Vegan Meal Planning

One of the comments I get the most regarding being vegan is that it would be too hard. Honestly, it was a little tricky in the beginning for me, but now it’s easy as pie. It took me about 6 months to transition from vegetarian to vegan (read about that here) and what helped me the most was meal planning. Also having Ensley as my vegan cheerleader was pretty helpful. Resisting Goldfish together as teachers was our greatest challenge #allthesalt #needwater

Stuffed Squash

Meal planning also voids that dear old phrase, “What’s for dinner?” It takes about 15-20 minutes to plan the meals and write a grocery list. I try to incorporate at least one new recipe a week but with a baby it’s more like every 2 weeks. Thank goodness for Google because having meal ideas and recipes at my fingertips have been lifesavers. Of course I use our recipes right here at Rebelle Kitchen 😉 We also love cookbooks, and share some of our favorites here.

Taco salad

I have to meal plan otherwise I would have beans on toast every night. Not because I like beans on toast, but if I don’t plan to get certain groceries, that’s all I’ll have in the pantry. I need lists and plans. Of course, I don’t always want to make a certain meal on a certain day, like if it says “Eggplant Lasagne” on Tuesday and it’s a lovely sunny day, I might switch it with Thursday’s “Falafel Salad.” I’m flexible like that. I definitely like to eat with the season though, so in the Fall and Winter you’ll see a lot of soups, pastas, curries and pie; but in Spring and Summer you’ll see a lot of salads, falafels, quiche, and buddha bowls.

Falafel Salad

I sit down on a Saturday (or any day really) and plan out the week’s meals and the groceries I need. Obviously I ask Daniel for his requests so we can both have meals we enjoy. We definitely have some easy go-to recipes like veggie burgers, burritos, quesadillas, veggie pizzas and veggie pie that you’ll see over and over. We are not afraid of eating the same thing again and again.

Here are over 150 days of meal plans…

I’ve started doing my planning and grocery lists on my cell phone because inevitably I get to the shops and have left it behind. You don’t need me to go rogue in a grocery store without a list. Ka-ching, ka-ching. It doesn’t end well. And that reminds me that I do almost all my shopping at Harris Teeter, just a regular grocery store. Of course I love to go to Earth Fare or Whole Foods for those vegan cookies, but you can buy many plant-based products at a regular grocery store, thank goodness!

In case you can’t zoom in to see some of the meals, I’ll write some of them out for you:

• Garden burgers
• Vegan sloppy joes
• Veggie pot pie
• Dinner loaf + asparagus
• Vegan chili bunny (that’s an SA dish – bunny meaning in bread)
• Stirfry + rice
• Quinoa bowls (I found out I have a mild allergy to Quinoa so that’s off the list now)
• Sushi (yes we make our own!)
• Tofu + mushroom soup (similar: Creamy Mushroom Soup)
• Braai (That’s like a cookout – we would probably have grilled Veggie kebabs)
• Flat bread pizzas
• Chickpea curry/Chana masala
• Quesadillas
• Veggie wraps/burritos
• Pumpkin squash soup
• Autumn Harvest Soup (similar Spinach Chickpea Soup)
• Fettuccine Alfredo
• Taco salad
• Cauliflower, tofu + bean salad
• Phad Thai
• Roasted red pepper soup
• Spaghetti + veggie balls
• Stuffed squash
• White bean baked burritos
• Sesame noodles with broccoli + almonds
• Falafel salad
• Quiche
• Okra corn soup
• Beet salad
• Sweet potato soup (similar Sweet Potato Bisque)
• Cauliflower + leek soup
• Eggplant lasagne

What are some of your favorite vegan meals?