Meals of the Week, June 23rd to June 29th, 2024

 

I can't believe that is is Sunday again as well as being the end of June!  June has just whizzed by at the speed of light!  

On Sundays I like to share with you, my readers, my Meals of the Week.  All of the deliciousness which I have enjoyed eating for my main meals over the past seven days!  There's a whole lot of tasty going on here and a pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled!

As a person who lives all alone, I am responsible for cooking for myself. The temptation when you are living on your own, or even if you are an empty nester can be to want to just eat ready meals or cook out of cans, enjoy frozen dinners.  Or even to eat out or enjoy a takeaway more often than not.

That is not me. I love to cook, and I love to eat and I will be honest with you, most of those tins, cans, frozen dinners, takeaways and restaurant meals are, more often than not, very disappointing! And so, I like to cook as much as possible for myself, and I like to take you along on the journey.

I almost always eat my main meal of the day at noon, unless I am out, or at someone else's house. I don't like to go to bed with a lot on my stomach and these days I am in bed most nights by nine PM. (I must be getting old!)

For breakfast these days I am enjoying a protein smoothie/shake.  I really enjoy those and they help me to keep my cravings down and up my protein, not to mention my calcium and a whole lot of other stuff.  Plus they are delicious. I usually sip on it all morning as I am working away.  It helps to keep the cravings at bay and keeps me satisfied.

I will have my main meal about 1 to 2 pm.  That will be a full dinner that I have prepared myself. Most of the time.

Supper will usually be some toast, or a sandwich, perhaps a bowl of cereal, or,  more often than not, a salad.  I love salad and they are usually filled with loads of greens, veggies, sometimes some protein (cheese, egg, chicken etc.)  I always make my own dressing and if I am feeling especially indulgent I will add some croutons or seeds or nuts as a topper. 

I try to keep everything within budget. I am living on a meager pension and whatever I make on here from the ads.  (Thanks so much for visiting. You help to keep me afloat!)  I also try to keep things fairly healthy. I also try to keep waste at a minimum.

Anyways, without too much more twaddle, here are my main meals for the past seven days! I hope you see something that will inspire you to want to cook it for yourself also! For the odd time that I have eaten out of house, I have provided a suitable alternative for you, plus I have also added suggestions for any sides that will go well with the mains.

SUNDAY, June 23rd. - Sunday Dinner at Cindy's

We had our usual Sunday Dinner at Cindy's.  She cooked a pot roast. I love her pot roasts.  Nobody complains. They are always juicy and tender.  This week she kept it simple with just the roast, some roasted new potatoes, carrots and gravy.  Sugar free jelly and whippy cream for dessert!

I am sharing my recipe for Instant Pot Pot Roast in place of Cindy's roast.  Cooking a pot roast in the instant pot takes an economical piece of beef and turns it into a melt in the mouth tender roast in a fraction of the time that it takes to cook it in the conventional way.

If you don't have an Instant Pot, might I recommend my Slow Cooker Pot Roast? This also turns out juicy and tender each and every time. I even have a recipe for a Classic Pot Roast for Two on this blog. Also delicious!  (But then I would say that! 😉 It is true however.

 

MONDAY, June 24th - Bacon and Potato Hash with Cheesy Beans 

This was a recipe that I had wanted to try for a while. I love fried potatoes. I love bacon. I love hash, and I love baked beans.  This was an unbeatable combination.  I adapted the recipe a new cookbook by Nicky Corbishley of Kitchen Sanctuary.  It is called Quick & Easy, Delicious 30 Minute Dinners.

This was quick, it was easy and it was incredibly delicious.  I really enjoyed this meal!  Some crusty bread would go well on the side to mop up all of those cheesy juices from the baked beans.

 

TUESDAY, June 25th - Italian Sausage Meatballs

My sister and I had had a sausage making day on last Friday.  We do that periodically. Homemade sausage is so much tastier than any you can buy premade. We made Apple Sausages and we made Sweet Italian Sausage.  We did 10 pounds of each.  I froze all of mine in small packages that were suitable for my household.

On Tuesday I used some of the bulk Italian sausage meat to make some really delicious meatballs.  These were really simple to make.  Because my sausage was so flavorful I only needed to add a few ingredients.  Some bread crumbs, an egg and some grated onion.  Delicious! 

 

I served them with some homemade gravy and mashed potatoes. I also had some mixed vegetables on the side.  I had enough meatballs to freeze for another day to use in a Spaghetti sauce or whatever. 

WEDNESDAY, June 26th - Dinner out with Dad

On Wednesday nights I usually go out for supper with my dad and his friend Hazel. We go to the same place very week, The Big Scoop Family Restaurant and Takeaway. Sometimes it is good, most of the time it is lousy. I really only go because I want to spend the time with my dad.  It changed hands after Christmas last year and it is just not the same.

I had a bacon cheeseburger, and once again, there was only a dot of bacon on my cheeseburger.    I would have thought that, after I complained to the manager the last time, they would have started putting a decent amount of bacon on it.  If BACON is the first word in the item, there should be a lot more than a whisper of it.  I have once again complained.

Dad had the haddock burger. Hazel had the grilled haddock dinner. 

 

I am sharing my recipe for BBQ Chicken BLT's in the place of the burger.  I can assure you there is lots of bacon on those and they are delicious! A beautiful sandwich, simple to make with all the elements of a BLT. with some spicy sweet potatoes are served on the side, this makes a fabulously complete meal for two!

I don't understand why everyone is always raving about the burgers at this restaurant.  They are sub-standard at best. Maybe I just keep getting them on a bad day.

THURSDAY, June 27th - Cheesy Chili Jackets for two

A perfectly baked potato with a crisp skin and fluffy flesh, topped with some delicious hot chili con carne, and loads of cheddar cheese, melting over the top. I like to garnish it with some sour cream and chopped spring onions.

Quick, easy and delicious. You can't ask for more than that on a night when you are lacking in both time and inspiration but want a tasty meal on the table pronto.  All you need is a salad on the side or some coleslaw and you have a perfectly delicious and simple meal that pleases!

FRIDAY, June 28th - Skillet Caprese Chicken Bites

This was a recipe that I had seen on YouTube on a channel called Feeding the Byrds.  She had adapted the recipe from my friend Kevin of A Closet Kitchen in which he used whole chicken breasts. Cutting the chicken into manageable sized bites which reduced the cook time by quite a lot.

I cut the recipe in half.  Tender and juicy pieces of chicken breast with garlic, shallots and cherry tomatoes.  Mozzarella pearls melted in amongst those delicious juices and drizzled with a sweet Balsamic glaze.  A scattering of fresh basil is thrown over top.  

This was quite simply fabulous served with some steamed Basmati rice.  If you wanted to you could serve with crusty bread to mop up all of those tasty juices, but you really don't need anything else!

 

SATURDAY, June 29th - Pickled Pork and Sauerkraut

I knew I was going to be out on a road trip with my sister most of the day. We planned on hitting the farm markets up and down the Valley.  We do this from time to time and have a ball. Look for a post on that tomorrow.  In the meantime I threw something in the crockpot to enjoy for my supper when I got home.

Pickled Pork and Sauerkraut.  Pickled Pork is a Maritime thing. It is a cured piece of pork, similar to a corned beef. You could use a cottage roll or a small ham, or even ham hocks.  I like to add some chopped onion and apple for flavor, as well as a bay leaf. You can also add a few juniper berries if you have them. I did not have any today. Juniper berries have a slightly piney flavor that goes very well with pork.

Oh boy but my house was smelling some good when I returned.  I enjoyed some of this with some fluffy mashed potatoes.  I like to add plenty of butter to the mash and stir in the kraut which I enjoy along side of that beautifully delicious meat.  (I used a small pot of instant mash today as it was only me and it was getting late.)  

I froze the leftover pork and sauerkraut in small containers for me to take out and enjoy another time when I am rushed for time and wanting a bit of comfort.  This is one of my favorite suppers!

And there you have it, my latest meals of the week. I think you will agree that, once again,  I have fed myself very well. (with the exception of that bad burger on Wednesday)  

I really hope that you will be inspire to want to cook a few of these recipes for yourself!

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