Saturday Planning – 3/19/2011 to 3/25/2011

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

With that, here is my meal plan for 3/19/2011 to 3/25/2011, in no particular order. It’s pretty boring, since there is a lot of leftovers and I have no help in the brainstorming.

• Spaghetti
• Bean burgers, couscous, zucchini
• Finishing up leftover Indian, Thai (in freezer), etc
• Leftover Beef Stew

I’m really not feeling like cooking anything new, or anything at all right now. It’s so nice outside and I have so much training to do. Tim will be leaving, I think on Thursday, for skiing Utah… so I’m trying to just finish up as much food as we have in the kitchen. Feels good sometimes to finish up all the leftovers and start again.

I’ll probably be posting less too, or at least, not sticking to any schedule. Life is getting busy, even though I’m making it that way. It seems that between working, working out/training, and finding time to eat food I don’t have too much time for anything else.

Saturday Planning – 3/12 to 3/18

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

With that, here is my meal plan for 3/12/2011 to 3/18/2011, in no particular order. It’s pretty boring, since there is a lot of leftovers and I have no help in the brainstorming.

• Quinoa Chili from (Never Home)Maker (vegan)
• BBQ Tofu, Israeli Couscous, Broccoli & Kale (vegan)
• Leftover Vegetable Korma and Spinach/Potato/Chickpea curry (vegan)
• Beef Stew (link)

It’s the second week in a row that I’m stealing a recipe from (Never Home) Maker. Sorry! I just looks really good. I’ve made lots of chilis before but none with quinoa, or any other grain, in them. Chili cook-off is this week at my work (I think, if it actually happens) but I won’t bring anything in. I’m sort of a non-participator.

I also picked a second new recipe this week – a beef stew that I’ll make tomorrow. It was actually my first time buying wine for anything (since I don’t really drink) and I had to ask the wine lady to help me find a red wine for cooking We’ve got some chuck roast from the quarter of a cow we bought from my husband’s uncle (that he raised!) that we’ll use for the recipe.

Tomorrow’s Race

Tomorrow I am running my second 5k – the Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5k in downtown Ann Arbor. There is a Daily Mile meet-up afterwards that I might go to as well. Need to decide… I really need friends in Ann Arbor though. Such a loner.

Saturday Planning – 3/5 to 3/11

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

With that, here is my meal plan for 3/5/2011 to 3/11/2011, in no particular order. It’s pretty boring, since there is a lot of leftovers and I have no help in the brainstorming.

• Vegetable Korma from (never home)maker
• Spaghetti with zucchini
• Leftover Potato, Spinach, & Chickpea Curry
• Bean Burgers with couscous, broccoli
• Leftover Mussaman Curry

Exercise Planning

Also, due to the races I’m participating in this year that I am training for, I thought it would be a good idea to make an exercise calendar. Since I need to train for biking and running races, I want to make sure that I don’t do too much of one of the other and am ill-prepared.

Each week will be basically the same in March, with the exception of any other appointments I have.

• Sunday: Six Week Six Pack
• Monday: Gym (morning), Bike (outside or trainer)
• Tuesday: Six Week Six Pack, Running
• Wednesday: Bike (trainer), Gym
• Thursday: Six Week Six Pack, Running
• Friday: Six Week Six Pack, Bike (outside or trainer)
• Saturday: Six Week Six Pack, Running

Now all I need is a heavy dose of motivation to wake up and work out…

Saturday Planning – 2/26 to 3/4

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

And I’m finally back! I’ll make another post, maybe tomorrow, about all of our (mis-)adventures out in Colorado, but for right now, I really need to plan a menu for this week!

With that, here is my meal plan for 2/26/2011 to 3/4/2011, in no particular order.

• Quinoa with leeks, garlicky stir-fried greens (kale/chard)
• Spaghetti with zucchini
• Potato, Spinach, & Chickpea Curry (link)
• Bean Burgers with couscous, broccoli
• Mussaman Curry with potatoes, carrots, tofu
• Leftovers… that curry makes a lot

It might not seem like much to get… but we always end up doing a ton of running around on Saturday. It makes me so glad that the husband gets prototype cars from work (with free gas!) to drive around so I don’t have to drive my car that sounds like it’s going to explode.

We’ve got the food co-op, Whole Foods, Great Harvest, Asian grocer, and the mall to stop by today. Better get going!

Saturday Planning – 2/13 to 2/20

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

This coming Wednesday, the 16th, I leave for Colorado for a couple days of much needed vacation.

Pre-Colorado Meal Plan

• Yakisoba with veggies
• BBQ Tofu, Israeli Couscous, and a veg
• Leftover Lasagna, for real this time

Colorado Meal Plan
When we are in Colorado, we’re spending the first night at my friend Amanda’s apartment and then it’s up bright and (really) early to head out to Copper Mountain. The five of us have a condo we’re staying in at the mountain with a full kitchen.

I have been tasked to create the meal plant for five people.

• all meals have a vegetarian option (predominately for me)
• all meals must be gluten-free or have that as an option

With that, here is my meal plan for Colorado.

Breakfasts each morning: fruit, bagels, eggs (hardboiled?), cereal (GF)
Lunch each day: vegetarian black bean chili
Dinner Thursday: Tacos, Mexican rice
Dinner Friday: Stir Fry
Dinner Saturday: some kind of curry, depending on what sauces the Whole Foods in Denver has

I’m super excited for Denver AND not being at work. The only problem is that I know the emails will be piling up while I’m out. Boo to that

Saturday Planning – 2/6 to 2/12

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

With that, here is my meal plan for 2/6/2011 to 2/12/2011, in no particular order.

• Penne Pasta with Greens
• Vegetable Soup (recipe forthcoming!)
• Potato Pancakes
• Yakisoba with veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc)
• Leftover Lasagna

Today is yet another Saturday filled with running around. We’ve got to go to the food co-op, Whole Foods, and Great Harvest… then out to Novi to Running Fit to pick up my race packet for tomorrow morning. At least I’m not nearly as nervous about running outside now as I was a few days ago. High of 32F tomorrow!

Also, I’m meeting up tonight with my friend and previous university roommate, Bryan, and we’re going to Tuptim Thai for dinner We sort of lost track of each other for the past year or so (it sucks being so busy even when you live in the same city!) so I’m excited to get to hang out with him again.

Now I’ve got to make up the grocery list (the meal list is so much more fun!), ride the bike for a while, and finally get this day started

Saturday Planning – 1/30 to 2/5

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

With that, here is my meal plan for 1/30/2011 to 2/5/2011, in no particular order.

• Potato Leek Soup with Rosemary Tomato Scones
• Stir Fry with Brown Rice
• Tofu Scramble with Pasta Sauce (last week) and Kale
• Irish Lamb Stew
• Leftover Lasagna

I’ve got a TON of running around to do today! Farmer’s market, Food Co-op, Whole Foods, Great Harvest Bakery…..

Oh! And to try to counteract some of the plastic waste that creeps into my life, Tim and I are attempting to make bagels this weekend. This should be interesting.

How do you prepare to be able to still cook good meals on weeknights? I’ve been trying to cook up as much food as possible ahead of time, but anything that has to do with fresh veggies is definitely made the night of.

Saturday Planning – 1/23 to 1/29

Planning my menus on Saturday before my grocery shopping trip is my go-to method for keeping organized and saving money by only buying what I need.

This upcoming week will not be that difficult, since we already have some dinners planned and there are leftovers from last week that still need to get used.

With that, here is my meal plan for 1/23/2011 to 1/29/2011.

• Sunday: BBQ Tofu, Israeli Couscous, Zucchini (didn’t have time to make it this week)
• Monday: Lasagna Marinara with Spinach
• Tuesday: Slow Food Huron Valley Meet-up at Silvio’s
• Wednesday: Anniversary dinner at the Grange
• Thursday: Black Bean Burgers, potato wedges, Broccoli
• Friday: Spaghetti

Recipes for both the BBQ Tofu (super easy) and Lasagna can be found in the Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

What are you planning on making this week for dinner? Do you make a set meal plan or just make dinner on the fly?

Saturday Planning – 1/16 to 1/22

Especially in the winter, I feel as though I get home from work each night only to want to stare at the fridge, say nothing is in there, and promptly go out to eat.

The only way I am able to combat this is to devote some of my time each Saturday morning to decide the following:

• what is still in the fridge/cupboards
• what new recipes I can try and what meals we’ll eat for next week
• what groceries we need to pick up that day

I try to buy all of my groceries once a week. I really do not like to have to drop by the grocery store after work to pick up little extras and I can’t even imagine how some people buy groceries every day just for that evening’s meal. Not planning just sounds inefficient and expensive, in my opinion.

With that, here is my meal plan for 1/16/2011 to 1/22/2011.

• Vegan Split Pea Soup with Tomato Rosemary Scones
• Stir Fry with tofu, carrots, broccoli
• BBQ Tofu, Israeli Couscous, Zucchini
• Lasagna Marinara with Spinach
• Assorted leftovers: chili and Japanese-style curry

Recipes for both the BBQ Tofu (super easy) and Lasagna can be found in the Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.

Also on the shopping list, aside from ingredients I need for those meals, is of course foods for breakfast and lunch. Tim eats the same sandwich and chips every day and I have the same blueberry yogurt and granola for breakfast every weekday. Pretty simple.

Another Aspect to Menu Planning

Do you bring your reusable bags? Yea, well, that’s good. Do you put your oranges and bananas in plastic bags, and then put them into your reusable bag? Do you see where I am going here? More people really need to realize that plastic produce bags are part of the problem as well. Beth Terry at My Plastic-Free Life would tell you that you don’t need them.

Truth be told, I’m not scared of my broccoli, lettuce, anything touching the grocery cart. Not at all. If things are really small, like mushrooms or snow peas, I simply use a handy fabric produce bag. The ones I have are like below, and are from Reuse-It.

I’ve used them all over, not just at my food co-op. Even Kroger and Busch’s have been able to figure them out!

Moral of the story is to take inventory of your kitchen, plan your menu, and also to plan your reusable containers! Trying bring some containers with you for cheese or deli counter foods – just weigh the dish first to get the tare weight. It’s surprisingly easy!

Improvisation

One of the things that people probably find hardest in my kitchen, aside from fitting more than one person in it, is that there are no paper towels. I don’t think I have had them in over a year and a half, and one of the only times I really wish I did was when I make baked tofu. They’re super helpful when you press the tofu to get the excess water out… but I think I may have found a way around it.

Ta-da! Tea towels!

Dinner was BBQ Tofu, stir-fried baby bok choy, and (more!) roasted cauliflower. I really just can’t stay away from that stuff

The bok choy was really good this time. I didn’t add sugar like the recipe says, but instead I used juice from half a clementine. It was slightly citrusy, but not overpowering.

I was up in East Lansing for a lot of the weekend, so here is how the weekly menu is looking. I made the roasted chicken last night (thankfully it thawed out in time!).

Weekly Menu
-Roasted Chicken, Peas & Corn, Israeli Couscous
-Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce**
-Chicken Noodle Soup
-Curry Quinoa & Cauliflower (found tiny romanescos)
-Leftovers!

A friend of my mom and her boyfriend has a farm out in St. Clair and I have two nice, free-range, organic roaster chickens in my freezer from him. I really need to learn how to cut the chicken into pieces before cooking, but for right now, I have been just sticking with roasting them when I have one.