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My Plant-Based Family

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

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Vegan

August 10, 2015 Plant-Based Dinners Meal Plan

August 10, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo 1 Comment

Plant-Based Dinner

Plant-Based Dinner

It’s the second week of school for us. I know some parents dread their kids going back to school. I love it. Yes, there are parts I don’t enjoy, but on the whole, I love it. My youngest (4 years old) start school this week. He goes to a small Christian preschool that we love. His teachers truly love him and are so careful with his food allergies. It’s a great experience.

Now that he is in school we are packing more lunches every day. Don’t forget to enter the EasyLunchBoxes Giveaway, it ends soon! It requires a bit more organization but I’ve got plenty of ideas to help. Plus I have a new giveaway starting Wednesday from the SoyNut Butter Company!

This week my meal plan will focus on dinners. I didn’t do any batch cooking this weekend so I’m starting at zero but these dinners come together pretty quickly. I’ll use my Crock Pot or Instant Pot if I decide to take something that requires a longer cooking time.

Plant-Based Dinner Meal Plan

  • Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry (I’ll probably cook the rice in my Instant Pot)
  • Pizza Pasta with a side salad
  • Chickpea Noodle Soup
  • Chipotle Style Salads made with romaine, black beans, diced tomatoes, corn, salsa and avocado.
  • Veggie Pad Thai

What Plant-Based Dinner’s are you planning for the week? For plenty of ideas check out my Recipe Page or follow me on Instagram to see what we are eating!

Filed Under: Meal Plan 2015, Meal Plan Monday Tagged With: Meal Plan Monday, Meal Plans, Menu Plan, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

August 9, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo 6 Comments

stir fry broccoli and mushroom

stir fry broccoli and mushroom After a long day I really don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. That is one of the reasons I’m such a fan of Batch Cooking. Sometimes I need a quick and easy meal. Stir fry’s are such an easy option. Since I don’t cook with oil some may argue that this isn’t a true stir fry. The extra fat found in oil isn’t really needed if you use a little water in its place. (You can view this post to see how I use water for fried rice.)

We almost always have cooked  brown rice in the fridge. We use it in so many recipes it is a staple in our diet. When I don’t have rice cooked, I can make it quickly in my Instant Pot. This stir fry can be made with whatever veggies you have on hand but half my household loves mushrooms so this dish was for them.

stir fry broccoli and mushroom

Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

Ingredients

  • 1 crown broccoli, chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 8 oz mushrooms sliced
  • 1/2 an onion, diced
  • 4 cups cooked brown rice
  • Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce or Tamari)

As with many of my recipes, you can add more ingredients or remove items you don’t like without a huge problem with the recipe. For example, if you aren’t a big fan of mushrooms use less or use bell peppers in their place.

Do

  1. In a hot skillet or wok add diced onions and sliced carrots, cover with a lid. Check on them regularly and stir. When they begin to stick pour a few tablespoons of water in the skillet and stir again.
  2. Once the carrots are starting to soften, dump in the mushrooms. These will need to cook for several minutes. Once they have exuded their juices and look shiny, pour the broccoli in and cover once again.
  3. Check veggies every few minutes and stir. If they begin to stick to the pan add more water again.
  4. Once all of the veggies are cooked to a tender/crisp consistency dump in your cooked rice and stir. You can use less than 4 cups if desired.  You can also heat the rice separately if desired.
  5. Pour Bragg Liquid Aminos over the rice and veggies. I’d start with a little and add more to taste. We probably use a couple of tablespoons but it is a high sodium food so limit it if necessary.

This meal comes together in less than 20 minutes. If you have to cook the rice allow yourself sufficient time. This is a really easy meal to make and packs perfectly in a lunch box (I only recommend it for adult or older kids lunches).

If you like this, check out my other great Asian inspired meals, Veggie Pad Thai and my easy Oil-Free (un)Fried Rice.

Don’t forget to enter the EasyLunchBoxes Giveaway!

This page contains affiliate links. 

Filed Under: Main Dish Recipes, Recipes Tagged With: gluten free, Plant Based Diet, Recipes, Unprocessed, Vegan

August 3, 2015 Back to School Meal Plan

August 3, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Plant-Based meal plan

Back to School It’s Back to School Week in our house, at least for our first grader. Our preschooler has one week left until school starts. Our teenage son will be coming to visit us for two-weeks, but don’t tell our little guys, it’s a surprise.

With so much going on this week meal planning becomes even more important. Our son that is visiting is a 6 foot tall athlete who prefers processed food. It will definitely be a challenge to keep him full.

We will also start packing lunches this week, which reminds me. I have a new giveaway coming on Wednesday for a set of EasyLunchBoxes! Stay tuned for more details, or better yet, subscribe (in the right sidebar or below for mobile users) so you don’t miss any posts.

I usually only plan 4-5 items for meals per week. I like to make extra so we have leftovers to eat and it frees us up for last-minute changes. If I plan 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners we will buy too much food and not eat it all. We always have leftover beans, rice and potatoes as well as salad fixings to add to our meals.

Back to School Meal Plan

Plant-Based meal plan

 Plant-Based Breakfasts

  • Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal made with Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats (I buy them on Amazon)
  • Vegan Yogurt, fruit and Awesome Granola
  • Cereal
  • Blueberry Oatmeal
  • Breakfast Rice

I keep gluten-free waffles in the freezer as a back up for crazy mornings.

Plant-Based Lunches

  • I’ll make this Black Bean Salad but I’ll replace the mango with fresh pineapple
  • Soup and Salad
  • Baked Potatoes with Vegan Chili and raw veggies with hummus
  • Packed Lunch Box will be SoyNut Butter and banana sandwich, fresh fruit/veggies, Plentils and Enjoy Life Cookies most days.

Plant-Based Dinner

  • Chili
  • Minestrone Soup if you haven’t made this yet you are missing out!
  • Fiesta Pasta with a side salad with Sweet and Tangy Salad Dressing
  • Grilled Portobellos and Veggies with Baked Potatoes
  • Taco Bar with Lentil Tacos, Faux Cheese Sauce, Salsa, Pico de Gallo, Guacamole, roasted corn, Unfried Beans, etc.

We often use our dinner leftovers for lunches. When time is short I can usually throw together a delicious Bean and Grain Bowl or a Chipotle-style salad with our regular refrigerator staples.


 

Don’t forget to enter the Allerbling Giveaway! Tuesday is the last day to enter! The next giveaway will begin on Wednesday, August 5th.

This page contains affiliate links.

Filed Under: Back to School, Meal Plan 2015, Meal Plan Monday Tagged With: Back to School, Meal Plan Monday, Meal Plans, Menu Plan, Plant Based Diet, Vegan

Easy Summer Meals in 20 Minutes or Less

July 9, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

20 Easy Summer Plant-Based Meals that are ready in 20 minutes or less

20 Easy Summer Plant-Based Meals that are ready in 20 minutes or less

I don’t know about you but I lose interest in cooking when the temperatures are over 90 degrees. I want to cool off, not stand over the stove! In fact, I rarely use my oven between May and October because it heats up my house so much. Occasionally, I use the oven in the morning if I really need to bake. Who want’s to bake when you can buy So Delicious Ice Cream?

Today I’m sharing some of my favorite summer meals that are ready in 20 minutes or less. Many don’t require any cooking at all.

20 Easy Summer Meals

1. Toast with SunButter and Fruit (yes this is an acceptable meal in the summer)

2. Veggie Sandwiches

3. Microwave Baked Potatoes (don’t hate on the microwave, use the Crock Pot if you like but it’s too hot for the oven here)

4. Pancakes, try GF Jules recipe for gluten-free or Happy Herbivore’s for wheat

5. Taco Salad using canned beans

6. Nachos using my Unfried Beans or Unfried Black Beans, these are life changing!

7. Tostadas

8. Pasta Salad, make sure to chop the veggies while the pasta is cooking

9. Veggie and Hummus, yes this can be a meal

10. (Vegan) Yogurt Parfait, yes this can be a meal too. It’s hot people!

11. Smoothies

12. Vegan Pad Thai

13. Quesadillas, using canned beans

14. ChickPea Salad, there is a sweet and savory versions, on sandwiches

15. Quinoa Veggie Bowl

16. Faux Tuna Salad Sandwiches

17. Sun Butter and Jelly Sandwich with fruit on the side

18. Quinoa Tacos or Lentil Tacos (both cook in about 20 minutes)

19.Veggie Wrap or Veggie Stuffed Pitas

20. Black Bean Mango Salad

BONUS IDEAS

Not if you have a Crock Pot or Instant Pot you can get a lot of cooking done without actually spending time in the kitchen. Try these recipes!

21. Mexican Casserole Crock Pot version or Instant Pot version

22. Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole in the Crock Pot

23. Potato Kale Soup both versions listed

24. Oatmeal (we love it for dinner) using Jill’s 3 minute approach

25. Your favorite Soups or Chili

There you have it, 20 Easy Summer Meals that are ready in 20 minutes or less plus 5 bonus recipes for the Crock Pot or the Instant Pot!

Now I want to hear your favorite recipes for summer!

This page contains affiliate links.

Filed Under: Round Ups Tagged With: Plant Based Diet, Unprocessed, Vegan

Meal Plan Monday: July 6, 2015

July 6, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Meal Plan Monday: Plant-Based, Vegan Meal Plan with mostly gluten-free options

Meal Plan Monday: Plant-Based, Vegan Meal Plan with mostly gluten-free options

After last weeks short week and holiday weekend this week will like feel a lot longer. We didn’t do much prep on the weekend but we are starting the week with a fridge full of fresh produce and a fresh bot of cooked brown rice. Jim will cook beans tomorrow in the Instant Pot and we will be ready for the week.

I expect to work a lot of hours this week and will rely on different combinations of our basics. This usually involved brown rice, black beans, chopped lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and other veggies. We will need to cook some potatoes but those make a great breakfast, lunch or snack. I also ordered more Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten-Free Steel Cut Oats from Amazon that will arrive on Tuesday.

In addition to the items mentioned above we also have carrots, celery, cucumbers, cauliflower and a lot of fruit including: apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, kiwi, mangoes, grapes, blueberries and plums. I’m sure there is more but this is what comes to mind.

Instead of sharing a Plant-Based Meal Plan with a lot of separate meals I’ll tell you how we will stick to these basic ingredients to build several meals.

Meal Plan Monday

Breakfast

  • Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • Blueberry Oatmeal
  • Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Rice

Lunch

  • Veggie Sandwich using lettuce, tomato, cucumbers and peppers
  • Baked Potatoes, maybe Taco Potatoes
  • Salads, maybe even the Black Bean Mango Salad
  • Beans and Rice with salad

Dinner

  • Bean and Rice Bowl
  • Taco Salad
  • Bean Burritos
  • Veggie Burritos/Tacos

We will round out all of our meals and snacks with fruits or veggies (or both).

The great thing about a simple menu like this is that it is easy. You don’t have to buy a lot of foods that will go to waste because a lot of simple ingredients that we always have on hand. If these ingredients seem odd to you check out our Basic Pantry List.

I’ve cut down our choices but our family loves these meals. You should hear our kids beg for black beans for lunch. For years, our 6 year old would not eat black beans, or should I say, only eat them begrudgingly. He has come a long way and over the last month has proclaimed that they are his favorite. He has always like pinto beans but two people in our household have an intolerance to them so we have switched to black beans.

On that note, if any of you know of a super deal on black beans let me know. We go through a lot of them.

This page contains affiliate links. 

Filed Under: Meal Plan 2015, Meal Plan Monday Tagged With: gluten free, Meal Plan Monday, Meal Plans, Menu Plan, Plant Based Diet, Unprocessed, Vegan

Healthy 4th of July Meal Ideas

July 2, 2015 by Holly Yzquierdo Leave a Comment

Healthy 4th of july meal ideas

Healthy 4th of july meal ideas

The 4th of July is getting so close. If you have plans for potlucks or get together’s people are probably already asking what you will be bringing. If you are eating with an omni group there will be some pressure to bring food they will like too.

Don’t worry I’ve got a ton of ideas that will make everyone happy!

Healthy 4th of July Meal Ideas

Portobello Burger and Potato Salad

Chances are there will be a grill nearby. Why not grill up some Portobello Burgers or Avocado Grillers?

Vegan BBQ Sandwich...You'll never guess the secret ingredient!

 

If you need to make your meal ahead of time Vegan BBQ Sandwiches made from spaghetti squash keeps warm in a Crock Pot for a low maintenance meal.

Healthy side dishes are an easy substitute and less likely to be noticed as “different” by your friends.

Sweet and Tangy Gluten-Free Pasta Salad is picnic perfect

Try this oil-free pasta salad, you can make it gluten-free as well. They most typical side dish might be Potato Salad so make sure you bring this healthy version. You can also substitute healthier ingredients to make baked beans and corn on the cob healthier.

gluten free vegan brownies

 

Don’t forget dessert! I usually make Brownies because I can make them a day ahead but sometimes I’ll make an Apple or Strawberry Rhubarb Pie on the fly with Wholly Wholesome Pie Crust (they have a gluten-free version) or Sunbutter Cookies because they are safe for peanut allergies.

Strawberry Lemonade

Don’t forget the drinks! There will probably be lots of soda but skip it for fresh Strawberry Lemonade instead.

Do you have plans for the weekend? What will you be eating? You can scroll through the Recipe Page for more healthy 4th of July Meal Ideas!

 

Filed Under: Holiday Cooking, Round Ups Tagged With: Holiday Cooking, Plant Based Diet, Recipes, Vegan

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