86eats vegan deli turkey Of all of my recipes, the ones I get the most questions about are my seitan recipes. This is actually not that surprising. Making your own seitan can seem overwhelming, and intimidating, but it really is a pretty simple thing you can make right at home. Don’t get me started on the money you can save making homemade seitan. I try my best to help and encourage anyone who wants to give setian making a whirl, and remind you that it really is easier than it may seem at first! That said, I still get a lot of questions about substituting ingredients, and troubleshooting some ..read more

I love a good vegan turkey or ham for the holidays, but honestly speaking, I’m all in for the sides. Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, dressing, mac and cheese, cranberry anything, and rolls. Yes please, and I’ll take seconds! A few years back we wrote a full menu Holiday Guide E-book, including our favorite classic southern sides, desserts, cocktails, and a main dish. Be sure to check it out, but the website also has tons of sides, breads, and desserts for all of your holiday gatherings be it Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza or whatever you celebrate in the fall and winter mont ..read more

Whether you are packing a lunch box to send your kids off to school each day, packing your own lunch for school or work, or need easy lunch ideas when at home, we have plenty or recipes to help you out. From vegan lunch meats, salads, and snacks, you will find they are all easier than most think, to whip up at home. Easier and often cheaper than a premade alternative. Making your own vegan deli meats and cheese at home will cost you a small fraction of what you would pay in the store and you will know exactly what ingredients are going into the food you are feeding you family and yourself. Ma ..read more

I love the 4th of July. I love fireworks, and BBQ food, and spending the day celebrating this country’s freedom with friends and family. But lets be real, most 4th of July BBQ shindigs are not super vegan friendly unless it is being hosted by a vegan. Our downtown historic neighborhood hosts a throw back baseball game each year, dividing the East side and West side. Residence come out and play in old school uniforms, using old school baseball gloves, and the score is kept on a giant chalk scoreboard, manned by neighborhood kids. It’s one of my favorite evens of the whole year. West side is t ..read more

The perfect vegan cheese board So, lets talk vegan cheese boards! Perfect for any occasion from parties, pot lucks, holiday dinners, to an at home date night! I can not think of a time I would not want a vegan cheese board set out before me!! I like to make a mix of vegan quick set hard cheeses, and vegan cheese balls when I create a cheese board. I also like to add in some sliced vegan meats, like vegan pepperoni or even thinly sliced vegan pastrami to serve with the cheese, crackers, and often homemade bread. Pickles, fresh cut veggies, fruit, olives, and fruit spreads are all welcome, too ..read more

So let’s talk seafood! I know so many people who want to go plant based but still dabble in seafood from time to time. Or friends who were vegan or plant based and eventually go back to eating seafood for whatever reason. Like seafood just has some pull that brings people back that other meats don’t seem to have. Again, I don’t judge your decisions. I just think there is a misconception that somehow eating seafood is healthier than eating other meats, or has less of a harmful environmental impact. Farm raised fish are still given harmful antibiotics and fresh caught fish are being “overfished ..read more

We all make New Year resolutions. Even if I claim I don’t, in the back of my mind I am always thinking I will do better, eat better, be better starting January first. I mean I think the majority of us are guilty of over indulging through the holidays, and I for one know my body is begging for some healthier foods come January. Less sugar, less carbs, less alcohol, more veggies, more water, more thought as to what I am putting into my body! So we have compiled some of our easiest, lighter, and healthier recipes to help you reset in the new year! Some of our favorite salads, soups, and treats t ..read more

Who does’t love cookies? I mean there are so many different kinds to choose from and I have personally not met a cookie I didn’t like. I am often asked if I have vegan cookie recipes on the site. Well of course I do. Veganizing your favorite cookie recipe is just about the easiest thing you could do. We have managed to turn almost a dozen of our all time favorite cookies into vegan recipes over the years. All our favorites from classic chocolate chip, soft iced sugar cookies, coconutty ranger cookies, creamy peanut butter cookies, almond sand dollar cookies, powdered Mexican wedding cookies ..read more

I love the holiday season because I love baking up fall and winer holiday treats to share with friends and family. Cinnamon, pumpkin, cranberry, gingerbread, and apple are some of my favorite flavors. I especially love discovering new recipes for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. That is why we have complied a list of some pretty delicious looking fall and winter baked treats that are must tries this season! 1. What’s better than warm, gooey, cinnamon rolls you may ask? What about one GIANT warm, gooey, cinnamon roll. It’s the kind of thing dreams are made of! Meggan Leal, from Cooki ..read more

Meet Debra! Our newest guest blogger. Debra is a Clinical Registered Licensed Dietitian/ Nutritionist at the Mayo clinic in Jacksonville Fl. She is also a vegan. Debi and I struck a friendship at our local Pure Barre studio about a year ago. I love chatting with her about food and diet, and thought her expertise would be a valuable addition to the site. As I have stated before, I am not an expert in this field, I’m simply just passionate about a vegan diet and cooking. So, I thought it was important, and probably helpful, to have some real professional input regarding diet and nutrition avail ..read more