About
Me
My
name is Lisa Shimotani. I’m a wife, PreK teacher, grad student,
soon-to-be nutrition educator, and just discovered the joy of cooking
vegan and vegetarian meals! I’m passionate that food can be both
nutritious and delicious
Kaori and I
in Taylor, TX at Louie Mueller BBQ (before I became vegetarian).
Kaori and her husband came all the way to Texas for our wedding and
baked her famous matcha cupcakes for all of our guests!!
 |
Kaori and her
husband came all the way to Texas for our wedding and baked her
famous matcha cupcakes for all of our guests!!
|
Why
did I choose to become Vegetarian?
I
started reading a lot of books on the benefits of going vegan, and
being someone who did not eat a lot of meat anyways, I wanted to give
it a shot. Originally, I wanted to go vegan, meaning I could not have
any dairy, seafood, and eggs in my diet along with meat. I slowly
bought less and less meat, as I didn’t want to go cold turkey but
slowly incorporate a vegetarian diet. I found it too difficult to be
completely vegan, as I do love fish and my husband loves his eggs in
the morning, so I naturally went vegetarian and excluded meat from my
diet. The quote “you are what you eat” has always stuck with me,
so I do my best to include more fresh vegetables, fruits, and legumes
in my diet to replace the meat.
What
benefits have you seen so far from being vegetarian?
Eating
more fruits and vegetables! I have always loved fruits and
vegetables, but realized that I definitely didn’t consume enough in
my daily diet. Even though you are vegetarian/vegan, does not mean
you are healthier, you can still have a lot of unhealthy foods! I am
very conscious of this and have made a lot more effort to include
fresh foods in my meals, which has inspired me to cook more. Knowing
that I am using whole, fresh ingredients makes me excited before a
meal, as I know how vital fresh, whole foods can be for our body. By
replacing meat with vegetables, legumes, and good carbohydrates I
have also noticed a change in my energy level. I work full time as a
teacher and recently started taking grad classes in nutrition, but
within a couple months of consuming more whole foods I’ve noticed
that I have more than enough energy to complete my daily activities
without feeling completely exhausted at the end of the day like I use
to.
Vegan
Mac & Cheese
This
is one of my favorite vegan meals: it’s so simple and delicious.
Though I am not vegan, I enjoy cooking a lot of vegan meals and
eating vegan bakery goods
I rarely eat cheese, but when I make this dish I don’t even miss
cheese!
I
found this recipe by following a group called thegreenplateclub on
instagram. I made a few tweaks with the recipe, mainly decreasing a
few of the ingredients, which is why I put a lesser amount for most
of the ingredients. I would put the lesser amount first and taste the
sauce after you blend it together to see if you want to add more.
Vegan
Mac & Cheese Ingredients
- ½ lb. pasta
- ½ cup water
- 8 oz. firm tofu
- ¼ - ½ cup canola oil
- ¾ -1 cup unsweetened soy milk (I use almond milk)
- ¼ cup soy sauce (I usually add a little less as soy sauce has a strong taste)
- 1 cup nutritional yeast (key to making it “cheesy”)
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- crushed red pepper (I love using Tabasco sauce) and any fresh vegetables (cilantro, fresh diced tomatoes)
Vegan Mac & Cheese Instructions- Cook pasta al dente
- Combine water, tofu, canola oil, unsweetened soymilk or almond milk, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, paprika, garlic powder, and salt in a blender until smooth.
- Add sauce to the pot of drained pasta, stir and cook on medium for an additional 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and any additional toppings
All ready for
lunch: topped with cilantro and tomatoes
Thanks for the wonderful post, Lisa!! Look ahead for more posts from guest bloggers in the near future!! <3 Love Always,
Kaori
