During our 6 months of crazy we still stayed on track with our vegan eating since however, we are not viewing it as a DIET but a way of life. And you don't give up on your way of life. Eating the vegan way after a year has become natural and easy. It took sometime to figure out label reading and the importance of everything you are putting in your body but we are so thankful for that time of learning. It has been one of our best decisions yet.
In the last couple of weeks, we have had many people inquire about how we do it and what we eat. I still haven't figured out a good format or way to post what our meal plan/menu is for the week. Maybe one of you will have a brilliant idea for me. I need a way to share this that doesn't take 2 hours to set up every week. Any way. Here is our line up for this week:
Monday:
Uganda Style - After being in Uganda and eating their delicious foods, my husband has turned Ugandan. Seriously. The man would move there just for the food. For the most part they eat relatively healthy and I admit....everything we had was amazing! By the badgering request from Phillip, I have recreated our version of a Ugandan meal.
Basically you need:
Pinto Beans
Rice
Sweet Potatoes
Collard Greens
Plantains
Mango and Pineapple
or really any vegetable you desire to go with your rice and beans and they serve delicious fruit as a dessert and if you aren't sold on the whole Vegan movement you can add a white meat as your side dish. **I noticed in Uganda that the meat was always a side dish portion not the main course, which is the way it should be anywhere you live**
I created my Ugandan style beans with inspiration from several blogs from adoptive mommas. Most of them had brought Ugandan spices home with them after their adoptions or missions trips. I was not this smart. Here is how you make them.
24 oz. of Pinto beans soaked over night (8 hours or so...make sure you have plenty of water because the beans will absorb most of them)
Put your beans and 2 tsps of salt in your crock pot on High for about 6 hours. Add in these things:
1 diced onion
2 diced carrots
1 diced bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic minced
Sautee your onions, carrots and bell pepper in 1-2 TBSP veggie broth or EVOO if you cook with oil (I do not use oil). Once the onions are clear add in your garlic. DO NOT over cook your garlic. Just cook until it smells delicious. Add in:
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garlic Salt
1/2 -1 tsp Ground Ginger
Once this is cooked and mixed in, add to your pot of beans. And cook for above time. Since I dont have Ugandan spices, I just smelled everything in my spice rack and added the above spices because they reminded me of Uganda. Maybe next time I am there I will pick up some spices.
For the sweet potatoes I simple skinned them and diced them up, put them in a 9x13 and roasted them in the oven. I did use a little bit of grape-seed oil on them but not much. I roasted them for about 40 minutes. Turn them halfway through roasting (baking).
For the Collard Greens I went off of this recipe.
However I did not use oil or bacon and I used veggie broth instead of chicken broth. These were TO DIE FOR. Even my kids loved them.
Plantains. I had no idea how yummy these things are. All I did to prepare them was slice them into thirds and then half those thirds length wise, after peeling of course. Then I sprayed my skillet with a tad of grape-seed oil to keep them from sticking and I "fried" them on all the sides. These are yummy also!
As far as the fruit goes. Just slice, chop and serve.
Tuesday:
We will be having this....
Found via Pinterest! I have never made it but my friends tell me its awesome.
Recipe here.
Wednesday:
Leftovers. Phillip is African now so lets face it...he will most likely finish up his 10th serving of our Ugandan meal.
Thursday:
It's the 4th of July so we will be grilling out. We love to grill out veggies. Here is a list of veggies I plan on grilling:
Eggplant
Zucchini
Squash
Mushrooms
I will most likely serve these with some beans burgers as well.
Friday:
Homemade Pizzas
I read the labels on the pizzas crusts at the Grocery store. I have found a fravoite that HEB carries. They are perfect little individual sized crusts. We top those with Pizza sauce and our favorite veggies:
Mushrooms
Olives
Jalapeños
Onion
We don't use cheese but if you are going for Vegetarian and not Vegan then use a low fat cheese. I recommend saving your calories and going sans cheese. It really is yummy.
Saturday:
Pot Pie
Here is how I make our Pot Pie
2 TBSP veggie stock
1 Diced Onion
4 Cups of Water
2 tsp salt or Herbamare
2 cubes of Veggies buillion
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP dried parsley
2 Cups frozen diced potatoes
2/3 Bag of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn etc.)
For the "cream"
1 Cup raw cashews
1 Cup of water
1-1/12 pie crust
Sautee your onions in a skillet with the veggie stock. Once they are clear add your 4 Cups of water and your seasoning. Bring to a boil. Once boiling add in your frozen potatoes and veggies. Turn heat down and simmer until cooked through. While that is boiling place Cashews and water a blender and blend until smooth. Once smooth add to the veggie soup mix. Stir. It should thicken. Pour in your baking dish and cover with pie crust. Bake on 350 until golden brown and bubbling.
Lunches:
For lunch for the kids and I, I usually make almond butter and banana sandwiches with either honey in them or strawberries. Or I make a pot of noodles and top it with ROA's sensitive marinara. It has no added sugars. Or I make Vegan nuggets.
Breakfast:
We always eat organic cereal with almond milk, Irish oatmeal, or frozen waffles with 100% maple syrup. We are easy around these parts.
I hope you enjoy your meals this week!
I think you choosing a vegan lifestyle is AWESOME! However, honey is not vegan - it's vegetarian FYI :-/
ReplyDeleteKatie... Yes. I am aware that Honey is Vegetarian since it comes from an insect. We use agave more then honey but still do use honey on occasion. :)
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