Weekly Menu Planning – October 2022

Cooking Discussions Cooking, Cookbooks, Ingredients
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Spent yesterday lazing on the couch. Next day off is in two weeks. Already planning a couch date for then, too! There will be some uninspired, simple food on the menu for the rest of the month.

For two adults in San Diego:

This week’s breakfasts: Not gonna lie, I’m starting out with PopTarts. :joy: Should have time to bake scones tomorrow.

S: takeout - chicken pot pies

Su: (Tonight) TJ’s tomato and roasted red pepper soup with sourdough, honey bourbon pecan pie for dessert from the takeout place - vegetarian

M: Tuna melts - seafood

T: Spicy chicken and sausage pasta - tomatoes and spinach, in a spicy light cream sauce, with cheese

W: Chicken quesadillas

Th: Chicken and veggie stir fry over rice.

F: Pizza - salami and spinach on purchased dough with lotsa cheese

Have a good week!

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Not sure tweens come in any other variety.

Have you made the beef and broccoli before? Some random beef and broccoli lo mein recipe has become a sort of staple around here somehow.

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I have made this particular B&B before - it’s an interesting variation, where you sear/char the broccoli florets before adding water and covering, so they finish cooking in the steam. I use my cast iron skillet so everything is nice and hot. Sauce is basically just hoisin, nothing fancy. I’d love lo mein but nobody else here would…

Tween grumping is exhausting. I had to sit outside for a bit yesterday to get away from the ‘toxic fumes’ in the house…

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Thanks! Not a recipe per se, but inspired by a salad at a local restaurant. Chicken fingers (air fried then cut up), greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded cheddar, bacon, maybe some golden raisins, and honey-mustard dressing. The cornbread croutons they make are amazing, so I’ll try it with boxed mix stuff baked thinner…

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So it’s a little on the sweet side, I’m guessing.

Definitely important to sometimes not be within hearing distance of the tween (or teen - I can now attest to this).

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Hi everyone

I finally got over my procrastination about reorganizing the freezer and clearing the fridge – ok, half-clearing)… mostly because I needed room to store a tart :rofl:
BUT - at least I have a better handle on what’s in stock.

I had fun cooking from COTM Thali the last two weeks. This week I should ideally do some Diwali prep (next weekend) – I’m leaving for a visit for that + nephew birthday. If my friend ever decides if we’re doing a Diwali potluck before I leave, I’ll also have to cook a few things for that.

Actuals for last week:

  • Salmon (COTM), Spinach Dal (COTM), chapatis, rice
  • Pot roast leftovers (DOTM), Coconut Spinach (COTM), Beetroot Croquettes (COTM), parathas
  • Out for Italian with a friend – chicken Milanese and pasta with salmon
  • Tried my hand at a home version of the delicious pasta with salmon
  • Pot roast (leftover from DOTM) sandwich
  • TJs frozen kababs + Turkish kisr + sauteed spinach + toum (TJs)
  • TJs frozen kababs + pocketless pita (the best kind imo, so soft) + spinach borani + broiled tomatoes + toum (TJs)
  • Out for Thai with a group of NYC Onions

I also made 4 dozen fish cutlets and a yogurt panna cotta tart for a potluck event last weekend.

Trying to plan simple meals for this week that allow for some Diwali projects:

Diwali plan:

I was going to make some goodies to take for Diwali, but I think it will be easier to make them there, even if that ends up being technically after Diwali.

Have a great week!

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thank you!

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cooking for 1 at the Jersey Shore and trying to clear out the freezer/cabinets

Monday: roasted salmon with EVOO, dried dill, kosher salt, ground black pepper, jasmine rice, creamed spinach from the freezer
Tuesday: mini-meatloaves (from mix in freezer), mashed potatoes, steamed garlic cauliflower
Wednesday: Trader Joe’s Caprese fresh ravioli, mini cucumber slices marinated with onion and balsamic vinegar
Thursday: linguine carbonara
Friday: shrimp scampi over basmati rice, spiralized zucchini from the freezer
Saturday: Friday leftovers
Sunday: homemade cottage pie leftovers from the freezer

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My December R&D splurge on (new flavor) Lemon PopTarts was so disappointing I’m not sure I’ll ever try even our former “old favorites” (cinnamon? apple?) again… Do you have a favorite flavor?

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My current fave is frosted raspberry. As a teen, I ate soooooo many chocolate pop tarts!

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Hello Everyone from the Cold Twin Cities of MN where the calendar says October and temperatures are acting December. Woke up last Friday to over an inch of snow on the car and grass. Things have been challenging lately- Uncle in law passed unexpectedly after complications from heart surgery, BIL has cancer, my aunt has ALS, shots fired in our apartment parking lot (right outside our unit with casings behind our car!) and I’m just low on emotional energy. I also loath the glass cooktop and low cooking mojo. I messed up blue box! The reno marches on- asbestos is gone and framing is beginning. Trying to stay positive. . . Cooking for 2 adults and 2 growing girls- one who is Tweening hard! Also, It’s wife week in fantasy football. . . I finally won!

Thurs 13: Chicken parm with frozen chicken and jarred sauce, green salads. Up till 2 AM after the shooting in the parking lot. I don’t think I will ever forget the guy pleading “no no don’t shoot me”

Fri 14: Little kiddo skated. Family “date” to Menards as our project manager said we needed to pick out and order our shower stuff. Culver’s for dinner as a reward/bribe to the girls

Sat 15: Took the girls to “Spookamaga” a Halloween event at a Girl Scout camp. Super fun and a perfect fall day in a maple forest at peak color. (Mr Autumm went to Beer fest) Improvised italian beef sandwiches but using canned chicken instead. Salads.

Sun 16: Baked fish (frozen) tots, roasted broccoli (CSA) and purple cabbage slaw (CSA)

Mon 17: tonight! Potato leek soup. I grated the potatoes as my ricer is somewhere, and used a shallot as I was a bit short on leeks (CSA) https://www.seriouseats.com/best-potato-leek-soup-recipe. A bit of chorizo for garnish, served with toasted sourdough

Tues 18: CSA pick up, both girls skate at different rinks. Leftover cuban pot roast, rice black beans, assorted crudités (CSA)

Weds 19: Big kiddo skates, Mr Autumm in Texas for work. Take out

Hoping to head to my parents’ for MEA weekend/Fall break unless the electrician needs me for house stuff. Otherwise probably take out or easy stuff. I’m so ready to move back home.

Thanks for reading and letting me release some steam. I so want to cook more and better but I don’t have the emotional energy to risk something not working out

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Actuals from the weekend/ plan for the week:

Fri: out to neighborhood Italian after older kid’s volleyball game and overall long week. solid food, good interesting specials, BYOB, which is a nice plus.

Sat: smoked brisket, boneless pork ribs, sausage; roasted broccoli, asparagus and mac n’cheese

Sun: Jambalaya w/roast turkey & andouille [I am a volunteer chef for Lasagna Love, and my match this week was GF and DF so we decided on jambalaya. Decided to make one for our family as well, as we all love it.]

Mon: out for a work dinner; family went out for pizza

Tues: have another work event; family either go out for sushi or order it in

Wed: Birria tacos, veggies, mexican rice (?) [post volleyball game]

Thurs: salmon (prep TBD), polenta rounds, roasted veggies [post volleyball game]

Fri: homemade pizza, salad, crudite

Sat/Sun: likely going out these days, but will be cooking all weekend in prep for Diwali dinner on Monday night

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Oh my, @Autumm2, parts of your week sound harrowing.
I hope the good parts can help you get past those.

All the best for better weeks ahead and renewed interest in cooking. Till then, enjoy the down time if possible.

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Sorry things are so rough right now. It sounds like a LOT to deal with.

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@Autumm2 It sounds like you are having a challenging week. I lost my own dear mother to ALS 21 years ago so I know how difficult it is. Hopefully better days are on the horizon.

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Oh my. This would all be so much to deal with even if you weren’t doing such a big renovation! That shooting sounds so scary. I hope you can do everything possible to make it a little easier and get a break from planning, shopping, cooking. A time will come when it’s more possible to cook more and better. Restoring emotional energy is a good and very necessary goal!

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Sounds like a really rough week! Hang in there!!

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Sending supportive emotional vibes from afar.

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Greetings, people.

Still working on freezer inventory and garden surplus. Making progress, marked by a growing collection of empty food storage containers.

Cooking for two adults in the PNW.

FRI: Pan-roasted pork chops. Potatoes in some form. Cabbage and apple slaw.

SAT: Zucchini pizza – our last shot at fresh garden zuccs for the year. I did freeze a lot of grated and wrung zucchini for the first time. I’ll be interested to see how it holds up over the winter. I’m pretty sure it will be fine for baking, but not so sure about other applications.

SUN: Leftover hamburger soup from the freezer. Homemade crackers.

MON: Fish tacos (frozen halibut). Cabbage slaw. (Rolled from last week.)

TUE: Better Than Takeout Noodles (cabbage and ground pork stir-fry).

WED: Homemade kielbasa with rice and beans.

THUR: Longevity noodles (cabbage and chicken breast stir-fry). Will make an exception here and pick-up some mushrooms from the store.

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The “good news” out of the ALS diagnosis is she does not have the genetic kind, so my (newlywed) cousin and the rest of su are in the “clear”. My aunt was a gardener and managed to get a very coveted spot and the Madison WI farmers market for flowers. They tried veggies and it was too much work

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