Frequently Asked Questions

Many times I am asked what I eat. Although I am married and my wife is an amazing cook, I often cook for myself. This happens since I work the night shift (7pm-7am) and I am often up when she is asleep.

Below you will find some of the simple things I often throw together as meals. Trust me when I say it just isn't that hard.

Vegan Chili

This is a guide. Substitute as you see fit. You'll see no matter what you do you can't break it. Don't have corn put in peas. Hate artichoke hearts substitute mushrooms. Don't want red peppers and onions skip them. Out of frozen, put in fresh. You can't go wrong.

Dump in pot on heat setting 7 0r 8 out of 9

• 2 bags of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Bell Peppers & Onions

• 1 Bag Trader Joe's Frozen artichoke hearts

Cook until tender then add the following

• 1 bag of Trader Joe's Frozen Fire Roasted Corn

• 1 10oz can of Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (No Salt Added)

• 3 15oz cans of diced tomatoes (No Salt Added)

• 2 15oz cans of red kidney beans (No Salt Added)

• 2 15oz cans of black beans (No Salt Added)

• 1 can of tomato paste

• 4 large potatoes cut to about 1-1.5 inch cubes or sub in pasta for chili mac

• Chili powder to taste

• Cayenne pepper to taste

• Black Pepper to taste

• Dehydrated minced onion to taste

• 6 cloves of garlic or garlic powder to taste

• Oregano to taste

• Whatever else suits your fancy.

After 15 minutes drop it down to medium heat.

Optional: Drop temperature down to low-medium (3or4) and add in a 14oz bag of chopped frozen greens. Makes no difference which kind, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens. Mix it in and let it heat up for ten minutes then turn off the heat and serve.

Cook until potatoes are done.

Last time I made this I actually cooked it without 1 of the cans of diced tomatoes and none of the potatoes. Had a couple of bowls for dinner then after there was more room in the pot I added the potatoes (chopped and cooked in micro-wave for 10 minutes) and the 3rd can of diced tomatoes and cooked until done. Then let cool and stored leftovers in the fridge.

This is going to be about 400 calories a pound so I weighed out 1.5 lbs per container and placed in the fridge.

I took some of these to work and placed them in the fridge at work. Over a 12 hour shift I eat a couple of times. 4 minutes in the microwave and it was ready to eat.

Pasta and Sauce

Sometimes I take the same base as the chili and make a pasta sauce with it. Remember this is a guide. Substitute as you see fit. You'll see no matter what you do you can't break it. Don't have corn put in peas, don't want peas simply skip. Hate artichoke hearts substitute mushrooms. Don't have or don't like frozen red peppers and onions skip them or put in fresh red onions and peppers. You can't go wrong.

Dump in pot on heat setting 7 out of 9

• 2 14 oz bag of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Bell Peppers & Onions

• 1 12 oz bags Trader Joe's Frozen artichoke hearts

• 24 oz of chopped mushrooms

Cook until tender then add the following

• 5 cloves of garlic or garlic powder to taste

• 1 10oz can of Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (No Salt Added)

• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (No Salt Added)

• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (No Salt Added)

• 1 28 oz can of plain tomato sauce (No Salt Added)

• 1 16 oz bag of frozen sweet corn

• Basil to taste

• Oregano to taste

• Italian Seasoning to taste

• 1.5 teaspoons of ground black pepper

• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

• Garlic Powder to taste (yes I like garlic)

• Add water as needed to cook the pasta

• Optional: 2 15oz cans of black beans drained and rinsed. I add beans more times than not.

Turn up to high and wait until the mixture is boiling.

• Now dump in a box (16oz) of whole wheat pasta and cook the pasta right in the sauce. Don't have Whole Wheat pasta put in any pasta you have on hand.

Cook pasta for 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking or burning.

It is now ready to serve or you can add in some greens.

Once the 10 minutes is up minutes is up turn it off or continue to the next step.

Optional: Drop temperature down to low-medium (3or4) and add in a 14oz bag of chopped frozen greens. Makes no difference which kind, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens. Mix it in and let it heat up for ten minutes then turn off the heat and serve.

This is going to be about 325 calories per 18 oz serving (10 servings per batch). Or 400 calories a serving with the beans added.

I take these to work and place them in the fridge. Over a 12 hour shift I eat a couple of times. 4-5 minutes in the microwave and it is ready to eat.

Simple, Quick, Transition Recipes

Links to some simple to prepare recipes to aid the transition to a Whole Food, Plant Based, No Oil way of eating. I also created a list of Plant-Based Recipe Sites.

Healthy Cooking Made Easy: How To Succeed Without Really Trying! By Jeff Novick, MS, RD

"These meals are very low in calorie density and very high in nutrient density so you can eat all you want till you are comfortably full without having to worry about portions size or going hungry."

Homemade Baked French Fries (Oil-Free) by Julianne Lynch

"Whether you call them potato wedges or oven fries, these taters are crispy and crunchy on the outside and pillow-soft on the inside. Best of all they're oil-free!"

Two-Ingredient Healthy Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies

"Healthy banana bread breakfast cookies that are made with just banana and oats. Super simple and easy to customize with add-ins, you’ll love these as an easy, low-cal go-to for breakfast or a snack."

Vegan Pulled Pork BBQ Mushroom Sandwich

Combine this recipe with a good oil free BBQ sauce, we use Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory and Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce, but any oil free BBQ sauce would be great and great toasted oil free bread, (sourdough is always a good choice) and you have a great sandwich. We usually add in onions to the sauté of the mushrooms, the final product always tastes great.

Basics We Always Have on Hand

• Kitchen Basics Vegetable Broth (no salt added)

• Canned Black Beans (no salt added)

• Canned Pinto Beans (no salt added)

• Canned Kidney Beans (no salt added)

• Canned Chick Peas (no salt added)

• Canned Diced Tomatoes (no salt added)

• Canned Crushed Tomatoes (no salt added)

• Canned Tomato Sauce (no salt added)

• Frozen Rice (Trader Joe's, three 10oz bags per box)

• Frozen Vegetable Medleys (Birds Eye Steam fresh 10.8oz)

• Frozen Greens (turnip, mustard, spinach), Broccoli, Green Beans, Corn, Mixed Vegetables, Corn, Stir Fry mixes, etc...

• Frozen Mixed Berries, Blueberries, Starwberries, etc...

• Uncle Sam Cereal, Toasted Whole Wheat Berry Flakes & Flaxseed

• Rolled Oats

• Potatoes

• Rice

• Pasta (whole grain, but regular is fine too)

• Beans

• Red Lentils

• Onions

• Garlic