Meal Plans 2019

Our plant-based meal plan is full of easy recipes your family will love! I’ll be using my Instant Pot when I can but I also have a skillet meal, a hearty salad that is perfect for winter and a casserole on the menu for this week. 

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Plant-Based Meal Plan

This week is full of school, work, appointments and hopefully some fun! Having our meal plan ready allows us to plan ahead. If we need to skip some of the planned meals, I know which ones can wait and which ones provide enough leftovers for the next night. 

I’m thinking of making this Spiced Apple Cider soon. I may wait until we start our Christmas decorating. I know, we are behind but we attended a Christmas party over the weekend and have another one planned for next weekend. 

Plant-Based Breakfast

Last week we had Instant Pot Breakfast Rice as our main breakfast. This week, we have gluten-free Blueberry Muffins. I used a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend and my regular Blueberry Muffin recipe.

One of my sons is a big coconut fan! I think the Vanilla Coconut Chia Pudding will be a big hit! 

Plant-Based Lunch

As usual, we have a few meals cooked on the weekends to eat for lunches during the week. At my husbands request, we have One Pot Broccoli Rice Casserole. He loves it. I just had to reorder my nutritional yeast (I get the big bag) so I will have enough to make it again next week.

We also made a batch of pasta. Just noodles and sauce or an easy lunch. We can easily add some veggies too. We will also eat dinner leftovers for lunch. This week’s dinners are all good leftovers. 

Plant-Based Dinner

Monday: Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is one of my favorite soups! We use Banza Pasta to make it gluten-free. 

Tuesday: Quick and Easy Veggie Pad Thai is perfect for busy nights. It also makes delicious leftovers. 

Wednesday: I love my Mexican Casserole but I make a similar dish that is quicker! I think you’ll love my Mexican Quinoa! Let me know if you’d like me to share the recipe soon!

Thursday: Quinoa (or Rice) Lentil Salad is a hearty salad that works as a whole meal. It’s perfect for meal prep because you can cook your grains and lentils ahead, then throw everything together. I like to heat up the grains and lentils and mix them with cold veggies! 

Friday: Enchilada Casserole is a great dish to feed a crowed. My husband loves it! It will make great leftovers too.

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What are you eating this week? Are you planning to use your Instant Pot?

This weekend we did a Costco run. We’ve stocked up on a few of our favorites. We also did some batch cooking. We’ve got several meals in the fridge and ready to go for the week. This week’s plant-based meal plan contains soups, casseroles, smoothies and more.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

For the last three weeks I’ve been making a new soup. We have fallen in love with it. I decided that I should probably share it. I’ll publish the recipe this week! I’m also planning to make pumpkin bread and smoothies. We don’t do a lot of smoothies, especially this time of year, but my 10 year old has requested them so I’m going to oblige. 

Plant-Based Breakfast

Instant Pot Breakfast Rice is one of those hearty breakfasts that we don’t make often enough. Instant Pot Oatmeal is another favorite. I really want to make my Peanut Butter and Banana Overnight Oats but since we’ve been on a warm breakfast kick, I’ll probably just add the peanut butter and bananas to my hot oatmeal. 

Plant-Based Lunch

We will eat leftovers most days for lunch. I also made my One Pot Broccoli Rice Casserole on Sunday. I almost forgot to make it but my husband loves taking it to work so I cooked it while making dinner. 

Plant-Based Dinner

Monday: Instant Pot Minestrone Soup is exceptionally good. If you are looking for a new soup to try, put this one on your list. The stove top version is just as good!

Tuesday: Veggie Pad Thai is going to be perfect for this busy day. Last time I made it, I chopped up a second batch of veggies and put them in the freezer. I’ll be able to get home from work and start cooking without taking the time to chop the veggies.

Wednesday: Taco Soup will always be a favorite. I started making a version of his before we went plant-based and easily converted it to a plant-based recipe. We’ve been eating this version for 8 years!

Thursday: Portobello Fajitas with Mexican Rice and Beans is planned but if we have a lot of leftovers we will skip it and have it next week. 

Friday: Veggie Burgers and Oven Baked Fries

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Do you shop at Costco? We have a lot of broccoli and spinach to eat! I’d love to hear your must haves from Costco!

Have you watched the new movie Game Changers? It’s on Netflix and talks about how some of the strongest and fastest athletes thrive on a plant-based diet. If you haven’t watched it, you should! If you are looking for plant-based recipes, check out this week’s plant-based meal plan!

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Each week I create a plant-based meal plan full of our favorite recipes. Depending on leftovers and our schedule, some times all of the recipes don’t get made. That’s ok. This isn’t a contest to make the most food, just a plan to eat well. Sometimes we don’t need an actual recipe, we will grab a few odds and ends like fresh veggies for salad and leftover baked potatoes and make an easy meal.

Plant-Based Breakfast

The last couple of weeks we’ve cooked Sweet Potatoes in our Instant Pot for quick and easy breakfasts. Most of the time I’ll make a few on the weekend or evening and we will enjoy them during the week. 

Instant Pot Oatmeal is another favorite. Yes, we use our Instant Pot a lot but have non Instant Pot versions of most of our recipes too. I also have leftover Tofu Scramble. It tastes great wrapped in tortillas for a Breakfast Burrito.

Plant-Based Lunch

In addition to our Sweet Potatoes, we also have some Baked Potatoes ready to go. We actually cook them at the same time and eat them throughout the week.

My Lentil Quinoa Salad is a really hearty salad that features lentils and quinoa (sometimes I’ll use rice) and greens with tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion. I love this salad. It’s both hearty and fresh! Use your favorite dressing, lemon juice or hummus.

Leftover soup is another great lunch choice. We like to cook enough soup to have leftovers, either for dinner or lunch the next day.

Plant-Based Dinner

I know that everyone is busy. When I first started eating plant-based, I was a stay-at-home mom with two little kids at home. I had time to slow cook beans and experiment with recipes. That’s when I started this blog.

Now I work, keep this blog going, have two big kids, one with complex medical needs. I don’t have a lot of time to cook, but we still have to eat. I maximize recipes when I can and make things as easy as possible. That’s why my fridge is ready with cooked potatoes, lots of veggies, and usually, a soup or two. 

Monday: “Beefy” Lentil Stew is a hearty, yet easy stew to make. I usually make it in my Instant Pot but you could easily make it stove top. I almost always have lentils in the pantry and all these veggies in my kitchen! 

Tuesday: Plant-Based Goulash is a really good recipe, especially if you live in cooler temperatures. My Instant Pot Goulash has been getting a lot of buzz too! I’ve been working on my corn bread muffin recipe but I don’t have it published to share yet, hopefully soon!

Wednesday: Broccoli Potato Soup is one of our favorites! It’s crazy easy to make, either in the Instant Pot or on the stove. The hardest part is chopping veggies. I’ve even been adding beans lately to give it more bulk, guess what…still amazing.

Thursday: Mexican Casserole is too good not to make. Especially when you love Tex-Mex as much as we do. It also makes great leftover burritos. I’ll probably stick to my Instant Pot version but I have lots of different recipes so you can make it in the oven, slow cooker or on the stove. 

Friday: I’m still deciding between Veggie Pad Thai which is super quick and easy and my Green Chili Cilantro and Lime Soup that is super flavorful and filling. I’ll wait until the end of the week to decide! I can’t go wrong with either.

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What will you be eating this week? Are you using an Instant Pot? Last time I polled my readers they wanted more Instant Pot recipes which is why I usually like to post my Instant Pot version. What about you?

Also, don’t forget to watch Game Changers on Netflix! 

My kids were sick for almost two weeks and are finally on the mend. We were able to have a productive weekend and I got some batch cooking done. Check out this week’s plant-based meal plan to see everything we plan to eat.

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my stories. I made Instant Pot Broccoli and Rice and a Tofu Scramble. You can follow me to see more step by step recipes. I didn’t share the delicious Veggie Soup I made but it reminded me of Minestrone Soup with potatoes added. I also made Pumpkin Bread!

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Plant-Based Meal Plan

Having so many foods ready will help us eat well during our busy week. I can confidently add them to our meal plan without wondering if I’ll have time to cook them all.

Plant-Based Breakfast

I will have the Tofu Scramble for breakfast a couple of days. It was really hard to cook it and not eat it since I love it so much. I’ll enjoy it with oil-free refried beans and fruit.

We will also have Instant Pot Oatmeal or Instant Pot Breakfast Rice during the week. I also cooked some Sweet Potatoes in my Instant Pot they are great for breakfast.

Plant-Based Lunch

My husband will be eating the Instant Pot version of my One Pot Broccoli and Rice Casserole for lunch most days. He loves it! We have at least 7 servings in the fridge and I’m sure my youngest son will try to eat at least half.

I also have all the veggies for my Plant-Based Mediterranean Bowl. I’d love to get some pita to make a Mediterranean pockets, basically all the same ingredients put into a pita. YUM!  

Plant-Based Dinner

Monday: Leftover Veggie Soup with bread from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day! I love baking bread but can only do it when it’s not too hot here in Arizona.

Tuesday: Baked Potatoes with steamed Broccoli! This is one of the tips I shared in my weekly email that went out on Saturday! It was about quick ways to eat healthy when you don’t have a lot of time. Baked Potatoes in the slow cooker or Instant Pot take almost no effort.

Wednesday: Instant Pot Plant-Based Goulash is a newer recipe but I’ve been getting GREAT feedback! We love this recipe and it makes a lot!

Thursday: Chickpea Noodle Soup is a family favorite! Who would like to see my Instant Pot version? I haven’t shared it yet!

Friday: Plant-Based Nachos or Tostadas are the plan so far. These are always well received and everyone can choose their own toppings. I may make Mexican Rice as a side dish.

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What are you eating this week? Do you prefer Instant Pot recipes or stove top recipes?