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Sunday: orange juice, green tea, black tea or coffee (added sweetener is okay)

Monday: steamed vegetables

Tuesday: nuts and seeds, vegan cheese, or steamed tofu

Wednesday: quick oats, toast, or bagel (no sweetener, soy margarine, or nut butter)

Immediately after you eat each of the foods, note how you feel. Do you feel full? Bloated? Content? Then note how you feel a few hours later. Were you hungry for more food within an hour or so? Did you eat a smaller lunch or a bigger one? Were your food cravings throughout the day worse or diminished?

After you try this evaluation of different foods, you’ll have a better idea how your food choices affect your energy. This knowledge helps you plan your menus better. If you have a presentation at work or school, for instance, you can choose the breakfast you know works better to create the steady, focused energy you need.

Exploring Some Menu Ideas to Get You Started

Leafing through cookbooks can be intimidating for some new vegans. You may feel that you need to whip up complicated, multicourse menus right out of the gate.

No need to fret — start your first couple of weeks by using the menu ideas I list in the following sections. These options offer you simple cooking ideas that pair up all the foods your body needs. Protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats should appear regularly throughout your day.

Also be sure to check out Part IV in this book for loads of tasty and easy recipes for every meal.

Easy breakfast options

After you understand your reactions to different breakfast foods, you can put together several options for healthy morning munchies that give you the energy you need. Vegan breakfast options abound and the recipes in Chapter 12 can help you develop a grand repertoire. This list offers suggestions for delicious yet simple vegan breakfast foods:

Leftover beans warmed up and wrapped in a tortilla with salsa.

Leftover brown rice reheated with steamed broccoli, cubed tofu, and carrot coins.

Leftover whole grain reheated with soy, rice, hemp, or coconut milk. Add a pinch of cinnamon, 1/4 cup chopped nuts, and a handful of raisins.

Sautéed tofu slices on whole-grain toast drizzled with flax oil, salt, and pepper.

Smoothie with bananas, berries, or cherries, 1/2 cup raw nuts, and 1 or 2 tablespoons flaxseeds. Add enough hemp, rice, or soymilk to liquefy.

Soy or coconut milk–based yogurt mixed with 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil, berries, and sunflower seeds.

Whole-grain bread spread with Earth Balance, nut butter, and apple butter. Add a glass of hemp, soy, rice, or almond milk.

Whole-grain cereal with vegan milk, banana slices or berries, and slivered almonds.

Quick lunch list

Lunch can be a fly-by or a drive-through, but it also can be healthy and vegan. Use this list to stock up your kitchen with easy, fortifying midday meal options:

Carrot sticks dipped in hummus with a side of olives

Leftover grain rolled into nori paper with cucumber spears

Leftover rice and beans folded in a tortilla with salsa

Leftover whole grain heated up with a can of soup and 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes

Mashed avocado and hummus spread on top of rye crackers

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of almond or rice milk

Pita bread with baba ghanouj, avocado slices, and cucumber slices

Soy hot dogs smothered with vegan chili and chopped onions

Tomato soup sprinkled with nutritional yeast flakes and drizzled with flax oil

Whole-grain toast spread with hummus and fresh tomato slices

Seven days of dinner

Dinnertime is a hectic affair in many households. With evening activities, household chores, traffic jams, and homework filling up our nights, fixing a healthy meal can seem overwhelming.

Use the following wholesome vegan dinner plans to get a new, positive rhythm into your evening agenda. These dishes can all be scaled up or down depending on the size of your appetite:

Very vegan dinner 1: 1 to 2 cups quinoa cooked in vegetable broth