Update to This Week's Meal Plan

This plan gets us all the way through Christmas Eve dinner. It might be too much food, but we'll see. It's possible I'll push the Thai red curry or pasta primavera to after Christmas. I got started late today on cooking dinner, but we have some leftovers and I steamed the remainder of the sweet potatoes today, so tonight we're just eating whatever we can scrounge from the fridge.

Garlicky Vegan Korean Mac 'n Cheese

Tomorrow night. I was going to make this tonight when I realized I didn't start early enough. I already have all the ingredients.

Tofu Pot Pie

Tuesday night. I already have all the ingredients.

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

I already have all the ingredients.

Vegetable Barley Soup and Frozen Fake Meats

Yet again I require one zucchini. Last time I used buckeye beans from my Rancho Gordon Bean stash in place of the chickpeas. I'll probably use the same ones again this time.

Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup

Because the tofu pot pie only utilizes half a block of tofu, and this will finish it off. I just need a bell pepper, coconut milk (if I don't have any), and some red curry paste to make this, and it'll use up some more of my frozen veg and the last of my brown rice mai fun noodles.

Pasta Primavera with Soy Curls & Alfredo Sauce

To use up even more frozen veg, as well as the open block of cream cheese in the fridge. And possibly leftover cream or half-and-half from making the ice cream. Maybe I'll buy one more zucchini to include in this.

Sausage/Egg/Cheese Biscuits

Maybe two days before Christmas. Because I'm going to have to eggs leftover anyway from making the cinnamon ice cream for Christmas.

Christmas Eve Homemade Pizza

Sameer will be making a Christmas Eve pan pizza at his own request. I'll need to buy mozzarella, black olives, a green bell pepper, and possibly pizza sauce.

Today I made another loaf of Gingerbread Banana Bread and a fresh batch of gingerbread spice groatnola (just used the same spice blend as in the banana bread recipe). 

Christmas 2023

Crudites and Pumpernickel Bread with Homemade Ranch Dressing

For lunch and noshing on till dinner time.

 

Gardein Turkey Cutlets with Gravy 

 

Green Bean Casserole

Stuffed Mushrooms with Horseradish Cream Sauce

Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

Boxed Mashed Potatoes

Cheese Herb Rolls 

Candied Pears

Pumpkin Pie

I'll just buy this from the grocery store because it's not worthing making from scratch.

Cinnamon Ice Cream 

The ice cream is worth making from scratch.

Meal Planning

I didn't really consider how few days Sunday's meal plan would get us through. It's only Wednesday, and the only thing I haven't made yet is the soup. Here is a meal plan for some of the days over the next week and a half leading up to Christmas. I'm sure I'll have to plot out more or have leftover night or something, but I can finally see the bottom of the freezer drawer, so whatever I'm doing is working. Today's plan is geared toward continuing to clear out the freezer and not buying much beyond produce. It will get us through the weekend at least.

Vegetable Barley Soup and Grilled Cheese

I just need sourdough bread and some cheeses for the sandwiches. I'm going to be in Naperville today for other shopping, so I think I'll get fresh bread from the Whole Foods there and make this tonight.

DIY Burritos/Quesadilla Night

Because I have three or four ripe avocados in the fridge right now, plus cilantro and a jalapeno, so I'll make guacamole. Also special black beans from my latest Rancho Gordo Bean haul. I do need lettuce and tomatoes for burritos, but I want those for DIY sandwich nights anyway.

Prepared Vegetarian Meats and Sweet Potatoes and Peas

I have sweet potatoes that won't stay good for long. And so many fake meats in the freezer, which I love because it makes for a very easy dinner. I need to do this one sooner rather than later before the sweet potatoes go bad. Probably tomorrow. I already have everything for making this meal.

Garlicky Vegan Korean Mac 'n Cheese

To use up my vegan Parm, roasted garlic, and some of my frozen broccoli. I'm out of elbow macaroni, so this dinner will finish off an open box of bow-tie pasta. I already have everything to make this.

Tofu Pot Pie

Because I still have blueberry pie filling I made last time that we could have with leftover pie crust, and the pot pie will use up a small amount of what I've just discovered is way too many bags of peas in my freezer. I don't need to buy anything to make this meal.

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup

To use up more of the broccoli from the freezer and white beans from my latest Rancho Gordo Bean box. This soup could go with sandwiches, fake meats from the freezer, or other leftovers to make a full meal. I already have all the ingredients on hand.

Side note: I made the Gingerbread Banana Bread from Vegan Richa yesterday, and it's fantastic. Simran had it as an afterschool snack and again as breakfast this morning. I'll make another loaf of it very soon, partly because I like it and it's not that unhealthy and partly because of my hoard of bananas. We're also making Gingerbread Cookies this week. Sameer promised Simran.

Since the fridge and freezer will be under control by Christmas, my January meal planning goal will be clearing out the pantry. I have some boxes of noodles and lots of beans taking up space. My "baking ingredients" and "whole grains, etc." boxes are so full I don't even know what all is in them, so they will both be early focal points. I know I have more than one bag of almond flour and more than one bag of brown sugar with my baking stuff, and I know I have three kinds of cornmeal and suspect I have more quinoa than I know about (there used to be a small bag of red quinoa that I don't remember finishing off). I've also got canned goods that'll make more room when I use them up. I figure I'll just pull out a few non-perishable items each week and meal plan around them, aiming to buy little more than produce.

Anti-Inflammatory Golden Chai

Turmeric is supposedly really effective as an anti-inflammatory, up there with prescriptions for ulcerative colitis. While I have not noticed that effect myself, I'm still trying to incorporate turmeric into my daily diet. This is the first way I've managed to consume more than half a teaspoon at a time and actually like it.

Ingredients

1/2 - 1 tsp ground turmeric

3 oz hot water

chai masala of your choosing (I coarsely grind 1 cinnamon stick, about 5 green cardamom pods, 8 cloves, and 8 peppercorns and put them in my tea infuser basket. I also include a teaspoon of honeybush tea, rooibos, or another herbal blend.)

1 tsp honey ginger syrup (I made this so I wouldn't have to cut fresh ginger to add to my tea infuser every time I make this tea. I just keep the syrup in the fridge now. It also dissolves much better than plain honey.)

3 oz unsweetened soy milk (or non-dairy milk of your choice)

Directions

1) Put turmeric in a mug, add tea infuser filled with additional tea and spices, and fill your mug halfway with hot water (or however much you have to fill it for your ingredients to all be submerged). Let steep for 15 minutes.

2) Remove your tea infuser and add honey ginger syrup and stir. 

3) Top with non-dairy milk and heat for 1 minute in the microwave because it doesn't taste great room temperature. Stir again and drink hot.

Nail Strengthening Cuticle Oil

Non-edible recipe. My nails have always been pretty thin and bent too easily, so awhile back I started trying out oils and polishes that are meant to strengthen them. This is what has worked best for me. 

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp jojoba oil (or sweet almond oil)

1/2 tsp vitamin E oil

6 drops lavender essential oil

6 drops lemon essential oil

Directions

1) Mix together all the ingredients and store them in a small glass bottle with dropper. 

2) Apply a drop to each cuticle/nail (and optionally to the backs of your hands as well for moisturizing purposes) before bed and rub it in. 

I've been using this daily for a couple months now and my nails grow significantly longer now without chipping or peeling. Also, the skin on my hands hasn't gotten dried out yet this year and it's December. Compare with past years when I moisturized with petroleum jelly and still got dry, cracked skin.

Meal Planning

Time for some meal planning. I'm still working on cleaning out the freezer for Christmas, though I've made some progress. Here is what I've got to use up in the immediate future, including some fridge leftovers: leftover spiced spinach tofu curry, cooked sweet potatoes, cinnamon baked apples, leftover cooked white rice, baked beans, homemade blueberry pie filling, some Bosco stix Sameer made, homemade refried black beans, a tiny bit of guacamole, lettuce, and pico de gallo. We've also got four ripe avocados, cashew yogurt, vegan Parmesan, and a tomato. The things taking up the most space in the freezer right now seem to be assorted frozen vegetables, Indian flatbreads, and frozen fruit, especially bananas. Here is what I'm making this week:

Enchilada Casserole

I don't have corn tortillas at the moment and I want to do this today, so I'm going to try doing it with flour tortillas. It'll use up the refried black beans, and I can top them with the guac, pico de gallo, and lettuce. If I have any kind of enchilada sauce in a can I'll just use that. If not, I'll have to make some from the red chile enchilada recipe or similar. This dinner should also use up two containers of cheese currently in the fridge and possibly more of the avocados. I also might just make this into enchiladas. The difference between that and casserole in my mind is whether the tortillas are rolled up and filled (enchiladas) or layered (casserole).

Vegetarian Chili and Cornbread

This was easy and good this past week, and it'll use up some more frozen veg, TVP, and cashew yogurt, as well as some more of my Rancho Gordo Beans. Last time I used a combination of Ayocote Morado beans and Bayo Gordo beans and it was really good, so I'll probably just do that again. I *might* need a new can of tomatoes to make this meal, but otherwise I've got everything I need. I could also serve any leftover Bosco stix alongside this meal. I made this last time by presoaking and pressure cooking the beans, then cooking everything together in the Instant Pot on saute followed by the bean/chili function (I'm loving my Instant Pot so much for soups and stews these days -- way more energy efficient than simmering something on the gas stove top for 45 minutes). 

Indian Food Sundries

The leftover spiced spinach tofu. The saag paneer individual freezer meal that has been taking up space in there for months. Dal Lasooni with mung beans (I might need tomato sauce and fresh cilantro). Turmeric mustard seed rice from the leftover white rice and cashew yogurt. A combination of garlic naan, onion kulcha, and chapati from the freezer.

Vegetable Barley Soup

This is nice to have available at lunch time, and Sameer wanted to have it again immediately. I think I need to buy a zucchini again but otherwise have everything I need. I used up the last of my tiny chickpeas last time, so I'll try out another Rancho Gordo Bean variety this time. Something small and firm. I finally ran out of pearled barley and started using my hulled barley last time (slightly less processed than pearled) and it cooked up just fine. I precooked the beans in the Instant Pot and then dumped everything together in the Instant Pot and cooked it on the soup function. I've put this recipe at the end because it might create too much soup/stew on a week when I'm already making chili and dal. I might make it alongside sandwiches later in the week.

I took inventory of my fridge and pantry and cross-referenced against the above recipes, and here is what I need to buy to make these meals:

• 1 zucchini
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 14 oz can tomato puree 

That's it. Not bad for creating a net loss in my stockpile of food. I do need to make enchilada sauce for tonight though.

Ideas for using up my stockpile of frozen over-ripe bananas:

• Banana "nice cream" with chocolate, strawberry, cherry, or blueberry (this is my go-to recipe for healthy dessert that uses up frozen bananas; I usually just blend up a couple frozen bananas, a couple spoonfuls of cocoa powder, and just enough unsweetened soy milk to thin it out)
• Banana bread
• Banana mocha chocolate chip muffins (I'd need someone to gift most of these to)
• Kale-Berry smoothies (I don't have kale at the moment, but I think I have everything else -- I could probably make this once from the spinach and berries currently in my freezer)
• Gingerbread Banana Bread (never made this before but it sounds good and maybe Sim would eat it for breakfast or snacks -- she's not a big banana person, but we all love gingerbread)

Meal Planning

Time for weekly meal planning. Here is what I have to use up: the last dregs of a bottle of KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce (since I didn't end up making vegan ribs the last time I planned it), about half a frozen diced red bell pepper, lettuce, assorted frozen vegetables, at least three packages of frozen garlic naan, and some textured vegetable protein also taking up space in the freezer. Only three more weeks until Christmas, and only two and a half more weeks until Sameer's big box of frozen chocolate croissants arrives needing a place in the freezer. Here is what I'm making:

Vegetarian Chili and Cornbread

I plan to include the TVP, the frozen diced bell pepper, and some of my assorted frozen vegetables in the chili, as well as half a cup of one of my dried Rancho Gordo Beans selections. I mostly just need to buy garnish type stuff for this meal, like the cilantro and green onions.

Vegan BBQ Ribs and Sweet Potatoes and Baked Beans

To use up the barbecue sauce and some of the vital wheat gluten in my freezer. I already have at least one can of baked beans and several pounds of sweet potatoes, so I don't think I need to buy anything for this meal. I also have a little leftover bread I could theoretically use to make the leftovers into McRib-style sandwiches. I think I'll make this today since I won't require going to the store just yet.

Garlicky Vegan Korean Mac 'n Cheese

Because I already have everything I need to make this meal, and it'll use up some of my frozen broccoli as well as the roasted garlic taking up space in my fridge and the elbow macaroni in the pantry.

Spiced Spinach Tofu Stir-Fry and Brown Basmati Rice

This will involve more ingredients I actually need to buy, like fresh spinach, but it'll also use up a bag of frozen garlic naan. I might only buy a small container of fresh spinach this time and also use up the frozen spinach I already have on this meal.

I expect at least one day this week to end up being leftover night or DIY sandwiches and leftovers night, so this should see us through to the weekend.

[Edited 12/5/2023: Three avocados just became ripe. If I buy a bag of tortilla chips sometime this week, we could do nacho night on Saturday after Simran's school musical. I already have fresh tomatoes, beans, cheese, and some green onions and sour cream that I purchased for chili night.]