Meals of the Week, September 15th to 21st, 2024

 

Well, here we are, its Sunday and we all know what Sunday means!  On Sunday I like to post my Meals of the Week post.  That is everything delicious which I have enjoyed over the past seven days for my main meals.

Just the main meals, not the breakfasts or lunches.  Just the dinners.  I actually eat my main meal around early afternoon most days, and have a light supper/lunch later on.  One of the joys of getting older means that I tend to get indigestion if I eat a heavy meal later in the day, so I tend to keep it light.

I am a senior living on a pretty fixed income for the most part and I also live by myself, so I try to keep things within a budget as well as being healthy, and I also try to tailor things down to fit the size of my little family, so most of what I cook these days, unless I have company of course, is sized just for one or two.

Its not hard to reduce recipes to smaller amounts and that is what I like to do.  There is much less waste and I get to enjoy a larger variety of meals.  I don't have to eat the same thing for days and days on end if I reduce my quantities.  For those that  I can still not reduce down far enough, I will freeze the excess to enjoy another time.

Life is hard enough when you live on your own without your meals being boring as well. I don't want to eat ready meals or frozen meals either. They are always loaded with fat, salt and sugar and they almost always NEVER look like the picture on the packet. The  number of times I have been really disappointed is unreal, lol.

I do eat out once a week with my father and his friend and most Sundays I will enjoy a family dinner at my sisters. I try to provide like recipes for those days. I try to keep things interesting, affordable and deliciously healthy with only a few exceptions from time to time. Some weeks I do better than others.

I tend to have a protein shake for my breakfast, my main meal and then I will have fruit or a salad, maybe some toast later in the day. Some days I have a sandwich and others I might have a bowl of cereal, usually my homemade granola with some plain yogurt. I like a drizzle of Date syrup on top.

Anyways, I like to share the mains and recipes with you, and the menu suggestions in hopes that I can inspire you to also want to cook for yourself. And without further adieu, here are my Meals of the Week for the past week. That's a whole lot of tasty I think!

SUNDAY, September 15th - Dinner at Cindy's

Most Sundays I have dinner with my family at my sister's or they will come here to have dinner at  mine.  This week we had it at my sisters.  She had made her usual Pot Roast, with vegetables. I am linking to my recipe, Caramelized Onion Pot Roast.  I used to make this with a rolled Brisket but that cut is not really available here.  It is not by any means necessary. You can use any pot roast cut of beef.

Caramelized onions make for a delicious gravy to be served with tender slices of the meat. This does cook in the slow cooker, which makes it perfect for an easy Sunday dinner where you can just pop everything into the crock pot and walk away, hands free to do other things or get on with the making of any side dishes you may enjoy along with your beef.  

MONDAY, September 16th - One Pan Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

On Monday I had something that I had not made in a while, not since last September anyways. I got a good deal on some broccoli and I had some chicken in the freezer and so I threw together One Pan Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Pasta.  I am a huge pan of one pan suppers. Suppers where you can cook everything all in the same pan without having to cook things separately!  This is one such dish. This dish is incredibly easy to make and oh so tasty!

Everything gets stirred together in the one pan, with the broccoli being added just a little bit before it is done so that it doesn't overcook. Chicken breasts, garlic seasoning, penne pasta, cream, stock, parmesan cheese and the broccoli of course.  This is what I call a winner/winner chicken dinner!  I like to serve a crusty bread on the side and a salad. These days I tend to use the Smart Pasta, which has extra fiber added.

TUESDAY, September 17th. - Juicy Beef Brisket

I had a small piece of Beef Brisket in the freezer that needed using up. I decided to take it out and cook it for my dinner. It wasn't a very large one and afforded me enough for that night's dinner and then a dinner of leftovers. It was fabulously tasty.

I first rubbed it in a tasty mix of spices and popped it into a baking dish along with some stock and a BBQ sauce spooned over top. Cooked low and slow and tightly covered until it was melting mouth wateringly tender. More of the glaze was added and then it was popped back in the oven until it was richly glazed and burnished.

This was fabulously tasty served, cut into thin slices along with a baked potato and some Cheese Slaw. It really was a fabulous dinner 

WEDNESDAY September 18th - Dinner out with Dad, Hazel and Cindy 

On Wednesdays I always go out to supper with my father and his friend Hazel. Some weeks my sister joins us. This week they had a special on at the Big Scoop, which is a local place where we go. Cheeseburgers were on special for only $4 all day, so we all had cheeseburgers. My sister and I had Frings with ours. (A combo of fries and onion rings.  I know very naughty.)

We really enjoyed our burgers and Cindy and I really enjoyed our naughty Frings. We then shared a really cheeky piece of chocolate cake for dessert. We also shared it with Hazel. Dad had his usual Sundae.

The recipe I am sharing in it's place is my Onion Pan  Burger. always tasty. The buns get steamed over the onions and lets just say the whole thing is really REALLY delicious!

THURSDAY September 19th - Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

I adore anything Mexican and I had some chicken leftover from a video I had done here.  So I used some of the chicken to make myself some Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos. It was the best of both worlds. I got to enjoy something Tex Mex and I got to use up some of my chicken.  Win/win!

Just because you are a pair of empty nesters or a singleton living on your own, that doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy a meal like this.  Some people might like to enjoy this as a snack or an appetizer, but I find that with sour cream, guacamole, salsa and other bits, it makes a nice and tasty light meal for myself! I love all of the flavor combinations!

FRIDAY, September 20th - Fish and Chips from Nippers food truck

My sister and I had gone on a road trip to visit all of the farmers markets here in the valley and when we were in New Minas we noticed that Nippers had their food van parked at Staples. We had long wanted to try their fish and chips. They claim that it is British style and so we thought why not!  The timing seemed to be right.

We both ordered the small Haddock and chips and mushy peas. It was not cheap and maybe we got them on a bad day, but neither one of us was really pleased with our meal. The batter on the fish was nice and crisp, but it was very greasy, and both of our pieces of fish were overcooked and dry. The chips were quite nice.  The mushy peas were mushy peas and we both like mushy peas. 

We also thought that the lady who served us was a bit rude. But like I said, maybe a bad day. Neither of us would buy it again however. With a tip, it came to just over $20 each.

If you are keen to make your own Fish and Chips, then you should check my recipe out. It, along with a few other recipes of mine was featured in a British Issue of the Canadian version of Hello Magazine!

 

SATURDAY, September 21st - Beef Pot Pie Soup

I had a quantity of brisket needed using up so I made myself an old favorite. Beef Pot Pie Soup. You can use ground beef in a pinch and still have a delicious bowl of soup.  Making soup is such a simple thing to do. My mother always made soup with leftovers from our roast dinners. 

Cubes of cooked beef sauteed with a mirepoix of vegetables (carrots, celery, onions, garlic) for plenty of flavor. Some stock and cubed potato, swede (rutabaga), and cabbage are added along with some herbs and then simmered until everything is beautifully tender. A handful of frozen peas is thrown in and heated through.

While the soup is simmering you can bake some puff pastry lids. I like to top it with some Everything Bagel Spice for added interest.  Ladle the hot soup into heated bowls, top with the puff pastry lid and dinner is served!  If you don't want to go to the trouble of baking puff pastry lids, you can make toasty croutons lids.

Here's how. Just take a large round cutter and cut rounds out of buttered bread.  Sprinkle with some Everything Bagel Spice, or whatever spice mixture you enjoy. Place onto a baking sheet and toast in a hot oven until crisp and golden brown.

So there you have it, my meals of the week. Once again, I ate really well.  There was no waste and I got in a lovely variety of things.  Some healthy and some perhaps not so healthy! Life should be a happy mix of both don't you think? 

If you have any questions or suggestions just leave a comment below!

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