Visit the Yobaby Yogurt Giveaway to win free organic yogurt, open until tomorrow night!

The third installment of the Bean and Veggie Meal Plan Analysis:

I’ll take a stab at suggesting bean and veggie additions for Momstoppable, who was generous enough to let me tackle her meal plan for this little project.  Michelle says, “I typically only post dinners….breakfasts are usually things like eggs, smoothies, fruited muffins, and wraps, along with fresh fruit. Lunches are typically something like a pb&j or turkey breast sammy from a roasted breast I’ve baked and sliced, along with veggies and dip and fruit, or things like meat, cheese and crackers-a healthier take on “lunchables” for the boys. We also do lots of bean and cheese quesadillas for lunch.

My youngest son eats veggies very well, the 6yo not as well but getting better, and I do a lot of “stealth” veggie-ing. ”

My voice will be in italics.

Momstoppable’s Meal Plan
We stuck to main dishes last week, but I did switch up a couple of sides with fresh produce, so you might see a repeat or two here that we didn’t do. This 7 dinners for 4, and clocks in at almost exactly $30. Impressive!

A quick note on breakfasts and lunches:  Sounds like some great, healthy meals  there, Michelle.  Bean and cheese quesadillas are a super lunch option.  You can stick beans into scrambled eggs (black are my fav), and be sure to try greens in the eggs and smoothies, too.

Monday 7/6

White wine and herb pork chops $2.00
(marinated in free Weber mix I got w/ coupon awhile back)
Baked sweet potato with butter and cinnamon .60
Green beans w/ bacon 1.30
$3.90

Sweet potato is a super food, and fresh green beans are always a good choice!  The only way to get legumes in would be on a side salad.

Tuesday 7/7

Pan Fried Pierogies with chicken and cheese $3.50
mediterranean salad with garbanzos, tomatoes and cucumbers $1.00
$4.50

I see beans on your salad…good job, Michelle!

Wednesday 7/8

Tacos $3.35
(with ground beef from my co-worker’s cow–super duper lean meat)
black refried beans .75
Corn on the cob .40
$4.50

Some people use lentils in place of or along with the ground beef in tacos, and using colored peppers on tacos is always a great idea too.  Make sure your refried beans don’t have hydrogenated oils; that would defeat the purpose!

Thursday 7/9

Panfried chicken breasts with gravy $2.50
Mashed potatoes .75
Green beans .40
$3.65

Mix kale or spinach in with the mashed potatoes (just a few minutes in the cooking water at the end will do it.  Unless you’re my husband, you’ll hardly notice the flavor!  Just keep the slices small so there’s no sliminess.  (Is that a word?!?)  I hope your green beans are fresh again, or frozen…not canned.  A reader also commented at my site once that they put mashed great northern (white) beans in with mashed potatoes, or even entirely in place of them.  I haven’t tried it yet, but what a good idea!

Friday 7/10

Cheese ravioli with marinara and parmesan $3.50
Salad $1.00
$4.50

I LOVE adding veggies in any tomato-based sauce.  I keep food cubes (like for baby food) in the freezer of squash, sweet potato, and greens for this reason.  Mix in 3-5 cubes to any jar of marinara sauce for a vitamin boost.  I think you can also put lentils or any bean into pasta sauce, but you have to be willing to notice the texture.

Saturday 7/11

Cheeseburgers $3.50
Green bean fries $1.50
Pasta salad $1.00
$6.00

Definitely make sure there are some beans in your pasta salad, and you can incorporate cooked lentils into the burger mixture if you’d like.

Sunday 7/12

Chicken tostadas with salsa verde and pintos $2.50
Corn and tomato salad .60
Pineapple .65
$3.75

A great way to end the week!  I see legumes and veggies abounding.  Good job, Michelle!

If you’re interested in me analyzing your meal plan, email it to me (click contact) or go to this post to leave your link in the comments.  If you do it at the beginning of the week, I’ll try to get to it right away so you can actually make (some of) the changes I recommend.

The Others
Meal Plan Analysis Number One
Meal Plan Analysis Number Two
Meal Plan Analysis Number Three

I’d love to see more of you!  Sign up for an email subscription or grab my reader feed.

If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.