I often just decide what veggies to buy on the spur of the moment and then brainstorm when I get home. However, if you'd like to read some tips on plant-based meal planning, check out my article, "Beginner's Guide to Easy Plant-Based Vegan Meal Planning."
If you’re new to making veggies a bigger part of your life, then perhaps this list will help. Cooking items that will be used as leftovers help cut down on work and makes it easier to stay plant-based!
And, if you join my email list you will receive my freebie, Weekly Meal Planner, so you can start planning your own meals.
Here you go – this is the real food I ate (give or take a little chocolate – my favorite treat). I’ve linked to most of the posted recipes. Read more to see the plan...
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Seven Days of Plant-Based Meals
Sunday:
B: Oatmeal with berries, walnuts, sunflowers, maple syrup
L: Veggie Sandwich, piece of fruit (like pineapple)
S: Apple
D: Lentil pea soup and salad, Pumpkin Spice Chia Pudding (dessert)
B: Oatmeal with berries, walnuts, sunflowers, maple syrup
L: Veggie Sandwich, piece of fruit (like pineapple)
S: Apple
D: Lentil pea soup and salad, Pumpkin Spice Chia Pudding (dessert)
Monday:
B: Green Berry Smoothie with berries, almond milk, lettuce
L. Lentil Pea Soup (leftovers), veggie sandwich (leftover)
S: Toasted Walnuts, Pineapple
D: Quiche, fruit, Pumpkin Chia Pudding (leftover dessert)
B: Green Berry Smoothie with berries, almond milk, lettuce
L. Lentil Pea Soup (leftovers), veggie sandwich (leftover)
S: Toasted Walnuts, Pineapple
D: Quiche, fruit, Pumpkin Chia Pudding (leftover dessert)
Tuesday:
B: Green Berry Smoothie
L. Lentil Pea Soup (leftover), Broccoli Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche (leftover)
S: Oil-Free Hummus, Oil-Free Tortilla Chips
D: Quesadilla, House Salad, Chocolate Crunch Bars (recipes in PDF download)
B: Green Berry Smoothie
L. Lentil Pea Soup (leftover), Broccoli Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche (leftover)
S: Oil-Free Hummus, Oil-Free Tortilla Chips
D: Quesadilla, House Salad, Chocolate Crunch Bars (recipes in PDF download)
Wednesday:
B. Oatmeal with berries, walnuts, sunflowers, maple syrup
L: Oil-Free Hummus (leftover) with carrots
S: Pineapple
D: Veggie burgers with Baked Potato Wedges, Chocolate Crunch Bars (Leftover)
B. Oatmeal with berries, walnuts, sunflowers, maple syrup
L: Oil-Free Hummus (leftover) with carrots
S: Pineapple
D: Veggie burgers with Baked Potato Wedges, Chocolate Crunch Bars (Leftover)
Thursday:
B: Breakfast Burrito with Tofu Scramble, Fruit
L: Gazpacho, Avocado Toast
S: Baked Potato Wedges (leftover)
D: Chili, Cornbread, Fruit (dessert)
B: Breakfast Burrito with Tofu Scramble, Fruit
L: Gazpacho, Avocado Toast
S: Baked Potato Wedges (leftover)
D: Chili, Cornbread, Fruit (dessert)
Friday:
B: V-8 Smoothie, Whole-Grain Toast with Peanut Butter
L: Curried Chickpea Salad recipe in PDF download), Gazpacho (leftover)
S: Banana
D: Veggie Skewers, Roasted Potato Salad, Chocolate Crunch Bars (leftover dessert)
B: V-8 Smoothie, Whole-Grain Toast with Peanut Butter
L: Curried Chickpea Salad recipe in PDF download), Gazpacho (leftover)
S: Banana
D: Veggie Skewers, Roasted Potato Salad, Chocolate Crunch Bars (leftover dessert)
Saturday:
B: Breakfast Burrito (leftover) with Tofu Scramble, Fruit
L: Hummus, Apple
S: Curried Chickpea Salad (leftover)
D: Chili (leftover), Cornbread, fruit (dessert)
B: Breakfast Burrito (leftover) with Tofu Scramble, Fruit
L: Hummus, Apple
S: Curried Chickpea Salad (leftover)
D: Chili (leftover), Cornbread, fruit (dessert)
So there you have it, one week of what I ate on a plant-based diet. Are you finding it difficult to figure out what to eat? I'd love to hear what you like to eat on a plant-based diet. Let me know in the comments below.
Hi just finding ur post. I like some of the food but I don’t like to cook.
Hey Raquel, I hope you haven’t given up on eating a plant-based diet even though you don’t like to cook. I would suggest using some of the minimally processed products out there to help make it easier such as jarred pasta sauce and pre-cut veggies. Roasted, veggies make a great addition to the pasta sauce over spaghetti, as one example. Read my article, “49 Plant-Based Vegan Recipes from Canned and Packaged Food,” to get more ideas about how to use these products. ALSO, if you do some simple batch cooking on say, a Sunday, you can use these items all during the week for quick meal prep.
I like to cook up a pot of beans in my Instant Pot or on the stove and some brown rice (stove-top). Then also, roast some sweet potatoes and then you can throw together a bowl (with a little dressing) or make tacos or burritos. I hope you get inspired to give it a try. Also, make use of the salad bar and/or its toppings to make up quickie salads. If you have Romaine lettuce at home, just chop up the lettuce, add your toppings and dressing and you’re ready to go.
And, check out my article, “Plant-Based Meal Prep for Busy People.” I hope you find some of the suggestions helpful!
Since this is a great question, I’m planning to write a more thorough article with more tips. Stay tuned for that soon.
Where could I get some of your recipes & what kind of bread? I do not eat wheat.
Hi Vivian, Do you want the recipes for what I ate for 7 days or in general? As you may have seen, I linked to the recipes for “What I Ate”on in the article. If you want other recipes you can either go to my Recipe Index page, find them in the Recipe Category page or in the dropdown menu under “Recipes.”
As for bread, Ezekiel brand is good and Trader Joe’s has a sprouted wheat that would work or Alvarado Bakery Sprouted. Look for whole-grain bread that doesn’t have any added oils or sugar. I hope that helps. 🙂
Eggs and yogurt? I didn’t think these were plant based. I’m enjoying my 21 days on the Daniel fast which is completely plant based
Hey MaryAnn, I see that’s confusing…those are vegan versions. I’ll update that in the post so it’s clearer!!
My doctor has recommended a plant based diet to get my BP down and lower my cholesterol. Started it almost 3 months ago and have managed to lower my cholesterol by 9 pts so far. However, the need to keep my sodium intake down is challenging on plant based meals as many ingredients are high in sodium. What are the best meals that are lower in sodium?
Hey Cathy, Congrats! It’s great to hear you’ve had some success eating a plant-based diet! I understand that it’s difficult to enjoy food without some salt. Fortunately, whole plant-based foods/ingredients do not have any added salt, although recipes can have some. All of the recipes on this website are lower in added salt than most other “plant-based” websites. You can also reduce or remove the salt in any recipe here, as well. My husband and I have started using a 50% sodium / 50% potassium chloride product like Morton’s Lite Salt for some of our seasonings so that could be an option. Dr. Michael Greger from nutritionfacts.org has a detailed video to explain the benefits of this and lower sodium intake. Probably the best meals to lower salt are at breakfast because oatmeal and fruit don’t need any, but also those recipes that have more pungent seasons such as curries, or tangy salad dressings. Keep in mind that over time your taste will adjust to having lestt salt. I hope that helps you stay on track. Thanks for the great question.
I have just started a plant based/vegan lifestyle (the terms are confusing so I don’t know which is more accurate) and I’m having a really hard time coming up with quick and easy things to eat (I live on my own half the week and then with my sisters family the rest of the time) that I can bring with me. I can’t ever eat what other people prepare and so I just end up not eating which isn’t good either. I need quick and simple things that have a better variety than I’m currently eating (I end up eating plain cereal with oat milk or peanut butter on toast a lot but that’s not much).
Hi Jade, I wanted to get back to you, but will respond later with more details… I appreciate your struggle to find easy to make recipes for your new plant-based/vegan lifestyle (perfect terms, btw, except vegan is a bit different than “plant-based”). It can seem overwhelming in the beginning. I think many people feel the same so I’m going to pull together some easy, quick recipes for you and put them in a post on the website. It may take me a day or two since I have been traveling for the past few days but look for that soon. In the meantime, you could start with breakfast by preparing overnight oats for several days. Then you can just grab, eat and go quickly with these. I’m exciting to pull these together for you. And, as for, plant-based vs vegan, a vegan diet includes foods that are not animal-derived but can be unhealthy. These foods might be low in nutrients and fiber (so-called empty calories), high in fat, salt, and added sugars, and may be highly processed. These foods may also contain artificial preservatives, additives, fillers, colors or flavors.