The Plant-Based Momma

I like seeing what people are eating right now. I don’t know why, maybe I need the inspiration or it just makes me happy to see that people are finding comfort in food. I’ve been trying to stick to simple dishes (because it feels like I’m cooking and cleaning up after 5427 meals a day). And dishes that are easy to make large portions with, so we can have leftovers for the following lunch. My husband is still surprisingly considered essential (law) so we don’t have him home everyday. So I’m choosing simple, relatively quick and nutritiously dense meals. 

It’s cold and rainy this week in SoCal, so we’re making more soups. And I’m using simpler ingredients because stores are still sold out of a lot of items that we love around here (is it any better where you are?). My kids and I haven’t left our home, except for walks around our neighborhood, since March 13. We have been getting our groceries delivered through Instacart, which has been such a great service to have at this time.

There has been a tremendous amount of change with school and seeing friends, so I have been making sure to make some of our kids favorite comfort foods—veggie dogs for lunch and grilling up loaded beyond burgers outside on the weekends. And we have been baking away, just like everyone else! Lots of cookies, banana bread, pies, you name it. And the kids are eating mountains of fruits. Again, so thankful for grocery delivery. 

And since my husband is still working, it has been a huge help that he makes a huge batch of pancakes on Sundays, which are the kids favorites and last a day or two.

Hope you’re finding comfort at this moment, whether it’s in food or feeding the people you love.💗

And in case you want more info, I only have written recipes for one of the meals above. But here is the quick gist of what’s involved:

1. Shepherds Pie: French lentil base. I sauté onions and garlic and a mix of veggies (the frozen bag is honestly perfect for this) with pre-cooked lentils. Add in a few spices like thyme and chick’n seasoning. Top with mashed potatoes and bake. A favorite in our house!
2. Haystacks: a potluck staple in our community, which is basically a build-your-own-taco-salad. We start with a base of tortilla chips (some prefer Fritos!), then top with refried or black beans, rice, an optional veggie meat and then various toppings. The toppings are the best part and can consist of tomatoes, onions, both green and diced, olives, salsa, guacamole, jalapeños, you name it. We add a potato/carrot/cashew based nacho cheese sauce and vegan sour cream. Perfection and everyone happily chooses their own toppings.
3. Chili: This one is self-explanatory, but one of my sons favorites. I keep dried TVP on hand just for this dish. Sauté onions and garlic and add in TVP. Then we add whatever beans and any veggies we have on hand with tomato paste. Very easy. And top with different garnishes like chopped red and green onions, cilantro, cashew sour cream, etc. Sometimes I’ll make it a creamy chili by blending warm water and cashews in the vitamix and adding in towards the end.
4. Cashew Cream Pasta: another one of our kids faves. Literally just cashews blended in the vitamix with warm water, a few garlic cloves, nutritional yeast, a tiny bit of olive oil and sea salt to taste. Then we throw it in the pan with cooked pasta of choice, once it’s drained. Roasted tomatoes are delicious in this dish, but my kids like their veggies on the side.
5. Coconut Braised Lentils: one of our kids very favorite dishes and one of mine too–since it’s so easy to make. You can find the recipe here: Coconut Braised Lentils.

Russian tea cookies, Mexican wedding cookies–or as my kids like to call them snowballs! Whatever you want to call them, they are a simple yet crowd favorite cookie around the holidays!

There are plenty of variations on these cookies, so feel free to use as much creative license on these as you would like. My family likes almond flavored cookies, so that’s the direction we take with these. They are perfect for a quick, last minute cookie to pop in the oven before Santa arrives.😉

Since National Pastry Day was this week, I couldn’t let a trip to the infamous Ladurée Bakery in Beverly Hills go down without sharing all of the details on here! I am so impressed with this restaurant and their progression absolutely feels worth documenting. 

If you haven’t already heard, the beloved French eatery recently did a major revamp on its entire menu (thanks to Chef Matthew Kenney) into a divinely plant-based experience—literally an unexpected vegan dream come true.✨ 

You can see their amazing plant-based menu here. We were in town for another event, so we loaded up on macarons and pastries to go, but we will definitely be back to try some of the delectable dishes from their menu. Take a look at these gorgeous treats:

Dreamy vegan macarons – my personal favorites were Rose, Salted Caramel and Vanilla. Although they were all amazing.  ✨

Give me ALL the croissants : Traditional, rose and chocolate. Why are vegans so deprived of these? How do they make them so light and fluffy? And why can’t the rest of the world make them vegan croissants like this!?

Ispahan — a raspberry macaron filled with the most decadent rose petal cream, fresh raspberry and lychee. Our Omni family who adored their macarons and the Ispahan prior to the plant-based switch could not tell the difference 

We were SO happily loaded up with light and fluffy chocolate croissants, rose croissants and beautiful, creamy chocolate pastries. I’ve said it before, but seeing what the very talented Chef at Ladurée has done shows that anything can be veganized —and you aren’t missing out on anything at all. Although the secret to their croissants remains vaulted (we had to ask😜), The future is absolutely looking vegan. Ladurée in Beverly Hills is a  must-try, highly recommended place to visit. 

These two cute guys

(not dressed for tea time–but a

playdate with friends!😜)

loved everything!

We have been reeling with excitement since Disneyland announced that they will be unveiling new plant-based options by Spring. And if their Christmas offerings are any indication of what’s to come, there are exciting times ahead.

Not even surgery a few days before could stop me from being at the opening of the California Adventure Festival of Holidays– delicious vegan holiday food was just the medicine that I needed.🤓 And it did not disappoint! Since we were only there for a few hours we didn’t quite make it through all of the vegan offerings, but I wanted to share what we tried!

Shepherd’s Upside-down Pie, Grandma’s Recipe Booth; California Adventure.

Made with Impossible Meat and so, so tasty! My entire family loves shepherds pie and this did not disappoint. It’s served with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes and topped with a Mickey puffed pastry. This was definitely a treat, since walking up and ordering shepherds pie is rare anywhere, let alone Disneyland. And vegans know that anything vegan and Mickey shaped is so hard to come by! The Navidad Punch, pictured, was deliciously refreshing as well. We’ve heard this dish has been selling out, so if it’s something you’re looking forward to, be sure to get it at the beginning of your trip!

Pumpkin Soup served in a sourdough bread bowl, Pacific Wharf Café; California Adventure

Everyone in our group loved this savory pumpkin soup, that had a slight curry flavor. Topped with fun things like coconut shreds and pepita seeds, which added a nice texture!

Street Tacos, Studio Catering Truck, California Adventure

While I don’t have a current photo of the tacos from this year, they are very similar–if not the same as last years version.

Vegan Chile Rellano, Paradise Garden Grill; California Adventure

Same as above–photo is from last year, but the same item is being offered this year!

Sourdough Bread in Candy Cane, Christmas tree and Snowman shapes, Pacific Wharf Café; California Adventure

Fun + fresh and the kids loved snacking on it throughout the park.

Yellow Curry Rice Plate, Bengal BBQ; Disneyland

We are more than thrilled to have another vegan option at Bengal BBQ! We love their veggie skewers, so to have an even heartier meal available is great. This dish is on the pricier side, but it is huge! You could definitely share it between two adults. It includes a delicious creamy coconut based curry, vegetable skewers, rice with veggies and a side of citrus miso slaw. Cast Members made a point to tell us that it may possibly be cooked on a shared grill. Our family is personally okay ordering from places that try their best, however we don’t order from places that use a shared fryer (i.e. French fries with fried chicken). It’s definitely a personal decision to make on determining what’s best for yourself. Overall, this is a very appetizing dish and I look forward to ordering it again soon!

We can’t wait to go back soon and try the few dishes that we missed. With every festival and more vegan offerings our love for Disney just keeps getting bigger and bigger. For a more detailed list, be sure to visit Happiest Vegan on Earth. The Festival of Holidays runs through January 6, 2020.

I love sharing all things bright, airy and beautiful, as you know. Something I haven’t shared much of on here though is my love for planning and hosting parties. Like full blown, If you know me in real life, you know that there’s not much oversight. I love planning everything down to the tiniest details–delicious vegan food and desserts included! Over the next few months, we will be highlighting some of the parties we’ve thrown, including the fun details and the best crowd-pleasing, easy to make party foods that will impress even your omnivore guests. To kick off the fun with our party series, we have teamed up with Basic Invite, who makes the cutest and most unique invitations for any event. Their baby shower and kids party invites are some of my faves and the absolute cutest that I’ve seen around the internet. And they are offering a special treat for all of our Plant-based Momma readers!

The detail in the artwork is gorgeous and the customization is truly unlike any other company that I have ordered invites from, which means a lot, because I have ordered a LOT of invites. Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Some of the other companies I have ordered from have a small, pre-selected pallet to choose from. Once you select a design from Basic Invite you can change the color of each element on the card, so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the tiniest detail (again, these are important!). This is really a feature that sets them apart from almost any other online stationery company that I have previously used. You can also order a custom sample of your design so that you can see and feel your invitation in person. On top of that they offer over 40 different colors in envelopes, so you can make an impression upon arrival, and beautiful foil cards — of which I’ve got my eye on for this years Christmas card!

We have two baby showers on the horizon that I am helping to host (it’s baby season among my friends–it really is contagious😆) and I was excited to find the most adorable baby shower invitation ideas. I’ve narrowed it down to a few, but here are some that I love…

Can you even with these baby shower cards? Almost makes me want baby number three… almost. But mostly, I’m tired.😴

And something relatively new and groundbreaking to me was their over the moon seal & send invites! So simple, with a gorgeous presentation and had me wondering where these have been all of my mom-life? They include both the invitation itself and a tear-away RSVP section at the bottom (that print with your return address included). Just like the name suggests, you fold the card into the outlined shape, secure it and then drop it in the mail! There’s no need for an envelope. This gorgeous idea, combined with their Address Capturing Service (which, can you believe this — allows customers to share a link on most forms of social media to request their friends and family’s addresses to send to later. Ridiculously simple.) makes hosting parties as a mom to be simple, yet still elegant. And I’m excited to narrow down our options and place our order for our friends’ upcoming baby showers. And on top of it, order a few fun games from their site that are plug and play for your baby shower – ready to go!

The length that the company reaches to ensure that you’re happy and your customization is perfect are the details that matter to me. I’m off to finish planning a beautifully sweet baby shower and to order some business cards for myself. And if you have a special event coming up (or want to browse through hundreds of other gorgeous offerings), Basic Invite is offering 15% off right now, with coupon code: 15FF51 

Hope you guys love them as much as I do!💕

This is a sponsored post by Basic Invite. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal view and I will only ever share companies that I truly love and believe in.

Corned beef hash is a total comfort dish that I always loved from my childhood. It was one of those last minute meals that we ate Filipino style with white rice (I know, double starches..don’t tell the Filipinos). And it was one of two things that I wasn’t comfortable veganizing… simply because no recipe did it justice. That is, until Beyond Meat debuted their “beef” hamburger patties. We’ve been making this dish for about a year now with these patties and needless to say, we are so incredibly excited about the debut of the Beyond Beef, a soy and gluten free plant-based ground “beef”.  While this plant-based meat is incredibly realistic and almost difficult wrap your mind around as a vegan, it really hits the mark on familiar comfort foods. This is by no means a health recipe, but no cholesterol for you and nothing had to die for your meal.

While making this, I would always take the time to cook the potatoes, but my cousin Sharlene taught us that the potatoes are not a necessary addition to this meal. It tastes just as good without! So we now typically just make the meat portion of the dish. This is so simple to do, requires less time and doesn’t sacrifice any of the traditional comforting flavor that you know and love. Hope you enjoy it!

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Fourth of July is this week and we are SO excited. It’s one of our children’s favorite holidays and I’m a sucker for themed foods – so it’s right up my alley. Also, my husband will greatly welcome any excuse to grill up veggie burgers, loaded with all of the best toppings. As a mom of little ones, I am always actively trying to stay in the present moment, so I love dishes that are simple, yet still delicious, with no compromise on flavor. So today we bring you our very favorite recipes to make your vegan barbecue unforgettably delicious and nutritious!

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Let’s be honest: Macaroni Salad is an often very overlooked side dish at parties. It’s one of those dishes that just doesn’t excite people. And now I’ll be honest, before I was vegan I actually never touched the stuff. When I became pregnant with my oldest, I had a crazy hankering for none other than macaroni salad. I hadn’t eaten it since I had become vegan. To remedy this, my mom and I created this delicious savory recipe, with a nice bite. It completely hit the mark on the craving and has also become a requested dish over the years at picnics and gatherings. And now, vegan macaroni salad is one of my very favorite summer side dishes, pregnant cravings or not (not, in my case)! Hope you enjoy it!

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You know how every family has their go-to meal for those busy weeknights? Well, meet ours! Lentils are in our weekly rotation for our kids meals because of their amazing health benefits– and this is an easy way to make that happen. You can make this delicious comfort meal, loaded with nutrients and antioxidants, in a minimal amount of time. Simple, quick and healthy–definitely up my alley as a busy mom to growing young kids. We filmed a video several months ago on how to make this simple dish, with the amazing Minimo Productions. It will see the light of day eventually, but I couldn’t wait to share our recipe!

Derived from a childhood favorite that’s typically made with mung beans, we make this with the base of french lentils, coconut milk, onions and garlic. I always joke that I “Americanized” this dish, since I ate the Filipino version of it growing up. And when I discovered that my children loved it too, I was able to replace our soccer/piano/fill-in-the-blank nights with with a dish that is even more nutrient dense than the typical quick go-to pasta.

If you want to make it even quicker, you can use frozen rice, which can be heated up in minutes. I always keep boxes of organic frozen rice that come in a 3-pack from Trader Joe’s on hand, for quick meals. They come in both brown and white rice options. I also use Trader Joe’s ready-to-eat steamed french lentils, which is something I also typically keep on hand in our fridge. Doing this ensures that we pack in those nutrients, even when our schedules are crazy. You can easily make the lentils yourself and it’s probaby a tiny bit cheaper–so if you do, adjust the spices to your preference. Hope you enjoy our family’s favorite weeknight meal!

I love to be tagged in stories and posts when you make any of our recipes or try anything that we’ve shared! Please tag us and we’ll reshare our faves too. 🙂 @plantbasedmomma