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PLANT BASED FOODY

Simple Strategies for Healthy Eating!

 

 

Lunch

Easy meals while being at home

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I’m guessing you are home right now with all of this craziness going on and social distancing. I wanted to share with you some easy meals while being at home. I’m at home with my husband and two teenage kids. On the upside, it does give us a chance to slow down and connect with our families. (even for the kids to clean their rooms:)

Batch Cooking Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes:

Bake a bunch of potatoes and sweet potatoes for the week. Easy to create lunch and dinner if these are made in advance.

Bake the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes. You’ll have potatoes ready when you want them. This makes easy meals while being at home simple especially if you are feeling stressed out.

Below is a baked sweet potato with chopped spinach and mushrooms topped with some hummus. This makes for a great lunch or dinner.

Easy meal prep with sweet potatoes and hummus

Simple ideas on using the canned beans for easy meals at home:

  • Canned beans are great to top a salad for added protein, fiber and to create a full meal. And they taste delicious.
  • The salad below was made with arugula, mushrooms and chickpeas, and topped with vegan caesar dressing from Follow Your Heart Caesar Dressing
  • You could also turn this salad into a quick sauté by adding a little water to the pan while stirring greens, beans, and veggies in the pan. Very quickly you could go from a salad to a sauté.

    Easy meal ideas with canned chickpeas and greens

  • Below is a quick sauté of red potatoes that were previously baked sautéed with a little water and mixed with tomatoes. spinach, garlic mushrooms and red kidney beans.
    Easy meal ideas with sautéed canned kidney beans and greens

    Easy meal ideas with sautéed canned kidney beans and greens

    I wanted to share with you some simple plant based meals that use pretty much the same ingredients but prepared differently to create a delicious variety of meals in a short amount of time.

    Here is list of must have grocery items that I try to keep handy

    • potatoes & sweet potatoes
    • canned beans: chickpeas, black beans and  kidney beans
    • onions & garlic
    • greens, spinach or your favorite type
    • mushrooms
    • tomatoes
    • bell peppers
    • frozen green beans and frozen broccoli
    • rice
    • quinoa
    • canned diced tomatoes and tomato paste
    • oatmeal
    • red pepper flakes
    • tamari
    You can make all different kinds of meal combinations from the ingredients above. Plant based eating does not have to be complicated. You take a few ingredients and create a delicious healthy meal.

P.S. If you make this recipe, leave a comment below, share your pictures on Instagram and tag me with @plantbasedfoodylife … I’d love to see what you make!!!

Eating Healthy When Short On Time…

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Hey there, it’s been a while since my last post.

I have some new stuff happening! I joined the Arrowroot Farmacy and Cafe as a Vegan Chef! It’s a vegan cafe focused on serving plant-based meals from scratch.

I love seeing the expression on our customers faces when they realize it is completely vegan and delicious fresh food. For example, it’s awesome how we can turn a simple salad into something filling and satisfying. It turns out a lot of people are looking to make this shift in their eating habits and want to know where to start.

For today’s post, I want to share with you a couple of tips you may find to be useful at home when you’re cooking for yourself or for your family, especially if you are short on time.

Tip #1: Meal Prep, Meal Prep, Meal Prep.

  • Roast up your veggies

  • Make a batch or sliced sweet potatoes or white potatoes (do both)

  • Make a pot of quinoa or whatever grain that you like.

  • Make a batch of your favorite dressing that you can add to salads or use on your potatoes

  • Batch of hummus

Tip #2: Prepare healthy dishes in advance.

Why?…because when you come home from work you don’t binge out on something you will regret later. (I’ve done that!). I like to have “grab and go” potatoes already made or a bowl of cowboy caviar already prepared so I can have something healthy and filling to eat.

Tip#3: It doesn’t have to be hard.

  • Have canned beans on hand

  • Have frozen veggies in the freezer

  • Use a microwave if you want to.

Here is a simple dish that I put together in about 8 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 potato

1 stalk of celery

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced

1/4 cup sprouts

1/2 cup black beans

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Put a potato in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Then add some greens on a plate, open a can of black beans and add the beans to plate with some chopped tomatoes. In addition, add celery and some sprouts on top of the salad. Slice up the potato when it is fork ready and top off the salad with balsamic vinegar. Yum!

The result is a beautiful delicious meal within 10 minutes, that I could feel good about.

Potato and black bean bowl

Potato and Black Bean Bowl

Simple bowl of roasted potatoes, black beans, tomatoes and green. SImple meal preperation
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
Course: Bowls, Salad
Keyword: Bowls, Veggie Bowls
Author: Shelly Hughes

Ingredients

  • 1

    potato
  • 1 celery
  • 1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup sprouts
  • 2 tbsp balsalmic vinegar

Instructions

  • Put a potato in the microwave for about 5 minutes.
  • Then add some greens on a plate, open a can of black beans and add the beans to plate with some chopped tomatoes. In addition, add celery and some sprouts on top of the salad.
  • Slice up the potato when it is fork ready and top off the salad with balsamic vinegar.
Tried this recipe?Mention @PlantBasedFoodyLife or tag #PlantBasedFoodyLife!

P.S. A lot of times, we put too much pressure on ourselves to do things either perfectly or not at all. The way we learn is through our mistakes. We learn what works and what doesn’t and then adjust. It’s the same thing when creating meals. Some times they turn out delicious and others not so much. Trial-n-error is the way to a true lifestyle change.

Comment Below and let me know what you think!