When I posted my last meal plan update, I didn't have a plan for Week 3 and had eaten leftovers for the first couple of days and stopped with Wednesday:
"Wednesday:
Brunch - Armenian pizza (the last one), orange (from the garden)
Afternoon snack - banana, followed by potato fries
Dinner - ???"
I had mentioned I might make pasta sauce with the packet of 1/4 lb. cooked ground beef I had put to thaw and that's exactly what I did!
Wednesday dinner: Pasta with tomato sauce with meat.
I used a flat pasta (possibly fettuccine; I had taken the pasta out of the box and put into a container some time ago, so don't know exactly which kind) that I had on hand. and most (about 3/4) of a 24 oz. (680g) can of pasta sauce (I froze the rest of the sauce to add to something else, another time). I added approximately 1/4 lb. browned ground beef to the pasta sauce and bulked it up a bit with a grated carrot and a handful of broccoli florets I had blanched and frozen, earlier (I have discovered that I don't much care for frozen broccoli just by itself as a side dish, but, I don't mind it in pasta sauce!). I also added some garlic salt and dried basil leaves. It made a thick, flavorful sauce. I cooked enough pasta for Wednesday night's dinner and Thursday's lunch. I debated whether I should just keep the pasta sauce in the fridge and cook more pasta as needed for additional meals during the rest of the week or if I should freeze it and have it at a later date. In the end, I decided to keep it in the fridge for easy meals during the week. I had a serving of it for Sunday brunch and there seems to be enough sauce leftover for two additional meals, making five servings in all!
Once upon a time, I would have added 1 lb. ground beef to a can of pasta sauce and not added any extra vegetables other than some onions, but, these days, with ground beef costing $5.99 with a store loyalty card ($6.99/lb. without, according to the receipt), I am trying to keep costs down. I am not a big consumer of meat, but, I am not a vegetarian, either! However, there was enough meat in the sauce for me to feel like I am eating a meat sauce and with the addition of the grated carrot and broccoli, I feel like I upped the servings of vegetables and the nutrition value! At the very least, I added some fiber! LOL!
Thursday
Brunch: Leftover pasta and sauce.
Tea: French toast
Dinner : Rice "pilaf" with chicken, onions, and green peas; cucumber salad
I added about 1/3 of the roast chicken breast, cut up into pieces, some chopped onions, and a handful of frozen green peas to about 1 cup of rice which was cooked in chicken stock made with chicken bouillon powder. I had it with a cucumber salad (sliced cucumber, salt, pepper, lemon juice).
Friday
Brunch: hash browns and a scrambled egg; orange juice.
Dinner: Leftover rice pilaf; mini chocolate eclairs from the freezer!
Snacks: Grapes, dry cereal
Saturday
Brunch: hash browns and a scrambled egg, again; fresh orange (from the garden)
Dinner: Rice pilaf, curried roast chicken breast, sauteed curried green beans
Snack - peanut butter sandwich with mango jam
Saturday, I prepared some of the green beans to be frozen whole (blanched them, first) and cut up the rest to make sauteed, curried green beans (bonchi thel dala as we call it in Sinhalese). I froze some of it, but, kept some in the fridge for the week. I also shredded the rest of the roast chicken breast and cooked it with onions and curry powder, etc., to make a curried version of shredded chicken!
Sunday
Brunch: pasta with sauce, orange juice, 1/2 fresh mango
Tea: Homemade croissant!
Dinner: Vegetable soup, the other half of the mango; a strawberry muffin from the freezer
The croissant and the vegetable soup were from my neighbor S, her mother L, and her daughter N!
Notice that nothing was crossed out because what I wrote down is what I actually had! Retroactive meal planning! LOL.
Meal plan for Week 4:
I am starting off Week 4 with lots of leftovers in the fridge! My plan is to incorporate them into this week's meal plan.
Monday:
Brunch: Pasta with sauce; orange juice
Dinner: Salad, curry puffs (have to make; put the frozen puff pastry to thaw)
Tuesday:
Brunch: French toast
Dinner: Rice pilaf, green beans
Wednesday:
Brunch: the last of the pasta and sauce
Dinner: Vegetable soup with toast
Thursday:
Brunch: Curry puffs, salad
Dinner: Rice pilaf, green beans, lentils
Friday:
Brunch: Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat, made with semolina)
Dinner: Coconut flat bread, chicken curry (from the freezer)
Saturday:
Brunch: Coconut flat bread, probably, with chicken curry
Dinner: Maybe fried potatoes and scrambled eggs (breakfast for dinner!)
Sunday:
Brunch: Waffles
Dinner: Rice with leftover chicken curry, green beans, lentils
I have apples, grapes, and oranges for fresh fruits; lettuce, cucumber, carrots, a small piece of cabbage, and a zucchini for fresh vegetables. I should also make some muffins or something with the one ripe banana that I have.
So, that's my meal plan for this week. Are you making meal plans? If so, how well are you able to keep to them?
I'm not writing down a meal plan for this week but I know what needs to be eaten so in a way have a plan although not tied down to specific days. I need to clear a bit of space in the freezer so I can bulk cook a couple of different recipes to add some variety to what I already have.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a good plan in place, already. I might have to follow suit and just list some possibilities for the week, rather than specific items for each day, because I seem to be changing my meal plans willy-nilly, as I go! :D
DeleteAll of these sound really yum! Love that you use a lot of veggies☺ Stay safe and healthy☺
ReplyDeleteThank you, Natalia. I am trying to incorporate more vegetables in my meals! Hope all is well with you, too. :)
DeleteYou ARE eating more vegetables these days. When I was cooking for my family, I used to bulk up my ground meat recipes like you do. I would brown the ground meat as soon as I brought it into the house, with diced onion, sweet peppers, grated zucchini and carrot and sometimes celery. I could turn 3 lbs. of ground beef into 4 one pound containers for the freezer, which I would cook up into casseroles or chili or pasta sauce during the week. I saved money as well as getting more veggies into the menu. I know you have been wanting to add more vegetables to your diet as well, and I think you've done it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. Yes, I am trying to eat more vegetables. It's a bit of a struggle, but I try to sneak it in where I can! Carrot cake, zucchini bread, spinach cake (although, I must admit I haven't made that, yet!) :D
DeleteI like your idea of adding veggies as well as meat to the jar of pasta sauce. I added a small amount of previously browned meat to half a jar of pasta sauce the other day. I had saved some of the meat I was using for a cottage pie.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. There was enough ground beef to make it taste and seem like it was a meat sauce, but, there was some vegetables in it, as well. I passed along my tip to my daughter and she was amazed at how much it stretched the ground beef (I think she added mushrooms to her ground meat, in addition to onions and carrots, etc.)
DeleteYou've bulked the sauce up nicely and it sounds like you enjoyed it. It's always good to add more vegetables so good job doing so.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot of variety in your meal plan - we will see how it all works out.
Thank you, Debra. So far, I've changed everything around a bit, this week, because I've been eating curry puffs for breakfast, instead of making anything else! But, it's all OK. :)
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