Meal Plan Wednesday (13/3/13)

You'll probably see a trend forming between previous weeks and this one.  I'm really cooking up a storm with Vegan Diner.  I'm working up a consolidated review of the book but there will be snippets here and there through dinners.

Quick & Hearty Chili (Vegan Diner 70) with oven chips
I neglected to snap a pic of our actual plates but I simply scooped this chili over our oven chips (fries).  This chili was super quick (as advertised) and the whole family enjoyed it.  I might have mentioned this before but I do enjoy things over oven chips.  Such an easy way to construct a satisfying filling meal.

Pasta with Esme's sauce, broccoli & chickpea bacon and Marinated Portabella Mushrooms (Vegan Table)
I've made Esme's sauce ages ago but in working to clear out old bookmarks I have rediscovered it and it will move to the family favorites binder.  This is an excellent alternative to the usual cheesy pasta sauces which I do also enjoy but it's good to mix it up.  Especially with a toddler to feed, I want to keep that palate alive and accepting of different flavors.  The Noodle really enjoyed this but with pasta you're already half way there anyway.  She loves her mushrooms and broccoli as well so this really was a winner.  I've made this marinated mushroom side before as well with a couple types and sizes of mushrooms and it's always been a treat.

"Steak" and Ale Stew.  OK, this wasn't steak or ale but like most recipes I end up making it's just a starting off point for my easily distracted brain.   This wasn't actually in my original meal plan but we had a half a bottle of Spitfire to use.  I started with this recipe which is super simple and made only slight changes (like using soy chunks instead of cow, no celery, added potatoes and parsnips), and I just made this on the stove top.

Winter Vegetable Curry with rice.  No pics but this is a good mild curry that you can easily modify to your own tastes.  I ended up adding garam masala to up the flavor.  We're used to a bit more spice around here.

Quinoa Burger (Vegan Diner 100) with Vampire Fries (Vegan Diner 85)
This I had to modify not because of our preferences but because quinoa is expensive!  I'll probably manage to get my hands on some sometime soon but I figured rice would work just fine here and I happen to have some leftover in the fridge which worked out swimmingly.  I dressed up the burger with some hummus, ketchup and cherry tomatoes (the only ones around right now that have flavor).  For the fries I added carrot sticks to the pan and roasted them in the oven as oven fries.  I also opted to add the garlic to the fries as they went into the oven rather then after.  Although I would have loved to eat them with the garlic on post cooking I know that my husband would have picked on me about my garlic tastes and the little Noodle would have found the flavor too overwhelming.

Very Sloppy Joes (Vegan Diner 93) over baked potatoes
This, in my opinion, is a way better option than sloppy joes on a bun.  I love sandwiches as much as the next guy but most of it ends up on the plate needing to be scooped up somehow and I end up with a rubbish joe to bread ratio in each bite.  An potatoes are just the best!  In the background you can see kale.  That was just quickly steamed.  That was pretty good too :)

Hmm looking back is making me hungry . . . .time to get some lunch.