| In our daily lives, we put together meal plans all | | | | vegetables and fruits, and the more varied and |
| the time. Whether it's for a nice dinner to serve | | | | colorful, the better |
| in-laws, quick bagged lunches for your kids, or | | | | - One quarter of your plate should be whole |
| nightly dinners for the family, we always have to | | | | grains like quinoa, millet, oats, wheat, or rice |
| piece together healthy, balanced meals. | | | | - One quarter of your plate should be beans, |
| With all the activities we're involved in nowadays, | | | | giving yourself a variety each day |
| we seldom have time to think about nutritionally | | | | I don't think it's absolutely necessary for most |
| balanced menu plans for our families, let alone if | | | | people to worry about portion size, as long as |
| we're just cooking for ourselves. | | | | they take their time eating and really think about |
| With long work days, after-school meetings, | | | | whether or not they need to keep eating. A |
| sporting events, music practice, and everything | | | | controlled eater eats food, chews and swallows, |
| else we juggle, it's easy to get stuck in a rut. I | | | | and then decides whether or not to keep eating. |
| often find myself throwing whatever vegetables | | | | When you are eating whole plant foods, even |
| and beans are in the fridge with a big pot of | | | | some overeating isn't going to be devastating to |
| grains and spices and calling it a night. | | | | your body. |
| The internet gives us access to so many free | | | | If you have trouble controlling your eating, keep a |
| recipes, but it can be time-consuming checking to | | | | food journal and try to stick to the |
| make sure we have all the ingredients, veganizing | | | | recommendations of the vegan food pyramid: |
| any non-vegan recipes, and checking out reviews | | | | - 6-11 servings whole grains per day (1/2 cup hot |
| on the recipes. Add onto that the stress of | | | | or 1 oz is a serving) |
| making sure there's enough protein and calcium, | | | | - 3-6 servings vegetables (1 cup raw, 1/2 cup |
| and it becomes tedious. | | | | cooked or juice is a serving) |
| More than just a recipe or cookbook, we need a | | | | - 2-4 servings fruits (1 cup raw, 1/2 cup cooked |
| plan. | | | | or juice is a serving) |
| We don't want to have to pry open a few | | | | - 2-3 servings beans (1/2 cup beans or 4 oz |
| cookbooks every night to come up with one | | | | seeds is a serving) |
| creative, nutritious, and delicious meal. We don't | | | | - 2-3 servings fortified milk substitutes (8 oz. is a |
| want it to be gourmet or difficult, but just simple, | | | | serving) |
| whole foods put together in a delicious fashion. | | | | What more can we do to make a balanced meal |
| We don't want to sift through the fridge to locate | | | | every day? |
| ingredients, we want to know up front what we | | | | 1. We need a weekly vegan meal plan |
| need for the week. | | | | 2. We need a grocery list that corresponds |
| We do want to spend the most time with the | | | | exactly with the plan |
| people we're cooking for, not just doing the | | | | 3. We'd like the nutritional information for each |
| cooking. | | | | recipe |
| To make a balanced vegan meal, keep these | | | | 4. We want seasonal, fresh, whole, normal (not |
| pointers in mind: | | | | gourmet) foods |
| - Half your meal should be a mixture of | | | | 5. |