Switched to a Plant-Based diet
Our diet is something important. For most of us, we have the luxury to chose what we are going to eat. We have supermarkets, farms, stores to get everything we need.
Our alimentation is also perceptible in our society and today, we are more and more aware of what we eat and how it affects our body.
Over the years, we switched from eating any type of meats to almost none. We are not vegan because we found it a bit too restrictive, especially if you travel. On some occasions, you cannot eat vegan and have to compromise.
Here is how we switched to a plant-based diet.
Table of Contents
How We Switched to a Plant-Based Diet in 3 Steps
Step 1: The Red Meat
We lived 3 years in central China, and by this time we were trying tons of new food every day. You cannot imagine how vast is the Chinese cuisine.
We ate in restaurants, food courts, at home alone or with friends. We ate like a local in a corner of a street at 2am after one too many drinks and in fancy restaurants with a huge round table.
But it was always hard finding good red meat. We wanted to cook at home dishes to our friends but when you get to the supermarket the beef’s meat choices are really few. And the quality ain’t there.
We could choose form fatty to less fatty beef, but even the less fatty one was not a wonder.
Later, when we moved to France, and had access to good meat, we did not feel like eating it anymore. It is not that much that we didn’t like it, but we didn’t enjoy it like before. The texture is not that great to us and we now found it hard to digest.
We most probably got unused to it as we almost did not eat any in 3 years.
Step 2: Become Vegan
It is only since the beginning of 2020 that we switch to a Plant-Based Diet. We visited some good friends beginning of the year in Brazil and live with them for 2 weeks. Both of them are vegan, so when we arrived, they asked us if we wanted special dishes (with meat) as they do not eat them? We didn’t want to bother them and wanted to try vegan food, so we followed their diet for the 2 next weeks.
It was AMAZING, some of the best food we have ever eaten. Our friends are real CHEF!
When we left them to keep on our journey, we mutually opted to keep on avoiding meet and decided to continue in the way our friend showed us.
For the rest of our 3 months trip in South America, we did not eat any animal product. And kept on with vegan diet, except for one exception. We ate in a guesthouse in Uruguay and we wanted to try the cuisine of the owner. For us vegan was hard to make, so we opted for a dish with fresh fish.
The rest of our meals were all vegan, and in 3 months we did not have any stomach problems which could appear often while eating food from abroad.
Step 3: Vegan to Plant-Based Diet
How we switched to a plan-based diet was our last step. First, the main difference between a Vegan Diet and a Plant-based diet is that with a plant-based diet you eat mostly like a vegan but from time to time, when you feel it, you will eat animal based product.
We travelled in France and Western Europe, and if from time to time you cannot avoid but eating animal products.
We were thru hiking in the Alps and on some sections, you could not find food, so we had to eat cheese from Mountain hut. We could have brought our own food, but we didn’t want to carry all the cooking set for this hike.
Another time, we went with my parents on a road trip, and at night we would eat in a restaurant, here again, not all restaurants offers vegan options. So, we had to eat fish.
Plus, we do not especially dislike it once in year or so. And living in France made it hard not to eat cheese. Still we now prefer goat cheese.
And that is how we switched to a plan-based diet.
Chef’s Note
After I must admit that I am not a great cook, but Tina is, and she loves to experiment and try out new recipes from all over the world. She is passionate about it and not afraid to mix things up. For 99% of the times, it ends up as an amazing dish!
Since we are home, all our family tried Tina’s cooking and so far, they all loved it! It’s just that cooking this way is not in their habit and they feel lost.
So, just try it out 😊
“A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.” – Thomas Keller
Discover Tina's Recipes Around the World & Mindful Coking
Mindful cooking is about being present in the kitchen and taking that wonderful opportunity to bring the mind to the here and now.
It is about that smell of freshly chopped onions sauteing in hot oil.
