Last week of Jan 2014!

Eating less meat has been great.  I loved all of last week recipes.  My favorite was the Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and White Beans.  I don't know if we have been saving as much money as I thought we would.  Time will tell though.  One change I have thought about is cooking dried beans instead of using so many canned beans.  That will require a bit more planning though.  Maybe I'll try that a few weeks in February and see how it goes.  This week is another week of recipes available online.  Finding online recipes makes planning a menu and shopping list so quick and easy.    

Sunday

Breakfast Eggs and Bacon Breakfast Pizza

Lunch:  Cool Ranch Crock pot Chicken  (use leftovers for lunch during week)

Dinner:  Chickpea piccata, rice and broccoli

Monday  Spaghetti Squash Recipe with Spinach, Feta & Basil White Beans

Tuesday  Winter Lentil Soup

Wednesday  Brussels Sprouts Tacos with Caramelized Shallot Salsa

Thursday: Date night!

Friday  Barley and Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

It's still cold outside

Polar air is coming back down this week.  We need some hearty meals to warm us up. All the recipes this week have links so you can easily take a look at what we are eating.  Last week the meals were great.  I can certainly see making all of the recipes again.

Recipes from online sources

Monday Jan 20  Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry

Tuesday Jan 21 Warm Quinoa Salad

Wednesday Jan 22 Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and White Beans

Thursday Jan 23 Date Night

Friday Jan 24 Irish white bean and cabbage stew

Saturday Jan 25 Celery Root and Kale Soup

This week's menu

Last week the dinners were quite good.  The only complaint is with the meatloaf bites, way too much spice.  I had to eat a large bite of mashed potatoes with just a little bite of the "meatloaf".  I would make it again but reduce all spices by at least half.  This week we will eat a little more meat but still go heavy on the veggies.  I will be excited to report back again and let you know how the meals were.  Let's keep eating healthy in 2014!!

Cookbook for week (unless another link given)  Happy Herbivore Light and Lean

Sat (Jan 11)  Lunch  bbq salad (pg 133)

Dinner White Chicken Chili (SCR pg 132), cornbread

Sun (Jan 12) Breakfast waffles, bacon

Lunch bangkok curry (pg 163), brown rice

Dinner game day loaded potato (pg 196)

Monday (Jan 13) Dinner leftover chicken chili

Tuesday (Jan 14)  Lentil Joes (pg 59), roasted potatoes, salad

Wednesday (Jan 15)  Quinoa Curry Cakes (pg 68), hummus, salad with lemon dressing

Thursday (Jan 16) Date night!!

Friday (Jan 17) Bok Choy and Cauliflower Stir Fry  brown rice

Happy 2014!

I thought it would be fun to share what I cook.  Every week I plan out a menu.  For 2014 I am trying to eat plant based 5 days a week and 2 days a week eat some meat if I want to.  I think cutting back on meat eating will be great for many reasons.  I will eat more vegetables and beans, this is great for my health.  I will save money, meat prices have certainly been on the rise.  I will help the environment, I do lots of things around the house to reduce my carbon footprint and this is really one of the last things I need to do.

Cookbook for the week  Happy Herbivore Light and Lean

Saturday Jan 4  Loaded Mexican baked potato (pg 195)

Sunday Jan 5 breakfast pancakes with fruit,

Lunch Scott’s burrito (pg 101)

Dinner Italian bowl (pg 95)

Monday Jan 6

Lunch:Lentil Kale Potato soup

Dinner:Meatloaf bites (pg 79) mashed potatoes, veggies

Tuesday Jan 7 Thai tacos (pg 64)

Wednesday Jan 8 bbq salad (pg 133)

Thursday Jan 9 bangkok curry (pg 163), brown rice

Friday Jan 10 Steak, parmesan greens (pg 181), roasted potatoes