My Plant-Based Family

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

Life with Kids

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

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Welcome to My Plant-Based Family! Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you are enjoying the Virtual Vegan Potluck. If you stopped by my page and aren’t quite sure what I’m talking about you are in for a treat. Over 100 bloggers are each “bringing” a dish to the potluck today. Just follow the links at the end of this post or click here to start at the beginning.

We have been eating a plant-based diet for 1 year. Last spring we found out my youngest son’s skin issues were the result of gluten. Thankfully he doesn’t have to miss out on delicious baked goods. I’m happy to report that this recipe is kid tested and approved! Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you, this recipe is easily made with pantry staples. If you don’t need to eat gluten-free but really want a delicious pumpkin filled treat check out the Pumpkin Bread or these Pumpkin Cupcakes.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins (Vegan)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Brown Rice Flour
  • 1/2 cup Tapioca Flour
  • 1/2 cup Potato Starch
  • 1 tsp xanthum gum
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 1 ripe banana (I defrosted a frozen banana)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 15 oz can of pumpkin or 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup rice milk
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Do

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F and prepare your muffin pan, I use non-stick cooking spray (the only time I ever use oil).
  2. Mix all dry ingredients in a big bowl, except optional chocolate chips.
  3. Mix all wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.
  5. If using chocolate chips, add now.
  6. Scoop batter into muffin tins until almost full.
  7. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. If making mini muffins bake for 15 minutes.
  8. Store in an air tight container at room temperature.

Serve

These muffins are delicious and quite possibly the most delicious gluten-free muffin I’ve ever tasted.  They are perfect for a snack, but could also be eaten for breakfast or if you add chocolate chips a decadent dessert. Most of the gluten-free baking I’ve done doesn’t taste so great the next day but these pass the two-day test with flying colors. I’m taking them to a baby shower this weekend, if I can keep by kids from eating them all.

If you are looking for more gluten-free muffin recipes check out these Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins or Gluten-Free Apple Muffins.

Please continue through the potluck, after all you don’t want to miss a single dish do you?

Nutty Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

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Sometimes I get stuck in a breakfast rut. As the seasons change I find myself craving new flavors and textures. Oatmeal is the perfect vehicle to test out my newest ideas whether I add fresh fruit and berries or dried fruit with seed and nuts.

This morning my thoughts drifted back to my childhood and the single serving packets of Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal I remember eating. I’m sure that oatmeal was better than the Count Chocula I ate regularly, but they were both full of sugar and devoid of nutrients.

Nutty Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (An Unrecipe)

Ingredients (amounts will vary depending on your number of servings)

  • Rolled Oats
  • water
  • 1-2 apples, diced
  • cinnamon
  • sweetener (I used maple syrup)
  • walnuts (optional)
  • ground flax (optional)
  • almond slivers (optional)

Do

  1. Bring water and diced apples to boil. Two cups of water for every 1 cup of oats is a general rule.
  2. Add oats and stir regularly.
  3. Once oatmeal is done, add cinnamon and sweetener of your choice.

Serve

I like wait until the oatmeal is put in bowls to add the optional add-ins. Add a side of fruit to round out the meal is always a good idea. 🙂 My kids loved this by the way and I’m willing to bet yours will too. You can also try this with quinoa or brown rice to mix things up a bit.

On a side note, Vegan Month of Food, Vegan MoFo is still under way. I am a few post behind but I’m cutting my self some slack because I’ve been super busy. I had hoped to catch up over the weekend but made the executive decision that my sanity is more important than catching up. 🙂

 

Veggie Kids

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Meet my Veggie Kids! They are 3 1/2 and 20 months. The are also both pretty stinkin awesome!

Sharing an apple

Their whole world revolves around food. They are “good eaters” and normally eat a lot, although they prefer to graze. I hear requests all day long for apples and banana’s. The 20 month little guys says “amanas” instead of bananas.

Sometimes one apple just isn’t enough.

The 3 1/2 year old loves eating leaves; he eats spinach mostly but will eat raw kale too. We give him a tiny bit of salad dressing to dip the leaves in.

Eating his leaves.

We made the move to plant-based 1 year ago and I’m so happy with their progress. Before we made the switch the big guy was a drive-thru, fast food junkie! He has come a long way.

He doesn’t really prepare his own meals. 🙂

The little guy hasn’t really been exposed to much unhealthy food. He can’t handle gluten so fast food isn’t really an option.

Soaking wet, checking out this tree.
Becoming quite the “tree hugger”

A few of their favorite recipes are: GF Apple Muffins, GF Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, Baked Potatoes, Parfaits, Smoothies, Unfried Beans and Mexican Rice, Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole among other recipes you can check out on my Recipe Page.

Oh Poo!

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Yes that is right POO! Poop, excrement, stool, feces, (insert other inappropriate words) or whatever you prefer. In our house poo seems a little less scary when your 3 year old starts yelling it in a crowded room. Don’t worry that is as provocative as it’s gonna get, I think. Yesterday I saw someone in a Plant-based/vegan Facebook group mentioned how much more regular her family is, especially her kids who are going through a ton more diapers everyday. Oh honey, I can sympathize. Until just a few months ago I had two Plant-Strong Pooping Machines in diapers. Thankfully the 3 year old is (mostly) done with diapers. My 1 year old still turns our 2-4 poopy diapers in a typically morning, ah the good life of a diaper changing momma.

We talk about poop a lot at my house. What can I say, I have little boys . Besides, poop is an interesting subject. My three year old is constantly talking about how big, how much, what color, what shape and what he sees in it. He also talks though not getting it on his clothes, the floor, his hands, and the lights, I’m not sure why that one ALWAYS comes up but it does.

In my early 20s I had a friend who sold a line of  supplements and one was a probiotic. During the sales demonstration they talked about how some people, especially women would go days to a week without having bowel movements. Of course I saw no problem with that, who wanted to poo more? Wasn’t I silly?

My Pooping Habits (Feel free to skip this part)

I wasn’t regular until my first pregnancy. Wow, what a relief, I looked forward to that moment of the day. After going plant-based things really took off. You will often hear plant-based eaters talk about feeling lighter, that is because they are having multiple bowel movements a day and their food is digesting faster. Meat and oil both slow down digestion, if you eliminate those from your diet you will process your food faster. My “potty times” are typically quicker and cleaner than they used to be, there is no struggling because things are moving well.

Start Reading Again 🙂

Beans and grains along with a variety of fruit and veggies will help anyone wanting to “lighten up” and be more regular. I can tell when I eat something that is not so good for me because my digestion slows down. Imagine your digestive track like a highway. Vehicles move toward their destination at various speeds but they are essentially going the same direction. Some cars are fast, others are bigger but slower, and some just cause problems. During rush hour there are more cars but they are moving slower, other times of day there are fewer cars traveling quicker. Get the picture?

I imagine some things like fruit to be like sports cars or motorcycles, moving quickly. Bigger cars and small trucks are like some veggies, while larger trucks are like higher fiber foods. Occasionally there are hiccups or events that cause backups on the road. To much traffic, barricades, an accident that everyone has to stop to look at. Several months ago while driving the highway was closed, a semi with hazardous chemicals had collided with another vehicle. Both sides of our divided highway was closed for hours. If I went out and ordered fried chicken my digestive system would respond in a similar fashion, complete closure. Even now if we go out to eat and my food is cooked with oil I can fill the “traffic” slow down.

Please don’t hold the above example to scientific or medical scrutiny, it is just a picture to make a point. The food we eat isn’t really racing to the finish, it is getting mixed up and broken down together.

Everytime I change my 1 year olds diaper the 3 year old likes to see the poo, he talks all about it. It goes like this, “I need to see his poo” so I show him the diaper. He then says, “wow, that’s a lot of poo” then in an almost desperate voice he exclames, “it’s on his bottom.” He then talks about other “parts” but that is a subject for another day.

Another important part of the pooping process is water. You need to drink plenty of water for all of your bodily processes to work the way they were designed, pooping is no different. Water will help flush toxins and waste out of your system. If you are not having regular bowel movements you may really be full of poop, no offense!

Some people need probiotics to get their digestive system healthy. All probiotics are not created equally. I am not an expert on them so I wont recommend any specific type.

The moral of the story: Pooping is Good! More pooping is usually better!

Happy pooing!

Gratituesday: My Girl is Back

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Since I started blogging in January our three “big kids” have lived with their mom. That wasn’t always the case. Until a year ago the kids lived with us. When my husband and I got married 7 years ago the kids were 6, 8, and 10. I had already been a part of their lives for a couple of years.

I love those guys.

Now, a year after moving to their mom’s our daughter is moving back home with us. I cannot tell you how happy I am about this. The term “squealing in delight” is a huge understatement. I wont go into all of the who’s, how’s, and why’s but God has answered our prayers.

Our teenage sons will still live with their mom. Our “big kids” have a very close bond and I know it was hard for my daughter to move away from her brothers. She is so brave.

 

Our daughter is…

Beautiful

Loving

Thoughtful

Hilarius

Inspiring

Crazy

I love her!

You may be wondering (or not) where this puts us on the healthy eating front. Our daughter hasn’t completely embraced plant-based eating but she does want to eat healthy. She has been very receptive to the way we eat, and she doesn’t make a big deal if she doesn’t like something.

I’m so thankful for her! She blesses us daily! What are you thankful for today?

Meal Plan Monday: Eating On Purpose

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“You wake up in the morning then what do you do? Do you do anything for yourself?”

I was asked this question last week and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since then. Most of the time I’m reacting or playing catch up. I have a 3 and a 1 year old that I stay home with, that mean’s I’m on crisis management duty all day. I’m very blessed to stay home with them but I’m not always intentional about how I spend my time.

My kids want to eat all the time, especially when they first see me. Basically they equate me with food. Sometimes if I’m out my husband will feed them. They will eat for a nice long time then go play. When I walk in the door they come running, “Mommy Mommy Mommy” followed by “Eat Eat Eat”! Does that happen to you?

On weekdays when my husband is working he usually leaves before the rest of us wake up (it is summer after all). My boys want to eat immediately. If it’s super early I make them wait as long as possible. That is usually about 30 minutes but sometimes an hour. I’ll give them a handful of cereal while I cook oatmeal or they will have something quick like toast or fruit. If I’m on top of things I’ll eat with them but sometimes I’m just not quick enough. I’ll use the time they are busy eating to do something important like go to the restroom (BY MY SELF) or start laundry, talk to my husband on the phone, or empty the dish washer. Then they get busy playing (so I think) and I make breakfast for myself. Whatever I make gets shared with them. It is almost impossible for me to eat anything by my self.

Since my breakfast gets stolen shared with my kiddos I don’t always get enough, but I also get busy. I’ll go a long time without eating again some days. Other days I eat again an hour or two later. Lunch time turns into a similar ordeal. Some afternoons I find my self really hungry and realized I’ve only eaten a tiny bit of food all day as I’ve run around. Dinner time is better because we all eat together as a family.

This week I want to eat on purpose. That will require a little more planning than I’ve been doing lately. When we first began eating plant-based I put a lot of effort into having plenty of prepared foods in my fridge ready to go. These days I haven’t been doing a very good job of it, I’ve gotten complacent. I want the food I eat to fuel my body, not merely “fill me up” for a while. I want what I eat to have a purpose and truly benefit my body. Eating foods that might taste good but doesn’t really benefit me needs to be a thing of the past.

I do better when I have beans and grains on hand. Throughout this week I want to cook some beans, grains, and baked potatoes for quick meals. It is also important to have a good supply of fruit and veggies. Our supply is very low. I would have to be very creative to make anything interesting with what I have available. I haven’t done my normal grocery shopping for the week but I hope too soon.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be toast with nut butter and fruit, bagels, oatmeal, or breakfast quinoa.

Lunch will be leftovers, baked potatoes, sandwich wraps, noodles with homemade sauce, bean and grain bowl, etc.

Snack will be fruit, fruit and spinach smoothies, hummus and raw veggies, muffins, etc.

Dinner is more of a challenge right now. For the other meals I make food for the little boys and my teenagers eat from whatever is available. At dinner time I make one meal, there is sometimes different options like we all eat baked potatoes but you can top it with chili or with steamed veggies. I really appreciated all of the advice and encouragement last week on Meal Plan Monday. I still haven’t had a chance to respond to everyone but I hope to do so soon.

This week I would I hope to have Southwest Chopped Salad featuring BBQ Chickpeas, Stir Fry (My 13 year olds LEAST favorite food), Three Bean Chili, Rice and Veggie Casserole (this has gone over very well the last few weeks) and Breakfast for Dinner with whole wheat pancakes and gluten-free pancakes.

All of these dishes are tasty and require very little hands on time, the pancakes will take the most but they are quick and easy snacks for little hands. These meals also do take a lot of special ingredients, most of them I normally have on hand.

What are you eating this week? Do you eat on purpose or just reactively eat?