“The Mindful Vegan” Recipe + Giveaway

The Mindful Vegan: A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness

I am honored, and joyful I was gifted a review copy of Lani Muelrath’s newest hardcover book, The Mindful Vegan:  A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness *. This post contains a brief summary of the book, a recipe, and a book giveaway.

Lani Muelrath has been practicing mindfulness meditation for 25 years, and is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, award-winning health educator, and longtime vegan advocate.  In addition, she is well known for her expertise in plant-based, active, and mindful living.  Check out my past reviews of Lani’s prior books she has written, Fit Quickies, and The Plant-Based Journey.  I am in awe of Lani’s ability to connect with each person individually, and positively impact their lives.

TMV (The Mindful Vegan) teaches us how to practice mindfulness meditation, and includes step-by-step guidelines, personal stories, and even some delicious recipes (see below for a delicious gravy recipe).  You will learn why eating in a way that lines up with your convictions about health, the environment, and ethics reduces stress and increases happiness.  Do you want to be free of certain eating behaviors, experience a new found freedom around eating, and discover your natural healthy body and weight?  Mindfulness can be the deciding factor between your successful adoption of a healthy vegan diet and repeated frustrating attempts.

The 30-day plan walks us through the stages of creating a mindfulness meditation practice, and includes free audio guided meditations for each daily section.  It is as easy as Day One being a one minute long meditation to….you guessed it…Day Thirty being a 30 minute long mediation (or longer if you prefer).  I love that this book is not only for vegans and those trying to transition, but for everyone in general.  Lani describes in detail how veganism coincides with a mindfulness practice, and how we all can benefit from practicing mindfulness meditation.

Personally, I am new to meditation, and I found it was simple to learn and follow the daily practices Lani laid out for us.

For example, on Day Five Lani talks about a wandering mind being an unhappy mind:

Keep in mind that an important element of mindfulness is the willingness to be present, without judgement.  This gives you more and more opportunities to see that you need not default to old habits that drive your thoughts and emotions on autopilot.  You gain the freedom that awareness brings.

Day Eleven (hindrances, antidotes, and helping factors).  Lani demonstrates the five classic hindrances to mindfulness practice, and shares the tried and true antidotes to skillfully manage them.

Day Fourteen (the mindful vegan plate).  Lani describes the core players on the mindful plate, and helps us keep it simple.

Day Nineteen (higher ground and mindfully navigating conversations) and Day Twenty (cultivating kindness and compassion) speak volumes and in part discusses listening and speaking with mindfulness, and cultivating compassion by paying attention to how you pay attention.

Day Twenty-Five (cravings).  Lani is masterful with explaining how we can control cravings by simply paying attention.

Day Twenty-Nine (stress and anxiety).  Lani points out that:

More than fifty studies now demonstrate that mindfulness-based programs reduce stress and anxiety.  ……cultivating greater attention, awareness, equanimity, and acceptance through meditation practice is associated with lower levels of psychological distress, including less stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and worry.

I recommend this book to everyone!  The simple technique of mindfulness opens up what could potentially be hindering our happiness by rewiring our reactivity to many challenges.  It awakens us past the conditioned mind and our habits of thinking, and helps us become willing and able to take a step back from our usual routine and reactivity.

Get your spoons ready to mindfully dive into this deliciousness!

Sage Advice Double Mushroom Gravy (pg. 253) Photo © Laura Black

Sage Advice Double Mushroom Gravy (pg. 253) Photo © Laura Black

Text excerpted from The Mindful Vegan, © 2017 by Lani Muelrath.  Reproduced by permission of Benbella Books. All rights reserved.

Sage Advice Double Mushroom Gravy

Makes About 1 1/2 Cups

This is my new favorite version of my gravy go-to, recently updated to include a new find:  powdered porcini mushrooms.  I pack it with sliced mushrooms so it’s nice and chunky–thus the “double” status.  Your option, of course!

1 cup water

1 tablespoon powdered vegetarian seasoning (see note)

1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

3 tablespoons garbanzo flour or rice flour (if you prefer a more neutral taste), or a combination of the two

1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage (more to taste)

1 teaspoon porcini mushroom powder

2 (4-ounze) cans sliced mushrooms, drained, or 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced and steamed

1. Place all ingredients except for the sliced mushrooms in a small-to medium-sized saucepan and whisk together.  Bring to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, for about 3 minutes or longer, until the gravy thickens.
2. Add the mushrooms and stir to heat through.  Serve over baked, mashed, or steamed potatoes; whole grains; steamed vegetables; or biscuits.

Note:  In lieu of vegetarian seasoning, you could replace the 1 cup water with an equal amount of vegetable broth.

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.  CONGRATS, CYNTHIA!!

The publisher, Benbella Books, was nice of enough to send me a review copy.  Guess what?  They are even more amazing, and offering a FREE copy to a PBJ reader (U.S. and Canada only please).

For your chance to win a copy, post your answer below to this question:

What are some areas of your life where you feel mindfulness practice would be beneficial?

Deadline for the giveaway is Monday, November 13th at midnight (CST).  I will email the winner by Wednesday, November 15th.

Pickup your copy of The Mindful Vegan  HERE*.
(feel free to pickup extra copies for your friends, and family).

We would LOVE for you to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter @laurayblack, Pinterest, Instagram @plantbasedjunkies, or Snapchat @pbjunkies.  Feel free to use hashtag  #plantbasedjunkies so we can stay connected.

Disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of the book to review. All opinions are my own, and I happily recommend this book to you.  Also, this post contains affiliate links, indicated by a *