Monday Menu Planning – Week 4

I’m posting two days in a row? Who even am I?

Another Monday means another menu! I love sharing all the yummy plant based recipes we enjoy. I hope you find something tasty and nutritious to enjoy.

Curious as to why we eat plant based in our home? Check out this article.

If you’d like to check out previous Monday Menu plans, you can find them here, here and here.

Here’s what’s cooking in our home this week …

Creamy Potato Kale Soup (from Pinch of Yum) – This soup is definitely not completely plant based, but it’s easy to make recipe adjustments to do so. Speaking of which, would anyone be interested in a post that has basic substitutions to make recipes vegan? Let me know in the comments. Anyway, I substitute Earth Balance butter spread for real butter and unsweetened plain (not vanilla!) almond milk for the milk (I’m sure that cashew milk would be great too). I also like to cut back on the liquid in the recipe to make it a little thicker. You could also add more potatoes for the same result. This recipe is unbelievably simple, but it’s one of Peter’s favorites. I like to add a teaspoon or two of nutritional yeast to my bowl to bump up the flavor a bit, but he and Claire both prefer it plain. I’m planning on serving it with seeded no-knead bread, which is RIDICULOUS. It’s the sole purpose I requested a dutch oven for Christmas and I’ve made it so many times. It’s great with soup … and even just by itself!

Sesame Noodles with Wilted Greens (from Budget Bytes) – This is a simple, delicious meal. If you are vegan, you can easily make it without the over easy egg on top, but I think the egg really pulls the entire dish together. I’ll be substituting kale for spinach. Am I the only one who takes forever to get through a bag of kale? They’re so huge! I try to make several recipes with kale in a week to use it up before it goes bad. I’m not great at eating raw kale, because of its bitterness and I’ve yet to be able to make a smoothie without the kale being chunky. If you have any tips for either of those issues (other than buying a Vitamix … I wish!), I’d love to hear them!

Vegan Sloppy Joes (from Minimalist Baker) – I’m sure no one hears “sloppy joes” and thinks healthy, but this recipe is is! The ground beef is replaced with green or brown lentils, which surprisingly mimic the texture quite well. There are some yummy veggies thrown in and it’s refined sugar free! A win on all fronts in our home. We usually pair it with homemade french fries, but I might do a salad this week. It’s too hot to bake. Also, am I the only one who loves pickles on sloppy joes? Maybe I’m just weird.

Vegan Meatballs with Spaghetti (from Vegan Heaven) – These meatballs are so good! Usually they don’t all make it to plates, because Claire is busy sneaking into the first batch while I’m browning the second batch. Full disclosure, I have never made the sauce. I usually just buy Aldi’s organic marinara sauce. The meatballs are simple and come together very quickly, so I use jarred sauce to keep the meal super easy and fast. Also, I just realized I have two recipes that call for spaghetti this week. Oh, well. Easy and quick meals are the way to go when you’re packing like a crazy person and planning a massive yard sale for the weekend (shout out to my sister for helping me today!). We get to go check out our new house TOMORROW and I’m pretty excited about it! Then we will have a better idea of what we need to downsize.

Well, there you have it. Another installment of Monday Menu Planning on Beautiful Minutiae! Hopefully I will get most of these recipes made this week, but with the craziness in our home, there are nights when we just have salad and veggie burgers or something equally simple. Thankfully, most of these recipes have shelf stable ingredients, so I won’t be losing any money if they get pushed back to another week. I hope you find a new recipe to enjoy! Let me know in the comments below if you try any!