After a week of embracing a plant-based lifestyle the Smiths have just one word to describe it - YUM! Chef Steph was kind enough to let us wander through her fridge and pantry where we noticed a very important detail - she likes spicy stuff just like we do! The only difference between her kitchen and ours is the lack of animal products. Otherwise, same spices, same veggies, even the same salsa. This immediately set our minds at ease and we were off to the grocery store! Our local markets have an amazing number of vegan alternatives so we were able to stock up and get right to cooking. We have found that some things work better than others but no deal-breakers. Best part? Stephanie kindly answered every single question we sent her with ideas, options and products. We've made a couple of Stephanie's recipes including an amazing chili and our favorite so far, Mexican Polenta. People who know me know how much I DETEST beans. Well, used to detest beans...they are amazing in this dish! We made one of our family favorites, Taco Bake, with soy protein and it was super tasty. Breakfasts have been mostly quinoa and oatmeal with nuts, agave, and flax milk as well as trying different egg alternatives. So far the best has been VeganEgg that we scramble with veggies, salt and nutritional yeast to taste pretty darn close to real eggs. We're loving experimenting, eating lots and lots of vegetables, and feeling clean and healthy, well except for the popcorn and red vines (both vegan btw) when we saw the movie US yesterday...
