Your February Meal Planning Made Easy - so easy, you may use it in March, and April, and …
Add February’s Cookbook to simplify your month
There are two reasons to cook at home. Many people only discover reason one.
Reason 1: Cooking at home saves you money.
Let’s face it - we logically know that the hundred we spend at the grocery store will go waayyy further than the hundred we pay at our favorite restaurant. (True story - we recently plunked down $75 at our local plant-based burger joint for three burgers. We didn’t even get drinks!)
The problem with cooking at home is it all starts to blend together. One meal starts looking like another. You have days where you wonder what to cook. It gets tedious at best.
Unless you have a plan! And once you discover this “plan,” you’ll actually find reason two.
Reason 2: Cooking at home brings you more joy.
I know what you’re thinking. No way could cooking at home bring you joy! Because I’ve talked with lots of women who have sold themselves many stories about cooking. Have you ever sold yourself one of these stories:
I’m not good at cooking.
It takes too much time.
I’m just too busy!
It’s a chore.
I don’t have the right tools or kitchen.
I can’t be creative in the kitchen.
It’s just easier to order takeout.
I don’t like dealing with ingredients.
I never have the right ingredients on hand.
I don’t have time to plan!
If you’re someone who has ever sold yourself a story like this, it’s time to read on. Because I have an easy way to …
Quickly have your meals planned for the week …
Without creating the same meal over and over again …
And canceling the stories you’ve been telling yourself around once and for all!
Plant-based cookbooks are a bit different …
Here’s what I know for sure.
Ten percent of US adults identify as vegan or vegetarian. From 2004 to 2019, the number of vegans in the US increased 30-fold.
But even the concept of vegetarianism and veganism isn’t solidified. Ask a dozen people for a definition, and you’ll likely hear a dozen answers.
It’s confusing!
Now let’s throw in plant-based. Whew! What does it all mean?
That’s why I’m a sucker for so many of the plant-based cookbooks on the marketplace today - and why I love the cookbooks I include in my Cookbook Club collection. Open them up, and you’ll get an education.
Because plant-based is such a new concept, many cookbook authors combine it with storytelling skills.
They stretch way beyond “just a few recipes” and give you little golden nuggets into this lifestyle. You may learn things like:
Variety and flavor - authors love showcasing their skills. And because they’re doing so with plants, you’ll find diversity and richness in plant-based eating.
Health benefits - let’s face it, most of us plant-based eaters start doing so for the health benefits. We all reach a point where the evidence is too overwhelming not to listen. So we move to plant-based eating … and discover just how delicious it is. Soooo much better than meat on a plate.
Weight management - healthy plant-based eating will typically have lower calories than other methods. And many cookbook authors provide a wealth of support.
Environmental impact - no matter where you start the journey, if you’re plant-based long enough, you’ll eventually discover environmental reasons for sticking with a plan. Authors often discuss what motivates them, and drive it home with proof.
Culinary skills - yes, you’ll have to learn new skills. Like replacing chicken eggs with flax eggs, or using nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. Cooking is something everyone can learn. And with the right reasons, and the right motivation, it’s easier than you think.
It’s time to prove it … with February’s cookbook
Years ago, I started following Dr Zach Bush for his knowledge of nutrition, GMOs, gut health, and the environment. I signed up for his newsletter and started learning from his videos. When he created ION Gut Support to support gut health, I signed up and have been taking it ever since.
A few weeks ago, he talked with Dr Erika Siegel about health. As I listened, I was intrigued by her message. As she spoke, I knew I had to purchase her cookbook.
The Nourish Me Kitchen by Dr Erika Siegel
This is a wellth of information - so much more than a cookbook. In fact, it’s a 2 volume set. And she covers it all …
Volume one is Essential Health Wisdom. She covers things like macronutrients, building strong bones, essential kitchen gear, and even deep dives into aromatherapy and holistic treatments in action. (And I might have skipped to the back of the book and read the Aging Gracefully section first. 😉)
This book alone is worth the investment. Think of it as 500 pages of advice.
Volume two is Wholesome Everyday Recipes. And she has dozens of recipes that are good for everyday living. I love her little notes along the way. Like what you can do if you can’t find an ingredient. Or substitutions if you don’t like an ingredient.
I purchased the Kindle version because I love to travel with my cookbooks. If we’re gone more than a few days, we always stay at an Airbnb so we can cook meals at “home.” Kindle cookbooks allow me to keep my favorite recipes at my fingertips. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve relied on them. (And I love to travel, so that’s not going to stop.
In case you're new here, at the start of 2023, I decided to start a Cookbook Club, choosing one plant-based cookbook a month and using it in my monthly meal planning. My goal was to add variety to my meals, create a theme for the month, and have delicious new recipes to try out and cook a little bit of “wow” in my kitchen that month.
This is my 14th cookbook, and this one deserves a place on every plant-based eater’s shelves. I highly recommend adding it to your own collection because it’ll make your meal planning easier. This is how.
4 easy steps to meal planning …
What’s the worst part of meal planning? Again, it’s time for stories. When I speak with women moving toward a plant-based lifestyle, they usually say things like:
It’s time-consuming - “I have to choose recipes, grocery shop, prepare the foods, cook the foods. It’s a lot. With a busy schedule, who has time for that?”
The grocery shopping - “I find it so challenging to find all the ingredients and have them on hand. It seems as if I’m always missing something. And with plant-based, there’s always an ingredient I have no idea what it is. And I find it, and it’s wildly expensive. It sometimes makes me give up.”
Food spoilage - “This food is expensive. And then I use only a small portion, and find this expensive jar in the back of my fridge months later. Or I throw produce out by the bagful. It’s expensive when I buy it, and it seems worse when I throw it all away.”
Yep. I hear you. I’ve had all those thoughts and more run through my head, too.
But here’s what I’ve learned over the years that makes plant-based meal planning soooo much easier.
Find your favorites
Okay, I’m just going to say it: You don’t have to have a gazillion different recipes to rely on as a plant-based eater. Yes, I give you cookbooks with dozens of recipes monthly in my Cookbook Club. But what I want you to do is to really jump into one - ONE - cookbook, and find just a handful of meals. Some you’ll like for the month. Some will become your all-time favorites.
Like one of my favorites from the very first cookbook of the Cookbook Club. When I featured it, I had just found Laura Wright’s The First Mess, and I fell in love with her recipes. She has an eggplant pasta recipe in there that we eat every couple of weeks. It’s seriously that good. We just love it! So, her cookbook makes it off my shelf and onto my counter several times a month.
And I’ll admit, I haven’t tried every recipe in that cookbook. Nope. But the ones I have … yum! And that’s okay!
Cookbooks give you a chance to find your favorites, too. Pull out your sticky notes and mark your favorites. Bookmark them if you choose to keep them on your Kindle. Add notes and highlights. This is your guide!
It also gives you things to draw from on those days where you think, “What’s for dinner?”
Think meals, not 30 days of the month
Traditional meal plans overwhelm me. There, I said it. Because I don’t eat thirty different recipes each month - times three, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Nope. I’m a smoothie girl. I’ve eaten the same smoothie daily for breakfast for over five years. I don’t care about breakfast recipes, because I don’t need them. They don’t work with my lifestyle. The plant-based lifestyle I’ve created.
Where I shine is with dinner. I LOVE cooking dinner. It relaxes me after a long day. I look forward to cooking with my family, and discussing our lives.
And I love cooking in quantity, so I have enough for lunches. One less thing to think about on my busy days.
That’s me. What about you? How do you live? What do you prefer?
Then, chunk out your meal planning based on your lifestyle. If you’re a smoothie girl like me, bam, it takes breakfast out of the equation. Can you batch your lunches for grab-and-go convenience?
Do. What. Works. For. You.
I said it. I mean it! It’s called a plant-based lifestyle for a reason.
Mark up those cookbooks
You want to know the easiest way to grow as a cook? Experiment.
Have you ever tasted a meal and thought, “It’d be better with a little more spice,” or “It’s lacking salt.” That’s your tastebuds trying to figure out a way to make food taste even better.
The more you cook, the more you’ll adjust. You’ll instinctively know when to make additions or changes to a meal.
Cookbooks give you the freedom to make changes to a meal.
I have an old chili recipe that I LOVE. The funny thing is it doesn’t look much like the original anymore. I’ve changed several ingredients, added a few of my own, and crafted little notes to myself in the margins.
Because I’ve grown as a cook over the years. I understand how to make things even more nutritious - like adding nutritional yeast for:
B vitamins, including B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folate), and B12 (cobalamin).
It provides all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein source.
Essential minerals such as zinc, selenium, manganese, and molybdenum.
Antioxidants, including beta-glucans, which may help support the immune system and provide protection against oxidative stress.
So, I have a note to add a few tablespoons of that to the pot.
Think of it as a loving way to make every recipe your own. And remembering how to craft it long after you finish the meal.
Calendar your ideas
Think of all the things you calendar. If you’re like me, you start your day by opening it up and using it to guide you throughout the day.
Why not add your menu plans to it, too?
I feel it works for two reasons.
✔️First, it makes your planning easier. If you know what’s for dinner, you’re more likely to have the ingredients in your pantry. If you need to stop by the store, you’ll be aware of it the moment you leave your home.
✔️Second, it puts the joy of cooking back into your life.
We sit down as a family on the weekends and decide what’s for dinner throughout the week. We calendar our ideas, each taking a couple of nights. You see it. You plan for it. And you start to look forward to it.
Is one of your favorite meals coming up? It makes a stressful call a little less stressful.
Or maybe I’ll decide to turn a meal into an event. Last summer, I grew a selection of edible flowers. I made spring rolls one night, and added the flowers into the mix. They were gorgeous! And created an event - not just a dinner.
The point is, with something to look forward to, you can go the extra mile. Find a drink to complement your dinner. Buy a bouquet to add to the table.
Or move forward with a theme! Having Italian? Find a good Italian wine. Or maybe create a dessert from the region you're cooking for.
Get creative!
Trust me, the more fun you have with this, the more you’ll enjoy the process, and fall in love with your plant-based cooking.
And isn’t that what this is all about?
Lori
p.s. If you try any of these tips, I’d love to hear about them. What do you do to make your meal planning a bit easier?