On Sunday I tried out a new running route that I have been thinking about since we moved to this area a year and half ago.  I was a bit nervous to venture into new territory on my own.  Mostly I don’t like not knowing if there are any loose dogs on the running route that might want to come out and meet me.

While I was running I was thinking that I should have tried the route much sooner.  It was a great 5 mile run. Very quiet with little traffic.  Lots of shady, wooded areas.  Past a lake.  Enough hills to make it interesting.  No dogs, just a few squirrels and chipmunks.

How boring life would be if we never tried new things.  So many things we wouldn’t discover.

Like eggplant.

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It appears that summer is here!  Yesterday was in the 80′s and actually humid.  The kids played in the sprinklers for the first time of the year.  We haven’t busted the grill out yet but that will happen next weekend when we celebrate G and Little Man’s birthdays.  I am praying for nice weather next weekend because we are having 50ish people for the birthday party (with lots of kids!) so we really need to have the party outside.

We do finally have a play room in the basement though!  There are still some finishing touches to be done, like shelves in the closets, but the carpet was installed on Friday!  It is great to have a place for all the toys!

Now for the menu this week:

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The post Weekly Menu Plan | Week of May 20, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day.  I did in-spite of the fact that I actually saw some snow flurries. L, my oldest, was very excited about Mother’s Day.  She commanded me to stay in bed while her and Daddy made breakfast.  And she wanted me to make a list of work I needed them to do because I wasn’t supposed to do any work.  Hubby did all of the dishes for the day and surprised me with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 which I have wanted for quite awhile.

The girls and I did some shopping at Kohl’s where they helped me pick out some new clothes to use a gift card I had received on my birthday.  Later we all watched a movie and I was snuggled on the couch with all 3 of my kiddos.  I am very blessed.

And now back to cooking and dishes

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The post Weekly Menu Plan | Week of May 13, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

The other day I hopped onto Pinterest for a few minutes.  Which turned into an hour.  I went on to look for something specific that I can’t even remember right now.  And ended up pinning a bunch of DIY projects for hubby.  Have you seen the site Shanty 2 Chic?  This site is full of great DIY projects.  I found enough projects to last a really long time.  Hubby says they require a few more tools than he has though.   A couple of my favorites are the Restoration Hardware inspired sideboard and the farmhouse table. There are also plenty of smaller projects too.  Interior decorating is definitely not my forte.  We have been in this house about a year and a half and it definitely needs some decor help.

I have a ton of ideas I have pinned.  One of my goals for May is to finish the photo wall I started after Christmas and finish sewing my kitchen curtains. If I can finish those I will find one other small project to start.

On to the recipe for today.

I was looking for quinoa recipes and went to CookingLight.com which is one of my go-to sources for recipes.  One of the recipes I found was this protein packed black bean and quinoa salad.  The weather is warmer which always make me start to eat lighter meals.  This one is perfect. The basil-lemon dressing gives it a really light and fresh flavor.  This recipe makes a lot so there will be plenty of leftovers for lunches later in the week.

Click Here For The Recipe Black Bean and Quinoa Salad with Basil Lemon Dressing

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A little late with the menu plan this week.   Do you ever feel like you are always running a step behind?  That is how I have been feeling the last couple of weeks.  We have been extra busy with church and school things.  It has been so nice outside that inside chores have been a bit neglected.  G and Little Man have a birthday in 3 weeks so I really need to start planning.  Birthdays always seem to sneak up on me.  April seemed like just a blink.

I was able to make photo invitations last night at about 9pm and pick them up at the store today at 8am!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here the past week.  Sunny and in the 70′s.  Pretty much the perfect weather.

Sorry for the rambling post!  A small glimpse of what it’s like inside my head

Here’s what the menu looks like this week:

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The post Menu Plan | Week of May 6, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

I love a good sandwich but sandwiches can get a bit redundant when you are vegetarian.  I eat vegan the majority of the time which cuts down on the sandwich choices even more.  My kids would be happy with PB and honey every day I think.  I need a little more variety.

I come across some great looking vegan sandwiches on Pinterest.  Last week I finally got around to actually making a couple of them!  I have never had an authentic Banh Mi so I don’t have anything to compare but this tofu banh mi was great.   It was easy to put together and had great flavor.  I will definitely be making this one again.  Probably for lunch today!

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Saturday was a beautiful day so we went to our local metropark in the afternoon.  It was great to get outside and let the kids burn off some energy.  Sunday I got up early and went for a 6 mile run.  It was my first run of the year on my favorite trail.  The peace and quiet was so nice and definitely did my soul well.  It ended up raining most of the day on Sunday so I was glad I got up early and got the run in before it rained.

Sunday afternoon I did some cooking and photographing of some recipes that you will see in the near future here on the blog.

It’s another busy week in our household!  We have something going on every night except Wednesday! The kids aren’t the only ones looking forward to summer! I look forward to a little more relaxed pace.

Here is what is on our menu this week:

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The post Menu Plan Week of April 29, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

We are gearing up for the last month of school here.  Which means it is a very busy month!  I really can’t believe the school year is almost over.  As a kid it always seemed like the school year was so long.  As a parent it seems much shorter.  I have to say that I am looking forward to summer vacation and a little more relaxed pace though.

Tomorrow we have a full day school field trip that I am going along on.  Because of this I wanted a super easy dinner. I have some soup in the freezer so I am going to pull that out and put it in the slow-cooker so it will be ready with little work required from me.  Tuesday and Thursday we have school or church events in the evening so those will be busy nights too! One of those nights will probably end up being leftover Baked Spaghetti from last week’s menu.

Here’s the menu for this week:

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The post Weekly Meal Plan | Week of April 22, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

It finally feels like spring here.   Temperatures have been in the 60′s, the sun has been shining.  We have been playing outside and taking walks  instead of being cooped up in the house.  As soon  as we get home from getting L from school and have a quick snack we head outside to soak up some Vitamin D we have been lacking. We have had plenty of spring storms too which always seem to come right around bed time.

Dinners have been pretty low maintenance.  Who wants to stay inside and cook?!

I love roasting veggies and had a lot of them in the fridge to use up. I made a simple balsamic “sauce” to pour over the veggies before roasting.   I used farro for a little change but you could use barley or quinoa or any other grain you want.  A delicious and super healthy meal that doesn’t require you to stand over the stove babysitting.

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The post Balsamic Roasted Vegetables with Farro appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.

It is supposed to be 67 today!   Hopefully the rain will hold off enough to take the kiddos on a walk!  I have seen some daffodils and crocuses blooming in the past week.  We’ve had a lot of rain so things are really starting to green up!

Does anyone watch Amazing Race?  I love the show and am trying to convince hubby that we need to apply to be on it sometime.  It’s not working.  This season they have gone to some really amazing places like Bora Bora and New Zealand.  Last night the show was set in Switzerland and it was simply breathtaking.  I have a long list of travel destinations now!

Here’s our menu for this week

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The post Weekly Meal Plan | Week Of April 15, 2013 appeared first on Thrifty Veggie Mama.