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21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

October 30, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 5 Comments

Do you struggle with your Plant-Based Diet? You are not alone. I hear from people all of the time who are having a hard time sticking to (or starting) a plant-based diet.

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

Starting November 1st I’ll begin a 21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge and I’d love for you to join me.

The Guidelines

There aren’t a lot of rules but there are guidelines. They can be adapted to meet your particular needs. For example if you can’t tolerate grains then adapt this to your needs. If you are like me and thrive with grains eat more. If you need more calories eat nuts, seeds, avocado, etc. If you need to lose weight omit those high calorie plant-foods.

“Headquarters” for the Challenge will be at The My Plant-Based Family Group (not the page).

Each day I’ll create a thread and you’ll report in and tell me how many points you earned for the day. I’ll keep a tally and each week I’ll (discretely) post the rankings for example John S., Suzy Q., Jane D. I’m working on arranging giveaways from sponsors for participants.

If there is an interest we will have weekly Video Chat using Google Hangouts where you can ask questions and get support.

About the Food

How can I eat that much food? For the purposes of this Challenge consider 1/2 cup to be a serving size, except for raw greens (those are 1 cup serving size). Let’s look at one possibility of a typical day.

Breakfast

1 cup of Oatmeal, with 1/2 cup of blueberries

[2 servings grains, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Morning Snack

A Banana

[1 serving fruit]

Lunch

Burrito Bowl with 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup diced tomatoes/onion/peppers (salsa) and one apple

[1 serving grains, 1 serving beans, 2 servings veggies, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Afternoon Snack

1 cup raw veggies like carrots, peppers, cucumbers etc. with 1/2 cup (oil-free) hummus and 1/2 cup of grapes

[1 serving veggies, 1 serving beans, 1 serving fruit]

Dinner

Chickpea Noodle Soup, side salad and a baked Cinnamon Apple

[1 serving beans, 2 serving veggies, 1 serving fruit]

This menu is roughly 5 servings of fruit, 6 servings of veggies, 3 servings of grains and 3 servings of beans. Our goal will be to eat 90% unprocessed plant-based foods.

To “sign-up” simply Join the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group. There will be a post “pinned” to the top, read it and comment appropriately. Each day you’ll report in and I’ll dispense information via the group. If there is an overwhelming amount of people not on facebook that want to participate I’ll consider a Google+ group for the Challenge.

Please note that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. You should consult your doctor or registered dietitian for nutritional advice.

Fiesta Pasta

October 29, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 13 Comments

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a long time, like over a year. My apologies. I think you will agree that it is worth the wait. I’m the kind of girl who loves a vegan, gluten-free, nut-free pasta that tastes like it belongs in a restaurant. It’s also soy-free if that is important to you.

What’s better than pasta? Pasta with Mexican flare. I often use macaroni noodles and call this Fiesta Mac but you use whichever noodles you like but if you are feeding toddlers small noodles are usually best.

Fiesta Pasta

Ingredients for the sauce

2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour*
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant-milk

Ingredients for the pasta

1 package (16 oz) Gluten-Free Pasta (any shape)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup organic corn (I use frozen)
1 cup diced tomatoes

*cornstarch can be used instead

Do

Dump all of the dry ingredients for the sauce into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Pour in 1/2 cup plant-milk and stir with a whisk.
In a separate pot bring water to boil to cook pasta. Follow the package directions.
Alternate between whisking the sauce and scraping the bottom with a silicone spatula. As the sauce thickens add another 1/2 cup of plant milk until the full 1 1/2 cups is used.
Pour beans and corn into the pasta in its last few minutes of cooking time.
Drain pasta (and corn and beans), pour Fiesta Sauce on top of pasta and mix well.
Dump tomatoes on top and mix one more time.

Serve

Fiesta Pasta is perfect for a potluck and can be used as the Main Dish or a Side Dish! The Fiesta Sauce gives it just the right amount of cheezy flavor without the dairy. You can also add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce (no need to change other measurements, just cook it a bit longer) for a slightly more savory flavor.

This recipe made me fall in love with nutritional yeast all over again. You can easily alter it to suit your preferences.

The page contains affiliate links.

Le Creuset Giveaway

October 18, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

It’s Fall and that means casseroles, well at least in my house. I love casseroles, they are at the top of my comfort food list. As the temperatures lower I love standing in my kitchen near a hot oven and coming up with new recipes.

I can’t (and won’t) tell you how many times I’ve finished off the casserole instead of putting the leftovers away. Yes, right out of the casserole dish. It just taste better that way.

That’s why I’m so excited about this Le Creuset Giveaway.

Soon the holidays will be upon us and we will be serving our families deliciously cooked meals. As a thank you for being faithful readers several of our blogging buddies have come together to host a fantastic giveaway that will help make your holiday dinners even more stunning!

Wouldn’t that look beautiful on your table this year? I think so too!

Epi-Family and Vegetarian Mamma, along with My Plant Based Family, Table for Seven, What the Fork Food Blog, My Gluten Free Kitchen, Flippin Delicious, I’m a Celiac and Life Made Sweeter have come together to offer this special giveaway.

One lucky US Winner (lower 48) will get a

Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware, 12-by-9-Inch Covered Rectangular Dish in Cherry Color

Entering is easy….
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Important things to know…This prize will be shipped to you directly from amazon. This giveaway is a thank you to our readers and is not affiliated with facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram, rafflecopter or directly to any of the bloggers listed. The winner will be chosen at random by the widget. The winner will be contacted and given 48 hours to respond with their shipping information. If winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be randomly picked.

Meal Plan Monday: Fall Break Menu

October 6, 2014 by Holly Yzquierdo 2 Comments

It’s Fall Break so my kids are home from school this week. That means I’ll be doing a lot more cooking with at least 3 times as many interruptions. The weather has finally started to cool off meaning it’s not supposed to be in the 100s. That also means I’m back to using my oven. I’ve been testing a lot of new recipes that will go into an UPDATED version of my Thanksgiving Meal Plan! Stay tuned for more details. I’ve been sharing them on Facebook.

I’m also preparing some food for a Naturopathic Medicine Week Open House at Keystone Natural Family Medicine. If you live in the Phoenix area mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 8th and stop by between 3:00 and 6:00. There will be classes starting every 30 minutes and raffle prizes at the end. I’d love to meet you!