Possum provides an all plant based menu including: Wings, Mozzarella Sticks, Fried Chicken, and any pizza topping that tastes just like meat. It was established in May 2019. The owners wanted to create a New York style of pizza so that people who are vegetarians and vegans could enjoy traditional favorites. They’re are known for their junk food toppings and always sell out by the end of the day.

Hopefully when this pandemic is over, you can find them at this location above.

Vegan fit is about balancing a healthy lifestyle with exercising. Many people have busy schedules and when you are vegan, not many know how to get the essential proteins and vitamins to maintain their weight. This app is designed to help aide the struggle of eating healthy and finding time to workout.

Many goals are going to be offered throughout this app. Words of encouragement will be provided each day to keep you motivated. You can even upload your daily habits so that we can personally help with your personal goals.

To help share your lifestyle and journey, you will be able to create your own group of exercises by inviting friends to virtually workout with you. How to videos on cooking vegan meals and finding time for a workout will also be posted daily. 

This dish is really called cranberry cilantro quinoa salad but I figured because it has so many ingredients, I’d give it a better name. I came across this dish when i was searching for a quick 3 day detox because I felt like I’ve been eating a lot of sweets lately. It only took me 15 minutes to make and it tasted fantastic. The ingredients used was of course quinoa, red and yellow bell peppers, toasted almonds, unsalted/raw pumpkin seeds, shredded carrots, dried cranberries, curry powder, cumin, cilantro and lime to top off. I altered the original recipe just a little bit and figured out how to cook quinoa in a rice cooker for quicker convenience. You can find this recipe on peasandcrayons.com.

What are the Health Benefits of this dish?

For starters, it has all of your essential needs to boost your metabolism. Plus don’t forget, its plant based ;)! According to healthine.com, quinoa contains a high amount of fiber and protein and contains 9 of the essential amino acids like magnesium, vitamin B, iron, etc. Almonds are a great healthy fat and can reduce the risk of heart disease and lower blood sugar levels. Carrots contain a good source of antioxidants, potassium and fiber to help aide in weight management and/or weight loss. As for peppers, it also has fiber and good source of vitamins A and C. Not many people know that these babies can be eaten alone, especially the orange and yellow peppers because of their sweetness.

I have the largest sweet tooth known to mankind and I crave both sweet and salty sometimes, so of course I had to do some research of store bought products that were vegan. I figured some of you would be surprised of what snacks are out there that doesn’t contain any animal products. I decided to create a music video of what some of you might crave if you ever go on a plant based diet. I filmed this at my job, H-E-B, just in case you see some items that you might want to go out and buy! A complete list of some of the items I picked up can be found on PETA.org. I beg of you, check it out!!!!

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go see my family in Houston and while I was down there I got the chance to visit this lovely little cafe/bakery called Wisdom’s Bakery and Cafe. When I looked at their menu, I thought no way all of this is plant based! Once again to my surprise, everything was. What you see above on the top left is what I tried, (I was really hungry and I forgot to take a picture until after I divulged 😛 ) the Philly “cheese steak” and on the top right was a side of “Parmesan” garlic fries. Both definitely tasted like the real deal, although the cheese steak just had a different texture because it was made of soy. On the bottom left is what I had for dessert which was a coffee cake muffin with powdered sugar on top. On the bottom right is what my friend had which was their spicy “chicken” sandwich with a side of Parmesan garlic fries. Of course I tried a piece of hers and it was better than my sandwich 😦 .

Not only did I want to try this place because it was all vegan, but I also found out it was a black owned restaurant and I love supporting black businesses given that you don’t find many that are both. Wisdom was established in 2016 and are also featured on the Happy Cow website. They are also partnered with big name companies like Whole Foods and Pacific Foods. So if you ever find yourself in Houston, Texas, stop on by.

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Given the fact that I work at H-E-B, I always run across new vegan products that I’m tempted to try. This one in particular was worth a post. Koia is a plant based protein drink that is designed to give you the energy you need to get through those early mornings or those tough workouts. All of their drinks have low sugar, low carbs, high protein and full of flavor. I love coffee and I usually try to steer away from drinking it too much, but this might be my favorite alternative! This taste just like coffee and it really gets me through a full shift at work. They’re also non-caffeine options available as well.

When I started this journey of a new lifestyle, I already knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But, I thought hey, maybe there is something out there to aide in my diet and what do you know, there’s an app for everything these days. When eating out, Happy Cow is the go to experience. This app provides vegan, vegetarian, and even healthier restaurants when too busy to cook. You will also find recipes for when you want to be your own chef. When strictly eating a plant based diet and you’re out of ideas of what to eat, Forks Over Knives can help. Forks over Knives also explains how what you eat can reduce risks of many chronic diseases. Even Yelp can help for when you’re not sure if some vegan restaurants taste good.

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Sweet Ritual is a non-dairy ice cream shop that I visited but looked on Yelp before going. Above you’ll find a link to learn more and what some people had to say.

What you see above is a homemade garlic mushroom spinach pizza with vegan mozzarella cheese. Ok guys, this definitely tasted vegan but it wasn’t bad for my first time making it and rolling out my own pizza dough. The recipe called for crushed garlic but I decided to tweak it and use whole. The dough I used was Wholly Wholesome Gluten Free Pizza Dough topped with Daiya cream cheese with spinach mixed in, Daiya mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms and roasted pine nuts. All of these ingredients can be found at your local H-E-B or Target.

Vegan for the Win!

These are just a few celebrities that I’ve researched who chose vegan as a lifestyle. According to Vegan Starter Guide, by Marilyn Kroplick, this is what they had to say about their diet:

Ariana Grande “I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-around happier person.” Grande is a singer, songwriter and actress who has been vegan since 2013 and her reasoning was because she loves animals too much to eat them as a full course meal.

Sia “I’m vegan all the way!” Sia, a singer, songwriter and voice actress, was vegetarian for many years then switched to vegan in 2014 all because of a vegan restaurant owner who begged her to keep coming back. Sia is a very private person so their is not much information on her reasoning of becoming vegan.

Stevie Wonder “I’ve been vegan for two years. I’m motivating people to do something about how we are living on this planet.” Wonder, a singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist and record producer was also vegetarian and then later switched to vegan in 2018. According to Viva, Wonder became vegan for environmental reasons and for better health.

Woody Harrelson “My message is simple, it’s a message of compassion.” Harrelson, an actor, has been vegan for over 30 years. According to Livekindly, he tries to actively promote veganism everywhere he goes, whether it be on set of a movie or even just hanging out with friends. He also tried to turn the European pope vegan to help with climate crisis, world hunger and animal rights.

Orange “Chicken” and Broccoli

I decided to start my first home cooked vegan meal on a traditional take on Asian food. I was a little skeptical on how this dish was going to taste because orange chicken is one of my top faves, but surprisingly it was one of the best all veggie meal I have ever made. For my orange “chicken” I used roasted almond crusted cauliflower covered in ginger maple glaze sauce with steamed broccoli all over a bed of white rice. I will say if going vegan taste this good, this journey wont be so bad after all!