Vegan Reset Cookbook

Y'all know I LOVE a good reset! Every January, I spent 3-4 weeks on some healthy eating plan, usually with mostly whole foods and very little processed food. Sometimes low sugar or low salt. Other times, no alcohol (but in recent years, I've stopped trying to give that up because that's just a tad too far for me!).

I'm probably embarking on a mini-reset soon, perhaps in late September. Working now on what that looks like. But I won't do a full-on 28 days until January because the fall and winter holidays are too hard to work around. But I do know EXACTLY what book I'll be turning to come January 1.

Vegan Reset: The 28-Day Plan to Kickstart Your Healthy Lifestyle by Kim Julie-Hansen just hit stands and is a gorgeous meal plan with tips on meditation, journaling, and exercise. It's a perfect program all wrapped up into one easy package!

I'll get into the nuts and bolt later in this post, but I wanted to show you a couple dishes I made from the book so far. I skipped ahead past the meal plan recipes to the Additional Recipes section to find this Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese Sauce, which I served over whole wheat elbow pasta.

This whole foods-based cheese is soooooooo creamy, and it's made from real plants, like sweet potatoes, cashews, bell pepper, garlic, nooch, and spices. I've read about squash or potato-based cheese sauces (this recipe gives you the option of sweet potato, butternut squash, or white potato) before, but I've never tried one. It blew me away how creamy and tasty this was!

On the side, I picked a recipe from Day 8 on the meal plan — Avocado Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette. This simple salad is massaged with the vinaigrette and avocado, and it's flecked with raisins and sunflower seeds. It's supposed to be lunch (all of it!) on Day 8, but you'd be eating a much bigger portion. I had this small amount on the side.

Here's a meal shot! Such a great combo!

Vegan Reset opens with tips on movement, deep breathing techniques, journaling, and meditation. The author goes into why resets are important and busts myths about "detoxing" (which your body does just fine on its own, thank you!).

The meal plan is divided into four weeks, and each has a shopping list with everything you need for the week. Each day is prefaced with a prep section so you know what you need to do the night before. As a serious meal planner, this makes me SO HAPPY.

Meals are simple and whole. For example, Day 1 prescribes a Raspberry Peanut Butter Shake for breakfast, Purple Cabbage Boats with Peanut Tofu for lunch, Watermelon & Pear for snacks, and Loaded Sweet Potatoes for dinner. Day 2 starts with Watermelon & Orange Slices for breakfast, a Sweet Potato Bowl for lunch, Fruit & Peanut Butter for a snack, and Chickpea Cabbage Boats for dinner.

The recipes don't repeat, which concerned me a little as one who can't afford to cook every meal from scratch every day (I live on leftovers), but I noticed that most of the ingredients you buy are used for multiple meals (see the above cabbage and chickpea boats for an example). So I think that would make this plan affordable.

After the 28 days, she includes tips on staying vegan (for newbies) with recipes for homemade skincare products and other lifestyle tips. And then in the back of the book, you'll find non-reset recipes (like this mac & cheese) that would be great for continuing with healthy eating goals after the plan is over.

You'll definitely be seeing this book again (A LOT) on this blog in January. And hey, if anyone wants to do the plan with me, let me know! We can do a virtual reset together!