My Plant-Based Family

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

Apple Muffins

Meal Plan Monday: Wanna Help

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I hope you had a great Mother’s Day weekend. One of the highlight’s of the weekend was the Virtual Vegan Potluck, over 60 bloggers shared recipes. If you have some time stop by the potluck. If you’re interested in seeing my contribution check out these Gluten-Free Apple Muffins.  

Every Monday I post a Meal Plan for the week. Sometimes I stick to it and other times not so much. I occasionally get stuck in a rut and make the same meals over and over. As the temperatures increase here in Arizona I find myself wanting to cook less and less. Does this happen to the rest of you?

Some of my quick and easy (I don’t want to cook anything) meals contained wheat/gluten and I’m trying to stay away from those now. Last week I shared on My Plant-Based Family’s Facebook page how my son’s eczema had almost completely cleared up when we were both gluten-free but started coming back when I would have wheat products (I’m still nursing him). 

The goal of my blog is to chronicle our journey eating a Plant-Based Diet and to do it inexpensively. That means paying $6 for a tiny loaf of gluten-free bread is not something that can be done often. Since we are relatively new to gluten-free eating I occasionally buy convenience items that are on sale, at least until I learn how to make substitutes. 

So here it is Monday and I need to come of with a Meal Plan, and I started thinking that maybe someone else would want to help. Do you wanna help? So I’ll share what produce I bought this weekend and you can give me ideas. How does that sound?

Produce

  • Spinach
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Tomatoes
  • Onions
  • Jalapeno Peppers
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • Limes
  • Broccoli
  • Summer Squash
  • Zucchini
  • Potatoes
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Grape Tomatoes
  • Strawberries
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Honeydew Melon
  • Pear (only 1 left)
  • Oranges
  • Kiwi

I also have a big batch of cooked Pinto Beans and of cooked Quinoa along with big batch of Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus and a small batch of Spicy Hummus. My pantry is stocked with my normal go to items like rice, beans, oatmeal (but not gluten-free), and pasta (that is gluten-free). To see my normal supply click on this post about Resources.

What would you make? I’m having company on Tuesday and promised her Mexican food, she is pregnant and has 3 little one’s. Any suggestions? I’ll be posting on My Plant-Based Family’s Facebook page what we end up eating so follow it if you are curious. I’d love to say you could win a fabulous prize but sadly I don’t have any prizes to give away. But I will give you and your blog a shout out if we make a meal that you recommend! 🙂

Speaking of shout-outs, have you checked out Tia Tofu, when she gets to 500 likes on Facebook she will be giving away cookies! I can’t think of anything better than that. So run over to Tia Tofu’s Facebook page and like her. She is fabulous I promise! 

What to Eat…Part 4

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On the weekends I typically get out of my normal routine. One of the casualties is drinking water. Do you drink a lot of water? Your whole body will function better if you do. Over Christmas vacation our teenagers were visiting (they live in another state) and the oldest had a headache two days in a row. I asked if he had an water recently and he had not. As soon as he started drinking water he felt better. Water helps every part of our body. So stop reading, get up and get a big glass of water.

The Apple Muffin recipe I promised is at the bottom of the post.

Today’s Meal Plan

Breakfast: Pancakes

There are a lot of pancakes recipes out there. I tried a new one today from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay S. Nixon. It tasted great and the pancakes were light and fluffy. I used whole wheat pastry flour and made half of the batch with blueberries. The blueberry pancakes were superior to the plain.

I also love pancakes with peanut butter or topped with fruit. 

Lunch: Baked Sweet Potatoes

Before changing my diet I had only had baked sweet potatoes at restaurants, mostly Salt Grass Steak House. Restaurants typically serve baked sweet potatoes with butter and brown sugar and/cinnamon.

Baked sweet potatoes are easy to make and really good for you, sans dairy and sugar. If your in a hurry you can even “bake” it in the microwave. Our microwave has a “baked potato” button. To prepare a potato just wash thoroughly, wrap in plastic wrap (if your cooking in the microwave) poke a few holes in it then bake until soft. If your cooking them in the oven wrap in foil and bake 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of your potato. While your at it save time and bake a big batch.

I like to add cinnamon to my bake sweet potatoes but my husband has them plain. Everyone in our home loves them. We have convinced our toddler that the peel is the best part, which he repeats continuously as he eats us.

Dinner: Stir Fry

We are never “in the mood” for stir fry. I usually make it once my veggie drawer starts looking pathetic and we need to use up all of the veggies that I had good intentions to cook. Something magical happens every time and it ends up tasting so good. 

Ingredients
  • carrots
  • onion
  • broccoli
  • peppers
  • any other veggies that need to be eaten
  • cooked brown rice, or noodles
Do
  1. In a heated skillet add carrots and any other veggies that are hard and need the longest time to cook. You not need oil. If the veggies start to stick add a spoonful or two of water to your pan. Keep stirring veggies.
  2. Add onions and peppers.
  3. Add broccoli and other fragile veggies that don’t need much cooking time. 
  4. Spices can be added now. 
Serve

Serve with warm brown rice or noodles. This could also be served with other cooked grains like millet or amaranth for some variety. 

 

Apple Muffins

Ingredients
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • dash nutmeg
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 1/2 cup agave
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup diced apples
Do
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Add applesauce, agave and 1 tsp vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  4. Add 1 cup dice apples and mix until just combined. 
  5. Spoon batter into paper lined muffin cups until 3/4 full. You can sprinkle extra oats or cinnamon on the muffins before baking if  you’d like. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Serve

Try not to burn yourself by eating these fresh from the oven. I took them to a ladies Bible study and they were a big hit. We ran out quickly so I plan to make more soon.