Well, its Sunday and you know what that means. A recap of all the meals I cooked or ate over the previous week. My Meals of the Week. I am really enjoying gathering these meals together each week. It helps me to plan my meals for the week ahead and helps me to keep a note of exactly what and how I am eating.
It is all to tempting when you are a person who lives all on your own to eat out of cans, takeaways or frozen meals. My mother lived on her own from the age of 53 until she passed away at the age of 87. She always cooked for herself. She never ate out unless it was with other people. Occasionally she would treat herself to a TV dinner buying them when they were on special. She liked the turkey one. No surprise there as I love turkey also, just not in a TV dinner.
Mom always enjoyed feeding herself healthy meals for the most part. She also enjoyed a glass of red wine every night and a small dish of ice cream. Oh how I miss her.
I am taking a leaf from her book, and making sure that I eat a decent meal every day of the week, and I am enjoying bringing you along for the ride. Hopefully you will be inspired to do the same and maybe even get some new ideas from what I am cooking for your own meals!
Here is what I cooked myself over the past week. (Where I have eaten out, I have provided a similar option so that you can cook it yourself.) Let me know what you think!
SUNDAY, May 14th - Mother's Day
This was Mother's day and I was treated to a dinner out by my daughter Eileen and Son In Law Tim. Tim's mother was also there. We went to Angie's, which is a restaurant very close to me, and we both had the turkey dinner, small eaters size.
Of course it was not like my own Homemade Turkey Dinner (this one is sized for two people), but it was very good. Eileen had the meatloaf and Tim had his usual fish and chips. For dessert Jean (Tim's mom) and I split a slice of Turtle Cheesecake. Oh my but it was some good!
MONDAY, May 15th - Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Crispy Baked Potato Wedges
I just wanted something simple for my supper on Monday so I made myself a tasty Grilled Cheese Sandwich and some crispy baked potato wedges, and some coleslaw on the side.
I set aside half of the potato wedges to serve on another day and enjoyed the ones I did on the day very much. That is the good thing about them. You can reheat them very easily. It was a delicious dinner for sure!
TUESDAY, May 16th - 5-Minute Steak Dinner for One
I had been to the grocery store and was lucky enough one day a couple of weeks ago and scored two nice strip loin steaks marked down as they were on their sell-by date. I froze them.
On Tuesday I thawed one of them out to make a recipe that I had seen on Food 52 for a delicious steak dinner for one, which had a fabulous sounding sauce to serve with it. Of course it had green beans in the recipe as well, and I just heated up the leftover potato wedges from the day before. DELICIOUS!
WEDNESDAY May 17th - Dinner out with Dad
Wednesday nights I usually go out for dinner with my father and his friends. Dad wanted to treat me this week as I had taken him to the Doctors up country on Monday for his check up.
Dad and I both had the fish and chips. Hazel had the clams and chips. Dad had apple pie with whipped cream for dessert, Hazel had her usual Chocolate Fudge Sundae and I had a small bowl of ice cream. I usually get the kiddies cone without the cone. It is soft serve ice cream. The fish and chips were okay this week, the fish was a bit over cooked, but they were very busy with a large birthday party in attendance.
If you are wanting a delicious way to cook fish that is always perfectly cooked and never day, why not try out my recipe for Baked Haddock with a Buttery Cracker Topping. This is quite simply one of the most delicious ways to cook fish and it always turned out perfectly.
THURSDAY, May 18th - Cacio e Pepe
On Thursday I was in the mood for pasta and so I made myself some Cacio e Pepe. It was a dish that I had wanted to try out for a very long time. I downsized it to feed two people. I had the leftovers for breakfast on Friday.
Does anyone else out there enjoy leftovers for breakfast? I love having leftover pizza or mac and cheese for breakfast. Cacio e Pepe is a simple pasta dish that uses only the pasta, some of the pasta cooking water, some cheese, olive oil and plenty of pepper. I have seen some people add butter also. It is simple and its delicious. I enjoyed this along with a tossed salad. (I was wishing I had garlic bread, lol)
FRIDAY, May 19th - Tuna Burger
On Friday I really felt like having a Tuna Burger. I have been making Tuna Burgers since I was a teenager. They are really simple to make and incredibly delicious. I always enjoy them with a bit of cheese melted on top, served in a toasted bun with some lettuce and tomato. Lemon Mayonnaise is also very nice spread on the bun, or even tartar sauce.
You could serve these with potato chips on the side if you wished, or salad, even coleslaw. I always find them to be very filling so am happy with just the burger.
SATURDAY, May 20th - Chicken Tikka Masala
When I lived in the UK, Saturday nights were usually the nights that people enjoyed a nice curry supper or a Chinese. This week I was craving curry and so I made a small batch of my favorite Chicken Tikka Masala. My sister stopped by after I had cooked it and she said, it smells fantastic in here, what are you cooking? This recipe is from one of my favorite chef's Tamasin Day-Lewis and is a simple to make and incredibly tasty version of the UK's favorite curry. Not too spicy, creamy and delicious!
I enjoyed with some steamed basmati rice and some mango chutney on the side. I was wishing for some Peshwari Naan bread. Oh how I miss Peshwari Naan. It is my favorite of all the Naan Breads. It has a filling of coconut, raisins and almonds. I will have to try the recipe linked and see how it compares. Watch this space.
And those were my meals of the week for this past week. As you can see I ate very well. I even managed to eat fish twice!
I organized my larder on Thursday. It was in a right mess. If you can't see what you have you can't use it. I moved all of my cans and jars out to the attached garage to my house. It stays a pretty level temperature in there. Not too hot. Not too cold. And its dark. Now I can see everything and I am sure to use it up. I think I have a bazillion cans of tomatoes and creamed corn. DUH! I won't need to buy any of that for a while!
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.
- 1 tsp light olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1/4 pound of ground beef, shaped into a flat patty (see notes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 slice of sour dough bread
- 1/2 TBS of softened butter
- 2 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 TBS Pub Cheese Sharp Cheddar Spread (I used McLaren's Imperial)
If you are a fan of the burger, you might also enjoy these lucious fork and knife burgers!
TINA'S BURGERS - My friend Tina who lives in the UK made wonderfully tasty burgers. Hearty and delicious, she had spent a number of years living in Australia where it is a habit to top burgers with a fried egg. With melted cheese, fried onions and crisp bacon, not to mention that fried egg, these were the some of the tastiest burgers I have ever eaten!
ONION PAN BURGERS - Ground steak burger patties are smashed down into a skillet with a quantity of sliced onions mashed into their surface. Once they are seared golden brown on the bottom, they are flipped so that you can fry the onions. Once the onions have softened, soft floury buns are split, the bottom halves being steamed over the onions until hot and the tops heated over a slice of cheese on top of the burgers. Put together these are quite simply lush and delicious. These are a real favorite.
Pub Cheese Open Faced Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 tsp light olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced
- 1/4 pound of ground beef, shaped into a flat patty (see notes)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 slice of sour dough bread
- 1/2 TBS of softened butter
- 2 TBS finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 TBS Pub Cheese Sharp Cheddar Spread (I used McLaren's Imperial)
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a non-stick skillet with the oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened and just beginning to caramelize.
- Remove the onions from the pan to a bowl, and set aside.
- Wipe out the skillet. Season your hamburger patty and add to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat to your desired doneness. Turn out the heat.
- Place the pub cheese on top of the burger patty. Place the cooked onions on top of the pub cheese. Cover with a lid and leave to sit over the residual heat of the burner to melt the cheese while you cook the bread.
- Spread the bread with the softened butter. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and press it into the butter to help it adhere.
- Heat a separate skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place the bread, Parmesan side down, into the skillet. Toast over medium heat without turning or disturbing until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.
- To serve, carefully remove the cheese topped bread from the pan and place onto a plate, cheese side up. Top with the burger and onions and serve immediately.
Notes
You will want to shape your meat patty to roughly the same shape and size as your bread. In my case I used half a slice of bread as the sour dough was really large. This worked perfectly.
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 .
I thought that it would make the perfect dinner for today when I knew time was short and my energy would be flagging. I actually put them together this morning before I left and stuck them in the refrigerator, ready to throw into the oven for my supper tonight.
I did take them out about half an hour before I cooked them in order to bring them to room temperature. Here you have a delicious mix of sweet and white potatoes, along with broccoli, topped with chicken, cheese and bacon, with the flavors of ranch dressing running through out.
- 1 medium baking potato, peeled and cut into six chunks
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into six chinks
- 1 small broccoli crown, trimmed and broken into florets
- 2 smallish boneless, skinless chicken breast portions
- 1 TBS dry ranch dressing powder, divided
- 1/2 TBS canola oil
- 1/2 cup (60g) grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 rashers crisp cooked bacon, crumbled
I have always been a huge fan of foil cooking. Especially in the summer months when we can just throw the packs on the grill. If you are too, you may enjoy the following:
GRILLED CHICKEN FOIL PACKS - I give you three different versions here for ways to make chicken foil pack dinners. There is a Sweet and Sour Chicken pack, a Hunter's Chicken and Potato pack and a Honey Mustard Chicken pack. All are equally delicious!
You can cook anything in a foil pack like this. Salmon fillets are nice. Pork, lamb, beef. You can really use your imagination and put them together very easily. If you have children you can let them put together their own. Children love to think they are cooking! These really are great for camping or cookouts!
Cheesy Ranch Chicken & Bacon Foil Packs
Ingredients
- 1 medium baking potato, peeled and cut into six chunks
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into six chinks
- 1 small broccoli crown, trimmed and broken into florets
- 2 smallish boneless, skinless chicken breast portions
- 1 TBS dry ranch dressing powder, divided
- 1/2 TBS canola oil
- 1/2 cup (60g) grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 3 rashers crisp cooked bacon, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat your outdoor grill to medium high. Alternately preheat your oven to 425*F/230*C/ gas mark 6.
- Tear four strips of aluminum foil measuring 8 inches wide. Stack them one on top of the other, making two piles.
- Place both potatoes and the broccoli in a bowl. Toss together with 1/2 of the ranch dressing mix and the oil. Divide the mixture evenly between the foil stacks, leaving a nice border around the edges.
- Top each pile of vegetables with 1 of the chicken breasts. Season the chicken with the other 1/2 TBS of ranch dressing mix. Top with half of the cheese and half of the bacon.
- Pull the foil up over the chicken and vegetables to meet in the centre. Pleat closed. Crimp the foil at both ends to completely contain the chicken. Place both foil packets onto a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven or on the grill for 20 to 25 minutes, at which time the vegetables should be cooked and tender, the chicken juices should run clear and the cheese will have melted.
- Be extremely careful when opening the packets due to steam escaping. Serve hot.
Easter is just a few weeks away and I wanted to come up with a viable option for the smaller family to enjoy for Easter Dinner.
When I was growing up and for all of the years I was raising my family we always enjoyed Ham at Easter. When mom cooked it, it was always cooked the day before and served cold and sliced, whereas in my own family we always enjoyed it hot.
- 1/2 half of a bone in full slice of ham (about 1/2 inch thick) (freeze the other half for another time.)
- 1 tsp butter
- 1/4 cup (50g) of soft light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup (52g) of chopped pineapple
- 5 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
- pinch ground cloves
- 1 TBS Dijon mustard
Pineapple Glazed Ham Steak
Ingredients
- 1/2 half of a bone in full slice of ham (about 1/2 inch thick) (freeze the other half for another time.)
- 1 tsp butter
- 1/4 cup (50g) of soft light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup (52g) of chopped pineapple
- 5 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
- pinch ground cloves
- 1 TBS Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Cut the ham in half yet again to make two servings. Brown them in the hot butter.
- Whisk the sugar, pineapple, pineapple juice, mustard and cloves together. Spoon this sauce over top of the ham slices.
- Turn the heat to low and simmer the ham steaks in the sauce for 20 to 25 minutes, until the ham is cooked through and glazed, turning them several times.
- Add the maraschino cherries and heat through.
- Serve hot with some of the sauce spooned over top and a few cherries on each serving.
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