Happy World Vegan Day!

Here at Eve, we really like the word vegan. To us, vegan means that no animals are harmed in any way to create the cork products we sell and love. 

Today on the blog we’ve invited Toronto-based wellness and lifestyle bloggers Karlee and Courtney from the melon lifestyle co. to share some of their best tips and resources for anyone interested in taking their first steps towards a vegan, or even a more plant based diet. Melon is all about enjoying life while being conscious of your health. It’s about going out dancing Saturday night and drinking green juice Sunday morning. It’s about being fulfilled. And that is something we can get behind. 

These ladies share a wealth of content surrounding wellness, healthy eating and leading an active lifestyle over on their blog the melon. Today, they are sharing their favourite reads that have helped form their eating and lifestyle habits today.

Hey! Our names are Courtney and Karlee and we’re the co-creators of melon lifestyle co., a healthy lifestyle blog that has changed our lives for the better. Recently, we hosted #melonveganweek on our blog in an attempt to spread the word about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Not only did we share some great recipes, we also focused on vegan and cruelty free products. Cork is a great alternative to leather and the Eve Cork line is so stylish we couldn’t resist teaming up with them for #NationalVeganDay.

It wouldn’t be right to celebrate National Vegan Day without some seriously delicious vegan meal inspo, so we’ve put together a full day’s worth of meals from a few our favourite cook books to share with you.

For breakfast, we served up a sweet potato hash from the book “Yum Universe” by Heather Crosby. This recipe is super filling and is packed with tons of flavour. What’s great about making a hash is that you can make it your own by changing the recipe to your liking. Adding tons of veggies and fresh herbs allows for a different bite each time. With a breakfast like this, we’re fuelling for the day with tons of nutrients, good carbs, and fibre to keep us feeling full and energized. With the day off to a nutritious start, there's nothing left to do but look forward to lunch! (And the dishes, of course.)

This dish is sure to make your coworkers jealous. We strongly suggest you try these Collard Leaf, hummus and veggie wraps for lunch. We found this recipe in the book “Eat Better, Live Better, Feel Better” by Julie Cove of alkalinesister.com. Her book is all about living an alkaline balanced lifestyle and in order to be successfully alkaline, a mostly vegan diet is necessary.

These wraps taste so fresh and if you love hummus as much as we do you’ll want to pack 2 of them for your midday meal. Plus, the benefits of dark, leafy greens are no secret and this is a delicious way to increase your intake.

Speaking of the health benefits of a vegan diet, did you know that it significantly reduces your chances of cancer, diabetes and stroke? Those are health benefits we can get on board with. Not only that, but plant-based whole foods are much easier on the body to digest, meaning improved digestion is something to look forward to. And, if you're an acne sufferer, the removal of dairy from your diet can work wonders!

Last but certainly not least is dinner. We don't know about you, but when we come home from a long day sometimes we just want some serious comfort food. We often look to the book “Oh She Glows” written by blogger Angela Liddon for inspiration to cure our cravings. (She's also got a fab mobile app and a brand new cookbook, Oh She Glows Everyday, that we’re loving!) Tonight we’re making her Zucchini noodle pasta served with an immunity boosting tomato and mushroom sauce. The mushrooms help to make this dish nice and hearty and the homemade tomato sauce is easy and oh-so delicious! If you don't think you can hop on board with zucchini noodles, try doing half whole wheat or quinoa pasta and half zucchini noodles to ease into the change in taste and texture.

Living a vegan lifestyle may seem daunting but with a little effort, the benefits are endless. Not only are there tons of health benefits (we’ve only touched on a few), but the environment and economy is heavily affected as well. Eating a vegan diet helps the environment more than you can imagine and there is power in numbers. Buying vegan products and eating a vegan diet helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and helps to eliminate animal cruelty. Next time you’re shopping, try to make a conscious effort to buy products that are vegan, organic and cruelty free and you will be making a huge difference. There is truly power in numbers and the way you spend your hard earned cash can have a big impact. Choosing conscious products signals to the market place that there is demand, increasing the availability and awareness for such products.

We hope that by introducing you to this lifestyle, you’ll want to make more conscious decisions in the future. Thanks for having us Eve!