Meal Planning

I bought a huge bag of frozen stirfry vegetables last week (I wanted chopped vegetables of particular varieties and it was the only size available), and it's taking up too much space in my freezer.  Here is what I'm making this week:

Tofu-Vegetable Stir-fry with Soba Noodles
I'm making this today to get rid of some of those frozen cut vegetables.  I'm doing soba noodles because they are already in my pantry.  I just need to buy the tofu and some broth to cook it all in (no oil stir-fry).

Garden Pretzel Sandwiches and Crudites
This is an easy Tuesday dinner that will yield extra pretzel bread for making Sim an easy sack lunch for school field trip day.

Spaghetti & Meatless Balls and Garden Salad
I have plenty of salad greens, including watercress, that need to go, plus some homemade salad dressing.  I also have meatless balls in the freezer that I want to use up. 

Veggie Dogs and Crudites
I have one more Beyond Meat veggie dog taking up space in my freezer and several more of the kind Sim likes in the fridge, as well as hot dog buns on the counter.  I need to get rid of some of this stuff, so it'll be an easy Thursday night dinner.

Homemade Personal Pizzas and Garden Salad
I'll do this Friday night.  I have some Daiya vegan mozzarella shreds as well as vegetarian pepperoni slices to use up, so my personal pizza will be vegan at least. 

Meal Planning

Sameer is out of town for work this week, so I'm only cooking for Sim and me.  She asked for Brinner tonight, so I'm making veggie bacon and a healthy French toast recipe from The How Not to Die Cookbook.  The other nights I'll be aiming to make easy, reasonably healthy meals.  I still have a large amount of asparagus from our neighbors that I plan to steam today and chill in the fridge for use throughout the week.  Here is what I'm making:

French Toast (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 16) and Veggie Bacon
I already have all the ingredients for this.  I'm using Ezekiel 4:9 raisin bread for the French toast.  I'm making both the Morning Star veggie bacon Sim likes as well as the tempeh bacon I like (it's also easier to use it up when I've cooked the whole package in advance and put the leftovers in the fridge for vegan BLTs or just snacking -- I'm the only one in the house who eats tempeh bacon).  I also have three fresh mangoes I'm going to chop up for dessert.

Veggie Dogs and Pita with Hummus and Asparagus with Lemon-Caper Mayo
I already have so many veggie dogs in the fridge and freezer, and the asparagus is easy because I can steam and chill it in advance and make the mayo in advance too (which Simran does not eat, but she likes asparagus plain).  I have some leftover whole wheat pita pockets I don't foresee a use for, so I'm going to cut them up and toast them into chip form to eat with the garlic hummus already in my fridge.

Quesadillas and Refried Beans and Edamame Guacamole (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 38)
Quesadillas are easy and one of Sim's favorite foods, and now that Sim prefers them with refried black beans inside, they are healthier than they used to be.  I'm going to make the edamame guacamole simply because I have frozen shelled edamame in my freezer that I'd like to get rid of, and the dip claims to be good with crudites and steamed asparagus.

Garden Pretzel Sandwiches and Leftover Veggie Sides
I make the Garden Pretzel vegan for myself now (with a Daiya provolone slice and homemade pesto mayo made from Vegannaise and no parmesan but a little garlic salt instead).  Sim just eats the pretzel bread with a slice of dairy provolone.  This is easy though and her favorite sandwich.  I'll be able to use up the leftover pretzel bread by putting it in her school lunches. 

Red Chile Cheese Enchiladas
I'm making these Friday for when Sameer gets home.  They are one of his favorite dinners, plus they are easy to make in advance, they reheat well, and they should help me use up the vegetable broth I made last week.

There is so much food in my refrigerator right now.  I need to use up anything I can and buy as little new food as possible.  I currently have: one red bell pepper, three fresh jalapenos, a ripe avocado, green lettuce, two tomatoes, a small amount of watercress, an entire package of whole wheat pita pockets, and quite a few flour tortillas (some whole wheat, some not).  Here is what I'm going to do:

Vegan Seafood Salad in Pita Pockets and Crudites
This seafood salad was why I bought the pita pockets and red bell pepper in the first place, so I won't have to buy much more.  I do need celery, a new red onion, and a lemon.  This should use up a pita pocket or two, plus some of the red bell pepper (I'll chop and freeze the rest), avocado, tomato, and the watercress.  I'll probably give Sim baby carrots and celery sticks with hummus for her veggie side.  I'll either eat that or a salad if I have the energy to make more salad dressing before dinner.

Yellow Rice & Black Beans with Broccoli (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 152)
I have to make broth for this, so I'll need to use up the rest of the broth on other recipes.

Tofu & Vegetable Stirfry with Brown Rice
I'll use some of the broth for the stirfry.  I don't use oil in this recipe anymore.  I just saute everything in vegetable broth instead.  Sameer actually thinks it tastes better this way.

DIY Sandwiches and Yellow Split Pea Dal with Watercress (THNTD Cookbook, pg. 134)
I have so many random sandwich fixins and veggie dogs that I'll just do that plus the soup for Sim.  I'll have the soup over rice and a salad or something.  I want to make this soup to use up the rest of the broth as well as one of the jalapenos in my fridge.  I also already have tons of yellow split peas that I don't really use, and I'd like to see how the texture differs from chana dal in this sort of recipe.

Lots of healthy vegan recipes this week.  Hopefully we can handle this much healthy.  On the bright side, none of it looks particularly challenging.  I'll just have to set aside some time to prep the things that need prepping (e.g., I need to mix up more savory spice blend, make broth, and chop some vegetables).