Category Archives: Meal Plans

Inland Empire Los Angeles Vegan Thanksgiving Options

24 Sunday Nov 2013

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vegan pumpkin pie

I’ve often thought about the transformation of tofurky through the years. I remember many moons ago, when the first tofurky came out, my mom excitedly ran to the nearest health store and brought it home for our Thanksgiving feast. After waiting forever for it to cook, we finally displayed it on the dining room table and got ready to eat. What happened after that first bite kind of resembled the scene where they eat blue soup in Bridget Jone’s Diary. I’m not that big a fan of fake meats to begin with, but we all thought it tasted pretty gross. It could have been our lack of cooking skills, the fact that I’ve never really liked the taste of meat, or that tofurky was a new product that has come a long way since then, but in the end, we gave it to the dog and ate Thanksgiving spaghetti instead. The dog wouldn’t touch it, and also went for the spaghetti.

A lot has changed since then, and tofurky is pretty tasty now. A friend made it for me a few years ago and I actually really enjoyed it. We’ve been so busy that we were tempted to make something similar this year, but then decided on Chef Chloe’s Vegan Pumpkin Penne Pasta with Sage instead. It’s one of our favorite holiday meals and something I look forward to every year. For our full Thanksgiving Menu, check out my post from last year.

I also wanted to share some Inland Empire and Los Angeles area vegan Thanksgiving treats, in case anyone would rather go out this year.

Babycakes: I know it’s dessert, but they have a lot of Thanksgiving treats on their menu. 

Cafe Gratitude: Will be hosting a free Thanksgiving feast, more info here.

One World Vegetarian in Covina will be serving a Thanksgiving special, and I if you call in advance you can purchase a vegan turkey for your Thanksgiving meal at home. Reservations strongly recommended.

And Native Foods usually has a wellington that they serve, but they may be done with orders.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Here’s to a year of health, happiness, family, and tasty food. 🙂

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Good Eats

13 Sunday Oct 2013

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We’ve been eating home a lot more lately, and it’s been pretty boring. We have had a few fun splurges over the past few weeks though that I thought I’d share.

Loaded baked potato soup, with chives, daiya cheese, and tempeh bacon:

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Little T had vegan chili from Native Foods:

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Salad for Momma:

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And a portobello and “sausage” burger for Big T:

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From Linx! In honor of Octoberfest, a pretzel roll with a soy dog, beer infused mustard, and Vidalia onions:

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And a plain vegan dog with ketsup for Little T:

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And for A spooky Halloween night, we made pumpkins, had dairy free vanilla almond I’ve cream with sautéed apples, figs, and cranberries on top!

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Good Eats and Full Tummies

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in life, Meal Plans, The Family, vegan

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Vegan Marsala Pasta with Cashew Cream

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Vegan Panna Cotta

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English Muffin with Tempeh and Tomato

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Sliced Avocado with Salt and Pepper

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Heirloom Tomatoes and Broccoli

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Vegan Tiramasu Cupcakes from Chef Chloe

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Crackers, red pepper spread, olive tampenade, and vegan cheese

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Vegan Ramen

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English Muffins with Tahini Spread and Roasted Beets

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Leeks for Soup

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Jill’s Summer Minestrone Soup

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Potatoes and Lentil Loaf

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Vegan Macaroon

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Helping Momma cook

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Sneaking baby corn before dinner. :p

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Things We Eat, These Days….

24 Monday Jun 2013

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I feel like our meals have gotten a little easier, a little lazier. Big T and I both have been working so much, that’s we haven’t had the time to prepare the meals we used to. On days that I work from home, I start to cook dinner around 4:30. I try to have different options for Little T and I don’t pressure him to eat one thing or another. His favorite meal is rice, and would probably have it every meal if he could. Big T makes a lot of brown rice and freezes it in single serving bags for us to pull out and use for meals. Little T likes it the best with avocado, lemon, and a little Braggs Liquid Amino Acids. On days when I’m not home, Big T takes over for dinner.

I’d like to say that I make beautiful salads every night, but to make our life easier, I’ve been using the salad bar at Mothers Market on my way home from Disneyland. I get a lot of salad and chopped veggies dry, and we use it for meals through the next day.

So here’s what we’ve been munching on. Someday, we’ll start making those elaborate vegan meals that have been bookmarked in my cookbooks again….some day…..;)

Pasta, avocado, bread, watermelon, green olives, and salad:

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Couscous, vegetable soup, peas, and salad:

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Baked tortilla chips, beans and rice, vegetable soup, and veggies:

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Couscous, mango, Amy’s brand vegan Mac and cheese, salad, and avocado:

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Corn on the cob at the Fair (one of our staple fair foods).

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Corn chips, salsa, and fresh squeezed apple juice from Mothers Market:

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Deconstructed Home Made Black Bean Burgers with bread, pickles, and ketsup:

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We were traveling on this day, so I packed rice, and in a separate container had avocado and half a lemon to squeeze in:

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So that’s our not-so-glamorous food routine. Pretty basic, but it works for our little family. (P.S. Little T is in love with that Snow White doll).

Vegan Thanksgiving Menu Plan

22 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Meal Plans, vegan

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Just wanted to pop in and share some linkage of what we’ll be cooking for our vegan Thanksgiving. These are tried and true favorites that we’ve been making over the years. I won’t have time to post again until after Thanksgiving, so if you’re in the U.S, have a happy holiday! If you aren’t in the U.S., have a great week. ^_^

Main Course: Vegan Pumpkin Pesto Ravioli

Veggies:

  • Roasted Brussel Sprouts by Susan at FatFreeVegan.com

Side Dishes:

  • Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes from The Veggie Queen Cookbook.
  • Stuffing from The Veggie Queen Cookbook.
  • Pre-Made Cranberry Sauce from Whole Foods Market
  • Yams from my beautiful Sister in Law (can’t wait, D!)

Desserts:

  • Impossible Pumpkin Pie from Susan at FatFreeVegan.com

And we had a special request for the amazing chocolate chip cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.

Vegan Halloween Dinner Party Meal Plan

24 Monday Oct 2011

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We’re having some family and friends over for a weekend of fun filled Halloween activities. Here’s what we’re planning on making:

Halloween Dinner: It’s a potluck, so we’re only in charge of a few items.

Creamy Pumpkin Penne Image from Chef Chloe

 

Fruit Compote

Breakfast for our Guests: 
Halloween Dinner: 
We wanted something special for Halloween, but also something we could make a few days before so we weren’t cooking. We decided on our favorite chili recipe from Susan at FatFreeVegan. If you haven’t tried this recipe, you should! It’s so hearty and filling and tasty.

Gold Rush Chile from FatFreeVegan (image by Susan Voisin)

Image from Food Fight Grocery

P.S. Food Fight Grocery has lots of great vegan treats. Definitely check them out if you haven’t before.

Menu Plan for next week

24 Monday Oct 2011

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Okay, so I’ve been terrible about writing down my menu plans. Things have been crazy busy around here so we’ve been relying on our go-to meals that never require a lot of thought  like baked potatoes, spaghetti, burritos, ect. This week we have a lot of events planned so I’m having to write everything out and I thought I would share. 🙂

Breakfast: 

  • Oatmeal with bananas, cinnamon, and agave
  • Cereal with Soymilk
  • Dr Oz’s Green Drink (Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!) 🙂
Lunch:
  • Burrito bowl (Spanish rice, lettuce, salsa, beans, lettuce) with baked corn chips. (Cut up corn tortillas, brush on fresh lime juice and sprinkle with salt, bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees)
  • Leftover Pumpkin Ravioli from dinner with friends.
  • Three Bean Salad and bread
  • Chickpea Salad Sandwich (you can tell what ingredients we have a lot of) 😉
  • Spring Rolls from Trader Joe’s

Chickpea Burgers Image by Susan Voison at FatFreeVegan

Dinner: We’re going out a lot this week, so not that many dinner meals
  • Vegan Vegetable Quesadillas (no cheese, just beans, roasted red peppers, brocolli, salsa, and avocado
  •  Herbed Pasta with Broccoli and Peas
  • Baked Potatoes
  • Chickpea Burgers from www.FatFreeVegan.com I can’t wait to try these. BTW, have you noticed we have a lot of chickpeas hanging around here that we’ve got to get rid of?
Snacks:
  • Strawberries
  • Fruit Smoothie
  • Corn Thins with Salsa

This Week’s Meal Plan

26 Monday Sep 2011

Posted by in Meal Plans, vegan

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Wow, last week zoomed by. Not the way we had planned, but it all worked out in the end. Here’s what’s cooking this week:

Breakfast:

Snacks: 
Lunch:
Dinner:
I had fun packing Little T’s food for Disneyland. I made him baked apples with cinnamon and cranberries and meatless meatballs. I also threw in some vegetables with lemon juice, a couple of vegan breakfast bars in case he was still hungry, pear sauce, and an apple juice from Trader Joe’s. He wound up eating all of the apples and veggies, and then shared my dinner with me. I need to find some reusable sandwich bags.

This Week’s Meal Plan

20 Tuesday Sep 2011

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You’ll have to excuse me for not posting this last week. Little T had a little fever from his chicken pox vaccine and was getting two molars in, and all he wanted to eat was oatmeal and watered down apple juice. Usually Little T will eat anything he can see, so this was a big change. It was a challenge trying to get him to eat anything, poor baby. By the end of the week he was feeling better and back to his normal, quinoa eating self.

Breakfast:

  • Oatmeal with Fruit (Little T’s Favorite-I add a little agave and cinnamon to the oatmeal)
  • Dr. Oz’s Green Drink
  • English Muffin with Trader Joe’s Organic Blueberry Fruit Spread

Snacks: 

  • Trader Joe’s Soy Yogurt
  • Sliced White Nectarines and baked apples with cinnamon (Little T)
  • Corn Thin’s with Hummus and English Cucumber
  • Wheat Bread with Almond Butter (Little T)
Lunch: 
  • Pasta and veggies (Little T)
  • Salad with Tahini Dressing (Momma J)
  • Chili Mac from FatFreeVegan (Little T)
  • Black beans, avocado, and vegetables (Little T)
Dinner: 

This Week’s Meal Plan:

05 Monday Sep 2011

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I’m feeling a little lazy this week. I’m slowly recovering from my eating marathon in San Francisco, and transitioning back to eating less salt. The weather has been hot, and Little T has been keeping me up at night. When Little T isn’t having a hard time sleeping, Miss Piggy is keeping me awake instead. She is scared of thunder, poor thing, and didn’t want to sleep alone. To make a long story short (too late), this week’s meal plan is a little on the *ahem* lazy side.

Breakfast:

Snack: 
  • Peaches
  • Baked Apples (cube the apples and shake them in a bag with cinnamon. Place them in a covered bowl and microwave for two minutes.)
  • Corn Thins with hummus and cucumbers
Lunch:
Dinner:
Dessert:
  • Banana with almond butter and agave syrup