Healthy Lunches

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup 

This is healthy and filling, and I just like having it ready to eat. 

 

[I made this for lunch today. My fresh broccoli florets and fresh red kale for salad weren't fresh enough anymore that I wanted to eat them uncooked, but they weren't unfresh enough to warrant tossing them either, so I made them into soup. I threw some julienned carrots in there too just to clear them out of the fridge. They were leftover from something. The kale added a lot of bulk and some texture but changes the flavor very little. I sprinkled nigella seeds on top. One bowl filled me up. It's good.]

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

 

Buffalo Tofu Salad

This will use up the last of my homemade vegan ranch dressing, as well as the wedge of vegan blue cheese in the fridge with a best by date in October. Mostly I need to buy salad greens and make the buffalo tofu (which will also use up a lot of the hot sauce and some of the vegan butter in the fridge). 

Buddha Bowl

If I start broccoli seeds soaking today, I can have them sprouted for this in a week. It'll also use up some of my tofu, BROL, vegan kimchi, and some of the red miso currently taking up too much space in the fridge.

Curried Lentil & Kale Soup (from The How Not to Diet Cookbook, pg. 31)

I'm always looking for easy ways to consume more beans/lentils and dark leafy greens, so this is at the top of my "soups to try" list. The How Not to Diet Cookbook has multiple soups and salads I'd like to try in the coming weeks.

Meal Planning

Sameer's mom left yesterday, and Sameer plans to return to fasting three days per week at some point soon, so meal planning will change a little bit. I also ordered a new refrigerator that's on back order until November, so my goals with meal planning for the next six weeks will be 1) clear out the current fridge AND FREEZER, and 2) lots of healthy soups and salads so I can lose a bit of weight without having to think about it too much. If I have healthy soups and salads ready to eat -- especially on Sameer's fast days -- I will generally eat them out of laziness rather than make something more delicious and fattening for myself. They also make for good veggie sides for Simran. 

 

Here is what I am currently focused on using up: a couple cups of homemade vegan ranch dressing, fresh broccoli florets, baby carrots and roasted garlic hummus, red kale, green onions, a red bell pepper, about a quarter of a red cabbage, five avocados, and lots of cilantro. I have SO MUCH OTHER FOOD to use up, but those are the items that are going to spoil first. I'll be more focused on frozen food and refrigerated sauces/condiments next time. Here is what I'm making over the next few days: 

Classic Vegan Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw 

This will use up the red cabbage, some of the corn tortillas in the fridge, and some of the Gardein vegan fish fillets in the freezer. Also most or all of the chipotle mayo or chipotle salsa currently in the fridge. I'll serve this on a day when Sameer is fasting because Sim and I like it but he does not.

 

Vegan Elote and Fresh Guacamole and Quesadillas or Tacos or Something

Maybe Friday night because it's a tasty but reasonably healthy junk food dinner. The guac will use up three avocados, and the elote will use up the corn in the freezer, some cilantro, and some red bell pepper. We still have Taco Bell-style spicy quesadilla sauce in the fridge leftover from making black bean quesaritos, so that could go on quesadillas or similar.

Thai Green Curry Noodle Stir Fry

To use up some of the cilantro in the fridge, as well as the green onions and red bell pepper.

 

Vegan Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese 

I need to roast garlic for this, but I'd love to use up the last of the vegan cheddar shreds on this. 

If Sameer starts intermittent fasting this week, I really won't need more dinner plans for this week. I'm going to leave it here for now and just use up as much of my fresh produce as I can.

Meal Planning

 

Red Beans & Rice 

 

Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Garlic Soy Curls 

Vegan Peanut Sesame Noodle Salad  

 

Vegan Mexican Corn Salad with Black Beans and Easy Enchiladas

 

Spiced Spinach Tofu Stir-Fry and Brown Basmati Rice

 

Korean BBQ Soy Curl Crunchwrap 

 

Meal Planning

Time to meal plan from today (Wednesday) through at least Sunday. Here is what I'm making:

Breakfast Burritos with Vegan Breakfast Sausage and Pancakes

Carry over from last week. Making this today.

 

Simran has surgery tomorrow, so we're doing an easy dinner of boxed macaroni and cheese and maybe steam in bag broccoli. Really basic stuff. The plan is to order in, maybe pizza, on Friday night.

Easy Microwave Enchiladas

Easy Saturday dinner.

 

Pav Bhaji 

Sunday to use up some more -- ideally all -- of the potatoes. And the sundry leftover burger buns.

 

Butter Soy Curls

Sameer said he'll make this Monday while Simran and I are at her follow up appointment with her surgeon. 

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