Meal Planning

This upcoming week is Christmas.  Sameer's cousin and his fiance are coming to stay for a few days starting Saturday, and I like to keep meal plans loose and changeable when we have company, so I'm planning some quick, easy, tasty meals that can also be put off until another day if we get takeout or go somewhere.  Here is what I'm making:

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry

Black Bean Burgers and Baked Sweet Potato Fries
We used the last of the black bean burgers in the freezer today, but I can easily make another batch this week and pop them in the freezer.

NY-Style Veggie Pizza and Green Bean Casserole and Cranberry Waldorf and Caramel Cake
This will be Christmas dinner.  I tend to go fairly traditional for holidays, but since there's no particular reason, this year I'm just making whatever I want, and this is what I want.  We're all out of pizza dough, so I need to make a fresh batch for this.  I've never made this cake before, but I love caramel cake from boxed mix and wanted to try making the real deal.

Veggie Summer Rolls with Peanut Lime Sauce
I don't care if it's the wrong time of year.  I haven't had these things in months, and I love them.

Penne alla Vodka

Cinnamon Rolls
This isn't for dinner, but it's definitely something I want to make, probably right before our house guests arrive.  I haven't made them since shortly before Simran was born.  I always make double frosting.  It's so much that there is a solid layer on top of the cinnamon rolls, plus a container of extra in the fridge.

Healthy Whole-Grain Breakfasts

I'm making a list here of the new breakfast recipes I'm going to try so that I can find them again easily.  The vegan overnight oats aren't as appealing to Simran or to me now that it's so cold outside, and making a proper bowl of hot oatmeal takes at least five minutes, which is about four minutes longer than Simran will tolerate in the morning.  My criteria for a good breakfast are whole-grain, high-fiber, low-fat, and low- or no-sugar. 

At the moment I'm making a pot of make ahead steel cut oatmeal to heat up in the microwave tomorrow morning.  If it goes well, I could easily make this with different flavors, such as cinnamon-raisin, pumpkin, apple-spice, and pecan pie (which I imagine would have chopped pecans and Medjool dates with a hint of maple syrup).  There are other versions on the website too.  I like to use bananas and raisins as much as possible in this sort of thing since they are both naturally very sweet and can make added sweeteners unnecessary.  I also plan to try:

Basic Oatmeal Squares
Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothies (I think I've made this before for Simran's afternoon snack.  It was a pumpkin smoothie from ohsheglows.com anyway, and it was fantastic.)
Carrot Cake Oatmeal (I wonder how much of this could be made ahead, or if it could be done in the fashion of the make ahead steel cut oatmeal.  I've been wanting to try this recipe for a long time, but now that I've received a salad shooter that shreds vegetables automatically for Christmas, I'll actually bother.  I hate shredding carrots by hand.)
Whole-Grain Pancakes, possibly from Caldwell Esselstyn's book or similar, served with fresh fruit or warm fruit compote
I'd also like to experiment with more low-sugar quick breads.  I've made decent pumpkin bread and banana bread that are entirely whole-grain and relatively low-sugar -- about a third of the sugar of a regular quick bread recipe anyway.

When the weather turns warm again, I plan to try:
Green Monster (not sure if Simran will love or hate this)
I also want to experiment with making some whole-fruit sorbets maybe with ground rolled oats in them to add some bulk and staying power.  Though I might just want to make this into fruit smoothies in the fashion of the pumpkin gingerbread one since that might be even easier, both to make and to consume.
Side note: The next time I make vegan overnight oats, I plan to add the banana and any other fruit right before eating it.  I think it will look more appetizing since the chopped banana tends to brown in the fridge.  This would also make it into a more-edible version of Rip's Big Bowl, which is essentially oats and shredded wheat and fruit and non-dairy milk all thrown into a bowl.  I'd also like to try soaking the oats in almond milk overnight and just warming them up in the morning.  They require a bit of actual cooking when they haven't been soaking, so I wonder if I could circumvent the whole actual cooking process this way and still make hot oatmeal.  Worth a shot, I think. 

Meal Planning

One more week 'til Christmas, and my freezer and pantry are significantly less crowded.  Here is what I have to use up this week from the fridge:  a couple cups of baby spinach, a couple cups of cubed sweet potato, and about half a cup of chopped green bell pepper.  Here is what I'm making:

Thai Green Curry
This will use up the cubed sweet potato and chopped bell pepper.  I also have a small stockpile of tofu in the fridge from my last trip to Whole Foods (it costs 50% less than at Meijer since you can get store-brand tofu from Whole Foods), which this will dip into.  I hate buying fresh basil in winter, but I do have a coupon for fresh herbs, and I think that's almost all I need to buy for this.

Black Bean Burgers on Honey-Oat Buns and Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Leftover Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I still have a bag of frozen black bean burgers in the freezer, so I'm making them again.  I'm making honey-oat buns for them this time because it's how the local restaurant serves them and will allow me to skip buying pretzel rolls.  I have about four organic sweet potatoes in the pantry from my last trip to Whole Foods, and the fries will use up one of them.  As the freezer has gotten emptier, I've found some small containers of frozen soup, so we'll eat those for our leafy green vegetable. 

Tofu Po'Boy Sandwiches on French Bread with Vegan Remoulade Sauce and Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
I have plenty of tofu and Cajun spice blend and fixins for these sandwiches.  They might even use up the pickle chips in the fridge.  The tomatoes and lettuce I need to buy will work for both these sandwiches and the black bean burgers, so I might be able to avoid any leftovers.

Pita Pizzas and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
The pita pizzas will use up some of the herbed feta in the fridge as well as most of the rest of the fresh baby spinach.  I think I already have a jar of sun-dried tomato pesto in the pantry.

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Cinnamon Squash Chowder and Buffalo Hummus with Celery Sticks and Leftover Pita Bread
I'm skipping the squash mac 'n cheeze I usually make with this meal since I'm making the squash chowder, which Simran actually likes better lately.

Stir-fried Veggies & Seitan with Brown Rice
I've been making this weekly for a little while now, and it's really good.  A much better recipe than I've made before -- with seasoned sesame oil and peanut oil and liquid aminos and honey and ginger and garlic pastes.  I need to actually write it down.

Red Lentil & Squash Curry Stew and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
I still have a fair amount of chopped delicata and butternut squash in my freezer, and I like this stew.  The last time I made it, I also made cheese & onion pasties, which was pretty much all Simran condescended to eat, so I'm making grilled cheese this time to go with the stew.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I've been giving Simran leftover soup and/or crudites with homemade ranch dressing to round out pretty much every meal (turns out she'll eat pretty much whatever as long as she can feed it to herself from her little plate with her little utensils), so I'm not stressing so much about cooking veggie sides this week.  Here is what I'm making:

Tofu Pot Pie and Beets
I didn't end up making these today, so I'll do it tomorrow.

NY-Style Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
I have one more pizza crust in my freezer and a bit of whole-fat mozzarella, so I'm finishing them off with this pizza. 

Stuffed Tofurkys and Wild Rice Pilaf and Cinnamon Squash Chowder
I have two stuffed tofurkys in my freezer leftover from Thanksgiving, two small bags of wild rice in the pantry, and an entire delicata squash chopped up in my freezer for the cinnamon squash chowder.

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Buffalo Hummus and Celery Sticks and Peas & Carrots
I have tofu in the fridge for this, and winter squash puree in the freezer for the mac 'n cheeze.

Stir-fried Veggies & Seitans
This will use up some more seitan from my freezer and random vegetables from my fridge and freezer, as well as the last of the brown rice noodles in the pantry.

Red Lentil & Squash Curry Stew
This is an easy, healthy, cheap winter meal that will use up some more of that delicata squash in my freezer, the spinach in my fridge, and the red lentils in my pantry.

Spinach Lasagna
This will use up some of the whole wheat lasagna noodles and marinara in the pantry, as well as the last of the mozzarella and some of the parmesan and spinach in the fridge and some of the seitan in the freezer.  I think I pretty much just have to buy cottage cheese for this one.

Red Lentil & Squash Curry Stew

I found this recipe on OhSheGlows.com, and it's quite good and very healthy and very cheap to make.  I've adjusted the directions based on the easier, lazier way I make this.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (or ghee, if you don't care if it's vegan, or alternately skip the oil altogether)
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp good quality curry powder (or more to taste -- I like Badia's Jamaican style curry powder)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I use low-sodium)
• 1 cup red lentils
• 3 cups cooked butternut squash (I've also used pumpkin, or any sort of winter squash I have on hand -- if you don't want to bother cooking it in advance, add the squash when you add the lentils and cook until tender)
• 1 cup greens of choice
• Fresh grated ginger, to taste (optional)
• Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste (about 1/2 tsp salt, if using low-sodium broth)

Directions

1. In a large pot, add olive oil (if using -- or ghee, if using that) and chopped onion.  Sautee for about 5 minutes over low-medium heat.  [To avoid using oil, use a non-stick pot or simply let everything cook by boiling in the broth.]

2. Stir in minced garlic and grated ginger (or ginger paste, as I use).  Cook another couple minutes.  Stir in curry powder and broth and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Stir in cooked butternut squash and greens of choice. Cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and add some freshly grated ginger to taste.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Now that Thankgiving is over, my meal planning goal until Christmas will be to use up things I already have in my freezer and pantry so that I mostly just need to buy produce.  It's a good way to clean out the non- and less-perishables (and organize the newly cleared out pantry) without having to dig through lots of stuff.  Here is what I'm making this week:

New York Style Pizza and Kale in Walnut Sauce
I made a batch of New York style pizza dough last week, which yields three pizza doughs, and I still have leftover full-fat mozzarella, Parmesan, and chopped green bell pepper and onion from making pizza last week too.  This meal will use up a pizza dough, the chopped veggies, and most of that cheese, as well as some pizza sauce from the pantry.  I already have walnut sauce in the fridge for kale.

Loaded Nachos and Bean Salad and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
Sameer and I love loaded nachos with real cheese, and we have all the ingredients already (light sour cream leftover from Thanksgiving, salsa, cheese, tortilla chips, avocados for guacamole), so I'm going crazy this week and even serving them to Simran.  I figure if I make a couple of healthy side dishes it shouldn't be too bad.  

Veggie Paninis and Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Cinnamon Squash Chowder
The paninis will use up some of the sprouted whole grain bread in the freezer as well as any remaining tomatoes leftover from this past week's sandwiches.   I have a couple of leftover sweet potatoes from last week that will make the fries and chowder.  The chowder will also use up the delicata squash I already have on hand.

Tofu Quiche and Green Banana Power Blended Salad and Banana Bread
I have tons of ripe bananas that I don't want to fill my freezer with, so I'm making banana bread -- Simran loves snacking breads.  The tofu quiche and blended salad will only require me to buy some baby spinach.

Tofu Pot Pie and Beets
I love tofu pot pie.  The pie crust isn't particularly healthy, but everything else in it is, and this dish will use up a bunch of veggies from my fridge and freezer.  Pie crust -- as with most unhealthy baked things -- can be made from essentials that are always on hand in my pantry.

Gnocchi with Spinach and White Beans
This dish should use up any remaining spinach from the night of the quiche.  I already have gnocchi, canned diced tomatoes, and white beans in the pantry.  This dish might use up the last of the mozzarella and Parmesan too.

Veggie & Seitan Stirfry over Brown Rice Noodles
I was looking through my freezer this morning and saw lots of homemade seitans from the last batch I made.  I already have the brown rice noodles in my pantry, and this will mostly use up veggies from my fridge and freezer -- and any canned water chestnuts and baby corn in the pantry too.

Tofu Pot Pie

I've been making and loving this recipe for years, so I was shocked to see I hadn't actually posted it here yet.  It's based on Alton Brown's Curry Chicken Pot Pie.

Ingredients
2 batches pie crust (one for bottom and one for top)

8 oz (about half a package) firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed

2 cups chopped vegetable mix (peas, carrots, green beans, corn -- can be fresh or frozen, just use whatever you've got)

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup milk (I often use soy or almond milk, which work fine.)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder (I use Badia brand -- the yellow Jamaican-style kind -- even when it means buying it in bulk on Amazon.)

1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Pre-cook one pie crust and set aside to cool -- can be several hours in advance or just before making filling.  Put remaining pie dough in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. In a saute pan, lightly brown the tofu (butter/oil optional).  Set aside tofu, add a tablespoon of butter to pan and sweat the onion and celery. In a second small saucepan, start to heat the broth and milk. Add another tablespoon of butter and all the remaining vegetables to the celery mix, and heat through, cooking out as much water as possible. Whisk the flour and curry into the milk and cook until thickened. Season with parsley, salt and pepper. Add the tofu back in to the saute pan with the vegetables. Fill cooled pie crust with as much vegetable/tofu mixture as it can comfortably hold, then pour in milk mixture to fill in and top off (do not overfill or it can bubble over through the crust). Roll out remaining pie dough into a sheet and lay it across pot pie.  Pinch edges shut, trim off excess, and cut four 1-2 inch slits in the center of the crust to let out steam.  Place into the oven and cook until top of pie has browned lightly and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.  (You can use extra vegetable mixture, milk gravy, and dough to make tiny pot pies and freeze them for later.  Alternately, you can cook excess pie dough in ramekins and make them into little tarts for dessert.)

[ETA 2/22/20: I've changed how I make the gravy and wanted to make note.  I make a cup of broth with vegetable Better Than Bouillon then add corn starch instead of flour.  No milk.  Resulting concoction is very salty but more flavorful than most broths, so I compensate by under-salting the tofu/veg mixture and the finished product evens out.  Don't use all the gravy.  Put tofu/veg mixture in the pie crust first, then add gravy so that it fills in around it.  It shouldn't cover the veg entirely.]