Beyond Rice and Tofu

Well, this week I am on top of it. But only because after I posted last week’s (late) menu plan, I went ahead and wrote up this week’s menu plan since I already had it prepared.

I am not sure what the theme is over at this week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap, but be sure to go over and check it out for some added inspiration.

This week is focused on quick meals and make-ahead meals. With school and work now, I am trying to make dinner pretty uncomplicated. I’ve already made the soup and a batch of quinoa to get a jump start on things.

Here’s the line-up:

Red Beans and Rice – an old standby. Simple, with some rice and a green salad. A great one to stick in the frig for later in the week as ‘leftovers’.

Quinoa with Brussels Sprouts, Chickpeas, Cranberries, Blue Cheese and Pecans – it will be something along the lines of what I linked to, but I plan on modifying it a bit.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup – a new-to-us recipe. This is a recipe that I had pinned on Pinterest (dangerously addicting!) and I gave hubby the choice of three soups that I had pinned and he chose this one. I subbed the chicken with two cans of drained and rinsed white beans.

Thai Quinoa – my brother and his girlfriend really liked this and she and I both had pinned it. So I decided it was time to try it out too. Yes, I know we have two quinoa recipes this week but that is just how it turned out. Quinoa is so versatile and easy to throw together as a quick meal.

What are your favorite quick meals?

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With the holiday road trip sufficiently behind us, I can go back to meal planning. Last week I went to the store at the last minute, without planning, because we needed food RIGHT NOW, and so our meals were a little less satisfying than usual.

This week I will be gone most evenings, leaving the hubby to fend for himself. But I don’t like to leave him to fend for himself since that usually means he will end up eating pizza. He is fine with that, but I am not. So as has been typical of the past month or two, I have been cooking more on Sundays so that there are plenty of leftovers in the refrigerator for him to choose from throughout the week. And to save time, I have been plugging in at least one crockpot. When the crockpot is done, the contents immediately go into the refrigerator for later in the week.

On the menu for this week:

Spicy Black Bean Chili with Green Chile-Cheese Tamales and Salad – chili from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

Roasted Tofu with Scalloped Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

Tart-Hot Kidney Beans with Broccoli and Rice – the bean recipe is from 660 Curries. And if I get motivated, Bhaakar (flatbread) too.

Make-Your-Own-Pizza – on an Udi’s crust.

Chickpea Stew with Sweet Onions and Salad – chickpea stew recipe from Lorna Sass’s Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure.

By the way, this week’s Gluten Free  Menu Swap theme is Holiday Treats. I am still debating whether I will be making any holiday treats this year. I will probably at least make some Buckeyes and chocolate fudge. But other than that, I am trying to avoid them this year. Although, I have a feeling that the closer we get to the holidays, the more I will want to make a few things.

Be sure to check out Angela’s Kitchen, where Angela is hosting the menu swap. This post is also linked to OrgJunkie, where you can find hundreds of meal plans, some of which are gluten free, some not. Enjoy!

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It’s slow-cooker week, and it’s being hosted by Angela over at Angela’s Kitchen. I don’t know about you, but I have two slow-cookers, one basic and smaller and one big fancy one with the auto-off/warm features. Two cookers are plenty for me (but not for Stephanie, I’m sure!). And in fact, last weekend I plugged in both and had most of our meals for the week cooked by Sunday evening. It took a lot of pressure off of me and allowed me to do other things in the evenings instead of spending a bunch of time cooking. I was able to just heat dinner up! I love those nights.

Now, as a vegetarian and gluten free household, you’re probably thinking, what the heck does she do with a crockpot since she can’t throw in a slab of meat? Well, there are a lot of good things to make. Of course, soups and stews are the most logical, which I do make a lot of. Of course you can also cook up dried beans, as well as make hot beverages, desserts or breakfast in them. Some people even make homemade yogurt!

As is my habit lately, I plugged in the crockpot on Sunday and made a future meal, the Lentil Soup below, so that I could use up some of the kale I still have coming on – despite the frost. Later this week, I will also make another crockpot meal to finish off the last of the homemade pesto and tomatoes. So that makes for two “no-cook” evenings, and with the leftover enchilada bake from this weekend, also below, there is another one or two “no-cook” evenings. Yay!

But that is good since I will be cooking up a storm later in the week in preparation for our gluten free gals get-together this weekend where we are focusing on holiday favorites. And since, as usual, I can’t decide on what I want to make, I will make as many items as time allows and we’ll have leftovers to send everyone home with!

So here’s the plan:

Lentil Soup with Kale and Oven Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Fries – the soup is made in the crockpot and is a recipe from our favorite vegetarian slow-cooker cookbooks, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I made the soup on Sunday so that we will have dinner ready-made on our two busy evenings, and although I will need to roast the fries, they are super easy and not time-intensive.

Pesto Infused White Bean and Tomato Stew over Pasta – the stew will be made in the crockpot and is also from the cookbook above.

Quinoa with Oven Roasted Winter Squash and Kale – an experiment, I will be sure to post if it turns out!

New Mexican Green Chile and Pinto Enchiladas – we will be eating these throughout the week as I made them over the weekend too. This time I made them stacked, a sort of lasagna-esque casserole with the corn tortillas forming the layers instead of rolling them into ‘real’ enchiladas – less time! The recipe made one large 9×13″ and one small ~6×8″ pan and so I think I will toss the smaller pan in the freezer for later.

So what is your favorite vegetarian slow-cooker meal?

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Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you’re all getting your fill of picnicking, swimming, grilling and fireworks! We are headed out for a fireworks-watching party later this evening, as long as the wildfire smoke behaves itself tonight. My quinoa tabbouleh is made and resting in the refrigerator and the hard cider is waiting patiently by the door, ready to travel.

This week’s Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted by Gluten Free Goodness and the theme is “Culinary Freedom”! This week I am taking the freedom to recycle a good portion of last week’s plan since we didn’t get to it! Below you’ll also see quite a few lettuce and kale salads. They are still both producing well in our garden since I have partially covered them with shade cloth. So we need to eat up!

Here at BR&T, the plan this week is:

Leftover Pizza! and salad – from last week’s menu, a recipe from Pete over at No Gluten, No Problem.

Tofu Stir Fry with rice – plus I will add some frozen lotus root that has been hiding in the back of the freezer.

Sausages with Napa Cabbage Salad – veggie sausage for the hubby and spicy Italian for me!

Red Lentil Dal with Kale Salad

Sausages with Jambalaya Rice and Salad – we’ll eat up the remaining sausages.

Chickpea Curry with rice or leftover quinoa

Hope you have had a pleasant holiday weekend – and here’s to a short work week! Woo-hoo!

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