Cooking Beans, Legumes, Split peas in a slow cooker | Easy plant based!

   Eating plant based is easy and it can be much cheaper than buying animal products. When we go whole food plant based we eat healthier, lose weight, feel better and save money. And who doesn't want that? All it requires is some information, planning and a will to succeed. In this article I want to give you the basics to help you get started as well as instructions on how I make healthy plant based slow cooker meals that taste great with minimal effort!

First of all when I talk about a vegan diet I mean a whole food plant based diet. I feel that's the healthiest with or without being all raw food based. I also like to KEEP IT SIMPLE! That's my motto, because if it's not simple I don't want to do it lol! That's just one reason why I prefer to keep it fruit based myself. What is simpler than grabbing some fruit and just eating it! Salads for me are a little more complicated but it is easy to make a simple salad too. 

The first thing you need to do when starting a whole food plant based diet is to go through your pantry and fridge. Get rid of the dead animals, and their secretions once and for all! Who needs them anyway? These food are high in fat, cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, steroids and way to high in the wrong kind of protein in my opinion. Take a stand and stop buying the stuff :) It's not good for your body, the planet or the animals. 

Next thing is getting rid of the processed foods! Pretty much anything that comes in a box and has more than one ingredient, itself! The only exception to this would be whole grains, and pastas. Not that those products are the best, but fine for making plant based meals. Also keep your herbs, spices, seasoning packets as long as they aren't loaded with a bunch of junk like MSG, remember simple ingredients. You're going to need your seasonings for the many soups, stews and stir fry dishes that you're going to make.You may also want to keep some salt, pepper, and olive or avocado oil on hand. 

Here is a list of whole food plant based foods that you will need to stock up on and or buy weekly. They are ordered here from most optimal to least optimal. 

• Seasonal fruits/berries/melons. 
• Greens, such as baby spinach, spring mix and lettuce.
• Vegetables. Carrots, celery, and potatoes are great to have on hand.
• Legumes as in lentils and split peas.
• Beans. Black beans, white beans. garbanzo beans are among the best.
• Seeds. Sunflower seeds, are cheaper, side, and digest well. Also a bit more pricey, hemp seeds are a easier digestible fat/protein item. Chia seeds are also great to have on hand, get them on sale. Chia seeds go well in salads, and smoothies.
• Whole grains. Brown rice, quinoa, oats, and farina for hot cereal are good to have on hand.
• Nuts. But use sparingly! Nuts are high in fat and protein, and may also be hard for most people to digest. No more than a very small handful a day is needed, if any.
  

You should be able to eat daily with these items and the cost is minimal compared to pre-cooked packaged foods, fast foods, restaurant foods, and animal products! Pound per pound. a much cheaper way to eat!

Appliances that you will need; A slow cooker, rice cooker, blender, fridge, and stove is pretty much all that you need. I have a cooker (Instant Pot) that is a rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer, etc.. so that makes it pretty convenient although two of them would be better. 

I personally prefer a fruit based diet. That means that I eat fruit for my first two meals, and then salads. If I don't eat a salad then I will either do more fruit or whatever cooked food I have prepared for my family that day, in the evening. I recommend that you eat a diet that is at least 75% raw! That's raw whole foods most of the time. For more info on that see www.myfruitthing.com

Focus on fruits, berries, melons, and simple salads! I recommend that if you are eating cooked foods to do it at the end of the day after you have had your fruit day, and after your salad. You should never mix fast moving foods (easy to digest) foods with slow moving foods that are harder to digest. If you do this you will find that you won't have many stomach troubles eating this way. You go mixing your fruits in with cooked food and you are just creating more problems for yourself. Fruit typically should be eaten alone. 

For planning your meals it's a good idea to decide what you will be making in your slow cooker and make it a point to get something going in the morning. I prefer lentils, black beans, and hardy soups made with lots of veggies. The best part about the slow cooker is that you can start it in the morning, tend to it a bit in the afternoon, and have a hot home cooked plant based meal by the end of the day. 

IMPORTANT! When using your slow cooker use less water then the recipe says. I prefer to add water in gradually as needed. It just makes sense because the slow cooker uses up less water then cooking at high heats on the stove and you don't want to end up with a watery end product. 

Here are some meal options for you to try...

I use these recipes myself and loved them.  

Slow cooker black beans with vegan corn bread :) 

As for other beans, legumes, and lentils that I make, I do them the same way with excellent results. In the next part I will illustrate how I do it so you can try it at home. I personally try not to use broths, or bullion cubes. I have in the past but I find that I can cut the cost down by avoiding buying these products or making them myself. You also end up with a much healthier product in the end! 

This method will work for any kind of beans, legumes, or split pea. 

1. I start with some beans, lentils, or split peas, what ever you got! Rinse about a cup or two depending on how much food you're making, place in the slow cooker. 
2. Add. Thinly sliced small to medium size onion. It doesn't matter what kind just whatever you happen to have or sounds good to you. Also thinly slice 2-3 cloves of garlic. 
3. Add, just enough water to cover the contents in the slow cooker. Remember not to much because we are adding it gradually as needed. 
4. Turn on your low cooker and let cook. If your cooker has a setting, set it for 7 hours. It may be done in five depending on what you are cooking, but you can still just let it go for the 7 hours if you can't get to it, or if it needs to cook more. Lentils/legumes cook faster while beans a little longer.
5. After an hour or two check to see if you need to add a little more water and do it as needed. You will notice that the onions/garlic are beginning to cook and get translucent. Allow it to continue to cook. Make sure to check it before you leave your house to make sure there is enough water in it.
6. Add vegetables if you want, just depends on the kind of beans or soup you are cooking. I like to add carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, and pretty much whatever I have. You want to make sure that the vegetables aren't added in to early, but after the beans begin to cook a bit is a good time, so that they don't get to mushy. 
7. Add some salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you wish. The onions and garlic will cook in and give everything a nice flavor. If I do red lentils I like to add cumin or curry powder. You can also add some tomato paste for chili beans and all kinds of soups.
   

That is my general way of making beans or a simple bean soup in my slow cooker. Please refer to the recipes in this article as well as look for a good slow cooker recipe book that you can use. I suggest looking for a plant based one. Below is just one great suggestion but there are many books on the subject.

There is so much more I could say, so I will leave that for another post. I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be a help to you along your journey to better health, and a more compassionate way of eating. I will be doing a lot more writing on the subject of plant based eating but from a Christian perspective as is my specialty, so stay tuned for that. Remember when you use my links to make your Amazon purchase you are helping me, help you and the others who find my articles helpful. Thank you!

Until next time God bless you and your family!

Sincerely Joanne Utke

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