Happy 4th of July! I know this year is going to look at lot different for everyone as we stay home and stay safe from this pandemic. This is the perfect opportunity to try something new this 4th and experiment with new food and new traditions.
As some of you may or may not know, over the past year I have changed my diet, and I currently eat a Plant Based diet. I don't do this to be thin, or to follow the trending fad, but I do it for my own personal health reasons. To give you a brief account of what I have been dealing with, let me share my story.
Since as young as I can remember I have always dealt with vertigo and dizziness. About 7 years ago, right before we moved to Warner Robins, I experienced a change in my vertigo symptoms. The vertigo became more frequent, and instead of it just being an annoyance, it became somewhat debilitating. A year ago, it got so bad that I was having episodes every month, and would find myself in bed most of the day, if I wasn't at work.
I reluctantly began seeing some doctors who eventually ruled it AIED (auto immune of the inner ear), which is petty rare, as it doesn't affect my entire body, but just my inner ear. I was encouraged to take steroids to prevent more flare ups, which was causing hearing loss, but I wanted to avoid that if possible. So over the course of the past year I began adjusting my diet to see if that would help my symptoms, and keep me off steroids for as long as possible. The results have been amazing. Slowly I eliminated all animal products including dairy, eggs, poultry, red meat, and fish. This was a slow process and didn't happen over night, but since being on a plant based diet, I have had little to no symptoms since January 2020.
Why has a plant based diet worked to eliminate my flare ups? Because flare ups are triggered by increased inflammation in my body. Animal products are one of most highly inflammatory foods that we eat in our American diet. By eliminating these foods, I have been able to reduce my inflammation and avoid flare ups. I am so thankful that I have taken this journey of healing and I am so passionate about it that I want to share it with others. So here it goes. I plan on writing and blogging, to share my knowledge, share recipes, give cooking tips, and help anyone who is interested in improving their health through plant based eating. With this virus looming over our heads, there is no better time then now, to improve your health and do everything you can to keep yourself from illness.
Many people think that it if you eat plat based you mainly eat salads and green smoothies and that's it. I'm here to tell you, that is the furthest thing from the truth. My family (my husband and my 8 and 10 year old sons have joined me on this journey and have enjoyed it just as much as I have) eat lasagna, tacos, burgers, stroganoff, soup, mac n' cheese, enchiladas, and so much more. It is so fun to get creative in the kitchen and find what new recipes we can make.
So what will we be eating for the 4th of July? I thought I would share our menu to get a glimpse of what a plant based family eats. There will be no depriving ourselves on this holiday. Check out our menu below and let me know what you think. If you try one of these recipes let me know if you enjoyed i! Plant based eating can be so fun and so easy. Happy 4th!
Main course: Burgers and Hot Dogs. For the burgers we will go meatless. You can make it quick and simple by buying Beyond Meat Burgers. These are our favorite pre-made plant based burgers (please note these are a processed food so it's good to keep these at a minimum). Check out two other options that are easy to make at home: Stellar Quinoa Burger
(does contain eggs).
There's not much I can say about the hot dogs. Beyond Meat does make sausages that are great, but my son Mason just loves his hot dogs. It's hard to deny my 8 year old a simple pleasure he loves on holidays, so we will have the pig roasting. I try to buy Hebrew National that are kosher, and maybe a little healthier? Who am I kidding? Healthy is not a word you can use in the same sentence as hot dog, but anyway.
We will use avocados instead of cheese on our burgers, and have sides such as a simple summer salad, chips (Cape Cod are great or just slice up some potatoes and fry them in your air fryer), and some watermelon.
For dessert I am trying out this new Summer Berry Cashew Cream Pie.
This is my favorite type of dessert, so I am going to give this recipe a try. I will let you know how it goes.
Lindsay Hendrickson is a certified Nutrition Health Coach. Interested in learning more about health coaching and how it can benefit you? Interested in setting up a complimentary health consultation with Lindsay?
Email Lindsay at inspirepilatesstudio@yahoo.com