October Meal Planning: Week 1 Review and Week 2 Options

Milk Rice with Lunu Miris (left)
 and Seeni Sambol (right)

These were my meal planning options for October Week 1 (which included the last two days of September, as well):

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 was, will I stick to the meal plan or go off of it, again?  

And here's the answer to that:

Monday:

Brunch:  Assorted leftovers

Dinner:  Ground turkey cooked with onions, a grated carrot, a cubed potato, some cut up snowpea pods, tomatoes, and seasonings, with pasta.

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets, the last of the milk bread, etc.

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Toasted half a bagel each
Dinner: "Burrito" with a warmed up tortilla, ground turkey mixture, fresh corn, avocado, and lettuce (daughter) followed by pasta with ground turkey mixture

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and murukku snack mix, strawberries

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Milkrice with seeni sambol and lunu miris (me); with sugar (daughter); and M who was tending to the garden had his milkrice with lunu miris.

Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, sauteed curried okra (from the garden), tomato chutney, cashew curry

Snacks/Desserts:  Asian pears, Sri Lankan sweets, Lemon Puff cookies (me); ginger biscuits (daughter); cereal with milk (me)

Thursday:

Brunch:  Milkrice with chicken curry (me); with seeni sambol (daughter)

Dinner: Leftover biriyani rice and chicken (me); rice and chicken curry with okra (daughter)

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snack mixes; Lemon Puff cookies (me), Strawberries

Friday:

Brunch:  Piece of chicken curry and a frozen meal (Teriyaki chicken and pineapple with rice) (daughter); I didn't eat brunch

Dinner:  Pasta with the last of the ground turkey mixture

Snacks/Desserts:  Strawberries, Sri Lankan sweets and snack mixture

Saturday:

Brunch:  Turkey cold cuts sandwiches, chips, flavored water

Dinner:  Hamburgers and fries, 

Snacks/Desserts:  Asian pears, ice cream cones

Sunday:

Brunch:  Toast and peach jam (me); bagel sandwich with cold cuts, avocado, etc. (daughter)

Dinner:  Rice and pork chops (I did buy the pork chops on Tuesday; I bought 8 pork chops, sauteed them all with onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, etc., to eat over the up-coming week)

Snacks/Desserts:  Kalu dodol (a traditional Sri Lankan sweet made with coconut milk, rice flour, and jaggery); murukku snack mix

I think, all in all, it was a fairly good week of following the meal plan, more or less.  

On to October Week 2 Options:

Brunches:  Scrambled eggs (with lunu miris), bacon, toast, orange juice; Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina, cooked with curry leaves, dried red chilies, roasted peanuts, etc.);  Toast with peanut butter and bananas; Cold cuts sandwiches, Pancakes or Waffles with bacon and syrup/blueberry compote; leftovers from dinners

Dinners:  Rice, chicken curry, dhal curry, ala thel dala (spicy sauteed potatoes), okra, cucumber salad, tomato chutney (Monday's dinner). Pork chops with rice or potatoes, and vegetables, Mac & Cheese with tuna and salad, Leftovers

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit, Sri Lankan sweets and snacks, maybe another bread pudding?

Monday Brunch

Monday:

Brunch:  Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast  

Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, dhal, spicy sauteed potatoes, cucumber salad, tomato chutney

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snacks; bananas

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina)

Dinner:  Leftovers - rice, chicken curry, dhal, spicy sauteed potatoes, okra, cucumber salad, chutney

Snacks/Desserts:  Sri Lankan sweets and snack mix; bananas

Uppuma

Are you meal planning, too?  If so, are you keeping to the meal plan?  Or, do you allow some flexibility when you plan?