In my last post I mentioned that we’d be starting weekly meal planning. We’ve never really done this before, but our budget is tight and grocery shopping is pretty much the only area that we spend. Plus it makes sense now that Kyle’s working and his schedule is consistent (as opposed to when he was in school and constantly had random meetings or events or clubs or whatever). Now we know when we will be eating and we can plan things out.
BYO lunches. Home-made dinners. Repeat. That’s the plan.
Here’s how the first week turned out.
Monday dinner – manicotti
Tuesday lunch – leftover manicotti
Tuesday dinner – Caprese Caesar pasta salad
Wednesday lunch – leftover pasta salad
Wednesday dinner – crock-pot tempeh & veggie stew (recipe coming)
Thursday lunch – leftover stew
Thursday dinner – home-made pizzas
Friday lunch – leftover pizza
Friday dinner – veggie burgers
As you can see, our lunches were basically just the leftovers from the previous night. We still have extra stew too (and I had three servings on Wednesday night!!). Aside from a work day trip to WF for dried pineapple rings, I didn’t even deviate from the plan (woo hoo – no extra spending!).
For breakfasts, I have eating my usual fare. Kyle, however, doesn’t like sweet things in the AM. So I’ve been making him breakfast quiches.
He loves them. I mean, LOVES them.
So, I figured I may as well share the recipes. They aren’t dairy free, but they could easily be made so if you swapped out the cow’s cheese for vegan cheese.
Breakfast Veggie Quiche [makes two 6” ramekin quiches]
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 3 mushrooms, chopped
- 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt (I used full fat)
- 2 ounces cheese (I used 2 laughing cow Swiss cheese wedges)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine rice, chopped veggies, and mix. In a separate bowl combine yogurt, eggs, and cheese. Stir until well combined (cheese can still be in small chunks) and then add to rice/veggies. Add herbs and seasonings.
Pour into two sprayed 6” ramekins.
Bake for 35 minutes (at 375 degrees) or until brown and crispy on top. You can broil for the last couple of minutes to get an extra golden layer on top.
Let cool and enjoy!
These easily came out of the ramekins (they shrink over time, pulling away from the edge of the ramekin and making it super simple to flip out).
Delightful. For variations, you could swap the brown rice for quinoa or potatoes. You could also use any veggies (peas and corn are next on my list).
The next round I made for him were muffin quiches.
Broccoli & Cheese Quiche Muffins [makes 12 muffins]
Ingredients:
- 2 -3 large pieces of bread, chopped(I used a butt of a stale french loaf)
- 1 head broccoli, finely chopped
- 2 mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 cup plain almond milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 eggs
- salt & pepper
- shredded parmesan cheese (optional: for on top)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine chopped veggies & bread. In a separate bowl, mix together almond milk, water, olive oil, and eggs. Add to veggie/bread mix and stir until well mixed. Season as desired.
Pour into sprayed muffin pan. Don’t overfill, they will rise.
Top with cheese shreds. I left three cheese-less for myself. The rest got parmesan-ed for Kyle.
Bake for 25 minutes (at 375 degrees) or until brown on top. You can broil for the last minutes to get an extra golden layer on top.
Let them cool and enjoy!
These are so funny because they pop up when they are hot out of the oven, but then the fall back down once they cool. They are good warm or cold, too.
Definitely beats an Egg McMuffin.
Such perfect little hand-held savory breakfast fare!
those muffin quiches are so cute! i love anything “mini” 🙂 What a great way to start the day!
both recipes look great, I’m definitely bookmarking this!
mmm i love breakfast recipes! these are actually awesome for mid-morning/afternoon snacks too! booookmarked!
Those quiches look great! I prefer sweeter things in the morning, so those would serve well as snacks/dinners for me. I like the sounds of your lunch and dinner plans, sounds delicious to me!
Thanks for the great directions and photos. The muffins look amazing!!!
wow. you are the best wife ever. do you know what i make my kyle in the morning? i make him walk rusty.
xoxo
I make these sorts of things for my husband for breakfast too. He just calls any variation an “egg”. Even if it’s a muffin. “Are you going to make egg?” he’ll say. Yes, like a toddler. It’s a bit funny since there are more ingredients than just eggs in there, but at least it gets him to eat something other than bread and oil for breakfast every now and again 😉
Wow, I’m really impressed with how well you stuck to your meal plans. That’s awesome! I keep saying that I’m going to start planning my meals but haven’t gotten around to it, for some reason. I know it would save me a lot of time and money!
These sound super, I’m going to try them out for my toddler when we need lunch on the go! Thanks x
Totally trying these. Thanks. I tried muffin tin quiche like things once that were an epic fail. I’m always up for another egg try.
going to try this baking situation after my Boston trip. OR I may just coerce KT to buying groceries and making this at hers. 😉
Pingback: Tempeh Stew
Pingback: Catching up on last weekend
of course i had to show this comment to kyle. ha.
thats so funny/cute!!
good luck!
I just baked this quiche recipe about 45 minutes ago, and the ENTIRE recipe is gone! This is a fabulous recipe. I have been craving some comfort food and this hit the spot. I made a few changes to it though, and it was really, really good so I thought I would share. 🙂
I substituted the rice for quinoa( it kinda turned out like grits which was a good surprise), and a lil’ bit of diced sweet onion instead of onion powder, and I also added extra mushrooms. Of course, since I wanted it 100% vegan, I used soy yogurt and Daiya mozzarella. I took your suggestion and broiled it for a few extra minutes, and it perfectly browned the cheese on top! It was beautiful:) Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful recipes on your blog. Checking/reading your blog is one of the highlights of my day!
thanks so much joy, thats so nice to hear!!
those tweaks sound delish! no wonder it went so quickly! did you cook the quinoa first or no? if you haven’t already try out this dish – http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/quinoa-quiche/
I’ve made so many variations of it in big pie pans and mini ramekins. all winners 🙂
I make something similar to the muffins alllll the time but using a soft tofu with a bit of ground flax instead of eggs- i dont add the bread, but will often wrap one up in a tortilla with some added veggies for an easy lunch!
Hi Elise!
Yeah, I did cook the quinoa first before I mixed it with the veggies. It turns out really creamy that way. I actually just made another one, but I doubled the recipe and added chopped up broccoli. 🙂 It’s currently cooling off on my stove. Thanks so much for the other recipe! I would’ve never thought of pureed squash, so I will definitely be trying that one soon. It looks really yummy:) Ever since I discovered your blog I have been cooking up a storm haha. I’m in the kitchen cooking as soon as I get home from work. Thanks!
aw. thats so great and makes me feel so proud!
btw, the pureed squash and nutritional yeast make such yummy flavor. definitely one of my fave recipes.
Pingback: Lunch Lady
Pingback: On the go breakfasts