My Plant-Based Family

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

Plant Based Diet

Sugar-Free Oatmeal PLUS Bonus recipe!

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This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insights campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Pure Via®, but all opinions are my own. #PMedia #PureViaSweet  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Sugar Free Oatmeal

Breakfast sets the tone of the day. If I start the day with a healthy breakfast, I’m more likely to continue to make good choices the rest of the day.

Sometimes we have good intentions but get off track. Oatmeal is a healthy filling breakfast but if we add lots of unhealthy ingredients we can sabotage ourselves. Instead start the day with this delicious recipe for Sugar-Free Oatmeal!

Sugar Free Oatmeal

Sugar-Free Apple and Raw Pepita Oatmeal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats + 1 cup water (per person)
  • 1 packet Pure Via
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 1 Tbsp Raw Pepitas

Do

  1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Once it is at a rapid boil pour in oats.
  2. Add about half of the apples.
  3. Stir regularly adding more liquid (even plant-milk) if needed.
  4. Cook for 10-20 minutes until the oatmeal reaches the desired consistency.
  5. Remove from heat and pour in 1 packet of Pure Via.

Serve

Serve this oatmeal warm with fresh apples and raw pepitas.

Pure Via is a great tasting natural alternative to sugar. It is made from the stevia plant, has zero calories and can be added to food or drinks to sweeten them. My husband has used Pure Via in his coffee everyday for years.

I was excited to find them at my local Walmart. Right now you can save 55¢ on one box of 40 count packets while supplies last. The packets are very convenient and easy to keep in your desk or bag while away from home. You can also take advantage of a free song and cookbook/songbook download from Jewel.

Sugar-Free Instant Oatmeal

I often hear that people don’t have time to cook oatmeal and I have a solution for you. Make your own instant oatmeal by buying quick oats or making your own with a food processor or blender. Once you’ve whizzed them through the blender you have instant oatmeal. Follow the recipe below for your very own sugar-free instant oatmeal packet.

Instant Oatmeal

  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup instant oats
  • 1 packet Pure Via
  • 2-3 Tbsp raisins
  • 1 tsp Raw Pepitas, ground flax seeds or chia seeds
  • 3/4 cup-1 cup water

Pour the instant oatmeal into a mug and add hot water. If you don’t have access to hot water add the water and microwave until ready. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t overflow while heating.

Instant Oatmeal

Top your oatmeal with fresh fruit like apples, bananas or blueberries.

What is your favorite oatmeal topping?

The Empty Medicine Cabinet Giveaway

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Since transitioning to a plant-based diet in 2011 I’ve read a lot of books on healthy living. I can see almost 20 books from where I sit and there are more scattered throughout the house and on loan to friends.  The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist’s Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food by Dustin Rudolph, PharmD is the one book you need to read and buy for your loved ones.

The Empty Medicine Cabinet

Why This Book?

There are a lot of reasons this book stands out from the crowd.

  • It was written by a pharmacist who understands the “disease climate” we face today
  • It’s full of inspiring stories from people who have reversed disease
  • It provides solutions to help you make lasting changes

The Pill Trap

To often we feel stuck in our situation. If you have heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or a host of other illnesses you get stuck in what Dustin Rudolph calls “The Pill Trap. ” He writes,

As a patient, you’re only an asset to Big Healthcare if you linger between perfectly healthy and dead. Having a chronic disease requires continuous medical care involving costly follow-up visits, medications, and many different procedures over time. This is great news for the  pharmaceutical industry, medical supply companies, and healthcare organizations because you’re now a customer for life.

This book grabs you by the shoulders and gently shakes that nonsense out of you. You do not have to be a slave to your illness. Many diseases can be reversed or stopped by making changes to your lifestyle.

Stories of Hope

There are many uplifting stories in this book from people who have made incredible strides in their health through diet change. My favorite story is Bev’s. She was able to drastically turn around her health problems which included coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, kidney disease and many other issues by adopting a whole food, plant-based diet (in her 70s). If she can do it, you can do it.

Solutions

Part 2 of The Empty Medicine Cabinet provides real world ways to make healthy changes including information about what you need to eat, what you should avoid and a guide to help you make those decisions for yourself. Part 3 is full of delicious, healthy recipes including a few from your’s truly.

If a friend asked me for a book recommendation for someone interested in a plant-based diet I would wholeheartedly say The Empty Medicine Cabinet is a must read.

The Empty Medicine Cabinet Front3DI’m partnering with Dustin to make sure one lucky reader gets a copy of The Empty Medicine Cabinet: The Pharmacist’s Guide to the Hidden Danger of Drugs and the Healing Powers of Food.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This book will be shipped to the winner (US only). The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or anther winner will be chosen.

You can read more from Dustin at his website Pursue A Healthy You!

I was given a free copy of this book as a gift. I provided a few recipes for this book but I am not being compensated for this review. All opinions are my own. You can read another review I wrote on Amazon. This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using a link I may make a small percentage of the sale. 

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

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Do you struggle with your Plant-Based Diet? You are not alone. I hear from people all of the time who are having a hard time sticking to (or starting) a plant-based diet.

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge

Starting November 1st I’ll begin a 21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge and I’d love for you to join me.

21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge begins November 1st

The Guidelines

There aren’t a lot of rules but there are guidelines. They can be adapted to meet your particular needs. For example if you can’t tolerate grains then adapt this to your needs. If you are like me and thrive with grains eat more. If you need more calories eat nuts, seeds, avocado, etc. If you need to lose weight omit those high calorie plant-foods.

“Headquarters” for the Challenge will be at The My Plant-Based Family Group (not the page).

 

21 Day plant based Healthy Eating Challenge

Each day I’ll create a thread and you’ll report in and tell me how many points you earned for the day. I’ll keep a tally and each week  I’ll (discretely) post the rankings for example John S., Suzy Q., Jane D. I’m working on arranging giveaways from sponsors for participants.

If there is an interest we will have weekly Video Chat using Google Hangouts where you can ask questions and get support.

About the Food

How can I eat that much food? For the purposes of this Challenge consider 1/2 cup to be a serving size, except for raw greens (those are 1 cup serving size). Let’s look at one possibility of a typical day.

Breakfast

1 cup of Oatmeal, with 1/2 cup of blueberries

[2 servings grains, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Morning Snack

A Banana

[1 serving fruit]

Lunch

Burrito Bowl with 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup diced tomatoes/onion/peppers (salsa) and one apple

[1 serving grains, 1 serving beans, 2 servings veggies, 1 serving fruit]

Mid-Afternoon Snack

1 cup raw veggies like carrots, peppers, cucumbers etc. with 1/2 cup (oil-free) hummus and 1/2 cup of grapes

[1 serving veggies, 1 serving beans, 1 serving fruit]

Dinner

Chickpea Noodle Soup, side salad and a baked Cinnamon Apple

[1 serving beans, 2 serving veggies, 1 serving fruit]

This menu is roughly 5 servings of fruit, 6 servings of veggies, 3 servings of grains and 3 servings of beans. Our goal will be to eat 90% unprocessed plant-based foods.

To “sign-up” simply Join the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group. There will be a post “pinned” to the top, read it and comment appropriately. Each day you’ll report in and I’ll dispense information via the group. If there is an overwhelming amount of people not on facebook that want to participate I’ll consider a Google+ group for the Challenge.

Please note that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. You should consult your doctor or registered dietitian for nutritional advice. 

Fiesta Pasta

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I’ve been sitting on this recipe for a long time, like over a year. My apologies. I think you will agree that it is worth the wait. I’m the kind of girl who loves a vegan, gluten-free, nut-free pasta that tastes like it belongs in a restaurant. It’s also soy-free if that is important to you.

Fiesta Pasta is Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-Free and Nut-Free

What’s better than pasta? Pasta with Mexican flare. I often use macaroni noodles and call this Fiesta Mac but you use whichever noodles you like but if you are feeding toddlers small noodles are usually best.

Fiesta Pasta

Ingredients for the sauce

  • 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 2 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour*
  • 1 tsp salt (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened plant-milk

Ingredients for the pasta

  • 1 package (16 oz) Gluten-Free Pasta (any shape)
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup organic corn (I use frozen)
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes

*cornstarch can be used instead

Do

  1. Dump all of the dry ingredients for the sauce into a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Pour in 1/2 cup plant-milk and stir with a whisk.
  2. In a separate pot bring water to boil to cook pasta. Follow the package directions.
  3. Alternate between whisking the sauce and scraping the bottom with a silicone spatula. As the sauce thickens add another 1/2 cup of plant milk until the full 1 1/2 cups is used.
  4. Pour beans and corn into the pasta in its last few minutes of cooking time.
  5. Drain pasta (and corn and beans), pour Fiesta Sauce on top of pasta and mix well.
  6. Dump tomatoes on top and mix one more time.

Serve

Fiesta Pasta is perfect for a potluck and can be used as the Main Dish or a Side Dish! The Fiesta Sauce gives it just the right amount of cheezy flavor without the dairy. You can also add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce (no need to change other measurements, just cook it a bit longer) for a slightly more savory flavor.

This recipe made me fall in love with nutritional yeast all over again. You can easily alter it to suit your preferences.

The page contains affiliate links.

Meal Plan Monday: Halloween Week

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Don’t let the title fool you. I don’t really get into Halloween. I won’t be dressing up or decorating my yard. I will spend a few hours passing out candy and visiting with our neighbors. You see, in our neighborhood Halloween is the one night a year all of our neighbors get together and catch up. We all sit outside in our driveways and pass out candy. It’s a lot of fun.

Since it’s Halloween week I may bake a few treats but I have even more treats in store for my readers including a giveaway and a surprise new program. I’m extremely excited about both.

Plant-Based Meal Plan Hallloween

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Breakfast

I just can’t get enough apples. We eat them all year but they taste best in the fall.

Lunch

My youngest son and I usually eat leftovers or something quick. I pack a lunch for my 5 year old to eat at school.

  • Baked Potatoes
  • Pasta and a simple sauce
  • Chickpea Salad and raw veggies
  • Veggie Soup and salad
  • Leftover Chili

Dinner

My husband has requested 3 things this week (the first 3 on the dinner menu). He doesn’t ask for much so I usually try to accommodate his request.

If you have food allergies you may have heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project. It was started by the Food Allergy Community of East Tennessee (FACET) a few years ago. Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) spread the word this year. Read more about it here.

What are you plans for Halloween? Do you throw a party, hand out candy or turn off your lights and hide inside your house?

If I lived somewhere colder I’m sure we’d have a different tradition. I’d love to hear about yours.

This page contains affiliate links.

Meal Plan Monday: Family Favorites and Leftovers

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Are you struggling to consistently eat a healthy, plant-based diet? If so a meal plan is exactly what you need. Even if you aren’t struggling a meal plan can help save you time and money.

I share a Meal Plan almost every week. Hopefully it will provide you with a little inspiration. Once you find a few family favorites it becomes much easier.

This week in the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group several of us were discussing this White Bean Green Chili Dip. I’ve decided I must make it (and you probably should too). Here is a tip, you can make this dip instead of the sauce for the White Enchiladas. So Good!

We also have a lot of soup leftover. I hosted Healthy Cravings last week and several people were sick and had to cancel at the last-minute so I bought and cooked way too much food. We have leftover Taco Soup and Broccoli Potato Soup so this week I won’t have to cook too many meals.

Plant-Based Allergy-Friendly Meal Plan

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Breakfast

I’m planning to use my Crock Pot for a few breakfast meals this week.

  • Crock Pot Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • Crock Pot Breakfast Hash
  • Crock Pot Multi-Grain Breakfast with diced apples
  • Cereal

Lunch

I will rely heavily on leftovers for lunch while my kids and husband primarily pack their lunches.

Dinner

This plan may change as our week goes on but each of these recipes are favorites so I don’t think I’ll have too much push back.

Are you ready for the week? If not grab another cup of coffee and do your best!

Fall-Stoneware-Giveaway

Don’t forget to enter the Le Creuset Giveaway! We’ve had a lot of entries but you could be the winner!