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Turkey and Vegetable Soup |
Here's how the first week of April worked out:
Monday:
Brunch: Waffles with bacon and blueberry compote (made with homegrown frozen blueberries)
Dinner: Hamburgers and fries from a fast food place
Tuesday (April 1):
Brunch: Milkrice, seeni sambol, lunu minis, jaggery
Dinner: Leftover pasta, chicken, sauteed green beans; bananas for dessert
Wednesday:
Brunch: Leftover waffles with canned mackerel curry
Dinner: Rice, chicken curry, cucumber salad, beetroots boiled and sliced; mango for dessert
Thursday:
Daughter left home, after what was supposed to have been a week long visit turned into just over 5 months! Her friend's parents, who took them to the airport, brought me a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, filled with a variety of meats and marinated vegetables (which came in a separate package; at first, I thought it was a type of spring roll!). It was a foot long and I feasted on it all day!
Brunch: Half of the banh mi sandwich
Dinner: The other half of the sandwich
Friday:
Breakfast: A waffle
Lunch: Leftover fried rice and a side salad
Dinner: "Breakfast for Dinner" - scrambled egg, bacon, fried potatoes
Saturday:
Brunch: A waffle with mackerel curry
Dinner 1: Peanut butter toast with "no waste" peach jam (made with the skins and bruised bits of peaches that I had removed when I made the peach jam meant for gift giving)
Sunday:
Brunch: The last waffle with chicken curry; banana
Dinner: Turkey and vegetable soup (packet of turkey bits and pieces from the freezer, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, homegrown red stemmed celery, the last bit of a bag of edamame, and a few slices of homegrown okra to thicken the soup a bit, all from the freezer, a can of sliced carrots (drained), a tablespoon or so of chicken bouillon powder, a bit of garlic powder, a handful of black pepper corns, and a freshly picked red chili from the garden). Canned fruit cocktail for dessert
I think I did fine with April Week 1 meal planning.
April Week 2 Meal Plan
The plan is to eat mostly from the pantry and freezer in order to stretch the approximately $53 left in the April grocery budget. I have no intention of depleting the pantry or the freezer, but, there are some items that need to be used up ("best by" dates have come and gone!)
I haven't done a full inventory update of my freezer, yet, but, I did check the bin where I keep most of the meat and I have three chicken breast halves with ribs, one smoked sausage, two packets of bacon (12 oz. each), one piece of ham/ham steak (leftover from Thanksgiving), and a package of roast turkey breast, also leftover from Thanksgiving. There is another package of turkey bones on another shelf, I believe, which I will keep for another batch of soup, later. I think I have plenty of meat to last me the month, but, I will want to stock up on some chicken when it goes on sale, next, and it would be nice to have some beef or pork for variety. And, if ham goes on sale for Easter, I would like to buy one to freeze.
So, here's the plan for this week:
Brunches: Tuna salad sandwiches, scrambled egg, toast or fried potato, and bacon; leftover soup; peanut butter toast; muffins?
Dinners: Rice and curries; turkey and vegetable soup; grilled cheese sandwich; fried rice; leftovers
At least, that is the plan.
As always, I am grateful for having a variety of food to eat and plenty of it.
Are you doing a meal plan this week?
Your soup looks very healthy. So nice of you to give M a meal, and I notice you are always kind to the monks in your temple. I bet you miss your daughter! Glad you have nice ,warm weather. Your flower (last post) is pretty and your cabbages are nice. andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. The soup did turn out quite well. You know me - I like to feed people. :)
DeleteThe bans ni sounds good. I've never had one before. You get such treats from your friend and neighbors.
ReplyDeleteIt was very tasty - a little like a cold cuts subway sandwich, but, different types of cold cuts and the marinated vegetables were delicious.
DeleteYou will miss having your daughter around, it has been a lovely time for you both. Meal plans remain somewhat haphazard here with our kitchen chaos. We are hoping to have everything straight by Easter weekend, but there have been a couple of glitches which have held us up. " breakfast for dinner" is a frequent feature on our menu too.
ReplyDeleteI do miss her, Angela, but, she'll be back for another (shorter) visit in a couple of months (for her friend's baby's Christening).
DeleteIt must be difficult to meal plan and cook with the kitchen undergoing renovations, but, I'm sure you'll have everything ready in time for Easter. I like having "breakfast for dinner" when I'm cooking for myself - it's quick and easy, usually.
That soup looks delicious and if you were here right now, you would be glad you had made it, as we received at least 3 inches of snow overnight and it is still stuck to every tree! The squirrels haven't even come out, but some small migrating birds that are ground feeders were very happy when I sprinkled some mixed seeds on the porch, where they had been hunting among the sunflower seed shells.
ReplyDeleteThe soup turned out very well and has been my dinner with a slice of toast, these past couple of days. You had a lot of snow overnight! I'm sure the birds appreciated the seeds you gave them and no doubt the squirrels will be there as soon as they feel warm enough to venture out!
DeleteWell done with the meal planning! The soup looks lovely. I'm doing okay with the meal planning. At least I know what I'm cooking each day for the men. I still need to do better planning for my own meals.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Well done with your meal planning for the family. However, I am a little concerned about your own meals. It sounds like you need to make two meal plans for the week - one for the family and one for you and the one for you doesn't always get done. Can you batch cook a few vegetarian main meals, portion them out and freeze them for yourself?
DeleteWe had soup yesterday. Soup, for me is one of the easy dishes. I'm not much of a cook, and sometimes I just like to take it easy.
ReplyDeleteSoup is definitely an easy dish to prepare. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting.
DeleteWeek one went well. The Banh mi sandwich sounds very good. I need to try one of those.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the banh mi sandwich, but then, you know how much I like those subway type sandwiches. :)
DeleteSoup sounds delicious. I haven't been meal planning this week, and I've come to regret it, as I've struggled with my food intolerances. A lesson learned. Xx
ReplyDeleteThe soup turned out well. I'm sorry your food intolerances have caused you some issues this week, but, hopefully, you'll get back to meal planning soon or, at the very least, keep the intolerances in mind when deciding what to eat.
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