Meal Planning

Anyone that has tried knows that, meal planning and food budgeting is a challenge. How can I feed my growing family for "x" amount of money? When we first decided to go vegan, I felt like that challenge would be impossible. But over the last year, I've tested out different ways of purchasing our groceries, and this is what I've learned.

• I plan meals and shop for two weeks at a time -- Both at a grocery store and Costco.
• I plan all dinners and we eat left overs or something easy like peanut butter and jelly for lunches.
• Breakfasts consist of bagels, fruit, cereal (hot and cold), fruit smoothy or a special treat like pancakes or waffles.

Here's an example of our meal plan for the next two weeks (this was focused around some of our favorite dishes and trying some new ones from the Forks Over Knives cookbook) ...

MEAL PLAN: 

MONDAY: 

Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo Linguine

(From: The Natural Kitchen Blog)

TUESDAY: 

Minestrone Soup

(From: http://www.girlmakesfood.com/vegan-minestrone-soup/)

WEDNESDAY: 

Easy Vegan Pad Thai Noodles

 (From: The Natural Kitchen Blog)

 

THURSDAY: 

Baked Potato with green onion, vegan sour cream, salsa

 

FRIDAY: 

Special Treat Day - eat out somewhere fun

SATURDAY: 

Spaghetti (Pasta and sauce, nothing fancy)

SUNDAY: 

Curried Chickpeas and Rice

(From: Forks Over Knives pg. 214)

I add a little more curry powder and some vanilla soy milk - yum! 

MONDAY: 

Lentil Soup with homemade bread

(Will be on The Natural Kitchen Blog soon!)

TUESDAY: 

 Vegan 'Mac and Cheese' with Broccoli

 (From: The Natural Kitchen Blog)

WEDNESDAY: 

Cuban Style Cilantro Black Beans and Rice 

 (From: Forks Over Knives pg. 204)

We liked this dish even more the day after! 

THURSDAY: 

A Big BBQ Chopped Salad

(Will be on The Natural Kitchen Blog soon too!)

FRIDAY: 

Special Treat Day - eat out somewhere fun 

SATURDAY: 

Spaghetti

SUNDAY:

Couscous Salad

 (grilled corn, black beans, curry powder, green onion, cucumber and avocado)