What would you like me to meat… I am so enjoying learning how to make plant based meat alternatives… I’ve been watching online videos sharing different recipes and basic preparation methods for vegan meats and seafoods… After watching one or more videos, I am always excited about going into my own kitchen and beginning the fun adventure of experimenting… It’s always wonderful when I end up with one of my very own recipes… especially one I too can at some point share with others…

Family and friends could rely on me for vegan bean burger recipes, which I got pretty good at coming up with… but after a while of trying various kinds of bean burgers, my palate was asking for something new… I used nuts and portobello mushrooms as meat substitutes as well, but I still wanted something more… I wanted to try ingredients I hadn’t used in place of meat before… I wanted to introduce my palate to different tastes and textures… I didn’t miss meat… I love being vegan… or a plant based humanitarian… yet, I did miss having more variety in my repertoire of foods…

Eating out at vegan and vegetarian restaurants and cafes allowed me to try new dishes… Whenever I ordered foods that were vegan alternatives to the meats I grew up eating… beef, pork, chicken and fish, primarily… I was usually surprised at how similar the tastes and textures of the vegan “meats” were to the non-vegan ones… Again, I’ve not missed eating meat, but I love having a variety of tastes and textures I can enjoy during my mealtimes… I wondered what ingredients were used to get vegan “meats” and “seafoods” to smell… look and taste so good… Well, I wasn’t the only one who had these thoughts… So, with the development of the Natural Food Art Cafe… I was on my way to finding out…

The Natural Food Art Cafe has been mostly an adventure into the world of food experimentation… I’ve learned how to make a number of foods by watching others, finding out from them what ingredients produce what smells, tastes and textures… and through unexpected occurrences… or simply by allowing myself to try something I hadn’t tried before… It’s exciting to make food I wasn’t planning on, but come out perfectly, or almost perfect, however is still yummy… Some of these “unexpected occurrences” recipes will be in one or more of my upcoming food books… I can’t wait to share them with you… until then… I’ll keep learning… experimenting… and finding out what not only a vegan palate will enjoy for breakfast… brunch… dinner… and dessert, but what any palate might come to enjoy as a good “like home” made meal…

Delving deeper into my plant based food journey… going beyond vegan bean burgers, I decided to try making vegan chickpea nuggets… My first try didn’t completely meet my expectations… but my second try, almost four years later, got me crispy, golden nuggets I could give a thumbs up… and that I am sure kids would really enjoy… Once I had chickpea nuggets down, a friend requested vegan crab cakes… I thought, I could find out how to make those… I went online and found a few recipes… My first try didn’t get me the results I hoped for either… but after some time… additional research… and a bit more experimenting… I came up with a recipe that made for me a pan of yummy vegan crab cakes… I think the recipe I have now, but am still experimenting with slightly, can entice a non-vegan seafood lover to go vegan…

Speaking of going vegan… my own journey started around 2007, but since the start of the Natural Food Art Cafe between the years 2014 -2017… I’ve taken the opportunity to introduce a growing variety of plant based foods to the global public… Many of my recipes are simple to make and the dishes and beverages are absolutely delicious… I’ve found that by utilizing the Natural Food Art Cafe as a vehicle to share my plant based humanitarian life-style, I’ve gotten others to become interested in plant based foods and aware of the benefits… Part of my plant based humanitarian journey includes developing a garden and growing my own herbs, fruits and vegetables… There’s nothing like picking fresh foods from one’s own garden and using these pickings to prepare a meal for yourself and possibly your family and friends… This is what the Natural Food Art Cafe is really about… Growing your own plants… your own foods… using these plant based foods to make meals that will decorate your table or someone else’s… and gathering together with family and friends to enjoy the delightful smells… colors… tastes and textures of plants both raw and heated… I realize I might not get to partake in a scrumptious meal from my garden with everyone… We might not get to smell the aromas together, taste and touch the foods together… nonetheless, what we can do together… is enjoy the visuals of these meals when shared with the recipe online… and perhaps, we’ll get to create one or more of these hearty plant-based meals together in one of my on-site or online classes… If so, you’ll get to smell… taste and touch one of your own awesomely good dishes…

Regardless of the ways we come together… I love the versatility we have with plant based foods… I love that they can become almost any recipe we can imagine… foods that we’ll love to smell… we’ll love to see… we’ll love to taste and touch… Plants, edible flowers and leaves, herbs, fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and nuts are foods we can incorporate into our daily meal menus… I love that growing plants and using them regularly as our sources of food and drink tremendously support our efforts to keep our lives… our animals’ lives… our neighborhoods… our communities… society… and the world at large… greener… and cleaner… Grateful for such a journey… for such an adventure… for such a style of life… a quality of life… that keeps me smiling BIG…

Who would you like me to meat… Oh… Not who… what would you like me to meat… Plant based chickpea nuggets… mock crab cakes… mock lobster or vegan steak anyone… Yes, please… BIGGER SMILE…

I share images of some of my vegan recipes with the ingredients used on my social media pages, Instagram and Pinterest… My very best and yummiest recipes will be shared in my forthcoming food books… You can also visit the Natural Food Art Cafe page to see more of the recipes I’ve made since its start… Select the Natural Food Art Cafe in the main menu at the top of the page… Enjoy… BIG SMILE… 

We have the capacity and potential to always be a blessing in our own lives, in the lives of others and in this magical and magnificent world of ours…

Learn more about Omniversal Life International (OLI) at windinc.org or by selecting the link for Omniversal Life International (OLI) in the main menu…

Images photographed, created and/or designed by Partners In Goodwill: Publications & Media…partnersingoodwill.com …

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Learn more about the Annual International Celebration of Dance at windinc.org or by selecting the link for Annual International Celebration of Dance in the main menu…

biashedo™ ~ My Universe Is Friendly… Inside and Out… And So Is Yours… The Macro… and The Micro… Grace… Love… Prosperity… Always sending forth light and love… :o)

Learn more about biashedo™ at windinc.org… Select the link for the Healthy Lives Campaign in the main menu… I have also written a more detailed blog on biashedo™ posted on January 6, 2016… Check it out too… danarondel.com …

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