This week is about the basics of meal planning.  In this post I will share our menu, grocery list and prep-plan for the week.  In the next few posts I will tell you about:

• How to figure out what to cook
• Shopping your pantry for ingredients
• Making a menu

Menu time!

Week 1 Menu:

• Sundried Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese (Daiya) Sandwiches
• Carrot Ginger Soup and Biscuits
• Garlic and Greens Pasta
• Pad Thai
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Sauteed Collards and Waffles
• Kale, Mushroom and Udon in Miso Broth
• Leftover Night

Ingredients List* (Items I actually bought this week are in bold.  Everything else was already in my pantry or fridge)

Produce:Yellow Onions (2) Yukon Gold Potatos (6) 7 large carrots 1 piece of ginger, about 2 inches Broccoli (I often buy frozen when I can’t get it at the farmer’s market) Scallions (one bunch) 2 bunches of kale 2 heads of garlic 3 sweet potatos 5 collard leaves (about ½ a bunch)

General:28 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes 1 cup of sundried tomatoes (not in oil) Veggie bullion cubes (2) 1 loaf of whole wheat bread 1 bag of shredded cheddar Daiya (bought it on sale the week before) Rice noodles (8oz) 16 oz of penne pasta Cornmeal (1/4 cup) Raisins (1/4 cup needed, but we usually keep a bag on hand) 6 dried shitake mushrooms 8 oz frozen udon noodles Peanut butter

• *This list does not include some household staples that I always have around my kitchen.  More about these staples, and how to set up your own, will come in the next post!

Prep-Plan

Time needed: 2 hours (includes making dinner Sunday night)

Meal prep steps:

1. Make tomato soup (while it is cooking I complete the rest of the list
2. Chop veggies for everything else (onions, carrots, kale, ginger, and garlic).  I store veggies in the fridge in ziplock bags that I then wash and reuse later.  I store onions and garlic in pyrex dishes, and I drizzle some olive oil over the chopped garlic before I put it in the fridge.
3. Make the pad-thai sauce
4. Slice sweet potatoes (basically like fries) and coat them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, in a ziplock bag.  Store in the fridge
5. Make carrot soup (I make this in the same pot as the tomato soup, once the tomato soup has finished and I have rinsed out the pot.  I like having fewer dishes!)
6. Make biscuits (for that night, to have with the carrot soup)