My Plant-Based Family

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

Holly Yzquierdo

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

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Do you want to know two words that make me swoon? Well I can think of several words but the two I’m referring to are cilantro and lime! I love them both but paired together they can take any dish to a new level. I’ve used the lime juice in the plastic lime and frozen cilantro and it was good but nothing compares to using fresh limes and fresh cilantro.

cilantro lime quinoa

I think the biggest reason is the fresh lime zest. My favorite zester is the Better Zester, it has a zest “catcher” that also measures the amount of zest. I’ve scraped off with zest off with a knife but my zester makes it much easier. I have more recipes coming that use a zester as well, here is a hint: Gluten-Free, Vegan, Lemon, Cake. I don’t want to be too obvious. 🙂

Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Ingredients

  • 2 cups uncooked quinoa
  • 3 1/2 cups of water (you may need a little more, have 4 cups available)
  • 2 limes (you’ll use about 1 Tbsp zest and 1/4 cup lime juice)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro

Do

  1. Rinse your quinoa well then cook it in a pot with 3 1/2 cups of water over medium heat. Cover with a lid.
  2. While the quinoa is cooking zest limes then squeeze the juice into a cup or bowl. You will want to remove any seeds the squeeze out. Also chop cilantro, I prefer to use only the leaves because I don’t like using the stems. Set all of this (zest, juice, cilantro) to the side.
  3. After about 15 minutes check on the quinoa. When it is mostly done and all of the water has been absorbed pour the lime juice, zest and cilantro into the pot (add salt if desired) and stir well. Cover with the lid and let it cook for about 5 more minutes. Use more water if needed.

Serve

I love Cilantro Lime Quinoa with Unfried Black Beans and fresh salsa but you can use your imagination. If you think the quinoa is drying out too fast feel free to use more water, I thought it soaked up the lime juice better by using less. This recipe is difficult to mess up.

This post is shared at Plant-Based Potluck Party Link Up

Birthday Week Meal Plan

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We’ve been celebrating, two of our kids had birthday’s this week. Unfortunately we’ve been a little under the weather too. I contemplated skipping the Meal Plan this week but a few of you spoke up saying you’d miss it. I waited until tonight to post it so I could show you a few pictures from our celebration.

I’ve been making a lot of new recipes lately but I don’t have much time to work on staging, photographing and editing so I’ve only been sharing them with people who come to my local events or those who buy a Custom Meal Plan. Don’t worry, many of them will get added eventually and others are being set aside for my next book.

birthdayAny time I ask my son to smile he does something like this. It pretty much captures his intense awesomeness. He asked for a cake with zebra stripes and angry bird candles and a #5 candle that we could set on fire. I am to please.

 

Birthday Week Meal Plan

The person with the birthday always gets to pick the menu on birthdays. My pantry got cleaned out this weekend and my fridge is fully stocked with fruit and veggies. It’s gonna be a good week.

Breakfast

Lunch

  • Bean and Grain Bowl
  • Veggie and Hummus Wrap
  • Bean Burritos made with Unfried Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Quinoa
  • Sunbutter Sandwiches with fruit
  • Baked Potatoes with Veggies

Dinner

In the last two months we have celebrated 5 birthdays in our immediate family (although one of our son’s doesn’t live with us anymore). We now have a break from birthdays but I’ve been working on several different gluten-free and vegan cake recipes. I think I’ll keep at it, besides I like cake, win-win.

Plant-Based Valentine’s Day Meal Ideas

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Valentine’s Day Meal Ideas are saturating every form of social media. I wasn’t planning on sharing any ideas but I realized some of you may need a little push in the right direction if you are avoiding meat, dairy, or allergens like wheat or nuts. I don’t plan to do anything special for my family, I’m hoping for a date night instead.

valentines day

Plant-Based Valentine’s Day Meal Ideas

1. Breakfast for Dinner!

Heart-Shaped pancakes with cherries and chocolate chips. Your kids will love this idea and never forget it. I use a Gluten-Free Mix by Maple Grove Farms that I find at Target or Walmart. For the life of me I can’t make good GF pancakes without a mix.

2. Go Italian

I’ve always associated Valentine’s Day with Italian food, it probably goes back to Lady and the Tramp’s iconic meatball scene. Thankfully, I have several recipes to choose from, some are more kid friendly than others. My Gluten-Free Lasagna is a crowd-pleaser; it is husband, kid, and teenager approved. My teen even thought there was cheese in it. (Insert evil laugh here.)

If you are feeding toddlers you may want to go with the Pizza Pasta using small noodles for small hands.

Since it’s for Valentine’s Day try to pick veggies your kids will like best. For my youngest that is broccoli!

3. Steak and Potatoes

Portobello Steaks and Potatoes can take you back to the feel of your omni days without the meat. If your Valentine likes mushrooms this is a great meal. I recommend making either a baked potato or Dirty Mashed Potatoes and steaming asparagus.

4. Picnic at the Park

If you have small kids but would still like to catch a moment with your Valentine try having a picnic at the park. Yes, your kids will be there but they will probably be busy stealing another kids toy or pulling someones hair. Make CHICKpea salad sandwiches and easy finger foods to enjoy. On a side note the weather is in the 70s this week where I live, don’t hate me.

5. Dinner and a Movie at Home

Find a fun movie to rent and order take out or make an easy Crock Pot meal. I love my Easy Crock Pot Mexican Casserole because it comes together in minutes and I only have to wash the Crock Pot. I really dislike doing dishes. Later you can watch your movie as you snack on popcorn.

If you have kids make a Pop Corn Bar with melted Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips, sprinkles, cinnamon, nutritional yeast, crushed candies or other favorite snacks.

6. Don’t Forget Dessert

You need dessert on Valentine’s Day. I think dessert is waaaay more important than the other food. If you are going for the classic V Day dessert you need to make Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Just melt Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips then dip your strawberries in the melted chocolate, refrigerate them until you are ready for dessert. You could also make Brownies or a Fresh Fruit Parfait.

What are your Valentine’s Day Meal Plans?

Meal Plan Monday: Change of (Meal) Plans

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Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a FREE ticket to the Phoenix Gluten and Allergen Free Expo on February 22-23, 2014. Only one day left to enter!

I was about to get the kids dressed this morning so we could take my husband to the airport for a business trip when we got a phone call explaining that the trip was cancelled due to a winter storm. I was thrilled, my husband would be home all week, but my lazy plans of sandwiches and noodles would have to change. We need a real Meal Plan.

I also have Healthy Cravings this week. Healthy Cravings is a monthly class/support group for people in the Phoenix area who want to make healthier food choices. This month’s class is about adapting recipes!

My Meal Plan is directly impacted by my schedule. What and How I cook depends on how much time and energy I’ll be able to put into meals.

Meal Plan Monday

 

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Breakfast

Cereal was on sale this week so my kids will be happy to have cereal most days. I don’t eat cereal very often and prefer a hot breakfast.

  • Baked Sweet Potatoes with cinnamon
  • Crock Pot Breakfast Hash (a new recipe I need to share but haven’t because it doesn’t photograph well)
  • Fruit
  • leftover pancakes
  • leftover breakfast scramble

Lunch

My kids usually have something easy like sandwiches, toast, baked potatoes or leftovers. I usually add raw veggies to my kids lunch; carrots and broccoli are very common.

Dinner

This week we have company over one night, Healthy Cravings another night, new recipes to try and appointments almost every afternoon. Can you relate?

I like to have a dessert at Healthy Cravings so I will probably do some baking as well. My son has been “mentioning” that he likes Banana Bread a lot lately. I may finally take the hint and make it for him.

What does your Meal Plan look like this week? 

The Gluten and Allergen Free Expo is coming to Phoenix

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Phoenix GFAFExpo

Are you in the Phoenix area? If so, don’t miss out on the Gluten and Allergen Free Expo February 22-23, 2014. I’ll be there and I can’t wait to meet you. I’ll tweet the whole time so we can find each other.

If you buy allergy-friendly products you know that it can be difficult to find the perfect product, either the cost, taste or texture could be off. There are so many wonderful allergy-friendly products available and you will get to sample many of them if you attend the Expo. There will be over 100 booths at the Vendor Fair! Those vendors will pass out sample, coupons, and have discounted products available. I have a feeling it will be a very indulgent 2 days!

I’m also excited about the classes especially the class by Amy Fothergill “Tips for Successful GF Baking and Cooking” and Kim Koeller’s class “Safely Eat Out Around the World Gluten-Free and Allergy Free”. Check out the class schedule to find out which class is best for you. Follow the Gluten and Allergen Free Expo on Facebook and on twitter to keep up to date on the festivities.

GFAF Expo

Here are my top 3 reasons I’m excited to be on the Blogger Team for the Gluten and Allergen Free Expo:

1. I get to attend! Is there anything better! I’m already making a mental list of the booths I want to visit, people I want to meet and the food I want to taste.

2. I have a code so you can buy discounted tickets! Woohoo! I love a discount! Use the code  BLOGPHX to get 35% OFF your tickets to the Phoenix Expo! The tickets are already reasonable priced but 35% off makes it a family event! Trust me, your family will thank you. Active and Retired Military along with children 3 and under are FREE all weekend.  Saturday tickets for children under 10 years old are free if you pre-order. Tickets are limited to PRE-ORDER!

3. I’m giving away FREE tickets! Enter the giveaway below for a chance to get your hands on tickets to the expo. If I were you, I’d ask all my friends to enter too! I’m giving away a total of 5 tickets so your chances are good! (Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below)

Phoenix tickets

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meal Plan Monday: Are You Snowed In?

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Meal Plan Monday

Just in case you are snowed in, this week’s Meal Plan will focus on comforting meals that use basic ingredients that I usually have on hand. Here is an old list of basic supplies but I warn you it is in desperate need up an update, which I’ll try to do soon. If you bought my ebook The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide then you already have an updated copy in the book.

Plant-Based “Snowed In” Meal Plan

Breakfast

Lunch

  • Sandwiches (peanut butter, sunbutter, veggie, etc)
  • Taco Soup with Baked Potato
  • Bean Burritos make with Unfried Black Beans and grains or veggies
  • Leftover Chili with Bake Potatoes
  • Veggie Soup

Dinner

These recipes do not use a lot of fresh fruit or veggies but if you have them I recommend you add them. I wanted this Meal Plan to be pretty basic and rely on beans and grains. Add any extra veggie you have. If you are snowed in, I hope you have plenty of food stored.

I’m in the process of cleaning out my freezer and it is amazing some of the stuff I find in there. If your freezer is full try planning a meal or two based on food you have in your freezer. I have several soups stored in 2 serving containers including Green Chili, Cilantro and Rice Soup, Chili, and Enchilada Soup.

Are you snowed in? What foods do you rely on during emergencies?