My Plant-Based Family

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

Dessert

Simplify Your Morning Routine

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This conversation is sponsored by Silk. All opinions are my own.

I’m always looking for ways to simplify our morning routine. I’m usually out the door by 6:15 and my husband finishes getting our boys ready and to their schools. We don’t have enough time during the week for complicated meals or extra duties.

Simplify your morning routine with Silk

There are a few things we do to make the mornings run smoothly. If we neglect them we have a hard time getting out the door as quickly as we need to. Let’s face it, mornings are difficult enough without chaos.

Tips to Simplify Your Morning Routine

1. We pack lunches the night before

Yes, everyone gets a packed lunch. My husband and I usually have leftovers while the kids get sandwiches, fruit and kid-friendly fare. Both of the boys have to take a snack to school too. I make sure the snack is in the refrigerator right next to the lunches. I try to get these in the back packs before I leave in the morning but if I don’t it’s easy for my husband to grab.

2. Keep a Launching Pad

I don’t know about you but we travel with a lot of stuff on a daily basis. My kids have back packs, lunch bags, sweat shirts that they take to school every day. My husband and I have various things we have to grab like our phones, I have a company computer I tote around along with my purse, my husband carries his wallet, and a few things he needs for work. Let’s not forget our morning travel mug of coffee! When we don’t have all of these things in the correct spot then we forget something. Some people call this spot a launching pad but we just use the end of our counter.

3. Easy breakfasts

Simply breakfasts are really important during this season of life. I have my kids sit down for breakfast every morning while I finish things up. Gone are the days of slow cooking oatmeal in the morning, I need fast and easy. When I plan ahead I can have breakfasts prepped on the weekends.

I’m usually so busy that I just grab breakfast to eat at my office. I recently discovered Silk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative. It’s make from cultured soy so it’s not a traditional yogurt but it’s so good. We’ve loved every flavor that we’ve tried and with 6 grams of plant-based protein per serving and no artificial flavors or colors it’s a great option for us.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical until I had the first bite, it was smooth, creamy and delicious. My boys have always loved yogurt so I knew they would like it. It’s nice to have another product that is safe for my son with multiple-food allergies. Sign up for Silk’s newsletter here to stay in the loop about new products and join their community.

Do you have tips to help you with your morning routine? I’d love to hear them!

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Birthday Week Meal Plan

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We’ve been celebrating, two of our kids had birthday’s this week. Unfortunately we’ve been a little under the weather too. I contemplated skipping the Meal Plan this week but a few of you spoke up saying you’d miss it. I waited until tonight to post it so I could show you a few pictures from our celebration.

I’ve been making a lot of new recipes lately but I don’t have much time to work on staging, photographing and editing so I’ve only been sharing them with people who come to my local events or those who buy a Custom Meal Plan. Don’t worry, many of them will get added eventually and others are being set aside for my next book.

birthdayAny time I ask my son to smile he does something like this. It pretty much captures his intense awesomeness. He asked for a cake with zebra stripes and angry bird candles and a #5 candle that we could set on fire. I am to please.

 

Birthday Week Meal Plan

The person with the birthday always gets to pick the menu on birthdays. My pantry got cleaned out this weekend and my fridge is fully stocked with fruit and veggies. It’s gonna be a good week.

Breakfast

Lunch

  • Bean and Grain Bowl
  • Veggie and Hummus Wrap
  • Bean Burritos made with Unfried Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Quinoa
  • Sunbutter Sandwiches with fruit
  • Baked Potatoes with Veggies

Dinner

In the last two months we have celebrated 5 birthdays in our immediate family (although one of our son’s doesn’t live with us anymore). We now have a break from birthdays but I’ve been working on several different gluten-free and vegan cake recipes. I think I’ll keep at it, besides I like cake, win-win.

Plant-Based Brownies

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Who doesn’t love sinking their teeth into a rich, decadent brownie? It’s the perfect treat offering a blend of chocolate goodness and fudgy texture. But plant-based brownies?? You’ll never taste the difference!

Plant-Based Brownies

With no dairy or eggs in sight, these brownies are great for individuals with dairy allergies, lactose intolerance, or those following a vegan lifestyle. Plus, they’re naturally gluten-free, making them suitable for a wide range of dietary preferences.

Plant-based brownies are proof that you don’t have to compromise on taste or texture to enjoy dessert.

What are Vegan Brownies Made of?

Traditional brownie recipes often rely on butter, eggs, and refined sugars for their irresistible flavor and texture. These ingredients are a source of concern for those following a vegan or plant-based diet. Enter my secret ingredient: Sweet potatoes!

Plant-Based Brownies

Sweet Potato Brownies

This recipe calls for 2/3 cup of cooked, pureed sweet potatoes. I like to cook the sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot for convenience, but you could bake them in the oven.

Once they are soft, you can mash them with a fork, but you may notice some tiny orange bits in your brownies. If you blend them in a blender or food processor until they are creamy, you won’t see the sweet potatoes at all in your final treat.

We always use Enjoy Life Foods Chocolate Chips. Either the mini chips, semi sweet chips or chocolate chunks all work equally well. 

Plant-Based Brownies Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

Step 1 – Preheat

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray an 8×8 pan. (This recipe doubles wonderfully, just use a 9×15 pan.)

Step 2 – Mix

Put all of the ingredients except chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Stir until everything is mixed well adding more plant milk if needed.

Step 3 – Fold

Fold in chocolate chips reserving a few spoonful’s. Spread the batter smooth and sprinkle the reserved chocolate chips on top.

Step 4 – Bake

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. An inserted toothpick will not come out clean.

Step 5 – Cut

Allow these brownies to cool before cutting. I like to serve them with a plant-based milk and fruit to cut the sweetness.

Storage

Any leftover brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Unlike most gluten-free baked goods these taste great the next day!

Alternative Ingredients

I’m out of applesauce, what can I use?

Use a pureed apple, pear, peach or other similar fruit. See this post about substituting applesauce for more suggestions. 

What can I use instead of cane sugar?

You can use your favorite sweetener! I’ve used turbinado sugar for years. Lately we have switched to organic cane sugar. Coconut sugar works great too.

That’s a lot of sugar, can I use less?

Absolutely! I recommend using half. This recipe is really sweet, which we love, but it’s too sweet for some. You can also try using maple syrup, date paste or your favorite sugar. If using a liquid form of sugar, you may need to decrease the amount of plant-based milk you use.

Can I use something other than Sweet Potato?

Yes, you can substitute pureed pumpkin in place of the sweet potato. You could also try pureed squash or zucchini but I haven’t personally tried them.

More Plant-Based Desserts

If you like this recipe, you’ll love these other plant-based desserts:

Yield: 9 Brownies

Plant-Based Brownies

Plant-Based Brownies

Gluten-free, oil-free, dairy-free, Plant-Based Brownies! These delicious brownies are sweet and gooey. Your whole family will love this plant-based dessert.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Cup for Cup Gluten-Free Flour
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
  • 2/3 cup pureed cooked sweet potatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup plant-based milk, I use rice milk
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and lightly spray an 8×8 pan or use parchment paper. (This recipe doubles wonderfully, just use a 9×15 pan.)
  2. Put all of the ingredients except chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Stir until everything is mixed well.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips reserving a few spoonful’s. Spread the batter smooth and sprinkle the reserved chocolate chips on top.
  4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, toothpick will not come out clean.

Notes

Allow these brownies to cool before cutting if at all possible. They can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature but you probably wont have leftovers unless you make a double batch.

Did you make this recipe?

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© Holly Yzquierdo
Category: Dessert

Chocolate Cake:Gluten-Free and Vegan

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GF, V Chocolate Cake

If you have to avoid wheat/gluten then this is the cake for you. I developed a fascination for GF baking several years ago because I had two friends who couldn’t eat gluten and never got the good stuff at potlucks. I would try to always make something they could eat. They were always so appreciative even though I never loved my creations, they were happy to have whatever I brought.

Fast forward to spring/summer 2012 and I finally discover my son’s eczema is the result of gluten/wheat. He was just under 1 1/2 years old so he wasn’t eating a lot of cakes or cookies but he loved pancakes, banana bread, etc. I was determined that he wouldn’t have to do without “normal” food.

frosted chocolate cake

I have a list of favorites I intend to adapt so that they are gluten-free, dairy-free, and peanut-free. I want my little guy to experience donuts, birthday cake, and banana pudding without pain or illness.

I’ve been working on this cake for a while. I wanted to make it as allergy friendly as possible. I have a friend who can’t have apples or bananas so I had been making it without them but I couldn’t get the taste or texture right. I decided to abandon that idea (temporarily, I’ve got some ideas) because I needed to make a birthday cake for my 4 year old.

If you follow My Plant-Based Family on Facebook then you know that I shared this recipe with several people. I got great feedback from everyone who made it. Some people couldn’t make it because they couldn’t find all of the ingredients. I buy some of them from Amazon because I can’t always find them locally. You could probably substitute a store bought GF baking mix with good results.

GF Chocolate cake

Gluten-Free, Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 c brown rice flour
  • 1 c sorghum flour
  • 1/2 c tapioca flour
  • 3/4 c cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp xanthum gum OR guar gum
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 c warm water*
  • 3 tsp EnerG Egg Replacer*
  • 1 c turbinado sugar (I’ve also used agave nectar with good results)
  • 1 c unsweetened applesauce
  • 1-2 mashed bananas
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 c rice milk (reduce to 1 cup if you use agave nectar)
  • 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional but oh so good)

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and spray two 8 or 9 inch pans with cooking spray. I’ve also made this in a bundt pan with good results (but longer baking time).
  2. In a mixing bowl add dry ingredients, brown rice flour through sea salt.
  3. In a small bowl or measuring cup mix warm water and egg replacer and set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl mix sugar through milk. Add “egg” and mix well.
  5. Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients until well incorporated.
  6. Add chocolate chips and stir until just mixed.
  7. Pour batter, dividing into two pans.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Serve

This cake can be frosted once cooled or enjoyed as is. It is birthday cake worth. I’ve also layered fresh strawberries between the layers and used both Avocado Mousse and Coconut Cream Frosting. My 2 year old got Cococonut Cream Frosted Mini Cupcakes for his birthday and my 4 year old got store bought frosting on his birthday cake; it should be noted that neither kid liked the store bought frosting. Lesson learned: Plant-based kids don’t need over processed, store bought junk food. 🙂

birthday cup cakes

November Healthy Cravings Recap: A Thanksgiving Feast

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Last week I had a great time with the group of ladies who come to my home for Healthy Cravings. If you’re new here and not sure what I’m talking about Healthy Cravings is a monthly meeting I host to help ladies learn and hopefully transition to a plant-based diet.

My sweet friend Rene came to share her story. She has been eating a plant-based diet for about 4 months and loves it. She told the group that she had always been a dieter but the other diets weren’t sustainable. Eating a plant-based diet is a life-style change for Rene and her husband. After sharing her story she was gracious enough to answer questions for the group. Thank you Rene!

This month’s theme was Thanksgiving foods. I’d been looking for ideas for quite a while and organizing them on Pinterest. Every dish was vegan and gluten-free. unfortunately I didn’t get great pictures since it was already dark but I’ll be remaking many of these dishes over the next two weeks.

These Mashed Potatoes were the most popular dish of the evening. Everyone loved them. They need no accompaniment but I made the Happy Herbivore’s Thanksgiving Gravy that you can find by clicking here along with all of Linsday’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes.

I also made the Sweet Potato Casserole that I shared yesterday. Everyone loved it too and several of the ladies have been patiently awaiting this recipe.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving Dinner has always been the Corn Bread Dressing. I created my own vegan and gluten-free recipe based on my Memaw’s recipe (that is full of eggs and butter). It tasted great when I made it in the morning, unfortunately it dried out through the re-heating process. I’ll continue to tweak this and share the recipe soon.

I made two recipes from Susan at Fat-Free Vegan. First was her Impossible Vegan Pumpkin Pie. It is really easy to make but came out more like a pumpkin mousse that a pie, I even made it the day before like she recommends. Next time I’ll likely cut back on some of the spices because it was a little too “spicy” for us.

Second was The Best Vegan Green Bean Casserole. I made this last year also and it is really good. So much better and better for you that my old recipe that used canned green beans, cans of cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions. I’ll admit I love those french fried onions but they contain wheat so I made my own gluten-free topping featuring GF bread crumbs, onions, and broth made from my broth mix.

Lastly I made Good Clean Food’s Cranberry Maple Compote. Forget your old, canned cranberry sauce this Cranberry Maple Compote is amazing. I have never liked cranberry sauce until now. I soooo wanted to pour this in a flaky crust and scoop some almond milk ice cream on top. I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

Our next Healthy Cravings group isn’t meeting until January but the food will focus on plant-based party and Super Bowl food. Oh yeah, come hungry.

Thanksgiving is just over a week away here in the U.S. so I’ll be enjoying these delicious foods at least once more this year. We are getting together with two other families who have really become family to us. I’m so thankful for them and I’m looking forward to sharing this special meal with them.

Chocolate Mousse…How I Love Thee

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When I first posted this recipe for Chocolate Mousse it just happened to be on Food Waste Friday and it was right before Valentine’s Day. It really deserved its own post but I tried to do two things at once and always kind of regretted it. With the holidays right around the corner I thought it was only fair to give this delectable recipe it’s very own post. 🙂

avocado Chocolate Mousse

Let me tell you, everyone who has ever tried this has LOVED it! Even people who aren’t normally chocolate lovers LOVE this.

Before you attempt to prepare it make sure your avocados are nice and soft.

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

  • 4 ripe avocados
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 cup agave (you could maple syrup or date paste instead)
  • pinch of salt
  • a few drops of vanilla

Do

  1. Open avocados and empty them (minus the pit) into a blender/mixer/food processor.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Add half of the cocoa powder and half of the agave along with the salt and vanilla.
  4. Blend until well mixed, taste and add more cocoa powder and agave until it is the flavor you like. You will not taste the avocado.
  5. Refrigerate until cold.

Serve

This could be served with almost any fruit, strawberries make a wonderful accompaniment. I’ve even frosted cupcakes too. I could eat it with a spoon but I’m wild like that. You will not believe something this creamy is dairy-free. For a frozen treat, freeze it by the spoonful (on a plastic spoon). You can also freeze it in a small bowl or cup, just let it defrost for a few minutes before enjoying.

This has a really long shelf life (when refrigerated) probably due to all of the sugar. I have done experiments but it’s safe to say it usually lasts well over a week. If it’s frozen I’d use it within a month. It seems to work best for me when I use my food processor but I have used my Magic Bullet with good results, it just takes longer.