Meals of the Week, Sunday February 11th to Saturday February 17th, 2024

 

Happy Sunday and welcome to my weekly Meals of the Week post!  The one where I share with you all of the deliciousness of the main meals that I have cooked and or enjoyed over the previous seven days.  That's a whole lot of tastiness going on there.

I don't always eat at home. This week I managed to eat out twice in restaurants and once at my sister's place. In those cases I always provide a "like" recipe for you to try in the comfort of your own home. 

I love doing these end of the week posts and sharing them with you.  It gives me an opportunity to review the meals of my past week, to think about how I can do better, etc.  I do enjoy cooking for myself as much as possible.

This can be somewhat of a challenge when you live on your own.  The temptation can really be there to want to eat out of cans or to eat frozen dinners, ready meals, etc.  Occasionally I will resort to a can or a ready frozen meal, but I will say with all honesty, they always disappoint and can never hold a candle to what I can cook myself.

I tend to be rather lazy in that I don't want to spend a lot of time slaving over a hot stove. I did enough of that when I worked as a Chef. I tend to enjoy simple, easy meals to prepare now.  Economical things as well, for the most part.

I am also trying to incorporate more plant based and vegetarian, whole foods meals into my diet, in an attempt to eat healthier! I hope you will enjoy the meals I have prepared this week and be inspired to want to cook a few of them for yourself or your family!

SUNDAY, February 11th - Dinner at my sister Cindy's

Most Sunday's I have dinner at my sister's home. It is nice to be with family and someone to share a meal with.  This week  my sister made Beef Dip Sandwiches in her Instant Pot which she served with roasted vegetables. They were delicious!  She uses the recipe from Eating on a Dime.  I know I need to use my Instant Pot more.

I usually use my slow cooker.  You can find my Easy French Dip Sandwich Recipe here. I have to say it is also very good. You can see it in the photograph above. It all depends on which appliance you wish to use. A slow cooker or an Instant Pot.

MONDAY, February 12th - Little Meatball Soup

It was a cold and blustery day and so I decided a hot pot of soup was in order. I small batched my recipe for Little Meatball Soup.  It uses very simple ingredients.  Tinned tomatoes. Macaroni. Italian Sausage.  Stock cubes.  Simple ingredients put together in the most delicious way.

The sausage is skinned, shaped into meatballs and then poached in the tomato broth. There are no two ways about it, this is one delicious bowl of soup! Serve with some crusty bread for a hearty meal that will please the whole family! 

TUESDAY, February 13th - Twice Baked Cauliflower Cheese Jacket Potatoes

In my efforts to eat more plant based and Vegetarian as a whole, I made myself some Twice Baked Cauliflower Cheese Jacket Potatoes.  This dish combines two of my loves.  Cauliflower Cheese and Baked Jacket Potatoes. I have always felt that a jacket potato is a canvas just waiting for you to paint something delicious on it and these are really delicious.

You can enjoy them as I did, with a nice salad as a full meal. (Two halves) or You can enjoy them as a tasty side to something else. Either way they are fabulous!

As it was pancake day, I also enjoyed pancakes earlier in the day. You just have to you know. Its a tradition!

WEDNESDAY, February 14th - Dinner out with Dad and Hazel

Usually on Wednesday nights I go out to dinner with my dad and his friend Hazel. Cindy sometimes comes also. This week she didn't as she was making a Valentines meal for her husband.  We always go to a local eatery called The Big Scoop.  They recently change hands and none of us is quite sure if we are really enjoying the new menu that much. It is like a burger place now, rather than a family restaurant.

This week we all ordered the same thing. Pan grilled Haddock. It was not bad. I had mine with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It also came with a roll, coleslaw and tartar sauce.  I am sharing my recipe for Pan Fried Cod in it's place.  This is my favorite fish recipe. Hand's down. Even more than battered fish.  Its delicious!

THURSDAY, February 15th - Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

I had some leftover cooked chicken in the freezer that needed using up.  I actually think it was turkey but turkey also goes well in this recipe, which is a very simple, quick, easy and delicious way to use up leftovers. 

Cubes of cooked poultry, whole wheat pasta (for extra protein and fiber) and broccoli in a delicious creamy cheese sauce!  You can't go wrong!  I like to make myself some garlic toast to enjoy with this. Its easily done. Just make a simple garlic butter, spread it on some bread and toast in a hot oven.  A salad also goes very well!

FRIDAY, February 16th - Filet of Sole with Crispy Fresh Bread Crumbs

Yes, I had fish again. I had some lovely sole in my freezer. I think next to Cod I love Sole best of all. It has such a delicate, almost sweet flavor.  This was wild caught sole, so not farmed.  I don't like farmed fish.  This is an excellent way to prepare it.   Seasoned and pan fried to perfection, it is garnished with some crisp buttered bread crumbs which add a bit of crunch and interest.

I enjoyed this with some steamed carrots, boiled baby potatoes, and a salad on this day. It was a really delicious meal.

SATURDAY, February 17th - Dinner out with the family

Monday is a bank holiday here in Nova Scotia, called Family Day. A day off for people to enjoy doing something with their family. Dan (my sister's husband) wanted to treat us all to a meal out and so on Saturday he took us all to Boston Pizza in New Minas. A real treat, and so nice to be able to do this together as a family. I had never been to one of these restaurants before.

They had a really large and varied menu. It was really hard to choose. I decided to order their Honey Dill Crispy Fried Chicken Sandwich, along with some Garlic Fries.  Both were excellent.

You can find my own Spicy Chicken Burger recipe here.  Although not quite the same as the Boston Pizza one, its a really good one, and I am not bragging. I think you could replicate the fries by tossing some frozen crispy fries with a bit of garlic butter and dusting them with some Parmesan Cheese. 

We all really enjoyed our meals!  Cindy had the same as I did. Dad had a small individual pizza, and Dan had a Caesar salad and this loaded with meat pasta dish with some garlic toast.  Everyone was happy!  Then on the way home we stopped at the Independent grocery store in town and picked up individual slices of Brownie cheesecake for $4 a piece. Why spend 8 or 9 dollar for a slice of cheesecake in a restaurant when you can get one for half the price locally!

Of course the best part was getting to do this together as a family.  I am so happy to live close to mine!

And that was my meals of the week for this past week! I think I had a really tasty week. I know I say that every week, but its true!  In any case I hope that I have inspired you to at least want to cook a few of the things I enjoyed!

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