Meals of the Week, February 9th - February 15th, 2025

 

Hello everyone and welcome to my Sunday Meals of the week post!  Every Sunday I do a roundup of all of the meals that I have enjoyed for my main meals over the past seven days.  I include all of the relevant recipes and menu suggestions.  

Each week I try to feed myself delicious main meals that are nutritious and within my budget.  I also try to use up all of my leftovers and in recent years have tailored my recipes, cutting them down to feed only two people so that there is no waste. All of my recipes are fairly easy to cook and can either be doubled or cut in half depending on how much you wish to cook. If you need help with that, just ask. I am always open to helping out as much as possible!

These are only recipes and suggestions for my main meals.  I do eat breakfast and a light supper, but those things are not included as, generally speaking I eat very simply the rest of the day. Having something like a protein shake or a bowl of cereal or toast (sometimes leftover pizza 😜) for my breakfast,  enjoying my main meal early afternoon and then having a light supper in the early evening.  That will often be a salad or some fruit, maybe a sandwich and on rare occasions, cereal.  It all depends on how motivated I am and how hungry.

I like to make my main meals as interesting, delicious and economical as I can.  Occasionally I will pull the stops out and cook a steak or whatever, but mostly I keep things quite simple.

I usually eat out once or twice a week. My sister will have me over to her place for supper on Sundays, weather permitting, and on Wednesday nights we usually join our father for a meal out, weather permitting.  Other than that, I like to cook all of my meals at home, using what I have to hand.

 As a person who lives on their own it can often be tempting to eat ready meals, or frozen dinners. I am determined not to be that person. It is no trouble and a lot healthier to cook a full recipe and then freeze it in single portions to haul out for those days when I don't have a lot of time to cook. 

Processed foods are loaded with fat, sugar and salt and not something I really want to ingest on any kind of regular basis, so I do cook all of my own food as much as possible.  Here is what I enjoyed over the last seven days!

SUNDAY, February 9th - Cast Iron Chicken Quarter

This was a new recipe I tried out, based loosely on Ina Garten's Engagement Roast Chicken. Normally I would have dinner at my sister's on Sunday, but the snow was such that this week I just didn't get there.  I didn't have a whole chicken to roast and so adapted the ingredients to using a bone in chicken quarter.  This was just enough to feed two people comfortably. I roasted the chicken quarter on a bed of onions, lemon and garlic in a cast iron skillet, sprinkling it with an herb chicken seasoning that I had recently bought. I poured some stock and white wine into the base of the pan.

The end result was a tender and juicy piece of chicken with a crisp skin and beautiful pan juices. I mashed some of these together for a sauce to spoon over my chicken, which I enjoyed along with a baked potato and some broccoli cauliflower cheese!  This was delicious. I had enough for Sunday dinner and then a chicken salad sandwich later in the week.

MONDAY, February 10th - Ham Filled Buttermilk Biscuit Swirls

I had some leftover ham which needed using up and so I decided to put a couple of my recipes together and I made Ham Filled Buttermilk Biscuit Swirls.  This was another small batch recipe. I made a small batch of buttermilk biscuit dough, which I rolled out and covered with a thick layer of my homemade Deviled Ham and some grated cheese. Rolled up and cut into individual servings. I baked them with a butter pat on top of each filled biscuit swirl.

The end result was incredibly tasty, with a buttery flaky crust swirled around a delicious ham and cheese filling.  I enjoyed these with some baked beans and homemade coleslaw on the side.

TUESDAY, February 11th - Carrot & Potato Soup

Another cold and very snowy day was Tuesday. I decided some soup was in order.  I didn't have any bones to make a meaty soup but I did find myself with plenty of carrots and potatoes, and so I used them to make a hearty and delicious soup! This was not only very tasty, but also very easy and quick to make.

I enjoyed a hearty bowl of this along with some buttered sourdough toast. This was lovely. I really enjoyed it and for dessert as it had been a lighter meal, I enjoyed some sugar free Jello with whippy cream on top!

WEDNESDAY, February 12th - Dinner out with Dad

Thankfully the snow let up a bit so that we were able to get out with our father for supper. He had been out in the afternoon and taken a fall so he was sporting a nice black eye, cheek contusion and a few other scrapes. Thankfully he did not break anything.  I was most grateful to be there with him.

I had the grilled pork chop dinner which I really enjoyed. The  Big Scoop does a lovely pork chop. In it's place I am sharing my recipe for Herbed Pork Chops with Garlic Butter.  These always come out beautiful. Garlic and pork are perfect partners.

THURSDAY, February 13th - One Pan Oven Spaghetti

I had been keen to try this recipe from one of the cookbooks on my kindle for a while.  One Pan Oven Spaghetti. Everything is layered in the pan, dry spaghetti, crushed tomatoes, olive oil, cheese and stock. They bake simply in the oven to tasty perfection. You do have to give the mix a stir halfway through the bake time.

This came out really delicious. I enjoyed some of this with some homemade garlic toast and a salad on the side. I also sprinkled more cheese on top of my serving. It was lovely. Not bad for a no-meat meal although you could certainly add some browned ground beef, sausage or turkey if you wanted to. It was nice just as is though.

FRIDAY, February 14th - Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips

I had a small Ham steak in the freezer which I took out and enjoyed as one of my favorite meals.  Gammon Steak, Egg & Chips. This was a favorite meal of mine when eating out in the U.K. It is very simple to replicate a home though.  I enjoyed it on this day with some thick homemade oven chips and grilled tomatoes. I had picked up some lovely cherry tomatoes on the vine at the weekend that I wanted to use up.

This was a lovely meal. No peas this time as I didn't have any and with the snow was not able to get out and about.  Oh, I know it was Valentines Day, but no romantic dinner for me. It didn't matter, I enjoyed this every bit as much as a meal out and it was delicious!

SATURDAY , February 15th - Spicy Ranch Turkey Burgers

I felt like having a burger on Saturday. I had not had one in a very long time. When it comes to burgers, I enjoy Turkey Burgers more than any other kind. These spicy ranch turkey burgers are some of my favorites! 

Ground turkey is mixed with minced jalapenos, grated carrot, onion, garlic and green Tabasco sauce. So, a bit spicy.  Shaped into patties and grilled with a slice of Jack cheese melted on top at the end, they are served tucked into toasted buns with a cool and creamy homemade ranch dressed coleslaw tucked in with the burger.

I did not have oven chips or fries with the burger today, I treated myself to some potato chips. A real treat!  I froze the uncooked burgers, individually, to take out and enjoy at another time. Healthy and delicious, well, except for the potato chips!

And there you have it, these were my meals of the week that I enjoyed over the past seven days.  I really hope that there is something in the bunch that you will also want to cook for yourself!

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