My Plant-Based Family

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

Mexican Food

Meal Plan Monday: Unscheduled

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This will be a different kind of week for us. Our big kids are visiting this week, at least three of us have a stomach bug that is going around, and we plan to eat out a few times. With all of that in mind the Meal Plan will be a little less planned out this week.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be cereal, oatmeal, and toast with fruit. It kind of a free for all at breakfast time. We also have leftover pancakes and breakfast stir fry from yesterday’s brunch.

Lunch will be leftovers, PB&J, easy pasta with marinara, wraps or bean burritos. 

Snacks will be hummus and veggies, crackers, apples and banana’s with peanut butter, chips and salsa, and smoothies.

Dinner is a bit up in the air. Since a few of us are a little sick it is hard to plan out our week. We are hoping to go to the zoo one day, my husband and the big kids are planning a trip to the driving range and the big kids will be spending time with friends as well. With that in mind we plan to eat:

Nachos made with quinoa/lentil “meat”, Unfried Beans, guacamole, Homemade Salsa, and faux cheese sauce.

Burritos made with beans, Mexican Rice, and other fixings.  

Fajita’s using my Portobello Fajita recipe along with all of the things I mentioned above. 

I also plan to make some carrot cake cupcakes this week.

Do you notice a trend, yes we love Mexican food. Our big kids who are not plant-based eaters will be very receptive to this menu. We want our new lifestyle to be inviting to them. Hopefully they don’t get sick or else we may all be living on a steady diet of crackers this week.  

Making Salsa

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Yesterday I spent a rather large chunk of time making homemade salsa. Salsa doesn’t really take long to make unless you have two cute little tarzan’s vying for your attention (read driving you insane).

We love salsa in our house and could eat it everyday. My husband can not eat seeds and store bought salsa’s always contain seeds. The only way we have found to get around the seed problem is to make it ourselves. Salsa can be made so many different ways. I’m just providing a template based on general ingredients but you can change it up to suit your taste buds. Additionally, I made a lot of salsa, about 50 ozs (two pasta sauce jars) so my measurements may not work for you but this salsa does freeze well.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients

  • tomatoes (I used about a dozen roma)
  • onions (I used 1 /2 white onions)
  • peppers (I used 5 jalapeno’s and 3 serrano’s with seeds removed)
  • garlic (I used 5 cloves)
  • lime (I used juice and pulp from 1 lime)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • cilantro (optional, I love cilantro but was out)

Do

Since I made a big batch I processed each ingredient by it’s self. If you are making a small batch you can just throw it all in your food processor or blender and blend one time. 

  1. Wash veggies well.
  2. Cut tops off of tomatoes and remove seeds if desired. Process until tomatoes reach desired consistency.
  3. Cut and peel onions and put in food processor until desired consistency is met.
  4. Cut stems off of peppers. Remove seeds if applicable be careful because hot pepper can burn your skin. (I recommend wearing latex or rubber gloves for this step. I sometimes even us a plastic sandwich bag on one hand. I know I’m awesome!) Process peppers until very small. Removing the seed will make your salsa very mild.
  5. Peel garlic, add cilantro and lime juice then process.
  6. Combine all ingredients together and add salt. 
  7. Time for a taste test, add any other ingredients or spices. I added 1 tbsp of chili powder for a little extra kick.

Serve

For me, salsa opens up so many meal possibilities. We ate this salsa on pinto and barley tacos. I really wanted to make a rice and black bean bowl too, maybe later. This will be really good on top of leftover baked potatoes for a quick lunch. 

What is your favorite way to make salsa? What is your must have ingredient?

Portobello Fajitas

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I do not like mushrooms! I’ll eat them if the flavor isn’t too powerful but I prefer not to. Enter portobello mushrooms, I have been won over. Today I made another batch of portobello fajitas, a pasta bake containing portobello’s, and I’m baking some portobello slices now as well.

I have heard a lot of people commenting about mushrooms being a good stand-in for meat but as a former mushroom hater I wasn’t having it. Now I can see it! I’m reformed and embrace the mushroom, especially served like this.

Portobello Fajitas

Ingredients

  • 1 Portobello Mushroom
  • 1/2 an onion cut into slices
  • 1 bell pepper cut into slices
  • 1 cup veggie broth
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • a generous shake of salt
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Do

  1. Remove the stem and slice mushrooms. (If you are making Portobello steaks you can leave just remove the stem).
  2. Mix the remaining ingredients together and allow the the mushroom and veggie slices to soak in the marinade for 30 minutes or so.
  3. Broil the mushroom and veggie slices for 4-5 minutes then flip and broil for 4-5 more minutes.
  4. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Serve

These are great served in a warm tortilla. I love them even more with fresh guacamole and salsa but they are good plain too. You could also top a salad with these and even add roasted corn! YUM!

Does this look like a steak fajita or what? Have you embraced the shroom and if so how do you like it?

Meal Plan Monday: Lotsa Leftovers

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Lentil Tacos

This week will be a lot different than most weeks due to the incredible amount of leftovers. Normally my meal plan doesn’t cover the weekends so we can use up all of the leftovers and have a fresh start for Monday. That also means a lot of cooking at the beginning of the week. This week we have way too many leftovers and a few fresh ingredients that need to be used soon. My plan is to do a little cooking Monday to use the fresh ingredients then eat leftovers for a few days until the full on cooking resumes. It looks like I’ll have an easy week in the kitchen, if I’m smart I’ll use that extra time to accomplish other tasks, like cleaning and organizing but I doubt that will happen.

I am not dreading eating these leftovers because they are delicious! I have Unfried beans, Mexican Rice, a lentil and quinoa “taco” mix, portobello fajita’s, and much more.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be oatmeal, toast with nut or apple butter and fruit, smoothies, and the occasional bowl of leftover soup. We may have blueberry pancakes toward the end of the week too.

Lunches will be wraps, leftovers (potatoes, pasta, Mexican food), sandwiches, soups, and French bread Pizza. The pizza will likely make an appearance at the beginning of the week as I have spinach, onions, bell pepper and mushrooms that will make a lovely lunch.

Dinner

Monday: Portobello steaks, baked sweet potatoes, and steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Burritos made with leftovers

Wednesday: Any remaining leftovers (Mexican food, yeah baby!)

Thursday: Pasta with veggies and salad

Friday: Is usually a date night so I make something easy for the kids like baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes or pasta.

Refried Beans???

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

Oil-Free Refried Beans

When my husband and I first got together he did all of the cooking. He taught me how to cook Mexican food and when he would 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.

Oil-Free Refried Beans

Now that I have a food processor I have a super simple recipe for Refried, er Unfried Beans.

Unfried Beans

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)

Do

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

Serve

These beans were really good. I’d even say they rival any canned refried beans that are seasoned. They were quick and easy. 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 make more, this recipe is easy to double or triple.

Did you know that beans and unfried beans freeze well? You can make a big batch then package the whole 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!

 

Enchilada Soup

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Back in the days before I transitioned to a plant-based diet I made a really savory Chicken Enchilada Soup. It was soooo good. People would come from miles around, OK my friend Sarah would drive a few miles to eat this soup. I love this soup!!!

Plant-Based gluten-free Enchilada Soup.

The problem was it contained a ton of not so healthy ingredients. I was determined to make it healthy without compromising the flavor. 

Enchilada Soup

Enchilada Soup
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
  • 6 cups veggie broth
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cups cooked beans (I use 1 can black beans and 1 can pinto beans)
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned our fine)
  • 1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeno, sliced
  • 2 cups cooked rice
  • 1 cup organic corn
  • 1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
  • 1 Tbsp. chili powder
  • ½ tsp. cumin
  • salt, pepper and nutrional yeast to taste (optional)
Instructions
  1. Bring veggie broth to a simmer in a large pot.
  2. Add onions, cooked beans, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, corn and rice.
  3. Add tomato sauce and let simmer.
  4. Let this cook until onions are translucent and flavors have had a chance to meld. I like to let it simmer for an hour or so.
  5. Season with chili powder, cumin and any other seasonings.

This is especially good with crushed tortilla chips and nutritional yeast added to the individual bowl. If you like to use a faux sour cream add a dollop to your bowl. Try not to eat right out of the pot when you’re putting leftovers away. That is just bad manners. This made enough soup for maybe 6 bowls, but you will want seconds. Double (or triple) the recipe for a large family.  

This soup is very forgiving. If you are missing an ingredient go ahead and made it. I make it all the time but when I’m out of corn or green chilies it still tastes great. 

My husband kept going on and on about how great this soup is, how it reminds him of soup his mom made when he was a kid, how amazing I am; OK I threw that last part in there but it is not uncommon for him to say that. 

Enchilada Soup

Don’t  you just want to dive in that bowl and swim around? Well you would if you tasted it. 

If you love this soup be sure to try it’s grain-free counterpart, Taco Soup!