My Plant-Based Family

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

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Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan and Cookbook

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It’s almost Thanksgiving and Christmas will quickly follow. Do you have a plan for the holidays?

Favorite Foods made Healthier

Food may be at the center of most holiday traditions but that doesn’t mean you have to eat poorly. In fact, many of your traditional favorites can be adapted and made healthier (and allergy-friendly).

You may need to substitute eggs, butter or oil but it can be done. I highly recommend you test each dish before the big day or follow a trusted recipe.

The Holidays can be a Slippery Slope

The problem with straying away from healthy eating habits during the holidays is that most of us don’t stop with one meal. We polish off a turkey dinner and dairy-filled sides with a couple of pieces of pie, then start all over the next day with leftovers. Then we have a “hankering” for rich and fatty foods that can only be quenched with Christmas cookies, cakes and cheese.

Does that sound familiar?

Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan
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Plan for Health

I’ve collected all of my favorite traditional Holiday foods in one place. The Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan & Cookbook is a PDF download that contains 20 recipes. This collection is perfect for anyone who eats vegan, gluten-free, or allergy-friendly.

Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan and Cookbook

Recipes

Let’s take a closer look at the recipes!

  • Thanksgiving Sage Dressing
  • Gluten-Free Cornbread for Dressing
  • Perfectly Whipped Mashed Potatoes
  • Sweet Potato Casserole with optional Pecan Glaze
  • Thanksgiving Mushroom Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • Creamy Crustless Pumpkin Pie
  • Dry Veggie Broth Mix
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Holiday Lentil Loaf
  • Cheezy Potatoes (Vegan Scalloped Potatoes)
  • Faux Cheese Sauce
  • Butternut Squash & Quinoa Salad with Oil-Free Cranberry Dressing
  • Oil-Free Cranberry Salad Dressing
  • Lentil Shepherd’s Pie
  • Veggie Pot Pie (this recipe contains gluten but can be made GF using the GF Pie Crust Recipe)
  • Recipe for Easy All Purpose Sauce for Veggie Pot Pie
  • Roasted Asparagus
  • Maple Glazed Carrots
  • Gluten-Free Pie Crust (contains vegan shortening)
  • Apple Pie
  • Creamy Apple Pie Bars

Most of the recipes are also oil-free, the only exception is the pie crust. (I’ve yet to create a truly great pie crust that is gluten-free and oil-free hence the vegan shortening used in the crust).

Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan and Cookbook

Last year I offered a Thanksgiving Meal Plan but this year I’ve taken that old Meal Plan, updated it with new recipes and made it more user-friendly. If you bought the old Thanksgiving Meal Plan I’m happy to send you this one for free. Just send me an email and I’ll verify your purchase and send you a new download link.

If you haven’t purchased it yet what are you waiting for? The Plant-Based Holiday Meal Plan is only $4.99! Add to Cart

 

It’s also available on Amazon but I HIGHLY recommend this PDF version. The Amazon version is e-reader friendly but the charts get difficult to read do to formatting changes. The larger you screen the easier it is so it will likely work fine on ipads but not as well on iphones.

 

I guarantee it will make your holiday meals healthy and delicious! It’s full of helpful information, a cooking guide and plenty of tips.

Healthy Eating Challenge Meal Plan Week 2

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It’s the second week of the 21 Day Plant-Based Challenge! If you are participating in this challenge with us I’m sure you are feeling great and inspired. I hope you’ve become more confident and learned a few tips to help you make these healthy changes a sustainable part of your life.

If you are just learning about the challenge it’s not too late to join! Learn more about the challenge and get involved.

Join the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group that is serving as Headquarters for the Challenge.

Our generous sponsors have provided some great prizes to help you on your plant-based journey! We have two drawings each week but you have to participate by telling me your points! Each point counts as an entry!

Healthy Eating Challenge Meal Plan week 2

Healthy Eating Challenge Meal Plan

Breakfast

Don’t forget about breakfast! If I make a poor choice at breakfast I often continue to make bad choices all day. Make the good choice to have a healthy breakfast.

Lunch

I start thinking about lunch the night before when I’m cooking dinner. Leftovers are a great way to ensure you have a healthy lunch available, no matter how busy you get.

Dinner

I’m using quinoa a lot this week so I’ll save time by making a large batch of it on prep day!

Don’t forget to eat your fruit! I often have an apple or banana between meals but you can add fruit to salads, wraps and stir fry’s for a delicious and unexpected flavor.

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?

Healthy Eating Challenge Meal Plan week 1

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On November 1st many of started the 21 Day Plant-Based Healthy Eating Challenge.

If you haven’t started yet now is the perfect time to make a commitment that could change your life for the better.

Read this post to find out all of the details then join the My Plant-Based Family Facebook Group that is serving as “Headquarters” for the challenge.

There isn’t a required Meal Plan for the challenge but I’ll offer suggestions each week.

Meal Plan Monday

21 Day Plant-Based Challenge Meal Plan for Week 1

Breakfast

Focus on unprocessed foods as much as possible. If you are crunched for time and need a bowl of cereal choose one made from whole grains and eat fruit to accompany it.

Lunch

Plan ahead to avoid making poor food choices out of desperation.

Dinner

Make extra at dinner so you can take the leftovers for lunch.

If you are participating in the challenge I’d love to hear how it’s going!

You can also watch this video where I talk a little about the challenge and answer a few frequently asked questions.

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.