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

I have been hopeless these past few weeks.

Today- slow cooked ham with roast vegetables
Mon- leftover ham and vegetable wraps
Tues- cauliflower and spinach pies with salad
Wednesday- pasta with bacon, cream and peas

that is as far as I got!

Everything apart from the frittata was made and eaten, more or less in order! Pretty good for once.

Anna Jones cauliflower and ginger soup.
Orzo with spiced tomato sauce and feta.
Carrot or sweet potato dhal.
Left over lamb curry
Either frittata from last week or spiced cauliflower frittata
Mixed mushroom masala
Kolkata chilli paneer

Dan Dan noodles tonight then

M: fish pie (seaside pie for me) - bases to defrost and top with fresh mash
T: DH and DD out, probably something from the freezer or beans on toast for me
W: pasta and sauce for DD (gnocchi and cream cheese bake from the Asda magazine for me and DH using the same sauce)
T: the sticky sesame tofu that @Fivemoreminutes1 posted with rice and stir fried cabbage/broccoli
F: rose harissa chickpea stew with crusty bread
S: Tex mex rice bake with all the Tex Mex toppings and tortilla chips
S: sausage plait or toad in the hole (haven’t decided yet)

Yesterday: JO allotment pie, topped with colcannon
Today: Cauliflower steaks with harissa & goats cheese
Tues: Spicy peanut tofu
Wed: Veggie sausage & mash
Thurs: Cauliflower pea & paneer curry
Fri: Pasta puttanesca
Sat: Probably pizza

I really am struggling in that I'm just not particularly interested in the whole cooking thing at the moment. With changes, we more or less stuck to meal plan last week. For the next 4 or 5 days we have:

Mon: Chicken fajitas (chicken burger for fussy DD)
Tues: Leek and pancetta tart with salad (something else for fussy DD. Probably pasta, pesto and pancetta)
Wed: Pizza for a mini-celebration
Thursday: Ginger, garlic, lemongrass pork mince and noodles (DD out)
Friday: tbc but probably some kind of veggie wrap as easy to eat in car on way to activities and we haven't had a veggie option this week.

I have to do a big lunch on Sunday with friends. Am definitely NOT doing a big roast. Am leaning towards roasting two chickens and serving it with a risotto or a pilaf or something and some green veg. Does that sound okay?

Vegan Swedish meatballs
Leek and potato pie
Baked gnocchi
Spanakopita pancakes
Spiced butternut and lentil soup
Fritters
Aloo gobi traybake

Loving the accountability idea! This was the last 2 weeks

✅Su: cottage pie using last of the onion, celery and carrots. Root veg topping
✅M: Vietnamese pork with brown rice/ cauli rice (I'm low carb) and pak Choi
✅T: tray bake with chicken thighs, chorizo, new potatoes and peppers
✅W: keema madras and brown rice/cauli rice
✅Th: steak pie, chips for everyone else, buttered broccoli, peas and kale
❌went to the chippy! F: homemade cod and parsley fish cakes with salad and tartare sauce
✅Sa: sweet chilli chicken noodle salad (almost - 13 yo had chicken burgers instead)
✅Su: steak in ale, yorkshires, mashed celeriac, more buttered greens
✅M: chicken makhani with brown rice/cauli rice
✅T: smoked basa fillets, new potatoes, sugar snap peas and baby corn
✅W-F are speed teas as DD is in the school musical every night so a mix of jacket potatoes with various fillings, salad, soup, sausage sandwiches etc
TBC... Sa: chicken pizzas ( chicken breast butterflied and bashed out and then topped with passata or bbq sauce, cheese, salami etc)

New meal plan sorted for next week

M: jerk chicken with rice and peas
T: jambalaya
W: hunters chicken, sweet potato wedges and salad
Th: sausage casserole
F: Moqueca de Piexe (a Brazilian fish stew) with crusty bread for dipping - simply cook box
Sa: BBQ pulled pork
Su: chicken casserole

M: chilli con carne (weight watchers Brazilian chilli recipe with the addition of capers, absolutely delicious)
T: Turkey meatballs and pasta, garlic and basil tomato sauce
W: pork and bean casserole with loads of garlic and paprika
Th: peruvian chicken, rice and salad - another simply cook recipe
F: fish and chips
Sa: homemade juicy Lucy burgers!
Su: lasagne

Last week ended up with significant plan deviation:

Sat - Steak & chips ✅️
Sun - Thai-spiced roast chicken ❌️ DH reminded me that I promised to roast a ham in January as I didn't do one at Christmas this year. So we had ham glazed with cider and cranberry with broccoli cheese.
Mon- l/o chicken in wraps with pourgouri ❌️ Invited out for fish & chips with Dsis and family
Tues - soup & sausage roll ❌️ Leftover broccoli cheese turned into a pasta bake
Wed - Soup and egg roll ❌️ l/o ham, egg and chips
Thurs - 3-bean chilli with rice ❌️ soup and egg roll as originally planned for earlier in week
Fri - Chicken and cabbage noodles ❌️ soup ans sausage roll.

This week's plan is

Today - pizza takeaway after rugby
Tomorrow - chicken thighs, peppers, orzo tray bake
Monday - 3 bean chilli
Tuesday - pasta, creamy mushroom pesto
Wednesday - chicken, chorizo rice
Thursday - veggie enchiladas
Friday- ham and mushroom tagliatelle

Today, I am either going steak and chips, or buying ham and cheese and tomatoes for a salad type dinner in my hotel.

Tomorrow, I expect will likely either be an Italian or "meat and chips" style meal with a group of colleagues.

Tuesday is either something on the plane or a takeaway collected on the way home.

The rest of the week, I'll worry about later in the week.

Today is veggie chilli with deconstructed guac (ie chunky rather than mashed) and a tomato salsa made with lovely little yellow tomatoes

Tomorrow is a curry with chickpeas and paneer

Tuesday is leek and potato soup

Don't know beyond that. I'm fancying veggie Turkish style kebabs with halloumi though, so that might feature either this week or at the weekend. And maybe some sort of veggie burger with roasted corn on the cob.

Today: No DC today so we’re taking the opportunity to try the spicy harissa sprouts and broccoli with halloumi & spinach from The Green Roasting Tin. I don’t think my DC would appreciate something so sprout focused .
Monday: Saag aloo shepherds pie
Tuesday Paella
Wed: Leek & mushroom tart
Thurs: Spicy bean burgers
Fri: Marmite macaroni cheese
Sat: Either eating out or burnt aubergine chili from the freezer.

Left over paneer curry, rice, home made bhaji
Gnocchi with pesto and roast veggies, olives
Smoky veg patties
Veggie chilli or shepherd's pie
Samosa tart
Squash dhal or squash pasta

Last week definitely didn't go according to plan, due to making on a whim a Tuscan Bean Soup and it basically lasting most of the week... cheap, at least!

Saag aloo shepherds pie - ooh @AbsolutelyNebulous this sounds good. Where’s the recipe from?

It's absolutely delicious @NoSquirrels, as are all of Anna Jones recipes. Her books are fab, my favourite is the one referred to in the link

www.theguardian.com/food/2021/feb/21/one-pot-vegetarian-recipes-anna-jones-pad-thai-shepherds-pie

Yes @NoSquirrels its from One Pot, Pan, Planet. We’ve had it a few times and it’s really good.

Ooh, thanks both! Going on the menu, looks delicious. I’ve also had that cookbook on my radar but not bought it so perhaps I will.

I really REALLY struggle with meal planning. One DC is veggie/pescatarian so I tend to base meals around this but other DC doesn’t really like pulses so often I’m cooking 2 versions of a meal. It’s fine, I’m a good scratch cook but the planning aspect always eludes me - I sort of rebel against the idea of it. Then curse my former rebel self at 7pm when I’m grumpy about thinking. So I’m intrigued by the accountability thing in this thread - it might work! I’m going to have a think now and come back with a plan…

Ok well DP is away next week with work so just me and the kids to organise. I have decided that because I have a short work week I am cooking every day this week although today we had leftover takeaway and snacks and just bits of things. So for this week:
Asian chilli chicken with veg fried rice
Lasagna
Chilli con carne with rice and tortillas
Chicken curry
Omelette and chips

Me and he are heading away the weekend so no cooking then and kids will be left money for takeaways.

Stuck to plan apart from today. The sausage plait or toad in the hole isn't happening as I went out for pub lunch with friends, so DD cooked for her and DH

M: burgers with all the trimmings, wedges and hm coleslaw
T: fast day lentil stew for me/filled pasta for them
W: puff pastry toad in the hole to use the pastry/sausages intended for today
T: butternut traybake for me/Omlette for them
F: courgette fritters with fried egg, avocado, roast tomatoes
S: chilli stew and dumplings
S: quiche with wedges and more hm coleslaw, roast tomatoes

Here's how I did last week, not too bad.

✅ Sun: Saag Aloo Shepherd’s Pie (One Pot, Pan, Planet) I was really disappointed with this. Not sure if I did something wrong but the topping was watery and tasteless, although the filling was quite nice. I have another serving in the freezer so might redo the topping and see if that helps
✅ Mon: Sweetcorn Fritters with Chipotle Roasted Mushrooms and Potatoes (One of the Roasting Tin books) This was delicious with some smashed avocado and a bit of cheese but I don't think I smashed the coriander seeds enough
❌ Tue: Saag Aloo Shepherd’s Pie leftovers We had takeaway pizza as I didn't like this earlier in the week
✅ Wed: Quorn, chips and beans
✅ Thu: Persian Herb Frittata (One of the Roasting Tin books) I loved this, it was so tasty and easy. I'm making two this week, one to eat and one fr the freezer
✅ Fri: Russian Meatballs (Quorn) with Sour Cream, Rice and Tomatoes I really enjoyed this as well. As I didn't make my own meatballs, I used quorn readymade, it was super easy
✅ Sat: Veggie Pasta Bake (one I made earlier from the freezer)

This week we are having:

• Sun: Ate out as we were out for the day
• Mon: Greens and Kimchi Rice (One Pot, Pan, Planet)
• Tue: Quorn, mushroom and emmental parcels (from the freezer) with chips and peas
• Wed: Persian Herb Frittata (Roasting Tin Book) with roasted veg

• Thu: Crispy Baked Gnocchi (Roasting Tin Book)
• Fri: Roast Aubergine with curried yoghurt (Ottolenghi) with brown rice and quinoa, poppadoms and naan
• Sat: Paneer and veg tikka masala (from the freezer) with brown rice and quinoa, poppadoms and naan

✅Sat : Homemade veggie pizza
✅Sun : Gyoza and veg noodle soup (waitrose mag recipe)
✅Mon : mushroom risotto
❌Tues original meal was replaced with Chinese pork lettuce wraps - as I ended up with about a ton of lettuce as substitute on my veg box 🤨
✅weds Sausages white squash mash stir fried cabbage
✅Thurs lentil daal chapattis salad
❌fri homemade chicken schnitzel green beans mustard sauce. Chicken hadn't defrosted so had Turkish style chicken wings with veg fried rice
✅Sat out
❌Sun seabass with mediteranean substituted with Fridays chicken schnitzel.

Not too bad.

This week is :
Mon cottage pie broccoli and green beans
Tues salmon teriyaki with noodles in xo sauce
Weds just me so not sure what I fancy right now
Thurs quick daal makhni ( from Gousto recipe card) naan
Fri can't think that far ahead at the moment 😁

I am not doing so well with my meal planning. But this week so far;

M- salmon with broccoli, sweet potato and roasted tomatos
T- Beef korma and rice (from the freezer)
W- cauliflower and spinach pies with roasted vegetables
T- Minestrone

Just place marking because I’m working so late every night DH is in charge of dinner and I’m just grabbing soup out of the freezer

A plan! We’ll see if I stick to it…

Today we ate - ricotta, mushroom & onion puff pastry tart, cubed rosemary & garlic potatoes, salad

Tues: veggie chilli/meat chilli & rice, sweetcorn salsa

Weds: saag aloo shepherd’s pie

Thurs: leek (& ham) macaroni cheese

Fri: meatballs in tomato sauce (turkey/aubergine) - in buns?

Sat: curry, rice, naan (daal, saag paneer, chicken - batch cook for freezer)

Sun: slow-cooked pork, roast potatoes & veg, apple sauce

I didn't share a plan last week - mainly because I had one of those 0 birthdays so I knew things would go awry! Had an amazing meal in Durham - if you're close enough to get there, do book Coarse!

Anyway, this week - am using up a veg box delivery of carrots, onions, fennel, leeks, broccoli, curly kale, Swiss chard and mushrooms

Tuesday chicken, leek and pea traybake (Nigella)
Wednesday cookhouse stew with chorizo, chard and fennel
Thursday fennel, broccoli, anchovy/sardine, raisin, pine nut pasta
Friday Marcella pasta/black lentil dhal (I'm away so DH is freezer fending)
Saturday saag paneer (Meera Sodha)
Sunday stroganoff (Nigel Slater)
Monday chicken paprikash (Good housekeeping - not made it before.....)