Meal Plan Monday - Week of January 17th

I'm a Sunday planner/shopper, so by Monday I'm usually somewhat organized and ready for the week. Each Monday, I'll be sharing our meal plan for breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the week, including links to recipes when possible.

My goal is to put together 10-12 weeks of winning meals plans and simply rotate between them. But since I'm always trying new recipes, I often forget about old favorites. This year, I'm going to start going back and editing the meal plan at the end of each week. If there's something we didn't care for, I'll remove it and leave a blank space to try something new the next time.

I'm a little worried that I'm being overly ambitious this week. I almost never "cook" lunch and usually rely on staples such as an easy green salad, canned organic soup, quick veggie pitas and our trusty standby, chickpea salad. But, the salads I'm attempting are pretty simple if I do some prep work in advance. I also usually leave one day unplanned for leftovers (usually Thursday), but I have zucchini I need to use so I added in the soup on that night.

So here it goes . . Meal plan experiment, week 1.

Advance Preparation
Make veggie tray (so happy that my hubby does this)
Bake bread (not integral to the meal plan - I'm just running low)
Soak and cook black beans and chickpeas
Cook quinoa
Make hummus (the Veganomicon recipe is my favorite)

Monday
Breakfast: Green smoothie; fruit
Lunch: Everyday Quinoa Salad
Snack: Applesauce or fruit
Dinner: BBQ Tempeh and Sweet Potatoes; Polenta Stuffing

Tuesday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins & walnuts; fruit
Lunch: Leftovers or veggie pitas
Snack: Cut veggies with hummus
Dinner: Tofu salad wraps (my own recipe - will be sharing this week!)

Wednesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie; fruit
Lunch: Quinoa Salad with Black Beans
Snack: Cut veggies with hummus
Dinner: Lentil Loaf with OMG Oven-Baked Onion Rings and steamed broccoli

Thursday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts; fruit
Lunch: Out (field trip to EPCOT)
Snack: Cut veggies, fruit & nuts
Dinner: Creamy Zucchini and Basil Soup; Catalan Couscous Salad

Friday
Breakfast: Green smoothie; fruit
Lunch: Chickpea salad with broccoli & vegan feta (my own recipe - will share if it turns out well!)
Snack: Applesauce or fruit
Dinner: Butternut Rancheros; salad
Dessert: Banana splits (again, will share if it turns out well)

Saturday
Breakfast: Banana Nut Oats; fruit
Lunch: Out
Snack: Fruit
Dinner: Spaghetti & Neatballs (I will bake these instead of frying them); salad

Sunday
Breakfast: Carrot cake pancakes
Lunch: Salad and leftovers
Snack: Fruit & nuts
Dinner: BLT's (made with Eggplant Bacon)