My Plant-Based Family

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

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Are You Ready for a Change?

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Are you ready to change your life? If not what will it take; sky high cholesterol or blood pressure, too much weight that won’t go anywhere, or a dire diagnosis?

I’ve been speaking to a lot of people lately who are interested in making the switch to a plant-based diet and I can assure you it is not as difficult as you may think. For the next few weeks I’ll focus on the “how to’s” of making a change to a plant-based diet. Topics will include Tossing the Junk, How to Shop, Eating Out, What to Eat, plus the usual Meal Plans and recipes.

So what are you waiting for?

On a side note I’ve been traveling since the middle of last week so my blogging has been a bit irregular. Next week I’ll be back in a in a routine and return to the regularly scheduled program. 😉

Tomatoes

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It is happening, first with mushrooms and now with tomatoes.

My whole life I have loathed the taste of tomatoes. I liked tomato products like ketchup, salsa, and marinara. I did not like raw tomatoes at all or huge chunks of cooked tomatoes. Blech!

A few weeks ago I went to favorite pizza place of ours and ordered the vegetarian pizza without cheese. It came out with LARGE AND IN CHARGE pieces of tomatoes on top. I psyched myself up and took a bite of this tomato laden pizza and enjoyed it.

That was the first time I enjoyed tomatoes. Ever! I have since made french bread pizza’s with tomatoes, Italian Bake, “taco” salad, and a host of other tomato-full foods. I’m not planning on snacking on whole tomatoes anytime soon but who knows!

Do you have a surprise food you like after years of revulsion?

You Are Invited

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I will not be posting a Meal Plan this week but you can visit the Meal Plan Section to see all of the previous Meal Plans.

Instead I’d like to invite you to join Ann from An Unrefined Vegan (she is one of my favorite vegan bloggers) and many other bloggers from around the world for the Virtual Vegan Potluck. Next Monday is the the deadline to sign up, the potluck is on May 12th.

I hope you’ll join us!

How Much is that Muffin in the Window

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One of the stores I shop at most often is called Fresh & Easy and it is indeed fresh and easy. It is the closes store to my house. I could walk there if I had to but I usually just stop in on my way home. I can get in and out in 15 minutes and that is if I go down every isle. They are usually well stocked with almond and coconut milk (although they have stopped carrying soy creamer-BOO!) They have fresh produce and an amazing clearance section. They also have a lot of ready made foods that are pretty darn good, including their spicy hummus, yum!

Recently they started carrying some vegan muffins made with super food. I’ve wanted to try them but I did want to spend the money if I didn’t like them. A good friend of mine bought some yesterday and brought them to our Bible study. I was excited to get a taste but I acted cool and didn’t pounce on them immediately. After a few more minutes had passed I put one on my plate, peeled back the paper and took a small bite. I can not tell you how glad I was that it was only a small bite because they tasted awful. There was no hiding the look on my face although I did refrain from spiting it out. Maybe they were not so bad, I was just expecting something sweet and I vaguely remember the package they came in saying something about fruit, I could see raisins or something, but alas no sweetness. 

When my friend inquired as to how they tasted I just said, “these do not taste like MY MUFFINS.” The other muffins sat neatly on the table the whole time. If the weird one of the group (ME) wouldn’t eat them was their really a chance for anyone else.

Have you had an experience like that? Excitement to try a new product or dish only to be very disappointed. It also happened to me Sunday night when I tried freeze dried veggies-Bleck!

Gratituesday: Time with Friends

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For the past five years Tuesday mornings have been a day I would spend time with girlfriends at our weekly Bible study/group therapy sessions/brunch. Childcare is provided so we can just sit together and have a great time with out changing diapers, cleaning up messes, or any of the other things we normally do during that time period. This year I have only been able to attend a few times and I sure have missed it.  

I’m so grateful for the women I get to spend time with, the ladies who volunteer their time to love on our babies, and our church who provides a place for us to get together.

What do you do to keep your sanity during the hustle and bustle of a busy week? 

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

The Versatile Blogger Award

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A very big and appreciative Thank You goes goes out to Fine Frugality for nominating me for The Versatile Blogger Award. Check out Fine Frugality for more information on all things frugal.

The Versatile Blogger Award is a great way to introduce different bloggers to each other and to promote quality blogs that awardees and their readers may not have discovered on their own. It’s a great way to reach out and of course, it’s an honor in itself to be recognized!

Once you have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award, here’s what you do next:

  1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
  2. In the same post, add The Versatile Blogger Award.
  3. In the same post, thank the blogger that nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
  4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
  5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
  6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Here are my 15 nominations. These are blogs that I find useful, brilliant, or just plain inspirational.

  1.  Spilled Milk and Wet Kisses
  2. An Unrefined Vegan
  3. In Pursuit of More
  4. Veggie Grettie
  5. Johnny Sized
  6. Silly Things My Kids Say
  7. Live and Learn Toss and Turn
  8. While Chasing Kids
  9. Kid Tested Firefighter Approved
  10. Luminous Vegans
  11. Tia Tofu
  12. Plants Only
  13. Shine Like Stars
  14. Vegan Bloggers Unite
  15. Heart Healthy Eats

Now for the random information. Some of these are even unknown by my closest buds.

  1. According to family tradition I am related to Lyndon B Johnson, Buddy Holly, and Patrick Swayze.
  2. I’d love to foster or adopt in the future.
  3. I haven’t had any form of cable or satellite television in over 10 years.
  4. I laugh like my mom and my big kids point it out every chance they get.
  5. I competed in Speech/Debate/Drama in high school and college.
  6. I never picked up my high school diploma because I would have had to go back to the school to get it.
  7. I’ve worked as a stock broker for Merrill Lynch.

There you have it, take a minute to check out some of my favorite blogs.