Try this 5-day Blue Zone diet meal plan with a plant-based twist! Includes free printable planner and easy Blue Monday challenge. Check out the plan here.

Discover 25 vegan slow cooker recipes for easy, flavorful plant-based meals. Perfect for meal prep, cozy dinners, and hands-off cooking. Check out the full show notes and links to all the recipes here.

Breathe cleaner air today. Discover how to purify air naturally at home using plants, ventilation, and simple tricks to reduce indoor air pollution and boost health. You can check out the full show notes here. 

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we welcome Certified Life Coach Michele Olender.  Michele specializes in helping people eliminate consumption of animal products and helps existing vegetarians/vegans take on challenging new goals. 

In this episode of The Vegetarian Zen podcast, we talk about black salt also known as Himalayan black salt or Kala Namak. We discuss the benefits, side effects, where you can buy it, and provide you with a few recipes to get you started cooking with it.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we are pleased to welcome food writer Peggy Brusseau, author of The Contented Vegan.

In this episode, we are pleased to welcome Doug Evans, an entrepreneur who was an early pioneer in the natural food industry.

In his new book, The Sprout Book, Doug talks all about sprouts and how we can tap into the power of the planet's most nutritious foods. 

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're pleased to welcome Molly Patrick. Molly is the co-founder of Clean Food Dirty Girl whose mission it is to help people eat more plants while finding joy in doing so.

In this episode of The Vegetarian Zen podcast, we are pleased to welcome Kiko Ellsworth. 

Kiko is an Emmy award-winning actor, producer, director who has appeared in hundreds of television shows, films, and commercials but he also has an inspiring story on how he became the person he is today which, among other things, is someone who is very passionate about veganism and leading a holistic, cruelty-free lifestyle.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're chatting with Adriane Marie, founder of Healabel, an awareness initiative that aims to improve consumer transparency by shedding light on our purchases. 

In addition to talking to Adriane about Healabel, we'll also be talking to her about her new self-published children's book, The Roots of our Food.

Adriane wrote, illustrated, and narrated this book and we are looking forward to talking to her about her inspiration for creating it.

In today's episode, we are pleased to welcome Hollan Hawaii. 

Hollan is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, health advocate, former restaurant owner, mom of three, plant-based cookbook author, and expert in vegan plant-based food.

We're going to talk to Hollan about her cookbook Good Food Gratitude and the positive impacts she's experienced when she moved to a plant-based diet over a decade ago.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we'll be reviewing Splendid Spoon! Splendid Spoon is a meal subscription service that specializes in clean ingredients.

We'll share our honest review of pros and cons. 

In this episode of our podcast, we talk about "upcycling". We discuss what it is, how it's different from recycling, and talk about our business, Cheery Bird Vintage, and how we use upcycling as a BIG part of that business.

Eat the rainbow for real health benefits! Discover how colorful foods boost heart health, brain function, and more—with tips you can actually stick to. Check out full show notes here. 

While I've always been a big fan of juices and smoothies, wellness shots aren't something I've made at home so, I decided to do some experimenting!

Not familiar with wellness shots?  No problem! In this episode, you'll learn:

• What Are Wellness Shots?
• Are Wellness Shots Good for You?
• Are There Any Risks with Taking Wellness Shots?
• Do I Need a Juicer to Make My Own?
• Some Common Ingredients and Their Benefits
• 8 Wellness Shot Recipes
• How to Store Your Wellness Shots

In this episode of the VZ podcast, we are pleased to welcome Alison Tierney. Alison is an outpatient oncology dietitian working with patients during cancer treatments to ensure adequate nutrition and symptom relief.

Marion is a Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita at New York University. 

Her passionate and clarifying insights into food politics challenge people to consider their own role in the global food chain, and to strive for a healthier, more sustainable, more equitable future.

In our conversation with Marion we talk about her latest book, Let's Ask Marion, which takes a conversational Q&A  format with questions posed by environmentalists and food writer Kerry Trueman. 

Batch cooking can help you save time, money, and stay on track with your health goals. Stephanie Dreyer shares her TOP tips for batch cooking.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're talking about vegan and cruelty-free sunscreens. We're going to discuss: 

• Some sunscreen terminology to help you better understand how to pick a sunscreen that's right for you
• One not-too-common term we'll share is "reef-safe". We'll talk about how some countries and US states within the US are banning certain sunscreens. 
• We're going to give you 7 of the best cruelty-free, vegan, reef-friendly sunscreens as recommended by our closed Facebook group The Peas and Carrots Society.

This episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast is all about lentils. 

You're going to learn:

• What lentils are
• The different types of lentils
• What lentils do for your body
• 5 recipes to inspire you plus 3 unconventional ways to eat them

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we share 10 vegetarian and vegan pantry essentials that can help ensure you're always ready to cook up something delicious and nutritious! 

It's summertime and the living is easy. While it's blazing hot down here in south Texas and going outdoors is something really tough to do right now, we thought this would be the perfect time for a virtual vegan Picnic!

We asked our friends in our closed Facebook group, The Peas and Carrots Society, to let us know what they'd be bringing.

In this episode of the podcast, we're going to share some of their responses.

In this episode, we welcome Jen Rao of Clear Your Life.

Clear Your Life was founded on the belief that simplified, beautiful living space will not only reduce stress but allow you to create better relationships, work & fulfillment in your life.

Jen recently wrote an article titled, "The Ultimate Intentional Living Road Map" where she discusses how we can design our lives to be more in line with our values. Whether it's finally making the decision to go plant-based or finally starting a business, Jen will walk us through how to set our intentions and create a workable plan for ourselves.

Vegan and vegetarian food can sometimes get a bad rap as consisting of nothing more than bland food! I know that before I became a vegetarian, I believed this stereotype just because I didn't know any better.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we are putting that stereotype to rest! We'll be sharing 10 of our FAVORITE go-to seasonings and also sharing some from our close Facebook group, The Peas and Carrots Society.

Struggling to fit exercise into your routine? Celebrate Move More Month with these 10 fun and creative ways to stay active—no gym required!

Check out the full show notes here. 

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're pleased to welcome Callee Ackland of Hippie Haven, the first zero-waste store in South Dakota. 

We're going to talk to Callee about what a "zero-waste" store is, and also about the mission at Hippie Haven whose vendors are 70% women-owned.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we are pleased to welcome Laura Theodore, aka. The Jazzy Vegetarian. 

What's EXTRA exciting about having Laura on the show is that she was one of our inspirations for creating The Vegetarian Zen podcast.

Many of you know that we started Vegetarian Zen as a place for people to feel comfortable asking questions and learning more about being plant-based without feeling bullied or pressured.  We wanted to focus on the positive aspects of being vegan or vegetarian. 

Today we get to know Laura a little more and talk about her latest book, Vegan For Everyone.

In this episode of the VZ podcast, we're pleased to welcome Benjamin Hagerty and Brianne Nemiroff of the blog It's Bree and Ben: Live and Travel Kindly.

We talk to them about how they started out their life of travel and how they use their blog to help guide people to kind choices in travel, dining, and shopping.

 A plant-based diet is a powerful tool in helping you manage your diabetes. It can even reverse it!  

A few weeks ago, Larissa had a bit of a scare with her blood-sugar levels shooting up. Because she can't take any medicines such as Metformin to help her control her diabetes, she needs to ensure she's eating right and moving. 

This recent scare made us go back and review some of the basics about controlling diabetes. 

In this episode of the VZ podcast, we're going to share 7 things you should know about being diabetic on a plant-based diet. 

Always talk to a doctor!

Today we are excited to welcome Siovonne Smith, author of the book The 3-Day Vegan.

When we reviewed Siovanne's book, The 3-Day Vegan, we really resonated with the message.

In her book, Siovanne gives you step by step suggestions, inspiration, and motivation to help you ease into veganism 3 days at a time. 

Whether you're a vegetarian looking to incorporate some vegan days or, you're an omnivore who isn't really interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan but would simply like to reduce your consumption of meat and dairy, this book has something for you!

As we are currently dealing with a global pandemic, it's essential that we are keeping ourselves healthy. One of the ways we keep ourselves healthy is by keeping our guts healthy.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're going to talk about probiotics. More specifically, we'll be talking about vegan probiotics. We'll talk about what they are and the best sources.

There is no doubt that these times we are in are not like anything most of us have experienced before. Hopefully, it won't be something we will experience ever again. 

With things so uncertain these days many people are feeling sad, angry, confused, and isolated. 

Today on the podcast, we want to share 10 healthy coping mechanisms that you can use to help you during these uncertain times.

Back in episode 176, we talked about the amazing benefits of fermented foods and one of the foods we discussed was miso. 

This episode of the Vegetarian Zen is all about miso. This was something I had no clue about until I became a vegetarian. I didn't know it existed! This is a great example of where becoming a vegetarian expanded my food choices and experiences.

Today on the podcast, we are excited to welcome recognized expert and thought leader in the culinary, social, ethical, and practical aspects of living vegan, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

Colleen is an award-winning author and hosts two podcasts, Food for Thought and Animology. Today, we'll be talking more in-depth about her latest book, The Joyful Vegan.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're going to be talking about the 3 terms often used when talking about waste. Those terms are:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

We're going to talk about the definition of each and provide you some ways you can help out our planet by participating in reducing, recycling, and reusing.

Now before you start thinking, "I know what each of these mean. I'm good." Stick around! I know I thought I knew a lot about these already too but did pick up a few things myself.

Pi Day is March 14. If you're not sure what Pi Day is, it's a math-inspired holiday honoring the number π (3.14). What's to celebrate about that? You can find out more at Piday.org.

But, if you landed on this page, I'm guessing you're here for the P-I-E kind of pie.

When it comes to dessert, I'll choose pie over cake every time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with cake but for me, a perfectly flaky crust, creamy or fruity filling, and the first forkful of pure comfort food satisfies more than any cake ever could. 

In fact, I've even started asking for birthday pies instead of cakes! 

And since Pi Day is basically an open invitation to indulge in all things pie-related, how about we celebrate with a lineup of 10 delicious vegan pies (including my favorite)?

Check out the show notes for links to all 10 vegan pies. 

This episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, like many others, is a listener request. We've had several folks in our community contact us letting us know that they want to learn more about what it means to eat gluten-free on a vegan diet.  

This is one of those episodes where we are talking about "a vegan diet" because, for the most part, cheese and dairy are gluten-free.  

We're going to talk about:

• What gluten is.

• Celiac disease

• What you can eat if you are a vegan, vegetarian, or reducetarian looking to avoid gluten

• Some sneaky foods you might think are gluten-free but may not be (always double-check!)

Cara Cifelli is a Certified Health Coach, Holistic Nutritionist, chef, author, podcast host, and avocado toast lover. 

Cara passionately provides the tools to help women leave behind dieting, disordered eating, and body shame so they can show up more fully in all areas of their life. 

In this episode, we talk to Cara about our own issues with disordered eating. 

Balloon releases have been around for decades but did you know that they are extremely harmful to our animal friends AND our environment?

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're pleased to welcome Brighde Reed to the show.  

Brighde is one of the co-founders of World Vegan Travel, a company that creates luxurious travel experiences for vegans and the vegan-curious. 

Brighde is going to tell us all about World Vegan travel and then share some general travel tips for traveling as a vegan or vegetarian.

In last week's episode of our podcast, we talked about the top tools we're using to get healthier this year.

One of those tools is an app called My Fitness Pal which we use to log our daily food intake. Using this app, we've gained some insight into our macronutrients and where we needed to focus in order to eat a more balanced diet.

One of the macronutrients we had never given much thought to is potassium. What we found is that we consistently fall short in hitting our recommended daily intake in this area. 

After experiencing some muscle cramping recently, it occurred to me that this may be related to my potassium deficiency. 

In this episode, we're going to talk about what potassium is and how to ensure you're getting enough.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we'll be discussing the top 9 tools we're using to help us get healthier in 2020.

We want to stress that you don't have to spend a lot of money to get healthy. Keep in mind that we've accumulated the kitchen tools we're going to discuss over time and they aren't essential. We simply want to share these with you today so that you can decide for yourself what makes sense to invest in to make your life a little bit easier.

In this episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast, we're going to talk about seeds! More specifically, we're going to talk about 7 of the healthiest seeds you can eat to give you a nutrition boost. Of course, we can't talk about food without giving you some ideas and recipes so we'll be talking about some of those too!

Yes, we finally did it! We bought an air fryer! 

Back in episode 259 of our podcast, we talked about air frying.

When we did this episode, we didn't have a fryer of our own but asked for some input from our Peas and Carrots Society on Facebook about their experiences with air frying. Was it awesome or just a bunch of hot air?

While the majority of our folks were really digging the air fryer, we weren't exactly sold. That is, until this past Black Friday when Amazon was running a sale. 

In this episode of our podcast, we're going to talk about which air fryer we purchased and provide you with a review. 

This episode of the Vegetarian Zen podcast is all about quinoa! Specifically we'll  be talking about:

• What quinoa is
• What are the health benefits
• Is it considered gluten-free?
• Is it Keto-Friendly?
• And last but not least, how to cook it! 
• We'll be sharing a few favorited recipes in our show notes at www.vegetarianzen.com/342 so be sure to head out and check those out after you have a listen!

We are knocking on the door of a brand new year and many people are thinking about New Year's resolutions. 

"New Year, New Me!" is the rallying cry of many people vowing to take up good habits and ditch old bad habits.

Well, most people know that the percentage of people who actually accomplish New Year's resolutions is very small.

This year, instead of "New Year, New Me' we're going to offer you 5 ways to think about the upcoming new year that might help increase the odds of you actually moving the needle on those things, you deem important for yourself.

In this article, we're going to share information about a special day every year where wildlife gets the spotlight, World Wildlife Day. We'll tell you a bit about this important day and share some powerful wildlife quotes to help inspire action.

Check out the full show notes here. 

Whether you're a guest or hosting a holiday , being a vegetarian, vegan, or reducetarian can be a bit tricky to navigate socially.  

In this episode, we give you 5 tips to help you navigate the holiday season as a vegan or vegetarian.

Tis the season for some hot comfort food and the one we're going to talk about today will NOT disappoint. 

Today we're going to talk about instant pot vegetarian chili. 

Now, we're from Texas so we take are chili VERY seriously!  So be sure to stay tuned as we discuss a great instant pot vegetarian chili recipe!

The perfect sauce can take a dish from bland to simply AMAZING!  Here are 8 awesome vegan sauces that you need to give a try!