Weekly Menu Planning - December 2022

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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Hi everyone

I’m counting down the days to seeing my family for winter break!

Too many dinners out as I squeeze in time with friends before leaving.

Actuals for last week and a few ideas for the last few meals in my kitchen for the year:

Sun - Out with friend and his family for modern Indian at a place I had not tried. Food was average to good, but very under-spiced. But the Kashmiri morels were fabulous.

Mon - Out for another friend’s birthday. Russian restaurant, very fun atmosphere even on a Monday, and great food, especially dessert, which I’m not usually big on.

Tues - Out with not one but two friends, separately. Happy hour with one, spent mostly discussing our respective parents’ health, family stuff, and how there are so few people with whom one can actually share the intimate things that weigh on us. Then dinner with the “traumatized by my trauma” friend from last week, who didn’t that want that to be our last interaction of the year :rofl:

Wed - Leftover spinach pasta from the new SK book, but with many adjustments. Much better as leftovers after the flavors melded.

Thurs - Thought I had enough leftovers for an Indian meal if I added a piece of salmon, but turned out all I had was Dal. Sautéed the rest of the bag of (pasta) spinach with garlic and onion, pan-fried a piece of salmon crusted with spice paste and semolina (for a nice crisp coating), and made “brown” rice with caramelized onions and cumin. Tasty, and now there are some real leftovers :joy:

Fri - Out with a friend for sushi, which I’ve been craving despite the weather.

Sat (tonight) - Was going to make beef stew or beef bourgignon, but the friends I was supposed to go out with on Sunday invited me over tonight instead. I’ll probably make an orange olive oil cake to take for dessert unless I have a better idea.

Sun - Steak, trumpet mushrooms, leftover sautéed spinach, some kind of potato (I’ve been wanting scalloped for a while)

Mon - TBD. Maybe noodles with the rest of the garlic butter from thecSK spinach pasta recipe and leftover trumpet mushrooms, Or Vietnamese umami noodles (Andrea Nguyen).

Tues - Leftovers or Chinese takeout.

Wish you all a wonderful weekend, and a good week ahead!

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Laughing at the “traumatized by my trauma” friend… well, at the situation.

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Hi, everyone. Cooking for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs, and hoping for a quieter/calmer week ahead.

Sun: out - probably for steak - to congratulate DS surviving the musical (auditions for the next show are this week…)

Mon: stuffed shells, salad

Tues: black bean chili from SK Keepers, and these cheddar scones http://immaeatthat.com/2015/03/02/cheddar-cornbread-scones/

Weds: sheet pan pasta/chicken/leafy green bake, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sheet-pan-pasta-bake-with-chicken-and-kale (I use 8oz pasta, double the tomatoes, and won’t use kale as I just don’t like it - I’ll sub spinach and put up with DS complaining)

Thurs: pizzas (plain for DS, Buffalo chicken for DS and me) with celery succotash salad

Fri: whatever happens to be remaining from the week’s meals. I’m going to try to avoid the word “leftovers” and see if there is better uptake, or at least tolerance.

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My husband will be hanging out with friends in the PNW this week. For me, there will be grading, grading, and yet more grading. Easy meals with some of his hated mushrooms are on the menu.

For one or two adults in San Diego:

This week’s breakfasts: Stopping off at a bakery and loading up on a few decadent treats.

S: (tonight) takeout - pizza (husband’s request)

Su: Finishing off the pizza.

M: Husband will be gone, so there will be an egg scramble with mushrooms (yay!), spinach, and cheese. With sourdough toast.

T: Mushrooms (again!), shallots, spinach, chicken, parmesan in a light garlic cream sauce, with sourdough to dip in it

W: Leftover scalloped corn from freezer, Hatch green enchilada sauce, cheese, and chicken. Kind of a pseudo tamale pie.

Th: Leftovers of Weds night

F: TJ’s orange chicken bowl before picking up my husband from his late flight back

Have a good week!

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For Friday - “This week’s greatest hits” or “smorgasbord” or “Daba-Daba-Do!” (since around here it’s often a dab of this and dab of that…)

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I’ve previously tried “encore presentation” but that seemed to fall flat…

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There’s always “Leftover Parfait”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StWKyVe73N8

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cooking for 1 at the Jersey Shore

Sunday: Instant Pot bolognese from the freezer over penne
Monday: Sunday leftovers
Tuesday: roast pork loin, mashed potatoes, steamed string beans
Wednesday: Tuesday leftovers
Thursday: pasta pomodoro
Friday: homemade pepperoni pizza
Saturday: Friday leftovers

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I love leftovers, great food enjoyed twice and no new cooking effort. I have never understood why some people dislike encore meals. :thinking:

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Oh boy… now I have something worse than leftovers to threaten them with!! :rofl:

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I think the problem (mental block) comes from where we don’t have enough of any one leftover for everyone to have it, ie one or two servings but not three. Then there’s this competition, over-politeness bordering on passive-aggressiveness… “no, you can have the chili if you really want it” “oh, no, I insist you take it, I’ll eat the sad wilted salad” and so on. DH is the worst offender. I try to avoid this situation by - for meals that truly serve 4 - eating that 4th serving for lunch (or giving it to DS for lunch). But that’s not always possible. :woman_shrugging:

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Actuals for Dec 5 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where the rest of the cookies to be shared got baked & frozen and will be packed/mailed out Monday. To make space in the freezer for cookies, I thawed a 2 pound package of chicken breasts and cooked them 3 ways today. We’ll have those planned-overs (not “leftovers”) tonight and several more times in the coming week. I miscalculated the required butter for my cookies (double-counted on 3 recipes, plus intentionally bought extra on-sale) and find myself with enough butter still on-hand to likely last through May.

Mon: Nachos using Chicken BBQ Cowboy rice & beans, add pulled pork & more BBQ sauce, over tortilla chips, w/ guac, lettuce, tomatoes
Tues: (from freezer) Egg bake (sausage/mushroom/spinach). Sliced fresh oranges.
Made TREAT – Almond-bark dipped dried apricots
Wed: Pumpkin/Cider soup (Panera copycat), https://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2014/10/18/panera-breads-autumn-squash-soup/ chicken salad on whole wheat bun
During the day mixed & BAKED Tassies, Assembled & BAKED lemon stripe cookies, Mixed apricot foldovers dough,
Thurs: Dinner OUT with delightful friends we’d not seen for a year, picking up friendly conversations as though it were just yesterday and lingering over wine & dessert.
During the day, made orange/apricot filling and BAKED apricot foldovers, Mixed rugelach dough
Fri: Shrimp & crab seafood Newberg over rice, mixed vegetables
Made TREAT – Cornpuffs tossed in melted almond bark, then rolled in Andes mint chips.
Sat: Shrimp &crab seafood Newberg over rice, mixed vegetables, Pumpkin/Cider soup
During the day BAKED oatmeal raisin cookies, BAKED chocolate rugelach
Sun (today): Chicken breasts 3 ways – For noon meal: Sheetpan Curry chicken/potatoes/chickpeas https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/sheet-pan-curried-chicken-and-vegetables/e805be70-ff1e-480f-9476-7faa811ce71d
For tonight: mustard pretzel sheet pan https://www.juliapacheco.com/pretzel-crusted-chicken/ For later this week:Roasted for shredding and use in Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta Skillet (from a grocery-store magazine)
Frosted the Cranberry Swirl cookies. Prepared to PACK COOKIES in boxes, to Mail Monday

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That kind of not-enough leftover is still divided here , so the meal becomes “dabs”. Chili goes in custard cups and the salad isn’t so sad when there’s just 2 bites of it on the plate.

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Hello from a snowy blustery city of Ottawa. We are getting our first real snowstorm today so navigating my way up some snowy slushy sidewalks during my walk to work this morning was interesting. My Christmas vacations start at 4:30 this afternoon and I’ll be off for two weeks. I plan on reading and hopefully tying in some movies and museum visits. I will continue to menu plan this time (I usually forage when I’m on vacation) but I would like to make some soups and stews to put up in the freezer so I will have some ready made meals for when I return to work in January. This is what is on tap for this week for a solo diner in Ottawa, Canada:

Today: Take-out lunch today is a smokey jack burger from the burger place in the food court. My favourite burger is their bacon blue cheese burger but they don’t have any blue cheese left. Since they are closed on Saturdays and Sundays they didn’t think it was worthwhile stocking up just for lunch service today so I picked another burger. It includes bbq sauce (a little too sweet for my taste) and mozzarella cheese. It’s still a good burger though. I will have a healthy salad for dinner tonight.

Saturday: Fridge and freezer clean out day. Pasta for supper. I think I have one solitary onion left in the fridge so I might make a carmelized onion sauce or maybe pesto using up the last of the parsley. I have a nappa cabbage left and I think I have some carrots left so I might make a coleslaw to have on the side. Should be an interesting meal 🙂

Sunday: Salmon teriyaki.

Monday: Vegetarian curry, rice on the side.

Tuesday: poached chicken breast, amanasala salad.

Wednesday: liver (yes I like liver), turnip, other veggie tbd.

Thursday: Probably fettucine al pesto again. Time to take stock of what pasta sauces I have in the freezer.

Lunches will alternate between pumpkin soup and Russian salad.

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Greetings, People.

Week Three of our month of No Meal Plan. I’m finding the whole project a good way to use up some of freezer stores, garden surplus and pantry supplies. I did very little shopping this week - salad greens and dairy, primarily. Small batch cooking means few leftovers to deal with - a bonus.

Actuals for two adults in the PNW:

FRI: Pan roasted chicken thighs. Greens in vinaigrette.

SAT: Beef and vegetable soup.

SUN: Roasted lamb sausages. Potato gratin. Baby peas.

MON: Cabbage and chicken stir-fry over rice.

TUE: Chicken and veggie soup.

WED: Fried rice with pork and shrimp.

THUR: Pasta with roasted tomatoes. Italian sausage links. Caesar salad.

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Actuals for Dec 12 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where the cookies got shipped and arrived quickly at destinations, outdoor decorations got placed, and indoors the (artificial) tree is up with ornament-hanging in-progress. I might even get cards mailed next week rather than sending them as New Years Greetings. Lunches this week featured hearty leftovers and from-freezer reheats of various pasta casseroles, so I made lighter soup/sandwich suppers. With cookie-snacking before & after. Do you have special tableware for Christmas? I just got out the Santa mugs we’ll use this week and later today will get out the “Snowman Portraits” salad / sides plates that we’ll use through January.

Mon: Salmon, baked potato half, (bag) lemon-Caesar salad, (from frozen) veggie mix – corn, carrots, asparagus. Glass of wine. Dessert: Cookies. Earlier in the day PACKED COOKIES in boxes, and Mailed.
Tues: Tomato basil soup, deli turkey meat sandwich
Wed: Tomato basil soup, sushi, Ritz crackers
Thurs: noon - Buffalo Chicken Pasta Skillet (from a grocery-store magazine), bag Caesar salad, red grapes. dinner - Hot peanut sauce over brown rice and veggies. Chicken mini-egg rolls. Cookies
Fri: Tuna & egg salad on whole wheat. Crackers.
Sat: Salad, baked potato, meat-dept. Marinated beef sirloin roast (“ rubbed with a propriety Alderwood seasoning, then tossed in a rich, smoky coffee marinade”). BAKED Krumkake (half recipe), more Crispix mix
Sun (today): repeat / reheat of Sat.

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Cooking for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs. We’re in the home stretch, which is good, because I’m exhausted. I need a day at home by myself to get organized and wrap stuff - won’t happen until Friday unfortunately, so I’ll be in turbo mode. At least this year I won’t be doing it while 8 hours of continuing education content plays in the background; I did a better job of getting tracking CE this year, whew!

Sun: first night of Hanukkah. Brisket is in the oven, DS agreed to help me with latkes (SK), and someone will make asparagus. Hoping I can find the candles I bought a few weeks ago…

Mon: bean/cheese quesadillas and homemade pico de gallo

Tues: spaghetti and meatballs (Melissa Clark’s IP version - does anyone else always get a burn alert with this recipe?)

Weds: meatloaf (Bread Toast Crumbs but with panko instead of homemade) and baked sweet potatoes

Thurs: leftovers, probably repeat of meatloaf and sweet potatoes

Fri: nachos with the leftover brisket

Sat: having friends over for Chinese food and cookies

Sun: big Christmas brunch (well, probably just cinnamon rolls from a can and double chocolate muffins [SK]) followed by dinner - ham and some sort of potatoes

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My menu plan a couple of weeks ago didn’t work out well because the hand pies I Goldbelly’d were pretty vile. But I did learn something: if I make a batch of a salad dressing I love on the weekend, I will eat salads every night. Apparently making the dressing is what holds me back, not making the salad. Who knew??

For this week: lunches: have leftovers for M-W, then Th will get fabulous Italian from local farm, with their own cured meats, and have it Th and F. Dinners: have chicken thighs and will make adobo with jasmine rice and broccoli one night, probably Dixie Fry another night with roasted vegs. Also have a small delicious ham that’s only available this week, not sure when I’ll break it out. Plus fresh pasta and different possibilities for sauce. And another package of amazing mixed chicories - apparently these will be available for quite awhile which is great news!

Good luck everyone on wrapping up what you need to wrap up this week!! Me, I just need to help Sales close about 50 deals before year end! :upside_down_face::laughing:

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+1 on the whole make-in-advance salad dressing scenario.

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Hello to everyone from the Wintery Twin Cities of MN, where we have transitioned from rounds of concrete snow to really darn cold. Some of the snow was so wet we didn’t even try the snowblower- also with the dumpster and ports potty on one side of the driveway snow removal is more complicated. The reno continues- drywall is up in the guest bedroom, plumbing inspection this week, but they left a jackhammer in a big pile of dirt next to the basement bathroom (My dad says it’s a really nice jackhammer) BIL is moving out of the ICU- complications from chemo- so that is the best news of the week. Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls:

Tues 13: Both girls skate at different rinks White chicken chili in the crock pot

Weds 14: Baked potato bar (salsa, cheese, bacon, etc) and roasted broccoli

Thurs 15: Oven pancakes and sausage links, fruit compote

Fri 16: Both girls skate back to back. Lots of good gossiping had with skate Mom friends. Culver’s take out. Mr Autumm had boys night with friends he hasn’t seen in a long time

Sat 17: Sloppy sloppy joes, leftover roasted broccoli. side salads. Side of big kiddo meltdown for very random reasons (I’m mean and I said pick up the art supplies and Barbies before dinner)

18: Tonight! Neighbors burned dinner so fire alarm evacuation at 615. Take out pizza (this was the secret plan all along just with out emergency services )

19 Monday: Both girls skate. Leftover white chicken chili

20 Tuesday: Both girls skate different rinks: leftover pizza/scrounge

Take care everyone and stay warm!

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