Top

Beaming Vegan

Brunch Platters (Customizable and Crowd-Pleasing!)

BRUNCH 

If you follow me on ANY platform, you already know. You know I freaking love brunch and breakfast foods. Who doesn’t, though?!

This can be done in so many ways, but hopefully this inspires you to whip up a giant brunch for you and your loves at least once in a while. The best mornings start slowly and end with a mini breakfast food feast. It’ll put everyone in a great mood, guaranteed.

If you’re not into packaged vegan bacon you could sub anything: homemade seitan, tempeh, black beans…. Oh, the possibilities!

I plan to re-create this beautiful plate with brussels sprouts, fruit, and biscuits with jam, if that inspires anyone. 🙂

Brunch Platters

This is just inspiration, I encourage you to switch it up if you'd like!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 package vegan bacon
  • 1 package organic extra firm tofu
  • 1 tbsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper
  • 5 small sweet peppers
  • 1 small white onion
  • 2 slices vegan bread
  • 1 large avocado
  • 2 potatoes
  • 1 tomato

Instructions
 

  • In a large cast iron skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat.
  • Dice potatoes and cook in an air fryer for about 15 minutes, or until they turn puffy and slightly brown.
  • Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels then add to skillet.
  • Smash tofu with a fork until it resembles scrambled egg texture, then add garlic powder, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Turn heat to low and let tofu heat for 5 minutes.
  • Remove tofu egg from skillet and cook "bacon" according to package instructions.
  • While bacon is cooking, prepare toast and vegetables. 
  • Optional, cook peppers and onion in skillet as well.
  • Once everything is finished, grab two plates and dish up a serving of each food!

If you like this recipe, make sure you check out my weekday breakfast sandwiches and pair them with this hemp milk latte!

Gut Health Update [Part Four]

I’m feeling fantastic!

I haven’t had coffee in a week and a half. Insert shocked emoji here…

That is, until I went to Starbucks this morning and got a decaf with soy milk and sugar free vanilla…. THAT was my first, though! LOL I guess I should say I haven’t been caffeinated in a week and a half.

I tried flavored water and smoothies and mushroom coffee and sitting with the craving until it passes and I just haven’t kicked the craving for the real deal yet, although I do feel it slipping away because I can go days without no problem-o. Thank heavens for decaf espresso *claps*.

In all seriousness, I haven’t felt this good in a really long time. It’s been 1.5 weeks since I kicked majority of the foods from my diet and replaced them with candida-cleanse-friendly options. I’ve lost 3 lbs, regained most mental clarity, and (knock on wood) haven’t felt sick.

On my first or second day, I thought I’d be fine to eat two matcha key lime bars (sweetened with maple syrup) and I’m not sure if it was the caffeine or the sweetener, but I went to bed with a stomach ache, regretting it for sure. The only other time I truly broke the cleanse guidelines was Sunday evening; we were not in the right mind for cooking so we went out for vegan burgers… I skipped the burger and just had fries with no issues. Griffin said he respected my commitment but besides coffee I truly haven’t had cravings for anything but greens and quinoa. It’s easy peasy to say no to anything else, especially knowing they’re going to make me feel terrible. I told Griffin I’m going to see how long I can live on a strictly quinoa diet :’D

How I’ve actually been following the dietary guidelines

I’ve followed the diet guidelines pretty closely besides the addition of one extra serving of easily digested low-glycemic fruit a day such as blueberries, green apples, peaches, or plums. This is because a typical candida cleanse basically calls for certain meats and greens… but being vegan and not eating meat I’d essentially be living on greens for at least two weeks, and I wanted to swap in some nutrient variations.

(Disclosure: I received the following Probiogen probiotics free so I could share my honest opinion of them with you.) If you follow my Instagram stories, you’ve seen I added a vegan collagen builder, digestive enzymes, digestion support probiotics and stress/mood support probiotics to my daily regimen. I’m madly in love with these. It’s really hard to find plant-based, non GMO, soy free, gluten free probiotic capsules with no artificial binders or fillers!

Probiogen ticks all these boxes, is super affordable compared to so many probiotics I checked out before reaching out for this partnership, and is easy to find in stores like Target, GNC, Bed Bath and Beyond, and others, making it easy to grab one off the shelf when you’re out picking up other stuff. My favorite thing about the two probiotics I’ve tried from Probiogen is that they give a boost to healing my other gut health symptoms from stress and mood to digestion. This isn’t something they claim to support but don’t follow through with, I can genuinely tell a difference, and that is invaluable during this journey!

Where to go from here

Let’s talk about that, too… I started this with the expectation of cleansing and healing myself for two weeks and immediately picking up my old diet back up. I didn’t see that I could really break the habit of craving certain things regularly, and I thought these two weeks would be pretty strenuous. That’s the farthest thing from the truth though!

The new plan is to still finish the strict diet in two weeks, but implement a lot of it’s concepts for years to come. The thing is, when you feel freaking amazing on a certain diet, it’s the easiest thing in the world to maintain. You will not want to go back to what was previously hurting your health.

  • These include remaining grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar and mostly sweetener-free, and keeping the higher glycemic-index foods low, such as carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and squash.
  • I’ll try to steer clear of potentially moldy nuts such as peanuts and cashews and foods that definitely send gut bacteria balance out of whack like certain mushrooms and starchy foods like potatoes.
  • I’ve also decided that gluten and tomatoes make me feel crappy, so I’m testing the theory that I might be allergic.
  • I’m cutting back on coffee and switching strictly to decaf.
  • I’ll keep the digestive enzymes and probiotics in my life for as far into the future as I possibly can! I’m in love!

Hello, Let’s Talk About Gut Health Part Three [What I Have and How I’m Dealing]

Alllll of my research proved that majority of my symptoms matched candida overgrowth and leaky gut.

I really don’t like to say that term “leaky gut” and I hated saying it to Griffin in fears he’d not only be grossed out by it but would think this was some kind of fake term crafted for people to address problems they don’t actually have. I’ve since come to terms that if I’m going to get better I’m going to address EVERYTHING honestly, even if I’m wrong about it. It’s the only way I’ll learn what helps and what doesn’t.

I do believe I’ve battled candida overgrowth for a really long time, causing my itchy skin, brain fog, fatigue, etc. and I also believe that eventually led to leaky gut, which has only become prevalent as of this year. The leaky gut, a fairly newly-discovered disease, can be tied to the gastrointestinal problems, sickness, intestinal inflammation, inflammation causing extreme menstrual cramps, etc. Now, I haven’t the slightest clue what came honestly came first and what ailment is causing what symptom. However, leaky gut and candida overgrowth are proven to be most commonly tied to my biggest health concerns. All signs very clearly point to gut health.

The following excerpt is from my journal, and is a collection of notes I took from a variety of credible online resources, which I didn’t document because I never thought I’d be sharing about this. I’ll go back through eventually and try to locate sources. I didn’t take notes on candida overgrowth or candidiasis because I’ve been familiar with it for years.

“Leaky gut is when the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, allowing food particles/toxic waste/bacteria to leak into the bloodstream. It causes an autoimmune response triggering inflammatory allergic reactions like headaches, irritable bowel, eczema, fatigue, food allergies, etc. Damaged intestinal cells don’t produce enzymes needed for digestion-so the body doesn’t absorb nutrients leading to weak immune system + hormone imbalance.

Can be caused by a diet high in refined carbs saturated fats and sugars, gluten, OTC pain killers, excessive stress, genetic predisposition that causes sensitivity to digestive changes, alcohol, processed foods, GMOs, environmental toxins, antibiotics, etc.

Candida overgrowth, parasties, and SIBO have been tied to leaky gut.

Candida overgrowth left untreated can lead to leaky gut.

Raw fruits and vegetables are difficult to digest and tough fibers are hard on the weakened immune system” / ((which could explain why I had such bad luck with the raw diet)).

I won’t go through and tie each of my symptoms to this individually, but I think you get that this is an obvious potential cause. Along with that, I’ve held an intuitive belief for years that my beginning symptoms were caused by candida overgrowth, so when I learned about leaky gut after experiencing it’s first trigger at the New Year, it seemed obvious to me.

What I’m doing about it

I believe that if I believe I’m healing, I will. I’ll believe I’m healing by paying attention to my intuition and what is resulting in relief and what’s resulting in discomfort. So far, this solution has provided nothing but relief, and I’m extremely grateful.

That being said, I’ve started baby-stepping my way into a candida cleanse tailored to leaky gut healing. I’m on a diet encompassing

  • avoiding sugar including natural and artificial sweeteners and fruit
  • no starches including corn, flour, wheat, rice, potatoes, beans or legumes
  • avoiding potentially moldy foods such as peanuts
  • no caffeine
  • limiting nightshades

I’m keeping it high in big salads, low-fruit smoothie bowls, cauliflower, avocado, seeds and a couple nuts, coconut chia puddings, all the fermented foods (KIMCHI <3), asparagus, broccoli, cucumber, brussels sprouts, raw garlic, green beans, steamed/blended spinach, apple cider vinegar lemon water, almond butter, herbal tea, and gut-healing vegetable broth.

I’ll occasionally throw in tempeh, non-gmo tofu, a small green apple, a small amount of chickpeas, blueberries, small amounts of quinoa, and small amounts of squash.

I’m supplementing a probiotic, digestive enzymes, and plant-based collagen (woohoo for that one!).

As I mentioned, I’m already feeling really REALLY good compared to before. I can accomplish so much in a day now. I’ll talk a lot about this in my Instagram stories in the future and will share recipes, tips, tricks, and roadblocks. Basically, I’ll be as transparent with you as I am with myself in hopes of encouraging awareness and healing to whoever needs it.

I also just want to add: THANK YOU SO MUCH to my partner who exercises the greatest patience and understanding when I’m whiny and not feeling well and needed to be up in the middle of the night or rest all day, and just listens as I tell him my self-diagnoses and all my opinions. What a freakin’ gem!

Hello, Let’s Talk About Gut Health Part Two

The more troubling concerns that have recently been striking

We moved to the Pacific Northwest. HELLLOOO vegan junk food! For the past little while I’ve been eating a lot of refined carbohydrates and sugars. I still believe I’ve had a really good balance of healthy vegan foods thrown in there, so I do believe my gut problems are a long-awaited accumulation of past health concerns going ignored.

Diet aside, the past few months have been really taxing on my body. Starting in the late summer with crippling, excruciating menstrual cramps. When I was younger I’d get them so bad I’d black out and feel sick but for most of my life Mother Nature has been pretty easy on me. These recent cramps were so awful I could just mark a couple straight days off the calendar for feeling like vomiting from pain. Until I researched what I know now, I was pretty worried it was endometriosis.

The 2019 New Year is really when I was really hit hard with other symptoms. Of course like a normal American I drank the New Year away and was sick immediately afterward with what I thought was a hangover, but was also confused about because I never got hangovers from drinking the amount I did. I was never actually able to GET sick, either. It was like my stomach was constipated, honestly! It was like reaching to point where you know you’d feel better if you could just throw up and expel whatever is poisoning you, but not being able to do it.

I believe it was just a couple weeks later I was hit with what met all the criteria of being e-coli. This seemed to last a really, really long time but in reality was probably only a handful of days, followed by feeling off for another few days. Again, I was unable to follow through with my feelings of upset stomach, no matter how hard I tried to force it. My stomach was stiff and my instinct was telling me everything inside me was incredibly inflamed.

There were multiple occasions that I’d have to drive Bo an hour to his vet appointment and didn’t know if I’d make it, which was terrifying to me because his well-being is a top priority. It really wouldn’t have been OK to let his health problems go untreated because I was feeling sick. I knew I had to get him in ASAP when he had an enlarged prostate, and on top of being sick the roads were icy at the time. I took a puke bag or bucket, a water bottle, located all the restrooms along the route, and made a very very slow trek to the veterinarian.

From then on, I would have one excruciating menstrual cycle + one or two bouts of the stomach bug every month. Diarrhea was also common through the entire period of not feeling well. There are quite a few other small symptoms from brain fog to acne to depression to fatigue to migraines to more personal ailments we won’t talk about here right now. UUUUUUUUGH I felt completely useless and angry with myself for potentially being an absolute baby. I would remind myself that Griffin isn’t sick, and we essentially share food and an environment, and I was probably just handling these feelings with too much empathy.

Then I got to a point where mind over matter was not even SLIGHTLY working, and I started researching who could help. I believe western medicine only masks the problem or makes it worse, and seeing a doctor with only a handful of nutrition study hours and no focus on holistic practices was the last thing I wanted to do. I’d gotten to multiple points where I just wanted an ambulance to come pick me up, though LOL. I spent quite some time locating the nearest holistic practitioners, vegan doctors, etc. I was actually surprised to find my inner reassurance that a vegan doctor was only a phone call away here in the PNW was a little off. I could only find ONE holistic and ONE vegan doctor in my area, and only found another one or two when I expanded my search criteria to include all of the state, and my best option didn’t appear to accept my insurance. At one point I actually tried making an appointment with one of them and after multiple voicemails they never got back to me.

I would also like to throw in here, for those who may be wondering, I did try many many other solutions. I thought I was allergic to soy, wheat or tomatoes and tested that theory. I thought I had sensitivities to fatty foods like nuts, oils, and avocados and tested that theory. I thought going raw would be my solution (actually quite the opposite!). I thought it was something in my tap water or the new dry climate we moved to or mold exposure or from petting my cat and dogs or being in contact with the cows on the ex-dairy farm we live on (ironic, I know).

Just recently I decided it was time I handle this and address my beliefs and intuition about what it could be.

Go to part three here

Hello, Let’s Talk About Gut Health Part One

I know it can be hard for a vegan to admit that they too get sick, but that’s not me. I’m here to help you and in this instance it requires helping myself first.

I finally posted on Instagram that I’m taking charge of my situation. I chose to share this with you because I have only been helped by those who chose to share their experiences too. To avoid confusion from this point on, I’m gonna get real with you. I believe I have candida overgrowth and leaky gut.

Health history potentially related to today’s big probs

Eczema?

Three years ago I started to develop insatiably itchy skin, particularly on my arms. I saw the doctor for this sooooo many times and wasted a lot of money on medical advice that didn’t advance my state of well-being even slightly. Actually, the first doctor I saw LAUGHED as he told me I had scabies. I was treated for scabies, unsuccessfully, mind you. I did not have scabies. I also did not like it being a joke. I sound bitter about it right now but I’m really not, I’m just trying to give you the full story haha.

So I was treated for scabies (which requires rubbing a gross prescription lotion from head to toe twice a day and sanitizing all curtains, towels, bedding, clothes, etc.). On my next doctor visits I was told a variety of things from showering too much to extreme eczema and was prescribed all kinds of lotions and creams. My mom (hope ya don’t mind me putting you on blast here mama :’D) has the same problem, so I chalked it up to being hereditary and I’ve dealt with it ever since. To this day I’ve only found ONE lotion that completely soothes my skin, and relief only lasts a short time. Maybe, if what I believe is correct, this is related to an underlying problem. BUT I’m always aware I could be wrong and this is just eczema.

Gastrointestinal problems?

Maybe a year or so after I gave up on my skin, I developed gastrointestinal issues and constipation which were so severe I actually volunteered to be completely inspected at the doctor’s office. HAH it was not fun, but up until that point I was seemingly really healthy and these problems accruing really scared me! The doctor suggested I was sensitive to certain foods, low on fiber, and gave me a couple prescriptions to promote healing. None of that worked and I didn’t go back.

Note that yes I was eating extremely unhealthily at this time, too. Consuming animal products with every meal and living on fast food because I had at least an hour commute to and from work daily, worked weird hours, and worked amongst aaaall my favorite, most tempting restaurants. AND they delivered to my workplace, which was really the only way to get food and finish it all in 30 minutes. I was also just really weak and undisciplined lol. Sigh.

Veganism to the rescue

Shortly after this, I went vegan and was thrilled that this could be the solution to all of my problems. We started with what was actually a pretty whole-foods based diet, as we lived in the middle of nowhere and vegan options weren’t prevalent back then (only 2 years ago! Dang veganism is growing fast). We ate a lot of beans, fruit and veggies. We were pretty keen to the accidentally vegan processed foods in the grocery store, but we were good for the most part.

For a year at least, I really did feel amazing. I don’t remember what the initial detoxing transition was like health-wise, but I recall being so grateful my health problems mentioned above were starting to vanish, or at least lay dormant. I even lost about 15 lbs just from making the switch, not even trying! And this is where I find vegans often stop telling their story…. If they face a health problem they either drop the diet and eat animals because their western-medicine-practicing doctor said (as famous vegans recently have), or they don’t talk about the problem in fears of scaring off the vegan-curious.

 I’ve been helped tremendously by watching the few vegans who do share their health journeys honestly, and I’m a firm believer that food is medicine and our bodies are completely capable of healing themselves without prescription drugs. We just have to pay attention, allow our bodies to do what they will, develop a healing mindset, and listen to our intuition. All of the things I’ve been avoiding for a really, really long time.

Go to part two here

Rental House Renovation

ONE YEAR here in the middle of the Evergreen State! That’s bonkers.

Before you say I’m crazy for putting money/work/time/effort into this house, hear me out.

One year ago, Griffin checked out a farming job that came with a free house to live in. We drove an hour and a half to the middle of nowhere to the “interview”, which really wasn’t an interview if you ask this business graduate. It was requested that I come as well to see what I thought about the free house since I’d be living there too… I know it seemed strange to me as well! But I came along.

G pulled up to the shop, jumped out and greeted his potential new employer. They went inside and Griffin got a tour of the place, then they both got in the truck and we drove up the road to see the house. All in all, it took about 20 minutes and at the end of it Griffin was informed that it was all his if he wanted it. There was someone else checking out the situation as well, so we had to make a quick decision as it was basically first come first serve.

We would live in the house rent-free for a couple reasons. I’d guess one of them is so Griffin can be super close to work since he’d be working long summer hours, but also it’s surrounded with ground G would be working, and we were informed we could fix it up as much as we wanted and Griffin’s boss would pay for anything we wanted to do. Another reason it was free- basically free help making home improvements! That’s not saying we were being taken advantage of by ANY means, there have been many occasions that work was slow so Griffin was paid his regular salary to work on our house for a while, which he’d have been doing anyway.

As a little bonus there are essentially no bills to pay. The entire year went by without having an electric meter hooked up and water is free, so we kept our composure during the so-called interview, and within a couple minutes of driving home we were 100% sure this was a good move for us. We had both quit our jobs in Spokane when this fell in our laps so we truly had nothing to lose LOL.

We had a list of projects right off the bat.

Let’s just say the condition of the home shortly before we moved in was disastrous. As soon as we moved in, there were big plans between Griffin and his boss to tackle some projects. If I remember correctly, the first one was the living room window…  Permanently completely open to the outside world, stuffed with a blanket and spray foam to keep the yellowjackets out, which was failing to be effective at this point.

We also tore down the weathered old deck and were supposed to rebuild it, but instead suggested a privacy fence around the area and a patio. Griffin’s boss liked this idea too and gave us all the posts, boards, and cement to build the fence and volunteered his own time to help build it. Here’s before and afters of this project….

This is a great one for renters, so you get the most out of your outdoor entertaining/chilling area. I don’t think any landlord would mind you bringing in some pebbles or mulch. Not necessarily budget-friendly, we did the patio area with all new stuff from Home Depot. The stepping stones are actually odd counter top samples we got for a couple bucks each. They get slick in the winter, but in the winter we don’t spend any time in this area, so it worked out pretty well!

Ok…. now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure there were two projects before these ones… hahaha. Yeah, I’m sure! It’s all coming back to me now. First we removed all the junk and trash from all around the outside of the house. This took multiple men, trucks, a tractor and a couple days of work. It was a mess. Part of me is glad I don’t really have pictures. Garbage was stacked to the second level of the house on one side.

Then a bunch of guys came over and hauled all the trash out from the basement, which is also the garage, and organized what was left.

Ok, back to the fence. No wait…. BEFORE the fence, we cleared all the trash out of the back yard and hauled about 3 inches of dirt in. Are you following? LOL

Then we planted grass, built a fire pit next to the waterfall, and cleared space for a garden, hauled in fresh sand for the driveway, tore up ugly bushes from the flower beds out front, and painted the garage doors.

20180911_194438

How does this help you? I definitely don’t expect this to be helpful to you at this point, but hopefully you can skip all this because you already have grass and are trash-free.

Moving on to the inside of the house, which will hopefully be super helpful to you!

I’m not even going to try to do this in any kind of order of operation. I’ll just go by room, and give you before and afters. Let’s start with the first room you walk in to, the laundry/mud room.

This is where we really kind of stopped asking for project funds and Griffin started working a lot so we had to slow down what we could tackle. This is the room the dogs spend the most time in so it’s basically always dirty and not really worthy of making fancy… So here’s what we did:

  • Added a fresh coat of paint ($10)
  • Took down the junky trim and couldn’t figure out how to piece it back together so kept it down haha (free)
  • Painted the ugly ceiling tiles white ($10)
  • Cleaned the windows as much as possible (free)
  • Cleaned and organized the cabinets (free)
  • Built a doggo bunk bed (free with scrap wood from pallets)
  • Thoroughly cleaned the floor (free)
  • Painted the front door (just until we can replace it) ($6)
  • Replaced outlet covers (free-they were already in the house)

We got our supplies at a store in Spokane for discount building supplies. Basically they go in to projects with canceled contracts or whatever and get all the building supplies super cheap and sell it super cheap in return. Completely legal LOL.

We got paint for about $12 a gallon, and all the little miscellaneous fixer-upper utensils were only a couple bucks each or we borrowed, such as paint rollers and trays. I highly recommend only doing the projects you can supply via a discount store, because the last thing you want is to spend $40 on a gallon of Home Depot paint for a house you won’t live in very long. It truly just comes down to getting creative and looking at what tiny projects can be DIY’d or done on the cheap. For the bigger projects definitely swap supplies with friends/family or shop bargain stores! Also, look at what often overlooked aspects can make a huge impact. For us it was the outlet covers, the ceiling paint truly brightened the room and made it look clean, and simply cleaning the windows from the inside out helps more than you’d imagine.

Next stop, the kitchen!

A while before we moved in, Griffin’s boss came in and painted the entire house and redid the floors with fresh linoleum and carpet, which everyone tells us made a huge difference… apparently it was flat out disgusting before we got here! This room was just pretty dang gross though, even when we moved in. We did quite a bit of work to it and I’d say we’ll still make floorboards, trim, replace the sink, and I dream of tearing out the wall that separates the living room and kitchen, but that might just be too much work for this old place… Kind of undecided on that one! Lol

  • First, a funny story. The sink pipes exploded on me one day while draining it. So Griffin replaced some of that and I couldn’t even begin to tell you what was done because I was supposed to be paying attention and for the most part I understood, but I couldn’t relay the information to you to save my life. ($40ish?)
  • The yellow counter tops had to go. I didn’t have the funds or the patience to replace them, so we did the trusty old granite spray paint and shiny sealant. Super cheap and hella effective! (~$30)
  • We had to scrub the sink multiple times to get all the crap off of it and make it look semi-new again. (free) Barkeeper’s Friend helps sooooooooo much and is apparently cruelty-free and vegan according to Peta!
  • Took down all the cabinet doors and cleaned grease off of them and then power washed to get their weathered look, sanded and then stained them with stain from the discount store, a cheap foam brush, and old rags we had laying around. (power washer was borrowed and stain was about $5)
  • Painted the cabinets white inside and grey outside (free- paint leftover from laundry room)
  • Cleaned the window as much as possible (all the windows are way too old, and dirty on the inside part we can’t access) (free)
  • Built floating shelves that match the cabinets (A couple dollars with scrap wood, leftover stain, and brackets from Ikea)
  • Replaced the dining area light fixture ($8 from a thrift store)
  • Put on cabinet doors that were missing (still missing one) and tightened them up so they’d open properly (free)

K… Onto the living room:

  • Replaced broken window (free- funded by home owner and touched-up with leftover laundry room paint)
  • Cleaned windows and sills as much as humanely possible, but as mentioned before they’re super outdated and the grime is on the inside. (free)
  • Added light covers to the lights on the ceiling fan (free-they were already in the house, just snapped em back on)

Really, not a whole lot needed done in here, and we don’t have a lot to do in here. We don’t spend hardly any time in this room and we don’t have any furniture for it. Eventually I might like to get a floor cushion couch and I’m currently working on a desk to put in here, other than that I’d say screw it. LOL

From the living room, you walk into a hallway connecting the two bedrooms and bathroom. In the bedrooms all we did was clean up a little I believe, which leads me to the bathroom…

  • Painted the ceilings and cabinets gold, then painted them white again a couple months later lol ($10)
  • Painted the walls glossy ocean blue ($10)
  • Cleaned the tub, like a lot a lot a lot a lot. Hello, Barkeeper’s Friend. (free)
  • Added map doornobs (from Hob Lob) and spray painted the rest of the existing nobs gold, also found a cool matching nob in a junk drawer and put it on a cabinet with only one door (Couple bucks)
  • Cleaned cabinets inside and out (free)
  • Cleaned and painted medicine cabinet (free with leftover paint)
  • Painted light fixture (free with leftover paint)
  • Spray painted all nobs, handles, toilet paper roll holder, and towel rods gold ($3 with paint from discount store)

The tub and toilet were brand new and the sink was in pretty good condition, just a little dirty.

After writing this post it really doesn’t seem like we’ve done too much, given we’ve had a year to do it, but looking at it I can tell how big of an impact the small changes we made had on the overall vibe of the house.

Hopefully this inspires you somewhat, especially if you’re living in a rental or temporary home! There’s so many things aside from decor you can use to make a house feel warm and comfortable. If you’re like me you’ll change your mind a few times on things too, so this whole “budget-friendly” thing is super helpful to not waste money if you go back on an idea.

World’s Best Banana Bread

Well, maybe it’s not certified “world’s best” nor has it won awards or honors…..

But it’s a recipe I’ve tried multiple ways, dozens of times, and it never fails to be something I want to share with everyone. To share with THE WORLD. Because it’s so good.

 

I found this recipe a little over a year ago, the first time I made VEGAN banana bread, and I basically hit the jackpot right away. It’s a keeper for sure! I’ve turned it into chocolate chip banana bars (recipe way back on my Insta), peanut butter banana bread, choco chip banana bread, and now blueberry walnut banana bread (the taste test winner by a long shot).

Let me tell you a little story about kindness…

We were out buying supplies for our old farmhouse renovation and the kind cashier at the store we were shopping gave us a free calendar and entire bag of walnuts he collected from his house. How sweet is that?! A perfect stranger, knowing he’ll probably never see us again, giving us an entire bag of the fruit of his hard work. They taste that much better knowing where they came from (and knowing it wasn’t a plastic bag of old processed nuts from the store).

Now let me tell you a story about getting the job done…

I have nothing to crack these nuts open with. My grandparents have a cute plate of nuts and a nutcracker on their coffee table 24/7 (they’re the best entertainers in the universe) and here I am, never having owned a nutcracker in my life.

So Griffin, who can crack them in his hand, was at work today and I really wanted these for this recipe and couldn’t wait for him to get home to help. I had the bright idea to smash them with a hammer LOL and when I went to grab the hammer out of Griffin’s tool closet in the mudroom where the dogs sleep, I got the funniest face from Marble. She’s an extremely expressive dog, which you know already if you’ve spent any time with her. When I grabbed the hammer from Griffin’s cabinet marble literally gave me a look of “Ooooooh mom you should really wait til dad gets home…… this does not look like a good idea at all…”. She hung her head slightly and looked at me out of the top corner of her eyes and she slowly walked away from me.

I smashed about 5 walnuts before I got really tired of the mess a hammer + a walnut makes hahaha

BUT I just did it. I got the job done, figured it out, moved on. Now let’s hope a jar of pasta sauce doesn’t need opening when Griffin’s gone, because no matter how many lessons he gives me on “use the palm of your hand not your fingers” or “run it under warm water and use a cloth over the lid” I just cannot get it. My hands are entirely too small and weak. Lol

Back to the recipe:

This treasure is from a super valuable vegan food blog, Hell Yeah It’s Vegan. Posted back in 2015, pretty sure it’s been pinned a zillion times. Rightfully so, it’s truly the best vegan banana bread. It’s definitely the best among the entire banana bread family, vegan or not.

I used homemade hazelnut milk as the plant milk in the recipe and it turned out amazing. Skip the added crap and make it a liiiitle extra “homemade” by using your own plant milk! I share the secret to perfect homemade nut milk on this blog post from yesterday!

To honor Hell Yeah It’s Vegan‘s original recipe’s blog post… I won’t move forward without telling you to buy only local/ethically produced bananas. This goes for everything you buy… Just pay attention to company morals and ensure they align with yours. I really hate to see human saints innocently nurturing their families with dead bodies or immorally/unethically produced foods. It hurts me to the core. I know I’m oblivious to so many company practices and I know there’s things taking place I’ll never know about. But I can assure you as soon as  I know better, I do better. I hold each of you to the same standard.

Now, side note: I’ve adapted the recipe slightly but I’ll of course give you the original recipe to try for yourself here!

*THE BEST* Vegan Banana Bread

This recipe, adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan, is EVERYTHING you want in banana bread. It's one perfect for sharing at gatherings, moist, perfectly sweet and all kinds of flavorful. I've added chocolate chips, blueberries, walnuts, etc. and it always turns out impeccable. 
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Servings 1 Loaf

Ingredients
  

Wet Mixture

  • 1/4 Cup Unsweetened plant milk
  • 1/2 Tsp Apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 Cup Melted coconut oil
  • 3 Mashed ripe bananas
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1/2 Tsp Almond extract
  • 1 Cup Light brown sugar Coconut sugar has worked well for me in the past!

Dry Mixture

  • 2 Cups All-purpose or whole wheat flour Gluten free flour may work but has not been tested.
  • 1 Tsp Baking powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking soda
  • 1 Pinch Salt
  • 1 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

Optional add-ins

  • 1 Cup Chopped walnuts
  • 1 Cup Blueberries
  • 1 Cup Chocolate chips/Cacao nibs
  • 1 Cup Chopped strawberries
  • 1 Cup Cinnamon sugar topping

Instructions
 

  • Combine wet mixture ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Combine dry mixture ingredients in a separate smaller bowl.
  • Gently combine the dry mixture into the wet ingredients. 
  • Fold in any add-ins you may be using. Ensure they're evenly disbursed.
  • Pour into a loaf pan (or I used a 7.5x5.5" baking dish-hello minimalist kitchen) and bake at 380 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you like a denser bread you can skip the toothpick trick and remove from the oven when the center feels firm.

Dairy-Free Plant-Based Milk Recipes

One time I soaked oats in water and drained the water from the oats hours later and called it plant-based milk…. It was gross and mostly like discolored water. Aaaaand I insisted to Griffin that is, indeed, how you make oat milk.

Bahaha now that I’ve unnecessarily confessed my embarrassing mistakes to you folks let me tell you how to actually make plant milk. It takes way less than “hours” and turns out way better than discolored water. I mean, it’s even better than store bought plant-based milk.

The many reasons homemade plant-based milk is way better than store-bought:

  1. No preservatives, “extra” ingredients, artificial sweeteners, questionable “I-don’t-even-know-how-to-pronounce-this” ingredients, etc.
  2. For the price of one container of store bought milk, you can make dozens of batches of homemade plant-based milk.
  3. You can save the WORLD…. from so many plastic milk bottles being wasted!
  4. You’ll never have to make a trip to the store for milk because you NEED it for a recipe… You’ll just have it whipped up in 5 minutes.
  5. You can make your own flavors without sacrificing your health (blueberry, strawberry, chocolate, sweetened, vanilla).
  6. Your recipe can be tailored to meet allergy and dietary restrictions.
  7. There’s a plant-based milk recipe for every budget.

The many “base” potentials of homemade plant-based milk:

  1. Hemp (my favorite)
  2. Cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, etc. but these are some of the best flavors!
  3. Oats
  4. Coconut
  5. Rice
  6. Flax
  7. Banana
  8. Quinoa

Soy beans are a good option for flavor too, but I’ve never made it myself and I’ve heard it’s a more extensive process- not one that will work in this recipe!

The trick:

Blend 1 cup of any base ingredient listed above with 3 cups of water in a high-speed blender. That’s it! For a higher quality milk, strain through scrapped cloth, cheesecloth or invest in a nut milk filter (I just upgraded to this from cheesecloth and I can highly recommend).  To make a cream/thicker milk, use less water. Makes a great soup base, coffee creamer, baking ingredient, gravy, etc. Use it just as you would any other milk. Obviously banana, coconut, and similar milks are going to be sweeter and nut and oat milk will be more neutral. The rest will have a flavor you’ll just have to play around with and see what you like! I looove using hemp milk in my coffee, you can check out a great latte recipe here!

 

An Honest Vegan Response to “I Could Never Be Vegan, I Like Cheese Too Much”.

“I like cheese too much”. We’ve all heard it a million times. The millionth time I heard it I thought to myself, how is this real life right now? How is this still an excuse with the incredible vegan cheese options on the market?…

Beaming Vegan Vegan Cheese on shelf at Natural Grocers

The statement makes ZERO sense to a vegan. I bet you already think you know why, but please hear me out.

We didn’t go vegan because we hate cheese. Just like we didn’t go vegan because we hate cheeseburgers and pizza and macaroni and cheese. (We LOVE these things, which is why we create cruelty-free and healthier replacements. People often ask “If you’re opposed to animal products why do you still label plant-based products as ‘cheese’ ‘milk’ and ‘burgers’, etc. and make them taste like the real deal?” This is why. We still love these things, in their cruelty-free form.) If you could still have all the things you love (cheese), only without exploiting animals and wreaking havoc on your body, why wouldn’t you?

Beaming Vegan vegan grilled cheese, melty cheese on toasty gluten free bread

Vegan cheese on the shelf at Natural Grocers- Beaming Vegan

We didn’t go vegan because we don’t like the product. We went vegan because we don’t like the process required to make that product. When you tell a vegan you like cheese too much to make the switch, it sounds redundant for a number of reasons.

  1. You’re not in love with cheese, you’re literally addicted to it. Cheese is made of casein, a concentrated addictive component of milk that hooks a calf to the milk so it keeps coming back for more and helps the calf grow at a rapid rate. The casomorphins released when you digest casein act as a mild opiate. You’re getting fragments of dopamine from your cheese habit. Yep, you’re addicted to another mammal’s breast milk as if you were still a baby. Pretty gross, right? Cheese is scientifically proven to be extremely addictive. You can do a quick google search and find hundreds of credible articles proving cheese is addictive, the problem is nobody cares unless you know how it’s actually made (hint: there’s no such thing as a laughing cow) and how it harms your body.
  2. You haven’t yet realized how ridiculous drinking breast milk sounds to someone who has educated themselves on the truth of the topic.
  3. You can’t give up eating meat because you like cheese?….. This seems like a really, really miserable excuse to contribute to animal exploitation.
  4. Many dairy cows (and goats and whatever else you drink from the teat of) have mastitis which, if you’ve breast fed as a human, you may be familiar with. It’s a painful infection resulting in pus-filled milk production, which is impossible to separate from the milk. It just gets pasteurized (cooked) and carries on.  So guess what? Instead of separating it, it’s camouflaged and used in your cheese. This is legal. You’re ok with this right now because you are quite literally addicted. But once you disconnect from your cheese habit, you realize and fully understand how disgusting this is. The way I see it- if I wouldn’t purposefully eat an animal’s feces, cancer cells, or menstrual cycles, why would I eat their pussy infection?
  5. VEGAN CHEESE IS SERIOUSLY GOOD. If you don’t think so, you clearly haven’t had the right kind. I’ll admit some brands royally screw it up and these products fly off the shelves, I have no idea what people are thinking with that one. But I can tell you there is truly flavorful, creamy, melt-y vegan cheese on the market and it’s not hard to find. It comes in the form of cheese sticks, slices, shreds, fancy wedges, blocks, and sauces. It also comes in pepperjack, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, mozzarella, american, and others very true to their flavor.

If you’re already vegan please help us out by posting your favorite cheese brands/flavors below!

My #1 has got to be either Field Roast Chao Creamy Original, or a recipe I have for homemade cashew cheese.

As always if you need help or have questions about veganism shoot me an email beamingveganblog@gmail.com or DM me on Insta. I’m more than happy to help, judgement and financially free. If you’re comfortable enough to drop your questions below I’m sure it would greatly help someone else with the same question as you!

Vegan Miyokos Fresh Mozzarella Cheese | Beaming Vegan

My Favorite Drink: Iced Vanilla Hemp Milk Latte

 

Iced Vanilla Hemp Milk Latte

Rich, delicious, and definitely the best iced latte you can make at home. Don't take my word for it, just try it! Your caffeine crazy taste buds will thank you greatly.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Servings 1 Latte

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Cup Shelled hemp seeds
  • 3 Cups Water
  • 1 Bottle Califia XX Espresso Cold Brew Coffee
  • 2 Cups Ice
  • 2 Tbsp Torani vanilla syrup

Instructions
 

  • Blend hemp seeds and water in a high speed blender for 2-3 minutes.
  • Strain hemp milk through a nut milk filter.
  • Add ice to a 25 oz jar. Add vanilla syrup.
  • Fill jar half way with hemp milk and then top off with Califia coffee. 
  • Mix well and enjoy!
Keyword breakfast, drinks, latte

This is a faaaantastic iced latte recipe for prepping in advance and keeping in the fridge for weekday mornings. I mean, if you prep a batch of hemp milk it will store in the fridge for a week. Do it on a Sunday evening and simply wake up and mix the drink on weekday mornings! It’ll save you gas AND Starbucks dough, and result in equal caffeinated satisfaction.

I prefer homemade hemp milk, and I swear this is what makes it delish. Don’t skip! It just wouldn’t work out the same way. You can find my favorite plant-based milk recipes here!

I always get a soy latte when I’m out because I love what Griffin calls a “beany taste”. Most people prefer almond or oat milk for a milder flavor but I seriously love the nutty rich taste of barista soy milk!

The homemade hemp milk encompasses the same concept of a unique, rich and nutty flavor. I sound silly, but it’s like having a hazelnut-vanilla latte without the hazelnut syrup. Yum.

 Just trust me that this is the perfect combination of flavors. Subtle vanilla, rich hemp milk, and strong, not-to-sweet espresso. Foamy, slightly sweet, life-giving!