Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  We got takeout one night last weekend and I just made spaghetti another night when I felt lazy, so I have a couple carry-over meals.  Here is what I have to use up:  one green bell pepper,

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Veggie Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip   

Cinnamon Squash Chowder and Vegetarian Club Sandwiches
I think I'll plan on making this on Christmas Eve since it's easy and will afford me time to prep Christmas dinner.  It also doesn't yield a ton of leftovers, which is good since I'll need the fridge space for Christmas food.

Nachos
The colder and more Christmasy it gets (it's really not the cold, but it's almost Christmas), the more I want junk food.  I think I will end up making nachos this weekend.  I'll aim to have leftover soup or something from an earlier night so we don't make ourselves sick on cheese and chips and dips.

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Baked Potato Skins and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Chilli-Garlic Noodles

Brinner
I really want to make some egg & cheese biscuits, maybe with homemade vegan sausage patties.  I have to make the biscuits from scratch though, so I'm not committing to anything more than "brinner" at this point.  We have eggs and cheese and veggies for omelets, as well as homemade pancakes in the freezer.


Tofu Parmigiana and Green Bean Casserole and Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Cranberry Waldorf Salad and White Rolls and Cherry Cake and Mulled Wine
This will be Christmas dinner.  I can pre-make pretty much all of it and then just pop it in the oven on Christmas day.  I only have like four sweet potatoes, but I don't know what else to do with them, so I'm going to wrap them in foil and bake them, and just whip them plain.  I think I've done that before, and I'm not concerned about the small amount since we'll have so much other food.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I'm mostly trying to use up ingredients already taking up space in my fridge and freezer.  Here is what I'm making:

Bubble & Squeak
I'm making this tonight because I have leftover mashed potatoes and sauteed cabbage from last night and because I love it, and Sameer won't be home at a normal time, so I figure Sim and I can eat bubble & squeak and I'll buy him a frozen pizza since I think he hates bubble & squeak.

Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo and Sweet Potato Fries
This will use up the whole wheat burger buns I bought last week for the night we had pav bhaji.  I also have leftover chipotle mayo already made in the fridge, black bean burgers premade in the freezer, and a bag of organic sweet potatoes in the pantry for the fries.  I've also got two avocados, three tomatoes, and some lettuce that this will help use up.  I think I really just have to buy a red onion for this entire meal.

Veggie Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip 
I'm not sure if I have any more pizza doughs in my freezer, but the freezer is packed and needs going through anyway.

Enchiladas Verdes and Slow-Cooker Black Beans and Spanish Rice

Kichari and Cucumber-Tomato Salad 
I didn't end up making this last week, so I still have all the ingredients, including a cucumber I just bought yesterday.  I think the cucumber-tomato salad will just be those two vegetables with a dash of salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice
I always have the ingredients for this on hand, though I might actually be out of frozen seitan after making fried vegetarian chicken last night.  Again, I really need to clean out the freezer, so I expect I'll either find more seitan or frozen tofu cubes I can use.

Green Bean Casserole and Cinnamon Squash Chowder and Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips
I still have all the ingredients for the green bean casserole that I didn't make on Thanksgiving because I was sick, and I still have the cinnamon squash chowder ingredients since I didn't end up making it last week.  

Buttermilk Cornbread and Vegetarian Chili 
The chili will use up some if not all of the chopped bell pepper in my fridge and freezer, probably all the chopped onions in the fridge, and maybe some other random vegetables.  I think I'll have to make a fresh batch of seitans for this, but it's considerably tastier than the lentil chili I make, which I sort of hate since I'm not really into chili in the first place. 

Mexican Potato Salad

This recipe comes from Dr. John McDougall's 10-day free meal plan.  I'm always looking for healthy Tex-Mex themed veggie sides, so I definitely plan to try this.

Ingredients
2 lbs red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1/2 cup salsa
2 tbs fresh lime juice
2 tbs fresh cilantro, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until just tender. 

2. Remove from heat, drain, and place potatoes in a large bowl.  Add the corn, tomatoes, and scallions.

3. Combine the salsa and lime juice.  Pour over salad and mix well.  Add cilantro and a few twists of pepper.  Serve immediately or chill.

Meal Planning

Since Thursday is my usual grocery day lately, and this week is Thanksgiving, I'm doing my post-Thanksgiving meal planning right now.  Just easy stuff.  I want to clear out as much of my fridge and freezer and pantry as possible, plus do a bit of detox in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Here's what I've got planned for the days immediately following Thanksgiving:

Green Enchiladas and Mexican Chopped Salad
I still have the ingredients for Mexican Chopped Salad in the fridge.  I'll just whatever ones are still good and skip the rest.  The green enchiladas recipe is a new uber-healthy one.  I might make a more interesting blend with the white beans, maybe adding some garlic salsa.  We'll see.  It'll use up some of the corn tortillas in my fridge too.

Kichari and Cucumber-Tomato Salad
Last time I made this, it was surprisingly good and hearty for a clean, healthy meal.  Too much clove though, for both Sameer and me, so this time around I'll just use a dash of ground clove.

Chilli-Garlic Noodles
This will use up the chilli-garlic paste and green onions in the fridge.

Vegetarian Korma
I have tons of korma base taking up space in my freezer at the moment.  This will use up a full 3-cup container of it. 

Pav Bhaji
I can use up any remaining cauliflower or other random veg from the korma to make pav bhaji.  I might skip making rolls and just buy whole-grain hamburger buns.  It's so much easier.  I'm sick of making bread lately.

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice
I always have chopped vegetables and seitan in my freezer ready to go for this dish.  It gives me a feeling of accomplishment to use them up.

Thanksgiving 2014

This year is another Thanksgiving with just immediate family.  Last year's homemade stuffed tofurkys were both difficult and underwhelming, so I'm doing something different this year.  I don't have high hopes for the Thanksgiving Loaf, but I am forever trying loaf-shaped fake meats, and I wanted a main course that wasn't heavy or cheesy so that I can eat everything else I'm making without feeling sick.  I think the fact that I'm not making any bread that requires kneading or any potatoes that require mashing should make the day pretty easy.  Here is what I'm making:

Cranberry Waldorf Salad  

Buttermilk Cornbread

Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Green Bean Casserole

Baked Apples with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Meal Planning

I have a lot of carry over from last week because I got lazy and made other unplanned stuff a few times.  Here is what I'm making:

Saag Tofu and Brown Basmati Rice and Naan  

Pudla with Lazy Coconut Chutney and Coriander Chutney and Roasted Tomato Coconut Bisque

Tofu Pot Pie 

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Collard Greens with Almonds

Veggie Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip 
  
Bean Bolognese and Cinnamon Squash Chowder    

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Here is what I currently have to use up:  4 avocados, some celery, about 5 lbs of carrots, 2 yellow bell peppers, 1 red bell pepper, and a couple cups of fresh baby spinach.  Here is what I'm making:

Saag Tofu and Brown Basmati Rice and Naan  
I'm going to rinse and freeze the remaining fresh spinach and just throw it into this.

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice
This will use up some of the yellow bell peppers.  I'll just chop them both and throw whatever I don't use into the freezer.

Black Bean Burgers on Pretzel Rolls with Chipotle Mayo and Cinnamon Squash Chowder
I'll set aside some of the short grain brown rice leftover from stirfry to make more black bean burgers.  The chowder will use up some of the squash in my freezer.  I have both delicata and butternut.

Pudla with Lazy Coconut Chutney and Coriander Chutney and Roasted Tomato Coconut Bisque
It occurred to me this could use a side dish (e.g., soup) rather than the additional chutney I had planned.  I'm going to blend it smooth and make it essentially function like a warm dipping sauce though. 


Seven Layer Tortilla Pie and  Mexican Chopped Salad 
This will use up some of the avocado in my fridge.

Tofu Pot Pie 
This will use up some of the celery and carrots.

Tofu Provençal and Baked Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf and Sauteed Carrots
and Collard Greens with Almonds  
I'm not sure if I'll actually serve collard greens with this.  It depends on what looks fresh when we go grocery shopping.  I just want something easy and green to serve with it.  We have leftover vegan cream of broccoli soup in a pinch. 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Here is what I need to use up:  about 1/3 lb of spinach, a couple pounds of carrots, a few stalks of celery, half a red bell pepper, almost a pint of grape tomatoes, one avocado, and half a red onion.

Spicy Vegetable Curry and Brown Basmati Rice
This dish will use up some of the carrots in the fridge and some of the peas in the freezer.

Veggie Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
I can use up the bell pepper on the pizza.

Bean Bolognese and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup 
The pasta will use up some of the celery and carrots.

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Collard Greens with Almonds  

Tortilla Pie and Mexican Chopped Salad

Tofu Po'Boy Sandwiches and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing   

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I tweaked last week's meal plan a little bit in order to use up the rest of the green cabbage without having to make chilli garlic noodles again this week.  My fridge is currently packed with food, thanks in part to getting takeout from a new local Indo-Chinese restaurant and in part to my not paying much attention to what was already in there when I went shopping last week.  I'm aiming to use up as much as possible in this next week to clear it back out.  I currently have the following to use up:  3 lbs baby red potatoes, too many carrots, a crown of brown cut into florets, the better part of two celery hearts, a can of chickpeas I opened thinking it was cannellini beans because I wasn't paying attention, two hearts of Romaine lettuce, half a green cabbage shredded, almost a pound and a half of fresh baby spinach, and three avocados.  Here is what I'm planning to make:

Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Vegan Fried Chicken and Sauteed Cabbage and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
This is what I'm making tonight.  I made mashed potatoes out of all three pounds of the baby red potatoes, leaving the skin on because they're organic and tiny and it saves time and nutrition.  The sauteed cabbage will use up the last of the green cabbage, as well as prepare any leftovers for tomorrow night's Bubble & Squeak.  I already made the ranch dip, and can serve it with some of my broccoli and numerous carrots.

Bubble & Squeak and Vegan Sausages
I really like this dish and haven't made it in years.  It'll be extra easy since I'll have leftover mashed potatoes and sauteed cabbage from tonight.  I like Bubble & Squeak with a fried egg on top.  I've been meaning to try this vegan sausage recipe forever. 

Vegan Shepherd's Pie and Vegetable Barley Soup
This will be a good Halloween meal since I can make it all in advance and just heat it up when we're ready to eat -- no need to miss any of the trick-or-treat action.  The shepherd's pie will use up any remaining mashed potatoes from the previous two nights (hopefully there will be enough), some of the carrots and some of the celery.  The soup will use up the chickpeas and again some of the carrots and celery.

Rigatoni alla Anthony  
This is a quick and easy dish that will use up about a pound of spinach, as well as some of the pasta in my pantry. 
  
Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach & Goat Cheese and Wild Rice Pilaf and Sauteed Carrots
I haven't made these mushrooms in awhile, and they will use up some of the spinach.  There is WAY too much wild rice in the pantry, so I'll make a pilaf.

Zucchini 'Crab' Cakes and Cheese Fries and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dip
I have some French fries in the freezer that this will use up, as well as the Romaine and a good part of the ranch dip.

Avocado Grilled Enchiladas with Red Chile Pesto with  Black Beans
I'm going to try making my own chipotle salsa this time around.  I haven't seen the Morningstar chik'n strips meal starters in awhile, so I'm going to use the leftover seitan from tonight's vegan fried chicken (I won't have enough batter to fry all of it anyway).

Spaghetti & Veggie Meatballs in Marinara
This is just instant food I have in the pantry and freezer.  We've had so many leftovers lately and gotten takeout at least once a week for a few weeks that I don't want to go overboard on shopping.  This is my "just in case" meal.

Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars

I saw some pumpkin spice granola at Trader Joe's last week and thought, "I could make that."  I glanced at the ingredients section and came home and made this.  I am very proud of it because it's pretty tasty and incredibly healthy.  It seems to be Simran's new favorite thing, and it's sweet and chewy enough that you can't really tell there is no sugar or oil.

Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
14 oz. pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, just the pumpkin part)
15 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. 

3. Toast sesame seeds and chopped pecans in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Make sure to keep them moving so they don't burn.  When they start to smell toasty (1-2 minutes), remove from heat.

4. If you have a high-speed blender, I recommend putting the pumpkin puree and pitted dates and vanilla in it and blending them up.  If not, chop the dates as finely as you can and add them to the puree and vanilla.

5. Combine rolled oats, nuts, salt, and spices in a large bowl.  Add pumpkin mixture, and stir in raisins.

6. Pour granola into prepared baking pan and smooth out evenly.  Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.  Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Meal Planning

Vegan Shepherd's Pie 



Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Bean Bolognese and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Chilli-Garlic Noodles  

Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Vegan Fried Chicken and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip

Enchiladas Verdes and Red Cabbage Slaw and Slow Cooker Black Beans  

Nachos and Red Cabbage Slaw

Meal Planning

Vegan Shepherd's Pie 

Cheese Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Reubens and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Collard Greens with Almonds    

Rigatoni alla Anthony  

Saag Tofu and Brown Basmati Rice and Naan 

Meal Planning

Time for meal planning.  I currently have the following in the fridge:  a yellow bell pepper, a pound of whole white mushrooms, two zucchini, some baby spinach, half a package of corn tortillas, and some Greek yogurt.

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing with Grilled Veggie Kabobs and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice and Tandoori Tofu
This will use up the yellow bell pepper and most of the mushrooms, as well as one of the zucchini.

Chilaquiles Casserole and Green Salad with Cucumber-Avocado Vinaigrette
This will use up most of the remaining corn tortillas and the remaining zucchini. 

Curried French Lentils and Brown Basmati Rice
I just discovered this website straightupfood.com last week when I tried the kichari recipe.  Sameer and I both thought it was good enough to make again (this is a higher compliment than it sounds like -- this was not my first kichari recipe), it was filling enough we didn't eat other snacks afterward (our biggest pitfall when eating "clean"), and it even had leafy greens in it. 

The curried lentils will use up the leftover cauliflower florets I tossed in the freezer after making vegetarian korma last week.  It will also use up some of that spinach in the fridge and -- it sounds like -- pretty much whatever else I want to toss in there.

Pineapple Stir-fry
I make stir-fry about every other week, and I'd like to try something new.  This should use up most of the remaining mushrooms, and I already have a can of unsweetened pineapple chunks in the pantry.  I'm considering getting brown rice noodles to go with this since I've served exclusively short-grain brown rice with stir-fry for months.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie
This recipe is a lot of work just because of the mashed potatoes, but it will use up a lot of random vegetables from my freezer, as well as any remaining mushroom slices.

Lentil & Rice Loaf and Creamy Mushroom Gravy and Mashed Potatoes
I've tried many a lentil loaf and never found one worth making a second time, but lentils are so healthy and cheap and I love things I can eat with mashed potatoes and gravy, so I keep trying.  I figure any mashed potatoes leftover after I make the shepherd's pies can go with this meal.

Cheese Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing  I already have at least one more pizza dough in the freezer, and I just remember I have a crown of fresh broccoli too.
 

Meal Planning

A lot of last week's meal planning got thrown out the window, and I'm going grocery shopping a day earlier than usual, so I have a whole lot of carry-over for this week.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegetarian Korma and Brown Basmati Rice and Fresh Naan

Kichari and Mixed Vegetable Raita

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Fresh Veggie Tacos with Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas and Slow-Cooker Refried Beans and Red Cabbage Slaw  

Vegetable Barley Soup and Black Bean Burgers

Bean Bolognese and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Collard Greens with Almonds

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing with Grilled Veggie Kabobs and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice

 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I have a couple carry-over meals from last week.  Here is what I'm making:

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Green Bean Casserole

Dosa with Aloo Masala and Coconut Chutney and Vegetable Barley Soup 

Kichari and Mixed Vegetable Raita

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Fresh Veggie Tacos with Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas and Slow-Cooker Refried Beans and Red Cabbage Slaw  

Ravioli with Arugula & Pecorino and Green Salad 

Vegetarian Korma and Brown Basmati Rice and Fresh Naan

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Here is what's currently in the fridge:  romaine lettuce, some avocados, and some baby spinach.  Here's what I'm planning to make:

Lasagna and Green Salad and Cheddar Bay Biscuits
I have pretty much all the ingredients for all these things, including homemade biscuit mix I'd like to use up.

Enchiritos

Brie & Arugula Sandwich and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips and Winter Squash Mac 'n Cheeze and Green Bean Casserole

Saag Paneer and Brown Basmati Rice and Fresh Naan

Dosa with Aloo Masala and Coconut Chutney and Vegetable Barley Soup

 

Meal Planning

I made some impromptu changes last week, so I have some carry-over meals.  Here is what I'm making, based otherwise entirely on what I feel like eating right now:

Dosa with Aloo Masala and a cucumber/tomato salad

Chilli-Garlic Noodles  

Cheese Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing  

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Nachos 

Tandoori Tofu and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice and Palak Chaat 

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing with Grilled Veggie Kabobs and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice and leftover Tandoori Tofu 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  We're going shopping a day earlier than last week, so I have some carry-over.  Here is what I currently need to use up:  SO MANY CUCUMBERS from our awesome neighbors' garden, a couple handfuls cherry tomatoes from our own plant, an entire green cabbage, green onions, and baby spinach.  Here is what I'm making:

Dosa with Aloo Masala and a cucumber/tomato salad

Chilli-Garlic Noodles  

Cheese Pizza and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing  
 
Veggie Summer Rolls with Peanut Lime Sauce 

Loaded Spinach Salad and Black Bean Burgers on Pretzel Rolls with Chipotle Mayo 

Tofu Po'Boy Sandwiches and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing  

Garden Pretzel Sandwiches and  Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I made some changes to the meal plan this past week, so I have a couple carry-over meals.  We have a hectic week ahead of us, so I'm trying to do some easy recipes.  I don't have much produce to use up, but I want to use up some more of the dry goods from the pantry.  Here is what I'm making:

Rigatoni alla Anthony 

Dosa with Aloo Masala 

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Chilli-Garlic Noodles  

Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Vegan Fried Chicken and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
Since I'm going to have the frying oil hot and the ranch dip out, I think I'll probably also fry up a box of breaded pickles currently taking up space in my freezer.  The mashed potatoes will use up the remaining potatoes purchased for aloo masala.

Veggie Fajitas and Red Cabbage Slaw and Slow-Cooker Refried Beans

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing with Grilled Veggie Kabobs and leftovers of other stuff

Raw Date Syrup

There are lots of recipes online for sweet things without refined sugar, but most still involve maple syrup or brown rice syrup or agave nectar, and those syrups still count as sugar since they have been stripped of their natural fiber.  I love medjool dates and use them to sweeten things like oatmeal and homemade granola bars, but today was the first time I heard of making syrup from them.  It involves blending up the whole date, so all the fiber is still in there.  I found this recipe on OhLadyCakes.  I'd like to come up with some variations on this to make flavored vegan milks for my coffee, since I currently use sweetened vanilla almond milk. 

Ingredients
8-9 medjool dates
1 1/4 cups filtered water, plus more for soaking dates
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

Directions
1. Place the dates in a small bowl; cover with warm water and let sit for 30 minutes.

2. Once the dates have soaked, drain the water then add the dates, filtered water, and lemon juice (and scrape one half of a vanilla bean if so desired) to the container of a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix. Blend for 45-60 seconds, or until smooth.
3. Transfer to an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

[Edited 8/29/2014: I used about 2 tbs of this date syrup in my coffee this morning with unsweetened plain almond milk.  It was good -- it didn't even taste weird!  I expected this to be something I could get used to, not something that takes no getting used to.  I am genuinely shocked and pleased.]

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I don't think I have much to use up aside from five avocados, one of which is already ripe and four of which are still green.  Here is what I'm making:

Tandoori Tofu and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice and Palak Chaat

Quesadillas and Red Cabbage Slaw and Slow-Cooker Refried Beans

Vegan Green Goddess Dressing with Grilled Veggie Kabobs and Cilantro-Lime Brown Basmati Rice and leftover Tandoori Tofu
  
Cheese & Veggie Omelets and Vegan Sausage Patties 

Rigatoni alla Anthony 

Creamy Avocado & White Bean Wraps and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Dosa with Aloo Masala

Lazy Coconut Chutney

This could also be called "I'm not going to the Indian grocery store for this" Coconut Chutney.  I make it with stuff I can easily have on hand whenever I want to make it.  I can't tell the difference between this recipe and the better quality versions I've had, but that's just me.  Don't tell me it's not authentic for whatever reason -- there are tons of authentic recipes on the internet if you feel like going out to buy fresh curry leaves and a coconut right now.

Ingredients
1 cup dried shredded coconut (I keep finely shredded dried coconut on hand in my pantry.  I've also used grated dried coconut from the Indian store, but the finer grating allows the coconut to rehydrate faster and makes for a better texture.)
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp grated fresh ginger (no substitutions)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp vegetable oil
salt to taste (I use about 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I use non-fat Greek yogurt because it resembles fresh homemade dahi, which I rarely make.)
1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Stir up ginger, jalapeno, and dried coconut in a small bowl.

2. Stir in yogurt and add water until it's a nice thick-but-pourable sort of consistency.  Add salt to taste.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.  Cover and cook until their popping sounds have slowed down. 

4. Stir oil and mustard seeds into the coconut mixture.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Longer is better -- the coconut needs time to soak up the water.  If it seems too dry when you're ready to serve it, just add more water to adjust consistency. 

Meal Planning

We were out of town during my usual grocery shopping day, so I'm doing meal planning later than usual and trying to work with ingredients I've already got here in the house.  Here is what I'm making for the remainder of the week:

Spaghetti with Meatless Veggieballs and Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip
I have some whole wheat pasta and jars of marinara in the pantry, and I have mushroom-based meatless veggieballs in the freezer leftover from last week.  I already put together the dip this morning, so now I just have to chop up some vegetables to serve with it.  The neighbors gave us a cucumber and some little Roma tomatoes from their garden, and I also have baby carrots and broccoli in the fridge.

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice
I didn't end up making this last week, so I still have everything I need in the freezer and fridge.

Pudla with Dipping Sauces
I love that pudla is healthy, easy, and tasty.  It takes very little time to throw together, and I can make dipping sauces in advance.

Reubens and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I already have a package of vegetarian ham and Thousand Island dressing in the fridge that need to be used in the next week, so the reubens will take care of those.