Let’s use this thread to share concise weekly dinner menus for each week in October. 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.
October meals around here will feature apples and our favorite winter squashes – acorn and butternut. And some determined “use what I have in the freezer” menu planning. My cookie-baking starts in 10 weeks and I’ll need the freezer space to store them.
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.
The September discussion is still available for reporting the last week and follow-ups
Reminder – Keep your comments menu / food related. And in the interest of faster viewing times, please use the Knife&Fork “like” under a comment to indicate you liked it or want to echo what was said by another, rather than posting a separate comment.
No theme this week, and no new recipes. After a summer spent occupied with family matters, followed by a busy harvest season, I’m wiped out - too lazy even to bake bread this week despite a hankering for tuna melts for lunch. Instead, I’ll go to a nearby artisan bakery and purchase a loaf (or two). Looking forward to a quiet week at home with not much going on (fingers crossed).
Cooking dinner for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Pasta with tomatoes, bacon and kale.
SAT: Fish chowder. Garlic toast.
SUN: Pan pizza. Salad.
MON: Burgers on the grill (assuming the burn ban ends on the 30th).
TUE: Roast pumpkin with bacon and assorted garden veg.
Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga. Still recovering from a full and fun but pretty exhausting week–work got busy just as family/friends arrived and it was A Lot. We went out a lot and did some scrounging and everything went well. Here comes October!
Breakfast: Caramelized apple pancakes
Saturday, October 1: Cajun meatball fricassee from Cook’s Country; rice; some kind of veg
Sunday: Herzhafter Käsekuchen from Classic German Baking (kind of like a fondue pizza?); roasted cauliflower; white wine roasted pears. Might as well go full white-themed food here…
Monday: Work is going to be crazy; I think tomato/egg stir-fry and rice will do the trick
Tuesday: Scrounge
Wednesday: Pasta with smoked salmon and tomatoes
Thursday/Friday: TBD. Maybe freezer cleanout, maybe out, maybe both!
Have a great week, and stay safe, all of you in the Carolinas, especially LLM! Happy cooking!
Well, the week flew by. It’s SO COLD here in NYC! Makes me want warm and homey food.
Actuals for last week:
Mon - Chana Pulao using a recipe flagged long ago in a book that was a gift (used dried chickpeas soaked and pressure cooked first). Leftover carrot salad, yogurt, and papad on the side.
Tues - Leftover chicken curry from last week + Malabar-spiced cauliflower (COTM) + chapatis & rice
Thurs - Out, Turkish, happy hour + dinner with friend just back from summer away. Lahmacun, Zucchini fritters, Fava bean bruschetta.
Fri - Out, American small plates at a small venue to watch a friend perform. Heirloom tomato and burrata flatbread, chicken croquettes and frisée with creamy truffle dressing.
Some ideas for the weekend and next week:
Pakistani Pot Roast (DOTM) from the same book at the Chana Pulao + mashed potatoes or crusty bread + arugula salad
Fish (Salmon) Tagine + quinoa (but instead of chermoula, doctored chimichurri that’s languishing in my fridge)
Paya Ka Salan / Trotters Curry (COTM) + roasted cauliflower + bread & rice (but I may dial down the spice and make it more of a soup like my mom makes, 'tis the weather for it)
These next two weeks are going to be really busy. Kinda looking forward to November already.
For two adults in San Diego:
This week’s breakfasts: Finishing up the chocolate chip scones I baked last week.
S: Takeout
Su: (tonight) Macaroni and cheese, to use up random bits of cheese. With peas - vegetarian
M: Chicken tacos (cheese, avocado, tomatoes)
T: Egg rolls (purchased) with a slaw made with purchased sesame dressing
W: TJs Beef tamales and beans
Th: Shrimp scampi, but spicy, with onions and peppers. Sourdough for dipping. - seafood
F: Flying up to Sacramento to be with my mother, whose health is declining. My first time flying since Feb 2020. Wish me luck! I’m assuming fairly bland food will be on the menu for me this weekend. Knowing my husband, there will be pizza for him.
I’m sorry about your mother’s health. I’m happily surprised to say that masking was a bit better on my flights last week than I’ve seen on other flights in the past 5 months.
Thank you. She remains stubborn and probably more active than she should be. No immune system, though, so I’ll be masking the entire weekend. I booked first class (gulp) in order to be around fewer people for less time. Wish me luck! Glad to hear you saw more masking. I am encouraged.
A no shop week. Instead enjoying the perpetual emptying of the freezer, fridge and pantry.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW.
FRI: Leftover tri-tip and veg from last week’s grill.
SAT: Late-season BLTs. Roasted potato wedges.
SUN: Chicken and veg soup of some kind – have a lone breast in the freezer which I’ll poach. Homemade oyster crackers.
MON: Homemade pork and apple sausages. Roasted garden veg.
TUE: A repeat of last week’s very successful lemony fish chowder with peas and rando veg. Have belly-flaps, tail-pieces and trimmings in the freezer to use up. Oyster crackers.
Thursday: porchetta https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/porchetta-sandwiches-2042293, wild rice, steamed cauliflower
Friday: Thursday leftovers
Saturday: pesto lasagna from the freezer https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pesto-lasagne-2122008
Sunday: shrimp burger (can’t remember what recipe I planned to use but it will come to me), green salad
Monday: roast salmon with cucumber-dill cream sauce, brown rice, green salad
Tuesday: spaghetti carbonara
Wednesday: skirt steak with jalapeno-lime compound butter, basmati rice, steamed green beans
for shrimp burgers - I liked this recipe recommended in 2021 by CH’er Valerie. With some Old Bay Mayo - 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning stirred into 1/3 C. Mayo. Wups - dead link. Here’s the paraphrase
Shrimp Burgers paraphrased from America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook
For Burgers - which need to chill 30 minutes to 24 hours before cooking:
1 slice whole wheat bread, torn into pieces then pulsed into 3/4 C. crumbs
1 lb shrimp (raw, not precooked, peeled and deveined – these get chopped in food processor so use any size that’s reasonably priced, I used 41 – 50 count Large
3 tablespoons mayonnaise / light mayo
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or 2 tsp. freeze dried)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
pinch cayenne pepper
When ready to cook:
2 teaspoons canola oil - or lemon olive oil
S & P in skillet and top of burgers just before cooking
Pulse into coarse crumb in a food processor to get about 3/4 cup of crumbs. Wipe the bowl of the food processor out, then add the shrimp. Pulse about 7 times, just until you have a mixture of finely minced and coarsely chopped pieces. Place breadcrumbs and shrimp in a large bowl but do not mix yet.
In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, scallions, parsley, lemon zest, salt, pepper and cayenne together until well combined. Pour mayo mixture over the shrimp and breadcrumbs, and gently fold everything together.
Divide the mixture into 4 portions, and loosely pack each into a 1-inch thick burger on a small baking sheet – “You want to be gentle here – don’t try to pick up the mixture and shape it the way you might with a traditional burger.” Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
Set a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When it shimmers, carefully transfer the burgers to the pan. Cook until golden brown and crisp on both sides, about 8-10 minutes total. Serve on toasted buns (we had ours open-faced on bun halves) with your favorite toppings.
Hello from Ottawa, Canada where fall is in full swing. The leaves look lovely and I’m just waiting for the skies to clear up (it was raining this morning) so I can take a picture of the skyline from my apartment. It’s a sea of colours at this time of year. This weekend will be quiet since it’s Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday so I want to cook some of these squashes I’ve been getting in my CSA and I would like to take out my winter clothes over the weekend. I will have to face the music sooner or later So my menu for this week is as follows:
Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga, where the beautiful fall weather continues to hold!
Breakfast: Banana, date, and walnut cake from Sweet
Saturday, October 8: Shepherd’s Pie from the Pie and Pastry Bible; some kind of salad. I will also be making jam and prepping for next weekend’s trip.
Sunday: Cheese fondue with bread and broccoli; salted butter break-ups from Dorie Greenspan
Monday: Firecracker chicken; rice; more broccoli?
Tuesday: Scrounge/takeout
Wednesday: Green chile mac and cheese; sautéed yellow squash
Thursday: Scrounge/takeout
Friday: Driving 8 hours to spend the weekend with long-time friends (we worked together over 20 years ago!); going to make spinach and mushroom lasagna and others will take care of sides
Saturday: Cheese enchiladas; Black Forest torte; the rest is TBD
Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadian contingent! Have a great week and happy cooking!
So my menu for this week is as follows: