My Plant-Based Family

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

Vegan

Allergy-Friendly SunButter Cookies

by 5 Comments

It’s been a really long time since I’ve shared a dessert with you. I don’t make dessert often. With my little guys food allergies I have to use specialty ingredients. Thankfully they are becoming more mainstream and I can find SunButter at most grocery stores.

I first made these allergy-friendly SunButter Cookies last year. It’s taken me a long time to share them but I hope the wait is worth it.

SunButter Cookies that are Vegan, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, nut-free

I still prefer to buy most of my “special” items on Amazon. I have an Amazon Prime membership so they are delivered to my door so I don’t have to take the kids in the store. Win-Win. I’ll share links to the products I buy if you are curious. I buy them in bulk but you can purchase smaller amounts.

SunButter Cookies that are Vegan, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, nut-free

Sunbutter Cookies

Ingredients

Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat.
  2. “Cream” first four ingredients together in a medium bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl (I use my measuring cup) mix warm water and chia seeds together. Allow them to sit for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  4. In a large bowl mix the remaining dry ingredients together.
  5. Dump all of the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well.
  6. Use your hands to scoop out ping-pong sized cookies and roll them into balls. Roll them in sugar. Use wet hands to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
  7. Flatten them onto the prepared cookie sheet.
  8. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.

Serve

This recipe makes about 12 cookies. They will be soft in the middle but firm on the edges, the best of both worlds. They are great for lunch boxes too!

For a little change try adding a 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.

SunButter Cookies that are Vegan, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, nut-free

Substitutions:

I haven’t made this with peanut butter or other nut butters but if you do please let me know how they turn out. You could use a Gluten and Wheat Free Baking Mix instead of using the flours mentioned above. Be sure to read the labels to check for allergens.

If you like these allergy-friendly SunButter Cookies you should try my Brownies!

This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may earn a small percent at no extra cost to you.

Meal Plan Monday: Dinner in 30 Minutes or Less

by Leave a Comment

We are still celebrating Back to School month here at My Plant-Based Family. I know your kids may not have started school yet but I hope this month has given you some great ideas to get you ready. I’ve still got some things to share.

Back to School Month

We’ve had a Back to School Meal Plan that was filled with my quickest and easiest meals, and Batch Cooking Meal Plan that helped you prepare for the week ahead of time and a Crock Pot Week Meal Plan that used the Crock Pot every day.

This weeks Plant-Based Meal Plan fill focus on having dinner in 30 minutes or less. I’ll be using canned beans or beans that were previously cooked (I’ve got a few bags in my freezer). I’ll also “cheat” a little by cooking the Baked Potatoes in my Crock Pot.

Plant Based Diet Meal Plan

I don’t assign days to our dinners because I don’t always know what our schedule will be like. We have t ball on Monday’s and Wednesday’s but we also have a teenager and I never really know when we will be home. When he is home I make TWO dinners. He can eat a whole (4-5 person) dinner by himself. If you can relate please let me know.

All of these choices are fairly quick. I just use what is available and quick cooking.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Pizza Pasta using seasonal veggies with steamed veggies on the side.

Gluten-Free Pancakes this recipe is only in Gabriel’s Fundraiser Cookbook. Get it now, it’s only available until the end of August. I may serve this with a Breakfast Stir Fry.

BBQ Chickpeas on top of Baked Potatoes with Steamed Veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

Veggie Soup using whatever is around. I’ve been making soups ever few days for lunch. We’ve had Taco Soup, Enchilada Soup, Potato Soup, Broccoli and Potato Soup and more.

Simplified Red Lentil Curry used exclusively in my Custom Meal Plans. I’ll be serving this over quinoa, rice or potatoes.

There you have it, a Plant-Based Meal Plan with dinner in 30 minutes or less. You may have to be strategic but it can work.

I’ve got a few recipes coming up this week. I’ll give you a few hints. They are round, sweet and the perfect dessert for you kids lunch box! The are also vegan, gluten-free and nut free.

 

3 Reasons I Don’t Pack a “Healthy” Lunch Box

by 16 Comments

If you’ve been following me on Instagram you may have noticed I don’t pack my kindergartener the healthiest lunches. It may even surprise you to find out how deliberate I am with what I pack.

Back to School Month

Since this blog is about “plant-based” living you may expect me to pack veggie wraps and super healthy lunch box fare. I hope I haven’t let you down, but I’m not concerned with my kid having a “Healthy” lunch box.

3 reasons I don't pack a Healthy lunch box

I have complete oversight regarding what my kids eat at home. At school, I really can’t know. I could pack a super healthy lunch box but that doesn’t mean it would be eaten. Instead I focus on the following ideas.

1. What Will Get Eaten

My son is 5 and eating five meals a week away from me. He is not quite used to that amount of freedom. The first few days of school I packed lots of choices. I wanted to get a good idea of “how much” he would eat during his lunch time. I instructed him not to throw anything away and to bring all of the leftover home.

Sandwiches would only have a few nibbles, if that much. Of course, sweet and salty foods were eaten right up. Fruit was hit and miss. His leftovers would normally be eaten after school.

2. Avoiding Ridicule

No one wants to be the kid with a weird lunch. I remember feeling lunch box shame when my lunch didn’t match the cool kids at the lunch table. I was the kid with bologna.

Somewhere between broccoli-flavored tofu nuggets* and bacon-wrapped candy bars* there is a happy medium of  foods that make parents and kids happy. (*Please note that we don’t eat either of those.)

3. Quick and Easy

Have you been in a lunch room during elementary lunch? It’s a mad house, every man for himself. Even though there may be as many as 30 minutes scheduled for lunch by the time kids arrive at their table they may only have 15 or so minutes to eat. They best thing I can do for my kid is to pack food he can eat quickly and easily.

Elementary kids, especially kindergartener like mine don’t really understand how to budget their time. They may spend 10 minutes laughing and telling jokes then 5 minutes waiting for a lunch aide to help open their container. Everything I pack for my son is easy for him to open and can be eaten easily.

 

For more Back to School ideas visit my Back to School Pinterest Board. You can also check out Lunch Box Guide (it’s a printable) and my Lunch Box Essentials post.

Do you pack a lunch for your child? What do you normally pack?

UPDATE

We finished the school year and I have to say I’m pretty happy with our lunches for the year. Using the EasyLunchBoxes system saved my sanity. They held up well and helped us pack great lunches for our kids.

I visited my kindergartner one day for lunch toward the end of the year. The lunch aid said my son always had the healthiest lunch at the table. My son would occasionally ask for foods he saw the other kids eat, like lunchables and Cheetos. Instead we’d occasionally buy Enjoy Life Cookies that are allergy-friendly and once tried Organicasaurus dino shaped corn snacks.

The next Back to School campaign starts in August! Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss incredible giveaways and tips!

This page contains affiliate links.

Plant-Based Crock Pot Week

by 4 Comments

It’s Back to School month at My Plant-Based Family! This month we are focusing on packing lunch boxes, easy dinner time meals and getting ready for school. Make sure you check out my Back to School Community Board on Pinterest for more ideas.

I’ll be talking about lunch packing throughout the month (I’m also sharing my son’s lunch boxes on Instagram). Today my focus in on easy dinners, specifically Crock Pot dinners! My kindergartener starts baseball this week so it will be great to have an easy dinner planned.

I love my Crock Pot! I wish I had two but I don’t really have room for another one. I love cooking in it though. Many of my recipes are designed specifically for the Crock Pot but that doesn’t stop me from making my normal stove to recipes in it too.

Meal Plan Monday Plant-Based Crock Pot dinners

Plant-Based Crock Pot Dinners

Tomato Soup with a side salad and toast

Easy Crock Pot Broccoli and Rice Casserole, this is my husbands favorite recipe!

Taco Soup with Baked Potatoes

Spaghetti Squash with Marinara and a side salad

Pinto Beans in the Crock Pot to use in Bean Burritos or Bean and Potato Burritos.

These meals assure us a delicious homemade dinner no matter how busy we get. Another way to save time is though batch cooking. I hope you read last weeks Batch Cooking Meal Plan for additional time savers and meal ideas.

Don’t forget to get your $2.00 coupon code for The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide.

ebook

Need Help with your Plant-Based Diet?

by 2 Comments

Have you been considering my ebook The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide: How to Cook, Shop and Eat Well? If you I have great news for you!

In honor of Back to School month here at My Plant-Based Family I’m offering $2.00 OFF the PDF copy through the end of August. Please note that this is only for the PDF copy sold here and not for the kindle version sold on Amazon.

Back to School Month

I’ve been getting so many emails from new readers who are just discovering the plant-based diet and I really want to make the transition as easy on you as possible.

This book covers all the basics of a plant-based diet in an easy to read format. I leave the science to the doctors and explain exactly how to get it done in the real world including a chapter on transitioning your family.

To get $2.00 OFF your purchase of The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide (PDF ebook) use the code backtoschool. Remember it’s this sale is only happening until August 31st! Add to Cart

The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide: How to Cook, Shop and Eat Well is $2 off during AugustAdd to Cart

The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide has helped many people take that next step and fully transition to a plant-based diet.

Have you read The Plant-Based Diet Starter Guide Yet? What did you think of it?

Back to (Batch Cooking) School Meal Plan

by 1 Comment

This is Back to School Month at My Plant-Based Family so naturally we will be focusing on quick dinners, fun lunch box ideas and easy recipes. Your children may not be back at school yet but these tips and ideas will help you get prepared.

Back to School Month

Today’s Plant-Based Meal Plan will focus on dinners. I’m giving you a sneak peeking into the way my brain works when it comes to planning meals. Specifically I’m going to show you how I batch cook to make the rest of the week easy-peasy.

Meal Plan Monday

Plant-Based Dinner Meal Plan

Easy Crock Pot Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole is everyone’s favorite. I’ll Double the recipe.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup except I plan to add extra veggies like broccoli, carrots and celery along with some lentils.

Spaghetti (GF) and Lentil Marinara this recipe is used exclusively in my Custom Meal Plans. This is served with raw or steamed veggies.

Nachos with Unfired Black Beans and Quinoa-Lentil Taco’s.

Taco Potatoes using Quinoa-Lentil Taco’s.

Batch cooking a plant-based meal plan

What to Look For

Can you spot the trends in this Meal Plan? Which ingredients appear repeatedly?

  • Black Beans are used in the Mexican Casserole, Nachos and Taco Potatoes.
  • Lentils are used in the Soup, Lentil Marinara, Nachos and Taco Potatoes.
  • Potatoes are used in the Soup and the Taco Potatoes.
  • Quinoa is used in the Nachos and Taco Potatoes
  • Tomatoes are used in the Lentil Marinara, Nachos, and Taco Potatoes.

Using the same ingredients in multiple recipes is typical for me. It cuts down the grocery bill and the amount of time it takes me to cook. You see, I don’t start from scratch every day. I like to spend a few hours and get most of this food prepped.

How to Batch Cook the Meal Plan

Let’s take a look at how batch cooking works. This can be simplified even more if you use canned beans.

  1. Soak black beans overnight.
  2. Cook black beans, wash and bake potatoes, cook lentils and quinoa, and prep veggies. This all happens at the same time. The beans and potatoes take longest to cook so you would start them first. The quinoa and lentils don’t take long so you would start them next. Lastly wash and chop veggies to use in all of the recipe and for extra snacks throughout the week.
  3. Put ingredients for Potato Soup in the Crock Pot OR put them all in a large zip lock bag so it’s ready to dump in the Crock Pot.
  4. Once the beans are done you can make the Unfried Black Beans, Mexican Casserole and Taco Potatoes.

The End Result

Now each evening I only have to reheat dinner or do a little cooking. For example I prefer to cook the spaghetti for the Lentil Marinara right before we eat it. Pasta, especially gluten-free pasta isn’t as good reheated. I’ll also heat and assemble the nachos and Taco Potatoes right before eating. Most of the cooking is done for the week.

Remember to check out my Back to School with My Plant-Based Pinterest Board and last weeks Lunch Box Essentials post.