When transitioning to the vegan lifestyle, health was never my first priority. Sure I enjoyed eating healthy, and a vegan diet certainly is healthier if you do it correctly but there was no part of me that went vegan for weight loss, or to improve my health in general. After almost 2 years of being vegan, eating 100% healthy still isn’t on the forefront of my mind, but I sure have put a lot more thought into how I view my body.

I have always been an adamant preacher of self-love, whether its in regards to your mental health, body image or your spiritual well-being. However once I extended my compassion to non-human animals and started actually considering what I was putting into my body, something clicked inside my mind to tell me that how I FEEL is so much more important that how I could ever look on the outside. I have struggled with body image issues for as long as I remember, and I still do to an extent but I genuinely do believe that fuelling your body with the least suffering possible will directly impact on how you view yourself. One of my favourite quotes about veganism is from Ellen Degeneres; “I can’t imagine that if you are putting something in your body that is filled with fear, or anxiety, or pain, that that isn’t somehow going to be inside of you” as I completely agree that once you stop fuelling your body with pain and suffering, you will view yourself in a completely different light.

Try fuelling your body with compassion, kindness and wholesome foods and see if you can expand the love you have for animals to how you view yourself!

FullSizeRender

Vegan Burger

* 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
* 1/2 large red onion
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
* Salt & Pepper
* 1 can black beans
* 1 cup finely grated raw beet
* 1 tsp cumin
* 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
* 1/2 cup walnuts ground up into small pieces

Instructions
1. Heat a large pan with some olive oil and fry the onion and garlic until soft
2. When the onions are soft add the mushrooms and cook until browned
3. Remove from heat and add black beans and roughly mash together
4. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the quinoa, beets and spices
5. Add the walnuts meal until the mixture forms patties. Set in the fridge to chill.
6. Cook the burgers in a pan coated with olive oil over a medium heat until the edges are crispy and browned.
7. Serve in a bun with salad, vegan cheese and wedges!

IMG_8638

Coconut Flapjack

* 2 cups oats
* 3 tbsp shredded coconut
* 2 tbsp rice malt syrup / date syrup / any other vegan liquid sweetener
* 3 tbsp coconut oil
* 3 tbsp cashew / almond butter

1. Mix oats & coconut in a bowl
2. Melt together all other ingredients in a pan over a medium heat
3. Once melted, pour over oats & combine
4. Pour mixture into a square tin & press down, bake in oven on 180 degrees for 12-15 minutes
5. Leave to cool completely

For the topping-

* 200g dark chocolate
* 1 tbsp coconut oil
* Flaked coconut

6. Once flapjack is cooled, melt together chocolate & coconut oil & pour over flapjack to cover, sprinkle on coconut
7. Leave to set in the fridge overnight

By Sophie Earl