Tag Archives: vegetarian

Meal Plan {27.04.2013}

The hubby is healing well, from the broken humorous he sustained last week. It looks like we will be taking it easy for several weeks, as it could be 8-12 weeks before he has full use of his arm back. It will definitely, still be in the sling and requiring care, while in New York the beginning of June. The rest of the week went well and we are getting use to a new schedule, with only having one fully functional adult.

A few things I have found out during this challenging week:

  • I hate doing dishes, this is definitely up there as a #1 thing
  • I was pleasantly amazed at how much the hubby helped out with the day to day things like dishes, playing with our son while I sew, swimming lessons and most importantly picking our son up so we can both work full days. I sure miss at the moment  🙂
  • I am really happy with these pre-planned, pre-cooked meals, that I can do on the weekend to help during the week. This week Cuban beans and rice, Potato Quiche, and the meatball pasta bake were made ahead of time. I will be pre-preparing the lunches for the hubby so he can eat during the day when I am not around.
  • My son is very helpful and caring. He also does amazingly entertaining himself in the backyard.

In keeping with making things simpler this week, here’s the meal plan.

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday  French Bakery goods Chipotle salad bowl
Sunday Canadian bacon + poached egg Meatball and Spinach Pasta Bake (GF) 20 mins HIT
Monday Date loaf Grilled Fish + Corn + Spinach Salad
Tuesday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Stir fry + Brown rice  Walk
Wednesday Berry + Banana  Smoothie Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Self-crusting potato quiche
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Cuban Beans and Rice 20 mins. HIT

We are usually spending ~$70 a week for our meals. Here is this weeks shopping list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRIDGE
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Strawberries (TJ)
  • Apples (TJ)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Potato (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Garlic (TJ)
  • Dates (TT)
  • Prunes (TT)
  • Soy Yoghurt (WF)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Fish (FM)
  • Ground Beef (TJ)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Corn tortilla (TT)
  • Spinach (from the garden)
  • Broccoli (from the garden)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Stir Fry Sauce (TT)
  • Pasta sauce (TT)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

Outdoor art pieces + Meal plan {08.04.2013}

IMG_0690This week was kind of quiet, so not much to recap. I do have some photos to share though, of the first amazing Spring weekend we have had.  We went to our favorite cafe – Guglhupf  ( a german bakery), where they have added a couple of cool outdoor art pieces to their collection.

WP_20130406_004 WP_20130406_006 WP_20130406_007

This is our plan for week 13:

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Sunday Strawberry+ Banana crepes Leftovers
Monday Bircher Muesli Creamy Vegetable Shepherds Pie (Hopefully 4th time the charm)  20 mins. HIT
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetable Biryani (adding broccoli and left over vegetables from Sunday) 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Bircher Muesli Zpizza (Pizza with whole wheat crust and organic ingredients) 20 mins. HIT
Thursday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetable Pasta Bake
Friday Granola + Fruit + Soy Yoghurt Vegetarian Burgers + Salad 20 mins. HIT

We are spending $70 a week only, for our meals, by providing a shopping list. So, here was this weeks grocery list:

GROCERY LIST (NEW STOCK) IN THE CUPBOARD/FRID
  • Grapes (TJ)
  • Bananas (TJ)
  • Broccoli (TJ)
  • Bell Peppers(TJ)
  • Lettuce (TJ)
  • Tomatoes (TJ)
  • Cucumber (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Soy Milk (TJ)
  • Eggs (TJ)
  • Ground Beef 96/4 (TJ)
  • Juice (TJ, TT)
  • Split Peas (TT)
  • Dates (TT)
  • Sultanas (TT)
  • Brown Rice (TJ)
  • Gluten Free Pasta (TT)
  • Vegetable Stock (TT)
  • Onions (TJ)
  • Potatoes (TJ)
  • Butter (TJ)
  • Flour/ WW and GF (TT)
  • Granola (TT or BJ)
  • Oats (BJ)
  • Marinara Sauce (BJ or TT)
  • Frozen Peas + Corn (TJ)
  • Vegetable Patties (TJ)

NOTE: We shop majority at Trader Joe’s (TJ), Target (TT) with an occasional visit to Whole foods (WF), BJ’s , Harris Teeters (HT), Lowes Food (LF) and Fresh Market (FM).
NOTE: We do not typically use coupons mainly due to time.
NOTE: Items indicated by * are specials for the week we took advantage of.

Hope everyone has a good week. I would love to see what you are doing for meal planning or trying to balance your life – leave a link to your post in the comments below 🙂

New recipes for inspiration this week – week 10

I have been so inspired for this week’s menu – look at this site for “Meat Free Week (March 18-25)” recipes. I was reading them out to my husband last night with my mouth watering. So, I am going to choose from this list all week (except Saturday). I will let you know my favorite and any changes I make to the recipes.

You may say a recipe every day … yes, I work full-time but….
My husband can not drive at the moment, due to a shoulder injury from playing soccer and thinking he was still a teenager ;-), and I will have to pick him and my son up by 3:30 pm every day. This will give me more time in the evening to cook 🙂 before I catch-up on work in the evening.

My major task over the weekend:
I do have to plant my indoor seeds this weekend for my summer garden – I am putting in  tomatoes, romaine lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers (planting a little later this year) and maybe some spinach. I am excited about my winter garden which now seems to be coming along (yes in Spring)….my photo’s the week are of, my first head of broccoli and cabbage which appeared this week.

Head of broccoli Head of Cabbage

So here are the meals we are trying this week:

DAY BREAKFAST DINNER EXERCISE
Saturday Granola + Soy Yoghurt + Berries Creamy Vegetable Shepherds Pie
Sunday Oatmeal + Banana + Almond Butter + Soy Milk Chargrilled Bell Pepper Tagliatelle (Gluten Free) or Fresh Tomato and Herb Pasta (Gluten Free) 3-4 Mile Walk
Monday Mini Breakfast Frittata* Eggplant, herb and feta patties + Salad
Tuesday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Stir Fried Curry Brown Rice + Cashews * 3-4 Mile Walk
Wednesday Oatmeal + Banana and Almond butter Tomato, Onion + Goat Cheese Tart (Gluten free crust) + Salad (replacing zPizza this week)
Thursday Mini Breakfast Frittata* Gluten-free Spaghetti + Broccoli, herbs + hazelnuts crumbs  3-4 Mile Walk
Friday Berry + Banana + Spirulina Smoothie Vegetable Biryani *

* Some ingredients will be pre-made/pre-cooked, for example a batch of brown rice