EASE INTO VEGANUARY

Bonus Post

Dec 30, 2024

I wanted to pop in with quick tips to help you get started, so I thought I’d start with the easiest of all, how to do whole food, all plants breakfasts and lunches easily, easily, easily.

Breakfast

I’m eating mine right now and I have the same thing 5 days a week, then change it up on weekends. So the daily, easy, go-to breakfast that takes about ten minutes to prepare and is one of the healthiest things you can eat is oatmeal.

Not instant oats. Not quick oats. You want actual old fashioned rolled oats or steel cut oats. I used rolled oats, as I like the softer texture. Just pour 1 cup water and 1/2 cup oats into a small saucepan and turn it on. My hubs doubles that for himself. It’s done a minute or two after it begins to boil.

While the oats cook, I fill my big bowl with 4 or 5 sliced strawberries, a handful of whole blueberries, 5 to 7 raspberries, and today I even had a few fat blackberries. I use a teaspoon of chia seed, a tablespoon of flaxseed, a teaspoon of cinnamon, and a teaspoon of maple syrup.

This breakfast is packed with phytonutrients, B12, omega 3s, and fiber, and it provides 8 different whole plant-foods.

Do not slice a banana into your oatmeal, or at least, don’t do so most of the time. I have done so the entire time and only a couple of weeks ago learned that the banana can prevent absorption of the phytonutrients from the berries. In fact, any fruit or veggie that turns brown after you slice it contains a compound that can block that absorption of phytonutrients. So slicing apples into the morning oats with berries would likewise not be recommended. On the other hand, you could save the berries and just do an apple and a banana and get those nutrients every once in a while too.

Weekend Breakfasts

On weekends we have French toast, pancakes, or a tofu scramble, often with a side of hash brown potatoes. I now routinely add a heated-up can of drained mushrooms and a diced tomato to my tofu scramble at the very end before serving.

DO NOT use oil or spray for any of this. My French toast recipe includes how to get it golden brown without any oil or spray or teflon. Your belief that it’s impossible is just like mine was. Entirely programming. The only way to overwrite that old flawed premise it is to dive in and try it a new way. Here are those recipes for you.

Lunches

Most days of the week my lunch is leftovers from dinner. That’s your number one key to success in this thing, I think. When you cook, cook twice as much as you need, and use the leftovers for lunches.

I always have a pot of rice cooked and stashed in the fridge for the week ahead. I generally cook 1.5 cups brown or other whole grain rice in my rice cooker. Sometimes I cook it in water, sometimes veggie broth, sometimes mushroom broth, my current favorite. For a bit of India flavor, I add a teaspoon of garlic and masala, and a half teaspoon of ginger.

For an umami flavor I add to the rice pot a teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder, a tablespoon of reduced sodium tamari (mild soy sauce without any fish product in it.) Then at the end, AFTER the rice is cooked, I add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast to make it cheesy.

Play with flavors.Try a different group of spices every week and make notes of your favorites.

With rice on hand in the fridge, when lunchtime comes, you can nuke a bag of frozen broccoli & cauliflower, pop a can of mushrooms, add a handful of black beans, put them atop the rice and have a lovely meal. (For an even shorter shortcut, you can buy frozen, pre-cooked rice for quick meals. But it’s hard to find whole grain rice. Usually the pre-cooked is white rice, and that won’t do.)

Whole grain rice is a great source of protein. The broccoli and cauliflower are part of the cruciferous vegetable group. These, along with the green leafy group, have been shown to promote production of nitric oxide, which repairs damaged endothelial cells and removes existing plaque from coronary arteries.

Aside from leftovers, I often have salad for lunch. Packages of mixed greens are a shortcut and a really helpful one. I just hate all the plastic. Wash them, even if they say pre-washed.

So you take a handful of your shortcut mixed greens, or cut your fresh greens. I always have arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, and kale, along with some lettuces. If cutting my own for salad, I’ll take a little of each. (Variety is important!) Sometimes I’ll leave out the spinach, because it can slow or reduce calcium absorption.

So chop the greens, and then pop them into your bowl and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Give them a little massage, this softens them. Let them stand there while you chop whatever other delights you want in your bowl. Standing for a few minutes, 10 is ideal, with the balsamic vinegar on them activates some of their beneficial processes according to Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.

While my greens stand, I usually chop and toss in a whole tomato, half an apple, a stalk of celery, some button mushrooms, a little bit of orange or yellow bell pepper, any other veggies on hand that look interesting. Maybe some halved grapes. Then I slice a red onion into paper thin strips and lay them on top. Then I scatter on a few slivered almonds, but very few, and some sesame seeds, again, don’t get carried away. The nuts and seeds are high in fats and excess fat, even good fats, can raise cholesterol.

I used to mix and make all sorts of dressings, but I’ve found the best of them all is to drizzle some good balsamic vinegar over the salad. I love Sclafini brand, it’s thick and sweet.

Another thing I do for lunch when I’m pressed for time, or really eager to get my nitric oxide levels bubbling, is just pop open a can of beets, spinach, or asparagus, drain it, heat it, eat it. A can counts for two and a half servings of those precious green leafies and/or cruciferous groups. Good for my heart! (With canned veggies, watch the sodium. Get no-salt-added or reduced/low sodium whenever possible.)

Supplements

Protein: You do NOT need protein shakes or powders. All plants have protein. And in fact, all plants have all 9 essential amino acids in varying amounts. When we eat a wide variety of plants, we get complete protein. (And since there’s no earthly reason for meat-eaters to need a protein shake or powder either, their popularity is pure bullshit. They are useful only for people who are medically unable to eat food.

Doctors Esselstyn and Campbell now agree 8% of your total calories from protein, is plenty. The USDA minimum is 10%. So we’ll say 8 to 10.

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

On a 2000 calorie-per-day diet, then, 160 to 200 calories should come from protein. That’s 40 to 50 grams. That’s easy to get.

B12: Comes from soil. We get it from our hands in the dirt, mushrooms, flaxseed, and eating animals who have ingested dirt while grazing. But the animals people eat today don’t get to graze. 90% of meat in grocery stores is factory farmed. And the soil has been so sterilized, its B12 has been degraded. Everyone in the US probably needs a B12 supplement, regardless of their diet. I recommend you take one.

D3: People who live farther from the equator, during the winter months, might not get enough D3. I take a D3 supplement during the winter, and make sure I expose my arms and legs to sunshine for 15 every day in the spring, summer, & fall.

Probiotics: You need to either eat a lot of fermented foods, such as vinegars, kim chi, saurkraut, tempeh, etc, or take a daily probiotic for the health of your gut microbiome.

All these things apply to omnivores and vegans alike.

That’s it. That’s all. Also, it’s important when you get your annual physical to have all these levels checked, because you can easily overdo it with supplements, especially if you’re already getting enough from your diet, which you very well might be.

Some Staples

You’re going to want to stock up on veggie broth (low sodium if possible) nutritional yeast, tamari, whole grain pastas, brown rice, all the produce, lots of potatoes and sweet potatoes. In the canned section get all the beans, some lentils, diced tomatoes, mushrooms and some Newman’s Own salsa.

Buy Ezekiel bead. It’s in the freezer section. Get some corn tortillas without oil. Two ingredients, corn & water. (I really want to try making my own.)

Buy whole wheat flour or to make your own whole grain, gluten free flour, get: oat flour, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, potato starch (NOT potato flour, though it’ll work in a pinch) and finely ground chia seeds. Those are the ingredients for the whole grain GF flour. Here’s how to mix it.

Whole Grain, Gluten Free Flour

Get a block of extra firm tofu to play with. Dice it, soak it for the day in equal parts tamari, vegan Worcestershire, and balsamic, with a dash of liquid smoke. Bake it in the oven on a silicone pad lined baking sheet. About 20 minutes at 400. It’s really good! I love to have these on hand as salad-toppers.

Speaking of, you’re going to want silicone bakeware and some silicone baking sheet sized liners, and/or parchment paper.

Ready

If you’re diving in, the time to begin is now. Clean out the fridge, cupboards, pantry. Restock with healthy foods. Get rid of your oils and sprays. (Save a little bit of something to season your frying pans periodically.) Throw out the ultra-processed crap. Stock up on the good stuff. Get a couple of quality porcelain or granite or stainless frying pans.

Set

Know ahead of time what you’re going to eat. Cook in large batches to make it easier.

Make things like chili, goulash, Spanish rice, stir fries, roasted vegetables, grain bowls with quinoa, rice, or pasta, potatoes and mushroom gravy, tacos, burritos, scalloped potatoes.

Record your weight and make a note of your most recent cholesterol, A1-C, triglycerides, your blood pressure, and any other health data to which you have access. This is going to be the fun part— watching those numbers drop like the proverbial rock!