2025 Meal Planners!

[Citygirlrurallife]

Here it is - all welcome, long termers and newbies, I imagine this week is leftovers leftovers leftovers and kicking off from Thursday onwards.

ive gone back to Oddbox and our deliveries now come on Friday nights so I’m going to try to force my brain to meal plan Thursday-Thursday and have delivery on Thursdays to make it happen. Won’t happen this week but hopefully from next

Tomorrow: Mac and cheese (big pot of starchy comfort food for a group of friends coming round to watch the rugby)
Sunday: Hoisin chicken and rice
Monday: Veggie sausage and veg pasta bake
Tuesday: Chicken escalope, wedges, broccoli and peas
Wednesday: Veggie fajitas
Thursday: Lentil soup and egg rolls
Friday: Sweet chilli pork and noodle stir-fry.

Looks good @HalloumiFries

(Makes note to put hoisin chicken on the menu; DH makes a good one)

Bugger, now I want to make Mac 'n cheese. We do have DH's family over tomorrow and there may well be sport watching, and DS is playing an insane amount of sport himself this weekend..... We had planned pizza but I might pivot!

Our menus got all messed up as we had unexpected family in town. So I did a top up shop and will do a small one tomorrow (for pizza or Mac n cheese) so for next few days we're doing:

Miso grilled salmon (before the greens become inedible as this was supposed to be Wednesday's dinner)
Pizza and/or Mac n cheese
Tomato, chorizo and chilli pasta
Tuna jacket potatoes with salad

I will probably also buy some pork to do the pork satay noodles in the slow cooker again - DH and DS loved it and it was super easy.

This week has been a shambles, none of my plans have gone to plan so I am looking forward to sitting down Sunday and getting something proper in place!
finishing the week off strong
Fri- Thai red chicken curry and all the good sides
Sat- Teriyaki Tofu Noodles and Pak Choi
Sun- Yorkshire pudding wraps with beef and horseradish

Menu
Today lunch: filled pasta. Dinner: Roast chicken (2.5 kg, so expecting leftovers) and veg.
Saturday lunch: Romanesco cauliflower and bacon gnocchi. Dinner: Hamburgers and peas in tomato sauce (alla Pizzaiola), rice.
Sunday lunch out. Dinner: leftover chicken and salad (garlic dressing) in wraps.
Monday lunch: Veg soup (1) and cheese toasties. Dinner: salmon and green beans
Tuesday lunch: Pasta al pesto. Dinner: red lentils and spicy sausage (‘nduja) with buttered cabbage.
Wednesday lunch: Veg soup (2) and pizza baguettes. Dinner: butter chicken curry (leftover or frozen meat)
Thursday lunch: Farinata (chickpea pancake) with Gorgonzola and salad. Dinner: baked white fish and scalloped potatoes.

All with veg and fresh fruit.
Maybe no-bake Banoffee pie one day or apple strudel (frozen) with vanilla ice cream.

This week was bad. Between having to try and use up leftovers I wasn't interested in, and too much going on so trying to cook/eat way too late, I even had just cheese and crackers one night. And I went out with a few colleagues for dinner last night so someone else did the cooking!

Tonight: steak, roasted veggies and some kind of potatoes

Sun: I might try and make some lamb koftas and salad - need to find flatbreads.

Mon: chicken vadagam curry and pulao rice

Tuesday: lemon and garlic chicken breast, steamed mange tout and steamed potatoes

Wednesday: chicken Shwarma (experiment)

Thursday: prawn stir fry with veggies and noodles

Friday: out with DD so probably something on the road...

Sat: hosting 16 people so planning a chicken and a veggie dish with rice, salads, and bought desserts and cheeseboard to follow

Sunday: probably leftovers

I’m really struggling for inspiration. So far I’ve got:

bibimbap again, but scaled down to just rice, tofu, pickled carrots and cucumber and eggs

roasted cauliflower and paneer curry with spinach/ bought naan

pitta pizzas with salad

Same here to be honest

Tonight: out at a party
Sunday: leftover HM curry from friday
Monday: mushroom bourguignon and mash
Tuesday: green pepper and pistachio risotto
Wednesday: salmon, broccoli and spaghetti
Thursday: mujadara
Friday: thai noodle salad

Not a very exciting week and probably a bit meat heavy but trying to empty the freezer a bit.

Last night - korean beef noodles with crispy kale
Saturday - Butter chicken and rice with mini poppadoms and raita
Sunday- Steak pie, mash and veg
Monday- Cabbage roll soup
Tuesday- Creamy garlic mushrooms on toasted ciabatta
Wednesday- Spaghetti Bolognese as I've been really craving it (wish I was having it sooner)
Thursday- Chicken tinga burrito bowls

(I should have been clear that last week's leftovers were because dd didn't eat cooked chicken she'd asked me to have ready for her arrival, nor the chicken/protein pasta meal or the flavoured cooked chicken she bought while she was here last weekend, before going back to uni on Monday morning - I hate food waste but I also was totally fed up of cooked chicken done in her style and finding ways to try and use that up).

Took me ages to plan my menu today 😫
But it is done and we have shopped too

Today - Beany shakshuka (overcooked the eggs again!)
Sunday - Roast chicken, roast potatoes, parsnips, broccoli, carrots, peas (and red cabbage if there is any left in the freezer). Maybe fruit bowl crumble if I can find a pear.
Monday - Pink beetroot pasta - will peel and bake the beetroot while the oven is on tomorrow, then this is super quick to make
Tuesday - Spag bol
Wednesday - Black bean, mushrrom and ginger stew, potato and parsnip mash, broccoli, carrots, peas
Thursday - and potatoes of some kind (first time I've made it, found the recipe while tidying up my bookmarks)
Friday - Sausages, mash, veg

Couldn't get a Sainsbury's slot because I dithered too much, so have had to do a Waitrose one and changed my mind a million times before settling on:

posh cheese, crackers, grapes and pears
Greek salad and pitta
bibimbap
risotto with asparagus, peas, leeks and broad beans
something else which I've already forgotten so will hopefully be a nice surprise!

All your menus are so interesting, varied and tasty looking!

I have to finish mine tonight as the shopping is coming tomorrow 😭

Ok - amended based on available options and freezer defrosting:

Tonight: proper steak dinner and roasted veggies

Tomorrow: got flatbread so defrosting lamb
for koftas (I have bread to crumb)

Monday: pasta bake or chicken fajitas

Tuesday: opposite of Monday

Rest of the week : I'll plan accordingly ...got salmon on offer so that's an option, and otherwise according to previous plan until Saturday when I am hosting a reasonable gathering.

Rejigged the meal plan this weekend as we got some of these on offer in the (earlier than usual) delivery on Saturday so had them instead of goujons. They were really tasty and a very generous portion for two.

Next week looks like this:

Sunday: Cottage pie (from freezer instead of sea bass as I cba to cook today!)
Monday: Chicken goujons and salad
Tuesday: Sea bass
Wednesday: Chinese chicken
Thursday: Salmon tray bake
Friday: Quiche and salad
Saturday: Turkey breast with garlic cheese and prosciutto
Sunday: Pork medallions with chestnut mushrooms

This week we have:

Sun - chicken satay curry
Mon - Asda dine-in thing, which is much shorter dated than expected - so a chicken satay in the freezer. Chicken Kiev, chunky chips, and we’ll add broccoli
Tue - jacket potato with chilli from the freezer, cheese, and salad
Wed - chicken and broccoli pasta bake
Thu - chorizo Mexican fried rice, avocado, fried egg
Fri - something from M&S, maybe the Chinese takeaway box
Sat - going to a pizza place for lunch so it will be something like scrambled eggs on toast for dinner

Late with this week's but we have:

Chilli
Omelette and chips
Cauliflower pilaf (inspired by this thread, thanks to whoever suggested that!)
Stir fry
Salmon and risotto
Fajitas
Toad in the hole

Shopping has arrived!

Weds- jolly hog sausages, mash and homemade yorkshires with smashed peas

Thurs- Spaghetti Carbonara, garlic bread and mixed salad leaves

Fri- Chicken fried Rice and Pak Choi

Sat- Yakitori skewers, sticky rice and edamame

Sun- Dirty Rice

Mon- Homemade pizzas- various toppings!

Tues- Meatball and veg pasta bake- probably courgette, red pepper and aubergine leftover

really fancy doing poke bowls/buddha bowls next week with some sort of marinated chicken or tofu

Mine for the week

Friday: veggie meatball subs
Saturday: mushroom and pea risotto
Sunday: aubergine and harissa stew
Monday: mujadara (not had for ages so looking forward to that!)
Tuesday: Mexican stuffed peppers
Wednesday: leftovers/freezer special (I have a green curry that seems to be breeding in the freezer so probably get through some of that)
Thursday: dahl and naan

I am also completely inspiration free... but also bored of everything we normally have.

Thanks to the person who is having chicken fried rice.... I've added that to my list for this week as something we haven't had for a while. Am toying with adding prawns for ds. The big challenge is what to cook when as we have a bit of an odd schedule this week. So not sure of all days except ones where I need to be specific for a reason

Aubergine schnitzel, wedges and a bean mash (maybe greens on side but Amazon Fresh has a surprisingly poor variety of "nice" greens - has anyone else notice that?)
Chicken fried rice
a version of pad thai.
Pork satay noodles in slow cooker (Saturday)
Baked chicken pieces with whatever veg I feel like cooking, probably with yorkshires (tonight)
Jamie oliver fish cakes
Spaghetti bolognaise (Wednesday)

Friday - Chicken and mushroom stroganoff with wild rice and broccoli
Saturday - Bibimap
Sunday - Chicken and leek pie with new potatoes and veg.
Monday - Keema loaded jackets
Tuesday - Chilli chicken ramen
Wednesday - Bombay potato frittata with salad
Thursday - Minestrone soup with garlic bread

Aubergine schnitzel sounds delicious!

I missed the pp's chicken fried rice suggestion, but Space has reminded me we haven't had fried rice (with tofu) for aaages. This may be a really stupid question, but does anyone know if you can use the microwave packet rice and stir-fry straight from the cupboard? I know it's a bit lazy but I tend to use the packets for convenience nowadays.

Only a few days to plan this week as we're moving in with the in-laws for a few days while we get some work done on the house.

Tomorrow: Greek-style slow-roasted chicken legs with peppers, tomatoes and potatoes
Sunday: Honey-glazed ham with broccoli in cheese sauce
Monday: Leftover ham, eggs and chips
Tuesday: Mushroom and black-eyed bean dal

We might still be at home on Wednesday, in which case it will be ratatouille with grains but if not, that will probably go onto next week's meal plan.

That's almost always how I do it as mostly when I make fried rice, it's for lunch. I'll cook rice in this case as I'll need more than just a packet or so, but absolutely, yes, just unload the contents of the pouch straight into the wok.

Having said that, I think next time I do it with a pouch, I might try to take the rice out of the pouch and leave it spread out to dry a bit more. I do find that I land up with slightly soggy fried rice doing it this way. But that could also be because I don't have a proper wok!