Did you have your Green Smoothie today? Yes? Great!
Today let’s focus upon why vegetarians and non vegetarians can both be overweight and unhealthy.
The below videos may not be too pleasant to watch, but it's important to know where your food is coming from. They are short videos and will help you stay on the path.
- The Dark Side of Dairy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u80_IrSILI4
- Inside the Brutal Chicken Industry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjrjsqhScjY
- The Illegal Practices of the Egg Industry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdvdreiIo4U
- Fish Farming‘s Cruel Secrets - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cn9fCRA1k8
Below are the basic dairy replacers that you will need. Don’t let this overwhelm you. When you do something for the first time, it seems tough, but then slowly it becomes easier. Like when you got your first job or when you got married or even when you joined the gym. The most successful people are those who cross this initial hurdle through persistance.
Milk
Nut milks are nutritious and delicious. They are easy to make too!
Remember 6 to 8 almonds/cashews make one cup of milk as shown in the video below.
Tip: In order to avoid soaking each day, soak nuts that you would need for a week overnight, and the next day, remove the water and store them in the fridge, so that you can make instant milk whenever you need any.
Check out this delicious Date, Nut & Seed Shake
View the recipe here: https://sharan-india.org/recipes/date-and-nut-and-seed-shake/
Yoghurt
If you wish to have a raita or butter-milk or kadhi etc with your meal, then try this yoghurt recipe. This curd can be used wherever dairy curd is generally used in recipes.
View the recipe here: https://sharan-india.org/recipes/peanut-and-rice-milk-curd/
- One cup of peanuts makes 1 litre of curd.
- If you would like your yoghurt to be sour, keep it outside for a longer time before you refrigerate it. You can even add lime to your yoghurt to make it sour later.
- To use this yoghurt, mask it with condiments and spices to add flavour. If you find the peanut taste overwhelming, you can make the curd with half a cup of almonds and half a cup of peanuts or even 1 cup of almonds. Remember, 1 cup makes 1 litre and since you will be adding water to make most of your dishes, the amount of nuts you consume reduces automatically.
Cashew Curd
- We have recently discovered cashew curd which tastes very similar to normal dairy yoghurt and can be had directly. Other plant based yoghurts generally need some masking with spices, but not this one!
- Although about 75 gms cashews gives you about a litre of curd; we do not want to overeat cashews as they contain fats.
- So a suggestion - Whenever you wish to have plain yoghurt with your parathas, then make this curd. For all other recipes like buttermilk, raita, curry, dhoklas etc, where you will anyway be using spices and diluting the curd, then use peanut curd.
- Cashew curd video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHA15WGxfDc
Butter
Commercially bought peanut butters may contain oil, salt and preservatives. When you make nut butters you know exactly what has gone into it. Also they are so easy to prepare at home.
View the recipe here: https://sharan-india.org/recipes/peanut-and-other-nut-butters/
- The same method can be used to make butter from almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, macademia nuts etc. You can even make butters from seeds too.
- Cashew butter is ideal for use in Indian sweets and desserts.
- For coconut butter, use organic dessicated coconut and straight away blend. There is no need to roast the dessicated coconut as it’s roasted already. This looks like ghee and can be used on rotis and parathas.
- Always use a blender with a power of 900 W or more to make butters for best results.
- Coconut and other nut butters can be stored for up to a month at room temperature.
Basic Cheese
If a snack with cheese is what you feel like having, then here is the recipe for basic cheese.
The cheese lasts in your fridge for ten days.
View the recipe here: https://sharan-india.org/recipes/raw-cashew-cheese/
For more recipes on dairy and meat alternatives click here
Make a list of all the animal products that you used to consume. Then next to it write
the alternatives. Hint: You can use our recipe or nutrition tip section for help or refer to the special section on dairy and meat alternatives on our website https://sharan-india.org/dairy_meat_alternatives/
Watch the movie of the week – Forks over Knives, available on Netflix and elsewhere. It’s really worth the effort and you will be glad that you did.
Below is the Trailer for Forks over Knives:
