The week’s recap

Since I previously posted this week’s prep and my game plan, I figured I might go into the specifics for a few of the meals that I mentioned.  And show how the rest of the week turned out in terms of the schedule.

Monday

As planned, I made Emily’s miso sweet potatoes (which we had with vegan chili) for dinner.  As part of the pre-week prep, I had roasted 4 huge sweet potatoes, which was more than enough for the two of us.  Needless to say, we had a ton of leftovers for the rest of the week (of both sauce and potatoes).

The only thing I tweaked in the recipe was increasing the amount of water in the miso sauce to 1 cup instead of 3/4 cup because I wanted to have extra for other meals throughout the week.  Totally a good idea.

Tuesday

Lunches were leftovers and such.  Chili with quinoa.  Miso sweet potatoes with quinoa.  Veggies with hummus.  Etc.

For dinner Kyle had pasta with (leftover) creamy tofu marinara.  I was supposed to have butternut squash with creamy tofu marinara, but since Kyle polished the sauce off, I just added daiya and some greens to the squash and called it a day.

His above, hers below.

Wednesday

Kyle had leftover pasta.  I had my usual hippie fare plus a brussels sprouts salad.

Basic Balsamic Brussels

Ingredients:

• 1-1 1/2 cup shaved/chopped Brussels sprouts
• 3-4 tbsp white balsamic
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1-2 tbsp balsamic glaze (make your own or buy it)

  

To make this I steamed TJ’s shaved brussels in a sauté pan with a bit of water (lid on) until they were fully cooked.  Then I removed the lid and let the veggies simmer until the water reduced (if you have excess water, you can just pour it off).  Next I added the white balsamic, olive oil, and dried cranberries and let it cook on medium high heat until it reduced and started to brown.  Once the edges of the brussels had bronzed, I added everything to the cooked quinoa (in separate glassware), tossed in some balsamic glaze and called it a day.

Favorite lunch all week.

I ate this cold (because I was floated to another unit without a working microwave) and loved it, but I’m sure it would be good warm as well.  I love the way the sweet cranberries balance the tangy balsamic flavor.  And the quinoa offers protein and carbs to make it a complete meal.

My lunches are getting to be too big to fit into one lunch bag.  I suspect if I brought in a family sized cooler, I’d get some strange looks (not to mention it wouldn’t even fit in our work fridge).

Kyle had a business dinner engagement, so I was on my own.  After a looooong day at work, I was ready to crash (with or without dinner), but once I showered, I felt better and went ahead with my planned meal of a gardein breast with collard greens (plus quinoa too).  It was basically the easiest thing ever.

I bought this back when I was prepping for my glucose tolerance test (aka attempting a lower carb/higher protein diet).

Clearly I didn’t read the box very well because I had no idea it included two “breasts”.  Yay! – an extra one for later.

I’ve discussed my issues with the aesthetics of gardein’s “meats” before, so I’m not going to bother elaborating on it again.  However, I will say the packaging of the breasts separate from the sauce does help a bit (you can see the previous packaging of the tuscan breasts here).

This is plant protein for lazy people.  The greens were from a bag of 365 organic frozen chopped collards, which made them just as quick to “prepare”.  Basically I just threw everything in the microwave.  Done and done.

Thursday

Kyle and I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning, after which Kyle stayed on campus.  He did his own thing for lunch.  I had the leftovers from his work dinner the previous night.

 

He went to Susan Feniger’s Street and got the spicy black bean veggie burger.  Even as leftovers, this burger was awesome!  The broccoli and beans on the side were garlicky and salty and delicious as well.

FYI, the whole menu looks fantastic (loaded with vegan options) and since Kyle couldn’t stop raving about how much I’d love it, I decided I am going to have to make my way to WeHo soon.

I had the day off and Kyle worked from home so I made us both the same dinner.

If you refer back to the weekly menu plan, spabettie’s baby portabello stroganoff with quinoa was the chosen meal.

I altered it so much I think I may have to do a separate post with my version.  In any event, Kyle and I both loved it.  Kyle declared it one of his absolute faves that he wanted added to the regular rotation.  It was super simple and took no time to make, so I’ll be back later with the recipe.

Friday

Kyle had the leftover stroganoff for lunch (I feel like I should win the wife of the year award for giving them to him instead of hoarding them for myself).  That dish was so good!

I ate random fridge leftovers, like roasted veggies (butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and beets) with quinoa, daiya, and meatless meatballs.

For dinner it was burrito night.

Featuring: Mexi-rice, ground tempeh, refried beans, guacamole, salsa, & daiya.

I got Sabra’s classic guacamole and newest salsa flavor (Mango Peach) so I was really excited.

Peach!  Mango!  I love sweet and spicy together.

Since we only had one tortilla left and a handful of romaine, I let Kyle do the burrito thing and went the salad route myself.

I’m not sure details are necessary on how I made this “ground” tempeh, so here’s the quick breakdown…

Simmer tempeh in water until it softens enough to crumble.

Add Mexican spices (I cheated and used this organic blend by The Spice Hunter).  Cumin, onion powder, garlic, paprika, cilantro, red pepper, coriander, and oregano – totaling 2 tsp worth.

Simmer on low heat until tempeh resembles ground meat and all the water has cooked off.

The beans were simply heated in the microwave.  The rice was tossed with salsa to give it some Mexi flava flave.

Here’s a close up at the other ingreds.

365 Organic refried beans, organic tortillas, and tortilla chips (all from WF).  Daiya cheddar (for me) and organic cheddar (for him).  The chips were crushed atop my salad because that’s how I do.

Anyway, there you have it.  I get asked fairly often about weekly meal planning and whether or not we stick to it.  I’d say most of the time, yes, I’m good about making what’s been planned.  Because I take the time to write it out and then grocery shop according to the menu we have set, I don’t really deviate much from it.

That said, occasionally I will leave some days of the week open to wing it (we have enough staples in the pantry & fridge to do this).  Those are the days when basic pastas and hippie bowls appear – things I never tire of.

So what if what I have planned for dinner isn’t something I’m craving at all?  Every once in a while I switch things around within the week to accommodate my palate’s preferences.  But because I don’t waste food (ever!) I make sure I eventually make whatever dish I’ve bought ingredients for, even if it gets pushed back a day or two.  Whole Foods’ hot bar is a great backup, but it’s not very budget friendly and we’re reallllly trying to save money right now.  I’m not kidding when I say, we have four Whole Foods stores within three miles of our place.  I can walk to all of them and it’s dangerous.  That’s not including the Venice, Culver City, Brentwood or Westwood stores (which are also way close).   Ridiculous(ly awesome).