My Plant-Based Family

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

Meal Plan Monday

Meal Plan Monday: June 15, 2015 and a 15 Minute Recharge

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This weekend we spent time in the pool, had a family move night (at home), attended church and spent some time resting.

We work really hard during the week and need time to recharge on the weekend.

I know that we have to be careful about spending too much time in the sun and use sun screen, I even wrote about it last year, but I feel great after 15 minutes in the sun. I don’t get burned but I get nice and hot and start to sweat. Even when I have a headache, if I can go outside and relax for 15 minutes I feel so much better. Do you have a 15 minute recharge?

We did a little bit of cooking as well. Sweet Potatoes and small red potatoes, brown rice and black beans were all cooked in my Instant Pot. I shouldn’t say “we” because my husband cooked them. He does most of the cooking these days. Isn’t that awesome?

A Plant-Based Meal Plan that is also gluten-free and low fat. Perfect for anyone trying to eat healthier. These delicious meals packed with fiber and nutrients will keep you full.

Meal Plan

Our boys start swim lessons this week so we wanted to be prepared for the week since our schedule will be different. I know all of that swimming will have the boys extra hungry.

Breakfast

No matter what we have for breakfast we are loading up on delicious summer fruit to go with it. Peaches, nectarines, berries and melon!

Lunch

I pack my lunch when I go to the office. In addition to bringing lunch I pack lots of veggies for snacking and always eat a piece of fruit on the way home. Jim takes the boys on a “field trip” once a week and packs them lunch. This week they go to the Science Center.

  • Veggie Sandwich
  • Leftover Soup
  • Bean and Grain Bowl
  • Big Black Bean Salad
  • Baked Potatoes

Dinner

We still have Mexican Casserole leftover along with all of the foods Jim cooked for us. On a side note our 4 year old calls the Mexican Casserole Mess-Kit Casserole. It’s too funny.

We may not need to cook all of those dinners since we have other things already made. We have a plan to fall back on though.

What are you eating this week? I’ll try to post lots of pictures on Instagram.

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June 8, 2015 Plant-Based Meal Plan

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Since I’m posting this weeks meal plan a little later than normal I can already tell you what I ate today. Wanna hear it?

Breakfast Rice with diced apples for breakfast, sliced carrots, cucumbers and bell peppers wit hummus for snack, leftover Veggie Pad Thai for lunch, a nectarine for snack, apple slices for my drive home snack and so far chips and guacamole for dinner. Don’t worry, that’s not my real dinner but I had a large portion. Other than the guacamole this is fairly typical. I usually have a large salad in there some where but we were out of greens until Jim when to the store today.

I’ve been really focusing on my food lately. It’s easy to let unhealthy habits find their way into your day. For me, this happens when I’m really busy (who isn’t) or stressed. I’ll use food to meet some need but it doesn’t really do the trick. More often than not we end up making bad choices. Personally I strive to eat healthy most of the time but I allow some room for treats. I made my gluten-free Brownies this weekend!

Let’s talk meals.

A summer meal plan for plant-based vegan diet

Plant-Based Meal Plan

 

Breakfast

We’ve take a little bit of a break from oatmeal and eaten more Breakfast Rice. Instead of cooking it as instructed we will cook a large batch of plain brown rice and add stuff like cinnamon and apples or strawberries and bananas to it later.

I’m ready to bring back Breakfast Quinoa or the Summer Berry Quinoa to help my strawberry cravings.

Lunch

Lunches are usually leftovers or big salads for me. The boys get lots of salads too. Jim makes their lunches. He provides them greens, carrots an assortment of fruit then asks them to pick two of the following: beans, rice or potatoes.

Any leftovers are fair game.

Dinner

White Bean Enchiladas

Enchilada Soup on a rainy day

Black Bean Mango Salad

Light and Lemony Quinoa Wraps

Rice and Bean Bowl

What are you having this week? Any My Plant-Based Family Recipes? If you are addicted to taking photos of your food be sure to tag me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Meal Plan Monday Soups and Salads

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Plant-Based meal Plan

I don’t know about you but we have been eating very well. Not that it is summer we are eating salads and fresh veggies daily. My husband has been making these incredible veggie filled meals for our boys everyday and texting me photos so I signed him into my Instagram so he will be sharing them with you all now.

You may have noticed that we’ve done a redesign. I’m still tweaking things a bit. Kathryn at Food Allergy Jams is great to work with. Check out her Instagram, it’s on of my favorite accounts to follow. Follow her graphic design work on Facebook.

Meal Plan

We spent a little time prepping for the week over the weekend. Jim is getting the hang of the Instant Pot. He has already made Breakfast Rice, regular brown rice and beans. I prepped two different salad dressings for the week, Blueberry Vinaigrette and Sweet and Tangy Salad Dressing. This weeks meal plan centers around soups and salads.

Breakfast

We have lots of fresh blueberries to put in oatmeal and breakfast rice. We also go through 15-20 pounds of apples per week.  Lately I can’t get enough cantaloupe and nectarines. This week we are going to get peaches too. Check out the Peachy Keen Oatmeal recipe or the Blueberry Oatmeal recipe for inspiration.

Lunches

Our lunches (even our boys) are usually giant salads with a side of beans, grains and potatoes. This week I’ll be having Black Bean Mango Salad (shown above) and I’ll share the recipe later this week and Chipotle style salads. We also have leftover Enchilada Soup. We always have sandwiches as a back up plan.

Dinner

As previously mentioned, we have Enchilada Soup. I like to pair it with Baked Potatoes.

Later this week I’ll make Minestrone Soup. This is one of my favorites! We use gluten-free pasta or quinoa to keep it gluten-free.

We’ll also have BBQ Cauliflower Bites with potato wedges and veggies.

I’m a big fan of breakfast for dinner and I’ve been craving Breakfast Tacos.

We will also work in the Beans, Grains and salads this week with the meals mentioned above and on their own.

What are you eating this week? 

1st Meal Plan of Summer

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A gluten-free Plant-Based (vegan) Meal Plan

Last week I mentioned that school was almost out. It’s officially summer vacation in our house. One of the best parts of summer is the incredible produce. We’ve been eating cantaloupe, nectarines and lots of salads. Check out my Instagram for photos.

My husband has been taking over more of the cooking duties. I LOVE IT! The last meal I made ended up being big fail. I’ll try it again another day. We ate it but it wasn’t good. His meals on the other hand have been wonderful.

He’s been using my Instant Pot a lot for beans and grains. I’m going to show him how to make oatmeal in it next. Did any of you use Jill Nussinow 3 minute pressure cooker steel cut oats method? I pretty much live on it for breakfasts now.

My backup breakfast has been cereal for the kids and is still toast with fruit for me.

We’ve been eating more salads for lunch lately. I prefer them with beans and grains because I feel more satisfied.

Dinner Meal Plan

We did a good job prepping this week so we have quite a bit of cooked black beans, brown rice, cilantro-lime brown rice, and lots of fruit and veggies.

I’ve got meetings a couple of nights this week (after work). One is to help a family transition to a plant-based diet and the other is to help someone launch a blog. That means I won’t be home to cook. We will rely on our leftovers those nights.

Jim will be cooking the Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole this week. Here is the Instant Pot version of that recipe.

We will use some of the cooked black beans to make these Quesadillas. The will go great with the cilantro lime rice (see the quinoa version here).

Pizza Pasta or Fiesta Pasta are both quick and easy meals if we need another meal this week.

I don’t think we will need any more food than that. If so we will add a few baked potatoes or an easy soup like Potato Kale Soup. I really want to make these cookies from one of my blogging pals.

What are you eating this week? Do you have anything prepped yet?

Meal Plan Monday: School is (almost) Out

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I’ve been cooking up some new recipes lately. I hope to share at least one of them with you this week. We have very little scheduled so I should have plenty of time to cook. We will be completely done with school on Thursday.

This will be my first summer working out side of our home since I had kids. My husband is staying home with them this summer and plans to take over some of the cooking. One of his favorite things to cook is Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole. It’s also heating up so I’ll be bringing out some of our Summer recipes.

Plant Based Meal Plan

Meal Plan Monday

Breakfast is already taken care of. I made our Gluten-Free Steel Cut Oats in my Instant Pot. I use the Veggie Queen’s technique but put my own spin on it. This week we will alternate diced apples and blueberries.

Lunches will be leftovers, baked potatoes, and veggie sandwiches. I’m really looking forward to the veggie sandwiches. I’ve got lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, carrots and peppers that I’ll pair with hummus.

Plant-Based Dinners

BBQ Cauliflower Bites with Dirty Mashed Potatoes and celery (recipe coming soon)

Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms with raw veggies

Bean Burgers with potato wedges

Gluten-Free Spaghetti with lentils and mushrooms and a side salad

Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole (hubby will cook)

Maybe Quinoa-Lentil Salad is I need another meal, it’s great as leftovers

Do you have your meals planned for the week? I’d love to hear about it! If you post a Meal Plan Monday leave a link!

If you are having trouble fitting more veggies into your day check out my post How to Eat More Veggies.

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Meal Plan Monday: Where I’ve Been and What We Are Eating

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Well I’m back. We’ve done a lot of traveling over the last month and I’m hoping we can settle back into our routine. We had two deaths in our extended family so we’ve driven and flew back and forth to Texas three separate times. I’ve stayed in touch with the 31 Day Plant-Based eCourse group but I’ve neglected updating this blog. On a happy note we’ve got to see a lot of family that we haven’t seen in a long time.

Up next on our schedule is the end of school. This is the last week for my youngest son and we have one more week for my kindergartener. We have a few year-end events but I am determined to cook.

I know why you are really here… You are wondering what we are eating. Am I right?

Breakfast and Lunch

I’ve been batch cooking steel-cut oats for breakfast. My favorite is Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal made in my Instant Pot but I recently made Blueberry Oatmeal too and my kids loved it. You can read my 10 Reasons I bought an Instant Pot to learn more about why I love them.

I’ve got two more weeks of packing lunches for my kids and I’ll be using us some of the items I bought for our trip like applesauce pouches, snap pea crisps and granola bars along with sandwiches or leftovers. I’ll be taking leftovers in my lunch and I often pack breakfast when I work out of the office (I work from home most of the time). I also take veggies and hummus to snack on.

My back up lunch is brown rice (I buy these steamed rice bowls at Costco for back up), half a can of black beans and some salsa.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

 

Easy Plant-Based Dinners

This week I’m keeping it easy in the dinner department. I don’t want to bite all more than I can chew, if you don’t mind the eating pun. I’ve already cooked some rice in my Instant Pot and I’m going to add cilantro and lime to it. I’m going to use canned black beans to keep it easy. I don’t do that often but they will allow us to stay plant-based and not go crazy.

Taco Salads or just bean and rice salads

Broccoli Rice Casserole in my Instant Pot (I’ve been meaning to share this recipe and will try to soon)

Some kind of veggie soup. I have plenty of potatoes, spinach, celery and carrots so I’ll come up with something

Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole in the Instant Pot (see Crock Pot version)

Veggie Fajitas if I need another meal

I’ve got carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery and greens for snacks or salads and bananas, apples, blueberries and oranges as well.

What’s on your Meal Plan this week? I’d love to know. Follow me on Instagram too to see what we eat each day!

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