On the weekends I typically get out of my normal routine. One of the casualties is drinking water. Do you drink a lot of water? Your whole body will function better if you do. Over Christmas vacation our teenagers were visiting (they live in another state) and the oldest had a headache two days in a row. I asked if he had an water recently and he had not. As soon as he started drinking water he felt better. Water helps every part of our body. So stop reading, get up and get a big glass of water.
The Apple Muffin recipe I promised is at the bottom of the post.
Today’s Meal Plan
Breakfast: Pancakes
There are a lot of pancakes recipes out there. I tried a new one today from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay S. Nixon. It tasted great and the pancakes were light and fluffy. I used whole wheat pastry flour and made half of the batch with blueberries. The blueberry pancakes were superior to the plain.
I also love pancakes with peanut butter or topped with fruit.
Lunch: Baked Sweet Potatoes
Before changing my diet I had only had baked sweet potatoes at restaurants, mostly Salt Grass Steak House. Restaurants typically serve baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar and/cinnamon.
Baked sweet potatoes are easy to make and really good for you, sans dairy and sugar. If your in a hurry you can even “bake” it in the microwave. Our microwave has a “baked potato” button. To prepare a potato just wash thoroughly, wrap in plastic wrap (if your cooking in the microwave) poke a few holes in it then bake until soft. If your cooking them in the oven wrap in foil and bake 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of your potato. While your at it save time and bake a big batch.
I like to add cinnamon to my bake sweet potatoes but my husband has them plain. Everyone in our home loves them. We have convinced our toddler that the peel is the best part, which he repeats continuously as he eats us.
Dinner: Stir Fry
We are never “in the mood” for stir fry. I usually make it once my veggie drawer starts looking pathetic and we need to use up all of the veggies that I had good intentions to cook. Something magical happens every time and it ends up tasting so good.
Ingredients
- carrots
- onion
- broccoli
- peppers
- any other veggies that need to be eaten
- cooked brown rice, or noodles
Do
- In a heated skillet add carrots and any other veggies that are hard and need the longest time to cook. You not need oil. If the veggies start to stick add a spoonful or two of water to your pan. Keep stirring veggies.
- Add onions and peppers.
- Add broccoli and other fragile veggies that don’t need much cooking time.
- Spices can be added now.
Serve
Serve with warm brown rice or noodles. This could also be served with other cooked grains like millet or amaranth for some variety.
Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- dash nutmeg
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup agave
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup diced apples
Do
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Add applesauce, agave and 1 tsp vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add 1 cup dice apples and mix until just combined.
- Spoon batter into paper lined muffin cups until 3/4 full. You can sprinkle extra oats or cinnamon on the muffins before baking if you’d like. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Serve
Try not to burn yourself by eating these fresh from the oven. I took them to a ladies Bible study and they were a big hit. We ran out quickly so I plan to make more soon.
SAMANTHA says
Good luck to you on your plant based journey! It’s much easier than you think! Check out my natural health and welllness blog for some good tips! http://manfonhealth.wordpress.com/
Tricia says
Do you use plain rice flour in the muffins or brown rice flour?
Holly says
Tricia, I always use brown rice flour. 🙂