Weekend mornings mean meal planning time for the following week! It gives me time to relax and think about what I want to eat, what I want to cook, or new recipes I want to try. There’s so many vegan recipes to choose from! I don’t know when I’m going to run out of new recipes every night of the week, but it sure makes things interesting and it never gets old. I usually scroll through Pinterest daily, and now I gain inspiration from recipes I see on there or instagram, cook books, or things that I’ve had out that I want to recreate. It’s exciting for me to try out new things and see how they turn out, and I know it’s not for everyone so I hope my experiments help you with meal planning and help you take some of the frustrations out of your nightly meals. Here’s what I planned for this week, and I’ll be posting how they turn out. Who knows, maybe this will be your menu for the following week?

Veggie tacos- I went out to eat last weekend with my parents to our local Mexican restaurant and ordered their veggie taco plate for the first time. 2 tacos, black beans, and rice, not that thrilling, right? I was pleasantly surprised with how flavorful they were so I want to recreate them. They diced onions, peppers, mushrooms, yellow squash, and zucchini and cooked them fajita style then filled the tortillas with this delicious mixture.

Chickpea Buddha Bowl– I found this recipe on Pinterest using cauliflower rice instead of a traditional grain, chickpeas, spinach, and carrots. Instead, I’m making cauliflower rice, chickpeas, roasted Brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes. I’m still planning on using the tahini style sauce to top it with. Recipe here

Sweet Chili Tofu Bowl- This is a recipe from Plant based Jane combining sweet chili tofu, brown rice, edamame, and broccoli. I might add some shredded carrot and sesame seeds for added crunch. Recipe here

Warm Quinoa Salad– I haven’t been craving many traditional cold salads lately because it’s FREEZING out and I want to end the day with something to warm me up. This looks like a hearty, healthy, and warm salad full of quinoa, roasted butternut squash, Craisins, kale, pecans, and red onion. I’m going to use regular roasted pecans instead of candied like in this recipe. Recipe here

White Bean and Spinach Pasta- I was watching The Chew this week and they made a mostly vegan option for their healthy resolutions recipes. It’s white beans, spinach, garlic, lemon zest, and pasta. I’m planning on using a lentil or quinoa based pasta for added protein, and making a white wine/ lemon based veggie broth to flavor it all and top with vegan parm. Thanks Clinton!

Sample grocery list for the week– includes mostly everything you need for these recipes.

Produce– mushrooms, avocado, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, red and green bell peppers, butternut squash, kale, red onion minced garlic, lemon, shredded carrots

Pantry– tahini, sesame seeds, canned white beans, pasta, quinoa, tortillas, pecans, craisins, veggie broth, chickpeas, sweet chili sauce

Refrigerated– tofu, edamame

Fresh flowers- because every kitchen should feel pretty and make you happy to be there!