what do vegans eat all week?

In trying to answer the question about my favorite vegan meal, I really couldn't come up with a single meal. I thought I'd do one of my "what do vegans eat all day?" posts with a twist. I'll show a full day, and then a week's worth of dinners too.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with a couple tablespoons of raisins, a tablespoon of chopped walnuts, a teaspoon of maple syrup, and some spices.

Lunch: A leftover cabbage roll stuffed with bulgur and grain sausage; brown rice; a few green beans.

I also made a smoothie to get more fruits and vegetables in. This one is my favorite to make: about 3 C kale lightly steamed, about a cup of frozen raspberries, a small banana, ice, and some flax milk for liquid.

Sometimes I add a scoop of ground flax seed or wheat bran, but not today. You do have to watch how much you're putting in your smoothies because the calories can add up. On the other hand, it's a great way to pack in a daily dose of dark leafy greens and other good stuff.

Afternoon Snack: A handful of crunchy dried green bean thingies, a few strawberries, and a few squares of dark chocolate.

Dinner: Spaghetti and homemade meatless balls.

And these are the six dinners I have planned for the week:

1. Cheezy Broccoli Soup (this recipe) and Garlic Bread

2. Cabbage Rolls (filled with bulgur, vegetables, and Field Roast sausage), Brown Rice, Green Beans

3. Spaghetti and Meatless Balls (the meatless balls are made with textured vegetable protein along with all the other typical ingredients you'd put in regular meatballs)

4. Hearty Stew with tempeh, potatoes, and carrots

5. Shells and "Cheese" with broccoli (the cheesy sauce is tofu-based and has nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. I also really like cashew-based cheesy sauces.)

6. Pizza and Salad

This is a pretty typical representation of what we have for dinners. We don't usually have pasta more than once a week, but I wanted to try the mac and cheese recipe. We usually have pizza or something else that's really easy one night a week. We also have bean-based things sometimes- chickpea teriyaki is a favorite. Two of my nutrition goals are to have dark leafy greens every day (smoothies are a very easy way to do this) and to eat more beans.

One thing about being vegan is that, in order to eat well and to have really yummy homemade meals, you do need to make almost everything from scratch. There are plenty of quick recipes, but some of our favorites take some time. I do a lot of cooking ahead, either freezing things or getting them made or prepped a day or two in advance. If I have time during naps, I often get dinner ready ahead of time during the day. On days when Celia's at daycare I can usually get a meal or two done while Henry's doing this:

There you have it!