Meal Plan

I love to cook, but it is so hard for me to come up with ideas of what to cook. For a while I had this wonderful agreement with my hubby. He would devise a meal plan every week, and I would cook dinner. I didn't always follow the plan to a T, but at least the idea of coming up with something to eat wasn't so overwhelming. That all ended when I started my new eating plan (which was started by the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman). None of our old favorites fit into this plan. Sure, I could modify a couple, but by and large I've had to come up with new ideas and try new recipes. My husband is not an adventurous eater. He was ok with cutting out meat (and subbing veggie crumbles, even though I don't really like them), but very resistant to the idea of leaving cheese, milk, and butter behind. We've compromised by my serving shredded cheese on the table or making special portions for him. That hasn't been to bad, but most of the stuff I used to cook was loaded with dairy. In fact, for many recipes dairy is the main ingredient. So, tried and true are severely limited for us now. As a result, hubby has had trouble making a meal plan for this new way of eating, and consequently hasn't done it. So, finally, I have taken the plunge by writing my first (I hope of many) meal plan for a vegan diet. A couple tried and true (or at least adjusted from the old recipes) and a few new adventures.

• Tuesday- Stir Fry on Rice (Hubby says he doesn't like brown rice, but said he'd be ok with it if I used white rice. So I'll be making two kinds of rice and I bought him a sweet and sour sauce) I'll be trying out this Pineapple Stir Fry Sauce.

• Wednesday- Mushroom Lasagna - a tried and true recipe. I'll probably put cheese on top of hubby's share.

• Thursday- Mushroom Burgers - I'm going to cook some portabellas as burgers (that's what I want to try, I've never done it before, but it sounds good to me). I'm also going to cook a few Boca burgers, fry onions, green peppers, and crimini mushrooms. Hubby will have swiss cheese on his. The girls like the Boca burgers, and I will bet I will only get my oldest to try a portabella. My middle child usually says she doesn't like anything and the youngest parrots her.

• Friday- Mexizzas - another new trial, though not truly risky, cause we love Mexican food. I'm hoping the unripe avocados I bought will ripen in time for this, so I can make guacomole for mine. I'm sure hubby will have taco flavored tvp with his.

• Saturday- Quinoa Stuffed Peppers - experimenting with a new recipe here. Hubby likes quinoa but we haven't found a good recipe for it yet (he suggested this recipe and says to stuff his with 50% cheese).

• Sunday- Enchiladas - I'll be making two pans this time. Our old recipe called for cream of mushroom soup, which my hubby has missed the last few times. He also likes a lot more sauce than I do. I like some crisp tortilla, he likes his drenched. And of course with plenty of cheese.

Even with the stubbornness of wanting all that cheese, I think even my sweet husband is eating better than before. I'm certainly not making cream sauces anymore, though I really want to experiment more with nut creams.

I'm excited about finally having a meal plan again. I'm also excited about trying some new recipes without feeling guilty for making things my family doesn't like. My one consellation about my youngest two girls is that I do make sure they get good healthy things to eat even if they don't like what's for dinner. Also, I might add, I plan to serve salad with most of the above meals, and perhaps make some french bread for the lasagna (1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 unbleached flour).