Can you guess what day this is? You are right! It is Meals of the Week Day! The day when I gather together and share with you all the meals that I have cooked or eaten over the past week.
You have all said that you enjoy these posts, and I actually find this very helpful myself, for a few reasons. One if helps me to look back on how I have been eating and perhaps make some changes in future weeks, and two, it helps me to plan my meals for the week ahead.
The temptation when one lives by themselves is to not cook, or to eat out of cans, bottles and boxes. Frozen dinners, ready meals, etc. I don't want to be that person. Already prepared food is quite expensive for one thing, and it is usually filled with salt, fat, sugar and a lot of other things I don't really want to be eating.
When I lived in the UK, eating small was a lot easier actually. The UK is the King of the Ready Meal! They have it down to an art and some of them are really quite good. Marks and Spencer is the best at it. I used to love LOVE shopping there. Their ready meals were fabulous and did I live in the UK, I would probably eat more of them.
I discovered this American couple on YouTube this week. The Magic Geekdom. They had a whole video dedicated to shopping in M&S. Do check it out if you are interested. They were huge fans. they made me feel quite homesick, and they were in the Chester M&S also, the one I used to shop at.
In any case, ready meals here in Canada cannot compare to M&S. I cook for myself all the time. I might cheat every now and then and buy a rotisserie chicken, but who doesn't!
In any case these are the meals that I cooked for myself, or was treated to over the past week. I ate out twice and had dinner at my sister's on my Brother in Law's birthday, so not everything was cooked at home. I have provided recipes for those alternatives in the place of the restaurant food that are equal to or better then most of the restaurant food I had.
SUNDAY May 28th, Grilled BBQ Chicken
Usually on Sundays I go to my sister's for Sunday dinner. This week I had everyone here so that my sister could have the treat of going out golfing with her husband Dan. Because I had church in the morning, I kept it really simple with some Grilled BBQ Chicken.
I also made a Herbed Potato Salad. I had some baby potatoes that we had bought at Costco the other week that I wanted to use up and had everything in house ready to do it. Its a very simple salad I think. Must easier than the mayonnaise type. It has a vinaigrette and herb dressing that you toss the warm potatoes into. They soak up all the lovely flavors. Light and delicious.
We also enjoyed a mixed salad and some garlic bread sticks from the store. (DON'T! Essentially they were hotdog buns coated in garlic butter. Not that great. Very bready.) For dessert my sister had brought over a Sugar Free Apple pie. Yummy!
MONDAY, May 29th - Dinner Salad
On Monday I made myself a dinner salad using some of the leftover grilled chicken from the night before. I used fresh iceberg lettuce I had cut into chunks, then added some diced avocado, boiled egg, cucumber, tomato and red onions. I added some boursin cheese that needed using up as well.
I topped it off with a lush homemade Honey Mustard vinaigrette dressing and turned some of those bad bread sticks into some tasty garlic croutons. This was very good and very filling. It was quite warm on Monday as well, so having a salad was a wise choice.
TUESDAY, May 30th - Ham and Cheese Bow Ties
I decided to make myself a delicious casserole using some cooked ham that I had in my freezer, leftover from Easter. I had cubed it and froze it in one cup sized packages. Just the right size for the smaller family to use in casseroles like this one.
Cooked bow tie pasta is tossed together with the cooked ham in a rich and creamy, cheesy, garlicky sauce. Its delicious served with some steamed vegetables on the side.
WEDNESDAY, May 31st - Dinner out with Dad and his friends
Wednesday nights I always go out to dinner with my dad and his friends. Lately it has been just one of them. Dad likes me being there. His hearing isn't what it should be these days, even with his hearing aid so he thinks I am good company for his dinner companions.
Dad had the spaghetti with meat sauce, but he said there wasn't any meat in it. I think they probably need to stir their sauce before they ladle it out. The meat had probably all sunk to the bottom of the saucepan.
Hazel and I had the one piece fish and chips this week, but in all honesty, this homemade New England Haddock Burger would have been much better. Crisp haddock fillets dipped in a buttermilk batter and fried until crisp and perfectly cooked. Served on a toasted roll with some pickles and tartar sauce. Very Yummy!
THURSDAY, June 1st. - True Newf Poutine, copycat
On Thursday my sister and I took my daughter and her husband out to lunch. We went to Jonny's Cookhouse in Berwick. Eileen and Tim had never been there so it was a real treat for them. My sister and I had been craving the True Newf Poutine for a while, so that is what we had. Hot chips topped with cheese curds, gravy and Newfoundland stuffing. Its delicious and this copycat recipe is even more so! I could eat that stuffing with a spoon.
Eileen had the Apple Capital Burger - It consisted of a grilled Beef patty on a bun with Cheddar cheese, some grilled apple, red onion, mayo & homemade apple Butter. She also had chips. She really enjoyed the burger and it looked very good.
Tim had his usual fish and chips. It came with coleslaw and tartar sauce. I am not a fan of their tartar sauce myself. They add mustard to it. Not my cup of tea.
They each enjoyed an ice cream for dessert. Jonny's is known for its ice creams. They had small ones in a cup and they were huge. I would hate to see how big the large one is!
FRIDAY, June 2nd - Pizza at my sister's
Friday was my brother in law Dan's birthday so my sister had us all over for homemade Pizza, salad and cake. My sister makes a great homemade pizza. The cake was a double chocolate that she makes which has pureed dates in the batter and a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Very yummy.
I have taken the liberty here of linking to my homemade School Cafeteria Pizza. This is one of the best pizzas to make at home. The crust is a pourable crust. Easy peasy. I like to use my homemade pizza sauce which took me years to hone to perfection. We enjoy it topped with pepperoni, bacon, peppers, sausage, olives, etc. Delicious!!
Of course the best part was being together as a family to celebrate a special occasion!
SATURDAY, June 3rd - Easy Chili Mac & Cheese
This is one of my favorite chili casseroles. It is a bit of a cheat. It uses boxed macaroni and cheese, a can of beef chili and a few other bits. It does make four servings, but freezes well. I break the cooked casserole down into four single servings and freeze three. Its always nice to have something like this in the freezer ready to pull out on those days when you know you are going to be super busy.
This was really delicious with a tossed salad on the side and some crackers. I don't know why, but I always like crackers with chili.
And there you have it, these were my meals for the past week. My lunches were quite simple, usually a sandwich or some toast. I had a really tasty tomato sandwich for my lunch yesterday! (On rye bread with some Kewpie mayo! Yum!) Breakfast is usually cereal or a muffin. This week I enjoyed homemade Honey Cornbread Muffins. Double yum!
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