• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My Plant-Based Family

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

  • Plant-Based Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dish
    • Instant Pot
    • Side Dishes
    • Bread and Muffins
    • Salad and Wraps
    • Soup, Stews, and Chili
    • Sauces, Dips, and Salad Dressings
    • Desserts
    • Crock Pot
    • Mexican Food
  • Videos
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Custom Meal Plans
    • Plant-Based eCourse
    • Books
      • The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide
      • The Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan & Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
    • Meal Plans 2020
    • Meal Plans 2019
    • Meal Plans 2017
    • Meal Plans 2016
    • Meal Plans 2015
    • Meal Plans 2014
    • Meal Plans 2013
  • About Us
    • Our Family
    • Contact Me
    • Our Food Philosophy
    • Disclosure Policy
      • Privacy Policy

Plant Based Diet

Green Chili, Cilantro, & Lime Soup

February 27, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo 10 Comments

This Green Chili, Cilantro, and Lime Soup is more of a "grown up" soup but don't be surprised if your kids love it too!

Oh, how I wish you could taste this delicious soup. It has a very complex taste but is incredibly easy to make, and also inexpensive. Does it get much better than that?

This Green Chili, Cilantro, and Lime Soup is more of a "grown up" soup but don't be surprised if your kids love it too!
This Green Chili, Cilantro, and Lime Soup is more of a "grown up" soup but don't be surprised if your kids love it too!

I use my Dry Broth Mix here but you could use whatever you normally use for veggie broth. You may have to add some nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, onion, and other spices to give it the same zing. I love how easy it is to add my Dry Broth Mix instead measuring out a bunch of different spices.

This Green Chili, Cilantro, and Lime Soup is more of a "grown up" soup but don't be surprised if your kids love it too!

Green Chili, Cilantro & Lime Soup

Ingredients

  • 12 cups water
  • 2 cups uncooked brown rice (I used long grain)
  • 2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilis
  • 1/2 cup Dry Broth Mix
  • 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1/2 a diced onion (optional)
  • 1 cup corn (optional, fire roasted corn would be amazing)
  • 3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 cans of drained and rinsed beans)
  • juice and zest from 1 lime
  • 1 handful of cilantro

Do

  1. Add water to a large pot or dutch oven and bring to a boil.
  2. Add the rice, chilis, broth mix, salt, and onion to the water and cook for 45 minutes on medium heat until rice is done.
  3. Add beans, corn, lime juice and zest along with cilantro. Continue to cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Ladle into bowls to cool for a few minutes before serving
This Green Chili, Cilantro, and Lime Soup is more of a "grown up" soup but don't be surprised if your kids love it too!

Serve

This soup needs no accompaniment! If you like green chilis, cilantro, and lime you will like this soup. My kids (2 and 4 years old) didn’t like it much, it’s more of a “grown up” soup. I think teens would enjoy it though. If you try it let me know what your kids think.

Yield: 4 servings

Green Chili, Cilantro and Lime Soup

If you like green chilis, cilantro, and lime you will like this soup. It's not spicy but packs a big flavor punch!

Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 4 cups veggie broth, divided
  • 1 cup uncooked brown rice (I used long grain)
  • 1 (4 oz) cans diced green chilis
  • 1 Teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup a diced onion (optional)
  • 1 cup frozen corn (optional, fire roasted corn would be amazing)
  • 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed beans)
  • juice and zest from 1 lime
  • 1 handful of cilantro

Instructions

  1. Add water to a large pot or dutch oven and bring to a boil.
  2. Add the rice, chilis, broth mix, salt, and onion to the water and cook for 45 minutes on medium heat until rice is done.
  3. Add beans, corn, lime juice and zest along with cilantro. Continue to cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Ladle into bowls to cool for a few minutes before serving

Notes

Convert this to an Instant Pot recipe by cooking the brown rice with veggie broth and chilies for 22 minutes. Once done, allow pressure to release, then add the rest of the ingredients and heat until everything is warm.

Did you make this recipe?

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

Category: Recipes

I’ve made a 1/2 batch and a 1/4 batch of this and both were delicious; I’ve doubled the amount each time I’ve made it. 🙂 If you have leftovers you will need to add extra water the next day because the rice continues to soak up the water.

Have you tried this soup yet? If you can’t get enough of these flavors, try my Green Chili White Bean Dip!

Filed Under: Frugal, Recipes, Soups, Stews, & Chili Tagged With: Frugal, Plant Based Diet, Soup, Vegan

Chocolate Cake:Gluten-Free and Vegan

February 26, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo 17 Comments

frosted chocolate cake

GF, V Chocolate Cake

If you have to avoid wheat/gluten then this is the cake for you. I developed a fascination for GF baking several years ago because I had two friends who couldn’t eat gluten and never got the good stuff at potlucks. I would try to always make something they could eat. They were always so appreciative even though I never loved my creations, they were happy to have whatever I brought.

Fast forward to spring/summer 2012 and I finally discover my son’s eczema is the result of gluten/wheat. He was just under 1 1/2 years old so he wasn’t eating a lot of cakes or cookies but he loved pancakes, banana bread, etc. I was determined that he wouldn’t have to do without “normal” food.

frosted chocolate cake

I have a list of favorites I intend to adapt so that they are gluten-free, dairy-free, and peanut-free. I want my little guy to experience donuts, birthday cake, and banana pudding without pain or illness.

I’ve been working on this cake for a while. I wanted to make it as allergy friendly as possible. I have a friend who can’t have apples or bananas so I had been making it without them but I couldn’t get the taste or texture right. I decided to abandon that idea (temporarily, I’ve got some ideas) because I needed to make a birthday cake for my 4 year old.

If you follow My Plant-Based Family on Facebook then you know that I shared this recipe with several people. I got great feedback from everyone who made it. Some people couldn’t make it because they couldn’t find all of the ingredients. I buy some of them from Amazon because I can’t always find them locally. You could probably substitute a store bought GF baking mix with good results.

GF Chocolate cake

Gluten-Free, Vegan Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 c brown rice flour
  • 1 c sorghum flour
  • 1/2 c tapioca flour
  • 3/4 c cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp xanthum gum OR guar gum
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 c warm water*
  • 3 tsp EnerG Egg Replacer*
  • 1 c turbinado sugar (I’ve also used agave nectar with good results)
  • 1 c unsweetened applesauce
  • 1-2 mashed bananas
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 c rice milk (reduce to 1 cup if you use agave nectar)
  • 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional but oh so good)

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and spray two 8 or 9 inch pans with cooking spray. I’ve also made this in a bundt pan with good results (but longer baking time).
  2. In a mixing bowl add dry ingredients, brown rice flour through sea salt.
  3. In a small bowl or measuring cup mix warm water and egg replacer and set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl mix sugar through milk. Add “egg” and mix well.
  5. Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients until well incorporated.
  6. Add chocolate chips and stir until just mixed.
  7. Pour batter, dividing into two pans.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Serve

This cake can be frosted once cooled or enjoyed as is. It is birthday cake worth. I’ve also layered fresh strawberries between the layers and used both Avocado Mousse and Coconut Cream Frosting. My 2 year old got Cococonut Cream Frosted Mini Cupcakes for his birthday and my 4 year old got store bought frosting on his birthday cake; it should be noted that neither kid liked the store bought frosting. Lesson learned: Plant-based kids don’t need over processed, store bought junk food. 🙂

birthday cup cakes

Filed Under: Dessert, Holiday Cooking, Life with Kids, Recipes Tagged With: Birthday Cake, Cake, Chocolate Cake, Dairy Free, Dessert, gluten free, Gluten-Free baking, Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake, Plant Based Diet, Recipes, Vegan

Meal Plan Monday: Soup Week

February 25, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you but there is something about eating soup that really helps me feel nourished. I think it is because I eat a much better variety of veggies in soup that I wouldn’t eat if they were all cooked separately.

In January of 2012 I proclaimed a Soup Week. I’m really looking forward to this one because I have a few more recipes in my tool belt. I plan to make large pots of soup each night so I can have a nice selection in my freezer.

I won’t post a whole meal plan but you can get Breakfast Ideas here. You can also click on the Meal Plan Monday in the Categories section on the right. It will bring up past meal plans you can browse.

I know I always brag about living in Arizona where the weather is wonderful and it is; however lately I’ve been cold. Not the same kind of cold everyone else is experiencing but I’m a little spoiled so I’m having a hard time handling it. My answer: sweaters, coffee, and soup.

veggie broth mix

If you use canned broth or bullion these soups will be more expensive for you and possibly less healthy. I’d like to encourage you to give the Dry Broth Mix a try. It is so good and inexpensive. It takes minutes to mix up a batch in your food processor and it lasts for a long time.

Minestrone SoupMinestrone Soup! I made this last week for Healthy Cravings and we enjoyed the leftovers all weekend. We had a tense moment yesterday when we realized it was almost gone. We shared the last few cups of it then I made the next soup.

Green Chili Cilantro & Lime SOup

Green Chili Cilantro & Lime Soup! This soup is amazing! Truly. I’ll be sharing the recipe this week. I made a large pot last night. My boys didn’t love it but my husband and I did. We both had two large bowls and he took it to work for lunch. I also put some in the freezer. I have yet to get a good picture but I don’t want to wait to share this recipe.

Potato Soup

Slow Cooker Potato Soup! This is one of the easiest recipe ever! I may switch it to a busier day but I’ve really been craving potato soup. I’ll be adding more veggies to it though and perhaps more nutritional yeast. I get a look of feedback about this soup everyone seems to love it although you may want to add more seasonings especially if you attempt to make this without nutritional yeast. An immersion blender would make it smooth and creamy.

Taco Soup (2)Taco Soup! Very similar to the Enchilada Soup so you could take your pick. This soup is my favorite, I love it. If someone made this for me I’d become their best friend. It is also full of veggies and beans so you feel immensely satisfied.

Chickpea noodle soup Chickpea Noodle Soup! This is a new favorite in our house. I’ll be adding extra veggies this time depending on what is leftover. I use gluten-free noodles, I like these little shells or macaroni instead of long noodles because my boys can handle these easier but you can use any noodles you like.

Do you have a favorite soup? I love using fresh ingredients in my soup but some days I’m happy when I can throw a bunch of canned or frozen goods together and create a warm, delicious, and filling soup. Share your favorite soup in the comments!

Filed Under: Meal Plan Monday Tagged With: Beans, Black Beans, Brown Rice, chickpeas, Dairy Free, Frugal, gluten free, Healthy, Meal Plans, Menu Plan, Minestrone Soup, Pinto Beans, Planning, Plant Based Diet, Recipes, Soup, Vegan

Plant-Based Lasagna (Gluten-Free)

February 23, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo 24 Comments

Vegan Lasagna

HC Feb 004

If you’ve recently switched to a plant-based diet you may be under the impression that there are some foods you’ll never be able to eat again. I’m going to let you off the hook, you can enjoy many of the comfort foods you have always loved with a few modifications.

This recipe does take some work, like any lasagna recipe there are many steps involved, most of the work is done by a food processor. The good news is many can be prepared ahead of time. I even build the lasagna a few hours before company arrives then put it in the oven 30 minutes before dinner time.

A layered view
A layered view

Lasagna (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

Ingredients (by step)

Step 1

  • 2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 c lemon juice (1 lemon)
  • 1/4 c nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Step 2

  • 4 c tightly packed spinach or other greens
  • 1/2 large onion
  • 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
  • 1 c or handful of mushrooms

Remaining Ingredients

  • Large jar pasta sauce
  • 1 package gluten-free no-boil lasagna noodles
  • eggplant, peeled and diced (optional, I used 1/2 an eggplant)
  • mushrooms, diced (optional)

Do

  1. Add all the ingredients for step one to a food processor, puree then set aside until ready to build lasagna.
  2. Add all the ingredients for step two to a food processor, puree, then set aside until ready to build lasagna.
  3. Building the Lasagna. Layer ingredients in a large casserole dish, I used a 9×15 dish. I used the following order:1 1/2 cup red sauce, noodles, white sauce, greens, mushrooms, eggplant then finish with red sauce. Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients. Mine had 2 layers of white sauce and 2 layers of greens with 1 layer of veggies (mushrooms and eggplant). I had three layers of red sauce.
  4. Bake in preheated oven at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

Serve

This lasagna is company worthy. I’ve served it to large groups on two occasions and everyone seemed to like it. I don’t think you miss the meat or cheese from traditional lasagna. It also reheats well and keeps for several days in the fridge. It’s easily customizable. It pairs well with a large Italian salad, my salad included olives, artichoke hearts, peppers, red onions, and greens.

For a faux parmesan try whizzing 1 cup of cashews and 1/2 cup nutritional yeast in a high-powered blender and sprinkling it on top of the lasagna.

Do you miss Lasagna since going plant-based? Give this recipe a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. What comfort food do you miss the most?

Filed Under: Main Dish Recipes, Recipes Tagged With: Dairy Free, gluten free, Healthy, Healthy Cravings, Italian, Lasagna, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

The Birthday Weekend

February 20, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

birthday boy and cake

This last weekend one of my son’s turned 4 years old. There have been a lot of birthday’s lately. We have celebrated all 4 of us in the last two months. Additionally, one of our sons that lives in Michigan with his mom just had a birthday and turned 14.

Without Frosting
Without Frosting

For the actual celebration we went out for pizza then came home for birthday cake. We have a local pizza place that makes gluten-free pizza so even my 2 year old can have pizza too. My 4 year old ate 3 big pieces of pizza and wanted more but we told him to save it for the next day.

With Store Bought FrostingIt was a Birthday afterall
With Store Bought Frosting
It was a Birthday after all

There was a lot of discussion on Facebook about the Gluten-Free and Vegan Chocolate Cake. I’ll be sharing the recipe next week. I think it is a keeper. I sent the recipe out to several testers but I’m still waiting for their feedback.

bday present

My son got to pick out his present from us but was very happy to open a present from his Grandpa. My son LOVES his presents!

river

We had a lot of fun on Saturday too. We went out to the river, the weather was warm, and we all had a great time. My husband regularly takes the boys out there for a picnic but this was the first time they brought me.

river

river

river

river

river

river

river,

At one point we heard a thundering noise, I noticed the other families were looking behind us. All of the sudden two horses came running down the embankment and crossed the river. The horses were very close, I ran over the boys but they weren’t fazed, apparently wild horses showing up isn’t a big deal to them.

river

The boys went back out to the river on Sunday too. It is their new favorite place. Pretty soon the crowds will take over so I’m glad they have been able to enjoy it.

 

Filed Under: Life with Kids Tagged With: birthday, Dairy Free, Family time, gluten free, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

Meal Plan Monday @ Day of Knight

February 18, 2013 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Today I’m a guest blogger at Day of Knight. Click on over to check out my Meal Plan including my menu for Thursday night’s Healthy Cravings group.

While you are there check out Jenna’s blog. The first time I found it I spent an hour reading old posts while laughing and crying. Day of Knight is all about Jenna and her family, their faith, their life, homeschooling, adoption, missions, and a little about food.

Have a great week!

 

Filed Under: Meal Plan Monday, Uncategorized Tagged With: Healthy, Meal Plans, Menu Plan, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Find it here!

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure

Holly Yzquierdo of My Plant-Based Family is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Disclosures

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any part of this website or content without express and written permission from Holly Yzquierdo is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit is given to Holly Yzquierdo and MyPlantBasedFamily.com with links to the original content.

More information on our Privacy Policy and other Disclosures are available.

Copyright © 2023 · Wellness Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in