I did it! No lentils tonight, darlings. I had insomnia last night and made my menu plan at 5am…
A secret – I bought enough stuff to make double amounts of pretty much every meal, to be packaged and stored in the chest freezer for some future meal time when I’m feeling too tired/overwrought/lazy/busy/blah to actually cook. Or when we have a lean week money-wise and I have a hankering for meals gone by. I’m making lasagna while the sun shines, as they say.
Then over my first hot cup of coffee at 6am, when I finally conceded that I would not be getting back to sleep, I wrote my grocery list…
I organize my list according to the grocery store’s layout. Tell me I’m not the only person that does this? Heh.
You may have noticed there isn’t anything on my meal plan for breakfasts or lunches. That’s because generally the kids eat toast or cereal with a smoothie in the mornings. With our Magic Bullet, they can pretty much be left to their own devices on school mornings. They also make their own lunches! This is an actual policy at their elementary school and part of the overall “never do for a child what she can do for herself” mandate (they go to a weirdo hippy school). Works for me! So I just make sure they have plenty of things to choose from every day and they get to have full autonomy over their lunches. Though I do look them over and make suggestions, such as – you need an apple and/or some carrot sticks. Perhaps I’ll talk more about school lunches and the challenges we’ve faced over the years in another entry.
So, according to my meal plan, tonight’s dinner was my famous Sunflower Pate Lasagna and The Ultimate Vegan Caesar Salad. Is it bragging if it’s the truth?
I don’t understand people who seem to think vegans are deprived when it comes to food. I consistently make meals that strike all the same notes my non-vegan meals of yore did. Filling, hearty, savory, sweet, rich, with a ton of variety. The only time I’ve ever bored with my food is when the pantry is almost bare and I’m too lazy to go shopping to replenish it. Oh, and I am occassionally bored with the vegan restaurant options in my city. Vancouver is pretty good for choice, but we live far enough outside of the city proper to make a trip into town for a meal a bit daunting, especially on a weeknight. I try to look at it as a good thing: I am “forced” to cook at home more often than not, which is less expensive and often healthier. Yeah…that’s it.
6 comments
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2010/11/09 at 8:17 pm
Jaclyn Jean
you aren’t the only one with the grocery list…… mine is even more detailed! haha. i love yr website!
jaclyn jean
2010/11/10 at 9:13 am
Duchess Of Kircaldy
ooo, i’d love to see one of your grocery lists, then. i’m always looking for ways to improve mine. 😉 thanks!
2010/11/09 at 11:07 pm
Sarra
Ooohhhhhh, sweet Caesar salad of love and magic! Possibly the best salad I’ve ever eaten, and definitely the best Caesar I’ve ever eaten! Just when I thought I couldn’t miss you any more than I already do…
2010/11/10 at 9:13 am
Duchess Of Kircaldy
awwww! kisses to you, sarra!
2010/11/09 at 11:11 pm
Alison C.
I love this post, Christa. The food looks amazing, but I liked looking at your shopping list, and yes, I do mine that way, too! It’s a totally different world when you have a family to shop and cook for. In my world, I just eat whatever scraps I can find or eat out and don’t preplan anymore these days. (though I used to allocate one day of the week for cooking all day and do the planning/list like you do.) Also, interesting note about your kids having to make their own lunches. I hope the rest of the parents are also supervising their kids to make sure their lunches are healthy and nutritionally balanced enough.
2010/11/10 at 9:17 am
Duchess Of Kircaldy
i looooove peeping at people’s meal plans and shopping lists. it can sometimes provide inspiration.
i think the thing about letting the kids put together their own lunches is, as the parent you still have the ultimate say on what they have to choose from since you’re the one stocking the pantry. i don’t buy things like lunchables or tons of processed stuff so they’re obligated to eat healthy food, if they want to eat at all. :p