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

It was a complete hit when I made it the first time so I hope it goes down AS well this time. I remember agonising over thickness of slices but didn't make a note so I can feel the agonising starting again though!

Got the idea from Masterchef! It was a Monica Skills Test although she did it with carrots I think!

Last night: salad nicoise with garlic bread
Tonight: Lemongrass & garlic chicken stirfry with noodles
Tomorrow: eating out at Wagamama's
Sunday: Chorizo frittata with veg
Monday: Jool's Easy chicken curry
Tuesday: takeaway
Wednesday: cottage pie

@SpaceOP thank you very much for both the info and the top tip.

I usually put the microwave rice in the microwave for about a minute and then toss it through the chicken, add soy sauce then add the egg before finishing with peas. Love me a bit of fried rice, it’s just so quick!

Jumping on the cauliflower pilaf bandwagon!

Also
Pizza and salad
Tempeh bolognaise (2 meals)
Fish and baby potatoes with peas
Stir fry

Following advice above, fried rice is on the menu this week. It feels like we are going in circles with illness in this house - as soon as one improves, the other gets it, so menu planning is a tad optimistic at the moment - dry crackers featured heavily last week.

Tofu fried rice
Tofu stir fry with gyoza on the side
Harissa salmon with roasted squash and couscous
Green pasta (Riverford recipe someone linked above)
BNS and sweet potato soup

The romanesco and bacon gnocchi were a success, I’ll add cheese to the pan as well as on top next time.
But the leftover breast meat in the chicken curry was “meh”. What a pity.

Next Week’s Menu
Sunday lunch: lasagne and steamed mangetout. Dinner: feta mixed salad
Monday lunch: Veg soup (1) and sandwiches. Dinner: gammon, oven chips and cabbage
Tuesday lunch: pasta and puréed/whole chickpeas soup. Dinner: cheese omelette and grated carrots
Wednesday lunch: Veg soup (2) and wraps. Dinner: sausages beans and potatoes (pressure cooker)
Thursday lunch out (service station?) Dinner: bacon and mushroom risotto.
Friday lunch: Filled pasta and salad.
Valentine’s Dinner: steak and Spanish potatoes, apple&cinnamon bun roses in a heart-shaped tin!🥰
Saturday lunch: cold spinach and ricotta pie (baked the night before). Dinner: Chinese restaurant.

All with veg and fresh fruit.

I might bake some 3-2-1 shortbread or an easy yoghurt cake. DD wants to make brownies but mine are a disaster- either too sloppy or too dry. She’ll have to teach herself…
I’ll probably make soda bread (smoked salmon!) and apple tart for St.Patrick’s Day next Monday.

@Sgtmajormummy whats your 3-2-1 flapjack recipe?

Tonight: out for curry
Sunday: thai noodle salad
Monday: Brussel sprouts, courgette, quinoa and Parmesan “salad”
Tuesday: mung bean stew and rice
Wednesday: confit du canard and cabbage
Thursday: baked potatoes, cheese and beans
Friday: golden beetroot and carrot soup and hunks of sourdough

@Citygirlrurallife
3-2-1 shortbread is literally 3 quantities (by weight) of flour, 2 of butter and 1 of sugar. I add vanilla and use salted butter. Lemon zest is nice, or replace a third of the flour with ground oats.
Butter rubbed through flour, add sugar, bring together and press into your tin. Cool in fridge and bake for 15 minutes.

I’m usually low on butter so I base my quantities on that.

I'm glad the Riverford green pasta is proving popular!

I haven't done my menu yet, must get on with it before starting on the wine so I can go to the supermarket first thing tomorrow. We had M&S ready meal Thai tonight, haven't done that for ages!

@Sgtmajormummy are you a month out for st Patrick's day or is this one different from the Irish St P?

Right, done!

Sunday - Roast with whatever catches my fancy at the supermarket
Monday - Sweet potato, tomato, peanut traybake, curly kale on the side
Tuesday - Salmon, boiled potatoes, broccoli, carrots, sweetcorn
Wednesday - Masala roast carrots with coconut red lentils (another Riverford favourite)
Thursday - roasted courgette, peppers, tomatoes with bulgur and feta
Friday - Steak, chips, mushrooms, peas, roast cherry tomatoes

You’re right!
Wishful thinking.

Sun - I’m making lasagne, which we will have with peas and garlic bread. Half left for Monday with salad
Tuesday - Sainsbury’s “dine in” meal deal - chicken thing, dauphinoise potatoes, adding broccoli - as we’re both in the office
Wednesday - pan fried gnocchi with peas and pesto
Thursday - Higgedy quiche, jacket potato and salad - both in work again
Friday - sausage pasta recipe DP is cooking
Saturday - I’m out for a fancy lunch so won’t want much dinner. Maybe a veggie stir fry or something

Just doing this week’s plan (some meals we didn’t eat last week are being carried over, plus sausage pasta and Thai red curry) and I’ve realised I’m alone for dinner on Saturday. Normally my go to is a baked Camembert but I had that last night. Not saying I wouldn’t have it again next sat but what do you all have when you’re eating alone??

Last night ended up being a freak night - dips and warmed pitta, lemon/garlic chicken, roasted veggies, rosemary potatoes, salads, cheeseboard and a chocolate brownie cake with red berries.

Tonight, I have leftover chicken(2 people had to cancel), potatoes and veggies, and brownie. I also have a single person portion of veggies to freeze for another night - but I got the portions much better this time!

Tomorrow, I have my leftover lamb koftas and flatbreads defrosting, and will use up the leftover dips and salad with those.

Tuesday is salmon, green beans and either any leftover potatoes reheated or freshly steamed baby potatoes.

Wednesday is a mushroom risotto with stock from freezer.

DH arrives late on Thursday so I will use my pizza bases for a fast dinner - I have pepperoni, fennel salami and lots of veggies I can throw on top.

Probably eating at home on Friday but go out on Saturday (we don't tend to go out on Valentines night ). I have a nice small joint of lamb that I could roast. I'll see what looks good in the supermarket before I take it out though.

And I might try the chicken shwarma experiment over the weekend as well.

Freak = Greek
My phone does weird things to my typing...

I did wonder what "Freak night" was Biddy!
Iamnot I also tend to go cheese when home alone, either baked camembert or cheese and crackers/antipasti type affair. Easy stuff i can pick at.

I absolutely love the idea of a Freak night!

DP wants to defrost the freezer. so has nagged me to plan meals around emptying it. This essentially means loads of pittas, a box of frozen samosas, frozen peas and some oven chips, plus a bag of raspberries

Monday - frozen samosas with salad and raita, possibly with spiced pitta breads to dip in the raita
Tuesday - home made quiche and salad (nothing from the freezer there)
Weds - black bean tofu and jasmine rice
Thurs - pitta bread pizzas
Friday - fishcakes, chips and peas for the fish eaters; Greek gigantes beans, chips and tzatziki for me

In answer to what I eat when alone, it's almost always tzatziki! If not, it's likely to be eggy bread, an omelette or pitta bread stuffed with salad.

I'm alone a lot these days.

When DH was the travelling one, I had Welsh rarebit and part-baked French bread rolls as a sneaky treat.

I am currently posted overseas so some of my meals are "do 2 and freeze to reheat one" types. Or even a decent batch of curries or bolognaise etc and freeze lots of portions (I find 1 cup of sauce is just about right for me, whereas DH needs 2 portions of sauce when he's visiting.

I make a lot more risottos than I used to.

And I do a lot of meals that involve roasting everything (different dishes but everything in the oven, or steaming potatoes in 1 tray and veg above that to have with some fried meat/fish.

I love lemon/garlic chicken but my family doesn't like the lemon. Or chicken portions with some thyme leaves and feta under the skin and baked.

I do baked courgettes with plenty of lemon juice and some Parmesan and panko mixed to scatter over the top. I've been known to have that as a meal on its own. Or cauliflower cheese (but proper cheddar is not easy to get here).

And I love skinny fries whereas my family prefer much thicker chips - so it's nice to have those with a proper steak or a duck breast sometimes.

I make a weekly meal plan on Sundays with everyone choosing something (various vegetables)
Sunday: roast chicken (I cook two), crispy garlic Parmesan potatoes and roast vegetables.
Monday: Homemade chicken pie and mash
Tuesday: Butternut squash and blue cheese risotto
Wednesday: fillet steak, baked potatoes and salad
Thursday: chicken curry and black Dal and lemon rice
Friday: Nut Roast and scalloped potatoes
Saturday: home made pizzas and salad

Sunday- roast chicken
Monday- my daughter actually requested beans on toast!! Could have knocked me over with a feather.
Tuesday- marry me chicken with tagliatelle
Wednesday- taco minced beef pasta bake. Kids love it.
Thursday- pizza stuffed chicken breasts, chips and salad
Friday- I don’t know but will maybe grab some pizzas or something else that’s quick
Saturday- pasta arrabbiata

I'm taking the end of the week off work and am planning a big declutter, so I'm going for easy dinners.

Monday: fried eggs, everything salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: sausage tray bake

Wednesday: DH-made pizza with salad

Thursday: jacket potatoes with cheese and beans (and salad)

Friday: probably stir-fry, but make romantic dinner with steak if I've got a lot done.

Saturday: ready meal lasagne.

Oh! I just realised it’s Valentine’s Day on Friday! We don’t really do anything, however, I might leave dinner to my partner that night! Night off 👏👏👏

My standard when I'm eating alone is something like a grilled/fried chop with salad or or a salsa on the side. Maybe some hummus.

On the very very rare occassions I'm alone for more than a night - eg DH took the DC camping last year for 2 nights - I quite often do something that takes long slow cooking only becuase my family aren't a big fan of a casserole like that. or ribs or something like that. I'd happily make for the family - they just don't really like it.

Or beans on toast!

I am considering a family Valentines meal! We all love steak so I think I might do that. I've tried doing a small rib of beef and serve it as steak but it's too fatty for that so I'll probablu just treat us to a proper sirloin each! or, if I can get a whole fillet without breaking the bank, I might do that!