Weekly Menu Planning April 2023

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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Checking in from a very damp North Cheshire.

Friday - tuna, noodles, marinated cucumber, teriyaki sauce (bottle)

Saturday - We’re going Italian-ish. Peperonata to start (Claudia Roden “Med”); Chicken with grapes (also “Med”), polenta, something green; Panna cotta (homemade) or, more likely, bought tiramisu.

Sunday - Bambi burgers

Monday - An old favourite. Pork fillet, cut down its length and opened like book. Lemon zest, basil leaves and garlic added and tied up again. Marinates overnight in lemon juice and bay leaves (from the garden). Roasted. Salad to accompany

Tuesday - Chickpea, cauliflower curry, cooked in coconut milk, spices. Rice

Wednesday - probably a family birthday dinner somewhere. If not, something from the freezer brown gloop drawer

Thursday - out. Local “small plates” restaurant with friends (nope, not my choice but it will be our treat for the friends 70th birthday)

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When you say Bambii burgers I assume they are made with venison?

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Absolutely. Local supermarket regularly has them.

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Such a delicious-sounding festive meal!

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I am jealous (also weird, that this part of your week is so appealing to me right now, haha)

Same here! Plus there’s a fantastic little bakery next door with lahmacun, sfeeha, and a full sweets counter. Someday soon…

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Fell off the planning wagon for a bit (I’m blaming coming upon 2022 favorites thread and getting excited to try a few of my personal favorites on mom and sis). Still, we’ve been eating well and mom’s appetite is coming back slowly (except now she’s being vigilant about not gaining weight while she’s unable to move much).

Actuals for the past week and some ideas for the coming week:

Sun - Feeling lazy, decided to order takeout of comfort favorites from the club: Tandoori chicken and Chicken biryani

Mon - Sunday’s postponed plan of stuffed shells (stuffing of paneer in lieu of ricotta, spinach, mushrooms, and aromatics) in Marcella-ish simple tomato sauce – big batch, fed the freezer. I also made some deviled eggs.

Tues - Umami noodles with bok choy and mixed mushrooms, courtesy that 2022 faves thread reminder. Soya-chilli oil chicken for some of us.

Wed - Freezer dive for stuffed parathas: potato for mom, kheema for us.

Thurs - Another freezer dive: doctored mutton roast into sorta-Pakistani Pasanday but a lot less rich than the original (which was a positive, but I’ll make the real deal soon when I can source the meat). Mom ate idlis that I made for her the day before.

Fri - Freshly -sauced serving of the stuffed shells for mom, Masala Omelettes for us, tomato avocado salad for everyone.

Sat - Chinese: Hakka noodles, Fried rice, Steamed chicken with black mushrooms, Paneer with black and woodear mushrooms.

Sun - Pizza was the plan, but the oven plug was sparking so we pivoted to toasted sandwiches: tomato and cheese for mom, roast beef and cheddar for us, vegetable soup for all.

Mon - Chinese leftovers plus: the excess of fried rice mysteriously went bad, so I made a quick batch of umami noodles and some plain rice to go with the leftover chicken and paneer mains. Also steamed egg custard (chawanmushi but chinese) for some of us.

Tues - Pizza! Because the oven plug finally got fixed.

Wed - Momo night (Tibetan dumplings)

Ideas for coming days:

  • More freezer diving: we still have Ghee roast crab and Goan prawn curry in there, plus the meat base for Biryani mom made just before her fall

  • Spanish still on my mind: Vegetarian fideua (probably with grilled artichokes and Indian vermicelli), pork pinchos morunos, maybe a tortilla, chicken chorizo I just ordered from the specialty meat store, pan amb tomate – clearly I am missing Spanish food, so this is probably two separate meals!

  • Korean: Japchae (or maybe gochujang buttered noodles), sautéed squid and/or pork tenderloin, veg tbd

  • Mexican: Enchilada stacks (or quesadillas if I don’t get around to making the sauce) to use up a pile of frozen corn tortillas, maybe refried beans

  • Spinach and artichoke pasta, pan-roasted chicken

  • Whole roast chicken (TK method if it won’'t smoke up the kitchen, let’s see), probably pasta for mom

  • Potato-coated baby lamb chops coated for us, vegetarian kheema-stuffed potato chops for mom (maybe), tbd vegetable soup.

  • Turkish pasta

Wish you all a good week and a great weekend ahead!

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Greetings, People.

Here’s hoping April showers bring May flowers. Cooking for two adults in the drizzly PNW:

FRI: Chicken-zucchini meatballs with lemony orzo and fresh spinach.

SAT: Salmon cakes from tinned salmon (still using up those pandemic supplies). Caesar salad.

SUN: ATK’s chicken and spring veggie soup. Biscuits or dumplings.

MON: LA Times beef and asparagus stir-fry (rolled from last week due to lack of asparagus).

TUE: Halibut and chips.

WED: Mesquite smoked whole chicken on the grill. Caesar salad.

THUR: James Beard’s Pleasant Pasta - an annual rite of spring. I’ll use ham or bacon, and add both peas and asparagus.

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Thank you! I am lucky my son has access to Restaurant Depot, sort of a Costco warehouse club for restaurant owners. He brought a rack of veal for Easter dinner.

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Hi all, so glad to have found HO and being able to participate in a weekly meal planning thread. I find these so helpful to mix and match my fridge/freezer and pantry ingredients to see them in a post. I’m a willy-nilly “what can I make with this basket of chopped-style ingredients” kind of person so these threads help me organize my random thoughts sometimes. I rarely use recipes but sometimes look at them for inspiration. I’m in the middle of a pantry and freezer declutter so trying to use items already on hand where possible.

Last night I wanted to try making crumpets out of my excess sourdough discard. Then I needed to make some items to go alongside said crumpets, so I made:
-sautéed mushrooms and onions,
-sautéed garlic and cabbage and a splash of soy
-took a thawed (previously frozen) block of tofu, squeezed out the water and tore it into small crumbly bits and pan fried them until crispy and another splash of soy.

I ate a plate of those all mixed up over a crumpet, and had my second crumpet with butter and jam. My dining partner added two fried eggs and a scoop of yumm sauce on top of the whole mess before eating.

Tonight (Thursday): have some leftover friend polenta cakes from one of those Trader Joe’s tubes. Will reheat them, make some shrimp to top them and add the leftover cabbage sauté, along with some frozen roasted veggies (a Costco sized bag I’m finally on the verge of using up). This might not be enough (not much polenta or shrimp left) so I’m making a pot of rice and have some mandarin orange chicken in the freezer if needed.

Friday: will likely go out for dinner, if not, homemade pizza topped with Kalamata olives, tomato, red onion, with a side of mixed greens salad.

Saturday: making a pot of beans and a loaf of sourdough, will add some garlicky spinach or garlicky green beans on the side. Maybe simmer carrots and potatoes in the bean broth and make a soup. Maybe add diced ham for my partner.

Sunday: not sure yet, but will probably grocery shopping for some produce for the week and get ideas then!

I’m moving toward more vegetarian/meat-lite meals for myself while trying to keep some meat for my dining partner who still wants it, so a lot of my meals right now are experimental and a totally random mishmash of things. Eventually I’d like to consistently be eating vegetarian ~5 days per week.

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Welcome! Your meals sound delicious and I look forward to hearing more about your cooking adventures.

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Welcome @calmossimo! Several of us are working through similar pantry/freezer use-it-up goals. It’s always helpful to see how others are juggling the mix & match.

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Welcome! Your Saturday dinner sounds perfect.

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Hello to everyone from the really warm Twin Cities of MN where my snow pack has disappeared, my construction company’s sign has reappeared, and the sump pump is doing its thing. We went from our first 50F day to our first 80F+ day in less than 10 days. Not going to lie- turned the AC on this afternoon- and will be needing the heat this weekend. Go Home Minnesota you’re Drunk!

Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 skating girls in preparation for this year’s skating show. Also getting settled back into our home after the reno and temporary apartment so getting some cooking mojo back. It feels good!

Sun 9: Lemon orzo (ala Ina) with roasted asparagus and baked chicken

Mon 10: Turkey Larb after skating

Tues 11: White chicken chili in the crockpot adapted from Taste of Home. Lots of skate show rehearsals

Weds 12: assorted leftovers before skating show finale practice . Big kiddo was leveled up for the finale number and was super happy she was with her skating buddy

Thus 13: Grilled burgers and asparagus, coleslaw. Ol’ firebox’s 18th birthday. My grill can now vote (quietly googling new grill, sorry firebox)

Fri 14: Both kiddo’s skate back to back. Leftover white chicken chili, assorted fixings.

Sat 15:/Sun 16: Leftover burgers and who knows

Mon 17" Skate show run throuh: Bento box somethings for the girls, scrounge for the adults

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Happy Friday everyone. It is now warm! And sunny! Apparently it will be nice all weekend long so I am contemplating sitting in a park at some point depending on how muddy the ground is. I obviously won’t be able to sit on the grass yet but if it has dried out enough I can get to a bench then I may sit outside for a bit. I will be getting a hair cut tomorrow morning but otherwise no plans. My meals this week for a solo diner in Ottawa, Canada:

Today: Today’s take out lunch is lasagna and garlic bread. It tastes like they put some weird spice in the sauce - I keep tasting cinnamon but I could be mistaken. I will have sliced ham and a salad for dinner.

Saturday: Take out night.

Sunday: risotto with sole and tomatoes.

Monday: Asparagus and sundried tomato risotto. I have a jar of arborio rice on the kitchen counter - it must be calling to me 🙂

Tuesday: I thought I finished the last of the pork chops in the freezer last week however I was hunting in my freezer for Italian sausages and lo and behold I found one more pork chop! So pork lo mein for the last time then on to the pork tenderloin in the freezer.

Wednesday: chicken curry with pineapple, steamed rice on the side.

Thursday: Linguine with zucchini and mint, salad on the side.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

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Some smoked salmon makes a lovely, luxury addition to asparagus and sundried toms in a risotto. A springtime favourite in this house, once the local asparagus is on sale.

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Adding smoked salmon sounds delicious! My CSA starts next month and I am anxiously awaiting asparagus season. I am eating store-bought asparagus and it’s not the same as asparagus fresh out of the garden. I will make note of adding smoked salmon. Do you add it in at the end of the cooking time? Or use it as a type of garnish on top of the risotto?

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Works either way, although we generally stir it through when the risotto is almost at the end of cooking. 30 seconds or so.

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Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga, where we continue to experience the roller coaster of April weather.
Breakfast: Berliner (jelly doughnuts)
Saturday, April 15: DH is going to a VW fest and may be bringing some of his fellow enthusiasts back for dinner; planning mushroom lasagna and potentially strawberry cake if I have enough time/energy.
Sunday: Will dial down the energy with rye galettes/crêpes with smoked salmon and crème fraîche. Also something with the green beans in the fridge, and the cake if I haven’t made it on Saturday.
Monday: Tomato and mushroom soup and oatmeal bread to placate DH for the whole soup thing (assuming I can get the bread started on Sunday)
Tuesday: Trivia/pizza
Wednesday/Thursday: leftovers/scrounge
Friday: Spinach and ricotta ravioli

Have a good week, and happy cooking!

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@Harters

May I ask:

When someone from the UK specifies “smoked salmon” , are they meaning hot-smoke or cold-smoke? I’ll run into British recipes which I’d like to try, but the type of salmon is often not specified, throwing me into a loop of over-thinking and non-action. :crazy_face:

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Generally speaking, “smoked salmon” will mean cold smoked (and that was what I meant in my earlier post). Hot smoked salmon is not as common and would usually be described as such.

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