My Plant-Based Family

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

Planning

Meal Plan Monday with Lisa from The Vegan Pact

by Leave a Comment

 

Are you in a Meal Planning funk? Never fear, this month I’ll be featuring Meal Plans from other bloggers and plant-based eaters! In fact, I still a few spots open so send in your Meal Plan right away.

veganpact3Today I’m excited to introduce you to Lisa from The Vegan Pact! If you don’t know Lisa you are really missing out. She is a Raw Vegan Chef and passionate about cooking from scratch and creating organic, animal-free meals without processed food.

 

Meal Plan from The Vegan Pact (for 3-4 people)

tropical cantaloupe smoothie

Day One:

Breakfast: Two batches of Tropical Cantaloupe Smoothies

Lunch: Blueberry Salad with Walnut Maple Hemp Clusters

Dinner: Sweet Potato Cumin Tacos with Chipotle Sauce

Snacks: Peanut Butter Oat Granola Bars

Balsamic Roasted Butternut Squash & Kale Pasta

Day Two:

Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly Banana Stuffed Muffins

Lunch: Cranberry Almond Quinoa Salad

Dinner: Balsamic Roasted Butternut Squash & Kale Pasta

Snacks: Pita or tortilla chips with Roasted Red Pepper & White Bean Dip

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Day Three:

Breakfast: Leftover muffins and/or Raspberry & Apple Coconut Kale Smoothies

Lunch: Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Dinner: Stuffed Peppers

Snacks: Coconut Cranberry Energy Bars

Apple Nachos

Day Four:

Breakfast: Millet & Oat Cran-Apple Breakfast Bake

Lunch: Buffalo Bean Soup with Dumplings

Dinner: Mexican Sweet Potato Lasagna

Snacks: Apple Nachos

Day Five:

Breakfast: Chocolate Chia Overnight Oats

Lunch: Leftover soup

Dinner: Buffalo Chick’n & Arugula Pizza

– – –

 

Seriously! I know! I’m drooling over these amazing recipes! Be sure to check out The Vegan Pact! You can also follow The Vegan Pact on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

P.S. Don’t forget to send me your Meal Plan!

 

 

 

Meal Plan Monday: Less Packaged Food

by Leave a Comment

Do you ever fall in the packaged food rut? We are there.

Ever since we discovered my son’s allergies I’ve been relying on packed food for often. BA (before allergies) we ate a lot of beans, grains, fruit, and veggies with a constant supply of nuts and nut butters. We cut out all beans since he showed some intolerance to those tested but are hoping to reintroduce soon. We also had to remove several grains, some veggies and fruit and all nuts. That leaves me a bit perplexed but my son is feeling so much better and his skin is looking and feeling great. He has had a few cross-contamination episodes that have caused flare ups but I really want to establish and healthy baseline so I can accurately gauge the effect of foods we reintroduce.

I’ve been attempting sun butter sandwiches with gluten-free bread but he will only take a few bites. Sometimes he will tolerate the bread but never the sun butter. I’ve tried a few different brands to no avail. He will occasionally eat sun flower seed kernels.

He loves GF noodles and will happily eat them anytime they are served. I’ve never liked serving my family a lot of pasta but it is an easy food for a 2 year old.

I’ve also been giving my kids unsweetened applesauce, mostly to get them to take their probiotic (it’s a powder that needs to be mixed in something). I also load it with chia seeds and hemp seeds.

I don’t consider any of those too bad, my only concern is they take up a large portion of their calories instead of whole food. My biggest concern is the large number of products like fruit strips, GF cereal and cereal bars I’m now buying.

I’m hoping to move away from those easy convenience foods and back to whole foods, while also avoiding those foods my son has an intolerance too. If you have tips or suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments. You can see the full list of the foods my son is avoiding here.

Salad and GF Pasta

Meal Plan

Breakfast

  • Overnight Oats (for me)
  • Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • GF Muffins
  • Toast with fruit and sun butter
  • GF Cereal

Lunch

  • Veggie Stuffed Pita
  • Veggie and Hummus Sandwich or Wraps
  • Garden Salad
  • Baked Potatoes with Steamed Greens
  • Leftovers

Snack

  • Veggies and hummus
  • fruit
  • smoothies
  • Chips and avocado
  • applesauce with seeds

Dinner

I’m trying to add more greens to my meals. We have 3-4 meetings this week in the evening so I may not be cooking much but I’ll have a plan on the days I can.

Have you taken a Meal Planning break this summer? I’m always tempted too and I may from time to time but I always do better with a plan.

 

 

Meal Plan Monday: A Whole New World

by Leave a Comment

If you think this is your typical Meal Plan Monday you would be wrong, very wrong.

Last Friday we got the results back for my 2 year olds allergy test. I’ll give more details another time because there are way too many to discuss today. Meal Planning is now more important that ever, I have to be prepared, especially while I get a handle on all of these changes.

faux cheese and pico

Breakfast

I usually opt for quick meals in the morning. Most of these will be made ahead of time.

Lunch

We like quick lunches too!

  • Sunbutter and fruit sandwiches
  • Gluten-free noodles with red sauce or faux cheese sauce
  • Baked Potatoes with steamed broccoli
  • Gluten-free Pasta & Veggie Salad

Snacks

  • Smoothies
  • Apples with Sunbutter
  • Tortilla Chips with salsa, guacamole and faux cheese sauce
  • gluten-free muffins

Dinner

Have you noticed any of our typical staples missing?

shepherd pie VVP

Speaking of missing, if you missed this weekends Virtual Vegan Potluck check it out. I “brought” this Lentil based Shepherd’s Pie that is gluten-free, soy-free and vegan. It also happens to be delicious!

 

Meal Plan Monday: Did You Plan?

by Leave a Comment

Confession time, I didn’t Meal Plan. This week I wanted to try something different so I bought a Meal Plan. We just started it so I’m not going to share all the details until I can objectively report back.

This is the first time I’ve bought a Meal Plan online. So far I’ve spent way more time on it than I would my own Meal Plan. I have a friend who buys meal plans online regularly and likes it.

Do you create your own meal plan each week/month or do you buy one? I regularly get referrals from Meal Planning and Recipe sites but I’ve never tried one until now. I hope to report back next week and let you know what we thought about this particular Meal Plan.

In the mean time I’d love to hear about your Meal Planning experience. If you really need some ideas check out the Meal Planning tab or the Recipe tab at the top of the page.

Until then I’ll share a few pictures of things we’ve been eating. Most of these photos are pretty rough but the food sure tasted delicious.

 

Shepherds Pie for the Virtual Vegan Potluck
Shepherds Pie for the Virtual Vegan Potluck

 

Mexican Casserole with homemade Pico
Mexican Casserole with Homemade Pico

 

Holly's House Italian
Holly’s House Italian

 

My 2 year olds fingers steal my Taco Salad
My 2 year olds fingers steal my Taco Salad

 

Grilled Portobello Steaks, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, green beans, and mushroom gravy.
Grilled Portobello Steaks, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, green beans, and mushroom gravy.

 

 

 

Meal Plan Monday: I’m Feeling Inspired

by Leave a Comment

Portobello Fajita's

I’m not sure of the exact catalyst but I’m inspired. After a long spell of feeling a little blah in the kitchen I’m ready do a little more cooking and some better eating. I also have a lot of new projects and recipe ideas in the works.

Normally I love to brag about the weather here in Arizona but after seeing pictures on Facebook from friends across the country who are covered in snow I can only sigh for you. I got my first sun burn of the year this weekend but if it is any consolation my electricity bill will be quadrupled in a few months when the temperature is over 100° for months. If you want to come visit me now is the time, hurry space is limited.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be a little different this week. We are still eating the leftovers from Healthy Cravings. I’ll post a recap soon but we are still working on Breakfast Burritos, oatmeal, and Breakfast Quinoa.

Lunch will hopefully be leftovers if I plan well. I also like soup and sandwich (or even salad) combo’s for lunch. These may be a good option for anyone taking a lunch to work. Burritos are easy to transport as well and we just happen to have Mexican Bean and Rice Casserole that is fantastic wrapped in a tortilla or put on top of a baked potato. My boys prefer sandwiches and get incredibly happy anytime bread is involved. They seem to be a little pickier lately but I’m hoping it passes soon.

Snacks are usually fruit or even fruit parfaits but I’m working on a few new recipes that will probably make an appearance here, oatmeal raisin cookies are in the lineup. I’m sure the majority of our snacks will be apples and oranges.

Dinner is where my excitement lies. I bought a pack of avocados and I am dreaming of all the ways to use them. I’m also planning to start using the grill again, oh yes, it is time. Portobello Fajitas paired with Mexican Rice and Unfried Beans are a great combination and worthy of company although we don’t have any coming. A few of the new things I’m working on include Grilled Avocado and Veggie Wraps with black beans and cilantro-lime rice. I also have a new sauce recipe that received a great review from my husband last night. I’m still tweaking it but we will have it again on Baked Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli or maybe over a rice dish.

For more dinner ideas check out the Recipe Page.

Are you experiencing grilling weather or soup weather? No matter where you are I hope you are feeling inspired to cook and eat well!

Meal Plan Monday: Good Intentions

by Leave a Comment

Dried Beans

Like many of you I have good intentions to eat well. My intentions don’t always result in the best outcome though. I’ll get busy, or frustrated, or overwhelmed, or lazy and default to quick and easy instead of balanced and nutritious. You know what I’m talking about right? Please tell me I’m not alone in this. Some days seem hectic from start to finish. I’ve looked back over the course of a day to realize I’d eaten toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and cereal for dinner; yes, that is the kind of day I’m talking about.

I’ve discovered I feel best when I eat certain things foods. Beans, whole grains (like rice or oats), fruit, lightly steamed veggies, potatoes, salads, nut butters and let us not forget my daily cup of coffee. Sometimes I’ll try to abandon these foods in favor of “healthier” options; I usually fail to prepare and end up eating toast or cereal. Boo!

Those food that I love and feel great eating are the food I primarily ate when I first transitioned to a plant-based diet. I eat other foods too and try to have enough variety that I get all the nutrients I need.

This weeks meal plan will be pretty basic, believe it or not I have another busy week so I want to keep things simple. Healthy Cravings is this week and it looks to be a very FULL meeting! I’m looking forward to meeting several new ladies who are coming!

20120815-125307.jpg

Meal Plan

Breakfast this week will be oatmeal most days. I did buy a box of gluten-free waffles to feed my boys an a particularly busy day. We enjoy baked sweet potatoes with a dash of cinnamon as well.

Lunch is usually leftovers and I wont be getting fancy this week. I sometimes cook pasta for my boys for lunch. We don’t eat much pasta as a family but I don’t mind them having it once a week or so. If you feed your kids (or yourself) pasta more often I’m not trying to condemn you; I just feel like it isn’t the most nutrient filled choice and we have to buy gluten-free pasta which gets expensive if we eat it too often. My new trick is giving my kids salad or just greens to snack on while I’m making their lunch, yes they eat salad. I will definitely be eating our fair share of almond butter sandwiches this week.

Snack will be fruit and smoothies. I’m already doing enough extra cooking this week for Healthy Cravings so I won’t be cooking snacks.

Dinner will be an assortment of many of the foods I mentioned earlier. Beans, baked potatoes, steam veggies, and grains. I think this Mexican Casserole will be a great choice because it uses brown rice and beans, plus it will serve us for two days worth of dinners. Broccoli & Cheese Baked Potatoes using the Faux Cheese Sauce will be a crowd pleaser too. We will probably have a big salad at least one night. Over the weekend we visited a U-Pick organic farm and brought home some greens, my kids got to do some of the picking. As previously mentioned Healthy Cravings is on Thursday so I’ll be serving Breakfast Tacos, Blueberry Muffins, Savory Breakfast Muffins, and an Oatmeal Bar to name a few.

A few fun things that are happening include:

What has been going on in your life worth celebrating? Go ahead, share with the class!