Meal Planning

It's Fall Break from school, so this is meal planning through Thanksgiving.  Friday will inevitably be Thanksgiving leftovers, and I'll figure out next weekend after that.  I want to keep it reasonably quick and easy since Sim is at home and I don't want a stockpile of leftovers when we're coming up to Thanksgiving.  Here is what I have to use up:  about three cups of homemade vegetable broth, an avocado, some green lettuce, about a quarter of a red bell pepper sliced, about a cup of diced onion.  Here is what I'll make:

Curried Pumpkin Soup and Vegetarian Club Sandwiches
This will use up the broth on the soup, and the sandwiches will use up some of the lettuce as well as some of the vegetarian turkey slices in the fridge. This can be Sunday night so I use the broth before it goes bad.

Avocado Grilled Enchilada with Red Chile Pesto
I'll make this Monday night.  It'll use up the avocado and red bell pepper as well as the large flour tortillas in the fridge.

Curried Tofu Pot Pie
Because I have some cubed tofu in the freezer, as well as frozen vegetables I'd like to pare down.  Thinking I'll make this Wednesday.  I can finish off the leftovers within a day or two.  Not sure if it's a bad idea to make so close to Thanksgiving, but I want to make the grilled enchiladas before the ingredients already in the fridge can go bad.

Thanksgiving 2019
Thursday, obviously.

Thanksgiving 2019

This will be almost identical to last year.  I've honed Thanksgiving menu down to exclusively things I love to eat.  The only difference is this year I'm making the pumpkin pie exactly to the recipe.  I think there might've been something else Sameer wanted to add (since I'm the only one who likes the stuffed mushrooms) but if so, I can add it on later.

Crudites and Pumpernickel Bread with Homemade Ranch Dressing
For lunch and noshing on till dinner time.

Gardein Vegetarian Turk'y Cutlets

Boxed Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole 

Stuffed Mushrooms with Horseradish Cream Sauce 

Candied Pears 

Pumpkin Pie

Meal Planning

I'm aiming to clean out the fridge and freezer as much as possible before I start cooking for Thanksgiving next week.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegetable Tagine (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 124)

This is healthy and vegan, and it'll use up some of the vegetables already in my fridge, including a container of sliced mushrooms from Friday night's veggie tacos.  I'm making this tonight.

Pinto Bean & Greens Enchilada Casserole (The No Meat Athlete Cookbook, pg. 97)
Also healthy and vegan.  I'm making this predominantly to use up the corn tortillas and at least one of the avocados currently in my fridge.  Planning this one for Thursday, when Sameer gets home from out of town.


Hearty Veggie Hoagies and leftover Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
I still have leftover cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper, and pesto in the fridge from the last time I made these sandwiches, so I'm making them again tomorrow.  It's an easy meal to have ready to go on Tuesday nights.

Vegan Pizza
Because I have some vegan cheese to use up and maybe I can use some of the basil leaves from our little basil plant too.  This will be Friday night. 

Wednesday night will just be a tostada for Sim (veg refried beans and cheese and olive slices on top of a corn tortilla that's been through the air fryer) and a veggie side, and I'll have whatever leftovers are on hand.  Alternately, a "taco bowl" of veg refried beans, chipotle salsa, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.  It's healthy, vegan, and filling.

 

Meal Planning

Sameer is traveling again this week.  I'm mostly making the same things I made last week just to use up the remaining cucumber slices and brie.  Here is what I'm making:

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup and Brie/Arugula/Tomato Baguette Sandwiches


Hearty Veggie Hoagies and leftover Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

Homemade Pizza
This is my plan for Friday night.

For Wednesday and Thursday, I'll make Sim a club sandwich or air-fried chimichanga.  I'm also getting more chik'n tenders, fresh broccoli florets, and we still have veggie dogs on hand.  So easy stuff plus veggie sides will be the focal point this week.

Hearty Veggie Hoagies

I love this sandwich recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook so I'm copying it down here so I don't have to keep getting the cookbook out every time I make a grocery list.  I think my only change is that I don't salt or season any of the veggies in advance; I just put it all together.

Ingredients
One 12 oz. sourdough or whole grain baguette (I usually buy a whole wheat half baguette from the bakery at Whole Foods)
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
2 cup canned or frozen and thawed artichoke hearts, roughly chopped (I prefer the marinated artichoke heart quarters in little jars for this.  Drain but do not rinse.)
1 red bell pepper, sliced into rings
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs pesto (I usually buy a vegan pesto -- very oily but delicious -- from Whole Foods)
Balsamic vinegar

Directions

1) Slice the baguette in half horizontally (into two shorter segments), then slice off the top third from each half. Scoop out some of the insides of the bottom portion, reserving them for another use (such as bread crumbs).

2) Toast lightly

3) Layer tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, onion, artichokes, and olives.  Spread pesto across the inside of the other side of the baguette.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the vegetables, and close baguette.

4) Wrap tightly in parchment paper, then aluminum foil.  For best flavor, let sit (I put it in the refrigerator) for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.  Slice and serve.

Meal Planning

We didn't end up having the penne alla vodka last week, so I'm moving that to this upcoming Saturday.  Sameer will be out of town most of the week, so we're doing easy dinners in the style of his fast days most of the week.  Here is what I have to use up:  five organic russet potatoes, two eggs, and a whole mess of apples and pears.  I have no idea how I'll eat that many apples and pears essentially on my own, but I also don't know any recipes I want to make from them.  Here's what I'm making this week:

Baked Potato Skins and Brussel Sprouts and some manner of Gardein frozen chik'n tenders or veg turkey cutlets
This will use up the potatoes, which are baking as I type this.  I'm going to make ranch dressing to go with them because it's tastier and slightly healthier than sour cream.  We also have a small amount of sour cream in the fridge that Sameer or Sim might finish off tonight.

Hearty Veggie Hoagies and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
This one is going to irritate Sim, but the sandwich can be made well in advance and it's good and it's healthy.  This way I'll be able to pick her up from her extracurricular at school and give her a shower without it interfering with my ability to have dinner ready at the right time. 

I determined last week -- the week of sambar and broccoli soup -- that I should only make one soup or stew-type dish per week since it yields such plentiful leftovers for both my lunches and vegetable sides for Sim at dinners.  So this will be our soup this week, as it is so many weeks of the year.

Brie/Arugula/Tomato Baguette Sandwiches and Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup and Macaroni and Cheese
Since it's just the two of us eating the veggie hoagies, we'll have bread leftover from the whole wheat half-baguette I'm buying for it, so we'll have these sandwiches the next day and hope it's still soft enough to eat.  We'll have leftover soup from Tuesday.  I'm making mac 'n cheese just to use up the two eggs before they go bad and because I don't want to deal with the repercussions of eating an entire batch of cookies or a cake, which are the other things I can think of to make from them.

Arugula-Feta Pita Pizzas and Yet More Leftover Soup 
Sim used to love these little pita pizzas, and maybe she'll be happy enough that it resembles pizza, but I have a feeling she'll feel cheated that there are vegetables on it.  I think it sounds really good though, and it's quick and easy and reasonably healthy, so I'm going with it.


Stuffed Pita Pockets and Random Leftover Sides
I figure we can use the last of the arugula or some green lettuce, tomatoes, veggie bacon, leftover feta from the day before, and whatever else we have on hand to stuff the pita pockets.

Penne alla Vodka
Saturday night.