Meal Planning: July Week 1 Review and Week 2 Options

Wild Asparagus Fronds

This was my list of meal plan options for July Week 1 (June 29-July 5)

Brunches/Lunches:  Bagels; Egg salad sandwiches; Tortillas with eggs and lunu miris; Milkrice with seeni sambol; French toast/Waffles/Pancakes; leftovers, toast

Dinners: Ground beef keema curry with rice and vegetables; Chicken curry with rice and vegetables; Tortillas with either ground beef or chicken curry; Macaroni & Cheese Fettuccini Alfredo Pasta (boxed mix) with tuna (or hamburger patties from the freezer; or, maybe hot dogs for 4th of July (if they go on sale, later this week, for a 4th of July dinner) Shrimp curry; Salmon steaks with asparagus fronds

Snacks/Desserts: Oranges, bananas, mandarins, flan, patties, apple pie? papaya, cherries, nectarines, white peaches, plums, apples, fruit salad, brownies, cookies

Here is how that worked out:

Monday:

Breakfast:  Bagel & cream cheese

Lunch:  Rice, ground beef keema curry, sauteed curried green beans, cucumber salad, kale mallung:

Monday Lunch

Dinner:  Boxed fettuccini pasta mix with frozen green peas added and a hambutger patty:

Monday Dinner 

Dessert/Snacks: Chocolate chip cookies; bananas, oranges

Tuesday:

Brunch: Bagel with butter

Dinner: Rice and leftover curries (keema curry, green beans, kale) with freshly cooked dhal

Tuesday Dinner

Dessert/Snacks: Bananas, oranges, cookies

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Milkrice with seeni sambol

Dinner:  Rice and leftover curries (ground beef keema curry, dhal, green beans)

Wednesday Dinner

Dessert/Snacks: Bananas, chocolate chip cookies

Thursday:

Brunch:  Banana

Dinner:  Rice, shrimp curry, leftover green beans

Thursday Dinner

Dessert/Snacks: Cherries, dates, bananas, cookies

Friday:

Brunch:  Leftover milkrice and ground beef keema curry

Dinner:  Rice, shrimp curry, dhal with spinach added to it:

Friday Dinner

Dessert/Snacks:  Brownies, cherries

On Friday evening, when my gardener friend M was here, he shared some wild asparagus fronds (pictured at the top of this post) that he had been given by one of his other clients.  She gets boxes of fresh organic produce from a farm delivered weekly to her house and she often shares various items with him.  According to a text she sent him, which he showed me, these asparagus fronds were wild asparagus and the side shoots or leaflets forming on either side of the main stem are the parts that are eaten and are served at just two Michelin star restaurants.  Now, I don't know for sure if these are wild asparagus or not, but, I do know that the leaves of asparagus that are grown mostly for the spears or shoots are edible.  The leaves are needed for food production for the plants, but, a few leaves maybe picked from each plant without causing any damage to the plants.  The stems are usually too woody to be eaten and the berries (found only on the female plants) are poisonous and should not be eaten, but, the leaves are edible.   So, I picked the tender side shoots and a bit of the tender tips of the stalks, too, and added them to the salmon I cooked for Saturday's dinner, along with the larger Berkeley Tie Dye tomato I had picked from the garden on Friday.

Saturday:

Brunch:  Banana, toast

Dinner:  Rice and salmon cooked with onions, tomato, and asparagus leaves:

Salmon with Asparagus Leaves

Dessert/Snacks:  Brownies, papaya, cherries

Sunday:

Brunch:  Toast with butter and pineapple jam (me); leftover milkrice (daughter)

Dinner:  Rice, ground beef keema curry, Persian cucumber salad with Japanese seasonings (shiokoshiou)

Sunday Dinner

Dessert/Snacks:  Fruit salad (papaya, white peaches, nectarines, apples, cherries); the last of the brownies

Well, that worked out well enough, I think.  I went off plan after buying groceries, but, it was fine.  

I am grateful for:

- The availability of food and bargains at the grocery store

- Homegrown tomatoes
- M sharing some new and interesting ingredients

- Convenience foods (boxed mixes, frozen foods, etc.)  in moderation
- Some treats

It's time to make a meal plan for July Week 2.  I am having a sciatica flare up which started on Sunday so, this week's meal plan might have to be mostly leftovers and whatever is easiest for daughter to cook until I feel better and can stand for more than two minutes without pain.

Brunches/Lunches:  Egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches; toast with peanut butter; fruit, tortillas with seeni sambol 

Dinners: Rice with salmon and broccoli, rice with salmon and green beans, boxed mac & cheese with tuna, Chicken curry with rice and cucumber salad, leftovers.

Snacks/Desserts: Fruits/fruit salad

As always, meal plan options will be subject to change, especially if I order groceries towards the end of the week.

How about you?  Did you make a meal plan last week?  Are you making a meal plan this week?