S/o do your meals look like Man with a Pan or simpler?

amother

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 4:37 am

If you want to add any more details feel free.

(If you chose “simpler”, it doesn’t mean your meals are as simple as mine.my family’s meals fit our young family’s needs. my kids are sleeping by the time we are up to the main at the night meal so I don’t cook much variety .)

My meals are much simpler than the magazines. Weekly, it’s challah, one or 2 dips, gefilte fish, cucumber salad, chicken soup, chicken on the bone or capon, frequently not even a side dish because it’s just dh and up that late.

No dessert

During the day it’s just challah dips fish salad cholent and pareve ice cream. My kids are all happy.

When we have guests I add sides, dessert, salads and maybe another main, maybe a meat dish.

Highstrung

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 4:57 am

Somewhere in between. I usually aim to make a nice Shabbos meal but sometimes I’m under time constraints or low energy and we make do with less. I do try my best though to make it extra special in the name of Shabbos. Sometimes I find that I make fancy Yom Tov meals and not as fancy on Shabbos and really Shabbos should be even nicer than Yom Tov ,as Shabbos is considered more chashuv. So I try for that reason. I’m someone who loves to cook so if I serve very simple like one side and a piece of chicken , or only cholent , it’s a sign that I don’t care and that it’s not important to me . So going the extra mile , for me personally is my way of honoring Shabbos and showing that I am invested in making it special. But for someone else , taking it easy and being calm and relaxed at the meal is her way of honoring Shabbos and going that extra mile . We all express ourselves in different ways.

TravelHearter

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 5:12 am

What’s the in between?
I definitely don’t do fancy like the magazines, and don’t use the fancy meats/proteins the man with a pan columns frequently use. But I do make fish/soup/chicken/3 sides/desert. So that more than what you listed but no where near fancy.

amother

Hosta

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 5:14 am

If no guests-

Friday night-
Challah
Dips
Tuna steak/salmon
Chicken soup w/ matzah balls and veg
Chicpeas/radish/croutons
Potato kugel

Shabbos day-
Challah
Dips
Salad
Cold cuts
Cholent

For dessert both meals I serve fruit/chocolate/nuts.

If I have guests I’ll make a main w/ sides for Friday night and more variety shabbos day (deli roll, chicken salad, etc.)

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 5:32 am

My structure is:
Challah (maybe a couple of dips)
Gefilte fish (occasionally salmon)
Chicken soup with either lokshen or kneidlach
Bone chicken (simple spices or sauce)
2 starch sides (kugel/rice/couscous/potatoes)
1 cooked vegetable (broccoli/green beans/cauliflower)
Baked dessert (cake/brownies/cookies)

Shabbos day is the same minus the soup and chicken with added cholent and sometimes sausages or deli or something

amother

Lemonlime

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 6:21 am

Lol depends which man with the pan! There have been weeks where the man with the pan magically produced items "from the freezer" and store bought and supplemented with some super easy no fail recipes.

amother

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 6:41 am

TravelHearter wrote:

There doesn’t have to be an in between. If you choose simpler, it doesn’t mean you do it as simply as I do. It just means not as elaborate or fancy as the magazines.

Also what size family do you have and how old are the kids? My kids are young and sleeping by the end of the meal and they don’t like veggie sides so I don’t bother. When they’re older I’m sure I’ll be adding side dishes to the menu

zaq

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 7:19 am

When I was a newly-employed single in my first apartment, I delighted in channeling Martha Stewart. I had lots of energy and free time, no TV or computer, and wanted to be seen as sophisticated. That stage lasted until the birth of the the first child, at which point "Simplify as much as possible wherever possible" became my Prime Directive. It still is.

amother

Rainbow

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 7:25 am

My typical (no guest) shabbos menu is:

Friday Night:
challah - storebought or ordered from home business
dips & salads (2-3 storebought, 2-3 homemade)
some type of meat
some type of chicken
some type of potato (roasted or kugel)
roasted brocolli
roasted cauliflower
salad
dessert - storebought or ordered from home business

Shabbos Day:
challah, dips, & salads same as friday night
cholent (use a whole flanken so its a whole meal)
salad
2 side dishes
dessert same as friday nigth

I then upgrade or downgrade the dishes based on my energy levels so some weeks they are very simple (ex. broiled chicken with storebought sauce) and some weeks very fancy (ex. same chicken dish but shnitzel with homemade dips/sauces)

amother

Molasses

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:01 am

Traditional as it comes.
Typical chasidish menu

Challah and dips
Gefilta and salmon
Soup with radish
Small main with potato kugel and farfal (some do sweet carrots)
Occasionally a lukshen kugel
Apple pie or compote for dessert

Morning is challah dips fish again
Mashed eggs with onions, liver, veggies
Chulent with kugel (kishka, potato etc) maybe some cold cuts
Usually nothing for dessert
(I like to make peanut chews,thank you wic)

Some add cole slaw, cucumber salad etc. Very Happy

amother

Buttercup

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:12 am

If it's just us, we have challah, soup, main dish (usually chicken), starchy side, veggie side, and dessert for Friday night. Shabbos lunch is similar since I always put up a soup in the crockpot, but the starchy side is usually a kugel and the veggie side is usually some form of coleslaw.

If we have family company, like just our parents, then I usually just add a fresh salad. If we have company company then I add a second protein (usually meat) and more sides and maybe some dips. I know what my family likes to eat so I don't need to provide alternatives but when I have guests I like to provide options so everyone is happy.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:17 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

(When my family was smaller, it was just 1 starch but I added a second to make sure everyone has something they like.)

out-of-towner

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:26 am

DH insists on fish at every Shabbos meal, and soup on Friday night. So typical eith no guests planned is:

Friday Night:
Challah and dips (trying to cut back on dips for both health and financial reasons)
Fish is usually Gefilta, sometimes Kani salad, salmon or even Tuna and noodles (my kids favorite)
Chicken soup
Either chicken or rarely meat. Sometimes grilled cutlets, sometimes chicken on the bone, sometimes meat sauce or rarely a roast or steaks.
Starch side (usually rice or Couscous)
Cooked veggie (Roasted Cauliflower or green beans exc)
Dessert (usually cake or cookies, sometimes mousse or homemade applesauce)

Sometimes I will get in the mood of doing something different for Friday night like making the soup into the main course by adding cubed cutlets and noodles and other veggies. Or I will serve regular chicken soup but do salmon as the main course.

Shabbos Day is Challah, dips, and fish as above. A green salad, and Cholent. I always have cold cuts if needed as well. And dessert as above or ices.

I have a lot of last minute guests, and if I know they are coming I try to add another salad to the fish course, like a coleslaw or corn salad. Plus I try to pull a sweet side like an apple kugel or crumble from my freezer.

justforfun87

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:26 am

My kitchen is small. My baby is small. I work full time. I can barely get to the bathroom without the baby crying. So my meals are very very simple. I tell myself if I had a huge kitchen I would be more motivated to try new recipes but for now it is the basics.

garfield

Wed, Oct 04 2023, 8:59 am

Simple:
Fri night
challah sometimes bought sometimes homemade
Couple of store bought dips,
sometimes do starter (egg and bought liver) mostly don’t. Chicken soup and lokshen.
Roast chicken
roast potatoes
Roast broccoli and / or green beans
Shop bought ice cream if we do dessert

Lunch:
Challah and the same dips
Varies a bit but sometimes liver and egg
Shnitzels
Cholent , cold cuts, sometimes a bought potato kugel , sometimes a carrot kugel, sliced up veg
Ice cream and cones