Meal Plan Monday

Are you ready for the week? I’m not mentally prepared yet, but I’ve already created my plant-based meal plan for the week.

Over the weekend I did some meal prep for a birthday party and thankfully we have leftovers and a well stocked fridge and pantry. I made my Instant Pot Refried Beans and a quicker version of my Mexican Rice. I’ll either share a new recipe or update the old recipe with the changes soon. Having beans and rice in the fridge makes meals come together quickly!

When I started blogging again once my son was a year into treatment, I asked what type of recipes everyone wanted and overwhelmingly it was quick and easy recipes. I’ve been working on creating new recipes and remaking old ones so they are easier for busy families.

Quick and Easy Plant-Based Recipes

In fact, I made you a little gift for those of you who subscribe to my weekly emails! You can download my favorite quick and easy recipes if you are a subscriber. I’ve taken some time off from these emails but they are starting back up THIS WEEK! Don’t worry, you can still sign up and get my favorite quick and easy recipes and a weekly email from me with easy, actionable plant-based tips!

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These days, my favorite meals are ready in less than 30 minutes. If it’s going to be longer than that, it needs to be “hands off” time, like in the Instant Pot or oven.

For breakfast, I prefer super quick. We normally have oatmeal, cereal or toast. I usually skip breakfast with the kids and have a mid-morning smoothie after they are in school.

My husband and I both eat leftovers for lunch. We like warm meals. He has already requested my One Pot Broccoli Rice recipe that I shared last week! I’m happy with beans and rice, but big salads or sandwiches are good too.

Our dinners are mostly quick and easy. Once or twice a week I might make something that takes longer, especially when I’m testing new recipes or tweaking recipes to get it just right.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Monday

Breakfast: Instant Pot Oatmeal and Smoothies

Lunch: Taco Salad

Dinner: One Pot Broccoli and Rice

Tuesday

Breakfast: Banana Nut Oatmeal

Lunch: Leftover Broccoli Rice

Dinner: Busy Night Pasta and side salad and Creamy Italian Salad Dressing (oil-free)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Overnight Oats or Smoothies

Lunch: Leftover pasta

Dinner: Oil-Free Fried Rice and Pineapple and Tofu Kabobs

Thursday

Breakfast: Instant Pot Oatmeal

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner! Breakfast Hash, Tofu Scramble and fresh fruit

Friday

Breakfast: Leftover Breakfast Hash

Lunch: Beans and Rice

Dinner: Pizza Pasta

Do you know what you will be eating this week?

If not, don’t forget to claim your gift and download my Quick and Easy Recipes that are ready in 30 minutes or less!

My goal is to make plant-based eating easy for everyone. Transitioning a family to a plant-based diet is more difficult than transitioning one person. I decided to create a meal plan that will be fool-proof for most families. The Ultimate Plant-Based Meal Plan for Families is also a short guide to walk you through what you need to know to adopt a plant-based diet, including recipes that your whole family will love!

While I can’t really guarantee that every person in your family will love every recipe, these are my most loved recipes that are family-friendly and easy to adapt for individual tastes.

What to Eat on a Plant-Based Diet

When people switch to a plant-based diet, they usually wonder what they should be eating. The answer is as diverse as the person asking. Different people like different food.

I looked through all the recipes on this website and thought about all the foods we typically eat and made a list of our most loved recipes.

We typically eat a lot of beans, rice, and pasta along with an assortment of fruits and veggies. We keep it simple and eat the same basic things, branching out occasionally to try new recipes.

If you loved pasta and Italian dishes before going plant-based, you’ll probably love plant-based versions. If you loved spicy foods, or Asian foods, or Mexican foods, etc. you’ll likely love healthier versions of your favorites.

However, it can take time for your palate to adjust to a diet without meat, dairy, eggs, and the other things you cut out. Sometimes it could take a while before your favorites are your favorite again.

Plant-Based Breakfast

Switching to plant-based breakfasts are the easiest part of transitioning to plant-based eating, at least for me. We liked oatmeal, cereal, smoothies, etc. before making the switch. Choosing plant-based milk was the biggest change for us.

Invest in a few plant-based milks to try, once you find one you like, it will make breakfast easy peasy. I like soy milk and almond milk the best but rice milk is the over all family favorite so it’s what we keep on hand.

We usually eat the same breakfast every day. Cereal, oatmeal, toast or bagels. They are all quick and easy! Here is a sample of our favorite breakfasts.

Instant Pot Oatmeal

Toast with peanut butter and fruit

Banana Nut Oatmeal

Strawberry Banana Muffins or Banana Bread

Overnight Oats

For more ideas, check out my Plant-Based Breakfast Page or my Ultimate Oatmeal Guide!

When we have company or more time on the weekends I might make my Breakfast Hash or Breakfast Tacos. They are more time consuming than I’ll normally spend in the mornings but they are both delicious savory breakfast options.

Plant-Based Lunch

I usually eat dinner leftovers for lunch. It’s easy and saves time. My work day is busy and I don’t like to take time off to make food and eat so I stick to foods that I can heat and eat or just graze on throughout the day.

If I don’t have any leftovers available for lunch, I’ll eat something easy like a sandwich, hummus with veggies and maybe crackers or pretzels, beans with chips and salsa. In the summer when we have a lot of fresh veggies prepped, I might make a quick salad or my Mediterranean Bowl. Baked Potatoes are easy lunches but depending on where you eat lunch, it may not be an option.

Plant-Based Dinner

I feel like plant-based dinners are the most difficult transition point for families. Often, this meal was full of meat and dairy before switching to a plant-based diet. For some families, it may be the only meal they are eating together and they want it to be peaceful.

These are our absolute favorite family friendly meals.

Minestrone Soup

Mexican Casserole

Veggie Pad Thai

Veggie Pasta

Lentil Tacos with Mexican Rice

Our 8 year old loves these more than our 10 year old. If they don’t like our dinner, we will let them having something else. Usually they choose one of their normal breakfasts like oatmeal or cereal, sometimes it’s a PB&J. Sometimes they will have other leftovers.

Often they will have the meal but pick out what they don’t like. This is normal childhood behavior, it doesn’t mean they won’t eat healthy foods. My son might eat the Minestrone but leave the tomatoes and celery. They both love the nachos but only the chips and beans, they don’t like the peppers or salsa.

When encouraging my kids to eat well, I’m not interested in a power struggle. Some kids will never be happy with their meals! Kids age, disposition, and preference all plays into it. It takes time to get used to eating healthy, it may take your kids longer than it takes you.

 

Would you like to be able to print off the dinner meal plan with an easy to follow shopping list?

I created a Dinner Only version of this meal plan that includes step by step recipe instructions and a shopping list. It takes some of the work out of clicking through the links, printing the recipe and painstakingly creating your list.

This Dinner Only version of the Ultimate Plant-Based Meal Plan for Families is available for $5.00!

It’s been a while since I shared a new plant-based meal plan but today’s will be worth the wait. It will be full of our plant-based favorites and easy recipes that are perfect for busy days.

I’ve been trying to find a balance between making some foods ahead and relying on super simple meals. I love using real, fresh ingredients but I always have a backup plan when the days get away from me. For us, that looks like frozen gluten-free waffles when I don’t have time to make oatmeal, a box of gluten-free pasta I can toss with frozen veggies or sauce when I don’t have time to prepare fresh veggies.

I always love using fresh veggies though. I recently updated an old recipe using all fresh farmers market veggies and it tasted so good! Even the leftovers were better!

This page has affiliate links.

Plant-Based Meal Plan

Monday

Instant Pot Apple Oatmeal

Bean Burritos

Chickpea Noodle Soup

Tuesday

Pumpkin Spice Granola with dried cranberries

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Instant Pot Minestrone Soup (see stove top version here)

Wednesday

Oatmeal or frozen waffles with fruit

Leftover soup

Shepherd’s Pie (new recipe coming soon)

Thursday

Baked Sweet Potatoes (I actually make these in the Instant Pot)

Leftover Shepherd’s Pie

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole (See non-IP here)

Friday

Vegan yogurt and Pumpkin Spice Granola

Mexican Casserole Burritos

Plant-Based Nachos

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I like using my Instant Pot as much as possible. It allows me to walk away from the kitchen and come back to a fully cooked meal. If you’ve been wondering about getting an Instant Pot, feel free to reach out and I’ll try to answer all your questions! Until then, check out the 10 reasons I bought an Instant Pot!

If you have family asking what you want for Christmas or your birthday, tell them an Instant Pot!

Before we get to Christmas don’t forget Thanksgiving! My weekly Plant-Based Tips email went out last Saturday with tips for Thanksgiving! If you need more help, be sure to grab my Holiday Meal Plan and Cookbook from Amazon or as a PDF.