Meal Plan for Week of July 18th

It is hot, who really wants to cook in this weather? ME, ME!!

Saturday (last) night we came home from the water park and were somehow energized to make an amazing dinner that most local restaurants could never compete with. It went like this:
- fresh mango margaritas
- sweet potato fries with cilantro garlic aiello
- plantain-bean veggie burger (the SO had a traditional frozen beef burger)

Here's what is on the menu for this week:

Monday
Breakfast: Mango Yogurt Smoothie
Lunch: Mediterranean Antipasto Salad (tuna for the SO, no tuna for me)
Dinner: Ravioli from the farmers market

Tuesday
Breakfast: Bagel from farmers market
Lunch: Leftover Veggie Burger patty from Saturday night
Dinner: Corn Chowder

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cream of Buckwheat Kasha with shredded cheese
Lunch: Risotto on a bed of salad greens
Dinner: Ravioli from the farmers market

Thursday
Breakfast: Breakfast smoothie
Lunch: Leftover chowder
Dinner: BrokeAss Gourmet's Tomato Tart

Friday I am leaving open to whatever fun things come in Thursday's box of treats, aka the CSA share.

Depending on my workload here are the desserts I am planning to work into this week's cooking:
Watermelon Yogurt Ice
Key Lime Pies

Weekly Meal Plan for June 14th

I'll admit it - I have a severe lazy streak for weekday cooking. Between long days at the office and a zillion other things I like to do with my downtime cooking often gets the short end of the stick. But I love to eat. Hrrm. So this week's meal plan is all about delicious meals that can be made quickly, or can cook while I sleep or while I'm at the office.

Monday, June 12th
Breakfast - Orange-flavored Breakfast Barley with Cranberries & Pecans (from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker pg 31)
Lunch - Mango and Avocado Salad with Cilantro
Dinner - Slow cooker Cabbage Borscht (from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Tuesday, June 14th
Breakfast - Wake Up Smoothie - banana, plain greek yogurt, strawberries
Lunch - Vegetarian Reuben Sandwich
Dinner - Wheat Berry Black Bean Chili (inspired by this recipe)

Wednesday, June 15th
Breakfast - Overnight oatmeal
Lunch - Vegetarian BLT (fake bacon)
Dinner - Leftover Borscht

Thursday, June 16th
Breakfast - Creamy Grits
Lunch - Chickpea Salad Sandwich
Dinner - Leftover chili

Birth of the weekly meal planner

If you give up half of your Sunday to plan and shop for over a week's worth of meals you can't just let that go can you? Well, neither could I!

It all started with a subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. Each month this full-color, pocketbook-sized magazine landed in my mailbox and I cherished it. Recipes emphasized seasonal cooking, relative quick preparation, but with a dash of inspiration - be an exotic-sounding spice, or a cooking technique that required a new gadget from Williams Sonoma.

Then when Fall arrived last year I started swapping meals with a friend. I'd cook a large batch of something, she'd cook a large batch of something and we'd give each other a dish that could be frozen or warmed for serving. Genius! I began making lists of different dishes I could create throughout the week, on a whim. One list read: slow cooker arroz con queso, wild rice and mushroom casserole, tortellini soup, sweet potato-peanut bisque, and so forth. At random I would pick something from this list on my fridge and make it for dinner that night. Fresh new recipes, inspired dinners, I loved being in the kitchen.

After returning from vacation recently I discovered I needed more structure. The inner workaholic wasn't giving me a break - I'd forget all of cool breakfast options I had available and *settle* for toast or a boring bowl of oatmeal. Blah!

The Weekly Menu Planner was born - I googled for the perfect template that included everything I wanted: three squares, a snack column, reminders for the following day's meal prep, a grocery list and an area for notes. Then with the help of the most recent issues of Everyday Food and EatingWell magazines I dove in. This is what my first week looks like (keeping in mind that I'm a vegetarian who enjoys a little dairy, doesn't like eggs and struggles with breakfast, lol):

*Monday 2/1*
Breakfast - Savory Polenta with mushrooms and cheddar
Lunch - Black bean, brown rice, lettuce tortilla wrap
Dinner - Whole grain rigatoni with roasted vegetables and wilted arugula

*Tuesday 2/2*
Breakfast - Jamaican oatmeal
Lunch - leftover pasta from Monday night
Dinner - Veggie stir-fry (hubby's will have shrimp) with brown rice

*Wednesday 2/3*
Breakfast - Hot rice breakfast drink (using leftover rice from Tuesday night's dinner)
Lunch - Marscapone and strawberries sandwiches, handful of roasted almonds
Dinner - Baked Tostadas (hubby's will have canned pink salmon)

*Thursday 2/4*
Breakfast - Savory breakfast muffins (with veggie bacon)
Lunch - Mango Dal with brown rice
Dinner - Cabbage soup

*Friday 2/5*
Breakfast - Blueberry, banana protein smoothie with whole grain toast
Lunch - Feta, hummus, veggie tortilla wrap
Dinner - Warm apple and lentil salad, sauteed kale (cooking lamb for hubby's main course)

*Saturday 2/6*
Breakfast - Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes
Lunch - Chickpea salad sandwich (egg salad sandwich for hubby)
Dinner - Treat! Go out for dinner

*Sunday 2/7*
Breakfast - Breakfast burritos (without eggs for me, with for the hubby)
Lunch - Baked tamale pie
Dinner - Honey Ginger stir fry (with chicken for hubby)

*Monday 2/8*
Breakfast - Brown rice porridge with honey and almonds (using leftover rice)
Lunch - Leftover tamale pie
Dinner - Black bean soup