My Plant-Based Family

Feeding My Family a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet, On a Budget

Meal Plan Monday

August 8, 2016 Meal Plan

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My kids don’t know it yet but we have company coming this week. Our Meal Plan will be a little loosey-goosey since I don’t know what all we will have planned. The kids are in school and we are working so most of our “together” time will be in the evenings.

If you are new here, you came at a great time!

I tend to jump into back to school mode early for two reasons; first, I’m a planner and second, my kids have already started school. Over the next month (or two) you can expect to see lunch box ideas, easy breakfast ideas, busy morning productivity hacks, recipes and more! Back to school season is kind of like my Christmas. I love Christmas but I get way more into the back to school planning compared to Christmas planning.

This week we don’t have a lot planned. With family visiting I want to keep my options open. I have a few things in mind but I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking.

Meal Plan Monday with a plant-based meal plan! Almost gluten-free too.

Weekly Meal Plan

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August 1, 2016 Meal Plan

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My kids start back to school this week! We are all excited about this but I’m probably the most excited. My youngest will be starting kindergarten this year AND he has is first loose tooth. It’s a big week for us but our meal plan will remain on the simple side.

If I have leftovers I’ll opt for those for lunch and dinner the next day and skip cooking.

With school starting back up you can bet I have a lot of Back to School posts planned! I’ll start them in a few weeks but I’ve been making lunches and taking photos, working on recipes and more. Until then check out my Back To School Pinterest board for some of my favorite tips!

Meal Plan

Plant-Based Meal Plan

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Instant Pot Inspired Meal Plan

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This week I’m taking a slightly different approach to my meal planning. My husband and I both have a lot going on at work and expect to put in extra hours. I’m creating an Instant Pot inspired meal plan this week. That means easy Instant Pot recipes and some batch cooking for simple meals.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot you might want to consider getting one. If it’s not in the cards don’t worry, you can make the same recipes with other cooking methods.

As the week goes on I might switch up some of the meals. I really wanted to provide a meal plan for those of you who use the Instant Pot regularly and those of you who got one on Prime Day and are just getting started. We may have cereal instead of Oatmeal or simple rice or beans instead of the meal shown.

Instant Pot Inspired Meal Plan

Instant Pot Inspired Meal Plan

I think you can see that there are a lot of options for using an Instant Pot throughout the week.

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July 18, 2016 Meal Plan

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I’ve had meal planning on my mind all weekend! I was honored to teach a meal planning class to the Plant Pure Nation Pod in St. Louis via Skype. We had a great class and I gave a lot of plant-based meal plan examples.

If you haven’t watched Plant Pure Nation yet make plans to do it. It’s available streaming on Netflix.

I used to teach a lot of meal planning, cooking, and plant-based classes in my home. I stopped when I went back to work full time almost two years ago. I hadn’t realized how much I missed teaching.

I get a little bit of that feeling from the Plant-Based Basics eCourse. I may have to work more live training sessions into that course.

I was so busy with work, the class and a new project I didn’t get my meal plan created until late.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Weekly Meal Plan

The Meal Plans I provide on Monday usually have a bit more variety than I eat during the week. I put it out there to help you get ideas but we don’t actually cook this many meals every week. I will double recipes and eat twice. I can attest that all of these lunches and dinners, except maybe the portobello’s are great reheated. [Read more…] about July 18, 2016 Meal Plan

Prime Day and our Weekly Meal Plan

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Were you wondering where this week’s meal plan was? Well… it’s here; just a day late. We finally had a weekend away. We took a trip to northern Arizona; I found a little spot with cabins, hiking and lower temperatures.

I almost skipped the meal plan all together but I have another important reason for sharing. Today is Prime Day! If you are an Amazon Prime member you can get some amazing deals today. One of those deals is the Instant Pot! Don’t miss it! I heard from someone at Instant Pot headquarters that this is the best price ever!

I could easily use my Instant Pot every day.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Meal Plan

I’m skipping Monday since it’s already passed. This week’s meal plan is fairly simple. After a long weekend vacation it’s hard to get back in the swing of things. This meal plan uses simple recipes that are big on flavor.  [Read more…] about Prime Day and our Weekly Meal Plan

Weekly Plant-Based Meal Plan

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Our weekly plant-based meal plan looks a little different lately. I have more free time in the morning than in the evening and I’ve compensated by cooking a little more in the morning and a little less at night. Our dinners are either quick and easy or made in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot.

My kids aren’t complaining, I’m “the best mom in the whole wide world” anytime I make pancakes. This week we will rely on leftovers a little more in our meal plan.

Plant-Based meal plan with quick and easy meal ideas

I also think that simple meals taste just as good, and sometimes better, than more complicated meals. For the rest of the summer I’m hoping to try to simplify my meals even more. That will mean more leftovers, less cooking, and still eating well.

Some things I could eat every day, like baked potatoes, beans and rice, pasta with marinara. I’ve been enjoying more smoothies lately because it’s so hot and I love using frozen strawberries in my smoothie. It seems like I’m eating sorbet for breakfast.

Every summer I avoid using the oven (really it’s from May through September) except in the early morning so it doesn’t heat up the house. I haven’t perfected my granola bar recipe yet because it requires baking. I may have to attempt a no-cook version for summer.

Weekly Plant-Based Meal Plan

Monday

Smoothie Bowl

SoyNut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, pretzels and fruit

Veggie Fried Rice (I’m craving this a ton lately!)

Tuesday

Strawberry Banana Muffins and fruit

Bean and Grain Bowl

Quinoa Lentil Salad

Wednesday

Overnight Oats

Veggie Wrap

Mexican Casserole in the Instant Pot or Crock Pot

Thursday

Blueberry Pancakes

Baked Potatoes with various toppings like beans, tomatoes, onions, salsa, etc.

Leftover Mexican Casserole

Friday

Smoothie

Leftovers

Fiesta Pasta

 

Last Saturday I sent out some plant-based tips to everyone on my email list! Right now this is every other week but soon we are transitioning to Weekly Tips! You can sign up here. You’ll also get the Free Summer Meal Plan with a shopping list when you sign up!

Feel free to let me know if there are topics you want to know more about! I may answer them in my (soon to be) weekly emails!

What are you eating this week? Do you eat summer salads, or grilled veggies?