Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Here is what I have in my fridge (and pantry) that needs to be used up this week:  celery, romaine lettuce, and a couple pounds of baby red potatoes that didn't get used up in last week's deviled baby potato recipe.  I also went crazy at Whole Foods over the weekend when I discovered some new vegetarian fake meats in the freezer section, so I have quite a bit of stuff to go through from my freezer now.  It's pretty packed in there.  Here's what I'm making this week:

Ana's Amazing Vegetable Combo over Brown Rice, served with fresh bread
This is a super-healthy Esselstyn recipe that's pretty much just vegetables and chickpeas.  I'm not sure how good or filling it will be, so I'm going to make some fresh bread or rolls too so Sameer and I have something else to eat that doesn't involve heating up an entire frozen pizza.  I was mostly inspired to make this dish because I think Simran will like it.  It will also use up the celery and some of the carrots in my fridge.

Vegetarian Tofu Ribs, Dill Potato Salad, Baked Beans, and Basic Sauteed Kale
The tofu ribs are one of the prepared frozen foods I found at Whole Foods recently.  I used to love barbecued ribs as a child when I still ate meat, and Sameer and I have been watching Francis Underwood enjoy them almost everyday on House of Cards, so when I saw these vegetarian ribs, I felt compelled to buy them.  The potato salad will use up my leftover baby potatoes.  I haven't tried this recipe before, but I think it will resemble the potato salad with red new potatoes and dill that was always served at our college's barbecues and clam bakes, which is the only kind I really like.  The baked beans are the canned variety I've had in my pantry for a few months now and been meaning to use up.  I've been wanting the kale again ever since it turned out so well last week.

Vegan Chili over Polenta and Swiss Chard with Walnut Sauce
Last week's sloppy lentil joes turned out so well (Simran even liked them, when I gave her some that hadn't been pureed into baby food) that I've decided to make some as chili this week and serve it over homemade polenta.  This differs from chili I've made in the past because it will be lentil- instead of seitan-based.  Aside from that, the flavor is about the same.  I think I might throw in whatever leftover cooked beans are in my fridge that day too, as well as some frozen corn.  I plan to broil the polenta because it gives it a lovely crisp shell while leaving the center creamy.  The Swiss chard and walnut sauce are Esselstyn recipes to add some much needed green to the meal.

Black Bean Nacho Pizza with Fresh Guacamole
This is the exact same pizza I made last Thursday.  I have leftover whole wheat pizza dough in my freezer, and the pizza was so good (we didn't have a single slice of leftovers) that I've decided to make it again immediately.  This time I'll be making a side of guacamole to serve with it, to make it even more nacho-like.

Thai Green Curry
I've been making this recipe a lot lately -- at least every other week, it seems -- but now that I know how much Simran likes the tofu and sauce, I have even more incentive to make it.  I also have some leftover chopped sweet potato in the freezer that this will use up.

Vegan Breaded Shrimp with Horseradish Dipping Sauce and Green Salad with Hummus Salad Dressing
The vegan breaded shrimp is another prepared freezer food from Whole Foods.  I've decided to try to replicate the horseradish sauce Outback Steakhouse serves with their shrimp and fish and onions and whatnot to serve with it.  The green salad will feature whatever organic lettuce greens the store has this week and whatever leftover romaine from my fridge is still good, as well as a hummus salad dressing from an Esselstyn recipe that features the no-tahini hummus Simran loves so well.  Everything for this meal should be able to be made in advance except chopping the greens, so it's a nice and easy weekend meal.