Meal Plan For Monday – Healthy Easy And Tasty

Most of us are not looking forward to stepping into the kitchen first thing on Monday morning after a two days of waking up late and taking it easy in the kitchen.

But on Monday – everyone in the family is beginning their work week and having all the nutrients in each meal is essential so that the brain and body can function optimally. Here is the weekly menu plan for Monday, brought to you by WhatParentAsk.com, which helps you to plan meals for the day from scratch. If you are a busy parent or a working mother, stop worrying about ‘what to cook for today?‘ instead follow the instructions given in the weekly menu plan and find your healthy meal for the day get ready.

Challenges With Planning The Monday Menu 

1. Each meal of the Monday menu must have all the nutrients in the right proportion
2. The meals should be ready in a jiffy – so that the person cooking the meals feels encouraged and enthused about cooking and has a good beginning to the week
3. The meals should be interesting. After the celebratory mood of the weekend – they should not feel like a drag.

Monday Menu Breakup

1. A healthy breakfast
2. A wholesome 11 am snack
3. A packed tiffin with a treat
4. A satisfying and strengthening lunch
5. An energizing 4 pm snack
6. A nourishing dinner

Weekly Menu Planning- Day 1-Monday

This menu is designed by Simran Oberoi Multani with nutritional and parenting inputs from Dr Debmita Dutta

Breakfast – Poha with peanuts

10 am snack – Banana walnut muffins

Lunch – Moong masoor dal with bhindi and Whole Wheat Roti / Brown rice

Lunch box – Dal paratha

Evening snack – Fruit smoothie

Dinner – Baked Lentil casserole

Also read the Tuesday Menu here

Read the Wednesday menu here

The Features On The Monday Menu

1. Different sources of carbohydrates are used through the day
2. Every meal has a unique protein source
3. Three different fat sources have been included in the menu
4. There is an emphasis on including vitamins , minerals and fibre at every meal whether big or small
5. The menu is designed with a view to reducing mealtime battles with children over ‘finishing vegetables.
6. The menu has been made interesting by including dishes from various cuisines throughout the day
7. A key ingredient has been repeated in all the meals to make cooking easy and minimize the time spent in the kitchen.
8. Some of the meals are have been planned such that they can be cooked and kept ready on the weekend – to minimize kitchen workload on working days.

The Theme For The Monday Menu

The key ingredient for Monday is soaked moong masoor dal. It has been cooked the Indian way for lunch, the continental way for dinner and hidden in a snack in the lunch box.

Menu for Monday by Simran

Recipes For Monday

Breakfast

Poha with Peanuts

Ingredients –

Ghee – 2tsp

Mustard seeds – 1tsp

Peanuts as per your choice

Curry leaves 2-3

Onion chopped – ½ id sized

Garlic – ginger paste – 1tbsp

Spices as per your requirement  – salt, red chilly, turmeric, garam masala, 1 tbsp lemon

Chopped coriander – few sprigs

Beaten rice / poha.  – 1 cup

You can add boiled chopped potatoes too if you wish to.

Method-

1. Put the ghee in a heated pan.
2. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and onions.
3. Saute until the onions lose their rawness and are a bit brown.
4. Crush the peanuts coarsely and add those into the pan.
5. After a few seconds, add the ginger garlic paste.
6. At this stage you can soak the poha in some water. Do not over soak it else it will become too soft when cooked.
7. After 5 minutes take the poha out from the water, drain the excess water out and put the poha into the pan.
8. Continue to stir to mix well. Add a few drops of water to prevent it from sticking to the pan.
9. Add the dry spices and continue to mix for 3-4 minutes.
10. Finish it off with the lemon and coriander being added and mixed thoroughly. Serve hot.

10 AM Snack

Banana Walnut Muffins (with whole wheat and chia/melon seeds)

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups

Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon,

Baking powder – 1 ½ Tsp

Mashed bananas – 1 ½ cups

Eggs – 2

Flavorless oil (any refined oil) – ¼ cup

Coconut sugar/cane sugar – ¼ cup

Milk – ¼ cup milk,

Pure vanilla extract – 1tsp,

Walnuts and chia or melon seeds as per one’s taste.

Method –

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
2. Keep a muffin tray ready with the cupcake liners.
3. This recipe makes 10-12 muffins.
4. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, in a bowl to combine.
5. In a medium bowl mash the bananas.
6. Then add and mix in the eggs, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla together until combined.
7. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then add the walnuts and seed.
8. Fold everything together gently just until combined.

Spoon the batter into liners. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool off and eat.

Lunch Box

Dal Paratha – Use the dal mix that was made for lunch

Ingredients

Dal from lunch – 1 cup

Whole wheat atta – 2 cups

Oil – for frying

Method –

1. Use the dal to make the atta dough in place of water.
2. Roll out parathas
3. Fry them on both sides with oil.

Lunch

Moong Masoor Dal 

Moong Masoor Dal

Ingredients

Gingelly/ groundnut oil – 2 tbsps,

Jeera – 1 tbsp ,

Chopped onions – ½ cup ,

Chopped tomatoes – ½ cup,

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

1 dried red chilly – 1 (optional)

Asafetida or Hing 1/4 teaspoon,

Moong Dal – 1 cup,

Masoor Dal ( Orange) 1 cup,

Salt to taste,

Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon,

Fresh coriander

Method-

1. Put both the dals in a pressure cooker.
2. Add a bit of the oil
3. Add the onions and tomatoes and sauté until they lose their rawness.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté.
5. Then add the dals, followed by about 3-4 cups water, salt, turmeric powder and cook the dals until they are done.
6. This should be within 3-4 whistles.
7. Then heat the remaining oil in a pan, add asafetida and jeera.
8. Add this to the cooked dal and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes,
9. Add coriander and serve.

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients

250-300 gms chopped ladies finger (bhindi) – 250 -300 gms ,

2-3 tbsp gingelly / groundnut oil – 2-3 tbsps,

2 tsp finely chopped garlic – 2 tsp,

1 tsp jeera – 1tsp,

½ cup chopped onions – ½ cup,

1 tsp red chilli powder ( optional) – 1 tsp,

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi) – ½ tsp

, 1 tsp garam masala – 1tsp,

1 tsp dhania powder – 1 tsp,

salt to taste.

Method –

1. Heat the oil in a deep kadhai
2. Add the jeera and garlic and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.
3. Then add the onions and sauté.
4. Add the ladies finger, mix well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
5. Add all the dry spices except the garam masala. Mix well.
6. Add the garam masala, cook for a minute and switch off. Serve hot.

4 PM Snack

Chopped Fruit / Fruit – based milk shake

Chopped seasonal fruits – Banana, papaya, guava

Dry fruits – cashew, almonds, dates, raisins

Seeds – Chia seeds, watermelon seeds

Put them in a blender with milk/ curd/ coconut milk and blend until they turn into a drinkable consistency

Dinner

Baked Lentil Casserole (One Pot Bake)–

Baked Lentil Casserole

Ingredients

Spring onions finely chopped – 1 cup

Grated carrots – 2

Spinach finely chopped – 2-3 leaves

Mixed soaked lentils use for lunch = 11/2 cups

Olive oil, – 2-3 tbsp

Grated cheese,- 1 cup

Chives – 1 tbsp

, Thyme – 1tsp

, Water – 2-3 cups

Garlic – 2-3 cloves crushed

Salt and black pepper as per taste,

Cream.- ½ cup

Method-

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
2. Grease and prepare a baking dish.
3. Sauté the onions, carrots and spinach.
4. Shift into the baking dish.
5. In 1 tbsp of oil, add the dry spices. Cook for a few seconds and then add the lentils.
6. Cook for 2 minutes and then add water, let the lentils cook a bit and then transfer to the baking dish.
7. Add the cream and then mix well.
8. Bake for 30 minutes.
9. Add cheese on top and then bake for another 15 more minutes or so. Remove from the oven, cover and keep until you want to serve it.

Have an awesome Monday !!