Learn helpful meal planning tips to help you begin or maintain a whole-food, plant-based diet.
Helpful Tips To Initiate Your Plant-Based Journey
Beginning your plant-based journey can be effortless when utilizing meal planning tips. There are many resources available to get you started on your plant-based journey, but one of the most helpful strategies is to use a meal planning sheet with days of the week on it. Using a meal planning sheet can assist you in planning the types of meals you will have on your average days versus busy days. When there is a busy week ahead of you, it might be beneficial to ease your stress and have simpler meals!
To create your meal plan for the week, there are numerous meal planning starter guides, such as the one listed on Forks Over Knives. This meal plan is free for 14 days and offers a variety of flavor-packed meals you can create during the week. Plant-based meal planning apps are also available for your phones. The Beet is one of the many plant-based apps that can be a helpful guide to starting your health journey. This app can assist you by finding vegan restaurants near you, providing recipes to make at home, or even getting advice directly from experts in the plant-based field. There is more information regarding this app here.
Need Help On What To Eat?
Finding meal planning ideas for the week can be simple due to the many available options on websites, cookbooks, and other social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, etc. My website incorporates many delicious plant-based meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks. The food options range from Cauliflower “Mac and Cheese” to Purple Yam chips. More recipes are available on my eCookBook, accessible here.
How To Create Healthy Meals
For a low-fat, plant-based diet, it’s important to minimize or avoid oils when cooking because these tend to be high in fat. Sautéing and stir-frying can be perfected in plant-based meals with little to no oil. Slight amounts of water or broth can be added a tablespoon at a time to thoroughly cook or brown the food you are making while also preventing it from burning.1 There are healthy substitutes for oil and butter for baking. For example, fruit purée, like applesauce or mashed bananas, can replace oil and make your creations taste amazing! Roasting vegetables can be oil-free by adding liquids such as a soy sauce-water mixture or vegetable stock with the proper spices and herbs.1 These strategies are helpful tips to guide you in making delicious plant-based meals.
Final Thoughts
My practical oil-free cooking and meal planning tips are a few ways to stay or become healthy for your plant-based lifestyle. Are there plant-based meal planning tips that you want to share? Feel free to add them to the comments below!
References
- Class 3 Empowered by Food. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. https://pcrm.widencollective.com/portals/yfgoupfc/fightcovid19?ceid=2062442&emci=8006260f-a1c7-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7&emdi=5ec89ff1-cac7-eb11-a7ad-501ac57b8fa7