Let’s use this thread to share concise weekly dinner menus for each week in January. It’s helpful if you can include your location and how many people you are feeding. Links to recipes are always appreciated, and sources help.
Do you have a food-related resolution for the New Year? Looking back at a few of my own that have “stuck”, I’m happy to say that just writing / posting them made a difference. We now have vegetables as a side at most meals (that one took 3 years to reach - and you vegetarians are probably chuckling), fish at least once a week, and we did have main dish “soup night” weekly last year.
We all know plans can change, so it’s fine (practically expected) when your week gets rearranged from your posted plan. You may choose to report actuals for the prior week to share ideas with others.
The December discussion is still available for reporting the last week and follow-ups
Reminder – Keep your comments menu / food related. And in the interest of faster viewing times, please use the Knife&Fork “like” under a comment to indicate you liked it or want to echo what was said by another, rather than posting a separate comment.
Inspired by @MunchkinRedux, my resolution is: Use what I have in the freezer and pantry
I keep a running inventory of the freezer, but hadn’t realized how many meals-worth of ingredients I’ve stockpiled. With the newly-added “number of servings” noted for packages, for January I’m going to try simply to assign a from-freezer protein to each day, choose a recipe from my backlog to use that, and (if not a casserole/one-pot recipe) rotate the side carbs/veggies.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
3
We’re not restarting “proper” post-festive menu planning till Thursday. We’re going out for dinner on Wednesday - tasting menu only restaurant in the city has a 50% discount throughout January. So, only Monday & Tuesday to arrange. Both will be stuff that is in. Monday - leftover roast beef (from tonight), chips, frozen veg. Tuesday - bhel puri (we have a “kit” with all the makings), choley (packet - just needs microwave) and roti (in the freezer).
I love your methodical approach to this, and will keep your process in mind going forward.
I had to go to the grocery yesterday for eggs and milk. Out of habit, I checked the Manager’s Special bin. There, in all it’s glory, was a large standing rib roast at 50% off. I swear I picked it up and put it down three times before tearing myself away without the roast, remininding myself of my mission. At check-out, the guy in line behind me had it. He looked VERY happy!
Hello everyone I am in the home stretch of Christmas vacations and it will be hard going back to work on Tuesday. I could get used to having so much spare time on my hands Only 9 years until retirement… Only one change to my schedule last week and it was to Thursday’s museum visit. I planned on going on a late afternoon visit to the history museum to take advantage of their free admission but I ended up going back to the art gallery at city hall. I finished visiting an exhibition that I went to see the day before then had a homemade dinner when I got home. The City of Ottawa buys art works from local artists throughout the year and every December they exhibit them at City Hall before placing them in various municipal buildings around Ottawa. I also wanted to pick up a few provisions before the rain started. We were going to have either showers or a deluge today depending which tv/radio station I listen to. We’ve been getting a slow but steady rainfall in the end so there isn’t much snow left from last week’s storm. Outings during the next three days depends on walking conditions. Menus for the upcoming week for a singleton in Ottawa, Canada look like this:
Yesterday: take out bumped from last Thursday. I am getting tired of cooking…
Today: Happy New Year! Salmon fillet and an artichoke salad.
Sunday: Thai green curry.
Monday: My variation on ramen. I will basically heat up a cup of boxed chicken broth, add tofu, noodles and whatever veggies that need to be finished up. Seasonings will include garlic, ginger and soy sauce. I think I have some scallions and sesame seeds left that I can use as a garnish.
Tuesday: Chicken caccitore.
Wednesday: Venetian liver from my Harrowsmith cookbook. Stirfried liver with peppers and tomatoes.
Thursday: fettuccine al pesto is pencilled in but it may get bumped in case I have leftover take out from last Friday in which case everything will get bumped a day forward.
Four hours later… I’ve got January dinners filled in and am into the 2nd week of February by which time I’m sure there will have been “bumped” meals. I’m pencilling in (generic) leftovers for all lunches and one dinner every 2 weeks. And my freezer inventory would STILL have a steak, 2 large salmon fillets, ground chicken, a frozen pizza and several commercial prepared main dishes (the “I don’t want to cook OR go out” stash).
My grocery spending for January should be much, much smaller than recent months. Stay tuned.
I’m realizing how COVID restrictions and grocery/paper shortages quickly warped my shopping habits, especially since I already struggled with too-full fridge and canned goods. I have better insights on the impact 10-years of 1930’s Great Depression scarcities likely had on folks. No wonder many people became “hoarders”.
Cooking for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs.
Sun: red beans and rice (apparently I bought a Sam Sifton cookbook on kindle a while back? Found it yesterday…) with optional andouille on the side. I have a feeling DS might want cornbread.
Starting 2023 off with some simple, tasty food. Hope the new year is treating you right so far!
For two adults in San Diego:
This week’s breakfasts: Chocolate chip scones. I made SK’s one bowl pound cake (https://alexandracooks.com/2022/12/04/better-than-classic-pound-cake-one-bowl-hand-mixed/) intending it to be New Years dessert AND breakfast. However, as delicious as it is, it was a bit too rich for breakfast. The rest is in the freezer, sliced and ready to be made into future desserts.
S: Celebratory empanadas from a local eatery.
Su (tonight): the rest of the empanadas. Mmm…
M: Grilled steak, baked potatoes, and green beans with shallots
T: Blackeye peas with greens and ham
W: Pasta with red sauce, spinach, and cheese - vegetarian
Th: Yellow rice with shrimp, onions, peppers in a spicy garlic wine sauce - seafood
A bit late in planning this week due to the lovely long holiday. Who on earth invented the five day work week. Four seems much more civilized.
Two overachiever cooks in the SF Bay Area cooking for ourselves. Note that we are slightly off-center as our local farmers’ markets have been closed for two weeks.
Monday: Stirfry of chinese broccolis (gai lan) with edamame, tofu, and other assorted veg with brown jasmine rice
Tuesday: Pasta with smoky tomato sauce and last of the season roasted eggplant
Wednesday: leftover homemade claypot with chestnuts from the weekend with a salad
Thursday: Taco night
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Delicata squash stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms with a salad
Week Two of the great freezer and pantry purge. For this week’s menu, I’ll use salad greens and scallions purchased from the store, otherwise a no-shop week relying on freezer, pantry and garden surplus.
Happy New Year everyone! I am now wrapping up a very short work week since I only went into the office on Tuesday then came down with a cold. I was actually getting a sore throat and runny nose on Monday but the symptoms were getting worse on Tuesday so I have been at home resting the rest of the week. It’s just a mild cold - I’m just really congested - so I plan on going back to work on Monday. I hate being sick - it interferes with my social life My menu for a solo diner from Ottawa this week looks like this:
Tuesday: Chicken wings in black bean sauce, hopefully the rest of the Asian blend of frozen veggies.
Wednesday: Liver, baked potato, corn.
Thursday: Penne with tomatoes, black olives and feta. I am considering including black olives as a vegetable unless I have salad ingredients left from this week’s lunches.
This week’s lunches will alternate between potato tomato ham salad and goat cheese, roasted beet and farro salad.
Actuals for Jan 2 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where my plan to use up what’s in the freezer & pantry (inspired by Munchkin Redux) has made a tiny bit of progress, along with experiencing a couple of speed-bumps. I needed to shop for a few key ingredients for my first 3 days of planned recipes and was happy to get that done before our mid-week, 3-day, 15-inch snowfall. I needed to swap around planned Sat/Sun and next week’s Tues/Wed (note to self - get out meat TWO days early to thaw…). And leftovers for lunches are stretching further than expected. I’ll be adding an extra evening of leftovers in place of planned new-cooking weekly, so it’s likely going to take all the way thru February for clearing out the freezer.
Mon: Mahi-Mahi beside farro/haloumi/zucchini/apricot side .
Based on this using farro for the grain, and dried apricots in place of fresh.
Tues: Pork stovetop stew w apples, sweet potato over almond rice.
Dessert: sliver of chocolate pie.
Wed: Italian Sausage, Tortellini & tomatoes one pot pasta, French bread, bag salad, https://www.juliapacheco.com/sausage-one-pot-tortellini/
Thurs: Leftover Italian Sausage, Tortellini & tomatoes one pot pasta, French bread, bag salad with added tomatoes, cucumbers
Fri: Salmon, Little Potatoes (Hot Crash style), Peas, red grapes cooked fresh pears
Sat: Cheeseburger soup, King’s Hawaiian rolls, Ritz crackers. Dessert: slivers of chocolate pie. https://feelslikehomeblog.com/cheeseburger-soup-from-taste-of-home/
Sun (Today) : Chicken livers & mushrooms in wine sauce, over rice. Broccoli (From Dinner A Day cookbook)
Hello again,
To wrap up last week, the plan went well, but needed adjustment as we are continuing to have refrigerator problems as well as exhaustion.
Monday and Tuesday went without a hitch
Wednesday’s claypot was, frankly, better than day on over last weekend.
Taco night was postponed (no fridge space) so we ended up with Super Duper Veg burgers and splurged on their garlic fries (which I won’t do again for take out… even the cheese and the airfryer don’t make a tepid fry something I want to eat)
The delicate squash was a hit. We would definitely do that again. The wild rice medley (Lundberg) hit the right notes with some thyme and a bit of cheese. Delish.
The bowls on the side are extra filling mixed with bits and bobs for lunch Monday.
Only 9 years until retirement… Only one change to my schedule last week and it was to Thursday’s museum visit. I planned on going on a late afternoon visit to the history museum to take advantage of their free admission but I ended up going back to the art gallery at city hall. I finished visiting an exhibition that I went to see the day before then had a homemade dinner when I got home. The City of Ottawa buys art works from local artists throughout the year and every December they exhibit them at City Hall before placing them in various municipal buildings around Ottawa. I also wanted to pick up a few provisions before the rain started. We were going to have either showers or a deluge today depending which tv/radio station I listen to. We’ve been getting a slow but steady rainfall in the end so there isn’t much snow left from last week’s storm. Outings during the next three days depends on walking conditions. Menus for the upcoming week for a singleton in Ottawa, Canada look like this:
