Vegan Gluten Free Foodie

03/18/2025

CAPRESE CHICKPEA SALAD VEGAN & GF
Made a vegan gluten free caprese style chickpea salad today, it’s delicious!!! Don’t have an exact amount of what I used, it’s a wing it to your tastes kind of deal:

WHAT I PUT IN IT
To a large mixing bowl I added some:
• Chickpeas
• De-flamed red onion
• Grape tomatoes
• Arugula
• Fresh Basil
• Fresh minced garlic (I used 5 cloves) 🧛‍♀️
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Apple cider vinegar
• Bit of oil of your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegan cheese chopped up into chunks - I used some leftover Violife neutral mozza style from the holiday 4 pack bundle from Xmas

I put mine on a bed of arugula and topped with (additional) crispy fried garlic 🧄 sooo good! Don’t come near me for a bit 🌬️😆

01/28/2025

My life is changing around me in all ways, the end of 2024 was a whirlwind - new puppy, sold our house, moved to a new one. 🙃 and I’m still in the thick of it so can’t make any big commitments or plans with my vegan mission, aside from my stories

I’m keeping my 2025 goals really light. 1 Goal: while staying sane in my personal life, create a bomb a** gluten free “chicken” strip. Once I get that created we’ll see what I do with that, maybe even sell them. Until then, recipe testing and development is pretty tasty 🎉🤩

01/01/2025

Vegan Deconstructed Sushi Roll Salad

White rice, cucumber, ripped up seaweed, lettuce, sesame seeds, and crumbled extra firm tofu mixed with vegan mayo + sriracha hot sauce 🤤

Top with your favorite soy sauce

10/17/2024

EDMONTON & CALGARY VEGAN FOODIE WEEKEND!

Most places we went to were 100% vegan restaurants which was overwhelming (in a good way)! To have so many options was a feeling I haven’t experienced until this trip 🙌🏻 Places visited in order of the video: IKEA Globefish Sushi Panago McDonald’s

10/10/2024

Is your food based business with the times in serving these types of customers well? If not, that’s okay. Today is the day that you can make that change and decide to start serving more guests well!

Why should your business care if it’s already doing well?

Serving guests with dietary restrictions is a good thing because this specific person chooses where to go in the group of diners. It’s getting increasingly more popular to have more people looking for these options and the demand is going to increase - as it already has. Being able to accommodate all diners means you’ll be gaining more business, since the group that they’ll be with usually don’t have dietary restrictions. If you don’t have options for this one person, the whole group goes somewhere else

10/03/2024

I’ve been making this Frito Bean Salad for 10 or so years ago before I went vegan. I used real cheese back in the day but otherwise, it’s vegan. I don’t have exact measurements, so here’s a good idea how to make it:

- 2 cans bean medley OR make your own mix from dried chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans
- 1 large red pepper
- 1 large green pepper
- 1/2 small red onion
- Vegan cheddar cheese, as much as you want (I used Violife)
- Kraft Catalina dressing, to taste - toss in just before serving to avoid sogginess
- BBQ Fritos - the best part of the salad, as many as you’d like to put on your salad just before serving

Good for parties, it’s a crowd pleaser! For extra protein, you could even add in some vegan ground meat

09/27/2024

SOUPS - WHY NOT MAKE IT VEGAN?
Borscht is a perfect example of an already veggie based soup, but so many restaurants and food businesses use chicken or beef broth making it unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans. I see this happen with minestrone and vegetable soups too. So, why not use vegetable broth instead so that everyone can enjoy it 👌🏼

This soup was finished off with some dairy free sour cream and dill

09/13/2024

DEAR HOTELS & RESORTS - PLEASE STEP UP YOUR VEGAN BREAKFAST OPTIONS
A few of us families are wanting to stay at the same hotel in Edmonton in the next couple of months. We see that there is a hot breakfast buffet included with the hotel stay

Seems great for most people. But the feeling sets in of “oh, wonder what they’ll serve for vegans”

I called the hotel to ask, and for everyone else they will be well fed and content. But on the phone I was told a vegan can have oatmeal or fruit. It’s the same option everywhere - an afterthought, no thought put in to breakfast

If you have a hotel, resort, restaurant or cafe - you won’t see demand if you don’t offer it. But you may be losing business like a hotel stay for not offering good options. Good vegan and gluten free options can attract people to specifically stay at your hotel

It’s my mission to educate about the importance of good vegan and gluten free offerings and labeling them well. Please reach out if you need any help, it’s easier than you think 👊🏻

09/09/2024

VEGAN CEVICHE | V, GF
If your restaurant serves ceviche, why not make a vegan version and blow your vegan customers away. Even non-vegan eaters would be curious to try it! Simple menu additions like this will attract vegan customers and increase business 👊🏻

Hearts of palm is the key ingredient in this tasty and zesty appetizer 🌱

09/03/2024

My top 5 tips for restaurants, cafes and hotels if you’d like to attract vegan guests vs. accommodating them when they arrive

08/26/2024

08/21/2024

Vegan Mushroom Scampi 🌱

Who else loves mushrooms? Only this year I’ve been experimenting with different types of mushrooms 🍄‍🟫

For the scampi I used button mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms cut into scallop shapes, vegan butter, garlic, vegetable bouillon cube for flavor, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Would have used white wine but didn’t have any 🙃