3 Ways to Feed an Omnivore Vegan Food

How can you show people who LOVE eating animal foods multiple times a day that plant-based food can be delicious without turning them off?

Maybe you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and would LOVE to serve some healthy and delicious plant-based foods but are worried about how that would 'go over' with the omnivores.

Or, maybe you just want our husband to eat more fruits, veggies and whole-grains!  

No matter what your motive, here's 3 ways you can get an omnivore to eat healthy and delicious, vegan food.

1.  Cook familiar vegan foods.  This means pasta salads, bean chile with corn bread, hummus with pita bread and veggies, fruit salad, garden salads, veggie and bean soups and stews.

Your husband has most likely eaten 'vegan' food before but doesn't think of it that way.  Pasta primavera or marinara is pretty typical and so are garden salads and vegetable-barley soup.

Serve him something traditional and not intimidating like a piece of tofu shaped as a fish and you'll be fine.

2.  Make food that tastes amazing!  Don't serve boiled potatoes or over-cooked, mushy broccoli.  Make a recipe you know tastes and looks amazing.

Even better, keep a stash of recipes specifically for impressing others (I'd call this recipe folder 'Recipes that "Woo"').  That way, when you head to a pot-luck, church gathering or are having the in-laws over for dinner, you can easily go-to and make a 'recipe that woos'

3.  Don't call it vegan.  Or even talk about the fact that there's no meat in it.  That in itself may turn someone off from trying it.  Don't make a scene and just let them enjoy the food.  The food will speak for itself .

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Here are recipes (some are fitting for Thanksgiving too) that I've served to omnivores (some pretty hardcore ones too!) that were enjoyed:

Creamy mushroom gravy by Cathy Fisher

Mashed sweet potatoes by Trish the Dish (yes that's me!)

15 Minute Black Bean Chile in Dr. Esselstyn's book, 'Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease' (this has been a huge hit with my different families!)

Cranberry Sauce by Cathy Fisher

Banana Ice-Cream by Trish the Dish

Fast Cookies for School Lunches found in the first Forks Over Knives book

Take Control Now Question

How do you successfully feed your husband (or other loved ones) vegan meals?  Have any tips or questions to share?

Answer by clicking 'comment' below.  

When You Shouldn't Follow the Diet Perfectly

Have you ever felt the need to be perfect on a plant-based diet?  Or for that matter, any diet? 

Have you ever felt that if you weren't eating perfectly, to the exact diet recommendations, that you were a failure… that you were just off the diet and couldn't do it?

Today I explain why not eating perfectly, to 100% of the recommendations, can be okay AND how straying from diet guidelines can actually help you stay on course.

Today's episode made me think of a recent client, Linda Floyd, age 57, accountant and now dear friend. 

Linda came to me feeling defeated.  She wanted to lose 100 pounds but the scale hadn't moved for her in years and she also has hypothyroidism.

After meeting for an hour and 30 days of bonus email support, Linda kicked butt!  She followed my recommendations to a 'T' -- 100%, never straying.  She was determined and with her adherence, saw amazing results and quick.  

Linda lost 24 pounds in 4 weeks and her TSH reading came back "better than ever" all while her hubby continued to eat ice-cream and junk on the daily.

So why does not eating 'plant perfect' remind me of Linda?

Well, a few days after she emailed me with her inspiring results, she fell down the stairs and broke her ankle!  

Linda's loving, and helpful hubby is now assisting her which is wonderful, buuut Linda can't eat 'plant perfect' anymore and that's okay!

What I want for Linda and for YOU to remember, is that when you have a set back, an emotionally taxing life-experience or you just feel deprived, it is OK to eat to 70% or 80% of my recommendations to get you through the tough time.  

This is sooo much better than completely giving up and reverting to your old eating habits.  

I've been there, Linda's been there, you've been there and we'll all continue to have ups and downs that affect our diets.

That being said, if you are someone who needs to eat 'plant perfect' -- you have advanced heart disease or cancer for example, then eat plant perfect.  You have little wiggle room.  This is not an excuse for you to eat high-fat, oily food.  

Plant perfect or not, here are over 20 Thanksgiving recipes on my Pinterest board that are all oil, dairy and sugar free.  The list will keep getting bigger too!

I'd like to send Linda a huge wishing you well.  Please send some love Linda's way in whichever way you can (and to my Gammy too -- she's 85 and just broke her ankle too!).

Now I'd love to hear from you...

Take Control Now

Have you ever felt deprived on a plant-based diet?  What was your experience like and what did you do about it?

Answer by clicking 'comment' below.

6 Delicious, Healthy, Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

Yes, these recipes are not only free of animal products, oil and sugar, they're also delicious (really!) and simple to prepare.

Delicious, healthy and vegan is an essential trio if you're trying to eat well on this typically gluttonous holiday.  Not only do you want to eat healthy but you want your guests to enjoy the food too.  These recipes will not only help you lose weight, but they'll delight and surprise your guests as well.

1. Mashed Japanese Sweet Potatoes by Trisha Mandes (yup, that's me!)

• Japanese Sweet potatoes* (about 1/2 potato per person)
• Almond milk or any plant milk
• Cinnamon to taste
• Maple syrup (optional

Turn oven to 400 F and bake.  Rinse sweet potatoes and stab with a fork a few times around each one.  Place on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 60 minutes.  The potatoes should be soft to the touch when finished.

Slice lengthwise and let cool for about 15 minutes.  Next, combine the insides of all of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl.  Slowly add small amounts of plant milk and mash with a hand masher or an electric mixture to get the consistency you like… more plant milk for smoother, thinner taters or less for thicker and chunkier.  Sprinkle with cinnamon on-top.

Keep maple syrup on the side and let guests add a tablespoon to their liking on-top.  

* Japanese or sometimes called Asian sweet potatoes are purple on the outside and white on the inside.  They are even sweeter than regular sweet potatoes or yams and can be found at food co-ops and Asian grocery stores.

2. Honey Mustard Dressing by Trisha Mandes

• 1/4 C Honey
• 1/4 C Stoneground mustard
• Salad greens mix 

Add honey and mustard into a small bowl.  Whisk together until evenly mixed.  Taste and add more honey or mustard to your liking.  Evenly pour over a bed a salad greens right before serving guests.  Toss with tongs until the salad is evenly coated.  

This dressing would taste yummy evenly coated on steamed green beans with almond slices sprinkled on-top.  Yum!

3. Farm Fresh Salad

• Honey Mustard dressing (above)
• Farm fresh salad mix (I bought at my local food co-op)
• clementines
• craisins
• walnuts

Equally coat salad greens with the honey mustard dressing until applied evenly.  Add greens to your guests individual salad plates.  Top each plate with a few slices of clementine and 1/2-1 TB of walnuts.  Finish by sprinkling a few craisins on-top of each plate.

* Make this salad right before serving.  It will wilt if you make it and let it sit.

4. Cathy Fisher's Chunky Cranberry Sauce

• Find the recipe here

I love this recipe!  This is the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row I'll be preparing it.  It's delicious, very healthy and it take 15 minutes to make!  I enjoy using the fresh cranberries it calls for.  I think it also tastes better the next day so this is an easy dish to prepare the day before Thanksgiving.  

BONUS Recipes

5. Cathy Fisher's Creamy Mushroom Gravy

• Find recipe here

Again, I discovered this gravy last year and will absolutely be making it again.  This is another quick recipe and it's excellent on-top of mashed potatoes.

I add an additional 1/4 C cashews and sauté extra mushrooms in soy sauce before adding the blended gravy mix back to that same pan.  I like the extra mushrooms chunks :)

6. Cathy Fisher's Pumpkin Pie

• Find recipe here

I haven't tried this recipe yet but it looks delicious!  It would be especially yummy with some banana ice-cream on-top.  The picture's of the pie Cathy's blog look amazing so make sure you check it out and comment on how it tastes!

7. For even more recipes including apple pie and appetizers, check out my Pinterest board 'Thanksgiving Recipes'

Take Control Now

What are you making for Thanksgiving?  Have a plant-based recipe to share and inspire?

Answer by clicking 'comments' below.

How to Get Your Husband to Eat Healthier

Whether your husband is dealing with type II diabetes, chronic knee pain or just a big ol’ gut, you know he would be happier, live longer, have a greater sex drive and wouldn’t be in such pain if he would just eat healthier!

What makes it even worse is that sometimes his unhealthy habits rub off on you, so you really want to change him!

How do you get him to change his habits and eat healthier -- more whole plant food and less refined and animal foods?

This question can be answered in just two words... stop trying.

He has to want to do it on his own.  It’s unfortunate, but the people we are closest to and love most are often, the most difficult to help.  

If you nag or nudge him constantly to change his ways, you run the risk of pushing him away... turning him off from eating healthy all together.

The most effective thing you can do is work towards optimal health yourself.  Set a positive example for him and don’t make any comments to him on your journey like “see I can do it, you should do it too” or anything along those lines.

Once you adopt a whole-foods, plant-based diet and begin working (or should I say eating) towards that, you’ll begin to lose weight (without calorie restriction) and it’s likely you’ll lose 1-3 pounds per week.  

Your skin may also improve, your energy will increase, you may become a calmer, less grumpy or depressed person, reduce or eliminate your medication and you may feel sexier.  All while you’re eating loads of delicious food and not restricting how much you eat.

Your hubby will notice your amazing results... he’ll see how quickly and deliciously positive changes will come and this will inspire him to start eating healthy on his own.

And if it doesn't, eating like crap is his choice -- a choice you'll have to accept.  Just remember that taking care of yourself is one of the best things you can do for him and your children.

                Take Control Now Question

Have you ever damaged a relationship or pushed people away from ‘food preaching’?  Have you successfully inspired a friend to change their habits from setting a positive example?

Share your insights by clicking ‘comments’ below.

15 Healthy Halloween Treats for Trick-or-Treaters

Halloween is creeping upon us... mwahahahaha.  Which means, midget robots, witches, ninjas and clowns will be knocking at your door for a trick or a treat.

If you aren’t graced by cuties in costumes for trick or treat night, maybe your students, your children or grandchildren will be engaging in ‘treating’ at school (or your staff at work for that matter).  

If this is the case, I want you to have the opportunity to be prepared with healthy alternative Halloween treats to help you and your kids not eat endless amounts of junk this Halloween.

Why is this even important?  Shouldn’t kids be able to eat candy for Halloween?

Yes, kids should be able to have treats for special occasions.  The problem is your child may eat pounds of candy for Halloween, then Thanksgiving comes, then Christmas, New Years and then Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.  Not to mention all the birthdays in between AND the daily servings of refined foods, meat and dairy you and your child are most likely eating and all of this adds up!

Ridding yourself and your kid's dietary pattern of these foods are a must if you want them to be lean and healthy adults.  It's never too late to start.

And psst… you don't have to not let your kid trick-or-treat or have any Halloween candy, but set boundaries to how much they can eat (a few pieces on Halloween night) and explain to them why you can't eat 5 pounds of candy in one month.

Likewise, kids are more likely to remember the experience of trick-or-treating at your house than the actually candy you give them.  Light the driveway with candles or scare them from the bushes… that will make the below 'treats' more enjoyable for kids.

So, here they are….

15 Halloween Treats for Trick-or-Treaters

1. Mini boxes of raisins (I've done this in the past and parents have appreciated it)
2. Cups of unsweetened applesauce
3. Baggies of dried fruit
4. Trailmix
5. Peanuts in their shells
6. Small packs of pistachios
7. Granola bars
8. Lar bars (like a granola bar, but made only of dried fruit and nuts and pricey)
9. Clementines (draw spooky faces on their skin with a permeant marker.  They look like mini pumpkins!)
10. Bananas (glue on googly eyes to make it a funny face)
11. Packets of popcorn without oil or butter they can pop at home
12. Fruit leathers (I use to get these for Easter as a little girl and loved them)
13. Pencils with a Halloween theme
14. Erasers that look like bats or ghosts
15. Stickers (what kid wouldn't love these!)

Or, you can always just trick them! 

Take Control Now

Which healthy Halloween 'treat' would you serve?  Have another idea?

Please answer by clicking 'comments' below.