It's asparagus time! We've been working on planning posts for April and just about every idea we've had involves asparagus in some way, shape, or form. Of all the vegetables that are in season during spring, asparagus is the one I get most excited about and I guess I'm not alone. So when I saw asparagus at the store last weekend, I had to grab a bunch and put it to use in this week's meal plan-first asparagus of the season! Let's celebrate with a Curried Quinoa & Asparagus Salad…
Monday
Curried Quinoa & Asparagus Salad from The Clever Carrot // This salad is a great way to welcome spring! Although it only calls for a cup of asparagus, I used a whole bunch in it and it worked out just fine. Leftovers make a great chilled lunch salad too.
Tuesday
Thai Peanut Empowered Noodle Bowl from The Oh She Glows Cookbook (via Oh My Veggies) // Warmer weather makes me crave lighter meals like this Noodle Bowl from Oh She Glows. Packaged baked tofu would make a great addition to this recipe if your grocery store sells it; you can also double the soba noodles and the dressing and stretch this out to 6 servings. It's versatile like that!
Wednesday
Sweet & Spicy Mango Fajitas from Oh My Veggies // You know how pineapple is unexpectedly delicious in a lot of savory dishes? The same is true with mango. I added our favorite fajita fixings to the shopping list (salsa, queso fresco, and lime!), but feel free to customize these with any toppings you like.
Thursday
Healthy Mac & Cheese from Pinch of Yum + Roasted Broccoli // I love a good bowl of mac & cheese, but it's not something I can eat on the regular, so this Healthy Mac & Cheese is the perfect solution. It's made with butternut squash! I served roasted broccoli on the side-to make it, break your broccoli crowns into florets, put them on a baking sheet, spray them with an oil mister (or toss them with 2-3 teaspoons of oil) and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then bake them for 15-20 minutes at 400ºF.
Friday
Farro Sloppy Joes from Cookie Monster Cooking + Sweet Potato Tots or Fries // Farro is a chewy, delicious whole grain form of wheat and it makes a fantastic substitute for ground beef in these Sloppy Joes. I wanted to serve these up with an easy side dish (am I the only one who loses steam when Friday afternoon rolls around?!), so I made frozen sweet potato tots-chips, baby carrots, a salad, or any other frozen side would work too.
Tips For This Week's Plan
- I halved the amount of oil in the Curried Asparagus & Quinoa Salad, so if you'd like your salad to be lighter, you might want to do that too. I've also left the optional apple off of the shopping list.
- The Sweet & Spicy Mango Fajitas can be made into a fajita bowl too! Just substitute cooked rice for the tortillas. Leftover green onions from the Empowered Noodle Bowl can be used as a garnish too.
- I left the parsley for the mac & cheese off of the shopping list to save a little money. The recipe doesn't call for a specific variety of shredded cheese, so if you have some on hand, this is a great opportunity to use it up!
- I try to make all of my lists work with one weekend grocery shopping trip, but this one is cutting it a little close. If you do your shopping on Sunday or Monday, you should be good; if you do it on Saturday, make sure your broccoli for Thursday's meal and the green pepper for Friday's meal look super fresh at the store; if they don't, you might want to pick them up mid-week.
Click here for a printable version of this week's meatless meal plan and shopping list, then click on the links above to print out each recipe. Now you're set for the week!
anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
Oooh, look at your fancy grocery list! Love it!
Are those TJ's sweet potato tots I spy!? Love those!
Happy Friday!
Kiersten Frase says
Yes! That was the first time I've gotten them and they are so good!
Julia Mueller says
I love how fresh and colorful all these meals are!! That Curried Quinoa and Asparagus Salad looks so appealing - perfect for taking to a get together or packing up to bring on a hike! Love this week's meal plan!
Kiersten Frase says
You would love that salad! It's so spring-y. 🙂
Ashley says
I have been buying so much asparagus at the grocery store the last few weeks - it's slightly ridiculous but whatever I love it! And yay for farro sloppy joes! : )
Kiersten Frase says
Those sloppy joes were so amazing and the perfect way to use the farro I had in the pantry--thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Joanne says
I've been obsessively buying asparagus AND mangoes, so this week's menu plan is basically perfect for what I have in my fridge!
Kiersten Frase says
Okay, so today I went grocery shopping and spotted champagne mangoes in the produce section; I proceeded to gasp and run over to them. I am a freak. But mangoes are good.
Erica says
Just an FYI, your grocery list is missing the 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce from the sloppy joes. I caught it before I went shopping so no issues here! This is the 3rd week in a row that I've followed all your recipes and my family loves it.
Kiersten Frase says
Noooo! After I put the lists together, my husband checks them against the recipes so we can be 100% sure that everything is on the list, but he must have missed that one. I just corrected the PDF. Thank you for bringing that to my attention!
Katie @ Produce on Parade says
I just bought a bunch of asparagus too! Yum! Also, everything on this menu looks wonderful. Comfort food with mac and cheese and sloppy joes! Count me in 😉
Kiersten Frase says
I bought more asparagus today--I can't get enough! 🙂
Ruth says
Is The shopping list for up to 2 people? I was planning to make 4 meals so just wondering if I should double or not.
Kiersten Frase says
The shopping list is for 4 people.
Emilie@TheCleverCarrot says
Hi Kiersten! I just saw this post- thank you so much for featuring my Curried Quinoa + Asparagus Salad. It looks fab! I'm excited to try out of bunch of these new recipes as well. Have a great weekend! 🙂 -Emilie
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you for the recipe--it was delicious! 🙂
Candice says
just started reading your meal plans, love the recipie ideas. coming from a girl on a budget, whats the average cost of groceries for each week?
Kiersten Frase says
I'm sorry, we haven't figured out what the average cost of our meal plans is - it's so hard to say since grocery prices can vary a great deal!