My Plant-Based Family

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

Next Step Challenge

Cheating

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Do you cheat…on your diet? I don’t.

I don’t cheat because I don’t make anything off limits. I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but is it really?

I’m the kind of person that as soon as I make something “off limits” can think of nothing else. If I decided to go off of sugar/chocolate/coffee I would crave it. Heck, if I decided to forgo eating broccoli I would probably dream about it until I caved.

After I transitioned to a Plant-Based diet I’d occasionally “decide” to have something that most people would consider a cheater food. One example of this is dairy. After the first few weeks off dairy I didn’t crave it any longer. One date night (after months off dairy) my husband and I decided to share a small piece of cheesecake, go ahead and shake your head in horror.  I woke up 2 days later with intense pain, mostly in my arm, shoulder, and neck. I could barely use my arm or care for my children. The pain was severe that day and slowly let up, it took about 4 days for complete relief. I always have a bad reaction to dairy and can tell if I eat in inadvertently.

For me dairy is not in the “off limits” category but it is in the “totally not worth it” category. I will never go back to eating dairy. Really I don’t miss eating meat either. I miss the convenience of running through a drive thru for a quick meal. Thank God for bean burritos!

Last weekend I took my son to a birthday party, I didn’t know what the food situation would be so I grabbed a Lara Bar just in case. I wasn’t going to be snobby or rude about any of the food but I also wasn’t going to eat something I wasn’t comfortable with just to make someone else comfortable. I was very happy to see fruit, veggies, “veggie straws” and a six-foot party sub with all of the trimmings. I could have eaten my Lara Bar but I was happy to eat what the hostess provided. I did take the meat and cheese off of 2 slices of sandwich much to the dismay of one of the party goers, until I offered it to him. He then determined that I was a good person to eat near because he could have what I didn’t want. Do you know what else happened? I loved my sandwich, I had been craving a sub but I didn’t want to eat the processed meat, blech.  Thankfully the mustard was the secret ingredient that made the lettuce, tomato, and onion sandwich a masterpiece. I loved it!

So as you can see, I never “cheat” I might decide to eat something in the “I don’t want to admit to eating this category” but not usually. In case you’re wondering there is also a “I don’t normally eat this but I will this time” category. That includes things like fries, restaurant salad dressings that are likely to have oil, and restaurant hummus. It could also include random things from the clearance section that contain a way too many ingredients but I’ve had a tough day and need chocolate now! Hey I never claimed to do this perfectly.

So are you a cheater? It’s okay, you can admit it, you are in good company. Or you can take my approach, it takes the pressure off of being perfect and just strives for being better. Try to make choices you can live with, not choices that are gonna kill you.

Gratituesday: Late Nights

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Two of our “big kids” have been here for almost two weeks and our oldest flew in on Monday night…late. My “little boys” go to bed about 7 and my husband and I normally call it a night between 9 and 10. For the last two weeks that has not been the case. I still don’t know how my husband is getting up so early everyday and functioning at the office. I get to sleep until 6 or 7 in the morning so I have it much better than he does.

Even though I am not getting near enough sleep I am so thankful that our kids are wanting to spend time with us. We watch movies, laugh, eat, play, talk, and have a pretty good time.

What are you thankful for today?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Meal Plan Monday: Feeding Teenagers

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Our big kids have been here for almost two weeks and I know my plant-based cooking is taking a toll on them,especially the fiber. When my husband and I went for our weekly grocery shop this weekend our 13 year old asked if we could pick him up some Doritos. We told him the place we shop doesn’t have Doritos, he was taken aback. No we didn’t make another stop.

Our oldest is flying in this evening so there will be one more mouth to feed. I don’t think he will be as hard to please.

I took out my Happy Herbivore cookbooks and asked the big kids to look through them and pick some meals they would like to eat this week. I was hoping to get buy in. They picked a few recipes but I’m not sure how well they will go over. I decided that pasta is usually well received and it’s easy so we will have pasta a few times.

When we go out to eat the teens can order anything they want but I’m only going to cook healthy, plant food. I did buy them some junk food for movie night, that moved earned me a couple of big hugs.

Meal Plan

Breakfast has been oatmeal, cream of wheat, and cereal lately and that seems to be working out easily enough. My husband has also requested Breakfast Quinoa and Breakfast Rice.

Lunches will be leftovers. Our fridge is full of leftovers right now; pizza, Lentil Fetoosh Salad, hummus and pita, and a black bean burger. I’m sure the teenagers will continue to eat PB&Js as well.

Snacks will be fruit, smoothies, crackers, chips and salsa, and other random things

Dinner is a little tougher to plan because I never know exactly what we have going on. Here are a few items I plan on making:

Macaroni and Cheeze*

Happy Herbivore Arroz Amarillo* with Black Bean Soup and soft corn tortillas

Spaghetti with Mushrooms and red sauce

Brown Rice, Steamed Broccoli, with Happy Herbivore Brown Gravy or some other creamy sauce

Nachos*

Baked Potatoes

*item’s the kids picked out

How do you please your omnivore teenagers? Do you have any tips for me?

Fitness Challenge: 1 Month Update

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About a month ago my husband and I made a commitment to get more fit. We were not able to get exercise in everyday and I was not able to run as much as I had intended but I do believe we are more fit than before. additionally, I don’t think we would have worked out as much had we not made the commitment together. 

I took measurements at the beginning of the challenge, some stayed the same and others decreased. I don’t claim that the measurements are 100% accurate but they are the best I could do. Three things factor into the accuracy, Milk Production, Clothing Choice, and Bloatiness. I’m a nursing momma so my “size” is always in flux. Also the bra I was wearing a month is too big and let’s face it all bras are not the same. Lastly, bloatiness (yes I’m pretty sure I made that word up) also changes day to day.

I don’t think anyone is actually interested in my actual measurements but I will list the change. By putting it out there I am more likely to keep it up. There was no measurable change in my hips, butt or biceps. However there was noticeable change in my:

  • Chest -1.5 inches
  • Tummy -1 inch
  • Thigh -.5 inch
  • Calf -.25 inch

These are not earth shattering. What is nice is that my size 6 jeans are getting loose! One year ago I would have told you that I would never be able to fit into a size 6, EVER! That makes me happy!

Another thing that makes me happy is that my body looks more fit, less fat and more muscle. Even though my measurements for my bicep haven’t gone down there is definitely less fat and my arm is leaner. I’m hoping the same is true for every area. My weight decreased by about a pound or one and a half pounds. It is at the lowest it has been in almost 10 years.

I was not eating for weight loss during this time. I was actually eating much more than normal, especially in the beginning when I was getting the hang of working out. I was focusing on fueling my body. I ate lot’s of complex carbs, whole grains, and even some fries (gasp). I’m sure I would have lost more weight if I had been more diligent but I’m still pleased with my progress.

We plan to continue this challenge. We still wont be able to work out daily but hopefully at least 4 days a week. I also want to run more, I haven’t been running much. Sickness, injuries, and super hot weather play a role in that.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint (Black Bean) Brownies

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Last weekend I held my first Food Demo. I had 22 ladies and two cute little babies come to taste a while host of plant-based dishes. I had a great time and I think they did too! I’ve even been invited to do similar Demo’s at a couple of the ladies homes.

There was so much to do I didn’t get much of a chance to share the “why” of adopting a plant-based diet, I focused more on the “you can eat real, delicious food” on a plant-based diet.

Dinner was Mexican food; it’s something that we really like and seems “normal” to people who don’t normally eat Plant-based. I had wanted to prepare a lot of different kinds of foods but as more ladies RSVP’d I knew I wouldn’t be able to prepare/store/serve that many dishes in quantities large enough for everyone to enjoy. I had a few more ladies RSVP that were not able to come. We enjoyed:

We also had lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and faux cheese sauce served with a choice of organic chips, corn or flour tortillas.  I demonstrated the faux cheese sauce for the group. One of my friends has been dairy-free for years, she LOVED it! There was also the obligatory veggie tray and hummus trio.

I also had a wide selection of desserts:

I had two ladies coming who are mostly gluten-free so I wanted to have at least one more gluten-free dessert. I came up with these brownies.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Brownies

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2-3 very ripe bananas
  • 1/3 cup agave
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I spilled it and add way too much)
  • 1/4 cup raw sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks)

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Process beans in food processor.
  3. Add the rest of ingredients except flour and chocolate chips.
  4. Process until smooth then transfer to a large bowl.
  5. Stir in brown rice flour then chocolate chips.
  6. Pour into non-stick pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done.

Serve

I cut these into bite size pieces for easy eating. They could also be cut into big pieces and served with non-dairy ice cream or even blended into a shake or other ice cream treat. I think these will be a go-to recipe at Christmas paired with candy canes or even red and green sprinkles.

Gratituesday: Hearing

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Yes this is random Tuesday at My Plant-Based Family. I didn’t have a crazy experience or anything traumatic. But this is what happened.

We normally go to church on Saturday nights. Our church isn’t big enough to accommodate everyone who attends on a Sunday morning so there is an identical service on Saturday nights. We were always Sunday morning kind of people. We would get dressed up, even though that isn’t required, and go to church. A few times we decided to attend the Saturday evening service and LOVED it. It was more relaxed, there were fewer people, and it felt more intimate with a smaller group.

This last weekend I held my Food Demo on Saturday night so I attended the Sunday morning church service. I was a few minutes late and it was packed. You couldn’t help hear all of the voices surrounding you. On Saturday evenings you mostly just hear the Worship team. On Sunday morning I heard the beautiful sounds of worship; from the stage, from the people around me.

I couldn’t help notice the difference in sound. I was thankful to be a part of that experience. Then I started thinking about other things I hear. The sound of the dishwasher running as I lay in bed at night. The strong winds and thunder we have been hearing this week in Arizona. The sound of my boys calling my name over and over and over again or the high-pitched voice my three-year old uses to sing when his little brother is upset.

What if that was all taken away; not all of those things but the ability to hear them. I suddenly became very thankful.

I can not imagine life without the voices of my kids or my husband, my family or friends. I am thankful that I can retreat from all of the noise and find sanctuary in silence but I wouldn’t want to live in silence.

What are you grateful for today?

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!