Over the past few months (since October, apparently, which is when I last posted a Dinners This Week), I have been trying two new things when it comes to the persistent Sisyphean task that is Making Dinners for Myself and My Family:
Thing 1: I have given up on making dinner daily. Instead, I plan three meals per week, and the other days we either have Ham Sandwich (which means my husband and I fend for ourselves; he often eats an actual ham sandwich and I eat black bean tacos) or I scrape together a last minute meal based on what sounds good and what I have in the house. Most recently, this has been things like pizza or burritos or a big salad.
Thing 2: I have given up on keeping track of what I’m making or planning to make, in any sort of way, on my blog or in my email.
My assessment of how well these practices have been going: Thing 1 is going great, Thing 2 is going poorly. This means that I’m going to resume posting Dinners This Week. It seems a little silly, since I’m only posting three meals… but it’s a good way to keep track of what I’ve planned, so I don’t end up having to re-plan meals right before I go to the store. I may attempt to review the previous week’s meals, to track new recipes and whether they’ve been successful or not.
Dinners Last Week Report:
- Pasta Primavera: What can I say? I had a dual craving for pasta and tons of veggies. I’ve made pasta primavera in the past, and it’s never lived up to my expectations, but this recipe was very tasty. The veggies I used were zucchini, red onion, peas, and red bell pepper. I also washed and chopped up broccoli, but forgot about it. I would definitely add it to the veggie mix next time. Oh! Since I didn’t have any fresh basil, I used frozen cubes of basil I had in the freezer, and that worked pretty well. Fresh basil would undoubtedly be better, though.
- Chicken Curry with Peas: This is a super easy recipe, and it’s fairly tasty. I think I added some other vegetable – possibly the forgotten broccoli? – to it to amp up the veg quotient.
- Crockpot Chicken Bowls with Yellow Rice and Cilantro Pesto: Birchie posted about this recipe and I instantly wanted to try it. Unsurprisingly, she was right on the money: the cilantro pesto is *chef’s kiss* wonderful. The pickled onions were a can’t-miss addition. I love a good crockpot chicken recipe, and this one was as easy as it gets. It did turn out a little… wet for my taste. I might halve the enchilada sauce for the next batch and maybe opt out of the cornstarch slurry step.
- Pork Chops with Veggies and Basil Couscous: This was one of my scrape-together meals of the week. Pork chops were on sale last week, so I bought a pack of three. We had a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower in the freezer that I threw into the oven. And we had a box of basil couscous in the cupboard. This was a serviceable but not particularly enjoyable meal. The basil couscous was edible but mildly unpleasant; too salty and the basil flavor was kind of fake tasting.
- Pizza: This was another scrape-together meal. I love this recipe for yogurt pizza dough because it comes together quickly and adds a little extra protein to my pizza crust. I divide the dough in half and roll out two thin pizzas, one for me, one for my husband. I made pizza last week, too, so I still had half a jar of pizza sauce in the fridge.
Dinners for the Week of February 10-16:
- Beef Birria Tacos: This recipe looks a little involved, so I may hold off on it until the weekend. But I have a MAJOR craving for beef birria, so I think it will be worth it. Also, the recipe makes a TON of food, so I’m hoping that I have leftovers to freeze.
- Salmon Burgers: My husband and I have made these a few times and they are SO GOOD. This is one of the only ways I can get him to eat salmon, too.
- Sheet Pan Veggie Shawarma: I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it sounds pretty delicious. I might throw some chicken into the mix for my husband.
Nom! I’m glad you got to try the chicken bowls. Chef’s kiss indeed.
Cooking dinner 3x week sounds just about right. Three nights of “I put effort into this” meals, three nights of leftovers and/or easy stuff, and one night out. Done.
Three meals definitely feels more doable, that’s for sure!
We made the chicken bowls on Saturday, then did Super Bowl snackies last night, and I have been thinking and thinking about the leftover cilantro pesto in my fridge. Yum.
I have also been planning 3 or 4 , and the rest is WHATEVER. Usually one night of breakfast for dinner. Usually some kind of pizza situation. One leftover. And that carries us through. That crockpot dinner looks great, and I have made those salmon burgers– big fan!
They are so good! I am not normally a burger person (unless said burgers are hamburgers), but I would eat these salmon burgers weekly.
Oooh that veggie shawarma sounds nice! I’m still planning and cooking ALL OUR MEALS but in a week tomorrow I will be in Mexico, not doing that!
You are a saint and a superstar, Nicole!
ONE WEEK!!!!
Normally Beth grocery shops on Sunday morning so I menu plan on Saturdays, but we were gone this weekend, and she’s going to try to go after work today so I need to come up with some ideas and I’ve got…nothing. Why is this always so hard?
Well, we’re going to have leftovers tonight (I am defrosting some ricotta-spinach pie from last week and something I found in the chest freezer and am calling Mystery Soup) so that’s one fewer meal to plan.
We almost always only have three meals planned and rely on leftovers for the rest. Sometimes I hear people say “so and so doesn’t like leftovers” and I think “so and so gets to make their own dinner then” and I realize that I’m secretly not a nice person.
Your meals all sound delicious – especially the pizza. Hey, there’s another good use for my rolling pin!
I tend to plan meals 3 or 4 nights a week, but I double what I make and serve leftovers a few times a week. No one complains. I just bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the spur of the moment while grocery shopping because I recall a recipe that I made one year for Christmas that was not terribly difficult and a crowd pleaser. I now need to dig up the recipe. It had potatoes in it too. So I’ll just need a veggie to serve with it.
Since I live alone and don’t often cook, I love reading about your meals which seem VERY FANCY to me! (and delicious as long as someone else makes them for me)
Yes! I have also pared down the planning to just 2 or 3 meals/week; with a teenager, I never know when or if she’s eating with us, so it doesn’t make sense to make too much food. Since she has a job she has finally started buying herself fast food if she so desires, thank the heavens (she used to always expect me to pay for it, when I was already cooking something)! Anyway, this plan will serve future-you well, too. 😉
Today I’m excited because I have red beans and rice in the crock-pot, yummmm.
Oh. Yum. That veggie shawarma recipe looks delicious, and exactly the amount of effort I want to put in for a dinner. I MIGHT have to make it tomorrow!!!
I generally cook 3 nights a week, and I try for one of those meals to be leftovers at least every other week. It doesn’t always work that way, but that’s my goal. I like the look of those salmon burgers, I might have to give them a try.
Although I make dinner almost every night, I’ve never meal-planned (unless it’s for a dinner party)… But I really like reading other people’s plans :).
I’m so glad you’re bringing this back!
we make three meals a week as well! The other days of the week we get by on leftovers or simple meals like scrambled eggs. I was gone Monday through Thursday of this week so I made pasta sauce on Sunday night which Phil and taco will eat, but Paul will not eat. Pizza seems to be the only meal that everyone is happy with so they ordered that while I was gone. I need to try that bowl meal with the cilantro sauce. That sounds really good!