Meals of the Week, March 30th - April 5th, 2025

 

Here I am with another Meals of the Week Post. Each Sunday I like to share the recipes and menus for all of the main meals that I have enjoyed over the past seven days!  This is something that I enjoy doing and it is something which my readers also seem to enjoy!

I am determined that I am going to eat healthy and balanced meals despite now living on my own for the first time in my life. I have gone from cooking for my parents and siblings to cooking for a family, a variety of husbands and now at the age of 69 almost 70 I find myself  having to adapt again to the smallest family I have ever cooked for, one person!

As cooks I think we go through different stages in our lives.  I started cooking for my parents and siblings when I was a young teenager and my mother went out to work fulltime. I probably wasn't very good then. I mostly just reheated things my mother had already prepared, but I gained experience and I learned.

Cooking for just one person has probably been one of the hardest learning curves.  Learning to cook for only one person without a lot of waste, and yet keeping things exciting and interesting and healthy at the same time.  

The temptation can be there to want to eat ready meals, canned foods or takeaways. I do not want to be that person. Not only is that kind of food not healthy and boring, but it is loaded with salt, fat, sugar and preservatives. 

And so as much as I can I cook for myself.  Note, these are only my main meals of the day. I do also eat breakfast and a light supper.

These weekly posts are an opportunity for me to look back on the previous weeks meals, which are definitely a challenge for me. To try to keep things healthy, reasonable, without a lot of waste, and within budget, as well as interesting.  I  think I am doing pretty good with this challenge.  What do you think?

Thanks for coming along with me!

SUNDAY, March 30th - Sunday Dinner at Cindy's

I had Sunday dinner at my sister's place with the family, and she had made a beautiful Shepherd's Pie. My sister is such a wonderful cook. Why does food always taste so much better when someone else cooks it?  It's true!  This was delicious!

In it's place I am sharing my recipe for a Classic Shepherd's Pie.  Someone had commented that there was too many peas in it.  You are free to add as many or as few vegetables as you wish.  Creamed corn is also nice instead of the peas.

MONDAY, March 31st - Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Nachos

These were something I had wanted to try for quite a while. I poached some chicken breasts and made me up a small batch of these. They were fabulously delicious.  Crisp and salty tortilla chips, topped with a BBQ Chicken, plenty of cheese, cubes of fresh pineapple, red onions and some thinly sliced jalapeno peppers.

These were really tasty. I made a sour cream dip on the side to serve them with.  A quick, easy and very delicious supper!

TUESDAY, April 1st - Amish Country Casserole

On Tuesday I made a half batch of this delicious Amish Country Casserole. The recipe posted is a small batch version, which makes four servings, but I cut it in half yet again as there is just me, which gave me some to enjoy on the day and some to pop into a freezer container for another time.  

This is a fabulously tasty casserole. Those Amish really no how to cook. Cheap, cheerful and delicious.  I enjoyed this with a salad on the side and some Easy Stuffed Cheesy Bread. It was a great meal! I was also able to share some with my next door neighbor.

 

WEDNESDAY, April 2nd - Tomato Soup with Cheddar Cheese and Chive Scones

I have not been going out to dinner with my father and his friend Hazel lately on Wednesday nights. I might go next week, but this week I was not feeling like going out. I stayed home and had a simple bowl of homemade tomato soup along with some of my homemade scones.

This was a delicious supper that did not take a lot of effort on my part. The day was windy and rainy so a soup meal went down a real treat and because it was quite light, I felt justified in enjoying a cheeky dish of homemade frozen yogurt for dessert. This time I enjoyed lemon. Yummy!

THURSDAY, April 3rd. - Roast Chicken in a Bag

I have several whole chickens in the freezer and so I took one out to roast.  I did it in a cooking bag this time with excellent results. It came out tender and juicy and had some really tasty juices to make a delicious gravy with.

I enjoyed it with some mashed potatoes and vegetables.  I shared some with my next-door neighbor and had enough to use as leftovers to make sandwiches and a tasty casserole with.

FRIDAY, April 4th - BBQ Chicken Cornbread Casserole

I was looking for a different kind of casserole to make with some of my leftover chicken.  I spied one for a BBQ chicken made with ground chicken. I adapted it to use cubed chicken and made my own saucy BBQ gravy for the base. Topped with cheese and a lush cornbread topping, it came out delicious.

I would normally have enjoyed a salad with it, but the weather was really nasty, and I didn't have any salad ingredients in the house so I enjoyed it simply with some peas and carrots.

SATURDAY, April 5th - Chunky Puy Lentil and Veggie Soup

It was my church's Spring biannual Conference on Saturday, so six hours of watching talks and drinking them in. I didn't have a lot of time for cooking and so I took a single serving pot of this soup I had made months ago out of the freezer and thawed it out for my supper.

Delicious, hearty and healthy I enjoyed this simply with some buttered sour dough bread.  I had some fresh fruit and ice cream for dessert and was perfectly content!

And there you have it, my Meals of the Week for the past week. I think I ate pretty well.  What do you think?

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com 

 Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!