Are you on the Meal Planning bandwagon yet? I always plan meals but I don’t always follow them to a T. You don’t have to either. Planning meals is a great start and will help you be more organized.
This week will be a busy one for us. My strategy will be to make a couple of things that can be reheated for leftover. I know, I normally do this but I plan to eat more leftovers than normal. I’ll keep the other meals simple.
September 21, 2015 Meal Plan
Breakfast
- Toast with SoyNut Butter and banana slices
- Baked Sweet Potatoes (Jim already made these in the Instant Pot this morning)
- Cereal
- Steel Cut Oats in the Instant Pot
Last week I made steel-cut oats and I added several cups of chopped apples to it before I cooked it. I found out the hard way that my son does not like cooked apples mixed in his food. The apples were very soft since they were made in the pressure cooker.
Jim heated up the leftovers for you boys, it didn’t go over well. He told me they didn’t like it, then I heard my 6 year old say, “no I hate cooked apples in my oatmeal, they are slimy.”
Normally I cook the oatmeal plain then add fresh fruit.Sometimes trying something new works out, other times not so much. I love oatmeal with cooked apples.
The moral of the story is, don’t be afraid to try something new. The worse that can happen is you won’t like it.
Lunch
- Soup and Salad
- Veggie Wrap
- Bake Potato or giant bowl of steamed veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, etc.)
- Soup
- Veggie Sandwich
I don’t want to eat as many leftovers for lunch as I normally do. I’m hoping to use them as leftover this week. To make that work I’ll make an easy soup in the Crock Pot in the morning. It will be ready by lunch time.
Last week I did this and it was so good. I peeled and chopped about 5 small potatoes, added a whole bag of frozen mixed veggies, dumped in some lentils (I didn’t measure but used about 1/2 cup, maybe), poured in a pouch of liquid concentrate stock from Massel, lastly added water. I cooked it for about 4 hours then had a great and easy lunch.
Dinner
- Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole (Crock Pot)
- Lentil Tacos and Mexican Rice (Double Batch of Both)
- Minestrone Soup
I’m only planning 3 dinners. I’ll make extra of each so that I can avoid cooking more often. If we need extra dinners I use some of my lunch or breakfast ideas.
What is on your meal plan this week? I’m hearing from a lot of you and you are in “soup mode.” I highly recommend the Minestrone Soup in the meal plan above. If you are in the mood for something a little different check out my my favorite plant-based soups.
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This sounds like a great plan! And I will be trying your minestrone soup, too! I have to stick to a meal plan, as well, or will be completely scrambling for the week. We are having eggplant “parmesan”, gumbo over rice, lentil loaf, a chickpea and artichoke casserole, and Mac-n-trees.
Your plan sounds great! I wish you could deliver! 🙂