My Plant-Based Family

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

Holly Yzquierdo

Meal Plan Monday plus Cyber Monday Deals

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I hope you all had a great weekend and an even better Thanksgiving holiday. I’m sure you noticed that I took a lot of time off so I could spend time with my family and cook lots of food. I’m back! In addition to today’s Meal Plan I want to share a few Cyber Monday Deals.

Many of you purchased my Plant-Based Thanksgiving Meal Plan last week, Thank You! I hope you enjoyed the recipes as much as we did!

Meal Plan Monday

Meal Plan

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

I’ll be adding side salads to many of the meals. I have a harder time eating cold salads in the winter but I enjoy mixing warm ingredients like beans and potatoes into salads.

Cyber Monday Deals

Plant-Based Thanksgiving Meal Plan

You can still get my Plant-Based Thanksgiving Day Meal Plan (don’t worry it’s suitable for Christmas too). Today use the code “CyberMonday” to get 50% off today only.

Vegan Cuts is having some great Cyber Monday deals too. Check out last month’s Beauty Box! It contains my favorite deodorant from North Coast Organics, Pacifica Coconut Kiss Lip Butter, Rainbow Honey’s holiday collection nail polish, Earth’s Enrichment’s Calming Seaweed Soap Bar and Medusa’s Makeup Body Shimmer and Brush!

November Beauty Box

I can hardly wait to see what they will have in this month’s box! Today they have an amazing sale too! Don’t miss it!

Cyber Monday Snack Box & Beauty Box Sale
3 Months Gift Subscription $59 (reg. $70)
6 Months Gift Subscription $99 (reg. $115)

Also check out Vegan Cuts Marketplace. Today the Relogy Clean Skin Starter Kit is only $29.95! You should be stocking up at that price!

Lastly, my pal Brandi from The Vegan 8 has a Cyber Monday giveaway going on at The Vegan 8 Facebook Page, check it out for your chance to win a $25 Bed Bath & Beyond Gift Card.

Tell me about your Thanksgiving? I’d love to hear what you ate! We didn’t brave Black Friday Shopping but I’m excited about these Cyber Monday Deals. Don’t forget to follow My Plant-Based Family on Facebook and Twitter and I’ll continue to share great deals I run across.

FTC Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links, that means I may earn a small percentage (at not additional cost to you) if you use the link to make a purchase.

Plant-Based Thanksgiving Day Meal Plan

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Plant-Based Thanksgiving Meal Plan

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Today may be your lucky day! If you are stressed about Thanksgiving I have a solution for you. My Plant-Based Thanksgiving Day Meal Plan is now on sale for only $3.99. Add to Cart

This Meal Plan features 15 recipes, a step by step planning guide, time-saving tips to de-stress your holiday and a Shopping List for the Top 6 Recipes. Many of the recipes have never been published online like the Mushroom Gravy, Green Bean Casserole and Corn Bread Dressing. Every recipe is Gluten-Free (or has a GF version), Vegan and delicious!

Recipes Include:

  • Sage Cornbread Dressing
  • Gluten-Free Corn Bread for Dressing
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Sweet Potato Casserole with optional glaze
  • Thanksgiving Mushroom Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • Creamy Crustless Pumpkin Pie
  • Dry Veggie Broth Mix
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Lentil Loaf
  • Cheezy Potato Casserole
  • Faux Cheese Sauce for Cheezy Potato Casserole
  • Butternut Squash and Quinoa Salad with Oil-Free Cranberry Salad Dressing
  • Shepherd’s Pie
  • Veggie Pot Pie

This Plant-Based Thanksgiving Day Meal Plan is 23 pages long. There are even a few recipes that are perfect for small Thanksgiving Day gatherings. There is a recipe for a Thanksgiving Loaf but you could always buy a Tofurky Roast if that’s more your style.

This Meal Plan is perfect for those will allergies to wheat/gluten, dairy and eggs.

Do you know what you are making for Thanksgiving? Don’t worry, I have you covered! This may be the best $3.99 you have ever spent.

Plant-Based Thanksgiving Meal Plan
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Plant-Based Thanksgiving Recipes with Julieanna Hever

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Veria Living_What Would Julieanna Do

One of the first plant-based books I bought was The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition by written by Julieanna Hever. It answered all of my questions and became my go to reference guide as a waded through the plant-based waters.

Now Julieanna has her own show called  “What Would Julieanna Do?” which airs on Veria Living TV. If you haven’t seen it yet be sure to check it out.

I’m honored to be able to feature 3 of Julieanna’s Plant-Based Thanksgiving recipes today. The first is Kale Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing, this was inspired by Chef AJs House Dressing. You can watch a video of Julianna making this salad at Viera Living TV. I’m also sharing recipes for Julieanna’s Fall Harvest Chowder and Stuffed Acorn Squash

Kale Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing

Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 [15-oz.] can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup stone-ground mustard
3 TB. Braggs Amino Acids (or wheat-free tamari or low-sodium soy sauce)
2 TB. 100% pure maple syrup
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup water
 
1. Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
2. Serve over kale salad or any salad, vegetables, baked potatoes, steamed veggies, etc.
Serves 4
 

Fall Harvest Chowder 

6 cups vegetable broth or water
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 small zucchini, diced
1 (16-oz.) package frozen corn
2 small garnet yams, peeled and diced
4 bay leaves
2 tsp. dried thyme
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
 
1. Over medium-high heat, sauté onion, carrot, and celery in [1/2] cup vegetable broth until slightly browned, approximately 5-10 minutes.
2. Add remaining vegetables, broth or water, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30-40 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaves from soup and blend with immersion blender until mostly pureed. Add spinach leaves and turn off heat. Serve hot.
Serves 8
 

Stuffed Acorn Squash

4 medium-sized acorn squash, halved and seeded
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 medium celery stalks, diced
4 medium carrots, diced
1/4 cup plus 3 3/4 water or vegetable broth
3/4 cup wild rice, cooked
3/4 cup brown rice, cooked
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried sage
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 cup raw walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)
 
1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place squash halves, cut side down, on 1 or 2 deep baking sheets filled with an inch of water. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. When done, remove from oven, remove the water, and flip the squash so it is cut-side- up.
3. In a medium pot, sauté onions, carrots, and celery in 1/4 cup water or vegetable broth until slightly browned, approximately 5 minutes. Add wild rice, brown rice, mushrooms, poultry seasoning, sage, black pepper, and remaining water or vegetable broth. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and then simmer on medium-low heat for 30-40 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Add parsley and walnuts and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Spoon rice mixture into each squash. Cover in foil and return to oven. Bake
for 20-25 additional minutes, or until squash is tender. Serve warm.
Serves 4
 

If you are planning a Thanksgiving Dinner I hope you consider Julieanna’s Plant-Based Thanksgiving recipes but leave some room, I’ll be sharing more Thanksgiving recipes and tips this week.

Meal Plan Monday: A Super Easy Fall Meal Plan

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111813mealplan

This week I’m planning a simple Meal Plan that wont require too much work. Like many of you I’ll be doing lots of cooking next week and need to take a break while I can. I will be sharing plenty of Thanksgiving related ideas and recipes this week so make sure you check back often.

Quinoa-Squash Salad

Saturday was the Virtual Vegan Potluck and I brought a Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad with Oil-Free Cranberry Salad Dressing. I also prepared it for Simplicity Fitness’ 21 Day Clean Eating Cleanse.

Meal Plan

Breakfast

  • Overnight Oats
  • Oatmeal with Maple Syrup and Cranberries
  • Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • Breakfast Tacos

Lunch

Snacks

  • Apples with sunbutter
  • Sunbutter & Fruit Roll Up
  • Chips, salsa & Guacamole
  • Popcorn

Dinner

Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving? I’d love to hear what you are making! I’ll share my favorite Thanksgiving menu later this week!

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad

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Welcome to My Plant-Based Family and the Virtual Vegan Potluck. Today over 100 bloggers are joining forces to entice you with delicious vegan recipes. I signed up to bring a salad. I chose to incorporate two seasonal flavors, butternut squash and fresh cranberries.

If you want to start at the very beginning of the potluck go to Vegan Bloggers Unite! There are buttons at the bottom of this recipe you can follow to progress through the potluck.

Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad with Oil-Free Cranberry Dressing

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 Ingredients for Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad 1 serving (dressing recipe below)

  • 2-3 cups of your favorite salad greens
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup roasted or steamed butternut squash
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 2 Tbsp dried cranberries
  • 1/4 of an onion

Do

  1. Cut onions into rings and cook in a hot skillet, stirring regularly until onions are crispy.
  2. In a medium bowl mix cooked quinoa, squash and cranberries together and carefully stir in grated ginger.
  3. Spoon quinoa mixture over fresh greens. Top with cooked onions and oil-free cranberry dressing.
  4. If desired toss everything together.

Tip: My husband prefers this salad without the onion, feel free to leave it out.

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Oil-Free Cranberry Salad Dressing

Ingredients (2-4 servings)

  • 1/4 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • zest from 1 orange
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp xanthum gum

Do

  1. Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor (I used my Magic Bullet) and process until everything is smooth.
  2. Taste and add more maple syrup if it is to tart or add more water or juice if dressing is too thick.

Tip: If you don’t have xanthum gum you can get away without it if you do not add the water. The dressing will be more tart and thinner but works great in a tossed salad. You could also add a little corn starch instead.

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In previous potlucks I’ve brought Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins, Gluten-Free Apple Muffins and a Lentil Shepherds Pie. If you are just stopping in today for the potluck feel free to look around, maybe checkout my Recipe Page. It is full of Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipes that are oil-free and mostly Gluten-Free.

You can go backward in the potluck to 86 Lemons by clicking the Go Back button below; or journey forward to In Fine Balance by clicking the Go Forward button.

 

Holiday Snack Guide

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Welcome to day 5 of My Plant-Based Family’s Holiday Gift Guide. I’m wrapping it up today with a snack guide. I don’t want to mislead you with these store-bought goodies, yes we strive to eat a low processed, plant-based diet. However, during the holidays it’s nice to have some junk food on hand.

As much as I enjoy cooking I really like having delicious snacks I can grab when company comes by or if we are invited to a game night. Yes, homemade is best but I also like to have some shelf-stable goodies ready to go.

Chips and salsa are a “normal” snack that is pretty inexpensive. You can pick it up at just about any store, even a gas station. Extra points if you spring for the guacamole.

Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame is a fun and delicious party food. My kids love them as much as I do. They fit in perfectly at Christmas parties, just put them next to the snack mix.


Cosmos Creations are gluten-free and vegetarian (some varieties contain dairy). Although made from corn there are no hulls or kernels so my husband can enjoy them too. Just be careful, they may be addictive.

YumEarth Organic Lollipops are the only candy my kids get. I keep them in the car for those times they are about to fall asleep on the way home from church or when I’m waiting in line at the bank drive through. The great thing about them is they taste good and have only good ingredients on top of being allergy-friendly. As a bonus they are 6 for $1 at my local Sprout’s.

October Snack Box

Yesterday I mentioned the Vegan Cuts Beauty Box and today I have to share about the Vegan Cuts Subscription Snack Box. If you don’t know where to start, start with Vegan Cuts! When you find products you love, and you will, you can purchase them from their Marketplace. The photo above is October’s Snack box! Chips, crackers, a bar, a few gummies, Rescue Chocolate, coupons and more!

There are many other snacks you can take but these require no effort on your part, other than buying them, and the snacks will seem normal in any crowd.

Do you have a go-to store-bought snack you keep on hand for “emergency” situations?

**This gift guide contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you.