The FunnySpoon Vegan Challenge Redux

Well, we did it! We decided to go vegan for a week in an attempt to attract the attention (and undying admiration) of our fave celeb - Ellen DeGeneres. And we made it! We blogged about our successes and failures and followed it up with what we learned. Dig into the links below for all the vegan goodness and the fall-off-the-wagon moments. There are some fantastic, simple recipes and tons of great information on how a vegan (or vegetarian) meal can fit into your weekly diet.

Here's a quick rundown:

1. Why we did it: What's the reason behind this whole "What Would Ellen Eat" thing anyway??


2. The ups and downs of the FunnySpoon Vegan Challenge




• Day 1: Vicki and Carrie


• Day 2: Vicki and Carrie


• Day 3: Vicki and Carrie


• Day 4: Vicki and Carrie


• Day 5: Vicki and Carrie




3. What we learned




• Famous Vegans


• High Protein Foods for Vegans


• 101 Things To Do With Tofu


• Say [Vegan] Cheese


• Vegan Products: Shopping Made Easy


• Vegan Myths Busted


• Soy: Not Just For Vegetarians Anymore

Soy: Not Just for Vegetarians Anymore

Here's some great info on soy that a friend passed on to us:

Soy: Not Just for Vegetarians Anymore

Formerly viewed mostly as a staple of vegetarian diets, soybeans and soy-based products increasingly are seen as good sources of nutrients for any eating style.

Soybeans contain B vitamins and essential fatty acids, including some omega-3s, and are a rich source of plant-based protein. Many soy foods contain isoflavones that may help lower risks for some diseases.

Popular soy options include:

• Miso: Fermented soybean paste, most commonly used as a flavoring in Asian cooking.


• Soy flour: Much higher in proteins but lower in carbohydrates than wheat flour, it usually is mixed with other flours in baking because it has less gluten.


• Soy milk: Nondairy beverage made from crushed, cooked soybeans. Like cow milk, soy milk may be fortified with vitamins A and D.


• Edamame: Soybeans cooked in the pod and eaten as a snack.


• Tempeh: Soybeans mixed with rice, millet or other grain, then fermented into a rich soybean cake, adding flavor to soups, casseroles, chili or spaghetti


• Tofu: A cheese-like curd made from soybean milk and pressed into soft cakes. Tofu easily takes up the flavor of other ingredients in stir-fries, chili, tacos, salads, noodle dishes and pizza.

Vegan Myths Busted!

While there are many reasons to become a vegan, there are a lot of reasons (or excuses or misconceptions) out there about why NOT to become a vegan. So I figured I’d compile a quick FunnySpoon Five list of common myths about veganism, and then debunk them. I mean, if you don’t want to give up meat and cheese because you really like them, that’s one thing. But if you’re refusing to become vegan based on misinformation, that’s another. So here goes:

The FunnySpoon Five: Top 5 Myths About Veganism

1. A lack of meat causes anemia/iron deficiency. While eating red meat is a common (and great) source of iron, avoiding red meat does not automatically lead to anemia or iron deficiency. Vegans can get plenty of iron from whole grain bread, cereals, dried fruit, spinach, broccoli, and tofu. Get more info about veganism and anemia.


2. A lack of dairy causes calcium deficiency. Again, while non-vegans can easily get their recommended daily dose of calcium from "traditional" sources – milk, cheese, yogurt – there are plenty of options out there for vegans. Tofu, spinach, broccoli, and nuts are great natural sources of calcium, and some soy milks and instant breakfast cereals are fortified with calcium as well. Get more info about veganism and calcium deficiency.


3. Going vegan will help you lose weight quickly. You will not necessarily lose weight just by going vegan – if you fill up on fatty vegan foods or junk foods (many junk foods are still vegan), and especially if you fill up on sweets, your daily caloric intake can still be high. However, if you pay attention to what you eat and focus mainly on whole grains and veggies, you should be fine. The Vegan Food Pyramid can help you figure out how much of each type of food you should be eating.


4. Vegans are all crazy tree huggers who love animals more than people. There are many reasons why people choose to become vegan. There may be some vegan “whackos” out there, but there are also “whackos” who eat meat, too! Vegans may have made the choice to become vegan because they care about animals, or because they don’t like the taste of meat/cheese, or for environmental reasons, or just for general health. Becoming vegan doesn’t automatically attach the “crazy tree hugger” label to you – if you’re educated about veganism you can respond to these stereotypes and inform the very people who are perpetuating these myths!


5. Vegan products are too hard to find, too expensive, and taste gross. No way! We’ve compiled a list of tasty vegan products that are available almost anywhere and also created some special vegan recipes we thought Ellen (and all vegans!) would enjoy. Dig in!

Have you heard of any other myths or misconceptions about veganism? Share in the comments!

Vegan Products: Shopping Made Easy

From just a week of going vegan, we've found loads of products that are tasty and still totally vegan. I've personally found that (and I guess this is pretty obvious) if you just get rid of the stuff you're not supposed to eat and only buy the stuff you are supposed to eat, it's much easier. Once I got the cheese out of my house and bought soy yogurt and soy burgers, all I had to do was look in the fridge and make something to eat. No temptations!So, to help out any other wannabe vegans out there (or even just to introduce some products to current vegans) I figured I'd do a round-up of some products that make being vegan totally easier:

1. MorningStar Farms Grillers Vegan Burger
2. Lightlife Smart Bacon
3. Lightlife Smart Ground Crumbles
4. Mission Whole Wheat Tortillas
5. Silk Plain Soy Yogurt
6. All Natural So Delicious Soy Yogurt
7. Fresh Express 3-Color Cole Slaw
8. Vegenaise Vegan Mayonnaise
9. Rich's Non-Dairy Creamer
10. Earth Balance Soy Garden Vegan Butter

What about you? What are your favorite vegan products? What vegan products do you think Ellen would eat?

Say [Vegan] Cheese!

Some people don't care one way or another about cheese. I am not some people. Meat was way easier for me to give up than cheese, so in going vegan for a week, I learned all about substitutions. Here's the down-low on vegan cheese options:

Brands of Vegan Cheese: You can try Tofutti or Galaxy Nutritional Foods (which is a whole line of vegan foods). Need more? Here you can find more vegan cheese brands.

Where Can You Find It In The Store?Vegan cheese is generally found in the produce area of the store (near the tofu and other vegan products). Finding at least one brand in any store shouldn’t be too difficult since stores becoming more eco/vegetarian-friendly. They may not have a huge selection, but it's most likely available. Any health food store would have products like this as well.

More Info: Get more info on vegan cheese and its nutritional benefits.

Bon appetit!

101 Things To Do With Tofu!

FunnySpoon recently partnered with Stephanie Ashcraft, author of "101 Things To Do With A Salad" (along with many other "101 Things" books), to promote recipes on our site. Imagine our pleasant surprise when we stumbled across "101 Things To Do With Tofu"! As big fans of the 101 Things series, and as two non-vegans trying to go vegan for a week, the "101 Things To Do With Tofu" blog was amazingly helpful. Hope you enjoy it as well!

High Protein Foods for Vegans

One of the biggest challenges of going vegan is ensuring you still get all the protein you need, since you're no longer eating meat and dairy. Here is a list of high-protein vegan foods. I used it to plan my meals and organize my grocery shopping - if you only have vegan foods on hand then it's much easier to stick to! Of course there are many other foods that are vegan, but if you focus on the highest-protein options you'll be able to get all your nutrients in less calories.

Top High Protein Foods

1. Nuts (peanut butter, trail mix)
2. Beans (all of them, especially soy and lentils, hummus, black bean soup, edamame, rice and beans)
3. Whole Grains (quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal)
4. Soy Products (soymilk, tofu, soy beans, soy yogurt, tofu in stir fry, tofu smoothies)
5. Meat Substitutes (veggie burgers, veggie dogs, veggie crumbles)
6. Veggies (broccoli, kale, spinach, squash, pumpkin)

Famous Vegans

For me it's been a bit hard to stick to a strict vegan diet, but these celebrities do it every day (in addition to our fave vegan celebs, Ellen and Portia):

1. Alicia Silverstone
2. Anthony Kiedis
3. Bryan Adams
4. Daryl Hannah
5. Joaquin Phoenix
6. Kevin Nealon
7. Moby
8. Pamela Anderson
9. Prince
10. Woody Harrelson

So if I'm drawing the correct conclusions, if I stick to the vegan diet I'll become rich and famous? Now there's some inspiration!

Day 5: Carrie Goes Vegan

I have to admit that this challenge is going a better than I expected. We're eating very healthy meals, the prep time is definitely manageable on my schedule and we actually feel a bit healthier and "lighter".

Tonight we had this fantastic salad for dinner, My Favorite Summer Salad. The eggplant makes it nice and hearty so it was even filling enough for the hubby.



Maybe a vegan diet isn't for everyone and maybe my husband needs a bit more protein, but this is DEFINITELY a challenge that everyone can do. It's a healthy lifestyle and great for the environment. Give it a whirl and let us know how it works out for you!

Day 5: Vicki Goes Vegan

Let's ignore what I had for dinner last night and focus on my breakfast and lunch:

Breakfast

• Espresso (always vegan - but this is a cheat because I never use cream or milk in my coffee. However, you can use Rich's Non-Dairy Creamer if you're looking for a vegan creamer).
• All Natural So Delicious Soy Yogurt, raspberry flavor. They've got a great line-up of flavors and you're not missing a thing when compared to "regular" yogurt.

Lunch

• BLT: Bread, Lightlife Smart Bacon, Vegenaise, lettuce, tomato.
• Water - it's important to drink loads of water no matter what diet/eating lifestyle you choose and I'm lucky that I love water. It really adds to the healthy feeling I get from watching what I eat.

OK, so can we all agree that I've taken major steps this week and therefore keep what I had for dinner between you and me? Thanks :)

Day 4: Carrie Goes Vegan!

I was so excited about making dinner tonight because it's a variation on one of the dishes my mom made all the time as a kid. She always made polish sausage and scalloped potatoes and I remember my brother and I both getting excited when we'd see her beginning to prepare it.

So, I attempted a modern version of Sausage and Smashed Cauliflower - vegan and low carb. Definitely not the same as mom used to make ... it was so much better!!! I used the Tofurky Italian Sausage - which has the perfect amount of heat for me and my family. And I made a vegan variation on the Smashed Cauliflower by using vegan cream cheese and spices instead of the Boursin cheese. It was a truly delicious meal and I think Ellen would've devoured it right along with us!

Day 4: Vicki Goes Vegan

My lunch yesterday was fab! I took Carrie's advice and got a little more creative, while still using up my leftovers (those bags of slaw last forever!). Check out my Vegan Nachos:





Now just don't ask about my dinner - I went out to an Italian restaurant and it was impossible to find something vegan. Well, more accurately, it was impossible once I smelled everyone else's food to find something vegan on the menu that looked appealing. I'm finding that when I eat at home it's not that hard to control - just only have vegan products on hand and then you'll be fine. But in a restaurant? That was too much for me to bear. Oh well, we can't all be perfect. But I'm trying!

Day 3: Carrie Goes Vegan (sort-of)...

Um ... screeching halt. The flu is attacking my house. Well, it's beating the crap out of me, but hopefully it'll stop there. I seriously don't want my little ones to get the 24-hour bug I just battled.

Anyway, I didn't eat at all yesterday so there's no fantastic meal or frightening fiasco to blog about. Wait, that's still considered a vegan diet, right? Yay! My challenge hasn't been disrupted! And I didn't even have to chant "What Would Ellen Eat?" yesterday for inspriation.

Wish me better luck for tonight's meal!

Day 3: Vicki Goes Vegan

Well, not much exciting to report but at least I stuck with it! Not one to waste leftovers, I had hummus and crackers for lunch, then a soy burger and cole slaw for dinner. Jealous? Vegan AND leftovers. But actually, it was all quite good, and again, easier than I thought it would be. Granted, it's only been 3 days but that's not too bad!

Day 2: Carrie Goes Vegan!

So far, so good.

Breakfast and lunch aren't difficult for me since I'm usually on my own for those meals. Today for breakfast I had toast with peanut butter (one of my faves!) and for lunch I had a nice, healthy green salad. It was a little hard not to reach for the ranch dressing, but I happily had the Balsamic Vinegarette.

For dinner we had Summer Mediterranean Pasta and it was fantastic. The hubby didn't miss the meat in the dish because the Barilla Plus Pasta is packed with protein. And again, simple clean-up with a one dish meal like this. Ahh ... everyone is happy! (I sound really lazy and like I hate doing dishes, don't I? Well ... it's true!)

Day 2: Vicki Goes Vegan

I had already planned a girl's night happy hour at my house for Tuesday so I was a little worried about how that would coincide with my Vicki Goes Vegan plan. But I realized this was a great opportunity to get rid of all the stuff in my house I shouldn't be eating! Let my friends sleep with the guilt of cheesy goodness. Mmm, cheese. Yummy cheese. Oh crap. Getting sidetracked.

So, I offloaded some of my dairy products into Crab Rangoon Dip and Striped Cheese Triangles while I happily dipped orange and green peppers into some fabulous hummus. Just please don't tell me wine isn't vegan!

Day 1: Vicki Goes Vegan

I thought this challenge was going to be hard but so far it's been alright. Very easy for me to say, though, since it's only been a few hours! By the end of the week you might catch me in the corner unwrapping sticks of butter and eating them like candy bars, but for now I feel like I've found some healthy alternatives to meat and dairy.

I highlighted these two recipes on the FunnyScoop blog as part of our FunnySpoon Challenge:

Teriyaki Salmon Burgers



Yogurt Poppy Slaw



It was easier than I thought to go vegan - I just substituted the following ingredients in the recipes:

MorningStar Farms Grillers Vegan Burger

Silk Plain Soy Yogurt

Vegenaise Vegan Mayonnaise

Delish! I really didn't feel like I was missing out on anything, plus I got that "feel-good" feeling that I was being more eco-friendly and eating a little healthier. (Plus I was thinking this is "what Ellen would eat" and got a little excited that she might give me a gold star or a pat on the back. Fingers crossed!)

Day 1: Carrie Goes Vegan!

I'm thinking it won't be too hard to do this vegan thing. I mean, I was a strict vegetarian for 10+ years so this should be easy, right? Right. Sure, I'll miss my rich, creamy cheese & dairy products, but I won't miss the meat. I really only eat meat now because a) my husband nags me to eat it ALL THE TIME and b) I really do feel more satisfied salads, pasta, rice and pretzels by the pound.

So, for the first night of my challenge I'm making tacos. Since this isn't an entire household challenge I'm making Tacos Two Ways: Meatless Tacos for me and my 1 year old daughter and Turkey Tacos for my hubby and 3 year old son. Tacos are a favorite around my house for a host of reasons: they're simple, everyone can have them 'their way', I can make them spicy for me and mild for the husband and kids, very minimal clean up. That's a perfect meal in my book. And these vegan tacos were absolutely delicious!



Day 1's a success. Whew!

What's this WWEE thing?

We have to admit it - WE LOVE ELLEN!! We think she's incredibly cool, funny, generous, interesting and savvy. Did we mention that we love her?! She's just so darn loveable!

Anyway, we think FunnySpoon is right up her ally. The FunnySpoon no-nonsense, no-pretense approach to cooking seems very "Ellen" and we think it would really appeal to her audience. So we're on a mission to get her familiar with our website, our cooking style and our brand.

To help us acomplish this we've embarked on a little experiment. We've learned that Ellen eats a vegan diet so we're going vegan for a week. We're calling it the "What Would Ellen Eat" Challenge. I was a vegetarian for many years, but now incorporate fish into my diet. It's not a huge stretch for me (although I'm sure I'm going to miss all my dairy products!!). However, Vicki is a meat-loving, cheese-loving, bacon-loving carnivore. This is going to be one difficult challenge for her!

The cool things about this challenge:

1. We are challenging ourselves to eat a healthy diet for a week. Vegan diets are known to be low in fat, low in cholesterol and high in fiber.
2. We're creating a ton of healthy, fun recipes for FunnySpoon.
3. We hope Ellen (and Portia) will try at least a few of the recipes we're developing for them.

So, about 20 times a day over the next week we'll be saying to ourselves "WWEE!" or "What Would Ellen Eat?" every time we open the fridge, look in the pantry, try to figure out how to skip the yummy, delicious butter and every time we hear our tummy grumble for cheese!
You want to join us in the challenge? We'll chronicle our ups and downs on this blog, share our recipes and our hints for how to incorporate some vegan meals into your diet. Vegan may not be the answer for your (or for us) forever, but it's always good to try new things, right? Right! Say it with me. WWEE!!