Meals of the Week, April 21st - 27th, 2024

Sunday 28 April 2024

  

Meals of the Week, April 21st - 27th, 2024

 

 True to form the week has flown past and here we are at another Sunday, another Meals of the Week Post. I have been doing this for about a year now and these weekly round ups have  become something that I really enjoy doing each week.


I am determined to cook myself decent meals even though I find myself living on my own.  I don't ever want to be that person who indulges in overly processed premade meals and takeaways.  Although these past few weeks  I have eaten out twice a week. (NOT normal.)  Usually I do eat out once  a week with my dad and I try to choose a healthy option most of the time when I do. 



In any case I have provided a suitable alternative that compares well with what I have eaten when I was out. I do think that home cooked food, whilst more labor intensive for sure, is always better for you and better tasting in most cases!



Sharing these recipes with you has inspired me to cook regularly as well.  I love sharing my recipes with you and I really do hope that you are inspired to want to cook them and to cook regularly for yourself as well!  Together we can all eat healthier, well managed  and complete meals that don't necessarily require a whole lot of work to put together!

 I try to keep things as healthy and low cost as I can. In these days of rising food costs, every little bit helps!


In any case, here are the delicious main meals that I enjoyed over the past seven days. I hope that you will get some ideas about how you can cook some of them for yourself, save some money and eat as well as I do!

 


Another Roast Chicken



SUNDAY, April 21st - Dinner at Cindy's


On Sunday's I usually have dinner at my sisters with my father and my sister's husband Dan. She usually cooks a roast of some sort. This week it was chicken. I love LOVE roast chicken. I could eat roast chicken every week. You always get a delicious roast dinner on the day and then with the leftovers you can get a few more meals, depending on the size of the chicken and the size of your family.


I am sharing my recipe for Another Roast Chicken. In this recipe the chicken is spatchcocked (split and flattened) and roasted over a bed of vegetables.  I tell you exactly how to spatchcock a chicken with pictures.  


Also if you are wanting tasty ideas on how to use any chicken leftovers, here is a post I did on How to Make Your Roast Chicken Pay for Itself.  You may find this very helpful. Sometimes we may avoid paying the cost of a roast chicken because it seems a bit much, but this article shows you how to really get the most out of that cost that you can!


Tender Beef and Noodles



MONDAY, April 22nd - Tender Beef & Noodles


I had some of the beef from this recipe frozen in the freezer. It makes two servings and I usually freeze one for a later date.  What you have here is a delicious dish of tender, fall apart, melt in the mouth beef in a delicious gravy, served along with some hot buttered noodles.

You can either cook this in a slow cooker/crock pot or in a small Dutch oven on top of the stove. Its a very simple recipe with loads of flavor. I usually will cook a simple vegetable on the side like string beans or carrots.


Chicken and Garlic Potatoes Casserole



TUESDAY, April 23rd. - Chicken and Garlic Potatoes Casserole


My sister had given me a quantity of cooked chicken to take home with me and so on Tuesday I made myself this delicious chicken casserole. The original recipe makes six servings, but I cut it way back to serve only one as I only had enough chicken for one.


This is a simple and delicious chicken casserole which makes good use of leftover chicken and store cupboard ingredients.  It is like a pot pie, with a lush gravy,  but instead is topped with a potato crust of thinly sliced buttery garlic potatoes. 


Onion Pan Burgers



Wednesday, April 24th - Dinner out with Dad


I usually go out for dinner with my father and his friend Hazel on Wednesday nights. We got to a local eatery which is called The Big Scoop Family Restaurant and Takeaway.  They are a pretty popular place and have a very large menu. They specialize in burgers.   I am not one to eat a burger very often, but I did avail myself of their Oklahoma Double Onion Smashie this week, although I opted to have it with just one beef patty. (I can't eat two!)


In it's place I am sharing my Onion Pan Burgers recipe which is just about the same thing except you can cook them at home!  An all beef patty is cooked and smashed into sliced onions and cooked to perfection.  The onions get embedded in the patty flavoring it. Of course there are plenty of onions in the pan so the bun also gets to steam on top of the remaining onions.  A slice of cheese is melted on top. This is burger perfection in my opinion!


Cheddar Cheese and Chive Scones



THURSDAY, April 25th - Tomato Soup with Cheddar Cheese and Chive Scones

It was a beautiful sunny day on Thursday but the temperatures were absolutely perishing!  Plus there was a harsh wind blowing and so I opted for a simple supper of Tomato Soup.  I did make my soup from scratch. The link is there. I have shared it before.  On this day I chose to accompany it with some delicious scones rather than a grilled cheese sandwich.


The Chives are going crazy in my back garden and I am trying to use them in as many ways as possible. These scones are lovely. Light and jam packed with plenty of strong sharp cheddar cheese and loads of chopped chives for a mild onion hit.  These went really well with the tomato soup!


Crispy Mustard Chicken with Spring Potato Salad


FRIDAY, April 26th - Crispy Mustard Chicken with Spring Potato Salad


I like to buy packs of chicken thighs and then I divide and freeze them in two-thigh sized packs.  This week I made this delicious dinner for two of Crispy Mustard Chicken with a wonderfully flavored Potato Salad Vinaigrette.  


The chicken is spread with Dijon mustard on the underside and then flat roasted in a heavy skillet, skin side down and weighted.  This results in a lovely crisp skin.  The mustard flavors the chicken from the inside out, mellow and not slap in the face. The flavor is beautiful and goes wonderfully with that lovely baby potato salad with its fresh herb flavors.  Altogether this was quite scrumptious!


Chili Cheese Dog Hot Dish


SATURDAY, April 27th - Chili Cheese Dog Hot Dish 


I finished off the week with one of my all time favorite casseroles. Chili Cheese Dog Hot Dish. I adore hotdogs, which I know not everyone does.  They really shine in this delicious, simple casserole which is a riff on Chili dogs.  A delicious store-cupboard meal it goes together very simply.


The base is a mix of sliced hot dogs, a can of chili and a few other bits.  This gets topped with grated cheese and some frozen tater tots.  This gets baked until everything is bubbling away and then just before serving, and when the tater tops are crispy, you can sprinkle a bit more cheese on top and let it melt.  Oh boy but this is some good.


If you are looking for simple and delicious, you really can't go wrong with this!  I enjoyed it with a nice salad on the side.


And there you have it. My meals of the week for this last full week in April. I can't believe we are at the end of April. I have now been doing these meals of the week posts for a whole year!  They are something that I have really enjoyed putting together and I think you have enjoyed them also!  They will continue!


This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com  



 Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again! 



 If you like what you see here, why not consider signing up for my newsletter and/or subscribing/following me on Grow. You can also bookmark my recipes via the Grow platform. Check out the heart on the right hand side of the screen. 



I have now shut down my Mad Mimi Newsletter account so if you still wish to get newsletters from me and had previously subscribed via Mad Mimi, you will need to resubscribe via Grow, if you haven't already.

2 comments

  1. Good of you to show how to use leftover chicken here - especially today where everything is so expensive and we all have to stretch out whatever we eat - especially meat. My mother taught me to be frugal. In the early years of marriage I was having coffee with a neighbour and watched her almost tip a chicken carcass, still covered with half the meat, into the garbage. I stopped her and she admitted that she had no idea what to do with it. I said "give it to me OR I can show you how to get 2-3 more meals out of that". We spent a very enjoyable afternoon doing just that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cost of good food is getting astronomical these days Linda! I don't know how families can cope. And I am noticing the quality in my local shops going down, down, down, as far as fresh produce, etc. goes. I hate spending good money on food I know is not going to last me for very long! Good for you in showing your friend how to cook more frugally!

      Delete

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear from you so do not be shy!


BEFORE LEAVING A COMMENT OR RATING, ASK YOURSELF:
Did you make the recipe as directed? Recipe results are not guaranteed when changes have been made.

Is this comment helpful to other readers? Rude or hateful comments will not be approved. Remember that this website is run by a real person.

Are you here to complain about ads? Please keep in mind that I develop these recipes and provide them to you for free. Advertising helps to defray my cost of doing so, and allows me to continue to post regular fresh content.

Thanks so much for your understanding! I appreciate you!