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Our Menu Plan This Week

June 2, 2014 Leave a Comment

I love banana ice cream! This one had raspberries & frozen bananas – that’s it. So yum!

Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet. Sometimes I forget to make one, and those weeks are just awful. I stare into the fridge and whine that there’s “nothing to eat”, even though the fridge is packed full of deliciousness. It’s bad.

So – I menu plan every week (usually) to make things easier on myself. And it works. I promise.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

Smoothie Bowl x2
Stove-Top Oatmeal
World’s Best Vegan Pancakes
Refrigerator Oatmeal x2
French Toast with Fruit

Lunch:

Vegan Lunch Bowl (Sriracha & Soy Sauce Tofu, Quinoa, Tomatoes, Hummus, Shredded Carrots & Zucchini)
Cauliflower Bolognese on Zucchini Noodles
White Bean Burritos
Vegan Poutine (with nacho cheese), Fruit Smoothie
Veggie Pasta with Sauted Vegetables
Vegan Grilled Cheese, Homemade Juice
Leftovers

Dinner:

Vegan Pad Thai
Spiced Cauliflower Couscous Bowl
Crispy Orange Cauliflower with Quinoa
Quinoa Bowl with Spicy Tofu, Broccoli, Cauliflower & Chickpeas
Potato Nachos, Dinosaur Kale Salad
Veggie Stir-Fry
Couscous & Split Peas Bowl with Roasted Broccoli & Chickpeas

Snacks/Dessert:

Fruit
Raw Nuts
Salt & Vinegar Chickpeas
Homemade Nacho Cheese Doritos
Banana Ice Cream
Hummus & Veggie Sticks
Popcorn
Chocolate Macaroons
Blueberry Muffins

What’s on your menu this week?

Our Menu Plan This Week

May 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

I’m kind of in love with bananas. And by kind of, I mean TOTALLY.

Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet.

Sometimes I forget to make one, and those weeks are just awful. I stare into the fridge and whine that there’s “nothing to eat”, even though the fridge is packed full of deliciousness. It’s bad. So – I menu plan every week (usually) to make things easier on myself. And it works. I promise.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

Smoothie Bowl with Granola, Nuts & Seeds
Tandoori Tofu with Spicy Breakfast Potatoes
Strawberry & Blueberry Refrigerator Oatmeal
Pineapple & Coconut Refrigerator Oatmeal
Bagel with Vegan Butter, Fruit Smoothie
Banana French Toast
Toast with Peanut Butter & Chia Seed Jam, Fruit Smoothie

Lunch:

Salad Bowl with Hummus, Shredded Carrots, Black Beans & Baked Tofu (marinated with Sriracha & soy sauce)
Tortilla/Pita Pizzas, Homemade Juice (Carrot, Kale, Apples)
Potato Nachos with Black Beans, Tomatoes & Cashew Sour Cream
Quinoa Pasta with Zucchini, Spinach & Lentils
Leftovers x3

Dinner:

Scalloped Potatoes, Chickpea & Edamame Salad
Burmese Fried Rice, Black Beans & Peas
Falafel Salad
Eggplant Parmesan
Quinoa & Lentil Tacos
Quinoa Bowl with Oven Roasted Broccoli & Chickpeas
Dinner Out

Snacks/Dessert:

Fruit
Raw Nuts
Grilled Pineapple, Toasted Pecans & Coconut Ice Cream (Coconut Bliss)
Homemade Nacho Cheese Doritos
Banana Ice Cream
Hummus & Veggie Sticks, Pita Wedges
Popcorn

What’s on your menu this week?

Our Menu Plan This Week

May 19, 2014 5 Comments

Super yummy potato nachos!

Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

Smoothie Bowl with Granola, Nuts & Seeds
Bagel with Vegan Butter, Fruit Smoothie x2
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pancakes
Loaded Breakfast Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy
Banana French Toast
Toast with Almond Butter, Fruit Smoothie

Lunch:

Mac & Cheese with Peas
Egg-less Egg Salad Salad Sandwiches
Spring Salad with Pan-Fried Garlic-Ginger Tofu
Leftovers x2
Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Veggies & Cashew Cream
Vegetable Pasta with Fresh Basil & Spices

Dinner:

Lentil & Potato Salad
Noodles & Greens
Quinoa Tabbouleh, Pasta with Sauted Garlic & Kale
Veggie Stir-Fry
Potato Curry, Rice
Individual Mini Pizzas, Cucumber Roll-Ups (Stuffed with vegan ricotta cheese!)
Quinoa Bowl with Oven Roasted Sriracha & Garlic Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Sauted Kale

Snacks/Dessert:

Fruit
Raw Nuts
Avocado Chocolate Pudding with Fresh Fruit
Apple Crisp with Coconut Ice Cream (Coconut Bliss)
Homemade Nacho Cheese Doritos
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Banana Crumb Muffins

What’s on your menu this week?

Easy Cheesy Vegan Quesadillas

May 15, 2014 4 Comments

I was craving a super quick lunch the other day. I had so many things on my to-do list, and making an elaborate lunch wasn’t one of them. I initially considered pasta, because it’s easy, filling and mighty delicious – but, I was out of pasta.

Dang.

So, I stared in my pantry for a few minutes and then I spotted the tortillas. Ding ding ding!

I almost always have soaked cashews in my refrigerator, since I cook with them a lot, and thankfully, I had some this day, and used them to make the yummy cashew cheese for this quick meal.

The only thing that took awhile was cooking 4 quesadillas, since they take about 5-8 minutes each. But other than that, this was an easy lunch to throw together, using ingredients I already had on hand.

I’d also like to mention that these vegan quesadillas are kid-approved (and that’s saying something, since my kids want to eat nothing but chocolate, bread, and plain pasta)!

I used vegan sour cream to dip my quesadillas in, but you can also used mashed avocado (or guacamole!), hummus, vegan nacho cheese, or just eat them plain. No matter how you eat them – they are damn good. Try some for lunch today!

Easy Cheesy Vegan Quesadillas

Recipe Type: Appetizers, Snacks, Lunch

Author: Vegan Insanity

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Cashew Cheese
1 1/2 cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 garlic clove
Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Quesadillas
8 flour tortillas
3/4 cup cooked black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
3/4 cup corn (I used frozen)
1/3 cup black olives, sliced
3/4 cup tomatoes, diced (I used 1 large beefsteak tomato)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
3 tbsp green onions, chopped small
1 large avocado, pitted and sliced
1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

Cashew Cheese

Add all of the cashew cheese ingredients into a food processor or high-speed blender and process/blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Quesadillas

In a medium bowl, mix together the black beans, corn, olives, diced tomato and parsley. Set aside.
Add a generous layer of cashew cheese to a tortilla, top with the black bean mixture, then cover with another tortilla, press down lightly, then set aside. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Heat a large pan over medium heat, add 1/2 tbsp oil, and add your quesadilla. Cook until the bottom of the quesadillas is golden brown (3-4 minutes), then flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
Plate your quesadillas, and sprinkle some green onions on top of each one. Serve with vegan sour cream, mashed avocado, or whatever else you like with your quesadillas.

Our Menu Plan This Week

May 12, 2014 2 Comments

Pasta with Sunflower Seed Pesto & Nutritional Yeast – A quick & easy meal!

Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet.

So – I menu plan every week (usually) to make things easier on myself. And it works. I promise.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

Raw Triple Berry Crisp
Fruit Smoothie, Toast with Almond Butter x2
Stove Top Oatmeal with Nuts, Seeds & Fruit
Chickpea Omelet, Fruit
Bagel with Vegan Butter, Fruit Smoothie x2

Lunch:

World’s Best Vegan Pancakes, Fruit
Kung Pao Chickpeas
Couscous & Cauliflower Salad
Cashew Cheese Quesedillas
Leftovers x3

Dinner:

Thin Crust Pizza, Salad
Crispy Coconut Tofu with Spicy Pineapple Cream Sauce, Kale & Quinoa Salad
Mexican Quinoa
Vegan Enchiladas
Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Tacos
Spicy Vegan Mac & Cheese
Raw Taco Salad

Snacks/Dessert:

Broccoli Cheese Puffs
Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Fruit
Raw Nuts
Hemp & Hazelnut Protein Bars
Loaded Potato Nachos
Pretzels

What’s on your menu this week?

Super Cheesy Vegan Pesto Pasta

May 12, 2014 14 Comments

I have one of the easiest recipes ever to share with you today.

Easy and tasty – the perfect combo, don’t you think?

I was craving pasta not long ago, but I wasn’t in a very creative mood, so I looked online for some inspiration.

Pesto pasta kept popping up everywhere, and since I had just made a batch of it the day before for a salad, that’s what I decided to make. I was excited to have such a simple dish for lunch. Cook pasta, add prepared pesto, eat. Easy.

But, as I reached into the fridge to grab the pesto, I noticed the jar of nacho cheese sauce that I’d made for our quinoa & black bean burgers a few days prior.

Hmmm – “do I dare?”, I asked myself.

And dare, I did.

I warmed up the nacho cheese, then added it to the cooked pasta, along with the pesto. I mixed it all together, crossed my fingers, stuffed a bunch of pasta in my face..

and just about died from the deliciousness.

The spicy nacho cheese with the cool pesto was a surefire winner!

Lunch was awesome that day. Which reminds me, I need to make another batch of pesto…

Super Cheesy Vegan Pesto Pasta

Recipe Type: Pasta

Author: Vegan Insanity

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4

Creamy, cheese, pesto-y. This dish has it all! Serve it up for lunch, dinner – heck, why not breakfast? You’ll find it hard not to stuff your face with this cheesy pesto pasta, regardless of what time of day it is!

Ingredients

Pesto
1 1/2 cups fresh basil
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (or hemp oil)
1 cup pine nuts*
4 medium garlic cloves
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Nacho Cheese
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
3 tbsp lemon juice
heaping 1/4 tsp paprika
heaping 1/2 tsp onion powder
heaping 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 large roasted red pepper
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Pasta
3 cups pasta noodles of your choice (I used spelt spiral noodles)

Instructions

Pesto

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until just a little bit chunky. Set aside.

Nacho Cheese

Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and process/blend until smooth. In a small saucepan on low-medium heat, warm the cheese sauce, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes, or until thickened. Set aside.

Pasta

Cook according to package directions. Set aside.

Assembly

Add your pesto and nacho cheese sauce to the cooked pasta. You will likely not use as much as you prepared, so just add a bit of each at a time, and stop when it gets to where you want it.
Season with a bit more salt & pepper, if desired.

Notes

*Almonds also work well in a pesto. As do cashews or walnuts.[br]*Prepare the nacho cheese sauce and/or pesto in advance to save on prep/cooking time!

Homemade Vegan Calzones with Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Spread

May 8, 2014 13 Comments

I don’t think you’ll find many people who don’t like pizza, but sometimes, pizza just ain’t enough – you need something new, something different.

And so, the calzone was born. I’ve never found a store-bought calzone I’ve ever liked, but this homemade version is crazy good.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can put in your calzone! For this recipe, I chose zucchini, green olives, spinach, and a bit of vegan cheese shreds (mozzarella). Super tasty!

I love how the sauce/spread is used, instead of just regular ol’ tomato sauce. It makes the calzone much more interesting. The flavour of that stuff is incredible!

The dough is flaky, with just enough “chew” to make it taste exactly like pizza crust. What could be better than a pizza folded in half, and stuffed full of all your favourite pizza toppings?

Homemade Vegan Calzones with Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Spread

Recipe Type: Pizza

Author: Vegan Insanity

Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

Dough
1 1/2 Cups kamut or all-purpose flour
1 1/8 tsp fast acting yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water, or as needed
Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Spread
1/2 cup raw cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours)
1 large garlic clove
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 medium tomato
1/3 cup fresh basil, packed
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Assembly
Veggies of your choice
Vegan cheese (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

Dough

Add the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil to a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined.
Add the water, as needed, until the dough is soft and has come together nicely. Form into a ball.
Place the dough ball in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Allow to rise, until it has doubled in size, which can take up to 1 hour (it was 40 minutes for me).

Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Spread

Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/processed until smooth, adding a bit of water, if needed.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 500F.
Divide the dough into 3 or 4 portions. and roll each one into a thin layer. Be careful not to make them too thick!
Spread the sauce on each calzone, without going all the way to the edges.
Add the “toppings” – veggies and vegan cheese – on one side of the calzone.
Fold into a semicircle and seal the edges.
Poke a few holes into each calzone, brush with a bit of oil, and sprinkle some dried basil on top (or fresh!).
Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the bottoms have browned nicely.
Enjoy!

My Favourite Vegan Chili

May 6, 2014 2 Comments

I love chili. I don’t even care if it’s so hot outside that my hair sticks to my face and I can’t breathe if I’m in the sun for longer than 5 minutes.

Chili is another one of my favourite comfort foods. I can eat it all year round. It’s yumminess in a bowl!

Thankfully, this vegan chili is a healthy one. It’s loaded with tons of vegetables, beans and infused with tasty chili seasonings. So go ahead, eat a bowl – or two – and don’t feel guilty about it at all!

I had some leftover vegan nacho cheese, so I topped my chili with that, and a sprinkling of green onions (because green onions make any dish better).

Also? Fresh bread is a must with chili! Although it’s good on it’s own, this chili is extra good slathered on bread. Crushed tortilla chips are also delicious with chili! It gives the dish some crunch, which is nice.

This dish freezes very well, too, so it’s a great meal to make more of than you need. Pop the extras in the freezer and you have a healthy meal waiting for you on a night you don’t have time to cook dinner!

My Favourite Vegan Chili

Recipe Type: Lunch, Dinner

Author: Vegan Insanity

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup celery, chopped
1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped small
2 large garlic cloves, minced
6 cups diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup cooked black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
1/2 cup cooked red kidney beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
1/4 cup cooked chickpeas (if using canned, drain and rinse first)

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add celery, red bell pepper and onions to the pot, and let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are lightly browned, and the celery and bell pepper are slightly softened.
Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or so, until the garlic has also lightly browned.
Add in the diced tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well. If it looks too thick, add some vegetable broth or water, 1/2 cup at a time. Remember that it will thicken up as it cooks, so you don’t want it to be too thick when it first goes in there.
Cook for about 10 minutes, then add in the black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas, and stir.
Cook for another 20-30 minutes, or until thickened to your desired consistency.
Serve, topped with vegan nacho cheese, vegan cheese shreds, vegan sour cream, chopped green onions, or whatever else you like on your chili!