In the latest episode of the Real Men Eat Plants podcast, Bryan sits down with a powerhouse panel of plant-based advocates to explore how to create delicious, nutritious, and easy-to-make plant-based meals. The episode is packed with practical tips and engaging stories from guests Rachael Brown, Jim O’Quinn, Kathy Davis, and Jason Demchok, each bringing their unique perspective on whole food, plant-based cooking. Whether you're new to plant-based eating or a seasoned vegan, this episode is full of insights that can help you make healthier food choices without sacrificing flavor.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
1. Plant-Based Eating Is Easier Than You Think
Rachael Brown, a whole food, plant-based, no-oil (WFPBNO) nutrition expert and author, shares her personal transformation. After lowering her cholesterol by 50 points in just 17 days, she fully embraced the plant-based lifestyle. Brown emphasizes that making the transition isn’t as hard as it seems—especially when you focus on simple, whole food ingredients. Her top tip? Get rid of unhealthy, processed foods and allow your taste buds to adapt to the vibrant flavors of real, whole plant-based ingredients.
2. Recreate Your Favorite Meals—Plant-Based Style
Jim O'Quinn, founder of Bro Pro Vegans, encourages listeners to experiment with plant-based versions of their favorite comfort foods. His mission? Show that you can still enjoy hearty, “meaty” meals like burgers and stroganoff—just made from plants. Whether it's swapping out meat for a black bean burger or making coconut bacon (yes, it’s a thing!), Jim proves that the transition to plant-based doesn’t have to mean giving up your favorite foods.
3. Meal Prep Makes It Easy to Stay on Track
Kathy Davis, author and plant-based lifestyle coach, emphasizes the importance of meal prep in staying committed to a plant-based diet. Davis, who travels the U.S. in an RV, shows how even with a busy or on-the-go lifestyle, you can still make healthy eating simple and fun. Her tips include prepping vegetables and grains in advance and finding versatile recipes like her go-to cashew butter sauce for pasta. By having ready-to-go ingredients, you’ll always be prepared to whip up a quick and nutritious meal.
4. Fiber Is King—And It Can Be Delicious
Jason Demchok, known as the “Fiber King,” brings a global perspective to plant-based eating. Having traveled the world and studied traditional cuisines, he emphasizes that fiber-rich meals are both satisfying and nutritious. His tip for boosting fiber intake? Incorporate foods like beans, whole grains, and fermented vegetables. One of his favorite dishes is a simple, customizable Buddha bowl, made with leafy greens, beans, and a tangy tahini dressing.
5. The Right Tools Make Plant-Based Cooking a Breeze
Whether it’s an Instant Pot, a sharp knife, or a batch of pre-cooked grains, having the right kitchen tools is essential. Each guest in the episode agreed that simplifying meal prep and having a go-to list of recipes can make the plant-based lifestyle sustainable. Rachael Brown adds,
“You don’t need fancy gadgets to get started—just a plan and some staple ingredients to make healthy eating a habit.”
A Challenge for Listeners: Try the 30-Day Plant-Based Challenge
One of the most inspiring aspects of the episode is the 30-day plant-based challenge, which encourages listeners to commit to eating whole food, plant-based meals for 30 days. With promises of improved health, weight loss, and more energy, the challenge is a great way to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle.
Favorite Recipes Shared:
Tempeh Lettuce Tomato (TLT) Sandwich
A plant-based twist on the classic BLT.
Ingredients:
Tempeh (sliced thinly)
Lettuce
Heirloom tomatoes
Avocado (optional)
Vegan mayo
Bread of your choice
Instructions:
Cook the tempeh slices in a skillet or bake them in the oven until crispy.
Toast your bread.
Spread a layer of vegan mayo on the bread.
Add the cooked tempeh slices, lettuce, and heirloom tomato slices.
Optional: Add avocado for extra creaminess.
Close the sandwich and enjoy!
Cashew Butter Sauce for Pasta
A creamy, dairy-free alternative to traditional buttery pasta sauce.
Ingredients:
1 cup cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
1-2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 cup water (adjust based on consistency)
Whole grain pasta
Instructions:
Drain the soaked cashews and add them to a blender.
Add garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and water.
Blend until smooth and creamy, adding more water if necessary.
Cook your pasta according to package instructions.
Toss the pasta with the cashew butter sauce and serve.
Coconut Bacon
A crispy and flavorful vegan bacon alternative.
Ingredients:
Fresh coconut meat (shaved thin with a vegetable peeler)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, maple syrup, smoked paprika, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.
Add the shaved coconut meat to the mixture and coat thoroughly.
Spread the coconut shavings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crispy, flipping halfway through.
Let cool and enjoy as a topping for salads, sandwiches, or on its own.
Strawberry Almond Bread
A delicious and nutritious plant-based bread, perfect for breakfast or snacks.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups almond flour
1 cup fresh strawberries (chopped)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
½ cup maple syrup or sweetener of choice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
Pinch of salt
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk the almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.
Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.
Gently fold in the chopped strawberries.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Oats with Fresh Fruits and Flax
A quick and easy breakfast perfect for on-the-go mornings or pre-hike fuel.
Ingredients:
½ cup rolled oats (increase to 1 cup if preferred)
½ cup plant-based milk (adjust for consistency)
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
Fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
1 tablespoon maple syrup or date syrup (optional)
Optional: walnuts or almonds for added crunch
Instructions:
In a container, mix the rolled oats and plant-based milk.
Add the ground flaxseed and berries of your choice.
Sweeten with maple syrup if desired.
Let the mixture sit for 20-30 minutes (or overnight) to soak and soften.
Top with nuts if desired and enjoy your breakfast on the go!
Millet and Pea Dosa
A fermented, oil-free Indian-style pancake.
Ingredients:
1 cup millet
1 cup dried peas (yellow or green)
Water (for soaking and blending)
Salt to taste
Instructions:
Soak the millet and peas in water overnight.
In the morning, drain the water and blend the millet and peas into a smooth batter, adding water as needed to achieve a pancake-like consistency.
Let the batter sit for a few hours to ferment slightly.
Preheat a non-stick pan or skillet. Pour a ladle of the batter onto the pan and spread it into a thin pancake.
Cook until golden brown on both sides. No oil is needed if using a good non-stick pan.
Serve with hummus, chutneys, or any sauce of your choice.
Instant Oatmeal with Pumpkin Seeds and Cranberries
A quick, healthy breakfast that’s ready in minutes.
Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon dried cranberries
1 tablespoon flaxseeds
1 cup apple cider (or plant-based milk for soaking)
Fresh fruits (optional)
Instructions:
Combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, and flaxseeds in a mason jar or airtight container.
Pour the apple cider (or milk) over the mixture and stir.
Store in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
When ready to eat, top with fresh fruits if desired.
Plant-based eating doesn’t have to be complicated or boring. With tips from experts like Rachael, Jim, Kathy, and Jason, you can recreate your favorite meals, enjoy a diverse range of flavors, and reap the health benefits of a plant-powered lifestyle. As Bryan closes the episode,
“Stay inspired, keep experimenting in the kitchen, and remember—real men eat plants!”
🔗 Useful Links:
Visit Rachael Brown's website: https://forforkssakebook.com/
Visit Kathy Davis's website: https://veginspired.com/
Visit Jim O'Quinn's website: https://www.broprovegans.com/
Visit Jason Demchok's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Optimizehealthcollective
For more insights, tune in to the full episode and join the plant-based movement at Real Men Eat Plants.
Subscribe to the Real Men Eat Plants podcast on YouTube or your favorite streaming platform today and stay connected with our ongoing exploration of the complex plant-based business world.
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Episode’s Transcript
Please understand that a transcription service provided the transcript below. It undoubtedly contains errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions.
Bryan (00:00)
Welcome everybody to the Real Men Eat Plants podcast where we explore the vibrant world of plant -based living. Today's episode is all about creating delicious and healthy plant -based foods. I'm joined by a fantastic group of guests who are experts in plant -based cooking, nutrition, wellness. Let's meet them all. So first up, Rachael Brown. Say hello, welcome to the party.
Rachael Brown (00:23)
Hey, hey, thanks for having me. This is the best kind of party. Yeah, excited to be here, excited to talk about easy ways to dive into whole food plant -based eating. We made this journey 14 years ago and I lowered my cholesterol by 50 points in 17 days and that's what got us on track. And it was after that that I had to learn how to cook all our foods whole food plant -based. It was good news, bad news at the time, because I was like, no, how are we gonna do this?
Yeah, excited to be here and chat through how really easy it can be.
Bryan (00:57)
That's for sure. know we just need to keep advocating how easy it is. So thank you for being here, Rachael. My fellow bro, pro vegan, Jim O 'Quinn. Welcome to the show.
Jim O'Quinn (01:09)
Thank very much, Bryan. I'm so happy to be here again. So I've been vegan for 27 years and prior to going plant -based, it was all meat for me and that's just the lifestyle I grew up in. So changing my life meant changing my cooking habits and my cooking styles. And it also gave me the ideas to come up with alternatives to conventional food that we all ate and loved.
And one top one idea would be how do you take a favorite meat dish and turn it into something that's completely plant based that meat eaters will love. And I've managed to pull it off on a couple of different occasions and really convince some people this is a definite way you can eat without having to do too much work making it fit in everybody's taste but profile. So.
And then part of that was also to hand off some of these recipes and ideas with other guys. And that's where Bro Pro Vegans came into play. So yeah.
Bryan (02:09)
excited to have you here. We're trying to get more men into this plant -based lifestyle. So we really appreciate you being here, Jim. And next up is Kathy Davis. She is the author of three amazing cookbooks and a plant -based lifestyle coach. Welcome, Kathy. Say hello.
Jim O'Quinn (02:17)
Yeah, thanks.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (02:26)
Thanks, Bryan. So excited to be here. I've been vegan for 10 years and my story is a little different. I came in kicking and screaming. It was my husband's idea. I grew up in a standard American eating household. My dad was a hunter. I know that's totally faux pas of vegan. And that was what I knew. And when he introduced the idea of eating vegan or plant -based or whole food plant -based where there was even no oil.
Bryan (02:33)
Yay!
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (02:51)
It really took me by surprise. And so my transition was about six months. It took me about six to eight months to fully transition to a vegan lifestyle. But the moment I knew, I knew. I knew I wanted to be vegan and I haven't turned back. So cooking, I had to learn how to do everything new and I wanted to share with people how to make it easy. And so that's how I got into cooking plant -based and my husband loves to cook too. So it's really a fun time for us to spend in the kitchen and just make plant -based easy.
Bryan (03:20)
I love it. Well, we look forward to talking about some of your recipes on today's show. And last but not least is Jason. He is the fiber king. Tell us all about Jason.
Jason Demchok (03:31)
Thank you so much, Bryan, for setting this up. It's an amazing panel. Yeah, I actually, my grandfather owned a deli, and so cooking was a huge part of, with my father, we would go shopping together all over New York City, every ethnicity. You could imagine we would practice cooking with spices. Then I started studying Ayurveda and became a vegetarian.
But then I became influenced by like the paleo movement. So I was eating raw eggs and meat and regrettably, I really didn't like it ethically, but I just was convinced from this bad research that I needed to get certain things from meat I couldn't get from plants. And then I did that, never really felt super healthy, had high blood pressure, a lot of gut issues.
And then I met this amazing doctor, Dr. Shan Hong Liu. She told me to do whole food plant based. I thought she was crazy. I'm like, and I did it for 10 days. My gut issues went away after 10 years and.
And then what was so great about it was all these foods, I actually studied cooking in India, Japan. I traveled a whole bunch studying all these traditional foods with a lot of plants and a lot of starches, which I'd given up on these low carb diets. So now I'm like, my God, I get to eat rice again and all these amazing, brown rice of course, know, but all these amazing plants. So I've been cooking my whole life and...
My passion now is not to just cook for people. I mean, it'd be nice to maybe start a restaurant chain, but really I want to train people again, how easy it is by prepping. I have a whole program where I show very simple skills that allow you to just spend very little time in the kitchen and have a lot of food in the fridge, ready to go whenever you want it.
Bryan (05:22)
I love it. Thanks for being here, Jason. So today we're really trying to unpack just some some tips and tricks and all these ways that we can really knock it out of the park in the kitchen for meal prep or tips and tricks at the restaurant. Like all that kind of stuff. I'd love to have each of you maybe unpack a little bit more about what inspired you to really embrace that plant based eating and how has like pull out that that
thing around how it shaped your approach to food. Because like we all have had that, I feel like that mindset shift of how we're looking at food differently now that we understand the whole food plant based diet. So coupled with that, though, I'd love to just hear your favorite like tip and trick in the kitchen that helps it make it nutritious, tasty, easy to prepare. So maybe try and answer both of those. And maybe Kathy will let you go first.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (06:18)
Sure. So, gosh, when I really got into plant -based eating and during that transition that I was talking about, it really came down to this tastes better than I thought it would, right? It was, you know, my husband was doing a lot of the cooking then and he was behind it all, so he better be feeding me meals that are going to work. And we were looking for specific things. How could we replace, as Jim had said, how can we replace the butter in pasta?
because I loved buttery pasta. So what could we find? Well, you can make a cashew butter sauce, right? What about burgers? Like I was a huge burger eater. That was one of my big hangups. I didn't want to give up burgers. Like I say these things out loud and now my mindset, as you said, has shifted so much. I can't even believe that I used to think that way. But once you find those recipes, and it takes trial, you may have to try three or four or a dozen burger recipes, or if you find one, the actual veggies is a great.
Whole Food one at the grocery store to find the one that really fits your style. And then once you find it, it's like, this isn't what I thought it was going to be. And that was really the mindset shift for me. Once I knew that I could eat whole grain pastas with cashew butter sauces and queso made from plants and squash and different things, I was like, these are all familiar foods. This isn't so scary. And it, by doing that and having...
the experience with those foods, it really allowed me to open my mind to changing to a vegan lifestyle. And as I said, I've been vegan for 10 years, but whole food plant -based for about six. And in that transition, it really was about how can I get even healthier? How can I become even more physically fit and able to live this lifestyle that I want to live, which is active and mobile and exploring and hiking and doing all these things. And so,
There's a couple of big, for those of you that might not know, I travel the country full time in an RV. And so my life is kind of different, right? I don't go to the same grocery stores. I don't go to the same, you know, co -ops or food markets. Like it's always different. The restaurants are always different, which means the food that's available is always different. And I'm going to put that in air quotes because when you eat whole foods, it doesn't matter what vegan brands are at a restaurant or at a grocery store because you don't, it doesn't matter. You're eating.
rice and beans and vegetables and fruits and all of those are available at every grocery store. They may not be the best quality. You sometimes we're in really small towns where they don't have organic, but you can be plant -based in all of those places. And so one of the things that's really helped me from a tip perspective is to meal plan in a way that fits my life. So if I have time to cook, those are the days that I'm gonna...
prepare the foods. Those are the days I'm going to wash the lettuce. Those are the days I'm going to cut the broccoli into florets so that when I don't have time, I can grab a couple handfuls and throw the broccoli in a steamer basket and it's ready to go. I can make rice when I want it or I can make a batch of rice and easily reheat it. So just doing that in a way that works for you, right? If you're somebody who's at home all day and you can easily cook your rice fresh for lunch, you don't have to prep. But if you don't and one of your
hangups to going plant -based is the prep time, then make a plan to prepare those foods in a way that they're ready to go. As Jason said, you've got a sharp knife, you've got the tools to do that. Those are the big tips that I have is really getting the tools that are gonna help you make this life sustainable. And use things like vinegar and lemon and lime juice as your seasonings to really elevate your salads and other dishes like soups and things.
Bryan (10:05)
I love it. Well, well said, Kathy. Thank you for that. I think like Rachael, you've got an exciting adventure coming up here. I'm curious what you might add to that part of the conversation.
Rachael Brown (10:15)
Yeah, know, starting out, think, these spuds literally change every two weeks was a real game changer. And if you can have that in your mindset, then the number one thing to do is to get rid of all offending foods. And so I talk, I mean, the book I wrote was for forks sake and, and I give you a 10 day guide to go, go through your kitchen. How do you set this up so it works for your life? So
One of those things is getting rid of foods you don't want to eat because it's really tempting to have things that you stuck in the back of the cupboard when it's late at night or you haven't had time to food prep or that kind of stuff. But if you can give yourself that 10 to 14 days to allow your taste buds to change, then all of a sudden things that are whole plant based foods are going to taste so good and so different. just like Cathy said, you know, give yourself some time and find some of those things, your favorite foods, you know, like Jim was alluding to, you know, you don't
Maybe you're missing some of those stroganoff or lasagna or burgers, but there are thousands of recipes. If you just Google whole food plant based or vegan, no oil, you will find thousands of recipes. So try a few out and find some new family favorites. My kids were six and eight when we made this transition to whole food plant based, no oil eating. And so it took a little time. just asked them, I suggest sitting down with your family members and ask like, are your favorite meals? What does everybody love?
make that list and then find some whole food plant based, no oil versions of that and just try some different ones. It might take a few goes, but you'll find some new favorites to have on rotation. And then, you know, as time goes by, I mean, some people love to meal prep and have their whole week or, you know, month laid out. Sometimes that works, but for other people, batch cooking. So you have a whole bunch of brown rice or a whole bunch of whole pasta, whole grain pasta or
whatever it is and just throwing together what you have works as well. So play around with it. You'll be saving money. You'll be feeling better. It's just give it a real shot. That's that's what I suggest.
Bryan (12:20)
Well said. I totally missed my bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches when I went and I found the tempeh lettuce tomato avocado and gosh if I don't make one of those once or twice a week yeah for sure so thank you Rachael. Jason I'm curious you know how do you throw the fiber in every single thing you eat there and hit us with some of your tips and tricks.
Rachael Brown (12:29)
Yes.
Jason Demchok (12:44)
Well definitely I'll just get to know nutritional yeast and miso. Nutritional yeast is like pure protein and fiber and beta -glucans. I have a thing in one of my presentations where I show where people think you get protein from meat and eggs and...
and chicken and I compare it to how much protein is in nutritional yeast and it's like compared to how little fat is in nutritional yeast it's no comparison eggs are mostly fat you know meat anyway so yeah so you can like you know we're looking for that umami taste there's a you know a sense that just gives us that satisfaction and yeah you could eat a piece of bacon you could eat a piece of cheese and it's going to hit that dopamine receptors it's got the salt the fat the saturated fats
But so it's a little bit more a little bit more tricky to recreate that but not that difficult with mushrooms and nutritional yeast and miso. So I think when people taste my food actually yesterday I'm visiting family not vegans at all and I said I'm cooking dinner for everybody. They had tomatoes tons of tomatoes growing so I made a huge sauce.
with the nutritional yeast so they didn't need the Parmesan cheese and whole wheat pasta. I made a big salad. I make fermented vegetables, pickled onions. And again, all of this stuff, I've been on the road for a few days. I've been, made, that's, you know, for people who say they don't have time, like I'm literally making things, bringing them with me and then unpacking them, putting it together. So, so yes, definitely batch cooking. Another tip is,
like an instant pot is a really huge time saver. again, in my program, I show all these tips. Like I've spent, you know, 30 plus years studying all these tips. So.
Like why, if you're not a chef, if you want to do this, why start from the beginning? Learn from people, read Rachael's book. you know, like, I think we could, we could all work together with people, you know, like put something great together. but yeah, like don't try to start from scratch. Like I took all of the shopping work out of you. I read all the ingredient lists so you don't have to know which tahini to buy. I already showed you in my program where to get it at the best tahini, but the most fiber at the best price. so yeah.
And to get the most fiber just put beans. That's I guess maybe the easiest tip is eat like I cook all the beans you know from dry beans but if you only have a can I mean a can of beans it's the highest protein fiber source and comparable to meat with protein so yeah I think that's my
Bryan (15:30)
Yeah, no, it's it's totally true. Like I guess I'm I'm pretty boring in the sense like I have Indian food on Mondays and tacos on Tuesdays. But like it helps me just limit down the five million things I want to eat down to like, cool, what what are the 25 Indian recipes I'm going to do today? I know I'm having basmati rice, but what kind of is it? Is it chickpeas or is it lentils or what else am I putting with it with that curry flavor and stuff? So I know, but I have a super busy schedule.
But I just know like if I've limited down my options and the thing I would add maybe is also like the repetition, like the first two or three times I failed miserably at my tempeh lettuce tomato sandwich. But once I perfected it, like now my sister, other people are saying like, can you make that sandwich? What was that weird sandwich you made for me? And they're asking for it. And so like I just have built this little repertoire of like repertoire of like, I don't know, 10 good recipes that I'm really good at.
So repeat it and work out the kinks just like you were learning back when you were a teenager at college the first time, right? Like, how can I burn something besides ramen? But Jim, I'm curious your perspective.
Jim O'Quinn (16:39)
I love everything you're all saying, because like each one of you, want to have a long conversation individually. There's so much to unpack and so much to talk about. And like I've been doing this for a while, as I said, 27 years and 52 and been there, done that, seen a lot of things come and go. At one point that you had, Cathy, was the transition. And I try to stress that to people when they point out, why are you eating a burger that looks like a real burger? I said, this is a transitional food. This is a fun food. It's a go -to food.
And it's the thing that gets you out of the mindset. Meat has to be in every meal, but you try a Beyond Meat burger. my God, this is good. And this is made out of plants? Yeah, it's made out of plants. Hey, now I want to try a garden burger. Holy cow, this thing's all made out of black beans and stuff. Wow, this one's good too. Now let's go one step further and just have beans and rice with guacamole and all these crazy, wonderful things. And to your point, you can get that anywhere, just about anywhere.
And it's now so much easier. You're not complaining about the price of these $10 a pack Beyond Meat burgers. Instead, if you can do what Jason does and cook dry beans and have large stockpile of them ready to go in the fridge, pennies is all you're paying. And the nutritional value is like through the roof, flavor profile is endless because of what you put with it. And I love the argument people say, there's so much work to make tofu taste good.
Well, have you ever eaten raw chicken or have you just eaten microwave chicken? Does not taste good. So you put these sauces on it just to make your meat stuff taste good. What's the difference for us making our tofu tempeh beans and all these different things taste good by adding additional things. And Dr. McDougall or Dr. Greger had a good point. I can't remember what it was, but he said all these meat eaters are trying are using plants to make their meat taste good.
Bryan (18:25)
Totally.
Jim O'Quinn (18:39)
You know, it's ridiculous how that all works. So I do the same thing as all of you. And I try to define that day. Usually it's Sunday and I do my batch cooking and I'll make a couple of different things. And from the beginning with my, with our, daughters, they've been vegan pretty much their whole lives. And I've got 22 year old, 21 year old and an 18 year old. And you know, it's been very easy for me to make this giant pot of chili soup, stews or something like that.
And I put everything in Mason jars, have them in the fridge and I've got it all lined up, ready to go. So when it was time for school, crack open a jar, put it in a pot for five seconds and in a thermos and off they go to school with a really good lunch. So very straightforward, very easy to do. And everybody just tries complicating everything so much and finding solutions for the complications that should never have been there. So I try to simplify things and everything I do and go to as
basic as it possibly can. And I use like recipes as guidelines. I don't do them verbatim. I use it as, okay, I like that, but I don't like that. So I'm adding this and I had to add a little bit of this. That seems even better. And as you've all mentioned, once you've nailed something and it's just perfect, you don't need to keep repeating it. I mean, I'm recreating it. You've got it. Now everybody's happy. And now you can lock that one in, put it in the safe.
And this is dad's sauce, dad's sloppy joes. And we know that these ones are always going to be good. But I'm going to up your game there for your BLT. Bryan, have you ever had coconut bacon?
Bryan (20:20)
Hit me.
have not, I'm gonna have to try that out here, okay.
Jim O'Quinn (20:24)
buddy, you'll like this. If you take a carrot peeler and you, okay, so you crack a coconut, you get it nice, the biggest chunk of it you can, and you start to shave off with a carrot peeler, shavings of it. So it's these nice long, big shavings of it. And you marinate that coconut in something as simple as soy sauce, maple syrup, a little bit of brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and then you bake it.
Bryan (20:42)
Okay.
Okay.
Jim O'Quinn (20:53)
So no oil, and I'll tell ya, your taste buds are gonna explode with flavor. I just eat half of that on its own, just off the tray. But then you throw that in with some fresh heirloom tomatoes, some lettuce, and some vegan mayo. my God, you're gonna be eating this every day.
Bryan (21:03)
Okay.
That's right.
I love it. Thank you, Jim. That's very true. And like one of my favorite guys on on Instagram is I forget his handle, but it's Menke. I'll make sure it's in the show notes. But he he likes to go out and showcase like if if we were like the carnivores out in the wild, we wouldn't even be cooking our food. So I'm glad that we at least cook it and stuff. But all all great points. I'm curious if we could pivot a little bit because we all have done our traveling and seen some of the world and stuff. I'm curious.
Jason Demchok (21:13)
Thank
Bryan (21:41)
to have, we're chefs at home, we're making these meals and stuff, but I'm so curious what your favorite vegan restaurant is as the chefs out there and what you've experienced. know mine's probably, I have not been to Eleven Madison yet, it's definitely on my bucket list up in New York, but I would.
just have to say there's some amazing vegan restaurants in Asheville about two hours from where I am. And those are always at the top of my list when you can walk into a restaurant and pick anything on the menu and just know it's going to taste delicious, look beautiful, be vegan. But I'm curious what, what in your neck of the woods and, and stuff, what's your favorite vegan restaurant? Jason, you want to go first? You're just in Asheville.
Jason Demchok (22:24)
Sure. I know it's funny you have to tell me which ones those were because I don't really eat out too much. I might start doing that as I travel a little bit more. But there is an amazing place in Palm Beach Gardens called Christopher's. You know it, Kathy? Really? Okay, great. Yeah, it's vegan and organic. The chef is great and they have amazing pizza. I got a pizza, a Pad Thai.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (22:42)
I yeah.
Jason Demchok (22:53)
So it's nice, not just that it's vegan. really do prefer organic food. So to see vegan and organic, I was just, and they have great desserts. So that would be my favorite, but I want to get cut, ask me again in a year, cause I plan to do a lot of more experimental.
Bryan (23:09)
All right. was Rosetta's Kitchen and Plant. Those are probably my two favorites in Asheville. Kathy, how about you?
Jason Demchok (23:14)
Okay. Thank you.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (23:19)
this is probably the hardest question I ever get because I've been to 33 states. I can't even tell you how many vegan restaurants we've been to. But we've been going to this vegan restaurant in Daytona Beach since we were vegan. It's called Kale Cafe. It's a Jamaican themed restaurant and they make their own veggie burger. And it is
by far hands down the best veggie burger we've had. And I have eaten veggie burgers all over the country, because that is what I look for on a menu. It is by far the best veggie burger we've ever had. It's just, it's indescribable how good. And then they take this kale salad and put it on top of the burger, which makes it even better. So yeah, Kale Cafe in Daytona Beach, they are number one. We will reroute our entire RV trip to go there. That's how good.
Jason Demchok (24:12)
You
Bryan (24:12)
Very, very, very cool. That is awesome. I'll have to check that out if I can get down that way. Rachael, you're road tripping right now. You have some favorites?
Rachael Brown (24:14)
you
Yeah, well, I will say I was lucky enough to eat at 11 Madison in New York after attending the Vegan Women's Summit a couple years ago. That was my first five -star, you know, amazing meal experience of that caliber anyway, so it was incredible. I would say though, you know, in our area, I mean, another favorite was Landon Monkeys in Paris, of all places, but because it's a bakery.
And somebody told me on Instagram, you're there, go that we went like three times in four days because it was a real like if you walked in, you wouldn't know it was Whole Food Plant based. So it was incredible to be able to get a frittata or a baguette sandwich or a croissant. And it was all good for you. But I would say closer to home, our cafe gratitude shut down in Santa Cruz, which I don't even know how that's possible. up in San Francisco, there's a restaurant called Wild Seed.
and they now have two restaurants. There's another one in the Bay Area, but it's fantastic. We will also reroute if we're within an hour of going by, we will stop by. Fantastic food and it's all seasonal, local, organic, and they just, they rotate their menu and it's just everything. We've never had anything we don't like there, so I highly recommend Wild Seed in San Francisco.
Bryan (25:39)
Very, very cool. I'll have to check that. I know I just got my first shipment from Wild Grain that's got the vegan croissants. I don't know. They're all over my feed. So I gave them a try and the vegan croissants were quite delicious. So you've got my brain thinking about these French vegan croissants now. So we'll all have to take a trip to Paris. So, but Jim, how about you? You're up in the big New York City of Canada area there. So tell us all about it.
Rachael Brown (25:55)
Yeah.
Jim O'Quinn (26:06)
Yeah, the good thing about being here, it's progressive. There's more and more and more restaurants popping up everywhere. You know, you've got your restaurants who are catering to plant -based people, but you've got more and more exclusively plant -based and they're phenomenal. We've tried a number of them and we have a couple that we always go out to, we always go out with and we tend to gravitate going back to the same restaurants again and again, although I keep saying.
Let's try something new, but we keep going back. And one of them is a small one and it's called community restaurant. It's got that intimate cozy environment, but the menu is fantastic. And the desserts. Well, incredible. It's undescribable. Like they had special cakes that they would pop out every now and then one was a rainbow cake. And I think it was 14 layers. The thing was about 10 inches high. And we got one for our daughter's going away party.
Jason Demchok (26:57)
Wow.
Jim O'Quinn (27:03)
And this thing was, my God, it was done in a short period of time, but their restaurant was really, really great. And then the other chain that we go to is fresh, straightforward, simple restaurant chain. And their food again is so fresh, so innovative and so flavorful, but you know everything you're eating, even when you're spoiling yourself and your cheat day, it's not a cheat day because you're eating good stuff no matter what. So.
Those are the two that we always go to and we love quite a bit.
Bryan (27:35)
Appreciate you sharing that. We'll have to check those out next time we're up in the Toronto area there. What I I kind of already spoiled it a little bit with with my BLT Tempeh sandwich there, but I'm curious if you guys could share a little insight into your favorite favorite recipe to make on that front. I know each of you have some programs and some books, but there has to be that one that stands out for you. So maybe Rachael, you want to.
Let us know what's inside your head in the favorites list there.
Rachael Brown (28:09)
Yeah, sure. Well, and just to piggyback off our conversation about where we eat out, know, eating out usually has some oil. So we also try not to eat out a whole lot. we're road tripping right now for a big cycling trip. And, you know, I made hummus beforehand, cut up some veggies, I had some frozen strawberry almond bread in the freezer to grab to bring along with some fresh fruit to eat. we usually try and pack a lot of our own food just because you know,
Bryan (28:20)
Mm
Rachael Brown (28:36)
if you're eating out a lot and you're getting a lot of oil, I mean, we'll see our numbers raise, our cholesterol numbers will change. So, but when cooking on our own, you know, when my kids were young, they loved macaroni and cheese and pizza. So we did a lot of those. We make still personal pizzas just on a whole wheat pita. We make some cashew cheese, chopped green peppers, mushrooms, onions, roasted garlic are everyone's favorite. Sometimes we'll do some soy curls for a little.
Bryan (28:42)
Mm -hmm.
Rachael Brown (29:03)
you know, chicken ish kind of taste or flavor it with sausage flavorings. So those are always on rotation, I seasonally it changes for me. So, you know, right now we're making a lot of fresh hummus and just dipping fresh veggies in it or putting it on sandwiches or eating it with homemade crackers, that kind of stuff. So it really depends on the season for me, but yeah, I try and keep it as simple as possible. And in my book, it's not a
cookbook, but I have some recipes to get you going. one of my favorites also is Jeff Novick's longevity soup. And he says all you need is a pair of scissors and a can opener to make the soup. And it's really true because you can use frozen veggies and you can use canned tomatoes and some pasta or rice or a whole grain. And you can make just like Jim was saying a huge pot of soup and you can eat off that for a week or freeze half of it if you're tired of it and pull it out in two weeks. So yeah, we keep it simple. We keep it
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (29:42)
It's really.
Rachael Brown (29:59)
varied, but you know, within the variety, we do our favorites. And so just like we've said, you know, find some favorites and put them on rotation. And then when you feel like it, or when you get tired of it, then that's the time to try a new recipe.
Bryan (30:15)
I love it. You've piqued my interest because I specifically every week buy too many bananas because I'm addicted to making my vegan banana bread. Shane and simple's recipe for vegan banana bread is my absolute favorite. And then you throw a little chocolate powder in it or some walnuts or whatever. But so I, but you mentioned strawberry bread. So I do always have leftover strawberries every week too. About to go bad. I don't really want to eat them. Do I freeze them for the smoothies? But I,
Rachael Brown (30:25)
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Bryan (30:42)
I never thought of putting them in my banana bread or in my bread, so I'm gonna have to get that bread recipe from you.
Rachael Brown (30:47)
Yeah, for sure. You know, it was a four H recipe I made when I was like 10 years old. And it calls for like, you know, two cups of sugar and six eggs or something. So I just I made it whole food plant based. But yeah, it's really is like the strawberries instead of the bananas and I use almond flour and then you've got a really high protein is a dense bread, you know, it keeps you full until midday. So yeah.
Bryan (31:00)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very cool. Well, thank you for sharing that. Kathy, you've got three different cookbooks. It's gonna be hard for you to pick out your favorite. Do you have one narrowed down?
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (31:20)
Yeah, it is. It's definitely hard to pick my favorite. So one of my favorite recipes is our chickpea El Pas door. It's on veg inspired dot com. So I'm not going to share it here because I'd rather share something that you could make today. So we're avid hikers. And what we'll do is we it's kind of a play on overnight oats. We just don't soak them overnight. We get our whole our rolled old fashioned oats, throw them in a container that we can take.
Rachael Brown (31:33)
you
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (31:48)
you know, not on the trail, but in the truck to the trail. And I use, for me, I use about a half a cup of oats. My husband uses a cup. So just, you know, change the amount of oats for you. And then it's usually equal parts plant milk. Sometimes you might want a little more if you want it to be a little wetter or porgy. Whereas if you want it to be a little drier, you can use less milk. So just play with it. You can throw in a tablespoon of ground flax. You can throw in, you know,
blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, can do frozen, you can do fresh. So we'll make that in maple syrup. Gotta have a little sweetener or date syrup or if you make your own date caramel. mean anything like that would work. And we put that in a container. We'll make that when we get up in the morning. Get ready to go hiking, know, filling water bottles, all of that. It just sits. And so it soaks for the drive to the trailhead, which for us could be 30 minutes or it could be an hour and a half because sometimes we...
you know, go to the opposite end of the national park to hike. And then we eat it before our hike. And the reason I wanted to share this is a lot of times people come to me and they say, overnight oats are too mushy or I forgot to make my overnight oats. And this recipe came because I used to forget to make my overnight oats for breakfast when we lived in a house. And so I was like, well, what if I just make them in the morning and take them to work and eat them when I get hungry? And it worked perfect. And so
That's like a really easy recipe that I love it. You can change up the veggie or the fruits with any fruit. You could do peaches, mean anything. And you could add walnuts or nuts. I mean it's really so versatile. So I wanted to share that because I thought it was something that you could listen to this podcast and you could take it away.
Bryan (33:26)
I love it. No, that's awesome. I've, I've, I've always done the overnight, but I've never thought of like, just do it and have it at that two, three afternoon time period like that. But that's a great one. Thank you. And we'll make sure we put a link to your, your favorite one in the show notes as well. So Jason, how about you?
Jason Demchok (33:46)
Well first of all thank you guys for those recommendations especially Cathy in Daytona. My nephew is about to move to college in Daytona and I plan to visit him so I'm definitely going there that's so exciting. As far as I love making these dosa
I came up with this, I learned it from a South Indian woman, I kind of, it uses a lot of oil and it uses like a white rice. So I just started experimenting and I use like millet and peas and you soak them and then you blend it up and let it sit overnight. So it becomes a little sour dough, a little sour. And then I can, I figured a way to cook them without oil. So they are these delicious pancakes. And then I also like to make, I eat that with a hummus and I
I love hemp seeds. mean, they're so delicious, so nutritious, like with the zinc, the magnesium, the omega -3s. So I make a hummus with hemp seeds. But I would say, yeah, I would say my go -to is that I recommend for everybody. And it's like kind of the foundation of my program is what people call the Buddha bowl, or I sometimes call it the bliss bowl. And it's just basically, and again, you could make this real easily. You just get...
If you really have no time, get a big bag of arugula or one of those big organic power greens, throw it in a bowl, open up a can of beans, put it in there. I always put apples in because the sweetness and special fiber in the apple skins are really good for the gut. And then I use a lot of pickled onions. know, I put the pickled onions, I put sauerkraut in there. I make a tahini miso balsamic dressing.
and flax seeds. know, so that, you if you look at Dr. Greger's like 12 recommended things, like everything is covered right there. You don't have to think about it. So I eat at least one of those a day. I can eat it. I could live off that. Like I did. I did live off that for months. It's just like being a monk. It's like.
It's like, know what I'm going to eat. And as far as the bananas go, I was eating that, nothing but that. And then I would freeze a bunch of bananas and then put the bananas with hemp seeds and cocoa powder and just blend that up. Cocoa powder and a little bit of water and a little bit of water. Just blend that up. It tastes like a chocolate milkshake without any fat, except for a little bit of good fats from the hemp seeds.
Bryan (35:52)
That's right.
That is awesome. It's some amazing tips and tricks we're all getting for these.
these scrumptious new recipes that we can try out. I like to do the mason jar thing that's similar to what I think Jim was saying is really, I do the upside down salad. You you put the little bit of dressing or whatever you're putting on top on the bottom, then the nuts and whatever stuff. And then you put the salad on top and you put, you just line up as many of those in your refrigerator as you possibly can. And then you pull one out, shake it a little bit, flip it upside down and out comes the whole salad. And it's a super easy way to meal prep for the week for lunches for me at least on that front.
Jim O'Quinn (36:27)
you
Bryan (36:52)
I'm curious, Jim, bring it home for us. What's your favorite recipe here?
Jim O'Quinn (36:55)
my God, there's so many, but I can point out one thing and that is I have a huge inventory of cookbooks and I'm always picking something new from each. I'm going on to different apps and that because the idea is I'm always trying to change it up. Like I'm very much Canadian. My whole family's been in Canada since 1800. So that type of, it's still a sad diet, unfortunately for the majority of when I grew up.
But I've always wanted to try new things. I've every ethnicity and everything like that. So my kids have always had that on their plate, something new on a regular basis. So they are so used to crazy things that their friends would never have tried. My wife is Filipino and their culture has a lot of meat in it. And one of her favorite foods was something called mongo. And that's what these little tiny green beans and
There's bacon and there's meat stock and everything in there, but I've managed to create my own Mongo, which tastes, she thinks very, very much spot on and it's extremely healthy. And again, I batch it. So I have it in jars and you know, you don't want to the same thing over and over again. So it's in a Mason jars that are the bigger ones. And do you feel like eating it for two days in a row? Perfect. If not, you know, you've got it sitting there for next week or the week after, but
With regards to the bananas, what both you, Bryan, your extra bananas and Jason, you were mentioning what you're doing. My go -to sweet thing is this thing here. So basically this is a mint chocolate smoothie and it's primarily spinach, but frozen bananas. It's got wow butter in there or whatever alternative nut butter you want to use. The trick is to throw in a little bit of pure mint peppermint or spearmint, whatever you can get.
and maple syrup and then soy milk or whatever kind of plant -based milk you want. And if you want to notch it up a little bit more, you throw in some yogurt into this, some, whichever yogurt you have, you will not like, I just finished drinking one of these before I talked to you, a whole one of these. And I'm probably going to finish this one because it's in my hand and it has to be drunk because you can't stop. So in regards to finding those types of things that are really good that everybody loves.
Bryan (39:11)
Ha ha ha ha.
Jim O'Quinn (39:20)
That's one of them, the Mongo, the oatmeal, as you were all saying, and to add to what you were saying, Kathy, with, I soak my oats all the time, but I've also streamlined it a little bit more. I'll fill up that same big mason jar with the rolled oats, but I'll put in pumpkin seeds, some dried cranberries. I'll put in my flax seed. I put in apple cider instead of like, that's my sweetener to soften those oats. And then,
it's sitting in the fridge and I will just take out equivalent to one cup, because this is four cups in this mason jar, one cup, put it in my big bowl and then I'll cut up or put in a whole bunch of fruits of all kinds. So it's super duper fresh, but it's also in the fridge ready to go for four straight days. And I don't have to think about what I'm having for breakfast because it's just right there. And the only work I have to do, open a bag, drop in some berries, or if I'm feeling adventurous, cut up some fruit.
throw it in. There's no question as to is this difficult? It's so complicated. No, it's not.
Bryan (40:27)
way it's way easier than making some fried eggs and bacon in the morning that's for sure too. my goodness yeah yeah don't get us started on that one. That is awesome Jim I will have to give some of those recipes a try. I pulled out a couple little news segments just to sort of talk about the food and the the recipes and stuff that we've been talking about and the the one
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (40:30)
Yeah.
Jim O'Quinn (40:30)
yeah, and then the mess, the mess behind meat cooking. my God.
Jason Demchok (40:36)
for them.
Jim O'Quinn (40:37)
Yeah.
Bryan (40:52)
that really resonates with me is like when we go to a vegan restaurant and you're like, wow, there's, I can order anything on the menu or there's literally 25 choices. And we don't usually get that when we do eat out on that front. But the second thing for me is like, I'm curious if maybe Jim, you talk to us cause you're up in Toronto, but PlantX.
is trying to come out with their vegan grocery store chains in Canada and the United States. think Germany just launched, don't know how to say it, R -E -W -E -R -E or I don't know, it's probably got some German pronunciation to it, but they've got their vegan grocery store. But can you imagine walking into a grocery store where every single thing, it probably might have some oil in it, it might be some vegan junk food and stuff like that, but like pretty much you can pick up anything in the whole store, put it in your cart and check out and know that it's certified vegan.
I don't know if you've gotten a chance to check that out Jim or if any of you others What's your thoughts on the vegan grocery store concept?
Jim O'Quinn (41:52)
For me here, there's that story you're talking about. I thought it was only online. I didn't know they had an actual bricks and mortar that they were.
Bryan (41:59)
I'm pretty sure they're opening up the physical stores in a couple of bigger cities. I thought Toronto would be the first one,
Jim O'Quinn (42:03)
Okay. Yeah. Well, there's a place called, there's a city called Hamilton and it's not too far from me and they have a little tiny store and it's called the Coven and the entire store is a hundred percent plant based and it's the coolest damn thing. But you got to go in there expecting to spend a lot of money because a lot of it is packaged foods and stuff like that. But it's fun stuff because it's that time. Like it's like, you know, you're going almost like on vacation. I'm buying all the souvenirs because I'm here.
It's the same idea. It's like, they have that bacon. they have this. And you're buying all these experimental foods to come home and try and share with people. You're probably not going to go back for a while, but all said and done. It's pretty damn cool to be able to fill a shopping cart with entirely plant -based stuff and don't have to question is there milk in that? Yeah, there's not.
Bryan (42:54)
That's right. That's right. And it's it's just, you know, we have to vote with our wallets and with our mouths as we're eating. So I appreciate you sharing that. Anybody else have some thoughts or experiences with the vegans, the vegan grocery stores?
Rachael Brown (43:07)
Well, I would say I love the idea of, I mean, how wonderful to be able to walk in somewhere and get, you know, to not have to double think or read every package with such scrutiny. But I also have to say that part of my issue with this whole movement of plant -based eating is it feels really removed or some people think they can't do this because they can't shop at whole paycheck we affectionately call Whole Foods. You know, you don't have to live near Whole Foods or you don't have to live near one of these stores that has everything.
Bryan (43:31)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Rachael Brown (43:36)
You could eat this way if you just have a dollar store near you, as registered dietitian Jim Novick pointed out. I mean, at a dollar store, they always have a rice or a grain in bags. They always have bagged beans or lentils. You can always find some vegetables either frozen or canned. So while these things are amazing, and I look forward to the day when this becomes normal, I also want people to not think that they have to live somewhere where there is one of these stores because you can eat this way. It's entirely possible.
Bryan (43:40)
Mm
Rachael Brown (44:05)
If you just have a normal grocery store, you can eat, you can always find a whole grain and some beans or legumes and some vegetables and fruit. And so I look forward to the day when these are everywhere, but also I don't, I don't want people to think I can't do this now or I'll just wait, you know.
Bryan (44:19)
It's -
It's a really strong point because like I want to support the stores that are driving towards the agenda that I want to see. And one of my favorite breakfast foods is just the puffed Kamoot or the puffed rice cereals that are in that. I call it the old the granny section of the cereal aisle, right? Like in the bottom left corner or just hidden away or something, because that's what my grandmother ate was the puffed Kamoot cereal. And like when my grocery store stopped carrying that and I asked and it says
Jason Demchok (44:39)
Thank
Bryan (44:50)
It's too cheap. wasn't selling. I'm like, well, fine then I'm switching grocery stores because I found another one that's right across the street that does still carry it. But because I just love it and I want to support the store that wants to bring the affordable breakfast foods that that's vegan and healthy. So, yeah, anybody else want to add?
Rachael Brown (44:57)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (45:07)
I was just gonna jumping on what Rachael said. Like that's one of the things that I found. Cause when we hit the road in the RV five years ago, we were tracking the whole foods because they have everything we need, right? We were fully, I mean, we were vegan, but we were vegan junk food eaters. Like we were eating the beyonds and all that stuff. And we did that for five years. And then when it was about a year into RV life, when I was like, we need to clean this up. Like we're eating out way too much. Like we're eating out all the time. We're eating all these processed foods.
Bryan (45:18)
you
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (45:35)
And the ultra processed foods are what leads to a lot of the health illnesses that people have, both standard American eaters, I there's obviously more things that add to that in a standard American diet, but also in plant -based, there's so many ultra processed foods. Now, with that, I love the fact that I shop at local co -ops that may not be 100 % vegan, but they don't have aisles and aisles and aisles of ultra processed foods.
That just overwhelms me. When we were out west, we shopped at Natural Grocers. It is a small organic grocery store so I can get all my organic produce. I can pick up the broccoli and know it's organic. I really appreciate that. So I would go out of my way to look for the local co -op, but I wanted to have produce as well because I do like to eat fresh and organic produce. So some of the, I know that there's, or I believe that there's a vegan grocery store in
Upstate New York on the Western Western New York near Buffalo. I I want to say that I've seen that in some Facebook groups It's not Wegmans, but Wegmans is another one of those stores That's amazing like you can go there and you can get everything But it's just aisles and aisles and aisles of processed foods I think for me like if I were if I were like at a grocery store conference and saying what I want I want the grocery stores to label their stuff vegan. I want them to
Bryan (46:41)
Wegmans?
Yeah.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (47:00)
to really embrace more whole food options and bring that to the masses instead of, you know, making those so limited in specialty. Because I think that's the other, the other, you know, side of the coin is these vegan products become specialty items. And so then they're three times or four times the price of the non -specialty items. But if like Wegmans does label their, their store brand vegan, that makes it much easier to shop. You don't have to think about it.
You might scan the ingredients just in case, but because we're vegan, we scan the ingredients just in case. But when the store labels it, that's really my, like if I was on a soapbox at a conference, that's what I would ask them to do. Like label your food. Because we know it's all being, it's all being, you know, private label produced anyway. So they probably know if it's vegan or not. Add a little V to that package.
Bryan (47:28)
That's right.
That's right.
No, it's very, very true. I love I love that. And the other article, because we're just wrapping up the Olympics here and I'm curious. What did you guys think of the different pieces of the Olympics? And then how excited were you to see so many vegan athletes there and they were taking home the medals right and left and just, you know, further reinforcing that plants pretty much proved to the top of the of the chain on the athleticism side. So.
Who wants to go first there?
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (48:28)
I'll go first. I just think it's just amazing that it's becoming more mainstream and that the athletes feel confident enough to be able to say, I won this gold medal and I'm powered by plants, or I won this medal and I'm powered by plants, or heck, I made it to the Olympics and I'm powered by plants. That's a huge accomplishment and a huge, really a step forward in the movement that not only are they eating plant -based, but they're also comfortable and confident enough to talk about it.
Bryan (48:49)
Mm -hmm.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (48:58)
Because we need to be more comfortable. We need to be more empowered to say, yeah, I'm plant -based and I'm proud of it. And it is what's getting me the results that I want.
Bryan (49:08)
That's right. mean, Vivian Kong won fencing, believe. Whitney won the track thing. Diana was in basketball. I don't know. The list just went on and on. Almost every show I was watching, I'm like, which team sent somebody that was vegan there? It was just so great to see that demographic shifting higher and higher.
Rachael Brown (49:16)
you
Yeah.
Jim O'Quinn (49:31)
I just want, I'm just going to add one quick little thing and that is the fact that people are so proud to announce the fact that they're fueled by plants. was, that was not possible. That was, you, you almost, you were a closet at, were kind of like, well, I have a healthy diet and that was it. And now they're like boldly saying it. And the fact that the Olympics are catering to the diet of everybody who's going to be there.
Bryan (49:49)
Right, yeah.
Jim O'Quinn (49:58)
has to be, well, then it has to be, but it's a plant -based diet. And it's fantastic that it's so strong and nobody's keeping it quiet anymore. And it's so good.
Rachael Brown (50:08)
Yeah, I agree. was just gonna say this isn't new, right? mean, Carl Lewis, Lewis Hamilton, Dotsie Bosh, I have a whole list of people in my books, like for years people have been doing this, but it's now getting out there. And I was gonna say what I really loved about the Olympics was it was like a top down decision, right? Like they, mean, and for environmental reasons and for other goals, but I love that it was tied into that so that people were made aware.
Bryan (50:09)
I love it.
Jim O'Quinn (50:13)
for
Rachael Brown (50:32)
that this is possible actually, know, people felt the freedom to say, this is how I eat. It wasn't like this closet thing that they do, but it was highlighted rather than, you know, shoved under the rug or whatever. So I found it also remarkable. I saw an article on some athlete. don't, I think she was Australian who like went to McDonald's because they were tired of the Olympic food that was being provided and she really needed some more protein. So she went to McDonald's and I was like, how are professional athletes
fleets eating at McDonald's and thinking that they're going to do well. just lost my mind.
Bryan (51:05)
Yeah, so true, so true. Well, we are running out of time on this episode of the Real Men Eat Plants podcast. I want to say a special thank you to each of you. And I want to let you each give a quick shout out. How can people get in touch and reach out and learn more about what you have going on in your efforts to help change the world? So, Jason, you want to kick us off on that front?
Jason Demchok (51:30)
Sure, OptimizedGutHealth .com. On Instagram, OptimizedGutHealth. And right now on Facebook, just Jason Demchuk. If you search for me, I'll come up on everything. And thank you. And YouTube also.
Bryan (51:46)
Thank you, Jason. We appreciate you being here and contributing some great ideas and tricks. I want to learn more about that dosa recipe for sure. Kathy?
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (51:54)
Yes, you can find me on Instagram at veg inspired, just like it sounds veg and then inspired. That's the best place. I manage my own Instagram, so you're contacting and communicating directly with me. I do have a website, a YouTube channel, Facebook. I'm everywhere, but Instagram is where I spend most of my time. So that's where you can connect with me. And thank you for having me, Bryan.
Bryan (52:04)
Thank
We appreciate you. Great. Great to see you again. Thanks for jumping in here. Is there a fourth cookbook in the works or? Still no hints. Still no hints. Rachael, thank you for joining us. I like, I know last time we spoke, I bought like 10 copies of your book and I have, let me see, three left on my shelf over here. So I've given out seven of them to some amazing people that I hope were inspiring them to take their first steps on their plant -based journey.
Kathy Davis |VegInspired (52:22)
I don't know, maybe.
Rachael Brown (52:36)
Okay.
Awesome.
Bryan (52:44)
So thank you for your book. Give a shout out for your book. How do people get in touch with you?
Rachael Brown (52:46)
Yeah, this is it for Forksake and it's the book that I wish I would have had when we went plant -based 14 years ago. So I kept trying to hand the China study to people and they'd hand it back and be like, I couldn't read that thing. So I told Colin Campbell, I love your book. I hope everybody reads it. But for those who won't start with it, I'm hoping this is like the gateway drug for plant -based eaters.
I have a website for forksakebook .com. I'm also on Instagram and Facebook for Forksake Book. So you can find me there. And thanks so much, Bryan. It's always a pleasure to chat with you.
Bryan (53:19)
It's and it's such a great little book because it's not the super thick China study kind of a thing. It's a great little introduction crash course. So well done on that. So thank you.
Rachael Brown (53:25)
Right. Yep. There's the thank you. Yeah. The audio book is literally four hours long. So it's a quick and easy how to get you going kind of thing.
Bryan (53:37)
My fellow bro pro vegan, Jim, great to see you. I look forward to hanging out with you more and more. How do people get in touch and how are you connecting with more men up in Canada and all around the globe, I'm sure.
Jim O'Quinn (53:51)
To get in touch with me at the easiest way is through the website, is broprovegans .com. All the social handles are on there, so you can see Instagram, Facebook, also LinkedIn. I cater to a lot of people on LinkedIn, the professionals who are trying to adjust and transition to this lifestyle. And the whole point to BroProVegans is to help guys. To your point, Bryan, earlier,
see that it's not a hard thing to do and it's not an obstacle. have big mountains to climb to live a healthy, strong, vibrant, amazing life. So that's the whole point behind BroProVegans. And you can get a first taste of it through the website and you can direct connect me, connect with me that way. There's an email there. Anybody who wants to talk, I'm more than excited to share what I've got to learn with everybody.
Bryan (54:46)
And that's how we've gotten connected. We've gotten to hang out a few different times now. So I support your mission. I want to see more men go plant based. So thank you all for joining us, for being here. I will do my best to summarize all the amazing links and recipes and stuff that we talked about in the show notes. So check those out, like, share this podcast and help us come up with some more cool topics that you want to hear about on the next Real Many Plants podcast.
Jim O'Quinn (54:50)
Yeah, thank you. Yeah.
Bryan (55:11)
That sort of wraps up today's episode. We're creating delicious and healthy plant based food. want you to keep experimenting in the kitchen, stay inspired and continue on your journey to a healthier, more compassionate lifestyle. Until next time, everybody keep eating plants and loving life. Thanks again, everybody.
Jason Demchok (55:31)
Thank you.
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