A Weekly Menu Plan for Vegetarian Kid Friendly Meals

What – and how - does a busy, working, veganish Mom feed her ovo-vegetarian kids?

I cook twice a day; breakfast and a meal that does double duty as lunch and dinner. When I cook beans, I make extra for future meals. Weekday lunches have to be foods that hold up well in a lunch box. I also feed my growing girls a big snack after school - basically a small fourth meal consisting of a sandwich and fruit.

I’m aiming for lots of calories to fuel their endless growth spurts, omega-3s, lots of fruit and veggies, whole grains, and adequate calcium in a diet that doesn’t include much dairy. They drink 2 servings of non-dairy milk a day with snack and dinner.

The following menu is what we ate last week - Sarah Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

MONDAY

Breakfast:

• cornbread with maple syrup
• Super Breakfast Smoothie

Lunch/Dinner

• Hoppin’ John (from Heaven’s Banquet Ayurvedic Cookbook) made with black-eyed peas cooked the night before
• Brown rice
• Salad with lemon and oil dressing which I make in big batches once or twice a week and store in the fridge
• Cornbread

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

• Homemade granola with warm non-dairy milk. I make the granola in large batches and keep it on hand for a quick nutritious breakfast
• Super Breakfast Smoothie

Lunch: My older daughter has a field trip to the zoo, so it’s a brown bag lunch for everyone.

• PB&J sandwiches
• Soy yogurt
• Fresh fruit
• Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
• Juice box

Dinner:

• Black bean quesadillas with spinach and non-dairy cheese made from beans that I soaked the morning before and cooked the night before. I will make a double batch of filling so we can have them again on Thursday night. I like to keep it quick and simple if I have to cook at night.
• Roasted potatoes

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

• Pancakes with maple syrup
• Super Breakfast Smoothie

Lunch/Dinner

• Fried tofu
• Pasta and tomato sauce from a jar
• Sautéed veggies: broccoli, kale, carrots

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

• Granola with warm milk
• Super Breakfast Smoothie

Lunch/Dinner: This time it’s my younger daughter who has a field trip, so it’s brown bag lunches and Black bean quesadillas once more.

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

• Scrambled eggs or scrambled tofu
• Oatmeal date nut muffins
• Super Breakfast Smoothie

Lunch/Dinner:

• Pasta bean soup made with canned kidney beans or beans I cooked ahead of time
• Oatmeal date nut muffins
• Salad with lemon and oil dressing

WEEKEND

Breakfast:

I always make sure that there are lots of bread, bagels, or cereal and fruit on hand, so the kids can help themselves.

Lunch/Dinner:

• Tofu Burgers
• Roasted potatoes
• Salad

I only plan one meal on the weekends since we often eat at the homes of friends or family or eat out. Tofu burgers are one of my kids’ favorite meals. I am planning to start teaching my kids to cook on the weekends and I thought starting with foods they love would make them more enthusiastic about cooking lessons.