My Plant-Based Family

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

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A Healthy Cravings Recap

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Yesterday was a super busy day. I woke up at 5:30 am and didn’t stop until 11:00 pm. Last night was my first Healthy Cravings group. I had a little over a dozen people show up. I had more than enough food and will not need to cook all weekend. 🙂 I made several recipes from the Happy Herbivore Cookbooks, the new Forks Over Knives Cookbook, and some of my own. I started the evening my sharing my story of switching to a plant-based diet which you can read here. Then we ate, then watched a clip from Forks Over Knives, followed by a little Q&A.

I’m not sure what everyone thought but I know several ladies are really interested in a plant-based diet. I’m already looking forward to October’s Healthy Cravings group. For yesterday’s group I mostly stuck to my meal plan but I made a few changes. All in all I made:

  • Taco Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing FOK Cookbook pg 74
  • An adaptation of FOK Cookbook Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing pg 79
  • A typical garden salad
  • Happy Herbivore’s Chocolate Cupcakes HHC pg 215
  • An adaptation of FOK Cookbook Fudgy Chocolate Frosting pg 286
  • Happy Herbivore’s Carrot Cake Cupcakes HHC pg 213 I meant to make the Maple Icing but I never got around to it
  • I had two of the ladies help make a parfait by layering vanilla soy yogurt, diced apples, and homemade granola
  • Almond butter granola bars, some had carob chips
  • Brown Rice and Broccoli Bake
  • “Cheesy” Broccoli Baked Potato Bake
  • Lentil Ragu from the FOK Cookbook pg 158 made by my friend Steffi
  • Creamy Basil Pasta FOK Cookbook pg 141 made by Steffi also

That is all I can remember. It was a whirlwind day. My refrigerator is so full, we will be eating salad and pasta all weekend. I’m really looking forward to not having to cook. I loved hearing people say, “this is so good, what is it” or “what’s in it.” Some of the ladies who came were already eating plant-based, other’s had tried it a bit, and some may have never heard of it.

In other bloggy adventures you may be wondering where my “Food Waste Friday” post is. I’ve been slowly phasing it out. I also haven’t been post every day. I’ve been trying to spend more time with my boys and keep my time better spent on my top priorities. With that being said blogging and helping other’s learn about a plant-based diet is still high on my priority list but it isn’t above time with my family. I still plan to post several times a week but I don’t stress about it. There are so many great blogs out there if I go a few days without a post I don’t think we will miss out too much. But if you do, I post regularly to My Plant-Based Family on Facebook. I also post random pictures of what we are eating, comments my kids make about food, and links to other fabulous blogs or sites.

Thanks to Annie for taking pictures and sending them to me. I was too busy but really wanted some. She just started taking them and I’m so thankful!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

September’s Healthy Cravings Meal Plan

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On Monday’s I typically post my meal plan for the week but I’m not going to do that this week. I have no idea what we are eating this week other that leftovers that are in my fridge. I’m not worried though we wont starve. If you feel lost without my Meal Plan you can read previous meal plans to help you get through the week. 🙂

You may remember this summer I hosted my first Food Demo. It was a success but has now morphed into a new group called Healthy Cravings. Our first meeting is this Thursday so I thought it would be fun to share the menu ahead of time. In these meetings I hope to introduce a plant-based diet and encourage ladies toward healthier living even if they are not yet ready to take the plant-based plunge.

For this first meeting the focus will be to Eat More Veggies! Each month I’ll have a different focus and a seasonally appropriate menu. October will be soups and chili, and November will be Thanksgiving. It is still really hot (I know I mention that every day) so I don’t want to heat the house up before everyone comes over.

Healthy Cravings Menu

Salads

  • Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
  • Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing
  • Garden Salad with a variety of dressings
  • Creamy Basil Pasta Salad

Comfort Corner

  • Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole
  • “Cheesy” Broccoli Baked Potato Bake
  • Lentil Ragu and Pasta

Desserts

  • Granola Bars
  • Fruit and Granola Parfait
  • I’m still deciding on some other desserts

So what do you think? I’m so excited! I’m also very thankful that my friend Steffi is bringing the Creamy Basil Pasta Salad and the Lentil Ragu. Isn’t that awesome! I have 18 people RSVP’d so far and a grocery list a mile long.

Meal Plan Monday: September is Here

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Well it is finally September but that doesn’t mean crisp autumn days here in Arizona. A lot of my friends are ready for cooler weather complete with fall wreaths on their front doors. I’m welcoming September by buying a new pair of jeans and a denim jacket! Oh and by making my favorite, Minestrone Soup! To0 bad it is still well over 100°F on most days. Until it cools off we will just turn up the air conditioning, grab a big quilt, and watch Christmas movies with warm cup of coffee.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be Steel Cut Oats, Breakfast Quinoa, toast with almond butter and sliced apples, baked sweet potatoes and an occasional bowl of cereal.

Lunches will be leftovers; right now I have leftover lentil tacos, plain lentils, Mexican Rice, Taco Quinoa, and plain quinoa. We will also have sandwiches, wraps, salads, and combinations of everything mixed together.

Snacks will be hummus with veggies, fruit, smoothies, I like a quick PB&J sometimes too.

Dinner

Monday: Leftover Mexican food

Tuesday: Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole (My family’s favorite! They request this each week.)

Wednesday: Baked Potatoes topped with steamed veggies and lentils

Thursday: Minestrone Soup

Friday: Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing (I want to try this, it’s from the new Forks Over Knives Cookbook)

I’m looking forward to some good food this week. We have family favorites, quick and easy fare, a new recipe to try. Next week is my 2nd Food Demo which I’m re-branding as a women’s healthy living group now called Healthy Cravings. It is a plant-based group but not everyone knows that yet. I just teased them with the idea of eliminating disease and losing weight. 🙂

Have a great week friends!

Meal Plan Monday: Weekend Cooking for Weekday Meals

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Maybe a post like this isn’t helpful; talking about weekend cooking on a Monday…oh well it’s what I do. On the weekends (and sometimes on Fridays) I like to cook things that take extra time like beans and grains so I don’t have to take the time during the week. My husband has been doing an amazing job of cutting veggies on the weekends to save time other days.

This week I have black beans and black-eyed peas to work with. My husband will probably eat most of the black-eyed peas for lunch because he and the 1 year old are the only ones who really like them. I had chickpeas too but I used most of the to make “Not So Tuna Salad” but it got a little thin so now it’s more of a dip. I have about 4 cups of it so I may freeze some of it if I don’t come up with another clever use but I’m thinking of eating it on a baked potato.

This little bit of preparation on the weekends greatly reduces the chance of a dinner time emergency run to the nearest drive thru. When I have beans or grains already prepared it also gives me a direction to go with my meal planning.

On the produce front we have the usual suspects along with a few special items: baby spinach, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, celery, a red bell pepper, potatoes, peaches, nectarines, green apples, yellow apples, mangos, grapes, cherries, a pineapple, a watermelon, half a golden melon, some kale, a few tomatoes, a few jalapenos and bunches and bunches of bananas.

I’m thinking of making a fruit salsa since I have a good variety of fruit.

Meal Plan

Breakfast isn’t really planned out everyday but will be made up of toast, oatmeal, cereal, farina, fruit, and maybe pancakes. Today I had whole grain toast with peanut butter topped with thin slices of green apples. It was so good! One of my favorite things!

Lunches will be equally easy and mostly made up of sandwiches, wraps, baked potatoes, beans and  grain bowls, and other leftovers.

Snacks are usually fruit, veggies with hummus, smoothies, or other quick and easy things. Lately my boys have been stealing apples off the counter to share. The little one will rope the big one into his exploits. When we leave carrots sticks out the 3 year old steals them too.

Dinner is planned out a little better, the trick is sticking to it. 🙂

Monday: BBQ Chickpea Salad with Fruit Salsa and Black Beans

Tuesday: The Broccoli and Brown Rice Casserole I posted last week, my family’s favorite.

Wednesday: Busy Day/Busy Night Baked Potatoes with steamed veggies and fruit

Thursday: Help me decide! What would you make?

Friday: Crock Pot Veggie Soup

So what do you think? Do you have any suggestions for me; I have a pretty well stocked pantry maybe I’ll make my normal Mexican fare. If you Meal Plan share it here! The more the merrier!

Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole

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I’ve mentioned a Brown Rice and Broccoli dish that my husband and teenage daughter LOVE. I’ve even given an unofficial recipe. Today I’ll give the official version.

I’ve made this with millet and it wasn’t a huge hit with the family but I like it. It would be great with couscous, noodles, or even quinoa. I don’t bake this one because it is still to hot for me to use the oven most days so I guess this isn’t really a casserole. Once it cools down I’ll try an oven version but for now I cook the rice, steam the veggies, and make the sauce in separate pans so it is a little dishwashing intensive.

In our meat-eating days I would make a chicken and rice casserole that used cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups AND a stick of butter. Bleck! We loved it then but now I can’t imagine! So unhealthy! This is our stand-in casserole.

Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

  • 4 Cups Cooked Brown Rice (More or less for depending on the number you are serving)
  • 3 Cups steamed, chopped Broccoli (other veggies could be added)
  • 1 recipe HH Brown Gravy (I use brown rice flour to make this gluten-free)

Do

  1. Pour cooked rice into a large casserole dish.
  2. Add broccoli or other veggies and gently mix.
  3. Prepare HH Brown Gravy recipe and pour it over rice and broccoli. Stir until everything is incorporated.
  4. Enjoy!

Serve

This is so easy to make. It re-heats well so I’ll often make it early in the day and reheat it for dinner. It is a great potluck dish. Many of my readers are the only one’s in their family who are plant-based, this recipe will work for you. Simply set aside half for you and allow your family to add chicken to their portion. This would also be good with a faux cheese sauce instead of the Brown Gravy sauce.

 UPDATE!

Try my latest version of this that is easier and tastes even better! The Crock Pot Broccoli and Brown Rice Casserole will knock your socks off! It’s one of our favorite recipes!

cheesy rice casserole image700

Meal Plan Monday: Too Hot for Comfort Food?

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Minestrone Soup

It may be over 100° F but that isn’t too hot for me. Comfort foods go over well with my family. For lunch today I finished off some leftovers by mixing brown rice and lentil-pinto chili together; right now I am so full I can barely sit up straight. 🙂 Just so you know I didn’t eat bowls and bowls of it. I probably had about 1 1/2 cups (not quite a full bowl), but between the lentils, beans, brown rice, and veggies that is a lot of fiber. To modify a famous quote, “fiber is a girls best friend.” Everything we eat wont fall under the comfort food category but I hope a few will.

Meal Plan

Breakfast is usually quick and easy foods. We have been on the go almost every morning for the last few weeks and my boys want to eat all morning. I’ve been letting them have cereal for their first breakfast, this usually just keeps them busy while I make their real breakfast or work on something else. We normally eat oatmeal with fruit, I like to add almond butter to mine. Breakfast Quinoa is another versatile favorite but it is hard for my little guys to eat without a big mess.

Lunches are usually pretty simple too. Most of the time it’s leftovers, but sometimes we have nut butter and fruit sandwiches, salad wraps, or and easy soup.

Snack time is a great way to make sure you are getting all the veggies you need. We like raw veggies with hummus, my husband and son have even been eating cups of raw baby spinach with the smallest bit of balsamic vinaigrette. Fruit and greens smoothies are always popular here, of course I don’t tell the teenagers I put greens in it.

Dinner is where I actually put forth effort. 🙂 I try to cook enough for lunches and sometimes dinners on other nights. My husband almost always takes lunch (plus breakfast and snacks) to work each day.

Monday: Pasta and red sauce with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. We will also have a large salad made with Spring Mix, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, any other veggies I can find.

Tuesday: Broccoli and Rice casserole. This has been my teenagers favorite dish since they came here to visit. My daughter asks for it all the time and today my husband told me it is in his top three favorite meals. I’ve made it with millet but they didn’t like it as much. It is perfect with brown rice or couscous. I’ve mentioned how I make this but I’ll post an official recipe later this week.

Wednesday: We have a long day of appointments and plans all day so this will probably be an eating out kind of day.

Thursday: Black Bean Taco Salad

Friday: Minestrone or Potato Soup

I don’t post our meals for the weekends unless we have something special planned. I cook some meals but we like to finish off all of the leftovers, buy groceries and start the week fresh.

Have you planned your meals for the week? Today I cooked a pot of chickpeas but I haven’t planned a specific meal for them. They may become hummus or perhaps BBQ Chickpea salad.