This year I made a commitment to myself to follow a better health and fitness plan, especially because I am turning 54 this fall. I am reading about plant-based diets so I decided to try a Meatless Monday challenge for four weeks. Even though we do not eat meat every day, we could definitely benefit by adding more vegetables to our daily diet. I also thought it would be a fun challenge to take on. If you would like to learn more about the history of Meatless Monday, you can read about it here.
Following Meatless Monday would also give me the chance to try out some new recipes and improve my cooking skills at the same time. Sounds like a win-win to me!
Here is a rundown of the meals which are also pictured in the gallery above:
Meatless Monday Recipe – August 13
For my first week, I wanted to start out with a great new recipe. I discovered an awesome vegan food blogger, The Vegan 8, who develops amazing, mouthwatering recipes with just 8 ingredients or less. These Roasted Poblano Peppers and Sweet Potatoes Tostadas were so flavorful that you did not miss the meat at all and my husband and daughter loved them. This recipe will be on repeat in my house, on any day of the week!
Meatless Monday Recipe -August 20
While I am a pizza lover, I definitely do not normally whip up a batch of homemade dough. However, I saw these fast-acting yeast packets and I was amazed by how quick and easy it was to make bread dough! All you do is follow this Fleischmann’s pizza dough recipe and you can have a hot, homemade pizza in thirty minutes!
Instead of topping the pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and seasoning, I chose caramelized onions, zucchini (sliced lengthwise), sliced olives, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. The Zucchini and Caramelized Onion Pizza made for a light and satisfying meal.
Meatless Monday Recipe – August 27
Cold Soba Noodle Salad
There is an Asian Market that opened close to my home that I have been wanting to visit. While there, I came across a package of soba noodles which are dried noodles made from buckwheat flour that look similar to spaghetti. I more or less followed this Soba, Sesame, and Carrot Salad recipe adjusting it a little with the vegetables I had on hand (broccoli, carrots, and peppers). Even though I found that my noodles were a little gummy, I plan on trying this recipe again.
Note: Rinse soba noodles really well under cold water to get rid of the extra starch and avoid the gummy texture.
Meatless Monday Recipe – September 10
We skipped the challenge on September 3 due to a Labor Day barbecue but I did want to complete the 4-week challenge. To be honest, I was not in the mood to look for a recipe or go food shopping. Luckily, I had a big batch of cooked quinoa leftover in my refrigerator from a prior night and a drawer of vegetables that I needed to finish. A Quinoa Veggie Stir Fry was born!
I mixed together cut up zucchini, yellow peppers, and orange peppers, with some paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and cooked them in a large frying pan with some olive oil. Once they were tender, I poured the veggies over the quinoa and dinner was served. This was a quick and easy dinner and it taught me that it is a good idea to make large batches of quinoa and rice to have on hand for those days that you don’t feel like cooking!
Participating in a Meatless Monday challenge was actually a lot of fun! The greatest benefit was incorporating more vegetables into our daily meals but I also learned a few other things along the way, such as:
- you really can create a delicious and satisfying meal with only vegetables and starches,
- there are some great resources for quick and easy vegan recipes,
- spices can make all your meals taste a little better, and
- how to post some decent photos on Instagram!
Do you think you would like to follow your own Meatless Monday challenge?
