How to Meal Plan, Made Simple

      My seasonal job has started back up for the year and as a result I've been a bit extra busy these last several weeks, so posting has been a bit sparse. I've been trying to keep posts scheduled so that things aren't too barren around here, but that's just how it goes. 

With my new, mostly nocturnal, schedule I've been keeping the cooking down to simple one-dish meals that are easy and quiet to prepare at 2AM. Here's a sampling of what I've been cooking as of late:

The top right photo features Corn Chowder with Roasted Potatoes. This is a new dish I am making that is inspired by the method I use to make black bean soup. I have not posted about that black bean soup because the pictures of it seem to come out poorly, but I won't let that be an excuse to keep such a simple and quick recipe from you. Both the corn chowder and the black bean soup are very simple and can be made in under 30 minutes! Bottom right is the beginnings of Lentil & Brown Rice Soup, with just an onion, seasonings and a lentil blend in the pot. The final picture is of Berbere Mixed Vegetables which I featured last month, along with what is pictured in the top left photo, Kale and Zucchini Stir Fry.

I'll be posting the recipes for the Lentil & Brown Rice Soup as well as the Corn Chowder with Roasted Potatoes over the next week or so. Also coming up will be a Wokin' Stir Fry Recipe! One of my birthday gifts this year included a wok and I couldn't have been more surprised. It was used within the week and we took lots of pictures that I'll post along with the recipe. 

The thing about making these 'easy' meals is that it is make possible with a meal plan diligently created each week before we grocery shop. While meal planning isn't exactly exciting - it's quite far from it, actually, and can start arguments you wouldn't normally have about broccoli vs cauliflower - it does need to be taken care of. I've made a small system to help with that time of the week. First, I made a document on my computer that includes dishes that I make on a regular basis broken down into pasta, rice, and vegetable based dishes. When it's time to meal plan for the week I open up this list, grab a cookbook or The Flavor Bible, and maybe open up a few good websites to browse (I like Open Source Food as of late). I use some loose leaf paper to make three line sections where I'll fill in a rough breakfast/lunch/dinner schedule as follows:

As you can see, I've got kale, zucchini, and lentil soup, chili & corn bread, Mexican casserole, pesto & white bean quinoa (seen in this months' Vegetarian Times), lasagna rolls, pizza, and a black bean avocado taco superevent on the menu for this week. I don't really worry about making Thursday's meal on Thursday, we're pretty flexible on when that happens and sometimes you just don't feel like what's on the meal plan, and that's okay. The real point of having all this is so that I know that when I go to the store with the list based off this meal plan, that I will be purchasing enough food to theoretically feed myself and the boyfriend for however many days I've planned for. 

It might be a bit overkill. Do I really need to fill in oatmeal, waffles, and eggs for breakfast every day? Yes, I do, because I will forget to put them on the grocery list to buy. Sometimes we'll shop for just dinner stuff and think we have some extra money to splurge on a bottle of something and then we realize we have no lunch or snack stuff available during the week. Lame.

So pictured above is my meal plan for this week, my grocery bill at Whole Foods came out to $68.50 and we bought juice, cookies, and a couple of personal items that weren't on the list. It is possible to shop healthy on a budget - even with a special diet!
- Patricia

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Morning Rice

By the time the boyfriend and I get our coffee going and morning started, we've already been in the kitchen for about half an hour. I find it odd that considering this, I hardly ever make breakfast for myself. The boyfriend will toast these amazing-smelling toaster pastries we get him to hold him over, but I'm often left roaming the kitchen like some half-crazed, half-starved loon.
 
I've written before about how breakfast is that one meal I still struggle with to get some sort of consistency with. I understand that this is, technically speaking, not a difficult task to do. Bananas, cereal, oatmeal, eggs; there are tons of different foods available for breakfast time that are gluten free. For me, it's a combination of being a broke college student with a crappy part time job and a slight failure in the meal planning department I seem to be having. When I do my weekly meal planning, I often forget to get items for other meals besides dinner, so we'll end up eating the pasta I was saving for Wednesday night on Sunday afternoon.

The same thing goes for breakfast - I forget to pick up groceries for it. This is an exceptional pickle to place yourself in because it's a bit more difficult to convince yourself to eat pasta for breakfast. This got me thinking about a satisfying breakfast I could make with just what we had on hand.

We have rice. Mountains of several kinds of rice, and enjoy them all. We truly love rice. The grocery store nearest to our home has a great deal on 5lb bags of un-enriched Jasmine rice from Thailand we buy once or twice a month. So, this morning when I was trying to figure out what to make for breakfast, I naturally reached for the rice.

Hot Jasmine Rice Breakfast
Serves 1



1 C water, brought to a boil
1/2 C Jasmine rice
3 Tbs cane sugar
Cinnamon, to taste
1/4 C soy milk
1 Tbs vegan butter


Add rice to boiling water and stir well. This will cook a little faster than a normal serving of rice will, so watch it carefully to prevent scorching. When the water is around half absorbed add the sugar and cinnamon and stir well. 
When the rice has finished cooking add the milk and butter, stir well, and enjoy!

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This Quesadilla Brought to You by Daiya

The tiny town in Texas that I grew up in had a stellar Mexican food restaurant that was ran by a local family. Being the creature of habit I am, I ordered the same thing every time our family ate there – cheese enchiladas. The dish came three to a plate with a side of refried beans and Mexican rice. Add sweet tea and it was one of my favorite eats in town.

I'm still a fan of cheesy goodness of any kind, but the whole dairy-free thing can really hinder that for me, as you could imagine.

A couple years ago I posted about casein-free cheese and my experiments with them. It wasn't that good. In 2009 Daiya took the vegan cheese market by storm and has been picked up as the vegan cheese standard by hundreds of pizza outlets, frozen dinner brands, and restaurants across the country. It's still a bit pricey at around $4 and some change for a standard sized bag of shredded goodness, but it's worth it every once in a while to change up the meal plan around here.

This quesadilla, for instance, was made with Daiya. Delicious and quick breakfast for one this morning when I was up before my boyfriend and room mate.


Quick Quesadilla for One
(vegan & gluten-free)

Ingredients:
2 corn tortillas
baby spinach
½ small onion, chopped
1 baby portobello, chopped
shredded carrots
Daiya

Place small skillet over medium heat. While heating, place one tortilla in skillet, add Daiya, and top with half of the spinach. Add onions, mushrooms, and carrots then top with remaining spinach. Sprinkle liberally with Daiya and place final tortilla on top. Once cheese on the bottom is beginning to melt flip the quesadilla and brown the other side.

If you would prefer the stuffing cooked a bit more, you can brown the vegetables together and then assemble the quesadilla to prevent burning the tortillas from continued cooking.

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The Agony of Breakfast

      I love breakfast! I love everything about it. Cooking breakfast in the morning with pajamas and bare feet on the cool kitchen floor. Smells of biscuits and gravy, eggs, coffee and waffles filling the house. Warm oatmeal with blackberries and honey. Eating breakfast on the back porch, listening to the birds singing the sun out of bed and hearing the rustle of squirrels burring treasures for the coming winter and spring. The crunch of granola in icy-cold milk followed by warm coffee. Everything about that time of day is warming to the soul and such a wonderful way to start the day. Breakfast is truly my favorite time of my day.

      Unfortunately, back in reality-land, I have a little less than an hour to share with The Goat before he heads off to work in the morning and he is really not as big on breakfast as I am. On the weekends we have sleepy mornings together - padding back and forth from the bedroom to the kitchen checking on the stove and getting refills on coffee. I love those weekend mornings.

      During the week, I'm not up for making breakfast for one (it's not the same) or I'm rushing around trying to write or do something or going to work. Before being diagnosed at the beginning of this year I would happily munch on cereal or stick something in the toaster for a quick breakfast, but now I find myself extremely limited on breakfast choices.


      There are plenty of standard breakfast foods available like eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins, cornbread and cereals, but I find them either inconvenient or unpalatable after a while. I have desperately tried to keep my love affair with granola alive and well despite our differences, but I cannot find a good gluten-free alternative. I tried Enjoy Life's Very Berry Crunch Granola to teeth breaking disappointment. It is nut and gluten free so I could understand if you are allergic to both and really really really wanted a granola, but stay away otherwise. It had a funky chalky after taste to it that went along well with the gritty, sand-paper like texture.

      On the other hand, I have found EnviroKidz Organic Peanut Butter Panda Puffs to be wonderful. They don't get soggy in milk and taste like regular peanut butter cereal. Also, The Silly Yak Bakery has gluten-free toaster pastries if you need that fix. They also ship directly to your door step or offer a pick up if you live close to them. The Silly Yak has all kinds of gluten-free goodies to stock up on. I cannot go to their site very often or I find myself filling the shopping cart...

      So what is an average breakfast for me? This morning I had Central Market's Blueberry Buckwheat waffles - very tasty - gluten AND casein free. Buckwheat is a favorite of mine from childhood. My step-dad would get food gifts quite often from his kids and buckwheat pancake mix was one of the regulars. It was so good that I fell in love for life. The waffles are great in the toaster, but I've put some frozen berries on them and popped them in the oven for a while, too. I eat a lot of bars when I have the money to spend on them. I realize they are generally between $1 and $2 each, but they pack so much into a bar that it truly is a great way to start the day with a bottle of juice to accompany. Toast with hot tea is popular for me in the mornings, as well.

      With a new day and another sun rise, I feel the urge to fill my day with life and what better way to do so than with a great (quick!) meal to start your day? Plenty of energy, better metabolism, spring in your step and no grumpy attitude over being hungry and dissatisfied. Breakfast really helps get you going in the morning - what is your typical breakfast during the week or weekend?

      I also wanted to quickly share with you a little tid-bit about the picture at the top of this post. The picture is of Lake Whitney, Texas where I was raised. The first professional bass fishing tournament ever was held here in the 1950's. I learned to fish on this lake, we had camp outs here ( I lived less than 1/2 mile from the lake ), I went cliff jumping for my sister's high school graduation and learned how to swim here. It will forever hold a piece of my heart.

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