Weekly Menu Planning - January 2023

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 :wink: My menu for a solo diner from Ottawa this week looks like this:

Today: Chinese noodles with chillies and scallions https://alexandracooks.com/2019/01/18/lightning-fast-sichuan-noodles-with-chilies-and-scallions

Saturday: Off to Chinatown to do some shopping. I will probably get take out from the prepared foods counter.

Sunday: [www.simplygoodeating.com/2010/06/steam-fish-fillet-with-black-bean-garlic-sauce] using a basa fillet, frozen veggies, rice.

Monday: Chinese noodles with mushrooms and pork.

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.

Have a nice week everyone!

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Hi everyone and a belated happy new year!

Posting the several cook-along threads going on at the moment in case you’d like to join in somewhere.

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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)

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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.

    Just the right bit of cheesy goodness…
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Week 2 of 52

Two overachiever cooks in the SF Bay Area cooking for ourselves.
Hopeful that the rain has not decimated the farmers market bounty today.

Sunday — Cheese plate, crudite, some homemade rye, and a nice bottle of wine. Some of the last Christmas cookies for dessert with a nice glass of something.
Monday — Taco night (postponed from last week)
Tuesday — Sweet potatoes and tofu with miso
Wednesday — Stuffed Cabbages from the freezer with buckwheat and salad
Thursday — Leftovers
Friday — something with pasta
Saturday — takeout from our explore day

Hope you all have a good week. We are seeing sun today so everything feels grand!

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Adding one more thread folks here might enjoy — a review of last year’s favorite new recipes.

Mine are here.

.

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Hi, everyone. Cooking (for part of the week) for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs. I’m still trying to get organized to use our new upright freezer properly/optimally. So far it’s stocked with 10 pounds of boneless chicken breasts (individually wrapped) and random odds/ends that came out of other freezer space but didn’t fit back in. If anyone has good tips or resources for freezer organization, send them along! (I did buy a ton of baskets so things will stay organized once they get there.)

Sun: cheesy baked pasta with tomatoes and (beef instead of) sausage - Melissa Clark’s Dinner in One. I’ve made it before and we really liked it; tonight I forgot/didn’t think to drain the fat after browning the meat, and the final dish was a little greasy. Recipe has been annotated for next time. Green beans on the side.

Mon: black bean burgers with sweet potato fries and bell pepper strips

Tues: I’m heading to Nevada to visit my parents, will snack on charcuterie stuff (purchased today) on the plane. DH and DS are either going out or getting takeout.

Weds-Fri are tbd for me; Sat will involve mom’s leftovers and/or airport food. For the guys:

Weds: baked chicken breasts, cornbread, peas
Thurs: nachos
Fri: chicken fettuccine Alfredo (Rana dinner kit)
Sat: out

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Congrats on the freezer. I love my upright freezer - intended primarily for baking supplies and baked goods - but filled quickly. And now it has to be rearranged each November to hold the Christmas cookies before mailing to family. It’s very easy to find yourself over-stocked since you have storage space to take advantage of BOGO offers and manager discounts on must-sell-quickly items.

Date everything homemade or leftovers that you freeze.
Keep an inventory - I update mine weekly on the same document I use for menu-planning.
I use the large full-width bin that came with mine to hold flour.
Baking nuts and chocolate go in the door bins.
Ice cream does best on the lowest shelf / coldest spot.
Bagged veggies and frozen fruit packages and cooked grains fill 3 smaller bins across 1 shelf.
Breads and dough go in the mid-freezer full-width pull out bin.
Keep like meats with like for easiest locating. Keep fish well-wrapped in a separate bin. I still keep almost all my meat & fish in the freezer above the refrigerator, with the thought that I’m more likely to notice a problem quickly with that and be able to rescue the pricey items.
If there are frozen items your DH and DS often look for, dedicate a bin/shelf for those.

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This week, I’ll only be cooking Tue-Fri.
I’m trying to cook lentils or legumes once or twice a week.

Tue: roast chicken and potatoes, lentils (preparation undecided)
Wed: tuna casserole, I think
Thu: roast pork shoulder
Fri: maple ginger salmon

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Two in Western Mass. We usually dont do a week in advance but our dog tore a ligament and needed surgery with a long convalesence so I shopped for 10 days. I bought a large cheap ham and went to Costco for the final time as it isnt worth the mileage. I got wagyu hamburg and dog treats.
NYD baked ham with a rum apricot preserves glaze
Monday, no food after 8, scrounge dinner and break down ham. The dogs helped.
Tuesday mac and cheese with ham
Wednesday fried fish for me, ravioli for DH
Thursday repeat mac and cheese
Friday Wagyu cheeseburgers
Saturday stuffed peppers with Wagyu rice filling
Sunday trip to big store butcher store marinated boneless ribs in a brown sugar glaze and grits
Monday pan fried breaded chicken strips on rice
Tonight leftovers from the weekend
Wed steak sandwiches with shaved steak
Thursday stuffed zucchini with wagyu stuffing
Friday dog gets stiches out and cheeseburger night again
We probably ate 5 bags of chopped salads and spinach as well as a pan of corn muffins from a mix also.

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(post deleted by author)

Well, I went off track.
One pot chicken and rice last night, broccoli & mushroom stir fried, cabbage slaw (Monday)
Frozen shrimp/lobster faux thermidor , potatoes (not sure how yet), Cuban-ish black beans tonight (Tuesday)

Some of my household had pork ribs on Sunday, so I’ll make my pork shoulder next week instead.

I try to have a plan where we have seafood twice, poultry once or twice, pork once, beef once, lamb once a week. Fish happens on Fridays and beef happens Saturdays, so I’m serve the other domains Sun-Thu.

While I don’t mind a vegetarian main for myself, I end up making a non-vegetarian option, as well.

I have a small amount of frozen goat stew meat from a Farmer’s Market, that I’ll make tomorrow on Wed. I think I will attempt a goat curry.

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Cooking for one at the Jersey Shore

Tuesday: Ritz-coated chicken breast (random internet recipe that seemed interesting using seasoned sour cream as the coating on the chicken), leftover steamed baby carrots/corn/asparagus, leftover basmati rice
Wednesday: homemade macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli
Thursday: roasted pork chop (with Penzey’s Pork Chop seasoning), cauliflower rice, sauteed zucchini/onions
Friday: leftover homemade meatballs/sauce over linguine
Saturday: Friday leftovers

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Thurs - Yoghurt chicken curry (dahi murg) - recipe from Chetna Makan’s “30 minute Indian” - https://www.you.co.uk/chetna-makan-yogurt-chicken-curry/. Naan bread. Homemade chutneys

Fri - Savoury bread & butter pudding. (Nigel Slater recipe from Christmas Chronicles) Leaf salad

Sat - Pate to start. Lamb rack, spuds & veg. Rice pudding & compote

Sun - Arancini to start. Seabass. Ratatouille (from the freezer brown gloop drawer)

Mon - sausages & lentils. To be determined…

Tues - pasta & jar of puttanesca sauce

Wed - out (vegetarian Gujarati restaurant)

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@Phoenikia re: goat meat recipes - have you ever made Kaldereta? It’s tasty with beef but originally called for goat. CH’er ad7yn recommended this Filipino specialty a few years ago. A half recipe makes 4 generous servings.

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I haven’t made it or tried it! Thanks for the idea and link! I almost bought peppers today but they looked kind of sad. Maybe I’ll pick some up tomorrow.

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Simple comfort food this week, because it’s been a strangely frustrating one, for multiple little reasons.

For two adults in San Diego:

This week’s breakfasts: Chocolate chip scones.

S: Flatbreads from the pub across the street.

Su: Tuna melts with sliced apples on the side - seafood

M: Egg scrambles with spinach, chicken breakfast sausage, cheese, served with home fries.

T: TJs red pepper/tomato soup with garlic bread - vegetarian

W (tonight): Chicken melts on croissants

Th: Chicken pot pie soup with sourdough

F: Old school tacos with ground turkey

Have a good week!

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This all sounds great!

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Greetings, people.

Week Three of the great freezer and pantry purge. Making a noticeable dent in the freezer and fridge, and the seemingly small progress on the pantry is belied by a quickly growing collection of empty. canning jars. Miles to go,but making progress.

For this week’s menu I’ll purchase from the store some corn tortillas (too lazy to make), along with some milk, eggs, and fruit for snacking. Everything else from what we have on hand.

Cooking for two adults in the PNW.

FRI: Ad-hoc casserole with chicken breast, peas, pasta, and leftover spinach-mornay sauce.

SAT: Char Siu fried rice with cabbage, carrots and peas.

SUN: Fruit vareniki. Russian salad.

MON: Umbrian lentil soup with legumes and pasta. Will add kale. Ciabatta.

TUE: Grilled burgers on ciabatta rolls. Salad greens. Pickled veg.

WED: DOTQ: shrimp tacos with shredded cabbage. Red rice. Refried beans.

THUR: Salmon chowder. Caesar salad.

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Appreciate this info! That one has been in my radar.

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