I know I recommend vegan mayo fairly regularly in my quick meals and it's one of the only things I consume that is to be frank, unhealthy. Now, I'm a fan of treats - regularly - however I prefer they be high value treats and my store bought mayo, is low value. It's 71% fat. From canola oil. So when I found this recipe from Carleigh the Scrappy Vegan with only 7 ingredients... using up the aqua-faba I waste every week when I make hummus AND where the only fat is cashews, I was excited. ✅ I am happy to share the taste of this mayo EXCEEDS my high expectations! ✅ It's a little runny however, I can handle that for a quick, cheap, healthy, delicious mayo. Here are the full (simple) instructions from Plant You.com: - ½ cup aquafaba, could be more or less, depending on what is left from a can of chickpeas - ¾ cup cashews, soaked overnight (I just soaked for 90 minutes in boiling water) - 1 lemon, juiced - 1 tsp maple syrup - 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar - 1 tsp mustard, I used dijon - 1 tsp salt Simply blend all together. Btw, this is exactly the sort of find I share in my weekly 2-6-9: email bursting with vegan goodness & good news! 2️⃣ Quotes. 6️⃣ WINS, recommendations or recipes. 9️⃣ Words to contemplate. Start your weekend with a dose of uplifting vibes HERE and please consider sharing the LOVE with someone who would also find value in it. Thank you and please let me know if you try the mayo!

It's acronym time! Please share your WINS! Here are 3 I'm thinking of... Wow, I Never Suspected it'd be this DELICIOUS! Wow, I Never Suspected it'd be this CHEAP! Wow, I Never Suspected it'd be this QUICK! ... and today I want to talk, QUINOA. WOW, I Never Suspected Quinoa would be this DELICIOUS! Early days eating plant-based I had a recipe flop with quinoa. I don't even know what I did wrong however it didn't cook and it was gross. Now I use it in salads, crispy as an everything topper (todays "recipe" is Crispy Quinoa) and as a high value ingredient in plant-based meat balls and burgers. The lesson? Do not fear the recipe flops! Try again! You've had plenty of bad meat meals right? Plant-based is the same. You just need to be patient and find your new favourites. What is YOUR WIN?

Focus on how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. I really could leave it there. However, here are a few benefits... ✅ You enjoy the JOURNEY more when you focus on the process you are making... and I'm learning life is all about the journey. ✅ What you focus on expands. So focus on the GOOD. Bring more of that into your life. ✅ You are more likely to stick with something when you feel like it's making a positive difference in your life. If you are not tracking the process, not focusing on the progress, it's way too easy to let a day, a week, a month slip by and all of a sudden you've let a great habit lapse.

You've likely heard, or said: “I could be vegan - except for cheese - I can’t live without cheese!” So what is it with cheese? Is it really that addictive? Is it just the perfect mix of fat and salt? Or could it be an example of ‘UMAMI’ the 5th taste? The cravings we often associate with cheese might very well be cravings for a sort of taste / experience / essence in foods imparted by high levels of the amino acid glutamate. Discovered and coined ‘umami’ over 100 years ago by a Japanese researcher this fifth taste is a welcome addition to: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. A compelling theory regarding the strong appeal of umami is that, since breast milk is high in glutamate, humans might develop a desire for this taste that lasts a lifetime and begin just hours after birth. Thankfully cheese is not the only source of umami. I was not the least bit surprised to hear that nutritional yeast is chocka with umami. There’s so much more vegan umami to enjoy though. For example: - Fermented foods such as wine (woohoo!), tempeh, tamari, and miso. - Sea vegetables like kelp. - Ripe tomatoes and concentrated tomato products like ketchup, tomato paste, and sun-dried tomatoes. - Vegemite, mushrooms, olives, balsamic vinegar, dried mushrooms, and sauerkraut. - Roasting, caramelising, browning, and grilling are cooking techniques that impart umami flavours. This honestly feels like an epiphany moment to me! Here are just a few suggestions to help you get your umami on! ✅ At Breakfast: Add sea vegetables like spirulina to your smoothies or try scrambled tofu mixed with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. ✅ At Lunch: Roast or grill veg to add to your leafy salad and top with edamame before dressing with balsamic. Enjoy tofu / tempeh burgers and caramelised onions served between grilled portobello caps dressed with ketchup or sauerkraut. ✅ At Dinner: Cook tempeh mince on mass (trying to find my recipes for later this week!) which includes mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and canned tomatoes and serve with BBQ’d / grilled veg like zucchini, capsicum and eggplant washed down with a cheeky glass of red wine!

Today's recipe is super easy, it's Crispy Quinoa, the perfect salad or ANYTHING topper! If like me, you LOVE crispy, try this: First cook your **quinoa as you normally would / to packet instructions. Next, spread it on a baking paper covered tray with flavourings of choice and bake at 180C for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. Turning half way through. **1 cup dry quinoa will make about 3 cups cooked. I make about 1 cup of the crispy at a time and store the rest (cooked not crispy yet) in the fridge. I hope that makes sense? I've seen this with: olive oil + salt and pepper. However I've tried it with and without the oil and both are great! Equally, if you are salt free, garlic and onion powder work well too. Tamari is also a great option. This "recipe" is super versatile. Here are my favourite ways to use this Crispy Quinoa: - As a salad topper. It would go super well with my cauli-kale tabouli from Month 8 of the Plant Positive Journal. - Over baked or roast veg. Or soup. Or stir-fry! - Or you can make your flavouring sweet (like maple syrup, cinnamon) and use it as a breakfast topper!