Vegetable Broth (low sodium)
4 cups Water
2 Tbs Soy Sauce (low sodium)
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 med Sweet Onion (chopped)
1 green Bell Pepper (chopped) used red
1 Jalapeno, minced (optional) left out
1 can Green Chiles, chopped (7oz) I used 2 green chillies, seeds removed
2 stalks Celery (chopped)

2 Carrots (sliced)
3/4 tsp Cumin
3/4 tsp Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
1 can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (15oz) I use just normal chopped
2 handfuls Fresh Spinach (optional)
2 Tbs Lime Juice (1 lime)

Rinse the beans well, and soak them overnight in cold water.

Put beans and the water in pan, add the broth so liquid covers everything, soy sauce, garlic, onion, peppers, chiles, celery, carrots, cumin, thyme, and bay leaf. I only add enough liquid to cover everything in the pan.

Bring to boil and simmer 1.5 hours

Remove lid and stir in tomatoes, spinach, and lime juice. Mix well and check for seasoning. Add additional salt and pepper if needed.

Oh, and because many vegan specific items or bulk buy items are not available here I do buy a lot from Amazon. I have just ordered ground cashews because I need to try a number of recipes that use them and I doubt my current blender would cope with chopping them down. A vitamix is not currently on my list of must-have appliances.