As you may know, I’m not normally a meal planner.
I like to cook by the seat of my pants and just make what speaks to me on that day. I’m the same way with my blog posts too. I rarely know what I’m blogging about until I sit down to write and I don’t often plan specific posts ahead of time. I usually just sit down and type! It feels more natural to me when I don’t force something.
…and that’s the same way I like to cook, but sometimes I need to plan meals to get out of a cooking slump. Now that I am on the road to recovery with this flu, I decided to plan out my meals this week and bid my cooking slump farewell!
Step 1: Plan The Meals:
The meals I chose:
- Enchiladas with Cilantro cream sauce & salad
- Creamy Sweet Potato Bake and biscuits
- Veggie Burgers with Moroccan spiced root vegetable fries
- Tahini Lemon Rice and beans
- WILD CARD (this can be leftovers, a meal out, or spontaneous recipe)
Don’t be fooled by this simple looking list- it actually took me over an hour to figure out what I wanted to make for the week. Also, I don’t like to specify what day I’m making each recipe! I will decide the night before most likely. :) I think the thing I love about planned dinner recipes is that you automatically have a lunch ready for you the next day!
Step 2: Make List and Grocery Shop:
After I picked out my meals for the week, I checked what ingredients I had in stock and then I went grocery shopping for the rest.
Step 3: Prep veggies and Grains
After meal planning and grocery shopping, I did prep work by slicing veggies (cucumbers, carrots, peppers) cooking grains and beans (chickpeas and brown rice), and made a fresh batch of Spring Fever Lemon Dill Hummus.
This whole process took up half the day, but I’m hoping that it will pay off with time savings throughout the week.
Keeping my May veggie goals in mind, breakfast today was a yummy Green Monster blended with 1 cup frozen kale, 1.25 cups soy milk, 1 large frozen banana, pinch or two of cinnamon, Vega Choc-o-lot protein powder, and Amazing Grass wheatgrass powder.
I topped it with almond butter, cacao nibs, and 1/2 an Endure Glo Bar. It was delish…but gave me goosebumps!
[Can you tell it is a gloomy and rainy day by the low lighting of this photo?]
Lunch today will probably be similar to yesterday’s lunch…
I had cucumbers and carrots with Spring Fever Lemon Dill Hummus, along with sprouted grain open-faced, toasted sandwiches topped with tomato paste, avocado, and pepper. I love this voluminous lunch as it takes a long time to eat.
Stay tuned for a great week of dinner recipes!
That lunch looks divine! I love the idea of making open-faced sandwiches with tomato paste and avocado.
I’m on a vegetable kick too, which will be so much easier when our gardens are going, don’t you think?
Happy Monday!
Yes, unless I kill everything I grow, which is a huge possibility. ;)
It takes such discipline to plan out meals, and to do the prep work work involved as well! Go you :) I find that it’s usually not so much the time investment that makes me hesitant as much as it is that I feel my creativity is limited by it. As you said, I like to just go with what I am feeling that day. But, ultimately I can still tweak a meal and play with it; it’s just the base ingredients that stay the same (and make my life and schedule easier) ;)
yes I agree! Im sure my ‘plan’ will change up a bit here and there…but no big deal, right?
You got cherries this time of year?!?
haha I wish! That pic was taken last summer.
it IS dreary in southern ontario, today!
glad you’re feeling inspired to plan out your recipes and meals again!
“I usually just sit down and type! It feels more natural to me when I don’t force something. ” exactly! my favourite posts are the ones where i don’t try too hard…neat that you have found that, too!
ooo this week’s meals look BEYOND good!! lucky you- i wish I were staying with you so I could eat all the leftovers :D
Oh my! Yesterday’s lunch is adorable! Love the meal planning. I can never stick to that, but wish I would! You have me craving a smoothie bowl now..yumm
I don’t really like meal planning because it doesn’t take in account my food cravings on a specific day, but I think this week’s meal plan will help me save maybe some money, and time. Busy student life is hard when you depend on your cooking :))
I do think it saves money too…good point!
Hi Angela,
I had my first Green Monster this weekend and LOVED it. Do you normally make these with raw spinach or steamed? Raw gives me a stomach ache most of the time (and did this weekend)…is kale easier on the stomach? Any tips would be appreciated. Hope you’re feeling better!
I get the same thing from raw spinach. I find kale too overpowering in the monster. I sub in chlorella instead.
Thanks so much! I just bought some kale which I’ll try, but will use chlorella if I don’t like it :)
I make it with both raw spinach and raw kale. I used to steam my spinach (for better iron absorption) but I have stopped doing it simply to save time. Im not sure about either being hard on the stomach…I know that kale can ‘get things moving’ quite fast, more so than spinach.
I find the taste of frozen kale much less bitter than fresh as well.
I wish I was eating dinner at your house this week!
Mmm your meal choices sound delicious! I like the idea of planning them out but not having a definite day assigned to each one. Less intimidating that way!
Yesterday’s lunch looks delicious! And a green monster for breakfast is always a great way to start the day! :)
You have some fancy meals to look forward to this week! So creative and all very different tastes.
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I need to be better about my meal planning! It really helps :) Plus I spend less money :)
Oh my gosh, that salad. I know what I’m having for lunch. And the cherries! Yum! Can’t wait for all your recipes this week!
Rainy days are my favorite! For some reason, I notice that too many sunny days seem to make me a bit depressed. Very strange, I know! But I love your meal planning idea– I’m at my parents home, getting ready to go back to my place tomorrow– and I’ve been gone for two weeks, so meal planning is going to be essential! Thanks for your advice!
well you definitely wouldnt be depressed in this neck of the woods! haha
Haha! I grew up in Southern Nevada, outside Las Vegas– so I loveeee rain:) I can’t stand the heat!
I always have such a hard time meal planning! It’s something I’d like to get better at, as it’s easier to go grocery shopping (and stay in budget!) if I have a goal and a plan for what I want to make, but sometimes I just don’t know that far in advance what my tummy is going to want!
Your meals sound delish! Im looking forward to them (as if i’ll be the one eating them lol)!
I love how that open faced sandwich looks! Tomato paste + avocado sounds delicious!
Menu looks awesome! I love menu planning but I’ve never actually done prep work along with the planning, I bet it really does save time!
I plan out 2-3 days of meals a week and the rest I just do ad hoc meals with what’s around the pantry/fridge. It helps me for sure. My hubby is willing to be more spontaneous, but that usually means less healthy foods.