My second full #cook90 week went fine. Here's my whole meal plan, which I'm updating as I go, and my previous week's meal plan. And below is what I ended up making.
[This post contains affiliate links. I may make a commission for purchases made through links on this post.]
What did I like about the last week? I made a few things that I wasn't sure about. I finally used my Instant Pot (affiliate link) for rice and for a recipe. I'm not sure yet that it's a meal-making game-changer, but I do like using it. Maybe I'll be wowed when I use it for beans, or cook chicken from frozen, or make yogurt, which I look forward to doing. I did enjoy that it makes one-pot meals, since it sautes and pressure/slow cooks. But doing a one-pot meal is still cooking - not the same as tossing in stuff and letting it cook on its own.
Recipes: I haven't made shrimp very often, and I was skeptical about having shrimp with beans and tomatoes, but it was healthy Italian (-ish) fare, and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
There's only a few difficult things about all this cooking at home (and, home cooking). One is that I can't grab lunch if I'm busy and running errands, which has been the case a few times this week. I don't particularly like having lunch at 2pm. I think I'll need to make myself a few portable snacks to prevent being hangry.
The other problem is that I still have to cook, even if I'm feeling under the weather, as happened this week as well. I had a horrible migraine on Thursday; luckily the Instant Pot (affiliate link) honey sesame chicken had enough leftovers for dinner that day, and we had enough other leftovers to have for lunch as well. In the past we'd just have chicken strips or something instead. I'll need to make more freezer meals for these kind of occasions.
I also made german chocolate pecan pie bars (which were good, but I had to bake them extra long, and the coconut did nothing for us). I also tried the best cocoa brownies again, because we need more desserts in our lives.
Everything I plan to try in the upcoming week is a new-to-me recipe. I'm going to try two meals I'm not 100% sure about: lentils and squash, and shakshuka, which is traditionally made with eggs, but perhaps will be ok with fish. I'll also try to figure out something breakfasty to take to a meeting later this week.
Overall, I'm enjoying cooking and eating at home. And meal planning for the upcoming week was easier than last. What should I try next?
Monday ⅛
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover Moroccan lentils (overall this recipe was a little too sweet for me; I'd leave out or cut back the sugar next time)
Dinner: pepper pork chops, with rice and peas
Tuesday 1/9
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover pork chops
Dinner: pasta with parsley pesto (adapted loosely from this recipe)
Wednesday 1/10
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover pesto pasta
Dinner: Instant Pot Honey Chicken with rice and roasted broccoli (this was nice because it made plenty of sauce)
Thursday 1/11
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover salmon with quinoa
Dinner: leftover Instant Pot (affiliate link) Honey Chicken with rice and roasted broccoli
Friday 1/12
Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover Instant Pot (affiliate link) Honey Chicken (with a little rice, and a lot of broccoli)
Dinner: shrimp with herby beans
Saturday 1/13
Breakfast: baked donuts
Lunch: leftover shrimp with herby beans
Dinner: roasted sweet potatoes with chickpeas
Sunday 1/14
Breakfast: cinnamon rolls (a frozen half batch from two weeks ago)
Lunch: leftover roasted sweet potatoes with chickpeas
Dinner: slow cooker chicken and wild rice soup and French Bread (bread post coming later this week!)
Monday 1/15
Breakfast: leftover cinnamon rolls, and coffee scones from the freezer (it's a federal holiday, so time for special breakfast!)
Lunch: leftover chicken and wild rice soup
Dinner: leftover chicken and wild rice soup (it was a busy day - glad that soup made lots of leftovers!)
Tuesday 1/16
Lunch: Shakshuka (with fish; I've never tried this before)
Dinner: Lentil and Squash bowls
Wednesday 1/17
Lunch: leftover lentils and squash
Dinner: quick chicken tikka masala, or beef bulgogi tacos (I'll decide when I go shopping)
Thursday 1/18
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: dining out
Friday 1/19
Lunch: extra leftovers
Dinner: Cumin-Scented potatoes with tomato, with rice and peas
Saturday 1/20
Breakfast: fun breakfast, TBD
Lunch: leftover shakshuka
Dinner: street chicken and rice
Sunday 1/21
Breakfast: leftovers from Saturday
Lunch: leftover street chicken and rice
Dinner: pizza?
Leave a Reply