I'd love to welcome you to elephantasticvegan.com!
My name is Bianca Haun, I'm 33 years old and from Linz in Austria/Europe. I love to cook (and to eat!), so in 2014, I started sharing my vegan food adventures on this blog!
How it all started. While being on vacation in the United States in 2012, I first learned about veganism, about the food and where it comes from, about the reasons for people to go vegan, about the food system. And I was eating for the first time in a completely vegan restaurant (Loving Hut in Philadelphia on South Street). I was impressed by the dishes. I've bought Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, which I read on the plane on my way home, a few weeks later I watched Earthlings. And it did its magic.
About the blog. This blog exists since July 2014 and I'm so happy I finally have a platform to share delicious, not-always-healthy dishes. Telling people, that one's living on a vegan diet often results in many questions: "How can you get enough protein?" "What are you eating all day long?" "What are you allowed to eat?" "Are you sure this is healthy?" "Are you living off seeds and nuts?" "Can you eat fruit?" (not kidding!) Most of them don't know how wonderful, creative, and versatile a vegan diet can be, that's one of the main reasons why I created this blog.
Why Elephantastic Vegan? Another reason why I wanted to start a blog was to keep better track of what I was eating and what I was able to cook. Most of the time I can't even remember what I had for lunch the day before, I'm terrible at remembering things. Elephants, however, are super awesome and they can remember literally everything. They're one of the coolest animals on earth. The title is a combination of elephant and fantastic, but I'm sure you figured that out already!
My Cookbooks. I've published two cookbooks. The first one is called 'The Veginner's Cookbook' and it was released in January 2018. It's the perfect cookbook for people new to veganism or anyone who wants to include more plant-based meals into their diet! My second cookbook 'Cravings made Vegan' was published in January 2019 and is for people who want to eat 'meaty, cheesy, fishy' meals without animal products. Because you don't have to sacrifice taste for cruelty-free meals!
Anyways, that was a little info about me, I'm so excited that you found your way here! I hope you like what you are seeing!
Let's stay in touch! Add me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, write me a comment or email. I'd love to hear from you!
Cheers, Bianca*
Tips for navigating on the site
- Veginners: If you're new to veganism, check out the Veginners section of the blog. It focuses on topics for new vegans.
- Vegan Recipes: On the recipe index you'll find all the vegan recipes I've published on this blog. You can not only sort them by courses (soups, desserts, main,...) but also by diets (e.g. gluten-free, refined sugar-free, oil-free, ...)
Alice says
Hallo Bianca!
Ich bin über Pinterest auf dich gestoßen - via Vegan Schnitzel ;)
Sieht echt gut aus, dein Blog, ich wundere mich nur, dass ich ihn nicht schon viel früher entdeckt habe. Ich ernähre mich/ lebe seit 2014 vegan, blogge immer wieder und bin laufend auf der Suche nach Inspiration. Vor allem, wenn es ums Essen geht, das nach wie vor eine unheimlich wichtige Rolle in meinem Leben spielt. Once a foodie, always a foodie :)
Hab mir auch gleich ein paar Rezepte gebookmarked, um sie nachzukochen (z.B. deine Kässpätzle - mjam!).
Ich freue mich, auf deine Seite gestoßen zu sein - viel Erfolg weiterhin!
Liebe Grüße aus Wien,
Alice
bianca says
Hi Alice!
Woaaah, wie cool! Achja, das Schnitzel bringt die Östereicher zaum :D großartig.
Das mit der Essensinspiration kenn ich nur zu gut, ich hab schon auf diesen Plattformen (Pinterest, Evernote,..) soo viele Ideen angesammelt, man müsste 10mal am Tag essen um die Liste abzuarbeiten.
Hab gleich mal deinen Blog subscribed um ein bisschen am Laufenden zu Bleiben was die Wiener Vegan-Szene angeht. Bin meistens nur im Sommer in Wien (danke ÖBB Sommerticket) und krieg deswegen nicht recht viel mit unterm Jahr. Nur die aktuellen Veganista-Eissorten les ich jeden Tag mittels FB. (Schlechte Idee, weil ich die ganze Zeit nur wegen Eis nach Wien fahren will)
Vielen, vielen Dank für deine Nachricht, ich hab mich riesig gefreut.
Liebe Grüße aus der Stahlstadt :)
Solenja says
Hach, ich habe dich und deinen herrlichen blog gerade entdeckt und klicke mich durch die ganzen leckeren Rezepte :) ich freue mich immer richtig, wenn ich so schöne blogs finde, da folge ich dir doch gleich mal!
Liebste Grüße, deine Solenja :)
bianca says
Huhu Solenja! Willkommen! Vielen, vielen Dank für deinen wahnsinnig netten Kommentar, ich freue mich sehr! Ich hoffe, du findest ein paar interessante Rezepte. :)
Alles Liebe, Bianca
Tasia says
I just found your blog off Pinterest, and I'm so glad I did! I love when I find vegan treasures like this across the world via the Internet.
Ps i see you like portlandia, I live in Portland!
bianca says
Thank you so much, Tasia! That's so nice of you to leave me a comment. <3
nope, I LOVE Portlandia!! :D Visiting Portland has been my dream for years. I'm unsure if it will be on this year's travel list, but I hope at least next year.
You lucky girl! Living in a vegan's paradise! :)
Hannelore Reber says
Hallo Bianca,
ich finde Dein Engagement auch toll und gratuliere zu Deinen Ideen und Deinem Erfolg!
Fand den Hinweis: "2½ cups all-purpose flour" in Deiner Tarte Flambée und weiss nicht, was für ein Mehl Du nun meinst. Ich steh nicht auf Weizenmehl, höchstens noch Dinkelmehl. Aber ich wollte weg von Getreide. Hast Du das Rezept schon mit mehreren Mehlen ausprobiert?
Ansonsten könnte die Tarte ja wirklich klasse schmecken, finde ich.
Alles Gute für Dich und viele gute Ideen!
H a n n e
bianca says
Hallo Hanne,
vielen Dank für deinen lieben Kommentar! Es freut mich natürlich sehr!
All-Purpose Flour steht in meinen Rezepten immer für "Universal Weizenmehl".
Mit glutenfreien Mehlen habe ich bisher noch keinen Flammkuchen gemacht, ist aber ein gute Idee (kommt gleich mal auf meine Koch-Liste).
Ich bin mir sicher, dass der Teig auch mit Dinkelmehl funktioniert, eventuell muss man ein bisschen mehr Wasser verwenden.
Liebe Grüße!
Denise says
My husband and I became vegans a couple months ago. I'm loving your recipes so far. I've a couple of them. Not only are they fillin, they are very delicious. I need help in what to eat and these recipes is right on point. Keep posting them. Thank You
Dref1
Bianca says
Thank you so much for your motivational comment, Denise! I'm so glad you like my recipes.
Good for you both, that you made the transition together :) I'm glad me and my boyfriend went vegan together, too. It's so much easier if you can support each other.
Anuj Agarwal says
Hi Bianca,
My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.
I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Elephantastic Vegan has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Vegan Blogs on the web.
http://blog.feedspot.com/vegan_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Vegan Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!
Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog. Use the code to display the badge proudly on your blog.
Best,
Anuj
Michelle says
Thank you for sharing thoughtful and interesting recipes. You've made a couple of comments that raise questions for me.
Bianca says
Hi Michelle,
thank you for asking!
The no-yeast-in-my-drinks is purely a personal preference. And I'm not even strict about it. I drink beer every now and then or kombucha. But at that time I didn't want to work with yeast in drinks - it didn't felt right. Also I was trying to make a quick recipe without having to wait to ferment or something.
As for the sugar, I always have phases of using different sweeteners. I was diagnosed with a slight fructose intolerance, so that's when I started using more dextrose. Later on in recipes, you often find xylitol (birch sugar) as my preferred granulated sugar. But they are pretty much interchangeable when making the recipes.
Hope it helps! Let me know if you have any more questions :)
Andrea says
Hi, Bianca! I am a fellow Austria living in Florida . Just discovered your schnitzel recipe and cannot wait to try!!! I am not completely vegan but try to cook vegan as often as possible. I have bought and used this type of TVP before...never did it cross my mind to make Schnitzel with it! That is sooooo cool! I cannot wait to try. It is so neat to hear of other Austrians adopting a plant based diet...acceptance of that in my family from small town Styria is rather small. Forgive me for writing in English...but my German writing would be embarrassing!!! Too little practice :(
Bianca says
Hi Andrea, I'm glad you found the schnitzel recipe! Make sure you also check out this recipe - it uses the same TVP base, but it's coated in rice paper and then pan-fried. This adds such an amazingly weird twist :D - just like "chicken skin"! I always have a hard time deciding which one to make when I'm in the mood for some Austrian comfort food. Maybe you try them both some day and let me know which one you like the best? All the best greetings to Florida (so cooool!) :)
Manisha Chakraborty says
Nice blog Bianca! My name is Manisha, I am the founder of Petite Chef Big Platter. Amazed to find so many lovely vegan recipes. Grt work!
Bianca says
Thank you so much, Manisha! Glad you like them! :)
Nina Amon-Weilbuchner says
Kompliment, du hast einen wirklich tollen Blog! Ich bin seit vielen Jahren Vegetarierin und hab zwischenzeitlich auch vegan gelebt. Auch heute probier ich so oft es geht vegan zu kochen - danke für deine tollen Rezepte. Sie sind wirklich eine große Inspiration :)
Alles Liebe und weiterhin viel Erfolg
Nina
Bianca says
Vielen Dank, Nina! Das freut mich wirklich sehr :)
leslie says
Hi Bianca,
Visited your website for the first time today.
Laughed at your about me line.
Like a lot of your recipes.
Hope all is going well with your food empire.
PaulJohnson says
what is a VEGAN? A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who, for various reasons, chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. While vegetarians choose not to use flesh foods, vegans also avoid dairy and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down, and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals.
why VEGAN? Veganism, the natural extension of vegetarianism, is an integral component of a cruelty-free lifestyle. Living vegan provides numerous benefits to animals' lives, to the environment, and to our own health–through a healthy diet and lifestyle.
The consumption of animal fats and proteins has been linked to heart disease, colon and lung cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, obesity, and a number of other debilitating conditions. Cows' milk contains ideal amounts of fat and protein for young calves, but far too much for humans
Valentina Neycheva says
Hi Bianca,
I am so happy to see your website. I was searching for vegan bread and :) :) :)
YES. I LOVE IT, I will be here a lot, waiting for you to share more.
Wish you all the best and good luck my dear. :)
With much love, Valentina
Bulgaria/Europa
Bianca says
Wohooo! Thank you so much, Valentina!
I'm so happy to hear that <3
Lois says
Hi Bianca, just made your vegan cheese sauce and am having it with broccoli and cauliflower in an omelette wrap for a healthy lunch.(I'm not vegan but I love trying different recipes) It's gorgeous. Thank you and Happy Christmas from Yorkshire, UK
Lois
Bianca says
Woho! I am so glad to hear this, Lois! It's my favorite cheese sauce - really good on pizza and lasagna, too!! :)
And Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Anna says
Hi Bianca!
Finde deinen Blog sehr inspirierend! Ich versuche gerade zum ersten Mal, vegan zu leben und bin deshalb ständig auf der Suche nach Ideen. So bin ich auch auf dich gestoßen – und ich bin begeistert! Du zeigst, dass Veganismus (selbst bei uns in Österreich, wo man leicht schief angeschaut wird, wenn man sagt, dass man vegan lebt) überhaupt nicht so kompliziert sein muss, wie immer alle tun und diese Weise der Ernährung auch extrem vielfältig sein kann. Ich denke, dass dein Blog selbst für Nicht-Veganer ziemlich wertvoll ist. Bitte weiter so!
Ich freu mich schon darauf, weitere Rezepte von dir auszuprobieren :)
LG, Anna
Bianca says
Danke Anna! Das freut mich sehr :)