0:00

Welcome to the Vegans Fitness and

0:00

Nutrition podcast. This is episode

0:00

eight. I am the muscle deficient

0:00

vegan. Here with the protein deficient

0:00

vegan. Do you want to say hi?

0:07

Hi.

0:08

Hi. So happy new year, everybody.

0:08

Today is January 1, 2024. January,

0:08

if you don't know, also starts veganuary,

0:08

which is in the month of January.

0:08

People will try a plantbased diet

0:08

or try out the vegan lifestyle if

0:08

they're maybe thinking about transitioning

0:08

to something like that.

0:27

And did you know a lot of people

0:27

that try out veganuary actually stay

0:27

vegains?

0:31

Oh, I didn't know that. That's pretty cool.

0:32

It's a pretty good ratio.

0:35

Yeah.

0:35

So in the spirit of veganuary, we're

0:35

going to go over some kind of tips

0:35

and tricks for going plant based.

0:41

Over the years, I've gotten a lot

0:41

of questions about don't you have

0:41

cravings for meat and dairy products?

0:41

Which I think is a pretty normal

0:41

question because a lot of people

0:41

are omnivorous before they decide

0:41

to go plant based. So we've put together

0:41

a list of our favorite swaps for

0:41

condiments, meat, cheeses.

1:00

So for condiments, we've got follow

1:00

your heart mayonnaise and follow

1:00

your heart ranch dressing. You can

1:00

find both of those at the grocery

1:00

store. They're both really good substitutions.

1:08

Yeah, I think I like the ranch dressing

1:08

even better than hidden valley, honestly.

1:12

Yeah.

1:12

The ranch dressing is actually really

1:12

good. Then for some meat alternatives,

1:12

there's a brand called gardene. G-A-R-D-E-I-N.

1:12

That makes a whole lot of stuff like

1:12

fish fillets. Fish fillets, chicken

1:12

tenders. Obviously not real fish

1:12

or chicken. Vegan substitutions.

1:28

Crab cakes.

1:29

Other crab cakes.

1:30

I think their seafood alternatives

1:30

are probably the best we've found.

1:34

Yeah.

1:34

They also have a lot of good fake

1:34

chicken stuff.

1:37

Yeah.

1:37

There's also a cool brand called

1:37

meaty that's kind of new, but they

1:37

use mushroom root and make it kind

1:37

of like a fake pulled meat type situation.

1:46

Yeah.

1:46

Honestly, the texture is so close

1:46

for what I can remember that I don't

1:46

like it.

1:52

I like it. It's really good in tacos.

1:54

The next one is Morningstar, which

1:54

has been around Forever. And when

1:54

I was a vegetarian and a little kid,

1:54

I had Morningstar all the time. They

1:54

still have a lot of really good vegan

1:54

meat alternatives, like their veggie

1:54

corn dogs are fire.

2:08

Yeah.

2:09

Also, you've probably heard of beyond

2:09

and impossible for burger patties.

2:09

I think they're pretty interchangeable.

2:09

They both are patties of fake meat.

2:09

So you can use them the same way

2:09

you would use any other patty of

2:09

meat.

2:22

I think they also have, like, sausages

2:22

and stuff. Yeah, not really my cup

2:22

of tea. I just don't really like

2:22

that stuff.

2:29

They're not outstanding, but they

2:29

fit the bill. If you really need

2:29

to substitute in hamburgers. Yeah.

2:33

If you're really missing it, I think

2:33

it'll do.

2:35

Yeah.

2:36

Also, for something like sandwiches,

2:36

tofurky deli slices are pretty good.

2:36

It's basically tofu shaped like deli

2:36

turkey slices. Yeah.

2:44

The macros are good too, I think.

2:45

Yeah, they have a pretty high protein.

2:47

Yeah.

2:48

Also plant based jerkies. There's

2:48

the Louisville Vegan jerky company.

2:48

They make a lot of good vegan jerky.

2:48

One of my favorite flavors is the

2:48

smoky Carolina barbecue. And for

2:48

another primary protein source, Satan

2:48

is a great option. We really like

2:48

the blackbird brand of Satan. You

2:48

can get it in some stores, but we

2:48

just order it from their website.

2:48

They do mail order. They have a really

2:48

good barbecue flavor.

3:10

Oh, yeah, that one's my favorite.

3:11

Yeah.

3:12

And the original flavor is good.

3:12

We use in, like, stir fries and stuff

3:12

like that.

3:15

Yeah.

3:15

The barbecue one, we just straight up eat.

3:17

Yeah.

3:18

Like little cave people.

3:20

Yeah, it's really easy to cook. If

3:20

you're looking for a meat substitute

3:20

that's really easy to cook, they're

3:20

actually precooked, so you just kind

3:20

of heat them back up in a pan or

3:20

something, and you can just eat it

3:20

like a big pile of pulled meat. Next,

3:20

we have some cheese substitutions.

3:20

So follow your heart has a bunch

3:20

of good cheeses. One of the ones

3:20

we really like is their parmesan.

3:36

Yeah, it browns really good in the

3:36

oven, so we like to use it on, like,

3:36

casseroles. It's good on pizzas too.

3:42

Yeah.

3:42

And that's like a grated parmesan.

3:44

I wouldn't use it in anything cold.

3:44

Like, you definitely want to heat

3:44

this one up because the texture is

3:44

so on point when it's baked.

3:51

Also, if you're looking for a block

3:51

of parmesan, we like violife for

3:51

that.

3:55

Yes.

3:55

And we also like peaceful rebel.

3:58

Oh, yeah.

3:58

They have a pretty good Parmesan

3:58

block. And it's made out of tofu,

3:58

so it doesn't have, like, crazy amounts

3:58

of protein, but it definitely has

3:58

more than any of the other ones.

4:05

Yeah, that's a new one we've just

4:05

recently tried, but I really like

4:05

it. Also, for shredded cheeses, like

4:05

your mexican cheese or shredded cheddars,

4:05

we typically use violife for those.

4:05

They've actually got a mexican flavor

4:05

and a cheddar flavor and a couple

4:05

of other ones as well. Mozzarella.

4:05

I think they even have a mozzarella.

4:22

Yeah, we really like on, like, nachos,

4:22

quesadillas. I also like adding it

4:22

to tofu scramble. It gives it, like,

4:22

a little bit extra texture.

4:30

Yeah, it kind of holds it together really well.

4:31

Yeah.

4:32

Daya also has decent shredded cheese.

4:35

It used to suck, but it's gotten

4:35

a lot better.

4:37

Yeah, I agree with that. And then

4:37

for making pizzas and casseroles,

4:37

the mioko's liquid mozzarella, it

4:37

is so good.

4:46

It browns, but it's also, like, nice

4:46

and creamy. And you don't normally

4:46

get that with mozzarella. Normally

4:46

it's, like, oily and gets kind of,

4:46

like, liquidy and disgusting. But

4:46

this one bakes really nice and it

4:46

tastes great on pizza or casseroles.

4:46

And they didn't really have them

4:46

in stores, but I've seen them in

4:46

a lot more stores now.

5:06

Yeah, it was really hard to find

5:06

other than just ordering online for

5:06

a while. But we've seen it a couple

5:06

of places now. Also, mioko's has

5:06

some artisan cheeses, so there's

5:06

a couple of special ones we use for

5:06

different sauces and things like

5:06

that.

5:17

The sun dried tomato one is super

5:17

awesome because you can just literally

5:17

heat it up with your favorite plant

5:17

based milk and you have an instant

5:17

pasta sauce.

5:26

Yeah.

5:27

One of our favorites is nuts for

5:27

cheese. They have some really good

5:27

artisan cheese wedges, and they all

5:27

taste really good on, like, crackers.

5:27

They just spread really nice.

5:35

Yeah.

5:36

And there's a company here local

5:36

to Chicago called cheese.

5:38

And. Thank you.

5:39

That has a bunch of really good options.

5:39

They can also be found in foods,

5:39

I think, right?

5:44

Yes.

5:45

Yeah. And if you're lucky enough

5:45

to live close to Chicago, they have

5:45

pop ups and you can try out other

5:45

random crap they don't sell at the

5:45

store.

5:51

Yeah.

5:52

Also, if you like feta cheese, follow

5:52

your heart has some feta crumbles

5:52

that you can put on pretty much all

5:52

the same things.

5:58

Yeah, I really like it on salads

5:58

or like, even heat it up. It's really

5:58

good.

6:02

Yeah.

6:02

And then cream cheese. Violife has

6:02

a cream cheese, but also Philadelphia

6:02

has some cream cheeses coming out

6:02

now that are vegan. And those are

6:02

pretty good.

6:12

Yeah.

6:12

I feel like violife and Philadelphia

6:12

are really similar. Really good for

6:12

bagels. Probably don't cook with

6:12

these because they're coconut oil

6:12

based and they will turn into actual

6:12

liquid. So if you're going to cook,

6:12

probably use the Miyoko's cream cheese,

6:12

and the texture is, like, a little

6:12

more grainy than the other ones.

6:12

It's not as smooth, but it tastes

6:12

good.

6:33

Yeah.

6:33

And then if you're looking for sliced

6:33

cheese, we don't use this very often,

6:33

but follow your heart does have some

6:33

sliced cheese. And actually, Kraft

6:33

just recently came out with sliced

6:33

vegan cheeses, so they were actually

6:33

pretty good. I think that's probably

6:33

the go to from now.

6:46

Yeah.

6:47

They don't melt exactly the same

6:47

as real cheese unless if you add

6:47

water to your pan after you put it

6:47

on, like, a burger or something,

6:47

and then put the cheese on top, and

6:47

then you add, like, a spritz of water

6:47

and cover the pan. It has enough

6:47

humidity to actually get the cheese

6:47

to melt, and then it's fucking awesome.

7:05

Yeah.

7:07

All right, so that's all the cheese

7:07

options we have. There's a lot of

7:07

other ones out there. Those are just

7:07

the ones we've tried a lot of them.

7:07

So those are just the ones we kind

7:07

of keep coming back to.

7:16

Yeah.

7:17

Next we have a bunch of snack options.

7:17

So one of the weird things when you

7:17

kind of switch to going vegan or

7:17

plant based is the big substitutions,

7:17

like, the ones we just talked about

7:17

are a problem. But really day to

7:17

day. One of the trickier things is

7:17

trying to figure out what snacks

7:17

you like now.

7:32

Just like most of the bigger snack

7:32

brands are not vegan, and sometimes

7:32

they'll just have, like, tiny amounts

7:32

of milk powder or something that's

7:32

in them and that makes them not vegan,

7:32

even though everything else is vegan.

7:32

So that's annoying.

7:43

Yeah, we do have a couple we found

7:43

that are good and more are coming

7:43

out every day.

7:47

Right.

7:47

But there's a brand called lesser

7:47

evil that actually has really good

7:47

snacks. I think you like the white

7:47

cheddar popcorn a lot.

7:53

Yeah.

7:54

Not all of their snacks are vegan,

7:54

but they do have a couple really

7:54

good vegan ones.

7:58

Yeah.

7:58

Okay. Also, if you like chocolate,

7:58

there's a lot of really good vegan

7:58

chocolate.

8:03

Now.

8:03

Plant based Reese's cups, plant based

8:03

Hershey bars, lent chocolate has

8:03

a couple of oat based chocolates.

8:03

They actually have some new oat truffles

8:03

that are really good. And then there's

8:03

another brand called Unreal that

8:03

does some chocolates. They have some

8:03

peanut butter cups and some chocolate

8:03

bars also.

8:19

Yep. And then for ice cream, we have

8:19

a lot of ice cream choices nowadays.

8:19

And I really like the Ben and Jerry's

8:19

non dairy ones. I feel like they're

8:19

just as good as the original dairy

8:19

ones.

8:29

Those are my favorite. And I can't

8:29

tell a difference between those and

8:29

the dairy ones.

8:33

I can't either. And then briars has

8:33

a really good non dairy vanilla that's

8:33

made with oat milk.

8:39

Oh, yeah, that vanilla is super good.

8:41

I think it's better than any vanilla I've ever had.

8:43

Yeah, I think the briars oat milk

8:43

vanilla is like the ice cream you

8:43

should put on top of a pie or something.

8:48

Yeah, it's for sure. And then Nadamu

8:48

has pints that are really good, lots

8:48

of different flavors. So delicious.

8:48

Has good ice cream bars. And then

8:48

we actually just tried a brand that's

8:48

pretty new called wicked. And their

8:48

ice cream bars are pretty good.

9:02

Oh, yeah, the wicked ones were really good.

9:04

They had a strawberry one that was

9:04

super white.

9:07

Yeah, Berry white was the flavor.

9:09

Awesome.

9:09

It was really good. And then for

9:09

cookies, Oreo has some vegan flavors.

9:09

Nutter butters are vegan. And then

9:09

there's a brand called Sweet Lorenz.

9:09

It's just like cookie dough you need

9:09

to bake, but they're vegan. And then

9:09

there's a cool snack called drizzlelicious.

9:09

We get off Amazon, but it's basically

9:09

just like a tiny rice cake drizzled

9:09

in vegan chocolate.

9:28

Yeah.

9:28

And they come in like 100 calorie

9:28

snack packs. So they're really good

9:28

if you're trying to manage your calories

9:28

too, but still want something sweet.

9:36

Right.

9:36

So now that we got all the very unhealthy

9:36

snacks out of the way, I mean, obviously

9:36

we don't eat a lot of this stuff,

9:36

but everybody's got to have something

9:36

around you. You're going to go crazy.

9:36

So anyway, we also have protein bars.

9:36

So vegan protein bars are varied.

9:51

Yes.

9:52

And we very much disagree with each

9:52

other on protein bars.

9:56

Yeah.

9:57

So I actually like the no cow.

10:00

Protein bars because he has horrible

10:00

taste.

10:03

But they're like a soft chew protein

10:03

bar instead of like a hard, dry protein

10:03

bar.

10:09

They're so disgusting, actually.

10:11

Well, they have a lot of flavors

10:11

and I really like them.

10:14

Anyways, it's okay to be wrong sometimes,

10:14

but if you want something that tastes

10:14

good, I would go with misfits or

10:14

the bear bell. Plant based bars.

10:22

Yeah, bear bell are actually really

10:22

good. Not as good as no cow, but.

10:25

Bear bell are good.

10:25

Okay.

10:28

Also, you're probably eventually

10:28

going to want to go eat at a restaurant

10:28

and not make food or eat food at

10:28

your house at least once or twice

10:28

a year. Right. So it's kind of tricky

10:28

to find vegan options at some restaurants.

10:28

There are a couple, though, that

10:28

are pretty reliable for being able

10:28

to go and pick up some food relatively

10:28

quickly and be consistent.

10:45

Yeah.

10:45

Like if you're traveling or you're

10:45

desperate, taco Bell or chipotle

10:45

have pretty decent options. And then

10:45

if you don't already have this app,

10:45

you should get it. It's called happy

10:45

cow and it's kind of like Google

10:45

reviews, but it's just for vegans

10:45

and vegetarians and it has saved

10:45

us many times.

11:03

Yeah.

11:04

Happy cow, ever since we found it,

11:04

has really changed the game on how

11:04

we can eat while we travel. I mean,

11:04

it's still not amazing.

11:10

Right.

11:10

It's still hard to find places, but

11:10

happy cow will at least show you

11:10

all the options, right?

11:14

It doesn't create options, but it

11:14

shows you what's there.

11:17

Yeah.

11:17

And there's actually, in a lot of

11:17

places, there's a lot more there

11:17

than you would think. So it's been

11:17

super helpful and highly recommend.

11:23

The next thing you might run into

11:23

is just social settings, like whether

11:23

it's family gatherings, social outings,

11:23

work functions and stuff, where there

11:23

just aren't going to be plant based

11:23

options. So it's important to have

11:23

conversations up front, like letting

11:23

people know your dietary restrictions

11:23

or bringing your own food. But especially

11:23

if you're going to do it long term,

11:23

you definitely want to have a plan

11:23

for those.

11:44

Yeah, I agree. And also the bulk

11:44

of what you're probably going to

11:44

be eating as a vegan is going to

11:44

be stuff that you cook yourself.

11:44

There's not enough packaged, prepared,

11:44

especially healthy food out there

11:44

to really sustain you a lot.

11:56

Especially.

11:56

I mean, it's going to be expensive if you try to do it that way.

11:58

Yeah.

11:58

Especially the meat and dairy. Substitutions

11:58

can get really pricey.

12:02

Yeah.

12:02

So I mean, you really want to probably

12:02

get pretty comfortable with cooking

12:02

your own food and how to use spices.

12:02

And I mean, you definitely go out

12:02

there and experiment, try some things.

12:02

We've tried some of that and it's

12:02

worked out pretty well. But just

12:02

get it a little comfortable. You

12:02

can make some easy things at first.

12:02

Obviously, we have a lot of recipes

12:02

on the website you can go through

12:02

and try, but you should really get

12:02

adventurous with cooking your own

12:02

food.

12:24

Yeah, for sure. Especially since

12:24

a lot of restaurants, the vegan options

12:24

are trash.

12:29

Yes.

12:30

And you can almost always make something

12:30

better at home than you can at a

12:30

restaurant. Unless you're going to

12:30

like a vegan specific restaurant

12:30

where they actually have vegan chefs.

12:37

Yeah.

12:38

Most standard restaurants, the vegan

12:38

option is just to take all the protein

12:38

and calories off of the dish and

12:38

give you the lettuce that's left

12:38

over.

12:45

Right. That's a very sad way to live.

12:48

Speaking of protein. So protein is

12:48

one thing that you obviously will

12:48

want to focus on, especially if you

12:48

have fitness goals. And on a vegan

12:48

diet, your protein sources are going

12:48

to be a lot different than they are.

12:48

Basically, none of the stuff you

12:48

used for protein, probably as an

12:48

omnivore, is going to be stuff you

12:48

can use for protein on a vegan diet.

13:04

Yeah.

13:04

So if you are switching from omnivore

13:04

to plant based and you're just taking

13:04

out all of your animal proteins and

13:04

all of your animal derived products

13:04

and you're not adding in anything

13:04

new, like plant based proteins, you

13:04

are probably going to be deficient.

13:18

Yeah.

13:19

I mean, swapping to beans and lentils

13:19

will only get you so far, and it's

13:19

probably sufficient protein to be

13:19

healthy, but it's going to be a pretty

13:19

low protein diet unless you intentionally

13:19

seek out the primary protein sources

13:19

that vegans use, which are like TVP,

13:19

tofu, satan, tempeh and wheat gluten

13:19

are really the primary, very high

13:19

protein percentage sources. And if

13:19

you are unclear with how to use TVP

13:19

or tofu, which are two of our favorites,

13:19

we've actually got dedicated articles

13:19

on the website about each of those

13:19

now.

13:50

Yes.

13:51

And creative ways to use them.

13:53

Yeah.

13:54

Now onto plant based versus vegan.

13:54

They're used pretty interchangeably

13:54

and dietary wise they're almost the

13:54

same, but other intents and purposes,

13:54

they are not the same.

14:06

So plant based usually does mean

14:06

in terms of food, it does mean vegan,

14:06

but some things that are marked plant

14:06

based, or even some people who say

14:06

I'm following a plant based diet,

14:06

that can mean predominantly plant

14:06

based, but they still include some

14:06

animal products. So you do want to

14:06

be careful. Not everything that says

14:06

plant based is 100% vegan, and plant

14:06

based really just focuses on the

14:06

food. So if somebody says they're

14:06

plant based, they're probably not

14:06

following a vegan lifestyle and things

14:06

outside of food.

14:30

Yeah, it's usually for health purposes.

14:30

You might go plant based or maybe

14:30

like environmental impact. Right

14:30

now, veganism, that's a lifestyle.

14:30

And people are vegans for ethical

14:30

reasons around animals, which we

14:30

won't go into all that here. Lots

14:30

of good articles you could read,

14:30

but we will talk about some of the

14:30

things you might want to look out

14:30

for if you are trying out veganism,

14:30

because there's a lot of hidden animal

14:30

derived stuff in a lot of.

14:56

Different things really blow your

14:56

mind sometimes. Like why did they

14:56

use this and this thing.

15:02

It makes no sense. Like clothing,

15:02

accessories, shoes. You really got

15:02

to be careful what you buy specifically

15:02

around like shoes and purses.

15:11

The obvious thing is leather.

15:12

Right.

15:12

But there's way more than that.

15:13

Oh yeah.

15:13

There's like silk and down or feathers.

15:13

Suede, animal derived glues. Yeah,

15:13

the glues and dyes.

15:20

Crazy.

15:21

Yeah.

15:21

So like shoes, you want to make sure

15:21

you're getting vegan shoes. Even

15:21

if they don't use leather, they might

15:21

still not be vegan. So there are

15:21

lots of good comprehensive lists

15:21

out there that talk about which shoes,

15:21

which purses or leather. I don't

15:21

know a lot about shoes and purses.

15:21

So you're going to have to google

15:21

that.

15:36

Some of the brands are coming around.

15:36

Some of the bigger brands, like Nike,

15:36

do have a couple of vegan shoes.

15:40

Hoca has some really good athletic

15:40

shoes. The next one is like beauty

15:40

products and cosmetics. Those can

15:40

be kind of hard to figure out because

15:40

you might see like a cruelty free

15:40

label, which actually doesn't necessarily

15:40

mean it's vegan. It could just mean

15:40

they don't test on animals, but they

15:40

still use animal products, which

15:40

is bizarre. Yeah, but that's just

15:40

something. They're also like good

15:40

lists for what is and isn't vegan.

15:40

And a lot of stores have like a filter.

15:40

You can filter products by. What's

15:40

vegan now?

16:09

Oh, that's pretty cool. I know that's

16:09

historically been kind of one of

16:09

the harder things to track down the

16:09

source of and what was really done

16:09

through production and things like

16:09

that.

16:16

Yeah.

16:17

On food there are some hidden non

16:17

vegan ingredients like honey, gelatin,

16:17

anything fortified with lanolin.

16:17

You'd find that in like cereals.

16:17

So basically those aren't vegan.

16:17

Watch out for those. Pretty much

16:17

includes any gummy bears, gummy worms.

16:17

They do make vegan ones, but just

16:17

stuff to keep an eye out for.

16:37

So a lot of alcohol is also not vegan.

16:37

Beers and wines and liquors, some

16:37

of those can be vegan, some of them

16:37

can't. I think your best bet is probably

16:37

just to google the ones you like

16:37

and see whether they're vegan or

16:37

not. There's a lot of nuance in there.

16:51

We don't drink enough to give you

16:51

advice on that. Another weird one

16:51

is toilet paper. That just blows

16:51

my mind. But most toilet papers are

16:51

not vegan.

17:01

Yeah, that was really surprising,

17:01

actually.

17:03

Yeah, so I mean, you still have to

17:03

wipe in public, but like at home.

17:03

Maybe try a vegan toilet paper brand

17:03

we really like. Who gives a crap?

17:11

So yeah, if this sounds interesting

17:11

to you and you're curious about some

17:11

of these swaps and different types

17:11

of substitutions and just generally

17:11

about plant based. We actually put

17:11

together a free ebook on the website.

17:11

I'll put the link to it in the show

17:11

notes. Or you can just go to the

17:11

website and you'll see a pop up and

17:11

you can get it that way. It also

17:11

includes a macro cheat sheet for

17:11

your macronutrients. Like we talked

17:11

about last week. It's got a weekly

17:11

meal plan inspiration, which is basically

17:11

like a base weekly meal plan, but

17:11

you can add some stuff to it to get

17:11

a little more calories out of it.

17:39

Yeah, it's like each day is around

17:39

1500 to 1750 calories with about

17:39

120 grams of protein. That's obviously

17:39

not going to work for everyone. Most

17:39

people are going to eat more than

17:39

that just to show you how.

17:50

To get your protein. At least guaranteed

17:50

using some of our recipes, admittedly.

17:50

But you do get pie almost every day

17:50

with this meal plan.

17:59

No, you get it every day.

18:00

Cheesecake.

18:01

Yeah, you get pie or cheesecake every

18:01

day with this meal plan. Still hit

18:01

your protein goals and your calorie

18:01

goals and have room to spare on your

18:01

calories. So beat that.

18:08

What more could you want?

18:09

Right?

18:10

So we also have twelve recipes in

18:10

the book. You might have already

18:10

heard of some of them because we

18:10

talk about them here also. But if

18:10

you're new to the podcast, we'll

18:10

talk about kind of which ones we've

18:10

included in the book here for the

18:10

meal plan. So we've got first a blueberry

18:10

high protein blueberry smoothie bowl.

18:25

Yes.

18:25

And that's just normal smoothie bowl,

18:25

except we used extra firm silk and

18:25

tofu. And you could of course use

18:25

this recipe as like a base and switch

18:25

out whatever fruit you want to use.

18:35

Next up, we've got a tofu scramble.

18:35

So if you're used to scrambling eggs

18:35

in the morning as an omnivore, tofu

18:35

scramble is a really great substitution,

18:35

just as easy to make and super delicious.

18:35

You can even make it look like eggs

18:35

by putting some turmeric on it.

18:47

Yeah, and you could make a pretty

18:47

big batch of it and just kind of

18:47

eat it throughout the week.

18:52

We also have TVP protein, pumpkin

18:52

craisin muffins.

18:55

These are super good.

18:56

They are super good. We were a little

18:56

surprised the first time we tried

18:56

TVP for muffins at how well they

18:56

turned out. But I mean, they're just

18:56

as good as any other breakfast muffin.

18:56

And they're healthy.

19:07

Yeah.

19:07

Keep you full for some lunch options.

19:07

We have a high protein crab rangoon

19:07

dip. You could put this in a tortilla

19:07

or eat it with tortilla chips, but

19:07

it's a really good, easy lunch option.

19:07

And you can pack it and you won't

19:07

need to heat it up because you eat

19:07

it cold.

19:22

This is also a good one for maybe

19:22

a snack. We've also got a high protein

19:22

black bean pumpkin quesadilla. So

19:22

if you like quesadillas, we got you

19:22

covered here. Black bean and pumpkin.

19:22

If you haven't tried a lot of pumpkin

19:22

flavored things, you might be like,

19:22

what the hell is that going to taste

19:22

like? But I can tell you it tastes

19:22

really great.

19:37

Pumpkin.

19:38

You can't really taste the pumpkin

19:38

when you cook it like this. It just

19:38

kind of makes it a little sweeter

19:38

and more moist.

19:42

Yeah.

19:43

And adds some veggies.

19:44

Yeah.

19:44

It's really delicious, though.

19:46

It's super quick to make, too. Next

19:46

up is a high protein tofu salad.

19:46

This has a ranch dressing that we

19:46

actually made out of tofu. And then

19:46

it also has tofu crumbles. So I really

19:46

like it. I think the ranch tastes

19:46

pretty similar to normal ranch dressing.

20:01

Yeah, it's really good. I like it

20:01

better than the follow your heart

20:01

ranch we talked about earlier, honestly.

20:01

But you had to make it every time.

20:09

Yeah.

20:09

And it doesn't keep for like two

20:09

months or anything.

20:11

Yeah.

20:11

Because of the tofu, it doesn't stay

20:11

as long as the normal ranch does.

20:11

Next, we have a high protein, garlicky

20:11

mushroom Alfredo. So if you like

20:11

pasta, this is like a nice, heavy

20:11

pasta that's going to keep you full,

20:11

but it's high protein. Got a lot

20:11

of garlic in it. If you like mushrooms,

20:11

this is loaded with them.

20:27

Yes.

20:28

And mushrooms are pretty good in

20:28

protein. That's true.

20:30

Yeah.

20:30

And delicious.

20:31

And delicious.

20:32

So good.

20:33

Also got a high protein pasta primavera.

20:33

So this has a ton of vegains into

20:33

it. And what's the sauce?

20:39

The sauce is made out of extra firm

20:39

silk and tofu, too. It's kind of

20:39

like a cheesy Alfredo sauce.

20:44

Yeah.

20:44

But this one's fun because you can

20:44

basically customize it any way you

20:44

want. Like if there are veggies on

20:44

this that you don't like, you can

20:44

swap them out with something else.

20:44

Make different kind every week.

20:56

Yeah.

20:56

Mix and match. We also have a high

20:56

protein stuffed portobello mushroom.

20:56

So this is basically a huge portobello

20:56

mushroom cap stuffed with a bunch

20:56

of TVP.

21:04

Yeah.

21:04

And parmesan and like spinach.

21:07

Yeah.

21:07

It's freaking delicious.

21:08

Yeah.

21:09

These mushrooms, when they cook this

21:09

way are just like so moist.

21:12

Yeah.

21:12

And you don't have to rehydrate the

21:12

TVP first. You just mix it in and,

21:12

I don't know, it cooks really well.

21:19

Yeah.

21:19

And it takes like five minutes of

21:19

actual work.

21:22

Yeah, pretty fast. And then into

21:22

the dessert snack section, if you

21:22

want to call it that. I mean, they're

21:22

high protein, but high protein dessert

21:22

is a thing.

21:29

No.

21:29

So we got a high protein, triple

21:29

chocolate cheesecake.

21:32

I love this thing more than anything.

21:36

Yeah, it's really good.

21:39

Yeah.

21:39

I think I can sit down and eat this

21:39

whole thing at once if I really needed

21:39

to.

21:42

Oh, yeah, me too. Easily. I could

21:42

also eat the next one, which is the

21:42

peanut butter chocolate protein cheesecake.

21:47

Yeah, peanut butter chocolate. Basically

21:47

a big, high protein Reese's pie.

21:52

Yeah.

21:52

It's ridiculous. I can't even believe

21:52

it has, like, tofu in it. It's stupid.

21:57

Good.

21:57

Actually, we got our family to try

21:57

the chocolate cheesecake.

22:00

Yeah.

22:01

And they liked it.

22:02

Yeah.

22:03

And again, no protein powder in these.

22:03

It's all tofu TVP. And the peanut

22:03

butter one actually uses a pb fit

22:03

peanut butter powder, which is still

22:03

natural. It's just kind of crushed

22:03

up peanuts.

22:15

Yeah.

22:15

I don't know if they take some of

22:15

the fat out, I think. Yeah, it's

22:15

really good, though.

22:18

Next up, we have a chocolate and

22:18

vanilla pudding pie. Basically, we've

22:18

got separate recipes for chocolate

22:18

pudding and vanilla pudding using

22:18

silk and tofu. So we just kind of

22:18

combine those together into a pudding

22:18

pie. And then we've got this, like

22:18

peanut butter powdered sugar crumble

22:18

and we just sprinkle it on top and

22:18

it goes on like a normal cookie crust.

22:18

So it's really good. If you like

22:18

pudding pies, it's only.

22:39

20% protein, but you pair it with

22:39

some of the higher protein dishes

22:39

throughout the day and you can get

22:39

away with it.

22:45

Yeah.

22:45

Well, where are you going to find another pudding pie that's anywhere near 20% protein?

22:48

I don't think they make this.

22:49

So if you were going to try out the

22:49

meal plan that we put in the ebook,

22:49

it's also got a shopping list included

22:49

so that you can just get everything

22:49

at once in one trip. All right, so

22:49

that's it for this week. Next week

22:49

we are going to talk about micronutrients.

22:49

Hopefully. I know if you have been

22:49

following along, maybe you were expecting

22:49

that this week, but there's a lot

22:49

going on in micronutrients, so make

22:49

sure we have time to kind of get

22:49

that information into a form that

22:49

makes sense and just get the relevant

22:49

things out of it for you. So we will

22:49

try to tackle that.

23:14

Between now and then.

23:16

So check out our website and if you

23:16

have any questions, as always, feel

23:16

free to reach out. You can reach

23:16

out through the contact form on the

23:16

website, through the social medias

23:16

we have in the show notes or at [email protected].

23:16

Well, do you want to say bye?

23:30

Bye?

23:30

Bye, everybody.