Weekly Menu Planning - May 2026

Cooking Discussions
141

Hallo aus Berlin, my fellow HOs!

We made it across the pond safe & sound, minor and major SNAFUs be damned.

My jet-lagged brain will make it difficult to really, srsly plan the week ahead, plus we very much tend to play it by ear in the big city — just too many options on any given day to feed our bodies and souls :blush:

But hey… a girl can try. And so she will.

Today is going to be something very cheap and simple at one of the numerous eateries in our hood. I don’t tend to be very hungry the first few days while my body’s getting over the time difference, plus I am on my own until Sunday. My boo left for a retreat in Porto this AM, with all meals and drinks etc provided, so at least he doesn’t have to worry his pretty lil head :wink:

Tomorrow I get to move our luggage to our pad, after which I will hopefully retrieve my beloved ancient Vespa from its guardian for the rest of the year to do some grocery shopping, as there will be absolutely nothing in the fridge. The weather is looking fab, so I also may meet up with a Canuck friend — another academic who’s in town every summer to do research on gender / LGBTQ studies — and check out a chile festival, as the forecast for Sat & Sun is a bit more iffy.

Saturday I will make my way to one of our favorite weekly markets, Winterfeldtmarkt to have a light lunch of either grilled fish filet from our favorite grilled fish purveyor, or a handful of murderously spicy dumplings from our favorite Thai food truck — depending on just how much torture I want to submit my insides to :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:, and to pick up our favorite sourdough IN THE UNIVERSE. I’ll also grab some cheese and other necessities.

Sunday is traditionally our day to get Thai food, but with my boo gone until later in the evening I am not sure that’s going to happen. Might just be all German-like and have a simple f’n Abendbrot with that amazing bread & other goodies at home :slight_smile:

Monday TBD.

Tuesday who knows.

Wednesday your guess is as good as mine.

Enjoy your week, keep your loved ones close, and eat all the good tings! :black_heart:

10 Likes
142

I pretty much stuck to my previous post for meals. This week? Not set, but I’m aiming for:

Thursday - a pasta shape with asparagus (I think I have some in the crisper) and pistachio pesto.

Friday - probably a throw-together charcuterie of some sort to graze on, My go-to is usually spreadable President garlic/herb cheese with crackers, Manchego & membrillo with Marcona almonds and a drizzle of aged balsamic, prosciutto, fruit (probably strawberries & blackberries this time), cubes of cheddar or Havarti and a couple of dried apricots. (There will be wine!)

Saturday - Coconut Shrimp with a dipping sauce that will include Thai sweet chili sauce, and an arugula salad, with halved Sweetie tomatoes, crumbles of goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and a light vinaigrette.

Sunday - roasted BISO chicken breast, roasted potatoes, and ??? (broccoli or green beans)

Monday - Ground lamb or beef & cabbage stir-fry (since I bought a bag of coleslaw mix last week when I already HAD a half bag in the crisper!)

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - leftovers OR Prince Spaghetti Day

10 Likes
143

Viel Spaß in Berlin! I’m jealous of all the yummy food you’ll have there. I would totally do Abendbrot with that amazing-looking bread :slight_smile:

1 Like
144

Danke schön! I’ll be enjoying it a lot more once my jet-lagged body is no longer confused about the whacky feeding hours :wink:

And, oh, that BREAD!!! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

2 Likes
145

Greetings, People.

Back from a 3-day road trip through Eastern Washington. We traveled a scenic loop through both mountains and desert, in-between passing through the lush fruit corridor of the Wenatchee River Valley. It was enjoyable, nostalgic, and fun. Back home, our garden is thriving in 80-degree heat. The fruit has all been thinned, everything is in the ground (except peppers), and all the extra seedlings have been given away (except peppers). The roses are in bloom, and we’re at loose ends with plenty of time to putz, pick, and mosey until visitors come in July. Summer begins in our neck of the woods - yay!

Cooking for two adults in the PNW:

FRI: Steak frites. Creamed spinach.

SAT: Final asparagus pick? Pan-roasted chicken thighs. Pesto-pasta with asparagus.

SUN: Kiolbasa on the grill. Potato-and-leek gratin. Something green.

MON: Fish tacos with the works.

TUE: Got basil? Butternut squash lasagna. Salad greens.

WED: Some kind of leftover soup from the freezer. Some kind of bread. Probably salad.

THUR: Mac and cheese. Creamed spinach. Protein TBD (if any).

13 Likes
146

do you ever plan your future meals while you’re eating dinner at a restaurant? lol

anyway

Saturday breakfast is probably gonna be whatever seafood looks good at the farmer’s market paired with fava beans if I can get them, and if not, I’ll think of some other mixture of vegetables

Saturday dinner: chicken a la king, egg noodles

Sunday brunch: broiled salmon, steamed rice, miso soup, cucumber asazuke (lightly pickled cucumber with ginger), natto, green tea

Sunday dinner: not sure yet, kind of depends on what looks good at the market. it’s either going to be pasta or sausage with broccoli rabe

after Sunday, I’ll be back in the office and my meals will be decidedly less interesting during the week since I wfh two days and come in for three days; it’s a combination of Doordash/catering/Chipotle/food trucks most of the time

12 Likes
147

Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga. One more normal week to enjoy my kitchen before our Summer Craziness hits.

Friday, May 29: Golden greens (spinach/feta) pie from the Weekday Vegetarians
Breakfast: Bridge Creek fresh ginger muffins from the Breakfast Book
Saturday: Za’atar turkey meatballs, sides TBD but probably rice and carrot salad
Sunday: Shrimp and tomatoes on a sheet pan, potato and corn salad, chocolate and cherry extravaganza
Tuesday: Broccoli mac and cheese
The rest is TBD. Hope everyone has a good week. Happy cooking!

12 Likes
148

THis sounds very good - thanks for gift link!

1 Like
149

Summer of houseguests?

1 Like
150

Happy Friday everyone! I’ve got some happy news on the retirement front. I received a letter last January saying my position will be cut so I put the wheels in motion to buy back some years of service so I can retire instead. (My other options would be to alternate with someone, take a cash out to go back to school or accept a severance package.) I originally thought I’d have to apply for an early retirement incentive but I might not have to. And I will also be collecting a small pension from the school board (I used to work in a school library).I plan on leaving at the end of June but with any luck I hope to leave sooner. And yesterday my boss told me I can work from home permanently for the last few weeks I am working. I am now starting to think about what I would like to do when I retire and so far I have come up with crocheting lessons and volunteering in a soup kitchen. I will also have some time freed up to go on museum visits and spend some time sitting outdoors reading and sketching.

In the meantime I will have to focus on finishing up some foods I have on hand. I have an assortment of dried fruits I like to take for snacks at work so, since I won’t be snacking anymore, I can use them up to top my morning bowl of oatmeal. I also have some hummus for afternoon snacks which I spread on crackers or dip raw veggies into so I can now use it up for lunches instead. So it looks like my grocery bill will be going down a bit the next few weeks.

This week’s CSA includes an abundance of bok choy and asparagus. I realized last night that I still had some passata left in the fridge from when I recently made a fish livornese so I decided to use it up over the next couple of weeks before I dip into the freezer stash of pesto sauce. So I may use some up in a pasta dish later this week. Onto my menus for this week:

Today: I bought a meatball sandwich from a local deli for lunch so I will have a chopped Greek salad for dinner.

Saturday: Fridge and freezer clean out day. I will have a chow mein for dinner.

Sunday: Off to the market to buy some chicken and also to see what kind of interesting beverages they have for sale. I’ve tried the kombucha and seltzer so I will see if they have anything else that looks interesting. Dinner will be a spaghettini with bok choy.

Monday: Bok choy noodle soup.

Tuesday: Chicken and asparagus stir fry.

Wednesday: Asparagus and sundried tomato risotto.

Thursday: Pasta puttanesca. Side veggies tbd.

I hope everyone has a nice week.

16 Likes
151

Congratulations on the happy news about your retirement! And your menu plan for the week sounds delicious. I love puttanesca :slight_smile:

2 Likes
152

Congrats!! You’re gonna love retirement!!! :smiley:

6 Likes
153

Congratulations on the early retirement!!!

4 Likes
154

This is WONDERFUL news! Congratulations! You’re a full year ahead of me - I’m hoping I’m done by June 30th next year - hoping to start winding down to 4 days a week this year, then maybe 3 days a week starting early 2027. All depends on how things go and whether I feel like going another full year doing what I do. (Every morning I get up now I’m thinking “yeah, I really don’t want to do this anymore!” LOL)

5 Likes
155

That is great news! :heart:

2 Likes
156

My employer offers a “transition to retirement” option (I think that’s what it’s called?} which I found out about from a colleague I worked with 15 years ago. It’s in the fine print of our collective agreement and I had intended on exercising that option when my time came. But since my position is on the chopping block I’m leaving too fast for that. My colleague said tapering off really helped transition to retirement. I can see how it would - my brain has already checked out so it’s really hard staying focused these days.

6 Likes
157

Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.

1 Like
158

Something to look forward to. Quite a few years ago my friend worked at the National Gallery in Ottawa. She had to take early retirement and then after a few months they rehired her on contract. Thus she had pension and a salary with no benefits but it didn’t matter because she had benefits with her pension. Government works in funny ways.

7 Likes
159

I wish I could move to Canada! For so many reasons…

1 Like
160

I got “right sized” aka “terminated” by a regular normal commercial publicly traded company . . . .
in the next years I made utterly tons of money as they called me back in a “consulting” role to do the stuff I used to do . . .

I actually started looking for a new job, but quickly came to the conclusion I could simply remain a “consultant” - more than same money, more than less stress/drama.

so, yeah - sometimes it can be a ‘funny thing’

7 Likes