Meal Plan

Yesterday was the rainiest of all the runs I have done yet! It was pouring and super windy so the rain was coming sideways...good times. I was sopping when I got home and was so glad I had worn long underwear and some light rain pants! I have one more run of week 9 which I will do tomorrow, hopefully with Ben since Arlo is going to hang out with his grandparents in the morning.

And the first run of week 10 will be on the weekend in Victoria with my dear friend Jes who is also running the half with us. I am a little excited because I am heading over to visit her BY MYSELF!!! Yup no baby. Wow. It is going to be lovely. I cannot wait to sit on the ferry all alone and read a trashy magazine. Ahhhh....bliss. Also Jes has an awesome run planned for us which is a loop around a lake and we are going to go out for breakfast! Which I love to do, especially in Victoria.

As part of all our goals and ideas of things we would like to change for the new year we have been trying to stick to a budget and part of that is using a weekly meal plan and shopping specifically for it. This week has been working out really well so far. Here is what we have lined up.......

Monday - Veggie Chilli (I made it on Sunday, soaked the beans on Sat)

Tuesday - Spinach Fritatta and Savoy Cabbage Salad (chopped all veg and made mixture during Arlo's nap, which involved absolutely no sleeping)

Wednesday - Coconut Prawn Curry with quinoa (Ben is the curry master in the house so I will chop up the veg for him during naps, sleepy restful naps. fingers crossed.)

Thursday - Miso Soba Noodle Soup

Friday - I am guessing leftovers? Since I won't be here the boys will fend for themselves!

We have been making big batches of almost everything and eating leftovers for lunches or freezing for those days when you just don't feel like it or have time. I use 3 cup rectangular glass Pyrex containers which I love and stack super easy.

season of soup

There is a big soup kick going on at our house. Between the weather, meal planning efforts and trying to stick to grocery budget all things are pointing to soup. I made a pretty tasty on the other day - Creamy Vegan Broccoli. I think from years of cooking for a living I sometimes, well most times have a hard time following a recipe or keeping track of what I put in. I have made some tasty soups that I could never make again from adding a pinch of this or that and then having no idea what was in it if I tried to write it down....But this time as soon as I was done and tasted it I sat down and tried my best to remember everything. Of course the measurements are my best guess but it should work out.

Creamy Vegan Broccoli Soup


In a large pot I sauteed:

1/2 cup onion
1 small zucchini
1 and a 1/2 cups chopped carrot
2 stalks celery

Then I added:

6 or 7 cups chopped broccoli
3L water
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 or 2 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp grainy mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
generous sprinkle sea salt and fresh cracked pepper

And cooked until veg is mushy. Then buzz up with the hand blender and there you go. Stick a few jars in the freezer for those days you don't feel like cooking and you still have enough for lunch and leftovers.

I also made a great and easy black bean soup. I had bought a big container of Que Pasa salsa from Costco and I needed to use it up so I cooked up 2 or 3 cups of dried black beans which I had soaked over night and drained them. Then sauteed up what ever random veg I had, some celery, onion, carrot and little peice of zucchini, and added about 1 and a 1/2 cups fresh salsa, 1 tsp or so of cumin, the cooked black beans and veg stock to cover and simmered for about 15 min. Then I gave it a buzz with my trusted hand blender and added a little water to reach the right consistency, some s & p and there you go!
Top with some plain greek yogurt, a spoonful of salsa and some chopped cilantro. Delicious!