My Plant-Based Family

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

Vegan

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.

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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.

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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!

Meal Plan Monday: Back to Routine

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Fall Break is over and we are getting back to our normal routine. We didn’t do anything really impressive but my kids got to build a lot of forts, eat So Delicious Frozen Treats, and play with friends.

You can see some of the pictures here!
I had a fun opportunity to provide some treats at Keystone Natural Family Medicine‘s Open House. They enjoyed my Taco Muffins, Spinach Artichoke Dip and Roasted Red Pepper Dip with Luke’s Organic Crackers along with my Gluten-Free Brownies.

This week is Healthy Cravings. Healthy Cravings is a plant-based support group that is allergy-friendly. If you live in the Phoenix area and want more information send me an email. Many of the people who come are not plant-based but they enjoy learning about healthier choices and socializing over delicious eats.

Meal Plan Monday Plant-based, Vegan, gluten-free

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Breakfast

Since Fall Break is over and we have a pretty full week we will be eating a lot of cereal for breakfast. Unfortunately, my kids are getting a little burned out on cereal so I may need to come up with something a little more creative.

Lunch

I’m back to packing lunch for on of my sons so it’s usually just lunch for my youngest and I. We like to eat soups, sandwiches, potatoes and sometimes GF pasta for lunch. I made a new soup this last week and he told me he only wants soup with broccoli.

Dinner

I’m planning to use my Crock Pot when I can this week. That means soups and casseroles for me balanced with a few quick cooking stove top meals.

  • Veggie Pad Thai (my husband has formally requested that I made this once a week)
  • Chickpea Noodle Soup in the Crock Pot
  • White Enchiladas If you haven’t tried these yet you should. They aren’t a quick as most of my meals but they are worth it.
  • Food for Healthy Cravings hopefully in the Crock Pot (I’m still waiting on RSVPs so I’ll know what to make)
  • Veggie Pasta with a side salad

What are you eating this week? Were you part one of the folks that made The World’s Best Banana Bread?

Did you know you can buy The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide: How to Cook, Shop and Eat Well for Kindle?

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Roasted Red Pepper Dip

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I love eating dips. LOVE them I tell you. Since transitioning to a plant-based diet, oil-free hummus is in my weekly meal plan rotation. This Roasted Red Pepper Dip is oil-free and one of my favorites!

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When I want something with a little more flavor than my classic hummus, I’ll make this Roasted Red Pepper hummus. It’s like magic because I can eat way more veggies when I have hummus than I eat without it. 

Since this hummus is made without oil or tahini, there is very little fat! 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

What do you eat with hummus?

There are so many foods that pair well with hummus. Raw veggies, pita bread, and crackers are perfect for hummus. I also enjoy hummus on wraps, sandwiches, in salads, and mixed into pasta! Adding roasted red pepper hummus to my Mediterranean Bowl brings it to a whole new level.

Substituting Chickpeas

Hummus doesn’t have to be made with chickpeas. If you can’t eat chickpeas because of an allergy or intolerance, you can substitute another type of bean. I recommend great northern beans or any other white bean. 

I routinely make dips like my Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus, Spinach Artichoke Dip and Green Chili White Bean Dip with white beans. There isn’t a big difference in flavor or texture, especially if it would take another trip to the store, just use what you have.

Do you need tahini in hummus? 

I don’t think you need tahini in hummus. Sure it adds some flavor and creaminess but it’s not necessary in my opinion. I’m not a big tahini fan.

I just leave tahini out of all the hummus recipes I make. 

Kids love dip

I don’t really need an occasion to make humus and I find that my kids love it too. They easily eat twice as many veggies (if not more) when I have a delicious dip to enjoy them with. I’ll often cut up veggies and leave hummus next to them on the counter while I’m cooking. As they smell dinner, they come in to snack while I cook. Without a doubt, they eat way more veggies that they would at dinner.

This dip is really easy to make and is delicious with veggies, crackers, chips or in a wrap.

This dip is allergy-friendly by avoiding nuts, sesame and dairy. It’s also vegan and gluten-free, which is pretty typical around here.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients

  • 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
  • 1/4 cup water (more or less)
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup roasted red pepper

Do

Puree beans, water, spices and red pepper in a Food Processor or high-powered blender and blend until smooth. I use my Blendtec and push the “dip” button for super simple and quick option.

Serve

This is the perfect condiment for your veggie wraps and great with raw veggies. 

Yield: 6

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is an oil-free, low fat hummus that is perfect for people on a whole food plant-based diet.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
  • 1/4 cup water (more or less)
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup roasted red pepper

Instructions

  1. Puree beans, water, spices and red pepper in a Food Processor or high-powered blender and blend until smooth.
  2. If needed, you can add more liquid to get a smoother consistency.

Notes

Store leftover dip in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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© Holly Yzquierdo
Category: Sauces, Dips, and Salad Dressings

Meal Plan Monday: Fall Break Menu

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It’s Fall Break so my kids are home from school this week. That means I’ll be doing a lot more cooking with at least 3 times as many interruptions. The weather has finally started to cool off meaning it’s not supposed to be in the 100s. That also means I’m back to using my oven. I’ve been testing a lot of new recipes that will go into an UPDATED version of my Thanksgiving Meal Plan! Stay tuned for more details. I’ve been sharing them on Facebook.

I’m also preparing some food for a Naturopathic Medicine Week Open House at Keystone Natural Family Medicine. If you live in the Phoenix area mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 8th and stop by between 3:00 and 6:00. There will be classes starting every 30 minutes and raffle prizes at the end. I’d love to meet you!

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Plant-Based Meal Plan

This is my Fall Break Menu because when it’s Fall Break I need lots of food available.

Plant-Strong Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon and Raisin Breakfast Rice

Breakfast

I’m taking advantage of the seasonal flavors for most of our breakfasts. Organic Gala Apples were a great price at my local Sprout’s Farmers Market.

Bean and Grain Bowl that is gluten free and vegan

Lunch

I will keep it pretty simple for lunch. My kids will beg for sandwiches everyday and I might give in. I met the Soy Nut Butter folks at the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference so we are trying it out.

Vegan Shepherds Pie

Dinner

If you haven’t made a Meal Plan for the week yet take a few minutes and jot down some ideas. Feel free to use these to check out my Meal Planning Pages for Free Meal Planning Ideas. If you’d like all of the work done for you can purchase a ready-made meal plan complete with a shopping list and recipes.

So, what are you eating this week. Your Meal Plan my inspire others. If it’s Fall Break for you what are you plans?

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Custom Meal Plan