Going Meatless a Few Nights a Week

by Ann Martin

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a vegetarian, but don’t want to fully commit to a lifestyle change just yet? Why not try preparing a few meatless meals a week to see if it’s for you or for your family? Even if you are looking for ways to save on the weekly grocery bill, eating a few meatless meal a week will really save you money. More and more people, no matter their reasons are going meatless at least a few times a week.

There are health benefits for eating a few meatless meals throughout the week. By having the meals focused on vegetables, grains, beans, etc, you will be consuming more nutrients and vitamins. Since these food items are typically high in fiber, in turn you will feel full and eat less. For those people that include ample fruits and vegetables into their diet know that they are low in both calories and fats and help them maintain their ideal weight. Finally, by including more and more vegetarian elements into your diet, you will drastically reduce your risk of heart disease. Put out your dinnerware and get ready to try some delicious, yet healthy vegetarian dishes.

Here are some helpful suggestions on how to include some protein into your diet, without eating meat.

• Eggs – They are the perfect food for morning, noon, and night! Try a vegetable frittata for lunch or maybe a fris?e salad with poached eggs (of course, try and leave out the bacon!)
• Milk – It may seem silly, but you can incorporate milk into so many things, like: sauces, soups and desserts. See if you can squeeze in that extra cup where and when you can.
• Tofu – This can be substituted in almost any recipe that calls for meat. There are many varieties of tofu, so make sure you read up on which one would hold up best in the recipe that you’ll be using.

Now, there are some wonderful meatless recipes out there for you try. Here are some menu ideas to get you started to making a few meatless meal for you and family to enjoy during the week. Who knows, maybe you’ll make very Monday a “Meatless Monday”!

• Ravioli with Tomatoes, White Beans and Baby Spinach
• Shell Pasta with Chickpeas and Broccoli Rabe
• Eggplant Lasagna with Ricotta and Asiago Cheeses
• Stir-Fry with Tofu and Oriental Vegetables
• Homemade Pizza (think of all the yummy toppings you could add!)
• Cheesy Tomato Risotto (again, add in mushrooms, peppers, etc.)

As you can see, there are endless possibilities that you can create in the kitchen that do not require meat. So get online, talk to some friends and see who can come up with the most delicious meatless meal! After creating your recipe, set up a buffet using your Noritake colorwave platters and have your family and friends sample your meatless masterpieces.

New 6 Month Subscription

By popular demand the Once a Week Cooking weekly menu plan is offered in a 6 month subscription.  You can go month to month or purchase all 6 months at once and save even more.

You can check out both options and some of the many benefits of weekly meal planning on the Weekly Meal Plan page.

Do you have special diet needs?  Please contact me about any special meal plans you would like to see in the future.  Right now the meal plans are generic and quite adaptable, but I do have some in the works for those of us on strict medical diets.

photo credit: BruceTurner

Meal Planning Methods

There are several ways to start planning your meals, depending on your family’s needs, tastes, and budget. If you have ample storage space, you may want to consider “freezer cooking,” which is also known as “bulk cooking” and “once a month cooking”.

In this form of meal planning, you’ll plan your meals for a whole month and complete a month’s cooking during one weekend, freezing the entrees.  This method can work well if you have a busy family and need quick meals that simply need to be taken out of the freezer, thawed, and heated. Taking some of your families favorite meals and making multiple portions will ensure that your family will eat dinner that night.  But a plan does need to be in place or a weekend of cooking will turn into a long drawn-out process that is less fun.

If that type of cooking doesn’t appeal to you, you can also plan your meals weekly. This is a very flexible method and you can alter it slightly to fit your family’s needs each week. The weekly meal plans here on Once A Week Cooking are built around cooking a few hours on one day and freezing the meals for later use.  However, you can easily take that weekly meal plan and cook the meals fresh each day.

If your family has an extremely busy week, plan several of these short-cut meals ahead of time. You’ll have peace of mind throughout your day that your family will have a satisfying meal that night. You won’t have to scramble at the end of a hard day to find something to feed them!

Depending on your level of organization and whether you find yourself favoring plain old paper or fancy electronic gadgets, you can choose to keep track of your meal plan on a simple piece of notebook paper, a calendar that is kept by the fridge or even on your computer.

If you want to be super-organized, one idea is to write out thirty of your family’s favorite meals and rotate them during each month. You can continue to do this, in one sitting, for the entire year. This will give you a menu plan to follow so you know what to cook each day.

Save Some Cooking Time Mom

Below are some quick ways to get ahead on a couple of meals for those long work days.  Nothing fancy, just some ideas to get in that freezer.

Make Ahead Freezer Meals – For Women on the Go

by Darlyn Burkle

Make ahead freezer meals could be the answer to a busy woman’s dinner time blues. Have you ever come home from work or running the kids to their activities, to find that you have nothing in the house to eat for dinner? Maybe you have come home and you were too tired to prepare a full meal for your family? Did you know that make ahead freezer meals could save the day?

Make ahead freezer meals are perfect for a family, couple, or single person. Let me tell you a little bit about these meals. They are easy to prepare and are a wonderful life saver.

Make ahead freezer meals require proper planning. You will need to plan at least a couple hours but three or four hours would be better. The reason for this is you will be preparing the meal from start to finish and you will be doing more than one meal during this time period.

There are a couple of ways to prepare make ahead freezer meals. You can do each one of them separately or you can prepare them all at once. Here is an example.

If you are preparing four meals, two are with chicken and two are with hamburger, you could prepare the chicken meals together and when you are finished prepare the hamburger meals or you could put the chicken in the oven to cook and prepare the hamburger meals while that cooks. Once the chicken is complete you would finish that meal.

If you don’t want to prepare the entire meal you can cook up the chicken so the only thing needed is to warm it up. You can do the same with fried hamburger. If your family enjoys hamburgers, you can create the patties ahead of time so you won’t have to do that step. You can even add the seasoning to them if you wish, and then pop them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Make ahead freezer meals are also possible with crock-pot cooking. Creating crock pot meals ahead of time is super easy. All you do is put all the ingredients needed in a bag with the seasoning. Then all you have to do is open the bag and dump it into the crock pot and turn it on. What can possible be easier than that?

Here is a list of items that can be created ahead of time for make ahead freezer meals.

o Fried hamburger – cooked
o Baked Chicken – baked
o Hashbrowns – baked and shredded
o Potato squares – baked and cubed
o Hamburger patties – seasoned and ready to cook
o Chicken strips – cooked and sliced

Cooking or at least preparing these items ahead of time can save you anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour of time. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of time for me.

Make ahead freezer meals are meals that are already cooked and sitting in your freezer. All you have to do is place it in a dish and into the oven to warm it up. Other make ahead freezer meals can also include meals that are all put together, all you have to do is cook them. These types of meals are wonderful for a family on the go, a couple who works long days, or a single person. Whatever your situation is, make ahead freezer meals are the way to go.

Fit a Dinner Party in Your Menu Plan

By Kathy Hester

When you’re rushing around to the store last minute every night there is never enough time to entertain. If you are already doing a menu plan and shopping once a week, you are way ahead of the game. So, go ahead and wash your up best dinnerware and send out an evite to your friends. It’s time for a dinner party!

The menu can be as simple as you want. You can make a lasagna with seasonal veggies like Swiss chard and mushrooms at the beginning of the week and heat it up on the day of the party. Another option is make it in the slow cooker and when you come home from work all you have to do is throw together a salad.

You can also plan way ahead for a party and freeze your pre-made dish in an oven safe Pyrex dish. I always have a few of these stored in the freezer just in case I feel like having people over. Make sure to defrost in the fridge overnight or add extra cooking time.

Not into lasagna? A warm weather dinner can be a chilled soup that you make the day before. I like gazpacho, yogurt dill, or a cold borscht for a refreshing summer treat. Pair it with a salad made of mixed greens from the farmers market and topped with julienned veggies that you’ve marinated overnight in a balsamic vinaigrette.

If you have a sweet tooth like I do, you’ll want to serve a dessert. It can be as simple as a store bought vanilla greek yogurt topped with in season berries. Serve it in a martini glass placed on a square dinnerware salad plate and drizzle some melted chocolate over the top.

Make sure to start the party with an empty dishwasher and your clean up will be a breeze too.

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