Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I've discovered that -- at least for the last few days -- the trick to getting Simran to eat more than she fusses is to fix her a little plate and give her a little spoon and let her do most of the feeding herself.  This creates the new dilemma of needing to provide not only foods she can chew with her limited number of teeth, but also foods she can feed herself without having yet mastered use of utensils.  So finger foods and lots of options are good; soups and one-plate meals are generally unpopular. 

Here is what I have in my fridge to use up this week:  about 5 oz. each of baby spinach and arugula, two avocados, a bunch of carrots, a bunch of celery, about a handful of fresh basil, and some green onions.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegan Lentil Walnut Loaf and Wild Rice Pilaf and Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Arugula
I didn't end up making the beet salad this past week since I was lacking in ripe avocados, so I ended up making beet greens surrounded with beets instead (note: lemon juice alone is not a sauce and tastes a little gross).  I did enjoy making fresh beets properly though, and they were really good, so I still look forward to this salad, which will use up my remaining arugula, an avocado, and that goat cheese still in my fridge.  The vegan lentil walnut loaf and wild rice pilaf (again, just wild rice blend from Whole Foods' bulk bins cooked in plain water) were hits with Simran last time I made them.  I'm hoping I can turn the leftover lentil loaf into sandwiches that she might actually try as leftovers for lunch the next day.

Easy Healthy Veggie Pizza and Winter Squash Puree and Kale in Walnut Sauce
This is an easy meal Simran ate readily enough last week, and it's a thousand times healthier than any other pizza I've ever made (all whole grains and vegetables and healthy stuff!  no dairy or oil!).  I plan to make it regularly for as long as she consents to eat it.

Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries and Kale in Walnut Sauce
I think I've still got a couple black bean burgers in the freezer ready to cook.  Making them vegan by leaving off the cheese and making the chipotle mayo with vegannaise doesn't really affect the flavor much, but using chewy whole grain buns instead of pretzel rolls does.  Vegan pretzel rolls wouldn't be hard to make, but I wonder about the possibility of whole grain pretzel rolls.  Probably a bust, but you never know until you try...  The sweet potato fries are a new-to-me recipe from Rip Esselstyn's The Engine 2 Diet.

Zucchini Cakes and Beet Greens in Sweet Corn Sauce and Fresh Rolls
Simran and I both love zucchini cakes, which I've discovered do not lose anything at all by replacing the egg with a tablespoon of flaxseed meal (they are a slightly better consistency, actually, since they are less runny this way -- I just add the flaxseed meal directly to the grated zucchini and onion since they are plenty watery).  The cakes still contain butter and are cooked in oil though, so this time I'm experimenting with cooking them without the oil in a non-stick skillet and seeing what happens.  I'm hoping the residual butter inside the cakes will brown them sufficiently.  I may also replace the bread crumbs with ground oats since I really prefer the consistency (and added fiber) of ground oats.  Less sand-like than bread crumbs.

Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Tasty Breaded Seitans and Peas & Carrots
The ultimate "kid food" dinner, except for the whole vegan part, and the fact that I still have trouble getting Simran to try peas (formerly her favorite vegetable!).  She enjoyed the breaded seitans last time I made them though and the vegan mac 'n cheese too, which I made last time with leftover sweet potato and pumpkin.  I think it will taste even better with the winter squash puree by Cascadian Farms that I always keep in my freezer though since it seems more complementary a flavor to the nutritional yeast.  This meal will use up another container of homemade seitan from the freezer and macaroni noodles from the pantry, also some of the carrots from the fridge.

Vegetarian Reubens and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
The reubens have Swiss cheese and veggie ham on them and I cook them on a buttered skillet, but we all love them, and they will use up some more of the sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing still taking up space in the fridge.  Hopefully Simran will eat at least a little of the soup.  Sameer and I love this soup, and it's healthy and uses up some of the enormous amounts of frozen broccoli I always seem to have stockpiled in the freezer.