I need to know because I am making a very long list. Let me explain.
Do you plan your meals a week ahead? Do you make a menu for the week then shop accordingly? What do you think about meal plans. I think about them a lot but I am a great thinker!
I kind of make a plan when I have a house full of people. I look to see what we have in the freezers and gardens and plan my dinner around that. At least a day ahead anyway. In the morning I write on my black board what we are eating that day, so if I get held up outside with the milk cow or something or if I am working down the back pretending I don’t know what time it is, anyone can begin the dinner because the menu is on the board and the recipe cards are on the bench.
But I am not consistent. And if I do NOT have a plan (which is most of the time) I always have this low moan clamour in my brain all day, a kind of white noise anxiety – ” What shall I make for dinner? What shall I make for dinner? What shall I make for dinner, what shall … then the moan comes up above my subconscious. “Who put me in charge?! Why do I have to be in charge?! WHAT WILL I MAKE FOR DINNER!” – then it drops back to the white noise clamour so I can try to ignore it again – well, you get the idea.
So I began to make a long list of all the meals I might make with the ingredients commonly found here. You know what they are – you have watched me grow them for years. Not fancy, but good. Later I will shuffle the list into menu’s organise then into seasonal weeks, add left over days, and create the flow (like a roast chicken today becomes tomorrows chicken and noodle soup, beef stew left overs become shepherds pie, etc ), then my decision is made and I can proceed and the white noise anxiety will go away.
So to the list –
I stood with chalk in hand and could only write three meals on the board. I wrote split pea soup because that was what John was making for dinner and I could smell it. Then pumpkin soup because I saw a butternut squash on the bench. Then gnocchi with sage and burnt butter because my daughter told me she had that for dinner last night but I can’t have sage as it is all frozen to the ground. Then I ran out of ideas again.
SO. What are you having for dinner? What shall I have for dinner? Any ideas for my list?
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
162 responses to “What are you having for dinner?”
All the animals are asking you that question… or maybe it was “What were you up to yesterday”?
When my Jack was a young lad in County Durham and came in to ask he mother (my late mother-in-law who I never had the opportunity to meet.) “Our mam, What are we having for our dinner?” She had only one answer: “Three jumps at the cupboard door, Pet. Now if you don’t get out from under my feet, we will not be able to open the cupboard door! Away out and play, I’ll call you when it is ready.” Do you have the recipe for “Three jumps at the cupboard door”, Celi?
I began my ‘cooking’ life very early on when mammy was often ill. Climbing the stairs to describe how each stage looked or tasted and to find out what to do next…. They were meals for eight+, with hot pots and pans far to heavy for me to lift, my eldest brother helped me to lift them. When I married it was difficult to cook for two and soon three. For the past almost eighteen years, cooking for one has proved more difficult, but I cope at times by preparing a meal for six to eight people, having it fresh on the day and freezing the remainder in single portions for the days when energy is low or I cannot think of what to cook. If I have unexpected visitors there is usually enough in the freezer to present them with a meal.
At times I come up with interesting concoctions from the bits in the fridge… not meals I would present to guests, but tasty just the same. An omelet with scraps of left over chicken and plenty of veg… made in minutes and satisfying. Soups made from scratch with my own stock are great for lunchtime. Today it was Broccoli & Almond with Guinness wheaten bread to go with it! Daddy would describe my mother’s soups as: That is great soup, it would put hair on your chest! So as my brothers grew an inch behind the table and expanded their chests, I sat cowering at the very thought. No. I am clear. I checked this morning and so far not one hair has sprouted on my chest!
I know where you’re coming from. I quite like cooking for just me. When Jock was away last week I had all the things he doesn’t like. But I reckon if it were a permanent state I would be less happy.
When asked your question, my Mum used to reply: “Bread and pull it,” It took us a while to catch on that there was no chicken!
😆 We had “potatoes and point”!
🙂
Poor you – and what is for dinner tonight? c
Same again.
Tonight I’m having some baked chicken and roasted veggies. Tomorrow I’ll have turkey and veggies. I feel so boring in comparison to the other comments…
Not boring at all, baked chicken and roast vegetables! sounds great! c
Several months ago, hubby and I bough in Instant Pot (which means something very different in Washington and Colorado). I haven’t used it much, but hubby and thousands of others love it. It’s an electric pressure cooker and is awesome for making a meal in minutes. One of our favorite dishes is to take a can of tomatoes, rice, black beans, vegetable stock and spices. Throw everything in the instant pot and 30 minutes later throw the rice and beans on a tortilla. It’s quick, easy and filling. Another favorite go to is cooked stove-top. I call it Inside Out Green Pepper. Ground meat (your choice), rice, green pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, salt, pepper, Worschershire sauce, and water. Cook meat, add ingredients and simmer for 25 minutes (or until rice is done). Another quick, easy, tasty and filling meal.
I have heard about these Instant Pots. c
I taught my husband how to cook, so now he has to make the decisions! He likes it, really. Yesterday was pork roast with a new invention of haricot beans, garlic, and courgette(zucchini) stir-fried together. Yum!
Tonight it is some kind of beef curry, I think. We plan around what is on sale at the shops – so it might be mostly chicken dishes for a week, or mostly minced beef. He’s been on a courgette kick lately (oh my, the courgette soup is amazing). We also eat very low carb foods, including a pizza where the base is cheese and egg. It’s good, but very rich! We cook a lot of things that are rather casserole in nature – like a beef lasagna with courgette instead of pasta, chicken, mushrooms, beans with green pesto covered in cheese. Taco salad, too.
Summertime it is all about the BBQ grill, however!
If I cook for the two of us it is simple, soups and salad. Every Sunday I go to the farmer’s market and pretend it is my farm. I plan my meals when I have guests and always love leftovers. As soon as my poor hubby gets over his stomach flu ( no fun having this on a return flight coming home) I am going to make him stuffed cabbage or a meatloaf . Tonight it’s some poached chicken breast over barley with maybe some carrots . It will be his first solid meal in days. I made him squash soup last night but that didn’t work. 😬
How do you cook the barley? c
I get hulled barley , it is light brown in color and has a nutty flavor. Don’t buy the pearled barley which is not considered a whole grain and all the nutrients are removed. I usually add barley to my soups and cook it for 20 to 30 minutes. For just cooking soak 1 cup of barley overnight. Cook the drained barley in in 1 cup of water or any broth until the water is absorbed and barley is tender. Most of the time I don’t soak my barley.
If you’re organised C, soak barley in some leftover whey, yoghurt or kefir and cook the next day in an aromatic broth. The idea of soaking is to break down the outer husk and it halves the cooking time, this applies to all grains and legumes.
Saturday is the day I usually go to the fishmonger, pan fried flathead last night, and tonight is, blue eye, sweet chilli,corainder fish cakes.
I cook rice and some sort of dahl curry every day, using any sort of lentil, chick peas, whatever’s closest to hand, usually for lunch…there’s my protein for the day. I roast a big pile of eggplant, sweet potato, and pumpkin after I’ve been to the farmer’s market, and all the tomatoes and capsicum I can find from the garden, and keep them in the fridge. Then if I’m stuck I add them to pasta, or rice…..the other night I made a quick ratatouille with those already cooked vegetables, added some zucchini and seasonings and stirred in some fresh goat’s cheese….my quick version of an easy and delicious risotto. I eat lots of salads, using whatever greens are in the garden, and add cubes of spicy tofu, or chickpea or lentil patties…..from the left over dahl curry, and coleslaw or kimchi, and I might throw in some of the already roasted vegetables. And I eat soup a lot too, even in summer….seasonal vegetables with a grain added. I don’t really plan, just throw together in some form whatever’s in the fridge.
So many great ideas from everyone! Inspiring. Mouth-watering. Kind of intimidating. Me, I have long had a habit of writing “ideal” menus for all occasions as a playtime art, but never had the skills (or budget) to execute most of them. Then I went and married a picky supertaster with a very limited palate and even more limited interest in trying anything new. So most of my cooking challenges revolve around how to take the incredibly few favorite ingredients and make them interesting enough for *me* without scaring my hyper-sensory dinner date. We end up eating same-same-same too much for my taste and eating out far too much for best health/budget control. So I am asking myself your same question with the goal of getting some very different kinds of answers.
What *does* go over well in this household has tended to be a few favorite dishes or ingredients (i.e., broth, chili, spaghetti sauce Bolognese, carnitas, roasted chicken) that I can make in large batches and freeze in smaller portions, but as of our move in December to an apartment half the size of the house, with a freezer also half the previous one’s size, this will also take some new approaches. Needless to say, I’ll continue watching the Fellowship’s responses for further ideas!
Happy eating to all of us,
K
I’m the exact same way. I cannot be like this, because I have two 18 month olds and a husband. But still…I’m this way. It’s maddening.
I wanted to ask you if you or any of your awesome readers had recipes they could send my way. My girls are small. One is smaller. Doctors want me to up her calorie intake. I’ve already been feeding a lot of cottage cheese, whole milk, yogurt, cheese, avocado, etc. All store bought, of course, so not as good. They want her to drink an 8 oz Pediasure a day. She doesn’t really care for it. I’ve gotten some down her by making oatmeal with it, or mixing a little with her whole milk.
She is walking now, and active as a wild horse, so she’s burning more calories than she’s getting in. She also is a slow and light eater- she’ll eat a few bites, then throw the rest on the floor, or just refuse to let me feed her more.
So…does anyone have any simple, healthy, yet high fat recipes you don’t mind passing my way? I’m trying as hard as I can to get more calories into my little lady. Nothing like chips, or ice cream, or McDonald’s. Just trying to stay healthy. I’m also looking into making up healthy smoothies for her.
Maybe she would like some pudding made with cream, mashed potatoes with lots of butter and gravy. My niece was an extremely picky eater but loved crepes with Nutella. I have a cooking blog with a recipe for crepes . Have you tried spaghetti with tomato sauce . My niece liked that, especially when she was allowed to use her fingers. How about sweet potatoes mashed with butter or cooked carrots . Good luck !
Most of the small children I know like spaghetti and sauce. You can try her with elbow pasta and a carbonara sauce with a little bacon and onion in a rich egg and cream sauce, topped with cheese, or bolognese sauce with cream added to enrich it. I’ve always found ‘pizza wraps’ work well for children. Take a plain wrap, sprinkle with grated cheese, add pizza toppings they like, roll and fold it into a parcel and heat it in the oven till the cheese melts. You can cut them into pinwheels so she can pick at them bit by bit. Full fat live greek yoghurt with banana and honey, ditto with lemon curd… I could go on. Happy to offer more suggestions if you’d like, but without hijacking Celi’s blog, so maybe email me if you want other ideas? Address is on my Contact Me page.
Your picky eater sounds like my kids when they were little. Bananas, yogurt, mashed steamed fish – all mushy food – were OK. They didn’t really take to eating properly until after they had their tonsils out – like mine, theirs were very enlarged and must have made swallowing painful. After that, there was no stopping them!
When I’m in gear, which is not always, I usually have a rough map for the week around dinner, but I’m not good at sharing it, so if I’m late home, the others are not likely to get started wtihout me. Typically I plan for at least two meatless suppers in the week – meatless might still involve chicken stock or a slice of bacon crumbled for garnish. I am pretty good about thinking ahead about leftovers. I am very fond of doing something big – what Jamie Oliver would call a mothership meal – on Sunday, and using the leftovers for the next two meals. It helps that we raise our own meat and buy more from local farmers – we keep a freezer full of just meat. So Sunday m ight be pork roast, a big pot of chili, a roast chicken, a whole salmon. I’m not home for supper on Wednesdays due to work, so I leave it up to the family to figure that day out and they seem to rely on pasta – we make and freeze a lot of tomato sauce and home made pesto each summer/fall. Pork roast leftovers might well be turned into pulled pork on Mon, and the remains put inside quesadillas or wraps on Tue. Chicken becomes curry on Mon and soup on Tue. Chili gets bulked out as sloppy joes (served on buns) or with rice or pasta mixed in on Mon, and fills burritos on Tue. Salmon leftovers become fishcakes on Mon and chowder on Tue. Thursday and Friday I have to start again, and sausages will feature on one of those days for sure – my pigs get turned into lovely flavours of sausage by my butcher – the favourite is pork and apple, closely followed by sage and onion. Either of those flavours might be served up in a bun with home baked fries and veg, or as a side for pancakes, or sliced up as a topping for perogies (local company makes good ones), with fried apple and onion. Friday is sometimes home made pizza night, sometimes the fish and chip shop looks after us, but is more often something like home made burgers or shepherds pie – pulling out a pound of ground beef or lamb (both from local farms) is almost a habit on Thursday nights for the next day. Saturdays, one of my two days off, I am trying to accomplish a weeks worth of stuff outside, so it’s crockpot or casserole day – meatless or otherwise. Favourite recipes for the crock pot are split pea with a ham bone, lentil soup or stew (I have a friend who grows lentils), squash soup, chicken wings or legs. Sometimes of course, I’m not in gear at all, and so it’s a bit of a panic every night when I get home from work, as I start cooking without a plan. It’s not uncommon for me to start chopping an onion while mentally reviewing what I could add to it from the crisper drawer. A week of that sort of fly by the seat of my pants meal prep and I’m totally motivated to get back on track. Another thing that can derail me is when the planned leftovers get eaten by someone who didn’t know they were planned. Sometimes that’s even me :), as leftovers make fabulous lunches to grab for work.
You should print this and put it on your fridge – it is EPIC! Thank you.. c
I didn’t realize how epic till it posted and took up the whole screen – sorry 🙂
Oh I love it – it has piles of info!
Hola, I just arrived back in Mexico at noon and bought groceries on the way home. A group of us is going out for pizza! Ok. In the real world, I do cook occasionally. Chicken and chorizo sausage and fresh veggies stir fried with onion and garlic are good. Serve it over pasta, rice, potatoes or tortillas! Yum!
Tortillas – i need to learn more about those! c
Lamb chops from down the road, red cabbage and bacon from down another road, and something with cauliflower…My husband does the cooking (so grateful) and he’s talking something roasted, finely chopped, shaped, and seared for the cauliflower. I have renewed my resolve for farmer’s market meals with as little as possible from the store (but no one in Central Texas sells flour, butter, or apples at the market…)
I hope dinner is delicious!
I love roasted cauli’! men should all cook – if they only realised how much a woman loves a man who will cook! c
Here in N.Ireland at the moment it is cold wet weather so my meals usually are soups Leek & Potato, Chicken Vegetable Broth, Irish Stew,Shepherds Pie,Chicken Pie or Braised Beef with Onion gravy and Champ I plan my meals so that i only shop every two weeks I do a big bake once a month and freeze it my Husband loves pudding so there is always something in the freezer that i can pop in the oven .
Hope you have a good dinner.
Hi Meg – what is champ? c
It’s like bublble and squeak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_(food)
Champ is mashed potatoes with scallions( spring onions)
Chop scallions put in a saucepan and add just enough milk to cover add a good knob of butter bring milk to the boil then simmer for a few minutes add salt and pepper to taste mash fresh boiled potatoes add scallion mix a little at a time until you are happy with the consistency serve with what ever meat you want
enjoy. Meg
YUM! That sounds like me! c
I’m not a menu planner. I’ll shop in the fridge or freezer to get an idea for tonight and tomorrow’s dinners. If a better idea comes along from a cooking show or blog, I’ll make a grocery run and adjust things. I have been going through a lot of zucchini lately, for some reason. 😉
Hello John! Trust us to visit Celi at the same time again 🙂 !
Imagine that – we are having a run on zucchini too!//c
Yes, I am an inveterate list-maker. Buy most of my food on-line once a month [yes, it can be done!] homing in on specials mainly – save oh so much that way and can afford some of the ‘luxury’ items. Then make weekly lists to use things up in order. Mostly cook for one, tho’ I love having friends in, but since I basically only have to please myself travel the world with my recipes: mostly Asian, Middle Eastern and North African: yum and healthy – both important for me . . . 😀 !! Stirfries and curries are my standbys – the first clears out the fridge as far as vegetables etc growing ‘stale’ are concerned and the second is after all best on the 2nd to 4th day so lovely to have around adding new fresh ‘sides’ every day!!!!
John makes good curry too! c
You should not have told me!! Now i’ll be a pest forever as there are at least 20,ooo of the beasties in Indian cuisine alone !!!! Poor John, poor John 😀 !!
We do a week’s menu at a time and shop once per week. (right now the closest grocery store is 45 minutes drive away) Tonight the menu is Serbian vegetable goulash with baked barley and homemade rye crackers.
Hope you do not mind but you have a new reader . . . . wish I was at your table tonight 🙂 !
Hi Ted – sounds wonderful – have a great dinner! c