Hey Friends!
It’s been a hot second since we’ve posted on the blog! If you’re not following us on our @yensisters Instagram, I’ve got big news for you! I (Elisa) decided to join the no cruelty club and went V E G A N!! I officially started last Monday, August 14, 2016 and I’m happy to say I’m feeling better than ever and still going strong!! Thank goodness for the best vegan community on Instagram who has been giving me endless support, information, and recipes! If you haven’t seen my “I’m going vegan” post, I’ll paste the long blurb below just to give you an idea about why I decided to do it.
Hi Friends! I want to share something with you today. I didn’t really want to announce this until it really happens, but it’s not happening so I need a little push! What better way to keep myself accountable then to put myself on blast on IG, duh! Okay let’s talk V E G A N I S M. It’s been on my mind for quite some time now and I’ve always liked the idea, but never thought I could do it or had enough knowledge about nutrition to be a healthy vegan. I mean I still don’t, but I have to start somewhere! I’m thinking about slowly transitioning over. This doesn’t mean I’m cutting out non-vegan things right away because my body will probably hate me so I will do some R&D over here with the help of YOU, my dearest vegan friends! I’m looking at you @mathildatolvanen, @peanut.head, @shaylaquinn! So why vegan you ask? I’ve never seriously thought about it until recently when so many different things hit me at the same time. 1. Okja, the movie. Such a great movie with our fave @steveyeun in it!! I didn’t want to eat meat for a while after that. The dairy and meat industry seriously makes me sick. 2. Meeting @mathildatolvanen! This badass girl is so conscious of what she puts in her body and introduced us to my next point. 3. What the Health documentary. Holy crap, it was so eye opening. I really urge everybody to watch it and be more conscious about what you’re putting into your body and how it impacts you. Believe what you want to an extent and really do the research to see how much of it you want to believe. I really do want to start putting really CLEAN and plant based, natural things into my body so I will definitely need YOUR help to keep me accountable and get me started! Remember, it’s a PROCESS. I don’t want to shock my body and I need to do more research on how to get enough protein without meat so don’t yell at me when I sneak some non-vegan food in from time to time! Who knows, I might end up only partially vegan, but cutting back at least 80% is better than 0%! We’ll see how my mind and body responds and go from there! Wish me luck!! P.S. this is Elisa speaking! I’m in this on my own!
I really wanted to discover yummy vegan recipes and make this transition seamlessly by LOVING what I eat and what I put in my body. I always go to vegan restaurants and say: “if I could eat something this yummy everyday, I can definitely go vegan”. So I decided to do it. Make something yummy and vegan so it can be sustainable! I also want to use this space as a tool for those who have been wanting to go vegan, but doesn’t have the courage to do it yet, just like I didn’t. I want to share all of the awesome recipes I use to cook my plant based meals to hopefully inspire YOU to give it a go and make something yummy and vegan! 🙂
I stumbled upon this AMAZING recipe from The Minimalist Baker. Go to her blog for prettier pictures since mine was taken hastily at work with a paper plate! My picture does not do the recipe justice! I brought 3 halves of these sweet potatoes to work for lunch and was SO FULL!! I definitely recommend eating 3 per meal though because you’ll end up wanting more with just 2! 😉 Here is the recipe with some modification of my own!
INGREDIENTS
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) rinsed and drained
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp each cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika
GARLIC HERB SAUCE
1/4 cup hummus
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp dried dill
Water or unsweetened almond milk to thin
TOPPINGS
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with foil.
Rinse and scrub potatoes and cut in half length wise.
Toss rinsed and drained chickpeas with olive oil and spices and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Rub the sweet potatoes with a bit of olive oil and place face down on the same baking sheet.
While the sweet potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, prepare your sauce by adding all ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisking to combine, only adding enough water to almond milk to thin so it’s pourable.
Prepare the parsley-tomato topping by tossing tomato and parsley with lemon juice and setting aside to marinate.
Once sweet potatoes are fork tender and the chickpeas are golden brown – roughly 25 minutes – remove from oven.
For serving, flip potatoes flesh-side up and smash down the insides a little bit. Then top with chickpeas, sauce and parsley-tomato garnish.
Enjoy!!
xox Elisa