Daily Simple Meal Suggestions

Dinners/Suppers

  • pasta - a variety of pastas topped with a variety of sauces
  • mashed potatoes with bean burgers and greens
  • roasted potatoes and vegetables with bean loaf or salad
  • simple vegetable chili on rice or potatoes or with tortillas chips or pita bread
  • burrito / rice bowl
  • refried bean casserole
  • pizza
  • leftovers

When I was growing up we called "dinner" supper and we called "lunch" dinner. I was not sure if that was a British influence and so I researched it and it appears that supper is a term used to describe a lighter evening snack and dinner is a more formal term for a larger meal. It was always the largest meal of the day other than on Sunday, where the midday meal was the larger meal, usually roast beef, roasted potatoes, Green Giant vegetables and pie for dessert. Supper that day usually was lighter fare in the form of French toast or grilled cheese sandwiches. Now, supper is a term that is not widely used as the evening meal is usually the largest despite most health gurus telling us that it should be a lighter meal and eaten a number of hours before going to bed. This is something we are still trying to master.

Pasta is definitely our favourite 'go-to' meal and the sauces range from simple spaghetti sauce, to a homemade pesto, to our new favourite Tasty Sundried Tomato Olive Linguini and the types of pasta range from gnocchi to whole wheat penne and spaghettini. Incorporating beans into a pasta meal can be a simple as putting white kidney beans in when making gnocchi or penne to a more complicated sauce that involves some white beans blended with avocado and/or artichokes and even some nuts. Don't forget to top it with the Shaky Cheeze parmesan alternative.

Potatoes can be the base of so many meals and it just takes a bit of forethought to avoid the butter trap. Golden Gravy, as invented by Mary McDougall (wife of Dr John McDougall) is one favourite and we have enjoyed it a few times, however, we have progressed to where we prefer our potatoes parboiled, then roasted in the oven and served with bean burgers or bean loaf and veggies or sometimes with just the veggies or salad. When I parboil and roast the potatoes I often include both white and sweet potatoes and also some rutabaga, parsnip, butternut squash, garlic cloves, quarted onions, large slices of zucchini or anything else that I have around that is great roasted including bell peppers, jalapenos and sometimes broccoli. Hooked on mashed potatoes? no worries, Anja has a wonderful Herbed Mashed Potato recipe that will make your mouth water and you can then add the Golden Gravy if needed or enjoy on their own. Before I move on to beans, as it is related, the other topping we love on boiled or roasted potatoes is chili.... mmmmm, so good.

COOKING TIP

Roasting potatoes: it is best to parboil potatoes before roasting, or at least soak them for 20-30 minutes first as there is an amino acid, in potatoes, that changes into a toxin called acrylamide when exposed to high heat during frying or roasting. Boiling, steaming or microwaving potatoes is the safer way to eat them.

Beans should be part of our meals every day and according to Dr Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org we should eat at least 1.5 cups per day. This can be a challenge and so a bit of planning ahead by having lots of beans and lentils on hand, in various forms, is important. As I just mentioned under potatoes a simple vegetable chili takes a short time to make and has kidney beans or black beans or pinto beans or even a combo of any beans you like. Served on top of potatoes or with healthy tortilla chips, pita or toast, it is a great opportunity to get your beans and your vegetables altogether and leftovers make perfect lunches for the next day or make a double batch and freeze some. By far our favourite method of consuming beans for dinner is the Burrito Bowl or Rice Bowl (I am trying to come up with a new name) and it came to our attention through High Carb Hannah who has been a vegan starchivore for a while now and comes up with simple recipes daily and also serves a Burrito Bowl as a main meal almost every day. It is filling, nutritious, delicious and the Hemp Ranch Dressing that she includes to pour over top is so amazingly good (oil free) that it can also be used on potatoes or rice by itself. A base of rice, topped with beans, then vegetables, greens, avocado and cilantro or parsley and then the dressing.... making me hungry now .... and the joy is that you can use anything you have handy to make it. A few meals ago I didn't have time to cut up onions and peppers etc so I did the rice and beans and then topped it with steamed broccoli and the dressing. So good! A finally under the Bean category is a standard from before we adopted the Starchivore Lifestyle and the only tweak needed was to loose the shredded cheese we used to top it with. Refried Bean Casserole is almost a simple as you can get. A can of refried beans (watch for added oils and sodium levels) into a small casserole dish and mixed with chopped onion, zucchini, bell peppers, olives, chopped tomatoes or salsa and topped with some spring onions and then enjoyed with tortilla chips or pita. So simple and so tasty! and you can add any other veggies that you like including jalapenos.

Pizza is one of those meals that we have once every 10 days or two weeks and we use a variety of crusts. Our local supermarket carries a Mancouche Flatbread that is very large and very low in fat and sodium. Place a layer of oilfree pizza sauce, chopped spinach, and then all the toppings you prefer including mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, hot peppers, olives etc and then sprinkle on some nutritional yeast or Shaky Cheeze and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. Sometimes we make our own simple crust, with or without yeast and sometimes we use a pita bread as a base if we want something quick and with a thinner crust.

Leftovers.... why not double or triple the recipe, we do. It is so important to have food available in the freeze and/or the fridge, when you live this lifestyle, because the last thing you want to do is find yourself, tired and hungry and with no time to cook something. We no longer go to a drive through or dial for a pizza and so always having something available to reheat keeps the pressure off and prevents us from eating something we would rather not. Cool Joy! indeed.

SpiritualMatchMaking.com is the main sponsor of this website. If you are looking for a partner who shares your desire to eat a plant based lifestyle or you know of someone who is, please click on the link or pass it to a friend.

Starchivore Whole Food Plant-Based Lifestyle

Definition:

  • a plant-based diet that reduces or eliminates all animal foods like meat, dairy, and eggs PLUS has the addition of starch, so that you feel full and satisfied
  • include grains like rye, wheat, barley, oats and corn; starchy vegetables like squash, potatoes, and sweet potatoes and legumes like red and brown lentils, chick peas, green peas, and lotsa beans like pinto, kidney AND lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
  • reduces or eliminates added oils, including coconut, olive and peanut and reduces added sugars and salts
  • it is believed Dr T Colin Campbell coined the term "whole food, plant-based" and Dr John McDougall the term "starchivore"


Looking for a soulmate that lives a plant-based whole foods lifestyle? or a vegan or a vegetarian? Visit our sponsor SpiritualMatchMaking.com.