Weekly Menu Planning - October 2025

Cooking Discussions
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Hi, everyone. We had a lovely fall weekend with apple picking (6 varieties, 1/2 bushel total, almost too heavy to carry) and some household chores. And despite it being gorgeous outside, I bought new snow boots! My old ones sprung a leak as winter was wrapping up, so I couldn’t find new ones then, so it’s been on my list for 6+ months. Now I’m hoping that I don’t need them any time soon…

Sun: roast pork tenderloin with apples and sweet potatoes. I also baked a cinnamon-apple cake which was really tasty but a little sweeter than I remember it being.

Mon: greek chicken and rice - another chatGPT suggestion!

Tues: Cajun chicken pasta - based on another old Cooking Light recipe but I’ve modified it over the years

Weds: nachos with the pulled pork left from last week

Thurs: stir-fried beef and snap peas

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I’m proud to have inspired sardine toast thoughts!

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Good new snow gear is the best insurance you won’t need it. See big kiddos new snow pants last winter. . . Hoping your boots are as lucky!

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I make a version of the NYT coconut poached fish recipe occasionally, using just one can of coconut milk - replace the volume by refilling the can with water and stirring in a little veg Better than Bouillion.

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Greetings people.

And just like that, it was all over. This year’s garden harvest is rapidly spiraling down. I have a couple of giant squashes curing which I’ll cut up, roast, and freeze next week. Beyond that, there are a few late-season apples and Asian pears to pick, serrano peppers to sauce, and shelling beans to pick and dry. Everything else has been harvested, eaten, put by, or given away. Looking forward to the annual winter break of browsing cookbooks in front of the fire, crafting, and the holidays.

Cooking for two in the PNW:

FRI: Savory brioche tarts with leeks, bacon, and gruyere. Salad greens in vinaigrette with cranberries, apples, and candied pecans. (It would appear ATK is adding gift links to their site, but the function doesn’t seem to be working quite yet. The no-knead brioche dough is theirs.)

SAT: New England-style clam chowder with potatoes and leeks. If I’m ambitious, there will be biscuits (otherwise, saltines).

SUN: Steak night. Potato, leek, apple, and gruyere gratin to go with.

MON: A Creole-seasoned shrimp bisque. I’ve been collecting shells to make the stock. Biscuits and salad greens to go with.

TUE: NYT’s baked whitefish with tarter (gift link). I’ll use halibut. Veg TBD.

WED: Caesar salad with cajun-style chicken.

THUR: Pizza night. Either panuozzo or bar-style – in either case, there will be red sauce.

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Your veggie “lending” library patrons will be sad.

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Until next year, when we’ll get an earlier start! It’s been a fun project, and we’ve gotten a couple of really lovely notes (and a plate of cookies!) from the neighborhood.

We’re going to leave the box up until the fruit trees are finished this year, as we anticipate some excess. Then we’ll take it down for the winter and keep it in a dry spot until spring. Hopefully it will hold up longer that way.

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A perennial favorite of mine. I oven-toast the panko up front to the color I want, it does not seem to toast during the cooking time. Last time I got smart and toasted a double batch so I have it in the freezer, ready to go.

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I’m pretty sure I picked up on this one from your previous posts. That’s a great tip about toasting the panko (and making extra!). I will heed it.

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I don’t do it intentionally, but I tend to make too much pangrattato for a single serving, and then it’s great to have it ready to go for the next time, so I should take your lead and do it dekiberately :joy:

I often add garlic for a boost (sauté it first and then add breadcrumbs to the pan).

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Hello friends. It feels like we went straight from summer to Christmas! It has been warm in Ottawa until this week when the temperature has been hovering just below the 10 degree mark (in the 40s Fahrenheit) and now the Christmas craft fairs are starting. I plan on going to one on Sunday afternoon then another one near the end of November. There is a third one in between that I love but craft fair season coincides with the end of the CFL football season and the playoffs are the same weekend as the in-between one so I will have to pick. (CFL = Canadian Football League) I need more hours in a day… I got my last CSA of the season yesterday so when I brought my veggies home I just rammed everything into my fridge to make everything fit and also because I had a screening with the Ottawa Film Society last night and I wanted to see the movie. Tomorrow I will stay home to give my fridge a much needed cleanout and organize everything properly then Sunday I will head off to a craft fair. Onto my menus for this week:

Today: My take-out lunch was a fettucine with pesto and chicken from a nearby deli that I used to love but I find it’s being half heartedly thrown together these days. Today the chicken was really dried out and the parm was caked on in a solid mass. It was like eating sawdust with every bite. I’ve had their sandwiches recently and they are still top notch but I think I’m done with the pasta. I will have a cauliflower salad for dinner.

Saturday: Fridge and freezer cleaning day. I am expecting to be tired by the time I’m done. I will get take out for dinner.

Sunday: Off to the craft fair. I have a “scallop stew” pencilled in and the recipe is from my cookbook “Going Solo in the Kitchen” by Jane Doerfer. The cookbook author is from New England and the region seems to have a slight influence on her cooking style. This stew I might make is more like a chowder but I will find out when I make it. But since I am going to a craft fair this afternoon, there may be food samples out so I may opt for a salad instead so I am preparing to pivot.

Monday: Thai red curry cauliflower. I will make half the recipe to finish up the half a can of coconut milk in the fridge. I will end up with two servings so I will have one tonight and the other half when I get home from my watercolour class tomorrow.

Tuesday: The other half of the Thai red curry cauliflower.

Wednesday: Pork and green bean stirfry.

Thursday: Pasta arrabiata, salad tbd.

Have a nice week everyone!

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Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in sunny Chattanooga. I’m noticing a family tribute theme in this week’s planning: the saffron buns are like a bread my mom used to make at Christmas, the lamb reminds me of my grandmother, and the meatballs are like the ones DH’s grandmother and mother make…
Breakfast: Saffron pretzel buns
Saturday, October 25: Lamb speidini (the old Bon Appétit recipe looks just like the shish kebab my grandmother used to make); rice pilaf; green beans
Sunday: Königsberger Klopse (meatballs in a lemon-caper sauce) from Classic German Cooking, potatoes, some kind of veggie; pear and almond tart
Monday: Broccoli and blue cheese pasta bake
Tuesday-Thursday: TBD
Friday: Pasta with green olives and breadcrumbs from Family
Hope everyone has a good week. Happy cooking!

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Hi There - cooking for two in San Antonio, TX …

SAT (tonight): We are going to the annual Lebanese Festival at our neighborhood church. I always get a plate to eat there and a plate to go: Kafta (then Kibbe to take home), Lebanese Rice, Hummus, Tabbouleh and Pita Bread. It is all to die for!

SUN: Grilled Korean Flanken Ribs, Honey Curry Jasmine Rice (spice packet from Whole Spice in Napa) and Sautéed Bok Choy

MON-THU: TJ’s Penne Arrabiatta with Grilled Sausage (extra sausage from Friday dinner)

Curried Chicken Salad made with spice packet I bought recently at The Lavender Festival in Blanco, TX with some type of Indian bread I have in the freezer

Take-Away Lebanese Plate

I didn’t end up making the Smoky Black Lentils & Beans (from Slow Cook Modern by Liana Krissoff) last week so may do so this week. The ingredients are sitting out on my counter waiting to be thrown into the slow cooker.

Salads with ingredients from my weekly farm co-op

FRI: Halloween! We set up a table outside and hand out candy to the kids and have beer & wine for the adults. Our house is always a hit! We’ll probably pop some popcorn (Mr. PennyG’s specialty) to have for dinner. Our Dachshund, Taco, dresses as … a Taco!

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Halloween sounds fun! Any special tips from Mr. PennyG regarding the popcorn?

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Peanut Oil, Amish Baby White (or Rancho Gordo) Popcorn and a Whirley Pop Popper! Then we set up a Popcorn Bar with various flavored oils and seasonings and customize away.

I bought him one of those Great Northern movie theater poppers a couple of years ago and we use that when it’s more than just the two of us.

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OK! I’m an Amish popcorn fan, and have been drooling over the stove-top Whirley Pop. Santa - are you listening???

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Not gonna lie… I’ll be purchasing a rotisserie chicken and letting that do the heavy lifting this week.

For two adults in San Diego:

Breakfasts: granola and fruit, after some decadent pastries from a local bakery

S: (tonight) takeout - pizza

Su: BBQ chicken, beans, salad

M: Chicken quesadillas with guacamole

T: Chicken sandwiches with fruit

W: Chicken curry fried rice

Th: Lentil soup - vegetarian/soup

F: Pasta with shrimp scampi and peas - seafood

Take care of yourselves!

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Hello from sunny PA, where I continue to feed two w̶i̶l̶d̶ ̶&̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶ mildly interesting middle-aged folks.

Last night we had a buddy over for Sichuan hot pot.

Today I am hosting the last potluck of the year for my group of home cooks, for which a dear friend of mine provides her clubhouse. I have no idear what folks are going to bring, but I’m making the NYT cheesy white bean & tomato bake bc I’m feeling lazy AF.

Tomorrow might see me thaw one of the fishies in the freezer below: we have golden tilefish and rockfish, neither of which I’ve ever prepared before, so if y’all have some favorite recipes I’d love to hear them :slight_smile:

Tuesday will be something easy, as we leave for Philly the next day. My dude’s got some stuff at Princeton, which is as good an excuse as any to visit one of our favorite cities :hugs:

Wednesday we’ll keep it low-key & likely hit up Chinatown for either XLB or Peking Duck.

Thursday my PIC is off to Princeton until Friday afternoon, so I’ll be on my own. Meeting a friend who moved to the big bad city a while ago for lunch to catch up & also retrieve a bunch of clothes a mutual friend left at his hotel room when he last visited the city, and I volunteered to grab them and get them back to him :slight_smile:

Meeting @Bigley9 for dinner, but we haven’t yet determined where. I’m flex and will follow her lead.

Friday my boo and I have a rez at Little Fish, a teeny tiny BYOB in Queen Village we went to before and loved it. The octopus is calling my name, and we may have to add it to the prix fixe if it’s not too much food…

Saturday we’ll do some serious food shopping at the Italian market, i.e. smoked fish (and maybe trout roe) from Biederman’s, assorted cheeses from DiBruno’s, ricotta ravs from Talluto’s, and cookies from Isgro’s for my cookie monster PIC :blush:

The fabulous @Bigley9 was also nice enough to grab a few frozen packages of that ridiculously delish Lao sausage from the SEA market for us, so we’ll swing by en route home.

As you can see, a very food-centric visit (no durr!) — like every visit to Philly.

Weekend dinners TBD, likely from the bounty we’re taking home with us.

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Hi, friends. Last week was super busy with work (budget season is upon us, again) and at home. DH and I went out for dinner with friends on Friday night, and we were all talking about the fact we don’t do this more often - it’s a shame that we are all busy and don’t prioritize socializing enough! Maybe this is a pre-New Year’s resolution.

Sun: beef stew and apple crisp - giant batches of both. Extra stew will go in the freezer for another day.

Mon: Italian wedding soup - mini meatballs for the soup…

Tues: … and full size meatballs for spaghetti and red sauce. Air fryer green beans on the side

Weds: grilled cheese, tomato soup. DS asked for Campbell’s but I can’t eat it so I’ll try this copycat version.

Thurs: sheet pan chicken fajitas, refried black beans

Fri: Halloween. We decided not to pass out candy, so will turn off the lights and go out to the movies. DS said he’s “doing something that isn’t trick-or-treating” with friends.

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