My Plant-Based Family

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

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Meal Plan Monday: Spending Less to Eat More

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People always ask me what we eat; my answer is usually, “Real Food” or something similar depending on who is asking. I don’t have to read a long ingredient list because most of what we eat is pretty simple, but that doesn’t mean plain.  I buy whole ingredients that fit into my budget, some weeks we spend more than others and I stock up when our favorites are discounted.

This weeks meal plan will focus on low-cost, high quality meals. Depending on where you live you may not have access to the same food at the same prices. Tomorrow I’ll talk  more about eating plant-based on a budget. All of the items I talk about today are regular ingredients that we keep on hand. If you are new to plant-based eating it may cost a little more while you stock your pantry. You don’t have to do this overnight; we slowly bought new things as our budget allowed.

Nutty Apple Cinnamon oatmeal

Meal Plan

Breakfast can be the least expensive meal of the day. Oatmeal is easy to prepare, but sometimes takes a little practice. Cook your oats and add your favorite toppings. I like ground flax, chia seeds, and dried cranberries or raisins. Homemade granola is another easy option especially when paired with fruit. Baked Sweet Potatoes with a little bit of cinnamon is a sweet yet filling breakfast. Check out this post for more Breakfast Ideas.

Veggie Stuffed Pita

Lunch is a great time for a really big salad. I like spinach, tomatoes, peppers, beans, onions, carrots, and whatever other veggies I have. I prefer to eat it in a wrap with hummus. Most days we eat leftovers for lunch; including my husband who always takes his lunch. Soups are one of my favorite’s for lunch; Slow Cooker Potato Soup, Taco Soup, or Minestone help me warm up and fill me with fuel. Soups can also be taken to work in a thermos and kept warm. Baked Potatoes are also inexpensive yet filling, especially when combined with steamed or raw broccoli, raw veggies or any of the other lunch items mentioned. We do have our fair share of sandwiches (me and the kids) but they aren’t as inexpensive or nutritious.

apple slices with almond butter

Snacks are a great way to add an extra serving of fruit or veggies to your day. Sliced apples dipped in nut butter or veggies dipped in hummus are a favorite with my boys. Sometimes I make green smoothies too. If you have an early lunch and late dinner you may need a more substantial snack. Homemade granola or granola bars are much less expensive than sore brought and can be customized to your preferences.

Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole

Dinner is typically the biggest meal of the day at our house. The other meals are reactions while dinner is (usually) planned. We’ve been adding more salads to our dinner. I also try to have beans or a bean dominate dish. Beans are cheap and versatile. This Mexican Casserole has received rave reviews from adults and kids and is made with pantry staples. This Broccoli and Brown Rice Casserole is also a crowd pleaser and made with fresh or frozen broccoli. Our teenage daughter requested this once a week for months. Bean Burgers, Lentil Tacos, or Quinoa Tacos are easily mixed and matched for extra meals and make a great topping on top of a Taco Salad.

You’ll notice that these recipes are gluten-free, unprocessed, inexpensive and easy. Tomorrow I’ll talk more about how to eat a plant-based diet while eating inexpensively.

What are you eating this week? Any My Plant-Based Family recipes?

Tips for Planning Holiday Meals/Parties: A Manifesto

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A note: This is really long but not really a manifesto. I have a tendency to want to share EVERYTHING. Since Thanksgiving is coming up so quickly I just couldn’t bring myself to leave anything out.

With Thanksgiving less than a week away I thought it was only fitting to offer some tips for planning a big meal or hosting a party. This is not an all-inclusive list so please leave a comment with your favorite tips. I’ve hosted Thanksgiving 5 out of the last 6 years, this year I’m not hosting but will do a good deal of cooking. Since moving to Arizona we have also hosted an annual Christmas party for friends and neighbors. Although I have a lot of experience hosting events I don’t do it perfectly and that is ok with me. I try to do better each year, not bigger, not more expensive, not fancier, sometimes I just have a better attitude through the planning and preparing process.

holidays

Make Lists

Being organized will make everything much easier. Make a list for everything! I make all kinds of lists and they vary depending on the party. Almost every party has a food list and a house list.

Food List

I make these lists in layout format and start with the finished product. For example, on my food list I may write mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, etc. Next to the mashed potatoes I’ll write peel potatoes, cook potatoes, mash potatoes; then on the far right hand side of the paper I write all of the ingredients I need like potatoes, rice milk, nutritional yeast. This makes an easy grocery list.

After I have the whole list organized this way I’ll go back and assign a day for each task. Mashed Potatoes keep and reheat well so these can be made a few days ahead of time. Some food like dressing/stuffing are best done on multiple days, one day I’ll make the corn bread, another day I can chop the onion and celery, and bake a different day. You can also assign someone a task by telling them to do everything circled in yellow. I’m sure you know that each food item will need to be put in a serving dish but we don’t alway plan for that, especially when making a lot of food. Under each dish write how it will be served so it is clean and ready to go, for example Mashed Potatoes- Long Oval Bowl or Sweet Potatoes- Rectangle Pan. The last time I hosted Thanksgiving I also wrote a loose schedule of when each dish would need to be in the oven. I can only cook 1-2 items at a time or I can keep 2-4 warm. If someone else is bringing food make sure to ask if it needs to be heated when they arrive.

House List

I arrange the house list similarly. Each room is listed on the left side of the paper, then chores separately. For example next to Living Room I’d write vacuum, dust, clean furniture, etc. if I need to purchase anything to accomplish those tasks I write that on the far right side of the of the paper a.k.a. the grocery list side. Many of these tasks can also be completed days before the party day. If you’re like me and have small children in the house this may be really difficult, but do the best you can. Having everything written out makes it easier to realize how much work you have to do, you can prioritize and delegate as needed.

To-Do List

Sometimes I’ll have a Special Project List. For my Healthy Cravings groups it might have item’s listed like, name tags, check RSVPs, borrow chairs, drinks, disposable plates, forks, cue up video clip, etc. Items that need to be bought are also written on the right side. If you are hosting for a holiday dinner you may need to plan out decorations, seating, safe places for kids to play, do you have enough toilet paper, coffee creamer, clean out fridge, etc.

A few more tips…

Don’t wait until the last-minute to do your shopping. Shop as early as possible for supplies so you can make one last trip for the perishable items.

Know your limits and ask for help. If you can’t do it all ask someone to help with cleaning, food, shopping, or even watch the kids while you check things off your list.

Get a head count and ask about allergies. You want your guest to be comfortable, that will be difficult if their isn’t enough space, seating, or food. For parties this isn’t always possible. When we host our Christmas party it is always open house style with a few seating areas but chairs removed from food areas so guest can walk up “buffet style” and stand to visit or go to the seating area in the other room. One year we didn’t get the chairs moved out in time and all the parents put their kids at the table, which is perfectly reasonable, and the kids continued to stick their hands in the food on the table. Ewww! If you’re hosting a dinner where everyone will sit having enough table and chair space is crucial.

Plan time to get yourself ready. After a long day or cooking and cleaning I sometimes forget what I look like. I try to run up to shower at least an hour before anyone else is going to arrive. That is enough time for me but I’m kind of plain and don’t take a lot of time to primp.

Focus on the reason for the get together more than getting everything done. On too many occasions (ok usually every time) I’m still working on getting things done when people arrive. There is always something else to be done. 🙂 I try to keep an eye on refilling the veggie tray or hummus but mostly I want to enjoy my guests. I want to have conversations that matter with people who matter. I even leave a few extra towels out by the drinks because spill are going to happen and people feel bad for making messes.

Let’s hear it. What is your best tip or tips for hosting a shindig?

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.

Sweet Potato Casserole

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In previous Thanksgiving’s I would make a Sweet Potato Casserole, packed with butter, brown sugar, and topped with lots of marshmallow’s. This year I wanted to make my traditional, Southern Sweet Potato Casserole plant-strong and relatively guilt-free.

Sweet Potatoes Casserole that is vegan and gluten-free.


I hear there are vegan marshmallow’s somewhere out there but I decided to make a pecan glaze instead. I was inspired by Fat-Free Vegan’s Susan Voisin and her Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping. Her recipe looks beautiful but I didn’t want to add the sugar and margarine so my recipe differs dramatically. I prefer the Sweet Potatoes without the glaze myself but everyone seemed to like it when I served this to a dozen guest last week.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Glaze

Ingredients for Casserole

  • Sweet Potatoes (I used two huge potatoes but 4-6 regular sized would probably work)
  • 1/2 cup rice milk, more if needed
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for Glaze

  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 Tbsp sugar

Do

  1. Bake sweet potatoes, allow to cool slightly until they can be peeled.
  2. If using a potato masher mash peeled potatoes in a large bowl, adding milk a little at a time as needed.
  3. Add maple syrup and cinnamon.
  4. Pour into a casserole dish. I used a 9×9 dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
  5. While casserole is baking mix up the glaze by adding all ingredients to a bowl and stirring well.
  6. Taste glaze, add anything that appears lacking.
  7. Pour onto sweet potatoes and allow to cook for 15 to 20 more minutes.

Serve

This casserole is perfect for Thanksgiving Dinner but is also delicious any other time of the year. It is really easy, can be made ahead of time and re-heats extremely well. Whether you make the glaze or not I think your guest will be impressed. My 1 and 3 year old’s took care of the leftovers in no time at all.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet Potatoes Casserole that is vegan and gluten-free.

Sweet Potatoes Casserole that is vegan and gluten-free.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • Sweet Potatoes (I used two huge potatoes but 4-6 regular sized would probably work)
  • 1/2 cup rice milk, more if needed
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

  1. Bake sweet potatoes, allow to cool slightly until they can be peeled.
  2. If using a potato masher mash peeled potatoes in a large bowl, adding milk a little at a time as needed.
  3. Add maple syrup and cinnamon.
  4. Pour into a casserole dish. I used a 9×9 dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
  5. While casserole is baking mix up the glaze by adding all ingredients to a bowl and stirring well.
  6. Taste glaze, add anything that appears lacking.
  7. Pour onto sweet potatoes and allow to cook for 15 to 20 more minutes.

Notes

Can be made ahead of time and re-heated

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Heather Mayes

Veggie Broth Mix

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Do you buy Veggie Broth? I used to but no longer. Introducing my Veggie Broth Mix. This stuff has made cooking soooo much easier for me.

Dry Veggie Broth Mix

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One year ago when we first went plant-based I hated giving up the rich flavor I got from my chicken bullion. I switched to the veggie version and was quite happy with that until I learned it contained MSG. Bleck!

Dry Veggie Broth Mix

Then I switched to a veggie bullion I found at my local Sprout’s but it didn’t provide the same rich flavor I had grown to love. When making soups I’d add plenty of veggie’s but it wasn’t the same, adding nutritional yeast definitely helped the flavor but sometimes I want broth without making a whole pot of soup. My freezer does not have enough space for broth storage.

This veggie broth doesn’t have a lot of veggies but it does have a rich flavor that would be a great addition to sauces, soups, or anywhere you would normally use broth.

UPDATE: I’ve been making this Veggie Broth Mix for over 5 years! We still love it! There are a couple of ways to make it that will have an impact on measurements.

Dry Veggie Broth Mix

Shake, Stir or Food Processor

If you make this by shaking it in a jar, stirring it together or running it through a food processor you will need to use 1 Tablespoon of the mix for EACH cup of water. So if I recipe calls for 6 cups of water, you will use 6 Tablespoons of dry broth mix.

High Powered Blender or Spice Grinder

Some people prefer to make this in their Vitamix, Blendtec or spice grinder. It works really well but the contents get pulverized. Since it is broken down even more you’ll want to use 1 teaspoon of the veggie broth mix for each cup of water. You can always add a little more if needed. It’s hard to say exactly how much you’ll need because each appliance will create a different product.

This Veggie Broth Mix doesn’t have enough salt for me so I usually add more to the finished recipe. I try to keep my recipes low sodium for my readers on a low salt diet.

Veggie Broth Mix

Try this Veggie Broth Mix once and you will be hooked! Keep it on hand and you’ll have the makings of a delicious meal anytime.

Veggie Broth Mix

Dry Veggie Broth Mix
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 Tablespoons onion powder
  • 1 Tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients together, adjusting for your taste preferences. (If you hate one of these spices simply omit it.)
  2. Store in an air tight container.

Notes

Use this broth mix by adding 1 Tablespoon of the Veggie Broth Mix for each cup of hot water. For example if you are cooking with 4 cups of water, you would use 4 Tablespoons of Veggie Broth Mix.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Holly Yzquierdo

Use this broth mix by adding 1 Tbsp for each cup of hot water. I like to add extra salt to the finished product. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of dry veggie broth mix when using the food processor or string it together. That’s 24 cups of broth. I haven’t added up the cost but I think it is a much better value that all of the veggie broth I’d been buying.

Broccoli Potato Soup

Use this veggie broth in any recipe. Some of my favorites include Chickpea Noodle Soup, Minestrone Soup, Potato and Kale Soup but it is also incredible mixed in warm noodles, rice or watch it take your favorite casseroles to the next level. For more ideas check out my Recipe Page!

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Party Worthy Parfait

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Welcome back to day 2 of the Vegan Month of Food, a.k.a The Vegan MoFo. Today I’m setting my sights on the parfait.

Making parfait’s are super easy if you have kids they can help or make their own. If you own a large glass bowl or trifle dish they can make a perfect center piece for a party or make these in individual glasses like I did. These are healthy enough for an on the go breakfast but tasty enough for dessert too.

Parfait

Ingredients

  • Vegan yogurt (I use coconut, almond or soy milk yogurt)
  • Diced fruit of your choice (apples, berries, or bananas)
  • Granola
  • Nuts and/or seeds
  • Vegan chocolate chips (hey I’m not judging)

Do

  1. Layer granola, yogurt, nuts/sees, then fruit.
  2. Repeat step 1 two to three times to fill your container.
  3. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Serve

This was a big hit at my Healthy Cravings group served as a dessert. We ate the leftovers for breakfast and lunch for a few days after. A few of my favorite variations include Cinnamon granola with diced apples, Almond granola with mixed berries, granola with vegan chocolate chips and bananas. I like to top this with chia seeds right before serving. My son thinks they are sprinkles! 🙂

This recipe is kid friendly, omni friendly, and gluten-free if you use gluten-free granola.

What is your favorite parfait combination?