Week of November 2 Vegan Menu Plan

I hope you all had a fun Halloween. It has finally started to quiet down here, the kids are coming off their sugar high and the trick-or-treaters have all finally called it a night. After all the treats from tonight and the last couple of weeks of non-vegan eating we are all feeling a little sluggish. Basketball starts this Monday and we are still swimming four days a week. We need serious energy! We are in desperate need of some healthy meals to get our bodies back into tip top shape. Its time for a week of vegan meals!

Take a look at all the healthy goodness we have to look forward to eating this week.

Many people when hearing we eat vegan wonder what we eat. They immediately start thinking of all the things that they can’t eat. For me, it has opened up a whole new world of food. There are so many things that I love to eat that I would have never tried before we went vegan. One unexpected benefit that I really enjoy is that my kids love to try new foods. They are not picky at all! Don’t get me wrong there are a few things that they dislike but don’t we all.

I am really looking forward to getting back on track this week with our vegan meals. I notice a huge difference in my energy levels and have a general overall feeling of well being when we stick to a vegan diet. My skin even looks better. The kids are in a much better mood. I am pretty sure it is because their blood sugar is staying pretty level and not spiking and dropping like crazy like when on a SAD diet (standard American diet).

I do find it hard to stick to a completely vegan diet especially when we travel or have house guests. Because of this we tend to be “off and on vegans”.  I keep trying to go back to hard core vegan but I really find it hard in Nashville. It was easy for the 5 years we lived in the Bay Area in California but it is extremely hard to find the variety of foods here as we did there. Eating out was no problem there. Its nearly impossible to eat out vegan here.

I do love the health benefits of being a vegan and I do feel like it is the best way to feed my family. Feeling like crap always inspires me to get back with it.  I ran across this really great blog post that lists 57 health benefits of going vegan. It was kind of the reminder I needed that the health benefits are amazing.

What do you think about going vegan for a week at a time just to see the difference it makes? Do you think you could do it? Are you already vegan? If you are do you stick to it hard core or are you on and off like we are?