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Vegan Protein Smoothie

Whether it is running, cycling, swimming, hiking, long walks or some mix of all or some of them.. Vinny and I keep active. Fueling and replenishing our bodies after a long bike ride or run means consuming a bit more protein. We have tried Vega and Raw Protein but our favorite protein powder is by MCT Lean. The taste is on point. We use it in shakes and smoothies as well as baked good (stay tuned for protein packed recipes). A little extra protein does the body good! The possibilities are endless with this powder. Below is our favorite smoothie recipe featuring MCT Lean Vanilla Vegan Protein Blend. The kale, ginger and banana make this protein smoothie delicious and with 27 grams of protein, filling!

Green Protein Smoothie
Serves 1

2 Scoops MCT Lean Vegan Protein Blend Vanilla
½ tablespoon MCT Oil
1 tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
1 tablespoon Raw Shelled Hemp Seeds
1 ½ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 medium Banana (frozen bananas work well and make the smoothie cold)
1 cup Raw Kale
1 teaspoon Ginger
½ tablespoon Chia Seeds

Directions

Add almond milk to blender. I prefer the Nutribullet. Adding the almond milk first prevents the dry ingredients from sticking to the sides of the blender.
Add all other ingredients.
Blend till smooth.
Enjoy!

Vegan Mini Taco Bowls

Like many others, I often troll Pinterest for new recipes. In that search, I often stumble upon a delicious looking picture with no link to a recipe. ANNOYING RIGHT?! I saw a similar taco bowl, clicked it, no real recipe link. WHY?! I decided, these cannot be too hard to improvise, something I would have to do anyway since the originals appeared to have beef, and went for it. ( Below is the serving size for us PhillyVegans. As a side note, Vinny eats way more than me, I ate 5 while he ate 11, so the serving size may vary.)

Mini Taco Bowls
Serves 2; 16 mini bowls

Ingredients
4 Whole Wheat Tortilla Shells cut
16 ounce Refried Beans (I used Trader Joe’s Refried Beans – Fat-free Traditional Style)
1/2 package Beyond Meat Lightly Seasoned Strips shredded
2 slices Daiya Cheddar Slice cut into 1 inch strips

Topping Ingredients
1/2 Avocado
Salsa
Toffuti Better than Sour Cream
Spinach or Lettuce chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut tortilla shells into small 3-inch circles. I used the top of a mason jar and knife for reference. A cup can also be used.
In small sauce pan cook Beyond Meat chicken strips.
Place tortilla circles in cupcake pans.
Add about a tablespoon of refried beans (no need to heat up) and a bit of shredded chicken. (Use personal preference)
Bake for 10 minutes.
Add Daiya cheese.
Bake for 5 additional minutes or until cheese melts.
Add toppings
Enjoy!

Disney World as a Vegan

Detour:
Walt Disney World
Orlando, Florida

Again, prior to my 9 day trip in September to the most magical place on earth, I did my research. I searched Google, I viewed hashtags on Instagram and perused Facebook pages. I took notes. I packed my own snacks. None of this fully prepared me for my foodie endeavor in the land of princesses and talking animals. While there I vowed to return home and blog about my experience to give future vegans in Disney World further reference because , believe me, the more information you have, the better.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Lunch – Counter Service
Backlot Express

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich – basil asiago artisan bread, mushrooms, red peppers, zucchini, tomato, watercress and cheese with sundried tomato pesto, served with carrot sticks or french fries

VEGANIZED: Order without cheese and with the multigrain bread. I would also opt for the carrot sticks; fryers are not separate for meat products and french fries

Epcot

Lunch – Counter Service
Sunshine Seasons

ALREADY VEGAN: Orange Sesame Glazed Vegan Chick’n Chunks with Stir Fry Noodles

Dinner – Table Service
Teppan Edo – Hibachi Style Dining

Appetizer: Garden Salad – Mixed greens and seasonal vegetables with your choice of our original ginger dressing or creamy sesame dressing

VEGANIZED: Choose the ginger dressing for the salad.

Yasai – fresh seasonal vegetables
– includes seasonal vegetables with udon noodles and steamed sukiyaki beef rice

VEGANIZED: Mention to the manager, waitress and chef that you are vegan. In my case, they cooked all vegetables prior to cooking meat products. Opt out of the udon noodles and steamed sukiyaki beef rice and ask for white rice.

Snack
Food & Wine Festival

Terra

ALREADY VEGAN:
Trick’n Chick’n Curry with Basmati Rice featuring Gardein Chick’n Breast
Chili Colorado with House Made Chips & Cashew Cheese, featuring Gardein Beefless Tips
Chocolate Cake with Passion Fruit Sorbet and Coconut Foam

Scotland

Vegetarian Haggis with Neeps and Tatties-Griddled Vegetable Cake with Rutabaga and Mashed Potatoes

VEGANIZED: Opt for doubly rutabaga. The mashed potatoes are not vegan

Japan

ALREADY VEGAN: Youki Tofu topped with Miso Sauce, Edamame and Served with Grilled Vegetables

Animal Kingdom

Breakfast – Buffet
Tusker House – Donald’s Safari Breakfast

There are a handful of buffet items that can be veganized. Mention to your waiter and the hostess at check-in that you have a dietary restriction. They will send out the chef upon arrival at your table. Thankfully, one of the chefs at Tusker House was over the top helpful and took me around the entire buffet pointing out what was vegan and what could be made vegan upon request.

VEGANIZED: The chef prepared the following items special per the vegan diet.

Mickey waffles – Also gluten free
Tator Tots – Pan fried opposed to fried
Yam Casserole – without cheese.

ALREADY VEGAN: Fresh Fruit

Magic Kingdom

Lunch – Counter Service
Columbia Harbor House

ALREADY VEGAN: Vegetarian Chili

Lighthouse Sandwich – hummus with tomato & broccoli slaw on toasted multigrain bread with potato chips $9.19

VEGANIZED: Order without broccoli slaw.

Resorts

Dinner – Table Service
Contemporary – California Grill

Chefs at the California Grill, atop the Contemporary resort, opt for a four mini entree to meet the dietary needs of a vegan. I could not tell you what exactly my four mini entrees were. To the best of my knowledge they were a risotto dish, a ratatouille dish, mini flat breads and a salad. It was delicious and with each vegan this selection will change.

Downtown Disney

Snacks
BabyCakes NYC

All vegan bakery in the marketplace area of Downtown Disney with cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, brownies and more! (I picked up snacks for the week)

All Parks

ALREADY VEGAN: Pretzels and Popcorn throughout the parks are vegan as is!

And there you have it… vegan options in Disney from my point of view. There are a few more, but these are the ones that worked best for me. For further vegan options, I would view AllEars.net.

What Came First: the Soybean or the Tofu?

Welcome.. to Philly Vegans! A blog dedicated to delicious vegan food that even your carnivore friends love.
Before all the stomach grumbling posts begin, a quick introduction is necessary.

I’m Erin, an on, off, on, off again, on for life vegan girl living in the Northern Libertyish area of Philadelphia with my boyfriend and co-contributor to Philly Vegans, Vinny and my dog child french bulldog, Oliver. Before my vegan lifestyle began, I was a pescatarian for 5 years. I indulged in tons of cheese, little fishy friends and eggs galore. In this state, I was confident that I was living in a dietarily healthy way, then a mandatory yearly physical was instated by my employer and my healthy lifestyle bubble was burst. I, Erin Jaskiewicz, the self proclaimed healthy pescatarian, had a cholesterol of over 220 (anything over 200 is a red flag). Long story short, I went vegan, lowered my cholesterol numbers, then had a few months of, “I can just be vegetarian, handle my cholesterol, and feel great.” NO, did not happen. Push came to shove and now, viola, me and my dedicated cyclist boyfriend took the plunge into a fully vegan life, for life.

Me, Oliver & Vinny

So enough about us, lets talk blog. All the future vegan food blog fun will take place mainly in Philadelphia with the occasional excursion to international and domestic locals (and even some from New Jersey). Posts will include lovely (and sadly unlovely) restaurant endeavors, tasty recipes and some occasional vegan fitness talk, along with much more fun vegan related stuff! So now, with a mention in my favorite blog Be Well Philly ‘s 10 Best Fitness Instagrammers You Should Be Following and some motivation from my friend Stephen at Pyknic, here it is… The Philly Vegan blog…