As a lot of you know, the Canada Food Guide has drastically changed this year. We’ve dropped recommended serving sizes and have made a major decrease on the emphasis on dairy. We instead are recommended a higher intake of plant based protein. This is a major step for Canadians in terms of healthy eating as well as decreasing the need for factory farming. Better for our bodies and better for the environment if you ask me.
While some people are already immersed in this type of diet, it’s come to my attention that a lot of people are learning to cook in a new way. People think it’s hard and ‘expensive’ to cook and eat vegetarian; that could not be more false. I’ve been vegetarian/ pescatarian for almost 10 years and there has definitely been trial and error, but like any other household we’ve found what our favourite meals are and what works for us. I want to try and make this transition easier for Canadians, so I’ve featured a bunch of our favourite meals that follow the new Canada Food Guide. There is a mix of breakfast, lunches and dinners, hopefully enough to give you a sense of how easy it is to cook for a vegetarian diet!
**DISCLAIMER: I do not consider myself plant based/vegan, so some of these recipes still contain dairy, but can be easily made without!**
STUFFED PEPPERS
This is one of the easiest ways to get your veggies in! With a bell pepper base you can always switch up the ingredients that you put inside. We like to switch it up between rice and quinoa, but nevertheless like to go with a Tex Mex vibe. Throw in some beans, corn, tomatoes, cumin, with a little bit of shredded cheese on top!
HONEY SRIRACHA TOFU AND CAULIFLOWER
Some people are scared to cook or eat tofu, but don’t be! If you buy extra firm, it’s easier to cook with, and as long as you have a good sauce or seasonings, tofu can taste like whatever you want it to! As shown here it’s an easy meal prep option to bring to work, Diesel even wants some!
BURRITO BOWLS
This has been a family favourite for YEARS! We use a base of spanish style rice, cook up some corn and black beans, and top with your go to burrito veg! We usually use chopped bell peppers, onion, lettuce, sour cream and salsa. If you’re super hungry and looking for a healthy and delicious meal that also fills you up, this is you’re new go to! It’s so easy to swap out the ingredients as well so you’ll never get bored of it, we highly recommend this one!
OATMEAL, BERRIES
This is just a quick and classic breakfast that you can’t go wrong with! This is another meal that can be made in so many different ways. My ideal recipe to make sure it fills me up until my next meal is: oatmeal, almond milk, granola, berries and chia seeds. It’s not too sweet and its super satisfying enough to fill me up in the morning. Other great toppings include, almond butter, chocolate protein powder, hemp seeds, cinnamon, apples, bananas etc.
GREEN SMOOTHIES
This is one of my fav go to’s for breakfast, or something quick for me to bring to work. My favourite way to make it is super simple too. It’s just a mix of frozen greens, frozen fruit (whatever fruit you’re feeling that day), grated ginger, OJ and water. Don’t be scared by the greens, you can’t even taste it!! It just gives you that extra set of nutrients in your delicious fruity smoothie!
SALAD ROLLS
You know how much we love these already. These are very easy, very fresh, very delicious AND they’re fully vegan. Its a great recipe to switch out whatever ingredients you feel like each time! Check out our more detailed recipe on these Salad Rolls.
HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE
I’ll have to admit, this is one of my lazy meals. Sometimes coming home after a long day at work I like to resort to something simple. As simple as this may be, it is still one hundred times better than boxed Kraft Dinner. A cheese sauce is actually so easy to make (I often don’t even measure, I just eyeball), as it’s just a mix of butter, flour, milk, cheese and whatever spices you feel like adding!
GRILLED MEXICAN STREET CORN
It’s summertime, so this is a MUST for us when BBQ season rolls around! We are big fans of corn in this family, so finding new ways to cook it is just awesome. Throw it on the grill for a couple of minutes on each side to make sure it has a little bit of char. Then coat the cobs with your mixture of mayo, sour cream, feta, garlic, chili powder, lime juice and cilantro. I could honestly eat this everyday! Here is the recipe we use if you’d like to give it a try!
Image via Posh in Progress
GRILLED PEACH & HALLOUMI SALAD
I have to give a lot of credit to Pinterest (obviously..) for recipes and inspiration! This little number I grabbed from Pinterest is so delicious and fresh! Fire up the bbq to grill the peaches and halloumi, blanch the green beans and assemble; super easy! I’ll leave the link for the recipe here!
VEGAN CHILI
This is the best meal to eat during the cold winter months, especially because it tastes LITERALLY the exact same as meat chili. We’ve cooked this recipe both with ground beef and Yves veggie ground round, and no one can tell the difference. It’s also a very easy recipe that we’ve written a blog post about before, which you can read here! Its super flavourful and full of protein! You can also top it off with sour cream, cheese and chives!
We hope you enjoy some of these recipes, and are inspired to start/ continue cooking to the new Canadian health standards!
How do you guys feel about the new Canada Food Guide?
