My Plant-Based Family

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

Meal Plan Monday

Meal Plan Monday: Lotsa Leftovers

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Lentil Tacos

This week will be a lot different than most weeks due to the incredible amount of leftovers. Normally my meal plan doesn’t cover the weekends so we can use up all of the leftovers and have a fresh start for Monday. That also means a lot of cooking at the beginning of the week. This week we have way too many leftovers and a few fresh ingredients that need to be used soon. My plan is to do a little cooking Monday to use the fresh ingredients then eat leftovers for a few days until the full on cooking resumes. It looks like I’ll have an easy week in the kitchen, if I’m smart I’ll use that extra time to accomplish other tasks, like cleaning and organizing but I doubt that will happen.

I am not dreading eating these leftovers because they are delicious! I have Unfried beans, Mexican Rice, a lentil and quinoa “taco” mix, portobello fajita’s, and much more.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be oatmeal, toast with nut or apple butter and fruit, smoothies, and the occasional bowl of leftover soup. We may have blueberry pancakes toward the end of the week too.

Lunches will be wraps, leftovers (potatoes, pasta, Mexican food), sandwiches, soups, and French bread Pizza. The pizza will likely make an appearance at the beginning of the week as I have spinach, onions, bell pepper and mushrooms that will make a lovely lunch.

Dinner

Monday: Portobello steaks, baked sweet potatoes, and steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Burritos made with leftovers

Wednesday: Any remaining leftovers (Mexican food, yeah baby!)

Thursday: Pasta with veggies and salad

Friday: Is usually a date night so I make something easy for the kids like baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes or pasta.

Meal Plan Monday: Spring Break

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This week is Spring Break in Arizona. While our schedule will not be impacted much some of my friends will have their kids home a little more than usual during the day. A few of you may have a house full of extra kids too. If you have school aged kids (who are in school all day, as opposed to home schooled) you may not realize all of the eating they will be doing this week. 

I’d like to encourage you and maybe even challenge you to have healthier options available for them. We have teenagers who live in another state and I can guarantee given the choices of a bag of chips, ice cream, and cookies they wouldn’t consider a “healthy” snack. However they do love healthy food. They get excited about a big bowl of fruit, smoothies, homemade baked goods which are almost always healthier than their store bought counterparts. I don’t think you need to deprive your kids of all the junky, unhealthy snack food they will beg you for, there is a time and a place for those but they shouldn’t be the only stuff they eat. 

If you work and have to leave your older kids home alone I know your options are limited. I will never try to make you feel bad for doing the best you can! Someday’s the best I can do it getting my 3 year old to eat a banana before bed because he doesn’t want dinner. Last night he ate half and pb&j and half a banana. No 4 course meal here. 

Meal Suggestions for Kids

  • Nachos
  • Hummus and Veggies/tortilla chips
  • Bagels with nut butter and fruit
  • Bean Burritos
  • Bean Dip and tortilla chips
  • Roasted or Baked Potatoes
  • Pancakes
  • Bagel or Pita Pizza’s
  • Anything in a tortilla
  • PB&J (there is nothing wrong with PB&J)

These are just easy and yummy foods that your kids may like. All kids are different and some go through a really pick phase. Most of these meal ideas are easy to throw together and older kids could even do the cooking. If your kids are on Spring Break hopefully they will not have homework. This could be a great opportunity to do some cooking with your kids. Or if the weather is nice pack up an easy meal for a picnic.

Meal Plan

Breakfast this week will be oatmeal, pancakes, smoothies, toast and cereal.

Lunches will be leftover split pea soup, dinner leftovers, and some of the meal suggestions from above. 

Snacks are usually fruit, smoothies, hummus, toast, or muffins.

Dinner 

Monday: Another attempt at a Lentil Loaf, this time with quinoa, Dirty Mashed Potatoes, and steamed asparagus

Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner! Pancakes, Breakfast Stir Fry, and Smoothies

Wednesday: Spicy Chopped Salad

Thursday: We may be having company over so this day hasn’t been decided 

Friday: Lettuce Wraps and leftovers

What are some of your favorite Plant-Based Meals for your kids? 

Meal Plan Monday: Be Cheerful

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Happy Monday! Did you hear that cheerfulness? I’m choosing to be cheerful. You should decide now if you will be cheerful today too. Soon the days distractions will take all of your attention, perhaps even a few annoyances will pop up, or maybe even something awful. Let’s do our best and choose to be happy and count our blessings. I know it is not always easy, trust me, but I’ll try.

This weekend I cooked a pot of black eyed peas and a pot of chickpea’s. I have a pot of pinto beans that have soaked all night and I’ll start cooking soon. You may be thinking, whoa, that is a lot of beans. You are right! We ate all the leftovers over the weekend and hand almost nothing that could be thrown together without a lot of prep.

My husband LOVES black eyed peas, I have no idea why. I have memories of eating one spoonful a year on New Year’s Day because it was supposed to bring good luck. Maybe I should give them another chance, but not for luck just to see if I can appreciate them now.

Recently I’ve ran across several recipes that call for chickpea’s and I’m hoping to give them a try this week. In our house pinto beans are like a miracle food that can be turned into any number of delicious meals in a hurry. So now I have black eyed peas, chickpeas and pinto beans cooked, how will that fit into the meal plan? 

Meal Plan

Breakfast is pretty predictable at my house. We usually eat toast, oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, and sometimes cereal. I hope to cook a big batch of whole wheat pancakes sometime this week for quick breakfasts and snacks on the go.

Lunch is usually leftovers or sometimes a PB&J. I made homemade cashew butter last week so I may try to use it, unfortunately no one in my house seems to really like it. This week the chickpea’s will make a few lunch appearances for me and black eyed peas for my husband.

Dinner

Monday: Mock “tuna” salad (made with chickpeas)

Tuesday:a Spicy Pinto Bean dish that is yet to be created, or maybe nachos or burritos

Wednesday:Cajun Chickpea Cakes from Everyday Happy Herbivore. I love this cookbook! I hope these will pair well with black eyed peas and steamed spinach.

Thursday: Mega Garden Salad with avocado dressing

Friday: Split Pea Soup

I don’t usually assign side dishes because most of the meal I cook are full of veggies. I do have a quite a bit of produce this week. We will be eating carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, red bell peppers, kale, spinach, asparagus, onions, apples, bananas, oranges, and pears. 

Remember how earlier I mentioned choosing to be cheerful, I’m glad I did. In the last hour and a half I have had a few inconveniences including being spit up on, bitten, changing two poopy diapers, kissed several boo boos, started cooking the beans because my computer was frozen, and other typical things that happen with two adventurous boys. Somedays I would have let them derail my cheerful attitude, but not today. I don’t know that I’ll get through the whole day unscathed but I’ll do my best.

 

Meal Plan Monday

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Today I am posting much later than normal. We had a family “situation” to deal with this morning. Additionally I usually have the meal plan worked out on the weekend and even as I type I’m not sure what we are having when.

First some reflection (I’m stalling while I think up a Meal Plan), boy am I glad my Unprocessed Challenge is over. Today is a day for some processed food. Did you survive the Unprocessed Challenge? I did not finish strong.

On Saturday we celebrated my 3 year old’s birthday by hosting a brunch and having a few families over to celebrate with. I will not mention all of the animal products that were cooked in my kitchen. I was blown away by how much I spent for one meal (there were a ton of leftovers too), almost $90. That is a week of groceries with some eating out.  I’m so glad I don’t normally buy animal products! I am also thankful that we were able to send our friends home with leftovers so I didn’t have to waste it. 😉

Also, I finally took my new food processor out of the box. Can you guess what I made? Oh yes, Chocolate Mousse and Guacamole! Then I made Jalapeno Hummus! What is your favorite thing to use your food processor for? I need some ideas. I hope to use it more this week.

On to the Meal Plan.

For breakfast we will be eating toast with nut butter and fruit (my favorite), oatmeal, cereal, and pancakes.

Lunches will be leftovers, baked potatoes, grain and bean bowls, and sandwiches.

Snacks are sometimes just like lunch. Yes, I eat all the time! I’m sure I will have some of the hummus I made last night with fresh cut veggies. I’m gonna try my hand at granola bar making. I haven’t made them since we when to a Plant-based diet. If they turn out I’ll brag about it soon.

Dinner

Monday: Stir Fried veggies with noodles and (hopefully) an awesome sauce. If this doesn’t turn out well we will have nachos.

Tuesday: Lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli or salad

Wednesday: Bean Burritos 

Thursday: Couscous and Veggies

Friday: Baked sweet potatoes for the kids and take out for the parents, woo hoo!

I also plan to do some baking this week. If you follow me on Facebook you’ll sneak peak pictures.

Meal Plan Monday: Unprocessed

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This week my husband and I are challenging ourselves to to eat only unprocessed foods. Read more about that here. I had noticed a lot of processed foods finding their way into our diet. We weren’t eating hot dogs or other faux food creations, but I felt like I was relying on pasta a little to often. I also love sprouted grain bread and eat it at least once a day usually with peanut butter or almond butter. Sprouted grain bread isn’t bad for you and I’d encourage anyone to try it and make it a part of their menu but I’ll attempt to do without. This week I want to replace it with fruit and vegetables. I will very likely be eating a lot of apples with peanut and almond butter.  My friend Aletia will be joining us on this challenge as well as Allie. Thanks friends!

This Week’s Meal Plan

Breakfast will be oatmeal, fruit and smoothies. Sometimes I have leftovers, especially soup.

Snack will be fresh fruit, smoothies, or raw veggies with Jalapeno hummus.

Lunch is typically leftovers, baked potatoes, or a bean and grain bowl.

Dinner

Monday: Minestrone Soup

Tuesday: Black Bean and Quinoa bowl, think Chipotle 

Wednesday: Split Pea Soup (I have never made this but my husband has been asking for it)

Thursday: Huge Salad with homemade avocado dressing

Friday: Lentil Taco Salad or maybe a Lentil Loaf from Chef AJ’s book.

Have you planned your menu for the week? Is it Unprocessed? Let us know!

Meal Plan Monday

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Last weeks meal plan did not work out. We ended up changing plans on several days. I only made the Italian Bake and the Veggie Pot Pie, they were both delicious but I felt like I didn’t cook enough or have near enough leftovers to eat for lunch.

This week will be a different kind of week too so I plan to take it easy on the meal plan, plus I haven’t done my normal “mega veggie buy” at the store yet.

Dinner Meal Plan

Monday: Homemade Veggie Pizza

Tuesday: Special Valentine’s Day Fare that will include Gluten Free Apple Muffins and Gluten Free Chocolate Mousse.

Wednesday: Bean Burritos

Thursday:Enchilada Soup, a.k.a Soup of Awesomeness

Friday: Baked Sweet Potatoes for the kids, dinner out for the parents (hopefully)

This weekend my husband and I notice that The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue was available streaming on Netflix. I’d really wanted to see this movie for a while as I’m a big fan of Fork’s Over Knives. We watched it and realized how we have let a lot of processed food back into our diet. It’s amazing how sneakily it creeps back in. So next week we are going to challenge ourselves to go unprocessed. It wont work for us this week and we want to be fully prepared so this week we will finish off some of the processed food and be ready for next week.

Do you want to join us? I’ll talk more about it this week but I’d like to challenge you to  go unprocessed next Monday through Friday. If you are having trouble losing weight this could really help, have I piqued your interest yet? You can bet that the Minestrone Soup will make an appearance in unprocessed week.

Leave a comment if you plan to join us. If you’re a blogger and want to blog about it next week I’ll include your blog in all of next weeks post.