My guest this episode is Stephanie Williams of Vegan What? A vegan lifestyle advocate for over 9+ years, Stephanie shares how she improved her health by going vegan and how her journey went from a little flirtation with vegan recipes to a committed relationship with a plant-based lifestyle. 

After losing a few family members to unhealthy lifestyles, some with conditions that could've been improved by dietary changes, Stephanie wanted to make healthy lifestyle changes herself. She also had some health concerns, as genetic diseases like diabetes runs in her family as well as her husband's. So Stephanie decided that it was time to make a change. She fell in love with the vegan lifestyle and how it changed her health and life. Stephanie lost 30 pounds and got her omnivore husband to eat more plant-based foods with her.  

Stephanie created the Dope Meal Planner for those who want to know how to go vegan and eat more plant-based foods, but need some help on where to start. The planner offers different recipes each week, along with a customizable grocery list and meal prep videos. 

We discuss: 

Stephanie's journey to a vegan diet and lifestyle 

How losing family and personal health issues inspired her to change 

Alicia Silverstone's vegan cookbook The Kind Diet 

Weight loss and health benefits of going plant-based 

Vegan junk food vs. whole unprocessed food 

The "Standard American Diet" and processed vegan foods 

Stephanie's Vegan What? Dope Meal Planner 

Her philosophy on going vegan by one meal a day 

Why meal planning with prep and batch cooking makes a difference 

How Stephanie created the Dope Meal Planner to please her husband's palate 

How to get husbands/or partners and family to try plant-based food 

Bringing on the flavor in plant-based vegan cooking 

Stephanie's childhood favorite foods and influences 

How she went from a "Chicken Wing Queen" to Vegan

Stephanie's healthy influence on her mom's Southern home cooking 

Food deserts and access to fresh produce and local farms 

Why connection to community supports positive change 

Promoting more diverse voices in the black vegan community 

What we can do to amplify black voices in the vegan media 

Why brands must support People of Color to grow the vegan movement 

The importance of including POC in the plant-based community 

Stephanie's quotes: 

"People don't care about how much you know until you show people how much you care." 

"We need more white vegans to be allies and come together with us so we can all fight the same (health) problem." 

Stephanie's Dope Meal Planner, eBooks & Apparel: 

VeganWhat.org 

DopeMealPlanner.com 

Vegan What eBooks 

Vegan What Apparel 

Dope Vegan Recipes 

Find Stephanie on: 

Instagram: @veganwhat 

Facebook: Vegan, What? 

YouTube: Vegan, What? 

Meet the man who's crafting the future of food: Chef Matthew Kenney. He's one of the world's first leading chefs at the cutting veg of plant-based cuisine, the author of 12 cookbooks, as well as his best-selling memoir, Cooked Raw. A plant-based creative visionary, Matthew is a culinary educator and CEO of Matthew Kenney Cuisine, a multi-faceted global company promoting a plant-based lifestyle.

A graduate of the French Culinary Institute, Matthew worked in upscale New York City kitchens. He went on to open his own highly regarded restaurants in New York and the East Coast. Matthew earned several awards, 2x nominated as a Rising Star Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation. Matthew has made appearances on many shows, as well as speaking appearances for two incredibly popular TEDx talks.

Matthew Kenney Cuisine offers plant-based dining all over the world from Bahrain to Bogota to New York to LA to San Francisco to Sydney, and many other international cities, with restaurants, eateries, and cafes offering 100% plant-based menus.

We discuss:

How things are going during the pandemic lockdown

MKC's global businesses: restaurants, education, events & products

Food Future Institute online culinary education

The reopening of sit down and outdoor dining

How MK restaurants are available for delivery & takeout during COVID

Plant Food & Wine in Venice Beach, Los Angeles

The pandemic and how it affected his restaurants

Matthew's beginnings as a chef in Mediterranean cuisine

Health & wellness, fitness & how he fell in love with restaurants

How plant-based food can be the future of food

How superior online culinary learning is accessible to everyone

Why his virtual culinary school is made better than on-site

How quality global teaching gives a higher level of education

Preparations for the Double Zero frozen pizza line

Matthew's creative vision as the "Wolfgang Puck" of plant-based food

How Matthew fell in love with creating restaurants through design, interior, photography, videography, and conceptual development

How the evolution of a plant-based diet may flip the food paradigm

The trending mainstream appeal of more plant-based food products

Non-vegan plant-based restaurants offering vegan menus

Matthew's vision for plant-based options in hospitals and schools

Inspiration by films & documentaries to educate the world

Chefs who care about food sustainability & its environmental impact

Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat's rapid growth in dining & investment

Game Changers documentary

The future of food and going plant-based

Food Future Institute: foodfutureinstitute.com

Double Zero Pizza locations: Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Providence

La Duree x Matthew Kenney in Beverly Hills:

311 N Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills 90210

310-623-1100

[email protected]

Matthew Kenney on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewkenneycuisine

Instagram: @matthewkenneycuisine @foodfutureinstitute @doublezeromk @plantfoodandwine @ladureexmk @hungry.angelina @newdelivenice @makeouteveryday and many more!

What's the difference between a plant-based diet and a vegan diet? In this solo episode I share my insight as a vegetarian turned vegan, and tell you what I know about plant-based and vegan diets. Have you ever wondered what the heck is this WFPB whole food plant-based diet thing and isn't that the same as plant-based or vegan? Well, almost! I'll also chat with you about how eating more plants improves health, helps you lose weight, and makes you skin glow. Yep, I'm your mom, telling you to eat all of your fruits and veggies. 

My guest Marie Young unexpectedly found her true calling in a dark moment of her own binge eating and self-comparison. It happened the moment she snuck into her husband's Facebook account to stalk his ex-girlfriend. For years, Marie had an unhealthy relationship with food and being thin. She chose careers based on status and people-pleasing, and food based on calories and how it would supposedly make her look. Disconnected from her body, she used food to punish herself instead of nourish, yet once she made the change from disconnection to connection, everything else transformed for the better.

Marie is a holistic nutritionist and "food freedom" life coach via her website: Bloom with Marie. Her signature nutritional expertise combined with spiritual life coaching helps women free themselves from food obsession, so they can finally love the way they look and feel. 

We discuss:

Marie's upbringing on a sailboat in the South of France

Her people-pleasing career choices in sailing boats and flying airplanes

The deep dark secret that led Marie to a plant-based vegan diet

The Skinny Bitch diet book and how Marie found pleasure in creating food

Discovering balance and feeling good eating a plant-based diet

How food quality instead of counting calories helped her feel good

Marie Forleo says: "Don't drink the compareshlager!" 

How Marie stopped comparing herself and felt healthier inside out

Marie's approach "from filling a hole to feeling whole"

Intuitive eating and being open on a plant-based diet

Ditching labels and feeling free to choose foods in a healthy way

How Marie suffered from Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and healed with plant-based foods

Mothering, food choices as a family, feeding kids, and enjoying meals

The communal connection of eating together 

Mentioned: 

Ashley Gordon, Badass Manifester Podcast

Connect with Marie:

Bloom with Marie website 

Instagram: @bloomwithmarie

Facebook: Bloom with Marie

Thank you for listening to Plantfull Life Podcast!

Join our Plantfull Life Podcast Community on Facebook

Follow on Instagram: @plantfullkitchen and @xostephaniedianne

Turmeric root in raw form has many culinary and medicinal uses. Turmeric root dates back nearly 4000 years to the Vedic culture in India. In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric has been used to treat a variety of ailments and injuries both internally and topically. Nowadays, turmeric has become more mainstream as in popular drinks like golden milk lattes, and it's also found in many American supermarkets. This healing superfood is best used in its raw whole food form as a culinary root much like its sister root, ginger. I've personally found turmeric to be very effective as a headache remedy, and have successfully used turmeric to stop the onset of a migraine. In this solo episode, I cover many of the health and wellness benefits of raw turmeric and how you can use it in your own recipes and wellness tonics. 

Turmeric in Ayurveda

Curcumin supplements: pros and cons

Culinary uses of turmeric

Medicinal uses of turmeric and what you need to know

Golden milk, the Ayurvedic drink 

Why combining turmeric with ginger and/or black pepper works better

DIY recipe for Golden Milk at home

Turmeric Oat Latte Recipe

Check out more plant-based resources on my blog: Plantfull Kitchen

Thank you for listening to this solo episode! 

Please give a 5 star rating and review on iTunes

Join the Plantfull Life Podcast Community on Facebook

Follow on Instagram: @plantfullkitchen and @xostephaniedianne

Tara Redfield of Another Day Greener is an eco-friendly cook, lifestyle blogger and host. She first founded her successful foodie blog, The Food Pervert back in 2010, but has pivoted her food blog + brand as she became more passionate about environmental awareness, leading to her new found passion project: Another Day Greener. Her newly rebranded blog Another Day Greener shares eco-aware ways to live and eat more sustainably.

We discuss: 

Why Tara pivoted her successful omnivorous food blog into an eco-conscious plant-forward lifestyle focus

How a yoga retreat in Thailand was catalyst to her lifestyle changes and new eco-aware way of living 

Why she went dairy-free and chooses to eat more plant-based foods

How she reconsidered her recycling habits and use of plastic products

Tara's transition from an omnivorous food blogging diet to a more plant-focused diet 

The global pollution improvements during coronavirus pandemic quarantine and how we've affected the earth

How can we make changes for the better in a planet-friendly way and create eco-powered industry 

The importance of allowing wild animals the right to their habitats and how we can honor all beings on earth

The Age of Aquarius in 2020 and Tara's recent astrology certification 

Astrological views about the New Age of Aquarius and how we can benefit from planetary guidance

Tara's 12-week Astrology certification program with Dr. Craig Martin 

Carl Sagan, Cosmos, and reading Astrological charts 

How Astrology books inspired Tara when she was young 

Creativity and innovation during the New Age of Aquarius 

How the planet Pluto in Capricorn is "shaking up the world" to transform our old systems

Animals, pollution, plastic, rethinking products + packaging, and travel + industry

More About Tara:

Tara's award-winning Cocoa Tangerine Pancakes

Tara Redfield as a Food Host on TV

Follow Tara/Another Day Greener:

Facebook: Another Day Greener

Instagram: @anotherdaygreener

Twitter: @anotherdaygreen

Join the Plantfull Life Podcast Facebook Community!

Thank you for listening! Please give a 5 star rating and review on iTunes!

Stephanie Dianne on Instagram: @xostephaniedianne

Plantfull Kitchen on Instagram: @plantfullkitchen

In this solo episode, I share my personal struggles in giving up dairy cheese and the other ways I've failed at going 100% vegan. If you're considering a plant-based vegan diet or just want to try to eat more plant-based meals, this may give you some real life encouragement. You don't need to do it 100% as everyone has their own unique dietary and lifestyle ways. My personal story into being an evolving (and imperfect) human trying to figure out what diet works by instinct, not strict rules, might help you on your own journey. Please forgive me for ever eating animals, for my bad jokes, for my attempts at a French and Italian accent, and for my deep love of dairy cheese.  

Mentioned in this episode: 

My favorite plant-based cheese and butter brands: 

Check out the plant-based resources on my blog: Plantfull Kitchen 

Thank you for listening to this solo episode! 

Please join the Plantfull Life Podcast Community on Facebook 

Follow on Instagram: @plantfullkitchen and @xostephaniedianne

In this episode, you’ll get real life insight into why going plant-based is much more than what you see on a pretty Instagram feed. My guest Rachel Steenland gets personal as she shares the real reason her parents went plant-based, and why she's so passionate about sharing vegan recipes on The Plant Riot. Her passion for plant-based cooking is total proof that trying something new can transform your life. Not only is Rachel the dynamo vegan cook + food photographer behind The Plant Riot, she’s also the awesome human behind @vegan.recipe.shares where you can find 100s of recipes from other creators on Instagram.   

We discuss:  

⭐️Going to local farms during quarantine  

⭐️Her delicious meat-free Lentil Bolognese recipe   

⭐️Why she became vegan after a 30 day vegan challenge  

🧀What to do about that cheese addiction  

⭐️How to swap meat for plant-based umami flavor

📸Instagram goals and food photography

⭐️1:1 video coaching with Rachel

🤷‍♀️How to buy groceries during COVID-19 quarantine

👏Making delicious meals with what we have

⭐️Pantry recipes and being totally real on social media

🙏Being grateful for what food we have in our kitchen

👏Rachel’s authentic live Instagram cooking stories

🌱How she found her passion by going plant-based

🌿Rachel’s mission to get people hooked on plants

💓Improving cholesterol and heart health on a vegan diet

🌱Why her parents went plant-based after her father’s health scare

🍳🥓The shocking breakfast her dad ate in the hospital

🧀Vegan cheeses might become better than dairy cheese

Connect with Rachel:  

Find Rachel’s recipes:  

Mentioned:  

Quote by Rachel: “My mission in life is to get people hooked on plants!”  

Share this episode in Instagram stories: tag @plantfullkitchen + @theplantriot

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