Meal Planning This Week November 11

When was the last week that you ate the foods that you loved all week? This week, my meal plan included foods that I love and that reminded me of back home. I will share them with you below.

As children, we enjoyed cooking and found it such fun. As a teacher, I am always taken aback by the lack of food and cooking knowledge and experience of students. As parents, we try to educate ours about ways to save money but still eat healthily. Teaching the cooking skills comes naturally to us too.

I was quite chuffed recently when my son texted me a photo of his baking tray of chicken fresh out of the oven in his flat at university.The pieces had lovely brown colour and I was almost drooling at the sight. That was a proud mommy moment for me. I really think it is important to teach kids to be frugal with money.

Back to our meal plan for this week

Sunday

In a Jamaican household, it is quite usual to have Rice and Peas with Chicken. We had spicy fried chicken and vegetable salad.

 

Side dishes usually include things like cole slaw, fried plantains, potato salad or fresh vegetable salad. Preparing Sunday dinner usually starts on Saturday night as the chicken is marinated and placed in the fridge overnight, and the red kidney beans, which are usually the dry ones, are placed in water overnight to soak and soften, therefore lessening the cooking time.

Monday

Ever since I learned to make my own bread, it has been a nice calming activity for me. In the summer, the temperatures are ideal for bread making but in the winter the aromas you get from baking bread while locked in the house… mmmm!

I love that the kitchen gets all steamy too, from making a tasty pot of vegetable soup.

Tuesday

Jamaica’s National dish is Ackee and Saltfish. Have you ever tried it? We have been missing home recently and made it part of our meal plan. The oldest girl is allergic to it however, so we do have to be careful when preparing it. Such a pity we can’t grow ackees here. In the meantime, we have to just buy it in a can from the bigger supermarkets.

Wednesday

I do appreciate that our meals may sound or even look outlandish or unusual. Well, they are. Wednesday’s meal plan saw Calaloo and saltfish with fried dumplings. This is usually served as a breakfast food when you have more time on the weekend. Whose belly knows what time of the day it is anyway?

Thursday

Leftover soup and homemade bread. Both of these lend themselves well to being frozen and defrosted.

Friday

Do you buy ready-made pizzas? Well, we almost always have one in the freezer. It is so easy to then add your own toppings and make it a tasty and quick dinner idea.

What did your meal planning look like this week? Give us an idea so we see what ideas we can steal for next week. We link with Katy Kicker and others and share each other’s meal plans and ideas.