Welcome to the May 2025 edition of the thread where we share our weekly menus and more.
Some of us share a day by day plan, others report last week’s actual meals, and some put together a list of ideas to work from the week. You do you, and take comfort that the best laid plans do change for all of us!
If you have recipe links or sources, do share them, as we all love picking up new ideas from everyone else’s menus! For context and because we’re interested, please include your location and how many you plan and/or cook for.
May kicks off what we called the “Moms, Dads and Grads season” when I worked in consumer goods. Now I think of it as the first month of the farmers market season here in the Northeast. What are you cooking, what seasonal foods are you happily anticipating, in May?
(The April 2025 thread remains available for reporting actuals and any follow-up discussions.)
Hello friends I am winding down a busy week. It was a sunny warm day on Monday during my sketching class. We learned about lighting and how to sketch light being cast on objects and the shadows it produces. I sat on a sunny bench just outside the classroom sketching trees in the late afternoon sun and taking in the warmth. I can get used to a class like that I took the day off from yoga this week so I can catch up on my rest then went to my second to last film last film with the Ottawa Film Society. I don’t have time for dinner before the show so yesterday I walked up to a pub up the street to have dinner and listen to the live jazz bands that are scheduled for Thursday nights. I felt bad for the band since there was a playoff game (hockey) last night and our local NHL team the Ottawa Senators made it to the first round of playoffs and the pub had the game on mute while the band was playing. I think I was the only one in the bar that was watching the band not the hockey game The Sens lost so there were a lot of disappointed people in the bar. Onto my menu for this week:
Today: I am having a brown bag lunch today since the film society’s AGM is tonight. I went last year and enjoyed the meeting and it was followed by a wine and cheese then a movie - a format they will be continuing this year. It’s the film society’s 90th anniversary this year and they mentioned something about cake so I will have to make an effort to be there It looks like it will be another late evening but the venue is two blocks away from home so I won’t have too far of a commute and I can sleep in a bit tomorrow. So I am having a tabouli for lunch today and looking forward to the assortment of cheeses available for dinner tonight.
Saturday: Off to the mall to shop for spring clothes and also to get started on some cooking planned for this weekend. I picked up what will probably be my last Good Food Box for the season. The boxes are available to order year round but my CSA starts in two weeks and I just got a bumper crop of veggies this week so I will be planning my meals the next few days with the veggies I have in the fridge. Tonight I will make dal with spinach using up the spinach I got this week and either naan or rice on the side.
Sunday: I will probably spend the afternoon at the library. One of my New Years resolutions this year was to make monthly visits to the library but so far I have only been once. So today I will go up to the library and browse their collection. I mostly borrow novels, which is my favourite genre, although I periodically read non fiction however I would like to think outside the box and maybe borrow an anthology of poems. If anyone has favourite poets, I’m always up for suggestions. I will have a French country casserole for dinner. I found this recipe in my mom’s recipe file that I inherited after she died and I don’t recall her ever making it. It calls for chicken legs, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Artichoke hearts were pretty fancy food for my mom so I doubt she ever made it. It’s in my sister’s handwriting so she may have given her the recipe to try something new but some things were lost on my mom…
Monday: Spaghetti with marinara sauce, veggies tbd hopefully a veggie side I can throw together while the noodles are boiling. It’s sketching class today so dinner will be later.
Thursday: Today is the last screening of the year with the Ottawa Film Society so I will pick up take-out on my way home from the theatre.
I also have a couple of green peppers in the fridge and I just picked up some ground beef at the store earlier so I will probably make some stuffed peppers to put in the freezer this weekend.
Have a nice weekend everyone. I hope it is warm where you are.
Hard to believe it’s May, except that pollen is in overdrive and allergies are a constant reminder of spring because none of my allergy medicines seem to be of any use at the moment . Can’t believe I’m actually wishing for rain to wash out the air .
Ideas for the week:
– Egg curry of some type (been craving it since I brought it up for as a use for excess boiled eggs, and tomorrow it’s being made for aunts visiting my mom and I have fomo )
– Angel hair in Vodka Sauce from COTM Ina Garten + tbd protein, maybe one of her chicken recipes for the many chicken legs in my freezer (this roasted one or this crumbed one)
– Cardamom-Scented Chicken from COTM 660 Curries / Raghavan Iyer + chapatis + tbd veg (maybe another round of the tasty cauliflower that I made this week)
– Maybe pan-fried vegetable noodles (riff on this recipe) to use up assorted Asian greens
– Tiny deep quiche to scratch the custardy quiche itch
– Thai red curry with assorted veg and chicken legs, or maybe a simplified Burmese Khow Suey
– Masala Fish Cakes + Turkish lentil soup / mercimek corbasi
AND
– Toasted sandwich + soup for lazy meals, lots of bread at the moment, and lots of fillings too
I tried a tiny bake of a chocolate variation on the last week’s orange sour cream cake. My friend’s dad is coming to visit for a month or two, so I will probably bake both versions again soon for him (he’s enjoyed other variations of the orange cake on prior visits).
Project for the weekend, should I choose to accept it, is to bring some order to my freezer and fridge, ugh.
Spring is here. The veggie garden is mostly planted and we’re heading into fruit thinning season with a vengeance. Things in that latter department are looking positive, if not downright overwhelming. A good problem to have, I suppose. It’ll take a few weeks to get a handle on it all.
Food-storage-wise, we have one last shelf in the upright freezer to clean out before we start another year of putting things by. Here’s what’s left: winter squash, zucchini, shelling beans, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, assorted gleaned berries, sour cherries, two boxes of rhubarb, and one box of kale. I’m running out of room for storing empty freezer boxes and canning jars – always a sign of a winter well fed.
As far as the menu goes, I threw a couple of place-holders in at the end to allow some flexibility should our spring camping trip materialize. If we don’t go, I’ll make something more interesting.
Last week I posted a menu and actually followed the plan but feel like winging it this week so I will continue to lurk. I enjoy the contact and hopefully inspiration will strike and I will post another week!
Lol - thank you! It looks good now because we’ve been hammering away at the inventory for the last four months, and have made enough progress to finally organize and take stock of what’s left. Come fall, WFD will be whatever is on top of the pile and closest to the front.
I really like a Burmese asparagus stir fry at a restaurant in Saskatoon. This is the closest recipe I’ve found online. I’ll make it without the shrimp.
After a few weeks of eating whatever my husband needed (some minor, yet annoying, health issues), I’m going to tentatively try meal planning again. Meals are listed in no particular order and with the acceptance that some may have to change.
For two adults in San Diego:
Breakfasts: Busy week, so probably just cereal with berries and almond milk.
Hi everyone, this is mostly for April, I’m just realizing. It’s been a busy couple weeks, and not much cooking has taken place. I did a lightening quick visit to see Lulu last weekend (and got to meet the new boyfriend, he’s great!), and had surgery on Thursday. Still shaking off the anesthesia and pain meds. Between those two things and lots of social activities for LLD at the end of the school year, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Here’s what I did cook:
Chicken with chilies and coconut from 660 Curries. This was dull and I accidentally oversalted it in trying to bring out flavor. Unfortunately there was a ton of it. Leftovers doctored (thanks to HO advice on the current COTM page) with ginger, garlic, cumin and added vegetables. My advice is to give this recipe a pass.
Turkey and havarti subs, sliced peppers. Lots more easy sandwich dinners in our empty nest home. LLD is happy about this, thank goodness.
Steak salad with romaine, corn, feta from I Dream of Dinner. Loved this! Used flank instead of skirt, sliced baguette on the side.
And truly, that is all I have cooked in 2 weeks. Today I am hoping to bake SK’s Not Derby Pie bars to take to my pickleball group tomorrow. LLD suggested he take me on a date tomorrow night (does it always get a little more romantic when the kid leaves the house??), and then he’s heading away for most of the coming month. Lots of vegetarian solo meals for me coming up!
Wishing everyone a happy, delicious week. Hang tough.
There is always a bean plan! Oddly enough, none in the coming week though.
First work - a conference in Iceland; then 3 weeks of biking in Mallorca. I hope to do lots of cleaning, lazing, eating leftovers or easy meals, watching shows he isn’t interested in … making the most of it.
LLD is a carb fiend. Any leftover bread products always get used. You could probably send yours here
I took the day off from yoga this week so I can catch up on my rest then went to my second to last film last film with the Ottawa Film Society. I don’t have time for dinner before the show so yesterday I walked up to a pub up the street to have dinner and listen to the live jazz bands that are scheduled for Thursday nights. I felt bad for the band since there was a playoff game (hockey) last night and our local NHL team the Ottawa Senators made it to the first round of playoffs and the pub had the game on mute while the band was playing. I think I was the only one in the bar that was watching the band not the hockey game 
. Can’t believe I’m actually wishing for rain to wash out the air 
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