My Plant-Based Family

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

Meal Plan Monday

Meal Plan Monday: On a Tuesday

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I know it is Tuesday the meal plan was due yesterday. I meant to write a meal plan, I planned to write it but I never sat down to get it done. I even took an inventory of my over stuffed fridge. I have so much food in there, I’m very blessed! Most of it is leftovers from the Healthy Cravings group I hosted last week. Healthy Cravings is a group that introduces women to a whole food, plant-based diet.

If you are new here I hope I not getting off on the wrong foot. 🙂 I usually post a meal plan every Monday. The are “usually” low-fat, whole food, and plant-based in nature. One of my son’s can’t have gluten so a large part of my Meal Plans are gluten-free or can easily be gluten-free by using rice noodles instead of wheat. I use my meal plan as more of a guideline and often switch meals around based on our schedule, ingredient shortage, or pure laziness.

Meal Plan

Breakfasts this week will be simple as always. Toast with almond butter and fruit, oatmeal, sometimes cereal or GF waffles for busy days when I don’t have time to clean a mess.

Lunches are usually leftovers and boy do we have a lot of leftovers. My husband always takes leftovers. We also eat sandwiches and wraps sometimes, those are also great on the go. We also have some baked potatoes and cooked beans ready to go.

Snacks are usually fruit but a parfait makes a fun snack when non-dairy yogurt, fruit, and granola are layered together. These can be made ahead of time too. I’ve also been baking granola bars which disappear almost immediately. Raw veggies like carrots and spinach leaves are a favorite snack for my boys. I bowl of freshly cut carrots will vanish like potato chips if left on the counter.

Dinner

Monday: Leftover Broccoli Potatoes with faux cheese, leftover Lentil Ragu, and bean burritos

Tuesday: Leftover Salads, Black Beans and Brown Rice with Cilantro

Wednesday: Veggie Stir Fry using cabbage, broccoli, baby kale, red bell peppers, carrots, parsley, and grape tomatoes served over brown rice

Thursday: Veggie and brown rice casserole (really just a clever way of using up what wasn’t eaten in the stir fry) with HH brown gravy

Friday: Dinner out for my family while I’m out of town

So there it is, Meal Plan Monday posted a day late. I don’t think it was too painful. I hope to eat deliberately and use up all the fresh produce this week and as many leftovers as I can. So what are you eating this week?

For a little inspiration check out An Unrefined Vegan and her review of Chef AJ’s book Unprocessed plus a chance to win your very own copy. I’m a big fan of the book, Chef AJ, and An Unrefined Vegan so you can’t go wrong!

 

September’s Healthy Cravings Meal Plan

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On Monday’s I typically post my meal plan for the week but I’m not going to do that this week. I have no idea what we are eating this week other that leftovers that are in my fridge. I’m not worried though we wont starve. If you feel lost without my Meal Plan you can read previous meal plans to help you get through the week. 🙂

You may remember this summer I hosted my first Food Demo. It was a success but has now morphed into a new group called Healthy Cravings. Our first meeting is this Thursday so I thought it would be fun to share the menu ahead of time. In these meetings I hope to introduce a plant-based diet and encourage ladies toward healthier living even if they are not yet ready to take the plant-based plunge.

For this first meeting the focus will be to Eat More Veggies! Each month I’ll have a different focus and a seasonally appropriate menu. October will be soups and chili, and November will be Thanksgiving. It is still really hot (I know I mention that every day) so I don’t want to heat the house up before everyone comes over.

Healthy Cravings Menu

Salads

  • Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
  • Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing
  • Garden Salad with a variety of dressings
  • Creamy Basil Pasta Salad

Comfort Corner

  • Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole
  • “Cheesy” Broccoli Baked Potato Bake
  • Lentil Ragu and Pasta

Desserts

  • Granola Bars
  • Fruit and Granola Parfait
  • I’m still deciding on some other desserts

So what do you think? I’m so excited! I’m also very thankful that my friend Steffi is bringing the Creamy Basil Pasta Salad and the Lentil Ragu. Isn’t that awesome! I have 18 people RSVP’d so far and a grocery list a mile long.

Meal Plan Monday: September is Here

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Well it is finally September but that doesn’t mean crisp autumn days here in Arizona. A lot of my friends are ready for cooler weather complete with fall wreaths on their front doors. I’m welcoming September by buying a new pair of jeans and a denim jacket! Oh and by making my favorite, Minestrone Soup! To0 bad it is still well over 100°F on most days. Until it cools off we will just turn up the air conditioning, grab a big quilt, and watch Christmas movies with warm cup of coffee.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be Steel Cut Oats, Breakfast Quinoa, toast with almond butter and sliced apples, baked sweet potatoes and an occasional bowl of cereal.

Lunches will be leftovers; right now I have leftover lentil tacos, plain lentils, Mexican Rice, Taco Quinoa, and plain quinoa. We will also have sandwiches, wraps, salads, and combinations of everything mixed together.

Snacks will be hummus with veggies, fruit, smoothies, I like a quick PB&J sometimes too.

Dinner

Monday: Leftover Mexican food

Tuesday: Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole (My family’s favorite! They request this each week.)

Wednesday: Baked Potatoes topped with steamed veggies and lentils

Thursday: Minestrone Soup

Friday: Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing (I want to try this, it’s from the new Forks Over Knives Cookbook)

I’m looking forward to some good food this week. We have family favorites, quick and easy fare, a new recipe to try. Next week is my 2nd Food Demo which I’m re-branding as a women’s healthy living group now called Healthy Cravings. It is a plant-based group but not everyone knows that yet. I just teased them with the idea of eliminating disease and losing weight. 🙂

Have a great week friends!

Meal Plan Monday: Weekend Cooking for Weekday Meals

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Maybe a post like this isn’t helpful; talking about weekend cooking on a Monday…oh well it’s what I do. On the weekends (and sometimes on Fridays) I like to cook things that take extra time like beans and grains so I don’t have to take the time during the week. My husband has been doing an amazing job of cutting veggies on the weekends to save time other days.

This week I have black beans and black-eyed peas to work with. My husband will probably eat most of the black-eyed peas for lunch because he and the 1 year old are the only ones who really like them. I had chickpeas too but I used most of the to make “Not So Tuna Salad” but it got a little thin so now it’s more of a dip. I have about 4 cups of it so I may freeze some of it if I don’t come up with another clever use but I’m thinking of eating it on a baked potato.

This little bit of preparation on the weekends greatly reduces the chance of a dinner time emergency run to the nearest drive thru. When I have beans or grains already prepared it also gives me a direction to go with my meal planning.

On the produce front we have the usual suspects along with a few special items: baby spinach, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, celery, a red bell pepper, potatoes, peaches, nectarines, green apples, yellow apples, mangos, grapes, cherries, a pineapple, a watermelon, half a golden melon, some kale, a few tomatoes, a few jalapenos and bunches and bunches of bananas.

I’m thinking of making a fruit salsa since I have a good variety of fruit.

Meal Plan

Breakfast isn’t really planned out everyday but will be made up of toast, oatmeal, cereal, farina, fruit, and maybe pancakes. Today I had whole grain toast with peanut butter topped with thin slices of green apples. It was so good! One of my favorite things!

Lunches will be equally easy and mostly made up of sandwiches, wraps, baked potatoes, beans and  grain bowls, and other leftovers.

Snacks are usually fruit, veggies with hummus, smoothies, or other quick and easy things. Lately my boys have been stealing apples off the counter to share. The little one will rope the big one into his exploits. When we leave carrots sticks out the 3 year old steals them too.

Dinner is planned out a little better, the trick is sticking to it. 🙂

Monday: BBQ Chickpea Salad with Fruit Salsa and Black Beans

Tuesday: The Broccoli and Brown Rice Casserole I posted last week, my family’s favorite.

Wednesday: Busy Day/Busy Night Baked Potatoes with steamed veggies and fruit

Thursday: Help me decide! What would you make?

Friday: Crock Pot Veggie Soup

So what do you think? Do you have any suggestions for me; I have a pretty well stocked pantry maybe I’ll make my normal Mexican fare. If you Meal Plan share it here! The more the merrier!

Meal Plan Monday: Too Hot for Comfort Food?

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Minestrone Soup

It may be over 100° F but that isn’t too hot for me. Comfort foods go over well with my family. For lunch today I finished off some leftovers by mixing brown rice and lentil-pinto chili together; right now I am so full I can barely sit up straight. 🙂 Just so you know I didn’t eat bowls and bowls of it. I probably had about 1 1/2 cups (not quite a full bowl), but between the lentils, beans, brown rice, and veggies that is a lot of fiber. To modify a famous quote, “fiber is a girls best friend.” Everything we eat wont fall under the comfort food category but I hope a few will.

Meal Plan

Breakfast is usually quick and easy foods. We have been on the go almost every morning for the last few weeks and my boys want to eat all morning. I’ve been letting them have cereal for their first breakfast, this usually just keeps them busy while I make their real breakfast or work on something else. We normally eat oatmeal with fruit, I like to add almond butter to mine. Breakfast Quinoa is another versatile favorite but it is hard for my little guys to eat without a big mess.

Lunches are usually pretty simple too. Most of the time it’s leftovers, but sometimes we have nut butter and fruit sandwiches, salad wraps, or and easy soup.

Snack time is a great way to make sure you are getting all the veggies you need. We like raw veggies with hummus, my husband and son have even been eating cups of raw baby spinach with the smallest bit of balsamic vinaigrette. Fruit and greens smoothies are always popular here, of course I don’t tell the teenagers I put greens in it.

Dinner is where I actually put forth effort. 🙂 I try to cook enough for lunches and sometimes dinners on other nights. My husband almost always takes lunch (plus breakfast and snacks) to work each day.

Monday: Pasta and red sauce with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. We will also have a large salad made with Spring Mix, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, any other veggies I can find.

Tuesday: Broccoli and Rice casserole. This has been my teenagers favorite dish since they came here to visit. My daughter asks for it all the time and today my husband told me it is in his top three favorite meals. I’ve made it with millet but they didn’t like it as much. It is perfect with brown rice or couscous. I’ve mentioned how I make this but I’ll post an official recipe later this week.

Wednesday: We have a long day of appointments and plans all day so this will probably be an eating out kind of day.

Thursday: Black Bean Taco Salad

Friday: Minestrone or Potato Soup

I don’t post our meals for the weekends unless we have something special planned. I cook some meals but we like to finish off all of the leftovers, buy groceries and start the week fresh.

Have you planned your meals for the week? Today I cooked a pot of chickpeas but I haven’t planned a specific meal for them. They may become hummus or perhaps BBQ Chickpea salad.

Meal Plan Monday: In The Beginning

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When my husband, little boys and I first started eating a Plant-Based Diet we ate a lot of comfort foods; Chili, Lentil or Quinoa Tacos, Nachos, Baked Potatoes were normal fare for us. I also made baked goods to help ease us off the junk food we were accustomed too. Since our teenage daughter had decided to live with us I thought it would only be considerate to eat more of these types of foods. One of the problems is we started eating plant-based in the winter, it is summer now so some of the foods we are then just don’t seem as appealing now.

My husband and I are happy with simpler meals, we can eat rice, lentils, and leafy greens and be satisfied. That is a tall order and would have been impossible for us in the beginning. It took a while for our taste buds to accept the kinds of food we like now.

A few days ago I made baked potatoes for dinner. I had some chili in the freezer that I thought would make a perfect accompaniment. I was right! Both of our teenagers liked it and my daughter even requested that I make it again this week. Yesterday my daughter flipped through my new Forks Over Knives Cookbook and picked out recipes she was interested in; I’m hoping to try a few this week.

Meal Plan

Breakfast is toast, fruit, muffins, and cereal more often than I would care to admit. We have oatmeal once or twice a week, usually with raisins, cinnamon, and a touch of agave.

Lunch is usually leftovers, nut butter sandwiches, bean and grain bowls, Big Salads, or bean burritos.

Snack ideas include: hummus with veggies, chips and salsa, smoothies, or fruit.

Dinner this week will include 3 Bean Chili, Beans and Rice, Black Bean Burgers with Twice Baked Potatoes, Quinoa or Lentil (or both) Taco Salad.

There are three nights this week with activities so we will be eating early, late, or out on those days. If you are wondering how I have time to cook so much food let me assure you I’m not slaving in the kitchen every day. Yesterday I cooked a big pot of lentils and a big pot of brown rice. I soaked pinto beans last night and cooked them today. Even if I don’t get the black beans cooked I have enough pintos and lentil to get several good meals made. By cooking beans and other foods that take a long time during my “down time” I can get dinner together in about half an hour.

While rice cooks, or beans heat up I can chop, steam, or otherwise prepare veggies.   

What are you eating this week?