do weekly meal planning

So, I’ve folded this thing into our newly-established family hang night. We choose three meals and a couple snacks for the week, which, alonf with always having salad fixings, leaves plenty of leftovers for the remaining nights and lunches. Here’s what we came up with for this week:

• Pizza—ww crust; selection of dairy cheese or soy cheese; veggie selection of red pepper, purple onion, broccoli, olives, artichokes
• Steamed spinach
• Roasted Brussels sprouts

• Tempeh loaf
• Steamed broccoli
• Steamed cabbage

• BLT sandwiches—smoked tempeh, lettuce, tomato on potato bread
• Spinach salad—spinach, apple, pine nuts

Snack one:
Nachos—corn chips, homemade guacamole, salsa, cheese (leftover from pizza), beans, olives

Snack two:
Pumpkin bran muffins—http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/muffins/pumpkin-bran-muffins or http://www.zandria.us/archives/main/2008/07/09/pumpkin-bran-muffins/ maybe?

Barley and White Bean Salad with Parsley, Lemon, and Capers

_{from http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/06/barley-and-white-bean-salad-with.html}

(Makes 4 main dish servings, recipe adapted slightly from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop.)

1 1/2 cups pearl barley
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained well (I used Cannelini beans)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Dressing:
1 1/2 cups parsley leaves, packed (I used curly parsley, but you can use either type. You can use the thinner parts of the stems, but break off the thick ends.)
2 T capers
1 tsp. minced garlic
6 T olive oil
3 T lemon juice

Bring two quarts of salted water to a boil, then add barley and simmer until it’s still slightly chewy, about 25 minutes. While barley cooks, drain beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain well, then blot dry with paper towels.

Wash parsley and spin dry or blot dry with paper towels. Put parsley, capers, and garlic in food processor and process until all ingredients are finely chopped. Add oil and lemon juice and process about 30 seconds more. Put dressing into small bowl and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed.

When barley is done, drain well and transfer to large bowl. Add the beans and gently combine. Stir in parsley dressing, tossing so salad ingredients are all coated with dressing. (You may not need all the dressing, depending on how wet you prefer your salads.) Taste salad and season as desired with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Let come to room temperature and serve over lettuce and/or sliced tomatoes if desired.

Salad can be store in the refrigerator for a day or two, but let come to room temperature again before serving.

Golden Potato and Tempeh Casserole

_{from
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/07/golden-potato-and-tempeh-casserole.html}

Fresh tarragon gives this casserole a real spark of flavor, but if you don’t have it or don’t enjoy tarragon, you can leave it out.

Tempeh Ingredients:
6-8 ounces tempeh
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Sauce Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup plain, unsweetened soymilk
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 pinch cayenne
2 tablespoons tahini
2 teaspoons white miso
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, snipped (optional)

1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon vegan Parmesan (optional)

Slice the tempeh about 1/4-inch thick. In a flat, microwavable baking dish arrange the tempeh slices in a single layer. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the tempeh.

In the microwave, cook on high power for 3 minutes. Turn or rearrange any pieces that were not covered by broth and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Then cook at 50% power for 3 more minutes. Allow the tempeh to stay in the broth until you’re ready to assemble the casserole.

Make the sauce by putting all the sauce ingredients except the tarragon into a blender and blending until completely pureed. Stir in the tarragon just before using the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Oil a large, 3-quart casserole (or use two smaller casseroles). Wash the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Slice each half into 1/4-inch slices.

Put half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Lift the tempeh out of its marinade and arrange it on top. Put the remaining potatoes over the tempeh. Stir the sauce and pour it over the potatoes. Sprinkle with black pepper and cover tightly.

Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the cover, sprinkle with vegan Parmesan, and bake for 10-15 more minutes, until potatoes are tender and sauce has thickened. Remove from the oven and let stand a few minutes before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings. One sixth of the recipe provides 281 Calories (kcal); 6g Total Fat; (18% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 839mg Sodium; 6g Fiber. Weight Watchers: 5 Flex Points.

Almond Walnut Taco Salad

^{from http://happyfoody.com/2008/05/06/walnut-meat-taco-salad/}

We have made this recipe more times in the last month than any other. It’s delicious, and even those in your life who think they don’t like “that raw food stuff” will like it! We eat this either as a salad or in romaine leaves. When you stuff the romaine leaves with these mixtures, it feels more like a real taco. It’s all about the texture!

There are a lot of ingredients, but it really doesn’t take that long to mix up. And once it’s made, it keeps well for several days, which makes it great for a quick supper. Enjoy!

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen (Ani Phyo)
1/2 cup almonds (you can also substitute pecans or any other nut)
1/2 cup walnuts
1 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 t sea salt
1 t nama shoyu or soy sauce

Process almond and walnuts and put aside in a bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well with a spoon. Keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge.

Salsa (Living on Live Foods by Alissa Cohen)
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 scallions
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup cilantro
1 T cider vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 T lime juice
1 t cumin
1 t sea salt
Jalapeno to taste

Pulse blend in food processor to blend (I like to leave large chunks of tomato in and add separately). Let sit for an hour in fridge so the flavors can blend.

Guacamole (Living on Live Foods by Alissa Cohen)
2 avocados
1 tomato
1/4 cup onion or green onions
1/4 cup cilantro
Sea salt to taste
Pinch of Cayenne

Food process until desired consistency.

Cashew Sour Cream (I Am Grateful by Terces Engelhart)
1 1/2 cups soaked cashews (soak 8 hours and rinse)
1/2 t salt
2 T lemon juice
Approx. 3/4 cup fresh water

Blend in blender until smooth. Add more lemon juice or salt to taste. I like to put this in a squirt bottle and squirt it on top of the taco or other wraps. It looks pretty :)

Summer has totally derailed this thing—boo! June was a wash and we’re going to be gone half of July. I have been planning my OLS meals once a week (http://mikaeladanielle.com/tag/one-local-summer/), which has me wondering how I will fit in my weekly CSA pick-ups with planning once I get started again. We have only a very general idea about what we’re getting, and don’t know for sure until we actually get to the farm.

Anyway, hopefully I can start meal planning again in August!

Mum’s Seitan Stroganoff

^{from http://vegetationramblings.blogspot.com/2007/04/good-friday-april-6-2007.html}

About 50g butter (or vegan margarine)
1 onion, finely chopped
300g button mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 tbsp plain unbleached flour
1/2 cup sour cream or more to taste (or dairy free alternative)
2 tsp tomato paste, or more to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g stroganoffed seitan strips (or you could use a soy meat sub if you can tolerate it I guess)
400g shittake mushrooms, sliced thickly

Put sour cream and tomato paste into a small bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.

Melt butter or margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add onions and saute` for 10 minutes or until soft and translucent but don’t brown them.

Add button mushrooms and continue to stir until they release their juice and become soft adding more butter as needed. Remove from the pan.

Add more butter and fry seitan over med-high heat until it starts to crisp on the edges and throw in shittake mushrooms.

Stir until they soften and throw in a tbsp of flour. Stir for 1 minute more and season to taste with salt and pepper. Put button mushroom and onion mixture back into the saucepan with the shittake and seitan and stir for another minute to heat through. Lower heat back to low.

Put sour cream and tomato paste mixture into saucepan and mix the whole lot together until all seitan and mushrooms are coated in the sour cream mixture. Do not boil.

It’s ready to serve. I really like it over cooked egg free fettucine but you can also serve it over rice if you like or another type of pasta.

Is up, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelamartin/sets/72157605166067796/!

Monday/19: fajitas and rice
Tuesday/20: tempeh loaf (recipe below), potatoes and broccoli
Wednesday/21: fajitas and rice
Thursday/22: amaranth and veggie stirfry (recipe below, modified)
Friday/23: biscuits and gravy, spinach salad

1 cup Amaranth; uncooked
⅛ teaspoon Sea salt
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 cup Leeks; sliced
½ cup Mushrooms; sliced
½ cup Green peppers; sliced
1 teaspoon Soy sauce
½ cup Whole wheat bread crumbs
½ cup Scallions; sliced
½ cup Pumpkin seeds; toasted

Rinse and drain amaranth. Dry roast amaranth in a hevy skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Bring 3 cups water and salt to a boil. Stir in amaranth and return to a boil. Lower heat and place a flame deflector or heat diffuser under the pot. Cover and simmer for 35 minutes or until all water is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Heat a skillet and brush generously with oil. Add leeks and saute for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and peppers and saute for 10 minutes, stirring often. Sprinkle with soy sauce and one teaspoon water. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top of vegetables. Place amaranth on top of crumbs. Cover and heat through. Stir to combine all ingredients, place in a serving dish and garnish with scallions and pumpkin seeds. Per serving: 340 cal; 11 g prot; 237 mg sod; 51 g carb; 11 g fat; 0 mg chol; 93 mg calcium

From astray recipes.

• http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=314, where there is a monthly “menu planning meals” thread.
• http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=366, where there’s a monthly “what’s for dinner” thread.

I’m also going to start a flick’r set. Of course ;)