Im Headed To Europe Tomorrow! What Snacks Are In My Carry On?

Its finally here! Granted, I've only had to wait for a few weeks for the actual trip, but I have been waiting to experience Europe for YEARS... and that is not an exaggeration.  Now, I'm going with my favorite woman ever, my mom! I never dreamed that I would find out what was going on with my body and my diet right before I planned a trip, but never the less, a brand new adventure with a new diet! It couldn't be crazier in my book at the moment! 

Mom and I are flying British Airways and luckily they are awesome and they have a vegan meal choice...what it is, I have NO clue. But its better than being handed a plate of creamy chicken that will no doubt send me to the wash closet for the duration of the flight. However, in case the inflight food won't cut it (which could be the case for anyone!), I have a plethora of healthy snacks to tide me over for the 13 hours of plane time.

What did I pack?

1. Homemade power protein balls, which I personally think are absolutely delicious and full of amino acids, protein, and energy!

I use a food processor to blend up some steel cut oats, raw walnuts, raw pecans and dried, pitted dates until it becomes a doughy substance. I add ground flax seed for some amino acids and some chia seeds for extra protein, fiber, and calcium. I have some enjoy life chocolate chips that I use sparingly (a girl needs her chocolate!) I rolled some of them in shredded coconut, and they are delicious!

2. Dried Mangos. Its basically an obsession. I grabbed some in a time crunch so they have some organic cane sugar on them (oh well)! Like candy, but all natural!

3. Dried Bananas. To me, these are candy. I usually try to find some, but like I said about the mangoes, I was in a time crunch and Trader Joe's only had some with sugar. Still better than gelatin and artificial flavored gummy candy right? (my previous in flight go to snack)

4. Vegan cookies made with natural unrefined sugars. White refined sugar gives me a stomach ache and is really quite bad for you. (more on that later)

5. Dried Ginger. Just in case something bothers my stomach, I get nausea from not being able to sleep right on the plane, or just good old motion sickness. Works like a charm for me so I don't have to drink carbonated, sugar filled ginger ale.

6. Vegan Brownie Bars. These have only six ingredients and they are all organic! So when everyone is eating the KitKat that comes with the transatlantic meal, I'll be munching on these delicious, healthy "brownies"!

7. Ezekial Bread PB and J. I love ezekial bread! Its my favor brand, and has by far the best ingredients. Plus it has a Bible verse right on the front of the package! I use either peanut only peanut butter, or creamed organic coconut, which melts like butter and has a creamy taste, and of course a delicious organic mixed berry fruit spread. I pack three just in case I want one for breakfast too! (I haven't made them yet, so thy aren't pictured)

8. Protein drink mix. I don't usually use protein drinks because I can get plenty of protein in my plant based whole foods diet, but traveling is a different story when you don't know exactly what you will have to eat. Ground Hemp protein with a light vanilla flavor, some unrefined muscavado Sugar, and a dry organic soy milk. Added together it makes a pretty good protein drink so I know that I at least have that to give me extra protein without a stomach ache!

9. My Essential Oils! I always use my DigestZen after a meal and before bed to help digestion and keep me, ya know...Peppermint to add to my water to give me not only a refreshing drink, but also to give a pick me up and help combat stomach problems, which while traveling can't always be prevented...(or if I want to break my rules and have a maceron in France!). Lastly, I bring along my lemon essential oil. See what it does below!

10. An empty filtered water bottle. You can't bring liquid on the plane, so since airplane water is usually not so great, and water bottles are super expensive, you can fill this up at a water fountain and have yummy filtered water. I also add a little lemon to completely purify the water and give me an immune boost on a crowded stuffy plane!

11. Some magazines to read for entertainment and learning purposes! What better time to learn about healthy living than on an adventure across the ocean!

A full bag, maybe. But a happy stomach and a comfy flight? Absolutely!
What do you like to bring?!

The Adventure of Restaurants as a Person with Tummy Troubles

Well, needles to say I have been super busy! We've had a lot of guests staying over this month including my amazing boyfriend who I hadn't seen in months! On top of all our wonderful visitors, Mom and I decided on a whim to hop over the pond to Ireland and Paris for a little over a week next month! I have been over the moon planning it. (Imagine tears and an incredibly rapid heartbeat for three weeks straight, and I still have three weeks to go!) So I havn't been very adventurous in the kitchen the last few weeks besides some amazing vegan french toast that I will share with you in a few days!
    I have found that with some tools and the right foods, cooking a veggie filled whole foods diet can be very easy and fun! But, being busy, I have been to some resteraunts in the last few weeks. I was kind of nervous. What was avalaible? Was there dairy products hidden in there?  They probably think am a high maintenance jerk, right? The first restaurant  I went to was a Mexican restaurant, Don Ramone's. I spent a while combing over the menu. Let me tell you, I was missing cheese right then. But I found a tostada with vegetarian cooked beans, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. I ordered it without cheese and used the tomato salsa on the table to add a little flavor. They were happy to ablige with my request for no cheese and I was really relieved. A few days later, I found myself at Rubies Diner on the Pier in Huntington Beach. I was really in the mood for A veggie burger and I knew that as a vegetarian, I had eaten them there before. I was bummed to find out that they were cooked with cheese. Nope. So I searched the menu for something I could eat. Luckily I was there with my mom and boyfriend who are incredibly supportive! I finally found a veggie taco with beans. Unfortunately the sauce was sour cream based. So I had to make a special order with no sauce and extra beans. They were also awesome and perfectly accommodating. The last restaurant  where I had a problem was Claim Jumper. They don't have a menu with allergen free options. So I ordered a mashed sweet potato meal that originally had chicken but without the chicken. It was supposedly just veggies and a mashed sweet potato. It looked delicious!! Unfortunately though, the sauce the veggies were cooked in or the way they were cooked, they had an odd pickly taste and it started to make me feel sick. I let the guy know and he brought me a plain mashed sweet potato. It was amazing and just what I needed. And since I'm only eating a veggie diet for health reasons, I added a little honey. The server was really sweet and made sure that I didn't feel rude after sending a meal back. The manager even came to my table to ask if everything was alright and made me feel like it was "about me". I learned that as a paying customer, if you ask nicely and treat the staff as the awesome people they are, they will happily help you. Your body is your body! No one can tell you what you can and can't eat! People are a lot more understanding then I thought and restaurants want you to feel like a valued customer so you will come back! Don't be afraid to ask for changes in the menu, no matter what menu change you need, whether vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, etc.! It's not that hard and they're usually happy to help!

Getting Creative...plus a new recipe book for when I'm not!

Meal planning isn't really my thing all the time. Im more of a "what do I feel like today?" kind of girl.  I plan occasionally if I won't have time and I plan around ingredients, but not too many recipes unless I want to bake. 

Lately, Ive been into quinoa and veggie stir fry type meals with tempeh and different spices or miso sauce (miso, a little maple syrup, and a little vinegar...aka YUM.

This one is butternut squash, quinoa, and lentil mix with a little bit of curry spice, nutmeg, and a pinch of chili spices and 100% tomato  sauce and a broccoli green and spinach salad. This was what I had on hand, so I used it. I pulled some spices out, smelled them and mixed the ones that I thought might taste good together and my gosh, it was THE BEST meal I've ever had. I was pretty proud.

This one is carrots (from the garden), green beans (from the garden), kale, quinoa, and tempeh sautéed with a little bit of the miso sauce, and then I poured the rest of the sauce over it. It was also delicious. There is absolutely no need for me to go back.

Both these meals are full of calcium, protein, iron and countless other healthy benefits, without the bad fats, cholesterol, sugar, or toxins in meals I used to eat. Changing my diet to meat and dairy free  has simply been a blast, and making meals is quick and easy! 

 Now that I have decided that this is a pretty serious thing for me, I went to Barns and Noble and picked up some books! The red book "101 Best Vegan Foods" has a ton of vegan staples popular and lesser known and information about them. Who knew vegetables could be full of protein and calcium right!?

The second book "Vegan Planet" is full of information and recipes, and it makes me really excited! There are recipes for so many things that I won't even miss out on foods that I would have eaten before! Changing how you eat, whether it is changing to whole foods from processed, cutting out meat, or going vegan is so much easier than it seems, and can be fun!

It truly is an adventure, and I am learning so much about foods, about health and about what is best for my body! 

(Again I'm not a doctor and I don't claim this as medical information, but man I feel good!)

Why I am changing my diet....plus a new discovery I'm in love with.

I realize that the post I made about why I am vegan didn't show up for some reason. So, I'll tell the story of this crazy adventure again.

 People eat vegan do it for a lot of reasons. For me, I chose to become vegan because at this time, it feels like its what is right for my body. I have always had stomach aches when I would eat, and I have always been nauseous when I would wake up in the morning. I gave up milk twelve years ago because it would hurt my stomach and I stopped eating meat six years ago because I began to get really ill after eating it. I always thought it was lactose intolerance, so I would still eat things like cheese and yogurt.

This year, I had an endoscopy and found that I have what is called a hiatal hernia. Its a pretty weird concept, but I'll let you learn about it here if you are curious. This condition leaves me with heartburn, chest pain, muscle soreness and nausea after eating certain foods, most of which are animal based. And so, this crazy journey begins. I accidentally became a vegan because something in my stomach isn't right. Now comes the fun part. Where do I start? What do I eat? Where does the protein come from? All crazy important questions, Am I right? So, I am on a quest to answer these questions, feel healthier, and eat an insane amount of veggies!


Speaking of new things, I took a trip to whole foods (and surprisingly only spent 50 dollars on a couple weeks worth of food!). I have been drinking non-dairy milks for years. So I knew about them and have tried most of them. What I haven't tried is non-dairy yogurt because I always thought that yogurt could help my lactose intolerance. Well, since I'm not L.I., and instead have a hiatal hernia, yogurt is just as bad as the rest of them. Luckily I stumbled across this So Delicious Brand coconut yogurt. (They also have almond and soy yogurt, too!) It is made with non-dairy milks and the live-active cultures that you find in dairy yogurt.

I must say, I was a little nervous to try it, because I was afraid it just couldn't be the same, but some yogurt with berries in the morning is a favorite breakfast of mine!
The Vanilla Coconut yogurt is absolutely delicious! Its a bit more expensive, but now that I know I like it, I am definitely getting a tub of it rather than paying more per ounce for the little serving sizes.
P.S. They have a coupon you can print online for 55 cents off of any product! That goes for their non-dairy milks and ice creams as well! (Which of course since it is 100 degrees this entire week, I had to get some chocolate coconut ice-cream!!)


(any info is not medical advice, just personal experiences and what works for me!)

Magic Cashew Cream

Its been a slow transition and I've mostly been eating these amazing protein bars I concocted with the help of a few different recipes, quinoa salads, and polenta with sautéed veggies.

I was wondering how I could give the bars a creamy kick and I came across a few recipes for CASHEW CREAM. Its literally just cashews and water, but its magic! Cashews are full of good fats,or monounsaturated fats, that are heart healthy (also found in avocados and other nuts)! These fats actually help us burn fat and lose weight! They are cholestoral-free and a great source of fiber. So to use them instead of cream cheese or ranch is a great idea!  It has a buttery consistency that makes it the perfect nut to use as a creamy substance. 

 This is my favorite recipe as it is short and sweet! It is about 2 cups of cashews (unsalted!) and enough water to make it as creamy as you want. You can make it thinner to use in soups and other recipes that call for cream. Or, the batch I made is thick and creamy to use on bagels with sliced strawberries or maple syrup. It is actually also really good in my salad with a little bit of vinegar! 

To add it to my protein bars (more on them later!) I added a little bit of vanilla and a little bit of maple syrup to the cream, and it made a delicious and creamy breakfast treat! 

If you are considering going vegan, but sad about leaving some yummy creamy treats behind, fear not, cashew cream is amazing! 

Already vegan and using cashew cream liberally? Let me know how you use it and share your favorite recipes! 

More info? Check this website out!

(This is not meant to be medical advice, just some things that work for me!)

Day one...I love cheese.

This is going to be such an interesting journey! I plan to eventually learn to make some things myself rather than buy them for outrageous prices, but for now, the store is as good as it'll get. 

The saddest part about not eating any meat or dairy is the fact that I LOVE CHEESE. I have been a vegetarian for a while so, while I occasionally shed a tear (ok not really) for orange chicken, its easy to fry up some tofu and pretty much get the same thing.  But cheese, cheese is happiness. Cheese goes with anything, is always yummy and is just well, cheese. The sad thing about cheese is it makes me sick. For years I thought that I was lactose intolerant after a really bad ten day bought with the stomach flu, so I tried to eat cheddar cheese (which has minimal lactose if you are L.I. and curious!) and lactose free ice creams, etc. I would still get a stomach ache which was really weird. 

Well finding out that no matter what cheese it is, I'll feel sick and have a stomach ache and wake up even sicker means I have to find alternatives. But enough about my love, hate relationship with cheese.

Today, My little sister was making a quesadilla and I was aching for some cheese.  I knew that my new diet choices limited the quesadilla to the whole wheat tortilla only. So, I went to the store to check out my options. I caved and bought a bag of these Daiya Mozzerella Shreds. It was about 5.49 at the normal store I go to, so I  am hoping to find it cheaper at a speacialty store that caters to different diets or a specialty store online (I'm pretty cheap, but more on that later). While I must say that I try to eat "whole foods" and keep my ingredients list at 5 or less, my love for cheese makes it perfectly reasonable to make this purchase. There are natural ingredients, but there are a lot of them. So heres a disclaimer that they really aren't "healthier" than real cheese. However, if your diet is limited whether for health or earth loving reasons, this stuff does the trick when you need a fix! If you happen to try it out, or are vegan and swear by it, let me know what you think in the comment section! Im curious about the different brands/flavors/recipes, Etc!

Thanks for following this crazy new eating journey!