Monday, November 10, 2025

November Meal Planning - Week 1 Review and Week 2 Plans

Paratha with Spicy Sauteed Potatoes

 

These were my meal plan options for November Week 1 (11/3 to 11/9):


Brunches:  Cold cuts sandwiches; Bagels; doughnuts, leftovers

Dinners:  Hamburgers/fries/chicken nuggets (Monday); Parathas and spicy sauteed potatoes (Tuesday); Breakfast for dinner (Scrambled eggs, sausages, and hash browns);  Fried  Mexican rice casserole; Leftovers/Planned-overs 

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit; crackers; granola bars; cereal and milk;  Peach cobbler

Or something else!  Butternut squash risotto (compliments of M) and pizza, chicken alfredo pasta, and breadsticks (compliments of daughter)

And here is how it worked out:

Monday:
Brunch:  Leftover milkrice with fish curry (me) or seeni sambol (daughter)
Dinner:  Hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries from the drive-through at McDonald's
Snacks/Dessert:  Milkshake (me); peach cobbler (daughter)

Tuesday:
Brunch:  Doughnuts from the doughnut shop next to Dancer's pharmacy
Dinner:  Parathas with spicy sauteed potatoes (ala thel dala) - a vegetarian meal
Snacks/Dessert: Persimmons, peach cobbler (daughter0, the rest of my milkshake (me)

Wednesday:
Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches, leftover uppuma
Dinner:  Rice, chicken curry, green beans, pickled cucumber salad
Snacks/Dessert: Doughnut, Strawberries, chips, the last bit of peach cobbler (daughter)

Thursday:
Brunch:  Bagels with butter and cold cuts (daughter) or cream cheese (me)
Dinner:  Mexican rice casserole

Mexican Rice Casserole

Snacks/Dessert: Doughnut, persimmons, chips, apple juice

Friday:
Brunch:  Leftover Mexican rice casserole
Dinner:  Butternut Squash Risotto (compliments of M who bought two frozen bags of it on sale and gave me one to try)

Butternut Squash Risotto


Snacks/Dessert:  Chips, 

Saturday:
Breakfast : Bagel with cream cheese, apple juice (me)
Lunch:   Leftover Mexican rice
Dinner:  Pizza - daughter treated us to pizza, chicken alfredo pasta, and breadsticks
Snacks/Dessert: Piece of chocolate, breadsticks

Sunday:
Breakfast: Stringhoppers and seeni sambol (me)
Lunch:  Leftover pizza and chicken alfredo pasta (I had only the pasta)
Dinner:  Leftover pizza (daughter); "breakfast for dinner" scrambled eggs  (me)
Snacks/Dessert:  Peanut butter and toast (me), granola bar (daughter), dates and cashews (me)

Well, I tried to stay on plan but, we did go off plan with Mexican rice instead of fried rice, risotto on Friday night, and pizza and pasta over the weekend!  But, I am okay with that.  I had everything needed for the Mexican rice on hand, the risotto was a gift from M, and the pizza and pasta dinners were a treat from daughter.  

Moving on to November Week 2 (11/10 to 11/16), these are my meal plan options:

Brunches:  Egg salad sandwiches; cereal and milk; the last bagel; leftover pizza; leftovers from dinners

Dinners:  Smoked sausage, spicy oven baked potato wedges, broccoli; Chicken curry, dhal, rice, cucumber salad; Thai food (birthday meal); Leftovers/Planned-overs 

Snacks/Desserts:  Fruit; crackers; chips; granola bars;  banana/zucchini bread; maybe cheesecake?

Once again, the meal plan options might, or might not, change as the week progresses!

As always, I am grateful I am able to have access to a variety of food and plenty of it, and for daughter and friends generously blessing me with some delicious meals.  

Speaking of meal plans, I booked the date for my annual almsgiving over the weekend and I have already started meal planning for that!  I will post the almsgiving meal plan a little closer to the date, once I have everything more or less finalized.  But, I am so happy that I was able to schedule it.

Did you meal plan last week?  If so, did you keep to your meal plan?  Will you be making a meal plan for this week?

22 comments:

  1. Mexican rice casserole looks good. Maybe I will try that. What did you put in yours?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, June. I used leftover rice, a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of corn kernels (drained and rinsed), a can of dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed), and a can of chicken (drained and rinsed); about a third of an onion sauteed with cumin, chili powder, paprika, and garlic powder. One could add bell peppers, but, I didn't. I wrote about how I made it here:
      https://bless2cents.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-week-so-far.html

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    2. You are welcome. One could use a jar of salsa instead of the canned tomatoes, too. I just used what I had on hand.

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  2. Hi Bless. Yes, I'm back to meal planning again, although Lily is cooking at school today, so I'll be let off the hook this evening.
    Butternut squash risotto is also a favourite of mine, especially at this time of year. Xx

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jules. Glad that you are back to meal planning again. How nice to hear that Lily is cooking at school! I'm sure you'll enjoy not having to cook this evening. You'll have to tell me what she made! :)
      This was the first time I've had butternut squash risotto and it had a very interesting taste of cinnamon that I was not expecting. :)

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  3. My meal planning is a bit random at the moment. I'm visiting my mum next week, so I'm using up bits and bobs.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds good to me. Enjoy visiting your mum. :)

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  4. Hello Bless,
    It is with pleasure that i wish you a very happy birthday once again.
    I hope we can continue to have this little annuel chat for many years to come.
    Best regards

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Vegevi. And a very happy birthday to you, too! I was telling my daughter about you and how we share a birthday and how you always wish me. I do hope you had a lovely day celebrating your birthday (I visited a botanical garden with my daughter) and yes, I hope we can have this annual chat for many years to come. :)

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  5. Everything looks so good! Now I'm hungry :)

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  6. Happy birthday, Bless! I hope you're enjoying your day!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Celie! I've had a lovely day. I'll post about it, later. :)

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  7. The paratha with Spicy Sauteed Potatoes really appeals to me. I've just been to stock up on food after 10 days away. I bought chicken breasts to cook with the butter chicken sauce that our son gets us from Costco, but I didn't fancy cutting up chicken today so I bought some pork chops for tonight instead. We'll have butter chicken tomorrow I guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The parathas with the sauteed potatoes tasted delicious, Bushlady. One could have a mixture of sauteed vegetables, too, and it would also be good. Pork chops for tonight and butter chicken later in the week sounds good. I wonder if you can just cook the whole chicken breasts in the butter chicken sauce without cutting it up?

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  8. I love seeing your food. I'm absolutely going to have to try that Mexican rice casserole!

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  9. Butternut squash risotto, spicy potatoes and doughnuts.
    I'd would've made excuses to visit you this week. lol

    ReplyDelete

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