Meal Planning

My goal today is meal planning today (Friday) through Tuesday. That's five days. Here is what I have to use up: some sliced fresh white mushrooms, a red bell pepper, some ripe avocados, one cucumber, some baby carrots that froze on the excessively cold side of my fridge and now need to be cooked rather than eaten raw to taste right, celery, and a couple cups of plain cashew yogurt.

 

Five Guys-Style Veggie Sandwiches with Cheese and Air-Fried Cajun Fries

The sandwiches will use up the remaining white mushrooms in my fridge. 

 

Breakfast Burritos with Vegan Breakfast Sausage and Pancakes

The burritos will use up some of the potatoes I have to buy to make the Cajun fries. The pancakes will use up the remaining cashew yogurt in my fridge. 

Vegan Elote and Fresh Guacamole and Quesadillas or Tacos or Something

The elote will use up at least half the red bell pepper. The guac will use up three avocados.

 

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry

This will use up any remaining red bell pepper from the elote and I can include any green bell pepper leftover from the Five Guys-style sandwiches. I might be able to throw some celery in this too. It works well in the one pot peanut sauce noodles.

 

Dill Butter Carrots

This is just a side dish, but I think I'm going to make this some night to use up the baby carrots that froze in the fridge. 

 

Kale Salad with Avocado Goddess Dressing (from The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 72)

This would use up an avocado. Plus I had a couple really great kale salads this summer, and I'd like to find a recipe for one that's just as good. This might just be a lunch thing for me.

Frozen Pizzas and Green Salad 

I think I'm going to do this tonight because it's very easy and will make Simran so happy.

 

 

 

Short Term Meal Planning

Spinach & Feta Pita Bake

Vegan Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese 

 

Vegan Fried Chicken with Homemade Ranch Dip with Veggie Sides 

For veggie sides, I can make garlic spinach out of the spinach left over from the pita bake, salad from the leftover bag of lettuce in the fridge, and any baby carrots and broccoli in the fridge.

 

Fall Desserts

I keep thinking of autumnal desserts I want to make now that it's getting cooler outside. Here is a list, and I'll insert links to recipes as I find them. 

 

Pumpkin Butter

I haven't made this in over a decade, but it's easy and very good on toast.

 

Apple Pie Filling

I'm just gonna buy a big bag of Granny Smith apples and make a bunch of filling for eating, stuffing into hand pies, stuffing into wonton wrappers whenever I have some extras to use up, and maybe putting inside spice cupcakes like I did in 2020. I bought some canned pie filling last year in a pinch and discovered that it is now VERY OBVIOUSLY INFERIOR to the homemade variety.

 

Gingerbread Cookies

My favorite cookies.

 

Pumpkin Bread

One of the recipes I've been making for years.

 

Churros with Mexican Caramel

I've never made these before, but most churros I've ever had weren't fresh enough, so I'm willing to put in the work to have some that are really good.

 

Pecan Pie Cookies

I'm gonna make a batch of these to mail to my bff with her birthday gifts.

 

Carrot Cake

One of my favorite kinds of cake.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

 

 

Meal Planning

I don't expect to make all these things, but I will have the ingredients on hand to select from this list. There are so many meals I'm sick of eating, but these seem okay for now.

 

Beyond Burgers and Veggie Sides

For Thursday, when Sameer's mom doesn't eat with us.

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry   

 

Red Beans & Rice 

 

Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Garlic Soy Curls 

 

Butter Soy Curls

I'm not making the skillet lasagna this time. I'm just linking to this recipe for the sauce and cook time. I'm leaving out the noodles, adding green bell pepper and peas (at least), and serving with rice.

Spiced Spinach Tofu Stir-Fry and Brown Basmati Rice

 

Vegan Baked Chana Pulao

Because I didn't make this last time and I still have all the non-perishables. 

Meal Planning

Miso Gochujang Tofu Stir-fry

 

Vegan Baked Chana Pulao

 

Vegan Butter Soy Curl Lasagna Bake  

Wednesday we can bring premade items from Patel Bros.' equivalent of the deli section, and Thursday we can have leftovers and/or Gardein turkey cutlets, veggie sides, and sandwich stuff.

I also have a bunch of russet potatoes to use up.

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.