I usually go shopping on Saturday and will write the list in the morning. I first check the previous list I wrote to see which meals I didn't make and add them to the new list. Since we work Monday to Friday, I only cook in the evenings, at lunch we mostly eat the leftovers or a sandwich and sometimes buy a quick meal from the store. I normally plan for five days, on Saturdays, we usually eat out and on Sundays, we go to my parents. Otherwise, there's always something quick I can whip up. This week I planned seven meals since we are to be staying home and nothing is actually open.
I get meals from pinterest, yummly, google or things I know off by heart. A lot of my Ghanaian recipes are from ndudu by fafa. I don't set a specific day for the meals, just what I feel like that day, that's why sometimes I might cook something different because some do take a while. I don't always feel like being in the kitchen for so long. In general, we eat around 19.00h/20.00h. I mostly get home around 17.15h/17.30h; then I like to unwind before i get cooking and will usually start at about 18.00h/18.30h.
*Disclaimer: I normally cook off the top of my head, measurements given are guidelines.
MEALS COOKED:
Click the meals to find the recipe
Mashed Potato with Cauliflower and Gravy
*personal recipe
Mashed Potatoes is one of my favorite dishes. I don't even know why I like it so much, because I'm actually not much of a potato fan, but I can't get over the fact that it's such a hearty meal. There's just something about the creamy texture and fluffiness ugh!. I would typically cook this with an already made gravy sauce; you know the one you can squeeze from the tube and add liquid to, but I find it's actually really simple to make gravy from scratch. The gravy recipe is from Pinterest.
One-Pot Gingery Chicken and Rice with Peanut Sauce
This is how my cooking turned out. The chicken didn't become crispy; I think it's because I didn't use a dutch oven. So that was a flop. All the chicken just stuck to the bottom. I have to get some new cooking ware, some non stick pots and pans. I literally use the same two pans every day and to think how much I like cooking. Enough ranting though, the rest worked out pretty well. The recipe was very simple and easy to understand. I really liked the rice, but the peanut sauce not so much; just because I had other expectations. Overall a 4 out of 5. Would recommend!
Milk Rice
So I decided to make milk rice, because I was soo lazy and tired. This was not on my list. It's so quick and filling; I LOVE it. I use rice, water, salt, milk, sugar and I like to add butter; sometimes I put in some honey. And that's it.
Hummus, Pork, Pita Bread
This is my take on hummus. Dip like, spicy, garlicky and also could be nutty. I am an absolute GARLIC FREAK. The more garlic, the better. I may overdo it at times. Spicy?! yes please, but then again it's difficult to pinpoint what spicy is, because in my family i eat the least spicy, but as compared to my friends here in Switzerland my spice is way up there 8/10 for sure, and as for Ghana, hmm please I'm embarrassed to say *hihi* can't deal. So you know spicy is relative.
Salmon Burger with Garlic Bread
I can't get enough of salmon. So when I found this recipe, I had to try it. Now I don't know if it's because I may have messed up the measurements or whatnot, after all, converting cups into something I can weigh is too challenging. I've had trouble multiple times, even with those conversion charts, which all seem to say something else ughhh! it's a mess. Maybe it's just me, but I have to admit I struggle. Anyways, I try my best, but it doesn't always work out. Now to the recipe, the patty had too many breadcrumbs for my liking, also I didn't get why i had to add mayonnaise. No biggie! I'll just add less crumbs next time and leave out the mayonnaise completely and it'll be so bomb. Other than that I would recommend this recipe. I mean after all recipes are there to be tweaked to your taste. At least that's how I see it.
Oh yeah and once again we had to put some garlic in there because you know. I also made a salad and dumped some mangoes on there. Fun fact I love putting fruit in my salads, especially mango and pineapple or even just making fruit salads as in not only with fruit but like a salsa. If you know what I'm talking about.
Well, today we didn't really eat. I ate popcorn at around 9 o'clock then I ate a leftover patty with bread before lunchtime, apart from that I didn't eat anything. I did make Marcel scrambled egg in the evening, and that's all he ate the whole day. Guess we weren't all that hungry.
Red Red
Plantain is one of the best things ever mmmh! Like many Ghanaian dishes, this is a wholesome meal. I love how the sweetness of the plantain goes with the spiciness of the bean stew.
These are all the meals I prepared this week. I also planned spring rolls and noodles with tomato sauce. So those will be shifted to the next week. Do you like to plan out your meals or do you just wing it? I'm also interested to hear what your favourite meal is. Read you in the comment section below.