Ok im tired of always running out of ingredients, so i want to make 4 weeks worth of dinner plans.. problem is i can only think of themes, wich is cool, but thats only for about four days.(breakfast special, oriental night, pizza night and a random theme night) anything else i can think of (such as casseroles) are hard to make for one, and if i make pizza i would be the only one having it. Does anyone have any good -for one- recipes out there?is there a way to make only one slice of pizza? or casserole? Any ideas for dinner would help, because sometimes my mom will try some of my food. Thanks bunches!



p.s. my dinners usually consist of protein, veg, grain and a cup of milk, but i am always looking for new ways to have fruits! also can anyone tell me the difference in enchilladas, quesadillas and fajitas?

you can make one slice of pizza, if you make crust that is small. Or use a personalpan pizza pan.



Enchiladas: Corn tortillas stuffed with beans, cheese, or meat and covered in enchilada sauce (a red sauce)



Quesadillas: Large flour tortillas filled with cheese (queso) and or meat/veggies/refried beans and folded in half then pan fried until crispy. Cut into triangle shapped peices and eaten with sour cream, salsa, guac and beans on the side.



Fajitas: Fajitas are strips of veggies, generally peppers and onions sometimes mushrooms and strips of meat, like steak and chicken sauteed in a pan with oil and seasonings. The skillet of steaming veggies are brought to the table (you can always tell when some one orders it in a restaurant, you can hear it coming and it smells great) and then the eater assembles them herself by filling small flour tortillas with the veggies and any additional salsa, cheese, sour cream, guac.



Of course, substitute the meats and dairy according to what you generally use.



I cook for myself and eat lots of burritos using extra large tortillas, refried black beans, grean onions, tomatos, salsa guac and green peppers. Fold the ends over and roll up into a wrap. YUM,

Thank you for defining those for me! I always wanted to know that and my parentscould never answer ..



I also thought, things that could be leftovers for lunch, or frozen would be great too!

To add to the quesadillas - I really like "squashadillas" - Same idea, just with squash in the middle. Yummy!



Do you have a lot of different spices in the house? If so, you can make up a big pot of what I shall call "the basic vegan dinner base." Get some chickpeas (or other bean/legume), some assorted vegetables, and a grain. Have this all in a pot. Scoop some out, and just toss or stir-fry or sautee or whatever it with whatever spice you're feeling for the night. So with the same batch of ingredients, you can have chana masala one night, sweet and sour the next, spicy mexican, etc etc.



Ways to have fruit:

In casserole - such as an apple-raisin kugel (which I have an awesome recipe for if you want, PM me)

In sauces - such as pineapple in sweet and sour sauce

In salad - mandarin oranges on an asian inspired salad, or a mango slaw w/ shredded lettuces and cabbage, carrots



In terms of making casseroles for one - it can be done. Just get a smaller dish. Like one of those mini loaf pans. A mexican casserole of this nature is very easy - layer tortillas, beans, salsa, fake cheese, guac... Just only use one can of beans, and half the pack of tortillas, ya know?



How about soup and sandwich? Very easy dinner for one.



You can't make one "slice" of pizza, but you can make one pizza bagel. Or one pizza english muffin. Or one french bread pizza.

28 different meals?



tacos, burritos, nachos, enchiladas 4

lasagna, spaghetti, pizza 7

fried rice, stir frys 9

pot pie, shepard's pie 11

soups, bean, potato, "chicken" or "beef" 16

scrambled tofu, sausage & grits or toast 17

waffles, fruit 18

sandwiches - "tuna", "ham" "BLT" veggie sandwiches, or baked tofu 23

macaroni and "cheese" 24

sloppy joes, veggie burgers 26

falafel in pita bread with cucumbers & sprouts 27

tofu spinach pie 28



You can cut basically any recipe in half. I always have to double everything...works fine, though. Before my family was so big, I used to freeze little servings of lots of things to eat later.



Favorite cookbooks: Vegan Planet, The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook & Tofu Cookery.

Wow thank you! These are great ideas! What excatly is a falafel though? i am having problem figureing out how i would half a lasagna but i want to try it really bad so i think i might just make it a big dinner or something, can lasagna be froze?

Lasagna can definately be frozen. I often make 2 and freeze one. You could cut the noodles to fit any size dish you like. Just hit search and enter "falafel" and you will find a lot of info and recipes. Also, find the thread "what did you eat today?" for more ideas.



I also have found many good recipes here: http://vegweb.com/

and here: http://www.vegan-food.net/

Falafel is a middle eastern dish. It is balls of spiced chickpea flower deepfried and then eaten in a pita with tomato, red onion, cucumber and tahinni.



It is gooooood. : )

i just froze two dishes which have allowed me four extra quick meals



one chunky veg chili



and lentil veg soup

I make calzones and freeze them for later. They are really good, easy and

the fam loves them.

I second the quesadillas, easy and very fast and yummy.

Mark likes Lighlife Chicken strips, Vegan Rella cheddar and onions in the quesadilla with tofu sour cream on the top.

Oh, parfaits! Tofu Yogurt, layer with fruits and grape nuts. FABU!

Freeze extra soups and muffins for later.

I freeze extra homemade burgers for quick meals when I am starving....

I have a favorite recipe if anyone is intersted

You can always have a smoothie, an easy way to have a lot of servings of fruit

plus it tastes so good and it is good for you.

Throw some fruit in those muffins, cranberry orange and blueberry are my faves.

Tofu Veg Mc Muffins are the best!

Buffalo Wings and Chicken Tofu Nuggets.

Baked Mac and Cheese.

Make Seitan and freeze it for later sandwiches and stirfries.

Baked tofu makes great sandwiches. I love Deb's Cajun Tofu recipe.

If anyone wants recipes, I can post them for you.

Shannon

Oh, I love Dal, Curries and pasta dishes like you can do spaghetti and "meetballs"

you make mock meat salads like chicken, tuna and crab. There is Mark's fave Veggieburger Pizza Pasta Helper and one of my faves, Pumpkin Penne with Tofuzola sauce.

zimngir- I'd love your recipe for veggie burgers. I'm working on replacing as many store bought items with homemade items as I can.



Thanks in advance!

zimngirl- yes i agree, i would like to see your recipe for veggie burgers, (im trying to start making a lot of homemade and not so much store bought as well) and the pumpking dinner, that sounds interesting and the tofuburger pizza? sounds yummy! I have made a veggie burger, or well a black bean and onion veggie burger and it wasnt AS nice as i would have liked

Here are some of my favorite recipes, all of the recipes I mentioned are here

Classic Roast Burger is so good. I never get tired of them.

They are so great with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, vegan mayo, ketchup, yellow mustard, spring lettuce blend, all on a toasted burger bun. I dress the black bean burger the same. The Buffalo Wings are TDF. Goodie Burgers are so yum.



Cajun Baked Tofu

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/73777.html

Fantastic Meetballs

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...es/988876.html

Chicken Nuggets

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/52621.html

Buffalo Wings

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/75082.html

Spinach Calzones

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/84918.html

Classic Roast Burger Recipe

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/80823.html

Pumpkin Penne with Tofuzola and Mushrooms

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/84918.html

Veggieburger Pizza Pasta Helper

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/72741.html

Veg Mc Muffin

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...es/993129.html

Omelet

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/77204.html

Tempeh Wraps

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/77336.html

Black Bean Burgers (skip the tempeh crisps), simple yet so good

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/82459.html

Goodie Burgers

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipe...ges/76198.html



Hope that you like these recipes as much as Mark and I do.

Shannon

Oh, Thank you Thank you Thank you!

You are very welcome

Would you bake it, then freeze it, or assemble then freeze (and bake once defrosted?)