Vegetarian Plant-based Meal Plans

I always thought vegetarians were taking it a little too far. Why cut out meat altogether? 

Well, here I am: blogging about some great vegetarian meals. As many of you know, my family started on January 2, 2014 with a 21 day trial period eating clean, real, unprocessed food, along with plant-based meals. We even cut out refined sugar! I thought it would be so difficult and I would miss meat, sugar, and donuts immensely. However, there are so many wonderful real food options. We just kept going. Now it is March, so I will share some of our favorite meals.  Some of the recipes are listed on my website, others are linked to where I found them, and others I will share later.  Enjoy!

Monday-

Breakfast: Egg Sandwich on Whole-wheat bread (This is one of my kid's favorites. I showed them how we used to make them, when I worked at Edward's Coffee Shop in Lancaster. They like to make the egg in the microwave and melt cheese on top. Slade makes his own honey mustard sauce.)

Lunch: Brown Rice with Beans, side veggie or salad

Dinner: Tomato-Barley Soup (the Buckwheat Groats are a complete protein), Homemade Whole-wheat bread or Ezekiel 4:9 bread, Green Salad with Home-made Dressing

Tuesday-

B: Shredded Wheat or Oatmeal

L: Leftover soup with grilled cheese sandwiches

D: Egg Plant Parmesan (This is so easy and delicious! My friend, Amy gave me this recipe, from Whole Foods Market)

Wednesday-

B: Scrambled Eggs or Greek Yogurt with Granola and Banana

L: Veggie Sandwiches (with avocados,spinach, cucumbers, and hummus) 

D: Kale and Navy Bean Soup (recipe coming soon) with roasted chips of potatoes and sweet potatoes made in the oven on cookie trays/ Salad/ Bread

Thursday-

B: Egg Sandwich on Whole-wheat bread or Whole-Grain 10-grain Hot Cereal from Bob's Red Mill (This is one of Mike's favorite breakfasts, lately)

L: Leftover Soup

D: Penne Pasta Everyday Celebration: Whole-wheat penne pasta with organic spaghetti sauce (This is my fast go-to meal when I'm in a pinch. Add your choice of calamata olives, spinach, sliced tofurky, roasted red peppers, with dollops of ricotta or cottage cheese on top)

Friday-

B: Shredded Wheat or Oatmeal

L: Vegetable and Tofu Stir-fry with Brown Rice

D: Homemade Pizza (with whole-wheat crust) recipe coming soon

Saturday-

B: Baked Oatmeal (recipe without refined sugar)

L: Veggie Sandwiches (with avocados,spinach, cucumbers, and hummus) on Whole-wheat bread or leftover pizza

D: Creamy Mushroom Soup/Salad/ Whole-wheat bread  (This is so good!  I use my food processor to slice and dice all the veggies.  I also make a double batch, so I can have leftover or freeze some.  I use buck-wheat groats, too.)

Sunday:

B: Shredded wheat or oatmeal

L: Egg Salad Sandwiches/ Spring Mix Salad

D: Veggie Burgers or veggie pancakes/ Salad with Home-made Dressing

 

What about dessert?!

Well, we eat a lot of fruit as a dessert, these days.  Here are some other delicious and healthier options, too.

Tofu Chocolate Pudding (Sounds crazy, but we loved it!)

Granola Protein Bars