Vegan Breakfast Foods you Can Buy at the Store

Its early, your sleepy and confused. 

Its ok, there are things you can eat that you don't have to cook, are vegan, easy to find and pretty yummy to boot. 

Let's talk Milk + Coffee

*Almond milk is my go to because its rich and creamy and I love it. 

*Soy milk is a staple. Its easy to find, yummy, but not my favorite in coffee.

*And Coconut Milk adds flavor to your coffee,
so its perfect if you want to turn your regular coffee into coconut flavored coffee.

Breakfast Cereals!

Here's a happy list of vegan cereals:

Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch
Original Cheerios
Apple Jacks 
Corn Chex
Cinnamon Life
Complete Oat Bran
Complete Wheat Bran
Cocoa Puffs, Cocoa Pebbles
Kashi GOLEAN Crisp! Toasted Berry Crumble
Kashi Strawberry Fields Original
Kashi Whole Wheat Biscuits Autumn Wheat
Kashi Whole Wheat Biscuits Island Vanilla
Kellogg's Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite Size 
Kellogg's Special K Protein Plus
Kellogg's Special K Red Berries
Life Cereal
Rice Krispies
Fruity Pebbles
Fruit Loops
Cocoa Rice Krispies
Pops
Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs

Fruit, obviously. 

{Obviously because its Delicious}

Strawberries with Stevia, bananas, cherries, black berries, oranges, apples with peanut butter, 
bananas and peanut butter with almond milk and ice in a blender, whatever.
Get crazy with your fruit. 

Oatmeal:

Quaker Apples and Cinnamon
Quaker Cinnamon and Spice
Quaker Date and Walnut
Quaker Oatmeal (Raisin)
Quaker Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar)

Pop Tarts:
Pop Tarts (Unfrosted Apple Cinnamon)
Pop Tarts (Unfrosted Blueberry)
Pop Tarts (Unfrosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon)
Pop Tarts (Unfrosted Strawberry)

Granola Bars
Nature's Valley Granola Bars (Brown Sugar)
*I don't have a full list, because I don't really eat many granola bars. But, just like with the cereal, many of them are vegan. Take a look at the back of the box, you might be surprised. 
 

 

You know what I Love? Lent.

This is absolutely, 100% NOT a religious post.
In fact: Im not Catholic. Its true.

But I do {Love} Lent.
My vegan life started with Lent. 
For me Lent never meant giving something up, per say. It was a time for me to do something good for someone else. Whether or not your Catholic or even religious, you can take these 40 days to change yourself for the better. Once you do something for 40 days you find that it becomes easier to incorporate into your every day from then on.

So I love lent. Doing something good for someone else makes me giddy.

I don't think anyone would argue that factory farming is awesome for the animals involved. I don't think that's ever the argument made. But maybe you don't think you could/should give up meat/animal products forever. And you know what?
If its not for  you then rock on with your bad self.
But why not try it for Lent? 
Its something you can do for someone else {and for your own health} for 40 days. And after those 40 days you will have a range of vegan foods you fell in love with that you can incorporate into your every day diet. Lowering your cholesterol and your funding of factory farming all at once. Double Rainbow Winning.

40 days vegan can seem really intimidating for someone who's never tried it before. I know, I was there.
So instead of starting with 40 days, why not try 7? 
Give it a go. It will lower your risk of heart disease and will help you add healthy eating habits to your diet.
I will be right here posting recipes and snack options  for you and I will set you up with a plan for each day of the week. All of the recipes in our 7 days vegan will be delicious and easy, I promise.

7 days of Vegan Deliciousness.
Day 1

Spiced Quinoa- Easy Vegan Recipe

Yessica's Spiced Quinoa
*Prep time: 10 minutes  *Cook Time: 20 minutes *Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup quinoa

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1-2 pinches crushed red pepper, depending on how spicy you like it

6 cardamom seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 (14 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup raisins soaked in hot water and drained

Step 1: grab a pot and put it over medium heat. Pour in olive oil, garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook until the garlic is a toasty brown, being careful not to burn. 

Step 2: Stir in quinoa, all of your spices (except for the red pepper, which you've already tossed in) and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. 

Step 3: Once the quinoa is finished cooking stir in your drained garbanzo beans, toasted pine nuts, and raisins. This dish is super delisious warm or cold, so its perfect for left-over snacking. 

That's it. Your done. Love this recipe, its delicious and so freakin easy.

*A note on Cardamom: this can be tricky to find and its totally omit-able. It adds a really nice pop, so if you know of a wholefoods or Indian grocery near by you are sure to find it there. Some targets also carry it. 

Vegan Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast

Borrowed from VeganYumYum. 

Not only is it an awesome blog, its a more awesomer cookbook. 

When my beautiful cousin Kimmy asked me if I had a vegan french toast recipe I didn't have to think twice about which to give her. Sadly, it's not of my own design: but it is completely amazing.

 And you doubted vegan french toast? 

Shun!

Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast

recipe by Lauren Ulm

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup soy milk

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pinch salt

1 loaf quality day old bread (sourdough is perfect)

1-2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

3 large, firm ripe bananas sliced

1 pint blackberries, blueberries or raspberries

Maple syrup (the REAL stuff) to serve

Powdered sugar, to serve

Step 1: Whisk the soy milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, sugar and salt together in an 8x8 in brownie pan until frothy. Set aside. 

Step 2: Slice 3/4-inch slices of bread from your loaf. Slice each in half again, without cutting all the way through, to form a pocket. Place the bread in the batter and let sit for a few minutes. 

Step 3: While the bread is soaking heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Melt a teaspoon or two Earth Balance margarine on it. When the margarine bubbles your ready.

Step 4: Take the bread out of the batter. Place a few bananas and strawberries into the back of the pocket to open it just a little. You'll add more later, so take it easy. Carefully stuff the fruit deep inside so it wont fall out when you flip the bread. 

Step 5: Brown the bread on both sides, then set it onto your serving plate. Add more berries and bananas as you like it. Top with maple syrup and powdered sugar and enjoy the weekend. 

Vegan Pesto Rocks my World

I LOVE pesto. Before I went vegan I would put it on anything, and I really mean absolutely anything I thought had even the remote chance of being good with pesto.

So when I decided to come up with a Vegan pesto recipe, I decided it had to be a really amazing one. What makes it even better? Its as simple as simple gets.
I promise, vegan or no, once you make it your never going to bother with another recipe. If you do then we probably can't be friends anymore.

Basil Loves Cilantro Vegan Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup loosely packed cilantro

1/3 cup pine nuts

2 cloves of crushed garlic

4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon should cover it)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Throw everything minus the olive oil into your food processor. Blend it for a few seconds until it has started to turn into a paste- don't forget to scrape the sides. Then drizzle the olive oil in and blend to pulverization.  If you don't have a food processor you can accomplish the same delicious end with your blender. 

Its a perfect go to for snacking. It really is good on anything: bread, tortilla chips, carrots, a spoon- 

Try slicing up some mushrooms and mixing them up with some pesto. Its really light and completely delicious. 

Enjoy!