Farmer's Market Haul, Meal Photos, Meal Plans, Baby Bump

My camera battery died and since we moved recently, it took me a while to find the charger. So, I missed out on taking a lot of food and grocery haul pictures and this post is a jumble of things from this week. I went food shopping at Food Lion, Target, and the local organic store with beaucoup couponage, though it didn't help with my effort to grocery shop less often. 

Here is my farmer's market loot from today. We didn't need much because we have most of what we bought last week:

Peaches, canteloupe, black walnuts, and some kind of peppers

Meal Plan for This Week 

Falafel with Edamame Hummus

Quinoa Burgers with Spinach

Paddy Pan Squash (Possibly Pasta?)

Eggplant Parmesan

Leftovers Night

Gardein "Chicken" Tenders and French Fries

Marinated Portabella Burgers

The one and only tomato growing on our balcony garden! So red! And all squishy because it's heirloom.

Vegans, look away! The next two meals are dripping with cheese. It was that kind of week.

I refilled these staples from bulk containers from the local organic store. Yes, vegan chocolate chips are a staple for me.

Baby Bump at 18 weeks, 1 day! Definitely its biggest so far!

Grocery Haul and Meal Planning

I made it out to Food Lion to buy the rest of the food I needed for meals this week. I think I also got what I needed for next week's meals! This is really exciting because I used to go grocery shopping 3 and 4 times a week, when I was not planning and pregnancy made me so fickle. A lot of wasted gas and time. Now, I may be able to go to a box grocery store once a week, farmer's markets when possible, and the organic store once a month right after my GYNO appointments. Hubby and I have had such disappointing fruit from stores lately that we are determined to only buy fruit from farmers. Hope it works out!

Random stuff: tortilla chips, Crystal deodorant, and an indulgence- York pieces

Baby spinach, frozen peas, ginger, cilantro, carrots, avocados, asparagus

Veggie broth, whole grain pasta, black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, brown rice
I also got pita bread but it didn't make it into a photo. 

Meal Plan for Week of 7/25

Black Beans and Rice, Quesadillas

Peanut Sauce Rice Noodles with Broccoli

Crepes with Roasted Asparagus

Sauteed Squash with Sage Pasta

Pesto Pizza

Chili with TVP

Leftovers- needed to add a leftovers night because the fridge starts to overflow! 

Mostly Vegan Grocery Haul and Meal Plans

To be accountable, I am posting what I bought at one grocery shopping trip. I went to Shoppers which is my least favorite- less organic and vegan and local than Food Lion and the organic store- but it was convenient for where I had to run errands.

Our breakfasts and lunches are on our own, but here is what we will eat for dinner this week, along with salads hopefully. All meals are vegan except the pesto pasta will have parmesan cheese.

• Pesto Pasta with Peas 
• Indian Chickpeas with Rice and Samosas
• Broccoli, Mashed Potatoes, Morning Star 'Chikn' Strips
• Veggie Stir Fry with Brown Rice
• Falafel
• Veggie Risotto
• Potato and Avocado Tacos 

Vegan stuff for lunches and snacks. Potato chips, bbq potato chips,  rice noodles, triscuits, tons o' hummus, wraps.

A ridiculous amount of dairy. Really unhealthy.The Annie's are from Target- everything else I bought there was not food.  Unfortunately, no dairy within hours of where I live is organic or other more pleasant labels. Cheddar, provolone, parmesan, and port wine cheese, cheddar crackers, cheesy potatoes.

The produce at our particular store is not so great in quality or selection but here is what I was able to get. Squash, broccoli, green onions, baby spinach, button mushrooms, green beans, russet potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, onion, corn

Other things. It was hard to find good fruit but I got blueberries, bananas, and a lime. The tortillas are for tacos and I was out of canola oil, though I usually like to get the Spectrum brand.

What I needed for this week and could not find or could not find in good quality. Bummer that I have to use gas to go to another store but so be it. I would love to get more things from the farmer's market but we keep going out of town when those occur.

• Veggie broth
• Peas
• Lettuce
• Whole grain pasta
• Low-sodium tortilla chips
• Ginger
• Avocados
• Strawberries, pears, peaches
• Asparagus
• Pita bread

Whole Foods and Blog Title

Happy Weekend!!!!!!!!

Today, I drove two hours to receive a pre-service teacher award (yaay!) but we got lost and were forty minutes late (boo). Then, on the way home we took a wrong exit and ended up near a Whole Foods so I went for the first time ever. I'll get into it more later, but now I live in a very VERY rural place. Where I used to live had no Whole Foods but two large organic stores that are not chains and one is a cooperative.

So, yeah! Whole Foods! It was packed with people! Unfortunately, it was not packed with many actual whole foods. The produce was mostly out of season. It was a grocery store that happened to have mostly organic items but not like the kind of organic store I am used to. Very few bulk items. A little bit but not much local.

Also, Whole Foods was not very vegan friendly. I was expecting for it to be peppered with vegan choices clearly labeled, or else have a vegan section. Neither. I was really hungry and wanted to eat in the little cafe area, but it looked like the only vegan option was salad. No thanks. I asked the bakery if they had any vegan options and I was SOL. So disappointing!

Still, I am really happy with some of the freezer finds!!! I always read great reviews on vegan blogs but am not able to get these items for myself because I don't want to order food online that requires refrigeration. I will show you some of these soon when I chow down. Among them are flavors that are new to me of Coconut Bliss and So Delicious. I try to do mostly homemade food, but since I have so little time in the evenings, I am a sucker for something I can just heat up.

Have you been wondering about the blog title? I will explain the sub-heading. Back when I very first starting reading vegan blogs, I kept seeing the name of this restaurant pop up that is two hours away from my house. I decided to tell my hubby/partner about it at a time when I was REALLY sleep deprived. Sober, but ridiculously tired. So, I began to tell him about the "blegan vogs" I've been reading. The name stuck.

I never once pulled an all-nighter in undergrad, but it is a way of life now that I am getting my master's and dual teaching certification in 11 months. It all ends June 4! Ian has been keeping me fed and sane.

Photography by Jim Jarrell