2023 meal planning thread

[Lastqueenofscotland2]

Very much looking forward to getting back on the bandwagon and not eating another Pringle for 11 months.

Tomorrow: Tuscan gnocchi
Saturday: pizza take out
Sunday: enchilada bake
Monday: Jambalaya
Tuesday: Thai peanut noodles
Wednesday: friend is cooking
Thursday: mushroom stroganoff

Today: Harissa & lemon baked cod & root veg, couscous
Mon: Saag aloo shepherds pie (I see this is proving very popular on MN . We had it last week too and it’s lovely)
Tues: Baked halloumi, chickpeas & greens
Wed: Smoked haddock macaroni cheese
Thurs: Mushroom & white bean soup
Fri: Prawn Malai curry (from India Express)
Out Saturday

Accountability from last week

Monday Sri Lankan delicata squash curry ( Ed Smith, Crave) - Yes delicious
Tuesday Angry cauliflower (Mowgli) - this became leek, bacon and Boursin pasta for moi as DH and DD were out
Wednesday spring greens, tomato, paneer (Meera Sodha) - never disappoints
Thursday Ottolenghi bulgur wheat and mushrooms and feta - this didn't happen!
Friday Celeriac tacos (Ottolenghi I think) moved Mowgli Angry Cauliflower to here - tbh a bit meh and have better roasted cauliflower recipes
Saturday fennel and anchovy pasta (bon appetit) - instead had Ottolenghi celeriac tacos - amazing
Sunday Diana Henry roast chicken with squash, lentils and picada - in oven as we speak..

Next week

Monday - left over chicken in Mezcla's chicken cannelloni
Tuesday -new potato, chard, coconut curry (Meera Sodha)
Wednesday - Spiced parsnip/potato shepherds pie (Nigel Slater)
Thursday - Fennel, anchovy pasta (Rachel Roddy)
Friday - Swede gnocchi with miso butter (Ottolenghi)
Saturday - Roast shoulder of lamb with romesco sauce and vegetables
Sunday - left over lamb made into ragu using Marcella's tomato sauce stashed in freezer from a couple of weeks back

This week is more mundane for us:

Sat roast beef, roast potatoes and roasted root veg.

Sun tuna steak, broccoli, and roasted baby potatoes

Mon leftover roast beef reheated in leftover gravy, mash potatoes, veg (Dh wants mushy peas so I'll probably have boiled carrots).

Tues pesto Rossa pasta with bacon lardons and maybe mushrooms

Wed Dh in charge so probably chicken or prawns and a jar of sauce on pasta or rice as suits sauce

Thurs possibly shepherd pie sauce from freezer and fresh mash o top

Fri going out to a formal event so probably a choice of beef and either chicken or fish...

We did a sort of lebanese inspired one last year - whole roasted, pomegranate seeds, tahini, the words. it WAS delicious. But it was more work than a full roast dinner! I should track down the recipe again as it was good. I hope I saved it.

Las week I mostly stuck to plan except instead of having an aubergine based dish as per plan, I had a chorizo/tomato/aubergine/feta pasta.... without the aubergine!

@HalloumiFries Your mushroom burger reminded me we haven't had veg burgers for a while, thanks. Have added. This week looks, tentatively:

Monday: fragrant asian-inspired pork mince with noodles
Tuesday: Mushroom, aubergine and goats cheese burgers with salad
Wednesday: cottage pie with the last of the leftover Christmas beef
Thursday: TBD.
Friday: Spaghetti Bolognaise (probably).

Just realised how mince heavy this week is. Abandoning either the cottage pie OR the spaghetti bolognaise. But not sure what for instead. I need to rifle through my freezer!

Thanks for reporting back @MamaNewtNewt

I made a really delicious veggie lasagne yesterday.
Tonight we're having fake chicken Katsu type thing - a repeat from last week because OH enjoyed it so much!
For the rest of this week, we've got in no particular order:

• the veggie haggis I bought last week and haven't used yet - with mash and Savoy cabbage
• courgette pasta because OH fancied it and we haven't had it for two or three weeks
• a quiche - not made one for absolutely ages - maybe mushroom or just cheese and onion, to be served with salad and maybe jacket potatoes
• some sort of freezer surprise with rice or Merchant Gourmet grains - maybe a Mexican style thing with Quorn pieces and a load of fried up vege
• out on Saturday night

Also pretty much stuck to plan last week. Last night was Chinese themed for lunar new year. We had veggie duck pancakes (known as duck pancakes in our house 😂), vegan prawn crackers, crispy tofu, rice and stir fried greens with either black bean sauce (me, DD2) or sweet and sour (DH, DD1)

Tonight - tex mex rice casserole
Tue- sausages with mash and lots of veg (probably baked beans for DH)
Wed- butternut carbonara
Thu- breaded fish, probably with wedges and roasted veg
Fri - oven baked minestrone
Sat - visiting DH family/DD2 will sort herself out
Sun - Dan Dan noodles and broccoli

What is your recipe for Dan Dan noodles please @PartTimeDomesticGoddess ?

@buonnatale - I do a vegan version using this Bosh recipe

www.bosh.tv/recipes/spicy-dan-dan-noodles

Ooh fab, thanks! @PartTimeDomesticGoddess

Thurs- Thai takeaway
Fri - Mushroom and pancetta risotto
Sat - Dishoom
Sun - roast beef, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings etc
Mon - harissa and miso spaghetti, cheesy garlic quesadilla
Tue - Tuscan chicken
Wed - freezer leftovers (burnt aubergine chilli)
Thurs - freezer leftovers (chicken jalfrezi)

Sticky soy and sesame tofu
Coconut chickpea curry
Chilli stew and dumplings
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (my DC’s new favourite!)
What my dc call dinosaur risotto!
Veggie sausage casserole and mash
Smoky halloumi bake

So great to see this thread busy

Tomorrow: DP or chippy
Saturday: Penne arrabiatta
Sunday: toad in the hole
Monday: veggie paella
Tuesday: mushroom stroganoff
Wednesday: veggie burger and chips
Thursday: Thai green curry with tofu and veg

bit rice heavy…

Haha, it's only Thursday and meal plan has been upended!

I had to defrost chicken for DD to have a non-veggie burger and had random bits of veg left in fridge so yesterday we had a pasta sauce made with the leftover chicken breast, random leak, half the aubergine left form burgers and tomatoes and chilli. Was really delicious actually!

And today me and DS are having salmon.

The original plan for cottage pie has been ditched in favour of using the leftover christmas beef from the freezer in steak and chargrilled veg flat breads because I realised we're all eating at different times. So still using that meat just not in original format!

This meal planning this is a minefield!

100% success rate on last week's plan!

This week will be

Tomorrow - Steak & chips
Sun - Thai-spiced roast chicken
Mon- l/o chicken in wraps with pourgouri
Tues - soup & sausage roll
Wed - Soup and egg roll
Thurs - 3-bean chilli with rice
Fri - Chicken and cabbage noodles

We've got a week off work though so do a decorating/diy project so all bets are off.

Friday Curry
Sat pizza
Sunday toad in the hole
Weds Turkey tacos
Monday Dirty fries
Tuesday bolognaise
Thurs Katsu noodles and veg

ooh just discovered this thread. This is great!

my meal plan for this week.
Tonight : Homemade veggie pizza
Sun : Gyoza and veg noodle soup (waitrose mag recipe)
Mon : mushroom risotto
Tues Sausages mash stir fried cabbage
weds seabass with mediteranean roasted veg
thurs lentil daal and chapatis
fri homemade chicken schnitzel green beans mustard sauce.

Have fish and chicken in freezer I need to use up!

Accountability:
SAT leftover burns dinner yes
SUN at a friend’s for lunch so prob lentil ragu for dinner can’t actually for the life of me remember what we ate
MON veggie lasagne turned the bolognese sauce into spag bog rather than lasagne
TUES salmon, rice and broccoli for the fam, soup for me on the train yes
WEDS going to do 4 different dishes from Nistisima: braised fennel, crushed beans and garlic, crushed coriander and olive potatoes, slow cooked peppers yes!
THURS DS cooking his scallion oil noodles yes
FRI prob pizza night went to the chippy

half this week planned and it’s basically exactly
the same as last week because I’m working away from home so much. Will be prepping lunches tomorrow though and have beetroot and orange soup and kale and fennel frittata on that list

I'm happy to have found this thread. I am sooo unbelievably bored with all the food we eat. We're in such a rut. It must end.
Lots of good ideas here. I'll have a think and try and come up with something better for this week.

Sunday- eating out

Monday-couscous,roasted vegetables and sweet chilli halloumi

Tuesday-lamb cutlets,herby roasted potatoes,cauliflower and leek cheese and green beans

Wednesday-chilli and ginger salmon,rice and broccoli

Thursday-salmon (leftover from last night) wraps , salad,guacamole and salsa

Friday-lasagne and salad

Saturday-away for the weekend

We're out tonight.

Tomorrow is the shallot tart from The Green Roasting Tin, with salad and little garlic roasted potatoes.

No idea after that. Work is busy and will get busier, and I can't think of anything I particularly fancy.

I keep falling off the planning wagon🤦‍♀️

This week- as much as I can remember,

Th- bacon from the freezer with tinned tomatoes and pasta
F- out for DH’s birthday, we had Indian food
S- tinned beef with rice and veg
S-depends if DD1 is available, Uni student. We might visit and have lunch out.

I did lots better this week, moved a couple to other days, but only one takeaway and that’s because I’d had a horrendous migraine that day and was not up to cooking:

• ✅Sun: Halloumi, potato and broccoli peri-peri traybake
• ✅Mon: Quorn and veg enchiladas with brown rice and quinoa
• ✅Tue: Greens and Kimchi Rice from One Pot, Pan, Planet
• ✅Wed: Quorn and veg enchiladas with brown rice and quinoa
• ✅Thu: Boursin and Tomato Pasta with garlic bread
• ❌Fri: Quorn bacon and chicken lattice, carrots and chips or potatoes
• ✅Sat: Quorn lasagne from the freezer

Here is the menu for this week:

• Sun: Saag Aloo Shepherd’s Pie (One Pot, Pan, Planet)
• Mon: Sweetcorn Fritters with Chipotle Roasted Mushrooms and Potatoes (One of the Roasting Tin books)
• Tue: Saag Aloo Shepherd’s Pie leftovers
• Wed: Quorn, chips and beans
• Thu: Persian Herb Frittata (One of the Roasting Tin books)
• Fri: Russian Meatballs (Quorn) with Sour Cream, Rice and Tomatoes
• Sat: Veggie Pasta Bake (one I made earlier from the freezer)

More or less stuck to my 2 week meal plan. Soy, 5 spice and orange chicken became butter chicken instead as DS wanted to cook - will make this week instead & we ended up going out with friends yesterday so the pilau has also been shifted out a few days.

Plan for the next couple of weeks:
Pork Steaks, stuffing balls, mash, veg
Winter Pilau
Soy, Orange & 5 spice chicken, stir-fried veg
Tagliatelle with mushrooms & pancetta
Samosa Tart
Lamb & Squash curry
Meatballs, burrata & crostini
Chicken thighs, mushrooms, marsala
Gnocchi & feta bake
Basa & Leek risotto
Spaghetti bolognese
Jacket potatoes
Spicy mushroom lasagne
Buttermilk chicken burgers

Lunches will be leftovers / soup (broccoli & stilton / tomato & mascarpone) & going to make a few sausage rolls to use up the last of the chutney & pastry.

OK I've done my plan for the week. I've been meaning to pop to the Chinese supermarket for ages so will go in the morning.

Today: hunters chicken with roasted butternut squash
Monday: fish with peanut sesame noodles
Tuesday: pasta and meatballs
Wednesday: prawn fried rice
Thursday: home made pizza and salad
Friday: honey soy chicken with noodles
Saturday: thai green curry with rice