This month I’m skipping my Meal Plans and featuring other bloggers (and Facebook page managers) and sharing their Meal Plans. So far we have heard from Lisa of The Vegan Pact , Alison of Plant-Strong New England (a Facebook page), Poppy of Poppy’s Patisserie | Bunny Kitchen and Teresa from a Facebook community group called Healthier Living. Today we are going to hear from Jenna!
I “met” Jenna months ago and fell in love with her blog. If we lived in the same city we would totally be friends! Meet Jenna!
Hi. I am Jenna from Day of Knight. My family (including my 3 young kids) and I began our journey of becoming plant powered or Vegan, if you will, about a year ago after being transformed by the film Forks Over Knives. If you have not seen this I urge you to watch it. It is available on Netflix. My husband and I both grew up on the typical Western/Southern diet. Medium Rare Steaks, Fried Chicken, Gravy, Bacon, Cream Cheese…basically all things creamy, cheesy and favorably delicious. Back in 2009, my husband went into his Doctors office for just a routine physical. After being examined he was told that he was considered “Obese” and if he didn’t change his diet and way of eating he most likely wouldn’t reach living past his late 50’s. Being told this when you are 25 will rock your core. So things changed. Naïve and not knowing exactly what you should eat to make yourself ‘healthier’ his journey began with counting calories and exercising. Fast-forward to 2.5 years later and 100 pounds lighter to July 2012, each of us seeking a healthier lifestyle. Not one just for us to look better but to feel better too. We stumbled upon some food documentaries on Netflix that changed our lives. We watched Forks Over Knives, Food Inc., Corn King and a few more. We had our “AH-HA!” moment for how we were supposed to eat to care for our bodies. At first I was a little intimidated by this new lifestyle change. I was overwhelmed by the fears of it being expensive, time consuming and gross. Honestly, it can be all of those things but it doesn’t have to be. I love to EAT and after a lot of research I have discovered that in order to be ‘healthy’ you do in fact have to…Eat. And by eating I mean eating REAL, no processed, naturally grown and non-modified foods. Foods that the Good Lord himself gave us. As I mentioned above I have three small children, ages 7, 4 & 4. They too are plant powered/vegan. It can happen. Your kids CAN eat veggies. All of my recipes that I am sharing below are approved by them and are on our menu rotation. I hope you feel encouraged, challenged and inspired in your journey of living a plant-powered lifestyle.
Breakfast:
Breakfast in our house is all about convenience. I like to sleep and I sleep until the very last minute before my kids are awake. Once they are awake, they do not want to sit around waiting for me to prepare them a big hot breakfast. Cereal is a #1 favorite in our house. So 98% of the time we are eating cereal in the morning. Our favorite cereals are the Organic Honey Cheerios by Central Market with some granola with dried blueberries mixed in and/or the Organic Peanut Butter Dots by Central Market. Sometimes we will have Organic Frozen Waffles with 100% Pure Maple Syrup.
Lunch:
Lunch is also easy around these parts. I usually make Almond Butter Strawberry Banana Sandwiches on Whole Grain/Oat bread, or Almond Butter Agave and Banana Sandwiches. Other days I will boil some Pasta and toss in ROA’s Sensitive Formula Marinara Sauce (it has not added sugars) or I will bake some Vegan “Chicken” Nuggets with sweet potato fries.
Dinner:
Dinner is where I usually get a little creative and I get a little more detailed, but still convenient. Here is a typical week of dinners.
Monday: Thin Spaghetti with Arabiata Sauce and a side of broiled Asparagus and Zucchini
Tuesday: Grilled Veggie Skewers (Squash, Mushrooms, Zucchini, Purple Onion, Red and Green Bell Peppers) Short Grain Brown Rice, and seasoned Pinto Beans.
Wednesday: Asian Tofu Stir Fry… I created my own recipe for this… Find my recipe HERE.
Thursday: Veggie Fajitas. Simply Sautéed onion, bell pepper and mushrooms in veggie stock until soft and tender. Make some guacamole (2 avocados mashed, 1/3 c red onion, 2 tbsp. cilantro, squirt of fresh lime and some garlic salt and pepper all mixed together) and slap it all on a tortilla. Some other toppings we enjoy are: Spanish Rice, Salsa and Black Beans. You can creative here.
Friday: We usually make Homemade Pizzas and have family night on Friday nights. I found a pre-made crust that we all enjoy from HEB (our grocery store). Find one in your area that has as few ingredients as possible. Also we found a sauce we like there as well. Again, the fewer ingredients the better. Some toppings we all enjoy are Black Olives, Pickled Jalapenos, Black Beans, Mushrooms and Red Onion and sometimes Squash and Zucchini thinly sliced.
Saturday: Pot Pie. HERE is the link to my recipe.
Sunday: This is our leftover/Eat Out day.
To follow along with our family and our journey to eating our way healthy you can follow my blog HERE. I try to post a meal plan every Monday. But lets be honest, I have three small kids and some weeks, it just doesn’t happen. You can find some of my archived EAT posts on the right sidebar in the category appropriately titled…EAT. If you stop by, be sure to say Hi.
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Thanks Jenna! You can also keep up with Jenna via Instagram and Twitter!
Today I’m excited to introduce you to Lisa from 
