Hello fellow foodies!
The Conscientious Eater is a space where everyone from every diet can find easy-to-make, completely plant-based recipes that are family and friend approved!
Whether you’re a long-time reader or new here, I'm so glad you stopped by!
My Plant Based Recipes
The plant based recipes shared here at The Conscientious Eater are extremely healthy, absolutely delicious, and both family- and friend-approved. Whether you’re an omnivore or vegan, I hope these simple, plant-based recipes are unintimidating and inspire you to include more plants in your diet.
You can expect one or two new recipes per week ranging from easy vegan breakfast recipes to decadent but healthy desserts and everything in between. Most of the recipes here use easy-to-find ingredients and simple techniques, making them perfect for all kinds of cooks. Additionally if you are unable to eat certain foods due to allergies (i.e. you are gluten free), don't worry! You are sure to find a plethora of recipes to suit your needs!
What does "The Conscientious Eater" mean?
Conscientious (adjective):
governed by conscience; controlled by or done according to one's inner sense of what is right; principled
The name “The Conscientious Eater” doesn’t refer to a single, perfect diet (does that even exist?), yet instead is meant to inspire everyone to consider individually what foods make them feel their best physically, emotionally and intellectually. Eating a mostly plant-based diet is what makes me feel my best, not only physically, but also mentally as I consider different environmental and ethical aspects. Whether you eat everything under the sun or stick to a strict diet, you are welcome to try out these recipes!
Everyone is welcome!
CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
PLANT BiASED
If you enjoy the recipes here at The Conscientious Eater, be sure to check out Plant Biased, my eBook full of tips, tricks and recipes to help you eat a more plant-based diet. It contains:
- my top 80+ recipes
- 6 eBook exclusive recipes
- my pantry staples
- protein sources for vegans
- vegan substitutes for recipes
- a weekly meal plan
- much more
Cooking From Scratch
Being an expat overseas has forced me to learn how to make a lot of foods from scratch. If you are in a place where you don’t have access to all the foods you want or simply enjoy making foods from scratch, be sure to check out the following:
- How to Make the Best Homemade Almond Milk
- Homemade Oat Milk
- Whole Wheat No-Knead Vegan Sandwich Bread
- How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter (3 ways!)
- How to Make Homemade Pecan Butter
- Homemade Ketchup
- Granola & Granola Bars
- Hummus
- Dairy-Free No-Churn Ice Cream
- Homemade Juice without a juicer
- Homemade Crackers
Kitchen Essentials
Whether you are new in the kitchen or just curious about what appliances are used here on a weekly bases, be sure to check out my essentials page where I share my most loved and used kitchen appliances, utensils and ingredients. You can also check out my favorite camera equipment, books and parenting items.
Traveling The World!
Living as expats in South East Asia has made travel a huge part of my life. If you enjoy travel as much as I do, be sure to check out my travel page. There I share trip recaps and my favorite vegan restaurants from around the world. From gorgeous Stockholm to noisy, motorbike-infested Hanoi, there is an international destination for everyone.
Who is The Conscientious Eater?
Faith started The Conscientious Eater just after getting married in 2013. She is the primary recipe developer, photographer and content creator behind the blog. Her travels around the world and her expat life in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia inspire many of her recipes.
Faith is first and foremost a wife and mother. At any point in the day you’ll either find her being active outside with her daughter, creating recipes in the kitchen or hosting friends in her small, Malaysian apartment.
CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Join 40,000+ Conscientious Eaters On Instagram!
I'm on Instagram all. the. time. I love posting InstaStories of our life in Malaysia, our travels around southeast Asia (& rest of the world!), and Harper being her sweet self. I use Instagram to announce when new recipes are out on the blog and also share simple, every day recipes that I'm creating in the kitchen. If you want to keep up with me in real-time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
P.S. Meet Brett Too!
My husband, Brett, is the brains behind the technical aspect of the blog. The blog wouldn’t be what it is now without him. You can learn from Brett on the following pages about how to start, grow and monetize a food blog...
Stacey Campbell says
Hi Fatih
I have just come across your you-tube channel and I absolutely love all the plant-based recipes you have to share. So simple, and using everyday ingredients makes things way less complicated. I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 35 years old, you can imagine this to be quite a shock for me but a huge reality check. I have started on a plant-based diet to heal my body and I cannot thank you enough for making this journey so much simpler for me. I wish you and your family all the best and will be a keen follower of your recipes from now on. Thank you
Faith VanderMolen says
Oh thank you so much for your kind words Stacey! I'm so glad my blog, recipes and videos are helpful for you. I hope you can find some recipes that you love as you continue to include more plants in your diet. Good luck with everything!
Kate says
Hi Faith, I just stumbled across your oatmeal bfast recipes as my daughter is obsessed with oatmeal for bfast, but who has time to stand over the stove in the morning right? I recently moved back to Canada from Kuala Lumpur and thought I would drop a note and say hi! We miss KL a lot especially the warm weather and roti canai! Thanks for your recipes! Trying them out tomorrow!
Faith VanderMolen says
It's so fun to hear from you Kate! Seems like we have a lot in common. It's rare to meet someone who's lived in KL so thanks for saying hi! We miss the food there too... and how cheap everything is. I really hope you enjoy these oatmeal recipes. Let me know how they turn out!
Nancy Nurse says
I'm thrilled that you're maintaining your plant based program... it IS how humans are supposed to eat, including BABIES!! If you need more proof, you can go to http://DrMcDougall.com All of his children AND grandchildren were brought up on plant based diets!! It's NATURAL!
Faith says
Thank you so much for you comment Nancy! And I really enjoy Dr. McDougall's work!
Tara says
Hi Faith,
I just found you blog and am excited to try out some new recipes. I went vegetarian overnight and a year later chose to go Vegan (whole food plant based) and have never looked back. It's been hard finding recipes though that my husband and kids enjoy since they do not eat the same way as me and have no desire to do so at the moment. I can't wait for you to share kid friendly recipes and hopefully I can stop all the complaining when I cook meals 🙂
Does your husband eat the same as you? What were some of his favorite meals during your transition?
Faith says
Hey Tara! So cool! But I can relate to the struggles of cooking for different diets. My husband isn’t vegan but sadly for him he can’t really cook so he eats whatever I make. We usually have eggs in the house and he can cook those so sometimes he makes those for himself. He only eats meat when we eat out tho. What works for us is just having some non-vegan condiments/toppings/snacks that he adds to meals when he wants, like adding shredded cheese to things. But honestly as of now he likes all the vegan substitutes I buy and really only eats non-vegan foods out of the house. I’m trying to remember what we ate when I first transitioned. Burrito bowls are always good as the toppings can be customizable. Pizza can be made half vegan half not. Bean chili with vegan cream cheese and cornbread is always good. My husband is a snacker so I always have vegan muffins, homemade granola bars, hummus, etc. in the house. We also love Buddha bowls with a grain + protein + roasted veggies and a sauce! I hope some of that helps!
Terra says
Hi Faith! Love your blog, whereabouts in china do you live? I lived there for a year, in a smaller city, and struggled to maintain a healthy whole food plant based diet, I wish I had known of your blog then!!
Anyway, love your posts!
Faith says
Hi Terra! That's so cool you too have lived in China! I bet you can picture it when you read parts of my blog. I currently live in Sichuan provence. So lots of spicy, oily food! But we also have tons of fresh produce so I cook a lot at home and love it! Cooking at home is definitely how I'm able to maintain a healthy diet.
Angela Mak says
Thanks for sharing such a great and simple recipe.
Faith says
You're welcome Angela!
coco says
hi Faith, long time blog reader and have been following your pregnancy. Congrats for maintaining the health living style. I might have another baby and I'll definitely get inspirations from you.
Also, i'm impressed that you keep health eating while traveling, for me that's hard since food availability in many asian countries is an issue and it's so much easier just to snack on junks. 🙂
Faith says
Hi Coco! It's so fun to hear from you. Thanks for saying hi and for reading my blog! I'm glad my pregnancy as inspired you and I hope your next pregnancy is easy and healthy. Thanks again for saying hi!
Nancy Baughman says
Hi Faith, I want to say thank you for your sharing your experiences of being vegan in China. I have a few questions for you. Are you using your Vitamix with 110 and an electric converter or did you get one that uses 220 currency? Other appliances that you bought in China rather than bringing them with you? Can you recommend best school you have found for learning Chinese, city recommendations? I have been to China and would like to go again. Thanks so much. Nancy
Faith says
Hi Nancy! Thanks for your questions. For my Vitamix I bought a 220v one from ebay in the states and brought it with us. It wasn't cheap and we viewed it as an investment and I use it everyday. You can definitely get by with a cheaper blender though! All of my other appliances (oven, soy milk maker, pressure cooker, etc.) I bought here in China off Taobao, except for my rice cooker which I just bought at a supermarket in my city. I love them all and they work great!
As for language learning, my husband and I are using a method called GPA (Growing Participatory Approach) and couldn't recommend it more. There is a company in our city which pairs students up with their own teacher and also trains the teacher in how to use the GPA method. So both my husband and I have our own teacher and we're amazed at how much we've learned in the 2 years we've been using this method.
I don't really have any city recommendations actually. I haven't traveled much inside of China so I'm only familiar with our smaller city.
I hope I helped in some way! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Nancy says
Thank you so much✈️
Faith says
You're very welcome!
Ariel says
Hey Faith, I love your blog and recipes! Thanks for sharing! (Also love your simplistic plates, if you don't mind sharing where you got those from!?) thanks!
Faith says
Hey Ariel! So glad you found my blog and enjoy it! My plates are actually from random countries, and mostly from this little plate shop here in China. I wish I could help more! I'm sure you can find some fun, simple plates at places like Target, ross, tj maxx etc. Good luck!
Abhinaya says
Hi Faith! Love the blog. I just made oatmilk and it's fantastic 🙂 I have a question for you. I have been a vegetarian all my life and want to move into veganism. As a South Indian, my morning cup of coffee is much more than a ritual. And our coffee is home brewed with milk. What would be the best subsitute for cow's milk? I read from your post that heating oat milk isn't possible. I've had the same experience with soy.
Faith says
So glad the oat milk worked for you! And how amazing your South Indian. I love india and have been a couple of times but only to the north. I would love to visit the South some day! What has happened when you use soy milk? I found that if I add soy milk to hot coffee it separates and looks disgusting. But if I heat of the soy milk before I add it to something hot it works fine. Another substitute could be coconut milk from a can? It's nice and thick and rich and could maybe act as a creamer of sorts. I've been hoping to create a vegan coffee creamer using cashew cream soon, so hopefully that would help!
plant based and healthy says
Take a cup of raw cashews and add 1 and 3/4 cup of water. Blend very well for at least a minute in a good blender. You have just made coffee cream. It tastes better than the cow cream. If you soak your cashews for a couple of hours, it's better, otherwise it'll still be good. I hope it helps!
Faith says
Yum!! Best, simple recipe ever. Thanks so much for sharing!
Wendy says
I just stumbled upon this blog, and I love it! I wish you had a subscriber box so I could follow your new posts :).
Also, it's really cool that you're living in China! I find it interesting that you're able to make so many vegan-American recipes there. How do you find your ingredients (ground flax, cocoa powder, etc)? I know that China probably sells these, but are they pretty expensive?
As an ethnically Chinese person, I also find it funny that you see that the Chinese eat a lot of meat, eggs, and dairy; but they actually eat a lot less of it than traditional Americans do. I know back in the day the Chinese didn't have a lot of such rich things to eat, and so had to resort to mostly veggies + rice. Nowadays, that the country is richer, people can afford to eat meat and eggs more, but it's still expensive. I don't think they eat a lot of dairy though, as many still aren't used to it or have lactose intolerance. Is this the case or not? I haven't been to China in a while, but this is what I gather from my relatives!
In any case, I'm really enjoying your recipes. They look really good, and I hope to try some of them.
Faith says
Hi Wendy! It's so good to hear from you! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I used to have a subscription box...I'll have to look into that. I buy a lot of my ingredients on Taobao and sometimes iHerb (an american company that ships to china, but they just raised their shipping prices so I won't buy from them as much anymore.) And you definitely right. The amount of meat Chinese people eat is definitely less than most Americans and dairy still isn't very prominent. Sorry I wasn't very specific in my post! I guess most of my friends think a meal without meat or eggs isn't really a meal:) I'm glad you found my blog and I'll hopefully have the subscription system fixed soon!
Yentl says
So amazing that you can make it in China, I always thought it chould be easier to be a vegan in other country,as you know, China is a big meat-hungry country.So pround of you and inspired me to be a better vegan
Faith says
China definitely loves meat...and eggs...and milk haha! Thanks so much for your kind words and for saying hi!
NAOMI says
I JUST FOUND YOUR BLOG AND LOVE READING THE RECIPIES.
HEADING HOME FOR A NICE LONG WEEKEND AND WILL BE SHOPPING TO TRY SOME OF YOUR IDEAS.
MY DAUGHTER LIVES IN KOREA AND ALSO EATS A PLANT-BASED DIET.
BEST WISHES TO YOU AND YOUR HANDSOME GROOM!
Faith says
So nice to meet you Naomi! I'm so glad you said hi and that you're excited about my blog and recipe. I hope the ones you try work out for you! We hope to make it to Korea soon. I hope your daughter loves living there! Thanks again so much for introducing yourself!
Tisha says
Thanks
Faith says
You're welcome Tisha!
Jayne says
This is so awesome, what do you do? I love your journey and am excited to stay tuned!
Faith says
Thanks Jayne!! I'm so glad you said hi! Currently, I'm just learning Mandarine and Chinese culture. After my husband and I become proficient in Mandarine we may open a business or something...not quite sure yet. We just LOVE Chinese people and the culture!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
Beautiful picture! I used to hate cooking too 🙂
Faith says
Thanks so much!! Isn't it crazy how we change?!
Kerri Mcgrail says
So glad to have been suggested your blog by a fellow blogger! I recently went vegan so I will definitely be trying some of your recipes!!
Faith says
Yay!! I'm so happy to meet you!! And that's awesome you just went vegan. It was hard for me to go vegan at first (mainly just knowing what to eat), but it gets easier and easier:) Please let me know which recipes you try and what you think!
Tanya says
Hi Faith
Just seen your Three Ingredient Artisan Bread have wrote down the recipe & have put it in my A4 Display book so the recipe stays waterproof .
Will be writing all your recipes down & trying them .
Thank you Faith for sharing your recipes. Have subscribed to your page too .
I have followed your page on Facebook too .
Faith says
Tanya! I'm so glad you commented. That's great! I'm glad you're going to give the bread a try. It's so easy and delicious!! Thanks for following me. I hope you enjoy some of my other recipes!
Sarah | Well and Full says
I just found your blog and I'm loving what I'm seeing so far! I'm so excited to see what kinds of awesome vegan recipes you come up with! 🙂
Faith says
Thanks so much Sarah! I'm so glad you said hi!! Hopefully you'll like future recipes too:)
Sydni Jackson says
Hey Faith! I nominated you for a Liebster Award! I'd love to see your post about it if you'd like to participate 🙂 See the post here - https://sydnijackson.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/liebster-award/
Faith says
Wow cool!! Thanks so much Sydni!! I read yours and it was so fun and interesting. I definitely would like to participate, but I'm not sure I can think of 11 other bloggers to nominate. Is it possible to answer the questions without passing it on??
Alyssa says
Hello Faith,
My name is Alyssa and I have a vegetarian site at http://www.simplycreativeveggies.com where bloggers can share their recipes. I am writing to let you know that I am linking to your Moroccan Butternut and Chickpea Stew post if you don't mind. You are welcome to share your recipes at my site if you would like. By the way, I also live in Queens. Must be tough getting used to the winters up here.
Have a wonderful day.
Alyssa
Simply Creative Veggies
Faith says
Hi Alyssa! I love that you linked to my recipe! Thanks for letting me know! I would love to submit recipe to your site and I'll keep that it in mind for the future.
That's crazy we live so close to each other. This winter has been really cold, but spring is fast approaching so I'm excited for that. Thanks for saying hi!
Annie says
Faith - I'd love to have you join a blog tour for my upcoming cookbook, Crave Eat Heal. Let me know if you are interested! I'm at anunrefinedveganATgmailDOTcom.
xoxo
Annie (An Unrefined Vegan)
Faith says
Wow Annie. Just now saw this comment! Not sure how I missed it! Sorry that I didn't get back to you in time. Thank you so much for thinking of me!
Nikki @ Active Vegetarian says
What a great idea! Can't wait to try it... thanks for sharing 🙂
Faith says
Thanks Nikki! Glad you said hi!
Hannah @ Sprints & Scones says
You are so adorable - love that picture and your blog :))
Faith says
Thanks Hannah! You're really encouraging:)
Tina Muir says
Oh my gosh, you are just adorable! I am so glad you linked up for meatless monday, I am going to follow your blog from now on, I love you already....in the least weird way possible haha! 🙂
Faith says
Wow! Thanks so much Tina! I'm not weirded out at all, but encouraged. Thanks for saying hi!
tina muir says
Hey pretty lady, whats your email? 🙂
Faith says
Hey hey! [email protected]!! 🙂