My Plant-Based Family

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

Main Dish Recipes

One Pot Veggie Pasta + 3 Tips

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How long does your meal prep take each day? Do you spend hours frolicking around the kitchen making everything from scratch?

Neither do I. It sounds lovely, it really does but I don’t have enough time for that. Maybe one day, but until then I’ll take some short cuts. Shopping smart, easy meals and snacks along with having a plan, make eating better in a hurry possible.

One Pot gluten-free Veggie Pasta - Copy

Shop Smart

I regularly get questions about grocery shopping. We are fortunate to have a Sprouts nearby. We do almost all of our shopping at Sprouts. They have the best produce that is always reasonably priced, a great selection of organic and gluten-free products and I can get in out of the store quickly. Plus, they have great Deals of the Month that are always a great value!

tortilla chips and Larabars

Easy Meals and Snacks

I like to plan quick meals for busy nights and leftovers for busier nights. I reserve meals that take longer to prepare for weekends. I buy things like pasta, Muir Glen Pasta Sauce, ready to eat cereal, Larabars, fresh fruit, fresh veggies and Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips. By the way, those items and more are 35% off right now, no coupon needed.

No matter how busy I get, I can have a quick meal or an easy snack in only a few minutes. This helps tremendously when I’m rushing out the door and need to pack food for the day for all of us.

Veggies

Having a Plan

Meal planning isn’t just, “what are we going to eat?” It’s also when am I going to shop and who is cleaning up. Have I ever said how much I hate doing dishes? A lot!

We often do our shopping on the weekends but when possible we shop on Wednesdays because that is double ad day at Sprouts. No, you don’t have to clip coupons or carry the ad, it means the sale prices for the previous set of ads and the new ads are both valid. You’ll get the best deals!

When you get home from Sprouts go ahead and chop some veggies. Then you can grab your veggies, hummus and Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips for a snack, even when you are in a hurry.

Doing a ton of dishes kills my back so I’ll try to make one pot meals whenever I can. Psst! The recipe below is a one pot meal!

Organic veggie pasta

One Pot Veggie Pasta

Veggie Pasta
 
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Author:
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 4 cups of water
  • 1 8 ounce package of gluten-free pasta
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 cup broccoli florets
  • 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 25.5 oz jar of Muir Glen Pasta Sauce (Tomato Basil)
Instructions
  1. Pour 4 cups of water in a skillet, cover with a lid and bring the water to a boil.
  2. Once boiling add the pasta, stir and cover with the lid for 5 minutes. Stir every few minutes.
  3. Add the veggies and stir again, then cover with the lid. Set timer for 10 minutes but stir regularly.
  4. Drain pasta and veggies in a colander then immediately rinse with cold water.
  5. Pour pasta and veggies back into skillet then add pasta sauce and stir well.
  6. Heat for a few minutes until sauce is warm.

The pasta I used had a 15 minute cooking time. If your pasta has a shorter cooking time, like 10 minutes, you’ll want to add the veggies at the same time as the pasta. Make sure your pasta is covered in water, the veggies don’t have to be. The skillet allows the water to come to a boil faster.

I also made sure to cut all my veggies into small pieces while the water was coming to a boil. That allowed them to cook quickly. I just cut extra veggies for salad and a snack later.

For more great deals check out a Sprouts near you! I promise you’ll love it too!

Sprouts will also be hosting a Get and Give Back sweepstakes. Five lucky winners will be selected to receive a $2,000 Sprouts gift card and nominate a local food bank in their community to receive a $2,000 monetary donation.

Chickpea Nuggets

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Did you find me on Pinterest? Don’t miss my other easy and delicious recipes or my weekly email filled with plant-based tips.

I love dipping foods. Whether it’s apples in peanut butter (or allergy-friendly substitute) or carrots in hummus I’m a dipper. One of my tips to get kids to eat healthier is to provide a dip.

These Chickpea Nuggets are so good you won’t even need a dip but I’m partial to my Barbecue Sauce.

Chickpea Nuggets are vegan, gluten-free, and a fun kid food. They are easy to make and delicious.

You may be thinking, Holly, we are plant-based or we have food allergies, we aren’t going near mystery nuggets. Let me stop you right there and share that these nuggets are healthy, allergy-friendly and my family LOVED them. I should probably also mention that they were easy.

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The crumb coating is what makes these work! You can use bread crumbs or corn flake crumbs. If you have food allergies make sure you find a brand that is safe for you. These gluten-free panko crumbs are a good option.

Chickpea Nuggets are plant-based (vegan) and allergy-friendly. These easy nuggets are delicious my husband and kids loved them.

Chickpea Nuggets

Vegan and allergy-friendly Chickpea Nuggets are perfect for family meals or fun snacks.

Chickpea Nuggets
 
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These allergy-friendly Chickpea Nuggets are perfect for vegans or people with food allergies. Enjoy them with your favorite dipping sauce.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 15.5 oz. can chickpeas, drained
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp granulated onion
  • 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbsp bread crumbs or panko
  • ⅓ cup bread crumbs or panko for coating
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Pour the drained chickpeas into a food processor and process for a few seconds.
  3. Then add all of the other ingredients except the last ⅓ cup bread crumbs for coating. Process a few more seconds. Everything will be well mixed and chunky texture.
  4. Scoop up tablespoon sized globs and roll them into balls then smash them into nugget shapes.
  5. Pour bread crumbs into a bowl and coat each nugget.
  6. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lay each nugget on the parchment but don't let them touch.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for 10 more.
  8. Allow nuggets to cool before eating.

This recipe makes about 20 nuggets. The four of us ate them in one sitting. Imagine a meal where everyone from the kids to the husband is happy eating the same thing.

UPDATE: I’ve had a few people who made these and they were crumbly. I’m adding the following photos to help you see what I do step by step. Hopefully it will help you come up with perfect nuggets. These photos aren’t the best but I hope they will help.

chickpea nuggets step 1

Drain your chickpeas well then pour them in a food processor.

chickpea nuggets step 2

Process them for a few seconds. They will still be very chunky. Add the spices and 1 Tbsp of corn crumbs. You will reserve the final 1/3 cup of corn crumbs for the coating.

chickpea nuggets step 3

Process the chickpeas a few more seconds. This should eliminate most of the chickpea chunks. The texture will be similar to a baked potato you mash up with your fork.

chickpea nuggets step 4

Scoop out the chickpea mixture with a spoon and roll it into a ball or oval with our hands. These should stick together well. Then you will roll them in the corn crumbs.

chickpea nuggets step 5

Lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake according to the times above.

Enchilada Casserole

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Have you ever had the privilege of eating homemade enchiladas?

My husband taught me how to make them just after we were married. They taste a lot different than what you get in most Mexican restaurants and take a long time to make, especially when you make the enchilada sauce (we just call it chili) from scratch.

This recipe isn’t exactly from scratch. It’s more of a cheater vegan enchilada casserole BUT it is soooo good you won’t even care.

Sometimes a girl just needs some enchiladas! Unfortunately, I don’t have hours to make one meal. Our old family recipe was extremely unhealthy, the healthiest part was the corn tortilla before you dip it in oil. I know I shutter at the thought.

Enchilada Casserole is a fast, easy and healthier version of regular enchiladas. This recipe is vegan (plant-based), gluten-free dairy-free and made from pantry staples for a delicious family friendly meal.

This recipe is easy, pretty fast, healthy and most of all delicious.

I had to come up with a veggie enchilada recipe but I’m old-school Tex-Mex and can’t handle veggies like broccoli and carrots in my enchiladas so don’t even try. I wanted to cut down on the time it takes to make them too so this recipe layers the ingredients instead of rolling individual enchiladas.

This recipe uses pantry items and you can get fancy with the Faux Cheese Sauce if you want to go that route but it is wonderful without it.

Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg soft corn tortillas
  • 2 cans refried beans (or 3 cups of your own, try this recipe)
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup thinly diced, fresh onions
  • 1 cup corn (canned or freezer)
  • jarred jalapenos to taste
  • 1 can red enchilada sauce (15 oz can or bigger)
  • 1/4 cup crunched up tortilla chips
  • Double recipe of Faux Cheese Sauce if you want a cheesy top.

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spread about an ounce of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
  3. Cover the sauce with soft corn tortillas. Tear tortillas into smaller pieces when necessary.
  4. Gently spread cooked/canned beans over tortillas.
  5. Top with half of the tomatoes, half the corn, half the onions, and jalapenos if desired.
  6. Cover with 6 ounces (about half) the remaining enchilada sauce.
  7. Repeat steps 2 through 6. TIP: Cover the soft corn tortillas in beans before you lay them in the casserole dish.
  8. Add the tortilla chip crumbs if you aren’t making the cheese sauce. If you are waiting until later. Bake the casserole for 20 minutes.
  9. If making the cheese sauce follow the recipe but double it. Once done, pour it over the casserole and sprinkle tortilla chip crumbs on top. Then bake for 10 more minutes.
  10. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

This recipe is perfect for your vegan or gluten-free friends! It is potluck worthy and you can easily adapt it based on your preferences. So if you like broccoli and carrots in your enchiladas go ahead, unless you are bringing me some. You’ll notice on the process photos that you can adapt for preferences. I use corn on half and jalapenos on the other half to keep my family happy.

Enchilada Casserole that is plant-based and gluten-free. Easy to make with mostly pantry staples and completely healthy. No meat, no dairy, no gluten!

The tortilla chip crumbs give it an extra little crunch on top. I didn’t want to try to top it with corn tortillas because they would have become dried out and hard, you know this if you’ve ever skimped on enchilada sauce when making homemade enchiladas.

 

Veggie Burrito

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I often refer to my veggie burritos as an easy lunch or a back up meal. It occurred to me that some of you may think I make a really elaborate thing. Trust me, this is not the case. I don’t really do elaborate these days. This Veggie Burrito recipe is as easy as they come.

The basic Veggie Burrito can be made with whatever you have on hand. This plant-based (vegan) recipe is quick and easy to make.

I wanted to show you just how easy this basic veggie burrito is. I’ll also point out that when I refer to an easy black bean salad it is basically this burrito with extra lettuce and no tortilla.

I make it when I have beans already cooked but I’ve been known to use canned beans on occasion.

Basic Veggie Burrito

Ingredients

  • 1 tortilla per burrito
  • lettuce
  • cooked black beans
  • diced tomatoes
  • frozen corn
  • salsa
  • guacamole

Do

  1. Heat beans and corn (and anything else you want hot).
  2. Layer all ingredients into a burrito (or ditch the tortilla and put everything on a bed of lettuce).

This is a quick and easy meal and can be made using whatever you have on hand. If you have potatoes, peppers or rice use them, if you are missing tomatoes or guacamole that’s ok. Use what you have.

For more great meal ideas check out my Recipe Page.

Easy Asian Noodles

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There is something to be said for a home cooked meal that is ready in about 15 minutes. Especially if it is healthy! Even better when it is a one-pot meal.

My kids would be happy to have sandwiches every meal but I’m not. I like real food, warm food, but I don’t have a lot of time to cook.

asian noodles peanut and gluten-free

If you have been here for a while you know that my son has multiple food allergies. Peanuts and gluten are just a few of the things that are off-limits for us. He rarely gets to eat restaurant food because of his food allergies; we have a few safe restaurants to choose from.

All Asian restaurants use peanuts and soy sauce (contains gluten) and I’m not comfortable with the chances of cross contamination even if he ordered a “safe” dish. His only exposure to Asian food is food I make. My recipes are far from authentic but they are easy to make and use simple ingredients.

asian noodles

This recipe is peanut-free and gluten-free and can accommodate other allergies with substitutions. It cooks really quickly, the longest part is getting the water to boil.

Easy Asian Noodles

Ingredients

Do

  1. Bring water to a boil. As you wait slice the carrots and get the other ingredients ready.
  2. Dump the carrots into the boiling water and cook them for 2-3 minutes.
  3. After the carrots have cooked a few minutes add the frozen peas and the noodles.
  4. Cook everything together for 5 minutes. Once the timer beeps, taste test the noodles and carrots to see if either need a minute or two longer.
  5. Carefully drain the water out of your pot. I like to use one of these. Then dump in the Tamari/Bragg’s and the SoyNut Butter. Stir well until it has melted into the noodles and is evenly distributed.

This recipe can be easily adapted based on what you have on hand and what food restrictions you work with. It is similar to my Veggie Pad Thai recipe but this one is simplified even more and only uses carrots and peas to cut down on dishes and extra chopping. You can buy frozen, chopped carrots for a quicker recipe.

What are your favorite quick meals?

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Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

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stir fry broccoli and mushroom After a long day I really don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. That is one of the reasons I’m such a fan of Batch Cooking. Sometimes I need a quick and easy meal. Stir fry’s are such an easy option. Since I don’t cook with oil some may argue that this isn’t a true stir fry. The extra fat found in oil isn’t really needed if you use a little water in its place. (You can view this post to see how I use water for fried rice.)

We almost always have cooked  brown rice in the fridge. We use it in so many recipes it is a staple in our diet. When I don’t have rice cooked, I can make it quickly in my Instant Pot. This stir fry can be made with whatever veggies you have on hand but half my household loves mushrooms so this dish was for them.

stir fry broccoli and mushroom

Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • 1 crown broccoli, chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 8 oz mushrooms sliced
  • 1/2 an onion, diced
  • 4 cups cooked brown rice
  • Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce or Tamari)

As with many of my recipes, you can add more ingredients or remove items you don’t like without a huge problem with the recipe. For example, if you aren’t a big fan of mushrooms use less or use bell peppers in their place.

Do

  1. In a hot skillet or wok add diced onions and sliced carrots, cover with a lid. Check on them regularly and stir. When they begin to stick pour a few tablespoons of water in the skillet and stir again.
  2. Once the carrots are starting to soften, dump in the mushrooms. These will need to cook for several minutes. Once they have exuded their juices and look shiny, pour the broccoli in and cover once again.
  3. Check veggies every few minutes and stir. If they begin to stick to the pan add more water again.
  4. Once all of the veggies are cooked to a tender/crisp consistency dump in your cooked rice and stir. You can use less than 4 cups if desired.  You can also heat the rice separately if desired.
  5. Pour Bragg Liquid Aminos over the rice and veggies. I’d start with a little and add more to taste. We probably use a couple of tablespoons but it is a high sodium food so limit it if necessary.

This meal comes together in less than 20 minutes. If you have to cook the rice allow yourself sufficient time. This is a really easy meal to make and packs perfectly in a lunch box (I only recommend it for adult or older kids lunches).

If you like this, check out my other great Asian inspired meals, Veggie Pad Thai and my easy Oil-Free (un)Fried Rice.

Don’t forget to enter the EasyLunchBoxes Giveaway!

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