Meals of the Week, October 20th - 26th, 2024

 

 

Well, here it is another Sunday, and we all know what that means.  My Meals of the Week post!  On Sundays I like to do a post for you containing all of the recipes and menus for the things I have enjoyed as my main meals over the past seven days. That's a whole lot of tasty!  I hope that in doing so I will also inspire you to want to cook nutritious meals for yourself.

Because I live alone with just my two cats for company, the temptation can be really strong to want to eat from jars, cans, frozen ready meals or take aways. I mean, what is the point in going to all of that effort of cooking for just little old me?  What indeed!

I am worth it and you are worth it.  All those highly processed ready meals, frozen meals, takeaways, etc. are loaded with things that none of us should be eating on a regular basis. High in fat, sugar and salt and often a lot of other things that we can't even pronounce. If we don't know what it is, and we can't pronounce it should we really be eating it?  I think not!

And so, I determined that for so long as I am able, I will endeavor to cook a tasty main meal for myself each and every day and that is what I do! Not only are they tasty, but they are also relatively simple to make and highly economical as well. Like many, I live on a fixed income so affordable meals are a priority.

I do eat my main meal every day in the early afternoon, unless I am eating out or at somebody else's house.  I eat a simple breakfast most mornings, consisting of a protein shake.  And at suppertime I will have something simple like some toast, or a salad, maybe on occasion a bowl of cereal. I try to never eat anything after 7 at night. That's my rule.

I also try to keep at least one or two meals a week vegetarian if I can. I did try Vegan at one point, but that was really difficult to keep up. There are not a lot of options available in my area for people who are wanting to do that.  Most vegan foods are also very highly processed. How can that be any better for you or for the environment.

Anyways, without further ado, here are the main meals, with menu suggestions, that I enjoyed over the past seven days. I hope you will be inspired to want to cook at least one or two of them for yourself!

SUNDAY, October 20th - Belated Thanksgiving Dinner

Because everyone else had Covid on Thanksgiving this year, we ended up having a belated Thanksgiving Dinner at my sister's place on Sunday.  We picked up some Fried Chicken from Mary Browns and my sister made Mom's Potato and Bread Stuffing, and her special sweet potatoes.

We also had peas and corn, taters and gravy. Dessert was cherry pie with whipped cream on top. Nobody missed the turkey. (Well, I did a little bit.)  Having everyone well and together was really something to be thankful for however and our dinner was very good!

MONDAY, October 21st - Tender Beef and Noodles

I had a pretty busy day on Monday and so I took one of my meals from out of the freezer that I had cooked previously.  Tender Beef and Noodles. (I cooked the noodles fresh. It was only the beef and gravy that were frozen.) What you have here is some tender and juicy, fall apart, melt in the mouth pieces of beef in a lush gravy, served with hot buttred noodles.

I cooked some mixed veggies on the side to try to get in some of my five a day!

TUESDAY, October 22nd - Chicken and Garlic Potatoes Casserole

I had brought a couple of pieces of chicken home from Sunday dinner and so I decided to make a delicious casserole with them. I did a small batch of this one. The original recipe makes six servings, but I cut it way back to serve only one as I only had enough chicken for one.

This is a simple and delicious chicken casserole which makes good use of leftover chicken and store cupboard ingredients.  It is like a pot pie, with a lush gravy, but instead is topped with a potato crust of thinly sliced buttery garlic potatoes.  Delicious with some salad on the side.

WEDNESDAY, October 23rd - Dinner out with Dad and Hazel

 I met my father and Hazel at The Big Scoop for our usual Wednesday night dinner out. I had a new item on their menu, the chargrilled Pork Chop dinner. It was surprisingly good!  I chose to have chips with it this time, and it came with peas, carrots, applesauce, coleslaw and a roll.  All for $12.99.  I was really happy with it. It made a nice change from the usual.

In it's place I am sharing my Easy Greek Pork Chops. This easy Greek Pork Chop recipe is marinated so that you can achieve maximum flavor and tenderness without having to cook them long and slow.  In fact, aside from the marinating time, you can have these done and on the table in not much more than fifteen minutes.

And they are juicy and tender, with beautiful Greek flavors.  Oregano, garlic, lemon, olive oil, rosemary  . . .  so flavorful!

THURSDAY, October 24th - Tomato Soup with Everything Bagel Biscuits

It was a beautiful sunny day on Thursday, but the temperatures were starting to drop! I opted for a simple supper of Tomato Soup.  I did make my soup from scratch. The link is there. I have shared it before.  On this day I chose to accompany it with some delicious biscuits rather than a grilled cheese sandwich.

I had biscuits leftover from the day before and I thought to myself, waste not want not.  I simply reheated them in a slow oven and they were as delicious as they had been on the day they were baked.

FRIDAY, October 25th - Fish Fingers, Chips and Beans

I spent a great part of the day out shopping with my sister and I was pretty tired when I got back. I got everything put away and then just opted for a simple supper of Fish Fingers, Chips and Beans. This is a great comfort food kind of a supper. It can be as simple as opening frozen packets and tins, popping the fish and chips into the oven and the beans into a saucepan to heat up. I, however, always like to add a little twist to my baked beans.  They always come out flavorful and tangy.

Not the healthiest option, but not the worse either! Made a nice change, albeit a bit naughty! You could make your own fish fingers from scratch if you are really keen. There is a great recipe here. 

SATURDAY, October 26th - Chili Cheese Dog Hot Dish 

I finished off the week with one of my all-time favorite casseroles. Chili Cheese Dog Hot Dish. I adore hotdogs, which I know not everyone does.  They really shine in this delicious, simple casserole which is a riff on Chili dogs.  A delicious store-cupboard meal it goes together very simply.

The base is a mix of sliced hot dogs, a can of chili and a few other bits.  This gets topped with grated cheese and some frozen tater tots.  This gets baked until everything is bubbling away and then just before serving, and when the tater tops are crispy, you can sprinkle a bit more cheese on top and let it melt.  Oh boy but this is some good.

If you are looking for simple and delicious, you really can't go wrong with this!  I enjoyed it with a nice salad on the side.

And there you have it, these were my Meals of the Week for the past week. I think I ate pretty well.  What do you think? None of it was very complicated at all, and I think it was pretty healthy for the most part.  It was also quite well within my budget.   I hope that you will be inspired to want to cook at least a few of these things for yourself!

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