I am afraid that I have not been doing very well with meal planning, lately! Here it is, almost at the end of Week 3, and not only have I not reviewed my meal plan for Week 2, I have not made a proper meal plan for this week, either!
This was my meal plan for February Week 2 (2/8/25 - 2/14/25):
Lunches: Leftover pizza with salad (Saturday)✓, pancakes and sausages, scrambled eggs with bacon and fried potatoes (for dinner)✓. toast✓, boiled mung beans with sambol✓, tortillas with egg and sambol✓
Dinners: Pot roast with rice and vegetables (Saturday)✓, smoked sausage stir-fry with rice✓, chicken curry with rice and sauteed green beans. sauteed cabbage, and spicy sauteed potatoes; leftovers✓
Snacks: Fresh fruits, banana muffins, smoothies, tuna salad and crackers, Cheetos, etc.
Here's how it worked out:
Saturday:
Lunch: Leftover pizza with salad
Dinner: Pot roast with rice and vegetables
Sunday:
Breakfast: Tortillas with egg and sambol
Lunch: Pot roast sandwiches
Dinner: Smoked sausage stir fry with vegetables over rice
Monday:
Brunch: Toast (me); Jamaican style meat patty (daughter)
Dinner: Leftover pot roast with green beans and bread
Tuesday:
Brunch: Pot roast sandwiches
Dinner: Leftover smoked sausage stir fry and green beans, with rice
Wednesday:
Breakfast: Tortillas with seeni sambol
Lunch: Jamaican style meat patty (me); leftover stir fry and rice (daughter)
Dinner: Leftover pot roast with green peas and cucumber salad
Thursday:
Brunch: Boiled mung beans with lunu miris and sugar (daughter)
Tea: Jamaican style meat patty (daughter)
Dinner: "Breakfast for Dinner" - scrambled eggs, hash browns, salad
Friday:
Brunch: Jamaican style meat patty
Dinner: Cucumber salad and an assortment of Leftovers
I didn't make pancakes for brunch and I didn't make the planned chicken curry for dinner, and I thought I went off the meal plan quite a bit, but, upon review, I didn't do too badly.
In the meantime, February Week 3 February 15 - February 21) started and I got distracted by grocery shopping and going over budget and mending, so, didn't post a meal plan! Nevertheless, we have been enjoying some nice meals. Since they weren't exactly planned, I will simply list them:
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| Lahmajoon |
Saturday:
Brunch: Homemade Lahmajoon made by neighbor S's mother
Dinner: Daughter shared her restaurant meal of salad, salmon in Dijon mustard sauce with vegetables and potatoes; tiramisu for dessert
Sunday:
Brunch: Leftover lahmajoon (and daughter had leftovers from her dinner the previous night)
Dinner: Salad, ham steak (leftover Thanksgiving ham from the freezer), and parmesan Pasta Roni (from a box in the pantry); I meant to add frozen green peas to it but forgot. Fresh blackberries for dessert.
Monday:
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| Cassava and Lunu Miris |
Brunch: Cassava with lunu miris
Dinner: Salmon sauteed with onions and homegrown tomatoes, green beans, rice, tomato chutney; avocado pudding for dessert
Tuesday:
Brunch: Leftover ham steak and pasta roni (daughter); leftover cassava (me); fresh papaya
Dinner: Leftover (planned over) salmon, green beans, garbanzo beans, rice, tomato chutney; cucumber salad, mandarins
Snacks included peanut butter sandwiches
Wednesday:
Brunch: Leftover cassava (daughter); cheese sandwich (me)
Tea: Homemade potato fries
Dinner: Teriyaki pork chops, rice, broccoli, mandarins for dessert
Yes, I did buy the pork chops on sale for $1.99/lb. on Tuesday. I bought six pork chops and they weighed just over 3 lbs. I marinated and cooked two of the pork chops for Wednesday's dinner (but, each pork chop was so big that daughter and I shared one and there's one for another meal later in the week); the other four pork chops were frozen individually with a teriyaki marinade for later.
On the meal plan for the rest of this week:
Thursday:
Brunch: Pancakes with sausages and syrup or blueberry compote
Dinner: Salmon, rice, broccoli, tomato chutney, cucumber salad
Friday:
Brunch: Tortillas with eggs and lunu miris
Dinner: Pork chops with rice and Brussels sprouts and/or cauliflower
That is the plan and I think I can keep to the plan for the rest of this week! I think there will be chicken curry over the weekend.
Have you been meal planning this week?
You know the military saying - no plan survives contact with the enemy. You make good food and the changes seem to make the most of your food and cooking/prep time.
ReplyDeleteThose pork chops sound like really good value.
My meal plans are very flexible! My daughter doesn't want pancakes for brunch, today (Thursday) as she's having a migraine. So, she'll have toast or cereal when she is feeling better, and I'll have something similar.
DeleteI was happy to get the pork chops at that price. I will wait for a similar sale before I buy any more.
Plan or no plan, you didn't go hungry. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are right, June; we certainly didn't go hungry! And I'm very thankful for that. It's a blessing. :)
DeleteYour food looks and sounds delicious. Besides a meal plan is really just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. Yes, a meal plan is more of a suggestion for me, but, I know that some others follow a plan more rigidly.
DeleteIt can be hard work planning meals for the week ahead (first world problems, I realise), but you always enjoy some delicious home cooked meals, Bless. I often find it's easier once I've cleaned out my fridge, so I can see what foods I have in already. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules. Yes, meal planning is a first world problem, isn't it? Although, I do recall my mother saying she had to meal plan when she first married because her step-children would complain they had the same meal the previous week! She said she meal planned for the entire month, looking up different recipes in her cook book to make sure that things weren't repeated too often. She had a cook so she didn't have to do the cooking, just the meal planning. :)
DeleteThe food looks lovely. Maybe not quite as planned, but sometimes plans don't always work out!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Yes, plans don't always work out, do they? We need to be flexible and anticipate making some last minute changes.
DeleteRegardless of the plan, you had some very nice meals. Lots of variety and tasty food at your house.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got your pork chops. That was a good price.
Thank you, Debra. Yes, no one went hungry and there was plenty of good food. I am glad I bought the pork chops. We had the second one I cooked, last night. The rest are in the freezer for later.
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