Weekly Menu Planning – May 2022

Thank you! We’re all taking it one day at a time, including Dad. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Beautiful day here, finally, in Chapel Hill, NC. Cooking for 3, and here is what we’ve eaten:

5/9: spiced beef kebabs with coriander pickled onions (both from Season), tomatoes, cucumber slices, yogurt, pita

5/10: solo dinner while Lulu was at a meeting, baked potato! Loved it

5/11: date! Lulu had a school event

5/12: tomato, olive, goat cheese clafoutis (Diana Henry’s From the Oven to the Table - so good!), salad, homemade bread

5/13: penne with broccoli and chicken sausage

5/14: carry out

5/15: LLD made radicchio risotto

5/16: impossible meat and asparagus stir fry by SK via Bon Ap. Big thanks to whoever posted the recipe here (original recipe has pork), rice

5/17: pasta with radicchio, turkey bacon, wine and cream sauce. What were the chances that both LLD and I would pick up radicchio this week?

5/18: carry out

5/19: another date! Magical feeling.

I hope everyone is continuing to stay safe, and is doing well. Lots of distressing stuff happening, and I’m grateful to and for this group. Have a good week.

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Happy Friday everyone where it has been fall like all week and today it is positively summerlike. Hopefully the warm weather is here to stay. I picked up my first CSA of the season yesterday and got some arugula in this week’s share. It tastes so much better straight out of the garden than the store bought variety. My fridge is bursting with fresh produce so the trips to the grocery store will be less frequent since I have veggies to eat up and I always have a well stocked pantry. The last two summers I bought a CSA share my grocery bill actually went down during the summer months. My menu for a solo diner in Ottawa looks like this:

Today: I am now eating a veal parmigiana from a nearby deli which I am thoroughly enjoying and it’s much better than the chicken teriyaki I bought last Friday. Dinner will be a salad.

Saturday: fridge and freezer clean out. I bought some meat on sale recently (a couple of pork chops, a fish fillet or two, etc.) and have been adding everything to the freezer without updating my inventory list so I have no idea what’s in there. Dinner will be the fettucine with carmelized onion sauce that got bumped yesterday. I forget dinner is usually later on CSA pickup day so I will have to plan Thursday night dinners with a little less prep work.

Sunday: basa fillet with roast asparagus and cherry tomatoes. https://www.budgetbytes.com/garlic-butter-baked-cod/

Monday: asparagus and sundried tomato risotto.

Tuesday: ginger bok choy soup with noodles.

Wednesday: I’m going to a jazz concert tonight! I don’t know the band I am going to see but one of my meetup groups is going and it’s free. It will be nice to get out with people again. I’m not sure yet if I will buy dinner beforehand since the restaurants in the concert hall seem to only be open at lunch. If any of the restos are open I will eat out, otherwise I will have a chilled soba noodle salad at home.

Thursday: Chinese noodles with chilies and scallions https://alexandracooks.com/…/lightning-fast-sichuan…/

I hope everyone has a nice warm weekend. And happy Victoria Day to my Canadian friends!

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Thanks for all the healing thoughts towards my husband. He’s feeling much better after a week of eating whatever his body told him to. Um, some of those items were not the healthiest, but it worked. :wink: Now I’m heading into finals week, with some travel at the end, so cooking is not a high priority. Forgive me! Easy and simple, mostly from our freezer, that’s what’s on the menu.

For two adults in San Diego:

This week’s breakfasts: Think I will give these a try - https://smittenkitchen.com/2022/05/double-chocolate-chip-muffins/

S: (tonight) takeout - Thai - red curry chicken, drunken noodles with roast duck, white rice. So good after a week without much spice.

Su: Macaroni and cheese, chicken apple sausage, peas.

M: Purchased chicken potstickers with homemade stock and veggies

T: Lobster rolls (filling in freezer from recent Goldbelly delivery), chips - seafood

W: TJs green Chile cheese tamales, beans - vegetarian

Th-S: My husband will be foraging (prediction: pizza and/or El Pollo Loco chicken and tortillas) while I’m at Star Wars Celebration. Masks and vaccines required, but I’ll still be dodging people, doing outdoor dining or eating in my hotel room with windows open and air purifier on. This will be our longest time apart since Feb 2020. mind boggles

Have a good week!

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Actuals for May 16 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where I’m ferrying flower planters /containers in and out of the garage nightly for a couple more nights, until this span of 40’s overnight temperatures is behind us. I quit planting half-way through when I heard the forecast. The colder weather had me baking (first rhubarb cake of the season!), roasting and making soup. I’ve now got a fridge full of leftovers so the crust dough and roasted-veggies components for a planned quiche got tucked away in spare corners and will get shaped/baked tomorrow. Daytimes were warm enough for enjoyable shopping at our city-wide garage sales. I got an oven-rack puller, which should mean fewer scorched potholders when removing pans from my countertop oven.

Mon: Oven teriyaki beef, rice. Dessert: Rhubarb upside down cake - First of the season - family recipe is over on the WAYB discussion
Tues: Stuffed pork chop (COTM - New Midwestern Table), corn on the cob
Wed: Deli carnitas meat as nachos base on tortilla chips, with Homesick Texan Spanish rice, black beans, chopped tomatoes, avocado guac, cheese. Dessert / BAKED – Pear and Honey Bundt cake (COTM - New Midwestern Table)
Thurs: Salmon, baked potato, sliced fresh orange
Fri: OUT – Qcumbers buffet
Sat: French Cabbage & sausage soup, (Half recipe, diced 3 Johnsonville Kielbasa links, 14oz package of shredded coleslaw mix), naan bread, (Schwan’s) turtle pie slivers
Sun (today): Deviled eggs, bread stuffing w/almonds, Normandy vegetables, roasted boneless turkey breast.
Prepped Sweet potato bacon quiche components (Dinner in French) to bake Monday

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Hi everyone

Still trying to get back to writing a plan, though I’ve been mindful of menu planning when grocery shopping, so that’s a step in the right direction, I hope.

Actuals for the past week, and a tentative plan for the coming one:

Mon - Spurt of energy. Made Tom Kha Kai using the broth and chicken from the white-cooked chicken I made when I got back home. Then made a big salad for dinner to use up some of the lovely produce I had excitedly bought days ago but done nothing with: oyster and baby trumpet mushrooms, butternut squash (pan-roasted), plus red onions, over shaved fennel and arugula.

Tues - More fennel and arugula salad with leftover steak and mushrooms, red onion, trumpet and oyster mushrooms. I’ve been on what can only be described as a salad kick, but because I was lacking cooking inspiration and salad ingredients were at hand.

Wed - Impromptu meal out with a friend - Turkish. Zucchini fritters, crudo, lahmacun, kofte in tomato sauce.

Thurs - Bengali mustard salmon (yet again, but with coconut milk added for a change), Turkish stewed green beans, quinoa+rice.

Fri - Seared sesame-crusted tuna with pureed cauliflower and wasabi-butter peas. I was out after my booster, but then revived enough to use up ingredients I wanted to eat!

Sat - Impromptu dinner at friends’ - they ordered in Spanish food (which I love but does not travel well).

Sun - Hoppin’ John. For some reason, this was a regular feature in my college dining hall - I loved it, because I love black-eyed peas in general, and it had familiar flavors (boiled-past-death broccoli? not so much… took me years to eat broccoli…). Maybe some arugula salad to start.

Mon - Leftovers: Mustard-coconut milk Bengali salmon, garlic broccoli, quinoa+rice.

Tues - Indian: maybe Dad’s chicken (which I haven’t made since October when I took it to a potluck, and have been craving… somehow we never made this the whole time I was home!), stewed Turkish green beans, parathas from the freezer (thanks Mom!)

Wed - Fish tagine with frozen yellowtail over quinoa+rice, with roasted cauliflower.

Thurs - Leftovers: Indian chicken and roasted cauliflower.

Fri - Probably out.

Wish you all a happy and delicious week!

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Have you made the French Cabbage Soup recipe before?

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Cooking for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs.

Sun: southern chicken salads for dinner - fried chicken (fingers), Colby/Jack cheese, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers atop romaine, with honey mustard dressing. DS was out with friends which is why I could pull off salad for dinner, haha!

Mon: I’m meeting friends for dinner, guys are having rotisserie chicken, cornbread, and peas. (Standard “mom’s not home for dinner” meal 1 of 2.)

Tues: chicken tostadas (using the NYT pressure cooker honey/chipotle chicken tacos recipe, just on a different tortilla format), Mexican chopped salad (radishes, jicama, corn, bell pepper in a honey-lime vinaigrette)

Weds: Cuban pork tenderloin (NYT) and black beans/rice (also NYT)

Thurs: I’m going out again, this time with a few of my recent former coworkers. Guys are going out too.

Fri: tbd

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Cooking for 1 at the Jersey Shore

Monday: Beef stroganoff over buttered egg noodles, green salad
Tuesday: shrimp salad sandwich
Wednesday: leftover beef stroganoff and egg noodles
Thursday: pasta primavera
Friday: homemade clams casino
Saturday: leftover pasta primavera

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Yes, @MunchkinRedux I’ve made the French Cabbage Soup many times,using the recipe I linked. A half recipe gives us 4-5 meal-sized servings. Edited to add that I do change up the sequence, and wait until the first simmer (of veggies, broth, sausage) is underway to make the roux using a very small (one-egg) skillet.

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Thank you! I’ve put it on my list of things to try.

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Contributing a day later than usual, as it was a long weekend here in Canada and the unofficial start of summer!

Cooking for two adults and a 9yo in southwestern Ontario:

M - A terriyaki-ish salmon rice bowl with avocado, green onions, and sriracha mayo

T - Ground beef tacos

W - Nutty, herby spring pasta (Half Baked Harvest Everyday)

Th - Soy glazed chicken, steamed jasmine rice, roasted broccoli

Lunches - I made a Greek-ish tortellini salad from a recipe I saw on Instagram.Delicious and easy! Frozen cheese tortellini cooked and tossed with a red-wine vinegar and lemon juice vinaigrette, feta, red onions, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, kalamata olives, parsley, and basil etc.

Baking - Double chocolate chip muffins - two thumbs up for these!

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Yum on that tortellini salad idea - thanks!

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Greetings, people.

Another busy week dominated by family health matters and a garden schedule which waits for no man.

My 94-y.o. Dad continues to cope with failing health. For the family, his comfort and well-being are a priority as he continues his life’s journey. On the home front, we transplanted all the remaining summer crops: beans, tomatoes, winter squash, peppers, cukes, and zuccs. It’s a very satisfying and hopeful feeling to look around and see a summer garden in the ground. For anyone who’s interested, I posted some pictures of this year’s garden on the 2022 Veggie Garden thread.

The Vegetable Of The Week is leeks, along with the last of the spring spinach and asparagus.

Cooking for two adults in the PNW.

FRI: Leek and chicken stew with spinach and artichoke. Homemade bread.

SAT: Pasta in cream sauce with sausage and peas .

SUN: Asparagus-leek vegetable soup. Cheddar biscuits. Ham slices.

MON: Last week’s cancelled repeat of the Afghan dinner: scallion and leek dumplings with lamb sauce and yogurt.

TUE: Ginger-beef, kale and mushroom stir fry. Steamed rice.

WED: Leek and asparagus quiche. Green salad.

THUR: Chicken and rice with apricots and almonds (simplified biryani).

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All those delicious leeks - are they from your garden?

I hope that your father is comfortable. I’m sorry you’re going through this.

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Thank you for the concern, @LulusMom1. :slightly_smiling_face:

Yes, the leeks are from the garden. We over-did it when we planted last fall, and there is now a sackful in the refrigerator I need to work through to make way for more veg. A good problem to have.

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Actuals for May 23 week, cooking for 2 in MN, where the last 9 of the flower pots got planted, then pulled into the garage nightly as temperatures dove to the low 40’s F. At husband’s request, this week’s soup was a (usually only made in winter) batch of chili. Then the summer-switch got turned on and we’re now looking at 90’s for daily highs.

Mon: noon - Reheat turkey, stuffing, veggies, potato half. Happy husband commented (again) - “We have the BEST leftovers.”
BAKED – rhubarb upside down cake (ready in time for lunch dessert)
BAKED - Sweet potato bacon quiche (Dinner in French), also ham & gruyere mini-quiche with leftover pastry (NOT ready in time to be supper…)
Mon Dinner: Open-faced chicken pizza sandwiches – Kings Hawaiian rolls, topped with garlic-herb pasta sauce, shredded rotisserie chicken, provolone cheese.
Tues: Sweet Potato Quiche, sliced reheated roast turkey, strawberries w whipped cream.
Wed: Chili, corn bread muffins
BAKED – honey white bread from a video by Our Tribe of Many. First time I’ve used lechithin and it’s a learning curve - bread was very soft when made with all bread flour (but makes great toast). Next batch will be half whole-wheat flour.
Thurs: Hot tuna salad sandwiches, tossed salad with cherry tomatoes
Fri: Cod cooked in lemon oil w lemon pepper, mac & cheese, Normandy vegetables. Fresh orange slices. Slivers of turtle pie.
Sat: reheated Chili & cornbread
BAKED – rhubarb cake
Sun (today): (Aldi’s) Pub burgers, deli potato salad, baked beans. Dessert - rhubarb cake

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The June discussion is ready for when your plan is more for June than May.

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Hi everyone! Busy week here, doing all sorts of stuff. We just picked Lulu up fro the airport- her first flying trip without one of us. She made the finals at a national debate tournament in DC. So proud of her, the only sophomore in her type of debate to make finals. It was quite a week with her prepping for that along with studying for final exams. LLD took me to see Paul McCartney last weekend, and that was tons of fun. Outdoor show, and we were masked the whole time. Here is what we’ve eaten since last time:

5/20: Portuguese soup with soyrizo, potatoes, beans, and kale

5/21: a picnic in the car before the show, i had camembert on baguette and it was so good. I did worry that I smelled of cheese after though.

5/22: carry out

5/23: sumac-spiced chickpea salad with tomatoes and herbed yogurt (Ali cooks?), pita. This recipe is so good that even LLD loves it

5/24: chicken and snow pea stir fry, Asian slaw. I thought the stir fry was ho hum but LLD loved it.

5/26: turkey sausage, pepper, onion hoagies

527-5/29: parents alone in the house! One night at Bulls game with their amazing fish tacos, a night of each cooking our own thing, and a night of carry out.

5/30: tonight. Asian salad with cold roast chicken, baguette. Dessert is rhubarb fool, which @CaitlinM reminded me about a month or so ago. It’s one of Lulu’s favorites to welcome her home.

I hope spring has finally arrived for all of you. Enjoy your week!

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Wow, so much delicious food and big events! Congrats to Lulu on her debate success!

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