Dinners This Week
I’m not a big planner when it comes to meals. Generally I decide what I am going to make for dinner on my morning walk, go to the grocery store on my lunch break, and start cooking between 4:30 and 5:01, depending on my work day. Not good for the environment, I guess, driving every day instead of once or twice a week. At least it’s not far, we have a couple of grocery stores within a mile or two. This week, though, I have a couple of ideas, so I will share them with you now. Whether they end up getting made, or whether I veer off course and make something else, remains to be seen.
Crispy Tuna Cakes and some kind of salad. Probably not the salad in the recipe, though. I don’t think I’ve had tuna cakes before. I’ve had crab cakes and salmon cakes. I love crab cakes, but salmon cakes are a little strong for my taste. The tuna cakes include cannellini beans, which is supposed to keep them tender, and I think will keep the flavor from being too fishy. I have some of my favorite brand of tuna in the cupboard, and I will use that.
Salad with Avocado and Pickled Onions and some kind of protein. Most likely that will be chicken for Ted and me, and fake chicken for Maya. I like this salad, and both Ted and Maya like it as well.
Hummus Bowls with Spiced Lamb though I will probably use ground turkey instead of lamb, because we are not young around here anymore and have to watch our red meat consumption. We had some beef the other day, so that’s enough for one week. For Maya I will make it with fake chicken. I like the spices in this dish, and it’s pretty easy to put together. Maybe I’ll get some dolmas to go with it, we’ll see.
And that’s it. My dinner responsibility ends with Wednesday. Maya cooks on Thursdays (though that may change soon, she’s been looking at getting a job in San Francisco, which would mean her getting home later than she does right now). We go out for dinner on Fridays, and Ted cooks on Saturdays and Sundays.
Which reminds me – Ted is going out with some friends for dinner on Saturday, so he won’t be here to cook. He’s very low carb, so when he’s gone we sometimes take advantage of that. I think maybe I’ll make waffles! Unless Maya and I decide to go out, which who knows, could happen. Or, if she ends up going out with friends, maybe I’ll make myself a baked potato or something.
Have you ever had tuna cakes? Do you do most of the cooking in your house? If so, do you wish that responsibility could be shared? What’s for dinner this week? Do any of these recipes look good to you?
20 Comments
nance
I do ALL the cooking in this house, and I really am very, VERY tired of it. As you well know, Cooking also means Planning, Shopping, and most of, if not all, the Prepping. Rick is very good about Prepping, but he is slow. And needs direction, so most of the time, it would have been faster to do it myself. He’s very good about cleaning things up as I go, but often, I’ll look for something I need again, and he’ll have already whisked it back to the cupboard or into the dishwasher.
I am caring for my mother in my home this week, so I have no idea what dinners will be yet. It’s added stress because I buy things with only two of us in mind, and now have to accommodate a third eater, so who knows? Rick’s idea of being helpful here is to say, “I’m happy to grill!” but that is obviously no answer at all. Sigh.
J
Thinking of you this week, Nance. It must be so bittersweet to have your mom there.
I honestly don’t mind cooking, it’s the planning that I get so tired of. THINKING of what to cook. So a week like this, where I have ideas, is GREAT. Though I’ve already gone off the rails and have not yet made anything I listed.
Elisabeth
I cook 75% of the time. My husband cooks for our at-home date nights each week, and sometimes another meal.
Re waffles: would Ted eat a chaffle? Eggs, cheese, and almond flour? Very low carb and delicious as a savoury waffle with some meat and a sauce on top. YUM!
All these recipes sound amazing. I love, love, love tuna. I had a smoothie and tuna filling on top of a spiced rice cake this weekend and it was so good.
Tonight is Butternut Squash Soup and homemade bread. I haven’t made bread in forever but have a recipe for No-Knead bread which is definitely all I can muster. The soup turned out so well. I don’t tend to love pureed soups, but had a hankering for one and bought frozen, peeled, cubed butternut squash on sale so the barrier to preparing it was LOW.
J
I love butternut squash soup! I have a recipe that includes roasted butternut squash and a can of pumpkin purée, which is divine. And we have some in the freezer, so that may make an appearance soon.
I’ve never heard of a chaffle! Intriguing. I thought you were telling me you had a tuna smoothie, and I thought…uh…
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I want to come over on waffle night!!!
I gave up on trying to do grand weekly meal plans a long time ago. Too often Thursday me didn’t want to eat what Sunday me picked out for me. I think it’s much better to just plan a few days at a time. Plus if I don’t feel like going to the store it motivates me to get creative with what we have at home.
I am intruged by the tuna cakes! I might just have to try them.
J
I used to do weekly meal planning, for years. It’s how I was raised. But I got so tired of it, so for now, it’s day by day around here.
Come over for waffles. Do you want bacon with yours?
Margaret
I’m alone so I usually cook and simple stuff like eggs or even cottage cheese and a bagel. I eat with my mother at lunch and have my main meal then. I love tuna melts but have never had tuna cakes. Pickled onions, yum!
J
I love cottage cheese and bagels both, but have never had them together. Do you put the cottege cheese on top, like cream cheese?
Suzanne
I have never had tuna cakes, but they sound yummy! Please report back! I do… 95% of the cooking that goes on in our house, which is not to say that I prepare 95% of our meals. (Some days, we just fend for ourselves.) My husband is a really good cook, and we used to cook together all the time, so I do miss that. I also HATE being primarily responsible for coming up with meals plans. He helps, though, especially when I ask for help.
J
The coming up with ideas is definitely the hard part. Of course, if I ask for ideas and then I don’t want what is suggested, I feel kind of bad…
Sarah Jedd
oooooh those hummus bowls sound delightful
J
They’re really tasty!
Daria
All of the recipes sound wonderful, especially the salad with pickled onions. I love anything pickled! A Russian in me 😉
Our meals… I honestly don’t know it’s pretty 50/50 I’d say. I like to put a pick up order in because it’s easy, I usually pick it io on way home from work. We usually don’t even use a recipe- protein, starch, veggie- slap it all together- boom, bon appetit! ? it’s funny and sad. But this is the season of life right now.
J
We end up eating that way a lot too, Daria. It’s easy enough!
Tierney
I love your memes. At the end of this one, I would add “while birdwatching.” I’m a big fan of the as-you-age,birdwatching-becomes-a-thing memes because for me, it is 100% true. Your meals sound great. And as someone who loves portmanteaus, big fan of chaffle!
J
Oh, birdwatching. One of my regular morning walks is to a local park, and if I go a little later, there are always people there with their binoculars, looking for birds. It does seem like a peaceful activity!
I curate my memes from Facebook. 🙂
Ally Bean
Have you ever had tuna cakes? Hell yes! You don’t grow up in the midwest without dining on them. In fact one year when I was a teenager it was just Mom and me for Thanksgiving so she made tuna cakes! When we told people they were either horrified or jealous. We just laughed.
J
Oh, Tuna Cakes for Thanksgiving! I think the only ways I had tuna growing up was in tuna noodle casserole and tuna sandwiches. Maya is much more sophisticated, and was ordering tuna tartare when she was 8.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Ive never heard of tuna cakes and had to immediatly check those out. I think I will make some this week when I am on my own.
Also I can now make the avocado salad since I previously made some pickeld onions for the first time and they are great.
J
Yay! Tuna cakes and avocado salad for the win!