Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I'm still trying to make mostly stuff that I have non-perishable ingredients on hand for.

Tofu Provençal and Baked Basmati Rice Pilaf and Kale or Collard Greens (whichever looks like it's in the best condition when we get to the grocery store)

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

I need to make a new batch of seitan for this.

 

Cheese Pizza and Garden Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing 

 

Pasta Salad with Baked Tofu  and Leftover Soup from Freezer

 

Seitan Log and Baked Potato Skins and Kale or Collard Greens (whichever looks like it's in the best condition when we get to the grocery store)

Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas and Red Cabbage Slaw
I have a whole mess of corn tortillas in the fridge for this.

Tofu Quiche and Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Spaghetti with Marinara (with ground seitan) and Garlic Sauteed Spinach
This will be quick and easy since I have to make a new batch of seitan for the stirfry anyway.  The spinach dish should use up any fresh spinach leftover from the tofu quiche. 

Simran's 2nd Birthday

Simran's second birthday is coming up, and I'm planning to throw another little party at home like we had last year.  We're doing a teddy bear theme because bears are her favorite.  The menu will closely resemble last year's with some small variations, such as changes in icing flavor and the addition of fresh ice cream.

The problems with last year's food were too-thin chocolate buttercream (I stopped adding sugar when it tasted good instead of fixing the texture and taste at the same time -- my frosting-making ability has improved significantly in the last year, thankfully) and too-sour lemonade (should not have brushed my teeth before making the lemonade -- made it impossible to tell when it was sweet enough).  Easily correctable mistakes, but I'm not planning to use either of those recipes this year anyway.  Here is what I'm planning to make:

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Dark Pink Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
To preserve freshness as well as my sanity, I plan to make the macarons a few days in advance and freeze them until Friday night or Saturday morning.  According to the internet, they will be better that way than if I try to refrigerate them for 48 hours.

Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Ice Cream
I might only end up making one of these, but I think I can make both without much ado if I make them a day in advance.  I've made the chocolate ice cream before and it was the best ice cream I've ever had.  Even the stuff sold "fresh" from creameries doesn't taste as fresh as homemade.  The chocolate ice cream also provides an outlet for all those egg yolks leftover from the macarons.

Fizzy Fruit Punch -- I kind of have to make this up.  My mother used to mix equal parts Hawaiian Punch and 7up for party punch, and I'd like to make something with a similar flavor but with actual fruit juice.  I haven't found an applicable recipe, so I plan to try a couple 100% juice fruit punch blends (maybe something featuring cherries) from Whole Foods, choose the best, and mix it with an equal amount of sugared lemon-lime soda.

We'll also be having a variety of cheese cubes and crackers, cut fruit, and crudites with Homemade Ranch Dressing.

Meal Planning

We're going grocery shopping tomorrow with two of last week's meals yet to be made.  Time for weekly meal planning.  I want to get as much of my freezer cleared out as possible before Simran's birthday party since I need space for the ice cream maker (you have to freeze the big cup thing in advance, and it takes up an entire shelf of my freezer) and homemade ice cream.  This is my attempt to use up some of that stuff, as well as some stuff from my pantry.  I'm also trying to squeeze in a few more soups before the weather is warm enough for that to seem weird.

Chilli-Garlic Noodles and Soup from the freezer
This is a carry over meal from last week.  I plan to make it tomorrow.  There are a few single serving containers of soup leftovers in the freezer that will work as a side.

Falafel
Another carry over meal from last week.  I ran out of pita bread before I could make it.

Pita Pocket Sandwiches and Red Lentil & Squash Curry Stew
This will use up the remaining pita pockets I buy for the falafel.  I want to make the pita filling essentially a white bean spread (maybe buffalo hummus) and salad fixins.  I plan to make the stew with whatever squash and sweet potato is currently taking up space in my freezer.  I'll add a carton of pumpkin puree from the pantry to fill in the blanks if necessary.

Pasta Salad and Curry Pumpkin Soup
This will use up one of my stockpiled boxes of whole wheat pasta taking up space in the pantry.  I'm going to try it with elbow macaroni this time. 

Cheese Pizza and Garden Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
This will use up one of the pizza doughs in my freezer, as well as a jar of the pizza sauce I have stockpiled in the pantry.

Tofu Provençal and Baked Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

This will use up some more seitan from the freezer as well as the last of the broccoli and baby corn in the freezer.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I've still got one meal to carry over from last week since we're doing shopping a day early.  Here is what's currently in my fridge to use up:  3 ripe avocados, celery, carrots, romaine lettuce, half a chopped red bell pepper, half each of green and red cabbage shredded, and green onions.  I also have some extra Yukon Gold potatoes in the cupboard and a couple tomatoes on the counter.  Here is what I'm planning to make:

Dosa with Aloo Masala and Coconut Chutney
This is my carry-over from last week.  I'm making it tomorrow, so I just prepped the dosa batter today and got the coconut chutney started.

Pita Pizzas
These will use up the last of the herbed feta in my fridge, as well as a tomato from my counter.

Seitan Log and Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Sauteed Spinach
This will use up the remaining potatoes in the pantry.

Seitan & Veggie Stirfry and Brown Rice

Chilli-Garlic Noodles
This will use up the remaining green cabbage, some carrots, and some of the green onions.  I also have enough chilli-garlic paste leftover from this past week that I don't need to make another batch.  I think I'll also throw the red bell pepper in here, just to get rid of it. 

Fresh Veggie Tacos and Red Cabbage Slaw
This will use up my remaining avocados and the remainder of red cabbage. 

Falafel
This will use up the rest of the pita pockets I have to buy to make tiny pizzas.  It'll also probably use up the rest of the romaine in the fridge and the tomatoes.