My Plant-Based Family

Eating Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet recipes, On a Budget.

Archives for July 2012

Gratituesday: Hearing

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Yes this is random Tuesday at My Plant-Based Family. I didn’t have a crazy experience or anything traumatic. But this is what happened.

We normally go to church on Saturday nights. Our church isn’t big enough to accommodate everyone who attends on a Sunday morning so there is an identical service on Saturday nights. We were always Sunday morning kind of people. We would get dressed up, even though that isn’t required, and go to church. A few times we decided to attend the Saturday evening service and LOVED it. It was more relaxed, there were fewer people, and it felt more intimate with a smaller group.

This last weekend I held my Food Demo on Saturday night so I attended the Sunday morning church service. I was a few minutes late and it was packed. You couldn’t help hear all of the voices surrounding you. On Saturday evenings you mostly just hear the Worship team. On Sunday morning I heard the beautiful sounds of worship; from the stage, from the people around me.

I couldn’t help notice the difference in sound. I was thankful to be a part of that experience. Then I started thinking about other things I hear. The sound of the dishwasher running as I lay in bed at night. The strong winds and thunder we have been hearing this week in Arizona. The sound of my boys calling my name over and over and over again or the high-pitched voice my three-year old uses to sing when his little brother is upset.

What if that was all taken away; not all of those things but the ability to hear them. I suddenly became very thankful.

I can not imagine life without the voices of my kids or my husband, my family or friends. I am thankful that I can retreat from all of the noise and find sanctuary in silence but I wouldn’t want to live in silence.

What are you grateful for today?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Meal Plan Monday: Full House

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I’ve been absent lately but with good reason; two of our big kids are here with the third visiting next week and my first Food Demo is complete and was a success! I’ll talk more about the Food Demo later this week.

This weeks dilemma, what to feed omnivore kids for the next 5 1/2 weeks? Our daughter wants to be healthy so she is open to trying new foods. Our young teen son on the other had completely disregards food he thinks is healthy. For example, When I make “Unfried Beans” I make them the same way I always have, even when we were eating horribly. This weekend I asked him to taste test them for me. He put a bite in his mouth, he looked like we was going to vomit. I asked him what he thought, he said, “I liked how you used to make them, not this whole grainy healthy stuff, I like them like whole beans.” I told him I made them the same, I just used a food processor because I was making so many, he said, “they taste ok then.” I also stocked up on cereal to make life a little easier, the first day he didn’t want any of them because they were “weird and healthy.” While they were gluten-free they weren’t necessarily healthy, Kix, Chex, and some of the gluten-free Barbara’s Cereal.

I’ll make some of our normal favorites and try to adapt some of the kids favorites from pre-plant-based days.

Meal Plan

Breakfasts are our normal easy stuff like cereal, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and fruit with toast.

Lunches are equally easy; nut butter sandwiches, leftovers,  pasta, or other easy stuff.

Snacks are usually fruit, sometimes toast, muffins, banana bread, humus and veggies, or chips with salsa or avocado are fun too.

Dinner is where it gets a bit more tricky. I’m hoping to try some new stuff this week.

Monday: Pasta with veggies and a cashew cream sauce.

Tuesday: Baked Potato’s with a choice of steamed veggies or chili on top.

Wednesday: Tostada’s with Mexican Rice

Thursday: Brown Rice casserole with a whatever veggies are still available and some kind of “creamy sauce” to make it taste “normal.”

Friday: I’m not sure what Friday will hold but I don’t plan on cooking a big meal.

Depending on how our days go I may mix this up a bit. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have our kids here. We mostly ate out last week. Now I’m ready for a lot of home cooked meals. Plus my 30 day Fitness Challenge is almost “over” so I’ll share those details sometime in the next week. I will also be sharing a new recipe or two. Wow, I have more to do than I thought!

I hope you all have a great week full of family and good food!

Where I Shop

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Lately I’ve gotten a lot of questions from new Plant-Based Eaters (and some who are only plant curious) about where I buy food. Since I live in Arizona the resources I have will likely be different from what you have available. Maybe if we all share our wisdom in the comments we can all find new ideas and help a newbie navigate the terrain. The things I share will be what works for my family, based on food budget, dietary needs and restrictions, family size and where I live.

Weekly Shopping

Every weekend we load up as a family and go to Sprouts. I love this store. If I really wanted to be frugal I’d go on Wednesday because that is double ad day but weekend shopping works best for our schedule.

Sprouts Farmers Market is an independent natural foods grocery store chain that focuses on “healthy living for less.” We sell farm-fresh produce and thousands of natural, organic and great-tasting mainstream foods at remarkably low prices, in a non-traditional farmers market-type setting.

Sprouts only has stores in California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas; sorry friends if you don’t live in one of these states.  Sprouts has the best produce, it stays fresh for a reasonable amount of time and is well priced. I would pay much more if I bought the same produce at a regular grocery store. Additionally there are other “farmers markets” that are really more like a produce market (no farmers in sight) that have produce even less expensive but it is only good for a few days. At those places I can get a much better deal but since the produce only last a day or two I’d have to go often and it is not near by. I’ll occasionally shop there if I’m having a big party and need a lot of produce for one day. I prefer to shop at Sprouts. If I buy something that I don’t like I can take it back for a full refund.

What do I buy at Sprout:

  • produce
  • gluten-free items
  • Ezekiel Bread
  • dairy-free coffee creamers
  • bulk grains
  • nuts
  • turbinado sugar
  • nutritional yeast
  • Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Sprout’s also carries conventional and organic meat and dairy, health care items, vitamins, supplements, beauty and toiletries items and even Blue Bell Ice cream. If I could only shop one store it would be Sprout’s!

I am also a fan of Fresh and Easy. Of course this is less than a mile from my house and the first store you come to when leaving my neighbor hood, yes I’m one lucky girl. I was resistant to F&E at first, I had heard that it was expensive and didn’t have a good selection. Once my first son was born I tried it (because I got tired of being stuck in a big store for over an hour and a ton of creepy strangers trying to touch my newborn). I loved it. I could get anything I needed and be in and out quickly. Some things are more expensive but not everything. They have a lot of ready-made food but it almost always has meat, cheese or oil so I don’t buy those. I LOVE their fresh salsa’s, hummus, and they have a great clearance section. Most of all I REALLY LOVE their almond milk. I prefer the F&E brand of almond milk to all others! It is priced great too!

What do I buy at Fresh and Easy:

  • almond milk
  • coconut milk (occasionally)
  • hummus
  • salsa
  • cereal
  • banana’s (they are not cheap but convenient)
  • gluten-free items
  • organic tortilla chips
  • some produce
  • items from the clearance section
  • nutritional yeast

They also have a good selection of grains, pasta, and normal grocery store fare, it is just a little pricier than I get other places. If I need to run to the store for a quick ingredient F&E is my pick.

Every So Often

There are other places I shop occasionally. 

What I buy at Costco (once a month or longer):

  • agave nectar
  • beans
  • Naked Juice
  • quinoa
  • spices
  • hummus (occasionally)
  • organic tortilla chips
  • baby wipes

What I buy at Target:

  • diapers
  • toiletries
  • baby items
  • clothes
  • last-minute food items I forgot to get elsewhere

What I buy at Walmart (I only go a few times a year):

  • beans
  • brown rice
  • canned goods
  • toiletries

As you can see most of my shopping is done at Sprouts and Fresh and Easy. If I lived in rural Oklahoma near my mom I’d have to shop at small local grocery stores, Walmart, and use the internet. I’ve thought about buying more grocery items online but haven’t yet. In fact I may check into getting an Amazon Prime account to see if that would be helpful.

Where do you shop? Is there a store you use that you couldn’t live without? Share with the peanut gallery so we can all benefit!

 

Gratituesday: Anticipation

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Yesterday I mentioned that this is a busy week for us. I’m pretty sure the next 6 weeks will be filled with activity. Right now my days are filled with anticipation. It’s not that I’m wishing away today, I’m just really excited about everything that awaits this week.

We are all familiar with anticipation; the smell of something delicious cooking (or baking…mmmm), a long-awaited reunion with a friend, a coming holiday, or even payday. My anticipation is growing for several reasons today.

First, my husband has been out of town since Saturday morning and arrives home today! I’ll pick him up from the airport this afternoon, I cannot tell you how ready I am for him to be back. Yes he was gone most of the time I was sick. 🙁

Second, two of our big kids come home (for 6 weeks) on Wednesday night! I am very ready for them to be here too. My 3 year old is sooo ready for his daddy and siblings to be here. I started teaching him about calendars just to explain when they would be here.

Third, my first Food Demo is coming up on Saturday! I have a dozen people confirmed and a few others that mentioned a month ago they would probably come but I haven’t seen an RSVP from them yet. A few of the ladies coming are already fully plant-based, others are just interested in eating healthier, and some of them are people I’ve “met” through blogging or are friends of friends and I’m super excited to actually meet.

I’ve got a few other things in the works too but they are not imminent. I’ll talk about those in the coming months. They are mostly just big news to me, I don’t think anyone else would bat an eyelash, but that is ok.

Do you have a vacation coming up? Maybe a birthday party? I think anticipation is a good thing, I love the excitement it brings.  What are you anticipating now?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Meal Plan Monday: A Different Kind of Week

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Tropical Smoothie with Hidden Greens

This will be an odd week for us. My husband was out of town last weekend, typically that means I do very little cooking, This weekend I happened to be sick, that resulted in very little eating as well. I think I’m almost back to normal. My kids survived on dry cereal, frozen waffle’s, banana’s, apple’s, strawberries, oatmeal and a few leftovers. They didn’t complain, it was all their favorite foods. 😉

On Wednesday two of our teenagers will be here for the summer! YAY! My cooking will increase substantially with their arrival. Then on Saturday I will have my first Food Demo, I have a ton of cooking to do for that.

With all of that going on I have decided not to do an official Meal Plan. So what will we eat, probably more of what we ate this weekend plus a few other things.

Unofficial Meal Plan

Breakfast will be our normal fare; oatmeal, GF waffles, cereal, etc. It’s just that kind of week.

Lunch will be equally easy; sandwiches, burritos, bean and grain bowls, wraps, and the like.

Snacks will be fruit, nut butter on apple’s or banana’s, and probably a smoothie or two or three.

Dinner will be pretty easy stuff for the first few days this week. I have some portobellos and zucchini I hope to grill along with other veggies. I’m sure we will eat out once or twice with the big kids arrival, that does not mean fancy or expensive though. Friday and Saturday I will be very busy cooking and prepping for the Demo. I’m going with a Mexican food theme. Originally I was going to do a bunch of different things but it will be easier this way. My next Demo I’ll showcase different types of food. Needless to say we will be eating lotsa Mexican food toward the end of the week.

I’m also considering blogging a little less while our big kids are here. I’m not sure what our schedule will be like so I haven’t really decided. What are your thoughts?

 

Gratituesday: Helping

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I love helping people. I especially love helping people begin to get healthy with a plant-based diet.

I love talking to people, cooking for people and blogging about plant-based eating. I strive to be helpful, I want people to realize they can eat real food that taste great and wont cost them an arm and a leg.

In the last week I’ve had two people (one a dear friend and the other an acquaintance from years ago) contact me and tell me they are interested in a plant-based diet.

EEEEKKKKK! That is me squealing in excitement. I learned that sound from my daughter when she was a tween. If you have a daughter you know that sound too. First, I get excited because I know someone I care about will be healthier. Second, I get to play a small part in that.

Most of my friends are not plant-based eater’s and that is ok. I love them no matter what they eat. I do get excited when I hear they make a meatless meal or try a new grain or veggie. I love their feedback on my plant-based meals.

I’m just thankful for the opportunity to help people!

What are you thankful for today?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!