I’m trying an experiment. All over the web, I’ve been running across food blogs where people post on Mondays their projected meal plan for the week. I’ve been wanting to try a little more menu planning, in the hopes of having a little less “Oh man, we’re already starving, everything takes too long to cook, there’s nothing to eat, let’s wander around the house in a daze.” Looking at other people’s meal plans has been extremely helpful and inspiring, both in terms of content and form (seeing how many recipes people plan for in a week, etc.).
Because my energy varies so wildly, I worry that creating a formal menu plan will be setting myself up for failure, in a public forum, no less. So I’ve decided to make myself a very unstructured list of possible recipes, based on what veggies we have for the week, and then post my actual week’s menu after the fact. The menu will still be out there for other folks to get ideas and recipes from, and it will be a realistic reflection of the kind of menu one chronically fatigued, vegetarian, mostly gluten-free, CSA-subscribing cook can actually make, with assistance of course from her energetic, vegan, not-home-during-the-day partner in crime.
I will be linking this post to the giant Monday menu compendium over at I’m an Organizing Junkie, which links to over 300 bloggers and their menus for the week!
For the week of August 10th… (GF means gluten-free)
Sunday
Brunch: Egg sandwich with GF toast, dry farmed tomatoes, basil, and nettle mustard
Fruit salad of green melon, nectarines, peach, strawberry, and cherries, with meyer lemon-honey-lavender flower dressing.
Dinner: Rice bowl with black rice, kale, beet greens, serrano chile, garlic, and onion with avocado and sesame-ginger grilled tofu
Monday
Breakfast: Leftover rice bowl
Lunch: 100% buckwheat soba noodles (GF) with grilled portabello mushrooms with garlic (made on our tiny George Foreman grill) and sauteed zucchini with lemon
Dinner: Raw kale salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado
Raw beet salad with mustard vinaigrette
Tuesday
Brunch: Decadent breakfast taco
Dinner: Annie’s GF macaroni & cheese made with local goat yogurt, Shady Lady tomatoes, and gai lam (Chinese broccoli)
Wednesday
Breakfast: Local goat yogurt with white nectarine and yellow peach
Lunch: away from home
Dinner: Summer gratin (vegan) with Huckleberry potatoes, Yellow Finn potatoes, green and yellow summer squash, heirloom tomatoes, Shady Lady tomatoes, and basil
Thursday
Brunch: Fried egg atop summer gratin
Dinner: away from home
Friday – away from home
Saturday
Breakfast: Leftover summer gratin
Lunch: away from home
Dinner: Annie’s GF macaroni & cheese made with local goat yogurt, Roma tomatoes, and gai lam (Chinese broccoli)
Sunday
Breakfast: Fruit salad of green melon, white nectarine, strawberries, and peach
Lunch: 100% buckwheat soba noodles (GF) with peanut sauce (recipe to come later this week), gai lam, and cherry tomatoes
Dinner: Corn tortilla quesadillas with local Spring Hill Dairy Gianna cheese, avocado and salsa
Great menu! We are GF and dairy free at my house. I lam loving your seasonal veggie selection. Lucky you!!
Hi Angela,
Thanks for visiting my menu! Yours looks yummy, too. (Your blog gave me an “error” message when I tried to comment over there, so hopefully you’ll see this reply!)
That yoda cake you made was incredible, and mind-boggling that you did it without gluten or dairy!
Everything sounds delicious! I love summer with all the fresh produce
I can’t wait to try that breakfast taco, and to see your noodle with peanut sauce recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hi Steph,
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! Oh, the breakfast taco is sooo good. Min at Bad Girl’s Kitchen (http://bad-girls-kitchen.blogspot.com/) just made them for Taste & Create and enjoyed them quite a bit!
I will get that peanut sauce recipe up ASAP!
Hello and welcome to MPM!! It seems not too long ago I was that person you describe in your first paragraph. Menu planning has been a lifesaver for me. I cook gluten free for my 8 year old.
Thanks for joining us!
Organizing Junkie! Thanks for coming to visit!
I am definitely having fun with this menu planning thing. Thank you for hosting such a source of inspiration!
So…are you sticking with Eatwell or switching? I’m curious
Miche – I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if we would switch to another CSA or simply try getting everything from the farmer’s market. There isn’t a market that I love here in the city. It would be a no-brainer if we lived in Berkeley or Oakland.
Oh Yes! Simply everyone MUST try the breakfast taco. Don’t wait…do it now!! I love them.
[...] time for another retroactive week of menus! Why a retroactive menu plan? Well, I love checking out other bloggers’ menu plans for the week, getting inspiration (or [...]