Organizing, Budgeting, and a Meal Plan

Two of my goals for 2014 were 1) to become more organized, and 2) to stick to my grocery budget. I also get asked the question, "What do you eat?" all the time, so, I wrote up a meal plan and grocery list to knock out all three. Usually I just go to the grocery with a few things in mind, and then buy anything else that sounds good. It has worked for the past few years, but every night is a game of, how do I make beans, mangoes, and sauerkraut into a delicious meal? This is my attempt to challenge myself to stick to my meal plan, budget, and to answer the age old question, "what does a vegan eat?"

A few notes-
The "prep" work for some of these dishes (beans, bread, etc) simply means soaking the dried beans and cooking them (tip: I add a piece of kombu to the cooking water to aid digestion), and for bread, well, making and baking it. I try to eat a 100% whole foods, home cooked diet. We may occasionally hit up the Whole Foods salad and hot bars, or Cosmic coconut for a kale salad, or soup and smoothie, but for the most part I cook all of my meals, and the majority of Matt's (unless he has an overnight flight, then he goes to Mellow Mushroom and eats pizza, ha!).

Also, I didn't specify, but all foods are organic (if possible), vegan, and gluten free.

My classes are listed next to the dates, because it reminds me I need to have an easy throw together dinner for those nights when I go straight from work, to class, then come home to a hungry husband.

I eat (drink) the same breakfast almost every day. I just like it that much. Occasionally I'll have a green vegetable juice instead, but for the most part this banana-almond smoothie is my go-to.

Many people ask why I eat gluten free. Do I think gluten is the root of all evil and you should quit eating it? No, but I have a gluten intolerance. Not eating gluten has naturally kept my autoimmune disease from flaring, kept me off the terrifying medications my Doctors were trying to keep me on, and has truly given me back my life. If you are having issues, get the test, or just stop eating gluten for 30 days and see how you feel. If you, like my husband, can tolerate gluten just fine, then eat, my friend, eat! If you would like more info on this, just ask.

The grocery list is simply the things I needed for this meal plan, but is not a complete list of everything you would need to make the meals below.

Without further ado, this week's meal plan...

Meal Plan for January 31-February 7

31-Jan	Friday
Dinner- Baked potatoes topped with back bean chili and no-cheese sauce (a mix of veggies, raw cashews, and nutritional yeast), and steamed broccoli
1-Feb	Saturday (Body Sculpt)
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
(Frozen banana, baby spinach, almond butter, almond milk, ground flax seed, cinnamon/cacao)
Lunch- Leftover chili and no cheese sauce atop quinoa, with steamed broccoli
Dinner- Veggieful Salad with blackened tempeh and a lemony-herb vinaigrette
2-Feb	Sunday (Yoga)
*Prep beans and bread for the week
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Smashed Avocado & Garbanzo massaged kale salad
Dinner- Broccoli no-cheese soup, small salad, and homemade bread
3-Feb	Monday (Yoga)
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Leftovers from last night's dinner
Dinner- Mushroom stroganoff, steamed greens with garlic, and a salad
4-Feb	Tuesday
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Leftovers from last night's dinner
Dinner- Black bean tacos w/ corn tortillas (make your own), salsa, guacamole, veggies, and no-cheese sauce
5-Feb	Wednesday (Pilates)
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Leftovers from last night made into a taco salad
Dinner-  Veggie lettuce wraps with rice noodles, tempeh, and spicy  almond-tahini sauce
6-Feb	Thursday
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Use leftovers to make an Asian noodle salad
Dinner- Sweet potato with creamed kale, small salad (make 2, 1 for lunch tomorrow)
7-Feb	Friday (Sew Memphis)
Breakfast- Banana-Almond Smoothie
Lunch- Leftovers from last night
Dinner- My sister is coming to town!!!
*Snacks- Apples, clementines, green juice Shopping List Lemons-5 Limes-4 Apples-8 Clementines-1 box Bananas- 2 bunches Yellow Bell Pepper-4 Red Bell Pepper-4 Green Onions-2 bunches Onions-1 bag Mushrooms-3 pkgs Shallots-2 Broccoli-3 Romaine hearts-3 pkgs Baby Spinach-1 pkg kale-3 bunches chard-3 bunches Potatoes: 2 Baker 2 sweet Avocado-4 Cherry Tomatoes-1 Cilantro-2 bunches Parsley-2 bunches Cucumber-2 Celery-2 Tahini- 1 Nutritional Yeast Cacao Powder Apple Cider Vinegar Extra Virgin Olive Oil Raw cashews Quinoa Quinoa Noodles (for mushroom stroganoff) Brown Rice Noodles (for lettuce wraps) Masa (corn meal for making the tortillas) Tempeh-2