Planning makes life so much easier...
Most of you can relate to the fact that there just isn't enough time to devote to the things we'd truly like to spend time doing. For me, one of those things is cooking. If I choose a day/ night to make a double batch of something that can last for a few days and freeze the rest - I'm set! It's the nicest thing we can do for ourselves after a long, hard, drawn out day at work to come home to a meal I only need to warm up! Dinner is served!
With a little planning, we can make healthier choices, save time and money.
If we are going to make something we will eat a few more times in the same week, it had better be good! So good that we are actually looking forward to it the third time we are going to eat it. With all of the spices and sauces out there to flavor our food, this isn't difficult at all! Finding good recipes is essential to me! Then, I can cook up similar versions without a recipe another time. Some of my favorite plant based dinners include the following...
Tempeh Marsala
Sweet Potato Lasagna
Shepherds Pie from Bon Appetit - wow! Great for holidays like Thanksgiving!
VegNews Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza or any of their Veggie Burgers.
Check out a sample menu to make your plant based meal planning simpler!
Sunday
Breakfast - French toast with almond milk
Lunch - Tomato & Avocado Sandwich
Dinner- big batch of Outside World Kale, Lentil and Walnut Burgers
Monday
Breakfast - Oatmeal with Berries and Almond Milk
Lunch - leftover veggie burger
Dinner - Make your own Pizza with variousToppings
Tuesday
Breakfast - Granola with Blueberries and Almond Milk
Lunch - leftover Soup from last Saturday (Saturday was big batch soup day)
Dinner - Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and crumbled leftover veggie burgers
Wednesday
Breakfast - Whole wheat Toast with Sesame Seed Butter (Have you tried this?)
Lunch - leftover pizza
Dinner - Tacos, black beans, salsa, corn and leftover veggie burger crumbles
Thursday
Breakfast - Quinoa Bowl with berries, warmed soy milk, cinnamon and agave
Lunch - Kale Salad
Dinner - Tomato, Avocado Sandwich and leftover cup of soup
Friday
Breakfast - Oatmeal or Granola Bowl
Lunch - Pita Pocket with Veggie Burger, Kale, Tomato and Onion
Dinner - Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes with black beans, corn, broccoli and Veggie Burger Crumbles
Saturday
Breakfast - Muffins or Scones (from Colleen Patrick Goudreau's, "The Joy of Vegan Baking"
Lunch - PB & J Sandwich
Dinner - Big Batch of Soup, Chili or Stir Fry
These are some common meals for us in our house. You can see some menu items are listed more than once and even incorporated into different meals as the week progresses. It's actually fun to plan this out. Kind of like a puzzle to make it exciting and to make it work.
I challenge you to create your own healthy, veggie plan for the week and share it on this site in the comments! We could create, share and recycle the plans for the future! Think how much easier it would get over time too! Let's see what you've got! Anyone willing to share?
