Last weekend some amazing old friends from Calgary came to spend a long weekend with us. It has been 12 years since we left Calgary for Kelowna, and until now, they hadn’t brought their whole family to town for a visit. It was a fun filled, action packed, memory re-living weekend! The last thing I wanted to do was put a pause on the fun each day around 3 to prepare for dinner. So, I created this plant-based menu plan!
My goal was to have all of the meals prepped and in the freezer before their arrival. Being organized is instrumental in maximizing ‘playtime’ and minimizing ‘work-time’! It’s also something I sometimes struggle to be good at.
It was also very important to me to wow them with delicious, simple plant-based recipes! Our friend Pat is a “good old meat and potatoes” Saskatchewan boy. I enjoyed quizzing him about what he thought were the replacement foods in the dishes… For instance the walnuts instead of beef in the “Raw Nut Meat Tacos”, and the chickpeas instead of flour and oil in the “Chickpea Brownies”. Their whole family seemed quite honestly impressed by the yummy-ness and satiating plants-only weekend. 😉 Taste buds need to be tantalized when exposing friends to plant-based eating!
The meals were hardy, tasty, yet easy to make and pop into the freezer. I doubled everything so there were plenty of leftovers for hungry mouths the next day.
I thought I would share my menu plan in order to make your life easier if you are trying to get ready for the September long weekend. One last big hurrah before school starts!
Below is my three day menu plan.
All recipes are from my website. Just click on the photos or the hyperlink and you will be taken through to the corresponding blog post. There are lots more recipes to experiment with if any of these options don’t resonate with you. 😉
Thursday Menu:
Dinner:
Burritos: Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos with Killer Avocado Sauce
Simple green salad: Baby spinach, sliced peaches, chopped cucumbers, a sprinkle of pumpkin and hemp seeds, topped with a balsamic no oil dressing blended. (Oil free recipe below.) Or purchase one, just look for less or no oil if possible.
Oil Free Balsamic Dressing
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 pitted dates or 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 orange – peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1 tsp. dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Blend in blender.
Cheesecake: Scrumptious Mini Cheezecakes
Friday menu:
Breakfast:
Smoothie Bowl: Berry Smoothie Bowl with granola topping
Coffee and fresh Okanagan sliced peaches cherries and plums
Snacks for the day:
Muffins: Orange Flax Muffins
Hummus: with fresh veggies and dried vegetable crackers: Hummus
Lunch:
Fresh green salad and leftover burritos, smothered in the magic green sauce!
Dinner:
Lasagna: Cashew Basil Veggie Lasagna
Caesar Salad: The Vibrant Veggie’s Kale Caesar Salad
Cookies and peaches: Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Saturday menu:
Breakfast:
Steel Cut Oats with toppings: Stellar Steel Cut Oats
Lunch:
Chickpea Wraps and veggies: Chickpea Salad Wraps
Snacks for the day:
– sliced watermelon
– fresh cherries
– veggies and hummus
– Everyday Energy Bites
Dinner:
Tacos: Raw Nut Meat Tacos
– Make the nut meat mixture and freeze. Have the ingredients ready to make the cabbage and aioli topping today.
– Frozen bag of Alexia Sweet Potato fries, baked
– Tossed green salad: use left-over dressing from Friday
– Brownies: Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
Here is a list of snacks I like to have on hand from the local grocery store:
- Boom Chicka-Pop popcorn
- tortilla chips and salsa
- dried figs
- grapes, olives and vegan crackers
- Spread-Em dips – and other delicious vegan dips
- assorted nuts
- pistachio nuts
- Hardbite Dressed to Dill chips… UNREAL.
I hope this menu plan will make your life easier when preparing for an organized, enjoyable time!
Drop me a line if it is of use to you!
Happy last hot long weekend!