Meal Planning

I'm ordering from Instacart today.  There is a lot less meal planning to do now that Sameer is fasting every other day (Sim and I eat leftovers or something easy those days) and the farm boxes don't come anymore.  I haven't been making everything I put on my weekly meal plans.  I'm mostly aiming to have a comprehensive list of meals I'll have the ingredients to make so I don't have to plan from scratch on any given day.  Here are my options for this upcoming week:

Idli-Sambar

I didn't make this last week, but I'm going to make it tomorrow.

Black Bean Burgers 

Need to make a fresh batch.

 

Creole Red Beans & Rice

Because I have some bell peppers to use up.

Vegan Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese

This plus a bean-heavy soup could be a full meal.

 

Brinner

We have some buttermilk leftover from baking Sameer's birthday cake, so that could become waffles, pancakes, or buttermilk biscuits.  I also have some cashew yogurt set to expire next week that could be used in place of buttermilk if we run out.  I've taken to making breakfast burrito fixins and giving some of each item (potatoes, tofu, veg sausage) separately to Sim when we have brinner.

 

Seven Layer Tortilla Pie 

A tasty weekend meal that could have fresh guacamole alongside it.  I also have tons of flour tortillas in the pantry at the moment.

 

Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup 

Haven't made this in awhile, but might wait until next week since I'm making sambar tomorrow and don't like to have leftovers of more than one soup at a time.

 

Lacinato Kale with Walnut Sauce  

 

Tofu Provencal 

Because it would use the red bell pepper currently in my fridge.  It could go alongside brown rice pilaf and the lacinato kale with walnut sauce. 

 

Spicy Miso Pasta

I have four eggs leftover from Sameer's birthday cake, so three might become spicy miso pasta just for me (because the others won't eat it).  I replace the parm with vegan parm and the bacon with thinly sliced shiitakes.  It's very heavy and rich and spicy and delicious, which wouldn't be bad in a snowy January.  

Meal Planning

I'm going to order from Instacart again tomorrow as we're coming to the end of our fruit supply.  Here is what I will have ingredients on hand to make:

Homemade Pizza

Because I already have all the ingredients on hand and Simran wants to learn how to make it.

Louisiana-Style Soy Curls (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 137) 

Because I still haven't made this yet.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie 

Haven't made this from last week's meal plan yet either, so I still have the ingredients ready to go.

Idli-Sambar

Because it uses things up.

 

Brinner

I would make vegan sausage and the innards of breakfast burritos.  Also pancakes to use up any leftover yogurt or the buttermilk I have to buy for making Sameer's birthday cake.

Black Bean Burgers

There's one more trio of burgers left in the freezer.

Pav Bhaji

 

Vegan Penne alla Vodka

Because I have vegetarian Italian sausage with a best buy date of early February.

 

Cherry Chip Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I haven't made this combination before, but I'm making it for Sameer's birthday at his request.  He specifically asked for a chocolate frosting that contains vegetable shortening in place of all butter.

Meal Planning

Sameer has gone back to intermittent fasting, so I'm not cooking as much this week.  I made a batch of buffalo tofu so I could have vegan buffalo tofu salad for lunch, and I could make vegan breakfast burritos with items on hand for other off days and lunches when we don't have leftovers.

 

I'm ordering from Instacart today, so I need to plot out what we'll need for the next week and a half or so.  I probably won't end up making all of these, but I want to have some extra dinners planned so I have some options.  Looks like I'll also have ingredients on hand to make most of the dishes from my last meal plan (e.g., pizza, red beans & rice, black bean burgers, idli-sambar)

 

Italian Escarole Soup (The How Not to Diet Cookbook, pg. 6)

I'm trying to increase both my beans and greens intake, so I plan to make a pot of this soup and eat a cup of it before dinners.

 

Lentil Shepherd's Pie 

This will be awhile in the future because it's mostly frozen veg and non-perishables and doesn't contain any leafy greens that could wilt in the meantime.

Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese

I'm trying not to make this too often, but I like it so much and it's easy to make from ingredients I keep on hand.  Again, nothing to wilt in this dish (I use frozen broccoli) so I can make it whenever.

 

Taco Night

At Simran's request.  There is a puck of Beyond Meat in the freezer that could become taco "meat."  My tacos will mostly be beans, guacamole, cilantro, and tomatoes in soft corn tortillas.  Simran's will be mostly veg taco meat, cheddar, and lettuce in crunchy shells.  Sameer's will be whatever combination appeals to him.

 

Louisiana-Style Soy Curls (The How Not to Die Cookbook, pg. 137) 

Vegan Fried Chicken and Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Kale with Walnut Sauce

Planning to make this tonight, mostly to use up the remaining whipped sweet potatoes currently in the fridge.

Tofu Pot Pie

This will use up the cubed tofu and some of the diced turnips in the freezer.

Meal Planning

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I'm planning to go grocery shopping in the morning.  Here is what we currently have that needs to be used:  sweet potatoes, baby red potatoes, apples, dry squash seeds (from the last time I cooked butternut squash), celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and lots of carrots.  Here is what I'm making:

Black Bean Burgers

Because I made a new batch of burgers that are currently in the freezer so they are an easy, healthy dinner.

Creole Red Beans & Rice

I was going to make this today, but it turns out I need a can of tomatoes and green chiles.  This will use up a portion of the bell peppers.  I bought a small bag of small red beans awhile back for making this recipe and it's still lasting awhile.  Dry beans are so absurdly small and cheap compared with canned.

Vegan Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese

Because it was so good last time and it's easy.

Homemade Pizza

For New Year's Eve since we're having a little party at home (i.e., Simran is actually being allowed to stay up with Sameer and me to eat snacks and watch the ball drop on TV).  I already have one more pizza dough in the freezer.

Idli-Sambar

This will use up the rest of the fresh bell peppers, some of the carrots and celery, and the diced turnips taking up space in the freezer.

 

Vegan Potato Soup

To use up the potatoes and some of the carrots and celery.  I'm thinking I'll make this for dinner tonight and we can have sandwiches or other leftovers with it. 

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

To use up the sweet potatoes.  I'm just going to bake them and puree them with a little water and my immersion blender and we can eat them as a veggie side.  They don't require any other ingredients.

 

Croutons

I made two loaves of pumpernickel bread on Christmas.  The leftovers aren't moldy yet, but surely they aren't good anymore, so I'm going to try making them into croutons for topping soups, salads, and just plain eating.

Applesauce

NYE Snacks:

Roasted squash seeds

Ganache Truffles (because I had ganache leftover from the Christmas cake, so I stirred some peanut butter into it and I'm going to scoop out spoonfuls and roll them in powdered sugar since I made the ganache from rather dark chocolate)

Cheese & Cracker (we have a variety of vegan and dairy cheeses and a variety of crackers)

Olives (I would normally stop by the Whole Foods olive bar before NYE at home, but this year I ordered a variety of olives online)

Final Fall CSA Box

The final CSA box arrived yesterday.  It contained:  several sweet potatoes, a large butternut squash, three turnips, some really nice looking lettuce (red leaf? it's part red, part green), one bulb of fennel, a bag of carrots, popping corn on the cob, sunchokes, green kale, and a bag of apples.

The apples will probably become applesauce, like so many of the bags of apples that came before them, since we can eat it for dessert or use it in baking.  I peeled and diced the turnips and put them in the freezer until the next time I make pot pie or a vegetable soup they can hide in (e.g., sambar).  The butternut squash will be roasted and pureed with the trio of tiny butternut squash I already had and all their seeds roasted.  The puree can either be an easy vegetable side dish or used in soup or other cooking.  I will bake and whip the sweet potatoes as an easy vegetable side.  I'll wash the kale and put it in the freezer for use in breakfast smoothies.

My meal goal for the next two weeks (minus Christmas) is to use up things in the fridge and freezer.  I normally make this my goal from Thanksgiving till Christmas, but the produce boxes took precedence this year and added a lot of extra incoming food and a lot of extra cooking.  Here is what I plan to make:

 

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Roasted Fennel (The How Not to Diet Cookbook, pg. 32 -- please note this is different from The How Not to Die Cookbook) and Roasted Sunchokes with Smoked Paprika Aioli (Vedge, pg. 50) and Roasted Butternut Squash Puree

Making this today because I have things to use up before they wilt and I hate cooking on Saturdays.  This is also going to be a LOT of cooking and I prefer to do that while Sim is busy with school classes.

Red Chile Cheese Enchilada and Fresh Guacamole

Saturday night dinner because I hate cooking on Saturdays and I can mostly make this in advance.  Also it'll use up some of the corn tortillas in the fridge and I have tons of ripe avocados for the guacamole, which I'm willing to make on a Saturday because I'm going to eat SO MUCH of it.  We can also eat some of the fresh lettuce with enchiladas.

Black Bean Burgers and Japanese Sweet Potato Fries

We have still more burgers in the freezer and I didn't get a chance to make the fries last time.

Whole Roasted Carrots with Black Lentils and Green Harissa (Vedge,  pg. 146)

Because I have pretty much everything I need to make this already on hand and it would use up a bag of carrots from the farm box while they are still fresh and sweet.  Haven't made this recipe before, so it's going to be labor intensive.

Lentil Haggis with Neeps and Tatties (Vedge, pg. 156)

Because it would use up the bag of fingerling potatoes AND the turnips from the farm.  I need half a cup of beer though and a fresh container of vegan sour cream.  Another new-to-me recipe.  I don't know what most of the words in the recipe name mean.  This meal might not end up happening anytime soon.

 

Creole Red Beans & Rice

Because I've got a green bell pepper in my fridge to use up and it's a fairly easy, healthy meal.  I'll probably end up making this on a night I meant to make one of the new Vedge recipes and didn't bother.

Homemade Pizza

Maybe for New Years Eve dinner because Simran loves it and I have one more pizza dough ready to go in the freezer.  I need more mozzarella first.

Vegan Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese

I don't know when I will make this and I'm not sure anyone else in the house would like it, but it sounds delicious.  Since I have broccoli in the freezer, I wouldn't even need fresh produce so it could be an it's-almost-grocery-day meal (a thing that did not exist for me before the pandemic, when I went grocery shopping whenever I needed an ingredient, but it's a thing now).

[I was right about the Korean mac and cheese.  It was delicious and Sim thought it was too spicy.  It's not very spicy, but she is a child.  This is a nice comfort food for me, even with the inclusion of broccoli.]

Christmas Dinner

Idli-Sambar

Because it uses things up.

Meal Planning

Last full week before Christmas.  Also the last week of CSA until next June.  The box is arriving Thursday.  Here is what I have to use up between now and then:  leftover roasted butternut squash (from making the carbonara last week), golden beets, tons of various potatoes, two large Japanese sweet potatoes, some tomatoes, three tiny butternut squash, like five avocados, and a few celery root.  There's also a bit of the seasoned tofu leftover from the carbonara.  We ordered a bunch of delicious Indian food Saturday night, so we're still finishing off those leftovers too.  Here is what I'm making this week:

Celery Root Fritters with Remoulade (Vedge, pg. 130) and Curry Butternut Squash Soup and Salt-Roasted Golden Beets with Dill, Avocado, Capers, and Red Onion (Vedge, pg. 45)

I'm using up the roasted butternut squash in place of the pumpkin the pumpkin curry soup recipe.  I've done it before and it worked out well.  This will be a lot of cooking, but it'll use up most of the last CSA box, so I think I'll do this tonight.

Vegan Methi Chicken Curry and Aloo Matar and Brown Basmati Rice 

I didn't get around to this one last week since we ended up ordering in on Saturday.  The aloo matar will use up some of the potatoes.

 

Black Bean Burgers and Japanese Sweet Potato Fries

In case I run out of time or am too tired to cook on any given night, I can make this.  I made a double batch of the burgers last week and they're just sitting the freezer waiting to be reheated.  The fries are just a way to use up the Japanese sweet potatoes that I think stands a better chance of working out than the last time I tried baking them when they were just awful.  I'll just cut them into wedges, toss them with olive oil and salt, and bake them like I do the truffle fries.  I still have some garlic aioli I made leftover from last week's truffle fries too.

Brinner

Sameer made a big batch of waffles yesterday, and I can always make sausage and the innards of breakfast burritos.  Also pancakes.  I have a lot of yogurt, and those use up some yogurt.

My favorite breakfast burrito with the tofu egg scramble and potatoes from the VeganRicha link above, the vegan sausage from the other link above, sliced tomato, vegan garlic aioli (I just use Vegannaise when I don't have garlic aioli premade for something else, but it's even better garlicky), and sriracha.

On Thursday we're supposed to receive in the CSA box:  sweet potatoes, fennel, either kale or bok choy, greenhouse lettuce, sunchokes, apples, fresh popcorn, and more butternut squash.  I could make the fennel into Tuscan White Bean Soup with Roasted Fennel from the new How Not to Diet Cookbook, pg. 32.  When the fennel arrives, I'll have all the ingredients.

Christmas 2020

Planning this today because I'm going grocery shopping later and want to get as much squared away in advance as possible.

Crudites and Pumpernickel Bread with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Gardein Turkey or Chik'n (or a new fake meat if I see anything appealing in the freezer section; if not, I'll use the last of the seven grain chik'n tenders purchased before Thanksgiving)

 

Boxed Mashed Potatoes

 

Green Bean Casserole 

 

Candied Pears 

 

Yule Log Cake

Peppermint Ice Cream

 

Gingerbread House (because Sim's school is doing a Zoom gingerbread house decorating night, and making one from scratch last year wasn't harder than dealing with a boxed one; plus this way it's good enough to eat, which is the only thing Sim wants to do with it anyway)

Gingerbread house walls.  This is the point at which I realized I didn't have enough dough for the roof and had to make a second batch of dough.  It's currently chilling in the fridge for the next three hours.  If you use the linked gingerbread recipe to make a house, make sure to double it.  I can't remember if I doubled it last year or what.

I used a new frosting recipe in the hope it wouldn't get too soft at room temperature to hold everything together like the buttercream I used last time, and I erred on the side of too little milk initially, so it was too dry and it's a bit of a mess.  The second tablespoon of milk made it much more workable, and it's been sitting like this without falling in on itself for a couple hours now.  One more hour till the Zoom decorating party.

Finished product courtesy of Simran and a bunch of candy from the grocery store.  It's the next day and it's still holding up.  The Wilton frosting recipe with half veg shortening is definitely the way to go for gingerbread house decorating.