Menu Plan Monday - March 26

I think the temperature actually reached 50 degrees Fahrenheit today! Perhaps spring has actually come to northern Michigan this year? We can only hope.

With spring comes thoughts of fun, spring foods. In the menu plan below, I have combined vegan foods with my family's usual meaty fare. I am trying to sneak the vegan stuff into my loved ones' lives.

Monday

Herbed Steaks

Creamed Corn

Homemade Bread

Delicata Squash

Rhubarb Pie

Tuesday

Meatloaf

Hungarian Style Potatoes Paprikash

Cauliflower

Wednesday

Pasta

Salads

Garlic Bread

Thursday

Tacos

Friday

Pizza & Pop

Saturday

Veggie Burgers

Potato Salad

Easter Sunday

Baked Ham

Cheesy Potatoes

Potage Cressonier

Green Bean Casserole

Dinner Rolls

Lemony Asparagus Risotto

Menu Plan Monday - March 12

It's still snowing and cold here, so I am including warming dishes in my menu plan. As for the vegan planning, prepping, and enjoying - I'm loving it, even with all of the extra work. Tonight, we are having a slight surprise for the family. I have made a vegan strawberry cobbler that fits in very well with the whole foods plant based diet. By not telling the rest of the family that it is vegan, I bet I will find an empty dish when I get home from work. Since I am so confident with the WFPB diet, I am now showcasing that one first, followed by the meal plan for the meat eaters. The recipe for the strawberry cobbler is below:

Vegan Strawberry Cobbler

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup honey

2 TBSP real maple syrup

2 quarts strawberries

1 cup water

2 TBSP instant tapioca

2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. almond extract

Using a food processor or mixer, blend the almond flour, salt, maple syrup, almond extract, and applesauce together. It will be a little moist and sticky. In a pan, put strawberries, honey, and water over medium heat and cook until berries come to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in tapioca. Transfer berry mixture to a lightly greased baking dish. Top with spoonfuls of the almond dough. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until bubbly and the dough is browned.

WFPB Menu

Monday

Tossed Salad with Sauerkraut and homemade croutons

Strawberry Cobbler (recipe above)

Tuesday

Baked Potatoes with Cashew Cream

Stir Fry Veggies, steamed

Wednesday

Potato and Veggie Tacos, with homemade corn tortillas

Almond Joy Smoothie

Thursday

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Savory Corn Bread

Friday

Polenta Pizza Pie

Saturday

Steamed Potatoes with Cream of Broccoli Soup over the top

Sunday

Left-overs

Menu for the Meat Eaters

Monday

Pizza 

Strawberry Cobbler (recipe above)

Tuesday

Stir-fry with Flank Steak

Baked Potatoes

Wednesday

Tamale Pie

Thursday

Slow Cooker Meatballs

Mashed Potatoes

Squash

Friday

Pizza & Pop

Saturday

Corned Beef

Boiled Potatoes

Green Beans

Shamrock Shakes

Sunday

Left-overs

Menu Plan Monday - February 26

Yippee for the last Monday in February! I, for one, can't wait for summer. You heard me. I could easily skip spring and go straight for the hot stuff. Up here in the northern part of Michigan, spring isn't promised and it's usually so much like winter that you wonder if it was ever there to begin with.

As for the menu plan, I am providing one plan for the family who refuses to go whole food, plant based along with me. I am continue to make a plan for myself. The diet is working splendidly. I remain a steady 105 pounds and am enjoying lots of carbs and grains. However, the carbs are all complex carbs that come straight from the food itself. Sugar, for me, is rare. Do I feel healthier? Sometimes. I have allergies and hope they will someday be a thing of the past. As for now, I am plagued by them.

The following plant based plan is mostly taken from Easy. Whole. Vegan., by Melissa King. I borrowed the book from inter-library loan and love it so much that I ordered it from Amazon. It's on its way.

Monday

Quart Jar Salad

Tuesday

Lentil Stew

Wednesday

Lime Cilantro Cauliflower Rice

Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Thursday

Broccoli Salad

Friday

Polenta Pizza Pie

Saturday

Corn Chowder

Sunday

Leftovers

The following carnivorous plan is taken mostly from the book, Diabetes from the Plate published by the Meredith Corporation. I did sneak in a few of my vegan foods.

Monday

Breaded Fish Filets

Lime Cilantro Cauliflower Rice

Tuesday

Maple Pecan Pork Chops

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Tossed Salad

Wednesday

Baked Beef Burritos (using corn tortillas)

Salads

Thursday

Cherry Balsamic Meatballs

Acorn Squash

Herbed Basamati Rice

Friday

Pizza & Pop

Saturday

Burgers

Roasted Potatoes

Steamed Sugar Snap Peas

Sunday

On Your Own

Menu Plan Monday - September 15

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about healthy eating choices. I have gone back and forth as a poor, junk-food eater, a vegetarian, a vegan, and then back around again. This week I resolved to go back to a more vegetarian (getting close to being vegan) diet again. When I eat meat, I find that my muscles hurt. Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way. If you want to read a short, but interesting, blog post concerning pain and food, you can find one here. That said, I cannot interest the rest of my family to follow suit. As an aside, I firmly believe (based upon testimonies from people I know personally who have kicked cancer in its worst forms) that juicing is one of the best things you can do to squash inflammation. If you don't like vegetables, try carrot juice blended with an apple or pear. I've thrown in a kiwi before, though my husband swears only apples will sweeten it to his liking. Myself, I prefer straight carrot juice with, perhaps, a couple of leaves of romaine lettuce or kale. I tried tossing in a radish once but, wow, that was hot! The point is, get your body trained to eat as God intended you to and you will reap enormous benefits! To learn more about juicing, you can read an informative boat-load of stuff from Hallelujah Acres. The site also has tons of testimonies of those who have fought disease with nutrition and won.

My menu plan for the week includes meals that I do not feel are healthy but, because of my family's resistance to such options, I have tried to compromise a bit. I usually don't have what they're having - rather I make a large salad or otherwise. Maybe they'll see a difference in my own health and change their ways someday.

Monday

 Tacos

Corn on the Cob

Gluten-free Cherry Pie (vegan)

Tuesday

Ham & Veggie Rice Casserole

Applesauce

Wednesday

Meat Loaf

Baked Potatoes

Green Beans

Thursday

Oven-fried Chicken

Mashed Potatoes

Salads

Friday

Pizza & Pop

Saturday

Potato Soup

Black Bean Burgers

Sunday

On Your Own

 

Menu Plan Monday - December 30

Well, this dismal year 2013 is nearly finished. I say dismal because we spent the better part of it fighting our son's Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura (auto-immune disease) mostly in a hospital downstate. It was rough. We are looking forward to a sunny and bright future, however, as his kidneys are now healing and he doesn't show many signs of the disease re-occuring. The Lord is blessing him.

Here is my plan for the week's meals:

Monday

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Baked Potatoes

Corn

Tomato Lentil Soup (made with veg. broth rather than bullion)

Tuesday

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese (gluten-free)

Gluten-free Sandwich Bread (vegan)

Peas

Wednesday

Argentine Hominy & Bean Soup with Sofrito (gluten-free & vegan)

Homemade White Bread

Chicken & Rice (gluten-free)

Thursday

Homemade Manicotti

Green Beans

Garlic Toast made with the homemade breads

Friday

Jeff has Pizza Hut gift cards to use

Gluten-free Pizza made here for me

Saturday

Burgers

Baked Beans (gluten-free and vegan)

Pickled Beets

Sunday

On Your Own

Easy, Healthy Raw Fudge

I have been making this fudge for some time and love it. NO added sugar makes it a healthier treat than other fudges.

Pecan/Carob Raw Fudge

1 cup pitted dates

1/4 cup carob powder

4 cups unsalted pecans

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

distilled water

Soak dates in distilled water for an hour or two. Drain water off of dates. Place pecans in food processor with S blade and chop fine. Drop in dates a few at a time and continue to process. Add coconut and carob powder and process until mixture sticks together and develops a bit of a shine. Spread mixture into whatever pans you want to. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fudge is cold. Then cut into small squares and either serve or refrigerate for later - or place squares into a freezer container and place in freezer. Once "frozen", this fudge takes very little time to thaw and enjoy.