Recommended Read: The Hunger Games trilogy
*Note: Don't worry if you haven't read these books - there are no spoilers in this post (the most spoilers are in the synopses I pulled from Amazon.com!) If you're like a million other people in the world, you've probably already read these books. If you're like me, you never read something when it's at its height and its trendiest. You wait and wait and then finally give in anyway (so why bother waiting? I don't know, but I always do). The benefit of this, of course, is you don't have to wait a year for the next book to come out and then another year for the third - they're all already out :).
Marinated Portobellos and Garlic Sweet Potato Mash
(Sorry about the crappy lighting peeps...) One thing vegetarians and vegans often miss when they omit meat from their diet is the simplicity and reliability of a "meat and potatoes" meal. I don't mean we miss meat (I'm sure some do of course). I just mean that there's something that makes meal planning a whole lot easier when you just have to think of the type of meat, the type of starch and the type of veg that you want to serve for dinner that night. Of course, there's also something boring about that which is why us food bloggers get so excited about crafting meals in a totally different way - butternut squash risotto for dinner? Bien sur! Mushroom goat cheese quiche? Why not? But when you just don't have time to come up wtih something creative, turn to the vegetarian/vegan's meat: Portobello mushrooms.
Meal Planning 101
Source There are lots of bloggers who have done a post on this before, and everyone has a slightly different approach. All I have to say is, if you are planning your meals then you're already ahead of the game - it doesn't really matter how you plan, so long as you are planning (see the benefits of meal planning here)! Having said that, I had some requests for a meal planning post so I'm happy to share my method! (There's also a PDF planning template at the end of this post that I created for you - yeah, I know, thank me later ;)).
Prettify with Polyvore
Source Have you guys discovered this website yet? I can guarantee that if you haven't been to the website itself, you have seen its style boards all over Pinterest. *This isn't a promotional deal or anything, I just honestly found the site recently and loved it, so wanted to share! I have a board on Pinterest that I am constantly repinning style ideas to, and the majority of them are from Polyvore boards. (You can follow me at pinterest.com/annawootton!) Basically, Polyvore allows anyone to go and create their own outfit boards by dragging different items onto a virtual 'bulletin board' and playing around with them until you're happy with the look. When you're finished, just save it and share!