“I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, ‘I love you.’
There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
―Maya Angelou
Love, love, love. Valentine's Day is swiftly approaching, and I'm ready for it. Not that I have any plans, but this year has a special meaning for me, because now I can fully and completely experience self-love.
It started three years ago when I made a decision to change my life. It all began with a plant-based diet and turned into a journey of health, high self-esteem and spiritual enlightenment. For the first time in my existence, I saw myself through my own eyes and not others. I treated my precious body with the respect it deserved.
Many believe that we can love ourselves and still put unhealthy food in our bodies. Food that makes us susceptible to chronic disease, fatigue, obesity, depression and even death. Can we love ourselves and still do that to our bodies?
Perhaps you can commemorate this Valentine's Day by connecting with the real love that's waiting for you. The healthy, vibrant love you have for yourself and your body.
Celebrate this day of love by gently examining your food choices. Review them with patience, tenderness and emotional honesty, and never, ever, feel guilty for being sick.
This honest evaluation will jumpstart your journey to loving yourself. So, on February 15, begin your healthy, plant-based diet. Everyday you stick to a healthy plant-based diet, get up in the morning, and look at yourself in the mirror and say “I love myself.” I guarantee, it will change your life, and I am here to help you every step of the way.
Now own to some delicious and extraordinarily easy plant-based, cauliflower fried rice. Lets first talk about the health benefits of cauliflower. Cauliflower is jam-packed with Vitamin C, which helps protect cells.
It is high in anti-oxidants, fiber and vitamins B and K.
With all that said, I would call it a super-food. Grated, it takes on a rice like quality and only takes a few minutes to cook. I combined it with some high protein brown rice, my favorite veggies and some traditional Chinese flavorings. So yummy and easy to prepare.
Hope you enjoy this cauliflower fried rice as much as I did.
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Cauliflower Fried Rice
- 1 small head of cauliflower
- ½ cup brown rice
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed (or fresh)
- ½ cup frozen organic corn, thawed (or fresh)
- 1 small white onion, chopped or half of large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 Fresno chili, chopped (optional)
- 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce (to taste)
- ¼ cup vegetable broth for sautéing
- couple drops of sesame oil (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Rinse brown rice and add to one cup of water. Bring to boil and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until all the water is absorbed and rice is cooked. Keeping a careful eye on it.
- Remove outer leaves of cauliflower. Soak and rinse cauliflower. Drain and dry. Grate the head of cauliflower over the course side of a large grater. This should yield about 2½ cups of rice like cauliflower.
- Heat the vegetable broth in a large saute pan. Add the onions and fresno chili and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Adding more vegetable broth if sticking.
- Add the riced cauliflower and soy sauce and cook for three minutes. Add the cooked brown rice, corn, peas and sesame oil and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.
- Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a leafy green or green beans.
I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian yet, but am leaning towards that way. My question, my main guilty pleasure is a steak and fried onion sandwich….I can find the cheese alternative *which I usually dom’t even choose to add), but what about something out there that honestly tastes similar to steak? Please no mushroom alternatives! I can tolerate the taste of few wild mushroom, but most make me geg (along with parsnips and kale). On the up-side though, I will also gag on veal and lamb! Any suggestions would be helpful!. Thank you!
Yes, find yourself some Gardein brand “beefless tips” they are in chunks, perfect for steak sandwiches, kabobs, stir fry, etc.
I too am trying to make my way to a vegan diet, but as a type 2 diabetic I find it difficult to incorporate more grains without raising my blood sugar. I’ve tweeked my diet in the last couple of years by eliminating almost all grains, so that I’m off all meds for my diabetes & I don’t want to screw that up. Any suggestions?
Hi Pam – First off congratulations on reversing your type-2 diabetes with diet. Great job. When you say all grains – does that include whole grains? or did you give up refined grains like processed breads, muffins etc.? At any rate, perhaps you could slowly introduce some low-glycemic grains that have major nutritional benefits for a vegan diet like quinoa, spelt, buckwheat, barley and bulgar. I would do it slowly to make sure it doesn’t spike your blood sugar but I have a feeling those might work for you. Thanks for reaching out and thanks for being part of the Ordinary Vegan community.
Hi Nancy…yes, I’m talking all grains, including whole grains. I do, on occasion, eat about 1/4 c. of whole grain rice, quinoa, etc. I religiously followed the American Diabetes Association diet for the first 6 years after being diagnosed, only to find myself constantly having to deal with blood sugar spikes, resulting in my physician adding yet another med or increasing the dose of my existing meds. Having been a nutrition consultant for several years for a primary care doc, I followed “the rules” of nutrition to the letter, until I decided to experiment with what I thought might work better for me. Trial & error led me to the solution, at least for me, to eliminate grains. I have always exercised on a daily basis, so that didn’t change. Within 6 months, I was off all medications for diabetes & was down to only one pill for mild hypertension. Fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds & lean animal protein have been my salvation. Altho I’d rather not eat animal protein, I’m at a loss as to what to substitute without adding more carbs. I do try to stick to seafood for protein as much as possible rather than land animals. Thanks for your input. Pam
Quinoa is technically not a grain – it is considered a seed so that might work. Sweet potatoes, eggplant, mushrooms and squash could make a good healthy alternative although it already sounds like you are including those healthy veggies in your diet. Do you do organic tofu? House Foods makes some delicious low-carb tofu noodles when you are craving some pasta. I will be posting some tofu noodle recipes later this month. Good luck Pam – wishing you the best!
Melody, realistically, no steak isn’t reproducable like you are thinking. But seitan and other meat substitutes work very well during the transition period. Faux cheeses are something you’ll have to experiment with. One brand that is very good is Daiya, but there are a bunch of other brands too. They come in slices and shreds depending on your use for them. Join the fast growing world of a plant based diet and reap the many benefits of doing so. Just keep in mind, it’s easy to be a junk food vegan too, but it’s not necessarily the healthiest. Whole food-fruits, veggies, beans/legumes, and whole grains like quinoa will fill you up with tons of fiber, and won’t leave you hungry, and will make your heart healthier and potentially prevent/reverse some chronic diseases along the way! Good luck!
Thank you very much for the reply! I didn’t know what seitan was and looked it up…does not look appetizing, but neither does raw meat of any kind! So it’s worth giving it a try. I think that my biggest downfall will be that I rarely cook at home…I’m gone for work 5 days a week for an average of 11 hours. I don’t even eat dinner except on the weekends. Breakfast is easy to make changes to, but lunch is served by our cafeteria (I work in a hospital)…and that is my main meal of the day for usually less that $2.00 plus free fruit is always available. Unfortunately, they don’t serve any vegan dishes other that a simple side salad or veggie. Although they do have veggie or black bean burgers a few time a month (both of which are good) ! I can’t guarantee that I will ever go 100% vegan, but I think that I can go at least 98%. I plan to use the very few non-vegan foods that I have left in my home (I can’t afford to waste them!) and then at the very least try to be a vegetarian….and then go to Vegan. I just need to experiment and some of the recipes look wonderful! Thank you for the feed-back!
Hi Melody – Ordinary Vegan here. First off, congratulations on making these food changes. I promise it won’t be long before you feel like a new person. I don’t recommend eating a lot of fake meats because many of them are processed and high in salt, but there are a few exceptions. During my transition to vegan, like you, I did crave certain tastes and textures and used some of the “meatless meats” and I would recommend Gardein steak strips for your transition. They have the same texture and flavor of meat and easy to find. Saute them, slather on the onions and put it in a whole wheat bun and I think it will satisfy your steak and onion craving. As far as cheese goes, I agree with Jess and also recommend Daiya. They make a yummy provolone which would taste awesome over the steak strips. With all that said, I would not overdo these kind of foods. Try to eat a lot of grains, legumes, leafy greens, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables. Eventually, your palette will change and you will be craving fresh plant foods all of the time…and always remember, being vegan isn’t about being perfect. Wishing you lots of vegan love and compassion!
Melody I am also in transition towards vegan living. I don’t work as many hours as you technically but I spend a lot of time in the gym or working on my art and yeah some video game time. I hate spending a lot of time in the kitchen. My husband is more of a meat eater than me but we have both decided to eliminate processed food. The trick to that for us is to pick a day I have extra time and cook a big batch of something then freeze it in portions. So our meals are cooked for the week and ready to go. In the long run that’s cheaper than buying frozen convience meals or fast food – veggie versions or not and you know exactly what’s in it. So for him I might make a batch of beef and beans and rice to replace frozen beef burritos. In another pan I make a batch of lentils and quinoa with veggies for my self and portion both into bags or small bowls to go in the freezer. I’m also replacing his lunch meat with roast beef and pulled pork cooked from scratch. I have stopped buying all that deli stuff with the ton of preservatives and salt. I know no one here wants to hear about cooking meat but this is phase one for making a stubborn meat eating husband healthy ;). First switch to home cooked, then add in more veggies 😉
Any ideas about substitutions? This looks so delish! I’m allergic to anything from the cabbage family, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, and soy. Thanks for ideas 😉
I made this recipe last night for dinner, it was great! I added some diced carrots and sauted them with the onions, and I also added cubed tofu. It was filling and delicious, and I will definitely make this again!
So glad you liked it Janet – love the idea of some cubed tofu. Thanks for sharing and for being part of our community!
Recipe looks great. Definitely going to try it – but please – never fry anything in olive oil – only use it cold as it changes at high temperatures and is very bad for you. Try coconut oil instead.