Weekly Menu Planning - July 2022

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
1

Weekly Menu Planning – July 2022

Let’s use this thread to share concise weekly dinner menus for each week in July. 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.

What are your favorite “beat the heat” meal techniques? Stovetop recipes, salad extravaganzas, picnics at the park? Or just let someone else cook (spouse doing the grilling outdoors, restaurant meals or delivery)

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 June 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 Heart under a comment to indicate you liked it or want to echo what was said by another, rather than posting a separate comment.

5 Likes
2

Greetings, People.

Summer has finally come to our neck of the woods. We’re picking strawberries. Now is the payoff for living much of the year in a rainy climate – temperate, warm sunny days with crystal-clear blue skies. In the distance, snow-capped mountains and sparkling ocean water. Don’t move here.

Cooking for two adults in the PNW:

FRI: Panko-crusted rockfish tacos with my favorite fish taco sauce. Cabbage slaw.

SAT: Pan roasted chicken breasts with lemon orzo and baby peas.

SUN: More fish tacos - this time with halibut. Cabbage slaw.

MON: Grilled beef and garden veg.

TUE – THUR: Homemade black bean chili and deli-style sandwiches on store-bought bread. Fixings provided for sandwiches, but please assemble your own.

Happy 4th!

11 Likes
3

My intentions are good, but I am terrible about not posting my menues for the week. Again saying I will try to do better. Will be back tomorrow to post next week’s menu. Typed this so I would forget there is a new month message.

2 Likes
4

The meals below are quick and easy and involve very little shopping. This upcoming week got a lot busier than planned due to my husband taking on some unexpected work, as well as my usual saying “yes” to too many things when it’s supposed to be time off. Short prep times are a must this week.

For two adults in San Diego:

This week’s breakfasts: Got some granola from a favorite coffee house/bakery, so I’ll probably start the week with that. Having a craving for pumpkin bread, too. Hmm…

S: (tonight) Takeout: Chile verde burrito with guacamole.

Su: Eggs scrambled with ham and spinach, fried potatoes

M: Hot dogs and macaroni salad (purchased), ice cream for dessert

T: Pasta with fresh tomato sauce and parmesan - vegetarian

W: Yellow rice with TJs chicken andouille, onions, peppers

Th: TJs lemon ricotta ravioli topped with peas, garlic butter, and crab (canned) - seafood

F: Chicken Italian sausage sandwiches (onions and peppers)

Have a good week!

9 Likes
5

Your Tues-Thurs meals feature what my husband calls “a sandwich kit” (some assembly required).

4 Likes
6

cooking for 1 at the Jersey Shore

Sunday: homemade chicken noodle soup
Monday: Andalusian gazpacho from the Margaritaville cookbook
Tuesday: tequila-lime marinated chicken breast, basmati rice, green salad
Wednesday: mini meatloaf with tomato glaze and brown butter mashed potatoes, homemade garlic-dill pickles
Thursday: Wednesday leftovers
Friday: egg salad sandwich, pickled carrots
Saturday: Friday leftovers

14 Likes
7

Lol! Good name for it!

1 Like
8

Cooking for two adults and a tween in the Boston burbs. I ran out of planning energy mix-week…

Sun: baby back ribs, cornbread, cherry tomatoes
Mon: burgers and brats on the grill, German potato salad, zucchini
Tues: stuffed peppers (NYT), carrot sticks
Weds: leftover ribs, sides tbd
Thurs: probably tuna nicoise pasta (old Cooking Light recipe)
Fri: tbd

12 Likes
9

Looks good to me. As I’ve said before, my plans get changed often enough to look like football-play diagrams. Those tbd nights always seem to eventually have something jotted in a couple of days ahead of time. (Who knows, maybe a 3rd night of ribs…)

5 Likes
10

Sun: At grandaughter’s for July 4th celebration.
Mon: Actuallly had a Hamburger with Bacon, Mushrooms, & Swiss Cheese and All Fixings, Whole Sour Pickled, French Fries
Tue: Ate remaining 1/2 hamburger, Sour Pickle, French fries
Wed: Bacon that was left over, Soft Fried Eggs, Hash Browns, Toasted English Muffin
Thu: Jambalaya with Smoked Sausage, Green Salad, Hot Rolls
Fri: Catfish Nuggets, Collard Greens, Southwest Corn, Cornbread
Sat: Pizza, Green Salad with Italian Dressing

14 Likes
11

Hey there everyone From the muggy Twin Cities of MN where the new AC is working overtime- and soooo much quieter than the old one- and more energy efficient as well! I haven’t posted for awhile as June was all over the place- both life and menu planning both highs (camping! swim lessons! Skating! CSA starting!) and lows (Contractor/designer for reno is on leave and nobody told us, BIL announced we are not part of the family anymore cause we didn’t show up to events we weren’t invited to?) Getting into the summer routine and managing activities which are of course right over the dinner hour. But July is starting off on a much better foot so all is good!

Actuals and Plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls!

Fri 1: Car picnic on the way to my parents
Sat 2: Met up with friends I haven’t seen in forever. So good. My mom grilled brats, pasta salad
Sun 3: Back home. Low cooking mojo and empty fridge: Omelettes and avocado toast
Mon 4: Grilled green harissa chicken, sautéed bok choy (CSA), steamed pea pods (CSA) Austrian style potato salad - serious eats. No swimming lessons thanks to the 4th!
TUes 5: Skating! Freestyle of a “beans and greens” using lentils and kale (CSA) cooked stovetop and simmered in crockpot. it was okay- a little salty but big kiddo asked for a lime wedge and that helped a lot!
Weds 6: Tonight! Was going to grill steak with pea pods (CSA) leftover potato salad, and green salad (CSA) but Mr Autumm has a consulting “emergency” he needs to go into the office for- the lab’s entire server crashed and the on-call tech company can’t come out till Monday. . . so might be improvising depending on how things time out
Thurs 7: More skating! Probably leftovers
Fri 8: Freezer dive and more veggies!

Take care everyone!

16 Likes
12

Highs and lows indeed! Hope July continues to be better.

2 Likes
13

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.

After eating out most of last week, I hunkered down for the weekend trying to get going on long-delayed organization and clean-up before I have family to stay in a couple of weeks.

Some cooking to go along, and break up the procrastination followed by spurts of work :joy:

Mix of actuals and plan:

—

Fri - Unfortunately named but delicious Umami Noodles alongside steamed ginger-soy yellowtail. Really good on both counts.

Sat - Mustard-green chilli salmon, dal, and rice.

Sun - Char siu pork with egg and scallion fried rice. Had a big mug of cauliflower soup earlier.

Mon - I probably need to get out of the house after a weekend of being a hermit, so maybe I’ll get drinks and a bite somewhere with a friend. Otherwise one of the meals planned for later.

Tues - Planned Hoppin John somehow turned into Biryani.

Wed - Leftovers of steamed yellowtail with ginger and soy, basmati+quinoa, added sautéed bok choy.

Thurs - Delivery - Thai green currry chicken (love this version because they load it with mushrooms too, and the curry paste is very fresh).

Fri - Probably out to meet a friend, otherwise leftovers or something easy from the freezer. (I need to finish the fish fingers and chicken fingers and random other junk I seem to have collected!)

Weekend - TBD but maybe I’ll finally get to the ground turkey ideas for the package I froze (two or three from: kheema, shepherds pie, larb, merguez, korean patties, kababs).

—

I also baked after ages because I was craving something sweet - orange olive oil cake. Eating my way through it now!

13 Likes
14

This is what happens when you write up a plan and then forget to post…

Mon was the Black-eyed pea Biryani, Tues was leftovers.

1 Like
15

I see you’ve got a few ideas for your ground turkey, but let me toss in this one that “made the rounds” over on ChowHound 6 years ago and quickly became an “add to the rotation” meal for many of us, using ground turkey in place of ground pork. I make a half recipe of the meatballs using 1 pound of turkey, with a full recipe of the broth (everybody wanted extra broth – it’s that good).
These ginger meatballs in coconut broth from Food and Wine are outstanding.

4 Likes
16

Thank you @MidwesternerTT - I remember this well, but never got around to making it. Thanks for the reminder and the link!

17

Hi, all! Cooking for 2-4 back in Chattanooga! We had a lovely time working/vacationing in Europe in May and June and are now getting back to our regular routine. I am very excited to be back in my kitchen for sure! A few actuals and plans:
Last weekend, back in France, at the in-laws’ house without them there, I made a few meals:
Grilled Dijon salmon with a tomato/cucumber salad and fresh fruit with crème fraîche
Grilled pork tenderloin with leftovers from the day before
Wednesday, July 6: Zucchini pasta
Thursday: Shrimp and broccoli stir-fry from Cook’s Illustrated
Friday (today): Tomato and ricotta tart, salad with peaches and grilled onions, birthday cake! Kids came out as a surprise, and it’s so delightful!
Saturday: I was going to make the Chicken Meatballs with Molokieh from Falastin, but need to figure out a veggie alternative for DD, maybe Beyond Burger?
Sunday: Eggplant sandwiches from Cook’s Country and chocolate Floating Islands
Monday: TBD
Tuesday: Marinated peppers with fresh corn polenta
Wednesday: Roast Berbere vegetables with chickpeas
Thursday-Friday: Sulk and scrounge after daughters leave

Have a great week, and happy cooking!

15 Likes
18

Hi everyone! Rounding into the end of week 2 of summer break from school. BF is back from his Texas business trip and the contractors still have not quite managed to finish everything in the scope of work for the master bathroom :roll_eyes: On the upside, I have managed to get some house tidying done and took a two hour video conference with my building principal today about odds and ends. I also got some financial stuff (bill payments and health care stuff) sorted out for my mom, so all and all it’s been a pretty productive week. I even managed to use the exercise bike a few times!

Here are the actuals for 2 adults and 1 cat located just outside of Boston:

Fri. (7/1) - Platter of munchies in front of the TV to celebrate BF’s return: burrata, tomato, basil, hot pickled cherry peppers, salami, rosemary bread

Sat. (7/2) - Acapulco style shrimp cocktail with tortilla chips (more grazing in front of the TV)

Sun. (7/3) - Pimiento cheese and crackers (we’re developing a theme here)

Mon. (7/4) - Nueske’s cheddar bratwursts on rolls with onions and hot cherry peppers

Tues. (7/5) - Wed. (7/6) - The brats came in a package of 5 so the leftover one got cut up and added to a quarter batch of Chrissy Teigen’s mac and cheese with garlic cheese breadcrumbs. Oh how I love this recipe! Despite it being a quarter batch, there were definitely more than 2 servings, so the meal was repeated Wednesday. I also made a batch of collard greens that I braised with confit duck legs from the freezer and a couple toasted morita chiles. For an improvised dish, I was really pleased with it and will make it again at some point (after I confit some more duck!).

Thurs. (7/7) - Tried another recipe from At Home In The Kitchen by David Kinch, Trout with Fennel and Grapefruit. BF was dubious but was trusting based on the savory success of the previously made strawberry chutney. This one pan meal was a success as well, the grapefruit, fennel, and thyme turning into a kind of relish that complimented the fish nicely. We had it with angel hair pasta that I tossed with grapefruit zest, Calabrian chiles, and fennel fronds (and olive oil!).

Fri. (7/8) - Here is where the week begins to run into a kink. The contractor said that his staff would be coming by on Saturday to finish up. Well, one of them just showed up to deal with some repairs that were on the punch list. It involves kitchen access. No idea how long he will be here. Sigh. So, what is planned is Twice-Cooked Pork With Leeks And Peppers from The Woks of Life. Whether it will actually happen or become a delivery night remains to be seen.

I wish you all a week of happy cooking!

14 Likes
19

They actually make formed meatballs that we used all the time.

Love fresh corn polenta! (Not ottolenghi’s version - there’s an Indian breakfast dish that almost exactly the same. But I’m going to try un-spicing it one of these days as a side.)

5 Likes
20

So sorry to hear about all the trouble you’ve been having with your contractor. You are very patient. Your menus look delicious.

7 Likes