Ask Happy Herbivore: Your Questions Answered!
Have a question for me? leave a comment, share it on the Facebook wall or send me an email! Lindsay-at-happyherbivore-dot-com
1. What are some protein-rich foods?
Quinoa, greens (i.e. spinach), beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, soy (such as soy milk and tofu). Bare in mind that all foods -- even bananas and kale -- have protein. So even when you're not eating a protein-rich food, you're still getting protein.
Also, please, please read my blog post on (plant-based) vegan protein which links to many helpful and important resources and articles.
2. What are "Flax" eggs?
You can mix 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 3 tbsp of warm water to make a sort of goop that can replace 1 egg in a recipe.
For more egg substitutions, download my handy egg substitutes chart (below).
(The picture is not the complete chart--just a glimpse of it.)
Note: Since I don't cook or bake with oil, I haven't tried some of these substitutes out myself -- I just heard about them or read about them. My go-to substitute is bananas or applesauce.
3. I struggle with quinoa - help!
I did a video post on quinoa that's helpful. I generally use quinoa as a substitute for grains like brown rice since it cooks in a fraction of the time. Usually I am putting my stir-fry on top of it, but I've made cold salads with it and a sort of "oatmeal" when I wanted a little variety.
Quinoa is also a great, whole foods substitute for TVP.
4. How can you healthfully *gain* weight?
You'll need to add more high calorie and high fat foods to your diet -- more raw nuts and raw seeds, coconut and avocado. You also want to make sure you're eating healthy foods like brown rice, which are high in calories.
When I was a personal trainer, I had a client who couldn't seem to go beyond 90lbs. She was naturally very thin due to a high metabolism, but she was also very athletic -- a marathon runner. We didn't fuss much with her weight until she wanted to get pregnant and her doctor thought she might have better luck if she'd gain 10 lbs.
At first, my client stopped exercising and was eating tons of candy bars, cupcakes and fried foods trying to pack it on but she came back to me saying she didn't feel her best and she missed feeling high on life. She complained of bloating and fatigue and a general meh feeling. I talked her into dropping the junk food and instead eating handfuls of raw almonds and cashews (her favorites) adding flax seeds to her smoothies and adding avocado (which she loved!) to almost every meal. Within weeks she'd gained weight but within days she reported feeling fabulous, more alert and much healthier. She ended up having a baby and was a healthy, glowing mama her entire pregnancy -- she's still a healthy, glowing mama and she's still eating lots of nuts and avocados to keep the weight on.
5. Can you cook quinoa in a rice cooker?
Yep -- using the "white rice setting" -- same 1:2 ratio. Though I have to admit I don't like quinoa in the rice cooker as much as I like it on the stovetop.