This was the meal plan for last week's dinners and how it worked out:
Monday: Chicken curry (from the freezer), rice, leftover spicy potatoes, steamed broccoli, cucumber salad, peach chutney
Tuesday: Leftover chicken curry, sauteed green beans, dhal, rice, leftover cucumber salad, if any, peach chutney
Wednesday: Ground turkey(from the freezer) made into a keema curry (with added vegetables - tomatoes, onion, carrot, zucchini, celery, bell peppers, green chilies) and served with rice
Thursday: Leftovers from Wednesday (plus green beans and dhal from Tuesday)
Friday: Hamburgers (need to buy buns), salad (buns were bought)
Saturday: Mackerel (canned) curry, lentils/dhal, green beans, rice Samosas and leftover keema curry and rice, cucumber salad, etc.
Sunday: Beef stew (canned) and mashed potatoes, broccoli Leftover keema curry, rice, cucumber salad, peach chutney
Brunches will most probably be leftovers or toast/sandwiches; I also boiled mung beans on Thursday.
Desserts will be fruits, cake, ice cream, etc.
That meal plan worked out well during the week, but, we ate leftovers during the weekend, partly because they were there and partly because I didn't feel like cooking.
On to this week's meal plan:
Monday: Salmon (from the freezer) sauteed, broccoli, rice.
Tuesday: Chicken curry, green beans, dhal, rice
Wednesday: Leftovers from Tuesday
Thursday: Hamburgers (there are 4 leftover hamburger buns to use up)
Friday: Leftovers and mixed appetizers (gyoza, baked chicken wings, etc.) OR Thai food take out - It's daughter's last night at home; she flies out on Saturday afternoon
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner - egg, hash browns, bacon or ham or soup!
Once again, this is a tentative meal plan! I have taken the last package of chicken from the freezer to thaw, so there will be chicken curry sometime this week, there will be salmon for dinner, one night, and there will be leftovers! Everything else is subject to change! LOL.
How is your meal planning coming along? If you don't meal plan, then, do you decide in the morning what you might make for dinner that evening?
Enjoy your last week with your daughter. You've had a lovely long time with her. Do you know the next time she'll be able to visit?
ReplyDeleteI used to wonder every morning what was for dinner that night. It was such a struggle. I really think meal planning helps take away spending the day thinking about it. I plan out meals for the week, some don't take a lot of prep, others more prep and then I sort of go from there. I don't mind switching it around (example change Tuesday's meal to Thursday)
Thank you, Sharon. Yes, she's been down for just over a month! Her next visit will probably be in November for Thanksgiving. Not sure if there will be a visit before then, we'll have to see.
DeleteMeal planning takes away that daily pondering of what to have for dinner, doesn't it? I'm fine with switching meals around, especially when there are enough leftovers to make another meal. :)
Your meal plan did work out well. I do decide each morning what we will have for our evening meal that day. Mostly it depends on the use by dates of the fresh food I have in the refrigerator or if I haven't too much that needs using up I will look in the freezer and see what takes my fancy and defrost that if need be.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen, it did work out well, this week. Sounds like you've got a good method going, deciding each morning what to make for dinner. I usually forget to put something out to thaw in time, but, tonight's dinner worked out well as the frozen salmon didn't need thawing. :)
DeleteEverything sounds so good and exotic to me! Wish I could smell what you are going to cook!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I made the salmon, rice, and broccoli, tonight. Sauteed the salmon fillets with some onions and tomatoes, garlic powder, etc. Cooked a boxed rice mix which said "fried rice flavor" which was actually quite nice; I might buy it again. The broccoli was simply steamed. It turned out quite well and there are leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. :)
DeleteI was much more diligent about meal planning when we were out at work. Now I'm more relaxed about it. Like many others I regularly have a "a fridge Scrape" meal when all the leftover veg and meats go into a curry, casserole or soup, and fruits into a pie or pudding.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of that "fridge scrape" meal! Especially the fruit pie part of it! :D
DeleteWe've always called them 'kitchen sink' meals because anything and everything can go in them, except for the kitchen sink! 😂
DeleteI'm mostly eating home cooked meals from the freezer at the moment. I 'shop' from the garage freezer once a week and move whatever I've chosen to the kitchen freezer. Then I just move a portion to defrost overnight in the freezer. Sometimes I tweak the meals by adding extras from the fridge but not always, it just depends. xx
I love it! I've also heard of "must go" meals made up of items that 'must go'! :D
DeleteI also love how you batch cook and freeze and then, select what you want to eat in a given week. :) I think I might do that once my daughter goes back. It'll help to have a variety of meals in the freezer for those days when I don't feel like cooking!
Well done with the meal planning. I caught up with your earlier posts & your January garden is looking like it's been most appreciative of the rain. Your cupboard looks well sorted out.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary-Lou. The garden is very happy with the amount of rain it received! All kinds of seedlings are popping up! As for the cupboard, I need to make it a point to keep it tidy! Maybe I should invest in a set of matching storage jars or a set of canisters. Then, I could store dried lentils, etc., and it will look intentional!
DeleteDo you make your own curry? do you have a recipe? I love curry, but as i cook more and more with local herbs, i haven't had any curry in the house for a while. Yesterday i did start a shopping list, i will put it on.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do make my own curry, but, these days, I cheat a little bit and buy premade curry powder rather than blend my own each time. Curry powder, as you might know, is a blend of three main ingredients (coriander, cumin, and fennel) with added ingredients such as curry leaves, turmeric, black pepper, chili powder, cardamon and cloves, etc. to make a flavor blend. When I make my curries, I add the premade curry powder and add a few other ingredients, as well, such as curry leaves, pandan leaves, chili powder, cloves and cardamon, etc. I thought I had posted a recipe for my chicken curry, but, I couldn't find it. Not that I have a recipe, as such; I generally don't measure things when I make a curry. But, I am planning to make a chicken curry, tonight, and I'll try to take some pictures and post directions.
Deletethat sounds great. I will buy the blend and look for curry leaves, wondering if they ever sell them fresh here.
DeleteIf you have any Indian food stores in your area, you might find fresh curry leaves. If not, dried curry leaves are available online. Otherwise, you can omit them or substitute bay leaves.
DeleteI bought a large bunch of kale the other day and it seems to last forever. I wash and chop some and sauté in olive oil and add some cumin before stirring. We've had some a couple of times out of this bunch, but I'm thinking to look for ideas for something else. The stems tend to hang around with plans to do something with them and then if I don't have the energy they get tossed into the compost eventually.
ReplyDeleteMy furniture rearrangement worked well, after over 30 years thinking there were no choices (too many windows, archways, fireplace, in the room). DH was happy with the new arrangement, too.
I generally shred the kale leaves (minus stems) and sautee them in a bit of oil as a "mallung" with a little bit of onions, turmeric, and grated coconut. Daughter adds them to her soups. I've chopped up the stems and added them to soups and stir fries, but, sometimes, they tend to be a bit fibrous and tough.
DeleteI'm so glad the furniture rearrangement worked well! Change is good, as my mother used to say! Glad that DH was happy with the new arrangement, too. According to my mother, my father would say that he never knew where to sit down when he came home from work because my mother would have rearranged the furniture, again! Not quite sure how accurate that is, but, that's what she used to say! :D
If all goes well, we have an idea of what we will eat a day or two ahead, but we try to use up leftovers before we do very much new cooking.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good plan to eat the leftovers first, before cooking new meals. I often try to cook enough to have leftovers for another meal or two, but, sometimes, I will cook more meals before the leftovers are all used up.
DeleteYou did pretty well with this meal plan. Things seem to have gone according to plan with most of the changes being leftovers which is the ultimate goal in my book :)
ReplyDeleteI was very happy with how the meal plan worked out. Leftovers get preference treatment! LOL. This week's meal plan worked out well for the first few days and then, it's been mostly leftovers after that!
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