I believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It fuels the body for the day and kick starts your metabolism.  I make sure that I have a hearty breakfast to sustain my body throughout the morning until lunch.  My good friend recently asked for my Citrus Granola recipe so instead of just sharing it with her, I decided to share that recipe and a few more of my favorite vegetarian breakfast recipes.

Hope you enjoy them!

Citrus Granola Parfait

Ingredients-
• 1 lemon, peal shredded for zest
• 1 lime, peal shredded for zest
• 1 orange, peal shredded for zest
• 3 tbsp. grape seed oil
• 4 tbsp. orange juice
• 4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 3 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup almonds, chopped
• ¼ cup dried coconut
• 1/8 cup flax seed
• ¼ cup chopped dried apricots
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• Vanilla Yogurt

Directions-
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• Combine all the ingredients except the yogurt into a large bowl and stir until combined
• Spread the mixture on a pan or cookie sheet, bake for 15 minutes, stir, and bake for another 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow the granola to cool to room temperature and serve with yogurt.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles

Ingredients-
• 1 Cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk
• 3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries

Directions-
• Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, and oats in a large mixing bowl.
• Add applesauce, milk, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla into mixing bowl, stir until combined and let rest for 5 minutes.
• Fold in the blueberries and cook in waffle iron for directed iron time. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Oatmeal

Ingredients-
• 1/3 cup regular oats
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• 1 ¼ cups Almond Milk
• 1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. chopped walnuts for sprinkling on top
Directions-
• In a medium pot on medium heat, add the oats, apple, chia seeds, applesauce, almond milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger and whisk well and heat for about 8 minutes stirring frequently.
• When the mixture has thickened and the liquid is absorbed stir in vanilla extract and pour into dish and sprinkle with walnuts, cinnamon and maple syrup is desired.  Enjoy!

For those days when you are running late and need something quick:

Easy Apple Yogurt Salad

Ingredients-
• 4 green apples, cored and chopped
• ¼ cup toasted almonds
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup chopped dried cherries
• 1 8 ounce container of vanilla yogurt
Directions-
• In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients together until everything is evenly coated with yogurt.  Enjoy!


Easy Warm Cinnamon Apple and Banana 

Ingredients-
• 1 Banana- sliced into small pieces
• 1 Apple- sliced into small pieces
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
Directions-
• Place banana, apple, and cinnamon into medium bowl or pot, mix until cinnamon is dispersed on banana and apple.
• Warm mixture in microwave or stove top until banana and apple are warm and soft.  Let cool, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: It tastes so much better than it looks! :)

With these yummy recipes, you shouldn’t be hungry in the mornings anymore.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…at least it is to me! :)

Go Green and Stay Keen,

Julie

When looking for new recipes or more information on a topic I often turn to fellow bloggers.  By reading a blog about a product or a recipe I know that it is a personal opinion and am able to connect with it on a deeper level.  There are so many blogs out there with great content for vegetarians.  Here are my twelve favorite vegetarian and vegan blogs.

1. Naturally Ella is my go to blog for seasonal recipes.  She has some of the most delicious recipes I have made.

2. My New Roots is written by a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef Sarah Britton.  There are wonderful recipes with ample information on nutrition.


3. Oh My Veggies is a blog from Kiersten who has been a vegetarian since she was twelve.  She has good recipes as well and reviews recipes she tries from other blogs.


4. Cookie and Kate has quite the archive of fresh vegetarian recipes and treats like margaritas, cakes, and popsicles.  She also talks about her canine companion, Cookie, who catches her crumbs.


5. Vegan Yum Yum shares vegan recipes that appeal to vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores alike.  She uses beautiful photography and has a great section called “how to” with great articles like “How to cut a pepper” and “How to peel mushrooms.”


6. 101 Cookbooks has every recipe you could possibly be looking for.  It is very useful because the recipes are categorized by season, recipe type, or ingredients.


7. The Veg Space has great recipes as well as a great writer, Kate Ford, who has been vegetarian for over 20 years.  She also reviews books and other products.


8. Green Kitchen Stories updates their blog very frequently with “must try” recipes.  They focus on cooking healthy, simple food with natural ingredients, whole grains, good fats, fruits and vegetables.


9. Happyolks is a great blog for recipe inspiration and for a good read.  Besides recipes and good writing this couple writes about finding a place in the world to feel truly like yourself.  It is a good inspirational blog.

10. VegKitchen is primarily a recipe site but it also features articles about what is good to eat and how to prepare and eat it.


11. VegNews is a great blog with product reviews, news, inspiration, and everything that has to do with living a vegetarian lifestyle.

12. Soul Veggie has a ton of information why having a vegetarian lifestyle is the healthiest option.  They also showcase news, recipes, and much more.

I hope you find these blogs as interesting as I do.  If you have other blogs that you love, I would love to check them out!  I have learned that blogging is such a great way to spread information and share feelings.  Go bloggers!

Go Green and Stay Keen,

Julie

Do you really know what is in your foods?  When I was first learning about vegetarianism I was naïve to what was actually in my food.  I just assumed that if it wasn't the actually meat it was vegetarian.  When I am researching, I always make sure I have a tough stomach because some of the things I have come across make my stomach turn.  It is shocking what ingredients are actually in the foods we eat all the time without thinking.

Even though I’m not vegan, I still like to be conscious about the ingredients in foods I eat and prefer my foods be free of animal byproducts.  I made a list of cringe worthy products that have animal byproducts that might make you think twice about what you are eating.


DISCLAIMER- if you have a weak stomach or just ate lunch, you might was to wait to read this until your stomach is strong enough to hear all the ingredients might be in your favorite foods.

• When first beginning to research products that we not vegetarian gelatin was the first product I learned about.  Gelatin is mainly made from collagen, a protein often collected from animal skins.  Gelatin can be found in frosted cereals, yogurt, candy, some types of sour cream, and deserts.  The gelatin in deserts often comes from pig skin.

• Beef fat is an ingredient many Hostess Products.  It is gross thinking a favorite sweet childhood snack contains beef fat.  The ingredient is included in the list of other oils that may or may not be used.

• This is a more widely known animal product, crushed bugs are used as red food coloring.  Dried insects are boiled to produce a liquid solution that is turned into dye.  It is often called carmine or carminic acid.  YUCK

• Beaver anal glands, castoreum, are common in perfumes and colognes.  I don’t want to use anal glands to smell sweet, that’s for sure.  Another use, they are used to enhance the flavor of raspberry candies and sweets.

• It is more common people know Caesar salad dressing is made with anchovies, but they are in Worcestershire sauce too.  I was unaware of this until I did some research and now I avoid both sauces.

• Like jelly beans or candy corn?  The shiny hard coating is make from the secretions of the female Kerria Lacca, an insect native to Thailand.  I personally don’t like any bug secretions in my candy.



These are just a few of the cringe worth products that use animal products to be more appealing and satisfying to the consumer.  After months of researching and growth I learned that animal products are in so many unexpected places and products.  I find it very interesting to learn about all the products that use weird animal parts and secretions.  Peta.org has an extensive list of animal ingredients that are in food that might shock you.

Know of any more cringe worthy products with animal products? I would love to learn more, comment to share your knowledge!

Go Green and Stay Keen,

Julie

Wow, I can’t believe that tomorrow is December already.  November has flown by, and for that matter, this year.  I can’t even grasp all the wonderful things that have happened to me and my family this year so far.  With December and winter around the corner it is the perfect time to get a little crafty around the house.  I love winter; even though I live in California I still love the cooler temps and the warm aura the season give off.




Backtracking a little bit, my thanksgiving was so wonderful.  My husband’s parents and my parents, loved their first vegetarian thanksgiving.  They were surprised by how many stereotypical thanksgiving dishes are easily vegetarian.  Needless to say, my menu was a big hit and everyone left with full stomachs.

I didn’t partake in the crazy Black Friday shopping nonsense.  I don’t know how people can do it; I hate going into stores when you can barely walk and have to fight to get something.  Although I didn’t go, one of my friends is a crazy shopper and braved the crowds…when I say she’s crazy I mean she’s crazy for waiting in a line for hours to get a few good deals.  I had her pick up a few things on Hannah and Liam’s Christmas list while she was out.  Now I have to get serious about getting gifts for the rest of the family.

I feel like I just got everything put away from thanksgiving and brought out the Christmas decorations.   I usually try to wait until December 1st but it’s so hard and I figured one day away isn’t that bad… :)  There is something about Christmas decorations that make you feel so warm and want to have a hot chocolate.  I was feeling crafty today and made a little wine bottle vases.  They are super easy to make- paint the wine bottle with two coats of primer, then two coats of your desired color; I chose gold, then spray with tacky spray (glue), and shake lose glister onto the bottle. They turned out great.  I am going to put some twigs with berries in them!




It is such a wonderful time of the year.  Although I am sad to see pumpkin flavored everything go, I am excited for all the peppermint and cranberry flavors.  :)

Happy almost December friends!

Julie

It’s almost thanksgiving!  I can’t wait to spend hours in the kitchen making a wonderful meal for my family…and that’s not sarcastic at all, I really can’t wait. :) I love to cook and bake, and thanksgiving gives me an excuse to go overboard in the kitchen.  This year we are having my family and my husband’s family over for thanksgiving dinner.  We have discussed with both of our families and decided we are going to have an entirely vegetarian thanksgiving.  It is going to be our parents first meatless Thanksgiving; I can’t wait to blow them away with the delicious food.

 Eating a meatless dinner on thanksgiving opens up a world of recipes possibilities!  My first thanksgiving without meat was a little strange.  I wanted to imitate all the classic thanksgiving dishes so I roasted some tofurkey and ate my fair share of mash potatoes to fill up.  But my second thanksgiving was completely different.  I had learned new vegetarian recipes throughout the year and was ready to create my own thanksgiving dinner.  There are so many great seasonal vegetables during the fall it makes it really easy to cook a yummy dinner.

As the years flew by I kept getting more creative with my thanksgiving dinner menu.  We typically go to my husband’s parents to celebrate and I bring a few of my favorite vegetarian thanksgiving dishes.  I am beyond excited to have both our families over and have some wonderful vegetarian food. 
I have begun making the menu and am super excited about it.  I still need a few more options but here’s what I have so far…DISCLAIMER these are recipes from the internet, I haven’t decided how I am going to spice them up and make them my own yet so ideas are welcome. :)

•    Butternut Squash Baked Risotto



•    Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy



•    Green Bean Casserole with Red Curry and Peanuts



•    Sweet Potato and Edamame Shepherd’s Pie



•    The thanksgiving favorite, Pumpkin Pie,
•    And obviously mash potatoes, cranberry chutney, and some roasted corn and carrots.

I love thanksgiving and all the rich and flavorful foods! I can’t wait to start cooking! In the meantime I think I am going make my family’s favorite, pumpkin cranberry cinnamon rolls to get my cooking bug out of me today.

Happy thanksgiving cooking!

Go Green and Stay Keen,

Julie