A slower and more sustainable life
Two easy recipes to make the best vegan waffles. Take your pick of a recipe with aquafaba to replace the eggs in a traditional waffle recipe or a recipe that has no aquafaba in it. Both result in delicious waffles that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Great to see that you are interested in a plant-based diet. Maybe it is just for yourself or you are thinking about how to start transitioning a family to a plant-based diet. Everyone has to start somewhere so take it easy and I hope this …
The plant-based diet focuses on foods sourced from plants and many people new to this diet will wonder what they can eat. No don’t worry you won’t just have to eat salads all the time, the plant-based diet is much more varied than that. Below I have listed some of the best plant-based recipes for beginners so you can try this lifestyle and see if it is the right choice for you!
Of course, supermarkets cater to consumers who choose the plant-based lifestyle and it can be as unhealthy and full of processed food as any other diet. The journey to a more concious and plant-based diet should also include the willingness to try new things and be prepared to cook and prepare more meals from scratch.
For me, this journey meant to slowly incorporate more plant-based options when I would usually eat meat. I knew that for myself it had to be a more gradual shift as I slowly replaced my go-to meaks with plant-based options. Maybe for you, it works better if you make a sudden shift and stop eating all meat products. See what works best for yourself and take it at your own pace. This can be a great first step towards a more slow-paced lifestyle.
Now I want to share the best plant-based recipes for beginners that helped me on my own journey.
Breakfast is important to me and I like varied options. I used to have meat as part of my breakfast but completely stopped eating any meat for breakfast. I now focus on oats and occasionally have pancakes or some bread option.
My go-to breakfast option is homemade granola with oat milk. I like to prepare the granola with seeds and nuts at the weekend and will also make a batch of oat milk. This way during the week, I will not have to prepare anything. I can just grab a bowl of granola and have it with oat milk.
Occasionally, I will have these oat breakfast bars if I fancy a change. They are prepared with the remaining oat pulp from making oat milk and are stored in the freezer. If you fancy one you just take it out and can eat it straight away. Personally, I prefer them slightly defrosted.
If I fancy a special treat, I will have some English breakfast muffins with some jam. These take a bit more time to prepare but I only eat them every now and then so I like to have a batch in my freezer for when I fancy them.
Alternatively, I like pancakes with fresh berries (strawberries and blueberries are my favourite) and maple syrup or overnight oats.
I like simple recipes and rarely spend much time in the kitchen. However, I am not keen on just salads and need something more substantial. Every now and then I will spend a day on the weekend batch-cooking a few meals and freeze them for later but generally, I just prepare something quick. These recipes are my favourites.
I love soups and here I will spend a bit more time if needed. The flavour of these soups is worth it. And you get some much plant-based goodness! My current favourite soup is this roasted tomato soup. The other soup I like is a classic, a nice warming leek and potato soup.
If I fancy a take away I generally make this pizza base recipe and add my favourite toppings. The dough is easy to make and I am sure once you tried it you won’t go back to your store-bought pizza. It is fun to make with the family and you can get your kids involved with the dough and adding the toppings!
Fancy something a bit more special? Try these vegan empanadas. You can either buy ready-made puff pastry or make it yourself. The fillings are easy to make and you can get creative and try new fillings! Or do you fancy this delicious paella dish? It is easy to make and you don’t need any fancy new equipment!
My list on plant-based recipes for beginners would not be complete without some snack ideas. Let’s face it you will become peckish at some point and the best option is if you have some healthy-ish homemade snacks ready. You don’t want to fall into the trap where you revert back to pre-packaged high-calorie snacks.
If you fancy trying to make some snacks I can recommend these vegan kale crisps. They are so delicious, even my non-vegan friends love them. Alternatively, you could try these sourdough crackers and find out what your favourite topping is. I like them slightly salted but they are great with herbs as well.
Fancy something sweet? Try these chocolate brownies with oat pulp (from the oat milk) in them.
Which ones of this list of the plant-based recipes for beginners are your favourites? Have you tried them? What did you like about them? Share it with me in the comments.
If you enjoyed these plant-based recipes for beginners and want to find more head over to my recipe section and join my Facebook Group which focuses on homemade vegan recipes that are affordable and healthy.
Personally, I follow the no discard routine. I only feed my sourdough starter before baking a new loaf to ensure I have an active starter. This works well for me but I know there are some people out there you like to keep their sourdough …
You may be reading this blog and think: yes, I want to slow down my life but how? There are so many commitments. The To-Do list does not seem to get any shorter. You may even have noticed that you start things but don’t finish …
Remote work is becoming more sought after these days. There are some companies that are fully remote and encourage a better work-life balance for their employees. Most companies and bosses fear this step though as that would mean to lose control. But the employees of today are demanding more remote working opportunities. I wanted to share in this blog post some ideas for remote work in Europe. So how do you find the ultimate remote job opportunity?
I’ve been working remotely a few years ago. The company was new in Europe and hadn’t set up an office yet. I was the first employee in the UK and it was a great opportunity to work remotely and enjoy a slower pace of life. Jobs like mine in Social Media are easily done remotely. The team is communicating via Slack and email most of the time. There is no reason why employees working in digital jobs still have to commute to the office every day.
However, flexible remote work in Europe is not as widespread as you would think – even in jobs like mine where you would think that is easily possible. Yes, there are some forward-thinking CEOs who want to attract top talent and have therefore taken the step to create fully remote teams. But they are in the minority. Many employees these days, however, demand more flexibility. They want to chose when and where to work from so only employers who allow this flexibility will continue to attract top talent.
The below list is not exhaustive but the fields in which I have first-hand experience in working remotely. Be that as a permanent employee of as a freelancer. I will over time add more blog posts from guest bloggers on this topic. Digital nomads who work from anywhere in the world, freelancers who set their own work schedule or people like you and me who had the opportunity of working remotely. Follow the blog if you want to learn more and read some of these stories.
Most jobs in translation demand a translation degree. However, if you are highly specialised because you have been working in a specific industry for a long time you may be able to get around that. There are so many agencies specialising in translation and you can sign up with some of them or source your own clients. However, a good source can also be job platforms like Indeed so check these out as well!
My tip is to ask around in your network and see if you can connect with people who need smaller translation jobs to start out. It is best to get some experience first and then reach out to bigger companies. Don’t sell yourself short! You set your own fees/rates and you need to know what your time is worth so ensure you thought about this.
Most jobs in translation pay per word or a thousand words. Find out how many words you can translate realistically in about an hour and charge that for 45 minutes of translation. This way you can ensure to hand in high-quality work but also allow yourself breaks when you need them.
You do want to ensure you have time for breaks and this way you also get some admin time. Don’t underestimate admin time as you will have to communicate with clients, write invoices and sometimes even chase invoiced. Ideally, you want to have that time calculated into your rate. Otherwise, you may find that you are spending much more time than you thought to make ends meet and earn enough. This is an easy enough trap to fall into if you are new to freelancing and most people I spoke to have experiences this.
These are currently a bit thin on the ground but they do exist. Mainly in the form of freelancing for several clients. You could be managing the Social Media channels of several small clients. Most likey you will be a jack of all trades: content creation, planning, scheduling, moderation, analytics and so much more! The world of Social Media moves fast and you will find that you also have to spend time on educating yourself on the latest trends, channels and best practices.
There are some companies that are fully remote and promote remote work in Europe so you may strike lucky especially if you are good at networking.
Don’t fall into the trap of offering your services for free! If you have experience managing Social Media – even if that is only your own channels, make sure to be confident and negotiate a fee. This will help you to make a name for yourself.
This may not be the most obvious choice for remote work in Europe but even as a personal fitness instructor in the times of digital media it is easy to work remotely. You can have classes via video conferences or record sessions so they can be played when convenient. Many people still prefer someone they can meet in a fitness studio but the coronavirus lockdown has proven that people are keen to stay fit and healthy and love following an instructor on Social Media. Find out which channels are right for you and concentrate only on a few. You don’t have to be on all of them and you don’t want to spread yourself too thin.
I’ve been teaching German for the past 15 years. Mostly in person either at the students home or my own. Sometimes we would meet in a cafe or a public park but lately I’ve moved most of my sessions online.
Select your subject(s) depending on your skill set. Languages are an obvious choice but you can also teach so many other subjects and the more specialised you are the easier it usually is to attract students.
In the past, I’ve focused on client acquisition and used platforms like Gumtree here in the UK. But I also created my own Social Media channels and done some paid advertising campaigns which helped in client acquisition. You may decide to work with a school that enables you to teach remotely. There are plenty of opportunities and I will include a few platforms that I’ve used in the past soon.
These are just a few ideas of how you can find remote work in Europe. I will add more over time and I am also keen to hear from you! Have you worked remotely in the past or are you currently working remotely? Are you a digital nomad and travel from country to country? I would love to hear from you! Contact me and I’d love to interview you or include a guest blog post.
Disclaimer: This post contains affilitate links – I will earn a commission if you buy any item. Not only is oat milk very cheap and locally produced but it is also a more eco-conscious choice than say, almond milk. Making your own oat milk is …
The usual breakfast routine for me is granola and oat milk, both homemade. A great option for the busier weekdays. However, for special occasions, we love making this quick vegan palmiers recipe. Traditionally more of a sweet snack for the afternoon, we have discovered it …