Here I am with another Sunday round up of my Meals of the Week. On Sundays I like to share with you, my readers, all the things that I have cooked and enjoyed eating over the previous week. It helps me to recap the things I have eaten and then to plan my meals for the week to come.
As a person who lives on their own I am determined that I am not going to be someone who eats totally out of cans, jars and boxes. Frozen dinners are not for me! Not unless they are meals that I have prepared and frozen myself.
I am very much a person who enjoys cooking and I also enjoy eating good food. I don't know about you, but a steady diet of ready meals and food from cans is very boring. I want fresh and deliciously cooked food, which means I have to cook it myself! If I don't like what's on the menu I have only me to blame!
I do usually have Sunday dinner with family and every Wednesday night I eat out with my father and his friend. Sometimes my sister will join us. On those days I have endeavored to include a tasty recipe that you can make at home which is close to what I have eaten whilst out and about.
My sister was over here the other day, helping me to organize my cupboards. She is really good at that sort of thing. We determined that I have no need to buy any canned, boxed or jarred goods for quite some time. Nothing too exciting. Just a few different vegetables, plenty of soups, baked beans etc. I need to be using those up before I buy more.
Funny story. My mother used to pick up a few tins of salmon every time she went to Walmart. When she passed away the store shelf she had downstairs was filled with tins of salmon, many of which were out of date and needed to be disposed of.
I have realized over the past week that Sugar-Free Jell-O is my tinned salmon. I think I have about 20 boxes of it that I need to be using. I love fruit jello and every time I see it, I end up buying a box or two. I don't have a favorite flavor. I love them all!! I need to be using these. What is the point in having them if you are not going to eat them!
SUNDAY June 4th - Air Fryer Roast Chicken
I had Sunday dinner with my sister, brother in law and father. My sister had prepared a Roast Chicken in the air fryer along with an assortment of roasted vegetables. This was delicious. If you have a small enough chicken, they cook very well in the air fryer basket. You can find the link to my recipe for how roast a whole chicken in the air fryer above.
Also if you are wanting a tasty gravy to serve with your meal, I have a brilliant and easy to make recipe here for Perfect Gravy from Scratch. It always turns out beautiful.
For dessert we had some chocolate cake with frosting. Again, very yummy. Especially with some squirty cream on top!
On Monday I decided to try out a recipe that I had wanted to try for a very long time. The South Carolina Bird Dog Sandwich. A Bird Dog is a delicious and somewhat healthier alternative to a hot dog.
I downsized the recipe to make one sandwich only, which means that you can easily multiply the quantities to make as many or as few as you would like. Buttery toasted bun, topped with crisp bacon, crunchy chicken fingers, cheese and honey mustard dressing. A most delicious mouthful. I enjoyed this hot sandwich with some celery sticks.
My friend Glenna had taken ill and so I wanted to send across a meal for her to enjoy, so I made a Creamy Ham & Corn Chowder. This is an old favorite that I used to make for my family years ago. I could make it with my eyes closed. Its creamy and rich and filled with lots of smoky ham and chunky vegetables in a rich and creamy broth.
I enjoyed a bowl of this myself as well, along with some crisp soda crackers. You got to have soda crackers with chowder!
WEDNESDAY June 7th - Dinner out with Dad
On Wednesday my sister and I both went out for dinner with my father and his friend Hazel. We went to a local Chinese Restaurant. We each had our favorite combo meals. I love Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls. You can
find my delicious recipe for them here. They are lovely and crisp, with just the right amount of batter and the from scratch sauce would give any Chinese restaurant a run for its money.
Also in my combo was Beef and Broccoli. I love Beef and Broccoli and often make it for myself. You can find my very tasty version of
Beef and Broccoli here. Completing the meal was fried rice and egg rolls.
This restaurant does their egg rolls a bit differently. They have a curry flavor that is actually quite nice.
I wanted to cook something special to share with my family and I had picked up a nice piece of pot roast which was reduced from the grocery store, so I took my old reliable
Classic Onion Pot Roast Recipe and adapted it for use in the Air fryer.
Instead of taking hours it was done in about an hour. I had enough juices to make a tasty gravy as well. I enjoyed this along with some vegetables that were cooked along side, green beans and plenty of mash to hug that delicious gravy. Juicy and incredibly tender, my family really enjoyed this. Dan said it was the best pot roast ever.
I had a can of pizza dough in the refrigerator that I wanted to use up and some cheese and so I baked a BBQ Hawaiian Pizza. Tender crispy edged crust topped with a tangy sweet BBQ sauce, plenty of milky mozzarella cheese, tangy cheddar cheese, chunks of smoky ham, sweet pineapple chunks, and sliced red onion.
This was very good. I enjoyed mine with a nice mixed salad on the side for a complete and tasty meal. I am a person who enjoys pineapple on a pizza. I know there are many who don't, but I am from the LOVE it school of thought!
I don't tend to eat red meat very often but I had a pork chop in the freezer that I wanted to use up and so I down sized my recipe for Pork Chops with Spicy Rice to make just two servings. That way I have leftovers to freeze and enjoy another time. Its nice to have a quick single serve meal in the freezer.
One reason I like this dish is that it is quick and easy to make. Delicious succulent pork chops are browned and then nestled into a spicy tomato rice mixture to finish cooking the chops. You then remove the chops and keep warm while the rice finishes cooking to perfection.
The chops are sliced and returned to the pan to briefly reheat and the whole thing is garnished with chopped roasted peanuts and served.
All you need on the side is a vegetable or a salad.
There you have it my meals for this past week. As you can see, despite living on my own, I do eat very well. I have a few recipes bookmarked that I am looking forward to trying in the weeks to come. Carne Asada Fries is one of them, along with some Hot Dog Tacos! Watch this space!
For now, I am going to finish this up and go make myself some Jell-O. 😁 Sugar Free of course.
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