gluten free

Meal Plan Monday: Scavenger Hunt

April 9, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Our schedules are returning to normal this week, our big kids are back at their mom’s house and (at least for now) we are healthy. I find myself paying extra attention to every little cough or sneeze, hoping it is nothing.

Each week when I prepare our Meal Plan I take several factor into consideration; a few of them include:

What food we have on hand
What food is seasonal/better value
Our schedule
Likes/dislikes
Nutrition/variety

This week I’m also continuing my experiment on my 1 year old. It is not as ominous as it sound. He seems to have some allergies/sensitivities to several foods and it shows on his skin. He has reactions to rice, peanuts, and probably dairy although that has been removed from my diet since he was 9 month and he has never eaten it. My experiment is to see if gluten is also causing a problem.

My normal grocery trip felt much more like a scavenger hunt, and not a fun one! Since I’m new to the whole gluten-free arena I wanted to find a few convenience foods that would be appropriate for a 15 month old. So I’m searching for vegan, rice-free, peanut free and gluten-free. I did not find much. If you have any idea’s for me please share!

On to the Meal Plan

Breakfast this week will be Breakfast Quinoa, buckwheat pancakes, cereal and smoothies. I’m hoping to get more ideas, preferably things my 1 year can feed himself.

Lunches will be leftovers, wraps, baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and veggie soup.

Snacks will be strawberries, hummus (we have a ton the big kids didn’t touch last week) with veggies and maybe tortilla chips, nachos, fruit with almond butter and smoothies.

Dinner

Monday: Baked Potatoes topped with steamed broccoli and spinach. I like to steam red bell pepper with the spinach for a unique flavor.

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Couscous with sauteed veggies (in a veggie broth).

Thursday: A new Chickpea dish, I’m trying to decide between a few from Happy Herbivore.

Friday: Hopefully this will be a date night so I’ll just make something easy for the boys.

I’m attempting to have an easy week regarding meal prep. I’ll also be juicing for my husband. Everything I cooked last week was nutritious but we ate out a few too many times so this weeks focus will be on simplicity and nutrition.

I always have good intentions when I make the Meal Plan but I rarely follow it. Life happens and plans change. Sometimes there are just too many leftovers to warrant cooking another meal. Other times I forget to prep/soak something (like Chickpeas). I often use snack time to make sure we are getting plenty of fruit and veggie variety.

I will likely experiment with making some of my favorite baked goods gluten-free as well.

Do you have any suggestions for me regarding vegan, gluten-free, rice-free, and peanut free food for a 1 year old? Thankfully he is a really good eater and loves veggies. He devoured my quinoa this morning. The only veggie he doesn’t like (so far) is cucumber and I don’t like it either.

2 Step Quinoa Taco “Meat”

April 4, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo 27 Comments

Quinoa taco “meat” is a satisfying, protein-rich option that mimics the texture and flavor of traditional ground meat but with all the benefits of a plant-based diet. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just looking to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet, quinoa taco meat is a fantastic addition to your meal plan.

Why Choose Plant-Based Tacos?

One of the greatest advantages of plant-based alternatives is the reduction of saturated fats and cholesterol commonly found in animal products. Quinoa taco meat, in particular, provides a hearty, nutritious filling for your tacos, burritos, or salads without the downsides of traditional ground meat. But why quinoa?

Quinoa is a superfood in its own right, known for being one of the few plant-based sources of complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids. It’s also gluten-free, high in fiber, and packed with vitamins and minerals like magnesium, iron, and zinc. This makes it a perfect base for creating a nutritious, meatless taco filling that satisfies both your cravings and your body’s nutritional needs.

The Perfect Meat Substitute

When people switch to a plant-based diet, one of the main concerns is often how to replace the texture and heartiness of meat. Quinoa, with its slightly nutty flavor and chewy texture, is a surprisingly great substitute. It doesn’t have the same mouthfeel as ground beef, but when cooked and seasoned properly, it can mimic the texture well enough to satisfy taco lovers. Quinoa is highly absorbent, making it ideal for soaking up the bold flavors of taco seasonings.

One of the best things about the dish is its versatility. While tacos are the obvious choice, this plant-based filling can be used in a variety of dishes. You can layer it into burritos, sprinkle it over nachos, stuff it into bell peppers, or even use it in salads and grain bowls for an extra protein boost.

Ideal for Meal Prep

Another great benefit of plant-based quinoa taco “meat” is its convenience for meal prep. If you’re someone who likes to have meals ready in advance, quinoa taco meat is a perfect option. You can easily make a large batch, store it in the fridge for up to five days, or freeze it for longer storage. This makes it ideal for quick lunches, weeknight dinners, or even last-minute gatherings.

When you’re ready to eat, simply reheat the quinoa on the stovetop or in the microwave, and it’s ready to go. You can prepare a variety of taco toppings and fillings in advance as well, making it easy to throw together a nutritious, flavorful meal in minutes.

Quinoa Taco “Meat” Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup tomato sauce

Instructions

Step 1 – Season Quinoa

Stir all seasonings into quinoa. We like a lot of spice so feel free to pair this down if you’re not crazy about a lot of seasoning.

Step 2 – Add Tomato Sauce

Stir in tomato sauce, I happened to be out so I used about 2 tsp of tomato paste and a little water. If seasonings are not mixing well add a little water or veggie broth.

Storage

Storage is simple and ensures you always have a quick, healthy meal option on hand. Once you’ve prepared the quinoa taco meat, allow it to cool completely before storing it.

Refrigeration

For short-term storage, place the cooled quinoa taco “meat” in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for up to 4-5 days. When ready to use, simply reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through. You can add a splash of water or vegetable broth to keep it from drying out during reheating.

Freezing

For longer storage, quinoa taco “meat” freezes well. Transfer the cooled mixture into freezer-safe containers or resealable freezer bags, removing as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn. Be sure to label the containers with the date. It will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat as needed.

More Plant Based Mexican Inspired Recipes

If you like this recipe, you’ll love these plant based meals filled with flavors from Mexico:

Yield: 4 Servings

2 Step Quinoa Taco "Meat"

Try this delicious and healthy plant-based quinoa taco "meat", a protein-packed, vegan alternative perfect for tacos, burritos, salads, and more. Made with quinoa and spices, this easy-to-make recipe delivers bold, satisfying flavors for any meal!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup tomato sauce

Instructions

Stir all seasonings into quinoa. We like a lot of spice so feel free to pair this down if you’re not crazy about a lot of seasoning.
Stir in tomato sauce, I happened to be out so I used about 2 tsp of tomato paste and a little water. If seasonings are not mixing well add a little water or veggie broth.

Notes

Serve in tacos, burritos, salads, etc.

Refried Beans (Oil-Free)

March 7, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo 28 Comments

Refried beans, well not exactly, unfried beans, beans sans grease (lard or extra fat). Let’s just call them unfried beans.

When my husband and I first got together he did all of the cooking. He taught me how to cook Mexican food. To make refried beans, he would put a little oil in the pan. Then add the cooked beans then smash them with a potato masher.

Once I started ~~doing all of the~~ cooking I omitted the oil. He didn’t notice unless I would say something. I then got lazier and would just put the cooked beans into my Magic Bullet to save all of the work of mashing them.

Now that I have a food processor I have a super simple recipe for Refried, er Unfried Beans. I’d say they rival any canned refried beans that are seasoned and are quick and easy to make.

Do Mexican Restaurants use Lard in Refried Beans?

Some canned beans contain lard, and most restaurants use canned beans. Check the ingredients if using canned beans at home. I promise you won’t miss any of the fat in the flavor!

Unfried Refried Beans Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups cooked pinto beans (black beans would work too)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
small amounts of water
hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

Add cooked beans and all of the spices to the food processor and process.
Add small amounts of water until the desired consistency is reached.
Taste and add more seasonings if desired.

Enjoy restaurant style refried beans without sacrificing your health. These oil-free, plant-based refried beans are made in the Instant Pot.

Serving Suggestions

This was the perfect amount of beans for my husband and my nachos. If you are making bean burritos or just beans to accompany something else, this recipe is easy to double or triple.

Storage

Did you know that beans and unfried beans freeze well? You can make a big batch then package the beans into smaller serving sizes to freeze for later. I like to use a quart size freezer bag because I can lay it flat.

I’ve also made large amounts of unfried beans to use when we had company stay with us. They could make nacho’s, burritos, or a host of other things quickly.

Do you cook your beans? You will save a lot of money if you do. Read my post on “Plan for Success” if this is uncharted territory for you, in it, I detail how to cook beans.

Also, check out my Unfried Black Bean recipe!

More Plant Based Mexican Food Recipes

Yield: 2 cups

Unfried Refried Beans (Oil-Free)

A healthier version of refried beans without oil but all the flavor.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups cooked pinto beans (black beans would work too)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
small amounts of water
hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

Add cooked beans and all of the spices to the food processor and process.
Add small amounts of water until the desired consistency is reached.
Taste and add more seasonings if desired.

Notes

Freeze servings in a quart size freezer bag for later.

Progress Report: Unprocessed Challenge

February 23, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

This week I’ve been only eating unprocessed food. I’ve enjoyed some really good food but I’ve also let a bad attitude get in the way a few times.

I miss my toast. I decided not to eat bread at all, even my sprouted grain bread, because I was eating it way too often. It would find its way into breakfast, lunch, snack and dessert some days.

Eating processed food was really more of a habit than hunger. When I’d give my son a handful of animal crackers I’d normally eat a few too but not this week.

A few things that helped…

Having food already cooked and ready to eat.
Cutting fresh fruit and veggies for easy snacking.
Hummus!
Supportive husband and friends, and public accountability.
Cooking delicious food so you don’t feel deprived.

So what have I been eating this week…

If you remember on the weekend I cooked black beans and quinoa. I heated them up together in a bowl and added chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and onion powder. I laid them on a bed of greens, added salsa and mashed up half and avocado. A few squirts of lime juice and it was delicious! It reminded me of a salad from Chipotle. When I mention eating a bean and grain bowl this is what it is like sans greens. I love it with tortilla chips but not this week, roasted corn would be amazing in this.

Yesterday I cooked Minestrone Soup, one of my husbands favorites. I changed teh recipe a bit but we didn’t miss any thing I left out. I competely forgot about the green beans, too bad a have some in the freezer ready to go. I left out the noodles and veggie broth since they are both processed. The soup simmered for hours and tasted great. There was hardly enough left for my husband to take to work. Maybe if I wouldn’t “quality” check so often there would have been more. 😉

Fresh veggies and Jalapeno Hummus! Easy, delicious, unprocessed!

Smoothies! Who doesn’t love smoothies? We have been eating these for our after dinner snack/dessert. My husbands favorite this week was made with frozen bananas, frozen cherries, and a little almond milk. I like frozen banana, a few frozen cherries, a little peanut butter, a little cocoa powder and almond milk. You can make them with whatever you have, for a tropical flavor add frozen mango and/or pineapple.

Earlier this week I ate leftover Enchilada Soup. This time I made it with millet instead of rice. It was tasty.

There are really a lot of options when it comes to eating unprocessed. Some recipes can be slightly adjusted to become unprocessed. A few other things to consider are…

Avocado Chocolate Mousse, if made with date paste it becomes unprocessed

How have you been doing? Is it difficult for you to stick with it? Do you have any tips or recipes for the rest of us? Leave a comment below and encourage someone else with your journey.

Did you know that My Plant Based Family is on Facebook? To hear more about what’s going on in my kitchen check it out.

Meal Plan Monday

February 13, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Last weeks meal plan did not work out. We ended up changing plans on several days. I only made the Italian Bake and the Veggie Pot Pie, they were both delicious but I felt like I didn’t cook enough or have near enough leftovers to eat for lunch.

This week will be a different kind of week too so I plan to take it easy on the meal plan, plus I haven’t done my normal “mega veggie buy” at the store yet.

Dinner Meal Plan

Monday: Homemade Veggie Pizza

Tuesday: Special Valentine’s Day Fare that will include Gluten Free Apple Muffins and Gluten Free Chocolate Mousse.

Wednesday: Bean Burritos

Thursday:Enchilada Soup, a.k.a Soup of Awesomeness

Friday: Baked Sweet Potatoes for the kids, dinner out for the parents (hopefully)

This weekend my husband and I notice that The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue was available streaming on Netflix. I’d really wanted to see this movie for a while as I’m a big fan of Fork’s Over Knives. We watched it and realized how we have let a lot of processed food back into our diet. It’s amazing how sneakily it creeps back in. So next week we are going to challenge ourselves to go unprocessed. It wont work for us this week and we want to be fully prepared so this week we will finish off some of the processed food and be ready for next week.

Do you want to join us? I’ll talk more about it this week but I’d like to challenge you to go unprocessed next Monday through Friday. If you are having trouble losing weight this could really help, have I piqued your interest yet? You can bet that the Minestrone Soup will make an appearance in unprocessed week.

Leave a comment if you plan to join us. If you’re a blogger and want to blog about it next week I’ll include your blog in all of next weeks post.

Italian Bake

February 8, 2012 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

When I did the grocery shopping over the weekend I bought an eggplant. One of the great thing about a plant-based diet is there are a lot of plants out there to try. I have only had eggplant one other time so when I saw it was on sale I decided to buy it.

Then I had to decide what to make that would be dairy free. I thought about all kinds of Italian dishes then decided to just wing it as usual. While grocery shopping I also saw and bought some Daiya faux cheese to try, more on that later.

I didn’t taste test this before dinner. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out so I didn’t take a picture. The picture below if of it re-heated this morning (for breakfast). I cooked/streamed all of the ingredients separately and put them in a casserole dish but next time I’ll make this a one pan meal. I’ll include directions for both below.

Ingredients

cooked noodles, I used spirals whole grain noodles but you can use gluten free noodles
eggplant, peeled, roasted and chopped
chopped, steamed kale
chopped, steamed broccoli
chopped, steamed red bell pepper
1 jar pasta sauce
a few dashes of garlic powder and onion powder
Daiya faux cheese (optional)

Layer all ingredients in an oven safe dish.
Heat for 20 minutes or until warm in an oven at 365 degrees.

To make this a One Pot Meal

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
Add noodles and peeled, cubed eggplant to water then boil for 10 minutes. If you want tender broccoli add it now too.
If you prefer tender-crisp broccoli add it and the red bell pepper 5 minutes into the noodles/eggplant cooking cycle.
Two minutes later add the chopped Kale.
Once everything is cooked well drain water. I find it easiest to dump it into a large colander.
Pour back into your large pot and add pasta sauce.
Once sauce is warm add faux cheese.

Serve

This can be served with a side salad and french bread or on it’s own.

The Verdict

My husband and I loved this. My 3 year old liked it too but he didn’t like the chunkiness of all the veggies. Next time it might be worth it to puree them in his. The 1 year old loved this too but started having a reaction to something in it. We are not sure what so we will not be giving this to him again soon.

This was tasty this morning but not as good as it was when I first made it. I know it is not typical breakfast food but ever since I ate soup for breakfast last week I’ve been enjoying dinner for breakfast. Soon I’ll make breakfast for dinner and balance out the universe.

I bought the Daiya faux cheese to see what all of the fuss is about. The 3 year old, who really misses cheese like it, or at least liked seeing it on his food. It was OK but I’d rather not have any. It would probably be a good transition food if you really thought you needed cheese but I don’t miss it.

Have you tried any new foods lately?

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