My Plant-Based Family

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

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Secret Ingredient Vegan BBQ Sandwich

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Shhh…I have a secret.

Any guesses?

Spaghetti Squash is the secret ingredient in my BBQ Sandwich. I know, you thought I was going to use jack fruit like lots of other bloggers. While I hear it is delicious I’ve never seen it or tried it. I’m all about easy to find, inexpensive ingredients. Of course if I ever see jack fruit in the store I’ll be sure to try it too!

Vegan BBQ Sandwich...You'll never guess the secret ingredient!

We have tried, and I mean really tried to enjoy Spaghetti Squash. I recently took a poll on Facebook to find out how everyone else makes it and it seemed like most people saute theirs butter or oil. While neither of those appeal to me I decided to try a little saute myself, except I’m using Barbecue Sauce.

Vegan BBQ Sandwich...You'll never guess the secret ingredient

Vegan BBQ Sandwich

Ingredients

Do

  1. Prepare Spaghetti Squash as mentioned HERE.
  2. Carefully remove squash from the Crock Pot and allow to cool slightly.
  3. Use a fork to rake out the spaghetti squash and put it in a small skillet.
  4. Pour you favorite barbecue sauce over the squash and mix well.
  5. All the sauce to mix well with the squash then scoop it onto buns.

Serve

These BBQ Sandwiches are perfect for a pot luck. You could even return the BBQ Spaghetti Squash to the Crock Pot for transport and to keep it warm. Serve leftover on top of baked potatoes. We enjoyed these sandwiches with pasta salad. I’ll share that recipe soon!

While Spaghetti Squash will never be our family’s favorite thing to eat this recipe is certainly our favorite way to eat it so far. My 3 year old loved it the most. He finished his in record time.

Do you like Spaghetti Squash? 

If you are taking this to a pot luck I recommend taking Potato Salad! Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas!

The Easiest Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash

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If you like Spaghetti Squash I may be your new best friend! Why? Because I’m about to tell you the EASIEST way to cook Spaghetti Squash. Want more good news…you don’t need the oven.

I kid you not! The easiest way to cook spaghetti squash is in the Crock-Pot!

Before I discovered how easy it was to cook Spaghetti Squash in the Crock Pot I hated to cook it. For one thing, it is always really hard for me to cut the squash in half length-wise and every recipe I’d ever seen told me to do it that way. Second, I don’t like to use the oven unless it’s winter because it heats up my house. Third, every recipe told me to use oil and that is a no-no in my house.

The Easiest Way to Make Spaghetti Squash

The Spaghetti Squash doesn’t really NEED to be sautéed (it’s already cooked) but in an informal poll I did on Facebook everyone who LOVED Spaghetti Squash sautéed it after roasting.

I’ll admit I like it better that way too. My FAVORITE way to use Spaghetti Squash is in my Vegan BBQ Sandwiches!

I’ve got a few more easy Crock Pot Recipes! Try my Easy Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole or my Cheezy Crock Pot Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole. They are both family and reader favorites.

Lemon-Pepper Roasted Chickpeas

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A special thanks to Sunkist for sponsoring today’s discussion.

Do you keep a salt shaker on your table? We used to keep salt on the table until I realized my family would add salt to their food before even tasting it. Salt is a dangerous habit in America. A few years ago we cut out oil and decreased our salt consumption. We still use small amounts of salt but not near as much as before.

A few things helped us reduce our salt intake…

  1. We added other flavors and seasonings like Sunkist Lemons instead of salt.
  2. We allowed time for our palate to adjust.
  3. We bought low-sodium substitutes of some of our favorite products.

We missed salt the most in crunchy snacks. The following recipe uses Lemon instead of salt. The salt is not missed at all.

Decrease Salt by seasoning with Sunkist Lemon's

Lemon-Pepper Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can)
  • 1 Sunkist Lemon (juice and zest, about 1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (optional)

Do

  1. Drain and rinse chickpeas and gently towel dry them.
  2. In a medium bowl mix remaining ingredients and stir well.
  3. Add chickpeas and allow them to marinate while oven preheats to 400 degrees.
  4. Stir regularly.
  5. Pour chickpeas into a baking pan (with sides, not a cookie sheet) covered with parchment paper.
  6. Bake for about 1 hour.

I recommend you bake for 25 minutes then stir well. Bake for an additional 25 minutes and stir again. Then bake for 10 minutes, stir chickpeas then bake for 5 minutes between stirs until chickpeas are golden brown and crisp. DO NOT BURN.

Serve

These Lemon-Pepper Chickpeas are a fun snack or a great addition on a salad. No one will guess it’s salt-free.

Decrease Salt by seasoning with lemon juice

For more inspiration on using lemon instead of salt take a look at this Sunkist S’alternative info graphic.

Flavoring with Lemon instead of saltSunkist lemons are grown in California and Arizona and available all year round. In addition to helping boost flavor and reduce sodium intake, lemons can be used in a number of ways – from household cleaning to healthy living. I always keep a bowl of lemons on my counter. I use them for cleaning, in drinks and especially in food.
season with lemon

Please take a minute and visit Sunkist to discover recipes and more information about sodium and sodium alternatives.

Which tips are your favorite?

Meal Plan Monday: Guest Post from Jenn from Veggie Inspired Journey

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During the month of July I welcome other bloggers to share their Meal Plans with you. Each Monday in July I plan to share a guest post. Last week we heard from Whitney J. Weiss at Bows, Blue & Boots. I have one spot available if you’d like to be involved! Learn more here.

plant-based meal plan

Today I’d like you to meet Jenn Sebestyen from the blog Veggie Inspired Journey.

The one thing I hear most from busy moms (and sometimes dads too) is how hard it is to come up with meal ideas. Some of you dislike grocery shopping, some of you dislike cooking and some of you just dislike the planning. In my eyes, these are all related. You can enjoy grocery shopping, but if you get all that goodness home and have no plan for it, a lot of it will likely go to waste. Same goes for cooking, if you have no meal plan, cooking can seem like a daunting chore and you are less likely to make it happen. You are not alone! On the rare occasion that I don’t plan our weekly meals, we end up ordering take out a lot more.

I’ve got my meal planning down to a science now and it only takes me a little bit of time. Of course it helps that I have a plethora of Pinterest boards all neatly organized like a gigantic cookbook. Feel free to browse them here. Whether I’m searching for recipes on Pinterest, a cookbook, or just Googling online, I almost always have a plan for what I’m searching for, which makes the task a breeze.

First and foremost, I take a look at our family schedule for the week. My hubby’s job often has him working late hours. He doesn’t really care for beans, so if I know he’s not going to be around, I will plan a meal based on beans for that night. If we have an evening of swim lessons or baseball practice, I will go for something quick and easy or a crockpot meal. This is how my list might look like after this step:

Mon: hubby gone – beans

Tues: swim lessons – crockpot

Wed:

Thur: baseball practice – quick

Fri:

After I’ve got the idea of what our week will look like, I fill it in trying to do a different cuisine type each night so we don’t end up eating pasta three days in a row. I usually plan a pasta night, Mexican night, soup/salad night, stir fry night, burger night, casserole night, etc. The list is endless here depending on what your family likes. You could do pizza night, baked potato bar night, make your own taco night, grill night, etc. First, I fill in the nights I already have flagged…in the case above that would be Mon, Tues and Thur…and then I fill in the rest with a cuisine I didn’t choose on those days. The final result would look something like this:

Mon: Black Bean Tacos with all the fixin’s (This link is for a black bean salad…I turned it into a taco by placing it in a tortilla…voila! And that’s vegan sour cream, by the way.)

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Tues: Crockpot Lentil Bolgnese w/ pasta

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Wed: Kale and Quinoa Minestrone served with a crusty baguette

Thur: Black Bean Pecan Burgers, Salad from our garden, Watermelon

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Fri: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

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Notice that I used lentils, black beans and quinoa in 2 recipes each. This way I can make a big batch of each of those, store in the fridge and use as needed without having to cook smaller batches all week-long.

I don’t generally plan out each day’s breakfast or lunch. I almost always make more dinner than I know we will eat so we have leftovers to eat for lunch. We have a garden in our backyard, so I rely a lot on fresh lettuces and veggies for salads throughout the week as well. I also might make a big batch of our favorite Banana Ginger Pancakes or a big batch of oatmeal to have all week-long. These are both easy to customize with servings of fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc., each day.

Bio:

IMG_6356My name is Jenn. I am a proud wife and mom of 3 beautiful children, a 6 year old son and 2.5 yr old twin daughters. I can read cookbooks like novels. Healthy cooking and eating has become a passion of mine. I believe that how we fuel our bodies plays an enormous part in our health. It is my goal to keep my family as healthy as possible through the food we eat and hopefully inspire others to try some healthy plant-based recipes as well.
 
Read more from Jenn at Veggie Inspired Journey or follow her on Pinterest.

Plant-Based Basics: Grains

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This is the second installment in a series called Plant-Based Basics. This series is designed for those of you who are brand new to a plant-based diet but I think the information will serve as a helpful reminder for anyone.

Plant Based Basics Grains

Today’s focus will be on Grains. In recent years there is a lot of controversy surrounding grains. Books, blogs and “experts” are claiming that grains are evil and don’t belong in your diet.

I have a serious problem with that point of view. Often when people refer to grains they group all grains and products made with grain into the same category; let’s not pretend rolled oats are equal to donuts. These people also talk about how bad carbs are for you.

Or they base their opinions on “experts” that haven’t done any legitimate studies. Since I am not a medical professional I’ll leave the science to the expert’s like Dr. McDougall (read his article that counter’s the claims in the leading anti-grain movement).

I’m not claiming that all grains are healthy for everyone. If you’ve been around here long you know my son cannot handle wheat/gluten. We avoid all grains containing gluten for his sake.

Whole grains that are minimally processed are healthy and should be eaten (unless you have a medical condition that requires a grain-free diet).

Grains, especially whole grains, are an essential part of a healthy diet. All types of grains are good sources of complex carbohydrates and some key vitamins and minerals. Grains are also naturally low in fat. All of this makes grains a healthy option. Better yet, they’ve been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and other health problems. Mayo Clinic

Examples of Whole Grains

There are more varieties of grains than I can mention. I have the most experience with rice, wheat, oats, corn, barley, and millet. Grains are often ground into flour and refined. To maintain their healthy promoting properties I recommend you enjoy them with as little processing as possible.

How to Eat Whole Grains

I prefer to cook grains but many people like to sprout them and eat them raw. Many grains can be cooked with a 2:1 water to grain ratio while some might require more water.

Favorite Recipes

Whole Grain Breakfast Ideas

Oats

Blueberry Oatmeal and Peachy Keen Oatmeal are two seasonal favorites. We also enjoy Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal all year since apples are easier to get our hands on for a good price. We buy Gluten-Free Oats on Amazon since I regularly cook for people with gluten sensitivity.

quinoa ideas

Quinoa

Technically speaking quinoa isn’t a grain, the part we eat is a seed but we cook and eat it as a grain so I’m including it in this round-up. We love quinoa; it is naturally gluten-free, cooks quickly and can take on other flavors nicely. I’ll often buy it at Costco. I stopped buying it from bulk bins due to cross-contamination.

We enjoy Breakfast Quinoa and Summer Berry Breakfast Quinoa both warm and cold. I use it in place of rice in soups and stir frys. I’m partial to Mexican inspired flavors like Cilantro-Lime Quinoa, Quinoa Taco “Meat” and Quinoa-Lentil Tacos. I also enjoy adding quinoa to salads and wraps like in this Quinoa-Lentil Salad, Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, and Lemony Quinoa Salad.

You can follow my Quinoa Pinterest Board for more ideas.

whole grain rice ideas

Rice

There are thousands of different varieties of rice. I’ll admit that I’m barely familiar with a few. I prefer brown rice. It is easily available in my area. I’m willing to bet you can buy rice in any grocery store but I usually buy it at Costco. Brown Rice can also be bought on Amazon.

Some of my most popular brown rice recipes are my Easy Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole (or the stove top or oven version), Crock Pot Brown Rice Casserole, Mexican Rice, Green Chili-Cilantro-Lime Soup, and Enchilada Soup.

We also eat rice for breakfast. Sometimes we mix it with Overnight Chia Porridge and other times opt for Raisin-Apple-Cinnamon Breakfast Rice.

Other Grains

There are many other types of grains. I usually just stick to those mentioned above due to allergies, budget considerations and bulk purchases. Years ago I cooked amaranth, millet, barely and others regularly. I still enjoy a good Lentil-Barley Stew occasionally.

Do you eat grains? What are your favorites?

Don’t forget to check out the first installment of this series Plant-Based Basics: Beans!

ebook

This post contains affiliate links.

Multi-Grain Breakfast Bowl…Goodbye Oatmeal

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Last week I shared our recipe for Overnight Chia Porridge and the fact that most of our household has a sensitivity to oats. You know I love oats. If you’ve followed my Free Meal Plans for a while you also know I ate oatmeal almost every morning for months at a time.

multi-grain breakfast bowl is vegan and gluten free

I had to say goodbye to oatmeal, at least for now, but I really needed a whole grain replacement. If I don’t have a hearty breakfast I’m more likely to skip it all together then make poor choices later in the day.

Every time I make this Breakfast Bowl it tastes different. Sometimes I use brown rice, sometimes quinoa or other grains. Often I’ll mix up several different leftovers. My kids like to eat this cold but I prefer to heat it up before adding the fruit. It’s easy enough that everyone can have it their own way. I guess I should have named it Multi-Grain Breakfast Buffet Bowl.

multi-grain breakfast bowl is vegan and gluten free

Multi-Grain Breakfast Bowl

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups of cooked grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth, etc.)
  • 1/2 cup of fruit (blueberries, diced apples, bananas, raisins, etc.)
  • a little sweetener (I like maple syrup)
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
  • OPTIONAL 1/4 cup Overnight Chia Porridge
  • OPTIONAL nuts or seeds

Do

  1. Heat grains if you want a hot cereal.
  2. Mix in remaining ingredients and stir well.

Serve

This can be made ahead of time and stored in individual portions for quick breakfasts.

I love how easy it is to make using leftover grains.

For more inspiration check out my Plant-Based Breakfast Board on Pinterest or my Breakfast Page.