Back in the Game: Menu for 4/19 - 4/25

With sunny weather happening and seasonal allergies subsiding, we were reading to get back into menu planning. The menu for the past week was as follows, with linkies to the recipes if available:

Monday
L- Noodle Cups (These were super easy and made two days of lunches- winner!)
D- Cauliflower steaks & greens (Josh makes these with no recipe)

Tuesday
L- Noodle Cup
D- Spicy Taco Quinoa Bowl

Wednesday
L- Spicy Taco Quinoa Bowl Leftovers
D- Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Greens (My peanut sauce is just peanut butter, chili pepper flakes, soy sauce water and a smidge of agave, whizzed together in the blender)

Thursday
L- Soba Noodle Leftovers
D- One Pot Thai Pasta (we wound up not eating this because it called for tamarind paste, which I couldn't find at the store- we did some roasted veggies and a boxed vegan mac and cheese we had in the pantry instead)

Friday

You down with OPP (one pot pasta)?

L- Leftovers
D- One Pot Pasta

Grocery List
Cereal
Almond Milk
Baguette
Cauliflower
Greens
Wasabi Powder
Ground Ginger
Ramen Noodles
Spinach
Carrots
Tofu
Soy Sauce
Scallions
Linguine
Brown Sugar
Garlic
Tamarind Paste
Ginger
Cilantro
Cashews
Black Beans
Cherry Tomatoes
Avocado
Two Red Peppers
Eggplant
Bread
Onion
Basil
Fruits & Veggies for Snacking

Ain't nobody dope as me, I get that pantry clean (pantry so clean, clean)

This week has been an experiment in getting the fridge and pantry cleaned out, born out of seasonal allergies and fatigue. However, it's been a good lesson for those days when I think 'I have nothing to eat' because thankfully that's never actually been true for me- more along the lines of 'I have nothing immediately available to eat'. To facilitate this, I made a list of the ingredients available to me in our fridge and pantry (not including spices and such) to give me a tangible way to see what all ingredients I had available. From there, it has been vastly easier to look at the list and put together a meal, rather than just staring blankly at the pantry and the fridge until I give up and get delivery. Oh, I have soba noodles, cucumbers, radishes, carrots and stuff for peanut sauce? Bam, dinner is made.

In the future, I'd like to do this with a bit more organization, looking at what I have in advance and putting the menu plan together from there but I'm enjoying this technique that lets me skip the grocery store for a week, though things got a little hairy towards the end of the week (plain bread for breakfast, y'all) but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Our regularly scheduled meal planning will return next week.

Menu for April 5th - 11th: Exploring One Pot Pasta

Last week's menu included one pot pasta, something I'd never made before, which is appalling because it was delicious, easy and fast, which are my favorite qualities of a recipe. Here's the plan for the upcoming week:

April 5th - 11th

Sunday
Dinner: One Pot Pasta
Note: I will also make a big pot of quinoa tonight to throw into tomorrow's salad and Tuesday's lunch, as well as making the lemon tahini dressing from Salad Samurai.

Monday
Lunch: Salad (using remaining veggies in fridge) with quinoa, Lemon Tahini Dressing & Baked Tofu
Dinner: Same, but with a sweet potato (Josh won't be home for dinner, and I will be home late, necessitating a quick and easy dinner)

Tuesday
Lunch: Quinoa Green Goddess Bowl, using the remaining quinoa, but with the leftover Salad Samurai Lemon Tahini Dressing
Dinner: Sugar Snap Pea & Carrot Soba Noodles

Wednesday
Lunch: Leftovers from the Soba Noodle Dish
Dinner: Easy Peanut Noodles

Thursday
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Spinach Artichoke Wonderpot

Friday
Lunch: Leftover Wonderpot
Dinner: Cheesy Vegan Alfredo with Peas & Kale

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes (I use a mix that has been discontinued and that I haven't found a replacement for yet.)

Snacks
Fruits and Veggies
Almonds
Cookie Dough Dip with Apples

Grocery List
(This list assumes that you have items such as salt, pepper and olive oil on hand. It's much more comprehensive than last week's list, I'm getting better!)
Bread
Non-Dairy Milk
Cereal
Soba Noodles (Three packages)
Frozen edamame
Carrots
Cilantro
Sesame Seeds
Tamari/Soy Sauce
Limes
Sesame Oil
Miso
Ginger
Sriracha
Agave Nectar
Baked Tofu (I buy it pre-made for convenience)
Chickpeas (Two cans)
Quinoa
Paprika
Cayenne
Oregano
Cucumber
Sugar Snap Peas
Tomatoes (Two pints)
Kale
Avocado (Two)
Baking Soda
Garlic
Mushrooms
Artichoke Hearts
Yellow Onion
Linguine
Lemons
Frozen spinach
Frozen peas
Nutritional Yeast
Apples
Chocolate Chips
Oatmeal
Nut butter
Sweet Potato
Any fruits or veggies on sale for snacks

Happy eating!

Picture unrelated: The view from our room at the Stanford Inn Eco Resort

I'm back, baby! AKA I need to track my Menu Planning

So, it's been two years-ish since I've written anything on here. The quick version of this is that I got a fabulous job, married a wonderful man and adopted another cat and, as a result, kind of lost my desire to spend time writing aimlessly. However, I've been doing a lot of menu planning in an effort to reduce how much we go out to eat and I want to track what I've been doing instead of planning from scratch every week, so I figured I might as well do it here so that it can be helpful for anyone else who may be interested. Use it or don't, I'm not your mom.

Some basic meal planning info: I am planning for two and base my menu around plans for the week, as well as the weather (because nobody wants a comforting stew on a hot day). Also, I will link recipes as available. I don't really plan for breakfast because I can't handle anything more complicated than cereal or toast first thing in the morning. 

Week of March 29th - April 4th

Sunday:

Dinner: Cauliflower Steak with Mashed Cauliflower and Sauteed Kale

Monday

Lunch: Sushi Bowl (Rice with edamame, avocado, tomato, nori and a sauce of tamari, mirin and sesame oil)

Dinner: Dragon Noodle Salad from Isa Does It with a bit of fried tofu on the side

Tuesday 

Lunch: Leftover Dragon Noodle Bowl (Note: wound up being a sushi bowl, we ate most of the Dragon Noodle Salad)

Dinner: Spicy Quinoa Taco Bowl from One Ingredient Chef - Great for leftovers 

Wednesday

Lunch: Out (planned for)

Dinner: Leftover Spicy Quinoa Taco Bowl

Thursday

Lunch: Grains, Green and Beans (random mix of whatever grains, beans and veggies I have laying around) with Lemon Tahini Sauce from Salad Samurai

Dinner: One Pot Pasta (I've never made this before. We'll see how it goes.)

Friday

Lunch: Overnight Oats & Fruit

Dinner: Sunflower Mac from Isa Does It

Saturday

Lunch: Picnic! Leftover Sunflower Mac and Massaged Kale Salad

Dinner: Out (planned for)

Grocery List 

(This is not a complete list, just what I didn't have, as I already have a bunch of staples- I'm planning on doing full lists in the future.)

Cereal

Tomatoes

Avocados, 2

Asparagus (I only bought this because it was on super sale)

Bell Peppers (I could have gotten away with one but they were three for a dollar so I bought six)

Bread

Linguine

White Onion

Basil

Rice Noodles

Radishes

Cucumber

Cilantro

Salad Greens

Limes

Black Beans

Frozen Corn

Macaroni

Cornstarch

Kale 

Lemons

Rice Vinegar

Snack fruits & veggies

This is me and Wishbone V. Debs. I hate posting without a picture.

Theoretically, check back next week for another menu!