Weekly Meal Plan

This week I tried to make my own $100 meal plan based off of different recipes from the Plant Based on a Budget blog. I tried to stick with meals that had cross over ingredients (Hello, carrots) so we wouldn't have leftover groceries. I also tried to find recipes that used a lot of the same items (Hello, chickpeas). Also, I looked for meals with few ingredients.

Our total grocery bill was $100.19. For FIVE (and a half) humans! That includes breakfast staples like oatmeal and frozen waffles (and a box of junkie snack cereal for the pregnant lady... sorrynotsorry), lunches, and lots of snacks. And all. the. fruit. I had to tell Cory to step away from the produce because I was worried about going over $100 with blueberries, watermelon, and mangoes. (One less banana and we would have been golden!)

So here's our dinner plan for the week. With a color coded shopping list.

Day	Dinner
M	Pasta and Sauce with frozen veggies
T	Orzo Salad
W	Southwest Mix
R	Chickpea Broccoli Casserole
F	Veggie Couscous
S	Chickpea Bread Stew
S	*Leftover Night*

Produce Dairy Packaged Goods Spices/Sauces

M
Pasta
Jar Sauce
Frozen Veggies

T

4 cups water
1 1/2 cups orzo
1 cup garbanzo beans, rinsed (canned or pre-cooked from scratch)
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil and mint leaves, chopped
1/2-3/4 cups red wine vinaigrette
salt and pepper to taste

W
1 can of corn (drained and rinsed)
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
3/4 cup chopped sweet peppers of any color
3/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
juice from 1 lime

R
3 16oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 large carrots, grated (about 2 cups)
1 large onion, halved and sliced thinly (I used a mix of red onion and shallots for taste and aesthetics, but yellow is fine, too)
1 medium head and stem of broccoli
2-3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used some leftover homemade stuff, but if gluten free, omit this, or substitute 1/2 cup finely pulsed walnuts)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp salt (or not, depending on how salty your broth is...)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

F
1 cup Whole Wheat Couscous (dried)
1 tbsp Coconut Oil (any oil is fine, can omit)
5-6 Asparagus Spears (large)
1 Bell Pepper (any color)
1 Tomato (medium, diced)

S
4-6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red onion chopped
3 carrots sliced
1 12-oz can of chickpeas
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
juice of one lemon
1-2 tsp salt, to taste
Sourdough round loaf, top cut out
1-2 tbsp olive oil