In an effort to save time and money (and effort) I have tried different menu planning techniques . I have tried the once a month freezer cooking, both alone and with partners. It was helpful but didn’t give us the best solution. I have tried pre-prepared food delivery. Easy but very expensive and we didn’t like the food very much and ended up tossing a lot of it. The pre-prepared foods are also very unhealthy. Making my own meals to freeze is definitely the healthiest most cost effective way to go. So this week I am going to try something new. For every dinner I make this week, I am going to double, triple or quadruple the recipe to split and freeze for future meals. I will also do the same thing for breakfast: pancakes/waffles/muffins /breads ad gravy. That way at the end of the week I should have at least 1 week’s worth of dinners and breakfasts cooked or at least prepared and ready to cook and frozen for later use. My goal is to have yummy, healthy meals that save me from cooking when I don’t feel like it and save us a ton of money without having to spend all day or more in the kitchen.  I am looking forward to the final days of this pregnancy and the postpartum period when I am not feeling like cooking to be able to pull something from the freezer.

Here is what I have in store for this week:

(with links to some recipes at the bottom)

Breakfast:

Sausage Gravy

Bonnie’s Best Biscuits

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

Citrus Poppy Seed Rolls

Baked French Toast

Farmers Casserole

Dinner:

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Mexican Rice

Meatloaf

Chicken Soup

Stuffed Peppers

Beef Stroganoff

Green Chili Chicken

Chicken Pot Pie

]]> http://www.suburbangranola.com/2010/03/21/freezer-cooking-march-22-28th-menu/feed/ 0 http://www.suburbangranola.com/2010/01/11/week-of-jan-11-vegan-menu/ http://www.suburbangranola.com/2010/01/11/week-of-jan-11-vegan-menu/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:15:43 +0000 admin http://www.suburbangranola.com/?p=643 Our menus will be changing a little over the next few weeks. There are couple of reasons as to why, the first as a New Years resolution we decided to try harder to move from our “somewhat vegan” status to a “very vegan status. We have all been suffering from low energy, stomach issues and some eczema problems and it seems when we are not so lazy about sticking to our vegan diet we all feel better.  The other reason is that we have just found that our oldest daughter has some food allergies we were previously unaware of. She has been suffering from chronic urticaria since she was 5 years old and recently she was getting hives every day. Which meant she had to take benedryl every day and you can imagine how hard it is to function on that medication. We finally got her back in to the allergist and had her allergy tested (for the second time)  and she is now allergic to corn, peanuts, fish, dairy, mold, weeds, grass, and…cockroaches *shudder…  She loves peanuts so initially I thought this would be the hardest one for her. But this is not so. Did you have any idea that corn is in almost every processed food you eat? Heck, high fructose corn syrup is just about in every main stream packaged food out there.  I found this list of corn derived ingredients. Pretty much any obscure ingredient on the label turns out to be some kind of corn based substance. Scary.

• Acetic acid
• Alcohol
• Alpha tocopherol
• Artificial flavorings
• Artificial sweeteners
• Ascorbates
• Ascorbic acid
• Astaxanthin
• Baking powder
• Barley malt* (generally OK, but can be contaminated)
• Bleached flour*
• Blended sugar (sugaridextrose)
• Brown sugar* (generally OK if no caramel color)
• Calcium citrate
• Calcium fumarate
• Calcium gluconate
• Calcium lactate
• Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)
• Calcium stearate
• Calcium stearoyl lactylate
• Caramel and caramel color
• Carbonmethylcellulose sodium
• Cellulose microcrystalline
• Cellulose, methyl
• Cellulose, powdered
• Cetearyl glucoside
• Choline chloride
• Citric acid*
• Citrus cloud emulsion (CCS)
• Coco glycerides (cocoglycerides)
• Confectioners sugar
• Corn alcohol, corn gluten
• Corn extract
• Corn flour
• Corn oil, corn oil margarine
• Corn starch
• Corn sweetener, corn sugar
• Corn syrup, corn syrup solids
• Corn, popcorn, cornmeal
• Cornstarch, cornflour
• Crosscarmellose sodium
• Crystalline dextrose
• Crystalline fructose
• Cyclodextrin
• DATUM (a dough conditioner)
• Decyl glucoside
• Decyl polyglucose
• Dextrin
• Dextrose (also found in IV solutions)
• Dextrose anything (such as monohydrate or anhydrous)
• d-Gluconic acid
• Distilled white vinegar
• Drying agent
• Erythorbic acid
• Erythritol
• Ethanol
• Ethocel 20
• Ethylcellulose
• Ethylene
• Ethyl acetate
• Ethyl alcohol
• Ethyl lactate
• Ethyl maltol
• Fibersol-2
• Flavorings*
• Food starch
• Fructose*
• Fruit juice concentrate*
• Fumaric acid
• Germ/germ meal
• Gluconate
• Gluconic acid
• Glucono delta-lactone
• Gluconolactone
• Glucosamine
• Glucose*
• Glucose syrup* (also found in IV solutions)
• Glutamate
• Gluten
• Gluten feed/meal
• Glycerides
• Glycerin*
• Glycerol
• Golden syrup
• Grits
• High fructose corn syrup
• Hominy
• Honey*
• Hydrolyzed corn
• Hydrolyzed corn protein
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
• Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)
• Inositol
• Invert syrup or sugar
• Iodized salt
• Lactate
• Lactic acid*
• Lauryl glucoside
• Lecithin
• Linoleic acid
• Lysine
• Magnesium fumarate
• Maize
• Malic acid
• Malonic acid
• Malt syrup from corn
• Malt, malt extract
• Maltitol
• Maltodextrin
• Maltol
• Maltose
• Mannitol
• Methyl gluceth
• Methyl glucose
• Methyl glucoside
• Methylcellulose
• Microcrystaline cellulose
• Modified cellulose gum
• Modified corn starch
• Modified food starch
• Molasses* (corn syrup may be present; know your product)
• Mono and di glycerides
• Monosodium glutamate
• MSG
• Natural flavorings*
• Olestra/Olean
• Polenta
• Polydextrose
• Polylactic acid (PLA)
• Polysorbates* (e.g. Polysorbate 80)
• Polyvinyl acetate
• Potassium citrate
• Potassium fumarate
• Potassium gluconate
• Powdered sugar
• Pregelatinized starch
• Propionic acid
• Propylene glycol*
• Propylene glycol monostearate*
• Saccharin
• Salt (iodized salt)
• Semolina (unless from wheat)
• Simethicone
• Sodium carboxymethylcellulose
• Sodium citrate
• Sodium erythorbate
• Sodium fumarate
• Sodium lactate
• Sodium starch glycolate
• Sodium stearoyl fumarate
• Sorbate
• Sorbic acid
• Sorbitan
• Sorbitan monooleate
• Sorbitan tri-oleate
• Sorbitol
• Sorghum* (not all is bad; the syrup and/or grain CAN be mixed with corn)
• Starch (any kind that’s not specified)
• Stearic acid
• Stearoyls
• Sucrose
• Sugar* (not identified as cane or beet)
• Threonine
• Tocopherol (vitamin E)
• Treacle (aka golden syrup)
• Triethyl citrate
• Unmodified starch
• Vanilla, natural flavoring
• Vanilla, pure or extract
• Vanillin
• Vegetable anything that’s not specific*
• Vinegar, distilled white
• Vinyl acetate
• Vitamin C* and Vitamin E*
• Vitamins*
• Xanthan gum
• Xylitol
• Yeast*
• Zea mays
• Zein

Corn is even used in the washing process of pre-washed, bagged salads. Our salad isn’t even safe! While reading about corn allergy, I ran across this article that even suggests that excess corn consumption could cause hormone disruption.  We already know that the pesticides used in corn are  major hormone disruptors.

Eating out will pretty much be out of the question. We eat mostly whole foods anyway but now it looks like some of our favorite snack foods are out. Pirate Booty anyone!? YUM.

I am replacing her beloved peanut butter with a raw homemade almond butter and replacing popcorn (which we also love) with rice cakes.  I also started making my raw almond milk again to replace the little dairy we did use. And I am looking for a non-dairy recipe for homemade yogurt.

Here is a peek at my new improved allergy-free, Vegan Menu.

Happy Vegan Eating!!

Also, I have a confession…we ate out WAY too much this week. I was a little stressed over going to the doctor, and waiting on test results…When I am stressed I tend to really lose focus. Excuses, Excuses.. But those times we ate out added up to close to a months worth of a grocery budget! So this week my goal is to not eat out except for the couple of times that we have planned.

Next week I hope to get in a couple of days of freezer cooking to prepare for the upcoming holidays. Have any of you girls tried cooking one day to freeze meals for an entire month? Well, I won’t exactly be doing that. But I will be getting a few things ready for the holidays. Think along the lines of quick breads, rolls, pie crusts, cranberry sauce.. I plan on making a few meals that will be healthy and quick when I need an easy meal.

Get your vacuum sealers ready ladies!

Take a look at all the healthy goodness we have to look forward to eating this week.

Many people when hearing we eat vegan wonder what we eat. They immediately start thinking of all the things that they can’t eat. For me, it has opened up a whole new world of food. There are so many things that I love to eat that I would have never tried before we went vegan. One unexpected benefit that I really enjoy is that my kids love to try new foods. They are not picky at all! Don’t get me wrong there are a few things that they dislike but don’t we all.

I am really looking forward to getting back on track this week with our vegan meals. I notice a huge difference in my energy levels and have a general overall feeling of well being when we stick to a vegan diet. My skin even looks better. The kids are in a much better mood. I am pretty sure it is because their blood sugar is staying pretty level and not spiking and dropping like crazy like when on a SAD diet (standard American diet).

I do find it hard to stick to a completely vegan diet especially when we travel or have house guests. Because of this we tend to be “off and on vegans”.  I keep trying to go back to hard core vegan but I really find it hard in Nashville. It was easy for the 5 years we lived in the Bay Area in California but it is extremely hard to find the variety of foods here as we did there. Eating out was no problem there. Its nearly impossible to eat out vegan here.

I do love the health benefits of being a vegan and I do feel like it is the best way to feed my family. Feeling like crap always inspires me to get back with it.  I ran across this really great blog post that lists 57 health benefits of going vegan. It was kind of the reminder I needed that the health benefits are amazing.

What do you think about going vegan for a week at a time just to see the difference it makes? Do you think you could do it? Are you already vegan? If you are do you stick to it hard core or are you on and off like we are?

Here is this weeks menu:

Let me know if you would like any of the recipes!

I love the weekly menu plan system because I don’t have to think much about what I am going to make. The thinking is just planning it out. When it is time to cook you just check the menu and get to it. I am not a morning person, therefore my brain is not really functioning at its optimum capacity at breakfast time so it tends to be the easiest meal of the day.

A few more reasons I love making a weekly menu:

My kids know what to expect. They don’t ask me a million times a day what they are going to have for breakfast/lunch/or dinner.  The big kids will often without being asked jump in and help out with snacks because they know what they can have. Oh, and usually we follow the plan pretty strict except the snacks, I only put that one there to have a running list of what we have that week. The kids can choose any snack they wish on any day. It doesn’t have to be the one written on that day.

I have very little food spoil. Because I base the menu on what we already have I am not throwing away foods that get overlooked.  That saves us quite a bit of money especially because we eat mainly organic foods. Once I realized how much money I was saving, it motivated me to be better about throwing over-ripe produce in the freezer (for smoothies) or in the dehydrator instead of letting it go to waste. It makes me feel good to not be wasteful.

I can easily see if we are eating a somewhat balanced diet. Most weeks we eat more vegan meals and I want to make sure the kids are getting all the nutrients they need.

Making a weekly plan for our menu me feel a little more in control. I like being super organized. It makes things go much more smoothly around here. There are so many things I can’t control. You know, the washer breaks down, you have an unexpected trip to the ER,  the car gets a flat, the kids get sick… all of that is out of my hands. If I had to try to figure out what we are going to have for dinner an hour before time, after a day of all the other little unexpected bumps, with starving kids whining about starving to death, I think I might just lose it. Planning ahead helps turn that “crunch” time into a relaxed time that you can hang in the kitchen with your kids and enjoy the time with your family.