Another attempt at menu planning

I am trying to get better about menu planning. I have done it many times in the past, so I don't understand why it still seems so difficult sometimes. Here is what I have so far for the next week:

Tonight: Tempeh Shepherdess Pie from Veganomicon, sauteed spinach and tomatoes, steamed broccoli. We have family coming over, and they are about as far from vegan or vegetarian as you can get. This should be sufficiently normal seeming for them to enjoy it, but still nice and healthy.

Sunday: Salmon noodle casserole, peas. I kind of thought when I started this blog that I might move closer and closer to veganism as time went on, but now I don't think that is going to happen. I like the way we eat, and I don't think I am going to cut out the seafood, or the occasional egg or bit of goat cheese. On the other hand, all of my favorite cookbooks are still vegan, so there will be plenty of vegan dishes in my future, too. I am thinking maybe I should change the name of my blog, though.

Monday: leftovers. We are having a big brunch in the morning, that is an interesting menu: Tempeh Scramble, Fennel Risotto, roasted butternut squash, coffee chip muffins (all from Vegan Brunch), berry scones, coffee, juice, dark chocolate covered almonds. I am thinking we will need to clean out our fridge Monday night.

Tuesday: The kids will be at their dad's, so I am thinking of using up some of the appetizer stuff I have hanging around my freezer--edamame shu mai, Thai vegetable potstickers, tiny cocktail samosas.

Wednesday: Red Beans and rice, steamed broccoli, fruit salad.

Thursday: Fried rice

Friday: No clue. Kids at dad's, so not feeling the cooking. I will probably decide at the last minute.

So, not a bad plan. We could end up going to a friend's one or two nights, so we should be able to make it through the week with this plan.

Things I am thinking of cooking ahead...

...and putting in the freezer.

1. Breakfast burritoes: scrambled tofu with shredded carrots, onions and bell peppers, hash browns, veggie sausage, maybe some salsa



2. Chili--I could eat chili once a week, or more



3. Quick breads--they make excellent late afternoon snacks, and I make mine more healthy than the coffee shop does



4. West African peanut stew



5. Coconut Curried Vegetable Stew



6. Red Beans and sausage--to be served over rice



7. Sloppy lentils



8. Veggies from my garden sauteed with teriyaki sauce (or some other sauce)



9. Spaghetti sauce
   
   
10. Some kind of bean burger

I am not sure I have enough freezer space for this, but I can try to empty it out first. One of these days I am going to get a freezer to put in the basement. Anyone have any other ideas?

Look what I have!

Isn't it beautiful? It has a little friend, too:

The whole garden is growing. Look at these pictures:

Right after planting

This evening

So far I have mostly only gotten a radish and some herbs directly from my garden, but more is coming, and not too far in the future. I might have green and purple beans as soon as next week. I think that once the squash get going, they will go crazy. I can't wait!

Good fast dinner

I didn't take a picture of this, but I had to post, because it was fantastic. Also, the girl complained a lot and tried to get me to give the extra plain rice that I made for a future meal, but when she finally tried it, she loved it!

I was looking around online, trying to find all my old blogs on my new computer, when I came across this tahini onion sauce recipe. I love tahini, and I like to use recipes that we can customize at the table without me feeling like I am making separate meals. A sauce that everyone can choose to add or not add is ideal for this. It came together quickly, too.

For the lentils and rice, I cooked up the rice, then added some pre-cooked lentils from Trader Joe's and seasoned the dish with a small palmful of ground cumin, maybe about half as much dried oregano, and a few shakes of Mrs. Dash Original Blend. I put about half an onion, sliced thinly, in a small skillet with some Earth Balance while I cooked the rice and made the tahini sauce. Since I wanted them good and carmelized, I mostly ignored them for 10 or 15 minutes (maybe longer), just stirring occasionally to make sure it all got browned and sweet.

On the side we had green and purple beans from the garden. Well, not actually my garden, but the gardeners brought some from other gardens they do, and we will be getting the same thing from our garden soon. They told me the purple beans would turn green when steamed, so I made sure the kids looked at them before I put them in the microwave to steam. They were originally a very dark, bright purple, making for an interesting experiment. They did come out green--a little mottled, but definitely green. The kids thought that was fun.

For dessert, sliced watermelon, which is always a big hit with the children.

The girl was convinced that she would hate the lentils and rice, but she loved it. The boy loved it, too, which I new he would. But he was also adventurous and tried the sauce. He didn't like it, but at least he tried it. I loved the sauce. I could probably carmelize an onion every day and happily eat it, but I think that might be going overboard. The people around me may not appreciate that! But at least I can enjoy some carmelized onion here, without worrying about kids complaining (or having to share!)

La Dolce Vegan

Man, I love this cookbook! I have had it for a while, but for some reason, I didn't use it until recently. A couple of weeks ago I got it out and realized that I should have been using it all along, because there are a lot of awesome recipes. I made the fruit dip for a picnic at the local Shakespeare festival, but I have no picture. It was really good, though, and I loved how it was all healthy and still felt like a treat.



Last week I got a delivery from my gardeners with radishes, lettuce, spinach and fresh parsley, so I decided to find another recipe to try. I didn't find much for the veggies, but I did find a great recipe for some fresh herbs--Peacefrog's Artichoke Heart Pasta. I used the parsley and some basil from out in my garden. It was so delicious and easy! I did get a picture of this one:

Doesn't that look delicious? I pretty much followed the recipe as is, although I did use a bunch of grape tomatoes instead of one large tomato, and I just used water instead of vegetable stock, but it was still great.

Tonight I got this cookbook out again, but I had to use a bit more creativity. I made Karen's Mexican Burrito Pie, but I only had three tortillas instead of the five the recipe called for, and I was out of shredded cheese and pinto beans. I had some sliced cheese and black beans, though, so I used those instead. I think the cheese may not be entirely vegan, and I honestly prefer Tofutti, which is vegan. Next time I will get that, but this was still an awesome casserole.

I can't seem to add another picture, so I will continue this in another post....

Is this cool or what?

I just sent an email to the folks at Backdoor Harvest. I found out about them at the Earth Day Festival I attended last weekend, and it is one of the coolest things I have come across in quite some time. The website is awesome, but to sum up:

• They will come look at my yard and help me plan a garden
• I get to pick all the produce
• They will do ALL the work, from planting to weeding to harvesting
• It won't cost me any more than I already spend on produce at the grocery store
• They will use organic practices
• Some of the produce grown in my back yard will go to other people in my community
• No travelling costs for the food to get to my kitchen! This is really environmentally good!

I am so excited about this (as you can tell by all! the! exclamation! points!)! I hope they haven't filled up already....

An almost (but very convertible) vegan recipe

I know, I haven't been here for quite some time. I have good pictures, too, from my trip to Chicago and the Chicago Diner. I haven't had the time to...wait, I mean I lacked the energy to post those, and I still don't have it. I made a really delicious dinner tonight, though, and I had to share the link. I did make this with shrimp, but I think it would be good with tofu, too. I love cabbage, so I was glad to find a good stir fry recipe like this. I used half of the red chili flakes and maybe a fourth of the sriracha sauce this recipe called for, because my friend said she wasn't in the mood for really hot food. I could have eaten it hotter, but it still had plenty of flavor. We had yellow squash and zuchhini sauteed with a shallot in some olive oil, then steamed as a side dish. Delicious and healthy!