Eating Vegan on a Busy Schedule

With today's busy schedules, maintaining any kind of regimen can be difficult without enough pre-planning and pre-preparing. Keep reading for tips on how you can make this a little easier on yourself.

I am going to share some of the ways I maintain a #PlantBased, #VeganDiet while on a busy schedule.

The main thing I do is #PLANahead and #PREPREPARE!! I dedicate time (about an hour) on one day every week to plan that week's meals. I'm not super specific about everything; "Fruit for Breakfast" is fine sometimes. Also, I dedicate time another day a week to go to market and prepare the meals for the week.

It can be a bit of a sacrifice to dedicate almost one entire day per week to #MealPlanning and #prepping, but it makes my busy life a whole lot easier, so it's definitely worth it!! Plus, I use this time as my "alone time" and as quality time with my kids. It's actually a really great time to teach your kids about health and nutrition!

With easy, efficient planning everyone can get what they need and have what they want.

I have young children who go to school, and their school does not and will not accommodate their vegan diet, so I make their lunches every day. (I would probably make their lunches every day anyways, as I am not happy at all with the quality of their school's food!!) These lunches are super easy to plan ahead for the week and pre-pack and store in containers in the fridge and pantry.

Salads are so versatile! The options seem endless, made with rice, noodles, grains like quinoa or barley, veggies, fruit, nuts, beans . . . there are so many options!

Salads are great for school lunches! You can pack them full of nutrients so easily, all you need to go along with the salad might be some fruit for dessert and some water. Super easy!! And you can quickly throw a couple of salads together and store them in single serving portions in the refrigerator for some of the week's lunches or after school snacks. Veggies with hummus or nut butters are super easy as well. And we cannot discount sandwiches! Sometimes a PB&J is enough, with some raw fruits and veggies on the side. It never hurts to keep things basic. Lunches for work can be planned and prepared ahead of time in the same way!

Click here for my Breakfast Delight cookie recipe.

I also plan something very easy for weekday breakfasts like some batches of breakfast cookies or muffins baked on Sunday night that can be paired with some fresh fruit for breakfast or anytime snacks. They'll last the week through if stored in single portions, and they'll last even longer if frozen. If I make enough, they'll make great desserts. I also keep cereals and granola on hand and lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts for easy breakfast and snack alternatives.

Variety is Key!

I pick a variety of ripe to unripe of all of the fruits and vegetables I buy so that they will last the week through. Fresh fruits and veggies and nuts are all that is needed in the #XpressKitchen at snack time when we are in a rush! Eat as many different colors, shapes, textures, and sizes a day as possible! Already we've tackled everyone's breakfasts and lunches after our trip to the market!

Depending on the time of year and what is available at the market, I may also have to include some frozen fruits and veggies on the list for our weeknight meals.

Dinners are really what take up the most time. I always serve a simple green salad with every dinner; they add all sorts of vitamins and nutrients to our meals and makes things a lot easier on me. I will also cook certain things in large batches so that the leftovers can be reheated the next day, or re-used in a different way, or even just frozen to eat just as is later in the week.

For example, tonight I may make an extra large batch of coconut jasmine rice, paired with extra large batches of curried veggies and wheat-free flatbread with a simple salad. I will make a large apple crisp for dessert. Tomorrow night, I will use the left over rice to make a rice pudding for dessert. I will also make an extra large batch of roasted root vegetables for dinner and serve it all with the rest of the flatbread and a leafy salad. That following evening, I will combine half of the leftover roasted vegetables with the leftover curried vegetables and use that as a filling for a savory pie, also served with a simple green salad, and we can finish off the left-over apple crisp just the way it is. I will put the rest of the roasted veggies in a salad for lunch the following day or later that week.

This is just an example of how planning works for me and ensures I can maintain my #PlantBasedVeganDiet without dedicating an exorbitant amount of my time to it!

With the proper planning, you can have lots of time to focus on what's most important to you!

I hope you find some of these tips helpful. Please like and leave a comment below!