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My First Blog Post

Hello!

Hello! My name is Hannah. I’m 19 years old and married to the love of my life already. We’ve been married for almost 6 months. I’m currently pregnant with our first child who is due in June 2020. I’ve been vegan for about 3.5 years and my husband has been vegan for almost a year now! I am starting this blog just to have somewhere to write some random thoughts along with information about some of my passions such as pregnancy, marriage, and good vegan food. I am interested in sustainability and love discovering local sustainable businesses. I can’t wait to start and I hope you enjoy!

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Target Bedding Review – Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, Threshold, & Room Essentials

I went on a hunt for cozy and refreshing bedding. My husband and I had been using a twin-size comforter that I’ve had since my freshman year of college.

We decided that it was time to invest in appropriately-sized bedding.

We got a duvet cover from Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, a duvet insert from Room Essentials, and sheets from Threshold.

For such a nice bed, it is a pretty affordable price.

We love our bedding.

You can read my full review here.

Ranking Disposable Diapers – the Best and the Worst

I’ve tried quite a few brands of disposable diapers now. I want to share my thoughts so that hopefully I can help you with your decision on which diapers to buy.

We cloth diaper 90% of the time, but we use disposables when we run out of cloth, or if we go out.

I prefer to use eco-friendly diapers, but I included many brands that aren’t marketed as eco-friendly because I know we can’t all afford those ridiculously priced diapers.

First, I want to share my favorites without taking cost into account. Then, I will factor in cost, and tell you which ones are the best for your money. Also, if I have done a full review on the item, I will link it!

I did a post like this with disposable wipes, too!

I hope you enjoyed that sample! Read more here: https://therosemama.com/ranking-disposable-diapers-the-best-and-the-worst/

I gave the best and the worst disposable diapers.

Hello Again! – An Update

Hello to my OG blog!

If you didn’t know, back in August I created my own website with my own domain and everything.

I’ve been posting over there since August.

I’ve decided that I’m going to start posting little snippets of my blogs on this page, and link the rest of the blog if you’re interested in what you’ve read.

I’ve been having so much fun blogging lately, and I really hope that you enjoy what I’ve written!

I’m going to work on transferring some of the blogs over to this site, so if you see anything you’re interested in, please click the link so that you can read the full post!

I appreciate you so much! Thanks for being here.

therosemama.com is my website

EXCITING NEWS! I CREATED MY OWN WEBSITE

Hello! I have some super exciting news! I have officially purchased my own domain and created my own website! From now on I will be posting on my website. I’m still going to be posting the same content, just on my own website! This website is so special to me because my husband created it for me. Please head on over and check it out! The name of it is therosemama.com. I linked it so you can easily go check it out! While you’re there sign up for the email list to get notifications! It would mean so much to me if you check it out and let me know what you think. I was also able to get the Instagram name I’ve been wanting so go follow me on Instagram @therosemama! I’m so excited for this new chapter. I want to thank every single person that has taken the time to read my blogs over the past 8 months. Every view, like, and comment has meant the world to me. Thank you again!

WHAT I ATE TODAY AS A VEGAN BREASTFEEDING MOTHER

Hello! I thought I would write a quick post telling you about what I ate today to show non-vegans what a vegan can actually eat and to hopefully give vegans some meal ideas. Keep in mind that my husband does ALL of the cooking around here. It would be a disaster if I tried to cook (you think I’m joking but unfortunately I am not). The meals I had today are some of the meals I have pretty much everyday. They’re easy and super yummy! As a breastfeeding mom, I need a lot of extra calories a day which is hard for me because I’m not much of a snacker at all. So, I hope this can help someone out there and I hope you can get inspired by this post!

BREAKFAST

Everyday my husband and I have been having this for breakfast because it is just so good! We had an English muffin with vegan bacon and vegan cheese on it. All you have to do is put a piece of cheese on an English muffin and put it in the oven to get warmed and let the cheese melt and cook the bacon! Then, put it all together. It’s pretty fast and very good! My favorite vegan bacon is by Lightlife and my favorite vegan cheese is Follow Your Heart. I used both of these products today (and pretty much everyday). Some English muffins are not vegan. I learned that the hard way. But, I found out that the Publix brand English muffins are vegan! Those are the ones we use. Overall, I love this quick breakfast. You could even add some tofu scramble or Just Egg on it to make it a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.

I also had an iced coffee. We recently got a coffee maker which has saved us SO much money! We use Archer Farms donut shop coffee. I brew it and then put it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool off. I pop a few ice cubes in it and add Silk vanilla creamer. And that’s it! Don’t worry, it is safe for breastfeeding moms to have caffeine! Of course, in moderation just like when you’re pregnant.

(P.S. If you are breastfeeding and concerned with consuming caffeine, definitely talk to your doctor. I am in no way a health professional. Most doctors say a cup is perfectly fine, though!)

LUNCH

For lunch we had a Lightlife burger with vegan cheese and a sesame seed bun. We paired it with the Target brand shoestring fries. These are so good! I know how hard it can be to find frozen fries that don’t suck. These don’t suck, they’re actually REALLY good! They remind me a lot of Whataburger’s fries. So good! This meal is super yummy.

DINNER

For dinner my husband made us vegan alfredo. We had spaghetti noodles with a vegan alfredo made from scratch. He used my favorite alfredo recipe which I will link here. He also made some biscuits using the Great Value baking mix and the recipe on the box. Another very good meal.

SNACKS

As I said, I am not much of a snacker. But, I know I need to keep my calories up. One night I randomly ate some peanuts because I was feeding my baby at night and it’s really hard for me to stay awake. I read a tip online that suggested snacking to stay awake during night feedings. I tried it and it has worked! Ever since then, I’ve been obsessed with them. I like the Walmart dry roasted UNSALTED peanuts. I put emphasis on unsalted because I like them more than the salted ones. Although, those aren’t bad. Throughout the day I randomly had a few handfuls of peanuts. I also ate them super early in the morning while feeding my baby to help me stay awake. Peanuts are pretty high calorie. They have about 160 calories per ounce (and I can eat several ounces because they’re so good).

DESSERT

I haven’t had dessert yet. But, I guarantee you I will. My husband and I love dessert and we pretty much can’t go without it. Tonight we will have 2 cookies each. My favorite vegan cookies are Sweet Loren’s. They’re amazing. I love the chocolate chunk cookies and the fudgy brownie cookies. We also drink a glass of almond milk with them. So, to finish off my day I will have 2 cookies and some almond milk.

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed reading and found this post useful and/or inspiring! Thank you so much for reading!

VEGAN SUBSTITUTES

I think one of the most common reasons people are afraid to go vegan is the fear of missing out. People are afraid they will miss the taste of something. Some people think it will be difficult to cut out certain things. I have now been vegan for 4 years (I wanted to celebrate my veganniversary but my baby was 2 days old and I completely forgot about it until the next day). Over these 4 years, I have learned a lot. Also, there have been so many new products come out! I have tried my fair share of vegan substitutes but there are still so many left to try! I hope this post can help someone interested in veganism learn about how easy it can be to use a vegan substitute!

Let’s start with the most commonly misunderstood area – baking.

Many people fear baking vegan things because they don’t know what to do without the egg. There are so many options! These measurements are for 1 egg.

  • applesauce – 1/4 cup applesauce is equal to 1 egg. Using applesauce as an egg replacer is great for waffles and pancakes!
  • mashed banana – 1 banana equals 1 egg.
  • flax “egg” – In a bowl, put in 1 tbsp flax seeds and then add 3 tbsp of water. Let this mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it kind of looks like the texture of gelatin.
  • chia “egg” – Same as the flax egg!
  • aquafaba – This is the liquid from a can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans. 3 tbsp equals 1 egg. This is really good to replace egg whites in things such as meringue.
  • tofu – 1/4 cup tofu equals 1 egg. Puree the tofu and that’s it.
  • Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer

As for milk, I love almond milk. There are so many non-dairy milks nowadays. There’s oat, hemp, rice, soy, coconut, nut, etc. My favorite brand of non-dairy milk happens to be Walmart. I like their original almond milk. I’ve tried Silk, Blue Diamond, Walmart brand, Kroger brand, and Publix brand and I find Walmart to be better than the name brands. I’ve only tried one oat milk. It was from Oatly and it was pretty good.

If you need to make/use buttermilk, there are plenty of recipes online! Here is one. Also, there are some other substitutes out there that I will link here. As for condensed milk, just use coconut milk and sugar as needed!

P.S. you can easily make vegan french toast using one of the vegan substitutes. My husband makes french toast using chia egg. Here is a good recipe.

Eggs

If you love to eat eggs by themselves, here are a few replacements.

  • tofu – Press the tofu first. ALWAYS press your tofu. It makes SUCH a difference. Afterwards, crumble up the tofu so that it looks like the texture of scrambled eggs. Add whatever seasonings you like. I think the most common are turmeric (this gives the yellow color), salt, and pepper.
  • Follow Your Heart VeganEgg – linked here.
  • JUST Egg – linked here.

Cheese

So many people are afraid to give up cheese. There is actually science behind this. Cheese contains some of the same things that trigger the area of your brain that is triggered by drugs. This explains why people are addicted to cheese. If you’ve tried a vegan cheese and didn’t like it, keep trying! Vegan cheeses are all different from each other. Some don’t melt at all. Some taste like rubber. I’ve managed to find the good ones.

Side note: I’m not listing nutritional yeast as a cheese substitute because it isn’t. But, please try it! It is so good. I love to sprinkle it on so many things. It’s good on popcorn, too.

  • Daiya – Honestly, my least favorite. It’s ok but it does not melt well and kind of tastes weird. If it’s all you can get your hands on, I think it’s worth a try.
  • Follow Your Heart – Honestly, the best. It melts well and, even better, it tastes really good! I love their shredded cheese and sliced cheese. Highly recommend.
  • GO Veggie! – I found this brand at Walmart. It’s alright if you can’t get anything else.
  • Field Roast CHAO cheese – I only had a tiny piece so I can’t say much but I know that this is widely available so that’s great.

Alfredo Sauce

I love a good alfredo sauce. There are a few ways to make it vegan.

  • cauliflower – Recipe here.
  • tofu – Recipe here. I really like this one.
  • cashews – Recipe here. You can make so many things with cashews. I don’t use cashews for anything because I’m #broke and they are expensive.

Yogurt

  • Kite Hill
  • Silk
  • Daiya
  • So Delicious
  • and homemade yogurt. There are so many recipes on the internet. Here is one for example.

Cream Cheese

Mayo

  • Follow Your Heart Vegenaise
  • Hellman’s Vegan Mayo (surprising, I know)

Ice Cream

  • Ben & Jerry’s – Don’t even mess around with other brands. This is the best. Halo tastes like cardboard. So Delicious is good but it doesn’t top Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy. My favorite non-dairy Ben & Jerry’s flavor is the milk & cookies flavor.

Pizza

  • Of course, you can make homemade pizzas. Some local pizza restaurants have vegan cheese. However, recently Daiya put out vegan frozen pizzas. They’re not too bad. Remember that I said their cheese isn’t the best. It’s true. But, they have a really good vegan pepperoni pizza.

Mac and Cheese

  • Annie’s – You can find this brand at all major grocery store chains. It’s pretty good if you need something fast.
  • Homemade – There are so many ways to make homemade mac and cheese. My favorite might come as a surprise. I absolutely despise onions and the recipe I’m going to share has onions but I promise you can’t taste them. Take it from an onion HATER. Here is a recipe.

Meats

  • Tofu – You can do so many things with tofu such as make tofu bacon. There are plenty of recipes online.
  • Beyond Meat – They have several products. I love the Beyond Burger.
  • Impossible – They have been coming out with all sorts of products. I love the Impossible burger.
  • Lightlife – I love their burgers and they have the best vegan bacon.
  • Morning Star Incogmeato – THE BEST vegan burgers. Morning Star has a lot of other vegan meat options but I don’t usually love them. Definitely try them for yourself.
  • Gardein – The best brand for vegan meat substitutes. I love their meat crumbles. SO good. They also have all kinds of vegan chicken in many different forms. I love them all. Also, they have good vegan fish fillets. I highly recommend this brand.
  • Veggie Burgers – There are so many brands of veggie burgers. I prefer the vegan burgers that are replicas of meat but I still love a good veggie burger.

That’s all I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed and were able to find this useful. Thanks so much for reading!

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