One of the little things I find so pleasing about Thanksgiving is learning what everybody likes to eat on Thanksgiving. (This applies to all holidays, honestly.) Because I can’t stand ANYTHING besides the mashed potatoes and gravy, I am so charmed to hear people wax poetic about the dressing or express deep-seated passion for corn casserole.
It’s so fun and delightful to learn about how other people do the Very Same Things you do, isn’t it? I just love that.
That delight extends to everyday food, too. I am so curious to know what other people make for themselves/their families. There are so many different things to make! Just for dinner! And I find it rather marvelous that my husband and I have our Old Standbys and preferred flavor/ingredient combinations… while you might – probably, in fact! – have totally different things that you turn to every week.
To make what may seem like a change of subject but is closely linked in my brain: I felt so heartened by the suggestions on my most recent meal planning postthat I have soldiered on for many months. I downloaded a recipe/shopping list app that I still haven’t really gotten the hang of, but aside from that, I’ve just been going on as before: long lists of recipes on my phone and on my computer; an unwieldy email chain chronicling my week-over-week meal plans; not infrequent despair that my family’s desire to eat regular meals – much like dishwashing and laundry – never ends.
Well, now I am going to try something new: posting my meal plans on this here blog. New to me, that is; I enjoy many blogs that regularly post their weekly meal plans and have been reading them and getting inspiration from them for years.
Perhaps you will find this wildly boring; in which case, perhaps ignore Tuesday posts (I go shopping on Tuesdays). Or you could probably just wait a few weeks until I grow weary of this particular project.
But perhaps you will find inspiration among my meals. Or at the very least, a little frisson of delight that we are so similar or so very different.
Meals for the Week of November 27 through December 3
- Pre-packaged marinated pork chops with broccoli
Follow Up: We have another package of these pork chops, so I will have to eat them again. They weren’t bad, just a bit bland.
- Chicken fajita stir fry with side of black beans: https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-fajitas/
Follow Up: This continues to be delicious. I think next time I will do an extra onion.
- Mustard balsamic pork chops w roasted parsnips, carrots, + onions: https://www.jocooks.com/ingredient/pork-main-courses/mustard-balsamic-pork-chops-with-rosemary/,
Follow Up: A good, easy dish. I roasted everything at the same time for about 30 minutes, and then broiled the pork for another five. I added garlic cloves to the root vegetables and my husband did not like them — he said they overpower the subtle flavor of the parsnips.
- Chicken and white bean enchiladas: https://www.skinnytaste.com/chicken-and-white-bean-enchiladas-with/ (This is a new-to-me recipe – I may or may not serve it with black beans on the side.)
Follow Up: I did in fact serve these with black beans on the side. These turned out to be pretty tasty, although the chunky nature of the canned chiles is not appealing to me. Also, this was WAY more complicated than it should have been: I needed three separate pots to cook everything, plus the roasting dish, plus the bowl in which I blended the second can of chiles — and that doesn’t even count the sheet pan on which I baked the chicken. If I can find a way to modify it so that it’s not so multi-steppy, maybe I’ll do it again… I wonder if it would be good if I simply mixed the chicken and white beans together in a bowl and used that alone as a filling? If I only had to make the sauce, I might do this again.
- Shredded Chinese chicken lettuce wraps with red pepper + mushrooms: https://www.recipetineats.com/slow-cooker-crispy-chinese-shredded-chicken/ (I add 8 oz of sliced mushrooms for the last hour of cooking, then add water chestnuts and bean sprouts and sliced bell peppers – and plenty of sriracha – and turn these into lettuce wraps.)
Follow Up: Delicious. I used some zucchini noodles instead of bean sprouts, which was pretty good.
- Parmesan herb salmon and haricots verts with shallots: https://addapinch.com/baked-salmon-with-parmesan-herb-crust-recipe/ + https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/string-beans-with-shallots-recipe-1943028 (My husband prefers regular green beans to French beans, and I do NOT blanch them first; just put them in the pan after the shallots sweat for about ten minutes. Also, neither of us likes parsley so we use thyme or dill instead.)
Follow Up: This continues to be easy and delicious. The worst part is trying to time the beans to be done at the same time as the salmon.
Follow Up: Somehow I totally screwed up the spice level. This time, I used three tablespoons of each spice (except salt — 1 tsp, and cardamon — scant 1 tbsp) and it was WAY too overpowering. My husband and I couldn’t even finish it. And it was really salty. Maybe do 1 to 2 tablespoons of each spice next time, a half tablespoon of cardamom, and a half teaspoon of salt?
I have tried meal planning, and wardrobe planning, and just can’t pull it off! I’m too emotional of a decision maker- what I feel like TODAY always wins for me. And so I find myself in the grocery store damn near daily…
Though I too love seeing how others cook and stuff- so I’ll be reading your Tuesday posts!
Wow! I am not sure which is more impressive, your planning out of your meals – like REAL meals, or your making of these specific recipes. I think I just learned 25 seconds ago that I am not a cook. Not to worry, about 10 seconds after that, I was already over it. My nightly meals consist of casserole type meals, for example: a couple cans of soup and boneless chicken breasts with cheese on top. Mashed potatoes. Then there are the crockpot meals. All easy. Most fan favorites.
I’m impressed. I don’t cook but if I did, I would probably jump on the meal plan band-wagon because it just seems to make sense.
I love these kinds of posts – even if I have no interest in actually eating what other people are making, I love to SEE what everyone’s having for dinner! I meal plan all the time and I really enjoy seeing what other people have in their plans!
I’m a huge fan of this! Not even slightly boring, at all.
You KNOW I am here for these posts. (I always worry it’s completely boring to other people so it’s good to hear that’s not the case for you!)
It’s funny to me that you have pork chops twice on your list this week. They are a meal option I only barely tolerate. I serve them verrrry infrequently, much to my husband’s dismay, he loves them. 🙂
I plan a beef meal, a chicken meal, and a pork meal each week. The other days we use the leftovers to put together easy meals. We get a pizza or eat out once every couple of weeks or so. I am always interested in varying our meals so would enjoy seeing your plans!