Another Short Term Meal Plan

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry

Today. Because this didn't actually get made in the last week.

Vegan Breakfast Burritos with Vegan Sausage Patties

Pav Bhaji

Vegan Breakfast Sausages

This recipe is originally from Hell Yeah It's Vegan, but the site went down and now, each time I make this, I scramble to find copies of the recipe that have been saved elsewhere. Occasionally I've found what I thought was the right recipe but it had the wrong ratios and didn't taste right. Here it is for my future reference. The directions are to the best of my memory.

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup tvp

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup oat bran

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed sage leaves

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp blackstrap molasses

oil for frying

 

 

Directions

 

1) Combine the tvp and 1/2 cup boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

 

2) Combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a separate bowl.

3) Add liquid smoke, soy sauce, maple syrup, and molasses to the tvp and combine.

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. Add up to 1/4 cup water as necessary to get the dough to stick together in patty form.

5) Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in a skillet and cook sausage patties on both sides until evenly brown. Serve hot.

6) Reheat leftovers in toaster oven for 5 minutes at 425 degrees.

Sameer's Meal Plan

 For while I'm out of town. So you have the links.

Hearty Veggie Hoagies  

 

Red Beans & Rice 

Cook 1/2 to 1 cup of small red beans in the InstantPot at least a couple hours beforehand so they are ready to go. The rest of the process takes a little under an hour.

 

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry  

The default number of servings is 2, so I set it to 4 before getting started cooking.

Short-Term Meal Planning

Fresh Veggie Tacos and Red Cabbage Slaw 

 

Spiced Spinach Tofu Stir-Fry and Brown Basmati Rice

 

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry

Meal Planning

My mother-in-law is coming to stay for awhile tomorrow, so I need to go shopping today and I want to have ingredients on hand for at least a few things I know she likes okay. Here is what I've got planned:

 

Vegan Mexican Corn Salad with Black Beans

 

Jalapeno Popper Melts

 

Avocado Grilled Enchiladas with Red Chile Pesto

 

Vegan Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad  

 

Creole Red Beans & Rice  

 

Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Garlic Soy Curls  

 

Meal Planning

We're back from our week-long trip, so I need to plan meals for the week and go grocery shopping this morning. Here is what we're having:

Classic Vegan Fish Tacos

 

Avocado Grilled Enchiladas with Red Chile Pesto

 

Beyond Burgers and Veggie Sides

 

Super Salad with Garlic Caesar Dressing 

As a veggie dinner accompaniment and my lunches.

Fresh Veggie Tacos and Red Cabbage Slaw   

 

Stir-fry Veggies & Tofu over Brown Rice Noodles

 

Vegan Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad

 

I don't know if we'll do all of these this week or save a couple until next week (e.g., one of the noodle dishes). I just want to have enough meal plans that use up the same fresh produce so we don't end up wasting anything. 

Go-To Recipes for Using Up Your Leftover Produce

A key part of what makes meal planning easy is having some go-to recipes. Certain recipes are more receptive to having random leftover vegetables thrown into them than others. I highly recommend finding a recipe you like from each of the following genres and using at least one every week or so:

Noodles

Pretty much every noodle dish I make contains more vegetables than noodles, and my family prefers it that way. My chilli-garlic noodles are like 50% shredded cabbage (because cabbages are MASSIVE and you have to use it up pretty fast).

Penne alla Vodka 

Chilli-Garlic Noodles

 

Stir-fry

The best way to clear out your fridge and freezer. I make a pot of brown rice or brown rice noodles to go with it, then stir-fry some diced tofu or seitan and a whole bunch of random vegetables with some sauce.

Tofu Vegetable Stir-fry

 

Vegetable Soup 

Sambar is my favorite way to use up cut vegetables, especially ones that have been in the freezer for who knows how long. Are the green beans all freezer-burned and frozen into a block of ice? Doesn't matter, I just dump them all in the pot. The seasonings of the soup are so flavorful that it doesn't make much difference what vegetables you include either. You can also throw any sort of lentils or pre-cooked beans in there.

Sambar

Vegetable Barley Soup

 

Salad

Salads are a great way to use up leftover fresh vegetables, especially ones that don't freeze well, such as cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, or fresh herbs. If you find a dressing you like (the garlic Caesar linked below is very healthy and easy to make, so it's one of my favorites), you can pour it over pretty much any fresh vegetables and serve it as a prelude to your meal, a vegetable side, or a light meal on its own.

Super Salad with Garlic Caesar Dressing

Buffalo Tofu Salad