FAQ

A few people have asked some questions recently that I'd like to address.

What do you eat for breakfast?
A typical breakfast (for me) would be homemade granola with almond milk and fruit (a banana, orange, or whatever we have on hand). Xavier usually also has a piece of toast with almond butter or Earth Balance (vegan butter). When we have extra time (like a weekend day we don't work), we might make scrambled tofu (tastes and looks similar to scrambled eggs, if you do it right) and breakfast potatoes (again, with some fruit). Some store-bought cereal is okay, but you have to really be careful about reading the ingredient text. We've found it to be cheaper and more rewarding to make our own granola, so we usually stick to that.

What do you eat for lunch?
Sometimes we have leftovers from dinner (which ranges from pad thai to lentil stew). I've also been trying to keep eggless egg salad in the fridge at least every other week (we'll have that on bread or with crackers...again, read those ingredient texts!). We also buy vegan sandwich "meat" every so often. It can be rather dry, so I don't care too much for it, but it's not bad with veggies and hummus or Veganaise and mustard. It's more of a textural dislike for me, though. But it's fairly inexpensive, so give it a try if you want!

How do you have time to do everything?
We work really well as a team. I couldn't do this alone. We have a pretty good system down, I think. Recently it seems like I'll make bigger batches of things that will last us the week (like lentil stew, eggless egg salad, etc.) and he will jump in and make delicious evening meals to fill in the gaps. I usually do stews and granola on the weekends because I have more time. It's really about multi-tasking and time management. When I got done with work today, I whipped up a batch of chewy granola bars (hopefully they're good!), a batch of granola, sauteed some kale that needed to be used up asap, and made a big batch of hummus. All within about an hour and a half...but I have a pretty good handle of what order to do my "staples" to maximize productivity ;) What it boils down to is planning your week. What meals are you going to make, and when will you have leftovers? Can you divide the tasks between people, or do you want to alternate weeks?

Do you keep any snacks on hand?
Yes!! We typically have hummus, veggies (for dippin' or munchin'), fruit, nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts) and pita chips or bean chips. We also like to make popcorn on the stove for movie nights. Mm mm!

Can you have any desserts?
Oh yes, we can! It's pretty easy to find vegan dessert recipes online. Some of them call for "weird" ingredients that we rarely (never) have on hand, so I usually scour the internet for a recipe that has more "normal" ingredients. We're hooked on snickerdoodles and chocolate-pumpkin muffins. BUT...just because it's vegan, doesn't mean you should eat a boatload of it! Everything in moderation :) 

What is your biggest tip so far?
First and foremost, before you buy anything, read the label to make sure there aren't any hidden milk/egg products. Seriously. You might look like one of "those" health nuts reading labels in the aisles, blocking all of the (insert general product here), but it is worth it. I had a very disappointing experience on Monday when I went to Target and bought some yummies that I assumed were vegan...when I got home, I read the ingredients as I was about to tear the boxes open, and I was sorely disappointed when I saw "eggs" and "milk" in the text. Now I have to trek back to Target and explain that I was a dummy and didn't realize it wasn't vegan and beg for my money back...(okay, maybe not beg).



Those are all the questions I can remember currently. If you have any other questions that you'd like me to address, feel free to ask! I'm NOT an expert, but I am certainly becoming more and more comfortable with this lifestyle.

Take care, stay warm, and be kind!