2024 meal planning

[Lastqueenofscotland2]

Anyone else starting to think about getting their arses back in gear?!
Mine for the next week
Tomorrow: baked Camembert with nice bread (not quite over Christmas yet!)
Saturday: Thai green veggie curry
Sunday: NYE - will be sitting in with a dog terrified of fire works, might just order a pizza
Monday: Tuscan bean stew and sourdough
Tuesday: west African peanut stew
Wednesday: some sort of pie with all the leftover veg
Thursday: gochujang tofu

Tonight - Mediterranean turkey burger bowls
Tuesday - Buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese dressing and croutons
Wednesday -Pasta e Fagioili with garlic bread
Thursday - Italian grinder salad
Friday - Spicy mushroom and broccoli noodles with vegetable gyoza
Saturday - fajitas, nachos and all the usual trimmings
Sunday - Steak, chips, grilled mushrooms & tomato with peas and Bearnaise sauce

Not a lot of cooking going on really as it's too hot!

It's been a bit all over the place with people visiting, weird kids' schedules etc. But I'm roughly planning:

Bobotie
Chorizo, aubergine, tomato and chilli pasta
Chicken a la king with rice
Possibly fish fillets and veg
Tuna pasta salad

This week is very much a "use up the fridge and freezer" week.

Sat was lemon chick thighs with lemon courgettes and steamed baby potatoes. (Leftover potatoes made into salad).

Sun was lamb chops and roasted potatoes and veggies.

Mon was chicken murgh oudhi and rice.

Last night was salmon that I fried and served with salad (too hot for a hot meal).

Tonight is the last of my country sausage meatballs and a portion of roasted veggies, tossed into tomato sauce with pasta.

Tomorrow probably a risotto with mushrooms.

Friday and Saturday are to be planned but some kind of using up stuff, but Sunday will be a steak dinner as DH arrives then 😁

I’m trying a couple of new salads this week as I’m getting bored of our usual and it’s too hot for much else.

Hoisin tofu noodles
Coronation chickpea salad
Quesadillas and charred corn salad
Harissa halloumi and tabbouleh
Falafel burgers
Feta, pea and mint frittata with green salad

Actually dragging my motivation out of retirement!
Tomorrow: Jamaican curry rice
Saturday: French onion pasta
Sunday; out
Monday: ratatouille and sourdough
Tuesday: Mushroom stroganoff
Wednesday: Spicy chickpea burgers with Cochujang caramelised onions
Thursday: Matar paneer

I’m bored of salad and have got a nasty, chesty cough, so I’m making lentil and vegetable soup despite the heat. Ice cream and strawberries for pudding.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie Hope you're feeling better?

I've got a new meal plan starting tomorrow. Starting with the tuna pasta salad we haven't got to yet then:

Pork mince, veggie and noodle stir fry
Baked chicken pieces
BBQ - sausages definitely, and probably a half deboned leg of lamb. Tomato salad and an aubergine salad.
Poached salmon with slowly sauteed leeks, red onion and cavalo Nero

Things are a little up in the air as we still have family visiting so I haven't gone for a full week and will rather just do another online order if I need to later in the week.

Saturday ended up being a pasta bake from the freezer post-pub...

Steak dinner last night, with roasted garlic and herb potatoes, french beans with garlic, and roasted tomatoes/onion/garlic with balsamic.

Tonight is probably a pizza (or else Friday night).

Tomorrow we are out with friends, Wednesday we are out in another city, Thursday will probably be train food en route back.

So not needing much kitchen inspiration this week - except to try and use a pack of chicken to make some freezer space for my return. Next week, will be another travelling around week.

So really, I'm not back to planning until 19TH. When hopefully I will bring some goodies back with me as the meat at "home" is so much better than here.

Thanks @SpaceOP I’m getting there, I hope!

Nothing to report food-wise. Will have to be wedges and bits and bobs tonight to use things up.

Yesterday - our for a massive roast so just had oatcakes and cheese at night
M - lasagne (M&S finest) with peas and garlic flatbread
T - chorizo Mexican rice with avocado and fried egg
W/Th - chilli nachos/chilli with rice
F - chicken fajitas
S - out for lunch so dinner will be something like scrambled eggs on toast

Today - paneer and pepper tikka skewers with pilau
Wed - bbq pulled jackfruit sliders and green salad
Thursday - courgette gnocchi
Fri - spinach and ricotta filo tart
Sat - cheat’s oven baked paella
Sun - honey and mustard sausage salad

Tomorrow: tomato and hallumi Bruschetta
Saturday: roasted red pepper pasta
Sunday: nachos
Monday: Cauliflower and chickpea masla
Tuesday: Kimchi fried rice
Wednesday: chilli
Thursday: Thai curry noodle soup

This week is a bit of a challenge as I’m trying to use everything up before we go away, and I don’t fancy doing much cooking in this heat. I’ve managed to come up with:
Today - caprese pesto pasta
Tuesday - spinach and feta omelettes
Wed - Thai rice noodle salad
Thur - chickpea pilaf

Yes, I'm also feeling uninspired and not really up for good ideas. I do have a meat box arriving although it's mostly mince and bacon I think so not sure how helpful that is. So rough guide is:

Leek and pancetta tart with salad
Baked chicken. Probably with mash as I have a bunch of slightly dodgy potatoes that need to be used up and then salad or steamed veg.
Some kind of pasta or possibly chicken ala king with leftover chicken and some mushrooms. Leaning towards pasta to try get DD to try something new and she can't have diary so ala king is out.
Spaghetti and meatballs
I do have some frozen fish fillets so possibly will cook those.
Possibly paella but I can't get paella rice with my online shop so depends on if I manage to get some elsewhere. Or I guess I can do a paella style risotto?

I've been away for over a month for personal reasons but back home, and on MN and ready to sort out meal plans again.

Tonight: Crustless quiche lorraine, bean salad and green salad
Tomorrow: Fresh tortelinni (spinach and ricotta), tomato and basil sauce, salad
Friday: Mexican chicken
Saturday: If nice enough for a BBQ will do pork chops and corn cobs with pourgourri and greek salad. Spag bol if not.

Sunday: Potentially dinner with friends but not fully confirmed. Spag bol (in freezer) remains an option.
Monday: Stuffed peppers and salad
Tuesday: Fasoulakia
Wednesday: Tuna fishcakes with various roasted veg

We’ve been away and are just about to go away again, so tonight is a lentil spag bol, as I only needed to buy some fresh vege to make it and it won’t leave anything lying around in the fridge.

Semi inspired but very busy, and was meant to be away but am no not so panic planning!

Friday: baked Camembert and baguette
Saturday: mushroom and asparagus risotto
Sunday: Harissa chickpea and tzatziki flatbreads
Monday: carrot and corriander soup and sourdough
Tuesday: gnocchi bake
Wednesday; onion bahji burgers
Thursday: black bean and jalapeño quesadillas

Chicken a la king has come up a few times...does anyone have a good recipe?

Trying to work my way through the freezer this week.

Saturday- Singapore noodles with spring rolls
Sunday- Chicken, topped with black pudding with a creamy sauce, mash & loads of veg
Monday- Chilli con carne with rice and salad
Tuesday-Meatball subs & salad
Wednesday - Primavera Risotto
Thursday - Dishoom's chicken ruby & rice
Friday - Breaded lemon sole, chips, peas and tartare sauce.

Sometimes I wonder why i bother to meal plan - between kids activities during the holiday, family visiting etc, I am not following it at all! :) And yesterday DD and I went to a PYO farm so now I have a bunch of things to use!

So, not a meal plan, but some ideas:

Finally tracked down paella rice so will do paella at some point
Caramalised courgettes on pasta with mozarrella
Some kind of stir fry with the cabbage, leftover courgettes, mushrooms we haven't yet eaten and whatever else is knocking around in the fridge. Probably with pork mince.
Roasted carrots on pilaf with feta

I have one loney aubergine too so I guess a pasta with that or, something for me and DS on a night DH is out?

@AlwaysSometimesRarelyNever I have been doing chicken ala king about once a month or so recently as a useful way to use up leftover chicken. DS is a bit odd about leftover chicken but this is one way he does like it. My "recipe" is pretty basic but basically:

Gently fry off peppers (sliced, mixed colours). Put aside.
Fry mushrooms in butter and when starting to colour, add a bit of garlic. Then add some flour and create a bit of a roux, add chicken stock and sherry/port/masala and stir to avoid lumps forming and let it bubble for a bit. Then add back the chicken and peppers and a generous amount of cream to all warm through. Season and serve with rice.

My dad doesn't use the wine I don't think (his is bland I feel - the sweet wine really is important in my opinion) but his other big difference is that he basically makes a proper white sauce - butter, flour, milk and then mixes in the chicken, peppers and mushrooms at the end - that way he gets a bright white sauce which he tells me is what makes all the difference for him. Feels like a faff to me as mine is still pretty white but I can see why he does it that way and I guess if he added some booze with his milk, he'd get more flavour!

@SpaceOP Thank you,I will give this a go.

Tomorrow: caprese grilled cheese
Saturday: Greek orzo (inspired by all the orzo love on here!)
Sunday: Black been and sweet potato enchiladas
Monday: dahl and naan
Tuesday: tofu Thai green curry
Wednesday; freezer tea
Thursday; west African peanut stew

This week I have done and plan

Monday pasta with bacon pieces and boilie cheese (soft cheese with garlic/herbs).

Tuesday salmon and peas with white wine and boilie sauce over pasta.

Wednesday out for a birthday dinner

Thursday feta chicken, roasted French beans, roasted baby potatoes

Friday pepperoni pizza (a real treat as can't get pepperoni here)

I had planned koftas but can't get lamb mince. So I need a different idea to use flatbreads I brought back with me. Or schlep out to the Irish butcher and cross my fingers.

I'm also thinking about prawn korma and possibly making naan bread to go with that.

And I need to use some more chicken and salmon from the freezer as well. I'll do a duck and chips night.

And once I'm back at work, I have a few pasta bakes, another couple of kormas and chicken tikka masala and a spaghetti Bol to use up.

@BiddyPop maybe chicken or veg kababs? Or falafel?