Meal planning, freezer fills, and suggestions.

I don't have the world's best kitchen. Actually, the kitchen we had in our one-bedroom flat in Edinburgh was bigger and better-designed than ours. Ours, however, is significantly better-furnished.

I know all you really need is a wooden spoon, but I kind of adore cooking gadgets. Thankfully, the thief was obviously not much of a chef because he didn't take any of our kitchen stuff. It's already personal, but if that KitchenAid Stand Mixer had disappeared, he would have needed to flee the country, not just the state.

Anyway, I'm way excited that the wee boy is big enough to sit in a high chair, giving me a bit of freedom to cook.

But what to make???

Colleen, a mum-of-two who works full-time and still manages to keep a Martha Stewart home and a Food Network-worthy menu plan, stocked up our freezer last week with delicious vegan meals ranging from homemade hummus to chili. (I'm vegan these days because the wee boy pukes excessively and cries a lot when I eat dairy.) We are almost out of the ready-to-eat freezer meals, and I'm feeling the need to stock up on my own.

Somehow menu planning is still baffling to me. I found this website, which is a genius idea and does all the planning work for you, but 1) I don't have the money to sign up and 2) there isn't a vegan menu option anyway.

Help? Send me to your vegan Pinterest page maybe? Or any of your favorite one-pot meals? I think one-pot is all I can handle right now. It's been a while, folks.

I need to get back to food pictures and posts. These baby pix are getting old, right?

8 comments

  1. MedinaJanuary 28, 2013 at 6:23 PM

    I pinned a few vegan recipes on Pinterest for you. Now I'm hungry.

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  2. MichelleJanuary 29, 2013 at 10:50 AM

    I'm absolutely horrible at menu planning. I can and enjoy cooking but I end up making the same one-pot meals because vegetarian meal planning flummoxes me.

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    Replies
    1. Brigid KaelinJanuary 31, 2013 at 2:08 PM

      Is it really only limited to vegetarian meal planning that is tricky? I feel like anything that requires advance thinking is beyond my -- SQUIRREL!!!

      Delete
  3. nancymoisehawsJanuary 29, 2013 at 11:16 AM

    Here is a link to my page, and it is a constant work in process. I'm not vegetarian, so you will have to make the necessary adjustments to seitan (I have considered making my own), tempeh, legumes, etc. Not sure how I would do my bacon wrapped turkey... but that's your challenge. heh.

    http://nancymoisehaws.blogspot.com/p/recipes-results.html

    Here's a nice link to the NYTimes, and next time you find your way to the Library, I live by Cooks Illustrated. For instance, I read an article there years ago about how the chemistry of using onions and mushrooms hit the palate in the same way as steak.
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/hearty-one-dish-vegetarian-meals/

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  4. AngelaJanuary 30, 2013 at 3:20 AM

    I slow cooker or crockpot might be a good idea also...there are tons of recipes on Pinterest too. Lots of recipes that show to prepare freezer bags of all the ingredients, then as you want to cook you can simply pull a bag out, add it to the slow cooker and turn it on for the day :)

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    Replies
    1. Brigid KaelinJanuary 31, 2013 at 2:09 PM

      I like that plan. One-pot meals are really the only way I can plan a meal. I don't have time to plan out side dishes, etc. Or rather, I don't have patience...

      Delete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2013 at 3:27 PM

    Moosewood recipes can be vegan.

    ReplyDelete