New Year - Same Kitchen!
You don't need to change anything in your kitchen to start out FRESH. The first week started off with holiday so that can be a little challenging but it also allows for more time with the kids being home from school. Getting them engaged in preparing helps save time and encourages them to understand how food is prepared.
The New Year's Eve get together was a small group of people. Just a couple of friends and their kids. A spread of food for the NYE celebration began with spinach roll, egg rolls, hummus with chips. The spinach roll was made rolling out crescent roll tubes (YES - Pillsbury rolls are vegan as long as you don't use the honey or butter varieties!) and topping them with saute'd fresh spinach with garlic and a little bit of oil. Roll it up and cook @350F for about 25 minutes. For the egg rolls, the Nayosa brand now has changed their recipe to be vegan! I followed the instructions on the back of the package but took a short cut--instead of chopping all the veggies, I bought a prechopped package usually used for coleslaw!! Finally, the hummus was the old go-to recipe of chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice in a food processor.
For the more substantial part of the meal, I laid out bagels cut in half and bowls of toppings to make their own individual pizzas! Sauce, vegan mozz, vegan cheddar, saute'd veggies, herbs and spices. The kids made their own and I popped them in the oven for about 10 mins @375F. Earlier in the day, I had planned on making a large pot of chili but I didn't have the time to get to the store that had my favorite beans so I threw three diff beans into a crock put, diced some garlic and onions and dumped a can of crushed tomatoes in. Threw in random seasonings (paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper) and set the machine to high for a tasty bean soup.
In case no one wanted t, I bought one bag of vegan meatballs as a backup and good thing I did! I whipped up a gluten free brown gravy but putting some GF flour in a pot, adding a bit of veggie broth (which I have jars of in my freezer--I'll post how to make this from kitchen scraps). If you don't have broth, use a bouillon cube to make some. Saute to a rue and then add more of either ingredient for your desired quantity and consistency. Once it all comes to a low boil, throw in the balls. Let them warm up! I kept this in a cast iron pot with a lid to keep warm for gravy covered veggie balls.
Desserts/sweets are always my 15y/o's realm. She prepared some mini banana loafs ahead of time. I then took some Bisquik mix (original IS vegan) and added some almond milk to get a thick batter. I used a wok and heated canola to 350F. Using tongs, dipped an Oreo in the batter, then into the oil for a minute while flipping for warm, melted, fried Oreos!
This day took a little bit of planning but I was able to get all I needed at either Walmart Supercenter or Stop n Shop!!!
New Year's Day usually consists of leftovers but the only thing we had left was the banana bread and a little bit of the bean soup. We enjoyed the bread for breakfast with some tea. For lunch I pressed some tofu and chopped into cubes that I tossed in olive oil, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt & pepper & almond flour (you can use wheat flour) and put them in the air fryer @375F for 15minutes. I didn't have any fresh veggies and didn't feel like running to the store. I had some frozen diced mixed veggies and just steamed them in a pot on the stove. Cooked rice in the microwave (invest in the Pampered Chef microwave rice cooker!! LIFESAVER!!!) For dinner, I blanched some broccoli, and set aside. Then I saute'd some garlic in olive oil and Earth Balance butter. Boiled some spaghetti and then tossed the broccoli, garlic/oil all together!
Back to school! Breakfast is always a little staggered since three kids get on three diff buses at three diff times. One day I made a pot of Cream of Wheat and left out toppings (nuts, syrups, sliced fruits, etc.). Another day I heated Vans Gluten Free waffles in the toaster and sliced some bananas. Another day was smoothies. I keep frozen bananas in the freezer and then throw them in a blender with some almond milk, other frozen berries, peanut or almont butter, flax seed, etc. and poured them into mason jars.
Dinners (which usually end up as lunches for school). One night, I took a can of refried beans, laid out flour tortillas and coated the them with the beans and topped with cheese. Folded in half, cooked in a cast iron pan both sides about 3 min each side for quesadilla. I cut up some root veggies (carrots, onions, sweet potatoes) and tossed with oil and seasonings and roasted veggies in the oven @425F for about 20minutes. Served with seedless grapes. Another night was a coconut, curried sweet potato stew with the ingredients pictured above!
For during the week lunches, I packed leftovers for kids lunches which included tofu, spag and broccoli, quesadillas, potato stew. I packed some roasted peanuts as a snack and filled their insulated water bottles!!
THE WEEKEND!!!
The weekend came and it was full of sports and other errands. Since we were all home together for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, one day we had some crescent rolls and smoothies and the other I made a large batch of pancakes using Bisquik (replace egg with applesauce) and threw in some choc chips and topped with berries (I cooked a jam last week and stored in the fridge).
Lunches, however, were another story. Since we had to split up with games in two different locations and last minute practices, we ate on the go. One day I grabbed some bagels with tofu cream cheese (I'm lucky to have a bagel shoppe with this option) with my son for lunch. Hubby grabbed Chinese rice and garlic broccoli for the other two kiddos. The Sunday lunch again had to be split up. Hubby heated a jar of my homemade chili that I keep in the pantry for the boys while I picked up Acai Bowls at Costco for my daughter and I.
For one dinner, we called our local pizza place and ordered a no-cheese pie. On the way to pick it up, I stopped at Stop n Shop for some Diaya Shreds and when I got the pie home, heated in the oven @325F for about 10minutes. The Sunday dinner, I picked up some Tofurkey Italian Sausage and saute'd them in a pan with some onions and threw them over pasta. Saute'd some spinach with garlic for the side.
SNACKS - We always keep fresh apples on the kitchen table. Popcorn is a huge snack for us and this week I picked up some tortilla chips and vegan queso I found at Walmart! Pretzels we keep in a large container and kids help themselves to a handful now and then.
SHOPPING - I did not have to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or any other specialty shop. Stop n Shop has a full organic produce section and Walmart has been expanding their organic options. I probably had to go out four times this week and that is only because of the holiday.
Any one of the recipes will work for a meal and doesn't need to be a special occasion to enjoy!! Again, keep in mind to make a little extra for each dinner and you will have leftovers for lunch!! Good luck!
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