I need to do some menu planning for the coming week, and thought I might do it here and share it.

The shape of my week

  • Friday (today) – home for an early dinner, going out after.
  • Saturday – out at a class during the day, so I miss the market and also need to take lunch; out for dinner.
  • Sunday – home, AFAIK. Good cooking day.
  • Monday – home for dinner
  • Tuesday – home for dinner, Amy visiting, which means I usually cook.
  • Wednesday – home for dinner
  • Thursday – catered lunch at work; dentist after work, soup for dinner
  • Friday – home
  • Saturday – Farmer’s Market in the morning and we begin again

Summary: 6 dinners, 6 lunches (1 home, 1 at Saturday class, 4 at work), 7 breakfasts. I like to take extra food to work Tues and Thurs because I go to the gym in the afternoon and want something proteiny afterwards.

What’s in the fridge?

Lots of leftovers, alas.

  • Chickpea and kale thing with rice – 2 serves, NEEDS EATING ASAP
  • Turkey and kale thing – 1 serve
  • Chickpea stew – 1 serve
  • Indian takeout – 1 serve
  • Stewed pears – 2-3 serves
  • Bunch of chard
  • 2 small jicama
  • Salad greens – probably need to be used quickly
  • 1 spaghetti squash

Also: milk, yoghurt, eggs, odd bits of cheese, olives, and a dizzying array of dry goods and condiments. I have some lovely heirloom beans I really want to cook too.

Right then. Chickpeas and kale and rice for lunch today (I’m WFH) and the turkey kale thing before going out tonight. The chickpea stew will wait til lunch on Monday and be good then.

What I want to cook

Heirloom beans, as mentioned. I’d like to make baked beans with ham. I can do that on Sunday or maybe even late Saturday afternoon, but I want to eat down my leftovers a bit first.

Needed for baked beans: ham. I have everything else I might need.

To go with said beans, I’m thinking I can just do something simple with the chard, like steaming it, and that makes it most of a meal. I’m also in the mood for baking scones (US: biscuits) lately, so perhaps beans and chard and scones are a dinner.

Other options with the beans: make a coleslaw to go with it, and take them in separate containers to work, along with a scone, for lunch. Beans would also make a good after-gym snack.

Needed for coleslaw: cabbage. I’ll grate the jicama into it. Apples might be nice with that too, as in this recipe.

Amy’s said she might hang round here on Sunday though, so I’ll need something non-meaty to feed her. She loves “cheesey bread” (grilled cheese) so all I need to do is make sure I’ve got some of that on hand. That’ll also make a sandwich for my class on Saturday, and I can take some coleslaw along as well.

Needed: bread, cheese.

If I’m in the mood for a big breakfast at any point (maybe as far away as next weekend, even) I can have eggs, beans, and toast.

Tuesday night Amy’s over again and it’s a cooking night. I’ll want to cook something veg, obviously. I think it’s time to deal with that spaghetti squash. Since Amy loves mushrooms, I was thinking I’d use it as a base for this recipe. I just happen to have a little tub of tapenade sitting unopened in the fridge, so all I need here is the mushrooms and some dry red wine.

Breakfast wise, I usually eat muesli with yoghurt and stewed fruit. I’m a bit low on stewed fruit so I should see what the store has and stew a bit more. I did pears last time and they were amazingly sweet, so if I do them again I think I’ll actually start with ones that are a little less ripe, as I don’t need THAT much sugar with my breakfast. Maybe I could do stewed apples?

Finally, I need some soup for after the dentist. I’ve got good vegie stock kicking around, so I can make just about anything I want. Something blended and smooth, for preference, and that freezes well. I don’t have any frozen soup at the moment so it’d be good to put some away. But that means non-dairy too, as dairyish creamy soups don’t freeze and reheat well. So we’re looking at pumpkin/squash, or some kind of root vegetable that will puree nicely. I’ll see what they’ve got. (Oh! And I’ve also got a few sticks of celery that could be used. I hear potato and celeriac soup calling my name now!)

So, in summary, my cooking for the week is:

  • baked beans with ham (Saturday afternoon or Sunday)
  • coleslaw (make some on Friday, some later in the week)
  • scones (as needed)
  • mushroom ragu served over spaghetti squash (Tuesday night)
  • potato and celeriac soup (Monday or Wednesday night)

Shopping list:

  • dry red wine (pick up on Tuesday on the way home)
  • ham hock
  • cabbage
  • cheese
  • bread
  • soup vegies
  • apples for coleslaw and stewing
  • or other fruit for stewing

As you can see, it’s a seasonal (autumn/winter) shopping list so I’m expecting it to come in around $25-$30 not counting the wine. I’ll post an update after I’ve done the shopping.

And on that note, I should probably put some pants on and pump up my bike tyres and get going.