September Meal Planning: Week 4 Review and October Week 1 Options

Bread Pudding

These were my meal plan options for September Week 4:

Brunches:  Leftover chicken pie;  the last of the bagels; the last of the tortillas; eggs, bacon, and toast; boiled mung beans; leftovers from dinner; cereal

Dinners: Ground turkey keema curry with rice and vegetables; boxed mac & cheese with tuna; "breakfast for dinner" type meal or toasted sandwiches; fried rice; frozen potstickers (need to order from the grocery store); or something else!

Snacks/Desserts:  Fresh fruit, cereal, crackers, avocado pudding, and maybe another apple pie as one has been requested!

I thought it was a reasonable meal plan with plenty of options, but, I am glad I put "or something else" at the end of the dinner options!  

So, here is how the meal plan options worked out:

Monday: On Monday, I had a bit of a queasy tummy and didn't feel like eating anything much
Brunch:  Leftover chicken pie (daughter); dry cereal (me)
Dinner:  Leftover chicken pie, again (daughter); scrambled egg (me)
Snacks/Dessert:  Saltine crackers (me); savory Ritz crackers and apple pie (daughter)

Tuesday:  I felt fine and fully recovered, but, didn't feel like cooking dinner or eating leftovers!

Brunch:  Peanut butter toast

Dinner:  Pizza and breadsticks
Snacks/Dessert: Mini cinnamon rolls

Wednesday: I had a surprise visit from my Sri Lankan friend S in the evening, who called 10 minutes before she arrived to let me know that she was on her way for a quick visit, just as I was about to leave to pick up my groceries.  No reason given, but, I picked some moringa pods and leaves and curry leaves to give her (and I'm glad I did because she brought me dinner!)
Brunch:  Leftover pizza and breadsticks
Dinner:  Sri Lankan/Indian food compliments of my friend S: thosai (a type of pancake made with a fermented batter), ulundu vadai (a savory snack that looks a bit like a doughnut), and accompaniments (cashew curry, sambar, coconut chutney):

Wednesday Dinner

Snacks/Dessert: Chocolate, grapes

Thursday:
Brunch:  Pancakes with leftover sambar, coconut sambol, and seeni sambol and/or syrup
Dinner:  Frozen dinner: Swedish meat balls and pasta
Snacks/Dessert: Bread pudding

Friday:  On Friday, we went to the Sri Lankan store and to the Sri Lankan restaurant where we ordered food to go.

Lunch:  Rice served with chicken curry, dhal, eggplant moju, beetroot curry, mallung (cooked shredded leafy greens with grated coconut) and pappadum from the Sri Lankan restaurant

Dinner:  Chicken biriyani (biriyani rice served with chicken, a hard boiled egg, pineapple curry, and mint sambol) from the Sri Lankan restaurant 

Snacks/Dessert: Fish patties and chicken patties; puhul dosi or pumpkin preserves (candied ash gourd, also known as winter melon); sesame aluwa (a type of Sri Lankan candy), watalappam (Sri Lankan custard pudding made with coconut milk, jaggery, eggs, cashew, and spices)

Saturday:  On Saturday, we went to a nearby mall to visit the Japanese shop and stopped in at a French bakery.

Brunch:  Malu pan (bread rolls baked with a filling of curried fish), from the Sri Lankan restaurant
Dinner:  Leftover rice and curries from the Sri Lankan restaurant

Snacks/Dessert: French bread baguette sandwiched with ham, slices of milk bread (a mini loaf of soft fluffy bread with a sweet glaze), watalappam, sesame aluwa, puhul dosi (candied melon)

Sunday:
Brunch:  Patties and rolls (leftovers) from the Sri Lankan restaurant (me); leftover pizza (daughter)
Dinner:  Leftover rice and curries 
Snacks/Dessert: Watalappan (me); bread pudding (daughter), murukku snack mix (savory deep fried snack), sesame aluwa, puhul dosi  

Well, now!  Consider this as the week when the meal plan went flying out the window!  I'm pretty sure I gained at least 2 lbs. after this week's feasting!  LOL.  

But, I am blessed to have friends who bring me some lovely meals; blessed to have access to ethnic stores and restaurants within a reasonable distance from me; blessed to have a car and be able to drive to these places without needing to take buses (it would have meant multiple buses and transfers each way); blessed to be able to have the means with which to afford to buy treats and splurge on restaurant meals.  I am truly grateful for these many blessings.

I am wondering if it is worth doing a meal plan for the first week of October (which includes the last two days of September, as well), but, I do like having some meal plan options, so, here goes nothing!

October Meal Plan Options: Week 1

Brunches:  Leftovers (lots of bits and pieces from which to choose), milkrice and seeni sambol/jaggery/sugar (Wednesday; October 1); cold cuts sandwiches; cereal and milk

Dinners: Rice and chicken curry and vegetables; pasta with ground turkey;  ground turkey "cottage pie"; pork chops with rice/pasta/potatoes and vegetables, if I manage to make it to the Tuesday only sale at the Armenian store (pork chops are on sale again for $1.99/lb.), or something else!

Snacks/Desserts:  Fresh fruit, granola bars, cereal, crackers, Sri Lankan sweets and snacks!

The big question is, will I stick to the meal plan or go off of it, again?  

Are you making a meal plan this week?