Your Ultimate Guide to a Plant-Based Diet! – One Green Planet

It’s the start of a new year! It’s the perfect time of year to make a big lifestyle and diet changes. We encourage everyone to eat more plant-based for the animals, the planet, and their own health! If you are interested in slowly transitioning or incorporating more plant-based meals into your diet, we welcome any change! Making small changes over time makes a big difference overall and can certainly have a big impact.

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  – with over 20,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help you get healthy!

We’ve gone ahead and gathered the best tips and recipe collections we have for replacing meat, dairy, seafood, and eggs, as well as some important health information you should be aware of as you begin your journey. Enjoy!

Replacing Meat

1. 10 Vegetables That Can Substitute for Meat

Source: 10 Vegetables That Can Substitute for Meat

The good news is that you are trying to eat veg! The bad news is that you’re thinking about how much you will miss all your old favorite foods. Well, guess what? The better news is that going veg doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the dishes you love most. Pretty much anything you used to eat can be made with plant-based ingredients – even really meaty dishes like burgers, meatballs, and Buffalo wings. It just takes a little imagination, a bit of creativity, and the benefit of some tips and guidelines to help you create delicious vegan versions of those recipes. With the help of these 10 Vegetables That Can Substitute for Meat, soon you will be making delicious, satisfying meals that will satisfy your cravings, and before you know it, you will realize you don’t even miss the meat at all.

2. The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Meats and Meat Substitutes

Source: The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Meats and Meat Substitutes

There are lots of packaged vegan meats and meat substitutes you can buy but The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Meats and Meat Substitutes is about using less processed foods to substitute for meat.

3. 10 Ways to Make Meaty Recipes with Veggies!

Source: 10 Ways to Make Meaty Recipes with Veggies!

There are so many ways to substitute using ground meat: vegetables! These recipes all feature veggies (with some other all-stars) to give you that wonderful ground beef texture and flavor that you’ve been missing. And of course, this includes recipes that not only feature ground meat, but pulled meat, too. Check out these 10 Ways to Make Meaty Recipes with Veggies!

Replacing Dairy

1. Looking to Eat Less Dairy? Here are 5 Healthy Swaps that Make it Easier!

Source: Looking to Eat Less Dairy? Here are 5 Healthy Swaps that Make it Easier!

So if you’re looking to avoid dairy products because you’ve heard that dairy actually isn’t good for humans, the planet, or the cows themselves, great! There are limitless plant-based options you can choose from at the store and online to use in place of dairy products that are tasty and affordable. Try one of these 5 Healthy Swaps that Make it Easier to avoid common dairy products next time you head to the store and use them in place of the dairy items suggested below. The only regret you’ll have is that you didn’t make the switch to a plant-based option earlier!

2. 10 Ingredients That Can Help You Hack Dairy Out of Every Dish

Source: 10 Ingredients That Can Help You Hack Dairy Out of Every Dish

Ditching dairy may seem overwhelming. There are so many dairy products – milk, butter, cheese, cream, sour cream, yogurt, and ice cream just to name a few. It can seem like too many foods to try and replace. However, we cannot deny that the dairy industry is one of the cruelest, that dairy is not healthy for us and all the other 10 Great Reasons to Ditch Dairy. The good news is that it is so easy to replace dairy in our recipes. There are more dairy-free products on the market than ever and they are really, really good. The good news is that some super-creative people have figured out how to substitute for dairy using a whole bunch of different ingredients that are healthier and kinder. Take a look at these 10 Ingredients That Can Help You Hack Dairy Out of Every Dish.

3. Step by Step Guide to Help You Give Up Dairy

Image source: Vegan Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

There are millions of reasons to give up dairy, many of which you’re probably already aware of. From conventional farming and animal cruelty to toxic nutrients and chemicals in dairy, there’s never a better time to take up the healthy habit of going dairy-free. Plus, it’s easier now than ever and totally painless! To get you started on going dairy-free, check out this Step by Step Guide to Help You Give Up Dairy.

Replacing Eggs

1. How to Cook and Bake Without Eggs

Source: How to Cook and Bake Without Eggs

The truth is that eggs are not necessary to make delicious dishes — not even ones where eggs are the main ingredient. Eggs can be easily replaced for any of your cooking or baking needs. There are commercial egg replacers you can buy, but it’s easier and less expensive to make your own. Check out How to Cook and Bake Without Eggs for some easy and convenient ideas for substituting eggs in cooking and baking.

2. How to Replace Eggs in All Your Favorite Dishes

Source: How to Replace Eggs in All Your Favorite Dishes

Eggs are a staple food to omnivores in and of themselves in terms of their nutritional value. They act as the glue in endless dishes, which, if eggs were to be extracted without replacement, would simply fall apart. However, when light is shed upon the often horrific realities of even ‘free-range’ chicken farming, eggs quickly lose their appeal. One of the most daunting factors about turning vegan, or deciding to take on a more plant-based diet, is the prospect, or the frequent presumption that you will have to give up many of your favorite classic dishes. But check out How to Replace Eggs in All Your Favorite Dishes and you will be used to eating without them in no time!

3. Tips for Using Flax and Chia Seeds to Replace Eggs in Baking and Cooking

Source: Tips for Using Flax and Chia Seeds to Replace Eggs in Baking and Cooking

Finding food substitutions for animal-based ingredients like eggs is a great kitchen “survival” skill that all plant-based eaters should learn. Flaxseed and chia seeds are two important foods that everyone should get acquainted with. Both flax seeds and chia seeds are healthy and considered superfoods. And the best part is they can be used to substitute eggs! Check out these Tips for Using Flax and Chia Seeds to Replace Eggs in Baking and Cooking to learn more.

Replacing Seafood

1. How to Make Vegan Seafood Dishes Without the Fish

Source: How to Make Vegan Seafood Dishes Without the Fish

Believe it or not, you can recreate the flavors of seafood without actually using any seafood. If you have been missing seafood, you can have those tastes back again and leave the fish in the sea where they belong. Check out this article to learn How to Make Vegan Seafood Dishes Without the Fish.

2. You Don’t Need Fish to Make Delicious Seafood Dishes: Use These Tips Instead

Source: You Don’t Need Fish to Make Delicious Seafood Dishes: Use These Tips Instead

Like other living beings, fish have feelings including pain and the fact that they are factory farmed is just as bad for fish as it is for cows, chickens and other animals. Fish deserve to live as much as the whales and dolphins that people fight to save. Eating fish is not as healthy as people think it is and it certainly isn’t healthy for our planet. But we aren’t just telling you that You Don’t Need Fish to Make Delicious Seafood Dishes, we’ve got actual tips for you to use instead!

3. The Ultimate Guide to Making Vegan ‘Seafood’ Dishes!

Source: The Ultimate Guide to Making Vegan ‘Seafood’ Dishes!

Seafood is salty, soft, and super unique in flavor! We have all the best tips on how to make your plant-based meals with salty, seafood-inspired flavors! In this Ultimate Guide to Making Vegan ‘Seafood’ Dishes, we’ve got seven collections of recipes that’ll help you ditch seafood in no time!

Health Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

1. 8 Simple Ways to Make Your Diet More Whole Foods Plant-Based

It’s important to set goals that are both realistic and achievable, while simultaneously improving your health and well-being. A great way to start is by simply cutting out how much processed food you consume on a daily basis, and replacing these with fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts/seeds, etc… We can help with these 8 Simple Ways to Make Your Diet More Whole Foods Plant-Based. You’ll be surprised by just how easy it can be to redo your eating habits without relying on food fads or dangerous detox diets!

2. Some Common Health Concerns That May Disappear Once You Ditch Dairy 

The dairy industry is one of the cruelest in the food industry today. If it’s not enough that cows are misused for human consumption, the negative health effects linked to dairy alone are surely a reason to ditch it for good. The dairy industry is highly aware that Americans are catching on to the link between dairy and cancer, along with diabetes, and other health issues. These are plenty of Common Health Concerns That May Disappear Once You Ditch Dairy.

3. 5 Amazing Health Benefits of Embracing a Plant-Based Diet

Animal foods are also more processed than even some of the more processed plant-based choices people avoid at the store. Considering that animals are living creatures just like you and me, it makes no sense for us to spend our money on an industry that causes them suffering, destroys the environment, and causes us health problems. As rates of cancer and diabetes increase, one has to wonder if this has to do with the animal production being higher than ever and fast food restaurants serving up more animal foods that are cheaper per meal than whole, plant-based meal offerings. Though we can’t change this overnight, we can change our health by eating a plant-based diet. Check out 5 Amazing Health Benefits of Embracing a Plant-Based Diet.

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Unfortunately, dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer, and has many side effects. 

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend purchasing one of our many plant-based cookbooks or downloading the Food Monster App which has thousands of delicious recipes making it the largest vegan recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some resources to get you started:

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