Menus: same or different?

amother

Thu, Mar 11 2021, 2:00 pm

Scrolling the Friday night menu thread and several commented “same as always” or “usual Menu” and I’m curious how common this is

I definitely grew up with fairly regular Friday night menu, but as an adult I almost never make the same menu twice. During the week as well, I enjoy trying new recipes and flavor palates. I enjoy cooking more than my mom does though she certainly had more time than I do (full time working mom with young kids and no outside cleaning help.

Curious what you all do. Feel free to expand on comments

amother

Turquoise

Thu, Mar 11 2021, 2:11 pm

I follow the challah, fish, and meat main rule for Friday nights. Sometimes it's regular challah, sometimes it's garlic bread. Sometimes there's salmon, sometimes there's flounder. If it's winter I may do a soup. Main can be any type of chicken or meat that tastes good being cooked in advance (as I cook either Thursday night or early Friday AM.) Sometimes there's a side like a salad or grilled veggies, sometimes there's a starch side, sometimes both. Usually no dessert but there very well can be.
I voted sometimes cuz I do stick to a basic routine, even though the actual foods may be different.
For day there's always challah, salad and chulent, and usually some type of fish option for those who want.

tichellady

Thu, Mar 11 2021, 2:21 pm

We almost always have soup Friday night but that’s the only thing that’s set. I like trying new things things and we sometimes have dairy or pareve or meat, depending on my mood

BadTichelDay

Thu, Mar 11 2021, 2:25 pm

We've got a few family Shabbat "classics" that we rotate, such as stuffed whole chicken, chicken legs or thighs in various homemade sauces/dressings, homemade thick chicken or turkey shnitzels, oven baked hunk of beef, or whole side of salmon. Any of these alone or combined will go with a lot of salads, various potato dishes and homebaked challot. These things we wouldn't cook during the week, so for us they have the taste of Shabbat.

essie14

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 6:37 am

We always have challah. that's about the only constant.
Everything else changes.
Only 3 out of 7 of us eat fish so we rarely have it .
Soup only in the winter, and not always every week. I have a rotation of a few soups.
I generally do some type of chicken on the bone for Friday night but occasionally something different. the sides always vary.
Shabbat lunch can be almost anything.

rising hero

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 8:58 am

Generally, chassidim follow the basic traditional menu: wine, challah, fish, chicken soup, meat/chicken, potato kugel, farfel, sweet carrots (zisse meiren), eggs, cholent. It will vary though. Some people do more - like lokshen, kneidel, apple kugel, lokshen kugel, liver etc. and some do less.
Thats not saying you wont find different foods on the table. Other side dishes or different types of fish will be served too in some families.

allthingsblue

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 10:17 am

Challah Cole slaw and chicken soup are constants
Everything else I rotate when I'm I the mood. I can go a few months making the same thing or I can switch off every week. Depends on my mood and desire to be in the kitchen.

flowerpower

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 10:20 am

Yes. It makes life so much easier!!! It’s hard enough to plan the weekday supper menu as is.

amother

Slategray

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 10:28 am

I have a basic menu with a few variables:

Challah,chumus, chicken soup are always.
Then baked chicken with varying sauces
Cooked veggies- alternate between 3 choices
Kugel- 2 kinds to switch off.

Lunch:
Challah, chumus
One of 2 fish choices.
I pick one of of 3 mains on rotation.
Same salad every week

amother

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 10:54 am

flowerpower wrote:

Yes. It makes life so much easier!!! It’s hard enough to plan the weekday supper menu as is.

That’s interesting. Do you vary your weekday menus?

(I guess it’s me: I find it boring to cook the same food every week and even more boring to eat it. Then again I don’t have 8 kids to feed. A smaller family allows more time for creativity. I’m also determined to expand their palates)

icedcoffee

Fri, Mar 12 2021, 3:40 pm

My husband is Persian and I found that making Persian food for shabbat is a nice way to make shabbat special, plus it keeps it easier to decide what to cook - "which Persian stew should we have" is a heck of a lot easier than "what should we make out of every option in the whole world." At this point there are maybe 10 Persian/Sephardi dishes we rotate between, though it's not rigidly inflexible: I do make other things once in a while if I come across a good recipe or if we're hosting.