Vegan Bytes #54: It's Here! Vegan Cooking for Beginners

Welcome to the Vegan-Nutritionista.com subscriber group! Our newsletter focuses on helping you learn more about veganism and how to apply it to your daily life. Vegan Bytes is dedicated to keeping you up-to-date with the world of food, answering your vegan nutrition questions, and providing you with ideas on ways to spread your lifestyle beliefs.

*NEW Ebook Available: Vegan Cooking for Beginners
*Question: "I need simple, fast meal ideas on a budget."
*Vegan Ebooks Collection: My Favorite Meal Plans and Recipes
*Recipe Sneak Peak: Avocado, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad
*What's New?: What's New With Vegan Nutritionista?

(links above take you to the mini article below in the newsletter, which has links to the full article on Vegan-Nutritionista.com)

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For years people have been writing in to Vegan Nutritionista asking for quick and simple vegan recipes, and those requests eventually gnawed their way into my brain earlier this year. This summer I posted a question on facebook (come join the party!) asking what kinds of recipes everyone wanted to learn to make.

Here are the things you told me:

• "Anything simple and quick!"
• "Something I can cook quickly when I come home from work that's child-friendly with limited ingredients, limited pots and pans, etc."
• "Low cost meals. Make ahead meals. Something both hubby and I can have. He's still a meat-eater and I want to transition him."
• "I lose patience when there are so many small measurements of a TON of ingredients.
• "Anything kid friendly and quick! Lunch box stuff would be great."
• "I also like MAKE AHEAD meals that will keep for a few days."
• "I'm looking for lunch recipes, like sandwiches, soups, and salads."
• "My other half is the cook and my skills are limited, so recipes that are relatively fail-safe so I don't get disheartened! Easy and tasty."
• "Student friendly! Not many ingredients and cheap. I don't really care if it takes an hour in the oven if it's quick to prepare, simple, and cheap."
• "Along with quick, easy, and simple recipes, I'd love to have some tasteful recipes to show family that a vegan lifestyle is awesome."
• "I'm trying to become vegan and I'm looking for easy vegan recipes to start with."

I would have to be blind to miss the message here. Everyone wanted easy, quick, limited ingredient and limited steps recipes made with normal ingredients, with a special emphasis on lunch ideas like soups, sandwiches, and salads.

That day on facebook was when I knew I was on the right track to figuring out how to truly help Vegan Nutritionista readers and facebook fans. Almost every single night (and sometimes twice or three times a day), I cook quick, easy, cheap vegan meals.

My goal has always been to impact the most people possible by showing that it's easier (and more delicious) than they think to start eating vegan, and that once they do, they're going to feel so amazing that it will be hard to ever go back to eating animal products.

The problem is that most of us were raised on traditional meat-filled dinners and we don't even know where to begin when switching to a plant-based diet. While some of us truly never learned to cook and don't have kitchen skills, even more just don't have time to prepare meals, so we end up sacrificing quality for a few extra minutes of carpool time.

I hate the idea of anyone choosing pre-made, boxed meals over fresh, plant-based food, and I think my recipes and tricks to cooking quicker can help.

And that's the story of how Vegan Cooking for Beginners was born.

You can read the full scoop on Vegan Cooking for Beginners here, but here's a quick idea of what's in the ebook:

• 75 easy vegan recipes, including sections on breakfast, snacks, sandwiches, salads, soups, whole grain dishes, and desserts.
• Nutritional information and serving size for every recipe
• As many pictures as I could stuff into the book and still make it available as a download
• Step-by-step, detailed instructions for very new cooks

It's on sale starting today for only $7.99, and if you buy it now, you get two free bonuses:

#1. Soak, Rinse, Boil: my complete guide to cooking beans and grains. This guide is essential for anyone who wants to take advantage of the budgetary benefits of rehydrating dried beans and cooking whole grains. It will save you a ton of money!

#2. Master Vegan Grocery List: A massive list of everything you'll ever need at the grocery store. Just print it out and hang it on your fridge door and then check things off as you need them.

You can also get Vegan Cooking for Beginners Formatted Perfectly for your E-reader:

• Amazon for Kindle
• iTunes for iPad or iPhone
• Stay tuned if you use Nook or another e-reader; they're formatting now and should be ready soon

I truly hope you love this new ebook!

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Question:

"I've been a vegan for about two years and when I first started, I was able to do it right and I even lost about 20 pounds!

Recently I moved provinces out of my parents' house to go to school. I'm completely alone here and don't drive so I rely on transit and walking to get around. Anyway I've been here about two months and I am finding it so hard to make quick easy meals and I've been gaining weight. I can't find a good balance, so I end up eating super processed or sugary crap that just makes me feel awful.

My question is to ask for some suggestions of simple meals that are healthy and hopefully even low fat. I have been searching all over and I found lots of stuff that says its simple but it requires a lot of ingredients or is hard to cook or the ingredients are expensive or hard to find. Anyway I was just hoping you had some suggestions for SUPER simple, very few ingredient meals that might make life a little easier for me and less overwhelming. I don't really have a passion for cooking or the ability to multitask. Any help or advice you have would be so helpful and appreciated! Thanks so much!"

-Nicole

Answer:

It might seem like you are the only one dealing with this problem, but this is actually a really common problem. There are thousands of students who are just like you; they're out on their own for the first time and they want to eat healthy, but they don't have time, energy, or the tools to be able to do heavy cooking. There's a reason why people always joke about Ramen noodles and spaghetti O's as the diet of college students.

When I was in college, I did cook for myself, even though I had really limited kitchens. I did not cook all the time, and I did rely quite heavily on noodles and other cheap things like that, but I also didn't really know better.

Looking back, I did some things right and other things wrong. Here are my best tips for college students who want to eat healthy, both tips I used and those I wish I knew at the time:

Read the full article on simple, fast meal ideas and share any tips you have for people trying to eat healthy on a budget.

If you have any vegan questions and you want some guidance, feel free to send them in by following this link.

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Vegan Cooking for Beginners

Vegan Cooking for Beginners is designed for new cooks and vegans who want quick, cheap, and easy vegan recipes. It has 75 recipes, tons of pictures of the finished meals, nutritional information, and detailed instructions to make every recipe easy to follow. Read more and download a copy for only $7.99 here.

• Amazon for Kindle
• iTunes for iPad or iPhone
• Stay tuned if you use Nook or another e-reader; they're formatting now and should be ready soon

Vegan Meal Plans for Fall/Winter

Vegan Meal Plans is a complete meal plan for one month vegan weekday dinners. It includes 64 recipes, pictures, nutritional information, grocery lists, and tips and techniques. Everyone from those beginning a vegan diet to those veterans who want fresh menu ideas love this ebook. It focuses on fresh, local, and seasonal vegetables and uses all normal ingredients-- no fussy or gourmet skills needed. Download a copy for only $9.75 here.

If you have an e-reader, you can get Vegan Meal Plans for Fall designed specifically for that device for $9.99:

• From Amazon for Kindle
• From Apple for iTunes
• From Barnes and Noble for Nook
• From Kobo
• From Diesel Ebooks

The Vegan Bread Box: 30 Simple and Delicious Vegan Bread Recipes

This is one of our most popular cookbooks. I've found it really difficult to find a vegan bread cookbook on the internet; there are tons of recipes out there, but they're scattered all over different sites and you never know which ones are good. This book has everything from an eggless brioche to a classic whole wheat boule recipe, so you'll never have to go scrounging the internet again. I'm so happy people have gotten so much out of this ebook.

Learn more about the bread baking tip that's almost too easy here or download your copy for only $7.95 now.

Get iPad/Kindle/Kobo/Reader Formatted Vegan Bread Recipes for only $7.99!

• To buy The Vegan Bread Box on Amazon, click here.
  
• For iTunes, click here.
• For the Barnes and Noble Nook
• For Kobo
• For Diesel

Just the Menus Ebook Package Deal

Just the Menus Ebook Package allows you to have both Vegan Nutritionista meal plans, one for the fall/winter and one for the spring/summer at a discounted rate. Download your copy for only $16.99 here.

Menus and Cookbooks Ebook Package Deal

Menus and Cookbooks Ebook Package allows you to have Vegan Cooking for Beginners, both Vegan Nutritionista Meal Plans, The Vegan Bread Box, Vegan Christmas Cookies, and Cut the Cheese. Download your copy for only $41.99 here.

Vegan Grocery List

This massive, complete vegan grocery list is the only one you'll ever need. Print out copies of it to hang on your fridge, and then mark what you need as you go throughout the week. Download a copy for only $0.99.

Entire Collection of Ebooks Deal:

Get Vegan Cooking for Beginners, Cut the Cheese, The Vegan Bread Box, A Fresh New Vegan You, both Vegan Meal Plans and Vegan Meal Plans for Spring, Vegan Christmas Cookies AND a free copy of the massive Vegan Grocery List for only $63.99. Save BIG on this package! Download this package here. *Note: this does not include a separate file for Soak, Rinse, Boil! because you get it within A Fresh New Vegan You.

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Here's a sneak peak into Vegan Cooking for Beginners, and one of my favorite recipes. This recipe was tested by my husband, who doesn't do much cooking on his own. Not only did he have no trouble following the recipe, he was shocked at how good his creation tasted!

Try this recipe now, before the last tomatoes and cucumbers are gone from the farmers market for the fall.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed is best (about 2 limes)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 big handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (if you can only use dried, use 1 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 2 small avocados, cut into small chunks
• 1/2 medium red onion, cut into small chunks
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 cucumbers, cut in 1/2 inch circles, and then those cut in half to form semi-circles
• freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, and sea salt together. Gently drop in the chunks of avocado and stir them so they're covered in the dressing. The lime juice will keep the avocados from turning brown.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir gently so you don't break the avocado pieces. Season with pepper and a few more sprinkles of salt, if you feel like it needs it.

You can share your own recipes and comment on others by following this link to Vegan Nutritionista.

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Vegan Nutritionista is constantly growing and changing, and if you signed up for this newsletter a long time ago, you might not have read our new information. Our blog page keeps you up-to-date with new articles on the site.

We're in the process of updating the design of our website. I sometimes had a hard time fitting everything I wanted to say into the two columns we used to use, so now we have three columns. And, we'll be transitioning over to a really pretty color scheme. Nothing changes for you; all the content is exactly the same. I hope you like it!

We also now have a vegan forum where you can find topics submitted by users for discussion, answers, and places to add your own input. There is no member name required to participate, so you can jump right in and

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Vegan Essentials is one of my very favorite places to shop for vegan supplies. They have everything from clothes and shoes to vegan cheese, and their prices are the best around.

Amazon has really grown on me over the past decade or so. It no longer is just a resource for finding books, but now sells almost everything. Over the past few years, I've found more and more vegan-friendly supplies on amazon, including books, shoes, clothes, soymilk makers, soybeans, and so much more.

VitaMix is hands down the best blender on the market. I recommend it to anyone and everyone, and it's absolutely amazing... no exaggeration. In fact, the other day, I found myself taking a complete stranger to a section of a cooking store to show her the VitaMix and explain its benefits, just for pure fun!

You can make soups, ice cream, smoothies, whole fruit/vegetable juices, grind grains, make nut butters, grind ice, and so much more. I can remember life before the VitaMix and how frustrating it was to never get the exact consistency I wanted in my smoothies because the ice just wouldn't break up, and now I never give it a second thought. Highly recommended!

If you're a vegan nutritionista yourself and have always thought about running a blog with your vegan recipes, you should think about an SBI website. I would never have known how to start a website, let alone get Vegan Nutritionista to the successful place it is right now without Site Build It, and I can't recommend it enough. If you are passionate about anything, any hobby, lifestyle, food, drink, or culture, you can start a website about it. All you have to do is love it, research it, and learn to "talk" about it and SBI will guide you to making it financially successful.

I am an affiliate for these newsletter sponsors, so anytime someone buys something from these stores after using a link from our site, I make a small commission on it. But, I do promise that I would never recommend something that I don't use and love myself. So if you see a link on our site for something you like, you can support their company and the running of Vegan Nutritionista as well, or you can always choose to go directly to the company.

And don't forget, a percentage of all Vegan Nutritionista profits go to a rotating group of charities that benefit animals. This quarter we're giving money to the Louisiana ASPCA to help with animal victims of Hurricane Isaac.

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That's all for this month!! I hope you enjoyed reading it. Have a great month!