Weekly Menu Planning December 2023

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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Cooking for 2 in the UK.

Mon: Chorizo, Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup served with homemade bread rolls.

Tue: Chicken Saagwala served with Naan Breads. It’s been a while since we’ve had the chicken version so I’m looking forward to it.

Wed: Chicken and Sausage Gumbo served with Rice.

Thu: Gumbo leftovers.

Fri: Cauliflower, Chickpea and Potato Korma served with Rice.

Sat: Hoping for Korma leftovers.

Sun: Roast Duck (Quorn Joint for my partner) served with Roast Potatoes for him and I’ll do mine with pancakes and hoisin sauce I think. Really looking forward to this as it’s been years since I’ve had duck.

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This past weekend’s plans and part of this week meal ideas are possibly gone. The Covid positively paid a visit yesterday in this household. The roomate and I came down with symptoms at almost the same time. His symptoms are much worse than mine, but about the same as when he had it in Sept 2020. I’ve never had it and have been vaxed and boostered x4 and am not ailing as poorly as he is. Mon pauvre bebe. The baking blitz is now put off for a few more days. Leftovers are gone from the fridge and there are a few minimal prep items in the big freezer I can put together when I feel like it. For now I’m going to try some chia seed pudding (with maple syrup) and cream of wheat sounds good. The English Breakfast tea I’ve been drinking has no taste.
Two very important medical appointments I have this week had to be cancelled and put off until next week. Too close to Christmas! Ay yi yi!

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I’m sorry to hear you and your roommate have covid. It’s really making the rounds this winter. Fingers crossed you won’t be sick for too long.

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Thank you! I thought I has a pass on this one and he’s only been sick twice in our 37 years; the first was with the first covid 3 years ago.

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I searched for some lamb choppies I just knew were in the freezer. I wanted to sous vide them possibly for dinner tomorrow night. Couldn’t find them, but did find some nice steelhead fillets that I’ll grill if I can handle that. The get up and go has got up and gone.

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I finally tackled the ham in our fridge. Luckily it was fine well past its use-by date. Really trying to use what we have for the next couple of weeks…so our meal plan for two adults and a kid in Asheville is:

Ham and 15 bean soup with cornbread (at least 2 dinners)

Buffalo/BBQ chicken salad with blue cheese, cucumber, and Romaine. Kid’s choice of a crispy chicken sandwich or bagel pizza + cucumbers

Roasted spiced butternut squash, yellow potato, and veggie chorizo tacos w/cheese, sour cream, and salsa macha. Sans chorizo and salsa for the little.

Mushroom and cheese ravioli (two different types) with creamy red pepper and sundried tomato pesto (Aldi jarred + half and half), the last of the tenderstem broccoli if still good

Vietnamese garlic noodles with chicken

Lazy fish tacos

Eggplant Parmesan and pasta (never seem to get around to this)

Japchae with tofu (ditto)

Veggie sides TBD after a trip to the store. And next week we have an overnight near Charlotte that will mean two dinners out.

Baking will include chocolate chocolate croissants or orange cinnamon rolls on Christmas.

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‘Lazy Fish Tacos’, I could go for that!

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Cooking for 3 in Ontario

Monday: leftover Greek takeout and roast chicken quarters, braised cabbage, Cuban beans using Rancho Gordo Lila beans.

Tue: roast pork shoulder with lemon , rosemary, garlic and fennel, Kraft 3 cheese mac and cheese shells, roast acorn squash (roasted whole as pork roasted, worked well, thanks for the tip last month)

Wed: more roast pork. I will mix some braised cabbage. I will braise some on its own a little more to get more fat out. Beans, soaking, have not determined seasoning yet.
Mushroom freekeh pilaf from an online recipe. Maybe another Waldorf.

Thu: TBD, maybe clear out the frozen commercial beef vindaloo tv dinners from the freezer.

Fri: fish TBD

Sat: steak

Sun: take-out TBD

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Greetings, People.

A busy schedule this pre-holiday week, the details of which have not yet been completely hammered out. So, at this stage the weekly meal plan covers only the next few days. In hind-sight seems lame to post, but sometimes no plan is the best plan.

FRI: Individual meat loaves (I like Ina Garten‘s recipe). Leftover Irish champ. Baby peas.

SAT: Salmon in some form. Veg TBD.

SUN: Leftover meatloaf and potatoes. Veg TBD.

MON: TBD

TUE: TBD.

WED: TBD.

THUR: TBD

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I used the leftover pork in a Greek-inspired Pork and Beans, something like a Cassoulet , topped with breadcrumbs. I used Kyknos brand Greek tomato pasta sauce with chili and garlic instead of fresh tomatoes, added white wine instead of red. We liked it. Added oregano, omitted smoked paprika.
https://www.chefmimiblog.com/greek-pork-and-beans The recipe is called Choirinó Horiatiko in the cookbook from which the online recipe was adapted, which means a village-style pork. Choirinó me Fassolia would be a more common and descriptive label http://www.greektastes.com/2423-2/

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That’s an honest reflection of what mine was initially for this week, too. Not even my usual every-square-filled-but-often-swapped plan. It settled down nicely once my delivery of cookie plates to friends were decided. I’m confident that as your events are decided, your plan will come together. And there’s always the fall-backs: popcorn & wine or cereal or scrambled eggs with toast.

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A household staple!

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Hello everyone from an absolutely glorious day in Ottawa. The sun is shining, there is not a cloud in the sky and it is quite warm for this time of year. I used my entire one hour lunch break to go for a walk and it was really nice having the sun on my face. I think it’s up around 8 degrees Celcius which I think is in the high 40s Farenheit. Today is my last day of work for 2023 since I will be on vacation next week and the week after. I have one cleaning project to finish up (kitchen cupboards), I would like to see the movie “Maestro” about Leonard Bernstein and I’d like to tie in some museum visits. I have a couple of activities planned for tomorrow through Monday so on Tuesday morning I will plan the rest of the week. This is my plan for the upcoming week:

Today: Today’s take out lunch is pork bone soup. I just had it recently but I love this soup and the Korean grocer that I go to has it out so seldom that I buy it when I see it. Dinner tonight will be the usual salad. I popped into the grocery store on my way home from my walk and they had a fresh tuna steak marked down for half price since today is the expiry date and I haven’t had fresh tuna in ages. It is big enough for two meals so I will probably fry it up tonight to have in my salad using up some of the nappa cabbage and carrots I have in the fridge and I will put the leftovers in the freezer for future use.

Saturday: I have two reasonably sized yet well packed kitchen cupboards to clean so I will aim for doing one today. Dinner will be some left over bbq’d pork that I bought in Chinatown recently and I will probably have a chow mein on the side.

Sunday: Nothing planned - yet. Maybe a matinée movie or a museum visit. Dinner will be a spring roll bowl.

Monday: I have an afternoon visit to the mall penciled in to look for clothes. I will have liver, peas and a potato for dinner.

Tuesday: Plan more activities. I will have a pork chop, butternut squash and brussels sprouts for dinner.

Wednesday: Cobb salad with a couple of the chicken skewers I have left in the freezer.

Thursday: Tagliatelle with brussels sprouts and gorgonzola, a salad on the side.

I hope everyone’s upcoming week isn’t too frazzled for those who celebrate Christmas.

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Hi everyone

I just spent 2 hours menu planning the next 2 weeks when the family will all be together and we will be at peak eating and also max variability in who eats what.

I’ve gone full spreadsheet mode on breakfast, lunch, and dinner broken down by vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices. (Of course this does not factor in my resident sibling’s usual pattern of asking me to menu plan and then changing what I planned for no reason without adjusting anything else, which has happened this evening right after I shared the first 4 days so groceries can be ordered accordingly: the vegetables ordered have nothing to do with the plan. Sigh.)

Breakfasts: Rotation of NY bagels with cream cheese, everyone’s favorite toast from our bread guy’s bread (with or without eggs), and Indian favorites (Dhokla, Sabudana / tapioca Khichdi, Fried purple yam (very briefly in season), Upma / cream of wheat, Powha / beaten rice.

Lunches: Simple home favorite compilations of various dals, vegetables, chapatis or parathas, and rice, peppered with South Indian (idli, dosa, uttapam and accompaniments), Punjabi (palak paneer, paneer matar), blowouts (Puris and their accompanying spread), and meals out (Chinese Chinese, Indian Chinese, Punjabi, South Indian, Club food, and maybe Pizza and Mexican though we usually order those in).

Dinners: Pizza, pasta, Mexican, cheesetoast, cauliflower cheese, mac & cheese, roast chicken, roast leg of lamb or goat, kababs, tandoori chicken, biryani, and chaat (pani puri, bhel, and sev puri).

I’m full just thinking about it, but it needed to be done to spread out the heavy meals, the restaurant meals, the labor-intensive meals, and so on, so I’m feeling pretty good about the mental effort expended.

Have already prepped a few things yesterday and today (kababs, snack puris, and a pretty delicious mutton korma) to ease the way, and I’ve got the stock of bagels sliced and frozen.

Tomorrow I’ll go grocery shopping to fill the holes (we got an extra day from some unfortunate flight delays and people getting unceremoniously bumped off flights with no alternate options for a full day, which is just so awful when time together is already short).

Have a great week, and good luck with whatever this time of year entails for you!

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I’m exhausted just thinking about it!! And are you immune to jetlag or do you just power through it???

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Enjoy your weeks off! Hope the weather holds.

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Thanks! I hope the weather holds too. If we get another warm day like today I might even sit on a park bench outside.

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I’ve been spanked by jet lag this time (made worse by no sleep the night before I left and a 7 hour flight delay that messed up when o should have caught up on that sleep) but I got 2 days before the horde descends, so I’ll be fine tomorrow :joy:

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Always interesting reading to see your large family meals with variations for vegetarians. Enjoy your family time together (and let your sibling cook the oddball veggies ordered).

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Actually we usually plan the common vegetarian meal, with add-ons for the non-vegetarians (which is how most Indian meals tend to work).

There are a few things that are standalone / one-dish meals (fish / prawn curry and rice, biryani) but aside from those, the standard plate is 80% non-meat.

She’s been up to the gills, so I’ll be annoyed, but I’ll still figure out the meals :joy:

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