Hey all and welcome to my Meals of the Week post. Every Sunday I like to share with you, my beautiful readers, all of the deliciousness that I (and my daughter at the moment) have enjoyed as our main meals over the past seven days.
Hooray for the cooler weather and for comfort food season! I have really been enjoying getting back into it. Comfort food season is my favorite time of year.
These are only my/our main meals and do not cover the other meals we have, like lunch or breakfast, which tend to be very simple affairs. If I do a large breakfast at all it will be more often than not served as a supper as a big breakfast and early morning don't work well for me.
I am also a senior on a fixed budget so I try to keep my food within that budget and to make my pennies stretch as far as I can. These past few years I have been downsizing most of what I cook. It just makes sense. I also try to eat fairly healthy which is a definite challenge in the present economy.
I also refuse to eat from cans and frozen dinners. I want to try to cook everything that I can for myself. From scratch, using honest and simple ingredients. If I can't pronounce it, I don't want to be eating it!
On the occasions that I have not eaten at home (Sunday dinner at my sister's and Wednesday family dinner out) I have provided like recipes to replace what we have enjoyed.
In any case, here they are, all of the tasty meals we have enjoyed over the past week. I hope that you will be inspired to not only cook for yourself, but to cook some of these tasty repasts! I promise you that you won't be sorry.
SUNDAY, November 1st - Sunday Dinner at my Sister's
Last Sunday we were finally able to go to my sisters for a family meal. We had not gone in over a month I guess. My sister had cooked a roast chicken in the airfryer which we enjoyed with a combination of roasted vegetables and stuffing. It was some good.
In it's place I am sharing my recipe for Grandmother's Roast Chicken & Gravy. Family dinners and meals prepared for us lovingly by our grandmothers and other family members are truly sacred things, that nothing else can ever come up to, and this is one heck of a roast chicken recipe. This roast chicken recipe is really a good one. It differs only slightly from my usual one. I do normally use lemon and thyme for my roast chickens, and plenty of butter, but I have also used garlic in the past. The end result of this recipe, made using simple ingredients, is a chicken that's delicious, tender, and moist, with a beautiful, well-flavoured gravy that the whole family will enjoy. What you choose to serve on the side of it is up to you. You can be as conventional or unconventional as you like.
MONDAY, November 2nd - Cottage Pie with Potato Cobbles
On Monday I made Eileen and I a small version of this lovely cottage pie. Most people confuse cottage pie with shepherd's pie. I did too before I moved over to the U.K. The two are not the same thing. Cottage Pie is made with beef. Shepherd's Pie with lamb. But other than that, they are pretty similar.
This version is a bit different than the usual version and combines a lush beef filling topped with cooked vegetables and a layer of butter brushed potato cobbles/sliced cooked potatoes. A smattering of cheese goes over top. This is really delicious. I cut the recipe down to make only two servings. We enjoyed this simply with a salad on the side. You might want to add some crusty bread to help mop up all those tasty juices!
TUESDAY, November 3rd. - Sheet Pan Apricot Chicken and veggies
On Tuesday I made Eileen and I a simple sheet pan chicken dinner. Apricot Chicken and veggies. The chicken is seasoned simply and roasted with a pan of veggies Until the chicken is close to getting done. A simple apricot and grainy mustard glaze is spooned over the chicken at that point and then the sheet pan goes back into the oven until the chicken is sweetly glazed and juicy with a crisp and sticky skin and the veggies are roasted to perfection.
Tender and moist pieces of chicken. A finger-lickingly stick glaze. Perfectly roasted veggies. What could ever be wrong about that? You really don't need much on the side of this. It's a full meal in and of itself.
WEDNESDAY, November 4th - Dinner out with the family
On Wednesday we were happy to go out to dinner again as a family. We went to a different place this week called DeeDee's Diner. We had heard that they were closing for the winter on the 8th and so wanted to have one last meal there before they did. We like it there. It's not dad's favourite (mostly because the waitress doesn't flirt with him.) The rest of us really like it though.
Cindy had the Haddie Bits special, Dad had their Classic Burger, Eileen had their Mushroom Melt burger and I had the fish and chips. In it's place I am sharing a simple recipe for Fish Fingers, Chips and Beans. A simple traditional supper that is a standard over in the U.K. Its a combination that I really love as well. There is nothing complicated about it and it is delicious. Simple and delicious. What more could you want?
THURSDAY, Nov. 5th - Middle Eastern Lamb Koftas
I had some ground lamb in the freezer which needed using and I was feeling a bit like having something different so I made us some Lamb Koftas. (Shh, don't tell Eileen it was lamb, she will freak.) I really love Middle Eastern Flavours and this is a perfect way to showcase them.
They are like little ground lamb meatballs, except shaped into ovals, nicely spiced. They bake in the oven simply and come out tender and juicy. Perfect for serving with a simple Tahini based sauce that I made and drizzle over top. You could eat and enjoy these in a pita bread with salad. We enjoyed them with couscous and roasted veggies. It was a delicious meal. Not a fan of lamb? You can use any ground meat to make these and it will be delicious, I promise!
FRIDAY, November 6th - Air Fryer French Bread Pizzas
We wanted something simple for our supper on Friday. I did us some French Bread Pizzas in the air fryer. I had some ciabatta rolls that needed using up and this was the perfect way to use them. Topped with garlic butter and lightly toasted and then finished off with a good pizza sauce, plenty of cheese and pepperoni.
These cook up beautifully in the air fryer and come out nice and moreishly crisp without being over the top. You can top them with whatever you like. Always delicious. We enjoyed with a simple salad on the side and were very happy with that.
SATURDAY, November 7th - Air Fryer Tacos
Yep, used my air fryer again. And why not. It is the perfect size for making meals for two people and mine also acts as a regular oven. We were both feeling tacos and so I made us this delicious version of them. I used ground turkey, but you can use any ground meat you like and enjoy. I use flour tortillas and they come out nice and crisp. I find that I am not overly fond of the corn ones these days as they are a bit too hard for me to enjoy.
With their deliciously spiced turkey filling and crispy flour tortilla shells, these went down a real treat with our favourite tacos accompaniments. Spring onions, cheese, and some lettuce this time, along with some sour cream and guacamole on the side. You could add chopped tomatoes (I didn't because Eileen doesn't like them.). You could really add any topping you enjoy. Nothing needed on the side for us.
And there you have it, my meals of the week for this, the first week of November, 2026 (How did that happen? Time is passing by so quickly!) I think we had a very delicious week, what do you think?
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