Anyone reading my posts knows I am obsessed with food. I like eating. Unlike many families who sit down and plan a weekly menu on Sunday, we don’t. We might decide at breakfast what we want for dinner that night, or we might wait until late in the afternoon to have that conversation.
This week, however, is different. It is Holy Week and that means certain restrictions for us. One thing we both decide on is that we don’t want to have a refrigerator full of leftovers that we can’t eat.
Let me explain. We are Byzantine Catholic and there are some things we cannot eat this week. Wednesday is a meatless day as is Holy Saturday. Good Friday is a day of strict abstinence which means we can’t eat meat of any kind of dairy products. This is different than Roman Rite Catholics who abstain from meat only.
So, what does our menu plan for the week look like? Well, on Sunday we decided on take-out Chinese. We usually each get two meals out of whatever we order. That means leftovers, but they will be fine for Monday.
Tuesday I need to go out to get a prescription refill. Of course that means dinner out. Maybe Taco Bell since it near the Wal Mart I go to for my prescriptions.
Wednesday is a meatless day so grilled cheese and tomato soup is on the menu. This meal always hits the spot for me and besides, the cats like it too.
Thursday we want a meal with no leftovers. Well, we have two single serving chicken pies in the freezer. That and a salad will do for Thursday.
When we first got married we thought Good Friday’s dinner might be tricky. We soon found out it is not. We will do some raw fried potatoes, fried in Crisco so no dairy products used, zucchini as a vegetable, and a can of salmon as the main course.
Saturday is another meatless meal. A few weeks ago I make a shrimp casserole with black beans, tomatoes, tortillas, and cheese. I can pop that in the oven, make a salad to go with it and call it dinner. Sounds good to me.
Easter Sunday we feast on ham, yams, and a vegetable yet to be decided.
So, having a meal plan for the coming week will help us get through the Holy Week.
arjeha 
Well planned 👍🙂
Thank you. This menu works well for us.
Wishing you a blessed week!!!
Thank you.
Hope it is a meaningful week as your meals help you remember. Most of all, a celebration on Sunday.
This has always been a solemn week for us leading up to celebrating God’s love for us on Sunday.
Head isu! This is what we say in Estonian when people sit down to eat. The same as Bon Appetite in French.
Thank you. I just learned something new.
Nice! When you put your mind to it you get one well thought-out menu for the next few days indeed. Bon Appetite and have a most blessed week.
Having a plan for this week makes it easy to get done the things that need doing without worrying about what we are going to eat on any particular day.
I enjoyed learning something about Byzantine Catholicism. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Any day when I get to see Greek lettering is a good day. Thanks for leading me down a new path. (I am assuming that family ancestors hail from Greece or Turkey, based on what I read, right?)
Actually, my grandparents came from the Ukraine region. Why they went to the Byzantine church as opposed to the Ukrainian church which was just blocks away I really don’t know.
You’ve made me realize I don’t have a meal plan for the week. I need that! I have stuff in the freezer to use up so I didn’t worry about making a plan before doing the grocery shopping this week. We are ham for Easter people too, but we’ll be enjoying perogie with ours!
Never had period with ham. I am sure they go well together. I am going to have to try that combination.
This sounds good! What time’s dinner? Actually, I need to get planning on Passover meals. We’ve been eating leftovers the last couple of nights – tomorrow is the first day I’m actually going to have to *cook* something again. Was nice while it lasted…
Dinner at 6. Tomorrow is our day to eat out.
I’ll just let myself in the sliding glass door.
I’ll have things ready. The cats will serve it up.
We also observe the last week of Lent fast and abstinence regulations. Salmon is my go to Friday choice so tomorrow may be a tuna casserole. I haven’t made that in a while but we could switch to tuna heroes depending on our mood. I do love hearing what you are in the mood to eat. I have been thinking about ham for Easter just like you. I would love to have the time to bake but know that I would never have time to make my Nonnie’s Italian cookies or egg bread.
The one thing I miss during this season is my grandmother’s paska. The house always smelled so good. All those things she would cook and place in the Easter basket to be blessed. We couldn’t eat any of them until after Mass on Easter beastie of fasting and abstinence.