It is no secret that I am a huge Happy Herbivore fan. I have all her cookbooks, am on her meal plan site as a testimonial, and did a giveaway last year! She makes it super easy to eat well. Being that I am a working mom and Trevor and I trade shifts taking care of Jack, I don't have a ton of time to cook at night when I am trying to wrangle Jack. I also don't want to spend ungodly amounts of money on groceries. But eating healthy (Whole Foods Plant Based No Oil) is really important to me and it is even more important that I make Jack a WFPBNO dinner every night (Trevor already has their breakfasts and lunches covered!). Lindsay makes it so easy with her cookbooks. And I have to say that this cookbook is by far her best. The ingredients are straight forward, the recipes are quick and easy requiring little expertise, time or special equipment, and the meals are super satisfying and tasty. I tend to like nearly anything healthy but Trevor is quite a bit more discerning. He has loved everything I have made so far, even the tempeh bacon...and he doesn't like tempeh! Yay!
Lindsay was kind enough to select me to participate in her blog tour again this year. That means I get to tell you all how wonderful this cookbook is, share a recipe, and then give a copy away to a reader! The recipe I chose to share with you all is the Meatloaf Bites. This is such an easy, filling and versatile recipe. I like to make it on the weekend with some sort of potato for a quick lunch. It was actually the first recipe I made from the book. The bites are the perfect size for Jack, too! By the way, do you see that all of the nutrition info has Weight Watchers points added at the bottom? I know a lot of people on Weight Watchers and I think they would love this new addition!
Meatloaf
Bites
Makes 8
Gluten-free,
Quick, Budget
One
afternoon I grabbed what I thought was corn from the freezer but later realized
it was mixed vegetables. Once they thawed on the counter I knew they weren’t
going back in, so I looked for a new, inventive way to use them. A can of
kidney beans started calling, and before I knew it I had a vegetable-filled
meatloaf in the oven. Since this meatloaf is baked in a muffin tin (great for
serving sizes and portion control), I call it meatloaf “bites” and, yes,
leftovers are great as a burger!
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder (add another 1 tsp if
you like it spicy)
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (recipe
in full cookbook)
1 c frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
6 tbsp instant oats
Preheat oven
to 350˚F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or use nonstick. Mash beans in a
bowl with fork or potato masher until well mashed. Add remaining ingredients,
except oats, and stir to combine.
Stir in oats.
Spoon into muffin tin and pack down. Bake for 20 minutes until crisp on the
outside and fairly firm to the touch (firms a bit as it cools). Serve with
ketchup, Quick Gravy (pg. 188), etc.
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I have also made: Chocolate Surprise Frosting, Sweet Pea Guacamole, "Cheese" Ball, Marinara Sauce, Tempeh Bacon, AJ's Vegan Parmesan, Everyday Mushroom Gravy, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Deviled "Eggs", Taco Burgers, Ruby Chocolate Muffins, Chocolate Cake, Classic Cornbread, Lentil Joes, Skinny Mac 'n Cheese, Thai Tacos, Parmesan Greens, Chickpea Tenders, Jerk Tofu, Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Eggplant Parm, Tofu Scramble, Pineapple Stir Fry, Soba Peanut Noodles, and Skinny Puttanesca. I am not exaggerating when I say that these were all great. My family all gobbled up the deviled "eggs" (even saying they were better than the real thing), spinach dip, sweet pea guacamole and "cheese" ball at my Christmas Eve get together. Trevor was fighting me for kale when I made the Parmesan Greens (really?!). Jack eats the Chickpea tenders like most kids do McNuggets. Most of these meals I have shared with either Trevor, my friend Heather, Jack or other family and friends and no one has had a single complaint. Healthy food done right!
In addition to all of these yummy recipes, there is a section with easy at home workouts to do. I haven't had a chance to do any of them (to be honest, I loathe exercise that isn't dancing with my baby or yoga these days) but I am motivated by the fact that it looks like I could start doing any of them today and don't need a gym membership or special equipment. She also discusses the 100 calorie factor with weight loss and The Utopia Paradox about what is really "good" and "bad". They are really good short articles for perspective in being healthy.
So, do you want your own copy of this awesome cookbook now? Before 11:59 PM on Sunday 12/29/2013, leave me a comment here letting me know what you plan to do this new year to be a more healthier you. I will choose a winner by random on Monday morning and you will have your own copy sent to you! Good luck and if you don't win, I really hope you still consider purchasing this yummy cookbook! :)
I would like to start a yoga class.
ReplyDeleteEat less sugar!!
ReplyDeleteYou make sound yummy..Jack is thriving on it and you look fantastic. Might be time to get my family healthier this year
ReplyDeleteEric's plan for a Christmas present for me involved a yoga membership. I'd love to start doing yoga on a more regular basis. I am probably not getting the yoga membership because I would rather have some help with all the vet bills as of late and having a healthy happy dog is much more important to me. I'm going to strive to do more yoga at home and not be irritated by it. Plus, even the doggies are getting healthy this new year with a new diet with less kibble. It's funny to think that the only nest in our house is the dog's! I think the whole fam will be taking a more holistic and food based spin on health this coming year and I can't wait to see what 2014 holds for us!
ReplyDeleteFind more recipes my almost 2 year old will enjoy and help my husband be more plant based.
ReplyDeleteThis entire post is my goal this year! I want to cook healthy meals for my family, while staying within our budget and the time frame I have while working full time with an 8 week old daughter. I want to start early,setting a good example of health for her, but I do not want my entire night consumed with complicated meals that take up my family time either.
ReplyDeleteGOOD LAWD! I must really want to win this book because I've tried commenting on this all day! So, this year, my plan is to try really, really hard at eating healthier and mostly (if not all) WFPB. Also, maybe I should try working out. Maybe. I mean, of course I should work out, it's the actually doing it part that is a maybe. And maybe usually means...not. So at least I've got the healthy eating goal going for me?
ReplyDeleteyeah.
After tasting some yummy recipes from this book...it has helped me to realize that you do not have to sacrifice taste for eating healthy.
ReplyDeleteI would like to incorporate more of these types of dishes into our daily meal planning...even if we do not eat totally plant based meals...every little bit helps us to move us into a healthier diet.
We are definitely going to be trying to kick the sugar habit. We've made big strides over the past couple of years, but there's nothing like the new year to encourage you to take it to the next level.
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of others of said, with the new year coming, one of my goals is to eat healthier. I love happy herbivore recipes. They are inexpensive, filling, tasty, and EASY! I do not like cooking, so the easier the better. I love pulling out any happy herbivore recipe and it can be always be made so quickly.
ReplyDeleteHey Ashley, it's Kylie! This year I went vegetarian for ethical reasons, although the health benefits are an added bonus. I would like to start cutting back on dairy in 2014 to be more compassionate and healthy :)
ReplyDeleteTo cut out junk food and sugar. I've don't it before then I "backslid". It's such a trap for me. Ugh.
ReplyDelete