Meal Plan Monday - Week of February 14th

Planning food for vacation is always a challenge . . . we tend to stay in places with kitchens (versus regular hotel rooms) which is great for trimming expenses and eating well while on the road. However, cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner every day never feels much like a vacation to me.

A few years ago (as in, when going out to eat began to mean paying for four people rather that just two!), we decided to aim for one meal out per day while on vacation. And I have to admit, I've gotten much more budget-conscious and food-snobbish in the past few years . . . meaning, I have a hard time spending money on food that's not exactly what I want. Spending even $20 on mediocre food at the only place we can find off 95 when we're all starving just makes me cringe! So, we tend to pack our food for the road and find interesting places to eat out once we reach our destination.

But preparing even one or two meals each day feels like a chore, so when we spent a week in Hilton Head last spring, I tried something new - cooking in advance. In addition to our veggie tray, hummus and lots of fruit and nuts, I made a few meals that I knew would freeze well and provide plenty of leftovers . . . a lasagna, chili (which became a taco salad the next night) and the fixings for chickpea tacos lasted us the week with almost no work to get them on the table. The advance planning was totally worth it, so that's what I'm aiming for again.

This trip will be a bit more challenging since we're moving around more. I'm trying to keep it really simple with some canned soups and easy wraps. We're excited to check out some great veg restaurants in Asheville and Atlanta, so we're planning our meals out for there while eating in while visiting my in-laws in South Carolina.

So here's what's cooking in our three "home away from home" kitchens this week:

Advance Preparation
Make veggie tray (Jim) - replenish mid-week

Monday
Breakfast: Toast with pecan butter & banana
Lunch: Green Sage Cafe
Dinner: Firestorm

Tuesday 
Breakfast: Bagels, fruit
Lunch: PB&J with raw veggies & fruit
Dinner: Laughing Seed Cafe

Wednesday
Breakfast: Green Sage Cafe
Lunch: Veggies & hummus; fruit; nuts
Dinner: Veggie BLT wraps


Thursday
Breakfast: Bagels; fruit
Lunch: Tofurkey veggie wraps with raw veggies
Dinner: Lasagna; salad

Friday 
Breakfast: Fruit; oatmeal
Lunch: Muir Glen soup with raw veggies
Dinner: Leftover lasagna & salad

Saturday 
Breakfast: Toast with pecan butter & banana
Lunch: Out (???)
Dinner: Chili, cornbread, salad

Sunday
Breakfast: Fruit; oatmeal
Lunch: Out (???)
Dinner: Taco salad