Food Day Blogger Takeover! #GreenMeal Recipes

I am a proud Meatless Monday Blogger. I am all for shifting from meat to healthier protein alternatives and even to a plant-based diet.The very purpose of my blog is healthy eating and thereby healthy living. So when the Meatless Monday Team invited me to participate in the Food Day Blogger Takeover, I was quick to jump to grab this wonderful opportunity to promote healthy food choices.

Food Day is celebrated here in America on October 24th, to inspire Americans to change their diets and their food policies. Thousands of events occur across the country to celebrate a better food system. The focus for Food Day 2015 is Toward a Greener Diet. The goal is to increase awareness about the critical importance of eating less meat and enjoying more whole plant-based foods so as to lead healthier lives and to help save/protect the animals and our environment. These are issues towards which all of us have to be more proactive and take a positive step for the better.

As part of this celebration, the Meatless Monday Team is running a week-long campaign starting from Monday, October 19 th through October 24th.The campaign has several options from how to transition to meatless meals or sustainably raised protein to small changes towards a greener diet. I chose to use #GreenMeal Recipes and round up my best plant-based recipes. Why did I choose you theme?? Because I wanted to drive home the message that one could eat, enjoy and live on plant-based food. You don't need meat to enjoy food. You DO NOT need meat to live. If humans were meant to eat meat, we would have had longer canines( teeth) like carnivorous animals do. Did you know that the human digestive system was not built to digest meat? In fact, it is said that meat takes FOUR days to be digested in our gut! Here is some living proof that we can live healthy wholesome life without meat: majority of Indians are vegetarians who don't even eat eggs.They have been vegetarians for generations and are absolutely healthy with healthy bodies and brains. How many doctors and engineers have you personally come across who are vegetarians?? In my family, my mother, my in-laws, several aunts and uncles are all vegetarians and very healthy. This should prove that it is possible to live without eating meat.

As part of GreenMeal Recipes, I have rounded up 10 of my favorite plant-based recipes; recipes that I cook on a regular basis in my kitchen. Some of the recipes are very traditional that have been cooking in our kitchens for hundreds of years, while some are very modern resulting from the fusion of several cuisines . But, most important of all, is that these are simple and easy recipes that anyone can cook! You could easily make any of these recipes a part of your everyday life. Some of course, are easier than others. So just start with the easier ones and you can slowly get more adventurous . So without further ado, here are the recipes. Just click on them to read the recipe in entirety.

Alli from Don't Panic Mom
Amanda from Produce for Kids
April from Gluten is My Bitch
Apsara from Eating Well Diary
Donna from The Hanging Spoon
Emily from Colorado Moms
Gina from The Multitasking Missus
Jen from Driftwood Gardens
Jessica from The Balanced Kitchen
Jill from Just the Right Byte
Jory from Teeny Tiny Foodie
Kristen from Fueling a Fit Fam
Lacy and Emily from Laughing Lemon Pie
Maaike from the Official Food Day Blog
Maybelline from Naturalmente Mama
Monica from Mommy and Love
Sally from Real Mom Nutrition
Siri from Cooking with Siri
Suchitra from Su's Healthy Living
Susan from Real Kids Eat Spinach

I am linking this post to Fiesta Friday #91, Throwback Thursday and Saucy Saturday so that we can spread more awareness. Do share this post on the social media and help spread the word.