When it comes down to a daily routine – we don’t really stick to one.
(At least not what most people would consider a structured routine.)
I’m not much of a meal planner, scheduler, or even an organized mama. I like to keep it real when it comes to motherhood and life. We like to go with the flow. (Any other go with the flow mama’s out there?!)
I’m excited to share what it’s really like eating with us as a plant-based vegan family of 4.
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I’ll be the first to say that we don’t usually use fancy recipes and we try to eat whole plant foods as much as possible, but we’re not perfect.
I am a working mom. I work a full-time job where 3 out of 5 days I am not home and my kids are with a sitter. The other two days, like this one I’m showing you, I work from home and have the pleasure of making my boys food from scratch.
These days are my favorite because I have grown a love for preparing meals not only for my boys but for anyone willing to eat what I make!
WHAT WE EAT AS A VEGAN FAMILY
Our mornings typically begin at 7am. I am not a morning person so I wake up when the kids wake up (unless it’s a work day where I wake up at 6:30 or 6:45). For me, I am very minimal in my morning routine. Most days look like this:
- 6:45am – wake up and jump in the shower
- 6:55am – get out of the shower, dry off, and get dressed
- 7:05am – go downstairs to start the kettle to make coffee while giving the kiddos lots of hugs and kisses.
- 7:10am – get them breakfast and let them watch a show, make my coffee and let it sit meanwhile, throw on some mascara and do something quick with my hair
- 7:15am – pour my cup of coffee and sit & chat with the kids
See — my morning is pretty simple and I like to keep our breakfast pretty simple as well. But to us, simple doesn’t mean cereal. (not that it NEVER does…. we LOVE a good bowl of cereal)
Our breakfasts are typically one of the following:
- Oatmeal
- Avocado toast
- Tater tots + yogurt (Not together but they like them both on the same days usually)
- Tofu scramble (This is a great recipe especially for kids. You could even put it in a taco shell. #BreakfastTacos!
Today’s breakfast was avocado toast with chickpeas. It’s SO good you guys.
READ: Avocado Toast Recipes and Tips
This avocado toast “recipe” is one of my favorites (and I talk about it here) but I’ll share it again now.
- Bread of your choice
- Avocado
- Chickpeas
- Hemp Hearts (Manitoba Harvest is the only brand we use)
- Everything But The Bagel Seasoning (we get ours from Trader Joes or Costco)
- Balsamic Glaze (we got ours from Aldi)
Toast the bread, top with mashed avocado, then add everything else on top. DONE! 5 minute breakfast meal. And it’s DELICIOUS. Look again and…… drool.
MID MORNING SNACK
There are a lot of mid morning snacks we enjoy. This is just one that “hit the spot” today. Mid morning is also the opportunity I typically take to make a protein shake, smoothie, OR another cup of coffee. 😉
Our favorite plant-based nutritional shake powder is from Orgain. Chocolate with superfoods is our top choice – the ingredients are whole foods, filled with vitamins and minerals, and tastes delicious. Plus the price is great!
Try Orgain for 30% off with my coupon code, “realisticplantbasedmama” or simply follow this link to shop and see what is available at Orgain.com.
PS: The bars are so delicious! (And this one in Chocolate Almond & sea salt, tastes like a cosmic brownie!
This time of day I find that a protein based snack works best for us. We are usually about to go outside and play or have playdates scheduled so energy from plant based protein is a great option.
Today we went for “Ants On A Log”! It’s a great snack for anyone but an especially fun one for kiddos. Here’s how we do ours:
- Celery
- Natural Peanut Butter
- Raisins
- Dairy-free Chocolate Chips
- Chia Seeds
I remember eating these as a kid and am so glad they are back into my life. Anyone else LOVE these from childhood?!
WHAT WE EAT FOR LUNCH
When 11-11:30am rolls around, that is when we start to make lunch. Somedays it’s super simple like a boxed (vegan) mac and cheese or homemade Uncrustables.
But this day, I felt creative and made a super simple Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese recipe with a side of green beans and tofu.
So we went outside, one of my boys grabbed a butternut squash from the garden, the other boy picked us some green beans and I got to cooking! If you try any of the recipes in this post, this should be it.
Or the avocado toast.
Or the dinner one…. oh man, they’re all so good! 😉
Ingredients:
- 1 small butternut squash
- handful of cashews
- nutritional yeast
- salt
- garlic
- onion powder
- pepper
- almond milk or water
Instructions:
Cut in half and steam the squash until soft. Once soft, remove the skin and put the flesh of the squash in the blender. Add a handful of cashews, 1/4 almond milk (at a time), and 1/3 cup nutritional yeast. Once smooth, add salt, pepper, garlic, and onion. Blend again until smooth. Add more almond milk if necessary.
Once the sauce is ready, pour into your cooked pasta.
Add additional vegetables to your desire and enjoy!
AFTERNOON SNACK
One of our favorite afternoon snacks is fresh fruit and on this day we happen to have red grapes (one of our absolute favorites!). Other ideas for afternoon snacks are hummus and crackers, cucumbers/carrots/tomatoes, or even a smoothie if you hadn’t had one yet.
WHAT WE EAT FOR DINNER
I think I get most excited for dinner. Once dinner time arrives I like to take a scan of the kitchen and see what’s up. Like I said, i don’t typically plan out my meals but on this day, I had a plan and was ready to make one of our go-to meals: Sesame Cauliflower and Brown Rice!
Go figure, again, I don’t really have a recipe BUT this is one that is very similar and happens to be the one that inspires me as I cook “on the fly”.
In mine below, I added some hemp hearts into the panko mix for some added omega’s and protein. If you haven’t caught on, hemp hearts are easy additions to most our meals and honestly, they are SUCH a great source of protein and omega’s. BONUS: The kids call them “sprinkles” and they LOVE them! 😉
RELATED: Health Benefits of Eating Hemp Hearts
SHOP: Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts <— These are the only ones we use and we love them.
Honest mama moment
Some days my kids do NOT want to eat dinner. Or lunch. Or really anything I suggest. And other days my son says “mom you make the best food ever.” Kids just like to keep us on our toes, right?
It’s so important to remember that even if you kid says they don’t want what you made, it’s not necessarily because they are being picky.
Chances are they either don’t feel like eating it (I mean, we don’t always want certain things, right?” or maybe they aren’t hungry. I try really hard to honor what their bodies are telling them but also I gotta be the mom and make sure they eat.
If they want to snack on green beans from the garden, just let them. #NoWillingToArgueAgainstVeggies
To finish the day we don’t always eat again but if we do want snacks we’ll have stove top popcorn, some fruit, or even splurge for some vegan ice cream! When we don’t have nay vegan ice cream (which is quite often since we don’t usually buy any) we’ll make banana ice cream which is just as good if not better!
I hope you feel encouraged as you read this post. No it’s not perfectly nutritionally balanced and that’s okay. It is full of veggies, fruits, grains, and protein. We don’t typically limit what we allow ourselves to eat as long as it is a whole plant food. This way of eating works for us, we feel satisfied and have a happy relationship with food.
READ: How To Feel Satisfied on a Plant-Based Diet
Do you like these types of posts? What would you like to see more of! Share in the comments.
MORE FROM REALISTIC PLANT-BASED MAMA:
Vegan Shakeology Vs. Mainstream Alternatives (The best plant-based options!)
Megan’s mom here, I’m not vegan but I have say I love the Sesame cauliflower Megan made for our family when I recently broke my leg. All my kids loved it. Also love the avocado toast with chickpeas