Preparing meals in a home where someone is a vegetarian while the other one is not, can put a monkey wrench into any hope for simplicity when it comes to eating a meal. A meal plan is essential for me to see what I will be cooking in the coming days, as spontaneity is not always easy when trying to keep veggies exciting. To avoid a bland diet and eating out all the time to satisfy my need for diversity and lots of flavors, I try to work with a meal plan to see where our diet is headed and to see that there are exciting meals coming up. Keep in mind that at home, I eat a vegetarian diet along with Caroline.

Thank GOD for the internet; the cookbooks get expensive and rarely have a diversity of items that I’m looking for. The other problem with cookbooks is that they focus too much on bread, cakes, cookies, breakfasts, sauces, dips, dressings, appetizers, snacks, and desserts; I need real ‘meal’ type recipes.

Breakfast doesn’t need a meal plan. Most of us eat a vegetarian breakfast most of the time anyway. We start the day with a smoothie. Our smoothies are not only for breakfast but are also used to try to stay in compliance with the new food pyramid. My typical recipe looks like this:

½ cup Walnuts

2 tbsp Flax Seed

2 tbsp Wheat Germ

½ cup of Soy Yogurt

2 tbsp Flax Seed Oil

2 Cups Frozen Fruit (Blueberries, Strawberries, Banana, Mango, Peach, whatever)

2/3 cup Carrot Juice

2/3 cup Orange Juice

For Caroline’s glass, I added a heaping teaspoon of protein powder.

From this, we get part of our nuts, seeds, grain, protein, omega 3’s, fruit, orange veggies, and a good dose of vitamin C along with a bunch of other nutrients.

Some days, we also have oatmeal with a smoothie. Our preparation of oatmeal typically has some raisins or dried cranberries, a banana or a grated apple or strawberries, blueberries, or a peach.

Lunch is a play-it-by-ear meal. Often, Caroline takes leftovers to work, but at times will go out with coworkers and have a salad, baked potato, or veggie burger. I forage about town.

Dinner is a difficult meal for me; I was raised to have meat at dinner, and it adds the savory substantial item that veggie dinners are often missing for me. Here, I need a meal plan.

From spending more time in the kitchen, I have a good sense that a recipe is going to have the oomph I want for it to be satisfying or interesting enough to warrant trying it. Complex flavors are the key I’m looking for, not boiled celery with tossed pine nuts over tofu.

Here is my meal plan for the next week and a half:

Saturday – Homemade Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce (Italian)

Sunday – Eat Out

Monday – Chick Pea and Potato Curry (Indian)

Tuesday – Homemade Green Corn Tamales and Refried Beans (Mexican)

Wednesday – Foul Mudammas & Pita Bread (Middle East Recipe)

Thursday – Gobi Manchurian (Indian/Chinese Cauliflower Recipe)

Friday  – Arroz Verde (Mexican Green Rice Recipe)

Saturday – Fire Roasted Corn and poblano Chili Tacos (Mexican)

Sunday – Eating Out – Meat Fix!

Monday – Tacos of Calabacitas (Mexican Zucchini & Corn Recipe)

Tuesday – Lathera (Greek Baked Veggie Dish)

Wednesday – Beet Curry (Indian)

As long as time allows, nothing in our kitchen is prepared in some far-off factory as a ready-made meal. I use dried beans as often as I can (yes, we have a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking of dried beans). I will make the gnocchi by grinding cooked potatoes, mixing them with flour, and shaping them myself. The tomato sauce is made using ripe Roma tomatoes, garlic, ginger, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, oregano, onion, and cream. For the other dishes, I will use fresh corn, green chilies, cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, cilantro, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, and various other ingredients.

For the longest time, I resisted the idea of a vegetarian diet, but since I tried cooking more and more dishes that both Caroline and I could enjoy, it has become a habit to use the freshest food items and to make a serious effort to try new things. My thought has been that if I am going to try making this or that, I should make the best effort to create something truly healthy. which has led me to avoid prepackaged convenience.

Shopping frequently, about 3 to 4 times a week, I am constantly looking at what the store has and what might inspire me. This is especially true when visiting ethnic groceries. If I find an item that looks interesting, but I am at a loss to know what to do with it, I will either ask anyone standing near me or note it for later when I can look up on the internet what it is and what it is used in.