Healthy Detox Foods

I'm detoxing from the holidays by cutting back on sugar and dairy and fat.  While I do plan to eat like this forever, I find looking at it as a "detox" is more appealing to me than planning to never eat junk food again (besides -- I will).

Here are the healthy dishes I already know I like, plus some new ones to try.  I'm aiming specifically at no oil, no sugar, vegan, plant-based, whole food recipes.  So far, all or almost all of the new ones are from Healthy Girl's Kitchen.  I haven't tried a single one yet, but her recipes fit the criteria I'm looking for, and based solely on looking at the recipes, they look good and like they have complex flavors, which you don't always encounter on healthy eating blogs.  She even has a collection of oil-free vegan salad dressings and salad ideas, which are two things I've been actively looking for:

Old Favorites:
Tropical Kale Smoothie  I'm still not sick of having this for breakfast every morning, even in the middle of winter.  Plus, it's pretty easy to get Simran to drink an 8 oz glass of the stuff at some point during the day, which I can't say about many other things with green leafy vegetables in them.
Collard Greens with Almonds This is still probably my favorite leafy green side dish. 
Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup A bowl of this soup plus a piece of fruit can serve as lunch for me, and it doesn't even make me sad.  Very filling and one of my all-time favorite soups.
Cinnamon Squash Chowder I make this with no oil.  I just boil the vegetables and spices in water and puree the whole thing smooth.
Vegetable Barley Soup
Minestrone 
Crispy Breaded Tofu
Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Beefless Stew
100% Whole Grain Wraps (for easy sandwiches)
Slow-Cooker Refried Beans
Artichoke-White Bean spread
Buffalo Hummus
Tofu & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice We've been eating this weekly for about four years now.  Theoretically, it should be able to be made oil free.  I usually use about a tablespoon at present. 
Slow-Cooker Dal Makhani I make this with no ghee or oil and use lite coconut milk in place of the milk these days.  It's still amazing.  It's even good without the coconut milk, but coconut milk lightens up the spice level a bit and does improve the flavor, in my opinion.  I also like to garnish with as much cilantro as I can bear to chop. 
Vegetable Biryani  I still use ghee in this recipe, but I think I could omit it and saute with water.  I'm not sure how much it would affect the flavor.

New Recipes to Try:
Vegetable Sugo
Twice Baked Broccoli-Cheeze Potatoes
Falafel
Ratatouille
Stuffed Cabbage I already know seeing this dish will make Simran cry, but it sounds good to me.
Tofu Cacciatore
Vegan Lasagna
Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing This is actually a link to ALL THE SALAD DRESSINGS, but that was the one that really caught my eye.
Raw Spring Rolls with Almond Sauce for summer
Salads!

I would also like to find and/or develop healthy recipes for:

• Some kind of protein patty, ideally bean-based, that could be varied slightly to go with different sauces and sides.  I've tried some croquettes and Indian bean patties, but they usually call for frying or at least the inclusion of oil.  If the falafel burger recipe above turns out well, I'm hoping it might be a good base idea to work from.
• New Healthy Pancake Recipes.  I know lots exist on the internet, but I need to make a list of specific ones to try.  Whole grain, no sugar, ideally involving fruit.  I tried to make some oat pancakes on the fly for Sim one morning awhile back and they turned out atrociously, but she gobbled them up anyway.  That kid loves pancakes.  Here's one I'd like to try. 
• Healthy Quesadillas.  I'm pretty sure the majority of calories Simran consumes on a daily basis come from cheese.  I've gotten to a point with quesadillas and grilled cheese where they are 100% whole grain at least (Mission brand makes some extra thin no-oil corn tortillas that are perfect for this purpose), but I want to find non-cheese fillings she will eat.  Or something non-cheese that will hold other fillings together (other fillings being things like slow-cooker refried beans, salsa, tomato, and avocado).  Just did a quick search, and I'm definitely trying these, minus the oil (oil is highly unnecessary and even undesirable when making quesadillas).

Unsweetened Cashew Soy Yogurt

Nowhere in my region seems to sell unsweetened vegan yogurt, but fortunately it seems to be as simple as making dairy yogurt.  I have now made vegan yogurt two different ways, one with cashew and one without.  The cashewed version is obviously fattier, but it also has a significantly nicer texture.  I got the recipe from Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese.  I've eaten it plain (would be great in a parfait) and also used it in place of plain dairy yogurt in things like Cranberry Waldorf salad. 

Ingredients
4 cups unsweetened soy milk
2/3 cups cashews, soaked in water for 3 hours then drained and rinsed
1 probiotic capsule (this is the only one I've ever used for this purpose because Fo Reals Life, where I found my non-cashewed vegan yogurt recipe, said it's the best)


Directions

1. Put the cashews and 1 cup of the soy milk in a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
2. Transfer to a heavy medium saucepan and whisk in the remaining soy milk.
3. Warm over low heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F or until a few drop placed on the wrist feel barely warm. Remove from the heat. 
4. Empty the probiotic capsule into the warm milk and stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour into a clean 1 quart glass jar and cover. Let rest in a warm place for 4 - 8 hours, until set and the desired degree of tartness has been achieved.  Alternately, use a yogurt maker, which is severely unnecessary, but mine was a gift.
6. Refrigerate the yogurt; it will thicken more as it cools.
7. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, Cashew Yogurt will keep for 1 to 2 weeks.

Minestrone

I developed my minestrone recipe from Ellie Krieger's on the FoodNetwork website.  Mine is vegan and no oil and less effort, but it still tastes really good.  It doesn't freeze particularly well on account of the pasta and beans breaking down, but it's still one of my best soup recipes.  I think some baby spinach cut chiffonade and thrown in at the very end just before serving would also be a good addition.

Ingredients
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 1/2 cups green beans, frozen cut
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 2 -ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
6 cups water
1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup whole-grain elbow pasta (I use Ancient Grains' corn and quinoa pasta, also available at Whole Foods and my local grocery store's gluten free section)

Directions

1.  Throw all ingredients except pasta, beans, and green beans in a pot and bring to a boil.  Boil for five minutes, then add remaining ingredients.  Cook according to pasta directions.  Serve hot.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I'm going to do my shopping tomorrow -- 2 days before Christmas -- so that ingredients like grapes and the pumpernickel bread will hopefully still be fresh for Christmas.  Here is what I need to use up:  a whole mess of baby spinach, quite a bit of baby arugula, a crown of broccoli, and two whole wheat hamburger buns.  Here is what I'm making between today and the first half of next week.

Loaded Nachos

Christmas Dinner 2015

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad


Tofu & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice
Easy Vegetarian Reubens and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Veggie Burgers and Broccoli Florets with Homemade Ranch Dip

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I ended up making easy stuff like soup and sandwiches on more than one occasion last week (plus loaded nachos), so I have a fair amount of carry over.  This will be my second-to-last grocery store trip before Christmas.  The freezer is mostly empty, but I'm still working on clearing out my pantry.

Avocado Grilled Enchiladas with Red Chile Pesto and Black Beans 
I cooked the black beans two days ago to make the seven layer tortilla pie, so the ingredients are ready to go.

Vegetarian Sweet & Sour Pork Bites with Brown Rice and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I need to buy some more green onions, but otherwise this dish will be quick and easy.  The bell peppers are already chopped.

Tofu & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice 

Rigatoni alla Anthony
I'm going to use a mixture of whole-wheat penne and rotini simply because I have three open boxes of those particular noodles and I want them out of my pantry.  I think I already have canned artichokes too.  I'll probably use up any leftover spinach by throwing it into Tropical Kale Smoothies for breakfast.

Easy Healthy Veggie Pizza and Green Salad
I haven't made this "pizza" in ages.  I had actually forgotten about it until I was browsing my old recipes today.  I'm not sure if Sim will still eat it -- she has gotten pickier -- but I tend to eat mostly a huge green salad with homemade ranch dressing whenever I make pizza anyway, so I think this will be a reasonable amount of food to fill up on.

Artichoke-Bean Wraps  and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
This sandwich was originally a pita pocket, but I'm going to have those Food 4 Life sprouted grain tortillas for the Easy Healthy Veggie Pizza anyway, so I'm making wraps.  Those tortillas go bad FAST and need to be consumed within about a week.  It seems like a good way to use up some of that baby arugula from the pizzas too.  I don't care that I'm planning to make vegan broccoli soup twice this week.  It's leafy green, oil-free, high in fiber and protein, and really good.  None of my other soup recipes taste nearly as good, especially the ones that are equivalently healthy.  I can't remember the last time I didn't finish off all the leftover broccoli soup for lunch.

Christmas Dinner 2015

I'm proud of myself for trying the UnTurkey recipe at Thanksgiving, but it was severely not worth the work.  I've yet to find a vegetarian turkey recipe I would choose to eat or make again.  I'm going the easy route this Christmas and buying Gardein vegetarian turk'y cutlets from the freezer section.  They're really good (IMO), they only require basic reheating, and they'll go nicely with the usual side dishes I like eating.  Gardein makes a turk'y roast too, but I already know I like the cutlets and I suspect they're better.

I've decided to make a special-but-easy-and-healthy Christmas breakfast.  My French Toast Sticks are a minor variation of Banana French Toast from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.  I plan to make the batter and slice the bread in advance so I can throw it together quickly Christmas morning and have it baking while Sim opens presents.

Pumpernickel Bread & Crudites with Homemade Ranch Dip

Gardein Vegetarian Turk'y Cutlets

Whipped Sweet Potatoes
I just peel, chop, and boil for about 10 minutes a smallish (3 lb?) bag of sweet potatoes; then whip it with my standing mixer.  No butter, syrup, salt, or anything else.  It's pretty good and we end up eating the leftovers.  Since it's so much healthier than anything comparably tasty I could do with white potatoes, it seems worth the sacrifice of not eating multiple pounds of garlicky cream cheese mashed potatoes (and gaining a couple of pounds myself in the process).

Green Bean Casserole 

Cranberry Waldorf Salad   

Candied Pears 

Spice Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
I've been thinking about spice cake since the Thanksgiving vegan pumpkin cheese cake that was so mediocre we ended up throwing most of it in the trash.  This sounds like a more reliable dessert recipe, based on the reviews.
 

French Toast Sticks

This recipe is a minor variation on the Banana French Toast recipe from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients
1/2 cup oat, almond, or nonfat soy milk (I use unsweetened -- the banana and raisin make up for it)
1 ripe banana, cut up
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch ground nutmeg
5 slices Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Sprouted Whole Grain Bread (found in the freezer section of most grocery stores, typically with the healthy or gluten-free foods)

Directions

1.  Slice the bread into sticks, about three per slice.

2.  Blend first four ingredients in blender until smooth, then pour into a shallow bowl.

3. Dip both sides of bread in mixture.

4.  Cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F, turning once, until both sides are golden brown (I'll have to add an approximate time after I make these again -- I just remember it being simple and surprisingly good).  Serve alone or with maple syrup or fruit.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I currently have the following ingredients to use up:  several tiny Yukon gold potatoes and a ripe avocado.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegetable Biryani and Dal Makhani
I planned this one for last week but haven't made it yet.  The biryani will use up about half the remaining potatoes.

Chik'n Patty Sandwiches and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I bought a box of Morningstar chik'n patties last week, and I like the ease of making them into McChicken-style sandwiches on whole wheat buns.  
 

Pav Bhaji
This will use up the remaining potatoes (probably need to buy more) as well as the whole wheat buns I need to buy for the sandwiches.

Vegetarian Sweet & Sour Pork with Brown Rice and Leftover Soup
I have some Gardein sweet & sour porkless bites in the freezer that need to go.  I'm going to cook them with pineapple chunks, green and red bell pepper, and green onions.  They came with a sauce, so this is an easy one.

Avocado Grilled Enchiladas with Red Chile Pesto and Black Beans
This will use up my ripe avocado, as well as some vegan chik'n seitan I made and stashed in the freezer a few weeks ago.  

Seven Layer Tortilla Pie
The only thing hard about this dish is that I tend to use dried beans and cook them in the slow cooker.  I'm going to make more black beans than necessary to go with the grilled enchiladas and use the leftovers in this dish rather than buying canned.

I'm in the market for a salad recipe -- something heavy on the leafy greens -- that is both healthy and palatable enough I can eat/serve it on an almost daily basis as necessary.  I'm not a huge leafy green fan, so I usually consume such things by way of my daily Tropical Kale Smoothie, a romaine salad or broccoli florets with homemade ranch dip, and vegan cream of broccoli soup.  I generally find soups more appealing than salads because they keep for a few days in the fridge or longer in the freezer, while salads often require me to chop and prepare things immediately before I eat them.  Soups also tend to taste less like vinegar.  If someone who eats a lot of fresh salads (or dark leafy greens by other means) happens to see this, please let me know how you do it.

Meal Planning

Traditionally (meaning I also did this last year) I've focused on cleaning out my fridge, freezer, and pantry in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This week should make my freezer pretty close to empty.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegetarian Reubens and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I have a sliced loaf of pumpernickel leftover from Thanksgiving, so this seemed like a good use of it.  I also have three bags of frozen broccoli in my freezer that can contribute toward the soup.

Cheese Pizza and Green Salad
I have a couple homemade pizza doughs in the freezer, plus pizza sauce and mozzarella in the fridge.  I also have fresh ranch dressing and romaine in the fridge, so I actually don't need to buy anything for this meal.

Black Bean Burgers and Crudites
I have some more black bean burgers premade in my freezer that I'd like to get rid of, plus a couple whole wheat hamburger buns.  I also have some baby carrots and broccoli florets and fresh ranch dressing leftover from Thanksgiving for the crudites.

Vegetable Biryani and Dal Makhani
I haven't made this in months, but I think I have a lot of the ingredients, such as the urad dal, brown basmati rice, and a can of coconut milk I'd like to use up. 

Vegetarian Korma and Brown Basmati Rice
I have half a container of curry base in my freezer, so I'm going to make a half portion of the korma.  There is usually far more than we can eat anyway.  I'm hoping to use a lot of the same vegetables for both the korma and the biryani so that I don't have to deal with things like leftover cauliflower.

Tu-No Casserole and Leftover Soups
I found two containers of leftover soups in my freezer.  One seems to be minestrone based on the noodles, but I can't tell what the other is just on sight, so I'll thaw them and see.  The tu-no casserole will use up some more of my stockpile of quinoa elbow macaroni and some of the peas from my freezer.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, so here is what I'm making up through then.  Some of it is carry over because I got lazy and made makeshift dinners last week.

Vegan Pad Thai

Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas and Mexican Potato Salad and Red Cabbage Slaw

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Thanksgiving Dinner

Charred Chile Rellenos with Cilantro Lime Rice and Slow Cooker Refried Beans

Tofu Provencal and Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf and Pan-Steamed Asparagus with Lemon-Caper Mayonnaise

Sandwiches and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
 
 
 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  We have some carry over from last week, as well as duplicates of meals from last week.  Here is what I'm making:


Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice 

Chik'n Piccata and Brown Rice Pilaf and Steamed Broccoli and Pan-Steamed Asparagus with Lemon-Caper Mayonnaise

Pasta Salad 

Veggie Club Sandwiches and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Vegan Pad Thai

Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas and Mexican Potato Salad and Red Cabbage Slaw

Thanksgiving 2015

I think it's just going to be the three of us this Thanksgiving, but as I do tend to feed on the leftovers for days, I'm making a whole mess of things I like.  Also UnTurkey, because it sounds insane and I can't resist trying every weird vegan meat recipe I find.  I want to be able to make almost everything (if not everything) in advance so that I don't have to waste the day in the kitchen, so I'm keeping that in mind too. 

Pumpernickel or Sourdough Bread Round with Homemade Ranch Dip and Crudites
If I manage to achieve a decent sourdough rye bread by Thanksgiving, I'll make that.  If not, I'll buy a bread round from the bakery section of the grocery store.  I find this makes a good light lunch for me and something for Sim (or guests, when we had guests) to nosh on until dinner is ready.

UnTurkey
I ventured to the big Asian supermarket for bean curd sheets yesterday, so I'm pretty much set to start cooking this now.  I want to get it done early and stash it in the freezer because I really hate cooking on holidays.

Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Because the best mashed potatoes tend to have lots of butter and cheese, I'm making whipped sweet potatoes.  The best whipped sweet potatoes I've found so far are just baked sweet potatoes that have been skinned and beaten with my mixer.  I'm trying something just slightly different this year and boiling the potatoes, then whipping them with a little homemade unsweetened soy yogurt.  I want to make some fresh yogurt with cashews anyway in the hopes of making a vegan cheesecake, and the cashew soy yogurt comes out a nice thickness and with a pleasant sweetness.  Sort of like Greek yogurt, which is what people on the internet suggest whipping into sweet potatoes.

Green Bean Casserole
This is one of my all-time favorite dishes, so I don't want to forgo making it just to keep the meal vegan or healthy.

Cranberry Waldorf Salad 

Candied Pears
I already have a can of pear halves taking up space in my pantry.  I just need to buy a jar of maraschino cherries to make this.

Pumpkin Cheesecake
I'm going to use the recipe from one of the few cookbooks I own, Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner.  I'll feel less guilty eating an entire cheesecake if it's not quite as unhealthy as traditional dairy cheesecake.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  We ate leftovers and whatever we had on hand a couple times this week, so I have some carry over.  I want to clear my freezer a bit so I can make my Thanksgiving UnTurkey well in advance and stash it in there.  Here is what I'm making this week:

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Pasta Salad 
I had forgotten Sameer was taking the week off of work, and since I primarily make this so he can take leftovers in his lunch, I delayed this one from last week.  I'm going to thaw some of the homemade vegan chik'n seitan I made to throw in here.  I've started incorporating sun-dried tomatoes (the no oil variety) too, which works nicely.

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice 

Chik'n Piccata and Brown Rice Pilaf and Steamed Broccoli
I went on a spree of buying Gardein vegetarian mock meats the last time I saw a wide selection at a store, so I'm using the chicken scallopini (I think that's what it was called) currently in the back of my freezer for this.  For the pilaf, I think I'm just going to boil/steam some brown Basmati rice and serve the chik'n piccata on top of it so that the sauce and parsley mixes in to the rice and flavors it.  I also have multiple pounds of frozen broccoli in my freezer right now because, while I use it a lot, I've apparently bought it even more often, so that seemed like a reasonable green side.

Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs and Green Salad
I still haven't made my own vegan meatballs -- I finally found dried soybeans at a store the other day -- but I have some Gardein ones to use up from the freezer.


Pav Bhaji
I have the better part of a bag of whole wheat hamburger buns that this should help use up.  It will also utilize the last of the Yukon Gold potatoes I bought to make stew.

Meal Planning

It's late, so I'm going to try to make this as simple as possible.  Here is what I'm making this upcoming week:

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice

Veggie Club Sandwiches and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Beef-less Stew

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Pasta Salad 

Charred Chile Rellenos with Cilantro Lime Rice and Slow Cooker Refried Beans

Brinner 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning because I didn't do it yesterday and now I'm scavenging for things to make for dinner.  I think I might be going overboard on the new, labor-intensive meals, but I'm hungry as I write this, and meal planning while hungry can be as dangerous as shopping while hungry.  Here is what I'm planning to make this week:

Charred Chile Rellenos with Cilantro Lime Rice and Slow Cooker Refried Beans
This chile rellenos recipe was really good, in my opinion (Sameer said it was really spicy and Sim wouldn't touch it).  Sim said the rice smelled bad, and it admittedly wasn't the best rice, so I'm going to add a bit of spinach to the chiles next time and make the rice (brown basmati, which works well here though it takes about twice as long to cook) of the cilantro lime variety.

Nachos 
I haven't made these in ages, but I saw the recipe while browsing the "Mexican" food tag on my blog and immediately wanted to use up my slow cooker beans this way.  It's not super healthy, but it's healthier than anything we can get from a local restaurant.

Vegan Salami and Pepperoni Seitan
These aren't a meal, but I want to try them.  I've recently discovered the key to making seitan I actually like to eat is baking or steaming it rather than boiling.  When it steams, it doesn't fill with water and get spongy like my boiled seitan.  The texture is like that of any sausage except better because it contains no veins or anything grossly heterogeneous.  I want to try making some snacking seitan, and these salted-meat types seemed like my best bet. 
 
Artichoke Crostini and Spaghetti with Vegan Meatballs
I'm not sure how true I'll stay to this crostini recipe.  What I really want is to recreate the artichoke crostini that La Dolce Vita restaurant recently stopped serving, but I don't remember what exactly was in it.  It was really good and one of the few vegetarian appetizers they had, and they replaced it on their menu with some kind of meaty pâté that makes me sad.

Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach and Goat Cheese and Green Salad and maybe leftover something else from a previous night

Black Bean Burgers with Crudites and Homemade Ranch Dip
I already have the burgers ready to go in the freezer and the chipotle-lime mayo in the fridge.


Boca Chik'n Sandwiches and Leftover Soup
I figure I should have at least one really basic meal this week, and this will use up the remaining hamburger buns from the black bean burgers.

Vegan Scallop Scampi with Linguine and Garlic Sauteed Spinach
One of the few meat things I still crave after all these years is fish, and this is the easiest faux fish recipe I've seen that seems promising.  Not super healthy on account of the butter, but it sounds really good to me.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I'm doing a bit of a detox this week since everyone in the family has been sick at some point over the last two weeks and we've lived on takeout and Ramen and whatever we felt like we could handle. 

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice  

Beef-less Stew 

Chik'n Seitan and Steamed Broccoli with Vegan Cheese Sauce (same sauce as mac 'n cheese, I'll just use leftovers)

Vegan Mac 'n Cheese and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I ended up improvising a lot of meals last week, so I have some carry over.  Here is what I currently have to use up:  celery (which wasn't called of by the tu-no casserole at all), a whole mess of tiny white potatoes I just bought at the farmers market yesterday, 2 cups shredded cabbage, one cucumber, three tiny tomatoes, and the better part of a pound of fresh baby spinach.  Here is what I'm going to make:

Tofu Fried Rice
Haven't made this one from last week yet.  I'm planning to throw the shredded cabbage in there.


Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
Haven't done this one from last week yet either.  It will use up the three tiny tomatoes as well as that cucumber. 

Sameer's Enchiladas
Sameer wanted to make "his style" of enchiladas, which mostly refers to the fact that he microwaves them by the plate instead of cooking them in an oven.  I am making the chile rellenos tonight, and that includes some slow cooker refried beans as a side.  I made plenty to also fill the enchiladas, either tomorrow night or the next.

Beef-less Stew
This will use up some of my carrots, the celery, and all or most of those tiny white potatoes.  

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice  

Veggie Club Sandwiches
Sameer is going to be out of town for work (and Sim eats almost nothing I make for dinner), so I'm doing an easy sandwich and leftover sides for dinner at least one night this week.  I already have the Tofurky slices in the fridge.

 

Meal Planning

We didn't end up going out to eat a single time in the last week, so I've run out of meals and need to go grocery shopping a couple days early this week.  Here is what I have on hand that I need to use up:  a cucumber, about half a head of green cabbage, and some celery.  Here is what I'm making:

Chilli Garlic Noodles
This will be our meal tomorrow night, planned since last week.

Tofu Fried Rice
This is the third recipe I'm trying for fried rice since I didn't love the first two, and this one features a sauce that looks more promising.  I'm going to use up the last of my shredded cabbage (leftover from chilli-garlic noodles) in this too because why not. 

BBQ Seitan Ribs and Cornbread and Collard Greens with Almonds and Corn on the Cob
I'm thinking of making this after the pasta salad and/or tu-no casserole nights so that I can serve leftovers of one of them as a noodly side dish.  I'm also not sure if fresh corn is still for sale, but if it isn't, I'll just add another simple veggie side instead, such as crudites with homemade ranch dip.

Pasta Salad

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
The salad will utilize the cucumber in my fridge.  

Tu-No Casserole and Green Salad 
This will use at least most of the celery in my fridge.

Charred Chile Relleno with Green Rice and Slow Cooker Refried Beans
I did a search for healthy chile relleno recipe and Rachael Ray's was the top hit.  It looks easy and full of ingredients I like, so I'm going with it.  I think this will be my first time trying a Rachael Ray recipe.

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I didn't end up making any part of the sushi meal planned for last week because I no longer have a sushi mat, I didn't order a new one, and what I thought was frozen dashi turned out to be cinnamon squash chowder.  I can use up the sushi ingredients in other dishes, but I still have to figure out how to use the shiitake mushrooms.  Here is what I have to use up:  at least a pound or two of organic russet potatoes, 4 oz of shiitake mushrooms, an avocado, TONS of apples and apple-pears from the farmers market, a bunch of asparagus spears, one roma tomato, one cucumber, five eggs, and about three cups of ready made cinnamon squash chowder.  The weather is turning cooler again, so I can start breaking out the soup recipes.  Here is what I'm going to make:

Black Bean Burgers and Cinnamon Squash Chowder
I have all of this ready to go in the fridge and freezer except for burger buns.  I think I'll make this tomorrow.

Miso Soup and Pan-Steamed Asparagus with Lemon-Caper Mayonnaise and Various Leftovers 
I think I'll just make new dashi and make miso soup to use up the shiitake mushrooms.  I will also make this asparagus again to use up the asparagus I had planned last week to use in sushi.  I still have some leftover lemon-caper mayo anyway, and it was fantastic.  I ate all the leftover steamed asparagus from the last batch.  This should also be a good way to use up some random leftovers from the fridge.  If there aren't enough edible leftovers in there, I can always make a batch of brown rice.  I think I'll make this meal tonight to clear things out a bit in the kitchen before grocery shopping tomorrow.

Seitan & Veggie Stir-fry and Brown Rice

Chile Garlic Noodles
I haven't made this in awhile, and I finally miss it.  I shouldn't need to buy much aside from cabbage.

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Pav Bhaji 
This will use up hamburger buns I need to buy to go with the black bean burgers, and it will make a dent in the number of potatoes in my pantry too.  And use up the roma tomato. 

Beef-less Stew 
This will use up a couple potatoes too.

I'm going to make some baked apples too, I think, as well as another batch of date caramel for dipping fresh apples.  I think there was a healthy baked apple recipe on straightupfood.com.  I'll have to check again. 

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning.  I added a meal of Cheese Tortellini with Arugula & Pecorino Romano and Minestrone so as to use up my zucchini, all the other stuff I bought for the minestrone that I didn't end up making with the lasagna, and the leftover arugula, so I haven't made pizza yet.  Here is what I have on hand to use up:  a few stalks of celery, one heart of romaine, a sugar cube melon that I've already chopped up, a pint of blackberries, a couple jars of capers that are both needlessly taking up space in my refrigerator, a half-jar of sliced salad olives in my fridge, a crown of broccoli, and five eggs. 

We have gotten what I can only assume is a last warm spurt of summer, so I'm trying to make some weather appropriate meals too before I hunker down and make stews all winter.  Here is what I'm making:

Veggie Pizza and Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
 

Pasta Salad and Leftover Minestrone
This will use up the salad olives, the broccoli, some of the carrots in my fridge, the soy chik'n strips in the fridge, and a can of sliced black olives from my pantry.  I need some kind of vinaigrette and a box of whole wheat rigatoni.  I can make it ahead and serve it Saturday night, when I'll be spending most of my normal meal prep time at a hair appointment.

Tofu Provencal and Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf and Pan-Steamed Asparagus with Lemon-Caper Mayonnaise
The tofu provencal will use up one container of the capers, and the asparagus will use up a bit more.

Spinach Lasagna and Green Salad
I need to make a fresh batch of seitans for this lasagna.

Veggie Sushi and Miso Soup (or Asian Salad)
There is an unmarked container of brown frozen liquid in my freezer that I've decided to thaw and investigate.  Everything in my freezer that could fit that description is relatively fresh and something I made myself, so it can't be anything too weird.  I think it might be leftover dashi that I made for miso soup, in which case I'll make another batch of miso soup with it.  If it's not, I'll make some kind of salad with shredded cabbage and carrots and peanut dressing to go with the sushi, and I'll figure out what to do with the brown liquid when I know what it is (maybe vegetable stock? though I think I used that up).

I think I'll make "fancy fruit cups" tonight with the melon and blackberries and maybe some of the plums from the farmers market.  That basically means arranging the berries and cut fruit in tiny trifle cups so that they are pretty and everyone eats them.  I might make a cake or coffee cake or cinnamon rolls with some of the eggs since we have guests coming over the holiday -- I haven't decided yet.