My Plant-Based Family

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

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Gratituesday: Abundance

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We have been eating leftovers since Friday, and we love it. I made a huge feast for us and some friends and I even sent home some of the leftovers with them. Truth be told, if there leftovers weren’t as tasty we may not be as grateful, but we should be. 

If we go hungry it is because of choice, not because of means. We have been blessed. We can’t afford everything we want but we can usually buy everything we need. 

We have made the choice to invest in good, healthy, whole food. This doesn’t have to be as expensive as some say it is but it isn’t super cheap either. We don’t always buy organic but sometimes do. The food we buy rarely comes in boxes, it is often not on sale, and there are no coupons.

My family eats healthy food everyday. There are some days where we eat too many animal crackers or make poor choices based on poor planning or junk food cravings but on the whole what we eat nourishes our bodies.

I’m so thankful that we have the means to feed our family well. We don’t have the latest gadgets, we don’t have cable, and if we are up on the latest trends it is by accident BUT we have our health! Our health is fueled by our food!

To read about how I overcame multiple health problems including reoccurring UTIs, bladder spasms, and a possible interstitial cystitis diagnosis read my story here.

I’m happy to say I’m still symptom free which is another thing to be thankful for!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Split Pea Soup

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Before last week I had never eaten Split Pea Soup. The only pea’s I had prepared had come from a can. I’m sure I ate some pea’s from my great-grand mother’s garden but I can’t really remember. My awesome friend Amanda make’s Split Pea Soup regularly so I thought I’d give it a try.

I actually followed someone else’s recipe, which is rare for me. Check out Susan’s recipe from  FatFreeVegan  here. I am a big fan of her site and blog. I’ve made a lot of recipes and they turn our great. 

I do not have a pressure cooker so I used the regular cooking method. I also did not have basil or thyme so I omitted those. There was definitely something missing so it may have been one of those. This isn’t my favorite soup by I did inhale it very fast. Susan was right about it being better the next day. I made it on a Friday and tried it again on Monday and it was really good. I ended up finishing it for breakfast on Tuesday. Since I had never had Split Pea Soup I have nothing to compare it to. Next time I make it I’ll use veggie broth instead of water but that is probably the only change I’ll make.

Do you have a favorite Split Pea Soup recipe? Share it in the comments and maybe I’ll make your recipe next time. Happy Eating!

Gratituesday: Our Church Family

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Today I want to express my gratitude for my church family. If you don’t have a church family or don’t know what that means I’ll explain just a bit. We attend a fantastic church. When we moved to Arizona from Oklahoma we left all of our family and a great church. It took several months to find a new church that would be appropriate for us. By approprate I mean:

  • Taught what we believed (the Bible)
  • Friendly
  • Had kid programs that met our families needs
  • Had to “feel” right

There were other things too but these were very important to us. It is almost exactly 5 years that we walked onto the property of our church and had a deep sense of peace, we knew this is where we belonged. It was a Wednesday night and there was a guest speaker, in other words we didn’t even know how this church operated yet but it didn’t matter we were home.

Over the next few months we attended regularly, our kids became involved in the kids programs and I met the best group of women I’ll ever know (they are the friends I talked about last Tuesday).

The people at this church have become our church family, and some of them feel like real family. I’ve spent holidays and birthdays with them, I’ve shared some of my deepest needs and hopes, spent lazy afternoons visiting and we’ve rushed to each others aid when needed. Isn’t that what a family does?

Do you have this? Do you have a church family that loves you, encourages you, and supports you? Or maybe you are a member of a church, do you love, encourage, support other church goers? Do you volunteer your time or give regularly in tithes and offerings?

The first step is to find a church and go, then go regularly. If the first church you go to isn’t right for you pray that God would direct you to the right one. Keep in mind churches are not perfect because they are full of imperfect people, just like families.

Once you are in a church “that you feel is right for you” get involved. If you’re not sure how ask a pastor or a volunteer. Chances are they have been praying for you, yes you! You don’t want to be like a parasite. A parasite lives off of others without giving anything in return. Maybe it’s time to step up and be a part of a church family.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Meal Plan Monday: Be Cheerful

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Happy Monday! Did you hear that cheerfulness? I’m choosing to be cheerful. You should decide now if you will be cheerful today too. Soon the days distractions will take all of your attention, perhaps even a few annoyances will pop up, or maybe even something awful. Let’s do our best and choose to be happy and count our blessings. I know it is not always easy, trust me, but I’ll try.

This weekend I cooked a pot of black eyed peas and a pot of chickpea’s. I have a pot of pinto beans that have soaked all night and I’ll start cooking soon. You may be thinking, whoa, that is a lot of beans. You are right! We ate all the leftovers over the weekend and hand almost nothing that could be thrown together without a lot of prep.

My husband LOVES black eyed peas, I have no idea why. I have memories of eating one spoonful a year on New Year’s Day because it was supposed to bring good luck. Maybe I should give them another chance, but not for luck just to see if I can appreciate them now.

Recently I’ve ran across several recipes that call for chickpea’s and I’m hoping to give them a try this week. In our house pinto beans are like a miracle food that can be turned into any number of delicious meals in a hurry. So now I have black eyed peas, chickpeas and pinto beans cooked, how will that fit into the meal plan? 

Meal Plan

Breakfast is pretty predictable at my house. We usually eat toast, oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, and sometimes cereal. I hope to cook a big batch of whole wheat pancakes sometime this week for quick breakfasts and snacks on the go.

Lunch is usually leftovers or sometimes a PB&J. I made homemade cashew butter last week so I may try to use it, unfortunately no one in my house seems to really like it. This week the chickpea’s will make a few lunch appearances for me and black eyed peas for my husband.

Dinner

Monday: Mock “tuna” salad (made with chickpeas)

Tuesday:a Spicy Pinto Bean dish that is yet to be created, or maybe nachos or burritos

Wednesday:Cajun Chickpea Cakes from Everyday Happy Herbivore. I love this cookbook! I hope these will pair well with black eyed peas and steamed spinach.

Thursday: Mega Garden Salad with avocado dressing

Friday: Split Pea Soup

I don’t usually assign side dishes because most of the meal I cook are full of veggies. I do have a quite a bit of produce this week. We will be eating carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, red bell peppers, kale, spinach, asparagus, onions, apples, bananas, oranges, and pears. 

Remember how earlier I mentioned choosing to be cheerful, I’m glad I did. In the last hour and a half I have had a few inconveniences including being spit up on, bitten, changing two poopy diapers, kissed several boo boos, started cooking the beans because my computer was frozen, and other typical things that happen with two adventurous boys. Somedays I would have let them derail my cheerful attitude, but not today. I don’t know that I’ll get through the whole day unscathed but I’ll do my best.

 

Muffins, Yes Please!

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I did a little baking yesterday. I’m not quite ready to share the recipe because I’d like to duplicate it first. But I will share the pictures and hopefully the recipe next week.

These Cherry Muffins were fresh from the oven. See how the cherry goo is still oozing out. This is one of those times where oozing goo is a good thing, trust me. I also made some with fresh blueberries.

I was actually trying to make more of a cupcake than a muffin but oh well. These were still yummy. I always feel like I need to offer a disclaimer when I bring muffins to friends. My muffins are really good, they have flavor BUT they do not taste like muffins/cake that is made from butter, milk, white sugar and white flour. Once you eliminate those options from your diet these are great! My non-plant-based friends have liked my muffins as well but I’m sure they are thinking that something is missing. (Something is missing, all of the over-processed junk that is bad for you!)

We also revisited the Stir Fry, you may remember that we had a bad experience  and took a stir fry sabbatical.  This one was good, although not a masterpiece.

I used noodles because we are avoiding rice and rice products due to an allergy. This is the leftover portion, there were actually a lot more veggies but we scooped those up first thing.

We also snacked on Jalapeno Hummus and organic tortilla chips after dinner because sometime we feel a little bit piggy. But seriously if organic tortilla chips, hummus made without added fats (oil and tahini), whole wheat muffins made with real fruit and without added fat is the worse thing we eat I’m not to worried. 

Later today I hope to make Banana Bread. I made a really good banana bread. I’ve made it hundreds of times, even though it is whole wheat everyone loves it. 

Have you made the switch to a plant-based diet? What is holding you back? Join me and countless others as we regain control of our health. 

Gratituesday: Friends

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Do you have great friends, I mean really great friends? I do! I am so blessed to have some wonderful women in my life. They love me and I love them. We would do just about anything for each other.

If I have a need I can make a call or send and email and have support. These friends have babysat my children, brought me food (and coffee), and been a listening ear and even helped me clean my house. If I need a friend I can call them and tell them I’m coming over to talk and they are welcoming (even late at night). Most importantly I know they pray for me.

All my friends may not be that close. We all have families and are at different places in our availability. I know other women who I hope to be this close to one day but we haven’t been able to nurture our friendship yet. There are close to a dozen of us. I can tell you that this is rare. Most of the time you will have a hard time finding 12 women who genuinely love each other. How does this happen?

I’m not sure. I don’t think there is a magic formula. I can tell you that we all love Jesus! We all started out meeting for Bible study on Tuesday mornings. Some of my friends are at a different place in their lives now and can’t attend. I do believe it is possible to have the same dynamic outside of the church, but here’s the thing.

It takes selflessness.

You don’t find that a lot of places. Selflessness is uncommon. Are we all completely selfless all of the time, no, but we go out of our way to be there for each other.

I can’t imagine my life without my friends! What are you thankful for today?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!