Los Completos

Not long ago I was blessed with the opportunity to study abroad in Chile, South America.  While I was there of course I went out of my way to try as much of the delicious street food as possible!  Completos quickly became one of my favorites.  A Completo is a foot-long hot dog covered in avocado (also known as palta in Chile), tomatoes, onions, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard. 

Here is a picture of my friend and I with our (shared) completo:

Just look at the spillage of avocado.

Here is a close-up after the first face covering bite:

Yes, that is a real hotdog and mayonnaise.  This took place in my pre-vegan days!

The cool part about changing diet habits is that you can experiment and re-create your favorite meals.

Today I went on an amazing adventure and finally re-created my beloved Completo. And honestly, they tasted even better!!!

Technically, these are mini Completos because they are not foot-long. But who would really notice anyways??

If you went vegan, what would be the first meal that you would re-create??

And if you already are, what was your first re-creation?

Que te vaya bien!

Guacammus (Guacamole Hummus)

Guacamole and hummus are my two most favorite dips/spreads of all time.  The other day I was about to make some hummus when I remembered my very ripe avocado in the fridge.  Suddenly a thought dawned on me:
 "What happens if I put my avocado in my hummus?"

I quickly found the answer. Pure majesty.

Do you have any favorite hummus flavors??

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Hola a todos! I am back from a long hiatus in the dark dungeons of my university. This semester has been the busiest one yet and it has taken up a lot of my time, which is why I have not been posting.  Also, I have been pretty broke so honestly you don't want to know what I've been eating.  Just kidding, I haven't been eating that bad, just nothing fancy.  Mainly beans, rice, and pasta.  Basically all of the recipes that I have already posted.  

Anyways, the past few days I have been making some interesting things and their recipes are in the shop-the photoshop that is. Ha ha. I'm so punny! Don't judge me too hard, exams are here and I'm starting to lose my sanity.

So today's recipe is something simple. A smoothie!

I've been keeping frozen strawberries and bananas in my fridge so that I have them on hand for such necessities as this.

I usually use about a cup of soy milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, and half of a frozen banana... but you may be different.  So the cost is +/- $1.00 depending on your preference.

Que te vaya bien!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos

I just can't get over how amazing sweet potatoes and black beans are together!  

Yesterday I wanted to make my Sweet potato & Black Bean Enchiladas for lunch but I didn't have the enchiladas sauce, I had flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas, and I didn't have as many spices/ingredients.  So then I thought "well, what about taquitos instead?"  Sounded like a solid decision to me. Until my roommates made plans to go to the beach, a plan that I simply refuse to be left out of.

So in my rush, I threw some rice on the stove and cut out the baking part.  Instead of enchiladas or taquitos, they turned into sweet potato and black bean burritos!

Don't you just love how a few small steps can turn a food with similar ingredients, such as enchiladas, into something totally different, such as a burrito??

These are DELICIOUS!!!

 (and so cheap... and so healthy... they just keep getting better and better)

Originally I was not going to blog about this because I thought that I already had too many combinations of sweet potatoes and/or black bean recipes, but my friend insisted. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did (and will. There are still leftovers in my fridge).

Que te vaya bien!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I have been wanting to venture out into the vegan baking world for awhile now and over the weekend I finally got all of the ingredients that I needed! Wooo!! 

For this recipe I made a trip to my local organic grocery store for some egg replacement, vegan butter, and vegan chocolate chips.

These were absolutely amazing! They were even fully approved by my non-vegan roommates. I must say that for my first time baking anything vegan, this was a great success!!

Change for the Better.

The theme of this blog is Vegan & Verdure, which I define as the health and vigor achieved while eating a plant-based diet.  I feel that so far I have done a very good job of showing the health aspect, but I have not mentioned the vigor aspect yet.  Well, that is all about to change because I feel pretty vigorous right now!

Here are just a few exciting highlights from my personal experiences while eating a vegan diet!

Since changing my eating habits:

I have lost 15 lbs.

I have run faster. (I ran a 5k on Saturday and it was less than challenging. Time to up the distance… half-marathon anyone?)

I have learned [and am still learning] how to cook.

I have become more informed.

I have learned how to love and respect my body.

I have learned how it feels to be judged and how to show love despite that because, well, now I know how it feels to be judged.

In this moment, I am the healthiest and happiest that I have ever been in my life.

What could possibly be more exciting than that? Well, knowing that I can keep pushing myself to learn more, eat more, run faster, and live longer.

Whoever thinks being vegan is boring, stupid, tasteless, and weird needs to do some serious re-evaluation because I absolutely LOVE my life and thank God everyday for the health that He has given me!

Another Delicious Breakfast! Fruit Oatmeal

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day (with dinner being a close second).  I frequently make oatmeal because it's fast, filling, and can be absolutely delicious depending on what you put in it!  

Plus, look at how insanely cheap it is!!! Only 75 cents for one serving.

I think it actually just became a little more delicious after finding out how cheap it is. 

I recently bought flaxseed because I kept seeing it pop up here and there; and I have heard rumors of it being very good for you.  I did not realize how amazingly good it is for you until I bought and read the package.

Listen to this:

"Flaxseed contains high levels of natural antioxidants called lignans.  Many plant foods have some lignans, but flaxseed has at least 75 times more than any other.  To get the lignans that are in just two tablespoons of flaxseed meal, you would need to eat about 30 cups of fresh broccoli."

[Source: back of my flaxseed meal bag]

Wow ok, so that sounds important.  
My question is, what are lignans and how do they help me?

Here is what I came up with through a quick google search:

"Lignan is a chemical found in the cell walls of plants.... (commence lots of scientific names and explanations)..." So basically they help reduce breast cancer, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and the list goes on.

[Source: Lignan Benefit by Ray Sahelian, M.D.]

In addition to lignans, flaxseed also contains a lot of fiber and omega-3s.

My conclusion?

Go flaxseed!