Weekly Menu Planning May 2023

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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Happy Victoria Day to the fellow Canadians on this thread! Writing from our family cottage at the lake, and headed home after lunch.

Cooking for two adults and a 10 yo in SW Ontario. This week is about keeping it simple. Stores are closed today so I am picking up my online grocery order on the way home from work tomorrow - means tonight’s dinner needs to come from food we already have in the freezer, and tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch will be improvised.

Monday: Homemade burgers (I made a double-batch last time, and will just defrost frozen patties when we get home this afternoon), salad, fries (McCain Extra Crispy frozen fries for my daughter, my husband and I usually have Farm Boy frozen rainbow root veggie fries, with sriracha mayo for dipping)

Tuesday: Taco kit soft tacos. I’ll use ground turkey. I’ll probably make my serving as a salad

Wednesday: Lemony brown butter shrimp rolls, chips, salad (Caro Chambers, behind paywall)

Thursday: One-skillet roasted chicken and peaches with pesto rice, salad (more Caro Chambers, sorry for being a broken record)

Friday: Takeout

Breakfast: Overnight oats with berries

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More like three/four-buck chuck now, but still perfect for cooking. They didn’t raise egg prices this past winter, either. We’re so spoiled.

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Welcome back, and week looks great, especially all the beans, lol. BUT - tell us about Sicily!

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Sicily was fantastic! I’m already trying to figure out how/when to get back, maybe do the other (west) side of the island, either on my own again, or with LLD and/or Lulu. I think it may be my favorite vacation ever. The food was spectacular, and, being near the sea, I had a wealth of choice when it came to menus. People were so friendly. I’m now that annoying person who cannot shut up about their vacation spot. Everyone drop what you’re doing, and book a trip there, especially to Ortigia.

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Still cooking with herself, here in North Cheshire, where the weather has been very pleasant, with temps at around 20. We’ve had lunch on the patio once but not yet warm enough to be out there for dinner. So, upcoming plans:-

Friday - sausage & bean casserole (moved from current week - see above - due to change in plans)

Saturday - a South Asian theme. Kashmiri lamb and an aubergine curry (both recipes from Madhur Jaffrey’s “Curry Easy”). Rice, naan, homemade chutneys. Mango fool to follow

Sunday - marinated prawn salad. We’ve been doing this Delia Smith recipe since 1985 when she published “One is Fun”.

Monday - lamb chops, Jersey Royal spuds, veg

Tuesday - Smoked salmon & asparagus risotto

Wednesday - out (local bistro - menu here)

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Actuals for May 15 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where meals were tucked in amid a busy week of planting container-flowers and shrubs (the plant kind…). 70 plants, 19 containers and 2 shrubs in-ground later, I’m enjoying seeing everything quickly settle and leaf out. Wednesday’s baked spaghetti was a first for me, and we enjoyed it. Very similar technique (and number of prep dishes needed) to lasagna, just using cooked spaghetti mixed with butter, eggs and parm as the pasta layer. A 3/4 recipe completely filled my 9x13 pan, so I’m thinking a full-recipe would need a side 8x8 pan. The extra servings are now frozen for future easy meals.

Mon: Stir fry rice with cabbage & surimi. (Schwans) chicken egg rolls.
Tues: PLANTING Baked smoked-turkey Chimichangas
Wed: PLANTING. Baked spaghetti, garlic bread, spinach salad

Thurs: Chicken burger, sliced tomatoes, grapes
Fri: Mushroom Swiss burgers, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob
Sat: Chimichangas, corn/black bean salad with feta and green pepper. Strawberry cream cake
PLANTED SHRUBS - 2 small hydrangeas. Sure hope I did these right since it took me 4.5 hours including moving rocks “mulch”, and cutting thru old roots.
Sunday: Crusted Cod (Costco), mashed potatoes, coleslaw, sliced tomato. PLANTED the final plants in a cute ceramic giant tea cup found at a garage sale BAKED Rhubarb upside down cake. (first of the season)

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Greetings, People.

Continuing my drill-down of the freezers and pantry, augmented by the tail end of this year’s asparagus harvest, along with the last of the fresh spinach. Kale and fresh herbs are to be had in abundance. I see lettuce, peas and strawberries on the horizon!

FRI: Inspired by a WFD post from @honkman : Kiymali Ispanak, with lamb and garden spinach.

SAT: Kale souffle with bacon and cheddar. Roasted squash from the freezer.

SUN: Caldo Verde with halibut, chorizo, and kale. Homemade baguette.

MON: Chicken and asparagus stir-fry, with thanks to @ottawaoperadiva for the link.

TUE: Lentils with chorizo and kale. Yellow rice.

WED: Beef on the grill. Creamed spinach. Grilled asparagus (if any still coming in from the garden) with green sauce.

THUR: Homemade chive and pork pot-stickers. Scallion pancakes from the freezer. Dipping sauce.

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Hello to everyone from the sunny and seasonably warm (and getting warmer!) Twin Cities of MN where we survived the skate competition! Volunteer hours have been tabulated and submitted to the board- kinda afraid as the competition chair said I did a great job and they want me on the club board next year. Oops? Switching gears and having my parents over this weekend as our first house guests since the reno. Found the guest pillows but the mattress pad is still hiding. Part of me isn’t ready for house guests but I really want to borrow their truck so let’s do this!

Actuals and plans for 2 adults, 2 growing girls, and 2 visiting grandparents

Thurs 18-Sat 20: Not really sure what they ate. I made the serious eats Cuban pork roast with mojo which is a big hit around here and ? I’m the volunteer chair for the club’s skating competition so I was on duty- set up, hospitality support (I soooo want a Hobart commercial dishwasher. . .) and just running around making sure things are running smoothly. Not going to lie- it was pretty nice to have the ID which could get me everywhere (including backstage with my kiddos) whenever I wanted

Sun 21: Little one competed. Not her best but she had so much fun. Thai Take out

Mon 22: Both kiddos skated. PTA Dine to donate (takeout) from a local pizza place.

Tues 23: Use up assorted odds and ends. Roasted broccoli

Weds 24: Little one having a rough evening. Mr Autumm grilled brats, coleslaw, leftover roasted broccoli

Thurs 25: Mr Autumm met up with some friends, the girls and I searched home depot for shop vac filters (drywall dust!) and spend an additional small fortune on plants. Chipotle for the girls, Mr Autumm brought me home some food truck egg rolls

Fri 26: My parents here. Both kiddos skate back to back. Red sauce from freezer with noodles, side salads

Sat 27: Full day of family bonding and projects. Grilled chicken marinade TBD, asparagus from my mom’s garden, some form of potatoes. Rhubarb desert TBD if the gnats don’t eat me during harvest

Sun 28: My parents go home after lunch. Probably take out or leftovers

Mon 29: Grilling TBD See what’s in the freezer.

Happy almost Summer everyone!

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Congratulations for being volunteer chair for your girls’ skating club! During the competition, did you have do take down stuff too (hopefully not!) or just set up? I volunteered for a local opera company a few years ago and we would have cast parties after the last production. Lots of people volunteered to show up early to set up tables and chairs and put food out but they would all take off after so the volunteer coordinator was left behind to put away the tables and chairs herself. I negotiated with our guild president if I can forgo setting up then I can stay late to help put everything away and the volunteer coordinator was happy to have the help.

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Happy Friday everyone! It is now sunny and warming up in Ottawa, Canada. The temperature is expected to go up to 30 degrees celsius by early next week so we will be going straight from fall to summer in a few days! :slight_smile: I hope to go for a stroll through Chinatown on Sunday and it looks like I will have a nice day for it so I plan on taking pictures of some new sculptures in the area and doing a little shopping while I’m there. Onto my menu plan for a solo diner for this week:

Today: Today’s take out lunch is a bento box from a nearby Asian restaurant. It’s a repeat of a takeout lunch from a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed it so much I went back today. Tonight will be the usual salad.

Saturday: Fridge and freezer cleanout day. I am banishing myself from the meat and fish counter at the grocery store again. I did that last January and was making tremendous progress emptying the freezer out but then it somehow filled up again! :slight_smile: So I will start over and try to finish up the fish and meats I have in there. Dinner will be angel hair pasta with cilantro, sundried tomatoes and feta using some of the cilantro I got in this week’s CSA and the last bit of feta in the fridge.

Sunday: Off to Chinatown! Spring roll bowl for dinner. More cilantro from my CSA.

Monday: Time to move onto asparagus. Asparagus and sundried tomato risotto.

Tuesday: Pork and asparagus stir-fry. Starch tbd.

Wednesday: Next up cukes. Peanut butter noodles with cucumbers.

Thursday: Fried cabbage and noodles. Time to work on the pre-CSA cabbage in the fridge.

Lunches will alternate between tabouli and balsamic blue cheese salad.

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If you have any smoked salmon lurking in the fridge. throw this in. It works well (and is an upcoming dinner at Harters Hall)

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I hope you all have a great weekend! Its always fun to break in a new place with your favorite family members.

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Our new fridge is on back order while the old one chugs along wth warmer temps in the forecast threatening. I have been doing day by day meal planning which will resume next week but we are retired and I can combine shopping and dog walking plus the weather has been beautiful.
We are having my son and his family tomorrow and he is bringing taco makings for dinner. I have been baking cookies and coffee cake plus making potato salad and cole slaw. I am voting for eating breakfast at the diner with burgers on the grill Sunday. Monday morning we will have a short order breakfast and go to the Memorial Day Parade which is a short walk from our house.

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It’s been good so far- a few hiccups- I couldn’t find the mattress pad and blankets for the guest bed for a while- eventually dug through enough boxes to locate them but hey now I know where the outdoor Christmas lights are.

It’s nice having guests in the brand new guest bedroom and using the brand new guest bathroom. Also really motivating to get some painting done last week

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Thankfully we have volunteers scheduled for clean up- but I was there as well going over details. Each family is required to do a certain number of volunteer hours or your membership dues go way up so clean up is rather popular if you find yourself low on hours. And the city (who owns the rink) increasingly wants to do more of the putting things back in order with their employees. So we just have to take down signage and clear out the catering kitchen. My kiddo scored a bunch of Chobani yogurt cups which I never (ever) buy after packing up the judges’s lounge fridge.

It was rather overwhelming but I feel I know so many more families in the club now and since I haven’t been working for a few years, the organizational challenge was very good for me mentally

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The June discussion is ready whenever your plan is more in June than May.

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Actuals for May 22 week, cooking for two in MN. Where we’re wishing for rain while appreciating sunny mild days and cool (55-60F) nights. My week included a couple of meals/recipes by video blogger Julia Pacheco, and today’s meal using family recipes that hold many happy memories for me. The Kebobs and Snowcap Salad were made only a couple of times each year, and Memorial weekend was one of them. Recipes for those will be posted as separate comments below.

Mon: Chicken thighs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, sliced tomato
Tues: lunch - first of the summer BLT’s on toast, chips, red grapes. Dinner - Shrimp Louie-inspired composed salad (chilled shrimp, iceberg lettuce, thousand island dressing, tomato, croutons, Parm cheese flakes, artichoke hearts,), beside lemon-pepper skillet-cooked salmon.
Wed: Pork chops and slow-cooker baked beans,- Julia Pacheco recipe modified to slow-cook beans 5 hours rather than instant pot. Corn, dinner roll
Thurs: Reheat Pork chop, slow-cooker baked beans, fresh corn on the cob, dinner roll
Fri: Chicken & Mushrooms Marsala over rice (with cream cheese, Marsala wine, chives) – based on a recipe from Plated. Spinach salad. Dessert -Bakery cheesecake slice with fresh strawberries
Sat: French dip sandwich mini’s a Julia Pacheco recipe, red grapes, reheated baked beans
Sun (today): Kebobs, snowcap salad, microwaved layered potato torte

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Midwesterner Family Kebob recipe

1 1/2 lbs meat (beef round), cut into cubes (I use Costco’s beef for stew, cubes cut smaller)

1/2 c. catsup
1 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
2 T. A-1 steak sauce
2 T. cider vinegar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. water
2 T. salad oil

Place cubed meat in bowl. Combine all remaining ingredients in saucepan and heat to boiling. Pour over meat, and let stand in refrigerator several hours or overnight.

String on skewers and cook over hot coals. Reheat marinating liquid for sauce.

Serves 4.

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Midwesterner Family Snowcap Salad recipe -
Note: Full recipe makes a HUGE salad, and leftovers are good for breakfast. I make a 1/3 size recipe for two that fits well in a 2-quart lidded casserole, and it’s enough for 6 servings.

1 head iceberg lettuce torn by hand
¾ cup chopped green onion (or snipped fresh chives)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz. frozen peas, not cooked
¾ lb. bacon, fried and crumbled
3 hard cooked eggs, sliced
½ lb. grated swiss cheese

Dressing:

1 cup sour cream
1 cup Miracle Whip
2 tsp. lemon juice
dash each – salt, pepper, garlic salt

Layer salad ingredients in large glass bowl, starting and ending with lettuce. Mix dressing ingredients in smaller bowl. Top salad with dressing - using light touches with back of spoon or spatula to “frost” the top of lettuce, being sure to spread dressing to seal edges. Cover with saran wrap and chill 24 hours before serving.

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My actual meals were more last minute innovations this week:

Victoria Day Mon: roast shoulder of lamb with middle eastern spices, potato salad, Waldorf salad, roast parsnips, cherry pie

Tue: Flattened tandoori chicken from the grocery store, cooked at home, jasmine rice , broccoli with lemon and olive oil

Wed: tandoori chicken and masala Mac & cheese
Thu: bacon, onion, Scottish cheddar and mushroom strata, asparagus

Fri: Take-out fish and chips, shrimp, purchased spanakopita, purchased baklava

Sat: steak, asparagus, baked sweet potatoes with clementines and almonds, potato salad

Sun: Italian sausage, Rao’s vodka sauce, pasta, Swiss chard and spinach from the garden

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