My car is coded on Thursdays, which means I’m stuck in the Republic of Alabang. I’ve decided, therefore, that Thursdays will be my grocery day. However, this week, I did my shopping on a Wednesday. As in today. Yes, that’s how bad I am with schedules. But anyway, the important thing is that I’m all set for another week of lunchbox preps for the boys.
What’s new after the hiatus?
I stopped posting my weekly lunchbox menus because they were starting to get boring to write, and I thought they might have become boring to read, too. After thinking about how I could change it up, I’ve decided to post what’s on my food list for the coming week instead of what I prepared for the week that passed. That way, I can share my marinate and freeze recipes, too, or whatever recipe I would like to feature for the week. I like this because it will encourage me to actually get to work in the kitchen and not allow my lazy self to buy pre-marinated or frozen packaged meals. So yes, beginning today, the weekly lunch box menu plans are back!
BONUS: I’ve also decided to include a grocery list. My, my, I’m being ambitious, aren’t I? Well, let’s just hope that I keep on keeping on with this, at least until the end of the school year. Then I can tweak things again over the summer, in time for class resumption in June.
And there’s one final new thing about this weekly series. All menu plans and grocery lists are now gonna be downloadable in PDF format. Yay!
This week’s featured recipes
Yup, recipes. Plural. I really wanted this comeback to be major. And oh my goodness, I really hope I can keep doing this each week. Anyway, all recipes for this week are marinate and freeze ones. I like to prepare ahead in case I wake up late or just won’t function so early in the morning. These should all be marinated before they are frozen, as in right after you get home from the supermarket, if possible. Then you just transfer them from the freezer to the refrigerator before you go to bed so that they are nicely (and safely) thawed in the morning.
Recipe #1 is a Beef Salpicao dish based on one that I found in one of my many Yummy magazines. You will need:
- 1/4 kilo Beef tenderloin, cut into cubes
- 1.5 tbsp Minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 1.5 tbsp Olive oil
- 2.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 small can Button mushrooms
- Salted butter
- Toasted garlic to serve
Combine the garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and light soy sauce, then pour over the beef tenderloin. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then saute the beef in butter, throw in some whole button mushrooms, and top the cooked salpicao with toasted garlic. Best served with steaming hot rice!
Recipe #2 is also based on a Yummy magazine find, and one that I’ve already written about before. Here’s what you need for this Rosemary Garlic Chicken:
- 1/2 kilo Chicken thigh or breast fillet
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Thyme
- 1 tsp Rosemary
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
Mix everything together, pour over the chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Then you simply fry the chicken in a little bit of oil, and you’re done! This is good paired with mashed potatoes. I usually add a side of corn and carrots when I pack this for my boys’ lunches.
Recipe #3 is a quick and easy Fried Liempo dish. You need:
- 1/2 kilo Thinly sliced liempo
- 1/4 cup Soy sauce
- 1/8 cup Calamansi juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Just like the chicken, you just mix everything together and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes. Fry the pork in oil and serve with rice, ideally garlic rice, and atchara. Yum! For lunchbox purposes, I’ve paired this dish with sauteed pechay, so that it’s a little bit healthier.
Time to download!
You can download the lunchbox plan here and the grocery list here.
I usually split each of these recipes into two separate containers before freezing, since each batch is enough for two separate lunchbox days for the boys, with a little bit left over for my lunch at home. That way, I can opt to thaw only what I need for the day. So in case you aren’t feeding that many people, you might want to do the same, too.
Oh, and if you don’t pack lunch for anyone, you can actually still use this meal plan at home.
What’s cooking in your kitchen?
Hats off to you for being so organized. I’m having a hard time planning ahead for my weekly menu because during the middle of the week, I change my mind and I get a craving for something else.
We’ve been without a helper for 2 months now, and I’m finding it hard to plan our weekly meals at home because I now have to take care of everything aside from my online work, so yes, I badly need these meal plans. Thanks for sharing!
Glad that this helps you! 🙂
Wow, you have recipes for download now! Level up! Hahaha! But seriously, congrats. I know you’ve been working hard on this. I just wish I have the time to marinade everything in advance. I’m usually too tamad na to do it. Haha! Keep the recipes coming. 🙂
I also do meat portioning at home. Thanks for these recipes. I so love beef salpicao!
I am also doing my weekly grocery shopping. I am sure your boys love the recipes because it is done with motherly love.
So far so good! 🙂 Thanks for visiting, Jem!
Oh I love that you added downloadable PDFs. Very helpful. Been too exhausted lately to plan our menu so I just downloaded this, haha. Thanks!
Glad you find this helpful! Starting next week I’ll make the recipes downloadable, too. 🙂
Great ideas, Patty! I love the grocery list and menus!!! 🙂 So useful for busy moms, especially those who have to prep lunchies for their loved ones.
Thank you, Marts! 😀 And thank you for pushing me to continue on with this series 🙂
Every week, I also make sure our fridge is filled with a week’s menu – that way our helper can cook the food even if I’m not yet home. Thanks for sharing your easy to follow recipes!
I am inspired to freeze marinated meals because of this. I started with porkchop. I’ll do beef salpicao tomorrow. But, I don’t have light soy sauce.
Hi, Ceemee! You can just use regular soy sauce mixed with a little water 🙂
Thanks, Patty!
Whoa! You plan your dishes in advance. What I usually do is do the grocery and then cook the dinner in the afternoon. Hubby gets to take the leftover to the office then I cook another dish for dinner.
xoxo
MrsMartinez
Yep, I plan early coz I start cooking at 5am, and if I don’t have a plan chances are nothing will get done. I hae to freshly cook my son’s lunches coz they have no refrigerator or microwave in school, so the food might spoil otherwise.
Thanks for sharing 🙂 I also do my menu planning mid-week so this is perfect!
For some reason it works better for me doing this in the middle of the week. Like being to close to a weekend makes me lazy. 🙂
Natawa naman ako sa “I know that tomato is a fruit”, haha! Downloading! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for downloading! 🙂
Super helpful! I should start cooking my own baon again! 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I’d love to know what ulam you’re packing
Great idea! Gagayahin ko ‘to sa bahay. It’s so hard kasi to prepare everything an hour before meal time especially with two toddlers around.
It really helps! 🙂 Good luck!
Wow muther! May download recipe ka pa. Ang saya! I wish I can cook too. I live with my parents so whatever my dad cooks, we eat. Hindi din ako good cook pero sometimes it makes me feel woman whenever I hold a pan and sautee things. haha
Hahaha! You’re funny! We live with my parents also, and my mom usually takes care of dinner. Pero for the baon of my son and MrC, ako na yun. So sila technically ang guinea pigs ko hehehe.