I like the detailed Thanksgiving plan! 
The pistachio-mint kofta sound delicious!!
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Nov 25:
I bought my meat and poultry for the week today.
I’m craving chicken and spätzle, so I’m making some fin like this tonight
Also, braised Savoy cabbage
Purchased pasteis de Nata for the dining companions. I’m at the end of Day 3 of no added refined sugar, sweets or junk food. 
Nov 26: lamb stew . Maybe I’ll make an Irish one for the first time.
Nov 27: beef meatballs, type to be determined
Nov 28: Spanish chorizo sausage, the rest to be determined. Maybe Spanish tortilla.
Nov 29: salmon, preparation to be determined
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I bought the pad on the right today. I almost bought the dry erase board by Kikkerland on the left, but I can see the special marker going missing.
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You can use any dry erase marker if it goes missing (or dry)
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Yes. I just have a feeling someone might unintentionally use a Sharpie. Or throw out the Dry Erase markers. 
(Not me. I have to replenish my Sharpies that go missing every couple months)
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I have a dry erase menu board on the fridge and we’re on the third set of markers (because we’ve had it so long). I use the bottom sections for grocery/warehouse shopping list reminders, writing stuff down as soon as we run out.
The Sharpies are kept far away on the other side of the kitchen! 
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Smart!
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Greetings, People, and Happy American Thanksgiving to those who celebrate.
We’ll have a casual turkey dinner tonight, and there will be lots of planned leftovers to see us through the next few days as I’ll be busy on both Friday and Saturday with an annual fundraiser for our local food bank. I’m grateful for endless bounty which crosses our table and the privilege of same, and thankful to have this community to share it with!
Cooking for two adults in the PNW.
FRI: Turkey Day leftovers.
SAT: Turkey Day leftovers.
SUN: Chili and tortilla chips. Salad.
MON: Fried chicken tenders. Biscuits. Salad.
TUE: Pork chops. Potato gratin. Baby peas.
WED: Butter-roasted salmon with scallions. Leftover potato gratin. Green veg TBD.
THUR: Will be doing some holiday shopping in the city, and will have dinner while we’re out.
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And a happy Thanksgiving to you too! Your meals look great and good luck with the fundraiser.
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Thank you!
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Hello friends and happy Day After Thanksgiving for those who celebrated. We got our first bit of snow earlier this week which actually started out as rain and a little snow came down too during my walk home from the office. Winter is finally here. It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend with a matinée movie planned for tomorrow and some shopping squeezed in on both days. This is my menu plan for this week:
Today: Take-out lunch was spaghetti with chicken and pesto sauce from a nearby deli. I will have a salad for supper.
Saturday: Off to see a midday screening of Maria, a documentary film about Maria Callas. The cinema I go to used to show broadcasts from the Royal Opera House in England but the pandemic put an end to that so this is the closest I can get to an opera for now. Then off to do a grocery shop at a nearby market. Dinner tonight will be bbq’d pork and chow mein noodles. I found three servings of bbq’d pork in the freezer during clean out day last Saturday that I neglected to add to my inventory list. I bought it at the take-away counter at the Chinese grocer I go to during my last trip to Chinatown. So I will have that for dinner tonight.
Sunday: Off to look for yoga pants and possibly a bathing suit (although I doubt if any of the sporting goods stores will have bathing suits at this time of year) then off to check out a couple of new-to-me delis near the store I am going to, to stake out some new grocery options. I haven’t planned dinner for tonight in case I see something I would like to buy for dinner. If not, I will forage.
Monday: Salmon teriyaki, bean sprouts, snow peas.
Tuesday: Poor man’s beef stroganoff (made with ground beef instead of beef stew in an effort to finish up the ground beef lingering in the freezer), egg noodles.
Wednesday: Chicken, bean sprout, snow pea salad for dinner. Then I am hoping to dash off to the bar up the street to hear a favourite jazz musician.
Thursday: A repeat of this week’s tagliatelle with Brussels sprouts, salad on the side.
Have a nice extra long weekend for those that have one and happy regular weekend to everyone else!
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December topic is now available as you plan the week/month ahead.
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Actuals for the last week of November, cooking for 2 (and one T-Day guest) in MN. I’m pleased with how I spread out the prep for our T-day feast across the week and we’ve enjoyed repeats/reheats thru the weekend. Now the weather has snapped cold and I need to swap out the closet t-shirts for sweaters. Today. Then the cookie-baking begins for mailing gift boxes to family.
Mon: Made cranberry orange sauce. BAKED spanakopita / squares. Dinner - Shrimp & stir fry rice, sliced fresh oranges
Tues: BAKED -Tassies, baked blueberry whole wheat pecan muffin tops, baked pecan applesauce cupcakes. Steamed h.b. eggs for Thurs. Dinner - Eggrolls, fried rice w added wild rice, red grapes
Wed: Ham steak, last of the wild rice/fried rice, reheated 4 stuffing balls for under some mushroom gravy, club crackers with pea ricotta spread, spanakopita bites.
BAKED pumpkin pie. . Roasted cubed sweet potatoes. Made mushroom gravy, prepped stuffing ingredients, made dips, got out china, serving dishes and placemats .
Thurs Thanksgiving: Nibbles: purchased cheese ball, crackers, spanakopita, stuffing balls, feta & red pepper dip, cashews, Relish tray - Devilled eggs, ripe olives, cherry tomatoes, green olives, carrots, Ranch dip
Turkey breast, Buttery bread stuffing with almond., Mashed potatoes, Roasted sweet potato cubes (w/ butter & brown sugar available at table), , mushroom gravy, Cranberry orange sauce, Canned cranberry sauce, red grapes. Wine. Desserts: Pumpkin pie, Pecan tassies
Fri lunch : T-day repeat – turkey, stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, spanakopita, cranberry sauce. Pumpkin custard cup. Fri supper(Commercial) Taco pizza, guac, salad w/ tomatoes and ranch dressing. Bakery Strawberry rhubarb pie - grocery special sale I couldn’t resist; 3/4 of it now frozen.
Sat: Turkey (the rest is now frozen), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, spanakopita, cranberry sauces
Sun: (today) previously made/frozen Lasagna and spanakopita. “Fancy” bag salad.
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Sounds like a smart and efficient way to deal with the big day.
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The Bay and maybe Simon’s, as well as Winners, should have a few bathing suits available because people go south on vacation during December and Spring Break. (The food aisles get interesting at Winners this month, and the discounts on holiday foods are amazing from the 20th onwards, especially on the 24th)
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Thanks! I have The Bay on my list, hopefully this weekend depending on what I have penciled in on my calendar. If they have bathing suits, I am hoping to cash in on some Black Friday deals. And thanks for the reminder about Winners. I keep forgetting they have a store in downtown Ottawa since it isn’t in a very convenient location. And I will keep a look out for the food aisle and see what they have on sale.
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My heart goes out to you and your family - especially your son. Please try to make time for yourself, as you care for others.
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I know we’re into December, but wanted to write a quick update to keep my mind engaged.
The Yay! stuff:
- Managed to make the chili, split pea soup, stuffed shells, cornbread, and mini pumpkin breads
- Then managed to get everything labeled (thanks to @Saregama for the recommendations and links!) and into the freezer
The Really, World? stuff:
- Had an adverse psychiatric reaction to a change in a neurological medication; am grateful I realized something was wrong and was able to communicate that to my partner
- It took some time, but the docs finally decided I didn’t need to be hospitalized (that’s actually a “Yay!” thing) so long as I was regularly monitored and the new medication (a psych one, this time) worked. So my partner had to postpone his trip to see his father/take food for the latter’s freezer
More Yay! stuff:
- A nice fluke of timing, with the med change happening after I’d done the cooking/freezing, meant there was plenty of food in the freezer, labeled, and ready to eat (I have no memory of what I ate for several weeks)
- And … I managed to pull together a fairly decent Thanksgiving dinner for the humans! (The resident cats were given small dabs of whipped cream.)
Now onto December and dreams of an abundance of cookies!
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Goodness! No one around here is getting any breaks this fall/winter, are they? I’m glad you are feeling better and that your good deed actually paid it forward to yourself when you were sick.
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Wow, what an update! Glad things eventually got better and that your preparations paid off, even if not in the way that you planned. And I am stealing “Really, World?”.
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