Meatless Monday!

Hola! Welcome to my blog! Today I’m writing about the movement known as "Meatless Monday" in this post I will show the benefits of adopting a single day without eating meat for you and for the environment, I will also share super quick and easy plant-based meal ideas! which you can use for the next Monday, or as inspiration if you are new to this lifestyle!

• Why "Meatless Monday"?

  For most in the Western Hemisphere, Monday is the restart of the week, most people are willing to eat healthier and exercise, especially after having had a few days of excesses, and what better way to start it than with a plant-based food? In addition to benefiting your body, you are contributing enormously to conserving our precious environment! Next, I will show you graphically what a Meatless Monday represent…

For health reasons or helping the planet, every Monday is more the people that join this movement! and it’s easier than you would ever think! here, I will give you 10+ super quick and easy recipes that you can try this Monday with ingredients that you probably have already at home! let’s do this!

• Breakfast:

• 1/2 cup of oatmeal + plant-based milk + cinnamon + banana

• * Avocado toast

• 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa (cold) + plant-based milk + 1/2 cup of strawberries or blueberries with maple syrup on top.

• Chia Pudding (2 tbsp of chia seeds + 1/2 cup plant-based milk) + 1 banana or 1/2 cup of strawberries + 1 tbsp of nut butter on top

• Snacks:

• 1/2 cup of Carrots or celery stalks with hummus

• 1 protein bar

• Lunch:

• 1 cup of cooked brown rice + black beans + avocado on top + squeeze a lemon (optional) + * cholula hot sauce (optional)

• 2 cups of mixed greens + cooked quinoa (cold) + avocado + tomato + if you are looking for extra protein add (1 cup of cooked chickpeas) + squeeze a lemon (optional)

• * Peanut Butter Sandwich + Natural Fruit Jam/Jelly

• *Sauteed Vegetable Sandwich (Eggplant + Onion + Tomato + Mushrooms) + Avocado

• Snacks:

• 1 puffed rice cracker + 1 tbsp of nut butter

• 1 large bell pepper, cut into strips +1/4 cup hummus

• 1/4 cup of natural granola + 1/2 cup of plant-based milk

• Black coffee + use 1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil to substitute for cream + plant milk + maple syrup

• Dinner:

• Baked potato + 1 cup black beans + cook separately: onion + broccoli + tomato cut into squares, add on top + plant-based cheese

• 1 cup of cooked lentils + steamed peas and carrots + on a bed of mashed potatoes

• * 1/2 cup baked chickpeas + hummus + tomato + green leaves + inside of a pita bread or “Naan bread”

• 2 Cups of uncooked brown rice + add: 1 cup of peas + 1 cup carrot + 1/2 cup of sweet corn and 1/2 cup of chives, cook everything together + when ready, add: 2 tbsp of soy sauce + 1 tbsp peanut butter + 1 tbsp ginger paste and *Baked cut & cubed tofu (serves 4)

• Nachos: corn tortillas + black beans + pico de gallo (coriander + purple onion + tomato + lemon + pepper) + Jalapeños + plant-based cheese + cholula,

  PS. If you are trying to lose weight substitute corn tortillas for 1 cup of cooked brown rice.

• * Sandwich: I use Ezequiel bread or Udi’s Gluten Free (4g of protein per serving)

• *Cholula: Slightly spicy sauce that enhances the flavor of food (only if you like spicy!)

• *Baked Chickpeas: Put oven at 350 F, in a refractory container place 2 cups of cooked or canned chickpeas + add pepper + salt + paprika + squeeze 2 lemons, cook for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

• *Baked Tofu: Set oven to 370 F, Use firm Tofu, extract excess water under pressure or with a napkin, cut into small squares, place in a refractory and bake for 15 minutes, turn if they detach themselves, otherwise leave it for 5 more minutes, turn, bake 10 more minutes and remove from the oven.

  With this list of food, I hope I have given you an idea of ​​what a person eats with a plant-based diet, these recipes are very simple and do not require much preparation time, they are ingredients that you normally have in your pantry. I use canned beans because they are more practical, but you can also cook 1kg of beans in the "slow cooker". Leave it cooking before going to sleep and in the morning they are ready! In order to have enough available for the rest of the week.

  As you can see there are very few processed ingredients, since I prefer to consume them during the weekend, I try to take 80% of my meals naturally and the rest of 20% in some more processed foods, in another post I will detail which are my favorites and where I find them. I hope you liked my post today! If you motivate yourself to follow the “Meatless Monday” use the hashtag of #MeatlessMonday to inspire and inspire you with the content of the other people who follow this movement, this coming Monday I will share all my meals of the day on my instagram account @candcdesignstudio, follow me to see them! and subscribe in the box below, to let you know every time I have a new post and the best options of the plant-based lifestyle!

  Thank you, Clarissa.