My Plant-Based Family

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

Healthy

On the Road Again

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This is the first part of a series on eating well while traveling. Today segment will revolve around eating well while in the car. In other segments I’ll discuss eating well in hotels, restaurants, etc.

Do you struggle to eat well while traveling? It can be difficult but it isn’t impossible even while navigating multiple food allergies and eating a plant-based diet.

Eating Well on the Road Part 1

With proper planning you can eat well while on the road. I’m not saying that you have to eat 100% healthy, we tend to buy special snacks for road trips but you don’t have to hit every drive-thru and gas station for food along the way.

I highly recommend a cooler or two if you have the room. We typically have a small cooler and a box for non-perishable snacks that we can easily reach. I also like to keep small cups that can be filled and refilled to pass back to my kids.

Fresh Fruit and Veggies

It may sound boring but fresh fruit and veggies can help with the car ride munchies. I prefer to buy pre-sliced or bite-sized options when possible. On our most recent road trip we packed blueberries, cherries (only for adults because the pits are choking hazards), apples, oranges, peaches, nectarines, grapes, and broccoli. Carrots and bananas are other easy options but my little guy can’t handle those right now. I was too busy to slice up cucumbers and bell peppers but those would have been great options.

Sandwiches

Don’t underestimate the power of sandwiches. If you are traveling 100s of miles without real food a sandwich can be your best friend. We used to freeze sandwiches before a trip and let them thaw as we traveled. Now I usually just make them right before we leave. This time I used GF bread for my 2 year old and whole wheat bread for the rest of us along with sunflower seed butter with jelly. You could make a good ol PB&J if you prefer.

If you are already packing sliced veggies you might as well pack some tortillas too. With tortillas you can make a quick wrap. I’ve seen (but haven’t tried) small packages of hummus that is doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

Snack Attack

We are snackers when we travel. We alternate between sweet and salty often. I’m not condoning this behavior I’m just admitting it. To keep us from buying Doritos and Little Debbie’s I made sure we had a full box of “healthier” snacks. I had applesauce pouches, every variety of granola bar I could find, air popped pop corn, fruit strips, lollipops, tortilla chips, roasted chickpeas and dried fruit. I’m sure there were other snacks as well but these are the ones I remember. Normally I’d throw in some chocolate too but I didn’t want it to melt.

Drinks

We also drink a lot while we travel. I always carry a reusable water bottle (it isn’t pretty but I need my water) for me and my boys. I also bought a large pack of water bottles because I’m quite the water snob and can’t handle yucky tasting water. We also brought a few Zevia Soda’s in case we needed an extra boost. My husband loves them but I still haven’t found a flavor I love yet. Of course coffee is highly sought after by me so we packed a coffee creamer in our cooler.

Do you have a favorite food to eat in the car (or on a long plane ride)? In the coming weeks I’ll offer tips for eating well in the hotel and how to search for restaurants that will cater to your needs.

 

Taco Salad Saves the Day

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I don’t know about you but growing up Taco Salad was a deep-fried tortilla, greasy ground beef, a little iceberg lettuce, and your typical tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. Bleck!

It is time to toss that artery-clogging “salad” out with a Plant-Based transformation!

This Plant-Based Taco Salad is a family favorite. Choose your favorite ingredients and customize your taco salad to your tastes.

This Taco Salad is healthy, plentiful in fiber, protein, and phytochemicals and just plain delicious! It is also easily customizable to accommodate various allergies or taste preferences.

Taco Salad

Ingredients

  • Lettuce ( prefer a mix of greens and romaine)
  • Cooked Beans (I use pinto, black beans or Taco Lentils)
  • Cooked Grains (I use leftover Mexican Rice, quinoa or Quinoa Tacos)
  • Cooked Corn (I just buy organic frozen corn)
  • Pico de Gallo or salsa
  • Avocado, sliced
  • Lime Juice
  • Crispy Corn Tortillas* or Tortilla chips (Optional)

Do

  1. Layer all ingredients into a large bowl (I use a serving bowl for me) except the tortillas/chips.
  2. Toss the salad so everything is well mixed and add a few chips for crunch.

*To make Crispy Corn Tortillas use soft corn tortillas, sprinkle with life and seasonings of your choice. Cut tortillas into thin strips and bake for about 10 minutes at 350° or until crisp.

This Plant-Based Taco Salad is a family favorite. Choose your favorite ingredients and customize your taco salad to your tastes.

Serve

This is an easy “buffet night” dish. It can be made quickly with leftovers or canned/packaged ingredients. If you are traveling with this for a potluck add the salsa, avocado and lime juice just before serving.

 

What is your favorite way to eat Taco Salad?

Taco Potatoes

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Taco Potatoes
She shoots, she scores! Yes, this recipe was a huge success in our house. I’ve made it many times but never shared it with you. Well, today is your lucky day. This recipe was inspired by Laura at Heavenly Homemakers and her recipe for Taco Potatoes. She includes meat, heavy cream and cheese her recipe so I’ve adapted it to make it plant-strong!

Taco Potatoes 2

Taco Potatoes

Ingredients

  • Cooked Baked Potatoes (1 per person)
  • 2 cups Quinoa “Taco Meat” OR Quinoa-Lentil Tacos
  • 2 cups of cooked black beans OR 1 can of drained and rinsed beans (optional)
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1/2 cup plain plant-based yogurt (optional)
  • guacamole (optional)
  • 1/2 cup corn

Do

  1. Cut cooked potatoes in half and scoop out some of the potato. I just cubed the potato for my kids.
  2. Fill the void with beans and quinoa.
  3. Top with your choice of fresh salsa, plant-based yogurt (for a tangy topping reminiscent of sour cream), guacamole and corn.

Serve

My husband and I LOVED this! My kids not as much. My two year old mostly wanted to eat all of the fresh salsa but he did finish his potato and quinoa. The 4 year old probably would have done better if all of the food was separated but he ate it.

This would be so easy to take to a potluck and is easy to throw together with leftovers.

This recipe was shared at Gluten Free Friday’s hosted at Vegetarian Mamma!

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie for the Virtual Vegan Potluck

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Today I’m taking part in the Virtual Vegan Potluck. I’ve participated before, “bringing” Gluten-Free Apple Muffins and Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins (with or without chocolate chips.) Now I’m branching out a bit with a main dish, trust me you will LOVE it!

 

You can start at the beginning of the potluck at Vegan Bloggers Unite or simply pick the category that most interests you. There are 169 bloggers participating so it may take a while to make your way through. The potluck was designed so you can seamlessly click from one blog to the next.

shepherd pie VVP

This Lentil Shepherd’s Pie has a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients but it is EASY to make. It has gotten rave reviews at several venues, even the Omni’s love it. It is a great holiday meal and perfect for a potluck. My toddler could not get enough.

shepherd's pie

Lentil Shepherd’s Pie (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

Ingredients

Potato Layer

  • 4 large potatoes
  • up to 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • up to 1/2 cup plant milk
  • salt and pepper to taste

Lentil Layer

  • 2 cups cooked Lentils
  • 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Veggie/Sauce Layer

  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1/4 cup onions, diced
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup green beans (I used frozen)
  • 1/2 cup green peas (I used frozen)
  • 2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour (I use brown rice flour for a GF version, you can use wheat flour)
  • 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 1 cup Rice Milk
  • Optional onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Do

Potato Layer

  1. Scrub, peel, and cut potatoes into large chunks.
  2. Cover with water and bring to a boil, cook potatoes until they are very soft.
  3. Drain potatoes and mash with a potato masher.
  4. Add salt and pepper, nutritional yeast and about half of the milk. Continue to mash or (whip) until everything is mixed, add more plant milk, nutritional yeast and salt as necessary to get the flavor just right. (Depending on the size of your potatoes this might not be enough seasoning)
  5. Set aside.

Lentil Layer

  1. Place cooked lentils in a pie pan, stirring in Liquid Smoke if desired.
  2. Spread lentils and pack them down into a smooth bottom layer.

Veggie/Sauce Layer

  1. Cook carrots, celery, and onions in a skillet, adding small amounts of water when veggies begin to stick.
  2. As the veggies begin to soften add mushrooms, green beans and peas.
  3. Once all veggies are soft, sprinkle in flour and nutritional yeast then give it a quick stir.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of the plant milk and lightly stir. Keep your eye on this and add more plant milk as it thickens, continuing to stir.
  5. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to your preference.
  6. Once the sauce is like a thick gravy pour the veggie/sauce over the lentils.

Spoon potatoes over Veggie/Sauce Layer and smooth out. Put in the oven and broil for 10 minutes. Check often to make sure the top is browning and not burning.

– – –

This dish is great for a potluck, a family holiday dinner or to take to a family who needs a little bit of blessing. It reheats beautifully and could be frozen for a future meal.

I hope you ENJOY!

If you want to make your way through the potluck you can got back to On the Path to Zen or forward to Veghotpot to check out what they brought.

I hope you take some time to make your way through the potluck.

Healthy Cravings Recap for April

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Healthy Cravings banner

This month’s Healthy Cravings was one of my favorites. Two teams faced off in a Top Chef/Chopped style cooking challenge that was judged by Holistic Healthy and Fitness Coach, Danny Collier. You can read a recent interview here.

We didn’t have a lot of time so as Danny began speaking to the rest of the crowd and sharing his story the two teams got their first peek at the ingredients they could choose from. There were several types of cooked and canned beans, grains, fresh and frozen veggies, fruit and spices.

HC April (10)HC April (9)

HC April (8)

HC April (7)

The were given 20 minutes to prepare and entrée and either a dessert or a salad. Both teams went over time but check out what they created.

HC April (11)

The winning dish was this Jerk Veggie creation served over quinoa. It was delicious.

HC April (4)

Second place went to this asparagus salad served alongside black beans, faux cheese sauce and guacamole trio served with brown rice tortillas with a banana-date dessert. Here is a closer look at that salad, it had mixed greens, quinoa, and an assortment of veggies.

HC April (2)

I couldn’t have my guests doing all the cooking so I made a couple of Shepherd’s Pies and my highly sought after gluten-free brownies.

HC April (5)

brownie 2

Given the same ingredients what would you have made for the contest? I would have made Mexican food! I know big surprise!

Meal Plan Monday: Happy Earth Day

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Happy Earth Day and welcome to Meal Plan Monday!

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but there is a tab on the Menu labeled “Meal Plans” that has every meal plan from 2012 and 2013 archived. This may be exceptionally helpful for those of you interested in Plant-Based eating but aren’t quite sure what to actually eat. I plan our meals using seasonal produce to if you live in a different area you may need to make some substitutions.

I usually keep it simple, I don’t have a lot of time for difficult or exotic meals. I make those on some occasions but we strive to eat simply, whole, plant foods as much as possible. Most of our meals are gluten-free to accommodate my little man, others are easily adapted.

Meal Plan

Breakfast

Right now I’m craving pancakes so we may have those soon. More than likely it will be for lunch instead of breakfast but I wanted to put it in the Breakfast category. We are big oatmeal fans here. My boys love oatmeal; we usually eat it with chia seeds, walnuts, cinnamon and fruit. I also like savory breakfast and enjoy Breakfast Tacos or Breakfast Stir-frys. If we are in a big hurry we will eat toast with nut butter and fruit.

Lunch

While I prefer leftovers for lunch my boys prefer sandwiches. You’d think I was making them something really special; at least sandwiches are easy. We often have an assortment of beans and grains I can mix together for quick meals. My boys LOVE baked sweet potatoes. My husband takes the previous nights dinner to work for lunch. Right now I have leftover Taco Soup, Chinese food, Broccoli and Brown Rice Casserole, and Shepherds Pie in single serve containers ready to go.

Snacks

My kids usually have mid morning and a mid afternoon snack. Most of the time it is fruit or a handful of walnuts although sometimes I’ll give them muffins or some other baked goods. They love smoothies but are equally as happy with raw spinach leaves dipped in homemade salad dressing.

Dinner

I plan dinners around our schedule and based on the price of seasonal foods. This week I bought a pineapple so it may be used in a pineapple salsa served on top of a Black Beans and Cilantro Rice Bowl or in a Chickpea-Quinoa Stir Fry or maybe even both. My kids would happily eat the whole pineapple in one sitting but I like to be more intentional so we can enjoy it at multiple meals. Easy Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole is a family and reader favorite! I let my kids eat it in a bowl but I prefer it in a burrito with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole. It is easy to make and inexpensive because it uses pantry staples. Once my garden is producing I’ll be able to make the salsa without going to the store. I didn’t make the Portobello Steaks I had planned last week so I hope to make them this week. I’ll use this Mushroom Marinade and serve them with Dirty Mashed Potatoes and green beans. On a side note a friend gave me a giant bag of frozen organic green beans so let me know if you have any suggestions for them.

I’m still experimenting with a few new recipes too but I’ll keep those to my self for now. 🙂

What do you have planned this week? Any delicious meals?