Monday meal prep!

justyouraveragemama · January 2023

What’s cooking this week?

lmn823 · January 2023

Shrimp was on sale for 5.99 a lb so picked up some shrimp! Today I’ll probably make shrimp with garlic and Angel hair pasta. Maybe toss in some broccoli too.

I’m cooking dinner for my 15 year old niece tomorrow. She is a picky eater but last time I made her broccoli and cheddar soup she loved it! I think since I have so many potatoes I’ll make some type of potato soup, have some leftover broccoli and bacon so maybe a twist on a baked potato soup!

I haven’t thought about the rest of the week yet but so far that’s what I’ll make lol

msjaay · January 2023

I think I'm doing chicken tikka masala tonight w/ rice and naan. It's freezing today so that sounds like a nice warm meal. We'll have that twice.

H also requested tacos, so we'll have that twice.

We ate with my parents yesterday since my daughter had a sleepover with them Saturday night!

Lunch prep this week is hard boiled eggs and fruit for breakfast. I'm still on my fajita chicken and veggies kick for lunch. I usually just have that with rice.

ki1244 · January 2023

Tonight: Greek shrimp salad (ours wasn't *that* cheap but still on sale!)
Tomorrow: slow cooker chicken carnitas

Wednesday: Southwest quinoa and black bean salad

Thursday: cheeseburger soup and air fryer fries

Friday/Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: takeout!

I'm also attempting instant pot labneh this week. My daughter and I both LOVE labneh but good god is it expensive. If this works (and granted it takes a while but it's all passive work) it'll save us a boatload -- $5.99 for a 12-oz package vs $1.72 for three cups (because all we had to buy was a gallon of milk...). We'll see how it turns out!

justyouraveragemama · January 2023

Tonight: grandparents are taking DS out to dinner so probably leftovers for SO and whatever I can stomach for me

tuesday: pork fried rice
wednesday: boxed Mac n cheese
thursday: ham & potato soup
friday: leftovers
Saturday: loaded baked potatoes
sunday: boys are fending for themselves, I’m hosting a baby shower for my niece with my sister at her house

most of these will probably float around based on SO’s work schedule and how I’m feeling that day

lmn823 · January 2023

@ki1244 wow homemade labneh? Very cool. Let us know how it turns out. It’s always so expensive at my grocery store I would love to know the results

ccmrc143 · January 2023

Tonight I made a veggie chickpea coconut curry with rice. It was easy and good! We’ll have it tomorrow too.

On Wednesday we’re making a cannellini bean and Swiss chard stew with homemade bread. We’ll have that on Thursday too. And by Friday I have no clue but we’ll figure something out

ki1244 · January 2023

@ccmrc143 curry recipe please? I make a LOT of chickpeas since my husband prefers homemade hummus to storebought and it's easier to just throw dry in my instant pot, but that gives me the equivalent of three cans at a time to use up.

ccmrc143 · January 2023

@ki1244 here you go! https://holycowvegan.net/easy-vegetable-curry/

Super easy once all your veggies are chopped. I had trouble finding ginger garlic paste at the store so I made my own using her recipe (it’s linked in the curry recipe). Also very easy!

ki1244 · January 2023

@lmn823 first batch was ok -- the texture was fine but it needed salt. So I have the second batch (with salt added) straining now, and I reconstituted the first attempt into Greek yogurt and for that, it's GOOD. I'm pretty happy with it! It takes some planning to have it ready (and a TON of fridge space) but if it gives us good labneh (and yogurt) for a fraction of the price, I can do that. I only did a half gallon of milk so still have the other half gallon in there but I'll probably start that into yogurt this morning -- but for $1.72 for a gallon of milk, I'll call it a good experiment, even if my Aunt Vida (who owned a Lebanese restaurant) would be rolling in her grave that I'm using an instant pot and meat thermometer instead of holding my finger in it to count to 12 to see if it's done.

justyouraveragemama · January 2023

@ki1244 man where are you that a gallon of milk is only $1.72!? I just paid like almost $4 for a gallon!

ETA correction: I paid $4.39 for a gallon of milk

lmn823 · January 2023

I need to move out of NYC. $5.19 for non organic gallon of milk at a stop and shop 🧐

pickle-chips · January 2023

😱 it costs us $6.29 for 4L of regular ole whole milk. Mind you, that’s CAD so probably closer to $5 USD. But still… $1.72. I cannot fathom.

ki1244 · January 2023

Y'all. Aldi. It's life-changing.

Also I live in Nebraska so cost of living here is nothing like anywhere remotely near a coast. Or Canada. I sort of feel weird being annoyed about how much things cost now though, if it's THAT different elsewhere...I mean, that's store-brand non-organic whole milk, but if you guys are paying 3x that, yikes.

justyouraveragemama · January 2023

I’m in MN and I would’ve thought we’d be more in line with Nebraska prices not coast prices😳 groceries here are stupid expensive. Enough so that I bought a Sam’s club membership even though it’s 3 towns over because it’s cheaper there. it just wasn’t worth the drive for just milk and a few other things

ki1244 · January 2023

So Aldi is like Sam's but without the bulk sizes. Little if anything is local produce (it's allllllllll packaged) but good god is it cheap, and generally pretty decent quality. It's almost all store brand stuff too (like Trader Joe's). But I don't give a rip if my olive oil is Bertolli brand or my cereal is actually Cheerios or whatever. They just don't have a lot of specialty ingredients, so like when I make New England clam chowder I had to go to Kroger so I could get clam juice, for instance. But for my family of 3, and me not really trying to skimp on anything, my weekly grocery bill is rarely over $100 and if it is, it was a stock-up week when I was getting like five pounds of chicken or a fresh bottle of multivitamins or things like that. In this economy, I'm cool with that. @justyouraveragemama there are a few in Minnesota, although I'm not sure where in the state you are. @lmn823 there are actually a few in NYC too!

benten24 · January 2023

I love reading this thread for some dinner ideas.

Personally, I’m living off of soup literally every day right now. All last week it was chicken noodle soup (sans the chicken because I just can’t right now) and tonight I’m making a giant batch of chili to eat all week. Soup and salad is all I want at the moment. I’m debating on doing a tuna casserole another evening, and probably a butternut squash soup.

justyouraveragemama · January 2023

@ki1244 we have an aldis a few towns over but it’s in rough shape so I’ve never been and I’m scared to even try😅 it’s also further than Sam’s which I’m noticing we actually should’ve gotten a membership a looooong time ago. I cook from scratch (health reasons) and buying bulk produce has been amazing and leaves budget room for more snacky type things too!

we were shopping at our local small town store and spending an un godly amount of money on groceries so I’ve been trying to cut going there.

ki1244 · January 2023

Bumping this rather than starting a new one since it isn't dated and it's fun to scroll through and see new ideas for dinner!

Last night we had an egg bake and frozen waffles because I'm lazy on grocery shop days.

Tonight I'm making falafel but switching up and using lentils for the base rather than chickpeas, since my daughter loves lentils and isn't a big fan of chickpea falafel.

Tomorrow is a lightened-up crack chicken bake

Thursday is crockpot meatballs (if you don't have the Little Foodie cookbook the gal who runs Baby Foode wrote, go get it IMMEDIATELY, it's fantastic and I totally attribute my daughter being a pretty adventurous eater to that book)

Then it's just leftovers and takeout for the weekend! I'm doing some lunch meal prepping today though, because I've been on this big BLT-ish bowl kick for lunch -- cabbage or brussel sprout shreds sauteed with garlic, onion, and lemon, chopped tomato, crisped-up deli ham, a few chunks of avocado, and a fried egg on top. It sounds weird but is SOOOOOOOO GOOD. but kinda takes a while to prep on the spot.

lmn823 · January 2023

@ki1244 what is this chicken bake you speak of?? 😋

lmn823 · January 2023

Today I’m doing my big grocery hall (big for me and my SO) so compared to people with big families we barely spend more than $300 on groceries a month.

My MIL brought us sirloin steaks yesterday. I prefer med rare steak and since I’m not eating it. I’m going to paper thin some slices and add it to some baguettes and make some Philly cheesesteaks tonight. I ate oats, chia, pomegranate, whole grain cereal, and Icelandic yogurt for bfast and chicken sausage for lunch today so I feel less guilty eating Philly cheesesteaks! Extra cheese please.

Tomorrow I’ll make some gyoza and edamame. I toss in some sesame oil and tons of black pepper in the edamame. It’s soo addicting! I will make a carrot ginger dressing too like the ones in the hibachi restaurants and toss over salad.

Fun fact: I worked in restaurants for 20 years back of house and front of house, learned a lot in cooking so I don’t eat out much since I just enjoy it at home.

ki1244 · February 2023

@lmn823 carrot dressing recipe please? I'm kind of off Chinese food right now (went out with my dad for Chinese a week and a half ago and promptly deposited it back in the toilet two hours later) but I think I could do an Asian dressing and make it a healthy lunch... How cool that you worked in a restaurant! I love cooking but no desire whatsoever to do the work that goes into actually cooking professionally.

Also, crack chicken bake (technically crockpot but I'll throw it in the oven at the end, probably over some cauliflower rice) is this: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/crock-pot-slow-cooker-crack-chicken-recipe/
Except I'm using neufchatel and cutting that in half, and subbing Greek yogurt for the rest, skimping on the cheese, and adding some tomatoes at the end for the heck of it.

lmn823 · February 2023

@ki1244 so throw in a blender (I use my nutribullet)

About a cup of carrots, 1/2 a medium onion (white yellow whatever I usually have), 2 teaspoons of fresh ginger (some like more but I think this is a good amount), 1/4c of rice vinegar, 1/4 neutral oil, a few ice cubes, splash of soy sauce, a little drizzle of roasted sesame oil, and a good squeeze of honey.

I put this dressing on everything! You can add more oil if you want but I just lessen the oil with ice cubes and it’s fresher and less fat that way. I usually eat it within a few days bc of the ingredients. But takes 2 minutes to make all in the blender! Enjoy it.

Yea I worked in restaurants in nyc, from Japanese, to italian and my last one I was at the longest was 2 michelin starred French lol. I lost my job and decided to switch careers when Covid happened. Then I got lucky with a hookup with real estate paralegal work, and unfortunately the mortgages suck now and lost my job again right before getting pregnant. Maybe it was a sign for me to get pregnant since we were trying and then minute I got laid off, I got pregnant the same week.

tumbleweed-1 · February 2023

@lmn823 can you tell me about making gyoza? I tried once but I forgot about salting/prepping the cabbage first and they were way too watery. Any other tips?

lmn823 · February 2023

Are you cooking the cabbage first? I would not recommend that because it will get bitter.

I would chop the cabbage set in a bowl and lightly salt it and leave it so it can take out some of the moisture, at least for 30 minutes. I would rinse it as well and then wring them out in a tea towel or paper towel until dry. Then add them to the rest of your filling.

Also, if you are making homemade gyozas I would recommend taste testing it before filling each wrapper. Sometimes I take a little filling and cook it in a pan and then taste see if I need more seasoning to it. Sometimes I take the easy way out and microwave a small piece bc I don’t have time and then taste it. But if you don’t want to do that it’s up to you.

tumbleweed-1 · February 2023

I can’t remember if I cooked the cabbage or if I chopped it and filled it in raw.

lmn823 · February 2023

@tumbleweed-1 not sure where you live but I live like 20 minutes from an H-Mart it’s that Korean supermarket and they always have dumplings on sale like a big bag for $5. Sometimes I find it easier just grabbing frozen dumplings there

tumbleweed-1 · February 2023

@lmn823 we do have h-mart here! I actually tried to go once and realized they aren’t all grocery stores. The one closest to me was just kitchen supplies. Lol

lmn823 · February 2023

Oh no! I didn’t know that! That’s not helpful if you just want some dumplings lol

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