What's your win this week? Drop it below — we celebrate ALL of it and ALL of you today. My win this week? I survived. Literally 😂🌿 And that's enough. We don't always need a dramatic transformation. Sometimes you just make it to Friday with your plants intact and your sanity mostly intact and you call that a W. 👊 I've also been working on a NEW classroom this week that will drop later today! You're SECOND pantry — Why my freezer is my BFF 🧊 Now drop YOUR win below — big, small, or just still standing. It all counts in here. 🏁👇

Raise your hand if you have a bag of lentils sitting in your pantry that you keep looking at and then ignoring. 🙋‍♀️ Today we fix that. I just made scrappy lentils AND steamed lentils and then proceeded to throw them on a plate with pickled onions, tomatoes and rice for breakfast and honestly? No notes. Zero regrets. Chaotic plant-based energy at its finest. 😂🌿 🫘 So why lentils? Because they are one of the most nutritious, most affordable, most versatile foods on the entire planet and most people are sleeping on them HARD. Here's what you get in just one cup of cooked lentils: 💪 18g of protein 🌿 16g of fiber — over half your daily recommended intake in ONE cup 🩸 Iron levels that rival meat ⚡ Complex carbs for steady long lasting energy 🦴 Folate, magnesium, potassium, zinc 💰 Costs about $1.50 a pound No animal products. No cholesterol. No saturated fat. Just pure whole food nutrition for basically nothing. 🌿 🫘 What kinds are there? So many!!!!! Annnd they all do different things: 🟤 Brown lentils — the most common. Earthy, hearty, holds its shape. Great for soups, stews, bowls. The reliable friend of the lentil world. 😄 🟠 Red lentils — breaks down completely when cooked into a creamy mush. Perfect for soups, curries, homemade tofu, and dals. Cooks in about 15 minutes with zero soaking required. Absolute weeknight hero. 🟢 Green lentils — slightly peppery, holds its shape beautifully. Great for salads and grain bowls. ⚫ Black beluga lentils — tiny, shiny, and dramatic looking. Holds its shape perfectly and tastes earthy and rich. The fancy lentil. 😂 🟡 Yellow lentils — mild, buttery, similar to red. Great for Indian inspired dishes. Fantastic omelets! I've also turned these into the BEST EVER fake mashed potatoes! 🥗 How do you eat them? The real question is how do you NOT. 🌿 Throw them on rice with pickled onions and tomatoes for a chaotic but delicious breakfast — apparently 😂 🌿 Blend them into soups 🌿 Toss them cold on salads straight from the fridge 🌿 Make —> lentil fritters or patties

I know my last post sounded amazing with all the prep I said I was going to do to assure my success! It sounded like I was going to hit the kitchen hard & make a few recipes, steam some potatoes, and roast some sweet potatoes that same day & honestly, that was the intent! As luck… er… I mean LIFE would have it I was able to purchase all of the ingredients, but have been living on “bail-out” meals of overnight oats steamed broccoli, and legumes. Well, today I decided that even though I had a meeting that ran until after 8:00 PM, I was going to make chili! Here’s the Plantstrong Firehouse Chili I made tonight! I’m excited for tomorrow’s lunch & possibly dinner! As a bonus, I’ve added pictures of my homemade raisins which were dehydrated @ 115° for 25 hours & another 25 hours @ 130° they took WAY longer than I expected, but they ARE delicious. I probably won’t make them again unless I buy a dedicated dehydrator! I missed my Breville Smart Oven for too long!

Been daydreaming about these sushi boats since @Monique C. shared these in another community! This a Brocolli Mum recipe and then I did what I always do — made it my own. 😂 English cucumber, rice, my chickpea tuna, quick-pickled onions & ginger, and black sesame seeds. Simple ingredients. Big flavor. Zero regrets. 🌿💚 I am absolutely stuffed! Who else can't follow a recipe without adding their own twist? 😆

If you're living a plant-based lifestyle, you know the magic isn't always in having a meal plan. FOOD PREP is my true love language! Sometimes it's having a fridge full of simple, healthy foods ready to become whatever sounds good in the moment. 🌿 So tell me...are you a meal planner or do you just wing it and hope for the best? 😂 Here's the thing. I prepped like an absolute queen this morning AND I have zero dinner plans. Zero. None. And I could not be more at peace with that. 😂🌿 Here's what's already handled: 🍚 Brown rice — done 🥔 Red potatoes — done 🟣 Purple sweet potatoes — done 🍅 Roasted tomatoes — done 💜 Beet hummus — made and honestly stunning 🍫 Chocolate hummus — because obviously 😂🤍 Creamy tofu and white bean sauce — THIS one is the secret weapon this week! That sauce deserves its own moment. It's a basic creamy base that I can turn into literally anything at the drop of a hat. Thousand Island. Sriracha ranch. Green goddess with avocado swirled in. One sauce. Infinite possibilities. That's the kind of plant-based cooking I live for. 🌿 Also prepped and ready to go: 🧅 Onions peeled 🫑 Mini peppers and broccoli cutc🥦 Brussels sprouts ready 🥒 Zucchini ready🌿 Asparagus ready 🍓 Strawberries in a mason jar — pro tip by the way. Want your berries to last longer? Mason jar. You're welcome. 😄 And I made my absolute favorite little side salad — cucumber, red onion, tomato and dill vinegar. Scrumdiddlyumptious is the only word. 😂🌿 Oh and mushroom jerky is happening later today because I cannot stop making it. 🍄 and I haven't had any in like 2 weeks! It's matinating as we speak. Guys I was in the kitchen for a solid 90 minutes. That's it and my entire week is READY! 90 minutes just saved me from bad decisions and HOURS of cooking! Now here's the thing about this week. My oldest daughter and her family are coming into town. Little Penelope Grace turns ONE on Thursday. 🎉 My mom is coming in from Montana. We have a huge birthday barbecue double celebration on Saturday for the whole crew.