Let’s use this thread to share concise weekly dinner menus for each week in June. 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.
Will you be doing more cooking outdoors, either over a campfire / campstove or your backyard grill? Picnicking at summer sports events or by the beach? Keeping cool indoors and enjoying your favorite chilled maindish salads?
If you have access to NY Times Cooking, this 2017 Mark Bittman (Minimalist) list of 101 ideas for meals in 10 minutes could come in handy the next few months.
While many are “foodie” or “seafood, again!”, I got a good laugh out of suggestion 101 – hotdogs, on buns, with beans.
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.
Reminder – Keep your comments menu / food related. And in the interest of faster viewing times, please use the Knife & Fork under a comment to indicate you liked it or want to echo what was said by another, rather than posting a separate comment.
Still waiting for skies to clear. The upside is the asparagus patch is slow to fern out with all this cool weather, and it looks like that season will extend well into June. Worse things have happened.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Spinach quiche. This one has rolled a few times, but it’s now or never, as our spinach plants are just about spent for the season. Contemplating a bacon Caesar to go with.
SAT: Spring veg minestrone (gift link here), with bits of leftover lemon chicken tossed in. A drizzle of lemony sauce from the chicken for serving. Focaccia.
Hello everyone it’s shaping up to be a busy weekend around here. I plan on attending two food festivals this weekend, a matinée movie and a tour of the US Embassy. My meals at home will be revolving around an abundance of veggies I am getting in my CSA including lots of bok choy and asparagus this year. In the past we have gotten only a little of each to make room for mostly tomatoes and cukes. I never tire of too many tomatoes but it’s nice taking a break from cukes once in awhile. My meals this week are as follows:
Today: homemade salad. I am forgoing take out today since it’s ribfest this weekend so I will run over and pick up some bbq’d food for dinner. I might just buy ribs or chicken and forgo the sides so I can use some of the veggies in the fridge.
Saturday: I will spend the morning making pesto sauce with radish leaves and stewed rhurbarb with the rhurbarb I got in my CSA this week. I hope so get a start on meal prep for the week. This afternoon I will be going to see a documentary of the film “The Movie Man” about an independent movie theatre in the Kawartha Lakes, Ontario (cottage country) and there will be a Q&A session with the film maker after. I will be going to a Night Market in Chinatown tonight.
Sunday: Doors Open Ottawa this weekend. Many buildings that are normally not open to the public will be open this weekend. It’s like one big open house for the weekend. A variety of buildings and businesses take part including embassies, farms and everything in between. Normally you can just show up but the US Embassy, the French Embassy and the British Embassy all require pre-registration since they are so popular. I managed to score a spot to visit the American Embassy on Sunday afternoon! I won’t be able to take any pictures though since we’re not allowed bringing in cell phones. Dinner on Sunday night will be a miso glazed basa fillet with bok choy.
Monday: Either spaghettini with bok choy or Shanghai noodle bok choy.
Tuesday: I went to the dentist last week and they discovered I have two fillings that need to be replaced so today is Filling Replacement Day. I am planning on having chicken and asparagus stir fry assuming the aenesthetic has worn off by then and I have stopped drooling. Otherwise I will be having clear broth for dinner.
Wednesday: Cabbage and Noodle stirfry from Budget Bytes.
Finally done with grading! Still have some committee work to catch up on, but I should be able to wrap that up this week. Then it is summer “voluntary unpaid leave of absence”!
For two adults in San Diego:
Breakfasts: Chocolate chip scones! Didn’t make them last week, so they’re back on the menu this week.
S: (tonight) takeout - Chinese food
Su: Shawarma tacos with leftover chicken and hummus
M: BLTs… the one sandwich my husband didn’t get last week. Can you tell he enjoyed sandwich week?
T: Salad topped with grilled fish - seafood/salad
W: Macaroni and cheese to use up accumulating cheese bits, peas - vegetarian
Th: Various and sundry leftovers in beef broth - soup
F: My husband will be away for a few days, so it’s time for mushrooms! Form to be determined, but mushrooms will definitely be involved.
Hi everyone! I hope you’re all starting to have happy and relaxing summer feelings. Things are slowly starting to feel less stressful here. Here is our past week in dinners:
Mon: Italian-style turkey meatloaf, a farro and roasted tomato salad onthe side (this salad was delicious)
Tues: spicy sichuan pork (ground chicken) noodles with charred green beans (recipetin eats). I absolutely loved this. I could happily have it again this coming week
Wed: cheddar and chive souffle, salad, ciabatta
Thurs: Italian sub salad, my take on a NYT Ali Slagle recipe. Trying to give a free link but not having much luck on my ipad. The original is called sheet-pan italian sub dinner.
Fri/Sat: carry out both nights
Sun: LLD is planning on making seared tuna tacos with pico, etc.
Wednesday - quinoa with fried bread cheese and salad greens, fried almonds, and Romesco sauce. Kiddo will have something processed from the freezer Recipe vaguely along these lines.
Thursday - attending a rally so dinner will be quickie fish tacos and creamy cilantro slaw
Friday-Sunday - camping at a festival. Doubt we’ll do any cooking as there aren’t really facilities.
Halfa$$edly cooking for two adults and a teen in Boston. Has anyone seen my cooking motivation? Anyone?
Sun: we went to see Come From Away (DH’s birthday present last year; the tour was delayed) - it was fantastic! but the 6:30pm showtime was not conducive to dinner so we snacked before and after.
Mon (today): salt and vinegar potato salad (Epicurious), sort of - not enough potatoes and shallots instead of red onion, plus lots more Old Bay than specified. Accidentally too much vinegar, not good. Burgers too. Green beans.
Tues: Korean grain bowls
Weds: chicken parm, red sauce, pasta. Roasted turnips and radishes because we got turnips in our Stressful Produce Delivery bag on Saturday. I’ve cancelled the subscription because it’s too stressful.
(Side note, I had/have also planned to make baked feta/chickpeas/greens (for lunches) to use two bunches of greens from the bag… one is not-baby arugula but the other I cannot identify. I don’t like mystery vegetables, but I’m proud of myself for identifying the turnips.)
Thurs: I wrote down fried rice because I still have bok choy left from the last stressful bag… but I’m not sure if that will happen.
Fri: assuming DS goes to his friend’s house for pizza before the 8th grade dance, and maybe gets talked into going to the dance, DH and I will go out for Thai.
I so totally understand about the stress of those produce deliveries! I was grateful for it during covid, but there were times when our second fridge was filled with way too much stuff that I normally wouldn’t buy. We ended up stopping it after things started getting back to normal.
Maybe – just maybe – it has finally stopped raining. Just in the nick of time, I think - another week of wet weather and our strawberries would have been doomed. As it is, we’re checking them every day – along with the peas and carrots – anticipating the start of summer harvest.
Currently picking spring lettuce and asparagus, and cooking for two adults in the PNW.
TUE: Blueberry vareniki from the freezer – I use a New York Times recipe for the dough (gift link), and another from Natasha’s Kitchen for the filling. Carrot salad.
WED: Steak Caesar salad.
THUR: A repeat of Milk Street’s zarandeados shrimp (with a nod to @chiel for the inspo). Arroz blanco. Veg TBD.
Hello friends. I had a lovely weekend filled with activities last weekend. Ribfest was a success, the Chinatown night market was fun and even slightly better planned than my last visit just before the pandemic (although they could have used more garbage cans), and I had a lovely tour of the US Embassy. We only stayed in the corridors but they have a lovely sun roof, stunning views of the Byward Market and Majors Hill Park and art works created by American artists. This weekend I plan on staying close to home since I have a two week staycation coming up at the end of the month so I am saving my money for my time off. Onto my menus for this week:
Today: Take out lunch is a smoked meat platter from a nearby diner. It has been raining all day and we had a brief thunderstorm just before my lunch break so I didn’t feel like venturing too far. And I haven’t had a smoked meat sandwich in ages. Tonight I will have a Thai style salad (spring mix dressed with an Asian style dressing, mango, peanuts).
Saturday: I will be staying home to do a mountain of laundry and more cooking. I got beet greens in my CSA this week with two beets included so I will roast the beets to put in salads for lunch next week. I will probaby use the greens to make sag paneer. I also got a bunch of radishes with the tops attached so I will probably use them to make a pesto sauce. Dinner will be leftovers from last week’s ribfest. I bought a combination platter including 1/3 rack of ribs and 1/4 chicken and a large mac 'n cheese. I had the ribs and half the mac 'n cheese last week and the chicken and the rest of the mac 'n cheese went into the freezer so I will have them for dinner tonight.
Sunday: I might squeeze in an art gallery visit. There are a whole bunch of new exhibitions on now and I am behind in my museum visits! Dinner will be a miso glazed fish with bok choy.
Monday: I still have some squash left in the freezer from last fall. I will continue on using it up. Pork chop, squash, asparagus.
Tuesday: Chilled soba noodle salad.
Wednesday: Ginger bok choy soup.
Thursday: Gnocchi with a bolognese sauce, spring mix on the side.
Hi everyone, hope you’re well. Another busy week here. Both Lulu and her dad out of school (he’s a professor), so not much quiet time for me. Here is what we ate:
Mon: rigatoni with turkey sausage and broccolini
Tues: savory French toast from Gunpowder, thanks to @Amandarama and @Saregama. Delicious and easy. Served with a cucumber and avocado salad.
Wed: sheet pan honey garlic shrimp with broccoli, rice. This was a tad too sweet for me. Not sure what I expected since the word honey is right there in the title!
Thurs: my mother was in town, went to her favorite restaurant.
Fri: had lunch with my mom, and no appetite for dinner. They got Shake Shack and I had a little cheese and crackers.
Sat: I plan on making turkey and provolone subs. Was going to make a fancy salad to go with them, but this week has knocked the stuffings out of me, so maybe not.
Sun: Lulu is going to an afternoon graduation party, so we’ll pick her up from that and have dinner out. Mediterranean food! Woohoo!
Actuals for June 3 week, cooking for 2 in MN. I was satisfied with all meals this week, since lunch and dinner plans made good use of leftovers and 2-for-1 cooking. For lunches a layered Tex-Mex casserole used up tortillas, refried beans, previous leftover frozen shredded chicken, and previously made/frozen enchilada sauce. A day-trip Friday with my husband for walking and a picnic lunch in a park with huge waterfall (Willow River State Park, WI) was the highlight of the week for me – came home tired and happy to an easy planned-leftovers evening meal.
Mon: Reheated last of the John Wayne casserole. Side of tomato soup w basil and tortellini stir-in. Strawberries w apple cake & vanilla ice cream
Tues: Salmon, sweet potato, asparagus
(and made snowcap salad to chill overnight -3 layers of: iceberg lettuce, bacon, frozen peas, tomato halves, h.b. egg, Swiss cheese, end with a final lettuce layer. Frost top with dressing of mayo/sour cream/garlic salt)
Wed: Reheat salmon & sweet potato. Snowcap salad.
Thurs: Alfredo shrimp, broccoli and egg noodles. Fresh orange. Strawberries & ice cream.
Fri: Reheat Alfredo shrimp, broccoli and egg noodles. Steamed asparagus. Caprese skewers (grape tomato, mozz balls, fresh basil). Strawberries, Lightning cake, whipped cream.
Sat: Commercial frozen breaded fish fillets, mini potato tots, corn on the cob, reheated green beans almondine, pineapple chunks w cottage cheese
Sun (today): Caprese Chicken foil packets baked in oven, with rice, mixed veggies
Hi all, cooking for three in the Boston burbs. I’m feeling all the feelings this week - the end of the soccer season (probably the last one ever for DS), and the end of school (how did my giggly baby turn into an almost-high school student who is taller than me??).
Sun (today): soccer practice has been turned into an end-of-season/end of an era party. Most of this team has been playing together for 4 years now so we will celebrate the players and the coaches. Cake, popsicles, and junk food at dinnertime. I’ll make lasagna for us to eat when we get home. I’ll also (finally!) use up last week’s mystery greens in a baked feta/chickpeas/greens dish for my lunches this week.
Mon: gochujang meatballs, rice, snowpeas [meatballs with ground turkey, double batch, bake 20min instead of browning and baking]
Tues: pulled pork burritos
Weds: loaded baked potato bar
Thurs: 8th grade graduation in the morning! Out to dinner to celebrate.
Fri: taking DS and friends to an amusement park - I’m looking forward to a Dole Whip! Dinner tbd when we get home.
I don’t remember ever hearing of John Wayne casserole, seems sort of like a tamale pie but with biscuit on bottom instead of tortillas, is that about right?
Can you tell he enjoyed sandwich week?
Recipe vaguely along 
Dinner will be a miso glazed fish with bok choy.
