My Plant-Based Family

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

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Need Help With Your Photos?

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I know I can use all of the help I can get!

I discovered a great deal and I wanted to pass it on to you. The people who produce the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle have created The Ultimate Digital Photography Bundle! My photos have come a long way but they aren’t as good as I’d like them to me. Sometimes I’ll take 80 photos and none of them will really stand out as a great photo.

When I heard about this new bundle I was so excited because I’m ready to take my food pictures to the next level.

I’d also like to learn to take good pictures of my kids. I have few decent pictures of them but this bundle will give me the tools to capture great photos for my blog and for my family.

The Ultimate Digital Photography Bundle (Beginner’s Edition) contains a curated collection of ebooks and video training guides to help you become a better photographer. I’m sticking with this beginner’s version but there are more advanced versions available.

For months I’ve been eyeing Tasty Food Photography from Pinch of Yum! You can buy it on their site for $29. You can also buy Eat Pretty Things from Eat Your Beets for $29. Or you can get the bundle that includes both plus so much more for $37!

All the resources have been provided by professional, world-renowned photographers who are experts in teaching others – even complete beginners. You won’t need to switch up to a more expensive camera to make full use of the bundle (even if you just use your iPhone for photographs)! You can learn everything in little chunks – whenever you have a spare moment.

Click here to see the full range of ebooks and training courses included in The Ultimate Photography Bundle (Beginner’s Edition).

There’s even better news! They’re also throwing in a FREE copy of FX Photo Studio Pro software from MacPhun (which provides stunning filters and photography effects) worth $29.99!

Click here to buy The Ultimate Digital Photography Bundle (Beginner’s Edition) for just $37.

I have a lot of blogger friends that take the most amazing photos. I make amazing food but I know this bundle will help my photos look as delicious as they taste.

If you are beyond the beginner edition you can also check out the Intermediate Edition or the Advanced/Pro Edition.

This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I make a percentage at no extra cost to you. 

1st Meal Plan of Summer

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A gluten-free Plant-Based (vegan) Meal Plan

Last week I mentioned that school was almost out. It’s officially summer vacation in our house. One of the best parts of summer is the incredible produce. We’ve been eating cantaloupe, nectarines and lots of salads. Check out my Instagram for photos.

My husband has been taking over more of the cooking duties. I LOVE IT! The last meal I made ended up being big fail. I’ll try it again another day. We ate it but it wasn’t good. His meals on the other hand have been wonderful.

He’s been using my Instant Pot a lot for beans and grains. I’m going to show him how to make oatmeal in it next. Did any of you use Jill Nussinow 3 minute pressure cooker steel cut oats method? I pretty much live on it for breakfasts now.

https://instagram.com/p/0lxLb7oIU8/?taken-by=myplantbasedfamily

My backup breakfast has been cereal for the kids and is still toast with fruit for me.

We’ve been eating more salads for lunch lately. I prefer them with beans and grains because I feel more satisfied.

Dinner Meal Plan

We did a good job prepping this week so we have quite a bit of cooked black beans, brown rice, cilantro-lime brown rice, and lots of fruit and veggies.

I’ve got meetings a couple of nights this week (after work). One is to help a family transition to a plant-based diet and the other is to help someone launch a blog. That means I won’t be home to cook. We will rely on our leftovers those nights.

Jim will be cooking the Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole this week. Here is the Instant Pot version of that recipe.

We will use some of the cooked black beans to make these Quesadillas. The will go great with the cilantro lime rice (see the quinoa version here).

Pizza Pasta or Fiesta Pasta are both quick and easy meals if we need another meal this week.

I don’t think we will need any more food than that. If so we will add a few baked potatoes or an easy soup like Potato Kale Soup. I really want to make these cookies from one of my blogging pals.

What are you eating this week? Do you have anything prepped yet?

BBQ Cauliflower Bites

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For a girl that doesn’t eat meat, I really love barbecue sauce. Vegan barbecue is something I fully support. These BBQ Cauliflower Bites hit the spot. If you are looking for a plant-based version of BBQ Wings, give these a try.

Homemade vegan BBQ Cauliflower Bites. Similar to vegan wings.

Years ago, friends and I would share boneless BBQ wings in our late night chats. We’d order a bunch of appetizers and catch up.

Just because I avoid chicken doesn’t mean I have to avoid barbecue sauce. Especially this Homemade BBQ Sauce.

Vegan Barbecue Wings

You can make these with or without the breading. I’m sharing a gluten-free breading for the cauliflower but you can make it with wheat flour or skip the breading all together.

Homemade vegan BBQ cauliflower bites. Similar to vegan wings.

BBQ Cauliflower Bites

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 cup Gluten-Free flour blend
  • 1 cup unsweetened and unflavored plant milk (I use rice milk)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 recipe Homemade BBQ Sauce

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Rinse cauliflower and cut into two-bite-sized pieces (about 2 inches or so).
  3. In a medium bowl mix the rest of the ingredients (except BBQ Sauce) together. I recommend adding the milk a little at a time because you may not need the whole cup. Stir with a whisk until the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.
  4. Put a handful of the cauliflower pieces into the batter then remove with a fork and place it on the cookie sheet.
  5. Once all of the cauliflower pieces have been dipped in batter and arranged on the cookie sheet bake for 15 minutes.
  6. After 15 minutes carefully remove the hot cauliflower and dip them into the BBQ Sauce. Put them back on the cookie sheet and bake for 5 more minutes.

Serve

These BBQ Cauliflower Bites are best served right out of the oven.

Vegan BBQ Cauliflower Bites

Vegan BBQ Cauliflower Bites

Sweet and tangy vegan BBQ Cauliflower Bites are the wing substitute you need.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 1 cup Gluten-Free flour blend
  • 1 cup unsweetened and unflavored plant milk (I use rice milk)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 recipe Homemade BBQ Sauce

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Rinse cauliflower and cut into two-bite-sized pieces (about 2 inches or so).
  3. In a medium bowl mix the rest of the ingredients (except BBQ Sauce) together. I recommend adding the milk a little at a time because you may not need the whole cup. Stir with a whisk until the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.
  4. Put a handful of the cauliflower pieces into the batter then remove with a fork and place it on the cookie sheet.
  5. Once all of the cauliflower pieces have been dipped in batter and arranged on the cookie sheet bake for 15 minutes.
  6. After 15 minutes carefully remove the hot cauliflower and dip them into the BBQ Sauce. Put them back on the cookie sheet and bake for 5 more minutes.

Notes

These are best fresh from the oven and do not reheat well.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Holly Yzquierdo
Category: Main Dish Recipes

Need more barbecue ideas? Try these delicious recipes!

Vegan BBQ Sandwich...You'll never guess the secret ingredient!

Vegan BBQ Sandwich

Grilled Portobello Burgers and Vegan Potato Salad

Grilled Portobello Burger

Incredible vegan and gluten-free avocado grillers

Avocado Grillers

What are your favorite things to barbecue? Don’t forget the sides like grilled corn, veggie kabob’s, potato salad and pasta salad!

Meal Plan Monday: Spring Break part 1

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A new week calls for a new meal plan and I’ve been trying out some new recipes. I plan to keep some of my favorites in the rotation though. It also happens to be the first week of Spring Break, I say first week because my kids go to different schools and have two different Spring Breaks.

A gluten-free, vegan (plant-based) meal plan the whole family will love.

Meal Plan Monday

Last month I bought a new product to try at Costco. It’s a quinoa, amaranth and millet blend. I’ve been using it for breakfast and plan to make it for some Spring Break lunch concoctions too. I’ll share the recipe this week!

Breakfast and Lunch

Triple Berry Porridge, Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats in the Instant Pot and Toast with Fruit will make up our breakfasts this week. Lunches will be leftovers, sandwiches and baked potatoes. I’m planning to make this Banana Bread too!

Dinner

Veggie Pad Thai, I can’t remember the last time I actually make this. Even when it’s been on our Meal Plan I’ve skipped it.

Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms with raw veggies or salad (recipe coming soon!)

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie, if you haven’t made this yet you are missing out.

Gluten-Free Pasta with Veggies and Marinara

Potato Kale Soup, it’s my favorite way to eat kale! I’ll probably cook this in my Crock Pot this time.

I don’t know about you but this sounds like a wonderful week of meals. Hopefully I actually make it all. You see, I plan my meals but I leave room for change. Sometimes we have less time for prep, or we neglect to buy a much needed ingredient. The Lentil Shepherd’s Pie takes the most time so it is most likely to get cut. I’ve still got some leftovers though.

Do you make a meal plan each week? How often do you stick to it?

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Freezer Bag Soup

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I love soups! LOVE THEM! Many of my soups are quick to throw together but if I have to do a lot of chopping I’ll have to save it for the weekend when I have more time. Unless…

taco soup

Unless I use this tip! Make an extra Freezer Bag Soup!

Freezer Bag Soup

Next time you make soup get our a gallon-size freezer bag (or a freezer-safe pitcher if you don’t want to use a freezer bag) and make a soup for later. You can also prep several of these on the weekend.

I have not tried this with soups that contain pasta but I advise against it. 

freezer bag soup

Here are a few of the soups I recommend!

Taco Soup and/or Enchilada Soup

The first time I tried this method I was making Taco Soup. I had already batch cooked some beans and was ready to make soup. I decided to make one on the stove and add the exact same contents to a zip lock freezer bag for an easy meal on another day. I let it thaw in the fridge over night then poured it in the Crock Pot in the morning with some extra water. Viola!

Green Chili, Cilantro and Lime Soup

This one can be made two ways. You can add everything except water to the bag and store it in the freezer OR you can add just the dry ingredients together and store it in the pantry. If you choose the second option I recommend that you write on the bag the rest of the ingredients in case you forget.

You can place it in the refrigerator the night before to defrost or dump it frozen into the crock pot with the correct amount of liquid and cook it all day.

Chili

Normally I just cook a double batch of chili and freeze the leftovers but it’s easy to prep it and toss it in the freezer without cooking it. This is a great option when you have a lot of extra beans or veggies that need to be used.

When I was a kid my mom would make big batches of soup and chili and freeze them when we went on trips. Whether you cook the soups before hand or not having a “packaged” soup ready to go will free up time later. I definitely recommend it.

 What is your favorite soup? Have you considered trying this tip with it? 

Soup Week Meal Plan

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This week I’ve created a Soup Week Meal Plan. It is dedicated to all of you who are dealing with cold weather right now. Even though the weather is great here I still enjoy soups but I won’t be able to say that in a few months. In fact, I got my first sun burn of the year on Saturday.

I’ve been cooking Steel Cut Oats in my Instant Pot but we rely on cereal for breakfasts too. I have an “emergency” gluten-free waffle stash for my 4 year old. On those mornings when we are running really late he gets to eat a waffle on the way to preschool.

I’m about to make some baked potatoes for the week. I like to pour leftover soup over baked potatoes for a hearty lunch. Surely it will be the envy of the office.

Soup week meal plan

Soup Week Meal Plan

Potato and Kale Soup I make it in the Instant Pot but you can make it on the stove or in the Crock Pot.

Hearty Lentil and Barley Stew contains gluten but make it gluten-free by using rice, quinoa, millet or amaranth in place of the barley.

Chickpea Noodle Soup

Green Chili, Cilantro and Lime Soup is perfect the perfect comfort soup but I confess we don’t give it to the kids.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup is the easiest Crock Pot soup you’ll ever make!

Later this week I’ll share a tip that will make preparing soups even easier!

Last week I shared an EPIC round-up of 40+ Meatless recipes for Lent. If you know anyone who needs meatless ideas please pass it along!