Weekly Menu Planning - April 2022

Happy birthday! You have the best attitude. Love your birthday cake!!!

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Happy birthday! That cake sounds so good. Enjoy! And happy anniversary. 24 year is amazing.

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Hi everyone, things got really busy and I wasn’t able to post last week. I am still experiencing a high level of cooking mojo, but understanding how constrained my time is, I’m trying to shift to quicker weeknight recipes. I think for the next little while I’ll allow myself one or two more elaborate recipes to try on the weekend and keep the week tightly focused to things that can be made quickly and/or require little prep but a long time in the oven (since I’ll be mostly working from home after classes end this week). We’re 2 adults and 2 kids in Toronto.

Mon (last night) - Melissa Clark’s broccoli & shrimp, a simple cucumber/peppers/cherry tomato salad, baguette

Tues - turkey sandwiches on baguette, assorted crudites

Wed - lentil soup from freezer, frozen pizza for the kids (insert throwing my hands in the air emoji, but this will be the last hectic Wednesday, as it’s my last day teaching)

Thurs - vegetable quiche without the crust (from the free Good and Cheap Cookbook)

Fri - roast chicken with oregano (from Lemon Love & Olive Oil), oven fries, red kale salad

Sat - Half veggie burgers (also from Good & Cheap), raw veg

Sun - Pasta with pesto & (for me) chicken salad on greens (both from The Art of Simple Food)

Have a great week, everyone!

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No baking/cooking for 2 adults, 2 kids in Boston suburbs.

I’m on Day 8 of COVID symptoms. This is NO JOKE. Much better now but it has been unpleasant. everyone in my family is negative, thank god. Picked it up at my daughter’s volleyball tournament. My friends and family have been amazing so I’ve had tons of soups and other foods delivered. The biggest issue is that once I got beyond Day 5, and felt somewhat human, was how to support my family from afar.

I’m hopeful for April - I’ll be out of isolation after Thursday.

fish florentine (with cod) https://www.skinnytaste.com/fish-florentine

greek grain salad *with my edits - see recipe printout in binder https://lideylikes.com/greek-grain-salad/

Sticky coconut chicken and rice https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023047-sticky-coconut-chicken-and-rice

Chicken and rice soup with dill https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020898-chicken-and-rice-soup-with-celery-parsley-and-lemon with dill

Chicken and asparagus stir fry https://www.skinnytaste.com/chicken-and-asparagus-teriyaki-stir-fry

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Sorry to hear of your illness, sallyt, and so glad you are feeling better!

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Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear this, Sally. I hope you feel better soon, and I’m so glad you are being supported by friends and family.

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So sorry you caught it, and hope you feel much better soon.

Absolutely killer sounding week … I want every single thing.

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I hope your last day teaching tomorrow goes well and you get a little time for a brief rest before the semester is over! Frozen pizza is a great solution!

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Oh Sally, sorry to hear this! Glad you are doing better after Day 5 and will be out of isolation soon. Good news that your family is negative. Best wishes!

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Sally I’m so sorry to hear you caught covid but I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend. Your week sounds delicious.

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Thanks so much–I am trying to practice “fake it till you make it” regarding my attitude. It’s been less than the best lately but never too late to try improving. A birthday cake will definitely help!

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Oh no! so sorry to hear it got you. hope you feel back to normal very soon.

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Greetings, People.

One of my best take-aways from the pandemic was to grocery shop less often, leaving more time for other activities. It’s a habit I plan on keeping. Therefore, a bit of a pantry and fridge clean-out this week while cooking for two adults in the PNW.

FRI: Fried rice with the tail end of some shrimp and char siu from the freezer.

SAT: Caldo Verde with fresh chorizo. Homemade stirato.

SUN: Pan roasted chicken thighs and bread salad, ala Zuni Café.

MON: Asparagus, scallion and tarragon quiche. Green salad.

TUE: Burgers on the grill. Ciabatta rolls.

WED: Leftover 15 bean soup from the freezer. Toasted bread.

THUR: A repeat from last week: pasta alla gricia. Fried egg optional.

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Hi All,

I used to post in this thread on CH a number of years ago and fell out of the routine. I still lurked occasionally when seeking inspiration (and always found it!) and am hoping to start posting somewhat regularly again. We’ll see how it goes, as life is busy right now as a full-time working mum and partner and, for added fun, I’m also a grad student (again!).

I am cooking for two adults and an almost-9 year old picky eater in southwestern Ontario where we are in the inbetween-times between winter and spring. We get takeout on Fridays and my partner cooks on weekends.

Menu for the week of April 4:

MON - Shrimp and bean stew (NYT Cooking), garlic toast

TUES - Tuna melts (NYT Cooking), potato chips, veggies and dip

WED - Baked chicken thighs with crispy skin (The Salty Marshmallow), glazed carrots, garlicky broccolini

THURS - Farfalle (except the grocery store substitute fusilli in my online grocery order) with spinach, mushrooms, and caramelized onions (Julia’s Album)

LUNCHES - Lentil chopped salad with honey walnut dressing (Kathleen Ashmore)

BAKING - Berry cream cheese cake from Snacking Cakes. Just enjoyed a slice alongside a strong coffee for my breakfast!

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It’s so great to “see” you again! And everything sounds really good to me.

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Those NYT tuna melts changed the way I eat tuna melts forever. Now I want one.

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Hi everyone, starting to get used to HO, and thrilled to have a place to hang out with you all. A big thank you to, I believe, sallyT for having mentioned skin glue a few years ago. I bought some then, and needed it twice this week. It works! LLD is back in town, and Lulu spent her weekend at her first in person debate tournament. She was nervous, but it went well, and now that particular first is behind her. Here is what we’ve eaten the past week, plus tonight:

3/31: LLD home, celebratory meal: asparagus and goat cheese tart (Dinner in French), salad.

4/1: beef and broccoli lo mein

4/2: Lulu away, LLD made a steak, sautéed vegetables, and tater tots. I had black bean tacos with feta and limey cabbage. Both happy. Nice to be safely at home while the Duke-UNC game was on.

4/3: carry out, fancy pizzas, salad

4/4: creamy chicken stew with cabbage and caraway; baguette (How to Cook Everything Fast)

4/5: linguine with tomatoes, orange, olives (Milk St. Tues. Nights Mediterranean)

4/6: carry out

4/7: I had my second shingles shot yesterday, and just in case it made me feel rough I planned an easy meal. Bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomatoes. Aside from some chills I’m absolutely fine.

Hope everyone has a great week.

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Glad to see you are back posting! Your week sounds delicious but especially tonight’s dinner of bagels, cream cheese and lox. I am long overdue for a bagel dinner so I may make a trip to Kettleman’s next weekend. (Kettleman’s is only one of two places in Ottawa where you can get real bagels.) I may get some over Easter weekend when I am doing my shopping and having them for dinner on Saturday night instead of take-out.

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Last time we were in Vancouver (just before the start of the pandemic, sadly) we went to Siegel’s at Granville Market for breakfast bagels. So good! It’s top of our list for our next visit, which hopefully is this year.

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I haven’t been to Vancouver yet but I did google Siegel’s and they make Montreal style bagels - those are real bagels IMHO - glad you enjoyed them! Even though I have been living in Ottawa for many years I am from Montreal, bagel capital of Canada. When I first moved to Ottawa I mentioned to the admin assistant at my first job that I was on a quest to find bagels in Ottawa. She recommended Druxy’s, a chain of bagel restaurants in Ontario at the time, so I went there for lunch one day. The bagels they made were more bun-like and I remember going back to the office after lunch to inform her “THOSE AREN’T REAL BAGELS!”. She had a puzzled look on her face and said “well I like them”. I since found Kettleman’s (about a 20 minute walk from my home) and Ottawa Bagel Shop (about a 20 minute bus ride from home) so I now have all my bagel needs covered!

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