Home-cooked vegan meals... without losing your mind
Get organized to nourish and delight your family Help me outAre you losing your mind trying to feed your family healthy vegan meals… that they will actually eat?
I hear you. I always enjoyed cooking for myself and also having friends and family over for meals. But cooking for my husband and our children every single day is a lot trickier.
Of course, I want the food to taste good – otherwise even I will be reluctant to eat it. But that’s not the only thing!
- Nutrition: Iron, calcium, omega 3s, fiber, vitamin, protein… are they getting enough? All moms worry about this but vegan moms perhaps more so.
- Picky eaters: My children are still discovering the wide world of ingredients, so nearly every meal I make can be deconstructed to let them taste components separately.
- Whole foods: I cook with whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds as much as possible, avoiding prepared and processed foods.
- Diversity: We enjoy a variety of meals and cuisines. It’s also a way to ensure we get the whole spectrum of nutrients.
- Avoiding food waste: Rotting produce and uneaten leftovers are a waste of money and effort – both the farmers’ and my own!
- Time: Cooking is not the only thing I have or want to do in life.
Plus, I want everything to be vegan.
In our home, not everything is perfect. There are compromises made at times. But I have discovered that it doesn’t need to be such a massive puzzle.
You, too, can adopt a few simple routines to plan, prepare and serve vegan meals that will nourish and delight your family every day.
Recent posts and recipes
Vegan meal plan template: Fall edition
What if you could tick a few boxes, fill a few blanks, and bam! there's your meal plan for the week. That's what this vegan meal plan template is all about. This version features seasonal Fall produce and heart-warming food for when the rainier days roll in. (Not Fall...
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Amazingly healthy vegan ice pops (that your kids will LOVE)
"Mommy, I want a snack!" How many times a day do you hear that in the summer? Those five words can be the gateway to so many perils. Processed food with dubious ingredients and scary color additives. Empty calories that will fill your children's tummies and prevent...
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17 fun food things to do with kids this summer
Summer bring a welcome change of pace after the frenzy of year-end shows, school field trips and, for some of the older kids, exams. Whether your kids are 3, 13, or 23, I bet there are at least a few of the activities below you haven't done yet. Why not put a few on...
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The easiest way to cook quinoa
Before we dive into the easiest way to cook quinoa, let's talk about the nagging question that any ethical foodie has at the back of their mind: should we eat quinoa or not? Quinoa made its big debut on the foodie scene about 10 years ago, earning kudos from Oprah and...
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Vegan dads who cook share their stories and kitchen tricks (plus a bonus home-made tofu recipe!)
Men are getting busy in the kitchen. Between 1965 and 2007, the proportion of men who cook increased from 29% to 42%. Men are also more likely to shop for groceries. That's true in my household: according to our bank statement, my husband spends a lot more money at...
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Vegan meal plan template: Summer edition
Eat plants. Decide less. Prep ahead. Those three principles will help you breeze through summer, spending less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying outdoor play. Maybe you'll even get to relax with your loved ones! You can use this clever vegan meal plan...
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Vegan batch cooking: the best way to enjoy home-made meals on demand! (with 8 free recipes to download)
Imagine having a stressful day and no dinner plan... and then remembering that, in your freezer, you have a few vegan building blocks that you'll be able to pull together in 10 or 15 minutes to create a delicious and nutritious home-cooked dinner. No expensive...
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Vegan cooking for beginners: get started the easy way (even if you think you’ll never go vegan)
If you think you will never be vegan, I hear you and understand you. And I'm not even going to ask you to change. I was an unlikely vegan myself. I hardly knew vegetarians even existed until my late teens. When I started making money as a young adult I would splurge...
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Natural vegan nutrition boosters: 6 easy cooking hack for your family
There are bloggers out there who boast about using only a few ingredients in each recipe, and that's great... but if I try their recipes I always end up adding ingredients to kick up the nutritional value. Taste and convenience really important for me, of course. But...
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“My husband doesn’t want to raise our kids vegan”: What’s a mom to do?
"Help! My husband doesn't want to raise our kids vegan!" "My partner refuses to hear anything about the health benefits of eating plant-based whole foods. He says that food is food and that our kids should be allowed to eat whatever they want." "When I am away my...
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How to prevent a pantry moth infestation
A few years ago, I started seeing tiny little gray moths on the walls of my apartment. It was September and getting cool outside, so I thought maybe they were seeking shelter. No big deal, I am a pacifist, right? After a few weeks, the kitchen was overrun by moths. I...
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Mama Food, Toddler Food: What’s on the table of nutrition practitioner and plant-based mom Laura Ashbaugh
I was thrilled to interview Laura Ashbaugh, a plant-based mom, who advises moms and dads on matters of nutrition. This is the second post in my series on how real-life vegan parents make it work to eat (mostly) whole foods at home. Laura was vegan before having...
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Vegan meal plan template: Load up on Spring greens!
The arrival of Spring is celebrated with an explosion of green vegetables at farmers' markets. Maybe you have munched on big leaves of cold-resistant kale and collard greens all winter to accompany your root vegetable stews. Now is the time to switch to the fresh,...
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An ode to She who decides what’s for dinner on International Women’s Day
If you are reading this, chances are: you are a woman. Ninety seven percent of my readers are. Today is International Women's Day, and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the role of women in making a most important decision every single day:...
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When your whole family doesn’t go vegan – An interview with Sarah Hayes from Bad to the Bowl
What to do if your whole family isn’t vegan? There are more women than men who are vegan, and also more women than men who are in charge of cooking dinner. As vegan and plant-based diets become more common, we shouldn’t be surprised when this family situation arises:...
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Seven ingredients for successful vegan meal prep sessions
Meal planning and weekend meal prep sessions are the top two systems that can save you time in the kitchen. They'll also save your sanity! For anyone who wishes to eat more home-cooked meals and less processed food and take-out, vegan meal prep is a game changer. For...
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Vegan cooking without recipes: 8 easy meals you can improvise tonight
Even with the best laid plans, you will occasionally find yourself having to prepare a meal that you haven’t planned for. Maybe you didn’t make it to the grocery store. Or your significant other has been… but brought back the wrong ingredients. Or you are trying to...
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Your next 10 dinners covered: free 2-week vegan meal plan
I know what you want: a ready-made meal plan, and to some help so that you can organize a prep session on the weekend. I can't go and babysit your kids while you cook, but I can at least help you out with a meal plan. Enter your email address below and you'll receive...
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Vegans eat better pizza (with my basic dough and pesto potato pizza recipes)
I have never made so much pizza at home as since going vegan. The first reason is that I really LOVE pizza, and so does everyone in my family. Is it pizza that I love, or a slice of warm, golden bread with some luscious toppings? After a couple of years of trials and...
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How to make vegan soup taste great? Try these 7 tips!
Soup is such a beautiful thing. It is warm, filling, comforting, and can be quite inexpensive to make. It can catch all the leftover veggies in your produce drawer before it's too late. Best of all, it can be delicious and nutritious too. But how to make vegan soup...
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How to make vegan polenta: a heart-warming base for your Fall dishes
There is a rumor that says that making polenta from scratch is tricky, labor-intensive, and better left to Italian mamas. I was fooled by this belief for a long time, but I know better now. Today's the day when I invite you to also see the light. Here is how to make...
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What to do when you crave cheese?
One only needs to participate in any online forum for vegan beginners for about an hour to see THE question come up: “What is the best vegan cheese?” (Often followed with: “I tried XYZ brand and hated it.”) Here is my answer. The 30-day Cheese Detox Dairy cheese is...
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Vegan pesto to use all those greens
Spring brings an explosion of greens that can make even the most veg-friendly cook get a little dizzy. Here is the content of my CSA box last week. This week's was very similar, although consisting of some different varieties, with the addition of four cute little...
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Meal planning around picky eaters in 7 loving steps
"I have never had a single concern about my child's eating" said no parent, ever. There are worries at all stages of life, from infancy ("is she getting enough milk?") to teenage ("too much junk food!"), with many years in-between spent bemoaning picky eating habits....
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Vegan Bolognese Sauce: Every Mom’s Bolo
Growing up, my favorite dinner was always spaghetti. Actually, it was my mom's version of spaghetti bolognese, but to me it was just spaghetti. I could not even imagine that spaghetti noodles could be served with any other sauce than my mom's. It was red, it was rich,...
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Quit eating from a package: three easy homemade vegan staples to get you started cooking from scratch
Whether you are trying to avoid allergens or additives, making your own staples from scratch at home is a great way to gain more control over what goes into your body. But forgoing the convenience of ready-made items has a cost: it takes time. On the flip side, it...
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How to do a vegan pantry challenge
The goal of a vegan pantry challenge is not to find out how many days or weeks your family can last on a year-old bottle of ketchup and a bag of pearl barley. It's a learning experience. If you invest a little bit of time upfront, and commit to cooking mindfully, you...
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11 tips for vegan families to eat better on vacation (video)
Just like many other vegans with families, I prefer renting a cabin or condo when going on vacation. That way, I have a full kitchen to prepare our meals instead of depending on dubious (and expensive!) restaurant fare. In this video filmed on premises in Hawaii, I...
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Vegan parm nuts: it tops it all!
It's such a simple thing, but this little topping can take a pasta meal from plain to fabulous. It adds a little crunch thanks to the nuts and depth of taste thanks to the nutritional yeast and, if using, olives. You can also use it on casseroles, salads, or anywhere...
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Vegan meal planning 101 (and a basic template)
If you are a busy parent, and want to feed your family whole foods based on plants cooked at home most nights of the week, there are not two ways around it: you have to become adept at vegan meal planning. (And also meal prep - but that's a topic for another day!)...
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