My Plant-Based Family

Feeding My Family a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet, On a Budget

Holly Yzquierdo

Breakfast Stir Fry

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Last weekend I was craving two things, fresh veggies and a breakfast scramble. I used to make breakfast scrambles that included eggs, cheese, milk, and whatever veggies we had on hand. I wasn’t really craving the eggs and dairy part of the scramble but more of the feel and memory of our family enjoying a leisurely breakfast on the weekend. Thankfully we had plenty of fresh veggies, leftovers and some diced potatoes in the freezer. Since there was no “scramble” involved this had to be known as a Breakfast Stir Fry.

Breakfast Stir Fry: A savory, plant-based breakfast that is hearty and delicious.

Breakfast Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • 1/2 chopped onion (I left them pieces big)
  • 1 sliced carrot
  • 1/2 sliced large bell pepper
  • 1 cup diced potatoes, I used frozen but baked potato would work too. If they are not already cooked you’ll need to cook them first.
  • 1/2 cup leftover beans
  • 1 sliced jalapeno
  • Bragg Liquid Aminos (optional)
  • Broccoli

Do

  1. Add onion and carrot to a large, hot skillet (you will want one with a lid), stir regularly.
  2. After the onion and carrot cook for a few minutes add bell peppers, continue to stir regularly. If the food is beginning to stick to the pan add a few tablespoons of water. 
  3. When the carrots are getting crisp tender and the onion translucent add the potatoes, beans and jalapeno. The potatoes will make everything stick!
  4. Once the potatoes and beans are warmed through add the Bragg Liquid Aminos stir one more time then add the spinach and asparagus, do not stir them, put on the lid. You want the spinach and asparagus to sit on top of the other veggies so they get steamed.
  5. Check everything for doneness after 5 minutes.

Breakfast Stir Fry: A savory, plant-based breakfast that is hearty and delicious.

Serve

I served this in warm tortillas, both flour and corn. It was great in both. The corn tortillas added a great flavor to the breakfast. We also add fruit smoothies to help balance this meal. The potatoes really made this stir fry seem like breakfast food instead of dinner. I plan to make this a regular breakfast option at my house (and hopefully get a better picture).

This can be made with whatever you have on hand. The two things that are necessary (in my opinion) are onions and potatoes but feel free to use your favorite veggies.

Breakfast Stir Fry: A savory, plant-based breakfast that is hearty and delicious.

Meal Plan Monday: Spring Break

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This week is Spring Break in Arizona. While our schedule will not be impacted much some of my friends will have their kids home a little more than usual during the day. A few of you may have a house full of extra kids too. If you have school aged kids (who are in school all day, as opposed to home schooled) you may not realize all of the eating they will be doing this week. 

I’d like to encourage you and maybe even challenge you to have healthier options available for them. We have teenagers who live in another state and I can guarantee given the choices of a bag of chips, ice cream, and cookies they wouldn’t consider a “healthy” snack. However they do love healthy food. They get excited about a big bowl of fruit, smoothies, homemade baked goods which are almost always healthier than their store bought counterparts. I don’t think you need to deprive your kids of all the junky, unhealthy snack food they will beg you for, there is a time and a place for those but they shouldn’t be the only stuff they eat. 

If you work and have to leave your older kids home alone I know your options are limited. I will never try to make you feel bad for doing the best you can! Someday’s the best I can do it getting my 3 year old to eat a banana before bed because he doesn’t want dinner. Last night he ate half and pb&j and half a banana. No 4 course meal here. 

Meal Suggestions for Kids

  • Nachos
  • Hummus and Veggies/tortilla chips
  • Bagels with nut butter and fruit
  • Bean Burritos
  • Bean Dip and tortilla chips
  • Roasted or Baked Potatoes
  • Pancakes
  • Bagel or Pita Pizza’s
  • Anything in a tortilla
  • PB&J (there is nothing wrong with PB&J)

These are just easy and yummy foods that your kids may like. All kids are different and some go through a really pick phase. Most of these meal ideas are easy to throw together and older kids could even do the cooking. If your kids are on Spring Break hopefully they will not have homework. This could be a great opportunity to do some cooking with your kids. Or if the weather is nice pack up an easy meal for a picnic.

Meal Plan

Breakfast this week will be oatmeal, pancakes, smoothies, toast and cereal.

Lunches will be leftover split pea soup, dinner leftovers, and some of the meal suggestions from above. 

Snacks are usually fruit, smoothies, hummus, toast, or muffins.

Dinner 

Monday: Another attempt at a Lentil Loaf, this time with quinoa, Dirty Mashed Potatoes, and steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner! Pancakes, Breakfast Stir Fry, and Smoothies

Wednesday: Spicy Chopped Salad

Thursday: We may be having company over so this day hasn’t been decided 

Friday: Lettuce Wraps and leftovers

What are some of your favorite Plant-Based Meals for your kids? 

Vegan Tuna Salad

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I grew up eating Tuna Fish, yeah, that’s what we called it. Several times throughout the year it would be Tuna Fish time. My mom made it in a giant Tupperwear bowl, the same one she used for Potato Salad, and take it to family get togethers. Of course, we don’t eat tuna but I still like the flavor, we make our Vegan Tuna Salad no, formerly known as Not So “Tuna” Salad.

Vegan Tuna Salad

I have realized that Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad recipes greatly differ by region, kind of like Chili. So while I will share the way I made it this is in no way the right way. I think it has a lot of potential as a template.

When you make it, feel free to try other veggies to mix things up a bit.

Vegan Tuna Salad

Vegan Tuna Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained)
  • 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 3 tbsp Vegan Mayo
  • 1/4 tsp dill (you could add more)
  • 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or omit, just adjust other seasonings)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a few shakes of ground mustard ( you could use prepared mustard instead)
  • water
  • dried seaweed (I used Sushi Nori brand)

Do

  1. Put all of these ingredients in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water.
  2. Process ingredients adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Don’t over process or it will be “paste like” it needs to be a little chunky.
  3. Chill until ready to eat.

Serve

This made a little more than 2 cups so double the recipe for a large family. We ate this on sprouted grain bread, my husband had toast. I also like it on crackers or with a pita. It could be eaten atop a mixed green salad as well. If you like celery in your tuna salad add it, I’m not a fan of raw celery so I omited it. I like lots of onion so I’ll add it next time. I was planning on adding a pickle but we were out. A splash of lemon juice would be a nice touch as well.

The Sushi Nori dried seaweed gives this the fishy flavor. If you’d rather have a “chicken” salad just omit the seaweed.

Yield: 4 servings

Vegan Tuna Salad

Vegan Tuna Salad

This easy vegan Tuna Salad recipe is great on sandwiches, salads, wraps or with crackers.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained)
  • 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 3 tbsp Vegan Mayo
  • 1/4 tsp dill (you could add more)
  • 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or omit, just adjust other seasonings)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a few shakes of ground mustard ( you could use prepared mustard instead)
  • water
  • dried seaweed (I used Sushi Nori brand)

Instructions

  1. Put all of these ingredients in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water.
  2. Process ingredients adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Don’t over process or it will be “paste like” it needs to be a little chunky.
  3. Chill until ready to eat.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

Category: Recipes

Many moons ago I would make a delicious spicy chicken salad. It was simply shredded chicken, mayo and a can of drained rotel. I’d like to incorporate the rotel into this recipe as well.

Vegan Tuna Salad

What would you add to give this recipe your favorite “tuna” salad flavor?

Refried Beans???

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Refried beans, well not exactly, unfried beans, beans sans grease (lard or extra fat). Let’s just call them unfried beans.

Oil-Free Refried Beans

When my husband and I first got together he did all of the cooking. He taught me how to cook Mexican food and when he would make refried beans he would put a little oil in the pan then add the cooked beans then smash them with a potato masher. Once I started doing all of the cooking I omitted the oil. He didn’t notice unless I would say something. I then got lazier and would just put the cooked beans into my Magic Bullet to save all of the work of mashing them.

Oil-Free Refried Beans

Now that I have a food processor I have a super simple recipe for Refried, er Unfried Beans.

Unfried Beans

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked pinto beans (black beans would work too)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • small amounts of water
  • hot sauce (optional)

Do

  1. Add cooked beans and all of the spices to the food processor and process.
  2. Add small amounts of water until the desired consistency is reached.
  3. Taste and add more seasonings if desired.

Serve

These beans were really good. I’d even say they rival any canned refried beans that are seasoned. They were quick and easy. This was the perfect amount of beans for my husband and my nachos. If you are making bean burritos or just beans to accompany something else make more, this recipe is easy to double or triple.

Did you know that beans and unfried beans freeze well? You can make a big batch then package the whole beans into smaller serving sizes to freeze for later. I like to use a quart size freezer bag because I can lay it flat. I’ve also made large amounts of unfried beans to use when we had company stay with us. They could make nacho’s, burritos, or a host of other things quickly.

Do you cook your beans? You will save a lot of money if you do. Read my post on “Plan for Success” if this is uncharted territory for you, in it, I detail how to cook beans.

Also, check out my Unfried Black Bean recipe!

 

Gratituesday: Our Church Family

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Today I want to express my gratitude for my church family. If you don’t have a church family or don’t know what that means I’ll explain just a bit. We attend a fantastic church. When we moved to Arizona from Oklahoma we left all of our family and a great church. It took several months to find a new church that would be appropriate for us. By approprate I mean:

  • Taught what we believed (the Bible)
  • Friendly
  • Had kid programs that met our families needs
  • Had to “feel” right

There were other things too but these were very important to us. It is almost exactly 5 years that we walked onto the property of our church and had a deep sense of peace, we knew this is where we belonged. It was a Wednesday night and there was a guest speaker, in other words we didn’t even know how this church operated yet but it didn’t matter we were home.

Over the next few months we attended regularly, our kids became involved in the kids programs and I met the best group of women I’ll ever know (they are the friends I talked about last Tuesday).

The people at this church have become our church family, and some of them feel like real family. I’ve spent holidays and birthdays with them, I’ve shared some of my deepest needs and hopes, spent lazy afternoons visiting and we’ve rushed to each others aid when needed. Isn’t that what a family does?

Do you have this? Do you have a church family that loves you, encourages you, and supports you? Or maybe you are a member of a church, do you love, encourage, support other church goers? Do you volunteer your time or give regularly in tithes and offerings?

The first step is to find a church and go, then go regularly. If the first church you go to isn’t right for you pray that God would direct you to the right one. Keep in mind churches are not perfect because they are full of imperfect people, just like families.

Once you are in a church “that you feel is right for you” get involved. If you’re not sure how ask a pastor or a volunteer. Chances are they have been praying for you, yes you! You don’t want to be like a parasite. A parasite lives off of others without giving anything in return. Maybe it’s time to step up and be a part of a church family.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Meal Plan Monday: Be Cheerful

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Happy Monday! Did you hear that cheerfulness? I’m choosing to be cheerful. You should decide now if you will be cheerful today too. Soon the days distractions will take all of your attention, perhaps even a few annoyances will pop up, or maybe even something awful. Let’s do our best and choose to be happy and count our blessings. I know it is not always easy, trust me, but I’ll try.

This weekend I cooked a pot of black eyed peas and a pot of chickpea’s. I have a pot of pinto beans that have soaked all night and I’ll start cooking soon. You may be thinking, whoa, that is a lot of beans. You are right! We ate all the leftovers over the weekend and hand almost nothing that could be thrown together without a lot of prep.

My husband LOVES black eyed peas, I have no idea why. I have memories of eating one spoonful a year on New Year’s Day because it was supposed to bring good luck. Maybe I should give them another chance, but not for luck just to see if I can appreciate them now.

Recently I’ve ran across several recipes that call for chickpea’s and I’m hoping to give them a try this week. In our house pinto beans are like a miracle food that can be turned into any number of delicious meals in a hurry. So now I have black eyed peas, chickpeas and pinto beans cooked, how will that fit into the meal plan? 

Meal Plan

Breakfast is pretty predictable at my house. We usually eat toast, oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, and sometimes cereal. I hope to cook a big batch of whole wheat pancakes sometime this week for quick breakfasts and snacks on the go.

Lunch is usually leftovers or sometimes a PB&J. I made homemade cashew butter last week so I may try to use it, unfortunately no one in my house seems to really like it. This week the chickpea’s will make a few lunch appearances for me and black eyed peas for my husband.

Dinner

Monday: Mock “tuna” salad (made with chickpeas)

Tuesday:a Spicy Pinto Bean dish that is yet to be created, or maybe nachos or burritos

Wednesday:Cajun Chickpea Cakes from Everyday Happy Herbivore. I love this cookbook! I hope these will pair well with black eyed peas and steamed spinach.

Thursday: Mega Garden Salad with avocado dressing

Friday: Split Pea Soup

I don’t usually assign side dishes because most of the meal I cook are full of veggies. I do have a quite a bit of produce this week. We will be eating carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, red bell peppers, kale, spinach, asparagus, onions, apples, bananas, oranges, and pears. 

Remember how earlier I mentioned choosing to be cheerful, I’m glad I did. In the last hour and a half I have had a few inconveniences including being spit up on, bitten, changing two poopy diapers, kissed several boo boos, started cooking the beans because my computer was frozen, and other typical things that happen with two adventurous boys. Somedays I would have let them derail my cheerful attitude, but not today. I don’t know that I’ll get through the whole day unscathed but I’ll do my best.